I haven't update in a super long time. :( I got stuck on writing one scene and well…I stopped updating. *darn college homework and other hetalia fic* I would've updated sooner, but I had to figure out a way to get past the doc manager error.
I even have new people who fav and follow this fic. :D Every one of you (including those who were already following this fic) I must congratulate you guys for reading past chapter two's inappropriate ice sculpture scene. XD I didn't think many people would get past that scene. But don't worry about it, no scene will ever go above that shock level. Not even close. I almost gave this fic an M rating because of it. XD
I don't own Hetalia. I only own my OCs who appear in this fic.
In King Cyril's office, Atlantis smiles as she shakes Zale's hand. "Congratulations on your promotion, Zale. You're the youngest director of the ASN in the history of Atlantis. Serve me well. I have high expectations for you." Today is a proud day for her. Her favorite spy (to harass and play mind games with) has become became the director of the Atlantean Spy Network (ASN).
Zale gives his thanks in respect. "Thank you Master Atlantis. It will be a pleasure serving you in my higher position." The unruly black-haired man puts his right arm over his chest and gives a slight bow.
Atlantis smirks and gives him a sly look. "I am glad you'll enjoy working under me. We're going to spend more time together, unlike before." Yes, she gets more opportunities to boss him around. She enjoys his company, even when he acts grumpy. He's a good listener when he wants to be.
He's busy a majority of the time, just like her with the alliance crap. Their schedules usually conflict with each other.
Zale groans. "You're not going to waste my time with your silly video game marathons, are you?"
Atlantis grins. "Of course. You have to take direct orders from me. I'm your only boss now." Before his promotion, his former boss' orders was classified as more of a 'priority' than hers. That's nonsense. She's Atlantis, her orders should be above anyone's orders!
"Take your damn seats already! I want to get this meeting started and over with." The two Atlanteans roll their eyes and take their seats.
King Cyril looks coldly at Zale. "You do know the only reason you have this promotion is because you're the only person with the qualified skills and the balls to volunteer for this position?" Atlantis and Zale remain silent.
"To me, you're just a figure head, not a real director for my precious spy network." That is a pretty low blow. Atlantis glances at Zale to see his head looking at his lap. His fingers clench his legs tightly. She feels pity for him because King Cyril is telling a brutal truth.
The former director of the ASN was assassinated on his walk home from work. When the news broke, the agency scrambled to find a qualified person for the opening. The higher ups didn't want to take the job directly and risk being the next target. After encouragements from the higher ups, Zale volunteered and secured the position.
Zale, a spy prodigy, is really a figure head. His youth and the idea of a 'new era' coming to Atlantis are appealing to Atlanteans everywhere. Zale's responsibilities are split with the people who are supposed to have his new position. These people are members of his newly formed (and a secret from the public) council.
Zale fixes his posture. "I'll work to the best of my ability, your Highness."
King Cyril snorts, "You're still a figure head no matter how much you suck up to me."
Atlantis coughs into her hand. "I suggest we start this meeting soon." She really wants to move past this depressing subject before it gets worse. She doesn't want Zale to feel even more horrible.
King Cyril mumbles, "Fine." He gets from his seat and grabs his royal staff. He points with it to the chart behind him. The chart has a list of some of the countries horizontally. Each country's picture in their respective row has more or less stickers than others.
King Cyril gains their undivided attention. "Okay, because the council is too busy to come, Zale here is going to relay the information to them."
The King points to the first row. "This is a chart of some of the countries Atlantis has interacted with in the past fifteen years." His staff wrinkles America's picture from scrunching it for too long. "And this country is the democracy bastard." He hates everything America stands for so badly he resorts to name calling.
Atlantis, furious, harshly says, "America has a name. Use it."
King Cyril glares at her. "Fine. America." He moves his staff along America's row. "He has the most stickers. He's in the best friend zone and he's, unfortunately, our closest ally." Above America's row are some black lines in various spots. Each black line is marked with enemy, not on good terms, acquaintance, friendly acquaintance, friend, or best friend. America's stickers reaches up to the best friend mark.
Atlantis narrows her eyes at the round yellow stickers. "I prefer if we use better stickers. May I suggest using sea animal stickers instead?"
King Cyril slams his staff on his desk, enraged. "How are different stickers going to improve the Friendship Chart?"
Zale reaches into his pocket. "I have stickers we can use." In his hand is a sheet of rainbow unicorns doing various sports.
Atlantis gets a twinkle in her eyes. She takes it happily from his hands. "I love it. Let's replace those cheap stickers with these. You're definitely earning a raise today." She loves the glitter in the unicorn's braided hair. It's so shiny unlike the plain stickers on the chart.
King Cyril points his staff at Zale. "Why do you have those girly stickers on your person. Hell, why are you even carrying it at all. You have a unicorn fetish you want to tell us about?"
Zale blushes. He fiddles with his fingers. "It's a present for my sister…"
"Unlikely story." King Cyril points the staff right in front of her face. "And you! Why are you giving him a raise?"
Atlantis looks at the staff with boredom. She knows her boss would never assault her with a weapon. Yes, he will cling to her when he's in his paranoia mode and scream in her ear to assassinate some random person, but other than that, he won't lay a hand on her.
Atlantis uses her index finger to push the staff away. She looks him dead in the eye. "A real man carries unicorns in his pocket." Any man brave enough to risk their reputation by carrying around rainbow unicorn stickers in their pockets deserves a raise. Humiliation and a huge blow to masculine pride will befall any man who dares do what Zale does.
"I'm serious about my sister, though," grumbles Zale. Atlantis and King Cyril ignore him.
King Cyril seizes the stickers from her hands. He gives her a stern look. "I'll use the girly stickers if it makes you shut up and listen to the Friendship Chart." The King goes to the chart and harshly puts the rainbow unicorn stickers on top of the ugly stickers. Atlantis remains silent. She needs to hurry up with this meeting. She needs to leave soon to meet with a country.
