A.N. Hey people! How are you guys doing? So all last week I got to help around the house with my Dad! We had to do a bunch of stuff with the septic tank, go to Ace Hardware (an amazing place), fix the bathroom faucet, do math, and do some other fun stuff! Has anyone reading this ever heard of "Fawlty Towers"? I love that show way too much! I tried to keep Lovino's swearing to a minimum as I'm not a fan of it, but it's still in there. And now, ONWARDS!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Lovino looked between his companions as they pushed through the trees. Yao's cut had started looking worse than before, and although he wouldn't admit it, Lovino was getting worried. Everyone was tired, and Lovino started to wonder if they were even going in the right direction. It was the day before when they had come across the town Runorow when the group had relaxed a bit.

Matthew had tried talking to the voice again, but there was no reply of any kind. The four teens pushed past the trees of the forest. Lovino narrowed his eyes and wondered if the density of the forest meant anything about where they were going. After a while, Vash announced that they needed to take a rest and find exactly where they were going.

Matthew said quietly, "The Voice said it should be a little further ahead of here."

Vash looked uncertain and shook his head saying, "If that voice has any sense of direction, then it should know that we're lost."

Lovino crossed his arms and leaned against a tree while he listened to Vash and Matthew talk until Yao chimed in.

"What if the rest of the path is guarded by magic? It would make sense," the brunette Jack explained, wincing as his cut shoulder rubbed against a tree the wrong way.

Lovino looked around and felt a small smile form on his lips. Magic, why hadn't he thought of that? Sitting down, Lovino closed his eyes and tried focusing. He had no idea how to accomplish what he was trying to do, but the Ace wasn't going to give up too soon.

The Ace tried to remember how it felt the last time he had unintentionally used magic. He was tired after he had done it and he had a headache. Did that have something to do with it? Lovino dismissed the idea; it was too ridiculous to be true. Lovino tuned out the other three talking, and an idea hit him. When he was little his grandfather had talked about an energy that protected each living being. What if that energy was used as fuel for magic?

Lovino clenched his hands and started to try picturing the aura surrounding him. That was the easy bit, Lovino could feel the energy around him. It was a kind of green color that calmed the Ace, and it felt warm. Lovino let a breath of air out and focused the aura on his eyes and felt the warmth move from the rest of his body up to his eyes.

Please work, Lovino thought before he opened his eyes. Colors lit up in Lovino's vision and he grinned wildly.

"Hell yes!" Lovino exclaimed, startling the others. Standing up, Lovino grabbed his pack and turned to the other three and said, "Get your stuff. Yao, you're a genius!"

Vash and Matthew exchanged a look of confusion but grabbed their things while Yao asked, "What do you mean? What's going on?"

Lovino tapped the side of his head next to his eye and said, "If the path is hidden by magic, then what if someone uses magic to see the path?"

Realization flashed across the faces of the other three, and Lovino looked around and spotted a streak of light pink on the forest floor that went through the denser part of the trees. Lovino started forward and the others followed closely. Just as quickly as the trees became dense, they had become sparse and spread out.

The pink of the path had started to spread out until Lovino stopped and whispered, "Holy Hearts. No wonder we couldn't find it."

The other three looked past Lovino and gaped. In front of them was a walled-in city with a large gate and watchtowers on each side of the gate. Lovino stared in amazement and stopped channeling the aura to his eyes. The colors immediately went back to normal and Lovino grinned. He had used magic on purpose and had helped the others.

"I'll let you take over," Lovino said to Matthew, and he moved aside so the blond Ace could take the lead. Matthew walked nervously in front of the group and Lovino followed a bit slower than the others did. He was tired—that was expected. He had been channeling the energy to his eyes for a good ten or fifteen minutes. Lovino jumped a bit when Yao placed a hand on the Ace's shoulder and said, "That was amazing. Good job."

Lovino felt his face flush a bit with the compliment and he shrugged and mumbled, "Yeah, whatever."

Matthew stopped in front of the gate and looked at Yao before asking, "What do we do now? There's nobody in the watchtowers."

It was true, there were no guards in the towers above, which meant there wasn't an easy way into the city. Lovino looked at Vash and asked, "Any ideas?"

Vash shook his head saying, "Nothing. Matthew, didn't your voice say something about asking for someone?"

Matthew nodded and turned to the gate and yelled, "I'm looking for the Black Joker Gilbert!"

For a minute nothing happened and Lovino figured that they'd have to find another way in, when the gates slowly opened. Matthew blinked and whispered, "It actually worked," while Vash and Yao took the lead of the group and started walking in. Lovino grabbed Matthew's arm and pushed the blond Ace in front of him so he would keep moving. As soon as Lovino was inside, the gates swung shut much faster than they had opened, and Lovino turned to look at what was inside the city.

