MW: This is not late October. I messed up. And by messed up, I mean I got sucked into school. For instance, I am currently editing this chapter one last time before I head off to volunteer at a festival. I was going to edit this yesterday, but I was preforming in a play. Anyways, if school doesn't screw me over again, I'll try to update again before the end of November.
In the meantime, let's appreciate some reviewers like HoneyBeeGirl94, WhiteBranchesPurpleLeaf, lafayette722, Lyasa, MastermindKakashi, Hammsters, TheSilentReader, Guest, Some Fan, DlandofDreams, and Isuckatreviewing.
SilentReader: Tell me when you get your account. It's been, like, years man.
Some Fan: Alas, I have no idea where dear dismallyOriented went. They disappeared at the end of FB. I wish they'll return, though. They were really supportive and wrote some of the most emotion filled reviews I have ever read.
Hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Summary: Sherry learns why she's back in Gauken Hetalia and figures out where to go from there.
Warnings: Strong language, mentions of sex.
~Chapter 9~
The Calm Before the Storm
"Why bother remembering a past that cannot be made into a present?"
-Soren Kierkegaard, Danish existentialist philosopher
The Fandom: December 31st
Denmark leaned against the side of the building, his attention on the passing festivities. Children walked with their mothers, boyfriends held hands with their lover, general merriment hung in the air like an intoxicating perfume. He kept his hands buried in the pockets of his coat and his scarf wrapped like a gag around his mouth in a vain hope that he won't breathe in the contagious air. Despite the brilliant sunlight of the day, he always felt cold. Austria mentioned that it had something to do with always being in the Room. Denmark smiled to himself. Maybe he was cold because he was cool, like snow. He chuckled. That pun was as funny as it was on the day he first thought of it.
A foot scraped the icy pavement. He turned his head, meeting the Netherlands's green eyes. "Hey, bro," he greeted. He pulled his scarf away from his mouth to reveal a bright smile. He stepped away from the wall as he moved his hand in a slick wave. "Glad you finally found me. I was wondering when you were going to show up or not."
The Netherlands stared- no, glared at him as he pulled his striped scarf over his nose.
Denmark pouted. "What? You're not going to answer?" he asked. "Lars, this is supposed to be a dramatic moment between you and me. The big reveal. Can you at least pretend to show interest and freak out and stuff?"
This time, the thin brows on the Netherlands's forehead jumped to his hairline. He remained still for a haunting moment. Denmark waited for the response. He hooked his finger on the edge of his blue scarf and pulled it past his strong chin. "What reveal?" he demanded.
While a smile was the expression plastered on his face, Denmark felt a waterfall of fear cascade down his body. This was the tricky part, the one he had to reassure Austria that he would get done right. Denmark took a step towards his lifelong friend, bracing himself for the worst. "I know that it's a little late to tell you this," he started, "but..." He closed his mouth. He didn't want to tell the Netherlands this, especially since it had been so long. He wished he had the courage to confess sooner, but he always backed out before he could tell the truth. This time, he was determined to do it.
Denmark took a deep breath. He could do it. He had to do it if things were to turn out right. "I should have told you this earlier- centuries earlier- but I chickened out every time," he said. "I know you probably won't believe me, but I'm going to say it anyways. My contract... well, you know how I sold my soul? The terms ran out centuries ago."
"What?" The Netherlands ran a hand through his hair as his eyes widened at the thought. "It ran out?"
The Dane inhaled. "Yeah. I got possession of it again. I've kinda been working with them since because I want to. Funny how that works, right?"
The Netherlands looked down at the melting snow, back up at Denmark, then the ground again. Denmark could see the clockwork of his brain turn to process what he was hearing. The hand in the hair slipped onto his forehead as he stepped back. "Why?" His voice was nothing more than a breath. "Why would you want to-"
"I'll explain in a second, I just need to ask you something super important."
His friend Lars stared at him with unbelieving eyes, as though he wasn't sure if the man before him was real or a hallucination. "What?"
"Can I kill you?"
The Fangirl: Cycle 1
"Leave it to me to get stuck in a shitty situation like this," I said aloud, falling back onto Seychelles's bed. The mattress squished around her lean frame as one of the decorative pillows fell onto my face.
Sadiq- the one who has no idea who the hell I am- whistled. "Hey, girlie. Mind filling me in on what the flying fuck you're talking about?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.
I pushed the pillow away. On one hand, I could tell him exactly who I was and how I ended up here, but that might lead to some sort of time paradox. But I couldn't really retrace my fifteen year old steps now, especially when he was already suspicious of me. Would this Sadiq even believe some crazy time travel story? Would he even care? If my bad memory was correct, he would be more concerned with making sure that I get that Goddamned kiss. Why did he always have to make these things so difficult for me? "Ignore me," I said. "Just talking aloud to myself."
"Suspiciously," he added.
"You think everyone is suspicious."
"And how do you know that, Miss-"
"It's Sherry." I sat up and glared at the pictures of the idyllic beaches on the walls. "Are you sure you have no idea who I am?" I asked.
I knew immediately that it was the wrong thing to say. His eyes narrowed as the heel of his hand stuck itself to the bottom of his chin. "I'm positive we've never met before," he said, pronouncing each syllable. He leaned into his arm, balancing the elbow on his knee. "Should I know who you are?"
Yes, said my brain.
"No," said my mouth. I bit my lip. If my Sadiq really wasn't here, then I could safely presume that neither was Ari, France, Larry, or anyone else I trusted. I was alone in Gauken Hetalia. I felt the teeth of anxiety nip the back of my neck. I placed a hand there, calming myself. I had to keep a clear head if I ever hoped to get out of here. I did it once, so I could do it again. But that "once" was never because of me. I never got that stupid kiss. I was only able to go home because Sadiq thought it would be a good idea to stab people.
I needed to get out of here. A face appeared in the back of my head. I smiled. Of course, Hidekaz said that he was in England's body during this time. If I find him and convince him to send me back to my proper time, I could get out of this mess easy-peasy.
Sadiq coughed sharply into his fist. "Anyways." He rose to his feet, carefully making his way to where I sat. He kept a hand on his pocket, his watch pocket, as he held out a hand. "I am the Republic of Turkey, though Sadiq Adnan is a so-called name for me. I'd prefer if you didn't use it."
I smiled, deciding to play my part. All I had to do was be my fifteen year old self until I ran into France and England in the student council room, then I could ask for all the help I needed. "But I like calling you Sadiq! It's adorable!" I squealed. Thank God I'm a good liar. I swung my legs back and forth over the edge of the bed like a child. "So what's actually going on here? I don't usually wake up to find myself in other people's bodies."
A wrinkle dug itself between his brows. "Why are you..." I held my breath as he trailed off. Was I trying too hard? Sadiq shook his head. "Never mind. Anyways, you are here because some jackass wants you to understand what it means to be someone else..."
I should say right now that I gave the best performance of my life. I reacted like I never heard the vague terms of Sadiq's contract before in my life. The tears of frustration left over from my near melt down earlier flowed from my eyes when he mentioned how I was stuck here until I received the true love's first kiss. It wasn't until he reached into his pocket to pull out his watch did I realize that I never gave him the opportunity to shove his flask of apple juice into my mouth and prove that I was not dreaming. It would suck if that ended up being the cause of some sort of time paradox.
