The first thing I took note of were the voices around me.
Most of them were muffled, and the scattered conversations going on around me were impossible to sort out. However, I could clearly hear some words
being exchanged nearby, though.
"So Arthur, you just found this girl lying here, correct?" A person- clearly a man- said, his words laced with a French accent.
"OBVIOUSLY. Open your bloody eyes, the girl is lying right there!" Another /more irritated/ man confirmed. British, definitely British.
"Ohohonhonhon~ Everyone move aside, and let Papa Francis take this beautiful lady home~"
I heard the sound of shuffling footsteps come towards me.
At that point, I fluttered open my groggy eyes.
"Ve, the girl is awake~!" A rather high-pitched voice pointed out. As my blurry vision began to refocus, I could make out the figure of a man pushing by the others to
the front of the crowd. Eight people, all men, made up the group that stood around me in total. "So. You're awake." The man that had fought his way to the front said
bluntly, with the same British-sounding accent I heard earlier. He offered me a hand, and I tentatively took it, pushing myself to a standing position. I saw a glimpse of
a long, towering building behind the group of people assembled. "Now, first thing's first." I returned my attention to the British man. "Care to introduce yourself?"
He asked me. I arched an eyebrow, before answering. "Nichole. Nichole Barker." I brushed some ginger hair out of my face. "Your turn." I said in return. Mister
British guy cleared his throat. "My name is Arthur Kirkland. These men accompanying me go by..." He went on. I made sure to keep track of the seven others.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt, Feliciano Vargas, Ivan Braginsky, Yao Wang, Alfred F. Jones, Kiku Honda, and.." "Arthur" paused. "... Francis Bonnefoy." I noticed that he
said the last word with bitter disdain. "Well then." I glanced around at the others Arthur had named, taking them in. I began to notice that they each had some
strange detail in their appearance. Feliciano, who was currently going on about pasta, had a gravity-defying curl sticking out of his hair, on the right side of his head.
Alfred had a stray strand of blond hair that stuck up at the top of his head. Ivan had unsettling violet eyes and an intimidating aura to him. Arthur himself had
unusually bushy eyebrows. I was soon coaxed out of my observing when Yao said something. "Not to be suspicious or anything but... How did she get here, aru?"
He/she said. Yeah, I couldn't really tell which gender they were that moment, with the pony tail and all. They were facing Arthur, who in turned turned to me
questioningly. "It isn't common for someone to just end up here, you know." He said, in a matter-of-fact tone. I shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea how I got
here. I swear." And then Alfred, who had been devouring what looked like a McDonald's hamburger the whole time, butted in. "DON'T WORRY! I, being the heroic
AMERICA, also known as the USA, will figure out this predicament!"
Woah. Now I was confused. Arthur sharply turned to look at him. "YOU BLOODY GIT! You weren't supposed to tell her that!"
"... You called yourself America, right?" I asked Alfred meekly. Arthur glared at him warningly, his eyes like daggers, but Alfred nodded anyways. "Yeah. Dude, ALL
OF US are countries, you know." Arthur then resumed to yell at him. "DAMMIT. She's a bloody human! We're not supposed to tell them our country identities!"
Francis stepped forward. "Oh, calm down Angleterre~ America already couldn't keep his filthy mouth shut, so it's fine." He pointed out calmly.
"HEY!" Alfred yelled. "I'm not filthy!"
... Angleterre? According to the French course I had taken back at my school, Angleterre was French for England. I glanced from Alfred, or America, now that he had
said it, Arthur, or I presumed England, and Francis. "So, you- all of you- are... Countries?" The whole group nodded in sync. "Like, anthropomorphic versions of
the countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas?" Most of the people looked at each other in confusion, but Arthu- England, nodded nonetheless.
"Big vocabulary. But yes, we are." My mind swam with so many questions as I tried to wrap my head around the whole thing, but I kept my mouth shut.
"So then," England said. "Seeing as you only just got here with no possessions or a place to stay, we need to arrange something for you. Who do you
want to stay with the most out of this lot?" He asked. I surveyed the group, before finally settling on Feliciano. Hopefully he didn't live in a shack or some crazy
laboratory or something. "Screw it all, I'm going with Feliciano." I finally said. The guy seemed to pretty happy about it. As everyone dispersed, and I tagged
along with Feliciano, England stopped me. "Well then, I guess.. Welcome to the world of Hetalia." He said, before walking away with America and Francis. I made
a mental note to ask who everyone represented country-wise later.
And that, my friend, is when I first entered the roller-coaster of a life with the Hetalians.