GAH! THIS IS SUCH A LONG CHAPTER I'M SO SORRY!

Also, I've decided to drop the "accents" except for China's aru. Don't worry though, I'll still put in an occasional foreign word for each character. (Example; "Oui, mon ami. I think that's a good idea." It's pretty obvious who that is right?)

I think this might be the longest chapter so far! Don't be mad at me!

-luvlani88

"Germania."

A voice is calling me. It sounds familiar.

"Germania."

There it is again. Who is that?

"Germania."

The accent sounds Italian. I'm sure it's not Italy or Romano, but the voice sounds similar to theirs.

"Germania."

I call back this time, dying to know who could be calling my name.

"Who's there?"

The words don't come from my mouth, but somehow they're spoken.

"Open your eyes."

Open my eyes? How was I supposed to do that? I wasn't even…I couldn't even feel my own body. It was as if I wasn't aware of my own self. So how was I supposed to open my eyes?
Just thinking about it seemed to trigger something. I suddenly felt a gust of wind on my face. And something was brushing against my chin, tickling me gently.

"I want to show you something."

I opened my eyes, and all of my senses immediately went into overdrive. The sudden onset of sound, sights, smells, and textures rushed at me all at once, and I felt dizzy. I blinked once to clear my head.

I was in a forest, lying face down in the lush grass. There was a mild breeze blowing, causing the trees to sway to and fro, and making the grass ruffle with each gust of wind.
I was dreaming. I had to be.
How could I be here in a forest when just a minute ago, I was in the Vatican getting shot by…I didn't want to think about it.
Although, even if I was dreaming, it was a weird dream.
I stood up, feeling disoriented. What was I doing here? Why would I suddenly start dreaming about a forest? And who was calling my name earlier?

A flash of something between the trees snapped me out of my thoughts.

Had I imagined that? Oh wait, it's a dream. Aren't I imagining everything? "Hello? Is someone there?" I called out hesitantly.
Because obviously some weird hallucination is going to engage in conversation with me. Right. I thought sarcastically.

There it was again! A flash of…white? I was feeling uncomfortable now. The wind was starting to pick up and the trees were roaring with the wind in between their branches.
I took a step back. As soon as I did, another flash of déjà vu came over me. Had I been here before? Where was "here" anyway?
There was another flash of white between the trees, this time much closer to me. I took a few more steps in the same direction.
Okay, scratch that.
I started to walk in that direction, desperate to get away from the strange illusion. Maybe I'd come across something. Like civilization. That'd be nice, wouldn't it? Then I realized what was wrong.

It was following me.

I broke out into a run. I wasn't sure why, but something about that…flash of white just made me uneasy. And at the same time, something about its presence felt…familiar, yet dangerous. Very dangerous.
I kept running, glancing behind me now and then. I could only hear the wind roaring now, and the sound of my heart beating painfully fast in my chest. As I glanced around again, my foot caught on a root of a tree, and I fell.
I was in a clearing, and I immediately knew why this all felt familiar.

There was a tomato box, sitting on the grass.
And sitting on top of it, was Italy.

He didn't seem to notice my entrance. He was sitting crossed-legged there, toying with a white flag in his hands, while his knee bounced.
"I-Italy?!" I gasped.
He was peering out into the forest with what I can only describe as a look of concern mixed with determination.
"I-Italy, what are you doing here?!" I stood up.
No reply. He just kept looking around himself, as if looking out for an enemy attack.
Was this…anxiety? Did he have something to do with the weird white illusion in the forest?
"Italy, what's going on? Why are you just sitting here?" I pressed again.

Finally, he looked up at me "Oh! Germany! I didn't notice you there…" He said absent-mindedly, and went back to looking around wildly.
"Italy, what the hell is going on?!" I demanded, unable to stand it any longer. I was paranoid now, worried about what I had seen in the trees. Was that what he was so worried about? "Italy, I said-"

"You shouldn't be here." He said suddenly.
I blinked, confused by this. "What do you mean? I don't even know how I got h-"
I stopped as another flash of white darted between the trees. It was even closer now.

