Hai everyone! First off, I did not expect this to get favorited and put on alert with just the first chapter! You guys rock! Even if I did only get three reviews *coughcough* Oh well, that's how all stories start off I suppose. I should give you a fair warning that intros are not my strong point so I apologize if this chapter is as weak as it is short. Sorry about that also, I didn't want to cram a bunch of filler stuff in here just to make it longer. So here you go!
Chapter 2
Elizabeta was walking through town, allowing herself to kick at the snow on the ground playfully as she hummed a tune to herself that had been a part of her past, though she couldn't remember how. All she knew was that it made her happy so she continued to hum.
"Lizzie! Wait up!"
The woman's peaceful humming came to a stop as she clenched her teeth at the sound of Gilbert's voice, picking up her pace and not bothering to look at the flurries of snow that danced at her feet.
An arm fell around her shoulders, instantly causing her to try and shake it off.
"Aw, not happy to see me?" Gilbert snickered.
"When am I ever?" Elizabeta groaned.
As usual, the man didn't mind the insult. He simply tightened his hold on her, refusing to let her shake him off.
"So I hear our new neighbors have moved in," he said louder than necessary, "Bet they're freaks!"
"Knock it off, Gilbert," she hissed, "You're suffocating me with your immaturity. They're just normal people, I'm sure."
"Moving into that house? Come on, be real, Lizzie! If they're so normal you oughtta go up and knock on their door and be real neighborly! When you see them I bet you'll be whistling another tune."
She finally managed to get him off, shoving him forcefully to the side with all her strength even though he only sidestepped a bit.
"Unlike you, I would be polite," she snapped, "And would introduce myself."
"Oh yeah?" Gilbert challenged, "Prove it!"
Elizabeta was caught off guard, looking over at the albino quizzically.
"Go over and introduce yourself," he taunted, "Or are you too afraid?"
For a moment, Elizabeta stared at him with her big green eyes, until she began to bite her bottom lip angrily.
Though she'd never admit it, she and Gilbert had been close as children. She was a tomboy and he was the biggest troublemaker in the village, so of course she'd always want and get mixed in anything he stirred up. They'd romped around in mud and tortured the neighbor's cat on a regular basis, earning them a not so good reputation from most of the adults.
But they'd grown up, or at least Elizabeta had, and she became tired of his childish ways. She'd grown up thinking they were going to get married, but once they'd reached adolescence he'd made it clear that he saw her as a buddy and nothing more so she'd given up on those feelings and distanced herself from him.
Still, she never backed down when he challenged her as a child and now that complex was coming back to haunt her even as a young woman.
"I'm not afraid," she replied, "But I'm courteous enough to not bother them. They haven't introduced themselves and probably won't until they're comfortable."
"Don't be such a girl!" Gilbert teased, "What happened to the Lizzie I used to know?"
At that, he received a smack to the back of the head, causing him to mutter a swear in German before looking up and realizing she was walking toward the path that led to the creepy old mansion.
"You coming or what?" she called over her shoulder.
Gilbert grinned and clicked his heels before running over to join her.
"That's my Lizzie!" he cheered.
"Not yours, and it's Elizabeta. Now shut up so I can put this nonsense to rest."
Gilbert watched from a distance as Elizabeta walked up to the front door, lifting up her skirts so she wouldn't trip on the steps.
She looked back and saw Gilbert hiding behind a nearby tree, peaking out every few seconds to make sure she didn't back out.
"He's such a child," she mumbled under her breath.
But if she wanted to get rid of him, she'd have to fulfill his childish wish. So she lifted her arm and gave three quick knocks, rolling her eyes as she heard Gilbert caught his breath.
How disappointed he'd be when he found out it was only a little boy and his stuffy old master. But at least he'd realize he was an idiot and stop pestering her about possible freaks living in the mansion.
When no one opened the door, Elizabeta sighed and walked back down the steps over to Gilbert, who was waving his arms frantically.
"I told you!" he hissed, "They're probably doing some weird ritual inside!"
Elizabeta scoffed and kicked some snow at him.
"You are such a kid," she groaned, "I knocked, so that's enough. I'm going home."
"Wait!"
He reached out and grabbed her wrist, jerking her back to him. She made an annoyed sound of protest but followed his finger as he pointed at something on the house.
There was a window on the first floor cracked open slightly, just enough to let some air in and to keep any snow out.
"It's a window," Elizabeta huffed, "So?"
"An open window!" Gilbert breathed, "We can get in there and see if they really are weirdos!"
"Why the hell would I do that?"
"Come on, Lizzie! Have some guts! If you do it I'll stop bugging ya!"
A rather tempting offer when Elizabeta thought about it. Unfortunately, she decided to agree to this idea just to get Gilbert off her back. There really wasn't any other way of getting him to shut up at this point.
The two of them snuck over to the side of the house, Gilbert quickly peering inside.
