Arthur marched through the palace halls, perfectly at home in the stone castle filled with guards, soldiers and courtiers milling about. While the kingdom of Prathage and its capital city of Primgate were completely unknown to him, there was the air of familiarity to the atmosphere of their royal palace.
It almost felt like he had been taken back in time to the reign of Elizabeth I.
Antonio was leading Basch and Arthur briskly through the royal halls, with no falter in the Duke's steps as he acknowledged all the greetings from those they passed by. Arthur could see that Antonio was well-respected here by everyone, and strode with a confidence that made him seem like a king in his own right.
They turned down a hallway where a set of large doors stood at the very end. The doors were slightly opened, and there was a man with shoulder-length blond hair talking to the two guards at the end.
"Feliks," Antonio called out as they approached.
The blond turned to look at them, and Arthur immediately recognized the man.
"Your Excellency," Feliks hailed, "Welcome back!"
"Is Alfred in there?" Antonio asked.
"He sure is," Feliks answered, "Just some maps and paperwork, you won't be interrupting much."
"Perfect timing then," Antonio said, "Do you know where the twins are right now?"
"Yes, they're just down the hallway here," Feliks confirmed, "I can go get them, if you like."
"Yes please," Antonio requested, "Bring them right into the room."
Feliks gave a quick bow before striding off down the left hallway, leaving the guards where they were.
"I know Feliks from my world as well," Arthur quietly told Basch and Antonio, "He's another fellow nation called Poland."
"I can't help but wonder," Basch reflected, "how many fellow nations you will end up finding in this realm."
One of the guards pushed on the doors to open them fully, before standing aside for Antonio to lead their group in. The room had a large meeting table in the center, covered in detailed maps sprawled out, while scrolls of paper were stacked neatly at the corners. A very familiar blond had been hovering over the table to look at something closely, only for his gaze to focus on the opened door.
"Remember to behave," Arthur whispered to himself, "It's not actually America."
"Antonio, there you are," Alfred welcomed, a huge smile forming on his face, "Did everything go well in Inasdiff?"
"It went very well, Alfred," Antonio answered as they approached each other and patted each other on the shoulders, "King Gilbert was happy to see me, and to hear about how we're ready to resume our diplomatic relations with Ixaidel."
"That sounds fantastic, you'll have to tell me everything," Alfred acknowledged, "And who are your guests, Ixaidellian emissaries?"
"That would be correct, your Highness," Basch confirmed, stepping forward and giving a small bow, "I am Duke Basch Zwingli of Gaeniel, cousin to King Gilbert."
"The Duke of Gaeniel, of course," Alfred recognized, "I'm pleased to meet you, I know how cooperation with Gaeniel will be paramount to re-opening our borders."
"Yes, that is why Gilbert sent me," Basch supported, "Since you were so kind to send Antonio to re-open diplomatic relations between Prathage and Ixaidel, Gilbert felt it was only right to return the gesture."
"Of course, you'll be welcome to stay as long as you like," Alfred accepted, "And who is your friend here, a fellow emissary?"
"This is Arthur Kirkland, your Highness," Basch introduced, "He has been an honoured guest of King Gilbert while at Inasdiff, and he accompanied us here."
"I am pleased to meet you, your Highness," Arthur greeted, giving the Prince a small bow.
"Arthur's story is quite unusual, there is quite a bit to explain," Antonio elaborated, "I have reason to believe that Feliciano and Lovino might be able to help him with his strange mission."
A knock at the door sounded, and Arthur turned to see Feliks entering the room with the very familiar Italian twins.
"Antonio, welcome back," Feliciano greeted, "Was it nice in Ixaidel?"
"It was fantastic," Antonio answered, "Feliciano, Lovino, this is Arthur Kirkland, he has an unusual situation where he might need your specialized assistance."
"Hello Arthur," Feliciano immediately welcomed, offering his hand for Arthur to shake, "It's nice to meet you!"
"It's nice to meet you too."
Arthur accepted Feliciano's handshake, only for Feliciano to freeze the action mid-shake. The pleasant smile on Feliciano's face had shifted to an expression of focus and confusion as he focused intensely on looking at Arthur's hand, not letting go of it. The man's eyes suddenly went wide in realization before looking at Arthur in the eyes and speaking.
"You're not from this world, are you?"
"What?" Alfred gasped, while Antonio chuckled in the background.
"That was fast," Arthur remarked as Feliciano let go of his hand and reached for his shoulder instead, "What can you see?"
"In your world, you are known as the nation of England," Feliciano declared, "A strange spell has been cast upon you, and brought your mind into our realm."
"Are you serious?" Lovino exclaimed, "Let me check him!"
"If only my mind is here, then where is the rest of me?" Arthur queried, "Can you see how I got here?"
"Your body is still at home, asleep in your bed," Feliciano specified as Lovino placed a hand on Arthur's other shoulder, "Your adventure here has no bearing on your body, it's only your mind experiencing it."
