Once Upon A Time | A Hetalia x Reader

Chapter 26: Home

lol I feel so guilty for not adding in the female baes. fml.

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The morning bliss was the ordinary like any other day. The three of us journeyed throughout the newest and the oldest villages, in which stood tall but worn down.

The walk to the main kingdom was a long one. We took many stops, slept through different inns and little caves, across the rivers that its waters rushed by, and then into a broken village that shown no sign of life.

And as everything was in shambles, my vision darkened. I intuitively stood my ground, as if some enemy lurked by, and kept telling myself that no one was hiding. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. And I stubbornly kept still, refusing to move, as Alfred and Arthur walked around, inspecting the dust and particles that sat there for many years.

The village looked as if it were intentionally burned down. But that was just my observations. Any other interpretation would be a theoretical statement that would never particularly grow to be true.

"Would you like a cupcake, poppet?" a voice chirped so abruptly. I whipped around and took a swing at them with my satchel, but they seemed to dodge. I glared.

Arthur seemed to realize who it was the moment he went to see who it was, "Oliver, you sneaky bastard! I was going to go ahead and look for you at some point, but I guess that's unneeded."

"Why, such nice consideration for you to think of that!...for once." Oliver smiled bittersweetly. "Just wanting to pay a visit to see how far you all are. Especially sweet little (Name) here who may have caused the murder of...well...her."

"What?"

"The head's up that Yukina gave you? Yes, well, she died because of that. Not particularly following some terms."

"You monster."

"Not exactly. If she were to rebel against a higher power, of course she would have had to accept the consequences, now, would she?" he scoffed. "And despite this, that information was quite useful. Too bad it was leaked. Now we aren't able to teleport as easily as we were able to before. Seeing that we are prohibited to use the spell again."

"You and your villainous aspects." I heard Arthur mutter.

"My specialty. It's my cup of tea."

"Let's just go, you guys." Alfred mumbled, grasping me by the arm and pulled me back.

During those few seconds, everything felt dead silent. As if the heavens stared right down at all of us and says to us, "You chose the wrong choice."

And no one acted otherwise, for Oliver immediately lunged forward and pointed at us three with a knife. "I'm not done yet!" he stated with a glare, suddenly seething with impatience and anger.

"Just face it. It's two against one. You wouldn't want your face to get even more ruined, don't you?" Arthur claimed as he stood by my side. I neatly smacked his arm as soon as he stopped, letting him recoil afterwards in possible pain or just shock.

"You and your sexist assumptions!" I yelled, glaring so harshly at all three men that I wished that they backed away in fear. But they still stood their ground, so sad, and Arthur didn't seem to come any closer either.

"Yeah!...what she said!"

Upon such a statement I could've sworn it was one of the men who said it. But no. I thought wrong.

"Goodness," Oliver panicked as he turned his heel and sprinted away, stumbling in the process, as if fearing so heavily of what was behind me. And as I turned around, I was met with a group of travelers with a young girl and a taller boy in the front.

"Hello," I greeted them calmly, stepping forward as Alfred and Arthur made way. I hoped they weren't aggressive, but they all seemed ready to fight any moment now.

"Hello, miss!" the youngest of them all replied happily, stepping forward as well, but was kept held back by the boy who stared daggers my way.

"What brings you newcomers here? Or have I just never seen you before at the village?" another girl replied from afar, looking as if I was really far away and decided to project her voice in a clear and noticeable way.

"We're new." Arthur replied happily. "Never seen you all either."

"Thought so. You all seem lost. It was a matter of time we came here before....whatever that was happened."

The rest of the group just watched our conversation, merely curious and eager. Curious and eager to know our names, and where we came from, and maybe why we're here. I could see it in their gazes. I knew that gaze every time I was partially hosting a large festivity of the sort in my kingdom...

"I'm (Name)," I said, then pointing to Alfred, then introducing him, then pointing to Arthur, then introducing him as well. There was a deafening silence right afterwards, as all figures stared heavily my way.

The questioning gaze.

"(Name)...(Name) (Surname)?"

My heartbeat quickened. "N-no," I replied, cursing to myself for the stutter, but tried to look convincing and confused. "I'm (Name) (Maiden Name). Buuut," I paused for effect. "It would've been splendid if I were in her shoes. She's such a great role model, and a beautiful one at that!"

"But also selfish and stubborn." Alfred teased from behind me.

"Shut up," I retorted in a low tone.

"It must be a burden to have two men following along with you, no?" another girl asked, laughing afterwards.

"Oi! You shut up now! I in particular am definitely not annoying and repetitive, unlike someone in our group."

"That's my line," Alfred grinned.

"Why did I bother bringing you into my home."

"Because you're such a good kiddo!"

"Well," the girl spoke up again. "I suppose we'll be heading back now. Would you like to come with? I would honestly love to show you around our village!"

I smiled widely. "We'd love to."

-

"Use your smile to change the world. Don't let the world change your smile."

-

{ Alfred has changed, don't you think? }

Alfred: Well, I'm just really happy to be with my bro-slash-father-like best friend Artie!

Arthur: ( #¬_¬) Don't call me that you dimwit.

{ Other than that, I hope you like this chappie! Next week is going to be a homework-free week - "Hooray!" - and that will be the opportunity for Dana and I to recreate the ending to make it a bit more...less cliché. }

Arthur: Tch. It had already been cliché from the start. You can't avoid it now.

{ Honestly, I was just thinking of extending the story. :P I guess the discussion will be placed into consideration in the meantime.

Have a great day/night everyone!

- Author-kun }