Hello, once again! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter, as it was a lot of fun to write!

Thank you for all the reviews! Reviews are highly appreciated! ^.^

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HETALIA: AXIS POWERS


"You do realize that is the only way for them? It's good luck." Icy eyes met maroon eyes ablaze with passion.

"Like hell it is! Liz'll...she'll frickin' die!"

"It is for the best."

"Yeah, well then, tell me how exactly you plan to do it, Vater." he said, his eyes ablaze with sudden anger. "You can't control that."

"What's been lost in the earth can never be found. What has been burned cannot be formed again; what has been swept away cannot be searched for. Don't you want the best for them?

"Are you seriously trying to tell me you have that kind of power?"

"I can see it. I have no control over their future. But I know what will happen, and I know that you cannot stop it."

"We'll see about that, old man." With a determined heart, the man grabbed a sword and walked away proudly.

Icy eyes narrowed as they watched him walk away. "They're all already beginning to break, 'Gilbert'. The boy with his too-real hallucinations. Another with dreams, dreams that will slowly corrode him from the inside. Feelings that will lead to confusion and doubt. That girl managed to awaken, Gilbert, but do you honestly think that was good for her? She'll die, Gilbert, her body won't be able to handle it. That magic boy tried, but he cannot fight fate. The seal won't last on that girl for long. Speaking of that boy...he was going to kill himself that day. He couldn't handle it, though I do commend him for lasting this long. They're all already on the road to self-destruction, and that includes you."

A pause. "That's where you're wrong. Don't underestimate the awesome me!"


"This was by far the worst idea I've ever had to take part in," Arthur said, glaring at Alfred, who was grinning at him.

"Aw, come on, it's not like you said no!"

"T-That's because..." Arthur frowned, biting his lip. Alfred had a point.

Alfred's grin only grew wider. "See? Come on, brighten up while the day's still here!"

Arthur sighed. He'd just been thinking about Alfred in his quiet hospital room(Lukas had left the room, claiming he had something to do which Arthur wasn't in the mood to question) when that fool burst into his hospital room, a dorky smile on his face. He had grabbed his hand and sped off, out of the door, down the hall, and thankfully they were on the first floor because he had picked Arthur up and jumped out of a window, luckily landing on soft grass. Arthur didn't even have time to breathe before Alfred took off again, Arthur being dragged more than running by himself, until they were suddenly by a river, in the middle of the woods, and alone. Only then did Alfred explain himself, telling Arthur how he 'just had to see him' or some unbelievable reason like that. Arthur didn't even bother asking how Alfred had gotten past the Doctors and Nurses, or how he'd found Arthur's room number.

"Well, couldn't you have talked to me in the room? Why did you insist on dragging me all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Because it's annoying!" he replied, pouting.

"What?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"Listen, if I want to talk to you, I should be able to without any annoying people coming and checking up on you every twenty minutes and then they'd question me and I can't lie to them and..." he trailed off, meeting Arthur's eyes.

"Well surely you could have-"

"There are people everywhere, Arthur. The woods is the only place people don't go often - well, lumberjacks do, but they don't really work at this time of day, do they?"

Arthur frowned. "I suppose...but anyway, why do you want to see me? I understand that you might have been worried about me since I blacked out the other day, but really, I'm fine. Also, I really should be getting back to -" Back to what? Being a Builder? Arthur couldn't lie to himself. He knew he didn't want that.

"Arthur, honestly, you really didn't look too happy back there at the ceremony."

"Thanks."

"No, seriously! Is this really what you want?" Alfred's blue eyes seemed to bore into his, and Arthur looked away.

"I-It's a bit late for that, isn't it? It doesn't matter anymore."

"It does, Arthur! It doesn't have to be like this!"

"How, then, Alfred? Tell me!" Arthur shouted, standing up and glaring down at Alfred, who looked a bit taken-aback. "Not once in history has the Court taken back their decision! This is what I'm confined to! And another thing - Have you even thought about the consequences of your actions back there? If somebody walks in and I'm not there, do you even understand the kinds of trouble I'll be in? If someone saw us jumping through the window, which was very conspicuous by the way, we'll both be facing the Court tomorrow morning! Was it worth it, Alfred? We broke the Rules by meeting each other in the first place, and now..." Arthur leaned against a tree, his hand pressed to his forehead as he sighed.

"...Arthur?"

"Yes?"

