Hello?
A/N: Hey guys! Super sorry about the extreme delay. Yes, as it was so subtly put by a fan, I'm not dead. I'm alive and doing quite well, actually. Thanks so much for your patience!
And I wasn't expecting to get home from school and be bombarded by hours of yard work a day. I was going to have this up much much sooner, I swear!
Here we go, people I love: owlcitystars98, Cifer10, I no wanna log innnnnn & Same person from before, Zelda12343, darkangels1112, envysfangirl, NONAMESWEREAVAILABLE, Princess-Canada, HaruWitch, Anonymous, Dogsrule, HikariKegawaAshi, Anonymous, foREVerhauntingme, RaNdOm, Tono Radish, SafetyScissors, HungaryJayFeather, Random Fangirl Number 37, QueenMab, Sailingseas, Winterfox02, With love from Chibitalia, Kori24, Ines Bonnefoy, Bm, XxIntheShadowsAssassinxX, SilverReader littlemisssquareeyes5397, XxDeViLsNiGhTmArExX, CarnivalFreak, Kleptogirl, xRavenxKuranx, VeGao, JapanFangirl talktoJapanandDIE, Arkxy-chan, Ronnie, Alos the Vampire Prince
Sout-outs!:
Random Fangirl Number 37: haha~ Well I'm glad. It's Ich Liebe Dich I believe and yes, I caught that. It made me squeal. ^.^ I will try to post sooner. XD
XxDeViLsNiGhTmArExX: I can see that, you have quite a few favorite pairings. It's okay to be different. I've been known to pull some pretty crack pairings out of thin air in other anime, and my roommate thinks I'm insane for it. XD
CarnivalFreak: Why thank you, I think I have great taste in music too. ;D
Anywho, I agree with your favorite pairing and your reasoning and such. They do so much fighting it's hilarious.
namekeepschangingitsDREAMS: You're right, that's slightly creepy, but don't worry. I've seen worse. Haha! I have a friend who we call Canada because no matter what she does, people don't notice her/remember her and teachers will mark her absent when she's in class and no one can remember her name ever. XD
Dogsrule: You're just like my sister: she's a die-hard Romano fan and loves Spamano. Haha!
foREVerhauntingme: You go! Roleplaying is SO. MUCH. FUN. I'm a nerd at heart and do all sorts of crazy stuff like D&D. I have quite the reputation, you see. Anywho, Can't say I personally like your pairings, but I can see where the cuteness would come from. I just don't really like America that much, so I suppose I'm biased. XD
With Love from Chibitalia: Yeah, I suppose. Hah! How's your summer? Having a grand-old time? I hope so! I've been stuck working every day and have two jobs this summer…
Tono Radish: How could anyone NOT love Prussia? He's just so freaking awesome! I'm partial to him being with Ludwig, though. Haha! Current obsession.
I went to a con this year and found an artist (don't remember name) who was selling a picture of Prussia and IT'S FREAKING EPIC! I felt like a creep because I hung it up next to my head at school.
Kleptogirl: Aww, thanks! That makes me really want to keep writing (whether you're lying to me or not~). Haha! I'm super glad you like this that much. I put a question in the random questions part that you might want to look at for me.
owlcitystars98: haha! Quite the response. Photograph is also my favorite, and your invader zim reference just made me very happy. I used to watch that show ALL. THE. TIME. Regarding your senior year: is this something I should question or just leave be? Do I want to know? (Potentially)
And no, I'm not a spider mutant thingy, but that would be slightly on the cool side… *Ponders*
xRavenxKuranx: Thank you very much~
VeGao: That means a lot to me, thanks! Question: Have you been reading this for a while now or did you just find the story with that chapter, bust through it all, and then decide to review?
Haha! It's fun, I've found, to take either the most innocent anime characters or the most gullible or the weakest ones and make them super-mega-awesome-strong-scary things temporarily. It messes with the minds of everyone.
And don't worry about the length of the review! Wanna know a secret? I really really love long review, because they're more sincere and I feel a little more appreciated since after I've typed an entire chapter and stuff, you've taken some time to type some form of a thought out response, even if it has NOTHING to do with my story. XD
Oh, and I love Chibitalia X HRE as well. I cry too, don't worry. You're not alone.
