A.N. I AM ALIVE! I'm so sorry for not updating, but my summer was insanely busy and awesome! My mom and I went to see Got7 in Atlanta, and when we got back, my dad took my brother and me to Pittsburgh for a week. THEN I reunited with one of my bestest friends in the world, and I hit a writer's block. Anyway, special thanks to Poisonlilie, Hshh, and YJV for reviewing! I hope yuns enjoy this chapter! And now, ONWARDS!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Gilbert grinned at the four travelers. It had been a day since they had arrived, and they were still wary of the Joker, but that was understandable. Gilbert stood on one end of the bedroom they were in, while Yao and Vash sat on the floor, Matthew was sitting up in his bed, and Lovino was leaning against a wall. Gilbert put his hands behind his head and said, "You guys probably want more of an explanation on magic, don't you?"

The four nodded, and Gilbert smiled as he started to explain, "Let's make this as simple as possible okay? First of all, I'm not an expert in this, so I can't teach you anything I don't know. Alright, magic. It's a pretty hard thing to explain, but I'm gonna try."

"Get on with it," Lovino snapped, and Vash shot the brunette a glare. Gilbert snickered and continued, "Magic itself is something everyone can create of their own will. Lovino figured this out. Each person has an aura around them, an energy that they can use to protect themselves or use for a different purpose. An example of that is Lovino."

All eyes turned to the short tempered Ace, who turned red at all the attention. Gilbert smiled reassuringly and said, "He can focus his aura to his eyes and enhance his vision. There are other ways of doing that. You could probably focus your power on your ears, you can enhance your hearing. I'll give you an example of my power if you want."

The four shrugged and turned to Gilbert who said, "Okay! Lovi can you turn on your eyes? I want you to see what I'm doing."

"Don't call me that!" Lovino snapped, but closed his eyes and seemed to relax for a few seconds before he reopened them. As Gilbert expected, the color of Lovino's eyes had changed slightly from a brownish to a forest green. Gilbert grinned, grabbed a few darts off the board in the room, and backed up. Making sure everyone was watching, Gilbert channeled his aura into the dart and threw it at the board, hitting it in the center.

Turning, Gilbert saw Lovino's expression of amazement. The brunette Ace stopped channeling the magic to his eyes as they turned back to the original brown color, and Gilbert grinned. Crossing his arms over his chest the Joker asked, "Can you explain to them what you saw?"

Lovino turned to the other three and started talking, "He's pushing his aura into the dart, and from there he can control where the dart goes. Am I right?"

Gilbert nodded and said, "There isn't just aura magic though. There are verbal spells that contain much more power to them, but I don't know how to use them!" the albino rubbed the back of his head as he laughed, and the others exchanged glances.

Yao sat up straighter and asked, "Didn't you say the ranks had something to do with magic too? What's that about?"

Gilbert sighed and ran a hand through his hair saying, "This is a bit harder to explain, but I'll try. It's said that the higher ranks have a higher probability for using magic. You guys are Aces and Jacks, so you're pretty high on the list, making it relatively easy for you to use your power. Even some Nines and Tens can activate their auras and use use spells to a small degree. However the ability to unlock that power seems to skip the King and Queen ranks for some reason and is almost nonexistent in the lower ranks of Twos and Threes."

"Hold up," Vash said interrupting. "You said 'almost'. Does that mean there's at least one Two who can use magic?"

Gilbert glanced at the ground and nodded before continuing, "Yeah, but there's usually only one every few decades or so. Then there's the Jokers. We're different from the rest of the kingdoms in more ways than one. We don't have the ability to use magic like you do. We're gifted with only two powers that must be split between two Jokers. Those powers are seeing the future and the past. Traditionally one of the Black Jokers, like me, is given the power of the past. I was given that ability, so I can see the past and what went on from centuries ago to just a few days ago."

Gilbert paused there and wondered if he should tell them that he could also see the future. The white haired male had no idea how he had received the ability of seeing the future, he was just able to. Before he could make a decision Matthew spoke up asking, "You said Jokers can't use magic like we do, but you just did. How does that work?"

Gilbert groaned and said, "Ugh, hard questions. Like I said, Joker kingdom is different. They allow a transfer of sorts."

"A transfer?" Vash asked with a questioning look on his face. Gilbert nodded and replied, "Yeah. I'm originally from Hearts, but I was given the chance to become a Joker so I took it. There are rules though, there's no going back to your old rank. So I can't just up and go back to being a citizen of Hearts."

The three seemed to understand, as they didn't push the issue any further. Looking up, Yao asked, "Is there anyone you know who can teach us magic? It would be better if we knew how to harness and control what we're able to do."