"Whoa, these people are loaded!" he breathed, "Big fireplace and piano and everything!"
"They don't seem like freaks, do they?" Elizabeta snapped.
"Naw, they just do this to cover it up. Alright, you go in the window because you're smaller. Then you can open the door and let me in."
"I never agreed to that!"
But Gilbert had already pushed her towards the window, lifting it up a tad so she could fit in.
She let out a reluctant sigh and squirmed under the window, managing to get her arms and waist through.
"I'll go by the door," Gilbert whispered.
He quickly let go of the window and darted to the front door, disappearing in a flurry of white.
Unfortunately, the window had fallen and pinned poor Elizabeta in place, hanging limply halfway between freedom and terror.
"Gilbert!" she hissed as she struggled to push herself through the window, "You bastard!"
She kicked her feet hard, trying to slide through, but to no avail. The window wouldn't let her budge.
"I'm gonna kill him," she growled through clenched teeth.
There was the sudden sound of someone clearing their throat and Elizabeta looked up to only have her face go pale.
A man was standing a few feet in front of her, his head tilted to the side. He dressed in a way that matched the elegance of the room – a blue coat, tan trousers and brown rubber boots. His violet eyes were rather amused through the spectacles residing on his nose, the small smile pulling on his lips pointing out his beauty mark. Despite how nicely his brown hair was combed, a horribly unruly piece curled directly up, something she'd never seen before.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
As if it would help her, Elizabeta clenched her eyes shut and tried pushing herself out of the window again, this time to get out of the house. If she couldn't see him then maybe he couldn't see her.
In reality, the man watched her perplexed wondering what on earth she was doing.
"Is it custom for people to enter through windows here?" he asked at a stab at humor, "Or is that specifically for you?"
Elizabeta gasped and felt a horrible blush spreading across her face, her eyes watering in embarrassment. There was no way this could be happening. She'd never be caught in such a ridiculous situation!
"Gilbert," she muttered helplessly, finally giving up her attempts to escape.
The man reached over and lifted the window up with one arm, offering the other to the woman trapped.
She looked up at the hand, only to blush more. How pathetic to be helped by the owner of the house you were attempting to sneak into. Regardless, she accepted his hand and allowed him to help her through, stumbling a tad and falling into his arms, the window falling with a thud.
"Nice to meet you, too," he laughed as he helped her balance.
Finally, she managed to find her voice.
"I am… I am so sorry! I didn't mean to! There's this guy who won't leave me alone and he dared me and I just –"
"A grown woman choosing her actions by a dare?" the man asked rather surprised, "That's rather foolish."
That only made her blush more. Great, now he thought she was some immature brat like Gilbert.
"Though I suppose there are already rumors flying about me and this place," he said with a wave of his hand, "Curiosity can't be helped. I'm Roderich Edelstein. Pleased to meet you."
He offered her a gloved hand, which she took shakily. How the hell was he so calm about this?
"Elizabeta Héderváry," she answered weakly, "Like I said, I'm so sorry for intruding, it's just that –"
"Miss Eli-sienta-bella!" a small voice chirped.
Both adults looked over to see the small boy Feliciano running inside, an enormous smile plastered on his face. He came up and hugged Elizabeta's leg, much to her surprise.
"You came back!" he squeaked, "But there was no knock at the door?"
"She found other means of entering," Roderich replied, making Elizabeta blush again.
The boy turned to Roderich, looking at him curiously.
"You know Miss Ella-sierra-better?" he asked, "She's the pretty lady from the other day!"
"Oh?" Roderich looked over at the woman with a subtle raise of his eyebrows. "Well I suppose she's returned to see you."
"I really didn't mean to bother you," Elizabeta said quickly, "I can go right now if you want. I'm so sorry, I feel terrible."
"That's alright, Miss!" Feliciano squealed, giving up on her name, "Mr. Austria won't mind! He just sits around and works all day."
The man gave an irritated glare to the boy, quickly shutting him up.
"If you do feel so bad about it," the man sighed, "You could do something to make it up."
Elizabeta's hopes lifted. She'd never enjoyed making a fool of herself and if there was ever anything she could do to fix it, she would.
"Certainly," she answered, "What did you have in mind?"
"Nothing difficult," he said nonchalantly, "It's just that this house is quite big and Feliciano can't do everything. So you can be my housekeeper."
Awkward turtle time~ So yay, Roderich and Elizabeta have met! I didn't want to put that off because I want to dive into this story right away and hopefully entertain you guys and not bore you to death with filler after filler.
Also, I have a poll on my profile to vote for your favorite nation. Actually, your top five, but you get the idea. I'm thinking whoever gets the most votes will have a special role in the story, so if you want your favorite to be in it, I suggest you vote!
That's it for now! Thanks for all the favorites and alerts, it makes me want to keep going! Just please review because that's how I get my feedback on how to improve or to know what I'm doing right. So, until next time!
