Kiku sighed, crossing his arms in frustration as he walked along the cobblestone path. His features were compressed in annoyance.
Xiao followed close behind, gaze traveling around the path as they walked.
"How am I supposed to make up with him?" Kiku asked himself, looking at the beautiful pink cherry blossoms as he walked.
"We'll figure out some way, Kiku. Promise." Xiao returned. "I don't know how, but we will."
"By the way," Kiku asked after a moment of silence. "What did Oliver mean when he said he could help us with magic?"
Xiao huffed and replied with annoyance lacing his voice. "He was suggesting sending us back through Yao's memories, to find out what was wrong."
Kiku blinked. "He could do that?"
"Yeah, he can do anything if he puts his mind to it. But it's still wrong, so don't even think I'll let you go back through my 1P's memories." Xiao bit back, a sudden venom dripping from his tone.
Kiku held his hands in the air. "No, no. I wasn't suggesting that at all."
Finally, they arrived at Kiku's own little pond, a small place with a small brook flowing into it. Koi swam around underneath the water, their colorful scales glinting off of the sunlight and making the water seem to glow.
This was Kiku's favorite spot to come to when he was angry or sad. It helped him to calm down.
Walking up to the water, Kiku watched as the pink petals from the surrounding trees swirled on the water's surface, as beautiful koi below swept the bottom of the pond.
"It's actually pretty beautiful here," Xiao said, watching the koi in the pond. Kiku nodded.
"Yeah, I come here all the time to just relax."
Lost in thought, neither man noticed as the petals began to swirl a bit faster. Seeing the hurried glints of the koi as they darted away, Kiku finally brought his attention back to the pond's water.
The petals had swirled in a way the formed a makeshift frame in the water, so that when Kiku looked down, his face was outlined by the petals. Kiku leaned closer to the water, sitting down beside it on the bank. He watched his reflection, as the petals seemed to scatter once more.
"What are you doing?" He heard Xiao ask behind him.
Pulling away and ignoring Xiao, Kiku noticed that his reflection remained the same as it had been before. Mesmerized and curious, Kiku leaned to face the water again. He reached a hand out to touch the stilled reflection of him on the surface. Just as his hands were inches from the surface, the reflection seemed to spring to life.
It blinked, and upon seeing Kiku's hand so close, reached a hand outward. Kiku was startled by this, and went to jerk his hand away. He was a bit too late, as his reflection's hand reached out and grabbed hold of his wrist.
Kiku yelped in surprise and tried to pull away, but to no avail. Whatever was holding him had a vice grip on his wrist.
"Xiao!" He shrieked, as he was pulled into the water. He heard Xiao also yell, and felt the Chinese man's hand wrap around his waist and try to pull him back.
For a moment Kiku grew hopeful, as Xiao succeeded in pulling him back a bit, enough so only his arm was submerged.
However, all hope was lost when Kiku saw a shadow flash in the water beside him, and dark watery arms reached out and yanked Xiao away.
Kiku heard Xiao scream as he was slammed into the water, seeing several bubbles erupt from the surface as he was pulled under. The thing holding his own wrist began to tug again.
He took a deep breath as he was pulled into the water, deeper and deeper.
The pond wasn't more than three feet, at maximum, right? Kiku thought this as he was pulled deeper and deeper, beginning to lose sight of the light above him. He also couldn't see Xiao anywhere near him.
His lungs screamed for air, and he stopped struggling against the hand pulling him deeper into the endless ravine.
His throat burned, convulsing and begging him to breath again. Kiku squeezed his eyes shut, accepting the fact that he was going to die here.
When he couldn't take it any longer, Kiku opened his mouth. Several strangled bubbles erupted from his mouth.
His lungs acted on instinct and sucked in a breath.
And he breathed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kiku's eyes slammed open again as he gasped for air. He was no longer in a pond, nor was he wet at all.
He found himself in a large meadow, the sun raised high in the sky. A gentle wind blew, carrying along with it the scents of flowers and fresh air.
Kiku worriedly looked around, refusing to believe this was real. Besides him, he heard a groan. Looking to his right, Xiao lay on the ground, also completely dry. The 2P blinked his eyes open slowly, sitting up.
He looked at Kiku before rubbing his sides. "Damn, whatever that thing was sure wasn't gentle."
Kiku waited for Xiao to realize where they were. When the Chinese man finally looked up and around at their surroundings, his face went from shocked, to confused, to angry.
"That fucking bastard!" He yelled, standing up.
"What now?" Kiku asked. "You know where we are?"