Alfred slowly stood up, and walked towards Arthur until they were inches apart. Arthur took his hand off his forehead and looked up at Alfred, shrinking back into the tree. "W-What is it?"

"Arthur, when you give up on your dreams, you're done for. What's the point of doing something just because someone else told you to?"

"Because I have to."

"No, you don't, Arthur. Not this way. Don't you think you should have the right to choose what you want to do? For Heaven's sake, it's your life, Arthur!"

"You shouldn't talk like that, Alfred. If someone is listening, we'll be-" He was cut off as Alfred slammed his hand on the tree, right next to Arthur's head, causing Arthur to wince.

"But you're thinking that too, aren't you?"

"N-No! Why would I..."

"Arthur, we both know that I'm right. Why are you still struggling to accept it?"

Arthur looked up at Alfred, and gasped. There it was, again...that man...he looked exactly like Alfred, but he wasn't, somehow, and he was...his expression... was tensed and sad. He was wearing some sort of blue-and-red coat, with a white "X" across his chest.

He shrunk even farther back into the tree, his eyes widened in fear. Alfred blinked, staring at Arthur in surprise. "Arthur?"

Arthur gasped as he heard a voice in his head. It was Alfred's voice, but...it wasn't...and all of a sudden, an image popped up into his head. It was...it was the man who looked like Alfred, but...he was wearing the coat, and...Arthur squeezed his eyes shut.

He could see it clearly, now...almost like he was in a movie, but he wasn't. He was looking at this "Alfred"-like man, who was pointing something at him, and he felt his eyebrows furrow and his jaw become rigid. There were many men behind Alfred, but Arthur didn't recognize any of their faces. Alfred was looking at him, and his eyes were filled with anger, spirit, sorrow, and something unexplainable as he opened his mouth.

"Hey, Britain! All I want...is my freedom. I'm not longer a child, nor your little brother! From now on...consider me...independent!"

Arthur felt himself frown even more, raindrops trailing down his face, and felt pain, sadness, and anger fill his heart. He was confused as to why he was feeling this - and as to what was going on - and just as he felt himself about to rush at this Alfred-look-alike, he was brought back to reality as his eyes opened. The real Alfred was shaking him, eyes worried. Arthur pushed him away harshly, tears rolling down his face.

"A-Arthur? Are you okay? You looked like you were having a seizure or something!" Alfred approached him again, but froze when he saw Arthur shaking and glaring at him. He looked at Arthur's eyes closely, and saw that they were blank - almost like a hollow-type of green that worried Alfred even more. "Arthur..."

Just then, Arthur's body went slack, and his eyes zoned in and out of focus. He fell silent, staring off at a point above Alfred's head. A couple of minutes passed, and Alfred said nothing. He looked at Arthur worriedly, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Al...fred..." Arthur's eyes became their regular shade of emerald green, and his face regained its regular, pale color. He blinked a couple of times, before asking, "What's...going on?"

"Arthur..." Alfred stared at him in shock. What just happened? "Arthur, you were...you were really upset for some reason...did I do something?"

"What? Upset? Yes, because you..." It was then that Arthur noticed that Alfred was uncomfortably close, but he decided not to comment on it, "you...y-you practically dragged me out of the hospital-"

"No, not that. You aren't upset about that truly, and you and I both know it. I'm talking about...you were...something about..." Alfred frowned. Because while Arthur was in that..."weird" state, he had said things - again, about this..."America"...

Arthur blinked. "Alfred, are you quite all right?"

"Hey, I'm the one who's fine! You're the one who went all weird on me-"

"Weird? Alfred...Alfred, what did I do?" Something convinced Arthur that Alfred was not making anything up.

"It's nothing..." Alfred frowned. "It's okay now, I guess. I just was worried that I'd have to take you back to the hospital!" he said with a forced laugh.

"Don't lie to me, Alfred Jones." Arthur said, trying to sound menacing.

Alfred let out a "pffft" and broke out into laughter.

"Don't mock me!" Arthur cried, feeling himself flush a bit.

"Nothing!" Alfred said, his usual grin restored. "So, anyway, what were we talking about before...?"

"I can play that game too, Alfred. We weren't talking about anything. Nothing at all." Arthur said with a 'hmph.'

"Aww...don't say that! We had to be, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what, Alfred?" Arthur stifled a laugh.

"Arthuuuuuuuuur!"

