Thanks to HelloThereHowAreYou, Kramburg, NadiaJA627 and Redbayly for reviewing. Hey, sorry for the delay. I've been having trouble sleeping and I had to rewrite some parts of this chapter several times. Well, I hope you'll like it! Now, on with the show!
(Deltarune OST: School)
"Hey, are we there yet?" Taiwan barked over to her guide, who jumped at her loud voice.
It's been… uhm… some time since she sweetly asked Canada to lead her to where America supposedly could be, and Taiwan was already getting impatient. Good Buddha, couldn't Canada walk any faster? They were in a search for her heroic chipmunk, not marching in a parade or walking the carpet! It's not like they had all day to get there, you know. Seriously, tick tock.
Taiwan wanted to least have a short but fun conversation with America before she'll have to go back to wandering the halls in boredom and loneliness since she wasn't allowed to attend the meetings… You know, since she wasn't a member of the United Nations and China was a petty shitty old fart. Yeah, it sucks. Well… at least she could always count on her friends to tell her what happened… and sneaking into the ventilation shaft to spy on the meeting.
She'd protest as she always did, but honestly, she's lucky to be allowed inside the building. Maybe it'd be best if she didn't push her luck and piss off the big, stronger nations into banning her from being anywhere near the UN headquarters.
"I-I told you, it's on the highest floors, so o-of course it's gonna take a while to get to the…" Canada trailed off and paled in fear at Taiwan's awesome glare, and he chuckled nervously like the doormat he was. And he wondered why he's so forgettable…
Hey, at least Taiwan wasn't showering him with insults. He's a doormat and a two-faced sneak, alright, but she wasn't cruel. At least he's cooperating for once. Besides, Taiwan didn't want to risk insulting her only ticket to America's possible location and send him running away in tears.
And… America probably won't be happy to hear that Taiwan just made his 'sweet as honey, adorkable, and innocent' twin brother cry.
"B-But then again, we wouldn't w-wanna risk missing Alfred, eh?" Canada corrected himself with a shaky nervous smile while Taiwan never broke her glare. "S-So how about we walk a little faster? N-No, in fact, how about we sprint a little? I could sure use a bit of exercise, heh heh..."
"Yeah, sounds like a great idea." Taiwan said darkly, and her threatening tone helped make Canada walk even faster. Good.
With that, Taiwan felt that they could actually to… wherever it was where they're going in time. Hey, that's right. She didn't really ask Canada where he suspected America could be, and that darn snowflake never even bothered to tell her either! Oh, how inconsiderate of him!
Fine. She'll just ask him herself then.
"So, where are exactly are we going, Bob? Where's Alfred?" Taiwan asked bluntly as she followed her guide, distractedly glancing around at her surroundings. "And how come you know about it and I don't?"
Canada squeaked, and looked back at her with an offended expression. "I told you, my name's Canada!"
"Really? You look more like a Bob to me."
"T-Taiwan, this isn't funny!"
"Whatever you say, Bob." Taiwan waved it off with a cheerful smile, and Canada sighed in dismay. Yeah, it's petty, but she intended on doing it until he acknowledged her as a nation! "So, the question? Where is Alfred, and how do you know about it?"
Canada muttered a few words under his breath in a depressed manner, something about no one remembered him (you know, the usual angst), before Maple Syrup Brain finally realized that Taiwan asked him a question. "O-Oh! Well, you know how stressed often my brother gets right? Like, really stressed?"
Taiwan immediately nodded. "Of course I do! Alfie's the world superpower, after all. And you jerks are jealous because he's doing better than all of you and he's not letting ISIS members return to his country and give them gobs of money for no good reason unlike a certain moron…"
Canada paled, and he started sweating up a storm as he tried to horribly defend himself. "B-But ISIS is gone now, and they-"
But Taiwan didn't bother to let him finish, she smirked mischievously while crossing her arms over her chest. "And you wonder why people are embarrassed to be in the same room as you now… and why no one stood up for you when Saudi Arabia taught you a lesson."
Taiwan never thought she'd ever like Saudi Arabia before that incident.
"T-They're not in embarrassed to be around me!" Canada exclaimed in indignation, before faltering with his voice becoming quieter. "O-Okay, maybe India is embarrassed to be around me after my prime minister… and the Philippines dumped a trash bag on me during the last World Meeting… but it's not that bad."
"Then you clearly haven't heard what they've been saying about you at the ASEAN meetings." Taiwan couldn't help but remark with an amused smile, hiding her giggles with her long, flowing sleeve. When Canada gaped at her, she shrugged. "What? I love hearing the latest gossip."
Canada whimpered and his shoulder's slumped, while Taiwan just happily skipped along. It felt great to get back at people! "D-Do you want to know where Alfred is or are you going to keep making fun of me, eh?"