Sadiq clicked his ornate watch open and scowled at the time. "School's going to start in ten minutes," he said, motioning for me to get ready. "I'll explain a few more things as you get dress, alright?"
"Alright." I slipped off the bed, calmly making my way to Seychelles's closet. A sense of nostalgia fell over me when I saw her orderly rows of uniform skirts and vests. Everything really was the same here, I thought to myself as I pulled my night gown over my head. I took a used bra from the laundry basket and clipped over my (her) boobs. Why was Sadiq so quiet? What did we talk about last time? He explained what was going on and shea butter doesn't happen until a little later. What was I missing?
Oh yeah, his boyfriend. He needed to bring up Poland.
"So," I started, drawing out the last vowel, "where did you get that cute scarf from?"
"My incredibly handsome and fashionable boyfriend." I heard him walk towards me, though I did not think much of it until I felt his warm hand on my shoulder. "So, Sherry," he said, speaking straight into my ear, "Why do you have this?" He held his fist in front of me and uncurled his fingers. A gold watch dropped before my eyes until its delicate chain caught it and made it bounce. The watch looked exactly like his, yet I knew that it was mine. I must have left it on the bed by accident.
By instinct I opened my mouth to reply with the first lie on my tongue, but I forced my lips to stay together. I had to tread with caution, or else I might say something that might ruin everything.
"I'm under a contract too," I said, choosing my words carefully. They felt odd coming out of my mouth, but there was little I could do about it now. I snatched the watch from him. The cold metal felt nice in my hands. I pressed it to my chest as I turned to glare at him. His startled expression was enough to leave me satisfied, but I could not help but to add more oil to the fire. "This is personal to me, so don't you dare ever touch it again."
Sadiq grabbed my wrist. "What contract?" he demanded. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed to deepen ever second I did not reply. The same hollow-eyed look I remembered returned to his face with enough force to make my chest ache.
Yet, I continued my game. I had no other choice. If the Sadiq who was my friend didn't believe in my amnesia, then neither would one who just me. "It's none of your business."
"Yes it is."
"Then why don't you tell me about your contract?" He took a step back, shocked. I smirked, knowing that I've won. "If you won't tell me, then I won't tell you."
Sadiq crossed his arms over his chest and looked away like the total diva he was. "Tsk, like I even care. All I want is to get out that jackass out of my life. As long as you do what I need you to do, then I don't give a shit about anything else. Now can you get dress? I'm sick of looking at your underwear."
I shrieked as I turned away, placing my hands over my panties. My huddled shoulders hid my bra. "You sick fucker!" I screamed, feeling my cheeks redden. "You did that on purpose!"
He laughed. He actually laughed. "No, you're just stupid." He slipped a look at his watch again. "We have two minutes before class starts, so hurry up and get dress."
Years of sleeping past alarm clocks blessed me with the wicked ability to make myself look presentable in a time crunch. I had the entire uniform pulled over my head within twenty seconds, my flats and knee high socks within thirty. The moment I brushed my pigtails straight again, Sadiq grabbed my hand and pulled me into the familiar dorm hallway. "Let's go." He sprinted off to our first class of the day, guiding me behind him, unaware that I knew the way well enough.
If I was to be completely honest with myself, I would admit that a small part of me felt at home in the marble hallways. I kept my eyes on the long windows framing the grass field and forest below, awed by the intense green. Snow can make one forget about colors.
Huh, that sounds like something John Green would say.
Hate that guy.
We stopped in front in front of the classroom door moments after the final bell tolled. Sadiq swore. "Damnit, late." He smoothed his hand down his green jacket, mumbling something beneath his breath as he worked. "Remember: no one knows about this except us," he said when he looked at me again, "so I have to start calling you Seychelles now, got it?"
How did fifteen year-old me reply to that? I think I asked him if I could call him Sadiq. I already covered that, so there was little else for me to say. Well, I could bring back the whole shea butter thing, but I didn't want to be that obnoxious. "Got it" ended up being my reply. I adjusted the strap of my backpack, passing Sadiq a quick wink. "I think we should go in one at a time," I said. "That way, no one would get weird ideas."
I figured that throwing his own words back at him would cause pride to swell upon his face, but the exact opposite happened. He stepped away from me, giving me an odd look. "I was just about to say that..." he said, sounding as awkward and confused as he looked.
Oh shit.
"Two great minds think alike?" I salvaged.
"I didn't know I was as dumb as you." I scowled as he hooted with laughter. I 'knew' this guy for less than an hour and he was already insulting me. Remind me: how did I ever have a crush on this asshole?
He grinned as he patted my back. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Anyways, you go in first. The teacher's name is History Teacher Pangaea and she obviously teaches world history. Got it?"
"Yeah, asshole." I yanked the door open and marched inside before he could say anything in reply.
"You're late Miss Seychelles."
I released a breath of relief. Sure, the plump woman with brown skin and hair as neon green as her clothes was frowning at my late entrance, but now I was finally away from Sadiq. He really needs his character development, I mourned in my thoughts as I marched to my seat.
The tiers of long, curved tables had nearly every place filled, save for an empty seat next to Estonia. I didn't know if Himaruya was in his body still, but I couldn't risk disrupting the order of this timeline any further. I plopped my bag on the ground and fell into my seat. Forcing myself to ignore the bland blond next to me, I busted out my notebook and flipped it to the next blank page and started writing down whatever the hell Pangaea talked about. I didn't know and, frankly, I didn't care anymore. I just wanted this stupid day to be over.
"Is something wrong?"
I flinched. Estonia looked at me sideways with his unsure, blue eyes. Half of his attention still remained on the glowing screen of his laptop. I scratched my cheek, holding my breath. Play it cool, Sherry. Try not to let him get suspicious. "No-"
"Move it, sucker." Estonia fell from his seat as a new man replaced him. I stiffened when I recognized the pair of blazing red eyes. "Betcha thought you saw the last of the awesome me," Himaruya said with a wink. The crooked grin his mouth made was more fitting for a bar than a protagonist-antagonist conversation. I hate cocky villains.
I looked around, realizing the amount of people surrounding us. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if someone like Switzerland or Belarus learned who I really was. Himaruya was loud, so I had to be the secretive one. With pursed lips, I leaned towards him, hissing, "What the fuck am I doing here?"
He held up his empty hands. "Lay off, Sherry. Blame my sibling for this, not me. He was the one who told his little puppet to roll back time."
Of course, he was right. Hidekaz had ordered Antonio to use a so-called "back-up plan." Why that would involve me being separated from everyone else was beyond me. "Then what are you doing here?" I demanded.
Himaruya leaned back. He balanced his chair on it back legs as he propped his own on the keyboard of Estonia's laptop. "Let me put it to you this way: I wanted this to happen. My awesome plan called for everyone to be scattered through time, and it worked perfectly, even if it did take nearly killing Larry. I thought you and Lars dying would be enough..."
My fists tightened on the fabric of my skirt. "You wanted my brother to die?"
"I said nearly, didn't I? And besides, he's probably the most important person in this awesome little game. I can't let him die. Whoever has him has the gold."
Dread wallowed in my stomach, making me feel sick. I looked down the rows of tiers and saw the back of Antonio's head. My heart jumped in my chest when I realized that I could rope him in to help me. "But you don't have a way to talk to him," a reasonable part of my brain told me. I wanted to scream. That was right—he was too far away to talk to without drawing any unnecessary attention. For now, I was alone.
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry. Himaruya said that Larry was important. "Why?" I asked.
