The streets were in an uproar; a human had been caught stealing food, and as such had been transformed into a pig for punishment. The scene had everyone on high alert. It was rare for a human to make their way into their world, and now that it had been caught, the question that was on everybody's mind was 'Did it come alone?'. Needless to say, the attempt of distracting the authority of the bathhouse from the human presence in their world was futile.

The Italian ducked behind an alley way, quick on his feet to avoid being seen himself. He ascended concrete steps that lead to a grassy area behind the row of storefronts that lined the main stretch of restaurants. The brunet looked around; he could sense the human he was searching for was close by- there! Behind a bush of hydrangeas the Italian spotted a head of blond hair.

He was sitting, slouched over with his head in his hands; the perfect picture of disconcertion. His hair that was once slicked back was now messy and hung in his face, his pants were soaked from the knee down and the fabric was stained with grass and dirt. The Italian approached delicately, attempting not to scare the poor man. When he got close, he knelt down beside the blond and gently placed his arms around the blond's broad muscular shoulders, and when the German startled, he was quick to silence him.

"Shh, It's okay! Don't be afraid, I'm a friend. I'm here to help~" He insisted in a hushed voice.

The human looked up, his ice blue eyes widening as he recognized the boy knelt next to him. It was pretty much futile to to not be afraid though. He was completely out of his element, and worse, he wasn't waking up from this nightmare. To top that off, he was becoming even more transparent. "Just go away." he muttered- it most certainly didn't come out as a plea.

Ludwig tried to push the Italian stranger off him, but failed, as his hands went 'right through him'. He winced and curled back in on himself. He hated this. He didn't know how to deal with this. There were no instruction manuals that told him what to do should he ever find himself fading away from reality. Now he knew why his brother had always teased him for relying on the guide books so much...

The Italian was not surprised blond's transparency, and instead pulled something out of his sleeve pocket. He unwrapped a piece of chocolate and held it out for the German. "Here, eat this. It's yummy! Please, you have to eat some food from this world or you'll keep disappearing." When the blond simply stared back at the boy, he took the initiative and held up the candy to the man's lips. "Don't worry, you won't turn into a pig, I promise~"

He didn't want to. Ludwig really didn't want to. Nothing was making any sense, he was mentally freaking out, and the 'last' thing on his mind was food, the least of all chocolate. He opened his mouth to protest, which of course only gave the Italian the opportunity to stuff the piece of candy in. It was sweet, and melted on his tongue. He might of enjoyed it if the situation was different. But as he watched his hands slowly become whole again, the true taste was nothing short of bittersweet.

Questions. If this really was a new reality, Ludwig had so many questions- the first of which burst through whilst he tentatively reached out to touch Italian boy experimentally, testing to make sure he was again solid; the stranger took the hand firmly in his in response. "Did mein bruder really turn into a pig?" he asked, the German accent heavy in his voice from his stressed state. It felt ok though, to ask this boy questions. There was just something about him that was comforting somehow. Not to mention that the Italian 'had' tried to warn him to get out. Ludwig blamed himself for not taking that warning more seriously.

The brunet looked down and nodded to him regretfully, but then tried to give him a comforting smile. "You can't see him now, but you will. Everything will be okay just-"The Italian cut off, and his gaze drifted toward the sky. He abruptly leaned forward, shielding the German while keeping a concerned watch on the pastel green animal that was flying about fifty feet above their heads. It circled once, twice, three times before it moved on, flying out of sight. When it was gone the Italian stood up, his hand still holding firmly onto Ludwig's. "That flying mint bunny was looking for you, they know you're here. You need to get you to a safer place immediately."

It had been weird enough being shielded by a lad that was no where near his size, but even weirder was hearing the words 'flying','mint' and 'bunny' in the same sentence. "Flying mint bunny?" Ludwig repeated, craning his neck to look up, trying to catch sight of the creature in vain. He followed the Italian's lead and stood up, though. He felt a weight leave his pocket as he did so. He looked down to see he had dropped his wallet.

"Ve~ one of England's creatures, just-" The Italian glanced around anxiously, making sure the coast was still clear. "We really need to leave. Now."

"Go where? And who are you anyway?" Ludwig asked as he leant down to pick up his wallet with the hand that wasn't occupied by the Italian's grasp. He hadn't thought to take his hand back, for if anything, the gesture was reassuring in his current situation. The little (though he wasn't 'that' little, perhaps just lithe) Italian had been nothing but kind to him so far, and the boy obviously knew more about this place than he did, so Ludwig felt that it was safe to trust him.