JapanFangirl talktoJapanandDIE: Really? Haha! Not a fan of it, but I can never figure out why I'm so against it. XD
ronnie: Way to go! At least you found it now and not in a year or so when there's 40 or 60 chapters or something like that! XD
Alos the Vampire Prince: See, I've never had either of those. My friend has an original character who's obsessed with Cherrie pie and I've never had it. Then chocolate pie has never interested me. I don't like chocolate that much, so it really doesn't surprise me.
England let out a small sigh, walking the perimeter of the building one more time and then giving the door another firm knock. It was unusual for this house to be empty; usually at least one of the nations would be home, and England would at this point appreciate either one of them opening the door.
Alas, t'was not meant to be. The Englishman stood on the doormat with some nonsensical German saying sewn into it staring at the plain wood in front of him for nearly ten minutes before groaning and beginning to pace a little. Alright, hadn't he hoped for this on the way over? This would mean he could tell Romano nothing and he'd have to go back to trying to find an effective way to spy. It's not like anything truly weird could be happening; Southern Italy is a paranoid, mafia-ridden country. For all Arthur knew, this was some sick joke to him, about as funny as that mustache nonsense he pulled earlier that year.
Unfortunately, Romano had seemed so adamant about Feliciano's mental state. Of all the jokes to pull, why pull one to drag his own brother into it? And worse yet; what if Lovino was really telling the truth and something really was going wrong in this building. Not hearing from Germany in a long while was a suspicious thing, and Italy hadn't been out spreading sunshine to the world at all recently. If Lovino's not lying, this case doesn't sound like something that can sit around and be left untouched.
One final knock on the door to ensure that no one was home left England with an almost sick feeling. If going into the backyard wasn't trespassing, this surely was.
Gently turning the knob allowed the door to silently swing open. With all the lights off, the house was more than foreboding. Arthur crept past the first room and up the hall, quietly peeking into any open rooms and not disturbing those that were clearly closed to the public. Eventually, he came across the room Ludwig clearly did his paperwork in. It had a desk, a computer, a filing cabinet, and various papers clipped to the walls.
Deciding this would be the best place to conduct an investigation, England entered the room to glance at whatever happened to be out; hopefully, whatever the German had been working on more recently. Paperwork, criminal cases, some signed orders from his boss, and various other things written in German were lying scattered across the desk in a surprisingly disorderly fashion. Wasn't Germany some sort of neat-freak?
Picking up a few papers at random and then placing them back down quickly revealed that some of this work hadn't been touched in at least a week, if not longer.
"Where the bloody hell is everyone?" Creaking the door open gently, England began making his way up the long, dimly lit hall. The door was unlocked, indicating that someone was home. Ludwig would never be so careless with his house.
The floorboards beneath the carpet groaned with each gentle step, seeming to try and point out Arthur's presence to whatever might be home. Someone has to be home and I just haven't found them. Maybe Germany was up late and is taking a nap.
England paused, hearing a creak upstairs. "Well, a nap would be a good excuse for the lights being off…" Doesn't Germany have dogs? A metaphorical dead end was all England needed right now. Where could he have possibly wandered off to? He could be absolutely anywhere!
Everything fell silent as Arthur stopped walking, staring at a point on the wall. He's going to flip if he finds out I've entered his house uninvited.
The loud crashing drum resounding outside startled the Englishman and attracted his attention to the window where the rain falling from the sky could clearly be seen pooling on the ground outside and around the garage.
The Garage! Germany would never walk anywhere with the idea of weather this bad coming! If he's not here, his car will be gone. Possessing more resolve than previously, England began walking to the door which he knew lead into the German's garage through the kitchen, hoping to prove himself correct and honestly praying he'd be able to scold himself for being so ridiculous as to suspect anything suspicious.
England approached the door, glancing in the window and blinking, staring at the car in the garage. "How-… He can't be home right now, I haven't found him yet!" The feelingo f panic began settling into the Englishman's chest as he realized that if Ludwig was indeed home, he himself would be in unimaginable trouble.
