"Tell me again as to why we are here?" questioned Vietnam whose arm was awkwardly looped with Iceland's for no reason.
She uncomfortably shifted from side to side while looking around her surroundings. It was just another sunny day with a few stray clouds floating through the sky. Though it wasn't so sunny for Vietnam since she somehow landed in a Danish amusement park, and with great joy, on a double date with Norway and Denmark.
"Don't be like that Vietnam," chided Denmark, looking all giddy as a child on Christmas morning, "you should be pretty excited since we are at the world's oldest amusement park."
When he mentioned that fact, Denmark began to radiate a strange light, which foretells that his already humongous ego was growing.
"Yeah," sarcastically agreed Vietnam, "I'm so excited to ride some rickety roller coasters, and hug a creepy amusement park character."
"The Tivoli Gardens isn't just any other amusement park," stated Denmark with a dopey look on his face, "it's so wondrous and magical. Even Walt Disney went here a couple times to get some inspiration for his own park. Believe me, I shook his hand once."
"Don't forget the outrageous prices on food," quipped Norway who was decked out for an entire day of journeying through the park.
Denmark simply shrugged at Norway, and replied, "What can I say, folks got to make a living somehow."
Norway simply just shook his head at the Dane, and began to walk over to the entrance with Denmark who was wagging his invisible tail.
Turning back to Vietnam, Iceland asked, "Do you want to ditch these two?"
She shook her head and replied. "No thank you. It would be impolite to leave when Mr. Denmark made the effort to house everyone for the day."
"If you say so," sighed Iceland with a bored look on his face. "Just so you know, I've been here a billion times with those two, and it's not that special."
"Well it's my first time," stated Vietnam, who started to take a large amount of photos from her camera, "so that means that it might be… pleasant."
Tugging the reluctant Icelander towards the park entrance, Vietnam could feel a small amount of excitement bubble within her. Sure, she was very weary from all that traveling, but it was an amusement park. So, Vietnam decided to go with the flow, and do whatever Denmark wanted to do.
"Come on you two," shouted Denmark, waving them over to a pond area with boats lazily gliding across the pond in continuous circles.
As the pair of countries approached the pond, Vietnam was struck with awe as she got closer to the pond. From a distance, Vietnam could only see the boats, but on closer inspection, it was so much more.
In the background, a single red pagoda loomed over the pond with umbrella tables surrounding it. Next to the pagoda was a single loop with a roller coaster cart carrying dozens of screaming people. All in all, the area looked like it came right off of a Shanghai magazine found in the fifties.
"What do you think Vietnam?" inquired Denmark with an even bigger grin plastered onto his face. "Isn't it amazing?"
"More like amazingly boring," muttered Iceland under his breath.
Vietnam felt a twinge of annoyance towards Iceland for being such a wet blanket.
What's his problem? thought Vietnam, giving the moody country a questioning look.
She sighed, and dismissed Iceland's behavior. Instead, she rapidly began to take as much photos as she can.
"How much memory do you actually have in that camera Vietnam?" questioned Norway, looking at the Vietnamese woman weirdly.
"A lot apparently," replied Vietnam, who was now taking pictures of the surrounding trees and bushes. "I promised Taiwan that I would take as many photos as I can since she asked for it."
"Alright everyone," announced Denmark, "listen up. I'm thinking that we should ride The Roller Coaster!"
"You mean a roller coaster?" asked Vietnam.
"No," replied Denmark, " The Roller Coaster."
"Can you please speak English properly Denmark?"
"He's right Vietnam," jumped in Norway, who was becoming impatient himself, "the ride is actually called The Roller Coaster, well in English."
"That's such a creative name," responded Vietnam sarcastically.
"I know right?" agreed Denmark with much noted pride. "It's the world's oldest roller coaster, and it's still awesome to this day!"
"Are you sure it's safe?" questioned Vietnam, who began to get nervous at the prospect of riding something that is considered one of the world's oldest roller coaster.
"Of course," replied Denmark, "it's just ohhh… one hundred years old."
"Oh," said Vietnam with a blank look on her face.
She slowly inched away from the Nordics, not wanting to die on this sunny day.
"Hey," shouted Denmark, concern written on his face, "where are you going? Don't you want to ride The Roller Coaster?"
"No thank you," answered Vietnam, "I'm not sure if I can trust the durability of that ride."
"No way. You will totally be safe on this ride. It's not like they left it alone to slowly rot with age. The park make sure it's well maintained and stuff."
In a blink of an eye, Denmark had Vietnam's arm looped around his, and began to drag a reluctant Vietnam in tow.
Looking over at Iceland for some help, her only response was a "I told you so" look and a shrug.
As the group came closer and closer to the wooden coaster, Vietnam was still devising a plan as to how she could escape the clutches of Denmark.
With all that planning, she didn't notice that she was already seated into a wooden cart, which was already moving up a steep slope.
"Are you ready Vietnam?" asked Denmark, pulling Vietnam away from her thoughts.
"What do you mean ready?" questioned Vietnam, who was beginning to become fully aware of her surroundings.