"I don't see why I can't do both." Taiwan gleefully stated, much to Canada's dismay, and she decided that that's enough shade for now. "So, Bob, let's get serious. Okay, we both know poor Alfie is under a lot of pressure, and he gets super-stressed thanks to you and the others. So, what about it?"
"W-Well, sometimes, or now that I think about it a lot of times, the stress gets too much for him." Canada's tone became grim, and Taiwan frowned at this. Oh, poor America… "So, he usually runs off to the supply closet upstairs to cool off before he can snap and go on a rampage or lift the whole building and throw it into the river, eh. And then after a while, he'd come back good as new."
Taiwan stared at him in bewilderment, not really sure if Canada was joking or not. "What? The supply closet upstairs? That's where he goes to calm down? Why? There's tons of other rooms where he can have lots of peace and quiet."
Canada shrugged, looking just as puzzled as she was. "I don't know. But that's where he goes. As for how I know that, I sometimes follow him to try to comfort him and I wanted to see where he ran off to so often, and it led me to the closet. B-But wow, he literally runs off to that place, and I always have a hard time keeping up. And I'd always arrive just as he went in the closet and closes the door."
Taiwan blinked, still finding this whole story a little weird. "Oh… But… what does Alfred do in there? It's not like he has a hidden console in there, right? Or am I wrong?
"I-I don't really know what he does in there, to be honest." Canada admitted earnestly, twiddling his thumbs as a concerned frown appeared on his face. "But whatever he does, he does makes sure to be super quiet about it, eh. I almost never hear any noise or Alfred's voice coming from inside… not even when I truly to talk to him."
Taiwan cocked her head to the side, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "He's probably sits there too deep in his thoughts to do anything else. And you've got some nerve trying to eavesdrop on him! Don't you have any respect for Alfie's privacy?"
Canada flinched at her glare and reprimand, and he tried to defend himself yet again. "I'm his brother! Can't I be worried for my twin? And don't you want to know what I did hear from the closet?"
Taiwan's eye twitched. Canada was really starting to grate on her nerves right now, and she didn't know how much longer she'll be able to resist the urge to sock him across the face if he kept saying dumb stuff like this. It's weird, normally she had more patience towards other people and was more polite to them (she had to, if she wanted to gain recognition), but there was something about Canada that made her want to stomp away from him.
Anyway, brother or not, if this guy actually believed he's better than his brother then he should've respected America's desire to be alone. Sure, Taiwan was kinda curious as to what Canada found out, but her feelings for America came before her silly curiosity, so forget it!
"Yeah, but it's still super rude!" Taiwan insisted, before she relented and sighed. Oh, she could scold him later. "And don't try to bribe me, Maple Syrup Brain! Unlike you, I love Alfie enough to know that it's not my business what he does when he wants to be alone. I bet it's just Alfie telling himself not to kill everyone despite how much his enemies and China deserve it or something like that."
"I-I told you, I was just worried about him!" Canada said again, growing more exasperated with each time. "I mean, I knew that maybe it wasn't very nice or respectful, but wouldn't you be worried if it sounded like your twin brother was talking to himself in the supply closet?"
Taiwan rolled her eyes. "Like I said, it's probably his unique way of cooling off and not tossing you people into the river. Don't we all do at some point? You know, mutter under our breath and say stuff to ourselves for some reason?"
"I know, but there's something off about-"
"Oh, for the love- Just get on with your story!"
"Okay, okay, fine! I started to figure that maybe he just wanted some time alone, so I decided to leave for a little while and come back to check up on him later." Canada explained cautiously so as not to piss off Taiwan again. "Sometimes I come back after about fifteen minutes to a half-hour later, mostly because I get too worried for him."
"Or maybe your curiosity got the best of you." Taiwan suggested, shooting him a disapproving look.
Canada looked like he wanted to sigh, and he gave her an exasperated look. "P-Please let me finish! And I when I try to open the door, it's either still locked with Alfred still not responding or… the door's unlocked but Alfred's not inside."
Taiwan quirked an eyebrow at this. "So? Maybe he just left while you were away."
"That's what I thought at first, eh, but then when I tried to look for him, I never manage to find him!" Canada exclaimed, distraught and worried. "And whenever I ask, no one's seen him go downstairs or anything. But even so, Alfred always manages to arrive back at the meeting room the break's over."
"I still don't see what's so scary or suspicious about all this, Bob." Taiwan said nonchalantly at Canada's dumb tale, not seeing what's the big deal. "So Alfred disappears to the supply closet or somewhere to blow off some team and calm down, so what? Maybe the reason you never seem to find him is because he makes super sure to remain hidden or something. I think he just doesn't want anyone to bother him."
Canada looked at her in shock, as if she wasn't getting the bigger picture and she was the crazy one here. "B-But… doesn't it bug you? Don't you think it's weird that Alfred would disappear without a trace like this so often?"
