Egg Nation- Mission Pasta-ble
His muscles tensed up, and he'd broken out into a cold sweat. The corner of his mouth twitched several time as he was trying to suppress a horrified scream. He blinked his eyes, and then they returned to their constant 'closed' state. The giant girl was staring at him, her soft breathes were like loud pants of a predator after it'd chased its meal down. With that mental image Italy let out a long shrill scream.
"Please don't kill or eat me or whatever it is you're planning on doing to me! Oh please, oh please I'll be a good little Italy from now on. I promise. So please don't kill meeeeeeeeeeeee!" Italy cried out quickly and for the most part incomprehensibly. He shrunk down into a ball and placed his arms over his head, trembling and crying uncontrollably.
Amu was at a loss for words. She tried to reach her hand out to console the weeping character, but once he saw her hand coming toward him, he flew back from it and took out a white flag. Then he immediately started waving it around saying he'd surrendered.
'This guy is worse than El! At least she'd only give up during an actual battle.' Amu thought bitterly, her thought taking the form of a scowl on her face which frightened the strange character more. After another screechy rambling yelled through blubbering tears, Amu put on the nicest face she could and spoke.
"Don't worry little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." For added measure Amu let a gentle smile span across her face and tilted her head sweetly.
"Liar! Of course you will, you're big and mean and scary!" Italy shouted pointing his white flag at Amu which caused her to drop her cutie face and glare at him annoyed. Her change in demeanor scarred him into waving the flag again.
"Amu-chan is not big!" Su shouted her own high-pitched yell in defense of her owner and continued in her normal calm voice, "She's a normal size for a human her age. You're just small compared to her. You're a Guardian Character, and we're all small next to humans."
'Why didn't you say anything against me being mean or scary?'
"What?" Italy asked just taking note of the small creatures floating around the giant. He dashed through the air to the display window of a shop nearby and gasped loudly at the reflection. He was small, tiny! Not only that, but his body, it was proportioned liked the other flying creatures: a round head, with big eyes (if they were opened at least), small body, and short arms and legs.
"What happened to me?" The Italian breathed shakily to himself, approaching closer to the reflection until his hands were flat up against the glass with the mirror-double copying the same position.
"Ran. Miki. Su." Amu called quietly and motioned them down with her index finger. The three descended until they were at Amu's eye level, and she whispered, "What's up with this guy? It seems like he doesn't even know he's a character."
There was a pause. They were all hesitant about saying the thought that they all shared. Ran spoke, saying, "Maybe he doesn't." The characters turned and gave the silent Italy a sad look, filled with sympathy. Amu's gaze drifted down to her feet. She'd thought so ill of him, but he didn't deserve it. He barely knew what was going on.
"Poor guy…" Amu mumbled before bringing her head back up with a genuine smile, cleared her throat to get his attention, and introduced herself saying, "Hey. I think we got off with the wrong impression of each other. I'm Hinamori Amu, and these are my friends: Ran, Miki and Sun." When each of the three characters' names was called they smiled.
Italy turned and held up his hand as a small wave and said, "I'm Ita- I mean, Feliciano."
"We're Amu-chan's Guardian Characters… do you what that is?" Miki asked anxiously having a good feeling about Feliciano shaking his head no. When he did; Miki sighed, procrastinating the explanation as she thought of how to best put it. But she was too slow to the punch and Ran started.
"Guardian Characters are the would-be selves or the true selves people wish they could be, like us! Amu-chan wished to be more like her true self and the three of us were born from that wish. So somebody out there wished for you too, and we need to find them because you're their Guardian Character. And they need you." Ran explained. There was a moment where Italy held his chin with his hand and thought.
"No" Everyone starred at him as he said the interjection with a smile and he continued, "I wasn't a Guardian Character before, and I'm not one now." With that Italy widely opened his mouth for a long audible yawn, floated up and settled on top of Amu's head.
"What're you talking about? Look at yourself and get off of my head!" Amu barked at Feliciano then she grabbed him and held the character in her fist. He squirmed around in her clenched hand and complained that she was crushing him. Before she could give a reply to his whining, her cell phone began to vibrate. Amu flipped it open and read the text message aloud.
"Papa and I are going out to dinner tonight. Please stop by the store and get something for you and Ami tonight. Love Mama."
"Hey, you're getting food. Are you going to get pasta? Because I think you should definitely get pasta!" The Italian said beaming at Amu with a big goofy smile after slipping out of her grasp. She was about to reject the idea when she noticed her own Guardian Characters drooling at the thought. With a sigh she put on her 'cool and spicy' face and apathetically mumbled that pasta sounded alright. There was a loud happy unanimous cheer from the country and characters.
'This isn't going to be an average day for me, is it?' Amu thought, not looking forward to the rest of her day.
