AN: I received lovely reviews that I was so not expecting! Thank you everyone who reviewed! I enjoyed reading them while I was at work (bad, I know but work gets quite slow!). C:
Again, I would like to point out that this was once a Reader-Insert story so if you find any errors, please do not hesitate to tell me! Since it was also a 'you' story, Lydra never came with a physical description (except for being shorter than most nations). After thinking it over, I decided to incorporate some sort of imagery of what she would look like instead of leaving her as a blank canvas.
There are also other small bits. The chapters will get longer (I think, I hit 40k at one point!) and the story will get incredibly darker as the chapters go on. That is all I will say on that.
Please enjoy!
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'So lovely,' little Lydra thought as she examined the few picture books she had taken from Germany's library. Many of the books were (obviously) in his language and had many images so it was a treat that the little nation actually found something that she could enjoy. Most of the books she had pulled from the shelves were of architecture and art. Some contained peopled who looked like they were important at one point and some had paintings of different kinds of styles. It was like she held the world's greatest human marvels in her very hands.
"Sh... a... te... you deh Ch-eknokesh," Lydra attempted to word out the title what was underneath one image which appropriately read 'Château de Chenonceau.'
"The Loove," she worded out on a different picture which also appropriately read 'The Louvre.'
"The Pahlas of… Germany!" grabbing the book, she dashed up and away from the library all the while yelling 'Germany, Germany!' Thankfully, because of the noise she had been making, Germany was quick to find the young woman as he had barreled out of one of the rooms he was in and ran towards her.
"What is it? What is it, Lydra, what's wrong?" he halted in front of her, clearly concerned but then clearly confused after the small nation before him had shoved the book into his face.
"We... go... here!" she sputtered out as she pointed to a magnificent palace in the picture book, "I go here? Yes?" her smile brightened. Germany let out a heavy sigh, thankful that it Lydra wasn't injured but it just felt like he had to take care of another Italy. Bothersome. He took the book from her and examined the picture.
"This is at Frances house," he pointed out.
"We go, yes? I see! I see!" clapping her hands together, she pointed to the picture again, nodding her head in excitement, "we go to... Verk...se.. leshdeh, yes, yes?"
"Versailles."
"Verselles."
"Versailles."
"Versailles."
"Good girl," he patted Lydra on the head then closed the book and handed it to the small nation.
"We go, yes, yes?" she held the book to her chest tightly, waiting for him to say yes or ja but instead, he shook his head.
"I have too many things to work on, I'm sorry," he patted the young nation's shoulder gently and gave her a sad smile. That was only half the reason. The other half was because France was a lovely pervert and because Lydra still had a very small vocabulary with English, it would have been a good opportunity for France to get to her.
She frowned, "arad dor? Hota gapet hobok? Ech doksh os oda! Yis ihun oh ono, Germany!" but why? Has it been destroyed? I want to go! Please take me, Germany!; Lydra pulled at his shirt sleeve and began tugging it like a child but he only shook his head once more.
"I'm sorry, maybe next time," he took her hand and she let go of his sleeve. He let go, turned and walked back into the room which he came from, leaving Lydra in the hallway feeling dejected.
'Why can't I go? Is it because the place is ugly to him? Is it really gone?' she opened the book back up to the page which was entitled 'Palace of Versailles' and made a face, 'something this pretty can't have gone away!' she turned and retreated back into the library only to mope on the couch.
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"Ciao, ciao!" Lydra was quickly woken up from her light nap to Italy saying 'hello' in Italian directly in her face.
"Ethack," she mumbled in her language. Sitting up, she sat for a moment, feeling groggy and utterly miserable from her slumber. Nerves felt irritated, her muscles felt weak and it seemed like a little headache coming on. Lydra looked down and noticed that the book she had been cradling since she found it had been thrown on the floor, possibly from when she had fallen asleep. The young nation leaned over to retrieve it as Italy began blathering about... things.
"Cosa stai facendo in biblioteca oggi? Stai cercando di saperne di più inglese? Credo che si dovrebbe parlare italiano. Italiano è una lingua bella. Oh, che cosa hai lì?" what are you doing in the library today? Are you trying to learn more English? I think you should speak Italian. Italian is such a nice language. Oh, what do you have there?; Italy looked on as she opened the book back to Versailles.
"Oh, questo è a casa di Francesca! Ho visto solo l'esterno. E 'davvero bella! Si consiglia di visitare " oh, that's at Frances house! I've only seen the outside. It is really pretty! You should visit!; the female sighed heavily as he babbled on.
