Chapter 4: Viaggi
The next morning showed Italy waking up before anyone else—out of pure habit. Japan had, at some point in the night, handed off his watch to China. "Ohayo..." He mumbled in Japanese, as China turned to greet him.
"Zăo ān, Italy. You're up early, aru..."
"Ve~ I'm used to it. I'd get up early every day to further my research." He stated, rubbing his eyes as he stretched in a cat-like manner.
Italy ended up sitting next to China, as they watched the sunrise—how there was a sunrise in the Aurora, they didn't know, but questioning it ended up giving them both a headache, so they just decided to enjoy it—in companionable silence, enjoying the peace while it lasted. Japan awoke not too long after Italy, and joined them; sitting on Italy's other side. He made no mention of what happened the night before, and Italy was grateful.
About an hour later, everyone was up and about, though admittedly rather cranky. France had somehow migrated in his sleep to England's sleeping bag, and started cuddling him. Of course, Japan and Italy—the latter for blackmail purposes more than anything—took a picture of the two cuddling together, before England woke up and started a typical Frangland fight. Of course, this fight woke up the other nations, except for America who could sleep through pretty much anything—only Canada, Italy, and Romano seemed to know how he was able to do so. However, once Russia got involved, and started kolkolkoling, America sprang up as if someone had suddenly given him a double shot of espresso. Needless to say, it was havoc. Finally, the only nation who was trying to continue to sleep had had enough.
Canada had many secrets that the other nations didn't know, though admittedly, most were only secrets because nobody noticed him. Among them, was the little detail that he was not a morning person. Even America was scared of his twin if he was woken up too early. Canada may have been the more docile twin, but he was actually stronger than America; he just preferred not to use his monstrous strength often. But if there was one thing that pissed the normally peaceful Canadian off—other than interrupting his Hockey—it was being woken up too early, with no pancakes, no maple syrup—or really cheap maple syrup, how insulting!—and loud chaos.
So when the Canadian had finally had enough, he slowly sat up in his sleeping bag, with a dark glare on his face. America, recognizing the look immediately, did the intelligent thing and got as far away from the chaos his brother was glaring at as possible. Italy and Romano, while not knowing the Canadian as well, recognized the glare as one that they commonly wore when someone had crossed a dangerous line. And seeing as America was trying to get as far away from the mess as possible, they took the hint and also moved away, with Japan and China following their lead. Prussia had noticed shortly after America had, and knew that he'd be better off with the quiet group cowering behind the rocks. "It isn't Unawesome if it saves you from Birdie's wrath." He muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately for the other nations (including England and France, who normally would've recognized the look and run for the hills, but due to being engrossed in their argument, completely missed the warning signs), nobody else recognized the danger that they were undoubtedly in.
"ENOUGH!" Canada yelled—actually yelled—in anger. England and France, recognizing the danger too late, 'eeped' and hugged each other for dear life. What happened next was a thorough tongue-lashing (and a few fists) from a very angry Canadian. Russia was quickly reminded of the reason why he feared the normally silent nation.
By the end of a full 30-minute rant, the nations that were yelled at felt like five-year-old children being scolded by a beloved grandparent—which was typically much worse than being scolded by ones parent.
"Now, if you'll behave like the adults you claim to be..." Canada trailed off ominously, leaving the nations to shudder at the threats that their minds supplied to them. How they could've ever forgotten this nation, nobody knew.
Heh, no wonder America often asks Canada to watch his 50 kids when he needs a break. I always wondered why they seemed to be more obedient for Canada than they were for Romano and I. Italy thought to himself, remembering how he and Romano had accidentally discovered that America's 50 states had personifications a few decades ago, and offered to help him watch them (though their ages ranged from 8 & 7 [Alaska and Hawaii], to 17. The original 13 colonies were the only ones who were 18-25.). They hadn't minded too badly for the twins, but some of them had tried to test them. Needless to say, they didn't test them for long.
