Welcome to the next chapter! To those reading this as it is being updated, thank you for your patience. I apologize for any grammar and spelling errors.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or it's characters.

Enjoy!

Uncovering What was Forgotten

Taking Arthur's advice, the trio headed directly to Town Hall to see what they could dig up. After discovering the diary in the attic, Gilbert was determined to get more of the story. From what they read something wicked definitely happened in this town. Something that everyone involved painstakingly tried to erase from its history. Every newspaper, book, and Google search gave them no more information than they already knew. Certainly nothing concerning the supernatural. They even tried finding out more about the mayor from back then. If his family really was cursed, surly something odd would show up in the timeline. Right? To their dismay, nearly all of those records were lost to time. Those they could find were lacking the information they craved.

"Man, when these people set their minds to something they go all out." Antonio sighed. Was there really no records of anything left?

"We just have to keep looking!" Gilbert exclaimed. "If this one diary still exists, then there must be some evidence somewhere!" The other two turned and gestured for him to keep his voice down.

"What? It's not like I'm wrong!" He stomped forward, nearly bumping into an elderly woman and her groceries in his blind charge. Antonio and Francis were quick to apologize and asked her if there was anything she needed. She declined their help and told them to mind where they are walking before it's a truck who's path they cross. Nodding sheepishly, the trio got back the the task at hand; though at a more relaxed pace.

"Calm down, Mon Ami." Francis placed a comforting hand of the other's shoulder. "I am positive we will find the key to the puzzle in the town's records!" He put on his best smile. While not radiating confidence, it did show another emotion. Hope.

Arthur had given them the suggestion to go look at the Town Hall records, and he must know more about documents and record keeping than any of them. Sure, the trio had gone over all the stories in the library and asked countless teachers and random people on the street what they knew about the town's history. However, when it came to actually hunting down specific information, they always just relied on the internet. What could exist in the world that in internet didn't know about, after all? Arthur was the one that knew how things where organized and took great pride in his knowledge of the dewy decimal system. If anyone could point them in the right direction, it was the Brit.

"Hmm?" Antonio observed from his spot on Gilbert's other side.

"What?" Francis looked up at the other, a slight blush over his flawless cheeks.

"Oh, nothing." The Spaniard sang. "It just looks to me like someone enjoyed his little talk with a certain someone." Antonio's smile went from ear to ear the darker Francis' face became.

"What of it?!" The accused waved off his friend. "You know I am a man of love and inspiration! If Arthur had some decent advice, why not be a little optimistic?" He babbled. Gilbert, ever oblivious to anything that didn't interest or involve him directly, was confused as to what the other's were going on about.

"What's all this about?" He complained, being out of the loop was not awesome!

"Like I said, nothing!" Antonio laughed. "I'm sure it can wait till after we find what we are looking for. After that, I'm sure we will have all the time in the world for.. other pursuits." He purred. It had been a long time since one of them had a problem that didn't involve ghost houses and treasure hunts. He was looking forward to a more romantic plot line in their lives.

"Whatever!" Gilbert dismissed the hormones in the air as they approached their destination.

"Cough! Cough!"

"Jeez! Doesn't anyone believe in dusting around here?!" Francis was disgusted by the state the records room had been left in. While the more recent files were neatly placed in their proper place, the older files they where searching through were just as forgotten as what was written on them. Layers of dust and grime coated almost everything in sight. He was going to have to shower at least twice when he got home just to get the feeling of spiderwebs off of himself.

"Don't be such a baby!" Gilbert scoffed as he blew some dust the other's way. Francis covered his face with his hands and glared at the albino.

"Settle down, children." Antonio halfheartedly called from his place on the floor. He had a couple stacks of papers in front of him and more off to the side. The receptionist didn't mind leaving them alone with their project since all these records were old enough to be public domain at this point. All the sensitive stuff was either locked up or stored on some database somewhere. Most of what they were look at was incomplete or had been eaten by moths at this point. Some were so faded that there was no telling what was on them.