Taiwan merely rolled her eyes and waved her sleeve around, smirking. "You're being silly, Bob. Alfred just wants to be alone and at peace, end of story. So leave him alone already, would you? As for the whole disappearing without a trace part, that's just how good Alfred is. Besides, he's already weird, in an awesome, cute, special kind of way that makes him one of the best and most fun people you'll ever meet!
And are you even hearing yourself, Bob? How can you find this weird? Alfred can pick up a cruise ship with his own two hands, he never gains weight no matter how much he eats, he's luckily still a virgin, his roommate is literally an alien, etcetera, etcetera. But somehow him mysteriously disappearing when he's too stressed is crossing the line?"
Canada shrank, ashamed it looked like Taiwan's words had an effect on him. "It's just a gut feeling that I… Wait a minute, how do you know that Alfred's a-"
"Enough talk, Bob." Taiwan said quickly to avoid answering the question, grinning a bit too widely. He must never find out. "Less chatting, more hurrying up in leading me to where Alfred might be, please!
"D-Don't you dodge the question, Taiwan! I don't remember Alfred ever-"
"I SAID LESS CHATTING, BOB!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
After that enlightening and not very helpful conversation, thanks to Taiwan's 'encouragement' they finally arrived at the supply closet just as Taiwan was considering going on ahead without Canada, and she immediately sprinted forward to the door. In her excitement and hope that she finally found America, her hand grabbed the doorknob and was about to open it, but then she stopped herself.
Wait… Wait, wait, wait… What's she doing? If America's really in there, then it'd be terribly rude of her if she just barged in. She'd be intruding, violating his privacy! Oh, but Canada said that America always had the door locked, didn't he? I'd be more polite to knock. Then should she check if the door's locked and then knock? Yeah, she should go with that.
"Maybe we should first check if the door's locked first." Canada timidly suggested
No… REALLY?!
Taiwan bit back another sarcastic remark, reminding herself that America could very well be in earshot. She didn't want to make him upset after he had such a rough day. She instead mumbled an 'yeah, ok' before doing exactly what she was going to do anyway.
She grabbed the doorknob and then slowly and gently turned it.
Her eyes widened briefly in surprised.
"It's not locked," Taiwan said quietly, more to herself than to Canada. Wait, if it's not locked then didn't that mean…?
"Oh, it's not?" Canada questioned as he stepped up beside her, frowning at the door. "Maple, I'm not hearing anything either. Then this probably means that Alfred's not…"
Taiwan didn't wait for him to finish that sentence. She fully turned the doorknob and opened the door, clinging onto a small feeling of hope, or maybe that's just her being stubborn as always. Once she took in the sight before her, she was immediately felt a wave of disappointment.
(Deltarune OST: Drone)
It was a supply closet alright, and one that really needed some cleaning. Taiwan couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in disgust at the smell of dust and cleaning products. This place was a little bigger than you'd expect, it's actually about the size of a regular room of the building. Figures, since this place was huge, must be a pain to clean (especially if things got real messy if you knew what she meant).
It dark in here, but Canada was decent enough to turning on the light. Taiwan saw a lot of shelves with spray bottles ranging from cleaning agents to pesticide, buckets, cans among other things, a couple of mops and brooms. And for some reason, there was a mirror at the back of the room lying against the wall, big enough to be a bathroom mirror and it's the only thing that looks clean in this stinky closet.
But no Alfred.
This whole trip ended up being for nothing.
While Taiwan's shoulders slumped and her weird long curl drooped, Canada went and looked around, as if checking if America was hiding behind one of the shelves or under one of the blankets and was waiting for the right time to surprise them. She really wished that was the case, but she doubted it was. America would've already jumped out the moment he saw his best 'dudette' was sad.
When Canada appeared to finally give up, he let out a big sigh and shook his head, looking as disappointed as Taiwan. She clenched her fists at this and gritted her teeth. What was he disappointed for? That he won't be able to bother America? For all of Canada's whining that his brother was annoying, he sure seemed sad that he'd never manage to track him down.
His frowned deepened. "He's not here."
This time Taiwan didn't bother biting back a remark, "I can clearly see that, Bob. I'm not blind."
Instead of squeaking like a mouse or turning red in the face in response, Canada instead kept frowning. "And Hungary's not here either. Weird… Where could they be then, eh? Maybe they left while we were still looking for them. O-Oh!"
Canada apparently hadn't noticed before that Taiwan's now in a depressed mood.
"I'm sorry that we didn't find Alfred, Taiwan." He apologized, looking so genuinely sorry that it almost made Taiwan forget what a sellout he was. "I-I know how much you wanted to hang out with him, and I feel awful that I couldn't help you."
"Yeah, it stinks…" As disappointed as she was, Taiwan knew she couldn't blame Canada. She wasn't like that. For all they knew, they were never here in the first place. Still "And I know how much you wanted to violate his privacy, so, maybe it was for the best that he wasn't here."
Canada stared at her exasperatedly, and the look on his face helped make Taiwan feel a little better.