Gilbert nodded and said, "I'll try finding someone for ya, but in the meantime try working on fighting with weapons. I can tell you guys aren't exactly warriors."

The four nodded in agreement and Gilbert left Matthew's room to go to his own. Finding someone to teach magic wasn't going to be the hard part for Gilbert. The hard part was going to be for Yao, Matthew, Vash, and Lovino. They'd have to find where the person was and convince them they were worth teaching. Entering his room, Gilbert grabbed a handful of darts and chucked a few of at the dartboard for fun, before turning to the kingdoms maps that hung on his wall.

As he threw the magic guided dart, Gilbert saw where it had hit. Clubs kingdom. Gilbert threw a few more darts just in case the first one was a fluke, but they all stuck on one spot. Northeast Clubs was where the four would find someone to teach them how to harness their powers. Sighing, Gilbert's hand rubbed over his black Joker mark. It was haphazardly placed so the original Hearts mark was somewhat visible, but Gilbert didn't care.

Grabbing one last dart from the board Gilbert threw it at the map again only for it to hit the kingdom of Spades. The Joker realized what that meant. The choosing of the new Kings and Queens had started, and that could be dangerous.

-LINEBREAK-

Antonio stood awkwardly in the clearing as Natalya walked around him, Feliciano, and Roderich. Natalya had instructed the three to leave whatever weapons they had with their things. The blonde girl had her arms crossed as she paced around, observing the boys' postures. Stopping in front of them, she shot forward at Feli who crossed his arms in front of his face. Natalya stopped before she hit Feliciano and grabbed his arms gently, saying, "Don't block like that. If I hit you hard enough, it would injure you more than protect you."

Feliciano nodded and Natalya gave him a small smile before looking at Roderich and Antonio. Natalya let her face become emotionless again as she lunged at Roderich. The brunette reacted by backing up and taking a fighting stance. Natalya didn't stop moving and slammed her fist into Roderich's shoulder, causing him to cry out.

"Go get your long dagger," Natalya instructed, and Roderich left to go get the weapon from the edge of the clearing. Natalya glanced at Antonio and said, "You wanna say something."

"Ah yes," Antonio laughed nervously as he asked, "What are you doing exactly?"

Natalya twirled a strand of her hair around her finger as she said, "I'm getting an idea of what you guys are good at. Personally, I'm good at hand to hand combat and anything with knives. Feliciano isn't a fighter, so maybe if we can unlock his magic he can learn healing magic."

Antonio held up a hand and asked, "How do you "unlock" magic? I've been able to do it for a while now."

Natalya nodded and replied, "Sometimes a person can unlock it instinctively, accidentally, or purposefully. Other times it takes a traumatizing event to awaken the person's powers."

Antonio was about to ask on the subject more, when Roderich returned with his blade in the sheath. Natalya took up her fighting position and lunged at Roderich, who tried to keep the Ace away from him. Natalya held up her hand and said, "You need a new weapon."

Roderich narrowed his eyes and asked, "Why? I think this one is perfectly—"

"It sucks," Natalya said, "and your fighting style is terrible. The fencing you studied wasn't for actual combat, was it?"

Roderich shook his head as Natalya continued, "I think a sword would be better than your dagger. You're gonna hafta learn how to properly hurt someone with a blade."

Roderich seemed to understand and didn't say anything else on the matter as Natalya turned her attention to Antonio. The Club stood and dusted her pants off before saying to the Diamond, "Up. It's your turn."

Antonio stood and watched as Natalya took her stance again. The blonde didn't lunge at him the same way she did with Feliciano and Antonio, but instead dodged to the side, causing Antonio to turn and throw himself off balance. The brunette righted himself just as Natalya shot at him, ready to slam her fist in Antonio's face. The Ace had no idea what happened next. Somehow he brought his left arm up to block Natalya's punch, but the blonde shifted her weight and brought up her knee, ramming it into Antonio's gut. The brunette grimaced and grabbed Natalya's arm and twisting it behind her back. The Clubs girl just relaxed in Antonio's grip and twisted her arm around in a way that shouldn't have been possible, and swung her leg at the boy.

Antonio ducked and shot his leg out, tripping Natalya and causing her to slip on the leaves that covered the forest floor. As the Ace was about to try and stand, Natalya held her hand up and said, "Enough. That was impressive."

Antonio and Natalya stood and dusted themselves off as the blonde said, "You're not bad at close combat, but I think having a weapon would allow for you to keep enemies away from you so you don't have to get too close." The girl flicked her wrist and Antonio saw light glint across the blade of a dagger. "After all, your enemy could be armed."