Arthur laughed. "You'll never know!"

"Tell me!" Alfred pouted.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" With another laugh, Arthur began running. "I might consider telling you if you can catch up with me!" he shouted to Alfred.

Alfred grinned. "You really think you can run faster than me?"

"Oh, I think so!" Arthur yelled, smirking. "Plus, I have a head start, so I'm practically the winner already."

"Keep that way of thinking up, Arthur! Your loss!" he heard Alfred laugh somewhere behind him.

Arthur continued to keep his pace the same, running through the forest. He felt so...free, like he could forget all of his worries and troubles right then and there. He didn't notice how long he continued to run, but eventually he did come to a stop, panting, and he looked behind him. Nothing.

Blinking in confusion, Arthur looked at his surroundings, and realized that Alfred was nowhere in sight. Was Alfred really that awful of a runner? Arthur chuckled. Alfred thought too highly of himself. As if he could catch up to Arthur!

Arthur paused. Well, he did enjoy the run. Perhaps he'd keep running for a while, then eventually turn back to search for Alfred. He started to jog at a slower pace, taking in the fresh air and scenery around him, though his mind could not avoid thinking about Alfred. It was strange, though - with Arthur going at this slow pace, surely Alfred should have caught up by now?

Arthur suddenly saw a flash of yellow to his right, and barely had time to stop and see what it was before he felt something tackle him. He yelped in surprise as he felt his back hit the ground. He blinked, stunned, then looked up and saw Alfred's face close to his, gazing down at him with a smug grin of satisfaction.

"Looks like I win."


Lovino yelped, his face a furious red. "W-What's your problem!?" he demanded, though his voice cracked, which gave away the fact that he had indeed been crying.

Antonio's eyes narrowed, but softened. He gently wiped away a tear from Lovino's cheek, leaning much closer than was necessary. Lovino shrunk as far as he could - as far as the wall would allow.

But Lovino was drawn to Antonio at the same time, and he couldn't explain it. He stared into those brilliant, beautiful eyes, and hated himself for blushing madly.

Suddenly, Antonio blinked. "Are you okay?" he asked, a puzzled look on his face. "You're all red." He put his hand to Lovino's forehead. Lovino quickly slapped it away.

"I'm fine!" Lovino snapped angrily, putting his hands on his hips.

"You're like a tomato!" Antonio added, laughing, until he abruptly stopped. Romano's fury subsided as he stared at Antonio's face - it went blank, and his eyes went somewhat unfocused. What the hell..

"H-Hey, Antonio..." Lovino awkwardly nudged him. He was still against the wall, trapped by the now-unresponsive Antonio. "H-Hey!" His shouts grew louder.

"Ah, sorry, Lovi..." Antonio said, finally breaking out of his stupor. His eyes lost their usual cheer, and looked lost and far-away. "Something...I feel like..." He teetered on his feet for a few seconds before collapsing against Lovino completely, practically crushing him as they both fell to the floor.

"W-What the fuck, bastard!?" Lovino cried, then froze when he realized what was happening. "H-Hey...Antonio, are you..."

Well, he knew one thing for sure. Antonio was fucking heavy.

"Are you okay? Say something, Antonio..." Lovino began, attempting to shake the man. Lovino, with a lot of effort, managed to drag himself so that he was sitting and leaning against the wall. He managed to push Antonio off of him and make him sit up against a wall, and with a sigh Lovino stood up and went to go sit in front of Antonio. "Antonio!" he shouted, shaking his shoulders. "Hey, wake up!"

"Romano..." Antonio murmured, and Lovino shut up instantly, letting go of his shoulders.

Lovino frowned. "What?"

"Romano, Boss will be fine..."

"Boss? Are you drunk, Antonio?" Lovino demanded. "Open your damn eyes, idiot!"

"Te quiero mucho, Romano...don't forget that...ow." Antonio muttered, and winced with his eyes still closed.

"Are you talking while you're unconscious? You're such a..." Lovino paused mid-insult, frowning. Why did that phrase, whatever he said, sound so...familiar? What did it mean? He obviously wasn't talking coherently...that must be it, right?


"Elizaveta! Elizaveta!" A scream came from outside the door, and Elizaveta immediately opened it, surprised to see Feliciano's panicked face.

"Feli...it's five in the morning, dear...I don't want to tie your shoe at five in the morning."

"No, that's not it, Eliza! Lovino's been gone the entire night!"