King Cyril uses his staff to point to the next few rows. "These females are Ukraine, Hungary, and Liechtenstein. They're in the best friend status but with Liechtenstein -" He glares at her. Atlantis shifts her eyes to the ground, full of shame.
"We have the Switzerland problem." Atlantis still gets glares from Switzerland every time she tries to approach Liechtenstein. There hasn't been any progress in toning down the situation.
Atlantis squirms under his relentless glare. She murmurs, "I'm working on it." Her schedule has been exhausting until two days ago. She's still fighting global warming in Alaska. She usually spends her free time nowadays saving polar bears. Only recently has she been allowed a vacation, 'courtesy' of Kumajiro.
Because of that polar bear, she's been causing a panic at home (and on a few occasions the meetings) from her fainting spells. It's gotten so bad, countries she barely talks to approach her to give her stress management tips. She may be a Master water elemental and a country, but she has limits. Her stamina can only go so far.
She gets exhausted spreading ice over hundreds of miles at a rapid pace while avoiding curious mortals at the same time. It takes tons of energy to do this, thus causing her to faint from lack of energy and exhaustion.
King Cyril pulls his white hair in frustration. "I'm losing my hair and temper because of you since our country's rediscovery. Make more friends before I die." It is true. Ever since her country has been discovered, his stress and temper has been out of control. She can't recall a time when he's not yelling at her, besides trying to get her on his side on certain issues.
After he calms down, he points to Canada, who is in the friendly acquaintance zone. He stares at the picture of the blonde blankly. "Who is this? I specifically said only countries, not mortals."
Atlantis sighs. "He's Canada." King Cyril raises an eyebrow. "The country above America."
King Cyril's eyes darken. "Undiscovered land? Let's go conquer it in the name of Atlantis." A nagging feeling in her mind is bothering her. It feels like a bad idea to even think about conquering someone else.
The necklace around her neck glows faintly before stinging her. Atlantis winces and quickly covers it up with a false smile. She says, "It's a bad idea. We don't have the technology to attack other countries, remember?" King Cyril faces the wall with a depressing black aura surrounding him. His head slumps against the wall.
He weeps, "We're not the most advanced civilization anymore. It'll take forever catching up to the other countries." His comment stings her a bit. Atlantis has come to terms she's not the most advanced civilization anymore. No matter how many times she tells others, it still bothers her a bit. She's not going to dwell on her glory days. (It'll depress her.) She has to look to the future and learn about this new era to help her country thrive again.
Her biggest fear is being left behind because of her lack of knowledge of this new world. She doesn't want to be a lost cause and deemed un-teachable. That would devastate her.
"What about Greece and Egypt? Surely you've smoothed relations with them," comments Zale.
The atmosphere darkens significantly. Atlantis joins King Cyril in his face-the-wall-of-shame. They're both on their knees, with dark expressions on their faces. A dark and depressing aura engulfs them. Atlantis' dark blue hair covers the sides of her face. She mutters, "Egypt is a lost cause. I can tell by the look of distrust in his eyes. And Greece….."
Atlantis becomes even more depressed. She wants her best friend back and she's not sure how. She didn't think about Greece during her country's isolation after sinking under the sea. She had plenty of distractions to keep her from thinking about him. But when she saw him again….it brought back some horrible and blotchy memories of the war before her country sank to the bottom of the sea.
King Cyril wraps her into a hug. "It isn't your fault he hates you. You were merely following orders, Atlantis." He mutters under his breath, "A little too eagerly than you should have."
Atlantis hears him clearly. It brings more pain to her heart. Atlantis softly says, "I'm a monster." Nothing she can do will ever repay the evil deeds she's done. Too much blood on her hands to wipe clean. No matter how many good deeds she tries to do, she feels she'll never make up for the past.
King Cyril shouts at Zale, "You heartless jerk. You have some nerve mentioning those two countries in the same sentence. It's bad enough mentioning one of them alone. If I didn't need you, figure head, I would fire your ass."
Zale shouts back, "I'm sorry for trying to ask questions! Moreover, your prep talk worsened the situation." They compete in a stare down with Atlantis glumly watching from the sidelines.
She sluggishly reaches her hand into King Cyril's mini fridge and raids it for a gallon of chocolate ice cream. It's conveniently placed next to the wall of shame. She gets the emergency extra large ice cream scoop from the top of the fridge. Memories of the happy times with Greece engulf her as the screaming match continues in the background.
It took thirty minutes for a depressed Atlantis and their arguing to cool down. During that timeframe, apologizes were exchanged, as well as death threats. They've managed to finish going through the Friendship Chart, too.
Zale hesitantly asks, "Not to be rude, but is there a point to this? I'm well informed about Atlantis making alliances and friendships."
King Cyril says, "What is about to be said must not reach the ears of the public, do you understand?" It's time for him to know about that incident. Since he holds the title of director of the ASN, he needs to know about it like the previous director did.
"Yes, your Highness." King Cyril signals her to talk. Atlantis is reluctant at first to tell the entire story again. It's embarrassing and full of blows to her pride. After what happened, she became so adamant to learn about today's culture and technology, especially cell phones. Yes, definitely cell phones. It would have saved her a lot of misery if she had some form of fast communication at the time.
She's only going to talk about how all the drama started fifteen years ago. She mighttell him the rest in detail one day. Maybe. Atlantis begins, saying, "It started when I attended my first world conference by the persistence of Italy."
Italy, Japan, Germany, and Atlantis stand outside the room where the meeting is being held. Atlantis is excited about meeting other countries. She hasn't seen another one of her kind in centuries. Finally having a friend who won't ever die is pretty exciting for her.
