Rainbow's Thought Volcano: Welcome back to Moontalia! I slaved over what to name this story, and hopefully this name is okay. Does anyone think it's too lame?
I thought I'd clarify a few things here. These versions of Alfred and Arthur are a bit OOC compared to their Hetalia counterparts. These guys have witnessed a lot of deaths and a lot of unfulfilled lives, so they're a bit emotionally older. Not to say of course that the nations haven't had their fair share of wars, but I think emotional hardships would weigh on humans a little heavier, since their lives are comparatively far shorter.
Feliciano will also act a bit OOC. For now. A rather traumatic event happened in his life two years ago that changed him from being always optimistic and happy-go-lucky to more pessimistic and jaded. I bet you guys can figure out what it is.
Chapter 2: Bestest Detectives in the World
"The moon . . .he wants to go to the moon." Alfred and Arthur shared a confused look. Was that really his only dream? Using them, Feliciano could have any wish in the world granted. Money, fame, power. Why would he choose to go to the moon?
"The geezers just keep on gettin' crazier, huh?" Alfred shrugged, chalking up Feliciano's desire to dementia. It was easier for Alfred to think of if he thought he couldn't understand it.
"So, can you do it?" Eliza asked, ignoring Alfred's insensitive comment.
". . . It depends," Arthur answered carefully.
"He meant to say 'yes'," Alfred added, hoping to reassure the caretaker.
"Why don't you tell us about our client here?" Arthur suggested, knowing that acknowledging Alfred's idiocy would only make it worse.
"That. . . I don't really know much. Feli's a very kind man, but an odd one. Through the two years that I've worked here, he rarely spoke. He worked as an artist for most of his life, and his wife passed away two years ago. . . I don't really know many details," she admitted.
"I would've known more if I were his paperboy for Pete's sake," Alfred muttered passively while ordering the machine to run more calculations.
"Shush, just do your thing," Arthur commanded. He knew Alfred was bad at sensing the mood, but there was a limit to how much he could say before it got out of hand.
"Well . . . if you look around the house more, you may learn some new information. I suppose Feli wouldn't mind, since he signed for you two," Eliza suggested, hoping she could be of more help.
"Mm. . . So be it. Alright, which one of us plays detective?" Arthur asked, looking to his partner.
Alfred's eyes lit up. "You already played detective earlier. It's my turn now!" he exclaimed happily.
"Very well, then. Do try to take this seriously, yes?"
"Oh, please. When have I ever goofed off on a job? Don't answer that. Configure this thing while I'm gone, will ya?" Alfred pointed a thumb over his shoulder, referring to the lightly humming machine. Arthur nodded and pulled up a chair to get a better position.
"My children can show you around," Eliza offered. "They're probably downstairs at the piano." Alfred nodded and headed on his way.
He reached the bottom of the stairs, and sure enough, Peter and Winona sat on the piano bench. Alfred waved to them and walked over.
"What do you want?" Winona asked dismissively.
"Your mom wants you to show me around the house," Alfred answered, flashing a grin. They two stopped playing.
"Okay, maybe we will," Peter said, turning towards him with his arms crossed.
"Maybe?"
"Peter means we just need a little convincing is all," Winona supplemented. Peter nodded enthusiastically.
". . . Alright, let's talk. What do you punks want?"
"We want. . . one trillion dollars!" Peter exclaimed, pointing to Alfred's face. Alfred, in turn, held up his hands in surrender. These kids had high prices.
"Or the candy cane mum hides from us," Winona suggested.
"Yah, or that!" Peter agreed.
"Uh, what?" Alfred asked, eyebrows scrunching.
"There's a large candy cane on top of a high shelf that we can't reach. Mum put it there to save for when we do chores. Get it for us, and we'll give you a tour through the house!" Winona explained.
"What do you say?" Peter asked expectantly. Alfred sighed. He didn't have time to run errands for children.
"Plotting to eat stashed candy is a serious crime, y'know. I heard you can get six years for that," Alfred stated, trying to hide his amusement at the children's horrified faces.
"We're sorry! We didn't know!" she pleaded frantically.
"Uh huh. Well, if you show me around this place now, I'll keep my mouth shut," Alfred offered. They relaxed instantly.
"Really? You'd do that for us?" Winona asked, voice dripping with hope.
"Sure. I'm feeling nice today."
"Whew, thanks!" Peter exclaimed.
"Alright, where do we start?" Alfred asked, giving the main room another once-over. The kids jumped up from the piano bench and ran around to Alfred's side. Winona was a bit taller than Peter, standing at Alfred's stomach while her brother stood at Alfred's waist.
"I know! There's this funny room in the basement," Peter offered, pointing to another flight of stairs that led downwards.
". . . I don't like that funny room," Winona admitted, rubbing her arm.
"Er, what kind of 'funny room'?" Alfred asked, suddenly a little unsure of this kid-led tour.
". . . It's weiiirrd!" Peter scrunched up his face at the memory of the room.
"That sounds kinda fishy. Are you guys even allowed there?" Alfred questioned, crossing his arms and staring down at the kids. They shared a guilty grin.