The group appeared to be in an entryway of sorts that was open to the sky. Looking to his left, Lovino saw a pair of what had to be guards with spears walking up to them. The taller guard looked the four over and said to Yao, "You have requested to see the Black Joker Gilbert? Is that correct?"

Yao nodded, and the second guard yawned saying, "They're just some kids, do we really hafta take 'em to the elders?"

The first guard nodded and said, "Follow us please."

Lovino glared at the two but followed Yao and the others. The city was beautiful with gardens in one area, shops in another, and homes dispersed among them. "This isn't a city", Lovino thought as he looked and analyzed the structure of the place. "It's a country." The more Lovino thought about it, the more it made sense. There was no way that this place could be anything less than a small kingdom.

The two guards led the four to a large building where they were told, "You get tested to see if you can receive asylum. If you pass, you can stay. Ff you fail, we boot you out."

Yao and Vash nodded, and Lovino understood what was going on. Looking over at Matthew, Lovino saw he was kind of pale. Or at least paler than usual. "You okay?" Lovino asked quietly, and Matthew looked up, glassy eyed and replied, "Yeah, just kinda tired."

Lovino doubted that but followed Vash and Yao into the building. The four were led down a few twisting hallways until they reached a room where they were shuffled in, and the doors were shut behind them.

"So you are the four children with whom Gilbert has been in contact?"

Lovino turned to the voice and saw a semi circle of people sitting behind a long curved table. Yao stepped forward and said, "Yes, we are."

The old man in the middle narrowed his eyes at Yao and said, "Why have you come here?"

Yao looked at the other three and said to the man, "We were told that we'd be offered safety if we came here. Shelter and provisions."

The man sat back, and an older woman on the end asked, "For what reason are you alone with no adult guardian?"

Yao sighed and recalled the decree from the four kingdoms about the Jacks and Aces. Some of the people in the tall chairs looked at the four with pity, others glared right at the four as if they were lying. More questions were thrown at the four, all of which Yao and Vash answered until Lovino became fed up with it all. Lovino stomped forward and interrupted the elders by snapping, "What in the hell of the Hearts do any of these questions hafta do with anything? They're all—"

Lovino was cut off by Vash pulling him back and started talking quietly to the group.

"We need to stay on their good side," Vash said and Lovino mumbled, "I don't think they have a good side."

"Aiyaa, this is probably our only chance at getting any kind of refuge," Yao whispered and Vash was about to say something when Matthew grimaced in pain and sank to the floor, clutching his head.

Lovino dropped to his knees and started to try and calm the other Ace down. Putting a hand to Matthew's forehead he drew it back quickly and turned to Vash saying, "He's burning up."
"Why didn't he say something before?" Vash asked and Lovino shrugged. "Hell if I know."

Looking up from Matthew, Lovino saw that Yao was pleading with the elders about letting them wait on the rest of the questions. The elders all shook their heads and Lovino could tell the brunette Jack was getting fed up with their high and mighty attitude, when someone called out from the other side of the room, "I told you I was right! See! Four travelers!"

From behind a pillar, a tall white haired boy walked out and smirked. The red-eyed male strode proudly into the middle of the room where Yao was standing and said, "I got this, you take care of Birdie."

Yao made a face at the name 'Birdie' but turned to help Vash and Lovino with the blond Ace while the strange boy talked to the elders. Lovino sat back as Vash and Yao sprung into "caring big brother mode" and started to try to cool Matthew down. Lovino realized he wasn't doing much of anything so he turned and listened to what the white haired boy was saying to the elders.

"You guys are just ticked off 'cause I knew they'd be coming and you didn't believe me. I mean, you geezers haven't done this to anyone before!" The boy exclaimed. The old man in the middle slammed his fist down, and shook in anger as the white haired boy continued. "Seriously, all they need is someone to vouch for them! Someone awesome should do that, I'll vouch for the four travelers!"

The other elders sighed and nodded, one of them managed to calm the man in the middle down and he said, "If they step out of line once, I mean once, they're out of here. Understood Gilbert?"

Gilbert grinned widely and mock saluted the elder saying, "Gotcha!"

Lovino watched as Gilbert turned to the group and said, "I have rooms ready for you. C'mon, I can help Birdie."

Lovino took Matthew's right arm and slung it over his shoulder while Vash did the same on Matthew's left. Yao grabbed Matthew's pack, and they started to follow Gilbert in silence. It wasn't until they had left the chamber when Lovino asked, "What the hell is a 'Birdie'?"