Italy smiles. "You'll make lots of friends with the countries, ve."
Atlantis returns his smile. "Thank you for your kindness, Italy." She has enjoyed their company during their time visiting her country. The Italian didn't make a good impression on her at first, but he has grown on her.
She's about to open the door when she's stopped from someone holding her shoulder.
Atlantis glances to see Germany looking at her nervously. "I have to warn you, the meetings are not what you expect them to be."
Curious, Atlantis asks, "I'm alright with the cultural differences. I know my country's ritual before starting a meeting is a little strange. I'm open to see how you run meetings."
"That's not what I mean."
Atlantis reassures him. "How bad can it be?" She wonders what is so bad that makes Germany nervous. They probably gossip before the meeting starts. She doesn't mind chatting as long as she doesn't talk about magic in her country.
She opens the door and gasps in shock. Two blonde men are strangling each other; an intimidating man is smiling at a shaken brown-haired man; and several fights are breaking out. No one seems to care about the ongoing chaos.
Atlantis covers her mouth and keeps staring at the mess unfolding before her eyes. "Oh my..." The worst that can happen at a meeting in Atlantis is someone complaining the food being spoiled or they get off track to talk about the hot woman they cheated on their wives with. That's pretty awkward to listen to. She can't look their wives in the eyes after those revelations. She's sworn to secrecy so she's not allowed to tell them about it.
Atlantis pleadingly looks at Germany. The fights are way out of control. They have to do something. Germany sees the look of panic in her facial features and snaps into action.
Germany shouts, "Everyone shut up! You're making a very bad impression on our guest." The countries stop what they're doing to look at her curiously.
A blonde haired man with a cowlick shouts, "Who is she?"
Atlantis takes this as her cue to introduce herself. She gives the countries a smile and says, "Greetings everyone, I am Atlantis." The room is wrapped in silence. No one speaks for a few moments. Then the more obnoxious countries burst out laughing. A few countries even lay their head on the table and repeatedly hit their hands on the table. The more reserved countries look at her with disbelief in their eyes. And, probably with disapproval at her 'claim' of a country status.
The same man who asked the question laughs, "No seriously, dude. What's your name? Are you a human? 'cuz you're not supposed to be here."
"As I said before, my name is-"
An albino snickers, "Nice Halloween costume. Did you get dressed in that for the prank? It looks fake."Atlantis is horribly offended at that comment. Her robe is of the finest quality. It's not fake. She doesn't know what this Halloween costume is, but it sounds insulting.
Atlantis, furious, gives him a dark glare. "How dare you, you horrible man!"
The Atlantean feels someone giving her a one arm hug. She looks shocked to see a man in a wearing a familiar white mask. "Ottoman Empire?" At last, a familiar face. He looks so different, though. He's wearing a green military style jacket with his hood on. The air around him is friendly instead of the usual dominant aura.
He chuckles. "Not anymore. I'm called Turkey now."
A man with large eyebrows asks, "Y-You know her?"
Turkey laughs. "How could I forget her? She gave Greece a run for his money." The countries, including the Axis, gape at her in shock. Atlantis tries to squirm out of Turkey's grip. She doesn't like all their attention on her. Curse Turkey for bringing up a touchy subject at the start. So much for a good first impression.
The countries turn their attention to Greece. Germany hesitantly asks, "Do you know her Greece?"
He's wide awake and from the slight widening of his eyes, he appears to be in shock at seeing her in person. "A-Atlantis?" The cat he was petting stands guard in front of him. It hisses at her with its paw outstretched.
Atlantis can't believe her eyes. It's her ex-best friend. She hasn't seen him in centuries. No words can completely explain the emotions raging within her. She wants to pull him into a hug, yet at the same time she feels a strong urge to cry her heart out.
Egypt, who is sitting next to Greece, looks at her with a stern expression. His eyes slightly darken at her. "If you try any of your tricks in my country, I will not hesitate to defend my homeland." Atlantis shudders inwardly. He must still be very angry about her conquering Egypt. She wasn't exactly a kind ruler.
Atlantis puts a false smile on her face. "I have changed. No need to worry."
"Your cunning words will not win me over this time."
An awkward silence suffocates the room. The man with the cowlick seems oblivious to it. He says, "That's so cool! You're real. You have resources to support your country, right?" The countries appear to have taken the three countries' words that she is telling the truth. Not all of them look convinced, however.
Atlantis warily says, "I have resources like any other country." She doesn't feel comfortable about his question. He didn't introduce himself yet and he heads straight into interrogating her. It sounds like an innocent question if you see it at a country's point of view. A country with good resources is a good trading partner. She feels this doesn't seem to be the situation. It's too blunt for her taste.
Turkey pats her back. "You're too modest. I remember you had tons of gold for your war campaigns. Your country is super rich in gold." Atlantis backs away slowly from the countries. She doesn't like the look some of them are giving her. She glares at Turkey. He doesn't seem to notice or care.
An intimidating man with purple eyes puts a hand on her shoulder. "Become one with Mother Russia, da?" Atlantis removes his hand from her with fear. She's not sure what he means. It sounds pretty sexual to her. She assures herself that he means something in a non-perverted way. No man is so forward to woman with sexual intentions in public. She blames her dirty mind on Greece. His citizens' sexuality corrupted her pure mind beyond saving.
Atlantis takes a few steps back. She takes on a diplomatic tone in hopes of keeping the tension in the room from rising. "I'll consider it at a later time. I must be going now. I have important matters at home to attend to." She bumps into someone's chest. She glances up to see the oblivious blonde man.
"Don't listen to that commie bastard. You want to be an American territory, right? I kinda need a place to store my nukes."
Atlantis blinks in confusion. "What is this nuke?"