"He's important since he's the only one who can think for himself." His eyes narrowed, as if to tell me how important his words were. "You and Jerry- you both have brains, but you're afraid to use them. Both of you unawesome people prefer to only do whatever the crowd wants you to. Larry's opinionated. Out of the three Sue children, he is the only one who will stubbornly stick to his word, no matter what the world says, even if he's wrong. You and Jerry want someone to tell you what to think and Larry just ends up being that person. So whoever has Larry on their side has you and Jerry."
I didn't know where to start. My thoughts were threaded into knots like a ball of ruined yarn. How did my brother find the points in Himaruya's arguments to probe apart? I looked down at my lap and stared at my whitening knuckles. "Isn't Jerry against us?" I asked.
"If you think he's completely against you, then you are an idiot." I raised my face in time to see him pick at the strands of hair lying against his forehead. "Jerry's on my side, but just barely. If I do one thing wrong, he'll be crawling back to your brother."
"And why are we important?"
He smiled. I braced myself when he raised a finger. He hummed and lightly tapped my nose. I jumped back, nearly falling out of my chair and onto Estonia. He giggled. "You'll figure it out someday, Great Unawesome One."
I wanted to groan. How much longer was I going to be kept in the dark? I felt like I was walking around blind, especially with that vision the watch gave me after the explosion. It felt like a memory, yet I didn't want to call it one. It could be a trap meant to distract me from what really happened. "Any other unawesome questions?" he asked.
I looked into Himaruya's eyes. While only a deaf man would not hear the mocking tone of his voice, I knew he wanted something else from me. He wanted me to be my brother and find the one question he had yet to answer. I felt a painful balloon inflate in my head and press against my temples. I wasn't my brother. I had no idea where to even begin. Why would he even want me to ask questions? Doesn't he benefit from my lack of knowledge?
"Maybe there's something he wants you to figure out."
I nearly screamed. "Seychelles!" I exclaimed in my head. "You're not dead!"
"Um... I never died to begin with?"
So this wasn't the Seychelles from my timeline either. Even so, only the rapture could ruin the billow of happiness churning inside my chest. "It's a long story," I explained, my inner mouth running faster than my thoughts. "I'll tell it later. For now, we need to figure out what he wants me to say."
I felt her dormant soul shrug. "Look, I just entered this and half of the things you were talking about was complete gibberish to me. You obviously know more than I do."
"But you're the smart one!"
"No, you are." She sounded like she was frustrated, but it was not the kind I was accustomed to. She didn't sound like she hated me. She was just exasperated. "Just say something to that awesome obsessed freak already. God, I can't believe I even made a contract with him…"
I blinked. "Awesome obsessed freak?" I echoed. He should be a Sadiq obsessed freak. He hasn't mentioned anything about his previous perviness with Sadiq ever since I came back here. I looked at Himaruya with renewed strength, one that did not diminish at the sight of his confident grin. Who cared if he knew I would be thinking this? I needed to do whatever I could to stay afloat. "What happened to that boner you had for Sadiq?" I asked.
Of course, his smile curled with satisfaction. "I'm glad you asked," he said, voice dripping with sweetness. "My sibling did tell you about the deal with the body possession, right? Since he wants dear old Sadiq to stay on his side, he most likely did not mention another little side effect. When you're in another person's body, you pick up on some of their traits. For awesome reasons I would prefer to not disclose just yet, Hidekaz and I tend to adapt a character's particular quirk. Hidekaz still speaks in that super fake British accent. Actuality, his tend to be rather tame while I tend to get over exaggerated qualities. When I was in Estonia's body, I found out that he has this secret crush on Sadiq and because I have to over exaggerate everything, it got blown way out of proportion. Like there's these dick pics he always looks at on his laptop, did you know that?"
I furrowed my brows. "So the whole being in love with him thing-"
"Yeah, that's over and done with now. Thank God too. I couldn't come up with an awesome enough plan that could actually work while I was in that body."
"Mister Turkey, Mister America; you're both late." Himaruya and I looked down at the white board in time to see History Teacher Pangaea give Sadiq and America one of her infamous glares. Like before, the blond spent his time striking sparkling poses as Sadiq started to explain his fake reasons for why he was late. Man, everything used to be so simple. Then I had to get involved in all of these plans and bullshit...
I placed my chin on my hand, giving Himaruya a sideways look. He seemed to have adapted Prussia's cocky attitude nicely. In a way, it's more fitting than that ominous, calculating glare he always wore as Estonia. "And why does being in Prussia's body work better for you than being in Estonia's?" I asked.
He pretended to look down at his notes, scratching a few lead drawn lines down his notebook. "Besides the loss of the romantic subplot? Not much." He placed his mechanical pencil on the table and smirked. "I don't think you quite realize the extent of my awesome plan just yet. Actually, there's nothing left for me to do. All of my pieces are in place now, I just get to sit back and watch the awesome show unravel."
I gulped, suddenly feeling very cold. "W-what?"
"I wanted to get you into this past and I did. You and all of your partners are scattered throughout time. You need to go back and grab them and take them back to the right time period. Once you do, the real awesome part will begin."
I shook my head as though I was trying to rid my brain of his malicious implications. "That's impossible," I said, squeezing the blood out of my fists. "You can't possibly have this all planned. We still have a chance."
Pity- that was the emotion on his face. It drenched off his skin like a bitter, sick syrup and it was meant only for me. I wanted to slap it away, but I felt like the smallest of movements would make the stitches that kept me together break. I didn't want to fall apart. Not yet. "You never had a chance, Sherry Sue," he said softly. "You're a smart girl. You should have known that."
The school bells rang, signaling the end of the period. All around us, countries rose from their spots and gathered their supplies and backpacks. Himaruya joined then, rising in a graceful motion as he continued to look down at me. "Actually, I'm wrong. Anyone who possesses another's body picks up a certain amount of traits. Larry has Liechtenstein's kindness. You have Seychelles's intelligence. You leave her body and you'll go back to being the dumb little girl you always have been and always will be. And Larry will go back to being as selfish and bigoted as before."
I stood.
In one dumbass moment, I rose to my feet. I steadied myself on the edge of my chair as I looked up at him. Never before had I wanted so badly to smack away his smugness. I ground my teeth together, feeling the pressure gather in my mouth. "Yeah, I'm dumb. I've always known that, but I don't give a shit about it and anything else you could say about me. Just don't you dare ever call my brother heartless. He'll never be as cold as you."
Himaruya grimaced. "Sorry, but I know him better than you."
"Hey!" Sadiq's call shattered the spell on me. I blinked, feeling distraught as I turned my head in his direction. He stood at the door of the classroom, waving a hand for me, unaware of the situation I had been drowning in. I placed a shaking hand on the edge of the chair, trying to steady myself. "You coming?" Sadiq asked.
The need to fight abandoned Himaruya as he dropped his shoulders. He straightened his back, picking his bag off the ground. "Don't forget," he said as he started to saunter away, "I've already won."
Fury burned beneath my skin as I heard his feet smack each step down to the ground floor. I grabbed Seychelles's backpack and slammed it on the tabletop, the bang echoing around the nearly empty classroom. The rest of the world was smart enough to leave before Himaruya. "That could have been worse," Seychelles commented as I shoved my notebook inside.