Realizing that she was steadily moving up a steep slope with her butt glued to a wooden cart, she decided the next best thing is to not scream and panic like a child, but rather mess with Denmark with the limited time she had before their heart-stopping descent.
"So-" began Denmark, who was suddenly interrupted by a stream of water hitting his face.
The Dane looked at Vietnam, who was holding up her plastic like it was her most important weapon at the moment, with confusion at first. Then, he began to flat out laugh out loud, which resulted in everyone on the cart giving him looks.
"What's so funny?" questioned Vietnam, blushing from her somewhat failed attempt to make the happy-go-lucky Denmark feel at least a little uncomfortable. "That was a sign to be prepared for a ride full of misery."
With one final chuckle, Denmark replied, "As if you can cause misery on this ride Vietnam."
"But I-"
Vietnam was suddenly cut off from the sudden drop of the cart down the wooden slope of the coaster. She began to scream out so loud that the people around her strained to cover their ears against the force of the roller coaster.
As Vietnam continued to ride the coaster, her screams slowly died away, and was replaced by boisterous laughter, which was not only a shock to the Nordics but to her as well. But, she just brushed off that surprise, and continued to laugh out loud with every twist and turn she encountered on the ride.
When they finally halted to a stop at the loading dock, Vietnam jumped out of the cart with a look of glee clearly written on her face.
"That was amazing," gushed Vietnam, who still couldn't let go of the thrill she felt from The Roller Coaster.
"I told you so," said Denmark, skipping along the sidewalk with Norway, who feigned annoyance from holding the overexcited Dane's hand.
"Where to next?"
Denmark abruptly stopped his skipping, which resulted in Norway crashing into him and cursing on the ground, and stood there like a statue.
"Um Denmark?" tentatively asked Vietnam, not wanting to find herself in a situation with a possibly deranged country, "are you ok?"
"That's it!" suddenly shouted Denmark, resulting in Vietnam falling on top of Norway who was beginning to get himself off the concrete surface.
"What's it?" questioned Iceland impatiently, crossing his arms in annoyance.
"We should see which pair can ride the most rides before the sun sets, and the winners can have whatever they want for dinner paid by the losers."
"Alright then," agreed Vietnam whose eyes shone with pure competitiveness in contrast with her now stoic face, "free dinner it is."
Due to the high prices that Vietnam has seen on the menus of various restaurants, she knew that she can not let her wallet suffer, and or her stomach at that.
"Okie dokie then," began Denmark, carrying Norway bridal style, "see ya!"
And with that being said, the couple was off to who knows where in the vast park.
Turning back to Iceland, Vietnam said, "Are you ready?"
Lifting his gaze from the ground to look into Vietnam's brightly lit eyes, Iceland couldn't will himself from disappointing her. So instead, he silently nodded in agreement, and allowed himself to intertwine his fingers with Vietnam's, who didn't seem to mind the intimate gesture.
"Let's go to this one," suggested Vietnam pointing to a ride that continuously spun around in a circle to the point where it made her too dizzy to even comprehend what was going on.
"Are you sure you want to Aquila?" asked Iceland who was concerned with how green Vietnam looked.
"I'm sure," replied Vietnam, trying to sound brave, "it's just that it is quite… fast."
"I'll say. This one time, Finland rode on that thing, and he was out like a light in less than two seconds. No one could wake him up until someone dropped him into an ice bath."
After hearing what happened to Finland, Vietnam tried to suppress her fear from making her sprint away from the amusement park entirely.
Remember this is for FREE dinner! You faced more terrifying stuff than just a ride! thought Vietnam, feeling slightly calmed down from the prospect of free food.
Tightly gripping Iceland's hand, Vietnam began to walk towards the line that could possibly lead to her demise.
Later
"That was amazing," giggled Vietnam from all the spinning she had just experienced.
After she rode Aquila, she felt that her initial fear of the rides around her had diminished from a huge, dark mass to just a mere speck.
As for Iceland, he was puking into the nearest trash can. Sure he rode the Aquila a thousand times, but that doesn't mean he had an immunity to it. But, it was all worth it, seeing that Vietnam was enjoying herself. With her dark brown eyes shining bright with glee and heart warming smile on her beautiful face, Iceland couldn't help but feel attracted toward the Vietnamese woman. Iceland cringed at the cheesy thoughts that just went through his mind.
Come on Emil, she is just merely an acquaintance not a crush.
It was easier said than done for Iceland, when he looked over to see if Vietnam was still okay. She was practically radiant with joy and excitement. This wasn't the Vietnam he had seen from the previous trips to other countries' houses. The Vietnam he was now looking at was rather another piece of the Vietnamese nation that only few would ever see. That thought just made Iceland feel even more attracted to her.
"Ugh," groaned Iceland from either all the puking or the thought of crushes.
"Do you need to lie down?" inquired Vietnam, who tentatively patted Iceland's back in an attempt to comfort him.
"Er n-n-no," stuttered Iceland, who started to feel the growing heat of a blush on his cheeks, "we better get going before Denmark and my brother bet us."