"Andiamo a fare in Germania ci, sì?" let's go make Germany take us, yes?; without a response from her, Italy grabbed his newfound friend by the wrist and pulled her behind him as he rushed out of the library. Confused as to what he was doing, Lydra just kept up the pace and held onto the book as he began calling out for Germany. The German eventually revealed himself, coming out of the same room he had been in previously when Lydra had called on him earlier but this time more relaxed yet annoyed.
"Yes?" he asked, looking down at Italy as he took Lydra's book away from her and shoved it into Germany's face.
"We want to go to Versailles!" he waved the piece of literature Germanys face. Lydra stared intently at Germany once she heard the word 'Versailles'.
"No."
"Awww, but why?" Italy pouted as Germany smacked the book away from his face.
"I have work to do and I don't want Lydra go to go France's place."
"But I want to go too! So it'll be okay!"
"I'd be even more worried if you were to accompany her," Germany voice became stern as Italy began whining.
"But it'd be only for one day, really!" he took Germany's shirt sleeve like Lydra had done earlier and began tugging at it, "please, just for one day. Besides, Lydra is an isolated island! She's never seen the world except for some places but all those places were crappy! Versailles is really pretty and big! So big!" following suit, Lydra also began tugging on Germany's other arm chanting 'Versailles, Versailles, Versailles!' This only helped to irritate the German.
"No!" he shouted and pulled his arms away, "I have work to do! That is my final answer!" he turned and shut the door, leaving Lydra and Italy in the hallway alone. Lydra's shoulders slumped. She felt childish at the moment since she had the sudden urge to whine and cry for a bit.
"Awww, don't feel bad, Lydra," Italy hugged his friend as she attempted to mentally beat herself, "Germany never said that you can't go to France, he just doesn't want you to go!" he patted her back then began leading her down the hallway. Although his plans were clear to him, Lydra had no clue where he was taking about.
"Italy," Lydra spoke after they entered the dining room, "what is … your name?" she slowly voiced, trying to make sure she had said it right.
"Feliciano Vargas!" he replied happily as he lead the clueless woman out of Germany's house.
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"Oh, il est que la jolie jeune dame de nouveau! Bonjour! Avez-vous voulu passer une nuit avec moi ... ?" oh, it's that lovely young lady again! Hello! Did you want to spend a night with me...?; France exclaimed once he had opened the front door to his house to discover Italy and Lydra standing outside.
"Hello, France! Lydra wanted to see Versailles but Germany didn't want to take her so I brought her!" said nation waved at France who just stared down at her. Suddenly, she felt somewhat 'pocket-sized,' if you would. Germany towered over her but she had never really taken notice how tall people were until now. It was the fact that France was staring down at her in a somewhat distasteful way that made her feel shorter than she really was, which was around five foot.
"Oh? She's interested in my architecture and landmarks? Magnifique! I'll take her to Versailles right now! Part of it is being renovated at the moment so I hope you don't mind...?" he directed the question to the young female but since she was still slow and didn't understand English that well, she just stared.
"I want to go too! Please?" Italy tugged on Frances arm. France, in turn, threw an annoyed look at Italy but sighed, "fine, fine, you may go too but you must pay the entry fee," Italy paused at France's remarks but then rejoiced and soon the small group was off to... where ever. Lydra still wasn't sure where they were going.
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"Voyez! Le Palais de Versailles!"
"France, I didn't know this place was this big!"
"Pretek!"
Indeed, Versailles was 'pretek' as Lydra had said. She felt significantly shorter now than she was earlier but it was simply because of Versailles vast architecture. The windows! The roofs! The garden! It was beyond words!
"Let's go inside, yes?" France took Lydra by the hand led her inside. She didn't mind one bit as she stared at the walls and intricate designs that decorated every inch of the room they walked through, "going over its history for Lydra would be useless since she doesn't know English, French or any other language for that matter," Frances voice echoed down the hallways as Italy joined in Lydra's awing. Crystal chandeliers! So pretty!
"Hey, France, this just reminded me," Italy walked next to France as the small group entered a drawing room.
"Hey, you! Off the cou–oh, it's just you," France began to shout but then stopped after the man sitting on the couch wearily stood up.
"Hola, Francia, Italia. ¿Quién es esto?" hello, France, Italy. Who is that?; he leisurely pointed to Lydra. She waved.
"This is Lydra," France pushed said nation in front of him as the new man approached the group, "her house is below the North Poles."
"Ah, such a cold place! My name is Spain," the Spaniard took Lydras free hand and kissed it gently then smiled at her. She blinked.
