Italy skipped up to France's front door, smiling happily like he always did. He had driven to France fairly quickly (mostly due to his utter disregard of speed limits) and by this point was knocking on the door. "Big Brother France, are you there?" He called.

Almost a split second later, the door was pulled open. "Italy! Bonjour!" France said happily. "'Comment vas-tu?" He grabbed Italy's arm and led him inside. "Come in!"

France's house was elegantly decorated, with French furniture and several pictures of a very angry Englishman scattered in odd places throughout the rooms. "You came all zis way to visit moi?" France asked. "Was zere a…reason for your visit…?" At that, France scooted closer to Italy, eying him greedily.

Italy nodded, not noticing France's advances. "I wanted to ask you a few questions!"

France smiled at him. "Well, you 'ave come to ze right place," he said, putting an arm around Italy's shoulders and sitting them down on the couch. "What do you need?"

"Ve~ I was wondering…" Italy blushed ever so slightly. "Well, how do you know if you like someone?"

France perked up slightly. "Ah, so you're 'aving love issues…?" He asked. "Do you need me to 'elp you with…anyzing…?" He scooted even closer.

Italy looked up innocently at him. "I don't know…" He mumbled. "…I…maybe…? I just…" Italy trailed off. "Well I…it's just that…he…my heart keeps getting really fast when he gets nearby and I get kinda nervous and…I like hanging out with him and I feel really happy when he smiles and when he hugs me and…" He started nervously kicking his feet. "I just…don't know…"

France raised his eyebrows, staring at Italy with an unreadable expression, looking slightly surprised. He leaned back, thinking. After a while, he said, "Well, it sounds as though you are in love with 'im."

Italy shook his head quickly. "N-No, that's not right. I…" He paused, still looking confused. "I…I love Holy Roman Empire."

France paused, looking closely at Italy. Why on Earth is everyone suddenly bringing up 'oly Roman Empire all of ze sudden? He wondered. "Italy," he said slowly, "ze 'oly Roman Empire is dead."

Italy flinched. "I-I…" He didn't finish his sentence, staring blankly at the floor.

France sighed. "Italy, 'e's dead. You 'ave to move on." For a second, France was tempted to offer his assistance with that, but he decided against it. Instead he patted Italy's shoulder. "You need to move on…" he repeated.

Italy squeezed his eyes shut tightly. "But I…don't want to," he murmured.

France shrugged. "No one ever does."

They sat there silently fir a moment. Italy sniffled slightly and wiped his face with his palm. Then Italy looked over at France. "So…that means I like him?" He asked. Then he seemed to deflate slightly. "Ve, he doesn't like me back though…"

France smiled at him. "Well zere are plenty of ways you could fix zat."

"Like what?" Italy asked.

France got closer and rubbed Italy's leg. "If you want I could always show you some…tricks," he suggested, smile growing wider.

Italy looked up at him innocently. "Ve~ Romano said that if you try any tricks I'm supposed to run away as fast as I can…" He paused, thinking hard. "I don't really understand what that means though."

"Well, I can show you if you close your eyes tightly and open your mouth…"

"Okay!" Italy did as he was told, screwing his eyes shut and opening his mouth as wide as he could. France grinned and grabbed Italy, leaning forward. Then he jumped as Italy's phone started ringing loudly. Italy looked down and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "Hello!" He listened to the other line for a moment, then held it out toward France. "Ve~ it's for you!"

France frowned and grabbed the phone. "Bonjour?" He asked.

"Try it and die." Romano hung up.

France sighed. He held the phone out toward Italy, and noticed Italy had opened his mouth again. "Sacré bleu…" he mumbled, sighing again and pushing Italy's chin so his mouth closed with a clack. Just in case the Mafia was aiming a sniper at him from the window…

"Ve~?" Italy asked, looking a little confused. "Aren't you gonna help me…?"

"Non…" he replied unhappily, glancing toward the window to check if there were any gunmen.