The 'commie bastard' asks with interest, "You don't know what it is? It's a nuclear weapon. You don't have any?" Atlantis bites her lip. She just gave away a vital piece of information. Her country is not up to date with today's technology standards. Her military might not be able to defend itself against potential enemies seeking to overtake her country with foreign weapons. Yes, they have magic, but they'll be at a disadvantage if they're not familiar with this era's weapons.
Atlantis slowly walks backwards to the other side of the room lined with windows. Her attempt to make more person space makes the countries snap.
Suddenly, it's a free for all.
A man with a side pony tail exclaims, "She's mine, aru!"
The American shouts back, "She's going to be my territory!"
"No way, aru. You won't use her gold to pay me back."
The albino wraps his arms around her shoulders tightly. "Give me your vital regions. I'll be a country again." Atlantis' right foot takes a step back. Using her momentum, she punches his stomach. Caught off guard, the red eyed man lets go of her.
He says through clenched teeth, "That's good, for a woman." Atlantis chooses to ignore his sexist remark. She has more concern for her survival. If the very forward proposals escalate, she'll have no choice but to use her xiphos hidden in her sleeve.
A man with wavy blonde hair with a flirtatious vibe around him hands her a rose. "Non, you want to be a French territory. I'll feed you good food and treat you right unlike them." He winks at her.
Atlantis gets a small blush on her face his gestures. "I must decline your offer. I-"
The man with large eyebrows gets within distance of them. "She's not going to fall for your charm. She's going to be my territory."
The Frenchman pulls the man with the large eyebrows into a choke hold. He smirks. "Your cooking taste like crap. You'll kill her with it."
With the countries distracted with all the fights breaking out all over the room, Atlantis opens a window. She eyes the tree outside. She determines it's at a good jumping distance. When both her feet is on the windowsill, Italy shouts, "Please don't kill yourself bella!"
Atlantis ignores their shouts as they come closer to her. She leaps and grabs a hold of the tree branch. She does some twists as she moves from tree branch to tree branch on her way down.
She lands on the ground in a kneeling position. She looks back to the window to see them looking at her with gaping mouths.
Turkey punches the air. "You still got it Atlantis!"
Atlantis runs away from the building, not looking back again.
Zale sighs. "I thought your first meeting would have gone better."
The water elemental rubs her eyebrows. "I should have known they wouldn't accept someone claiming to be a 'mythical' country. They only believed me because of Turkey, Greece, and Egypt's accounts. I was so elated at the prospect of meeting other people like me I forgot to consider these thoughts."
Atlantis hadn't seen other country personifications for centuries before Italy stumbled upon her country. She felt a little lonely watching her people she had become attached to grow up and die over the years. She used to not have any companions who live as long as her.
King Cyril sighs. "After the meeting, she was afraid of leading them to our country, so she stayed on the run. They didn't stop their pursuit until I had several diplomatic talks with their bosses." Atlantis had some trust issues with the countries after that incident and the ones that followed before the conclusion of the diplomatic talks. It took a few years for her to feel completely comfortable around them. Her paranoia of being taken over at any minute is gone. (For now.) She recently started to participate and talk to other countries at the meetings after she felt sure no one would attempt to take over her country again.
Atlantis gives a small smile. "Now you understand why it's so important for me to make alliances. With allies by our side, we can stand a chance against any conquerors." They settle into a solemn silence.
No matter how hard she tries, she can't make alliances with everyone. It's impossible, for any country, to make it happen. Atlantis knows there's always going to be someone she'll rub the wrong way. It's the same thing with making friends. Not everyone will like your personality. That's life. Atlantis gets up from her seat. "It's time for me to leave. England invited me to his house today."
King Cyril shuffles papers around, looking for something. "Remember, your purpose at his house is to completely make sure he's convinced we're not magical. At all. If he has any suspicions, sweet talk him out of it." King Cyril what he's looking for and presents her a vial. "If all else fails, poison him. This is a quick acting poison; my best one."
Atlantis, with boredom on her face, nods and slips the vial into a hidden pocket inside her robe. "Alright."
Her boss has concerns about England. For the safety of her citizens from inhumane experiments from foreign governments and harassment by mortals, she has to be certain the Englishman doesn't believe they have magical properties anymore. They both don't want him snooping around and trying to sneak into Atlantis once more.
The countries are confused (and very offended) as to why it's illegal for them to enter her country. She claims her citizens are anti-foreigners and some of them might resort to violence against them. She knows not all of them are convinced. They still haggle her to allow them to visit her homeland. They say it's unfair only the Axis came to Atlantis.
She's lucky the Axis didn't witness any magical happenings in her country during their stay. That would have been a disaster and she would have a lot of explaining to do. There were some close calls, but she managed to keep them oblivious.
Zale openly gapes at them. "You can't kill a country with poison! And don't you think you're going a bit too far?"
Atlantis replies, "You have another secret to keep as it is my side job to eliminate hostile threats if I need to." She's not really going to poison England if things go sour. She's taking advantage of getting free and good quality poison from her boss. Now she doesn't have to waste effort on refilling her poison ring.
"Wish me luck, men."
Atlantis is with England in his living room. The room is neat and filled antique teacups on shelves. Atlantis sips her earl grey tea as England speaks. "Thank you for taking your time coming here."
Atlantis nods. "You're welcome and thank you for your hospitality."
England hands her a plate of what appears to be coals. Atlantis stares at it, confused. She's not sure why he's handing her this. Maybe he wants her to heat his fireplace for him? What a strange English tradition to have the guest do this. It must be something of an honor to do.
He smiles. "Try my world famous scones. I thought you should try some since you've never had an opportunity to eat them." His face gets angry tick marks. He must be recalling all the times other countries slapped the scones away from her hands, claiming it'll kill her.
