I don't own Hetalia.
Half an hour later, Arthur reappeared. The other three had made themselves comfortable, playing with a pack of cards they had found.
"Sorry, but we'll have to stay the night," Gilbert told Arthur, throwing a couple of cards on the pile in front of him.
Arthur was about to object, but Elizabeta held up her hand. "Let me get one thing straight," she said firmly. "We are going to be travelling together for a while now, so let's get comfortable with each other. We should start with formal introductions." She stuck out her hand to Arthur. "I'm Elizabeta Héderváry, the first Bellator on the quest. Just call me Lizzie."
Ever the gentleman, Arthur took her hand. "Arthur Kirkland. I...guess I'm the Omnes."
Gilbert jumped up next. "Gilbert Beilschmidt, the first Fortis! I AM AWESOME!"
"Um, yes, I'm sure you are," Arthur stammered, the albino's energetic personality overwhelming him slightly.
Francis got up gracefully. "Francis Bonnefoy. I am the one and only Docte. Pleasure to meet you, Arthur."
"And you as well," mumbled Arthur. For some reason, he could feel himself instantly disliking the flamboyant boy. Maybe it was the messed up first impression. Or maybe it was the aura this boy gave off; he just screamed rich.
"Good. Now that we all know each other, we can leave tomorrow morning!" Lizzie said brightly.
"Fine. Follow me," Arthur instructed. The three rose and followed him up the stairs. Arthur stopped at the top.
"All the rooms except mine are free," he said dully, indicating to which one was his. "Choose whichever you want."
Lizzie looked into a room that seemed like a woman's. "I'll take this one," she decided.
Arthur gave a weak half-smile. "My, er, Mum's, so to speak. Sorry if it's messy, I haven't been there in a while."
Lizzie started comforting him (to his dismay) as Gilbert chose a spare room, immediately shutting the door to get some long-awaited sleep.
Francis wandered to the end of the hall and opened the very last door. Lizzie followed him and peeked in curiously. Inside, there were several posters lining the wall, most sporting the word 'I'm the Hero!' in colourful letters. There was dusty sports equipment everywhere, but many schoolbooks as well. Everything looked like it hadn't been touched in years.
Arthur saw Lizzie and Francis inspecting the room, and she noticed his expression become panicked.
"Don't go in there!" Arthur nearly screeched. He forced the door shut, breathing heavily. "That room is also off-limits!"
"Désolé!" Francis hastily apologized. "I did not know!"
"Me neither!" Lizzie added.
"Just go to bed," Arthur snapped, going to the room next to the forbidden one and disappearing inside it, slamming the door sharply.
"What's with him?" Francis sighed, frustrated.
"Just...be gentle," Lizzie advised. "This is all very new to him."
Suddenly, Gilbert stuck his head into the hall, his crimson eyes heavy with fatigue. "Shut up and go to bed," he groaned. "Some of us want to rest after wandering through a forest for weeks."
Lizzie gave him a glare, but let it go. She would permit him to live...this time.
"Jó éjszakát," she bid.
"Bonne nuit," Francis nodded.
"Guten nacht," Gilbert muttered.
"Good night," came Arthur's muffled voice, trying to sound irritable but only succeeding in sounding a bit unhappy.
Lizzie smiled sadly as she closed her door. She hoped Arthur would be able to adjust soon.
The next morning, they met up at the kitchen table. Francis had come down first, and was puttering around the kitchen looking for food. He looked around as Lizzie and Eros entered the room.
"Bonjour," he greeted.
She waved in response, not able to reply with words because she was yawning hugely.
"I am looking for something to make breakfast with, but it seems notre ami is lacking in that department," he chuckled.
Gilbert stumbled in next, yawning widely, Kralle on his shoulder. "Got some coffee or something?" he asked, slumping at the table next to Lizzie, who was reading one of Arthur's many books.
"Not in this house," Francis told him. "There is tea, though."
"What are you doing, bloody idiot?" Arthur asked grumpily, stalking into the kitchen. "I may have invited you to stay the night, but I didn't give you permission to make yourselves at home."
"Arthur!" Francis scolded, ignoring his previous statement. "Why is there next to no food here?"
"I haven't got much left since the last time I got some, so I was rationing it," Arthur replied stiffly.
"Why not just go out and buy some at the market?" Francis asked. He looked up and met Arthur's emerald-green eyes. In those eyes, he saw past the annoyance and glimpsed a flash of fear. The boy is truly afraid of going outside, Francis realized. What happened to make him like this?
"Never mind," Francis backtracked. "I will use what you have left to make us breakfast, and we will be on our way after."
"Oi!" Gilbert yelled. "Where's my caffeine?"
The tea kettle started whistling. "I'll get it," Arthur offered reluctantly, taking it off the fire. He poured four cups of tea and sat them down in front of the others.
Francis rummaged through the pantry. Food was sparse, but he scraped together enough to make a decent meal. Soon, nice smells were floating through the kitchen, causing all of the animals (and Gilbert) to sniff the air hopefully.
Francis set down the plates (including some for the animals), smiling contentedly. "Bon appétit!"
Gilbert and Kralle dug in enthusiastically. Lizzie attacked her food with no mercy while Eros scarfed down every last morsel. Francis and Beau were eating delicately. The Docte observed Arthur as he ate. The poor boy was staring at his meal as though he had never tasted anything so delicious in his life.
"Do you like it?" Francis asked Arthur, watching him closely.
"It's good...for a frog," Arthur replied offhandedly. Spirit twitched his tail, amused, but said nothing.