Italy looked at the floor, looking disappointed. France looked over at him. Italy's lower lip was trembling slightly. France sighed again and put an arm over Italy's shoulders. "Well, I suppose I could give you some advice at ze least."

"Yay!" Italy cheered.

…

Germany carried a pile of books over to a table and dropped them loudly enough that several people shushed him angrily from nearby. He apologized softly and sat down. He pulled a book open and scanned a few pages. Then he scowled and shut it, grabbing the next book and pulling it open. He scanned another couple of pages, finding nothing interesting and flipping it shut.

He sighed and reached over for the next book. Nothing too interesting. Nothing that would help him understand anything more about the Holy Roman Empire.

He sighed again and tossed the next book to the side. Brothers…? Holy Roman Empire was his brother? How could that be possible? How could the kid that was ruining his life be his brother? How could he have gone all these years without knowing? He started looking through the next book. There had to be something in one of these damn history books that would explain it…

"Hey dude, watcha reading?"

Germany jumped and spun around. He looked up to find a grinning American standing behind him. He eyed the book over Germany's shoulder. "A history book?" He asked incredulously. "Why the hell are you reading a history book? You're, like…" He thought for a second. "How old are you? 'Cause I think you're old enough to not need that."

Germany sighed. "I'm looking up something from a long time ago," he replied, turning away. "What are you doing here? You don't read."

America laughed. "Yeah, we postponed the conference for a few days since you went completely insane, and then I followed Iggy in here. If you do a Cockney accent, he get's soooo pissed. It's hilarious." He laughed. "So whatcha readin' 'bout?"

"…How are you and Canada related…?"

"Who?"

"Oh bloody hell," England muttered, walking over. "You even followed me in here?"

"'ELLO GOV'NAH!" America shouted, making the entire library cringe. "WOULD YOU LIEK A CUP O' TA~Y?"

"Bloody hell, stop that! I-I sound nothing like that!" England yelled indignantly.

"Wot dew yew mean, gov'nah?" America replied, still grinning.

"Both of you be quiet!" Germany snapped. A librarian angrily shushed him, and he flinched. "Entschuldigung..." he muttered. "Sorry." He glared up at America and England. England had started glaring angrily at America, who was whistling and glancing in the opposite direction.

England finally stopped glaring at America and looked over at the open book on the table. "Why are you reading a history textbook?" He asked curiously.

Germany sighed. "I'm just looking something up," he said. He looked at the books England was carrying. "So what are you reading?" He asked.

England glanced down at the large leather bound books. "Oh these are just a few old spell books I found in the back of the library," he said, holding up a book that looked like it could've been written in Latin.

Germany rolled his eyes. "Gott, why are those ridiculous things even in here?"

England narrowed his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Nothing," Germany mumbled.

England crossed his arms. "No, no, I'm sure you meant something by that," he said. "If you want to tell me something, please, feel free to say it to my face."

Germany felt his jaw clench. He really wasn't in the mood for this. "Fine, what I meant to say was 'I do not believe in magic, it is an idiotic waste of time and it's not even remotely possible and I cannot understand how you could even think so,'" Germany replied curtly.

"Ooh, burned—"

"Shut up, America," England snapped. "And magic is real," he said, turning back toward Germany.

"Right…" He opened another book. "If you need me, I'm going to look at something that actually exists."

England reached over and slammed Germany's book shut, causing him to jump. "Are you insulting me?" England hissed.

Germany glared at him and abruptly stood up. "Are you insulting me?" He growled, his brows furrowed angrily.

"QUICK, EVERYBODY, GET IN ZE CHOPPAH!" America shouted loudly.

"America, be quiet!" England hissed.

"He's not even German," Germany snapped angrily. "And you're in a library!"

"So? What's so great about the library?" America asked, swinging his arms back and forth with a bored expression. "It's so dumb. Why have people even written so many books? Seriously…"

"Well, libraries are places where you need to be as quiet as possible," Germany hissed. "So if you find it so boring, you should leave. Now."