After a rather awkward breakfast where the nations tried to appease or avoid the Canadian (which Prussia, Italy, Romano, and the FACE family chuckled at, because they knew that the Canadian was the type of person to explode or rant or whatever, get it out of his system, and then put the entire matter behind him. In his mind, he stated his opinion clearly and illustrated his point, so there was no need to dwell about it any longer, so long as they didn't make the same mistake again) they all stood around, wondering what to do.
Quite suddenly their entire environment went back to the familiar whiteness that they'd associated with the Aurora. Many nations tensed, knowing that this meant more memories were about to be shown.
Then the whiteness faded again, until they found themselves in another unfamiliar Regios. Italy's eyes sparkled with excitement; he knew exactly what memory this was, and it was one that he enjoyed quite a bit.
"This is 583 TF. Welcome," He started, "to Umevokin." He spread his arms wide, as they gazed at the strange city. What made it so strange was that half of it was covered in snow and frost and all things winter, while the other half seemed to be in an eternal summer. There was even a small volcano (fake, of course) on the summer side.
"The fuck is up with this place? It's all... weird..." Romano stared at it with confusion. There was a small divider between the two seasons. To trap in the temperatures, presumably.
"It's a unique Regios that represents summer and winter. Most Regios have weather-controlled environments, so they never experience the seasons. Occasionally they might make it a little foggy, or rainy, but water is a precious resource that can't be used so flippantly." Italy explained, a joy and glee shining in his eyes that they hadn't seen in quite some time, as he excitedly explained about the Regios. "I helped build this Regios with Romano, and we decided that the joys of the Seasons shouldn't be lost to time, and to recreate it here~! It's one of my favorite Regios! Last I heard, it was still alive and wondering around when I jumped back in time." Italy smiled, as the nations relaxed once they realized that this Regios wouldn't be destroyed like the others.
"Another thing that makes this Regios unique, is that it holds two Electronic Fairies." Italy added, as Feliciano and Lovino finally came into the memory.
"Are we sure this'll work? Did you double-check your calculations?" Lovino asked, staring intently at a notebook in his hand as they walked towards the center of the city.
"Si. I checked them five times. Relax. Everything'll be fine~ We helped build this Regios, after all, I'm sure that the spirit will grant one of us a power. If nothing else, it might know where the Time Electronic Fairy is." Feliciano stated, looking eager, an excited bounce in his step.
"Alright, fine, damnit. But it better work this time, okay?" Lovino huffed, following after his brother with his trademark scowl.
"Lighten up, Fratello, or they'll never pick you~" Feliciano teased lightly.
"Che. 'Lighten up' he says. 'They'll never pick you' he says. Some brother he is." Lovino mumbled to himself.
"Ve~ I heard that! Just for that, I'll hide all the pasta sauce I managed to make~" Feliciano chirped happily, as he dashed away.
"W-wait! Come back! Don't you dare hide that fucking sauce!" Lovino yelled as he gave chase, but the nations could easily tell that the two brothers were only playing around, especially when Feliciano started a snowball fight, which Lovino gleefully joined in on (as well as any nearby kids).
By the time that the snowball fight ended (hours later for Feliciano and Lovino, but only a few minutes to the nations watching), Lovino and Feliciano were sopping wet, rather cold, and grinning like loons. They walked across the street to the Summer side of the Regios to dry off and warm up.
Feliciano plopped down on the grass spread-eagle, as he gave a contented sigh, followed by Lovino. They laid there for a few minutes in silence before Feliciano finally spoke.
"How long has it been since we've laughed like that fratello? Since we've had that much fun?"
"I... don't know... I can't remember the last time I laughed like that." Lovino answered honestly.
"Neither can I..."
It was silent for a few more minutes. "Come on," Lovino finally said, as he stood up; both of them now dry from the summer heat. He offered his fratellino a hand up. "We should get going if we're going to reach the Core tonight."
Feliciano nodded his head as Lovino helped him up. "Right."
"Ze Awesome Me is still confused." Prussia interrupted.