"It could have been better," I muttered in reply, zipping the bag up. There was too much to think about. Larry was somewhere lost in time and I had to find him somehow. If I did, I would be falling into Himaruya's plans. If I didn't, then he might never return back to his right time. I wished I at least knew what his plan was. Hidekaz said his brother's ultimate goal was chaos, but there had to be more to it. There had to be. I could feel it.
"Hurry up!" Sadiq called.
I groaned, slung my back onto my shoulder, and trotted down to him. His scowl was the last sight I wanted to see, but I pretended to not care.
"What the hell took you so long?" Sadiq demanded as I marched past him. He followed me with a rushed stride, the angered air around him worsening with each step. Every nation we ran into in the busy hallway was smart enough to get out of the oncoming catastrophe. "Look, girl. I know that this is your first day and all, but you need to start focusing on getting that kiss from France and England, or else-"
"I know!" I paused and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath, ordering my frayed nerves to quell. They leveled off slowly, like a drug drawn out of the blood. I brushed my fingers through the end of one of my pigtails. The silky strands softened my voice. "I know. I'm just a bit tired right now."
Sadiq blew a spout of hot air out of his nostrils. "Can you be tired after you get that kiss?"
I turned back to him, expecting a new wave of frustration to billow upon me. Instead, all of my focus and attention landed on the man down the hallway- Antonio.
Of course, I thought to myself, I am a total idiot. I didn't need to wait until I saw Hidekaz to get out of here. I could just ask his minion for help. He would know what to do or, at the very least, take me to Hidekaz quicker than Sadiq ever could. "I need to go," I said as I started to walk past the Turk.
He grabbed my arm. "Where?" His tone was harder than stone.
I shrugged, searching for the answer that would not result in another show down. "To the bathroom. I need to pee."
His golden eyes bore into me as he considered my lie. I danced on my feet a little, just in case he needed more convincing. His hand slipped off my arm as he sighed. "Fine, but if you forget to show up to class, I'll hang you out a window."
I grimaced as fear spiked in my nerves. "I don't doubt it." I dashed away as a shiver ran down my spine. That was another thing to avoid: Sadiq's love of sadistic mental torture. God, he had to go through a lot of character development in order to for me to like him. How did I bear with his shit until he did?
As I drew closer to Antonio, I realized that I had no idea how to get his attention away from Japan long enough to get him to follow me down to the bathroom. His emerald eyes were filled with such ardent interest and adoration that I could practically see the hearts floating around his head. Numerous animes flitted into my head with their bright varieties of solutions, though all of them seemed to involve dramatic music and stripping. I did the next best thing. I slapped his perfectly shaped ass as I walked by, effectively drawing his attention to me. The school bells tolled as I heard him excuse himself from his boyfriend. I smirked to myself. Sherry, you are good.
I turned the corner of the hall with Antonio following ten feet behind me and started for the nearest ladies room. "Don't worry. Turkey's not going to follow us," Antonio said, interrupting my trek, sounding like he already was in control of the situation. He strode past me and pulled open a classroom door. He gave me one of his famous, sun bright smiles when he peered inside. "It's empty. We can talk in here."
"I don't think I can stand being lectured again," I said as I stepped through the doorway. The room was much like History Teacher Pangaea's lecture hall, save for the diverse variety of students. Every seat was empty and the whiteboard lacked any traces of writing. I hugged my arms as I noticed how high the ceiling was. I couldn't toss a ball high enough to hit the black-dotted tiles.
Antonio laughed a little as he sat on the edge of the teacher's desk. "Sorry about that. I thought about interrupting him, but I thought he might have more information about what's going on."
"You don't know what's happening?" I looked back at him. His hickory-colored curls sprouted in tiny spirals from his head, clinging tightly to his tanned scalp. His vivid eyes and his luminous teeth popped against his skin like ink against paper. I smiled to myself. Yeah, he was wearing a Gauken Hetalia uniform, but this was still the same Antonio that fell in love with my brother. Larry trusted him and so would I.
Antonio leaned back on his hands. "I think I know what's going on, I was just hoping he might tell me something that'll be useful for Hidekaz."
I hesitated, wondering if he was going to think I was stupid before asking my question anyways. "And what's exactly going on right now?"
"The back-up plan, I think." He looked at the ceiling, the spitting image of a man at ease. "A long time ago, Hidekaz said that if things turned too much against our favor, then I would have to roll back time and I must have used a watch to do it." At the mention of the watch, I placed my hand in my pocket and felt a swell of relief when my fingers brushed the cool metal. "Since it's yours—at least, I think it's yours -you had complete control over the time period we would go back to."
"But I didn't choose to come back here," I said.
"I must have told you to think about 'yesterday,' right?" he asked. "Unless I asked you something else, but I probably didn't."
He did say to think about yesterday. I clamped my mouth shut, remembering my final thoughts before the blackout. It was about yesterday, but not the day before the festival. I was thinking about a time when none of the bullshit existed.
That bullshit was Himaruya.
When I woke up in Gauken Hetalia six years ago, I did not know Himaruya was the villain.
"It doesn't explain why everyone got separated, though." He scratched his neck, thinking. "You all should have been grabbing each other, so something must have ripped you apart."
"Himaruya did say that he wanted all of us scattered throughout time," I offered. "He said his plan was going perfectly. Maybe he did something."
"He probably tore you guys apart during the time jump and everybody was sent to their own version of yesterday. I guess that since you're here, your definition of yesterday was different from what I wanted- which is fine. Don't worry." I blinked as his smile tried to assuage the guilt from my face. "We'll get them back," Antonio reassured me. "We just have to go back in time to their yesterday and get them to come back to present day."
"They'll really be in 'yesterday?'" I asked.
He grinned. "Yeah, since you made that time portal. There's a few more factors to it, but that's the basic gist of it. I'm sure I'm right."
Of course he was right. He was here to be the smart one of the situation. Without him, I was meant to crumble to pieces. I leaned against a desk as I folded my arms over my chest, trying to force my heat to stay in my body. This room was too damn cold for its own good. "And we won't cause some sort of time paradox by doing this?" I asked. "Because at this rate, we're going to end up making time our bitch to defeat Himaruya in the final battle."
Antonio laughed. Glad to know that my concerns were being taken seriously. "Theoretically, time paradoxes are impossible," he explained when he had calmed down enough to speak. "Here." He hopped back onto his feet and approached the white board against the wall. "Time is two things: fluid and permanent. It bends, but never loops or breaks. We won't create a never ending time paradox by being back in time since, even though we're in the past, it's not the same past. Are you following me on this?"
"No."
"Alright." He took a marker to the board and drew a single line. "So let's say that this line is how time would normally look. Let's say that this is representative of your first cycle in the positive world. You fail that cycle, so this time line ended and-" He drew a new line branching out from the center of the original one. "-a new one is made. But there are people- you and Turkey -who still remember the old timeline. Nothing can change the fact that it happened. So it still exists and, as you fail more and more cycles, more and more of these incomplete time lines are made. Makes sense?"
"Yes," I lied. I felt like I understood, but the whole concept of time travel was far too bizarre for me to grasp. To be frank, I could care less about this crap. All I wanted was to end everything and go home.
Antonio recapped the marker and turned to give me another sure grin. "Good. Now that that's out of the way, I can send you back in time and we can start righting this-"
"Hold the crackers, dude! What do you mean I have to back in time?"