"Get behind me and stay quiet." Italy said suddenly, tensing.
I stared at him for a minute, and then crouched down behind the box of tomatoes. I was too stunned to argue.
I had basically landed in the same forest that I first met Italy, who was now standing up in front of the tomato box, white flag in hand, and was being stalked…chased…whatever, by something in the forest.

"What's going on?" I whispered to him.
"It's back." He replied, not even bothering to lower his voice.
I was afraid. I wasn't sure of what yet, but seeing Italy like this was nerve-wracking. His eyes were closed, but I could see the look of determination on his face clearly. Wait a minute…Was Italy planning to fight?
"What's back?" I raised my head up a bit, trying to see the flash of white again.
"It."
I was surprised when Italy pretty much spat out the word. As if he was disgusted by it.
"What is it? Is it some sort of animal?"
"No, but it might as well be. IT'S DISGUSTING!" He yelled out the last two words as an insult to the predator in the trees.
So he WAS disgusted by it. It had to have some sort of strength in it for it to attack, right? Then why was Italy going to fight back? Why wasn't he going to surrender, like usual? What exactly was this thing?
"What's disgusting? What are you talking about?!" I demanded.
The thing in the trees was closer.
It was still moving quickly from tree to tree, but it was almost hovering near us. What the heck?
"Germany's my friend. You can't come near him." I realized he was talking to the thing in the trees.
Italy tensed, gripping the white flag in his hand like a make-shift sword.
"Germany, run."
"W-what?"
"Run! Hurry!"
"Why? What's going on?!"
"Germany, please! I can't let him get near you!"
Him?
I stuttered for a minute, trying to come up with a response to this, when Italy yelled at me. I'm not kidding, he YELLED at me.
"DON'T JUST SIT THERE! RUN!"

I shakily backed up a couple steps, and then ran in the opposite direction, back out into the forest. This had to be the most insane dream I've ever had.
I kept glancing over my shoulder as I ran. It felt so weird to leave Italy like that, to fend for himself. Although he had insisted on it, I still felt guilty for just running away.
The guilt was suddenly replaced with fear when I glanced behind me and spotted another flash of white.

It was following me.
Crap.

I was too far away to hear or see Italy now, and I was about to run back to him, hoping that he was okay, when I realized something.
This was a dream.
This was all a dream.
I was simply dreaming.
I slowed down and stopped running. What was the point? It was only a dream. A crazy, weird, vivid, insane, frighteningly detailed, real-life-seeming dream.
A few moments after I stopped, whatever was chasing me slowed down and eventually seemed to stop too. In fact, I would say that it stopped behind a tree a few feet in front of me, hiding in the shadows cast by other trees.

It's just a dream. It's just a dream. I thought as I tried to calm my heart. I had no need to be afraid. It was only a dream, and eventually I would wake up.
"H-hello?" I spoke loudly enough so the thing behind the trees could hear me.
I was getting annoyed with all of this. It didn't make any sense, which pissed me off. Then again…How did I know that this thing was even a person?
"Is…Is someone there?" I sounded idiotic, but at this point, I didn't care.
I listened carefully. There was a sound of someone or something shifting.

"I-it's you…!" A very quiet voice. So it was a person. Perfect.
"Who are you and why are you chasing me?" I asked, a little calmer now.
"…I…I'm glad to…I'm glad to see you."
"Answer the question!"
There was silence for a minute, and it occurred to me that this person might not be fluent in English.
"I-I'm sorry. I…I wanted to talk to y-you…" It almost seemed like an apology.
I suddenly remembered what Italy had said earlier, about it being a "him". So just who was he?

"Who are you? Why were you…Why were you hunting Italy earlier?"
Obviously this person had attacked or at least intended to attack Italy before. Maybe I was under a bias, but the fact that he was an enemy of Italy didn't sit well with me.
"…I-I'm n-not! I-I wasn't!" I couldn't take it anymore. I took a few steps toward the tree before he spoke again.

"I'm glad to see you. Really, I am. I just wish he hadn't seen me…"
He? Was he talking about Italy? What was going on?
"Come out so I can see your face! Why are you hunting Italy?!" I demanded as I strode over to the tree. I wanted to see this guy face to face.
"Who are y-" I stopped as I made eye contact with him, my voice catching in my throat.

