Thanks to Dragonfire78, Miss Akiyata, Gort and Bumblekat for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 6: Crossing Boundaries

At one stage, either Black or White would reach the line.

It is the line that separates the two sides.

And, at some point, the line must be crossed.

…

France watched as England re-entered the room, having left to take the call. And judging by the Brit's expression, it wasn't exactly good news.

"What's wrong?" Scotland asked.

"That was Romania and Norway," England explained. "Lukas said that he had a conversation with his counterpart…"

"You can do that?" Prussia asked.

"Apparently. From what he could tell, the other Norway, Sigurd, is a little crazy and sadistic. They also appear to have different names from us."

"So your counterpart isn't named 'Arthur', then," Northern Ireland said.

"It would seem so. He also said that they can watch us, even if we're not in front of a mirror."

"Are you saying that we might be being watched?" Ireland asked.

France withdrew his mirror, and sighed in relief.

"Non," he said. "They appear to be having a meeting as well… Is that Poland and Lithuania?"

"Let me see," Prussia said. "Ja. I never thought I'd say this, but they look genuinely scary. So does Spain."

"Told you," Spain said.

"Let me see," Scotland said, moving to go over to the trio.

"No," England said. "That's part of what Romania told me. It spreads when two faces are reflected in the mirror. It must have affected me when Poland tried to show us."

"The bar," Spain said. "There was a mirror at the bar, and we spent the whole night there."

"France," England said. "Poland said that you saw the same reflection he did at the world meeting. Can you remember whose reflection it was?"

France thought, and frowned. The more he thought about it, the more the memory seemed to fade away. He also found that he couldn't remember the name. All he could remember was a curl.

"Non," he said, bewildered. "It's strange, but it's like whoever it was is fading from my mind. As though he's fading from existence. And I feel like I should know who it is. But I remember that the Nation had a curl that stood out."

"That's helpful," Scotland snorted.

"No," Wales said. "It sounds like a spell. Either the Nation you saw cast a spell to make himself fade from your mind, or…"

"Or someone, or something else is using him as a pawn," Ireland said.

"If that's the case," England said, "then we have something else on our hands. And something tells me that it's only the beginning."

…

Matthew shuddered. He suddenly felt a cold chill go down his spine, and he had no idea what could have caused it.

'Must just be my imagination,' Matthew thought.

Figuring that Matt would still be asleep, since he hardly ever got any sleep, he decided on a walk through the forest that surrounded his home.

Standing up, he ignored the wave of dizziness, as well as the cold feeling that threatened his senses.

Grabbing his coat, he went outside the door, not seeing the concerned look that Kumajiro gave him, for if he had, he would have been frozen in shock.

…

Matt kept placing his hand on the surface of the mirror, and applying pressure. It felt as though he was pressing against the surface of water without trying to get wet. It has never happened before, and he didn't know what was going on.

But, for once, he didn't shy away from or attack something new. Instead, he was trying to figure it out. He was… curious.

He applied even more pressure, and it was as though he was pressing through cold soup. But then he stopped, eyes wide in surprise.

His hand, up to the wrist, disappeared through the mirror.

…

Moldova smiled brightly. He didn't know why, but his reflection was different, and he liked it.

He had spent a few hours speaking to his reflection, who seemed just a little annoyed by Alexndru's cheerfulness. But it was fine. He might have made a new friend. Someone that was curious about him. And he was curious about him as well.

"How are you so cheerful all the time?" the other Moldova, Andrei, asked, a little annoyed.

"Why not?" Alexandru countered. "When things are looking down, then a little cheer goes a long way. And besides, if the others see that I'm smiling, even if things are horrible, then they think that I'm stronger than I look, and that they wouldn't be able to bring me down."

"So," Andrei said, "what you're saying is, you're cheerful because you don't want the other Nations to think that they can break your spirit?"

"Something like that."

"Huh. I'm impressed."

"Besides, I've got my big brothers to protect me, so I have nothing to fear."

"Brothers? I only have Romania…"

"Russia's not my real brother, but he likes it if I call him that. And he can actually be nice sometimes. Like you should have seen the time when his cat went missing. I have never seen Russia look so sad in my life. And then, when we finally found the cat… Have you ever heard Russia sing before?"

Andrei looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to imagine that happening, and apparently couldn't do it.

"Anything else?" Andrei asked.

"Well… There was that one time when Big Brother Romania used his magic to turn everything in Miss Hungary's house pink and girly. He also got rid of some of her books. They're always trying to murder each other, but that time… Hell hath no fury like a Hungarian woman scorned."

"Hungary and Romania hate each other? Strange. They're practically best friends. And Hungary is girly… Although, if we're each other's opposites, then it makes sense. And if that's the case, then it's a really funny story. So, those two hate each other?"

"Are you kidding? Hungary names dogs after Romanians, while Hungarians are the butt of a lot of Romanian jokes."