"Hey Tadase, come look." Kiseki demanded in a commanding tone as he starred at his discovery with his usual disinterested look. Tadase stepped out into the koi pond area of his home's garden where the kingly character hovered over an overgrown patch of grass.
"What is it Kiseki?" Tadase asked to which he received a silent glance toward the unkempt grass. The boy bent down and parted the long strands, revealing an egg. Immediately he picked it up, cradling it gently in his hands.
"Tadase, that thing isn't a Guardian Character. It's something more. Be careful." He warned his owner while looking intently as the new egg. Tadase blinked surprisingly at him, and then nodded with an understanding look. He then turned to the egg.
It wasn't like any egg he'd seen before. There were buildings and landmarks that he didn't recognize but from the horizontal black, red and yellow bared rectangle on top he could make an educated guess that they were German. Tadase did feel a pang of guilt as he inspected the pictures of the structures like the Brandenburg Gate and Cologne Cathedral without being able to name them.
"I'll go find something to hold it in." Tadase told Kiseki as he set the egg down and ran into the house. Kiseki sunk down and stood next to the egg.
"Just what exactly are you?" Kiseki asked the egg rhetorically.
'Ugh! Why does my head hurt? Huh. There is someone out there, but who is it? That doesn't matter right now; first I've got to get this thing off of me. Verdammt, this is heavy.'
Kiseki drew back the hand he had stretched out in order to touch the egg when it crunched from the crack that had been made. He stepped back politely knowing the new creature would need some space after first hatching. The split in the German themed egg soon traveled around and back to the beginning of the opening, and then the top and bottom shot apart from each other leaving a tall character with slick blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.
Those eyes went right to Kiseki and focused in on him, their gaze paralyzed him and the greeting he was planning on giving was forgotten. Germany realized this moment of weakness right away and took advantage of it. The nation grabbed the character around the neck with his arm from behind and held a handgun at his temple.
"You! Tell me where I am, what country is this?" Germany hollered at the now flustered Kiseki. After choking on a scream, leaving him speechless, the German yelled at him again and pressed the gun harder against his head. Kiseki made a gulp in his throat and took a few nervous breaths before speaking.
"J-Japan" He was able to squeak out. Grateful tears then started streaming from his eyes as Tadase came back with a small gift box filled with tissue paper, a spare from one of his many admirers. Germany jumped up into the air holding his hostage and came to the level of Tadase's shoulders, hiding his alarm of the boy's size.
"Verify his answer! Is this Japan, yes or no?" The German questioned with a threatening tone. Tadase nodded looking confused at the scene he'd come back too.
'If that's true and if we all ended up here, then it's a safe bet that Japan is at his home.'
"Another question!" Germany roared which made Kiseki whimper and shiver, but he stopped after the scary character took on a mellow tone when he asked, "Have you seen someone who always has a stupidly happy look on his face and short auburn hair with a single curl sticking out the side?"
"I'm sorry. I haven't seen anyone like that."Tadase answered and gave a disappointed face as he shook his head no. When Germany's gaze fell dejectedly to the side Tadase sputtered, "D-don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for this person!"
Germany bobbed his head affirmably and pushed Kiseki toward his owner saying, "Thank you for your cooperation. I'm going to find another friend of mine, but I'll be back to quarter your home." With that he flew off, leaving Tadase smiling as he was looking forward to his return.
'I can't believe he made me buy all the expensive foreign brands.' Amu sulked as she lugged the groceries, 'Now I have no money for myself. This sucks.' She glared up at Feliciano and the girls as they floated along with no care in the world.
"What? You're going to do the cooking, but you're so small. You must be really strong, if you can use all that big cooking equipment. " Italy said shocked, but Su's cheeks flushed and she gave an embarrassed humble smile.
"Thanks, but I can't lift any of that stuff. I cook by character changing with Amu-chan." Su admitted giving Amu a grateful smile. This left Italy's head tilted with a confused but also curious look on his face.
"It's when one of us temporarily takes control over Amu-chan, and then she becomes talented at whatever we're good at." Ran explained giggling at Amu who'd gotten a disturbing chill from remembering some of her more discomforting character changes.
'Why does character changing sound like something Russia would enjoy?' Italy pondered receiving an unsettling chill of his own at the thought.
"We're here! It's Amu-chan's house." Miki shouted, holding up her hands to present the building. The other characters flew past her, eager to get inside. Amu sighed; turning the knob with a hand full of bags and pushing it open with her shoulder. After kicking off her shoes, the footsteps of the racing Ami echoed throughout the house.
"Onee-chan!" She cheered running up for an embrace but skidded to a stop when she saw the new character with her sister today. Ami lunged at Italy shouting, "New chara~!"
After landing on the floor Ami sat up with an excited grin and her hands clasped together, but when she opened them her grin turned into a teary frown. Her fatal character snatch had failed, and she spun around to find Italy flying away screaming. Once he was safe atop the refrigerator, the Italian took out his trusty white flag and surrendered.