"I told you, it's nothing like that." Canada repeated for the umpteenth time, but Taiwan merely rolled her eyes. "I'm just worried for my brother!"
"Yeah, I didn't buy it when China told me those exact words and I'm not buying it now."
"Hey!"
For a moment, Taiwan forgot about her failure and rotten luck in life and snorted at Canada's indignation. Then, she groaned, like really loudly, and she would've dropped the floor too if it weren't so icky. Gosh, this sucked…
"Well, thanks anyway, I guess…" Taiwan shrugged, blowing the hair out of her face before she turned around to leave the room. "At least it was fun getting back at you for making your airports display me as a part of China. I'll be going now, goodbye."
Ugh, this was so unfair. All the time she spent on searching and it all ended up for nothing! Oh, where could America be?
Looked like Taiwan will just have settle to try having a conversation with him when he came back with Hungary from wherever they went, wait until the meeting was over for the day and get his attention before anyone else did. It was her only other chance now.
She sighed and proceeded to start walking out of the room.
"You know…" Canada suddenly began, and Taiwan froze mid-exit, a little annoyed. What now? "I know this doesn't really have to do with anything, but I always wonder why that mirror's there. You know, that one over by that wall."
Taiwan quirked an eyebrow. She didn't know why Canada wanted to strike up a conversation with her, especially at the risk of her making fun of him again and continuing to call him Bob instead of his real name.
But, since she didn't really have anything better to do, and Taiwan was kind of curious to see what other stupid conspiracy theories Canada's hatched up in that empty head of his so she could tease him for it, she reluctantly turned back around and looked to where she saw the mirror.
Canada was staring up-close at that thing, and she went over there to try to get a better idea of what cuckoo idea he had in his head this time. Like Taiwan mentioned before, that big piece of glass was the only thing that looked clean in this stinky room. It's surprisingly spotless, and she could see herself and Canada perfectly.
Taiwan squinted her eyes and took a couple steps closer to the mirror when she noticed there's something on her face. Oh no… nonono was that a pimple on her chin?!
"It's too small to be a possible replacement for the bathroom mirrors, and the ones you'd find in the rooms aren't that size or shape either." Canada rambled on and on while Taiwan agonized over her pimple. Darn it, there's another one on her cheek too! "And whenever I come in here, it's always clean. I-I don't think there's ever been a time when I saw it dirty or covered in cobwebs."
Ugh, Taiwan knew she shouldn't have skipped putting on her pimple cream today! No one's been staring at them, right? She's really feeling self-conscious now. Oh, and she was listening to what Canada's saying, but it'd be nice if he got to the point.
"It's almost as if Alfred's always cleaning it… Oh Maple, I'm not rambling, am I?" Well, at least he's aware of it. "I know this sounds a little dumb, and I know Alfred can be a little of a clean freak, but it's weird that he'd be constantly cleaning this. Why does he even have this here if it's not like the other mirrors in the building?"
Taiwan tried not to groan into her hands in complete exasperation. Well, she wanted to hear his paranoid ramblings, and boy, did he not disappoint. She didn't really see the point in discussing this. So what if Alfred keeps a mirror in the supply closet where he often went to chill out? Maybe he had the mirror so that he'd be able to realize that he's not fat, or to remind himself that he's awesome.
It's no big deal. Why couldn't Canada realize and accept that?
When she finished obsessing over her pimple, Taiwan let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes as she took a few steps back from the mirror. Hm, at least with this silly conversation she learned one thing: She really needed to put on some cream after she returned to her hotel.
Okay Taiwan, maybe it's not as bad as you think. She should see how her face looked from this distance…
After she finished rubbing her eyes, she blinked and gazed at the mirror, but what she saw wasn't what she was expecting to see.
(Final Fantasy VII OST: Who Are You)
No, seriously, what the heck was this?!
The moment she looked straight at the mirror, Taiwan felt her heart stop and was left stunned by what she was seeing right now. She thought she was seeing her own reflection at first, but then she realized… since when did she have magenta eyes and black hair?
She felt her mouth drop in shock as she could nothing but stare at the mirror in disbelief while her own 'reflection' stared right back at her with the same expression. Really, she wasn't kidding, honest! According to the mirror, she now had jet black hair with flowers adorning her hair, magenta or reddish eyes, and she's wearing a bright red long qipao dress with flowing sleeves a gold dragon pattern on around her skirt and chest.
She looked pretty, like she's dressed up for a good old Chinese wedding. But this… this wasn't right, no, not at all. In fact, it's safe to say that she's really freaking out right now. Because she didn't look like anything that the girl she was seeing. And this wasn't normal!
Taiwan was about to either shriek or curse in Mandarin in alarm, but then she noticed something else… Canada was next to her, right?
And… he didn't suddenly speed back to his hotel, changed his clothes, go to the gym, wake up from a lousy nap, and appear next to her again all the in span of a less than a minute, did he?