His eyes stared at me as though the answer was obvious and I was an idiot. "For starters, sending you and six other people to the past takes more energy than I have to give. If I really try, I can send you into the past in chronological order and send everybody back one at a time but anything more than that is a suicide wish."
I pulled at my hair, unable to believe what I was hearing. "Antonio, you are fucking useless!" I groaned.
He was not fazed. "Second, I can't go back in time since I'm not the Antonio from your timeline."
My jaw fell off my face. "What?"
"I don't know what would happen if I went into the time period with your Antonio in it, but I guarantee you that it won't be good-"
"Why are you just now telling me this?" I demanded.
He looked as me as though I was overreacting. "I thought I made it clear earlier."
I approached him with an irritated gait. "You made it sound like you were there. Plus, you kept on saying that we were going to fix this!"
"It was an exclusive, slightly ambiguous 'we' and I was just guessing on what happened. I thought you knew..." He trailed off, ending his sentence with a short groan. "Never mind. I can't get anything through to you. You're as stubborn as your brother." His face brightened as he perked with excitement. "Speaking of which, how is Larry? I haven't seen him in centuries. Does he talk about me?"
Damn him and his changing of the subject. Was I supposed to mention how he was dying the last time I saw him or the fact that I never heard him utter Antonio's name under the Sue roof? Both were equally horrible. "He's doing fine," I said, giving him an uneasy shrug. I searched my brain for a different topic. "You sure have a massive boner for him." Great word choice, Sherry. "Why do you even like him so much? I mean, Larry's not the nicest of people. What are you so attracted to?" I leaned my hip against the desk he sat on.
Himaruya's jeer fluttered back into my mind: Larry has Liechtenstein's kindness. A part of me realized before that Larry seemed less bigoted when he was here, but I had figured it had something to do with- I don't know -character development. Maybe Himaruya was lying and being in Hetalia has changed Larry. But something about Himaruya's claim made too much sense. I've always felt smarter when I was in Seychelles shoes, even if that intelligence only turned into witty comebacks I could snap during an encounter with Himaruya. Maybe Larry would turn back into his old self the moment we return home. That is, if we even made it through this.
Antonio looked down, twisting his fingers in his hands like a lovesick middle schooler. "Well, funny story about that." His usual grin faded away, only to be replaced by the softest smile in existence. It was nothing more than a sly curve in the lips, yet it was so full of warmth that I could feel how intimate his feelings were. "At first, I really didn't like him. I thought he was rude and kind of an asshole, but as I spent more time with him, I realized how selfless he could be. He's also kind and funny and loyal and smart. Now I can't really think of a single thing wrong with him. He's just..." He struggled to find the right word. "Perfect."
I couldn't help but to melt at his words, even if I could credit half of those things to being in Liechtenstein's body. "That's so sweet," I said, feeling my cheeks redden with emotion. "I never knew that you were really that in love with him."
He gave a nervous chuckle. "I try my best to be good enough for him."
I nearly rolled my eyes. "Are you kidding? You're too good for him."
"I hate to interrupt, but weren't you two just talking about how you need to rescue a bunch of people?" Seychelles asked.
Right. "Look, Antonio. I would love to stay and chat for a while longer, but I need to set my timeline right again."
"I thought you would never ask." He walked towards me, holding out a hand as he spoke. "Hand me your watch, please." I handed it to him and he clicked it open. He smiled at the egg white face. "I can feel the ties your friends have to the watch. If I'm not mistaken, from closest to us to further in the past, it's Iceland, Turkey, France, then everyone else." He smiled sheepishly at my confused face. "I think the rest are gathered at one time period, probably THE WAR. Most likely, that's where Larry is." I gulped. Larry hated THE WAR. "In order to go back in time, you just have to turn the clock back while you think of the person you want to go to. You can use my energy so that you don't end up in a coma for a few days on the condition that you make it easier for me and go back in time in chronological order."
I nodded, repeating the information in my head. Ari, Turkey, France, everyone else. Four trips to make. Must make them in that order. It sounded simple enough.
"Only send your friends back when you're sure you're done there. For the group stuck during THE WAR, make it easier on me and make sure they go back all at once."
"How do I actually send them back?" I asked.
"Just have them touch the watch. Any other questions?"
I shook my head.
Antonio clapped his hands. "Perfect. You can now go back in time whenever you're ready," he announced.
I smiled at him. My brother would be a lucky man to have a guy like Antonio in his life. I scratched my arm. I was lucky to have him. I didn't want to think of how long I would be stuck here until I figured out all of this time stuff myself. That's presuming I even had the brains to do so. Which reminds me...
"See ya, Seychelles," I said in my head. "It was nice talking to you again."
I felt her grimace. "We've met before, haven't we? I'm going to guess that once you leave, this timeline will end and we'll have to start another one of those branches. I won't remember any of this then."
I tried not to let her words depress me. "You'll meet me again. You'll hate me, but you'll eventually come to like me."
"But I like you right now."
I froze, unsure of what to say to that. Goddamn tears of happiness swelled in my eyes as I realized the significance of her words. She already liked me. Seychelles and I did not have to start out our friendship with hatred. If the circumstances of right now were the circumstances back then, I would have had a friend to help me deal with Sadiq and Ari and Himaruya. I could have helped her. We never had to hate each other.
"Are you alright?" Seychelles asked, concerned.
I wiped my arm over my eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you."
Before she could reply, I opened my eyes and faced Antonio again. He grinned and flashed me a pair of thumbs up. I copied him before looking back down at the gold trinket. I took a deep breath and turned my thoughts to Ari and I twisted the top knob. The minute hand spun backwards as the hours grew smaller and smaller. My vision tunneled as black began to line my sight.
Before I knew it, I felt myself falling
and falling
and falling
and falling
a
n
d
…
The Fangirl: No Cycle
I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the dim, but inviting light. I felt a little dizzy, but it was nothing that I couldn't live with. Once I was sure that I wasn't going to blind myself, I took my hands away and scanned the room. I saw countries dressed in tuxes and bright dresses gathered in buzzing parties, their laughter filling the air as alcohol filled their glasses. I took in the chestnut wood floors and low hanging lamps. I knew this place. I knew all too well. This was the bar under the school. I whistled to myself, dazzled by the warm air. It's been way too long since I had last been here. It was nostalgic to find it completely like it was before.
I stayed in my little corner, the one by the piano, as I took another moment to sort out my head. Antonio said that Ari was the first on the list, right? I just had to find the only person with silver hair and get him to touch the watch. I smiled. Life was nice when things were so simple.
Feeling as smug as I looked, I took my first steps. All went well until I banged my hip into the piano.
Or, at least, that was what should have happened.
Instead, my leg went straight through the black polished wood. I screamed as I jumped away. "Holy fuck!" My body flew back into the wall but, instead of meeting plaster, I fazed through. I screamed when I saw the dark, leaking pipes beneath. I repeated the swear as I struggled to straighten my back into a normal position. It was hard to do so when your feet kept on sinking through the floor.
At last, I flung myself back into a normal position. I placed my hands on my knees, ignoring my continual sink into the ground as I caught my breath. What the flying fuck was going on?
"It seems like you went back in time without a body."
Startled, I released another long scream as I hopped away from the piano. Austria sat at its polished bench as his tenuous fingers passed over the black and white keys. He wore normal clothing, yet I knew that this was the Austria working with Himaruya. He kept his purple eyes on me as he continued with his song, a frown carved into his narrow face. "Did my dear brother never tell you that?" he asked.
