HETALIA BELONGS TO HIDEKAZ HIMARUYA
When the Allies reached Germany right after its defeat, they found files and prototypes of weapons which showed that the Reich had not only been working with ideas that we can define as science-fiction, like flying saucers, rays that can freeze all living creatures, bells that can make people go insane or die...Even though Nazis used religions such as the Catholic and Buddhist as tools for war, they believed in certain Pagan and heretic rites and theories which confirmed the alleged superiority of the Aryan race. They looked for the Holy Grial, the Lance of Longinus and Ark of the Covenant, objects with great importance for Christianity, and also recurred to divination and rituals. Everything and everything was allowed and welcome, if it helped win the war...
He hadn't seen a man in two days. It was an Indian, a native from that land—a nosy idiot. He thought he was senile, asked him impertinent questions about his family knowing he was there, where he was from...It was not easy to get rid of him, nor to make him speak about the location of the ruins. He saw him as extremely frail, wanted him to stay with him and the other workers until they found someone to take care of him; he said it was extremely dangerous to go deep into the jungle, to that kind of place, alone. It was true that he was over a thousand, and his body was a wreck, crumbling like the ancient Inca temple he was looking for, but that was exactly what fueled him. He didn't have much time left, and he couldn't leave this world in that state...
The memories, his thoughts, gave his thin arms the strength to endure the exhaustion, the thirst, the hunger, make through the wilderness, into those ruins so inaccessible to the tourists only the locals knew where it was, and even knowing it they didn't go visit it very often, because one of those days they knew it would crumble due to hundreds of years of erosion and rainfall. His mind brought him back to the old days, then remembered what things looked like now and made him push himself to make it.
And so, he got there. There was no way he could have been mistaken. It was just the skeleton of an old temple, just a collection of rubble covered in moss and vine, which served as a shelter for the beasts. He ignored them, the snakes, the birds, the monkeys, and using his machete he made his way into it.
There, in plain view, he saw them. Just as he had heard. It was good to see he hadn't cut a few necks for fake news. If the strange texture and look of the sand which covered the chamber wasn't revealing enough, the zooming he heard inside completely convinced him.
He dropped his cane and got on his knees to touch it. It was as fine as air, and so warm...A smile grew on his face.
There he was. He had been waiting so, so long...He could soon finally die in peace. Just a bit more. Just a few minutes and he would finally rest...
He took as much sand as he could with both hands and poured it on himself.
Suddenly, he disappeared.
1941
It was late, and Italy wanted to go to sleep. But they had to go back to the plan for tomorrow, and it seemed they could leave it for breakfast.
"...Until we are ready to attack Russia, I will focus on making life impossible for England." Germany explained, and with his finger he traced the route the Luftwaffe would follow to the British cities. "Tomorrow, Plymouth, then Bristol, Swansea, Liverpool, Belfast...You, Italy, I want you to prepare your troops for the invasion of Greece. And Japan, your negotiations with America...?"
Japan paused before answering. "I find myself in a dilemma. They are not going as well as I expected. He will make me surrender Indochina...But I am not sure I can trust America. He just won't leave me alone with it. I am already thinking of..."
Germany nodded. "Whatever you decide, I trust you on it. Do what you think must be done."
To which Japan also nodded. He had just done that gesture when a strange zooming sound made them raise their heads from the map. And when they looked up, they found a very old man, bald, nothing but bones and skin, of pale skin with many spots in his hole body, standing in front of them, surrounded by a cloud of sand.
Italy exclaimed something, drawing back, while Japan drew his katana and Germany grabbed a pistol.
"Who are you?!" He exclaimed.
"Germany...My lord..." The man muttered, and walked towards him.
"Stay right where you are!" Germany forced him to stop, aiming at him with the pistol. "Who are you and how did you get in here?!"
"Do not fear, my lord..." The old man obediently raised his scrawny arms as much as he could. "My name is Ernst Baumgartner, sir..."
Germany frowned.
"Baumgartner?" He repeated.
