This is only a fragment of a larger puzzle

...

"Out of the way, you clumsy idiot," a man bellows, pushing the young teen aside. Emil, surprised be the man's rude nature, yelped as he collided with the hard floor below. With a small groan he picked himself up, dusting off dirt and sand from his clothes. He glared at the rude man before continuing his way down the unknown village path.

Three days ago he had found a message in an old book, and out his own curiosity decided to venture out to this city of "Vaksala" but without much luck. In those three days he found himself lost with no luck of returning to the village he came from. With a week's worth of food and water, an old book with a note and a stuffed plush of a puffin Emil began to worry.

Was the story really flawed? He was told that the story was written from the eyes of one of the palace guard himself, and he himself made sure of it too. But looking at the note again, it too carried a distinct dialect that can only be classified as unknown. The language was Italian, but the written words were of some other country. But if so then where? More so than that, why?

I'm pushing myself to hard, he thought with a sigh, this must've been some sort of prank left by the previous owner. But that can't be right...can it? As far as I know, Kaoru was the one who found it. Maybe he left it as a way to get me out. But this was given to me by that old man, and he knew nothing. So just who wrote this message?

He stopped for a moment as a thought dawned on him. Where was this found? If I can trace the location I can probably find out who wrote this, and I know just where to start...

"Oi kid!" Emil swiftly turned to face a rather enraged man, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"E-Eh?" Startled, he looked down to see what looked to be the remains of a pot. Turning to his right he sees a stand of pots, and he paled at his realization. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't see where I was going!"

"Oh really?" The man took hold of his collar, lifting the terrified boy off his feet, "Well sorry's don't fix pots, and they most certainly don't bring money!"

"W-what do you want me to do?" Emil asked defiantly, despite his fear of what is to come.

"I'll show you," the man growled through clenched teeth, rearing his arm back. The boy closes his eyes, enduring what was to come. It never came.
"Excuse me my fine sir," Emil hesitantly opened one eye and saw something he'd never that he'd see. Just my luck, he thought as a young male in red approached the angry salesman with a confident smirk.

"What do you want?" Asked the man, clearly enraged, "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Exactly why I would lime to intervene," Kaoru replied, "I wish to cut you a deal; release him and I'll pay for his misdeed,"

Emil had never expected that Kaoru would have been in this village. He relieved to see a familiar face, but for it to be the petty thief also somewhat annoyed him. He didn't understand exactly why though.

The salesman thought of it for a moment before lowering Emil to the ground. He still, however, held his grip on the boy's collar. "How much are you going to pay," he asked, suspicious of the thief's antics

"There's no trick, dear sir," Kaoru said in a sickly sweet voice, "I was thinking that if you release my friend, I'll pay twice what that pot costed," He then pulled out a bag of coins and threw it at the man's feet, "I believe it's a fair deal, give or take,"

The man, startled, hesitantly released his grip on the young teen and picked up the bag. Looking inside, Emil noticed a spark go off in that man's head. "It's a deal," he replied, "But I don't want to see that boy near my stand ever again,"

"Deal," Kaoru said and the salesman walked off, money at hand. When the man returned to his stand Emil felt a strong tug and was suddenly pulled into a dark ally. Looking up he was met with Kaoru's stern gaze, and he felt a lump form in his throat.
"What were you thinking?" Kaoru asked, clearly upset, "When I said you should get out more, I don't mean leave the village to who knows where! You're lucky I was here, otherwise you'll be seeing stars,"
"I never asked for your help," Emil responded, adverting his gaze, "and I didn't leave by your recommendation. I left out of my own will,"
"But why did you leave," Kaoru asked, "You hardly left the house before, so why now of all times?"
"Because of this," Emil said, handing him the note from before, "I found this inside the old book you sold to that old man. It's says that the story written isn't the true story, and that I can find the real story in a place called Vaksala,"
The young thief took a moment to read through the note, and afterwards handed the note back to Emil. "So you're just going to leave without knowing anything?" he asked. The younger didn't reply. "What were you planning to do now? You can't keep guessing,"
"I was planning to find you, but it went the other way around," Emil muttered, "All I'm planning to do now is ask you where you found the book,"
Kaoru blinked in surprise, "Why?"
"I don't know if this note is the truth or a prank of the previous owner," Emil replied, "if anything I could be wandering around in circles because it's just a prank. However, the writing and dialect speak otherwise so it isn't likely but-"
"Calm down, Emil," the elder replied, pinning the boy to the wall, "Why not just ask me to take you to Vaksala? If the note was right, there should be a small chamber hidden in the basement of a carpenter shop. If it wasn't wrong, you can head straight home, no big deal,"
"So you know where Vaksala is," Emil asked, earning a glare from Kaoru.
"I'm a traveling thief. I should know my way around these parts," he said, "Also, I'll tell you now that that note isn't fake,"
"What makes you say that?" Emil asked, surprised.
"There's real based off of evidence, and then there's real based off intuition," Kaoru replied, "If there was only one witness and no evidence, it doesn't exactly mean their lying,"
The thief then walked off on his own, leaving a somewhat confused Emil trailing behind.