The flashes of white had been from his robes, a perfectly bleached white covered with dark stains of blood.
He was quite injured, with a bruise under his eye, a cut running from just under his left nostril, slicing through his lips, and ending just below his mouth. There were bruises, cuts and scrapes all over him and I could tell he had many more injuries under his clothes. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, his skin a sickly pale. It wasn't what he was wearing or his injuries that made me gasp.

"I'm not hunting Italy. Italy is hunting me!"

The tomato crate was nowhere in sight. I had left it far behind.

But Italy was standing right in front of me.

"Oh my god!"
Romano exclaimed as he ran over to the now shattered window.
The other nations ran over as well, everyone shaking off the disbelief and springing into action.
"What the hell?! He's…" Switzerland's voice trailed off as the nations watched Italy jump down from the window, jumping from roof to roof, ledge to ledge, with incredible precision and skill. They were high up, and it was easy to tell, even in the dark of the night, that Italy wasn't planning to jump down to the ground.

"He's going somewhere. We have to follow him!" America said.
"Let's go, aru!" China said, moving to jump out the window himself, but Vatican stopped him.
"He's going to the garage."
"How do you know that?" Iceland asked curiously.
"It's in that direction and it makes perfect sense. He wants a getaway vehicle." Vatican replied.
"Well then let's go! We can't let him get away!" America started moving to the door.

The nations were now running to the garage, with Romano and Vatican leading them to it.
"Signor Romano, what did your brother want from your office?" Vatican asked quietly.
Romano didn't answer. He just ran faster.

As the group of personifications neared the entrance to the huge garage, they heard a sound. An engine revving. "Crap!" Romano exclaimed as he threw open the doors leading to the garage.
Inside the garage, the other nations were surprised to see at least two dozen different vehicles, mostly sports cars and motorcycles.
What surprised them even more, however, was the fact that Italy was now on one of these motorcycles, a helmet on his head, speeding out of the garage.

"Come on!" Romano ran over to a motorcycle, and was soon turning the key in the ignition.
"You all go. I'll stay and start setting up connections. We'll be in touch soon." Estonia said.
In the end, it was America, France, Russia, China, Taiwan, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and Vatican who climbed into two larger sports cars, and sped out of the garage, with America and Sweden at the wheels.

"We have to hurry and catch up with him. He's fast, and having a larger group doesn't help our case." Vatican said. A few moments later, the two cars and the motorcycle were speeding out of the garage, accelerating quickly to catch up to Italy.
"…Can you all hear me?" Estonia had called Russia and China's cellphones, and started a three way call.
"Yup. All of us but Romano." America said.
"Have you caught up to Italy yet?"
"Not yet. He's moving pretty fast. The motorcycles that Romano and Italy are on are definitely built for speed." Switzerland commented.

A moment later, the countries realized that they were nearing the exit and entrance of Vatican City.
"Where's he going, anyway? " France asked nobody in particular.
"I have no clue. But I think it's necessary to mention that he's not going to be stopped at the border from the city to Rome." Vatican said.
"Why not? Don't you have to stop all vehicles for security, aru?" China asked, confused.
"Normally, yes. But not only is Master Veneziano allowed to cross back and forth without problem, all of his and his brother's vehicles are registered and allowed to cross without any questions. It doesn't matter that he isn't a nation anymore. His motorcycle will be allowed to cross no matter what." Vatican explained.

"He's right." Spain's voice suddenly came on. "And to top it off, the cars you guys are driving aren't the smallest ones there."
"What do you mean?" Russia asked.
"Mister Spain is correct. There are tons of smaller roads, alleyways, paths, you name it, in Rome. These cars are designed for long-term transportation, and not necessarily speed and swiftness." Vatican said.
"So what you're saying is…" France's voice trailed off as he thought about it.
"If we don't catch up to him on any main roads in Rome…" America was distracted by driving, and didn't finish his sentence either.
"Let me finish those idiots' sentences." Britain suddenly said over the phone. "If you lot don't catch up to him soon, you might lose him."
"…And if we lose him, it's all up to Romano to catch him." Taiwan said suddenly, finally understanding the weight that this situation held.