Elizaveta frowned. "He should have come back before midnight...isn't he a night Chef?"

"Yeah, and he was with Antonio so I thought he was okay but I think something happened because I waited the entire night for him to come back but he never came back, and I'm so worried!"

Elizaveta put her hands on Feliciano's shoulders firmly in an effort to calm him down. "It'll be all right, Feli. You'd have gotten a message if Lovino fell sick and had to go to the Healing Center."

"Then where is he?"

"..." Elizaveta bit her lip. Lovino...where could he be? "Did you check the Diner yet?"

"I went there, and I looked all around but I couldn't find him!"

Almost as if on cue, the two heard someone say behind them, "Hey, Feli...can you move?"

Feliciano spun around, and would have hugged his brother save for the fact that Lovino was carrying a clearly unconscious Antonio on his back. "Heavy." Lovino grunted, struggling to walk towards Elizaveta. "Could you make a bed or something? I'll...set him down there..." Lovino said, gasping for breath.

"Lovino! I'll help!" Feliciano said immediately, but Lovino shrugged him off, and instead walked inside Elizaveta's house. Feliciano came inside too, and shut the door behind him.

Lovino laid Antonio down on the couch, considering he lacked the strength to carry him up the stairs. Immediately, Lovino was assaulted with questions.

"Where were you the entire night, Lovino!? I was so worried!"

"It's not a big deal, Feli...I just had some work to do-"

"Your work shouldn't last that long." Elizaveta cut in. She walked over to Lovino, her hands on her hips. "And you come back at five in the morning, with your unconscious mentor on your back. Do you want to explain?"

Lovino gulped. This woman could be pretty intimidating when she wanted to be. "Um..w-well, he...uh...fainted."

"When?"

"I don't know. Sometime. I tried to wake him up."

"You spent the entire night trying to wake him up?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Elizaveta sighed, her arms falling to her sides. "Lovino, honestly, you should have just sent him to the Healing Center and come home! You must be tired!"

"No, not really." Lovino frowned. True, he was waiting for Antonio to wake up, but mostly...it was because he was listening.

For some reason, while unconscious, Antonio began talking. Romano couldn't understand any of it - it was nonsense to his ears, but there was a ring of familiarity to it. It was...well, interesting, and for some reason it soothed Lovino in a way even he couldn't understand. And that one word - "Romano" - was always at the back of his mind. He was ready to get up and get authorities the moment Antonio began talking, but he was drawn to the words. He just sat, closed his eyes, and listened. Sometimes, he'd fall in and out of consciousness, but when he awoke he always heard it again sooner or later - and Lovino could swear at one point Antonio began singing, but it was in that nonsense language again which he couldn't understand. Sometimes Antonio would remain mum for more than half an hour, but he'd always start again - talking, just talking softly, but Lovino made sure to listen to every word.

"How can you not be tired-" Elizaveta was interrupted again by someone pounding on the door, and Elizaveta let out a sigh of exasperation. "Is my house the place to be at 5 in the morning!?" she shouted irritatedly before she opened the door, frowning at whoever was on the doorstep, until her eyes widened in recognition. Immediately, she was pushed back into the house harshly, and the person entered before shutting the door behind him.

"G-Gilbert..." Elizaveta said, astonished. "Gilbert...you're...back."

Gilbert gave her a quick grin. "Yeah, but that we'll get to that later. Listen to me, Liz-" He saw Lovino and Feliciano staring at him, and then saw the unconscious Antonio on the couch. "God, did Toni just get totally wasted or something? He's sleeping like a log!"

Lovino frowned. "How do you know Antonio? He's not in this-"

"Yeah, yeah, kid, just let it go for now." Gilbert said quickly, then turned to Elizaveta again, saying, "Well, it doesn't matter if they're here too. Listen, you need to get the hell out of here."

Elizaveta frowned. "What?"

"Like, out of the house. Get everyone here out."

Elizaveta sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about, Gilbert, but you should know more than anyone that if Feliks is woken up early-"

"Yeah, well which is more important, Liz - his face or his life!?"

"Gilbert, tell me what's going on right now." Elizaveta said, stepping closer to him until they were inches apart. Gilbert's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"You'd never believe me-"

"Gilbert, you listen to me right now," Elizaveta said, her voice rising in volume, "You left me without a single reason why, you were gone for such a long time Feliks doesn't even include you on the family checkups anymore and that is saying something, you leave me and then storm into the house at FIVE IN THE MORNING! If you don't tell me what is going on in the next thirty seconds I will pick you up and throw you out that damn door!" she shouted fiercely, her eyes ablaze.

