"Are you sure about this Feli?" Chloe asked as she felt fear slowly rising from her belly.
"Positive." he beamed out, "The girls are great and you'll love them."
He had spoken briefly about the others as they made their way to the building. Nervous was something she was used to being yet this was something totally different as he held the door open for her. She followed behind as they went down a hall, where a larger set of doors stood open, hearing the distinct grunts and puffs of brawling as they grew closer.
Finally within, on a higher balcony looking down, she watched as people spoke briefly and countered their opponent with blows. She felt herself grow more cautious as she leaned into Feli's side.
"Are you alright, mi bella?" he asked her.
"Oh, yes, fine. Just well..." she started.
"Incoming!" she heard someone yell just to see one of the men be flipped over by a tiny blonde woman.
Chloe's mouth hung open in awe as the woman walked away from the large man, "And that is why women from Russia are badass."
Badass indeed. The man finally got himself to his knees as he brushed himself off and flipping the finger to the snickering man to his left. Chloe followed and saw the man attempting to hold it back until the woman next to him held a hard handle to his cheek, her expression of one scolding him to behave.
"Wunderbar. That was good." the tall woman spoke up.
"Spasibo. He's been trying to get over that little move, yet I still win."
"You are my wife." the man stated, "I do not want to hurt you nor will I go against you since I like our bed so much."
"Then don't try and cheat like you did."
"It was only one kiss to your thigh."
"Now, now children, fight nice." she heard a British voice ring out.
The group continued to speak and show one another what they could do as Feli and her watched from above. She was awed by the women below as they either disarmed them or immobilized them, but the more she looked at them her own self-conscious ate at her. They were fit. Skinny in her mind. And she was nowhere near that. Turning away from the sight, she found herself looking in the long mirror before her, slowly hating what she was seeing. Most of her friends had said she was average, but she on the other hand heard otherwise. Her chest was too big along with her ass, she didn't have that flat belly or thigh gap that all the girls had. In her mind, she was a goddamn lard ass.
"Chloe?" she heard Feli, far off than what he really was.
She knew he'd scold her for thinking like that again, but it was staring at her in the face. Looking right at her to be exact. Her vision went dark as something warm covered her eyes and pulled her close.
"Cloe, please don't." Feli pleaded in her ear.
"I'm trying Feli." she felt a wave of guilt roll through her.
Of all the people she had in her life, he was the one that gave her more confidence in things and herself than anyone else. His words alone at time silenced the ugly face of her self-conscious. Before she knew it, he twirled her around and pulled her to him, cradling her to his chest.
"You are more beautiful than you think." he whispered to her.
She pulled him close to her as she wrapped her arms around him, the crisp sea scent caressing her, "You tell me all the time."
"Because it's true."
She giggled against him as he placed a gentle kiss to her hair. That there was her calming notion. Every time he did that, sent a warm chill through her body, making her relax and calm her.
"Nora! I told you not to do that!" she heard someone yell. "You're too fragile now."
"I am just four days over five months pregnant, not nine. Relax old man." a retort followed short.
Chloe looked down to see a woman and a man bickering in what she believed to be Chinese as Feli chuckled at them. The others paused and held small conversations with one another as the two of them continued. A small set of footsteps came up behind her, causing Chloe to push away from Feli.
"Oh, gomen nasai, I did not mean to frighten you." the person behind her said.
Turning around, Chloe found herself looking at a bright smiling woman. Her short brown hair was pulled back slightly as her eyes greeted her with happiness.
She gave a light bow to her, "Konichiwa, I'm Harper. Pleasure to meet you, you must be Chloe?"
"Tá, oh I mean yes. Yes, I'm Chloe."
"Finally have a face with the woman Feliciano hasn't stopped talking about." Harper giggled.
Chloe smiled and looked at Feli, just to see the sweet dusting of pink on his cheeks, "Can't shut up about me, can ya?"
"What, I couldn't help but talk about you." he smiled at her and nodded to Harper.
"It wasn't bad, I swear." she waved her hand at them, "Oh that reminds me. Your brother called before you got here and said to call back whenever you had the chance."
"Probably about the plans. I'll go call him then." Feli said leaving her side, "Don't worry mi bella, I'll be right back. Harper is a fun girl, I promise."
And like that he was gone, walking down the hall as Harper went to her side. She heard the woman chuckle at him as he finally disappeared.
"Don't worry. He has been waiting patiently for you to get here. Has chatted all our husbands ears off for advice and such to make you comfortable." Harper said to her, "Why don't we walk while the others finish their business?"
"Isn't your husband going to miss you?" Chloe asked looking down below.
"He may however I saw you up here and thought you'd like some girl time. I promised to repay him later tonight for it." she saw the woman blush at her own words.
"Well I see where your mind sits." Chloe laughed.
"I am a married woman with a full life. I cannot argue with what I have." Harper replied, "Although if you had told me a year ago I would be married to a Japanese man and work alongside him, I would have told you that you were daffy."
"Things change huh?"