"I think I'm getting closer to the ballpark," Antonio picked up his next pile. "This on is dated about 250 years ago!" It looked like some kind of agriculture form.

"I mean, it's closer than we've been..." Gilbert pulled out a book on the end of the long shelf. It was heavier than the other book he had already looked through and was in somewhat better condition than most of the stuff in the room. He turned open a random page, not expecting to find much of use.

"Hm...?" Gilbert stared intently at the page. His eyes scanned over the ledger several times, reading and re-reading its contents. Francis and Antonio were mindlessly turning over their files when a shout pulled them from their stupor.

"I got something!" Gilbert was practically bouncing with excitement. They all crowded around the book he was holding and read over what it contained. It appeared to be an old town hall minutes book. In the top corner of the page was the date, 15 Oct. 1719.

"That's a week before the diary page was written!" Francis beamed.

"Ay dios mio! That means whatever happened wasn't long after this meeting took place!" The trio eagerly devoured the information before them.

15 Oct. 1719 - Sunday

Members in Attendance

Arat Zwingli - Mayor

"..."

"Arat...Zwingli! That's who was mayor when whatever happened happened!" Antonio confirmed.

"At last! We have a name to the mystery man!" Francis sang. "Is there anything else that is of interest?" The turned back to the book in Gilbert's hands.

"Let's see..." The current page was all just normal council stuff. Taxes, grain supplies for the winter... Nothing that stood out that there was anything strange going on...

"Wait!" Francis pointed to one of the headlines.

"The issue of the forest and the children"

"Well, that sounds a little out of the ordinary. Right?" He looked at the other two. "Why would they need to have an entire discussion on children and the forest?" They continued reading.

"It has come to the attention of the people of the town that the children have been wandering closer and closer to the edge of the wood on their way home from school. Many have come to their parents asking what lays beyond the darkness and questions why it has been forbidden..."

"Suggests to keep the children away..."

"Mayor: We must reinstate to the children that evil lurks within the darkness of the forest, add to the lesson plans in the schools."

"School Teacher: We must build a fence from the school yard to the path to prevent children from wandering into the hands of the wicked."

"Hands of the wicked?" Antonio questioned out loud.

"They all seemed pretty convinced there was something in there..." Gilbert mused.

The rest of the meeting went on to conclude that funds will be raised to build a divider between the schoolyard and the edge of the woods, but not much else could be practically done without drastically increasing the taxes, which they could not afford to do so close to the harvest.

"They were worried..." Everyone nodded.

"So there was something supernatural going on in this town!" Gilbert boasted. "We were right! It was all a cover up!"

"So it seems..." Antonio didn't know whether to feel proud that all these years weren't for nothing or disturbed that this may be bigger than any of them were ready to take on. Knowing that something otherworldly did once roam the same paths that they now walked... a chill went down his spine.

"Is there anything from the meeting after this one? Maybe they mention something about the 'tragedy.'" Francis flipped to the next page. It was dated a week later... just before the diary entry about hiding the truth. They noticed that the mayor's name was not on the attendance list.

"If it really was his daughter that fell victim, I don't blame him." Antonio sympathized.

"Regarding the Mayor and his Family..." Was how the meeting began.

"So something did happen to them..." Gilbert's hands were shaking as he held the pages tighter.

"The town shall respectfully give the Zwingli family the time and space for their healing at this time of great loss..." However, the notes made no mention of anything supernatural... or much of anything at all. It was as though the writer had purposely left out details about what exactly happened. The rest of the notes were about funeral arrangements and church services for public mourning.

"Bastards!" Gilbert yelled at the book. "They didn't mention anything about the house or anything! They were so worried about something like this and they don't even have the decency to let people know the truth!" He shoved the book back into its place on the shelf.

"Calm down, amigo!" Antonio cooed. "They probably had no idea how to begin to explain what happened themselves!."

"Agreed!" Francis chimed in, "With the shock they must have been in, maybe they thought remembering would make it happen again?" He offered.