Because… instead of the timid, stuttering, forgettable but frustratingly polite doormat right next to her, was a taller and ripped Canada wearing some kind of red uniform that he definitely wasn't wearing today. He had longer hair tied back in a ponytail, the lower half of his face covered by a black neck gaiter and was currently glaring at her with dull violet eyes while a bloodied hockey stick rested menacingly on his shoulder.
At that startling realization, Taiwan froze up in fear and found herself unable to move or even speak, let alone tear her gaze away from what had to be a malfunctioning mirror. Her reflection, on the other hand, reacted differently.
The Taiwan-lookalike screamed, but the real Taiwan couldn't hear anything except for the sound of her own heart pounding against her chest. Her clone looked ready to bolt, but the other Canada grabbed her hair before she could get away, then he raised his hockey stick and swung it at the struggling black-haired Taiwan…
Her hands went up to her mouth in horror. H-He…
"TAIWAN!"
(Deltarune OST: Drone)
She jumped at the sound of Canada shouting her name, and she spun to face, hoping that her face didn't look pale. "W-What?"
"I've been trying to get your attention, but you've ignoring for the past minute! D-Don't you know it's rude…" Canada trailed off, probably noticing Taiwan's state, and he frowned at her in concern. "Are… Are you okay, Taiwan? Maple, you look live you've just seen a ghost."
"I-It's nothing." Taiwan blurted out what had to be the most blatantly obvious lie she ever said. "A-Anyway, I just remembered that I promised to attend a Bible study with Vatican City, so… gotta go. Bye."
Without even waiting for his reply, Taiwan bolted off like her life depended on it.
As she ran away, Taiwan tried to calm herself down before she could hyperventilate or have a nervous breakdown. Okay, what was that? She saw herself… Taiwan… the girl who looked like her but also didn't look like her… psycho-looking Canada decapitated her….
That…. That couldn't have been real, could it? There's no way it was. But how could Taiwan have imagined that?
But despite how much she desperately tried to convince herself that it must've been a kind of trick, Taiwan couldn't get it out of her mind. It felt real. That so-called trick of the light looked real, too real.
And try as she might, she couldn't get her reflection's terrified expression out of her head.
/ / / / /
(Deltarune OST: Thrash Machine)
America actually had a lot of experience with Flavio's many 'fabulous' plans.
Welp, what else would ya except from the cunning guy in the trio? As cheerful, motherly and flamboyant as Flavio was, you shouldn't underestimate the dude 'cause he could be pretty sneaky and clever sometimes. Pretty stubborn too, like his counterpart. And in a trio with clashing personalities, someone had to be the guy who kept the family together.
Flavio's plans had different methods and goals depending on the situation. Not all of them had to be about helping his two friends make up after they've had a rough argument, although he's pretty good at solving those kinds of matters. Nah, his plans could also involve trying to 'improve' the guys' fashion sense, make Allen have better manners, or even help sneak into New York Fashion Week's Designers' Showcase to help Erszi get her dress noticed…
…No, America didn't make that up.
While they sound crazy, things usually turn out great for their little gang… somehow. Sometimes he couldn't believe their own luck. But America always had fun being a part of it, whether he was an accomplice or a witness. Flavio liked to recruit him 'cause according to him, America's 'gets' him. It's a blast working with him, even though Allen ended up pissed off afterwards.
So, when Flavio pulled him over here to talk to him in private, America just knew that the dude had something big planned. Hopefully it's something that'll help Allen finally open up and start trusting Hungary. Flavio would definitely want Allen to improve his social skills.
And America just wanted his two buddies to get along. Sure, they don't have to be best friends like he and Allen were, but he at least wanted to stop seeing his counterpart be so stubborn and on guard with Hungary. Yeah, he knew that Allen at least stopped glaring at her, but it didn't take a genius to know that the guy's not very happy…
Not even an hour had passed since the whole thing back at the park, but America knew his bestie. Allen still felt pretty depressed after what happened, and now instead of not liking Hungary, he's not sure what to make of her.
Was that better or worse? At least Allen's calling her by name now…
To be honest, America blamed himself for this whole mess with Allen and Hungary. No, really, he's the one who kept telling his twin bestie all about what's going in the Light World… and America did mean everything. For about three-hundred years, America had dedicated gajillions of minutes and hours to telling him all about the wonders of the Light World, even though he made sure to include the good stuff too!
Still, did he screw up somehow by going on and on about how fucking stressful it was to be a nation in his world so many times? About how disorganized and useless the UN was and how they barely got anything done? About the bullshit America had to put up with every day?
Did America accidentally talk about too much about the bad stuff that it resulted in Allen believing that every Lightner was a corrupt, selfish, self-centered, self-righteous jerk?
But Allen always kept him in the know about what's going in Dark World and what's happening too. It's something they did every single time they met, fill the other in on important world events and vent out their frustrations about it. Really helps with stress. And the nations here could be a lot worse than the jackasses in America's world, and those creeps were in charge of their own countries!
