Warning: This chapter was created while the author was listening to an endless loop of Keane. It's actually inspired by the lyrics to "Crystal Ball" by Keane (I put them at the end). P.S. The bold print is may favorite quote of the chapter!
"Yes! We're finally here!" France runs as fast as he can into the presidential suite of the hotel. I admit, New Orleans is a wonderful area, despite it being an American city full of French people. France and I have had some interesting experiences here, I daresay.
"Bo, I wanna apologize for acting rude to you. I just miss me Alex, that's all. What d' ya want from me? I'm but a woman in love." Abby says to me out of the blue. I give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
"I understand how it feels. One night I fell in love with a beautiful French woman-"
"You?" She pops her head up in attention. "You hate the Frog's people!"
"I wasn't done. I was so intoxicated that night that I didn't realize that it was France dressed as a girl. Then Prussia helped me snap out of it."
"So you've never really been in love? Well I'm gonna help ya, I am! Then ya don't have t' sit at home an' watch reruns of Doctor Who!"
I'm not sure where exactly Abby is going with this, but I'm a tad bit curious about what she may do. She's a bright lass, but I'm not exactly certain she will be able to make me fall in love- or cut the amount of Doctor Who I watch. "Fine, you can try."
I hear a laugh in the background. Gwendolyn is cracking up. "Abby, no offense, but do you really think he has the ability to fall in love? I mean, he's strikingly handsome and a great conversationalist, but somehow he always seems to screw up." She walks away, an evil grin on her face. I'm not phased at all by her insult, but something tells me that she's about to do a terrible deed.
"I'm going out to stretch my legs." I say, buried in my thoughts. Once I'm outside, the bluegrass music dances through my ears in an array of merriment. The warm, summer breeze refreshes me as it blows through me. Maybe the Czechoslovakian is onto something. Why do I blunder when it comes to love? I've been left by myself so many times, and I never seem to win the fight to gain them back. There has to be an answer if I just look between the chapters of history that I have been given. Maybe there is a fleck of hope for me after all.
I abruptly stop in front of an old, worn out looking shack. The sign on the top is so faded that it is just barely readable:
"Black Magic Emporium" I lip, slowly opening up the brass doorknob to enter.
Once I'm inside, a woman in an ivory mask is sitting at a round table, as if she has been waiting for me. There is a cloth draped on top of the table, revealing a prominent bulge in the middle.
"It looks like you're searching for an answer, love, so please take a seat. Her accent sounds like a jumbled medley of Hungarian and old English, a combination of pronunciations that I never thought would ever mix. "Now, I think I know what brought you here, lad. You want to know why you can't find what you truly want. Look into my crystal ball and you will see." She lifts up the cloth, revealing the clear, glass orb.
The woman puts her hands on the crystal ball, and instantly an image of my big brother Scotland appears inside. "You love him so much, but you would constantly fight to keep him, and his land." Scotland disappears, and America, as a little child starts to form.
"I don't bloody need-" I choke out. An image of Chibi America is almost enough to bring me to tears at a time like this
"Sit back down or I will curse you and all your descendents!" The woman snaps at me. I sit back down, but only because I don't want Abby to be cursed. America is still in the screen, but now as a grown man. It was that day in the rain, the day he finally got his wish- to be independent from me. I should've shot the bloke when I had the chance. "You love America immensely and constantly fought to keep him, and his land. Eventually you had the choice to keep fighting or let him go. You chose the latter." the next image is of all of the micronations being lead by none other than Sealand. "This is your angry mob of micro-rebellious nations who once thought you as a hero, but it would take too long for me to go over them all."
"Don't remind me." The little nations never wanted to stay with me, accept Sealand, who pesters me on the topic of being a nation. All of a sudden, Abby appears in the crystal. It was the day I found her in the heart of London, and I took her in as my daughter. My eyes start to water.
"Dearest Abigail, your little girl. You both love each other since the day you adopted her. That's why she has recently chosen not to become a nation, but the city of London, and the heir of the United Kingdom. She's the only exception to this." By this time I'm sobbing, because my dear Abby has been the only one to stick with me- other than Gwendolyn, who probably hates me for what I did to her. As if on cue, an image of Gwendolyn forms in the ball. "Put your hands on the crystal ball." She says slowly, her eyes now shut. I reluctantly agree, since it's best not to reckon with a master of black magic. I put my hands on the smooth glass, and a scene unfolds in my mind.