"Maybe... but still!" Gil tried to form some argument in his head. His face was a wild mix of emotions. All this time they knew it was a cover up, and they knew from the legends that something really bad had happened... but to just ignore the memory of that little girl... He was starting to think maybe this wasn't the exciting adventure he had always imagined it would be. What bugged him was how quick they all were to just accept the fact that it was their own faults that a kid was killed...

"They never even showed any remorse that she died..." Gilbert whispered. His thoughts went to his brother. If anything ever happened to Ludwig... He would move Heaven and Earth to do something! At least... he would like to think he would.

"Come on!" Antonio led the other to the door. "We've got a name now that we can look up!"

"Wee! Now we can trace that family tree and see if they still live in town!" They dragged their friend back into the hallway.

"Yeah... Yeah! You guys are right!" He once again took his place in the lead. "And if that spooky ghosty shows its face now, we will be here to avenge that kid!" His resolve was set. Never before had the legend felt more real, and so close. As they made their way back to the library to use the computers, no one noticed when a cold wind blew through the empty records room, knocking the ledger off the shelf and opening it to the very page they had just read.

"I'm going to win!"

The young boys were racing back from the park, much to the dismay of the adult watching them. Lovino's mother called out to them several times not to run on the sidewalk, but her pleas went unheard by the pack of youth.

"At least slow down, please!" She was in no shape to be chasing after the boys and just had to let them go while keeping them in her sight.

"I'm closing in on you!" Lovino pushed himself to try to keep up with Alfred and Ludwig, the more athletic boys of their group. His lungs where on fire, but he was not going to just admit defeat to these jerks!

Matthew, meanwhile, had fallen behind to a gentle jog. He was aware of the adult yelling out to them, but still wanted to be part of the race. Even though there was absolutely zero chance he would ever catch up with the others. He wasn't in bad shape, but preferred a slower pace as opposed to his thrill seeking friends.

Though, they were all revealed to see that bright smile on Alfred's face. When they went to the park earlier that day, their friend had been a bundle of nerves. After some time playing, the young boy seemed to come back around to being his over energetic self. Even Ludwig, the stoic one, had started to show signs of concern. In fact, it was his idea to initiate this race. Everyone was shocked when he had brushed into the lead and declared they would race to the end of the block. Alfred was the quickest to recover and was instantly at the other's side. Lovino took a second more before he too took off down the block followed by Matthew.

"Come on, Matty!" Alfred called from over his shoulder in the lead. "You're falling behind!" His laugh was so pure, and so Alfred.

"I'm fine with this position." Matt sighed happily. He looked back up at his friends just as they were passing 'that' house. They had all been so distracted that they didn't even realize were they were! This place was the cause of all their trouble and they completely forgot they has to pass it on the shortcut back to Lovi's! Matthew felt a knot in his stomach and looked directly at Alfred, who had yet to notice... Then he saw the look on Ludwig's face.

The older boy was staring intently, but with a small smile, at Alfred. He was almost keeping pace, letting Alfred stay a few steps in the lead. That was when Matthew caught on to what Ludwig was up to. He knew exactly where they were and what they would be passing by. He was using the race as a distraction! From the happy look on Alfred's face, it was working. The boy was already halfway across and hadn't taken any notice.

As for Ludwig, he was pleased his idea had worked. They didn't bother telling the adults about Alfred's fear. They would have just scoffed or brushed it off as irrational. He knew he needed some way to keep Alfred's mind as far away from his surroundings as possible, and what better way than a friendly race? The boy was never one to back down from a challenge and took everything he did to heart. Ludwig doubted Alfred would even look up before he reached the stop sign at the end of the street. All seemed at peace again.

Just as he was running by the entrance gate that led up to the front door, Alfred suddenly felt a wave a nausea rush over his body. It was like all the anxiety from the previous nights had come back all at once, draining the blood from his head. He felt cold and dizzy as what felt like an icy wind rushed over him. He lost his balance as his legs gave out under his weight, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Alfred!" Ludwig called, not reacting in time to catch the other before he fell. He crouched down next to the other, scared and check for injuries.

