Underneath The Mask (Hetalia School AU)

Chapter 14

Emil

We continue for a bit until we arrive at a grove. It's small, the trees form a circle and a semi-large rock is perched in the exact centre – it's quite satisfying to see how spot on the rock's placement is. Natalya strides up to the perfectly placed stone and removes a plastic bag from her backpack. This whole thing is strange to me. I have no idea what this séance entails and Natalya's not much of a talker (that last part is a fucking understatement)(not that I talk much myself but when she doesn't it just gives off a wave of terror and intimidation)(if I attempted that I think I'd come across as a small kitten or something like that). She roots around and produces a happy meal. Seriously? Why the fuck- "Ah, are we copying Percy Jackson in this sense?" Leon chimes in and we both look at him weirdly. "I don't know what that is," she says, matter-of-factly, "But the dead aren't picky with what food you summon them with. Besides, these are cheap, and as someone who summons the dead often and has a low-paying job, it helps." She glares at my now-boyfriend, eyes narrowed in annoyance (probably because he broke the silence), voice flat and monotonous. She rolls her eyes and continues removing items from her backpack: chalk, a box of matches and a small white candle. Natalya then starts drawing on the rock with the chalk, Leon and I edging closer to see what exactly she's doing. It's a pentagram, a typical séance symbol. It does make me nervous though, will one of us have to use out blood to summon this ghost?

She lights the candle and whilst she's doing that I make eye contact with my boyfriend. He smiles slightly, the kind that's just a slight lip twitch. It's easily missable, but I managed to catch it. I wonder how he's feeling, I mean, so far Natalya has proved she can be just as weird and terrifying as her older brother (whom I live in fear of) and, not only that, Leon will be her brother-in-law eventually (according to Kiku who tells me that Yao and Ivan are soulmates)(I desperately wanted to pray for Leon after hearing that). By this point, (and now I can save you all from my rambling, sorry about that) Natalya seems to have finished setting things up and is placing her hands on the rock, a quiet mummer escaping her lips that I can't quite catch. And like a stereotypical summoning, a bright light fills the grove. Once it's died down, I blink a lot, black spots still swimming around my vision. Glancing at Natalya, I notice she still appears impassive, the blinding light clearly not bothering her. My idiot boyfriend, however, has his hands placed over his eyes, wincing. Over dramatic bitch.

Remembering why we are here, I look back at the rock. The candle has blown out and is lying idlily on the ground. Sitting cross-legged on the stone, however, is a man who's roughly in his mid-thirties. Despite being a ghost, you can clearly see the colour of his features, though they are more subdued. Now, I'm not good with descriptions so bear with me. His blond hair catches in the wind and, unlike a certain someone, it is about the same length as mine. Black rimmed rectangular glasses sit firmly on his face, assisting his indigo eyes (as glasses do). He reminds me of someone, but I can't think who. Also on his face, are scales around the edges, mostly on his forehead but some do line the sides of his head. Horn-like structures also add to the abnormity, sprouting out of his hair like plants. And, joining Leon in the wings department are, you guessed it, wings (with an added tail). Though these are more what I assume dragon wings would look like. And, like the idiot I am, I realise Leon told me that this guy was part dragon. Well, guess I'm fucking stupid.

"So..." the guy starts, "The newbie's clearly not you Natalya," he glances over Leon, "And you're clearly one of the Wang children so it definitely isn't you, that leaves..." We make eye contact and I've never felt more awkward. Leon, obviously desperate to ram the fact that I'm the person home, says, "Yep, this is Emil Steilsson, sir." Well, what do you know, the kid does have manners after all! The man raises his eyebrows, "Steilsson?" Ah, we're discussing my surname now, huh? Yes, I know it differs from my brother, despite us being completely related. According to my relatives, my parents were in Iceland when I was born and there was a mess up in the hospital over my surname. So, I ended up with Steilsson instead of Bondevik. However, since I never knew my father (he's either dead or somewhere else, I don't know exactly why he disappeared)(no one tells me anything), and given that Iceland runs on patronymic surnames, we can assume that my father's name is Steil Bondevik. Yippee. "Ja. That's me."