"Ve~ Every Regios has a Core. It's the main engine room, and the Heart of the Regios. That's usually where the Electronic Fairy is. Sometimes they'll explore their Regios and hide among their people, but they usually stay in the Core. Romano and I were heading to the Core of Umevokin to meet with the Electronic Fairy there to attempt to gain some sort of power or ability. They don't part with their powers lightly, as they can only ever give them away once per millennia, in the best of cases." Italy explained, as the memory skipped to show the two brothers standing in a large room with many moving and pumping parts. It looked incredibly complex, and the nations had to remind themselves that the Italy twins had made this.
"Ve~ We're finally here." Feliciano stated softly before calling out, "Umevokin! Please come out~! We'd like to ask you if you could grant one of us your ability~!"
"Tch! Like it'd come out that easily, fratellino! Honestly! Didn't I teach you any—" But whatever Lovino was going to say was cut off by a chuckle. They turned to see a glowing three-tailed fox. It had thick white fur, the color of freshly fallen snow, and icy-blue socks, tipped ears, and tipped tails, with elegant, frost-like swirls in a slightly lighter shade of icy-blue stretching throughout its body. Its eyes were a deep sapphire blue color, and it seemed to be chuckling in amusement.
"Umevokin?" Feliciano asked hesitantly. The fox chuckled a bit more, as it moved a bit closer to them, examining them. It looked at Lovino, before huffing, and turning instead to Feliciano.
"OI! What the fuck was that?!" Lovino yelled, offended.
Before they knew it, another fox appeared beside the first. It, unlike the white one, was a fiery red color, with black socks, soot-colored tipped ears, and golden tipped tails (it also had 3 tails). Its eyes were a fiery golden-red color, and it seemed as if it were radiating a significant amount of heat.
It didn't seem to be chuckling, but instead gazed at Lovino with a critical eye. After a few minutes of breathless silence, the two foxes looked at one another, before nodding their heads. They started glowing intensely, the white one, blue, and the second one red. Feliciano and Lovino had to look away before it finally died down. In place of the two foxes, stood two boys about the age of 12.
The first boy was very pale and had long white hair with blue tips, and a pair of icy-blue tipped white fox ears atop his head. He also had three white fox tails with icy-blue tips, and intelligent sapphire-blue eyes. He wore a wicked smirk that just screamed mischievous prankster. He wore a white garb that reminded them of something from Japan's people, with an icy-blue sash and a snowflake design throughout.
The second boy, just an inch or two taller than the first, had long fiery red hair with black tips, and a pair of matching red soot-tipped fox ears on his head as well. He, too, had the red fox's three tails swaying behind him languidly, as golden-red eyes gazed intensely—though not nearly as intense as before—at Lovino, just as the white one was gazing with great interest at Feliciano. He wore a bright red outfit, with flames at the bottom working their way up to his middle, and a golden sash, and his skin held a rich healthy tan.
"Greetings. We are Umevokin." They stated at the same time.
"Two?!" Lovino cried out, shocked.
"Yes. We are twins, like the two of you. We remember you." The red one said.
"You can call me Yuki~" The white one said cheerfully, much like Feliciano would.
"And I am Natsu." The red one stated with a slight scowl.
"What do you mean by you remember us?" Feliciano asked.
"You're our fathers~ You created the Regios Umevokin, and so created us~! We sorta took on parts of your personalities, too, but that's okay~! We don't mind!" Yuki chirped as he leaned against the railing, his tails swinging in amusement.
"We... created you?" Lovino asked, shocked. "I thought you were all born in Sheniebel!"
"Ve~ Sheniebel is the only Regios with the Spirit Copy System, or SCS for short. It has a large tree, which creates Electronic Fairies, thus allowing more Regios to be built. Most Regios have Electronic Fairies from the SCS, but a few managed to personify themselves. Interestingly enough, the only Regios that I know of that have natural personifications, were those created by nations." Italy explained at their confused looks.