"Nope! But you're keeping your mouth shut anyways, aren't you?" Winona asked, though she knew the answer. Alfred had to hand it to these kids: they were clever. Manipulative and scary, but clever nonetheless.
"Fine. Besides, if it's a funny room, then it'll probably tell me more about the old man. Lead the way." The two scampered to the basement, heads whipping behind to make sure Alfred was following closely enough. They descended further down the stairwell, and deeper into the darkness.
"This is the basement. We play hide and seek here." Winona explained.
"You should turn the light on before you trip on somethin'," Peter advised. Alfred found a light source and flicked it on. Peter surged ahead to the piles of knick-knacks in front of them, some priceless antiques and others worthless junk.
"Once we were down here and the lights were out, and Peter fell down those stairs. He chipped a tooth, but that's ok because he's ugly to begin with," Winona explained to Alfred. Peter was too far away to hear her.
"We used to find all kinds of cool junks here! Moldy books, moldy buckets, moldy cheese . . . You name it!" he exclaimed, pulling out a boot-shaped beer glass. Alfred sighed.
"You kids are crazy," he muttered to himself. He searched the basement with his eyes, finding all sorts of useless trinkets like Peter had mentioned. Then, he saw an old wooden door with an elaborate, eerie design on it in the darkest corner of the basement. He silently pointed to the ominous door, and the children silently nodded. Never one to fear danger (though he did fear ghosts), Alfred marched into the room and fumbled for a light source. His hand met a cord, and he yanked it before the room was washed with light. He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes, but then what he saw next made him blink his eyes again, and even take off his glasses to clean them. Once he put them back on, however, he knew what he was seeing was real.
Hundreds of origami rabbits. Pink ones, green ones, white ones, all strewn about the room. Many were standing upright, but others had fallen over. It seemed like some of them were dumped in the room haphazardly, while others were placed with care. Did Feliciano have an obsession with paper folding? If so, why only rabbits? And why were they all kept in a special room?
Alfred looked at his feet and saw a strange stuffed animal. He picked up and decided it sort of resembled a platypus, though the toy was crudely made and very old and worn. He decided to take it with him, hoping that it might creep out Arthur if he brought it back to him. It truly was hideous.
"Did you see them?" Winona asked.
Alfred nodded slowly. ". . . What do you kids know about those rabbits?"
"Nothing! The old man didn't want anyone to go inside, so we never told him," Peter explained, picking up an old strainer.
"There're more of them, actually," Winona added. Alfred's eyes widened in interest.
"Where?" he asked.
"Inside the abandoned lighthouse! It's just beneath this cliff." While Winona wasn't a fan of the origami rabbits in their basement, she did enjoy the lighthouse.
"Wanna go see? I got the keys!" Peter exclaimed, holding up the items in question.
". . . Let me guess: You aren't supposed to go in there either." The two shared a mischievous snicker. Alfred sighed.
"Remind me to never keep any locked cabinets around you two."
"So, do you wanna go see the lighthouse or not?" Peter asked, impatiently tugging on Alfred's sleeve. Winona gave him her best puppy dog eyes.
"Well, Arthur's probably almost done by now, but. . . Oh to heck with it. It's in the name of the job! Besides, waiting 10 more minutes won't kill him. Come on, kids, let's go see that lighthouse!"
As the trio made their way to the lighthouse, they walked by the scene of the crash. Luckily, the Sig Corp van had stopped smoking, and the damage to the front looked repairable. Unluckily, the poor, misfortunate creature was starting to smell.
"Who's the dummy that crashed the car?" Peter asked, pointing interrogatively to the smashed van. Alfred rubbed his neck.
"That was, uh. . . Dr. Kirkland. Yeah. Oh, Dr. Kirkland, tsk tsk tsk!" Winona pointed to the squirrel lying in the road.
"And who ran over the poor squirrel?" she asked, feeling a bit saddened and disturbed.
"Uh, that was also Dr. Kirkland. He's terrible." Alfred's lies were like pills: easily swallowed, and easily forgotten. The children accepted his answers without much thought, and Alfred considered it a victory in his book.
Inside Feliciano's bedroom, the only sounds that could be heard were the gentle clatter of keyboard keys, the hum that accompanied them, the faint but persistent heart monitor tones, and the rhythmic ocean waves.
"Dr. Kirkland, is it all right if I ask you a few questions?" Eliza asked, breaking the conversational silence. She was now seated by Feliciano's side. While she would never claim to have known him well, he was a very kind and loving man that she didn't want to see leave.
"Certainly, Miss Eliza. What would you like to know?" Arthur answered. The calibrations were almost set, and most of the remaining work was up to the machine. Eliza straightened out her skirt.
"Well, for one . . . what exactly is it that you and Dr. Jones do? Feli only told me that you can grant wishes, but he didn't explain how."
"Ah, yes." Arthur leaned back in his seat. "While the term 'granting wishes' sounds a bit grandiloquent, it is true in a sense. The employees at Sig Corp, myself and Dr. Jones included, use this machine to look at, and to an extent, interact with, the memories of our patient. We start with their most recent ones and work our way back in time."
