I was going to wait a bit longer to write this, but one of my friends seemed to really like it, so that was my motivation. Thanks, Megan! And so I bring you the next chapter. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I don't own HetaQuest, Hetalia, or any of the characters (it makes me sad every time I have to write this…)
After a short walk, Italy found his way out of the forest. He stepped out onto the open plain in front of him, almost blinded by how bright it was now that there were no trees to filter the sunlight. "The town was east of here, right?"
"That's right," Feliciano replied. "But some strange monsters have started appearing lately, so be careful." Italy seemed a bit confused, so Feliciano explained further. "They're usually big and look like mixes of different animals. They're called 'chimeras' but only a few people call them that! Most people just call them 'monsters'. They didn't exist before though…" He trailed off.
"Do you know why they started appearing?" Italy asked him.
"They first appeared around the imperial capital. I know they started spreading to the east..." he paused for a moment. "But I don't know where exactly they came from. But after what happened to me, I know that that woman called Natalya, who led those monsters, has something to do with them!" He smiled, proud of his discovery."
Italy nodded. "So what kind of animals do you normally have here, then?" He figured this would be something good to know while he was in this world. He didn't want to be caught off-guard by the mention of a creature he'd never heard of.
"Well..." Feliciano looked thoughtful. "There are some wolves, and sometimes flying dragons, I guess? If you go closer to the mountains, you might see some phoenixes!" He said this as if it was all perfectly normal (and around here it was), but Italy had to struggle to hide his shock.
"Er... Oh, I see..." he managed to say. [Those strange creatures are normal? I don't see how they're any different from the monsters!] Italy figured this would be a good time to change the subject. "By the way, that friend of yours, what's he like? Tell me about some of his traits."
Feliciano grinned. "His name is Ludwig. I call him Lud. He's tough and buff, but he's a really nice guy!" He seemed really happy to be talking about this friend of his.
"I see~" Italy wondered why that sounded familiar, but then it clicked. [He kind of sounds like Germany...] He started to wonder if what Germany was doing. Had he noticed that Italy was missing, or did he think he was just goofing off somewhere? His thoughts were interrupted by his ghostly friend.
"It's dangerous here, too, so we'd better go to the town quickly."
"Yeah." Italy smiled and headed towards the town, and he was amazed at how close it was to the forest. [So Feliciano died when he was almost here. That's really terrible...] he thought. The place was fairly small and filled with simple houses and stone pathways. Standing on one of these paths was a man with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was wearing mostly black, but he also had a green cape draped over his shoulders. "Th-that person over there..." he whispered to himself in shock.
When he saw Italy, the man ran up to him. "Where have you been?" he yelled. Italy freaked out. What was Germany doing here? It couldn't be him, but...
"Italy, this is Lud!" Oh, so it wasn't Germany after all. "He's really buff, so be careful!"
"Feliciano! Are you listening to me?"
He had to say something, anything. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I went to the forest alone!" Okay, that works.
Ludwig sighed. "Honestly, you... Hm? Hey, what happened to your clothes?" Uh oh. He had completely forgotten he was wearing a military uniform from a different world.
"Er...Tell him a good excuse!" Feliciano told him.
[Right, an excuse. Um...] "Sir, I fell over spectacularly and had to buy new clothes, sir!" [Will he really buy that? My clothes are completely different...]
Ludwig seemed to be concerned. "You're not hurt, are you?" Italy had no idea what to say. "...Make sure you're more careful in the future!"
"S-sir, yes, sir!" He mentally cursed himself for saluting (an old habit from when he was being trained by Germany) but that must have been the same thing Feliciano would do, because Ludwig didn't seem to think it was abnormal. He thought he even saw a slight smile. [He's kinda nice...]
"You were gone for too long. Now it will be dark by the time we get to the forest. We have no choice but to spend the night here. Is that clear?"
"Sir, understood, sir!"
"There are things we need to get ready during the time we have left... I'll leave the money for the trip in your care," he decided. "But don't spend it on unnecessary things." He handed Italy a handful of gold coins.
Italy decided to wander around Lytia and talk to its residents. He walked inside one of the nearest houses (where he was scolded for coming in without asking first) and got some pasta from a nice lady who lived there. He also "borrowed" a little bit of money from a chest in the bedroom.
After he had finished his chatting and shopping, Italy headed over to the inn where he and Ludwig would be staying. "I'll ask the villagers a little more about the forest." Ludwig said. "I want you to stay in the room and watch over our belongings. Don't go anywhere on your own!"