"Are you all right?" He asked as Alfred pushed himself up from the ground. His face was pale and he was shivering.

"Alfred!" Lovino and Matthew called, stopping before the two on the ground.

"Are you ok?!" Matthew urged an answer from the terrified boy.

"Did you trip on a rock?" Lovino looked around, trying to find the source of his friend's accident.

"I..." Alfred's voice seemed so small in that moment. However, he seemed to recover as quickly as ever. A pained laugh escaping his lips.

"I guess I tripped over my own feet!" He showed no shame or embarrassment. Alfred himself couldn't tell what had just happened. As soon as the feeling had sent him crashing, it was gone. A faint memory of dizziness, but nothing that stood out in his mind.

"Maybe I'm just tired." He offered as an explanation. They had just spent a good portion of the day running around at the park, and Alfred was not one to take it easy. Ludwig offered a hand to the other. Alfred gratefully accepted the help. As he stood, he let out a cry that startled his friends.

"Sorry!" Ludwig worried he had done something wrong. He was already feeling guilt that he had suggested the race that got the other hurt. It may have been with good intentions, but that didn't change that they were disobeying the rules that were set to keep them safe from accidents like this.

"No, no!" Alfred quickly defended Ludwig's pride. "Don't worry about it! I think I scrapped my knee when I fell is all!" To confirm, Alfred sat back to expose his skinned knees.

"Oww..." He moaned when he got a good look at the damage. The others looked on anxiously.

"Momma!" Lovino called. "Alfred hurt himself!" He knew they needed an adult to take a better look at make sure it wasn't anything worse.

"Oh, Alfred!" Mrs. Vargas bent down in front of the boy. She examined his injures and concluded that it wasn't that bad.

"It hurts..." Alfred whined.

"I know, dear." She cooed. "Oh, what is Arthur going to say?" She worried about the overprotective brother she would have to explain.

"Arthur..." Alfred groaned... What would his brother say? Scold him, probably. That was a whole other conversation he did not want to have.

"Do you think you can walk, or would you like me to carry you?" She moved to give Alfred room to get to his feet while the other boys crowded around.

"No. I can walk. Thank you." He would not be carried like a baby in front of his friends. Mrs. Vargas let the boy be and reminded them to walk. Once she was far enough behind, the boys began their questions.

"What happened?"

"Are you really feeling ok?"

"You could have let Momma carry you."

Alfred did not currently want to be the center of attention. All these questions were starting to overwhelm him when he still didn't have a answer as to what just happened. Ludwig was staying a little closer than normal, even with his unease with physical contact, in case the other tripped again. It was a weird feeling for Alfred, one he didn't know how to explain. Like the breath had been taken out of him, almost like his entire body was suddenly somewhere else then back in an instant.

"I'm. Fine." The tone in his voice left no room for further argument. They boys continued the walk home in silence. No one was sure what to say, and they fell into a comfortable pace. How close they walked together, however, let Alfred know that they were here if he ever needed.

"Thank you, guys... Sorry for snapping." He blushed.

"It's ok. You're hurt and tired. I know I would be pretty grumpy, too." Matthew responded.

"Don't sweat it. If a little sass bothered us, we would had dumped Lovi a long time ago." Ludwig quipped, much to the groups surprise.

"He-Hey! What did you just say, Potato-Bastard!" Lovino fumed playfully.

"Language!" His mother called sharply.

"Oops..." He hung his head in shame. Alfred couldn't help but laugh. Not a big, boisterous laugh, but a lighthearted chuckled that eased some of the tension.

As the group grew more and more distant from the house, the blood left behind on the sidewalk went unnoticed. Nor did anyone notice when it seemed to be absorbed into the ground below, leaving no trace. The moment the blood disappeared, something awoke from without the house beyond the gate.

Spooky!

More of the mystery is revealed as the clock ticks down to the final hour.

See you next time!