Finally got around to updating! Sorry for the long wait...
I really wish I owned Hetalia, but sadly I don't.
It wasn't long before Italy and Ludwig reached Saia. It was a beautiful place that had small houses and a stone path running through the town, and to the north was a large building: the patriarch's house. It had a golden roof, pure white walls, and many detailed pillars and windows.
They entered the house to find three people standing around a table in the back. Ludwig stepped forward. "I am Ludwig, the envoy from Ramneyg. Is the patriarch here?"
The one in the middle, a young girl whose brown hair was decorated with a pink flower, said "My name is Xiao Mei. These two," she gestured to the boys on either side of her, "are my elder brother Tao and my younger brother Yong Soo. I'm sorry, but the patriarch is not home at the moment."
Italy stared at the siblings. [I've seen these three somewhere before...] he thought.
Ludwig seemed annoyed. "Even though you supposedly informed him that an envoy was coming beforehand?" he asked Xiao Mei.
She nodded. "He was informed repeatedly, but he had some urgent business to attend to..."
"We just came all the way here through the forest. I wish he would show me some courtesy as well."
"Lud!" Italy stepped forward and faced him. "I don't like the way you're acting." Ludwig glanced at him.
"...Is that so? But it's only natural."
"You're being too intimidating! You're scaring them!" Italy told him, his expression serious for once. "Honestly..." He sighed and turned back to the others. "I'm sorry, Xiao Mei. He isn't a bad guy, really."
"No, we are the ones in the wrong..." the girl said.
"Where did the patriarch go?"
This time is was Tao who spoke up. "The patriarch, Wang Yao, went to the mountains in the south."
"And Kiku went with him!" Yong Soo added with a smile, unlike Tao, who spoke without much emotion.
"Kiku?" Ludwig asked.
"He's our brother," Xiao Mei explained. "He's the oldest one."
Italy was a bit confused. "What were your brother and the patriarch going to do in the mountains?"
Xiao Mei looked down. "Some monsters have started appearing around here lately, and they attacked the phoenixes in the southern mountains..."
"Phoenixes are precious creatures," Tao continued. "Wang Yao and Kiku went to exterminate those monsters." Yong Soo looked up with a worried look.
"Actually, they should have already been back by now, but they're not..."
"We're very worried, but I don't think we're strong enough to make it to where they are..." Xiao Mei said, still looking at the ground.
"Besides," Yong Soo turned around to look at something on the table behind him. "It's our duty to protect the Red Jewel..." When Italy looked, he saw that there was a shining red stone resting on a pillow.
"Wow, so pretty!" he exclaimed.
Tao nodded. "This jewel is very important to us," he said.
"The Red Jewel is one of the five Gems that were destroyed by the Hero." Xiao Mei added.
"Is this the real thing?" Ludwig asked in a slightly quieter voice than usual.
Italy was extremely confused by all this. [Feliciano! They've started talking about a hero and other stuff I don't know about!]
"Er, it's a very old legend," Feliciano told him. "Everybody in this world knows about the Hero and the Gems." Feliciano told the short version of the story: there were five Gems (red, white, black, blue, and green) used by God the make the world. People wanted these Gems for power and fought over the mines constantly. So the Hero, a man from Spina, and his five companions destroyed all but the harmless White Gem, or Memory Stone. "Remember my pendant had a white stone? That's a Memory Stone."
[Maybe the monster we ran into in the forest was after this stone?] Italy wondered.
"Maybe... The Memory Stone in my pendant is special and has similar properties to the White Jewel."
[How can there be any Jewels if the Gems were destroyed?]
Feliciano continued his story and explained that the most powerful Gems were made into the Jewels by the Hero's companions just in case they were needed, and then towns were made to protect each Jewel. "All this time, the people of Saia have been protecting the Red Jewel entrusted to their ancestors by the Hero."
Italy, deciding that he more or less understood, remembered what had been going on and had an idea. "What if we go after the patriarch and your brother in your stead?" he offered.
"W-we couldn't possibly impose on you for something like that!" Xiao Mei said. "I mean, this is a family matter..."
Ludwig seemed to agree with Italy and said, "No, if you say they are taking too long to come home, maybe something happened."
"Can we ask you this favor?" Tao asked them. Italy grinned at him and said happily, "Sure, you can count on us! We just came out of a forest full of monsters!"
"Thank you!" Yong Soo said with his big smile back on his face. Ludwig warned them about the large monster from the forest that wanted the stone, then the two left the house. Italy took one look back, and he still couldn't shake the feeling that he had met those three before.
Outside, Italy found a chest with a flag in it. [This looks like Japan's flag.] he thought. He looked down at the tattered white flag he had been using to defend himself. [I do need a new one...] So he decided to take the new flag as his weapon.
The two stopped by the shops, where Ludwig found a new whip that was covered in thorns (who knew they even made something like that?), and Italy got them both new shields. They also grabbed a few healing items before leaving.
Before they headed to the mountains, Italy decided to make a quick stop to the library, where a woman decided to go on and on about thaumaturgy (Saia's name for magic). She told him all about the different elements (fire, water, wind, ice, earth, light, and dark) as well as healing magic. She also mentioned that most people with "the gift" are in Saia, Elgnand, or Avenir.
Italy, who didn't really understand all this, thanked her for her explanations and exited the library.
He also visited the hot spring, where he bought some milk that he was told was from a place called Aricema. [There are so many different places in this world.] he thought. [It's so confusing. How am I ever going to remember all of this?]
At last, Italy and Ludwig left Saia and were on their way to help Wang Yao and Kiku.
Okay, if you haven't seen the videos for this game, I should point out that Xiao Mei is Taiwan, Tao is Hong Kong, and the Hero is Ancient Rome. And if you haven't caught on with the names of the towns, most of them are country or continent names with the letters out of order, and some are words in other languages. These are the ones mentioned so far:
Lytia- Italy
Ramneyg- Germany
Saia- Asia
Spina- Spain
Elgnand- England
Aricema- America
Avenir- French for "future"
SotetAG is officially on hiatus, so after the next chapter I won't be able to update for a while. Not that I update very quickly, anyways ^^;
Italy and Feli still have pasta for reviewers!