Atlantis hesitates. These 'scones' doesn't look appealing to her sight. She looks into England's eyes. His eyes are filled with desperation. She wavers. She doesn't want to hurt her host's feelings. All the countries make jabs at his cooking when the opportunity arises. It's probably slowly killing his confidence even though he doesn't say it out loud. She must be polite and eat them. That's what a good guest would do.
She'll give the scones a taste. It can't be that bad. The countries must be exaggerating about being sent to the hospital to get their stomach pumped by measly eating his scones. Atlantis takes the plate from England. "I'll try new food. I've eaten mostly seafood in my country." Perhaps is doesn't taste as bad as it looks. She can stomach the scone if the quality is off.
Atlantis takes a scone from the plate. She sees England watching her anxiously. She pretends she doesn't notice and takes a bite. Her eyes widen. She nearly coughs it out. This is the most revolting piece of food she's tasted in her life. Eating tree bark is better than eating this poor excuse for food. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was trying to assassinate her.
"Well, how does it taste?" England nervously asks.
Atlantis doesn't want to tell her host it tastes like shit. That'll destroy more of his confidence in cooking. He'll then go on a rant on how she doesn't appreciate good food. She needs to behave like a good guest. Plus, getting on his good side is a must for this mission. She also doesn't want to leave a bad impression about her people's manners. She's going to take the easy way out. She's in no mood to be yelled at either.
Atlantis puts on her best convincing smile. "I love it. I don't understand why the other countries are so rude about your scones." When in doubt, give sugar-coated compliments. People love having their work appreciated.
England smirks. "Of course English food is the best. It tastes better than the frog's food. Those wankers don't know what they're missing…." Atlantis tunes out his gloating. She has found herself in another dilemma. Because of her 'love' for his scones, he'll expect her to eat the rest of them. Her stomach will certainly be pumped at a nearby hospital if she does. If that happens, the Englishman will feel guilty. She doesn't want to be a horrible guest like she was to Japan.
Now she knows the countries are telling the truth. England's cooking would kill her if she is human.
Atlantis comes to the conclusion she needs to get rid of the evidence somehow. She's unsure how, though. She pays attention to England reaching for the teapot since his teacup is empty. The Atlantean doesn't want to throw them away in front of him. She can't chuck them under the table, furniture, or the potted plants. He'll find them and know she lied to him. He'll become furious with her.
He'll come to the conclusion that if she lies about something as simple as scones, what's to say she'll be truthful about anything of most importance. Improving her relations with England is on the line because of his stupid scones. His stickers will never move up to the friend zone if she screws up.
England readies to pour the tea into his cup. The liquid comes slowly out of it. Atlantis acts quickly at her only chance of a healthy stomach. Under the table, her index finger bends down. The tea comes out in a larger flow and spills onto the table. England mutters, "Bloody hell."
England stands up. "Wait right here. I won't be gone for long. I'll go get some towels." The moment he leaves the room she quickly grabs her scones. Her eyes dart the room until it lands on the open window. Atlantis hands hovers over her teacup. The water lifts itself and wraps around the scones before freezing into a block of ice. By doing this, the crumbs won't fall to the floor and leave a trail of evidence.
Atlantis gets in front of the window. She leans back and hurls the ice ball filled with scones out of his house and into a pond. The ducks quack and they scatter as it plunks to the bottom of the pond. The ice will melt soon so she doesn't have to worry about it.
She settles into her seat. Not a moment too soon and a green bunny with wings flies into the room. The bunny slumps on England's arm chair. He stares at her intently. Atlantis pretends not to notice him. She keeps her attention on the doorway England left to.
England comes back with towels. He wipes the mess clean and sits in his seat. He finally notices the bunny. "Flying Mint Bunny, what are you doing here? I thought you were with the others."
Flying Mint Bunny keeps his eyes on her. "Atlantis can see me." Atlantis maintains her composure. She's intent on not giving herself away.
England sighs. "How many times do we have to go over this: she's not magical and can't see any of you." Atlantis can see his 'imaginary friends.' She chooses not to acknowledge their presence for two reasons. One, by admitting she can see them, England will know she has magical properties. Then he'll conclude the possibility of magic in her country.
Reason two: the other countries will call her crazy like England. It'll make her look bad. Thankfully, Atlantis has no need to somehow trick him into revealing whether he still believes she's magical or not. The tough part of her assignment is done. All she has to do now is improve relations with England.
Flying Mint Bunny flaps his wings and flies around her head in circles. "Look at her! She can definitely see me! She looked at me at the meeting once." Atlantis keeps her face blank.
Atlantis remembers how she almost gave herself away. At one meeting, she noticed a flying bunny next to England. She blinked her eyes twice to see if her eyes were seeing correctly. She looked around to see if anyone else saw the bunny. Everyone except England seemed to acknowledge it. Unfortunately, the bunny caught her staring and bugged England ever since.
It seems England didn't believe him. England snaps. "This is just like the other times you thought America and the others could see you."
"Okay, I made a few mistakes. But you have to believe me this time!"
England slams his hands on the table. "This is the last time we're discussing this. Atlantis cannot see you." Flying Mint Bunny remains silent.
Atlantis coughs into to hand to interrupt their arguing. She needs to pretend she doesn't know Flying Mint Bunny is there. "Are you talking to your….friends England?"
England sheepishly replies, "Why yes, I was." He hesitantly says, "I believe I promised you a tour of London."
Atlantis agrees, "That sounds like a good idea." A nice and calm tour of London will make the time go by fast and build relations easier. She'll have more stickers to add to the Friendship Chart. Hopefully, nothing will go wrong.
Atlantis and England stroll through the garden in Buckingham palace. England, the tour guide, says, "And here's the royal garden…" Atlantis is curious why he had stopped. She looks in the same direction as him and freezes.