America shrugged. "Whatever, dude." He turned and left. "Jeez. Ass."

England sighed. "Where on earth did I go wrong…?" He asked no one in particular. Then he turned back toward Germany. "And magic does exist! Hell, I could prove it!"

"Of course you can," Germany muttered, standing up and scooping his books into his arms. "Unfortunately, I really don't care. If you need me, I'm going to go home." He turned.

England stepped in front of him. Germany stopped. England crossed his arms and said, "Alright, I'll prove it to you!" He grabbed a book out of Germany's hand and flipped it open to the page Germany had been looking at. "Holy Roman Empire?" He asked dryly.

"Hey," Germany protested, "the things I choose to read are none of your business!" He swiped the book out of England's hands.

England smirked. "I bet you fifty Euros that I can help you find out more about that Holy Roman Empire kid with magic," he replied. Germany opened his mouth to argue, but England interrupted. "Think about it, Germany," he said. "If I'm right, you find out whatever it is you want to know about Holy Rome. If you're right, I never bring it up again and you get the pleasure of humiliating me." He held out his hand. "So what do you say?"

Germany opened his mouth to say no, then paused. There really wasn't a reason he needed to say no. It couldn't hurt. And maybe he could finally get England to stop talking to himself and going on about magic. "Fine," he replied.

England's smirk grew wider as they shook hands. "Great. Now I'll have enough money to buy that new suit…"

…

Italy held the bouquet of roses close to his chest as he nervously walked up to Germany's door. He took a deep breath. Then he knocked softly on the door.

It was silent far a minute. Italy started shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Was Germany not there? Could Germany see him and just didn't want to talk to him? He rang the doorbell and waited a little longer, nervously looking over toward the window.

The door swung open. "Hey Italy!" Prussia shouted gleefully, stumbling forward and putting an arm around Italy's shoulders. "You…you…how're ya' doin' Italy?" He managed to say, pinching Italy's cheeks. "Aw you are just adorable!"

"P-Prussia are you okay?" Italy asked nervously.

"H-Hey Prussia who…who're ya' talkin' to?" Someone slurred from inside.

"I-I'm just saying hi to my lil' buddy Italy!" He called back, hugging Italy tightly around the neck. Italy yelped slightly and tried to pry his arms off. Prussia turned back toward Italy. "H-Hi Italy!" He stammered, grinning.

Someone stumbled over next to Prussia, a pair of glasses hanging crookedly off his face. "Oh, hey there Italy!" He said, reaching out and drunkenly patted his head.

"I-I, um, who're—?"

Prussia interrupted him. "H-Hey, so Italy, what's up? You here to see West?" Prussia started giggling. "Kesese, yeah, you're always here to see West. W-Well he's a nerd so he left and was all like 'I'm goin to the l-libarry and read and shit', y'know? So he's gone and I-I'mma drink some more." He reached over and pulled a beer from Canada's hoodie.

Canada started laughing. "That was mine! Gimme!" They started swatting at each other.

"Um…S-So Germany isn't here?" Italy asked.

Prussia looked up at him. "Nein, b-but I can tell 'em that you were here if my liver doesn't implode 'c-cause y'know my liver is probably gonna be dead." He hiccupped. "Y-Y'know we should…w-we should soooo~ do it! Kesese." He turned and hugged Canada. "We should, y'know?" He hiccupped again.

Canada started laughing hysterically.

Italy took a nervous step back, clutching the roses to his chest tightly. "Ve~ I guess I'll go and look for him then. Bye."

"Auf wefrenufeszan," Prussia mumbled, waving at the tree next to Italy.

Italy started heading toward the library, holding the flowers to his chest and humming happily. When he got there, he noticed a familiar face outside of the building, with a cell phone pressed to his ear. "For the last time, Tony, if you keep playing E.T. loud enough to burst my eardrums I'll seriously shoot that damn stereo!" America was saying. "Seriously, do you know how annoying…"

"America?" Italy asked curiously. "Ciao!"