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Of course."
Brushing away Vietnam's hand away, he began to stagger away from the trash can, and in a couple seconds, he was able to regain his sense of balance.
As soon as he was able to do so, Vietnam immediately grasped Iceland's arm, and began to lead him to a map of the Tivoli Gardens .
"Shall we resume our race?" questioned Vietnam with a small smile gracing her face.
"Of course," replied Iceland with his own small smile.
"Then," began Vietnam, already deciding where their next stop was, "Let's go!"
For the next couple hours or so, the two countries went to the various rides the Tivoli Gardens had to offer. From dizzying roller coasters to a relaxing carousel ride, they had completed Denmark's challenge with many laughs, surprises and smiles along the way. Once they reached to the spot where the four of them had split up, Vietnam saw that Norway and Denmark were already waiting from them. And it seemed for quite a while since Denmark was already dozing off on Norway's shoulder while the latter was lazily looking on his phone.
"No!" shouted Vietnam, kneeling onto the ground. "How could they? My free food...gone forever!"
"It's okay Vietnam," reassured Iceland, awkwardly patting her back, "at least you don't have to pay by yourself."
"Oh yeah," realized Vietnam, "that's good. At least both of our wallets will suffer together."
"Okay…"
"Yo Vietnam," called out Denmark,who bore no signs of grogginess, "it looks like you two get to pay for me and Norge's lunch!"
"Don't remind me Denmark," sighed Vietnam, digging out a fancy-looking pouch from her backpack, "tell me what you want so I can get this over with."
Giving her a wicked grin, Denmark knew just the place where they should have lunch.
"We are seriously eating inside the pagoda?" inquired Vietnam, looking up at the luminescent edifice in wonder.
"The food is very good here," said Denmark, beginning to stroll towards the entrance of the pagoda like he owned the place, "which means it's verrrry pricy."
Vietnam internally sighed, and followed Denmark into the building.
While Denmark was chatting with the hostess in Danish, Vietnam had the chance to look around the highly talked about pagoda a lot of visitors were pumped on visiting it.
It kind of looked like it came straight out of Japan's place with the majority of the architecture being made out of a variety of wood. The place had the feeling that made the guest feel like they were transported out to the Orient with a few western twists to it. For a fancy restaurant, the atmosphere had a bit more laid back air to it instead of the typical snobbish kind.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Vietnam turned her eyes away from the restaurant and saw that they were being ushered to a table by a waiter.
When she was finally seated into her seat, she was handed a simple menu that included both Danish and English. Looking over at the menu options, she was growing more hungrier, but when she saw the prices beside each option, Vietnam immediately wanted to sprint out of the restaurant and willingly have McDonald's.
"Are you guys ready to order?" inquired the waiter in a slightly accented voice.
"Oh ja," replied Denmark, handing the waiter his menu, " Me and my boyfriend would like to eat at the buffet."
"Ok then," said the waiter, scribbling down something on his notebook, "and you two?"
"I'll take a kid's meal please," responded Vietnam meekly.
The waiter gave her a strange look, but shrugged and went onto to Iceland, who ordered the same exact thing.
"Alright," began the waiter, giving Denmark and Norway each a ticket, "you two can go to the buffet and enjoy. While you guys will have to momentarily wait for your meal."
As soon as the waiter walked away from their table, Denmark then said, "Well then, let's go Norge before they run out of the salmon."
"You can go ahead," replied Norway, who glanced over at Vietnam and Iceland with concern, "I need a moment with these two."
"If you say so," said Denmark reluctantly.
Giving the Norwegian a small kiss on the top of his head, Denmark went over to the slightly crowded buffet area.
"Now then," began Norway, turning back to the meek-looking pair, "what's the matter with you two?"
"Seriously Norway?" huffed Iceland, turning his head away from his brother, "we just lost the challenge, and we have to pay an insane amount for just a meal."
"Is that it?"
Looking over at Vietnam, Norway saw that she was nodding in agreement with Iceland.
Norway heaved a sigh, and said, "Look, Denmark was kidding about the paying for dinner part."
"What?!" shouted Vietnam and Iceland in unison.
"Are you sure?" pressed Vietnam, who didn't know whether to jump with joy or flip over their table with rage.
"Yes I'm sure. He just wanted to mess with you two."
"Why I ought to kill that idiot for this," muttered Iceland to himself.
"Hey, from what I saw throughout the day, you two seemed to have a great day with each other. Also, Denmark is willing to pay the entire bill as a consolation gift when he reveals what he did to you two. So act surprised."
It was true that they had a great time with each other. Without this challenge, Vietnam wouldn't have the chance to get to know Iceland. Plus, Denmark was giving them free food, so that meant that Vietnam was in a wonderful win-win situation. Maybe she shouldn't punch Denmark after all.
Hi there! I know it's been a whole month since I last updated, but with me going to a funeral which had me flying over to California to yucky finals last month, I had no time to type anything out. :( But, it's summer vacation which means that I can update a lot more every week! :D So, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and have an awesome day and night!