They spent the next few hours chatting about the differences between the Nations on both sides, and Alexandru managed to make Andrei laugh a few times, while also impressing him of his tolerance for scary stories.

…

Canada smiled, stepping out. It was spring, and while the air was still cool, it wasn't cold. It was refreshing.

He walked a familiar trail, the one that he always used to take a stroll. He knew the route by heart now.

He hoped that the fresh air would help alleviate his dizziness. He had no idea what could be causing it, and sincerely hoped that it was nothing. It couldn't be the beginnings of a cold. His economy was doing too well for it to be an issue. So what?

As he went deeper and deeper into the forest, he couldn't help but think that something was seriously wrong.

Up ahead, he heard a drip-drip-dripping, and he frowned in confusion. He walked further, until he could see the source of the dripping. And he wished that he didn't.

Never before had he felt so cold. Never before had he felt so sick. And never before had he felt so terrified.

He collapsed against a nearby tree, too shocked by what he saw. And then everything fell into place, and he emptied his stomach.

…

Matt noted, with concern, that Matthew was pale when he stepped out of the house. He also saw him looking a little off-balance a few times.

'He shouldn't be going out for a walk when he's not feeling well.'

So, from a distance, since he had no choice, he watched as Matthew made his way down the trail, and he couldn't help the unease.

And when he saw what Matthew saw, he knew that he had to go to support his counterpart. It was time for trial and error as he pushed his way through the mirror.

…

Matthew was horrified. How could anyone do such a thing?

High on the branches, someone had impaled the mutilated corpses of dozens of forest creatures. The dripping he had heard was the sound of blood dripping.

He felt arms wrap around him, and a sob escaped his throat. He couldn't see who the other person was, he just knew that the arms were meant to be comforting.

Something scared him more than seeing the corpses.

It had happened so close to his own house. Not the home of the country, but the home of Matthew Williams himself. It terrified him.

"Shh," the other person soothed. "Let's get you out of here."

It was with a jolt that Matthew realised that he recognised the voice. He looked towards the face of the other, eyes wide in confusion and immense relief.

"Matt?"

…

Poland, Romania and Lithuania felt a chill go down their spines simultaneously. Poland even dropped the book he was holding, which opened to a page showing artwork of a humanoid figure, the left side demonic, while the right side was angelic.

…

Alexandru shuddered, and Andrei stared in confusion.

"Something wrong?" the blonde asked.

"I don't know," the brunet said. "Something just feels… wrong."

Andrei frowned, but said nothing else about it. The two continued to talk, as though nothing happened.

…

Norway felt a shudder go down his spine, and something told him that it was serious. He looked down at the book that he was skimming through, and the words that seemed to jump out to him, 'Protect the original', made him feel just a little colder.

…

Scotland frowned when he saw England, Spain, France and Prussia all shudder. It was a bad omen if one person shuddered, but for four to shudder at the same time…

Scotland exchanged a look with Wales, and he knew that the other was thinking the same thing.

"Alright then," Scotland said. "There's one good thing about you all being here. More people to help us look in the library."

"What?!" Prussia exclaimed. "We did not agree to…"

"You want to find a solution to your problem?" Wales interrupted. "Or would you rather see a stranger every time you look in the mirror that may or may not be a psychopath?"

Spain was the first to jump up.

"I'm in," he said. "Let's go!"

Scotland inwardly smirked. Wales had a way to get people to do what he wanted them to do. The Ireland twins had the exact same talent.

There was one advantage that the UK siblings had. Since England was the one to always represent them, the other Nations were used to England, and knew how he did things, and they knew his weaknesses, and they knew all his strengths. But the rest of the UK were in the shadows, and so, if any of the other Nations had to deal with the rest of the UK, then they would have all the knowledge and experience that the Nations of their age would have, but the others wouldn't be able to know how to handle them. Only a few Nations knew about them, and those Nations were scared of them.

…

England frowned. He had kept an eye on his counterpart, and the meeting that Arthur was having. He was a little surprised by the simultaneous shudders, and he frowned.

"Did something happen, England?" Poland asked.

"Just something strange," he said. "But nothing of significance. Also, apparently we need to have two people reflected in the same mirror for it to spread."

"I think we have enough players," Lithuania said.

"I agree," Poland said. "The more players, the less victims we can have."

"What about Italy?" Spain asked. "Don't you think he'd want to take part in this?"

They exchanged a look, and the temperature seemed to drop significantly.

"Um, let's not go there," Prussia said. "Not unless we have to."

"For once I agree with mister hopeless," Poland said. "We only get him in on it when we have to."

"And I get a feeling we'd know when that happens," France said. "Either our counterparts would let us know, or he would let us know."

…

Veneziano frowned. He had the strangest feeling that someone was speaking about him.

He toyed with the knife in his hand, wondering who could be talking about him, and what they could be talking about.