Flying Mint Bunny is wearing a white dress and a small crown on his head. A unicorn with a long brown wig nudges the bunny's stomach with the side of her face. A grumpy man with a moustache is wearing a large crown and a puffy dress. He's flipping through a newspaper in his rocking chair. A tiny fairy pours the tea as the magical creatures chat.
The unicorn gushes, "I hope it's a baby girl. Prince William will love her."
Flying Mint Bunny hugs the unicorn's nose. "Me too. I already have the nursery painted neutral colors. We want the baby's gender to be a surprise, but I secretly want a boy."
The man grumpily says, "You better follow royal protocol. I'm pretty anal about it."
Atlantis assumes they're trying to get a reaction out of her based on Flying Mint Bunny's previous conversation. England is gaping at shock at the scene before them. Atlantis averts her eyes to England. "Are you alright? You seem a little pale."
England ignores her. "What the bloody hell are you doing mocking Princess Middleton in Buckingham Palace's garden?" Atlantis puts on a mask of confusion and shock at his voice.
The Unicorn stutters, "O-oh, we thought it is a good time to host a tea party today since it's not raining today." Atlantis concludes that they don't want England to know what they're planning just yet. He'll be angry if he catches on.
England looks at them cynically. "And you dress up in those clothes. Honestly Captain Hook, what are you thinking wearing woman's clothes?"
Captain Hook drops the grumpy façade. "I look good in it. Right everyone?" The other magical creatures agree. Atlantis couldn't help but agree in her head. The pirate can pull off woman clothes right. It looks natural on him.
Atlantis grabs his arm. "England, I don't see anyone there."
England blushes in embarrassment. "Let's continue the tour, shall we?"
"Yes, but first do you know where the restroom is?"
England says, "Certainly."
He escorts her to the nearest restroom. "Meet me in the sitting room down the hall. You can't miss it." England walks down the hall and leaves her alone. The hallway is decorated with paintings and antiques from centuries past.
After exiting the bathroom, she hears what she believes to be England's magical friends. Atlantis sneaks toward the voices down the other end of the hallway. She peaks her head to see the magical creatures with their backs to her. They seem to be in a hush-hush conversation.
The Flying Mint Bunny sighs in disappointment. "I thought for sure we'd get a reaction."
The tiny fairy lays on the bunny's head. She gives him a hug. "Don't worry. We'll work together and think of another plan."
The pirate twirls his moustache between his fingers. "We have all day. Atlantis is bound to slip up."
Atlantis narrows her eyes darkly. "So they're going to pull stunts like this all day? I'll be ready for them." She has the upper hand now. She knows they're going to gauge her for a reaction throughout England's tour. Although she's unsure of what kind of stunts they're going to perform. She believes she can handle whatever they throw at her.
Atlantis figures she spent enough time leaving England waiting. She quickly heads in the direction left for the sitting room. She enters through the ornate door to see England sitting patiently in a chair. A picnic basket with a checkered blanket peaking from it is on his lap. His thick eyebrows are furrowed as he stares at the note in his hand.
Atlantis stands beside the chair he's sitting in. "I'm back."
England jolts slightly in surprise. He turns his head to face her. "Ah, it's you Atlantis." He gestures to the note and picnic basket. "The prime minister suggested in his note that we go on a picnic in a nearby park to relax a bit." She thinks a nice day at a park is a good idea. She'll get a break from exploring all over London.
England sighs. "He should have told me earlier about this. I would've brought my scones you love."
Atlantis politely smiles. "It's alright. Maybe you can bring your….scones next time." The prime minister probably didn't tell England because he didn't want her health to suffer from eating his retched scones. She must thank him in person next time for his thoughtfulness. Give him a gift basket too.
Atlantis and England settle on a blanket to enjoy their picnic in the park. There are a few humans nearby enjoying the beauty of nature. Children run across the grass having a good time. England is sipping his tea while she nibbles on her sandwich. They have settled into silence after they finished their small talk. The silence is not too awkward yet. But, she wants to bring up a topic before it becomes too tense between them.
Atlantis sets down her sandwich on her neatly placed napkin. "I must make my move." She's going to take a leap of faith above the giant fissure of professionally polite acquaintances and into the friend zone. No more will there be small talk about the weather or dull politics. She's going to make a new friend out of the painfully courteous gentleman before she cracks under the stiff atmosphere surrounding them.
Atlantis opens her mouth to speak, but freezes at the bizarre sight approaching them. Flying Mint Bunny's ears are brushed under a cap tilted sideways with a bandana underneath it. His jeans are sagging with his red polka dot boxers showing. A bunch of fairies struggling to carry a boom box are following closely behind. A hoard of magical creatures is walking behind them. Some of them are even holding motivational signs ranging from 'Go FMB!' to 'You can do it! Prove our existence to her!'
Atlantis has a panic attack in her mind. "Oh my! They went above and beyond. Flying Mint Bunny is going through a lot of effort to prove I can see them to England." Atlantis is getting into too much trouble with the countries animal friends. First Canada's polar bear, and now a bunny. "What's next? A sea serpent?"
Atlantis sees England in major shock from Flying Mint Bunny's stereotypical 'gangsta' style. England opens his mouth, then closes it again. The fairies settle the boom box on the ground. Flying Mint Bunny waves at the countries. "Hey, you two. I am the great FMB-" The magical creatures form a big circle around FMB and the two immortals. They cheer at the mention at his nickname. "I thought I would bring the paaartaaa to this boring picnic. It needs fun~"
England gawks, "Wait- no!" FMB ignores him and presses the button on the boom box. Loud music bursts from the boom box. Atlantis' heart feels the booms from the erupting beats. She had prepared herself for the mythical creatures to try to surprise her, but not like this. She should have known they would have pulled more outrageous stunts from the tea party slump. She's afraid they're going to grow even more bolder with each stunt.