"We were born naturally. We're here because you built us. Now, I doubt you came for a simple 'hello' visit, dads." Natsu said with a slight sneer. Obviously, he was a little mad at them for not visiting them, but the twins could still see the love, respect, and affection shining in his eyes, though it was very well hidden.
"Ve! Please don't be mad, Natsu~! We'll come back and visit more! We promise!" Feliciano quickly said, hating that his 'son' was angry with him.
"See?! I told you Papa wouldn't like that!" Yuki said with a glare at Natsu as he gave Feliciano a hug. "It's okay Papa! I'm not mad at you."
"Che." Natsu rolled his eyes in a very Romano manner. Lovino, on the other hand, was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had two sons that were personifications like them.
"Oh, fucking joy. I feel a headache coming on." Lovino muttered to himself, missing Natsu's amused glance. "Look, we just need to know if you're willing to grant us your ability. We're looking for an Electronic Fairy of Time. There's a rumor that there's one Spirit that can grant someone the ability to go back in time, and we'd like to go back and prevent billions of innocent people from dying, including our close friends." Lovino finally said.
It was silent for a few tense moments, as Natsu and Yuki exchanged glances, before Yuki finally spoke, his playful demeanor and tone suddenly gone and replaced by a serious expression. "We each have one power to give. I'm willing to give you mine, Papa Feli, but the thing about Regios Abilities is that the person that they're granted to must be compatible. Normally, a human can only hold one power tops, any more and they'll die. But you two are nations, or former at least. You'll be able to handle many Regios Abilities. However, please remember that the more Regios abilities you gain, the fewer you'll be compatible with. Each one you gain will have to also be compatible in some way with the new ability you're trying to gain. If you gain a wind-type ability, you more than likely won't be able to gain an earth-based ability even if you would've been compatible otherwise." Yuki held out a clear orb, the size of his hand. "This crystal is connected to my core abilities. If it glows for you, then you'll be compatible with my powers, and I'll grant them to you." He said with a smile.
"Papa Lovi..." Natsu spoke in a firm, yet soft tone. "I'm also willing to grant you my power, but like Papa Feli, you need to be compatible with it." He also produced a clear orb.
As Feliciano took Yuki's orb and channeled his kei into it as instructed, it glowed a brilliant icy-blue color, and Natsu's orb glowed a fierce fiery red.
Natsu and Yuki both smiled, Yuki's excited and happy, while Natsu's was more reserved, though still pleased. They said something in an unfamiliar language—the language of the Foxes, Italy told them—and the glow from the orbs rose in an enchanting tendril of light and power, before flowing into the two nations.
Feliciano and Lovino gasped, as the power flowed through their veins, encompassing their entire being. The memory then blacked out; leaving the nations wondering just what happened.
"Ve~ We stayed for a few years to learn how to control our new powers." Italy said, as he held out his right hand, palm-up, and lazily created a swirl of snow and frost. "I gained the ability to create, command, and control ice, snow, and frost. I never get cold from the temperature, and cannot freeze to death. Actually, I'm rather comfortable walking barefoot in the snow. Romano gained powers over fire and heat, and never gets hot. He also gained the ability to create, command, and control flames. He also became immune to them, and couldn't be burned."
"Wow~ That's SOOOO COOL! You're like a SUPER HERO!" America shouted with an excited laugh.
"Ve... I'm not sure you could call us that..." Italy muttered with a sweatdrop.
"So... they're really our kids?" Romano asked, not quite sure how he felt about the whole situation.
"For all intents and purposes, yes. We built Umevokin, and they were born from our creation, so technically, we built them. Kinda like how England is technically Sealand's dad." Italy mused, enjoying the rather embarrassed spluttering of the English nation.
"Wh–what are you talking about?!" England choked out, having only ever thought of Sealand as an annoying little brother, or something.
"You mean you haven't noticed? He has your eyebrows, Iggy." America stated with a raised brow.
"So?! You don't!"