He had dark brown hair with one errant curl standing out from the rest. His eyes were a pinkish-red colour, and his skin was tanned dark. He wore the fascist uniform, like so many of his people. The uniform was dark in colour, and underneath he wore a black shirt with a red tie. He wore black boots and black gloves, and there was also a black Bustina cap tilting towards the left side of his head.

"Fratello," a familiar voice sang. "Are you going to help me make our special pasta?"

Even though they were twins, they looked, and acted, completely different. Romano had blond hair, but also an errant curl, and had red eyes. His skin was significantly paler than his brother's, and while the other usually had a calm or annoyed expression on his face, Romano always looked cheerful. He wore a white designer jacket with matching pants and white boots. The shirt he wore underneath the jacket was unknown, due to the scarf tucked into the jacket, which was a dark pink colour. He also wore red sunglasses, white gloves, and a red fez hat tilting towards the right of his head.

Veneziano sighed, before smiling. Whoever it is, it better not be an assassination attempt, because he didn't want to hear Romano complaining about getting bloodstains out of clothes again.

…

Matt helped Matthew into his house. The smaller Canadian was still very pale, and Matt noticed, with a bit of worry, that the other was trembling. And after what they had just seen, it was understandable. Matt himself felt a little nauseous, and that was saying something, considering everything that he had seen.

"How could anyone do that?" Matthew asked. "How could anyone do something like that to the animals?"

"I don't know," Matt said. "I don't know."

He realised that his wish had come true. He was in Matthew's world, meeting Matthew in the flesh. He realised that he could play a one-on-one hockey match with the friend he had made months ago. He could try the other Canadian's pancakes. He could even go into town and not worry about someone trying to kill him.

But he couldn't, not now. He had to help his friend, who was in shock, and a bit of disbelief about Matt being there. At least, Matthew had a friend that would help him when he needed it and wouldn't forget about him two minutes later.

Matt brought Matthew over to the couch, sitting him down.

"Matt?" Matthew spoke. "How are you here?"

"I don't know," Matt admitted. "I just pushed through the mirror."

Now that they could truly compare each other without a glass barrier between them, and since Matt could in fact feel it, he noticed that Matthew had a smaller built than him. They were equally tall, and the bone structure was also the same, but Matt had more muscle than him. Probably because Matt actively picked fights with the other Nations from his world, while Matthew was a pacifist, and the fact that he was mostly unnoticed also made sure that the Nations from Matthew's world didn't pick a fight with him.

"I didn't know we could do that," Matthew said.

"Today's the first time we could," Matt said. "Believe me, I've tried before."

"I just assumed…"

"Who are you?" a voice interrupted.

Both Canadians turned to regard Kumajiro, but Matt noticed that it was mostly directed at him, and not at Matthew. He also noticed a little worry in the bear's expression.

"Canada," Matt said. "I'm your owner's counterpart from another world."

"How'd you get here?" Kumajiro asked.

"Through the mirror."

"What happened?"

This time, the question was directed at Matthew.

"K-Kuma, it was awful," Matthew said. "All those animals… butchered, then hung up on the trees. Matt, you don't think that it could have been someone from your world? Because my people wouldn't do something like that, and the other Nations wouldn't try something like that either."

"It's not a Nation from my world," Matt said. "While we would do that to humans, we would never do that to animals. No one is stupid enough to test our wrath."

"'Our'?"

"Several Nations have made it clear that we won't allow animals to be harmed in any way, shape or form, since we would beat up everyone together. These Nations are myself, Brazil, Australia, India, China, Taiwan, and more than half the African continent. Trust me, no one is that stupid."

Matthew nodded his head in understanding.

"Could you stay a little longer?" Matthew asked. "I just… it was so close to…"

Matt sighed, before he nodded in confirmation.

"Thanks," Matthew said. "I think… I need to call the ranger station. Let them know what happened."

…

America was flicking through the channels, looking for something to watch (but nothing was ever worth watching), when he came upon a news channel. He knew that it was too early for the news to be broadcast, so it had to be something important.

He was surprised to see that it was from Canada. Apparently, dozens of animals in a forest had been butchered, so much so that the forest floor was soaked in blood, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

It was when they mentioned who had found this atrocity. Matthew Williams. Canada himself. And then there was the fact that it was so close to his brother's personal home.

"He's going to need a hero," America whispered, already getting his keys, but froze when he passed a mirror.

For just a split second, his reflection had flickered, and the one that he saw was not him. It was a stranger.

To be honest, I almost forgot about Moldova. So here they are. And America had a brief glance.

The other 2Ps won't be breaking through anytime soon, since the Canadas have been doing this a lot longer than they had.

Ugh, my brain is about to fry. I had signed up for my university's French and German courses, and last year I started learning Polish. My mom is Portuguese and had tried to teach me at a young age, but it wouldn't stick, except for when I'm in French class. Add that to the Afrikaans and English I already know… Yeah, too many languages filtering through my brain at once. And most of them are subconscious, so even if I put one on hold, they would still intersect. Also, four sets of the alphabet in one week… not good.