Headfirst into Hetalia || Hetalia

2. We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

2. WE'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE....

We went down, down, down, down, down, and landed in a heap in a...

...field of sunflowers??

I landed with an "oof!," Arielle thudding down on top of me.

"Ow!" I moaned. "Dammit, did ya have to land on me?!" My backpack dug into my back as I struggled to shove her off.

Arielle held out her hand automatically, not even looking at me as she did so. "S...swear jar."

I fished a quarter out of my pocket and placed it into her hand. I didn't even protest; I was too busy gaping at our new surroundings. "W...we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.... Where...are we?" (And no, we do not live in Kansas. It's just a reference.)

We were surrounded by sunflowers for what seemed like miles. It was crisp and chilly, with light dustings of snow everywhere. (How were the sunflowers even alive here?!) But, despite the cold, it was fairly sunny. I looked up to see a bright blue sky, with not a cloud to be seen.

"Huh. Is it...already winter here?" I shivered, looking up at the sky. Where had our lovely, colorful fall gone?

Then I saw it.

I leaped up. "Ari!"

"Don't...call me that—" She stopped as I pointed to the square of red, yellow, and orange leaves in an otherwise clear sky.

"M-Merrie," Arielle said weakly after a moment of staring. "I don't know how, but...I think that's where we came from. I think...I think those trees are from...what, our world or something? I just don't understand how...."

I nodded weakly. "We...have to get back up there," I stammered. "We have to get out of...wherever we are!"

Arielle began to panic, as she often did in sticky situations. "Oh, God! What do we do? I don't—I don't know what we should do!"

"Calm," I instructed her. "I'll stand on your shoulders, and go through. Then I'll lift you up. That sound good?"

"No," she panicked.

"Calm," I soothed her again.

She nodded and breathed deeply. After a moment to compose herself, she nodded again and positioned herself under the hole.

I hurried over to her and clambered up onto her shoulders. Then I unsteadily stood and reached for the hole.

We were lucky. The hole wasn't so high up, so I could easily could stretch my hand up and through it. Then, with little difficulty, I managed to grab the side, feeling the concrete beneath my hands with relief. With a little help from the gym classes I'd been forced into this semester at school, I managed to pull myself up and onto the sidewalk.

For a moment, I just lay there, in surprise and relief, panting, with my eyes shut. Then I heard some shouts from below, back in that weird sunflower field, and I remembered Arielle. I rolled over into a crouch, reached down, and grabbed her sweaty, outstretched hand. I started to hoist her up.

Suddenly, the concrete flickered back into existence, and I couldn't see Arielle or half of my arm. The concrete disappeared quickly, letting me see down there again, but the damage was done: judging from Arielle's panicked shrieks, it had happened on both ends.

"Pull harder," she begged me, eyes wide in fear. "I don't wanna get stuck here alone!"

I nodded, too tired from lifting her to answer verbally. My back ached from the position I was in, and my arm felt like it was being pulled out of its socket.