"Sir, understood, sir!" Italy watched as he left the inn, and then entered the small room. Once he sat down at the table in the corner, Feliciano made himself visible again and sat at the chair opposite him. "Phew, I can finally come out," he said as he plopped himself down in the wooden chair.
"That's pretty handy. Appearing and disappearing like that, I mean." Italy thought aloud.
"I was worried people would be able to see me if I was out." Yes, that would cause problems. It's not every day you see somebody being followed by a floating dead double of themselves.
"It looks like Ger- I mean, Lud," Italy corrected himself, "didn't suspect anything at all." Italy smiled, amazed that this plan was working. "I was surprised by how identical Lud is to a friend of mine! They even talk the same way!"
"Really? Maybe it's because we're similar, so our friends are also similar?" Feliciano wondered. He paused for a moment before he spoke again. "By the way, I was so caught up with asking you to take my place that I don't know anything about you."
"I don't know much about you, either," Italy pointed out. "I wonder why I didn't ask any questions while we were coming here."
"It's not too late to do it now! Oh, where are you from?" he asked. "I'm from Spina! Are you from Ramneyg, by any chance?"
"Er... no."
"From Avenir, then? Though it's quite far away from here." How was Italy supposed to explain that this wasn't his world, so he'd never even heard of these places? [I might as well just tell him the truth...]
"I don't think you'll believe me, but I'm not actually from this world." When Feliciano didn't respond, he added, "I wound up in this world after I opened a book I got from someone... I really want to go back to my world as soon as possible." Feliciano still said nothing. [He must be thinking I'm a weirdo!]
Then Feliciano grinned. "Awesome! This is the first time I've met someone from another world!"
"You believe me?"
"A long time ago, we used to mingle with people from another world," he explained. "I'm so happy! I've always wanted to meet someone from another world!"
"Don't you know how to go from one world to the other?" Italy asked, more hopeful than he should be. "I want to back to my world as soon as I finish doing what you asked me to..."
The look on Feliciano's face made Italy's hopes fall strait down the toilet (Were there even toilets in this world? Probably not. This place seemed pretty medieval...) "I'm sorry, that was a long time ago; I don't know any more than that."
"...I'll never be able to go back?" Italy was on the verge of tears at this point. He couldn't be stuck here forever, right?
"Maybe if you ask the patriarch of Saia tomorrow, he'll tell you more? I heard he knows a lot!" Feliciano suggested, trying to cheer up the Italian.
Italy's face lifted a bit. "Really?"
"I'll help you get back to your world, too!"
"Grazie, Feliciano!"
After this, Feliciano decided he should teach Italy this world's geography. Italy had always been good at geography back home, like most nations. But trying to learn this stuff when you don't have people to relate to different places was harder than he thought. That town was on this continent, this place was ruled by that empire. He couldn't remember any of it. Finally he told Feliciano that there was really no point in continuing the lesson. Then Feliciano vanished as he heard Ludwig enter the building again.
"It seems that it really is too dangerous to go to the forest right now." Ludwig told him. "There aren't only wild animals, but also chimeras."
"They were outside of the village, too, weren't they?" Italy asked, though it wasn't really much of a question. He had seen them on his way here.
"Damn. Then it's true that they're coming to the outskirts of Lytia."
"I wonder what they're after..."
"All we know is that they clearly aren't natural," Ludwig said. "I hope we can get Saia's cooperation..." He trailed off, not wanting to consider the possibility of Saia refusing to help.
"I wonder what the patriarch is like," Italy said absent mindedly. "I hope he's a nice guy."
"I wonder."
"We're going to spend the night here, aren't we?" asked Italy, feeling tired all of a sudden.
"Yes. We're going to get up early tomorrow. Make sure you get plenty of rest today." Ludwig told him.
"Va bene!" It wasn't long before Italy was curled up in his bed, fast asleep.
And there it is! Now Ludwig's made his entrance into the story. And a random note about that toilet line: I seriously didn't even know I typed that until I read this again later. Oh, the things I type when I stop paying attention...
And a special thanks to The Singing Maiden. I actually started writing this after I read your RomaHeta fic (Or at least tried to. I get interrupted every time I start the 4th chapter. I really wish I had my own computer so I didn't have to get off when my mom or brother needs it...) And yes, if for some reason it doesn't get an ending, I'll come up with one.
Well, it may be a while before I update again. I need to work on my other fic, after all. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please take two seconds to click the review button. Reviewers get hugs!