"Exactly. I don't. I was a landmass with a personification before you found me, you know. Sealand, however... You did build him, so he's technically your biological son." America pointed out, enjoying the opportunity to mess with his dad immensely.
"Stupid eyebrows, aru. Why did he have to inherit that trait?" China muttered to himself, thinking of his own son, Hong Kong, while choosing to ignore the beet-red Englishman stuttering nonsense.
Before they could calm England down, the next memory faded into existence. Italy smiled when he recognized the Regios. It was made, almost entirely, of beautiful red rocks; the kind you would've found in Utah or mid-western America.
"Where are we now, aru?" China asked, as he watched Lovino and Feliciano climb up a sheer rock-face with no ropes.
"Oi! Romano! It's not safe for you to climb without a rope! Ay caramba!" Spain shouted, grasping his 'little Lovi' and hugging him for dear life. If his little Tomato got hurt...
"ITALIEN! You shouldn't be climbing anything much less without a rope und proper gear! What were you thinking?!" Germany yelled, worried for Italy's safety.
"Ve~ This is Erkigh." Italy continued on, ignoring the German completely. "It is man-made, not Nation-made, and a very popular tourist spot. Its appeal is, if you haven't already guessed, rock-climbing and hiking, but it also offers hang-gliding and body gliding, among other things. As for the whole 'climbing without ropes' thing, well... We're technically not allowed in the Core of a Regios. Only maintenance and cleaning crews are allowed in there. We were able to get into Umevokin's Core so easily because we built it, and went in under the pretense of a check-up on our Regios. But we didn't build Erkigh, so we had to sneak in, hence the whole climbing the sheer rock face at night, thing."
"But why no gear?!" Romano shouted, unable to believe that he'd do such a thing without reason.
"It's a tourist spot. When people go skiing, do you give them a free pair of skis? No. In order to get the climbing gear, you need to rent it; which means checking it out, and leaving a paper trail. It'll be impossible to break into the Core without drawing some sort of attention, even if they don't notice until days later, so we don't want to leave anything pointing back to us. In fact, according to the 'paper trail', right now, we're in a Regios called Kyefager." Italy finished, looking rather proud of himself. They hadn't been caught, after all, and had entered the Regios under false names. Funnily enough, Italy had been Mario, and Romano had been Luigi. Nobody knew what Mario was anymore by that point, so there was no risk in using the unusual names. Other than a few odd looks, nobody even gave them a second glance. And as far as the officials are concerned, Mario and Luigi had simply dropped off the face of the Earth, which is exactly what they'd wanted.
Finally, after giving the other nations multiple heart attacks by slipping and almost falling at least 4 times, Lovino and Feliciano made it to the top. "Fratello! We made it!" Feliciano shouted with glee nursing his bleeding fingers and aching arms.
"Si, si. I told you we could do it!" Lovino shot him a grin, also nursing his injuries. Both sat there for a few minutes, catching their breath and enjoying the view.
"Umm... Fratello?" Feliciano asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, what is it?" Lovino asked as he got up from his sitting position and dusted off his jeans.
"How are we going to get back down?" Feliciano asked innocently, making Lovino freeze.
"Uhhh..."
"Romano!" Spain said in a lecturing tone. "How could you climb up there and not have a plan to get back down?!" Romano shrunk back. Spain may be a mellow guy most of the time, but when Romano's safety was in question, nobody was safe from his wrath. Not even Romano himself.
"I didn't even do this stuff yet!" Romano defended.
"Yet." Spain pointed out, a smug shine to his eyes.
"Well, I won't do it, because this whole apocalypse thing won't happen! How's that?!" Romano shouted.
"Ve! Please calm down! It wasn't his fault! It was my idea in the first place. I'd mentioned it offhandedly, not really even meaning anything by it, and we just kinda decided from there." Italy amended, earning a glare from a slightly protective Germany. Hehe? Whoops!
"You don't know." Feliciano deadpanned, causing Lovino to fall into a mini-depression.
"No." Lovino admitted, as Feliciano finally got up and dusted himself off.