"You know my name, sir...Of course you know me..." The man said, and he approached cautiously to show him his hand. There, there was a silvery ring with a skull on it and several runes: the sig, the hagal, the double...the swastika. The so-called Baumgartner removed his ring and offered it to Germany. At a gesture from him, Italy was the one who took it.
"There is something...engraved on the inside..." He said, and read it aloud. "Ernst Baumgartner, 4th of May 1940. Himmler."
A Totenkopfring. The ring of honor, given to a selected group of men by the SS.
He gave it to Germany and he saw it himself. Then, he looked at the man, not putting his weapon down.
"Have you stolen this ring?"
"No, sir. It is mine. Our reichsführer gave it to me in a ceremony you and our Führer were present in..."
"It cannot be. You are lying, old man. Baumgartner is a young officer."
"Yes, I was young at this time. Right now, I am in Poland, taking care of everything...But me, sir, I come from many decades in the future..."
Silence fell upon them.
"Future?" Italy repeated.
"Do not listen to him. He is crazy." Japan said.
"Then how did he get in here like that?" Italy asked him.
"Of course you do not believe me. I will show you." Baumgartner said, and then they saw he had more sand in his hand.
Germany prepared to pull the trigger, but when he realized, the room around him was fading in a wave of sand. When he noticed, he was not in a closed space, but outdoors. They were in an alley, and a bright multi-color light shone in front of them. The man walked ahead, told the group to approach. They reluctantly did. And when they found themselves in the open, they couldn't believe their eyes.
They were surrounded by tall buildings with the strangest look, neon lights. In one of those structures they saw an orange, black and white flag, colors used a long time ago to represent Germany. It was a very loud place. The cars and motorcycles they saw looked so much different to the ones they knew. There were also scooters everywhere, and they moved on their own at great speed!
But the most unsettling thing were the people around them. Women looked like men, men looked like women. Those women who didn't look like men seemed more like prostitutes, with bright, scandalously revealing clothes. Some of the people they found didn't look like men or women, like transvestites at the most sordid cabarets. There were also niggers and moors, who walked around like they owned the place. Someone yelled some indecency at Germany for the uniform he was wearing, as if they didn't know him or cared who he was.
"What is this place?" Japan muttered.
"This?" Baumgartner grunted. "This is Berlin in the 21st century."
Germany turned his head to him.
"Berlin? ...No...It can't be...This isn't the magnificent project the Führer and I...!"
"You will be defeated in 1945. Like many of your cities, Berlin will be bombed. The Führer will fall, and many of our greatest men will be executed by the Allies. You will be in the hands of those brutes to suffer slavery, degradation, they will manipulate you with their decadent lifestyle, they will let communism, fags and Jews to corrupt you into this. And you," Italy flinched at the man pointing at him and Japan with a bony finger, "you too. The whole world will become an American colony...they will destroy you and rebuild you into something this despicable!"
"We...we lose?" Italy covered his mouth with his hands.
"Impossible..." Japan shook his head, but he kept looking around him and saw so many signs in English, so many indecent-looking people, and a sign advertising a show, dated the 12th of February...two thousand and...
"It is possible...The tables turned...But that doesn't mean they can turn many times..." Baumgartner looked at his nation to the eyes. "Like many, I had to flee when the war was over. I changed my name and moved to Argentina. But I never forgot you, sir, oh, no. Do not be mistaken. I have always been loyal to you. I will be till the very end. I am over one hundred. I have been lucky to live this long, but death will inevitably come one day soon. Every time I close my eyes I don't know if I will open them back again. But I cannot leave this world without leaving it better than how I found it. You had a dream I still believe in. I want this to be my last contribution to you, great Germany..."
He gently took Germany's hand and dropped a handful of sand on it.
"You came to this world to make a change."
Germany was silent for a moment. Then, he clenched his fist.
"Italy. Japan. Obviously, there will be changes. Mr. Baumgartner, tell us more about the situation we are now, in this time."