America glanced up. "Sorry, Tony, give me a sec." He held his hand over his phone receiver. "Hey Italy. If you were looking for Germany, he and England just left, like, an hour ago. Or, like, thirty minutes. My watch broke." He paused. "Wait, I don't own a watch. Damn."

"How did you know I was looking for Germany?"

America rolled his eyes. "Who else would you be giving flowers?" He asked.

"Ve~ the flowers were France's idea!" Italy told him. "He gave me all kinds of good advice! I'm supposed to give him roses and then I'm supposed to kiss with my tongue." He smiled happily. "I don't understand how to do that though."

"Uh…" America gave him an uncomfortable thumbs-up. "Err, you have fun with that," he muttered. He put the phone back to his ear as Italy skipped off. "Yeah I'm still here." He scowled. "No, 'I Kissed a Girl' is not any better!"

…

"I feel ridiculous," Germany muttered darkly, kicking at the strange circle England had drawn in chalk on the floor of the building they were standing in. "This is completely idiotic."

"Stop kicking it." England finished up the drawing and stood up.

Germany rolled his eyes. "Right. Of course. So what the hell is it that you're trying to do again?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure this will let us be able to see into the past." He picked up his spell book. "Or…something…close to that I presume…"

Germany stiffened slightly. "So you're not sure what you're doing?" He asked incredulously, glancing over toward the door.

England glanced up at him from the book. "Well, I haven't actually used this spell before." He smirked. "Then again, if you leave right now that means you concede that magic does exist, that you are nervous, and that you would owe me fifty Euros." He held out his hand.

Germany sighed. "Right. Fine. Go ahead. I guess…"

England started looking over the book. "Alright, just give me a second to double check that I did everything alright," he murmured, looking closely at the ground.

Germany sighed and started glancing around. This is the stupidest thing I have ever agreed to do, he thought bitterly. He shut his eyes. What if it does work, though? What would it accomplish? What information could it possibly give me that I don't already know?

He took a deep breath. All I really want to do is double check on what Prussia said… he told himself. Thenhe shook his head quickly. Nein, this is ridiculous. I should just leave. This is absolutely pointless. He turned around to leave.

England started murmuring something. Germany paused and looked over his shoulder. "England, I'm sorry, but I think I should be going…" England ignored him and continued chanting the spell from the book. Germany walked over. "England, you can stop now…" He trailed off, glancing down at the circle. Did it just…change color…? He shook his head. "England, listen I really need to—"

The circle beneath them started glowing. Germany froze and looked down. "W-What the hell?" He yelped, stepping back. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed England smirk at him. He looked up quickly. "A-Alright, I believe you I guess—w-what're you doing? Stop!"

The circle glowed brighter. Germany started feeling almost weightless. Germany swore and reached forward to grab England's throat.

The door opened. "Ve~ there you are Germany!"

Germany stiffened and turned around, to see Italy walking over with a ridiculously large bouquet in his arms. "I-I brought you some flowers—"

"Italy, what the hell are you doing here?" Germany shouted. Italy paused, standing just inside of the circle. Germany froze. "Wait, Italy, get the hell out of here!" Germany yelled.

Italy looked at the ground. "I-I'm sorry, Germany."

"Damn it Italy you're not listening to—"

There was a blinding flash. And then, nothing…

And Iggy comes to save the day!

And/Or make it worse.

The title is latin for "God from the machine". It's kind of a term used when someone pops out of nowhere with all the answers. Or in Iggy's case, more problems. Huh.

And my brother made me listen to ET seven times, and Tony popped into my head...

Thanks Crimsontrick for the help with the French. Comment vas-tu means how are you.

Not sure how many people pay enough attention to notice that I usually post every three days, but I'm going out of town for the weekend, so the next chapter is going to be a little later than usual. See you guys then!