-LINEBREAK-

Antonio knew this was a bad idea. The three in Antonio's group had made it back into the forest and somehow ended up in a time zone. Roderich had taken control and said that the three were going to go through the zone as it could save time traveling to Clubs. On the bright side, the Ace and two Jacks had made it just past the Clubs border in less than a week, as opposed to the usual travel time of two weeks. On the down side, the three had been attacked by hunters as soon as they exited the time zone.

Antonio sighed and ran a hand through his hair while he listened to Roderich try and teach Feli how to fight. The Ace lost himself in thought as they walked through the trees and only stopped when he bumped into Roderich, who turned and gave the Ace a glare before pointing and saying, "I think someone's ahead of us."

Antonio tensed up and glanced at Feliciano, who seemed perfectly calm under the circumstances. Roderich tapped Antonio's arm and said, "Go ahead and see who it is. Report back to me if you can."

Antonio noted the 'if you can' meant if he came back alive. Shrugging, Antonio started walking quickly and quietly through the trees to find the person Roderich was looking for. As Antonio got closer to the person, he focused the energy around him into a shield in front of him. It was a desperate attempt at protection, but it was the best Antonio could do under the circumstances. Peering past trees and leaves, Antonio saw a person sitting on the ground next to a pack. Stepping forward to get a better look, the Ace stepped on a stick that snapped rather loudly, alerting the person of Antonio's presence.

The girl shot up and whirled around to see Antonio. The first thing that went through Antonio's mind was something along the lines of "She has six knives and I'm unarmed." The second thing was, "She's kinda scary." The Ace raised his hands in surrender and said, "I don't mean any harm, I'm just—"

"What's your mark?" the girl interrupted and Antonio slowly lowered his arms and pulled his shirt up a bit so the girl could see the Diamond marking on his abdomen. The blonde lowered her knives and slid them back into their sheathes before saying, "My name is Natalya. I'm also an Ace. Are you alone?"

Antonio shook his head, "Actually I'm traveling with a couple of others. They sent me ahead to scout out the area."

Natalya scoffed and grabbed her pack saying, "Well you suck at not getting caught. If I wanted, I could've killed you."

"But you didn't," Antonio pointed out and the blonde girl nodded. Antonio assumed that from Natalya packing up she'd be heading out, but instead she followed the brunette back to where Roderich and Feli were waiting. Roderich narrowed his eyes at Natalya and said, "I thought you were going to report back to me."

Antonio looked between Roderich and Natalya before saying with a smile, "I am! I found another Ace! Natalya, this is Feliciano and Roderich. Guys this is Natalya!"

The blonde girl nodded in greeting, and Feli smiled brightly while Roderich looked her over. Natalya pulled her jacket collar back from her neck, exposing her Ace of Clubs mark and said, "I would like to join you three. I have no other alliances and I believe that I would make a worthy addition to your trio."

Antonio looked at Roderich and said bluntly, "She knows how to fight. I think she should be allowed to travel with us."

Roderich crossed his arms and asked, "What exactly can you provide us if you join us?"

"I can fight and I'm willing to teach you how to defend yourselves," the blonde said, grabbing one of her knives and twirling it around. Roderich bit his lip and nodded saying, "That seems fair. I am experienced in fencing so I have some training."

Natalya nodded and looked around her shoulder and said, "We need to get moving. This area has been crawling with hunters for days, and I don't wanna stick around for too long."

Antonio nodded in agreement and grabbed Feliciano's hand as they started walking. Natalya took the lead, which seemed to annoy Roderich who was second in line. Antonio had dropped back to walk at the end of the group so he could keep the group together. Glancing around, Antonio wondered how Natalya was going to train them to fight. Roderich was a stuck up former noble, Feli was a cowardly kid who wanted to surrender, and Antonio was a farmer.

-LINEBREAK-

Gilbert laughed at another one of his own jokes as the four travelers entered his home. The place was big with enough rooms for each of them. Vash and Lovino lowered Matthew onto the floor and Yao started checking him while Gilbert leaned against a wall and watched.

"He's still burning up, I don't know what to do," Yao said, panicked, and Lovino let a few curses in the old Hearts language slip out. Vash turned to Gilbert and said, "You knew we were coming. You were the one Matthew's been talking to aren't you?"

Gilbert held his arms out and said, "The awesome me can tell no lies. Yes, I am the one who contacted you through Birdie, and I am the one who in a way unlocked his magic. As for his fever, I think I can help with that too."

Gilbert motioned for Vash to follow him and the blond Jack did so. Gilbert started talking again as he led the archer into a room filled with bottles of stuff. "Actually, my communicating with Matthew opened his mind so he can unlock and use his power in a greater way."

