After being attacked by Holy Roman Empire, Ludwig separates everyone into groups to search for any signs of Italy. His group consists of Kiku Honda, Matthew Williams, and Seyel Chelles, and they're going to go search in his native land of Germany. They were planning to take a plane, but…

/=+=/

When the rushing wind finally stopped, everyone looked around to their surroundings. The buildings looked extremely different from the conference building, but what caught their attention was that there were a bunch of pillars to their left, like there was a wall there. Looking up, they saw one second of a wall, painted with graffiti.

"This is the Berlin Wall…" Ludwig turned to Japan. "We're in Germany!"

"You…teleported all of us here?"

Kiku stumbled, quickly being caught by Seyel. He was holding tightly to her arms and her loose dress, and it suddenly became clear why he had bags under his eyes and why he didn't get any sleep that night.

"You spent all of last night trying to come here?" Ludwig took his shoulder.

"I…I knew we shouldn't waste any time in coming here…with Holy Rome knowing that we were coming after him…" Kiku slowly stood up. "So I looked in as many books as I could…and tried to coming here on my own…then I wondered if I could bring others with me over that long distance, like what I did to you…"

"I-is it even possible for someone to teleport that far with other people?" Canada panicked.

"Not if they were human…"

Everyone waited for Kiku to stand up on his own and decided to ask around town. Seyel panicked at that time, saying that she had no idea how to speak German, but what she didn't know was that nations can translate any language in the world when it was a human speaking them. After discovering that skill, she along with the others concluded that Feliciano was definitely not in the city.

"We got a whole country to scan." Seyel stated. "Germany, can you track him down? I mean, this is your land…"

"I wish it was that easy…" He answered. "But I can't keep tabs of every single person in my land."

"Even if we could, I would think that Holy Roman Empire would know that…I mean, he is you-"

"Look at how much you've grown."

Germany suddenly turned his head around. The voice was echoing in the air this time, but it didn't sound anything like Holy Rome. But whatever the voice was…it was familiar…like it was a memory that was still sealed away. By the looks on everyone else's faces, they didn't hear the strange voice.

"What's wrong?" Kiku asked.

"…I…"

And he ran.

/=+=/

Of course, none of them had Lovino's super speed, but they did have some awesome endurance. They didn't realize that until they realized that ran a good two, three miles into total wilderness. Once there, they started running even more, before they found themselves in a large, grassy meadow surrounded by trees.

"An empty meadow…" Kiku looked around. "How…plot-building."

"Must you compare everything to a manga storyline?" Seyel turned to him.

"I can't help it…manga incorporates everything."

As Seyel and Kiku went deeper into their little 'argument', Matthew walked forward toward the German, who was looking blankly at the meadow around him. The Canadian lifted up a hand to cup his ear, and was surprised that not even birds were chirping around this area.

"Ludwig…why are we here?" He asked.

"…I thought I remembered something…" He answered. "Something important…"

It was then that Seyel collapsed to her knees. Matthew turned his head and ran to her, holding onto her side to keep her from collapsing onto the ground. Suddenly, she opened her eyes (that were glowing a bright blue) and the air around them quickly tensed. A huge blue wave swarmed through the entire meadow, and then they were suddenly surrounded by armies of soldiers slashing each other to pieces.

"What in the world…?" Germany grabbed his whip. "Is this an ambush?"

"Waah!" Seyel grabbed onto Matthew's sleeve. "What's going on?"

Matthew grabbed his hood, ready to flip it over his head, before he realized that the soldiers were going right through them. Once the logic sank into their minds, they realized that they were all in a sepia color as well. Everyone loosened their grips onto their weapons as Seyel stood up. Her eyes were still glowing.

"They're using swords…" She blinked. "I-is this the past?"

Ludwig looked around, memories slowly sinking into his mind. He quickly darted his head around and started running through the soldiers, forcing the others to follow. Once he stopped, he finally found what he was looking for: the image of a small Holy Roman Empire fighting in the battle.

"W-what is this…?" Matthew looked around.

"This is…this is where I…"

He didn't have to say anything else. A blade suddenly came out of nowhere and skewered the young body. When it dropped, they suddenly realized that the person who stabbed him was none other than Francis. Matthew and Ludwig cringed at the sight as Francis looked at Holy Roman Empire's body before running deeper into the fight.

"…papa…" Matthew panicked. "He-"

"Matthew…this is old history." Ludwig stated. "This doesn't bother me anymore."

As the fighting continued, the four of them were stuck watching Holy Roman Empire slowly die in front of them. The more he gagged up blood, the more Seyel clung onto Matthew's sleeve, and the more Ludwig remembered about his final moments as the Holy Roman Empire. Suddenly, he heard his final words…

"Italy…"

As his eyes closed, Germany couldn't help but close his eyes with him. Seyel was now crying on Matthew's jacket, and Kiku couldn't help but hold onto Ludwig's shoulder…an indication that he survived the attack. He looked up at the confused Japanese man.

