The Masquerade

Chapter 14 - The Ball Redux pt 1

Me and Canada headed towards the main hall in silence.

Canada seemed to be daydreaming about his almost-girlfriend Ukraine, but my thoughts were a lot less pleasant.

With every step I took I got more and more nervous about the ball. Hell, the masquerade was one thing, no one knew who I was unless they knew me personally or I told them.

But this time, everyone knew who I was.

When we arrived at the main hall, Britain gave us a look. Clearly, we were late.

"Now that we're all in attendance, quickly I would like to say a few words." Britain began the briefing. "Firstly, all the rules from the ball several weeks ago still apply."

I saw Canada and Australia exchange a glance, but I paid it no mind.

"Secondly," my father continued, "You are to be on your best behavior. I do not want my reputation tarnished by one of your actions."

I could feel Britain's gaze staring into me, but I ignored it, opting to tease my brothers instead.

"Yeah guys, best behavior, listen to your father." I said, with a little bit of a snarky tone to my voice.

My father, like usual, was not amused. "America..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I shoved my hands in my pockets and glared at the ground as if it was responsible for every bad thing that had ever happened to me.

There was a pause before my father continued, "Lastly, America, I better not see you without a lady by your side."

I heard the snickers coming from Aussie and Kiwi, but for the third time in five minutes I opted to ignore them.

I gave my father a subtle nod, hoping to not have to comment.

Britain seemed rather pleased that I didn't argue with him, so finally he let us into the ball room.

And it was packed. Apparently, everyone seemed to want to come to the first real ball we'd had in ages, and I wasn't sure why.

I guess not liking public places isn't a thing for most people.

Somewhere from the room I heard our names being announced, and for a brief moment I panicked. The first chance I could, I ducked away from my brothers to find Poland and Germany.

I quickly found them on the side of the ballroom, talking, Germany holding a glass of champagne.

"There he is! We've been looking for you!" Germany gave me a smile, pushing up his glasses.

I eyed the glass he was holding nervously. He followed my gaze, and then laughed.

"Don't worry, Amerika, I was practically raised on beer. I'll be fine."

There was an awkward pause, before Poland cleared his throat.

"Ameryka, has anything interesting happened to you lately?"

I gave my friends a smile that was more of a grimace. "I had another argument with my father."

"Oh, I see." Germany took a sip of his champagne. He knew not to ask about what went on between me and my father.

Speaking of my father, I remembered the last rule he had set and was suddenly aware of where I was.

"Sorry guys, I just remembered, I gotta go..." I gave the two of them a sheepish smile.

"That's okay! We'll be here if you change your mind!" Poland smiled back.

I gave my friends a grin, before walking into the middle of the crowd.

It was only after I started to feel slightly claustrophobic that I realized I had no idea where I was planning on going.

"Hey! America, right?" I heard someone say, and I turned to see someone I didn't recognize waving at me. "I don't think I ever properly introduced myself. I'm South Korea."

It was then that I remembered meeting him at the masquerade ball. And his brother. And his sister.

"Oh yeah, I remember you!" I said, smiling. "Sorry, last time I saw you everyone was wearing masks."

"Yeah, I know." South Korea said, laughing a little.

"South! There you are!" A new guy who looked very similar to South Korea called, pushing his way through the crowd to get to us. "We've been-"

He then saw me, and instantly his gaze narrowed.

"North, what is is?" South Korea sighed, clearly annoyed at the arrival of who I assumed to be North Korea, his twin brother.

"다음에는 그렇게 뛰어 내리지 마!" North hissed at his brother in a language I didn't understand. "일본은 너를 찾고 있었어!"

"좋아, 좋아 맙소사" South rolled his eyes at his brother, before turning back to me. "I've got to get back to my sister. Sorry."

"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to come with you. You seem like a pretty cool guy, I'd like to learn more about you." I said, hoping my ulterior motive of "taking advantage" of his sister's presence wasn't too obvious.

South Korea gave me a big smile, clearly happy to spend more time with me. But North just glared at me, and with a huff said, "If you must."

The Korea twins led me over more towards the center of the room. I could hear North muttering something under his breath, and judging by the tone I assumed he was probably cursing.

"Japan? You wanted me?" South asked, startling me out of my thoughts again.

"Oh, South! I was!" Japan turned around, and I was suddenly aware of the amazing dress she was wearing.

It was a white gown with little pieces of glitter that seemed to shimmer back and forth when she moved. It was strapless, but the sleeves didn't cover the shoulders but instead came straight across and made a little frill on the side of her arms.

This was exactly the kind of lady that Britain expected to be my wife.

And suddenly I wanted to leave.

And it wasn't just because of the way North Korea was glaring at me.

I muttered a little excuse, before slipping away in the crowd, hoping I could leave before South noticed I was gone.

It was only after I left that I realized that I had nowhere to go.