"Come on, fratello. We're already here, so we might as well?"
"Si."
"Oh! I should probably mention..." Italy started, as Feliciano and Lovino started walking to a large building. "This is 2,450 TF. Romano and I have gained a few new abilities since the last memory. I guess the Aurora didn't think it important enough to show, so I'll just skim over it.
In 739 TF, Fratello and I visited a Regios called Puewhiem. It's a German Regios with some Prussian influence—though both Germany and Prussia died in the blast. Its Electronic Spirit is a German shepherd. It's one of the only Regios to breed dogs, as dogs are one of the few animals to survive the apocalypse, but they became very rare and extremely expensive. There, Fratello gained the ability to talk to dogs of any kind, including wolves."
"I wha? That sounds kinda lame." Romano muttered, rather disappointed with the ability that he'd supposedly gained in the future. Really? What use was it to be able to talk to dogs?!
"Don't knock it, Fratello~! It's a very handy ability~! You'd be surprised at all the information that dogs have! They're supposedly really aware of most things going on, or so you've told me." Italy said to Romano, placating his sour expression.
"In 846 TF, we visited a Grecian-based Regios named Keuo, where I gained the ability to speak to cats—the Electronic spirit of Keuo was a two-tailed purple cat with emerald eyes, and a red gem on its forehead. Each tail was forked, too. It was really pretty." Italy stared off into space for a second before he spoke again, ignoring Japan's mutter of 'Sounds like a Pokémon...'
"You'd be surprised at how much cats know. They're huge gossipers, and always know what's going on, regardless of how 'secret' it is. I've even talked to a few cats in 'our' time, that is, pre-apocalypse. They know all about us nations, and have been incredibly helpful in preventing the apocalypse. Word travels incredibly fast by cat, even across continents." Italy explained, enjoying the amazement of the other nations at the little tidbit of information.
"Perhaps Greece-san has the right idea after all..." Japan muttered to himself, wondering if Greece might have somehow survived the initial blast, as well.
"And finally, in 983 TF, we visited a reptile Regios named Synriss. It was a major tourist hot spot, as it was the only place on earth that you could see an actual reptile in its natural habitat. Of course, things like small snakes and lizards lived in many Regios, but Synriss has many different types of reptiles—at least 32. There, Romano gained the ability to speak to snakes and most reptiles, as well as immunity to most venoms."
"A Parselmouth?!" England exclaimed, still a little biased against them.
"Dude. Moldyshorts died decades ago. Let it rest!" America chastised, not bothering to acknowledge England's response.
"After that, we traveled to Erkigh, where we are in this memory, under false names." Italy concluded, deciding to ignore the outburst of the Englishman as well.
"Are you Erkigh?" Feliciano's voice asked, drawing the attention of the nations. They found that they were already in the Core of the Regios, and that Feliciano and Lovino were looking at a rat... At least, that's what the nations thought at first, but upon closer inspection, they realized that it wasn't a rat.
It had golden brown fur, was small enough to fit in one hand, and had a black tipped tail. It was also quite a bit taller than a rat, and much... cuter, in some of the nations' opinions. They realized belatedly that it was a prairie dog.
"Yes." A distinctly young male voice said, presumably the prairie dog—the nations could now claim that they'd seen weirder. "I am Erkigh. Who are you?"
"I am Feliciano Vargas."
"And I am Lovino Vargas."
"Ah," said Erkigh, "the Italy twins, yes? I've heard whisper of you. The Great Vargas Brothers. The 'Miracle workers'." He said with exaggerated awe, laying on the sarcasm nice and thick, before becoming serious. "The geniuses who built the first Regios, Glendan. You've been going around collecting Regios Abilities, haven't you? I assume that's why you've come today."
"How did you...?" Lovino started, but was cut off by Erkigh.