I stared at him. By brother, he meant Antonio or as I wrong? I said nothing, instead choosing to spend the moment trying to pull myself from the floor. My white clad legs sunk lower and lower until the floor was just at my hips.
Wait.
Why were they white?
I grabbed my hair. I knew before I even brought it to my face that it was my bunch of orange knots. I gasped as my brain struggled to sew the pieces together. I was back in time without a body, so I was intangible because I was just a ghost. I looked like my normal self since it's my soul. I wore the white uniform of Himaruya because I was under contract.
I took a deep breath, forcing my heart to calm down. Admittedly, it could have been a lot worst. I could at least take comfort knowing that I could do an authentic reenactment of the entire Danny Phantom theme song and no one could stop me.
I looked back at Austria with more confidence than before. "He didn't need to," I replied curtly. I scanned the room behind him, searching for Ari. I saw the boy sitting at the bar with Sadiq, looking pensive as they talked. I may be a ghost, but that didn't mean that I couldn't find a way to talk to him. "Is there anything you want to tell me before I do what I came here to do?"
Austria smiled to himself, like he was proud of my commanding tone. "I figured that you would like a little more explanation as to what's going on," he said as the tempo of his song slowed. "Tell me: do you know what time period you are in?"
"Obviously modern day," I said. I noticed that the floor was at my chest. I tried to pull myself out again, but my hands failed to be palpable.
"But when? I'll give you a hint. There's only ever been one prom that mattered." I paled. I knew of one, but it was impossible. I had to go back in time, not forwards. None of the proms I went to during the cycle has happened yet. "Give up? We're at the after part of the prom right after you left this this world the first time."
"But isn't that in the future?"
"In some cases, yes. But for you, this is in your past. Funny how timelines work." He raised a brow, as if he suddenly noticed that I was drowning in the floor. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
I stuck out my tongue as I craned my neck in a failed attempt to not lose my mouth to the floor. "Having sex with Shia LaBeouf- what else do you think?"
Austria shook his head, returning his eyes to his music. "It's all in your head, Ms. Sue," he advised. "All you have to do is tell yourself that you can touch the floor and you won't pass through it anymore."
He's joking. I tried to place a hand on the wood-solid- floor. It stayed in place. I had the extreme urge to scream at my stupidity and his victory. I pulled myself out of my hole, panting as I brushed the non-existent dirt off my slacks. I scowled to myself. He was being too nice. Why would Austria, third member of the Bad Glasses Trio, give me helpful advice like that? "Is something a matter?" he asked, seemingly reading the thoughts straight from my head. The sweet piano melody leaking from his fingertips showed no signs of hidden contempt.
Still, I refused to be caught. "Why are you helping me?" I demanded. "Don't you not want to see me save Ari and them?"
A long breath left him in a note that almost sounded like a wistful sigh. "You really are dense," he said. I started to object, but he cut me off. "May I ask you, Ms. Sue, why my father would bother to talk to you before you came here? Why would we have let you meet the Aluino of the past unhindered? We want you to save your friends."
I stared at him as all warmth left my body and pooled into the air around me. I felt the sweat gather around my brow, but I knew that I was too cold to feel this uncomfortably hot. So Himaruya was not lying when he said that I was falling straight into his plan, or was this another ploy to make me not save them? I didn't know what to believe anymore. Everything felt like a car jam in my cranium that threatened to split me into two.
I wanted to be brave and say that I was going to foil whatever schemes they had devised, but I could not get the lie to roll off my tongue. I lacked the courage. If I made that promise, I knew that I was going to be incapable of going through with it. Instead, I let my body do the talking. I gave him double middle fingers before stalking out of my corner and into the expanse of the bar. I felt his violet eyes on my back the entire way.
Ari was pulling away from a hug, saying a last few words to Sadiq before he turned away. I did not get within earshot quick enough to hear what they had been discussing, but from the air of solitude around Sadiq, I knew that it wasn't good. I stared at my old mentor, seeing the stressed look in his eyes. For a brief moment, I wondered if I had enough time to comfort him. I decided against it. This was supposed to be the past. There was little I could do to help him now.
Ari started towards a Loki cosplayer, one that I recognized to be Denmark. The man in the full Iron Man suit next to him could only be America. They circled Belarus like vultures to a corpse, trying to solicit her into being their Black Widow. Ari stalked over to them as if he was about to stop them, but from the growling annoyance that creased the woman's brow, I knew that his intervention would be unnecessary.
"Ari!" I called as I squeezed my way around a kissing couple. A part of me wondered if I could use my ghostly powers to possess someone, but I didn't want to waste any more time. Ari paused. He stood awkwardly, as though he was unsure if he heard a raspy voice say his name or not. I jogged the rest of the way until I was right behind him. "Ari, can you hear me?"
The moment he turned around, the careful skepticism that peaked on his features was replaced by mild surprise. "Sherry?" he asked in a volume loud enough for only me to hear. His brows jumped up his forehead when I grinned and nodded. "Really? Wow." He peered at my transparent body as he took a step back. "You're a ginger. I wasn't expecting that..."
I rolled my eyes. "Haha. Nice to see you too."
His squinting eyes scrutinized me until I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. "Why are you a ghost?" he asked, pronouncing each syllable.
I sighed. Great, now he was being cautious. What did he think I was? One of Himaruya's tricks? "Long story short, Antonio was being a dick and sent us all back in time and now I gotta get you all to come back to your proper times before any shit happens."
He placed a finger on his chin. "Well, you talk like Sherry."
I scowled. "We're not going to do this," I stated.
"Well, considering previous instances involving a certain Agatha Stu-"
"I don't really think that we have the time to go through this."
"And I really think that we do." He buried his hands into his jean pockets. He was one of the few men not wearing a prom suit. Even if he lacked the fancy clothes, he still held a capable air around him, one that told me that I was going to do what he wanted me to whether I wanted to or not. "Knowing Himaruya's history of playing tricks, I can't accept that you are the real Sherry unless I get some solid proof that you aren't one of his minions."
Irritation twitched in my brow. I wanted to refuse, but I knew that he won. "Fine." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Let's do this cartoon style. Ask me something only the real Sherry knows and we'll see who the fake is."
He thought about it for a moment, his eyes jumping around the room the same way his mind jumped between thoughts. I tried to follow each movement, but only became lost in the countless familiar faces. Finally, he stopped on a group hanging around a table. I recognized the blond hair of France and England as they babied Seychelles and her broken limbs. Only a fraction of her attention was on them. Her head was turned towards Germany as her mouth moved in rapid explanation. I wondered what she was talking about and, if I approached her, would she be able to see me. "Okay, I have my question," Iceland announced, stealing back my attention. He gestured a hand towards the very girl I was thinking about. "How do I feel about Seychelles?"
I scrunched my brows. How was I supposed to answer that? I never seen the two of them interacting with each other and Ari was not the kind of guy to gush over people. Was there ever a time where he said what his relationship with her was? God, I couldn't remember. I sighed. "Sorry, but I honestly don't know. I guess you guys have to be friends, but I really don't know."
I waited for him to tell me that I was wrong. His eyes bore into my face as he mulled over my response. The slightest of smirks appeared on his lips. "You win. You're Sherry."
I blinked. Okay, wasn't expecting that. "I know I shouldn't be complaining, but how does that-"
"Himaruya knows everything, so asking you what you knew would be pointless. So I had to ask you something that you didn't know." He beamed with pride. "And you just happen to be really bad at reading hints, so you wouldn't know that Seychelles and I are dating."