"Call me Italy." The Italian replied apprehensively as he tugged on Ludwig's arm. "Adeso, per favore; we have to go!"

And with that, they broke out into a run, and Ludwig couldn't believe how fast they were moving; like everything else in this place, it was completely unnatural. The scenery around them blurred into lines of colour, and he could only clearly see what was in front of them.

Italy led him down a dark alleyway full tilt toward a latched door, which worried Ludwig. He wondered if they would be able to stop in time at the velocity they were going, but then watched perplexed as, with a swift flick of Italy's wrist, the latch was undone and the door burst open for them. They barreled through it, quickly making their way down a set of wooden stairs and into a storage room full of non-perishable goods. The storage room soon gave way to a meat cellar full of giant fish and other livestock that Ludwig had never seen before. At the end of the cellar was a freezer and another locked door, but with another wave of the Italian's hand, that door too was inexplicably opened for them. That door led out into a more open area, and on further examination Ludwig was able to identify it as a pig pen.

Wait...a pig pen?

A pang of horror clutched at his chest as he saw rows and rows of swine, and he wondered where his brother was. Had Gilbert really turned into a pig? Well, with everything else that had happened, it seemed likely. What had happened to him then? Ludwig pulled his gaze forward, away from the livestock, to focus instead on the auburn hair in front of him- flying in all directions from how fast they were running.

His name was Italy? How strange… Come to think, Italy had said the creature-the mint bunny- that had been looking for him belonged to someone called England. So strange, yet he supposed everything in this world was going to be strange. Dream or not, it did not appear he was going to wake up anytime soon, so he might as well take things seriously.

At least, as seriously as he could.

"Where are we?" Ludwig asked when they finally stopped running; he hadn't been able to keep up with the blur around him.

But he didn't need Italy to answer. He gazed up at the bathhouse from the other side of the bridge, and then watched as 'things' walked across the bridge to enter it.

"What is this place..." he breathed, watching as creatures unfathomable walked by, some with masks, others with extra limbs, all of which had faded, transparent bodies. The longer he looked at them though, the more solid the seemed to appear.

Italy glanced back at Ludwig. "This is the spirit world." He answered bluntly; not having the luxury at the moment to break this news to the German delicately. "Ve~ Now listen to me, this is important: you need to hold your breath as we cross that bridge. You're invisible to them right now, but one tiny breath and the spell that I cast will be broken and everyone will see you. Do you understand?" He waited for the German to nod before proceeding.

They entered the crowd of spirits and began to walk the up the short cobblestone expanse that lead to the bridge. There were two young men with lanterns greeting patrons as they walked by. One of them had chin length brunet hair and the other one blond; they both had thick Slovak accents. Italy smiled and waved at the men two when they addressed him.

"Ciao, Lithuania and Poland! I'm back from my mission~" The two nodded to the Italian and greeted him.

"Welcome back Mr. Italy!"

"Like totally good to be seeing you."

They were approaching the bridge, and Italy squeezed Ludwig's hand reassuringly. His voice was a sheer whisper when he spoke "Alright, take a deep breath… and hold it."

And so Ludwig inhaled, then held it as they stepped onto the bridge. He let his thoughts wander, trying to keep his mind off of holding his breath. Spirit world, huh? So these things crossing the bridge were spirits? Did that make Italy a spirit too then? He marveled silently, literally breathlessly, as the now-deemed spirits walked beside them, all heading toward the bathhouse.

He was half way across the bridge when he noticed something out of place.

There was one spirit standing off to the side by the railing, watching as the others passed. It looked humanoid-maybe, though it was draped in the darkest blue, and wore mask that covered its entire face. The mask had strange light blue markings, and a plain, emotionless face with a little dot near the mouth, what looked like glasses painted under the depthless eyes, and a swirl at the top.

Ludwig could have sworn the masked spirit could see him, the way it turned as they passed it. He brought his free hand up to his mouth- he wouldn't be able to hold his breath for much longer.

"Almost there, you can do this." Italy whispered noticing the blond's distress. They were almost to the other side of the bridge! But then a tall, tanned-skinned fellow dipped passed the curtains hanging in the entrance and made a beeline for the Italian. He had dark curly hair and bright green eyes that sparkled with the way he was smiling, and he placed his hands on Italy's shoulders in a warm greeting. That of course meant that they were, unfortunately, stopped in their tracks.