Gilbert stepped back, a bit scared, then met her head-on, "ALL RIGHT! FINE! BUT PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF WHATEVER THE HELL YOU LOVE GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!"

They heard a scream come from upstairs, and Elizaveta and Gilbert instantly calmed down and exchanged worried glances. "You woke Feliks, Gilbert. He's your problem," Elizaveta said, her voice tense. "Go on. If someone hears screaming we'll be reported to the Court."

"Damn!" Gilbert screamed in frustration before he stomped up the stairs, only to be harshly kicked in the gut. He fell back down the stairs, landing on his back at the base of the stairs. He remained on the floor, groaning, before he stood up and walked back to Elizaveta. Feliks thundered down the stairs, tears in his eyes, and his hair a mess.

"F-Feliks, dear," Elizaveta said soothingly, "come on, let's get you back to bed..." She was stopped as she was about to walk towards Feliks by Gilbert.

"No, he's coming outside with us. Or, we can let him die, but I don't think any of us will like that," he said, irritated. "Just get him out."

"I won't move!" Feliks said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

Lovino and Feliciano exchanged glances before Feliciano burst out worriedly, "Gilbert, what's going to happen to us!?"

"God damn it, Feli!" Gilbert growled, "Just get your brother out. I'll get Toni, and Liz, get Feliks out, unless you want to die!"

"You're ridiculous, Gilbert!" Elizaveta cried, but nevertheless she opened the door and allowed Feliciano and Lovino to run out. Gilbert hoisted Antonio across his back and ran out, while Elizaveta tried to coax Feliks to leave the house. Eventually, she decided to force him out, but still, it was hard to make him budge.

"Feliks, please, honey, just for today! I promise I'll never wake you up again!" she said desperately, but still Feliks refused to move.

"No! Why are you listening to him, anyway? He's the one who just up and left us!" Feliks said angrily. "I am so not in the mood for this!"

Just as he finished his sentence, the ground began to shake. At first, Elizaveta thought she was hallucinating, but she wasn't - everything fell off of the tables, glass smashed, and the furniture shifted around the room. It began as a small shake, but soon the ceiling itself was beginning to crack. Elizaveta stood, dumbfounded, before she had to duck when the picture frame above her almost hit her head. She screamed, terrified. Feliks began to cry again, and he ran over to Elizaveta in a panic.

From outside, Gilbert cursed when the earthquake began. "Shit!" Elizaveta hadn't made it out in time! In fact, the journey back and getting Elizaveta and the others to evacuate had taken so long he didn't have time to run to all the other houses in the couple of blocks where the earthquake would be most powerful and evacuate them. "Liz! Liz!" His voice rose in panic.

He saw buildings falling all around him - homes where innocent people lived. He dropped Antonio on the ground and rushed to the door, which was crushed under the parts of the roof that had fallen. Elizaveta was trapped inside with Feliks, but Gilbert knew that if they both he and Elizaveta tried to move the pieces away, from the outside and inside, they'd be able to make a hole big enough to escape. "Damn it! Liz, do you hear me!?" There was a tiny gap in which he could see inside, and all of a sudden he saw Elizaveta, sweat covering her face which was flushed in fear.

"Gil! Gil!" she screamed, the terror evident in her voice. "Gil, help! Feliks, he still won't budge!"

"Can you move the stuff out of the way?!"

"Yeah, I think so! But please, Gil, what do I do!? He's scrunched up in a ball, and refuses to listen to anything I say! He's terrified!"

"Forget about him, Liz! Just please, try to make a hole big enough for you guys to get through!"

"O-Okay, Gilbert...AHHHH!"

It was all over soon. The ground was stable again, and all was silent. Smoke filled the sky, fires and destroyed buildings were everywhere, and even trees had been uprooted and crushed streets and paths. Gilbert swiveled around, only to see that Lovino, Feliciano, and Antonio were out of sight. "Shit!" He ran towards Elizaveta's now-destroyed pile of a house, and shifted through the rubble. "Shit, Liz, shout if you hear me!"

But he knew it was futile. He had heard her scream. And he had seen with his own eyes the very thing that crushed her.