But you don't see America insulting and being a jerk toward good Darkners like his best friend was with the Lightners… Then again, he's not cranky and pessimistic like Allen, so… Oh, was he worrying too much over this? He honestly didn't know…
So, imagine America's relief and joy when Flavio told him that he had a plan to help Allen and Hungary start opening up to each other.
"Here's what I have in mind…" A mischievous smile spread across Flavio's face as he rubbed his hands. Ooh, this was gonna be good! "From what you've told me, it seems that both Allen and Miss Elizaveta share an intense dislike for Light World Europe, in particular the countries in the Western region, wouldn't you agree?"
America nodded fervently, smiling brightly. "Totally, dude. They hate their guts."
"And… they do like often venting out their frustrations over those nations, right?" Flavio asked, his smile becoming slyer by the second.
America nodded again. He still didn't get it, but he agreed with Flavio anyways. "Yeah, but Liz hardly does it compared to Allen. And I don't think Liz has two dozen dart boards with the faces of Europeans stuck to the them to throw darts or shoot at…. or has training dummies that look like Europeans."
Well, uh… as far as he knew, at least. America had never really been to her house now that he thought about it, and Hungary was pretty crazy, almost Allen crazy sometimes. For all the cowboy knew, Hungary's constructing a giant frying pan to drop on London or making a plan to trap Germany and his boss in one of her cool caves or something. Hey, you never know!
Sometimes America considered taking a page from Allen's book and make training dummies of his enemies and the people that annoyed him the most to help relieve all the stress and all that. But he's not totally sure if it's the right to do. It felt a little petty, honestly. Heroes didn't do that kind of stuff. And America didn't want to hate or beat up anyone just because they bother him or insult him…
Most of the time.
Flavio just laughed it off, as it wasn't worrying that Allen had all that stuff. "Si, si, I agree that Miss Elizaveta is a lot calmer compared to my bambino, but that's not the point. Let me ask you this: Wasn't bonding over your respective frustration with Europe is what brought you two together in the first place, riiight?"
America smiled fondly. "Pretty much! So, what does this have to do with the plan?"
"Because, Alfredo…" Flavio wrapped an arm around America's shoulders while the latter tried not to gag from the smell of the Italian's cologne. "We are going to help Allen and Elizaveta bond with the power their disgust towards the European Union!"
…Huh?
America slowly turned his head to face the still frozen Flavio smiling at nothing. "…Say what?"
"Don't you see, Alfredo?" Flavio beamed as if this was the most genius idea he ever had. Well, it wasn't the weirdest one… "Allen likes to complain and rant together with his friends. It's how he and those barbarians from the Middle East became friends in the first place! They bonded over their disappointment and dissatisfaction with humanity!"
After that, America felt a light bulb go off above his head, and he grinned. Ooh, now he gets it! "…And Liz and I bonded over how angry we are at the EU. Since she's going under a lot of stress right now, she's getting into a habit of unwinding and pouring out her feelings to anyone who's willing to listen!"
"Si! So therefore…"
"By casually bringing up the situation of Europe in the Light World…"
"Elizaveta will feel obliged to snark about the situation in the Light World's Europe…"
"Which Allen isn't really happy about either and knowing him he'll complain about it too…"
"They'll end up complaining about it together…"
"Agreeing that Germany's losing his brain cells, France smells worse than usual and England's going crazy…"
"…And eventually they'll see that the other isn't so bad after all!"
"IT'S GENIUS!" The two blondes shouted together before grinning at each other.
"Gosh, Flavio. I think this can actually work." America's eyes sparkled, beaming at the Italian. "I bet Allen's opinion of Liz is at least gonna get a little better if this works out the way we want it. You're a true genius, dude.
"Oh, I know." Flavio laughed haughtily, blushing. "Would you… mind telling that to Allen, please?"
/ / / / /
(Deltarune OST: Darkness Falls)
Talking with Gillen was… really enlightening, and very pleasant.
It was… odd, to be honest. Mostly because she was still struggling to separate him from her world's Prussia, so much that she still kept expecting Gillen to suddenly smirk like an arrogant ape, his voice to become hoarse and annoying and for her to laugh at her face. But, none of that happened of course. However, both she and Gillen were currently trying to fix all that.
Hungary found herself feeling a good sort comfort and ease that she never felt while conversing with Prussia, her world's Prussia. With that silly, arrogant oaf, you could always expect him to make fun of you before proclaiming himself to be a god of awesomeness or something. Or in Hungary's case, he'll just laugh at her misery and problems, before she'd promptly hit him on the head with her frying pan.
With Gillen, however, it was the complete opposite. He's patient, calm and understanding. He never once laughed or smirked mockingly when Hungary mentioned the more painful parts of her history, instead he kept a serious expression and nodded along, as well giving a few remarks about the events and a few words of comfort to her, which she appreciated.