Wait! Italy stays here too… They've each got cars. England put his hand on the doorknob, prepared to go determine whose car it was when he froze, hearing a crash from a room back in the hall. He remained still, hoping that if he didn't breath, whoever was in the house would be unaware of his presence. A minute later, he heard the crash again, except this time, crash wasn't quite the right term. It was more like… heavy walking? No, there was only one foot step. It was like someone had intentionally stomped their foot or something.
Despite every instinct to turn and flee, England slowly approached the hallway, poking his head out before the rest of his body finally followed. The way he figured this would play out is that either something was in the house and he was in a lot of trouble no matter what, or something was trying to get his attention. Making himself calm down, England pulled his cellphone out and dialed Spain's number. He would inform Romano and, even though he knew he wouldn't heed any advice from the Italian, ask for a suggested course of action.
Nothing. He redialed. Still, nothing. England closed his phone and opened it again, glancing at it. "Drat. No service…" Shoving the now-useless phone back into his pocket, England approached the German's phone. Being in Germany, there ought to be service.
Sure enough, there was a dial-tone. Regardless of whether that was an actually good fact or not, Arthur felt relieved. A phone call meant someone else's voice on the other end, and someone else's voice would make him feel less alone in this eerie building.
Ring… Ring… Ri-click. "Hello?"
Romano! Thank the heavens! "Romano?"
"What do you want?"
"I need to talk to you. Something's definitely going on in Germany, you were right."
"… … … I was?"
"Yes… you were… Listen, his paperwork hasn't been touched in at least a week, and I think-"
"Why are you in his house snooping around?"
"I told you I was coming here, Romano, but-"
"I know, but why are you still there? This is a terrible idea, and-"
"You've said all this to me, already. I was just calling to see if you had an idea of what I should do right now. I think someone else is in the house. They're stomping their foot from the end of the hall, and I think they're trying to get my attention."
There was silence for a moment.
"Romano?"
"You stupid Englishman! I'm coming over, stay put." Click.
Arthur blinked, glancing down at the phone in his hand. Why on Earth would Romano suddenly want to come to Germany when he was so adamantly against it before…
He set the phone down on the counter, leaving it off the hook and slowly walking away from it. This was all rather strange. "Hello…?" England let his voice float through the air, hoping for exactly what he got: another stomp, this one harder. Walking up the hall, England begins gently tapping on each of the doors, waiting for a response on the other end. Up the hall, fourth door on the left, there came a thud on the other side following England's knock.
Smirking to cover the anxiety he was feeling, England put his hand on the doorknob and gave it a gentle twist. Locked. Arthur blinked, looking around the hall in hopes of a key left on a nightstand or something. There came another thud, this one quieter, followed by a few more.
"Whoever's in there, don't worry, I have help on the way… you wouldn't happen to know where Germany keeps the keys to this room, would you?... …" England sighed slightly, reckoning himself to be slightly mad. "Any who, Lovino's on his way. Perhaps he can pick locks and he could…" The rest of the sentence trailed off as Arthur stared blankly at the door. "Bloody Hell… Germany? Are you the one locked in there?" There was a thud, then some quieter ones. "Stay put," a little redundant, "Lovino said he'd-…" England froze slightly, thinking about the conversation he'd had with the Italian over the phone… er… one of the Italian brothers.
There came more thuds, these ones slightly louder than before. Not thudding, footsteps. Someone else was home, and England froze over momentarily, backing away from the door before ducking into a nearby broom closet, silently shutting the door behind him.
A/N: There you go, next chapter is up!
I actually listened to a lot of Weird Al while writing this. Him and Evanescence. Hope you liked this chapter~
Questions:
What's your favorite song by Weird Al
Have any of you ever had Fried Cheesecake?
What's your favorite funny word/sound?
For everyone who answered their pairings to be anything other than ones indicated in the story (i.e. Gerita is in Hetalia, Finland X Sweden is based in Hetalia), can you give me some of your basis for that? Did they have one moment in the anime that I missed or is it just: I really like their personalities together sort of thing? How did this pairing come to exist in your mind?
I'm broadening my horizons, you see.