Vash held his hands up and interjected, "What do you mean 'power'? all I know is that after Matthew started getting headaches and hearing from you, Lovino started having similar symptoms. Even Yao had a moment where this 'power' benefitted him. What is it exactly?"

Gilbert sighed heavily and ran a hand through his white hair. Grabbing a bottle of brownish leaves and a bottle of what appeared to be weeds from a garden, Gilbert said, "I'll explain it to all of you so I don't hafta do it more than once. But you haven't had a reaction right?"

Vash shook his head and Gilbert nodded, "That's normal. C'mon we gotta get these to Birdie."

After making their way back to the others, Gilbert started unscrewing the top off the bottle of leaves and handed it to Yao saying, "Get two of those in his mouth. Only two!"

Thrusting the bottle of weeds at Lovino, Gilbert said, "Each of you take one of those and give one to Birdie after all of you took one."

Lovino squinted at the weeds and asked, "I'm gonna say this one more time. What the heck is a 'Birdie'?"

Gilbert shrugged and replied, "Well, I didn't know what his name was when I was talking via thoughts, so I gave him the name Birdie!"

Lovino looked like he was going to say something but closed his mouth and popped the cork out of the bottle and sniffed the contents. The Ace drew back coughing and said, "This stuff is nasty! What is it?"

Yao took the bottle from Lovino, having already given Matthew the leaves, and sniffed it. Realization lit up Yao's face as he exclaimed, "This is larksweed!"

Lovino was still gagging, so Vash asked in place of Lovino, "What's that?"

Gilbert interrupted as Yao took a piece from the bottle, "It's a plant that has healing properties and enhances magical powers. Unfortunately it takes an hour or two to kick in, but that should be more than enough time to explain everything I know to you guys!"

Yao sat back and watched as Vash pushed the weed into Matthew's mouth. Lovino grumbled while Vash and Yao sat and looked at Gilbert expectantly. The albino cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Shall I start? Okay, where should I begin?"

"This place," Vash said, waving his hands around, "This city. What is it?"

Lovino scoffed and snapped, "It's not a city moron, it's a kingdom. Just like Hearts, Spades, and all. Right?"

Gilbert grinned and nodded, "Lovi has it right! This is the Joker Kingdom! Also good job on finding it. I'll ask about that later, but for now I should explain what this place is, right? The Joker Kingdom used to be a normal kingdom on the edge of Hearts and Diamonds, but when the first war of the kingdoms broke out, the founders wanted to find a way to get away from the fighting. I think that we should've participated in the war, but my opinion never counts. Anyway, the leaders had all this magic power in reserve, so they channeled it into the land of Jokers and made it so every few weeks Jokers will literally uproot itself and move to a new location."

"Wait, wait, what? Are you saying that the kingdom flies around changing its geographical location?" Vash asked, curiosity and disbelief written on his face.

Gilbert nodded and continued, "Yeah. Weird, but they had tons of reserve power so they camouflaged the uprooted flying kingdom to look like a storm or something. Anyways, it's protected by magic, so only a few people could get access."

Gilbert turned to Lovino and commented, "I've never actually heard of people being able to control their power in one try. That's pretty awesome!"

Lovino turned red and started mumbling, embarrassed about having attention drawn to him. Gilbert smirked and continued, "You know how the magic thing works, but the others don't so I'll explain. Each person has an energy, an aura, around them that they can control. It's different for each person, but there are some people who can use their power in different ways. For example, my specialty is tracking, transporting, and communicating. I can channel my aura into whatever I'm using, so I can speak with someone, or send them something."

Lovino stopped Gilbert's train of thought by saying, "Why can't I control it fully? Every so often my magic is activated and I can't stop it. Not to mention, Matthew and I keep getting headaches whenever things like that happen."

Gilbert sighed and answered, "The reason you can't control it is because you weren't fully aware of how the energy was being used. As for the headaches, they come if you're afraid of your power. It sounds like a pain, but unless you can fully trust yourself or set a goal so you won't be scared of what you can do, the headaches won't go away. Sometimes I get nosebleeds from overuse of my magic, but that's just me."

A groan from Matthew alerted the group to the forgotten member of their party. Vash and Yao started looking the Ace over and saw he was slightly better than when they had arrived. Gilbert grinned and stood up saying, "I'll tell ya the rest later. The ranks are important to magic use too, but I'll go into detail when Mattie's awake. Your rooms are down the first hall and on the right.

With that, Gilbert turned and walked down the hallway to his room and grinned to himself. This was getting better and better by the minute.

A.N. Late update I know, but at least I updated! I hope you guys liked it! Natalya is finally in it, and she'll be in the next chapter too! If you guys have any ideas, suggestions, or recommendations for this story, feel free to review them or PM me! Please please please review! Until next time - Ryuu