Homeless (a Hetalia Fanfic, Book Three)

Chapter 48~!

The only sounds in the inner library were of books being opened, sifted through, closed, and put back on the shelves so the cycle could repeat itself over and over again. Sometimes footsteps or nonsensical mutterings in different languages, but no real conversation. The air around the Magic Trio hummed with power, and it was too unstable for idle chattering. 

Really, it was a wonder nothing had been set fire to already.

However, because it was so quiet, it was of little wonder that all three of the magic users jumped when the main door banged open and a male voice shouted, "Hey, is she in here?"

Arthur clutched the tome he'd been perusing to his chest and stormed through the aisle he'd been working on. 'Who the bloody hell is in here, yelling at the top of his bloody lungs?' he mentally demanded. 

None of the trio was expecting to see a six-foot-two lumberjack-esque man looking for... whoever he was looking for. 

"Who the hell are you?" Arthur hissed under his breath, glaring at him even as he shooed him out the door. "Keep your voice down, git, or you'll get us all killed."

"Whoa-- sorry," the man replied, backing up. England shut the door behind the two of them, and Norway and Romania exchanged looks before returning to their work. 

Out in the white corridor, Arthur whirled on him hotly. "You have no idea what you almost did, do you."

"Well I do now," answered the stranger. "Sorry, I didn't realize there was so much magic in the air there. Otherwise I would've been quieter-- Anyway! I'm looking for my counterpart, have you seen her?"

"Who is your--?" Arthur began, but cut himself off when he realized that he knew those sky blue eyes, reddish-brown hair, and slightly overlapped two front teeth. "You must be looking for Alice. You're from the switched gender dimension?"

"I guess we never really got to talk before, huh?" Alex chuckled. "Yeah, I'm Alex, Alice's male self. Do you know where she is? I'm trying to find her, or Vale, or just somebody who can give me an answer."

"Ah, I see," Arthur replied, merely frowning now. "I suppose I could show you the way."

"Thanks, that'd be great!" Alex said appreciatively, and allowed the shorter man to lead the way. Upon their arrival, Arthur opened the door a little bit and peeked in to make sure he wasn't interrupting anything important. Vale was sitting at her table and mixing ingredients in a beaker over a Bunsen burner; Alice hadn't yet woken up from her nightmare scare; Francis, Alfred, Matthew, and Mary had found a deck of cards and were amusing themselves with some creative Go Fish.

Arthur rapped his knuckles on the doorframe, getting their attention. "Vale, I think someone's escaped from a dimension."

The Scribe's face immediately became set with worry. "Who? What do you--?" He swung the door open to reveal Alex standing there, looking anxious as he rocked back and forth on his feet. "Alex? What the--? How're you even here?"

"A magician never tells his secrets," was Alex's wry answer. Arthur left, deciding that the library was where he would rather be right then, and the state stepped farther into the room. "I wanted to see Alice; I heard she was here."

"It worries me to think how you might have heard that," Vale commented. "I still don't even get how you got out of your dimension... But she's asleep right now, so you probably shouldn't bother her."

"Howdy!" America called to him cheerfully. "Haven't seen you in a while, dude!"

"Hey, Al," Alex replied with a grin as he made his way over. "How's it going?" His blue eyes wandered over to the face of a very confused Mary, and widened. "Hi! I don't know you but has anyone ever told you that you somehow look like Elsa and Thor at the same time?"