...

Two days.

That was the time it took for them to reach the village of Sigfinnur. By then Emil was ready to collapse from fatigue, and Kaoru whom worried for his health decided that they would rest here for the day. The duo paid for a room at a nearby inn, and Emil was more than relieved to finally have a soft, clean bed to sleep on that night.
"You really aren't suited for traveling, you know that?" Kaoru said with a chuckle, earning a glare from Emil.

"I just wanted to know the full story, that's all," he muttered, turning on his side.
"Even if that note was a prank?" the thief asked, raising a brow. Emil didn't respond, causing him to laugh, "What happened to you thinking it was nothing but a hoax?"
"W-well," the boy stuttered, unsure of how to respond, "I didn't exactly think it was a hoax until my time in the last village."

"That was because you had no idea where to go," Kaoru explained, "Because you had no idea where this 'Vaksala' was you thought it might've been a figment of imagination, like all the stories you've read before,"
The boy didn't respond; he didn't know how to. The room was engulfed in silence before Kaoru spoke up again.

"I was wondering," he said in a low voice, "Why did you bring that puffin with you?"
The boy looked at him confused, "What do you mean?"
"I don't see why you need to bring that with you. It would get dirty," he replied with a smirk, "So why did you bring it?"

Almost instantly Emil turned a bright shade of red and threw the covers over him, hiding his blush. "I-it's none of your business!" He stated simply, causing the thief to laugh once more.

"I see," he said between breaths, "Though you wanted to find the 'full story', you still needed that nudge to get you out of the house and into the world. How lucky of me that I encouraged you to leave,"

"You're so annoying," Emil bellowed.

"You're just as hopeless," Kaoru said with a small smile on his face.
The room was then met with silence, until the thief heard the faint puff from his companion. He turned to see his companion peeping from under the covers, a faint blush planted on his face.

"You can't sleep?" he asked only for the latter to advert his eyes. The elder let out a sigh, "Would you sleep if I sang a lullaby?"

"I doubt you know any," the boy murmured softly. Despite the hurtful words Kaoru merely smiled.

"You'd be surprised," he said softly. With a deep breath, he started humming note after note in a soothing harmony. Emil looked at the thief, mystified. The tune began soft and gentle, but slowly sped up, until the words came.

"Smiling
Spinning in circles
Holding hands
The world is a blur
Except when you're standing"

Emil was stunned; Kaoru sang in a soft, gentle voice yet despite the seemingly fragile tone he could sense a bout of strength. It was truly enchanting, and Emil couldn't but be lulled to sleep by the young thief's song. It annoyed him somewhat that it was the same annoying thief that put him to sleep, yet despite his annoyance he was indeed grateful.

When he had finished his song, he turned to see Emil fast asleep. With a smirk he dove under his own covers and began to think. Why is this story so important to Emil? He knew the young teen well, and he knew it wasn't easy to get him interested in a farfetched idea. It surprised him even more that the idea made Emil leave his hometown for once; a feat he never expected to be true.

Just what is it about that story that has Emil on edge?

...

Deep in the city of Vaksala, in an old carpenter shop, a young male looked out his window and up into the starry sky. In his right hand was an old, rusted key and in his left was an old parchment.

"It's only a matter of time," he whispered silently, "until the truth comes to light..."

Gomenasai for the long haitus. I was stuck on writer's block, and I had to rewrite this chapter 6-7 times until now. Even now I'm not satisfied, and if it doesn't met your expectations I promise to try harder next time.
I'm just here to say I'm not giving up on this story. Don't worry, I'll finish eventually. Just give me time to do so.
The lulluby Kaoru sang is actually Hoppípola by Sigur Ros wich gave me inspiration for this chapter (thank god!)
NEWS: I'm thinking of making a manga for this parody series (hetalia/vocaloid doujin series) I'll either do it alongside or after I finish, but I want to hear you 'guys thoughts first.