Today England might discover her ability to see magical creatures. Oh, and her boss would yell at her for failing her mission, too.
Atlantis narrows her eyes, making sure to keep her view on the Englishman. "Two can play at this game. I will emerge victorious. I will not fall to the whims of another country's animal friend again." The smirk of Kumajiro emerges in her mind. She clenches her will not fail her citizens. She will protect them from evil scientists with her cold furry!
The scheming Atlantean puts on a convincing worried look. "Are you feeling under the weather England? You seem off….." She lets the sentence hang off on purpose in hopes to get a reaction out of him. Her words are an excuse he can use so they can escape the park.
He snaps out of his stupor. He gives her a nervous smile. "I'm alright. Let's enjoy the picnic. Thank you for your concern." Social etiquette is getting in the way of their escape. He doesn't want to cut the picnic too short to be considered a rude host.
FMB grins as he break dances to the roaring flash mob. Atlantis imagines the fissure of professionally polite acquaintances again. Only this time, there are flying magical creatures in the middle blocking her path to friendship. "I must continue to act as though there is no one there. I'll continue my mission of friendship with England."
Atlantis thinks about which topic she should bring up to keep the Englishman's interest in talking. England is too distracted by his friend's break dancing to pay much attention to her. His eyes keeps flickering back to FMB and his 'crew.' His horrified eyes doesn't know what to look at next. "He looks like he'll blow up if I wasn't here." England looks furious at FMB's choice of clothing and dancing. Whenever she saw England and his magical friends with him, he never became mad at them. He always smiles when they're around.
Well, it looks like it's a first time for everything.
Atlantis says, "Did you see the movie-" She's interrupted by FMB jumping on England's head. He continues to dance and seems to change his dancing style to the moonwalk.
FMB points at the fairies in charge of the music. "Pump up the music. It's not loud enough." The thumping of the music is so loud she feels her body beating like a drum
The emotions in England's eyes look conflicted. He nervously grabs his shirt collar. He gulps, "Pardon me, but can you please repeat your question? I don't think I heard you…correctly." Atlantis doesn't blame him. He must genuinely not be able to hear her question anyway with the level of music. She sneaks a glance at the humans in the park. By the looks of things they can't hear the music.
Atlantis decides to rephrase her question a bit. "As I was saying, have you seen any good movies recently?"
"Well, I've seen-" England pales the moment FMB hops from his head and onto the picnic blanket.
The bunny switches dancing styles again. This time he lays his head on the ground and rotates his body. He stops in a lazy lying down pose. He winks at her. "It's your turn. I challenge you to a break dance battle, magical believer."
Atlantis inwardly fumes. "This irritating bunny dares to challenge me to this hooligan dance style." She, coming from an isolated country, doesn't know this era's new dances. Nor is she willing to do so with the ones she deems worth her time.
Atlantis just wants to have a conversation with her fellow country without having it interrupted so rudely all the time. She feels like they're little children fighting for someone's attention. FMB is behaving like 'gangsta' (or whatever the hell he's impersonating) to get her to acknowledge him, she's fighting for England's focus, but he's too busy gawking at the bunny's bizarre behavior. It's a messed up triangle.
England whispers, "What do you think you're doing?"
Atlantis can't handle the crazy flash mob anymore. Forget the friendship mission. She rather take the consequences of failing half than mission than all of it in one day. She has enough magical creature mayhem to last her. "Are you sure you're feeling alright? You've been acting strange lately."
England stutters, "I-I'm f-fine." Looks like he's not going to admit the reason for his behavior is because of the FMB and the flash mob around them.
FMB jumps at her face with his paws. He rubs her cheeks and pats. With desperation in his tone and sad eyes, he weakly says, "You have to see me! For England's sake…." England's horrified face at the bunny's actions will be forever imprinted in her mind. She's tempted to say 'Is there something on my face?' It's a poor choice of words in this sort of situation. Poor England appears he's going to explode from stress.
A rumbling in the distance, louder than even the obnoxious boom box, is heard in the distance. Atlantis turns her head to see a stampede of wild deer heading towards them. The humans scatter as they scream in fear. It's safe to say these animals are visible.
England hastily stands and grabs her wrist. He pulls her to her feet. Flying Mint Bunny falls from her face at the sudden action. The flash mob scrambles to escape the impending doom. In the process someone destroys the boom box. England shouts, "Let's go." She didn't need to be told twice. Flying Mint Bunny clings to England's pants leg with an iron grip before he takes off running with her.
England and Atlantis sprint with the horde of deer closing in. Atlantis wanted an excuse to leave the picnic, but this was ridicules! She might get trampled over by wild animals. She swears animals, besides dolphins, are out to get her. Or blackmail, it's happening more often now.
Atlantis peaks at England to see Captain Hook riding a Unicorn. He waves the British flag and shouts. "Tally ho! I've brought reinforcements Flying Mint Bunny."
Flying Mint Bunny screams, "I said magical creatures, not deer!"
The deer are closer to them already. A deer's head is almost poking her back. England makes a split second decision and throws Atlantis on the back of the same deer with its head nearly poking her. She shrieks as she clings to the deer's neck for the safety of her limbs.
England throws himself on a strong buck next to her. "Hang on, we'll get through this." She is not okay! She's riding on a wild animal which will violently throw her of its back the second it realizes there's a person on it. Horses, she's fine with those. She knows how to handle them. But deer….may Poseidon save them all.
The deer sprint out of the park and into the street. The sane people scream as they run for cover. The insane ones stay to record the event with their phones. If she didn't have to worry about the deer realizing she's on its back, she would've scolded/yelled at them to worry more about their lives than recording the deer. There're enough witnesses to tell the news about it.