A few moments later, the countries watched as Italy drove through the entrance and exit of Vatican City, the officials simply unable to do anything to stop him. Romano drove out too, followed by both cars.

"Be careful everyone. Italy knows these roads better then the rest of us, obviously." Spain said over the phone.
"Yeah well , so does Romano." America said.
"We have to catch up to him soon. If he heads into the main part of Rome, we'll lose him for sure." Vatican said. "The media might not. Look above you. The media is all over this." Lithuania said with worry.

A few countries poked their heads out the window, and discovered that Lithuania was right. There were several news helicopters hovering over head, following the chase scene.
"Friends, please keep an eye on what appears on TV. It could help us win this race." Japan said.
"Trust me, we are. And mates, you might want to keep your eyes ahead." Britain said, and a moment later, the countries realized why.

Italy pulled out a gun and fired a few bullets at the cars. Sweden was lucky to have good driving skills, as he dodged most of the bullets, and made sure that none of them hit the windshield.
"You guys okay?" America asked. There was a moment of silence before France replied.
"Oui. We're fine."
"You have to hurry! If he shoots at Romano…!" Spain let his voice trail off as he watched the scene unfold on TV.
He could see Romano's motorcycle quickly gaining ground, and slowly but surely catching up to his brother.

"We can't let him pull the trigger again. How do we stop him from firing?" Japan asked nobody in particular.
"Here. Let me see if I can be of any help." Switzerland said, suddenly pulling out a relatively large gun and leaning slightly out the window.
"Switzerland, why do you have a gun?" Russia asked innocently.

Switzerland didn't answer. He closed one eye and aimed at the speeding motorcycle. Placing his finger on the trigger, he gripped the gun tighter.
Suddenly, he leaned back in the car and put the gun down with frustration.
"Ugh. I can't get a shot. He's moving around to much. And he's too fast." He said with disappointment.

"I have an idea, aru!" China said suddenly. "Taiwan! Give me one of your hair pins!"
Taiwan blinked. "What? Why?"
"Just trust me, aru!" China said, annoyed by the delayed response.
Taiwan reached up and took out a long, slender, and rather thick, hair pin from her hair and handed it to China with a look of puzzlement.
"China? What are you doing?" France asked.
"Proving that sometimes ancient techniques work much better then modern ones, aru." The old country said as he leaned out of the window, the pin in his hand.

Closing one eye, he held the pin expertly between his slender fingers. And he waited. A moment later, Italy glanced back again, raising the gun.
"China!" Taiwan exclaimed, and was about to reach over and pull him back inside, when he did it.

China threw the pin like a dart, perfectly timed and perfectly aimed, and watched as it hit Italy's arm, causing him to drop the gun.
The cars and Romano swerved to avoid running over it, as everyone's jaws dropped, stunned.

"China! Dude!" America grinned.
"Woah." Switzerland shook his head in amazement.
"Quite impressive, China." France smiled with appreciation.
"Don't thank me yet. He has another gun, aru!" China drew in a sharp breath as he watched Italy pull out yet another weapon.
"Can you preform the same trick again, China?" Russia asked.
"I don't have any more hair pins…!" Taiwan said worriedly.

"I don't know what just happened, but good job. Although I should warn you, you're getting closer to-" Iceland said over the phone, but Vatican cut him off.
"More traffic, more cars, more people, and more roads for him to detour onto." The countries tensed.

Suddenly, they realized something.
Romano was catching up.
They watched as the older Italian brother accelerated just enough to be driving almost beside him. They held their breath as Italy, once again, raised a gun to his brother's head.
Even though they were both wearing full motorcycle helmets, a shot that close could easily hit Romano's skull.
With quick thinking, Romano fell back just enough to avoid the shot. He sped up again, only to reach out and grab the weapon, and his brother's hand.
They struggled for a moment, and everyone held their breath, while America and Sweden desperately tried to speed up, and help the situation.
A moment later, Romano fell back again, swerving to avoid the bullets that were now aiming for him.
He felt one just miss his shoulder as he fell back to the speed of the two cars.