"I'm not the only one who knows who you are. Many Electronic Spirits have caught wind of your journey. Searching for the Electronic Fairy of Time, yes? Planning to prevent all this? Many of us do not appreciate the idea of someone wishing away our existence, but we were built with the singular purpose of protecting our people. There are Spirits out there that call for your demise. They fear their own deaths, and don't want you to continue your quest." He paused for a moment to let the twins digest this information. "I am not one of them. But, as you likely know, in order for you to obtain my powers—"
"One of us has to be compatible, yes, yes, we know, already! Let's just hurry this up before we get caught. I really don't want a fucking record under the name 'Luigi', thank you very much." Lovino interrupted, as Feliciano chuckled.
"LUIGI?! How the fuck did you ever convince me to use the name Luigi?!" Romano cried out, not in anger, but embarrassment. The other nations couldn't help but chuckle as the mental image of Romano dressed in green with blue overalls and a mustache running around bashing bricks popped into their heads.
"Ve~ If it helps, fratello, I used 'Mario'." Italy stated.
"NO, it does NOT help!" Romano snapped back, his face still bright red.
"Here is my orb." The prairie dog said, as a glass orb large enough for the little spirit to use as a hamster ball appeared before them in a flash of soft brown light. Feliciano was the first to pick it up.
As he pushed his kei into it, it started to glow dully, like mud. The brown colors looked mucky, and moved slowly, in a slosh-y motion. Feliciano made a face.
"Ve... I guess I'm not compatible." Feliciano stated with a disappointed sigh, as he handed the orb to Lovino.
"Okay, my turn." He stated, as he started channeling his kei into the orb. It then started to glow a brilliant and clear shade of golden brown, with many different shades of rich reds and deep browns in it. Just like in Umevokin, the colors swirled up out of the orb in a steady yet hypnotizing stream of beauty, and flew into Lovino. As soon as the glow died down, and the orb vanished, Erkigh spoke again.
"Congratulations. You now have the power to control, manipulate, and most importantly purify almost any kind of earth or soil. If you stay here for a few weeks, I can show you how to control this power."
"Yes, please. Thank you very much." Lovino stated with a grin. He was going to enjoy this.
The memory phased into another one. Lovino and Feliciano were sitting on a sheer cliff-face, dangling their legs out over the edge without a care in the world as they watched the sunlight start to creep over the horizon.
"This is the day that we were leaving Erkigh; Romano finished his training, already." Italy explained.
"Fratello...?" Feliciano said after a few peacefully silent minutes.
"Si?"
"I've been thinking... ever since you got your powers, actually..."
"About what?" Lovino prompted, as he spun a few pebbles around in his palm lazily. "Oh! Get this! Erkigh and I found this other ability of mine! I'm hyper-aware of the vibrations in the ground! I can 'see' without actually seeing! Like that old show, Avatar. Remember that? That blind girl, Toph, or something. I can see through the vibrations of the earth! It's clearer with skin-contact, but still..." Lovino trailed off, still excited by his newfound power, before realizing that he cut off his brother. "Sorry, what was it you wanted to say?"
"That's really cool, fratello~! But, um... well... I was thinking that... nearly every nation has, or has had a Regios built with their soil, right?"
"Right..." Lovino echoed, not quite seeing where this was going.
"Well... You have the power to purify soil now... You could even remove radiation from it. I was thinking..." Feliciano trailed off as Lovino's eyes widened in horror.
"NO! We can't! It'd take me months or even years to purify that soil, and besides! Even with protective gear, a nation couldn't survive more than 1 hour in that environment! How would we even gather that soil?! Forget gather, how the fuck would we even get there?!" Lovino ranted, worried that his fratellino would try it anyways.
"Please?! Fratello, he doesn't have one! He deserves one! He may be gone, but his spirit doesn't have to be! It'd be like finally giving him a proper burial... Please fratello? For him? For his family? America was my friend."
The Nations gasped, finally understanding what it was they were talking about. "You... for me?" America asked, honored, and worried. He didn't want them to put themselves at risk for his sake. He'd already caused enough damage...