Antonio nodded just as Feli called out, "Guys! I think I hear something!"

"Let's get moving," Antonio said, striding forward to grab his pack from the ground. While he had his back turned, Antonio missed the sour look Roderich shot at him. When the four started walking, Antonio thought about what Natalya had said about magic. If he had awakened it instinctively at a young age, then he should be able to gain control over it the more he used it.

-LINEBREAK-

Vash glanced around and sighed. Gilbert's house was huge. The place appeared to be much bigger inside than it did outside. Vash glanced at Lovino who had his arms crossed and was glaring at the floor. Yao had gone to explore the house so he could get a layout of the building and what each room contained. Matthew had fallen asleep again, after being checked on by Gilbert. Vash sighed in boredom as silence passed through the room. It was Lovino who broke the silence by asking, "You have a sister, right?"

Vash nodded and said, "Her name's Lili. Well it's actually Lillian, but she likes Lili better. She says it sounds sweeter."

Lovino nodded and said, "You're a pretty great brother."

Vash scoffed and leaned against the wall as he said, "I left her behind with my parents. I'm a horrible brother."

Lovino crossed the room and sat next to Vash and asked, "What's wrong with your parents?"

Vash felt his chest tighten as he explained, "They specialize in clothing and textiles. They were great at their trade, always getting the better end of the deal, but they always wanted more. When I was born and they saw I was a Jack, they were thrilled. After Lili was born–she's a Queen–they couldn't stop thinking about how we'd have a chance to become the rulers of Diamonds."

Lovino nodded and turned his dagger around in his hands, as Vash kept talking. "I insisted on being a trader like them when I grew up. That displeased them but they didn't care. Lili was the one who'd get them what they wanted. Lili is kind to a fault. She'd lie in a heartbeat if it meant saving someone's life, even a criminal. She's much easier to manipulate than I am, and that's what our parents wanted. After the decree, they said that I was their only son, and that they didn't care about my rank. Later I found documents that said stuff about Diamonds paying people for turning in Jacks and Aces."

"And that's when you ran," Lovino mumbled, rubbing his thumb over the guard of his blade. Vash nodded and uttered, "I just left my only sister there."

There was a pregnant pause before Lovino said, "You did what you needed to do. If you took her with you, she probably wouldn't have made it."

Vash nodded and said, "Thanks for listening. I don't know why I told you all that."

Lovino shrugged and replied, "Sometimes you just need to let someone know what's going on. It's better than keeping to yourself and going crazy."

Vash stood and stretched before saying, "I'm gonna go find Yao and see how he's doing. Stay with Matthew okay?"

"What didja think I was gonna do?" Lovino asked harshly, but repositioned himself so he was closer to the blond Ace.

Vash looked around the hallway and started walking around. Somehow, the Jack ended up in a library of sorts where the walls were filled with books on every subject. Grabbing one, Vash flipped it open and stared at the circular characters on the page before putting it back. The blond had a hard enough time reading in his own language, let alone another one.

"So you found this, huh?" Vash turned to see Gilbert leaning against the doorframe smirking. The Joker walked in and asked, "You looking for Yao? He's on the second floor, looking at maps of the kingdoms."

Vash nodded and asked, "Did you find someone who would teach us magic?"

Gilbert ran a hand through his hair and said, "Yeah I did! The person's in Clubs, but that's no problem. Joker kingdom should be uprooting in a day and moving to Clubs for a bit. We'll land pretty close to where your teacher is!"

Vash nodded and said, "Thank you for all you've done."

Gilbert laughed and turned away saying, "Let's go! I'm pretty sure foreign books don't interest you!"

-LINEBREAK-

The blonde woman looked out the window of her house and smiled as she leaned on the windowsill. The time was coming when she'd live out her part of the story that was about to unfold. Standing up, the woman rubbed her sore back and turned to look over her farmhouse kitchen.

A shock went through the blonde and she cried out, grabbing the table for support until the pain subsided. Breathing shakily, the woman rubbed her back and slid into a chair. The woman inhaled and started to calm herself.

"They're coming," the woman said to herself cheerfully. "I wonder what they'll be like."

A.N. I hope you guys liked this chapter! QUESTION TIME: Who is the woman? Also I have an announcement. I'm going to start rewriting the first few chapters so they're longer and not just the same thing over and over again. One more thing, in chapter nine, I said I'd try to finish this story up by the end of September…yeah that's not happening any time soon. I suddenly was barraged by amazing ideas that I need to get in this, and to do so I'm gonna need some time to get it right. Until next time - Ryuu