England and Atlantis slouch on his sofas in exhaustion. England is too tired to complain or care about her posture. After finally escaping from the deer with a few scrapes, they made it back to his house without too much trouble. England cut the tour short to give them a break from the mess. They're too tired to continue today.
England rubs his head. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you today."
Atlantis waves it off. "It's fine. Life happens." She doesn't react to Flying Mint Bunny's half-hearted 'Become one with Mother Russia' line. The unenergetic bunny lies on the table with a defeated expression on his face. He's not wearing the unappealing clothes. He's back to his furry self. He's hugging the Harry Potter and the Soccer's Stone book as if the book can give him some comfort.
England gazes at his companion with worry. He gets up from his seat. "I'll be back. I'll bring glasses of water for us." He leaves the room, but not before casting another worried look at Flying Mint Bunny.
Captain Hook, the unicorn, and a few appear next to Flying Mint Bunny to lift his spirits. The unicorn nudges the bunny's wings. She brings her face to meet his eyes. She says with a scolding tone, "You've been acting way out of character today. You nearly gotten England and Atlantis trampled over by deer and ruined his tour. Can you explain what's so important to put their lives in jeopardy?" Atlantis remains silent to hear his answer. She makes her eyes look distant to appear she's daydreaming.
Flying Mint bunny says with teary eyes, "I-I didn't mean to. I just wanted England to have a friend, someone who can see us." He takes a moment to pause. "S-Someone whose kind and friendly, share an interest in magic; whether she's magical or not, and talks to him a lot."
More tears leak from his eyes. "I know he has other friends. They're only a few. They don't visit him much, though. The ones who can see us pretend they can't," He wipes his tears with his paw. "Atlantis seems nice enough. She reads Harry Potter books too." Atlantis' mind flashes back to the last world meeting where she tried to read the first Harry Potter book. The stress from Alaska prevented her from reading too far before fainting from stress.
The magical creatures in the room sigh in unison. Captain Hook rubs his beard. He looks at the bunny thoughtfully. "All that trouble for a new friend? That's noble of you, but England doesn't need you to make friends for him. It's his choice whether he wants to move past the professional level and into the friend zone with her. Don't force him to."
A guilty face replaces his thoughtful one. "We are as much as fault for today. We encouraged your behavior in order to humor you, but the results ended badly." The others look at the ground. They're too ashamed to look Flying Mint Bunny in the eyes.
The unicorn sadly says, "Because of today, I'm unsure if Atlantis wants to even see England ever again. We ruined the chance for him in case he wanted to become friends in the future. She'll be another country who views him as a nutcase because of us." The room settles into a depressing silence.
One by one they disappear, leaving only Flying Mint Bunny and the Harry Potter book. Atlantis sadly sees the bunny losing hope.
England comes back with two glasses of water. "Sorry I took so long. I was…looking for clean glasses of water," England apologizes one too many times today. He hands her one and she sluggishly takes it. She sips it while England leaves his glass of water untouched. He takes out a piece of chocolate from his pocket and puts it in front of Flying Mint Bunny. He makes not move to eat it. It doesn't take much thinking to realize the real reason took so long was because he was looking for chocolate to cheer up Flying Mint Bunny.
Atlantis thinks about the piece of wisdom Captain Hook said earlier. "He's right. I can't force friendship on someone if they don't want it." She winces slightly at her painfully stiff and polite behavior today. It's no wonder England didn't feel comfortable with her at all. "A strong friendship isn't forced at the start. I won't be so forceful in friendships anymore. Not even at the demands of her King or possible alliances. She'll settle with acquaintances on good terms for preference of a natural relationship with a stress free atmosphere." It takes two people to enjoy the others presence for their friendship to be genuine and not only for the sake of social etiquette.
Atlantis straightens her back. She reaches the Harry Potter book with both hands. She grabs the spine with one hand and gently glides her hand over Flying Mint Bunny's back. The bunny loses his grip in surprise. He rolls off the book. His eyes widen at her. His eyes search hers to see any look of recognition. She keeps her focus on England.
A genuine smile for the first time today graces her face. "I've started reading Harry Potter and I heard you love the series. May I have your thoughts on it?" Flying Mint Bunny gleefully hangs on her arms. He chatters a mile a minute with renewed vigor. The dullness in England's eyes fades away. He looks at Flying Mint Bunny's rekindled spirit than to her face.
A smile lights his face as well. "Well…" They spend the rest of the afternoon chatting about the magical world of Harry Potter without spoiling the books, of course. Flying Mint Bunny would occasionally spout random phrases to see if it grabs Atlantis' attention. The countries would ignore his phrases when they occur. The power of Harry Potter helped break the ice between people once again.
Atlantis may not made it completely across fissure of professionally polite acquaintances, she found a column of ground before the friend zone that was shrouded by the mist: friendly acquaintances.
"My boss won't be happy I'm getting along with England because of magic. The very thing I was supposed to avoid at all costs. It'll be fine as long as I don't say I have magical properties."
"England, she knows I'm real. She pet me earlier." She's going to have her hands full keeping her attention from drifting to Flying Mint Bunny when she's around England.
Atlantis broke the ice with England. They weren't able to hold a decent conversation with FMB interrupting all the time with his stunts. xD This ice breaking chapter will lead to some…interesting situations in the future. :)
Halloween traditions that we know today (ex. Trick or treating, carving pumpkins, costumes, etc.) didn't really take off until the late twentieth century. Sure, there is a deeper root to Halloween (which went by different names as the years went by. That's why Atlantis didn't recognize it.) you can Google up to 2,000 years ago, but it was vastly different since it evolved over the centuries.
Flying Mint Bunny and friends are role-playing the fake Kate Middleton royal baby shower photo. A woman, who looks almost exactly like Kate, makes big money by making fake pictures like this.
The park they were at was based on Richmond Park which is in London. It is famously home to 650 free roaming deer.