"What?" My mouth hanged open as I stared at him. Every instance where he insisted on my safety floated back into my memory. He wasn't worry about me. He was worrying about the body's owner. I placed my hands on my face, dragging them down slowly. It made all too much sense. Why was I such an idiot? "Ugh, why did I not realize that sooner?"
Ari shrugged. "Don't worry about it too much. My main concern has always been making sure Himaruya is gone for good, so the idea of telling you never really came to me. You aren't mad, are you?"
"I'm mad at myself," I replied.
"Like I said, I didn't keep it a secret from you on purpose."
I brushed him off. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I heard you the first time." I glanced back at Seychelles. She was smiling at Germany, but her gaze kept flickering back towards Sadiq. If she was dating Ari, then that would mean that she would eventually get over Sadiq, the Turk with a thousand lovers. I smiled. "Actually, you two would be really cute," I said, remembering the fanart I used to see for the pairing. "Do you really like her?"
His cheeks warmed into a bright shade of pink. "Of course I do," he said quickly, looking off to the side. "That's a stupid thing to ask..."
I laughed. His blush only served to deepen when I slapped a hand on his back. "Easy there, you little tsundere. You can just say you love her." He muttered an objection beneath his breath, but I knew the truth. With a small smile still lingering on my face, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pocket watch. "Ready to go?" I asked.
Ari looked back at his girlfriend one last time. "It's time we finish what we started," he said. I directed his hand onto my pocket watch and, when he touched it, he faded out of existence.
I should have been surprised to see him go like that, but I only felt strangely at ease. That slow leaving from the world looked like what falling into the void felt like. I stared at the spot Ari used to be, half expecting him to reappear again with a note saying I did my job wrong. But he was gone, most likely already waiting for me back in the town. Somehow knowing that this would be the last time I would see this place in its heyday, I swept my eyes around the bar again, taking in the cozy atmosphere. How could I hate something so much and yet still crave to be among it every day?
At last, I turned the knob and watched the hour and minute hand scroll back through time. I made sure to think about Sadiq as the world around me chipped away, leaving behind nothing but black.
Like before, my vision blurred until it disappeared completely and I felt myself falling
and falling
and falling
and falling
a
n
d
. . .
The Fangirl: Sadiq's Past, One Year Ago
Remember that moment of your childhood when you suddenly realize that your parents had sex with each other? That horrifying moment when you look up from your Cheerios in the morning and realize that your mother probably has a sexy pair of panties hidden somewhere in her drawers? Then you look at your siblings and realize that they did the do more than once.
Why am I reminding you of such horrid memories?
I guess you can say that I was going through a similar realization right now.
I hugged my knees as I hid behind a science lab table. I curled into myself, slapping my hands over my ears as the sweet music of sex invaded my ears. Why did Sadiq's definition of simple have to involve sex with Switzerland? The old geezer probably didn't even realize that he was back in the past right now. I mean, if I was fucking my ex-boyfriends that I was still in love with, I would be thinking that this was a pretty rad wet dream.
I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping that my loss of vision would make their grunts a little less pronounced. What was I supposed to do? I didn't want to listen to any of this any longer, but I couldn't just pop out of nowhere and tell Sadiq to get his sweaty ass moving. He might think that I was the jealous girlfriend or something.
Wait, girlfriend?
I rubbed my eyes, resisting the urge to groan. I had to stop doing this to myself. Letting this issue go unanswered in my brain was going to drive me insane.
I leaned the back of my head against the cabinet beneath the workspace, sighing. Father or crush? I just had to figure out which one was how I really felt. The past me had a crush on him. I cannot deny that. Fifteen year old Sherry was a girl who had crushes on older, fictional men. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was what twenty-one year old Sherry felt.
I bit my lip. Sadiq was fiction. All of Hetalia is nothing more than a webcomic made by some lonely Japanese guy. In the off chance I somehow won Sadiq's heart, I would still have to leave him in the end. We would be in two completely different universes with no means of contact. I wanted to bang my head against a brick wall. Why did I never think of that before? This wasn't a question of whether I loved him or not. This was a question of if I could even be with him. And the sad truth was that a girl couldn't love a guy who was fictional. Sadiq had to be my father, whether I liked it or not.
I stared out at the rest of the classroom, blinking a few times.
That was it?
All of this anxiety- stressing over what the slightest facial expression could mean- was over just like that. I placed my hand on the side of my head, blowing air through my nose. How anti-climactic. I didn't feel different. I just made an important decision involving my relationship with one of the most important people in my life and not a single emotion stirred in my chest. The fluttering love butterflies living in the cave of my stomach were gone, as if they had never been there. When did love become so unemotional?
I remembered being younger and fawning over romance novels. Staying up late at night to read fanfictions in which France and England slowly realized that they were in love. "Slowly" was the key word. In my favorite fanfictions, they always considered themselves frienemies first, never once realizing that their jealousy or competitiveness was rooted in an unspoken romance. They were my "OTP" because their love is perfect. It wasn't the overly sweet kisses Dad always gave Mom when he remembered to go home. Perfection was found in how overly emotional they made each other.
And now, after realizing that whatever feelings I could ever have for Sadiq were pointless, I felt nothing.
I knew that my feelings weren't imaginary. They were there in the midnight kiss I still felt on my cheek. Yet there was only a void where they should have been. Why? What changed? I only made an adult decision.
I made an adult decision.
This was what I was afraid of, I realized. Not the responsibilities of upholding a job or paying the bills. I was afraid of the mechanical motions of existing. Opening your eyes one day and deciding to compromise your emotions for some pointless task. Growing dull to the effects of an unfulfilled life until you're fifty years old with kids and have no motivation for living. Your goals and dreams for the future only the faint marks on a paper where your eraser failed to work properly. I did not want to be like that. Never.
Yet I was sitting on the floor of a science lab, contemplating my love life while the very guy in question fucked an attractive Swiss. What a great setting to have a mid-life crisis at. I sighed. I didn't want to make the cold decision and give up on a doomed romance, but I knew I had to do it. If not for myself, then for my brothers. I couldn't save them from Himaruya if I was also worried over whether I was going to get into that polyamorous bisexual's pants or not. For now on, I was Sherry Sue: one-hundred-percent single and ready to kick some ass.
Feeling a bit more accomplished, I crawled out of my hiding space. The lovers were not even close to being done, but I couldn't wait any longer. Things had to get moving before another wrench is thrown into the formula and I get stuck in mochitalia.
"Sadiq!" I called, marching over to the men. Years of reading explicit yaoi doushinji made me only roll my eyes when Sadiq looked up from his sweating lover. He stared at me for an awkward moment, confused. I frowned. "Before you ask- yes I am really Sherry. This is not a wet dream and if you don't believe me, then why is it that you can taste your boyfriend's..." I shrugged my shoulders as I left my sentence hanging. Some words relating to the act of intercourse were best left unsaid.
He continued to stare at me as he tried to remember if any of Switzerland's body fluids had any taste to him. Said Swiss trapped beneath him looked at his puzzled gold eyes with concern, stretching a drenched hand to his face. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, sitting up. He eased Sadiq into a sitting position as he tried to figure out what Sadiq was staring at. He looked between the open air around me and the Turk. "Is there something there?"