"It wasn't your fault, you know." Italy said, knowing exactly where the American's mind was.
"Yes it was. If my power plant hadn't have blown up..."
"It wasn't your fault. Look, I'm not sure if it'll show it, but... We eventually found a way to go through with my idea. We went to the Blast Zone. I found evidence of foul play there, Alfred. It wasn't you. Someone else set off the Power Plant. It was sabotaged." Italy stated darkly.
"WHAT?!" The nations all screamed out at once, though America said nothing. He was frozen in place. "Who? And why?!" He demanded.
"I don't know. I never found out. All I could tell was that he wasn't from that time. I killed him before he could set it off, but... He somehow had kei... and he knew how to use it... I don't understand it myself, but before I could get close enough to remove his helmet and examine the body, someone else blew him up. It was very controlled, and left no evidence behind."
"So that's what happened! I was called to the site, because they'd seen a small explosion near a power plant, and they didn't want anything to go wrong. I was called as an extra precaution." America said, angry that someone would do something like this, but more than that, he was angry that someone would endanger the rest of the world for just a chance to do him in. Who had that kind of a grudge against him? He could think of many nations that hated him... that wanted him dead. But he couldn't think of any that would do it in such a brutal manner. In such a roundabout way. They would either want him to know beforehand, take his land and people, or destroy him without endangering themselves. He couldn't think of anyone with enough of a grudge to kill him at the expense of the end of the world as they knew it. And his children... All 50 of his states... His kids... When he found out who did this they were going to wish they were burning in hell for all eternity...
Italy and the other nations backed off when they saw fury burning in America's eyes. Only a handful of them (The Italy twins and Canada) knew that he was thinking of his kids.
"Fine. Damnit. But you're figuring out how to get us there safely. And back." Lovino finally relented, drawing the other nations' attention back to the memory. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, as the two stood up and dusted themselves off.
"Come on, Luigi, it's time to go. The next adventure awaits~! Let's see if we can head back to Upwhur and start on the schematics of that new Regios." Feliciano stated, as they started to walk off.
"Actually, Mario," he hissed out the name with distaste, "There's a Regios that I want to check out first. I heard some rumors about it. It's called Edgevas. It travels near the coastline, but never obtains any long-lasting damage from the ocean spray."
"Really?! Do you think...?"
"It would make sense. If the Electronic Fairy can turn back time, then it could reverse the damage as it's done. It's the most promising lead we've had in centuries." Lovino said.
"Perhaps millennia." Feliciano muttered to himself.
"The ocean has become extremely acidic. Only aquatic Contaminoids can survive in it, along with a few very rare and highly evolved hard-to-catch fish." Italy explained, seeing the confused looks on some of the nations' faces.
"Right, so Edgevas first, then Upwhur?" Feliciano asked.
"Si. To Edgevas, then." Lovino confirmed.
The scene then went back to white. "Well, it's refreshing that there've been no—" England started, before America slapped his hand over his mouth.
"Don't you dare jinx it!" He hissed.
"Yeah, didn't you know? Saying something like that is sure to jinx it!" Canada piped in.
"Perhaps another break is in order?" Italy suggested, as the whiteness changed into the now familiar break room.
"I suppose so." France shrugged, wandering into the kitchen to grab himself something to eat.
"Let's say, an hour and half? That way everybody can rest up and eat something before continuing." Italy suggested.
"Fine with me." Romano stated, before turning to his brother.
"Ve?"
"Chigi. You're going to make pasta with me." Romano demanded. Italy almost laughed. Almost. It was something the two of them did to spend time together and bond. Cooking of any kind was very relaxing to the Italian Twins.
"Si." And with that, they took over the kitchen for some quality bonding time.
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. I meant to post this on New Years for a little gift, but life got in the way. ^_^; Anyways, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. Look forward to the next one, yeah? We finally meet up with Kiku next time~! ^_^
Pages: 12
Words: 6,244/6,280
Date Posted: Monday, January 4, 2016
Edited: 04/18/2019