As Gillen suggested, both of them started to elaborate on their respective histories to try to further establish themselves as separate people from their counterparts. Hungary agreed that it was a good idea, and besides, she's still burning with curiosity about the history of this world. She had so many questions that she doubted they could cover all of them in a single day.
Gillen had offered to go first, since he proposed and correctly deduced that Hungary had a lot of questions, probably a lot more than he had. Oh, he had no idea.
For example, Hungary had been curious as to how Gillen officially became a nation in this world. Oddly, it wasn't that different from how it happened to Prussia, except the humans weren't as involved as much.
"Much like my counterpart, I ended up in a troubling position during the rise of Protestantism despite the Order remaining prominent." Gillen explained with a pained look as he went over the tale of how he officially became a nation. "I encountered what one may call a crisis of faith, and as a religious man this caused me no end of headaches and inner conflict. I… think you can understand, don't you?"
Hungary nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. The rise of Protestantism wasn't easy for the Light World either, but poor Gillen. He's a good religious man, a true Christian compared to his arrogant, cackling, narcissistic and very unlikable counterpart. And to go through that crisis, oh, it must've been hard for him.
"After much debating with myself and the other knights, I had decided to establish a state where both Catholicism and Protestantism were freely practiced." Gillen smiled, now looking relieved. He probably didn't like recalling that mess. "That was when the Duchy of Prussia was born. And that was a very summarized version of what had transpired, because believe me, it's actually a lot more painfully complicated than that."
Hungary snorted. She could understand, really. Explaining every detail about the controversy and changes during the rise of Protestantism could be pretty tedious and boring, even she didn't remember everything about what happened.
"I'm glad things turned out alright for you in the end, Gillen." Hungary smiled sympathetically at him. "Must've been easier with you in charge instead of the humans. I don't Gilbert would pull that off, even if he wanted to."
"Ja, well, there are many advantages about being the boss, just as there are disadvantages." Gillen said as he rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "It's not like everyone liked the idea. The humans either wanted Catholicism to remain the sole religion while there were Protestants that wanted the abolition of Catholic practices. Also, they felt the need to call me names…"
"It sounds painful."
"You have no idea." Gillen cringed, sighing again. "Humans… I care for them, but they can be so hard to deal with sometimes. Things were a lot harder than how they are now."
"I don't think anyone can disagree with that." Hungary patted him on the back in comfort, smiling sadly. Then she suddenly remembered something. "Hey, can I ask you something else?"
"You're free to ask what you want, Elizaveta."
"I know we've already talked about this before, but I'm still curious." Hungary smiled sheepishly, and she hoped that he wouldn't mind the question. "You haven't ever come in danger of fading or getting your nationhood taken from you? Not even once?"
Gillen chuckled and shook his head. "Nein, not even once."
Hungary blinked. "Huh."
But then Gillen frowned, "However…"
(Deltarune OST: Basement)
"However? What do you mean 'however'?" Hungary asked.
"I have shared this before to Allen, Flavio, Alfred and the others," Gillen said warily as he clutched his cross again, and Hungary wondered if she should be worried. "But I want to tell you about this too. It's a strange incident that occurred back in the forties, and one that we haven't been able to solve. You see, one day I was feeling strangely melancholy, and to alleviate those feelings I visited a church..."
Say what now?
"Wait, time out." Hungary interrupted, forming the T shape with her hands. Sorry, but she needed to make sure she heard that right. "When you were feeling melancholy one day, you basically went to church to cheer yourself up?"
Gillen looked at her strangely. "Ja, I did. It's what I normally when I feel too stressed and Flavio and Allen aren't nearby. Why, is there something wrong with that?"
Hungary paled and shook her head frantically, laughing nervously. "Oh no, no, no, just wanted to be sure. I think it's sweet you like going to church, even when you don't need to. You don't hear about a lot of people doing that these days…"
If it wasn't official before, it sure was official now. She loved this alternate version of Prussia. He's everything her world's Prussia wasn't and so he's absolutely perfect!
Giving her one last strange look, Gillen went back to his story, "So anyway, once I was there, I did what I usually did, pray. Like I said, it often helps calm my nerves. However, suddenly out of nowhere, I…"
Gillen shuddered and held his arms, as if he felt a sudden chill. Hungary narrowed her eyes in concern at this, not liking it one bit. Just what happened to him?
"It was brief, but I'm confident that I didn't imagine it. For a few seconds, it felt like someone had grabbed my soul and ripped it out of my body. I felt that the life in my body had been suddenly stolen from me. I felt as if an important part of me had been lost."
Like the life in you was suddenly ripped away from you? What? What the hell could cause that feeling? It didn't fit the description of anything that would happen to the personification if something terrible like a massacre or the assassination happened. And she didn't remember hearing about anyone who went through a similar experience. Well, wait, she remembered…
Realization dawned on her, and her eyes widened. Wait, could it be?