"This is the last thing I remember." He stated.

"Then how did you survive this?" Kiku asked. "Was it Gilbert's doing?"

"No…he's the one who found me…"

Everyone stared at each other for a few seconds before they suddenly felt themselves covered with a warm aura. They looked up and saw someone that looked like Germany, only with longer hair and looked more like a hippie. He hovered over Holy Roman Empire's body.

"You've tried so hard…just to place yourself in the world…"

"Gah!" Matthew jumped back. "W-who is that?"

"Germania…my father…"

Everyone stared at Germany before turning back to the man in front of him. Germania leaned over his body, the men running around him as if they were the same illusions that they were. He stroked his hair, and as a reaction Germany touched his own as if he felt it.

"What about your Italy? Are you just going to leave him behind…?"

"…no…" Germany found himself answering. "I'm never going to do that."

"If I were to give you a second chance, Holy Rome…what would you do with it?"

"…I'd go back to Italy…tell him how sorry I am for leaving him behind." Ludwig answered. "And I'd save him from the old me…"

"And?"

"A-and…?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Wait…he can hear us?"

Matthew and Seyel looked at each other in confusion as Kiku backed away from the confused German. He closed his mind and strained his brain for some answers. After a few long minutes, he lifted his head toward his father.

"I would tell him…that I love him too."

"You've grown into a great country, my son…you are ready."

"Ready? For what?"

Germania smiled at his son as he turned toward the body in front of him and touched his forehead. Instantly, he felt a huge surge of energy go through his body. At first he thought it was just a strange tingling, but then he realized that he was actually levitating in the air, along with the body of Holy Roman Empire. Germania levitated between them, holding onto their hands. Their bodies instantly began to glow and change shape. Ludwig looked down and realized that his clothes were changing into that of Holy Roman Empire. As for the other one, he watched as he slowly started to age, becoming that of a young man. Just as sudden as it started, it stopped. He floated onto the ground as Holy Roman Empire's body landed in front of him.

"W-what just happened?" Kiku asked.

At that moment, Seyel's eyes stopped glowing and the armies vanished around them. However, Germany still had the black Holy Roman Outfit. He stood there, like a statue, thinking about something. He only snapped out of it when Kiku tapped him.

"Ludwig…"

"He turned me human…just before I died…" He realized.

"Human?" Matthew's eyes widened. "How can someone do that? I didn't even think it was an option!"

"He shared German blood…of course he would have an ability." Ludwig looked up. "Have any of you wondered…just how we came to represent our countries?"

Is he lecturing us at a time like this? Seyel looked confused. "I…I thought we just did."

"We were chosen…because we were martyrs of our countries." That made everyone gasp. "We all died in wars that would end up creating the nations that live today…that's what father said."

"Germania turned you human so that you would be chosen to represent the country of Germany…" Matthew realized.

Ludwig turned toward them and lifted his hand, glowing a strange energy. Instantly, everyone panicked. It reminded them of Gilbert's energy rays, and they began to wonder if he was seriously thinking about shooting it at them. Suddenly, he closed his fist, making the Holy Roman outfit and the energy disappear, leaving his original uniform.

"That's the power of Holy Roman Empire…and my father." He answered.

"Oh…I…see…" Seyel blinked. "B-but we should go look for Italy!"

"…" Germany turned his head as if he was listening to something. "There."

"What?"

"He's in Northern Italy…" He turned back to them. "We should go."

"Of course…" Kiku smiled. "Leave it to me."

/=+=/

There are rumors of a painter that stands alone in St. Peter's Basilica. From the depths of night to the very early hours of the morning, he would paint magnificent works of art, ranging from beautiful dragons to shining landscapes. People have seen this strange painter before, and those state that it was a young man, dressed in white robes and bearing a golden cross around his neck.

Despite the rumors of his beautiful paintings, no one had actually seen his work of art in the market. Whenever he wanders back inside the Basilica, he would only have empty canvases with him and a paintbrush. Some wondered why he wouldn't even bring paint with him. Many believed that it was the ghost of an old painter, unable to move on…only able to paint.

However, there was only one claim that was different from the rest. He claims that when he passed by the Basilica, the painter wasn't alone. He had a man in a black robe wander around him, whispering something into his ear every five minutes. He couldn't catch what he was saying, but it sounded as if he was the reason why he paints.

To this day, no one knows who he is…

/=+=/

Wow…no foreign language translations…that's so weird. Oh yeah! Powers! Of course!

[SEYCHELLES]- Can see into the past (if in the same location as the event, she can let others observe them)

Read and review. Mitsuki out.