"You could say that. Come on, this way. There's a small garden over this way, we can walk it until everyone is done."
Following Harper, Chloe listened to her explain her business alongside her husband and what most of the women did for their countries they came from. She was excited really to hear about it all, fascinated really that she was speaking with people directly from the government of the Axis and Allies. It was strange as well, like she was to be a part of it yet not sure how to be.
"You look lost." Harper interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh sorry, got lost in my head."
"It's alright." Harper replied, "So tell me, what brought you to Italy in the first place?"
Chloe paused in her step, Jalila and Luciana coming back into her thoughts as they told her to speak with these women before her. That they had answers like no other.
"If I tell you, you promise not to go and tell everyone I'm crazy?"
"Define crazy?" she smiled at her.
"Funny." Chloe sighed, "What can I say. My dreams brought me to Italy. I see these beautiful women. Women that are so smart and wise that even men take their words to heart. Books and scrolls are about them and everyone reads about them. So, I came here to find those places I dreamed of, seeing if anything stuck out more. I found the sights but it did nothing really."
She thought for a moment, letting those days pass through her head, "Yet that's a lie. I may not have found my dreams, but I did find Feli. Would it be odd of me to say fate brought us together?"
Chloe watched as Harper took in her words, pulling her phone out as she tapped on the screen, "Oh come on now, you promised."
"Hai, I did." she replied as her phone chimed, "I was just checking to see if the other girls are done."
"Alright then."
"Because you need to speak to us all about these women."
Chloe sat in the soft chair as the other girls came in, speaking diligently to one another until they came over to her and Harper.
"Well, this must be Chloe then. Nice to have a face." the tall woman said, "I'm Marie."
"Don't mind the German, she's not that scary, it's the Russian you gotta worry about." the long-haired woman said leaning over Marie.
"Don't scare the poor woman yet, Amber." Marie chided, "She gets it from her husband I swear."
"And me being Russian doesn't make me scary." came the blonde that stood next to her, "I'm Lily."
The Russian hiked her thumb over to the other two standing at the table, "The blonde over there is Juliet and the brunette is Brie, and finally..."
Lily trailed off as Chloe felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck, "Nĭ hăo! So glad to finally meet you."
"Nora." Lily finished as the woman let go of her.
Chloe looked around at all the women as they finally gathered around her, "God I feel like I'm at a Girl Guides camp."
"Oh lord, don't let my son hear you talk, he'll be calling you auntie all day." Juliet said.
"She Irish?"
"Very."
"So, as you have probably heard, it's nice to finally have a face to see what Feliciano has been swooning over for the last couple months." Brie said, sipping her water.
"Dear god, better mark it down in history. The Frenchie isn't drinking wine." Juliet joked.
"Ferme ta bouche!"
"Alright, alright." Nora spoke up as the women chuckled at the two of them, "Now, we are here to make Chloe feel comfortable, shì?"
Chloe felt the heat rush to her cheeks as they all looked at her, "Oh, I'm not one to really talk about myself."
"There's more to why we are here." Amber smiled at her.
Her head snapped back for a second, more than that, so what was going on?
"Chloe, please tell us. Have you seen or dreamed things that make no sense yet they are truly real to you?" Lily asked.
Her eyes darted to Harper, but the woman just gave her a nod to continue, "Yes?"
"Women of history?" Brie asked.
"What's this got to do with me?" Chloe asked aloud, "I know Jalila and Luciana said I needed to talk to you guys about it, but I don't understand why."
"It's because of your dreams, my dear." Juliet replied, "Due to them you have something that no other person has outside of this room. To them you would be unnatural or as one would put a freak, yet in here you are equal with all of us."
"How do you mean?"
The women all looked at each other as Chloe tried to understand was said. She felt more lost than she ever did.
"How should we tell?" Harper asked.
"Might be easier to just say who." Nora replied.
"No trip then?" Amber questioned.
"Nein, that would be hard for her to handle right off." Marie stated.
"Then it's settled." both Lily and Juliet said.
"What on earth are you all talking about?" Chloe finally spoke up.
"The women you dream of, do you know their names?" Brie asked.
"Pardon?"
"The women." she repeated herself, "Do you know them?"
"I have an idea, but what does-"
Brie cut her off as she smiled and replied, "Jeanne D'Arc and Marie Antoinette."
"Catherine the Great and Anastasia Romanov." Lily continued.
"Do I have to say all mine?" Amber asked, "There's way too many to list now."
"Made your husband sound like a common day whore." Nora laughed.
"Net, let's keep going." Lily chuckled as she waved her hand past Amber.
"Good god, I'm surrounded." Juliet spoke up, "Queen Elizabeth."
"Hanna Reitsch and Sophie Scholl." followed Marie.
" Ng Mui, Wing Chun, and Wu Zhao." Nora said.
"Tomoe Gozen and Taira no Tokuko." Harper finished.
She was dumbfounded with what they all said. Some of the names stood out yet others seemed far and out there to her mind as her own mind told her to speak of them.