It is the year 1347, in the late spring. I'm sitting alone in the grassy field with my pet hare, admiring the beauty of the day. A deadly sickness is sweeping over Europe, and it has killed large portions of the European population. It's only a matter of time before it reaches me. I've just begun to grow, as a nation, and from a commoner's point of view, I look like a young man reaching adulthood. "My dear English friend! Relic in my awesomeness! Kesesesese!" Gilbert, one of my best friends and allies meets me. "I need your help Arthur! Hungary and I were hunting one day, when we found a little girl playing with some woodland animals. I recently found out that Hungary was a girl, so I think..."
"Think what?"
"I think I'm a father now and I don't know what to do! You're the only one I can trust to tell right now!"
"Hold on Gilbert. What do you want me to do?" I say, surprised at what the Prussian is telling me. All of a sudden, a little girl with Hungary's chocolate brown hair and ghostly white skin rustles through the grass, hugging Prussia's leg. He really is a father.
"I want you to guide her. I want you to help us lead her on the road less traveled, for is the way of the Teutonic Knights. I want her to be a powerful empire one day. In return, I want you to have the honor of naming her." his voice lowers during the last sentence. The little girl runs to me, and I lift her up in my arms. Her ruby eyes stare into mine, and she smiles at me.
"Her skin is pure white; therefore her name shall be Gwendolyn." She perks up the moment I say it, as if she agrees with me.
"I'll be back, but for now, she is in your hands." And with that, the Prussian leaves.
(The Black Death attacked England a few days after, but as his skin started to turn a ghastly grey, Gwendolyn's skin remained her pureness, and she was the one looking out for England during those dark days.)
"You love her, and in a drunken haze you decided to fight to keep her and her land for yourself." The woman says. We're back in the Emporium, and I shakily take my hands off of the crystal ball, trying to rid myself of this strikingly vivid memory. "Throughout history, you've wanted to keep your loved ones close to you at all times, even if it means taking over their land, so they won't leave you. That's what is making you fall."
It all makes sense now! "How do I fix this emotional affliction?!"
"Why don't you ask your daughter?" Abby takes off her invisibility cloak. "Bo, I was 'ere the entire time, I saw everything." she runs and squeezes me.
"How did you get here? Why did you never tell me that you were London?" I ask joyfully.
"Ya never asked."
"Is there anything else you want to know before I kick you both out?" the woman asks bluntly.
"Yes." I turn away from Abby. "How do I get Gwendolyn to fall in love with me?"
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" The woman takes off the mask, to reveal that Gwendolyn was the woman who revealed everything about me without me even knowing. "Oh and by the way, I would never curse Abby, maybe just hex her for the heck of it." She's back to her Czech accent. "I've had this little place for years, and only France knew about it until today. He used to use my love potions until he met Haley."
"That frog!" Abby and I shout at the same time. The three of us leave the shack and the Czechoslovakian mutters a spell to make it disappear. The sun is setting now, and the bluegrass music is at an all time high, after all, New Orleans comes alive at night. Tomorrow we will be leaving this wonderful city to go to the world showcase at Epcot, and I'm planning to stop at Harry Potter World along the way. As for now, there's nothing left to do than to enjoy this moment with my two favorite people in the world.
Crystal Ball by Keane
Who is the man I see
Where I'm supposed to be?
I lost my heart, I buried it too deep
Under the iron sea
Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Lines ever more unclear
Not sure I'm even here
The more I look the more I think that I'm
Starting to disappear
Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Oh, crystal ball, hear my song
I'm fading out, everything I know is wrong
So put me where I belong
I don't know where I am
And I don't really care
I look myself in the eye
There's no-one there
I fall upon the earth
I call upon the air
But all I get is the same old vacant stare
Oh, crystal ball, crystal ball
Save us all, tell me life is beautiful
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Oh, crystal ball, hear my song
I'm fading out, everything I know is wrong
So put me where I belong
Holy crap. This is what happens when I listen to Keane's first two albums on a loop. Anyway, Florida is next, so the next chapter is going to be lighter (isn't Florida where the magic happens?) Iggy is also going to get slapped numerous times for his terrible pick up lines. Hey, remember that time around chapter two, when I said nothing was going to happen between Arthur and Czech- just disregard that if you even remember that far back -Blingyg