Last chapter! Wow, it feels like the end of an era...Which means it's time for another era to begin! So let's get this show on the road!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.
Chapter 12:
On the way to the World Meeting...
"Ah, don't worry, baby brother!" America grins and pokes Canada in the side in a vain attempt to get him to cheer up a little. "I'm sure we'll find her soon. Don't forget, Germany took some of his dudes to look at that creepy facility you tipped us off about. So if they do find her, then you can claim credit."
"America, stop." Canada protests quietly. "Aren't you worried for her too? Who knows what's happened while she's been gone?"
"Of course I'm worried." America frowns at his brother. "But since you're so close with her, I bet you could probably tell me what she'd say if she was here right now, can't you?" Canada frowns, but nods.
"'What are you worrying for? I swear, you're going to give yourself a heart attack, immortal country or no.'" Canada scrunches his nose, altering his vocal pitch so it sounds more like Atlantis'. "How'd I do, Al?"
"Pretty close." America grins. "But still, you know her better than I do, so I don't really have a right to tell you to not worry."
"No, but you're right as well." Canada sighs and looks out the window of the plane they're flying in to Italy's capital. "I just have to keep my hopes up."
Meanwhile in Italy...
It's late at night in Rome, but Italy can't sleep. He even tried eating pasta and it didn't work, so he knows it's serious! Italy wanders the streets before stopping next to a spot that overlooks a river. He enjoys how pretty the night is when he hears someone else coming. He turns to greet the person and sees that it's a woman who looks about his age with long, curly, blonde hair and scars racing up and down her arms. She doesn't seem to see Italy as she walks to another place overlooking the river and leans on an old fence.
"Buona notte, bella!" Italy walks over to the woman, who glances up sharply when he speaks, before her features soften and she smiles. "It's a beautiful night, no?"
"Indeed, my friend." The woman has an accent Italy has never heard before, almost as if she's singing one of brother France's love ballads, but the words are in Spanish, which makes it even prettier. "But young men like you should not be out so late. You must have plenty of rest to be handsome for the ladies, who surely flock to you." Italy thinks about this before nodding once.
"Yes, I suppose that's true...But then you'd be all alone, which would be awfully rude of me!" He holds out his hand, which the woman shakes. "My name is Feliciano. Are you new to Italy?"
"Yes, but it does not feel like it. Your home country reminds me of one that I visited ever so long ago..." She gazes wistfully over the water before turning back to him. "My name is Lyra. I am in town for a very important meeting, or so a friend has told me. To be honest, I'm just using it to get better acquainted with the world in general."
"That's awfully smart! I have a meeting too, so I have to go now! Bye-bye!" He waves and begins walking away, turning back to see Lyra still gazing at the water.
Back to Atlantis' POV
The next morning, Germany drops Atlantis off at a big building and leads her into a room with a large round tale, telling her to wait there. She looks around before finding a chair in a far corner of the room where nobody will see her, and gets comfy. The scars itch again today, so she puts some of the cortisone lotion Germany got at her request on them.
People begin to file in. Some Atlantis knows, like Germany, Canada, and America, and some she doesn't. She's even surprised to see Feliciano talking to Germany with a sunny grin. The people talk among themselves, no one noticing her in the chair in the corner. Finally, Germany stands and heads to the front before stopping in front of a podium.
"As you all know," he begins, waiting for the room to quiet, "A team of my citizens launched an attack on a warehouse that Canada tipped us off that may contain the personification of the Empire of Atlantis. We breached the building and discovered cells containing dozens of young girls, all of whom were not in the best of condition. I apprehended the man in charge and asked him if those were all of the girls, but he didn't seem to comprehend what I was asking. He just kept crying and saying he had found the 'true one' and that we 'couldn't take her, not when he was so close.' A soldier brought us a doctor, who seemed more lucid then the man and informed us they'd captured, in her words, 'a specimen capable of modifying her age and appearance.' I demanded to see the specimen and she led me to a back room where there was a giant tank of water. In the water floated a young woman who appeared to be about mid twenties, with long, curly blonde hair and burn scars on her arms. She was unconscious but able to breathe in the water. I demanded the lid be removed and the girl brought out of the water, but the doctor told us they'd tried to do it earlier and something terrible had happened: The girl was screaming and crying, but only when they pulled her out of the water. They learned it was because her scars were overheating, giving her a fever of one hundred and five and putting her in an immense amount of pain. We permitted them to keep her in the water as long as she was immediately removed as soon as the fever broke. The doctor woman was kept at the facility, along with a few assistants, while the rest of the group was transported to a prison. The woman's fever broke a few hours later and we pulled her out of the water, but the doctor went insane. She managed to get ahold of one of the guard's guns and shot her two assistants before attempting to shoot my group. She was killed in self-defense just as the woman from the tank regained consciousness. This woman...Was Atlantis, and she had her memories once again. If she is willing, we can have her come in now. I will send a man to fetch her." Atlantis laughs gently and gets to her feet.
"Thank you for the speech, Germany, but the 'sending a man to fetch me' bit was a little dramatic, don't you think?" She knows she feels dramatic, with her sleeveless, toga dress showing off her scars and trailing behind her as she walks up to the podium. He steps down so that she may stand at the podium, which she does, smiling at him. "After all, I used to be able to beat your vati into the ground!" He pales at that and walks back to his seat. She turns to face the nations. "Alright, let's get some things straight! One: I'm still the same person some of you already know, I've just got some new scars and more memories. Two: This world's kind of gone down the drain, and I can't stand that what with how much work I put into keeping you guys' parents from killing each other, which means that three: I'm sticking around with you guys to maybe smack some sense into you now and then like my good friend Hungary! Questions?" A hand raises in the back and she points at it. "My other buddy Canada!"
"Where are the scars from?" She doesn't say anything but distantly feels her smile grow cold.
"Some things are better left unspoken, Matthew, so I'll trust you to never ask that again. I'm here now and that's all that matters." Without another word, she steps down from the podium and walks out the door, pausing to wave at her friends.
'Yeah,' Unscathed whispers from some dark corner of her mind, 'We're finally home, huh?'
Dramatic ending is dramatic and rushed but this is the first time I'm doing a series so I'm not very good at ending an entire story.
Time to answer reviews!
lulupyne: You're too nice, I swear! Your reviews just make me smile and feel warm and fuzzy. This chapter was for you, so I hope you liked how dramatic it was!
Uno: I see from the black name that you are a guest reviewer, so thank you for reviewing. Your name is officially Numero Uno, seeing as I like to give my guest reviewers nicknames. I don't know what you mean by spirits, so I'm assuming you're talking about the personifications. And they're not evil! Well...most of them aren't. But even if they were, they're still awesome!
As always, do the three R's! But there's something different with this one: Read this chapter, review, and Repeat with the first chapter of my new story titled The Watery Depths, coming soon!
It's almost like I'm saying goodbye...
Signing off, as always,
EOM