Xiao whipped around to face Kiku. "I don't know where this is, but I know that this is Oliver's doing! Look!"
Xiao turned to where Xiao pointed at the ground. A small note fluttered around, pink pen scribbled over it. A large heart was also sloppily drawn.
Kiku bent down and carefully read the note out loud.
"I understand that you said you didn't want to go through Yao's memories. However, Flavio and I simply just couldn't stand by and watch you two mope around! Cheer up, I've sent you back to Yao's past! Please, do be aware of what is happening, I'd hate for you to come back without knowing what's wrong. I'd also hate it if Xiao had chopped off my head when he got back for no reason. Love you both, dearies! ~Oliver ❤️."
Xiao growled under his breath. "I'm gonna strangle him when we get back!"
Kiku was about to protest when suddenly, the wind brought another sound to his ears; crying.
Kiku's eyes widened, and he looked around, trying to gauge where the sound was coming from.
Running over the side of the small hill, Kiku's eyes swept over the flowers and grass. Xiao pointed to their left, and his eyes caught sight of a small boy, who sat in the grass holding a small animal close to his chest.
From the angle Kiku was at, he could see that the boy was no more than two years old. He had a small ponytail pulled over his back, the short dark brown hair blowing in the wind. He wore a much too large robe, that was torn and ripped.
Kiku walked around the front of the small child, and froze. Catching a glimpse at his face, Kiku truly believed he was going insane.
The same, chestnut gold eyes that Kiku had grown to love as he grew up stared downward at the small panda stuffed toy he held dearly to his chest.
"Yao?" Kiku asked quietly. He got no response. Slowly, Kiku reached out and tried to gently poke the young nation, only to have his hand pass right through the small boy.
What? Kiku thought in despair.
"Hey, don't be too sad. This is a memory, so we won't be able to talk to or touch anyone or anything." Xiao said, walking up beside Kiku to look down at the crying Yao.
The little nation continued to cry helplessly in front of them. Footsteps sounded from over the small hill. Looking up, Kiku caught sight of a woman.
She was quite tall, with long flowing brown hair. Her skin was tanned, and she wore beautiful white robes tied together with a royal blue ribbon at the waist. Her wrists and neck were adorned with golden bracelets and necklaces, and she wore golden strapped sandals. Her eyes were emerald green, and Kiku found himself holding his breath.
She looked a lot like Heracles. It couldn't be... could it?
Kiku took a step back and watched the woman as she caught sight of the crying Yao, and she hurried over to him. She kneeled before the crying child, taking his face in her thin fingers, her thumbs working to rub away the tears on Yao's face.
"And who are you, dear one?" She pondered, looking over him. The little boy remained silent, sniffling. His chestnut eyes shone with tears, but sparkled with hope and curiosity as he looked over the woman before him.
The woman smiled. "I am Greece," she said softly. "Ancient Greece. You must be a new nation."
She sat back, standing to her feet. "What nation could you be?"
Kiku watched in awe. Xiao however, just had a knowing look on his face.
Greece smiled and held out a hand. Little Yao jerked away, like he were afraid. "Don't touch panda," he mumbled, cradling his toy even closer to him, if possible. Kiku had to admit how adorable it was. Xiao chuckled beside him.
Greece laughed softly. "Okay, would you like me to carry you? There's no way I little one like you could stay out here alone."
Yao paused a moment before nodding a bit. "Y-Yeah. I'm China."
Greece blinked, before bending over and scooping the small boy up into her arms. "China, huh?"
She paused a moment, and began to walk with Yao towards the direction she came from. Kiku and Xiao began to follow them. "I met a man from the Far East a long time ago," Greece mumbled. Yao just rested his head on her shoulder, snuggling his face into the crook of her neck. "He was very kind, and brought me beautiful silk robes. His name was Yao," Greece looked down at the boy in her arms. Kiku saw a flash of fondness cross her face. "I think that will be your name. Yao."
As Kiku and Xiao walked beside her, they felt the world begin to sweep from beneath their feet as their surroundings faded to black. Getting the strong sensation of falling, the two panicked before they were jerked back upwards into a new memory.
4/27/20; Alright, I know as of right now, absolutely not a single soul is reading this. But that's okay, I guess. I'm still going to continue to post and update this story, as I already have the chapters written out except for a few.
Okay just to clarify because I'm sure it was confusing; Kiku and Xiao were sent back into Yao's memories to view them by Oliver, who heard about Kiku's problem making up with Yao.
Now the two are to continue to watch Yao's memories, with no way out but the end.