"It was… No, I don't think I can properly describe what I felt there. But it was a horrible experience, I'll tell you that." Gillen grimaced, looking genuinely frightened. "However, no less than a minute later, I felt completely fine again, as if the pain was never there in the first place."
"Gillen… when exactly did this happen?" Hungary asked slowly.
"February 15th, 1947."
Hungary gasped, eyes widening. So she was right! "That's the exact date when Prussia was dissolved!"
Gillen nodded, face grim. "Exactly. Somehow, what I felt in that moment was the feeling of my counterpart losing his nationhood. I had felt the very moment he had his identity and status stripped from him. I am confident that is the case. I don't know why I felt it, but it couldn't have been a mere coincidence."
Yes, why did Gillen feel Prussia losing his nationhood? If there really was some connection between them, then how come
"But that's not the only example of an odd occurrence, Elizaveta." Prussia frowned, and his expression darkened. Hungary's jaw dropped. There's more?! "Decades later, there was another incident. It happened during the tragedy in the Light World that is commonly known as 9/11."
Hungary froze. "What about 9/11?"
"For starters, look out the window over there," Gillen pointed towards the left, "I think you'll be quite surprised."
Hungary raised an eyebrow, but she did as she was told and nearly pressed her face against the window as she tried to spot what Gillen meant. It was dark, yeah, but every building was still perfectly visible thanks to the 'light' from the sun and the city. Seriously, she could clearly see the Chrysler building from here. The World Trade Center buildings too! And…
Wait a minute. What?
"The Twin Towers are still standing?" Hungary gawked. How did she not notice this before?
From the reflection in the glass, she saw Gillen nod. "Ja, as you can see from here. In this world, 9/11 never happened, nor any incident resembling it. The reason? Well, the Taliban never rose to prominence in this world, nor has any other extremist group. They are disorganized and poorly funded. And sympathy for them is low. He has made sure it all remained that way …"
Hungary looked away from the window and back at Gillen, puzzled. "He?"
She couldn't help but flinch when Gillen scowled. "Saudi Arabia. A smiling man with dead eyes. A cruel man. A man that I hope you'll never get to meet. He and the rest of his family have put a lot of tireless effort to keep the threat of the terrorists extremely minimal. While the groups still exist and are active, they are few and kept on a tight leash by Saudi Arabia. Even they wouldn't dare cross him."
Hungary perked up at this. You mean in this world the Middle East actually do something to stop the terrorists? They're not condescending, corrupt and insane bastards? That's great! Why did Gillen look so angry then?
"Sounds like you don't like him very much." Hungary remarked with a wry smile.
Gillen's scowl deepened, and he clenched his fists. "Ja, you're right. I don't. Like I said, he's a cruel man. I know about his counterpart from Alfred, but I honestly don't know I prefer that Saudi Arabia over the other one. Because this world's Saudi Arabia is dangerous. He may not like the Muslims, but he despises humanity. And trust me, he dislikes me too."
Dislike? It almost sounded like Gillen outright hated his guts. Hungary sweatdropped. But forget that, the Saudi Arabia in the Dark World didn't like the Muslims? Or humanity for that matter? No, Hungary needed more details about this man.
"But we're getting off-topic here!" Gillen snapped, rubbing his temples, and Hungary wisely decided not to ask about it. "The point is, on the day on 9/11, Allen, Flavio and I were here in the penthouse. All was well. It was another ordinary day for us. But then suddenly Allen started screaming."
"Screaming?" Hungary echoed, and she frowned. "But why was he screaming if nothing happened to him?"
"That's what Flavio and I were asking ourselves. We had no idea what was happening to him. He was screaming and screaming and then started crying and cursing at the window where the World Trade Center was visible all the while we tried to restrain him. Then, he went to every mirror in the residence and began shouting Alfred's name, begging him to answer him…"
Hungary could only stare in shock as Gillen recounted the whole episode with a pained look, honestly not knowing what to say. He went on to explain how they eventually managed to snap Allen out of it, but the American still tried to contact his counterpart all day, even sitting in front of a mirror for hours. She didn't get the mirror part, but now wasn't a good time to ask that.
"So, imagine our surprise when a day later we received word from Alfred about what happened to him the other day." Gillen remarked somberly, sighing. "I don't know how, but Allen knew that something terrible had happened to Alfred. Allen himself said that he was struck with a horrible feeling that Alfred was in trouble and freaked out over it."
"I… I don't know what to say…" Hungary said quietly. "But what does this all mean?"
"I honestly have no idea."
Yeah, I know not much happened in this chapter. It served more to introduce more of the mystery to the story and maybe set up some foreshadowing to be honest. Also, I wanted to wrap up the Taiwan plotline and it ended making up about half of the chapter. Still, I hope you found it intriguing! There'll be more bonding in the next chapter, honest. Please review if you have a minute.