Ch. 2: And So It Begins
"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand."
~ Frank Herbert
*~Somewhere in Russia~*
It was not something that they were expecting. Never in any years had an Italian army, mafia or otherwise, declared war. Not even when they had been at war. It was always the opposing force that forced them to fight. Sure they'd won once, but that was sheer dumb luck. Thoughts of the impossible kept running through his head as he flew through the winding halls.
The urgency in his steps could be seen as clear as day. Words of disbelief flowed from his mouth in steady disbelief. The man nearly ran into the solid wood doors that held his boss behind them. Opening then with slightly shaking hands he made his way inside.
"Босс!" His panting breaths kept him from blurting out everything. His boss looked up from the papers he had been reading.
"Да, Comrade?" His violet eyes betrayed the calm in his voice. They held so many ways of torture and pain, not at all like his disarming smile or his calm voice and demeanor.
"Sir, the, the Italians..." The much taller Russian stood up, irritation and annoyance radiating off of him.
"What about them?" Again a calm voice. Oh how he enjoyed making them shake like a small dog.
"They've declared war." He raised an eyebrow. How could they declare war? He had not heard anything from his boss. As if sensing his boss's confusion his, Comrade, clarified.
"It's not the Army, sir. It's the Мафия. They've sent a message declaring a war against us for 'overstepping our boundaries'." His painting had subsided enough for normal speech, even though his chest kept rising and falling abnormally fast.
"Is that so?" He didn't even wait for a response. "What kind of message did they send?" His curiosity was peaked when the other Russian's face paled.
"W-we've been receiving packages for the last few hours, Босс. All different sizes. There was a note with the first one." He took a deep breath and continued. " It said 'We only feel it's right to have your own men send you this message: You have overstepped your boundaries for to long. Now it's war.' We had no idea what to make of the first line until we open the box. It was a head, sir. Each box we get is another piece. We've several bodies slowing being put back together." The man's face was as white as the snow outside the large bay window, but even then it still seemed to get even whiter as the taller man smiled.
"Comrade, tell everyone to prepare. If the little трусы wish to play, then we will play." His smile only grew larger at the thought. He hadn't had much fun since world war two had ended. So this was going to be splendid.
" Да, Mr. Braginski." He had forgotten the other man was in the room, no matter though the man was leaving anyway. Letting his unstable boss plan behind closed doors. The man shivered for a second pitying the Italians before letting that emotion fade.
*~At Germany's house~*
It had started out just as he had wished. He'd woken up early, trained for a bit, took a shower, prepared breakfast, gotten his lazy-ass bruder up, and then retreated to his sanctuary, a.k.a. his study. But all good things come to an end. By noon, Italy had shown up complaining to him about how scary his brother is when he's mad and going on about the pasta he had at breakfast. Really. The brunette had pasta for freaking breakfast!
"Italien! Bitte, I need do ged dis vork done. Id is very impordend." The hyper active Italian looked horrified, before mumbling an apology and sullenly walked out of the room. Germany just watched, trying to push the guilt out of his mind in favor of work.
He sighed. How was it that he could do almost nothing at all and make him feel so guilty? He would never understand, but it irked him to no end that the smaller man held that much power over him.
He walked through the house trying to find his friend and apologize. He had never expected to find the door to his room shut or to hear a low voice from within the room. He inched ever closer trying to grasp the conversation being said.
"Hmm. Vedo. Non molto utile l'era poi? No non è di alcun uso. Sbarazzarsi di lui. Come? Vediamo. ...go con il mio favorito! È stato così lungo poiché l'abbiamo fatto! Bene. Mi tiene aggiornato, sì?" Germany's eyes widened. He knew his Italian wasn't as good as it used to be but he was sure that the voice said to 'get rid of someone'...Was that Italy in there? It had to be. No one else in his house spoke Italian. But why would Italy – sweet, bubbly, innocent, Italy – be telling someone to get rid of someone else? He shook his head. He was definitely hearing things. Maybe the
smaller man was right. Maybe he was working to hard. But even so, he couldn't have been to far off in his translation could he?
He shook his head, effectively pushing his doubt to the back of his mind. Turning back towards the door, he raised a hand and knocked. Sniffling began from the depth of his room.
"S-si?" The smaller man said. His voice was wavering and his eyes were red. He must have been hearing things, No one could fake crying to this extant. Still something seemed off...
" Italien, I, I am sorry. I shouldn'd have yelled ad you like dat. Please forgive me. Maybe ve, ve could go oud do ead somedime? You did mendion dat you knew of a gutes resdaurand dat served Nudeln. Maybe ve could go dere, if, you, wanded..." The blond trailed off feeling very awkward that he had just asked his best friend to go out to eat with him.
"Ve~" Large chocolate colored eyes stared up at him in confusion before closing rapidly. Italy talked his friend as best he could crying more tears and speaking rapidly in Italian.
"Ve~! This is so great! I know you will love it! It's design is purely Roman architettura! You said you like Roma right? Ve~ Nonno would have loved you! It will be grande! Grazie! Grazie! Grazie!" Ludwig blushed as he was given a kiss on the cheek for each 'grazie'.
"Ja, vell. I should ged back do vork." Keeping his blue eyes adverted, the blond walked away. He wasn't entirely sure what he had just gotten himself into, but to see his friend happy was wort it.
Once in the safety of his office sanctuary once more Germany took a seat behind his desk, but he did not immediately pick up where he had left off. The feeling that something was off, was wrong, still pushed against his abdomen. With a sigh, he picked up the almost forgotten documents, making a mental note to talk with the other overly excitable Italian; Romano.
Okay! He's the first chapter update in the new year! I hope everyone's new year started out well, ve~. Mine did. But that's enough about that. Guess it's time for me to start working on chapter 3...Yays! Lovi is coming!
Lovi: *narrows eyes* Don't call me 'Lovi', Damn it!
JG: *glares at Lovi* I will call you whatever the heck I want! I'm the one writing the story!
Lovi: *glares back* Well you still don't have ta call me that!
JG: *smirks* Yes I do.
Lovi: *still glaring* Oh and why is that?
JG: *still smirking* Cause that's what the readers want and I'm all about giving the readers what they want.
Lovi: …*muttering* Stupid Pierogi bastard.
JG: *smacks Lovi upside the head* Hey! That's degrading to my Polish heritage!
Poland: Like ya! What did Pierogis, like, ever do to you, like, anyway?
JG & Lovi: *stare at Poland who is dressed in all pink* …
Poland: *blinks* Like, what?
JG: *shakes head* I'm just not gonna comment...
Lovi: O.O
Translations
Босс – Boss (Russian)
Да – Yes (Russian)
Мафия – Mafia (Russian)
трусы – Cowards (Russian)
Bruder – Brother (German)
Italien – Italy (German)
Bitte – Please (German)
Hmm. Vedo. Non molto utile l'era poi? No non è di alcun uso. Sbarazzarsi di lui. Come? Vediamo...go con il mio favorito! È stato così lungo poiché l'abbiamo fatto! Bene. Mi tiene aggiornato, sì? – Hmm. I see. Not very useful then was he? No. he is of no use. Get rid of him. How? Let's see...go with my favorite! It's been so long since we've done it! Alright. Keep me up to date, yes? (At least that is what I typed into the translator...Anyway, It's Italian)
Si – Yes (Italian)
Architettura – Architecture (Italian)
Roma – Rome (Italian)
Nonno – Grandfather (Italian)
Grande – Great (Italian)
Grazie Thanks (Italian)
Ja – Yes (German)
Names:
Ludwig – Germany
Feliciano – Italy
Romano – Lovino/South Italy/Lovi