"Hello, my name is Lydra," she repeated what France had said then patted Spain on the head.
"Cute," he looked down at her in amusement.
"Why are you here? Why didn't you go to my house? Why are you sitting on furniture that isn't meant to be sat on anymore?" France began asking his questions calmly but ended up yelling at the end. The Spaniard sighed and scratched his head as Lydra retreated back and began measuring her height against Italy's height on a nearby wall.
"I wanted to come over but I heard you had gone. One of the maids told me that you had come here with Italy so I decided I'd meet you here. I just like you too much to wait for you, Francis," Spain said the last part suggestively but then yawned.
"Lovely," France snorted. He was still irritated with the fact that Spain was lounging on something quite old and historic.
Lydra, on the other hand, had forced Italy down to a kneeling position in front of her then kneeled down herself next to him and began playing with his hair. He was looking kind of cute in little braids.
"Have you heard from Gilbert lately?" Spain asked as he plopped himself down onto the golden couch once more. France immediately scurried over and began beating the Spaniard off.
"Get off!" Spain fell over and grunted.
"It wasn't comfortable anyway," he sat up and leaned onto the couch instead. France eyed him carefully as Spain ran a hand through his hair.
"And no, I haven't. He hasn't been at Germany's house lately. I can only imagine what he's been doing. I bet you he's at Hungary's or somewhere. He'll be back."
"Veee~!" Italy was now adorned with a head full of small braids, "you work so fast, Lydra!" he began playing with his braids as France and Spain just stared.
"Interesting girl," Spain commented.
"Oh! France, that reminds me! When are you going to give back the art that I lent you...?" Italy calmly asked. However, his little question sent France into a flying rage.
"What? What about all the times I helped you? Haven't I been good to you? I didn't spread lies around during the second war and-and-and," France rushed over and began pummeling Italy who, in turn, kept shouting for mercy.
Lydra, on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen. Before Italy had asked his question, she had left the room so that she could explore the palace. One room was nice but she was interested in the entire palace since it was so big!
What was also interesting were the tourists! In every room she went and every hallway and corridor she passed by, she met tourists. Some were large, tall, skinny, oddly shaped, wore funny clothing, and all of them spoke in languages she had never heard before (while others spoke languages that sounded close to English or German). As she walked among the crowd admiring the rooms, the young woman began to wonder what would it be like if her little island had flourished and if Lilid became one of the most used languages in the world. If that happened, then everyone would be walking around naked and talking like drunks! What a pleasant thought! However, it was disheartening as well. She was unsure of what her boss was doing at the moment or even if she still had a boss. Lydra began tugging at her shirt a bit, feeling a bit out of place and a tad bit homesick but began pushing that aside after she entered one of the apartment rooms reserved for the kings.
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"Mon bonbon, vous ne devriez pas dormir sur le lit de XIV'S de Roi Louis. Je ne ferai pas mal vous aimez je fais l'Espagne, mais réveillez-vous s'il vous plaît et vite, aussi. Vous êtes trop jolis quand vous dormez," my sweet, you shouldn't sleep on King Louis XIV's bed. I won't hurt you like I do Spain but please wake up and quickly, too. You're too cute when you sleep; Lydra heard France's voice as she began to wake up. As it became later in the day, the young woman had become lost in the palace and had been eagerly attempting to find France and Italy but to no avail. Instead, she had grown weary and opted to just stay put in one place, hoping that they would find her. She patiently waited for two hours but ended up falling asleep in the king's bed on accident. Once she saw France's face when she woke, she shot up and leaped off the bed then began smoothing out the wrinkles in her clothes. France chuckled at Lydra's actions.
"Je sais que vous ne pensez pas à mal. J'ai été inquiété de vous. Je vous ai cherchés toute la nuit et ici vous étiez, paisiblement endormis! Je vous aurais rejoints, mais pas ici. Absolument pas ici," I know you mean no harm. I was worried about you. I looked for you all and here you were, peacefully asleep! I would have joined you but not here. Absolutely not here; France stood tall in front of the little nation and placed a lock of her dark, amber hair behind her ear as he smiled. Lydra, of course, stared at him since she had no clue what he was saying.
"Eh bien, c'est l'aube. Je veux vous montrer un merveilleux plaisir," come, it's dawn. I want to show you a marvelous treat; France lead the small woman away from the room and down a hallway. Lydra began feeling nervous. Was he going to hit her like he had done with Spain and Italy… ?