Finally, she found her voice, "Trotula of Salerno, Catherine of Seina, Elena Cornaro Piscopia, and Dorotea Bocchi."
"And there we have it." Amber smiled.
"Have what, I still don't understand." Chloe asked.
"The women you dream of are important roles of Italian history. They molded it to the piece that it is today or even history itself." Brie said, "Those women brought you to Italy. To Feli."
Oddly that made sense. She always felt a hard pull when she dreamed of them and what came of them in the great land. Yet she was still lost. Before she could ask anything else, Nora lifted her hand to her.
"It is hard to explain, yes. We were all there once and it was a very hard road to overcome." she began, "Yet this is very important. Those spirits that are within you are helping you gain what you need to do. And in this case, and like our own, your real future."
"And that would be?"
"A Capital."
"Capital?"
"Oui, we are capitals and our husbands are the personifications of the countries they represent in the UN and world." Brie replied.
"Capitals?" she repeated the world hundreds of times in her head as she just sat there before them, staring off into the distance like an idiot, just to have it hit her like a train. "So, if the women in my dreams are, how'd you say, guiding me. Then I'm to be like you and Feli is... he's Italy."
"Da. Well, north Italy. Lovino is south Italy while Diego is the micro-nation of Seborga." Lily replied.
"Then that would make me Rome, right. If what you are telling me is right, each one of you dreamed of a woman from that country and when you got there and found out the truth you guys then not only found the nations yet found yourself as the capitals, correct?"
"Well, pretty much." Marie nodded.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; I can't believe it." she sighed out, "After all this time, it's finally on my lap. Well, seems my day was totally hatchet after all."
"Well, you took that better than others." Juliet said.
"Hey now, those dreams freaked me out." Harper pouted at her.
"So, the question is," Brie spoke up, "do you want to take the course and be a Capital?"
Chloe thought of the dreams of the women. How they spoke so diligently, full of wise words and beliefs. Yet there always was that faded spot she couldn't figure out in her dreams, something always faded to her side, as if another person was to be standing next to her. But as the words buzzed in her head, she couldn't help but smile.
"Yes. More than ever."
His heart raced. He knew the girls would be breaking it down to Chloe as to what was going on and what she was, yet with the map before him, he was sweating in fear.
"They have advanced more than we could have planned boys." Arthur said as the outline of Genesis gave way to what was happening.
The map was full. Vast amounts of soldiers and believers in areas that controlled countries and the people within. And the more people followed the growing group the more reality was sinking on them. They were becoming their own nation.
"How do we stop this?" he asked, his voice barely over a whisper.
"We are trying to figure that out Feli." Kiku replied, "I know you have a lot to think of but know you did the right thing bringing Chloe here."
"Ja, you did." Ludwig nodded.
"It doesn't feel that way." he said as the dark blue pattern outlines his boarders, proof that the enemy was waiting for them patiently.
"As of now it seems that they have paused." Ivan announced, "As if they are waiting for something to come up or an action taken to them."
"They push, they will find it." Francis pointed out.
"That's all of us dude."
"No more of this." Yao said, trying to gain them all back to the same page, "Yes I will admit, they have multiplied quite fast and do have a stronghold on somethings, yet they have not overpowered us yet. We are still standing here and moving forward with what we need. I believe our focuses should be set on the Capitals and Cities."
"Hai, I agree." Kiku said, "Knowing what they know and what they can do. It is wise to keep our eye on them. Especially you Feliciano."
His head shot up as Kiku mentioned him, "To keep her safe, I think you need to stay by her side. We made that mistake before. Not again."
"Yea, we can send troops in from each of us just to add protection instead of having your entire military focused in Italy." Alfred stated.
Feli was shocked. True they were his friends and throughout the years they all had ups and downs with one another yet this was different. This was understanding and fear that met together and pure hope that things wouldn't repeat themselves. And they were going to do whatever it took to keep it from happening again.
"Grazie mille, amici miei." he said.
"No need to thank." Ivan stated.
"Oui, yet it is hard to believe she is really the last of them. Mostly everyone has gained a capital." Francis said.
"It still means a lot to me." Feli replied to them all, "I feel so grateful to have you all around me."
"As you would say, what are friends for?" Kiku smiled at him.
A small knock came to the door, catching them all off guard. There stood a small lieutenant, standing in attention, saluting them all as he has a letter within his hands. Giving release, Arthur took the letter and dismissed the soldier, opening the letter given to them.
The man was still as they all waited for him to say anything, but his face was more than was they expected. He was wide-eyed and ready to move.
"Boys, as of now a woman was found running boarders near death, pertaining information and dreams. Sadiq has her in a medical facility not far from his capital but is willing to send her to one of ours in a moment's notice."
"What for?" Ludwig asked.
Arthur laid the letter out before them all as Feli quickly read down the paragraph only to understand his nature in wanting to move and yet he was the very same way now.
"She knows the true reason behind Genesis's actions."