"Switzerland, give me your gun!" He shouted to the nation as he flipped the visor of his helmet up.
"What? I couldn't get a shot! There's no way you can make a shot like that while driving!" Switzerland countered.

Romano stared at him for a moment, and then spoke. "Just give it to me!" He said with frustration, trying to keep his eyes on the road ahead.
"I advise that you do give it to him, Mister Switzerland." Vatican spoke up suddenly. "Signor Romano is quite skilled…"
Switzerland hesitated, and then gave the gun over to the Italian, deciding against his better judgment.
"Does he expect to make that shot?" Belarus' voice came over the phone, thick with irritation, obviously wanting this chase to end.
"I guess so." France shrugged.

Back in Vatican City, the countries held their breath, watching the big TV screen intently.
The nations in the cars held their breaths too, as Romano sped up significantly, and raised his arm.

Sorry Fratello. He thought as he pulled the trigger.

There was a loud popping noise, and everyone watched as Italy swerved off the road.

Romano had shot the back tire dead on.

Everyone gasped as the younger Italian brother swerved and basically drove off the road into a ditch, flying off of his motorcycle. He was up in the air for a moment, and then fell.
As soon as he was off the road, all three vehicles stopped a few feet ahead and ran over to where he had swerved. Peering over the railing, all of their breaths caught in their throats as they stayed silent, unable to fully comprehend what they saw below them.
The motorcycle was definitely destroyed. However, the one thing that wasn't destroyed was Italy.

Because he had disappeared.

"What the hell?!" America exclaimed, as he pulled off his glasses and put them back on, making sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Italy-san has disappeared…" Japan murmured in awe.
"…Nice shot." Switzerland said quietly.
Just as he said this, the air was suddenly thick with the sounds of sirens, coming towards them.
"Emergency Responders…How do we explain all of this?" France said as he got a glimpse of the flashing red and blue lights.
"…We don't. Everyone saw what happened at the press conference earlier. There shouldn't be much surprise." Vatican said.

Soon, there were many policemen, firefighters, and an ambulance on the scene.
The countries all agreed to let the medical team check them over for any injuries, and soon most of them were given a clean bill of health, so to speak.
"Signor Romano-" Vatican had finished his medical exam and was about to call over Romano to begin his, when he realized that he was no where in sight.
The other nations noticed too.
"There he is." Sweden said suddenly, pointing over the railing where Italy had fallen. The others went to the railing and silently looked over again.

The policemen and firefighters had already checked over the wreckage sight and determined that the motorcycle was totaled, and there was in fact, nobody down there with it.
There wasn't anybody down there except for Romano.
The nations watched in silence as Romano, who had his hands in his pockets, stared silently at the wreckage scene. His head lowered.
It was clear to the other nations that the adrenaline he had had that had propelled him forward was gone. The effects of the situation they had been in was finally taking its toll, and it wasn't a good feeling.

Suddenly, Romano lifted his head, cocking it to the side. The nations watched as Romano bent down towards the motorcycle helmet. He studied it for a minute, then reached out and picked something up, something smaller that they couldn't see.
As he stood back up, the other personifications realized how pissed he would probably be at them for spying at him, and moved away from the railing, trying to look natural.

"Did you see anything down there, Romano-san?" Japan asked gently as Romano returned to the roadside.
"Yeah. I got the document he took from my office back…" He said as he gestured with the folded piece of paper in his hand. "…And this." He held up his other finding.
"What is it?" Russia peered at it curiously.
"It belongs to my brother."
It was a necklace. A silver chain held a small silver cross, obviously a catholic symbol. Romano suddenly reached under his jacket, beneath his shirt, and pulled out a similar one. "We have the same one." He said. It was true, the necklaces were identical.
"Well at least you recovered it. I'm guessing it means a lot to you…" Taiwan said softly. Romano nodded, staring down at the necklace in his hands. He closed his fist around it, and shoved it into his pocket.

"Let's go. I don't wanna stay here any longer then I need to." He mumbled and walked away.

When they arrived back at Vatican City, they weren't surprised to find that the media had indeed followed them, and caught the entire thing on camera, broadcasting it everywhere. Not to mention, there were lots of reporters outside.
Vatican escorted everyone into a large library on the second floor, allowing them to converse without fear of being overheard. The group of nations who stayed behind were told the entire story.