"You'll wake up in your bed when your time here is done," Lovino elaborated, "This will all be like a dream during your sleep, which finishes with a poisoned apple that has lost its poison."
"A poisoned apple that has lost its poison?" Feliks repeated, "That makes no sense."
"It seems he's meant to find it somehow," Lovino defended, "It's the key to returning home, and will appear at the end of Arthur's journey here."
"I might be seeing what Arthur's purpose is here," Feliciano continued, "There are things in this world that aren't right, with riddles to solve and spells to be broken. You are a catalyst, meant to set these things right, and help us solve these problems. The spell is mentioning a - how do you say that? It's the name of the book on your nightstand at home."
"Oh dear god," Arthur gasped, "Don Quixote?"
"That's a strange pronunciation," Feliciano noted.
"The x is meant to be a silent j in the original language," Arthur explained, "Don Quixote is the main character, he's an idiot who deludes himself into thinking he's a knight meant to go on adventures and find glory."
"Isn't that essentially what you're doing here?" Alfred pointed out, "You're dreaming that you are in a different realm, and that you are meant to go on glorious adventures and make the world a better place?"
"I am not nearly as much of a bumbling idiot as Don Quixote, Your Highness," Arthur denied, "However, given the situation, I can see how my story so far is similar to his."
"Who are these Italies?" Feliciano prodded, "Why do they look like me and Lovino?"
"There are alternate versions of some of us that Arthur knows very well in his own world," Antonio answered, "In that world, Arthur is the personification of the Kingdom of England, representing a community of people with a common government. When we met in Inasdiff, he explained that my alternate is one of his rivals, the Kingdom of Spain. He also immediately identified Lovino, Feliciano and even Alfred based solely on their names when I mentioned them."
"He knew me by name?" Alfred checked, "Who am I in your world, Arthur?"
"You represent the United States of America, your Highness," Arthur replied, "We know each other far too well, I raised you in that world as if I were your elder brother."
"He was able to describe your appearance and personality based on your name alone," Antonio added on, "It was quite impressive."
"Who else have you identified in this world from your own?" Feliks asked, "Is it everyone you've encountered in this world, or only select people?"
"It is only a select few people that I know in both worlds," Arthur clarified, "Back at Inasdiff, I immediately recognized Basch, King Gilbert, Prince Ludwig, and their valet Kiku, along with Antonio when he visited. I know you in my own world, Feliks, along with everyone else in this room. I also recognized the name of Princess Madeline when Antonio spoke of her, I most likely know her as well. That is everyone so far."
"We have reason to believe this is a clue to Arthur's journey in this world," Basch added, "Finding the other people he knows from his own world will lead him down the right path. When Antonio explained how Feliciano and Lovino might be able to help, Arthur immediately recognized their names. That's how we determined that Arthur needed to come to Primgate."
"That was the right move, it's the key to his strategy here," Lovino reviewed, "It seems that he is meant to make things happen for those of us he knows in both worlds. As he finds us, he's supposed to help us unravel the situations that need to be resolved. Once he has helped everyone he needs to help, the poisoned apple will appear."
"Well then, it's obvious what needs to happen," Alfred decided, "Arthur, you will stay here as our honoured guest for as long you like. Our assistance and resources are at your disposal as you need us."
"Thank you, your Highness," Arthur accepted, "Your hospitality is greatly appreciated."
Author's Notes
A brief explanation of Don Quixote, for those of you who don't know the story that's now been around for 400 years.
Alonso Quixano is a middle-aged nobleman who has been reading way too many Spanish chivalry novels. One day, he starts having delusions that he is a brave knight-errant who needs to go on daring adventures, save kingdoms and marry princesses, under the name "Don Quixote de la Mancha". He and a local farmer named Sancho Panza travel the countryside and get into hijinks in the small towns, with Don Quixote imagining windmills to be terrifying monsters or village inns to be castles for example. The regular people who get mixed up in Don Quixote's shenanigans are all brought together and find ways to coincidentally resolve their own problems via exposure to this dumbass.
Some of the comments around taking slaves from northern Africa and converting Muslims to Christianity are definitely dated, but the story is still quite fun (and long) to read. The author of the story, Miguel de Cervantes, even makes a few self-insert comments reminiscent of modern fanfiction writing. This includes teasing about a sequel he still hadn't written for another work of his, and deliberate bitterness in the preface of Volume 2 about how another writer tried to write Volume 2 before him based off of Volume 1.
For those of you who still follow the Hetalia World Stars manga, the updates a few years ago included chapters where Spain and Romano were making references to this infamous story.
As Arthur defends himself here in my story, he is not as much of a bumbling idiot as Don Quixote. Still, if a modern-day Arthur were to end up in a magical realm on a fairy-tale level adventure like he does in this story, you can't convince me that he wouldn't go all out with the roleplay. As for the breaking of spells and setting things right, Arthur's presence alone is going to make things happen in this alternate realm.