"Oh, I see. But to what end? How does that grant his wish?" Eliza questioned, glancing unseeingly at a point behind Arthur's head. Though others may have taken the gesture as rude, Arthur knew that she was dealing with difficult times. He sympathetically gave her the answers she so craved.
"Dreams are powerful things, Miss Eliza. Sometimes, when a dream is powerful enough, it can drive a person to incredible lengths. So, what would happen if those dreams, those desires, were implemented earlier on in a person's life? If they spent their entire lives aspiring towards that one goal? If they had all the time in the world, and as many resources as possible at their fingertips? The possibilities are limitless."
"Wow." This time, Eliza glimpsed out the window, allowing his words to sink in.
"In short, that was the idea behind Sig Corp: allowing someone's passions to be followed to fruition. However, the process overrides a person's true memories, so the procedure is only done on their deathbed."
"Hence why you're here," Eliza supplied.
"Precisely."
"And you'll change Feli's memories so that even as a young boy he'll have wanted to go to the moon?" She turned her eyes downward to meet his tight eyelids. He was always squinting whenever she saw him walking around, but somehow that same action seemed woefully unfitting when he lied struggling on his bed.
"That is our aim, yes."
Just then, the machine gave out a satisfying tone, signaling that its configuration process was complete.
"Ah, excellent. Now we simply have to wait for Alfred." Arthur stood up and crossed the room, stretching out his arms in the process. It was going to be a long night, after all. Eliza followed him with her eyes, one more question still in them.
"If you don't mind me asking, you two seem rather close. Are you…?" her voice trailed off. Arthur halted in his tracks at her words and turned away to hide a blush forming at his cheeks.
"If you are insinuating that we are romantically involved, I must stop you there. Alfre—Dr. Jones and I are simply work partners and friends." Arthur coughed once into his closed fist.
"That's all, hm? Shame." Despite her words, Eliza smirked. Arthur hadn't told her they were straight, just that they weren't seeing each other currently. It gave her something to hope for.
Alfred, Peter, and Winona reached their destination. The lone lighthouse stood on the edge of a shallow cliff. The foot of the building nearly touched the ocean waves, and its head nearly grazed the moon. The lighthouse had clearly seen better days, and seemed very old and sad, but determined to continue living.
Alfred spotted a gravestone sticking up out of the ground at the foot of the lighthouse. He walked closer and read the words, "In memory of Louise B. Vargas."
"'Louise Vargas,' huh. Was she Feli's wife?" Alfred asked, suddenly feeling a little heavier. The children shrugged.
"Dunno," Winona responded dismissively.
"Come on, the lighthouse is right there!" Peter shouted, rushing to open the door. The trio trudged up many flights of stairs before reaching the top. Sure enough, more paper rabbits. This time, however, an unusual multi-colored rabbit stood peering out over the ocean. Alfred guessed it was made with two sheets of paper, one yellow and one blue. While the others seemed to be carbon copies of each other, this one was different. He grabbed the rabbit and tucked it into his breast pocket.
A jaunty jingle filled the air. Alfred looked in surprise towards his vibrating pocket.
"What the—someone's calling me." Alfred pulled out his phone and saw the caller ID. "Ack, I should've guessed." He answered the phone to hear Arthur's impatient scolding. "Yeah yeah, we're coming!" Alfred let his partner drone on for a few more seconds before hanging up mid-sentence.
"Blah blah blah. Am I right?" Alfred asked the children. They giggled in response.
"Alright, kids, let's head back."
"Where the huckleberry pie have you been?" Arthur asked accusingly. He had recently replaced all of his swear words with family-appropriate ones, due to the holes in his pockets that his swear jar had singed.
"Burning ants with a magnifying glass," Alfred answered, shrugging. Peter and Winona had stayed by the piano once they reached the house again.
"Using moonlight?" Arthur asked, raising one eyebrow.
Alfred groaned. ". . . Okay, I was taking a nap then! God, it's so hard to be a smartass nowadays," he complained.
Arthur smirked. "You're pretty good at being half of it." He caught Eliza's eye despite himself, and saw her smirking too, though for an entirely different reason. He coughed once into his closed fist.
"Your helmet's on the couch. Get it on, we're going in."
The two scientists strapped on their helmets and each took a deep breath. Eliza gave them two thumps up, much like Alfred had done earlier for her. He smiled back just before Arthur flipped the switch. The light and color in the room dimmed slowly into black, and then flashed swiftly into a blinding white. They plunged into Feliciano's memories.
Rainbow's Thought Volcano: The scientists are too cute, amirite? Eliza's been employed as every shipper's favorite for her ability to get all kinds of guys together. Truly a gift from the heavens. Oh and in case anyone out there couldn't tell, Winona is Wy. She and Peter are both such little twerps. Which is why we love them.
Also, I have to apologize to anyone familiar with the game for making the introduction two parts. It's arguably the most boring part of the story and I dragged it out. Sorry guys! Hopefully the parts I added and Alfred and Arthur's quips were enough to keep things entertaining? If not, there is no need to fear. I'll update soon.