"Whoa! You're really good at running away." Ran said, impressed with his skills, when she was suddenly grabbed from behind by a recovered Ami.
"Ami, I have to make dinner. Can you go in your room and play for a bit?" Amu asked in a mature manner as she set the groceries on the counters. Ami saluted her and skipped merrily with a pleading Ran. After unloading the bags and putting away the contents, Amu shouted up at the still cowering character, "And would you quit crying Feliciano!"
Amu glimpsed at Su determinedly, and her character beamed proudly and prepared. She coughed a gentle 'Ahem' and exclaimed, "Character change. Chip! Syrup! Whip!" After the familiar ping Amu glided around the kitchen filling a pot with water and washing the vegetables. She then set down the cutting board and raised a knife to chop the onions.
"Stop" Came a yell from a very unhappy country. The startling cry forced off Su's character change, and Amu dropped the knife retracting her other hand in time before it was nearly sliced. Italy glared at the two intensely, a sight which was quite disconcerning coming from the usually laid back face, and he started to lecture saying, "Pasta isn't made like that. Useless flair doesn't make it good at all. It needs heart!" By the end of his speech, he was nearly on the brink of tears.
"I'll show you how pasta is really made. Character change!" But before Amu could point out that his effort would be useless, her eyes slowly shut to match Italy's and a single curled hair appeared. Su was left speechless at what took place next; Amu started cooking in an almost unexplainable fashion, almost. It felt like she'd been refining the technique for centuries, that she had devoted so much time and carried out each task with that same dedication. Having been lost in this bizarre experience; when Feliciano announced dinner was done, and everyone was already sitting at the table she was still in a daze. Her head started spinning from the backlash to the real world.
"Wow Su! This is your finest meal yet." Miki announced after her first bite, and everyone at the tabled agreed with nodding heads and 'Uh-huh's. But Su dismissed them all and pointed to Italy confessing, "Feliciano's the one who character changed with Amu-chan." There was a shock of disbelief at first, and Amu asked, "Are you sure you're not a Guardian Character?"
"I wasn't before, and I'm not now." He said slurping in a noodle that was hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Amu sighed. There wasn't any way to get through this guy's density.
His breaths were heavy and needed regulation in order to keep them from being sporadic. He looked around, his bright blue eyes only showing a tinge of the immense exhaustion that plagued him.
'If that stupid America hadn't taken my liverwurst, this wouldn't be a problem.' He thought sourly grimacing.
Germany's gaze soon found itself on a row of sakura trees whose pale petals seemed to glow a calming pink resulting from the light the home they stood next to emitted. He flew readily toward the house and starred into the window, enjoying a sample of the warmth that was inside. The hairs on the back of his neck stood after sensing another's presence. He suddenly rotated sharply and examined the cherry blossom trees closely, and the German was gladdened when he had managed to locate a quiet Japan sitting in one of the branches. He soared up to his fellow country and swore that there was for a moment a glimmer of happiness in his otherwise dull eyes.
"Kon'nichiwa Germany, I am relieved to see that you are alright." Japan said in his polite monotone still sitting in the tree as Germany approached. Once the German stood by his side on the branch; he got up and unwrapped the large object next to him, revealing a giant onigiri. The starving character eyed the rice ball hungrily, but hesitated until Japan gave a small nod before he started eating. Japan began to consume as well slowly eating one grain of rice at a time, while Germany shoveled the food into his mouth much like America.
He stopped for a moment and let out a pleased sigh, then said "Once we're done here we're going to the home of uh- well I don't know the boy's name, but there is a creature there that has the same form we're now in. I think he could be useful for information, plus I already said we'd be staying there."
This got an intrigued look from Japan as he silently agreed to Germany's premade reservation, and he set down some rice as he timidly asked, "Have you seen any of the others?"
Germany mumbled that he hadn't, and Japan dropped the subject. Both continued eating without another word. The two didn't finish the rice ball, how could they when it almost twice as tall as them? But once they'd both had their fill they propelled themselves off the branch and flew into the night.
After the nations abandoned their meal a long slender hand came and picked up the rice ball. It belonged to a teenage boy; he brought the partially eaten snack to his lips and pushed it into his mouth. On his shoulder in the shadows was a pair of impish yellow eyes, they sat there tracking the strange characters that'd left. Once the adolescent finished eating he leapt from the branch saying, "Let's go Yoru."
A/N: This chapter was long. I feel like I made this chapter too quickly, but it took the same amount of time as the first... Anyway! Thank you for the reviews, they were really nice. You know who you are, give yourselves a pat on the back 'cause you're awesome! And remember to keep up the reviews.
I'll be back to quarter your home: I don't know if this is necessary, but when Germany says this, quater is used in the meaning where a soldier goes into anyhome doing and taking whatever they want.
Peace~! -MagnifiedSun