"Okay!" Lizzie interrupted. "Time to plan," she said, spreading out a map of Terra Deaeque. "We are here." She pointed to the very centre of the map, Domum.
"That's the Omnes town," Eros announced matter-of-factly.
"So, we have to visit all the temples, right?" Gilbert asked, his voice muffled because of the food he had packed in it. "Where do we start?"
"Well, I thought we could go through this forest to Procul first," Lizzie explained, tracing her finger down the rightmost bunch of trees. "Then we would stop by the Fortis city and pick up your brother, Gilbert. After that, we could head to the Fortis temple."
Arthur nodded, studying the map. "The we could go north to Vitta, to the Bellator temple. I hope we find the second Bellator by then."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Lizzie promised.
"Then, we should go back to Procul and to the Docte city," Francis mused. "That's where the Docte temple is."
"And afterwards, we'll come back here to the Omnes temple!" Gilbert finished. "Where is it, anyway?" he asked Arthur.
Arthur shrugged. "How should I know? Find it on the map."
Lizzie located it. "It's near a place called 'Tragoedia'. But for some reason, the name seems to be penned over something else I can't quite make out."
Arthur stiffened. "There?" he asked, stricken.
"Yeah, there. Why? What's wrong with that place?" Gilbert tilted his head questioningly.
"None of your business," Arthur muttered sullenly.
Francis regarded the Omnes. He was hiding something, no doubt about it.
"Anyways," Arthur broke in hurriedly. "I guess we have our route planned, so let's...um, go."
Francis collected all the dishes as everyone else exited the house into the sunshine. Arthur was still inside, peeking out the door apprehensively when Francis got ready to leave.
"Aren't you coming?" Francis asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes!" Arthur snapped. "Just one second."
He disappeared into the house one last time, leaving the other three to awkwardly wait for him.
Finally, he came out again, wrapped in a black cloak, shoving a thick magic book into his pack.
Francis sighed. "Is the cloak really necessary?"
Arthur gave Francis another glare from beneath his impressive eyebrows, but didn't answer.
Just then, a boy a bit older than them with the obvious air of an aristocrat strolled by the house. He glanced briefly at the odd group, then did a double-take.
"Arthur Kirkland?" he asked, disbelief evident in his voice. "You still live here? I thought everyone left after that terrible tragedy."
"Roderich," Arthur hissed through clenched teeth. "You know very well that...that his mom died and I decided to stay."
"Oh, is that so?" Roderich exclaimed, feigning surprise. "I never see you out, Arthur! How was I to know you still lived in this dump?"
Arthur opened his mouth furiously to retort, but, deciding enough was enough, Francis stepped forward.
"Excuse me, monsieur..."
"Edelstein, Roderich Edelstein," the man supplied.
"Monsieur Edelstein. With all due respect, you have no right to antagonize this boy. He has lived through a terrible tragedy. You should be supporting him, not pestering him with your silly insults."
Roderich paused, his odd cowlick bouncing slightly. "I see," he said flatly. "Well, then, Arthur, I also see that you are leaving. For good, I hope? Your reclusive air was ruining this high-class neighbourhood. Many people here will be glad to see the back of you."
Arthur made to dash and fix his hands around the older boy's throat, but Gilbert restrained him.
"Come and say that to my face, you jerk!" Arthur screamed, thrashing violently against the Fortis' grip.
Roderich simply waved sarcastically and continued walking down the path.
Gilbert kept Arthur pinned until Roderich had long disappeared. He released him, and the Omnes flopped to the ground, panting. "Why did you stop me?" he spat when he had caught his breath. "That stupid, arrogant, conceited idiot!"
Francis knelt down. "Arthur, we know you are a bit...socially challenged, but you cannot go and beat up everyone who annoys you. There are imbéciles in this world, but you must not retaliate violently. Do you understand?"
If looks could kill, I would be dead, Francis noted as Arthur glowered at him.
"Arthur, Francis is right," Gilbert said firmly. "That boy pissed me off, too, but violence isn't always the answer."
"That boy was the bane of my existence when I was five," Arthur growled. "Always reminding me that normal kids had parents, so I was most definitely not normal." He laughed bitterly. "He took every opportunity to point out that I didn't have an animal companion, either. To him, I was always just the outcast."
"Forget that now," Lizzie soothed. "We're going on the journey now. We won't see him again."
Arthur gave a halfhearted snort. "How old are you, anyways? You all talk to me as if I'm a little kid."
"Sixteen," Lizzie responded.
"Me, as well," Francis agreed.
"Me too!" Gilbert chimed in.
Arthur blinked. "Oh. I'm fifteen. But, please stop treating me like a kid, because I'm not a delicate flower made out of glass. I can hold my own!"
"I believe you!" Gilbert laughed. "Even the awesome me had trouble holding you back!"
"Yes, well, can we go now?" Francis asked. "We're wasting daylight."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Arthur shot back. "Some strangers came to me one evening and forced me to leave my splendid isolation, but no, let's talk about your lost daylight-"
"Well at least I-"
Francis and Arthur continued to argue as they walked down towards the market.
"West would be able to stop them," Gilbert sighed.
"Who?" Lizzie asked, trying to block out the sound of bickering.
"My brother. He always knows how to stop a fight."
"I hope we get there soon," Lizzie groaned. She was not eager to have to listen to Arthur and Francis fight the whole way to Procul.
Well, here we go. Things are starting to move along now. Drop a review to tell me what you think?
Arrivaderci!