"Well that was weird. He, like, totally disappeared!" Poland said, throwing himself down on a couch.
"It must have been North Pole. He was up in the air for a moment before he fell." Japan commented.

"How's Germany? Is he awake yet?" Switzerland asked.
"He's fine. He hasn't yet, but the doctors said probably in the morning." Austria replied.

"So…What now?" America asked. Britain stood up from where he had been sitting.
"I suppose we should all just retire to our beds for now. It's rather late. Tomorrow we can-"
"Goodnight." Romano called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"You'll have to excuse him." Vatican apologized, quick to make up for Romano's behavior. "It's been a stressful day, for all of us really. He's just…" His voice trailed off as he searched for the right word to use.

Hungary nodded. "We understand. It is his brother after all…" Her voice suddenly trailed off too, as she thought about Italy, and hoped that he was at least uninjured.
"Anyway, let's get to bed. I feel like I could fall asleep right now." France yawned.
"Yeah, me too." Finland agreed. Suddenly, the normally happy nation frowned. "I can't believe this is real. I mean….just, wow." He said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I know what you mean. Our friend Italy has been taken by Atlantis. Remember how Romano said that his grandfather's citizens called Atlantis pure evil? I'm starting to agree." Hungary murmured softly.
"And she has some of our other friends and family too. Geez…" America shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Let's all try to get some sleep. We have a lot of things to take care of in the morning." Austria said, and the nations nodded.

"Hey, before I forget…" Iceland spoke up suddenly. "Did anyone ask Romano what Italy wanted from his office?"
"It was a document. But I don't' know what it was for…" Russia answered.
The nations looked around at each other.
"Should we ask? Or would that be rude?" Taiwan asked.
"I don't think we should right now. Maybe later. Besides…" France sighed. "Romano's probably having the worst night of his life tonight."
The countries agreed to give the Italian some space.

Romano didn't intend on going to bed.
In fact, even sleeping seemed like a stupid idea.

He walked briskly, but quietly back to his office. He shivered as he went inside, as the shattered window was letting in the cool night air, causing the room to lower in temperature.
He walked straight to his computer. It only took him a few seconds to find the document again.
He always knew where it was. He printed off a copy. As he took the paper from his printer, he quickly deleted the entire document off of his computer, erasing it from existence.

As soon as he was done, he left the office, not even bothering to close the door behind him. He sighed as he began to make his way up to his bedroom. Several flights of stairs later, he found himself walking down the familiar hallway leading to his bedroom.
Romano opened the door, walked inside, and then quickly shut it firmly behind him, sighing as he did so.
As he turned the lock on the door, he looked around.
Everything was in place. The grand room that he slept in was perfectly fine.
Good.

After taking a quick shower, Romano changed into sweat pants and a lose t-shirt. His tired body was longing for the relief of his warm bed, but he fought the temptations. And after shutting the large windows and drawing the curtains over them, Romano got to work.
The copy of the document was hidden quickly, somewhere that only he would know to look for it.
The Italian pulled the small couch from one side of his room and placed it about eight feet from the doors.
He dragged his horizontal dresser along next, lining it up so that the short end was pressed firmly against the crack between the two doors, blocking both at the same time.
He looked around the room one last time and picked up a bedside lamp. He placed it on the dresser, right on the edge, so that if the dresser was bumped at all, the lamp would fall and crash to the ground.
Lastly, he went to his closet and took out two objects from a hidden compartment. As he sat down on the couch with a large gun in his hand and a smaller one at his side, he took out his brother's necklace.

Romano pressed it to his lips silently for a moment, and then buried it back in his pocket.
The nation wouldn't sleep. He couldn't. He no longer felt safe in his own home. He knew where everything was, but so did his brother.
"Anytime, any place." He wasn't lying when he had spoken the same words at the press conference earlier.
Romano wouldn't sleep tonight.

Good night, Fratello. He thought. I love you.

Dear god, why was that so long?! Anyway, hope you enjoyed and once again, thank you for the reviews/feedback!