"Hola, Italy! Where have you guys been? I can't find Roma anywhere." The man spoke in a thick Spanish accent.

Before anything else could be said, Ludwig's lung capacity reached its limit. Italy watched the Spaniards eyes go wide as the German let out a stifled gasp.

"What? A huma-"

But Italy didn't allow the man to finish his sentence. Instead, he cast an orb of disorient before his eyes, which would momentarily delay any of the Spaniard's actions, and then ducked down, swiftly phasing himself and Ludwig past a group of greeter girls to hide in a nearby courtyard.

They nestled behind a bush of camellias, and it wasn't long before they heard the frantic scattering of employees from inside the bath house. A lot of "A human-there's a human here!" and "Where is Mr. Italy? Mr. Italy!"

Italy made a small humming noise under his breath as he watched the panicked silhouettes of the employees through the screen. "Looks like they all know you're here."

"My apologies..." Ludwig grumbled, upset with himself. "I should have been able to hold my breath longer than that." The German also watched the silhouettes through the screen. "They're looking for you." he stated the obvious. He frowned as a new thought occurred to him; it was more than apparent that humans were rare here. Judging by all the ruckus, it was kind of a big deal.

His eyes drifted from the screen to appraise the Italian crouched beside him. Would Italy get in trouble for helping him? Somehow, the thought of the kind boy being reprimanded unsettled him.

"You should go to them. No need to risk your neck for me." he muttered. '-a complete stranger, no less.' he added in the back of his mind.

Italy however, rest his hand on the German's shoulder, rubbing it in a soothing gesture. "No Ludwig, you did very well, and don't be ridiculous, I'm not going to abandon you." The Italian flashed him a reassuring smile before his brows knitted in concern again. "But I'm afraid you can't stay here, they'll find you, and you won't be able to rescue your brother. Ve~ Don't worry, I'll go in and create a diversion so you can escape. Really though, you don't need to worry about me."

Ludwig seriously doubted that he would be able to 'not' worry about the Italian, but any protest he had died in his throat as a forehead suddenly collided with his. "What-"

"Look." Italy interrupted.

And so Ludwig locked on to the amber hues, and even though he could see them clearly- the way the golden flecks glittered in the dim glow from the screened walls, making it appear as if Italy's eyes were molten, alive- he could see other things too. A gate, an old wooden staircase, and a door...it dawned on Ludwig that Italy was giving him directions just as the smaller spoke.

"This is what you have to do." Italy informed in a hushed whisper, and Ludwig could have sworn that he could feel the latter's breath on his lips. "When it calms down, go out through the back gate and all the way down the stairs to the boiler room, where they stoke the you'll find China, the boiler man."

"China?" 'Does everyone here have a Nation's name?' Ludwig wondered.

"Si. Tell him you want to work here, and even if he refuses you, you must insist. Ve~...If you don't get a job, England will turn you into an animal. Probably a unicorn, he likes those."

"England...the owner of that mint bunny?" Ludwig wasn't going to forget the words 'mint' and 'bunny' being used in the same sentence anytime soon. Or the fact that said creature could fly. The spirit world was weird.

"You'll see." Italy continued. "He's the wizard that rules over the bathhouse. Anyway, China will try to turn you away or trick you into leaving, but just keep asking for work, ok? It'll be hard work, but you'll be able to stay here, and then even England can't harm you!" he finally pulled away, smiling.

The smile faltered, however, when he heard more people calling out for him. "I have to go, and don't forget Ludwig, I'm your friend!"

And then, Ludwig noticed something he hadn't earlier. "Wait, how did you know my name? I don't recall ever telling you...?"

At this, Italy smiled again, and even gave out a gleeful chuckle. "Ve~ I've known you since you were very small. Good luck, and whatever you do, don't make a sound." he warned.

And then Italy did something Ludwig could never have prepared for in all his twenty years; he leaned over and placed a quick kiss on either side of his face. The German sat there, paralyzed, his mind whirring, trying to comprehend what had just taken place as Italy stood up and walked around the camellias bush toward a side entrance in the screen. "Calm down, I'm here!"

The door slid open at once, allowing him in. "Master Italy, England wants to see you."

"I know, it's about the mission, si?"

Ludwig listened as the voices faded away, still sat where Italy left him, his cheeks burning.