"Ce hall vous fera se sentir comme si vous êtes une déesse, je vous assure," this hall will make you feel as if you are a goddess, I assure you; unsure of what he said, she gripped the hem of her shirt tightly as her other hand was being held by Frances.
She turned and... oh my.
"Le Galerie des Glaces," the Hall of Mirrors.
The hall was intricate in detail. Crystal chandelles, golden statues, decorated walls, the ceiling was painted, the mirrors made the hallway look grander, it was just an awe-inspiring spectacle of interior beauty. The best part was how the morning light was coming through the windows, making the hall shine brighter than it would ever have during any other time.
"Os't zuda weth nuck," it's so beautiful; Lydra proceeded slowly down the hallway as she took in how big and high everything was.
"Je le prends que vous aimez cela, oui?" I take it that you like it, yes?; France chuckled as he watched Lydra walk underneath the velvet rope that blocked tourists away from the windows and gaze outside to the gardens. The warm sunlight poured in and it only made her want to stay there more than ever. This place was vast, rich in decor and overflowing in beauty. She never wanted to leave.
"J'aimais toujours cette région de Versailles. C'est très beau, comme vous, mon petit ange," I always liked this area of Versailles. It's very beautiful, just like you, my little angel; France came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her small frame. He briefly placed his chin on top of her head before whispering soft, French words to her. Lydra had no idea what he said but his creepiness was deterred by the garden she as viewing at the moment. She didn't even mind that his hands were sliding down her waist. She had somewhat assumed that customs in countries were different and even though he was dangerously close to breaking her own customs, she didn't want to be a rude guest. However, she was preparing herself to stop him if crossed the line.
"France, what is your name?" she asked as the Frenchman pulled her back gently against him.
"Francis Bonnefoy," he whispered into her ear then began to nip at it.
Right. That wasn't a custom and she knew it.
"FRANCE!" a piercing shout echoed through the hall. Instantly, both countries turned to see a red-faced German rushing towards the both of them.
"C'est l'Allemagne! Je dois partir, mon amour! Rapide, quelqu'un me cache!" It's Germany! I must leave, my love! Quick, someone hide me!; France quickly gave Lydra a peck on the cheek before rushing out of the hallway where they had both entered. She watched as Germany chased after France, not even stopping to wave at her.
"Oh, there you are!" a lively voice greeted the female. Lydra turned and found Italy had popped up right behind her, "we had been looking for you all night! We ended up splitting up but Spain went home because he got really tired and while I was looking for you, Germany came! I don't think coming here was a good idea, he was really mad and hit me, see?" Italy lifted up his shirt to reveal a red area which had been obviously punched. Lydra's eye twitched, "I took the blame though. I told him that I took you here and that it was all my idea!" he nodded his head and gave his friend a thumbs up. In return, she nodded and repeated his actions then took Italy by the hand and began pointing out all of the items in the hallway that she enjoyed.
"Wow! It's so pretty in here! France never showed me this place before! I'm glad that we came even though Germany isn't," he paused to artistically admire a female statue which was bare-chested and held a series of candles in her hands, "so detailed!"
"You!" Germany's voice echoed through the hallway again as he re-appeared from where he had disappeared. He rushed over and forcibly grabbed Lydra by the shoulders, "I told you not to come here! There's a good reason! France just tried to... just tried to do things to you and you didn't even notice! You can't come here, you aren't allowed here, I forbid you!" he shook the young nation as he gripped her shoulders.
"G-Germany, eto atapat uli," Germany, you're hurting me; Lydra attempted to push him away but he kept his hold on her. Not only was he hurting her but he was frightening her terribly as well.
"I want you to understand that you're not allowed at Frances house or near France either!"
"But Germany, it was my fault, she wasn't th-"
"No, I know it wasn't you who thought of this idea. You just took her here. She came to me before you came to my house wanting to come here but I told her no. I don't want her near anyone who will take advantage of her. Why do you think that Prussia hasn't been in the basement recently? I've been making sure he doesn't enter the house. When he returns, I'm going to send her to Austria or England's home until he goes away again. Until she understands what isn't customarily right, I won't let anyone harm her or take advantage of her," Germany pulled Lydra against him and walked past a stunned Italy as he kept one of his hands gripped on her shoulder.
Once they had left the grounds Lydra began crying.
"Nove, nove. I'm sorry, Germany, I'm sorry."
He, too, wanted to cry. Because Lydra still only had a few words down, it was difficult to communicate to her so it was like communicating to a child most of the time instead of a fully grown woman. It was the language barrier that separated the two of them from a peaceful relationship and it was the barrier that kept them apart.