Sadiq gave me another confused look, to which I replied, "My body's back in the normal timeline. You know, the town and 'coffeeshop AU?' I kinda got blown up. Ring a bell?"
Could the Turk do anything beyond awkward staring? He blinked as his mind ran through what I told him again. "Yeah... Am I in the past?" he asked, still confused.
Switzerland placed both hands on the sides of his head, groaning. "My boyfriend's gone insane." Green eyes aimed their piercing glare at Sadiq's back. "You better not tell me next that you're straight."
"Yeah, you're in the past," I told Sadiq, walking closer to him. I knelt before him and, ignoring the obvious fact that he was still naked, pulled out my watch. "We need to return to our normal time ASAP. I have the feeling Himaruya's planning something."
At last, he seemed like he was starting to become more lucid. The look in his eyes evened into a more steady, less wavering state. More sure of himself, he reached around Switzerland for his pants. "That jackass's always had something planned." He pulled his legs through and started to work on his buckle. "I'm going to guess right now that you learned something more about it?"
I shrugged. "More or less."
Switzerland groaned again. "You're insane. I can't believe it: sex made you go insane..."
Sadiq turned back to him, biting his lip nervously. Even I could tell that he wanted to say something to the worried Swiss, but I wasn't sure what would help us in the end. No matter how much I tried, the very sight of the drench blond made me remember the gun he fired at Larry. I knew that it was an accident and that we were only in the past to make sure that Larry was not hurt, but I couldn't erase the image of my brother's bleeding chest from my mind.
I fidgeted, feeling an inch crawl up my arms. I scratched it until I felt my skin burn red. I couldn't change the course of the past, but I could change the events of the future. Or, I could at least try to. "Hey, Sadiq." He looked at me with a raised brow. "Could you do me a favor?"
"Name it," he said.
"Can you make sure that Switzerland knows to be on our side and help us in the future?"
He looked at me as though he had smelt something horrible. "Why?" he demanded, more confused than angry. "In case you've forgotten: he's going to forget all about me soon. He's not going to remember any of this."
"Are you talking about me?" Switzerland asked. "What do you mean that I'm going to forget everything?"
I strained a smile. "You could at least try," I offered. I couldn't think of anything else to say to convince him. I wished that I was like Larry and magically get assholes to go along with my convoluted schemes. Heck, is this plan even a scheme? I wasn't doing it to help Hidekaz's mission. I only wanted to make sure that my brother did not end up hurt again.
Yet, when I expected Sadiq to refused, he relented. With a small sigh, he looked down at his boyfriend. He took another deep breath, counting the seconds, before he finally gain the courage to speak. "Hey, Switzy. Can you promise me something?" he asked. It had been a long time since I had heard him sound so small. The tone sounded familiar, but I couldn't pin where I had heard him use it before.
Switzerland seemed like he was about to snap in reply, but he sensed the situation and held his tongue. He reached for his clothes and started to rebutton his uniform shirt. "Will you explain to me what all of that was about first?" he asked.
Sadiq pressed his lips. "You'll find out eventually. You trust me, right?"
He sighed. "Turkey-"
"Do you?"
"Yes, I do." He smoothed the wrinkles from his clothes, scowling at the ever persistent creases. "What are you getting at?"
"A couple of years from now, when we're out of this stupid school, there'll be a town we're living in. Find me around the time of the love festival on New Year's Eve if you want to help us."
Switzerland stared at him. "Help you with what?"
"Don't you trust me?" Sadiq repeated.
"Dude, even I think you're being too vague with this," I interjected.
"Shut it."
I shook my head as Switzerland looked at his boyfriend with the greatest confusion. Concerns for Sadiq's sanity showed in his irises as he brought his head up and down in a slow nod. "Alright. I promise I'll remember."
I clapped my hands together in victory. "Great. Now, Sadiq, we can get going-"
They slammed their mouths together in a kiss, sucking lips and grabbing at the other's hair and clothes. I groaned. Ari was so easy to deal with. Why did Sadiq have to have such a built up sex drive? I didn't have time deal with this. I still had to grab France, Antonio, and Larry before I could finally return home. The sooner I got out of here, the sooner I can reach my brother and make sure he was alright.
Uncaring of the romantic moment before me, I touched the pocket watch on the skin of Sadiq's exposed chest. Before I could discover what Switzerland's reaction was, I turned back the time and sent myself falling through time again. I couldn't help but to smile to myself as my soul sank into the familiar, gravity-less sensation.
Larry- I will find you soon.
Just hang on until I get there.
The Fanboy: Day 16
"Alright. What's first, captain?"
I gasped as my brain fought to comprehend the sudden surge back to consciousness. Every neuron locked away in my cranium sparked and sputtered as my memories returned.
I was injured.
I wasn't sure how it happened, but my chest had started to bleed. From there, things began to blur into an unrecognizable series of sensations. I wasn't sure what actually happened, but it seemed like I was alright now.
Was I?
I pulled down my shirt, happy to see a lack of any apparent injury. My fears quelled for a short moment, until I noticed the corset bound to my bosom. Why was I wearing that? It's modern day. I should be wearing normal bras.
"Yo, Larry. Are you alright?" Startled, I tripped and grabbed the nearest hammock for support as Alfred continued to give me a concerned look. Wait, hammock? Why was I standing by a hammock?
I twisted my head around, recognizing the rocking, sunlight-from-the-windows-lit room we sat in. The lines of hammocks, the stairs leading to another dim room- all of them were signature of one place.
Speechless, I looked at the traitor. He lacked the white suit of Himaruya and the casual clothes of modern day. He wore a pair of loose slacks and an open vest, one that revealed his chiseled chest. A white rag was tied to his upper arm. Those ever innocent eyes of his looked down at me as he moved from his stool towards me. "Seriously, are you okay?" he asked again, grabbing my arm. I seized, expecting him to inflict more pain onto me. Instead, he gently helped me to sit up as his eyes scanned my body for any obvious injuries. "Why aren't you saying anything?" He grinned. "Did Sokka get your tongue?"
I followed his line of sight, finding Sokka to be standing off to the side, confusion painting his feline features. I stared at the cat for a long moment as the meaning for everything came to me. Vertigo distorted my vision and I felt the distinct need to vomit.
I was back in THE WAR.
MW: There's a reason this chapter is called "The Calm Before the Storm." From this point onward, every chapter is fast paced action or plot twists. That must be very exciting for you guys.
There's a scene I was originally going to put in this chapter that was cut in favor for the opening sequence with the Netherlands and Denmark. I'm going to put it up on my writing blog in case you want to read it.
Again, I'm going to try to update again before the end of the month, but considering my college apps and the play I'm in, I might not be able to. I'm going to try, though. I'll try even if it kills me.
Notes
-Obviously, all of the scene of the past were in previous chapters in the series. Sherry was sent to the first chapter of The Fangirl, Iceland was in the epilogue, and Turkey was in chapter 11. Larry and Spain were sent to chapter 11 of The Fanboy. I'm not sure what anyone is supposed to do with this information. I just thought it was like a fun fact. Yeah, I'll stop talking now.
-I nearly called this chapter "Sherry Alone" as a reference to Avatar: the Last Airbender. I decided against it since Sherry spends a lot of it interacting with the main characters.
Next Chapter: Sherry continues her quest to find her missing friends, but can she find Larry before THE WAR happens?
Thank you for reading! I hope everyone is having a wonderful November! See you later!