Country and Planet Chapter 8

“Where am I?” The last thing Arthur remembered was fainting after remembering something from his distant past and meeting a golden haired, golden eyed woman. So he was asleep. However, he knew dreams were often things you liked to think about, the opposite for nightmares. They were unrealistic, but Arthur knew there was something wrong if it felt as if he were awake instead of asleep.

The place he was in wasn’t even anywhere close to the dreamscape he was used to. It was a dark alleyway, both sides open so light from both sides seeped in. The buildings on either side of the alleyway were too tall so no light came in from the top. Arthur hesitantly took a step, looking around curiously. The alleyway didn’t look familiar, so it wasn’t anywhere in England. Maybe in another country? Arthur walked towards one of the open ends of the alley and ended up in a empty street. It was an empty street fair, stands still placed but no people. Seriously, where was he? England looked around once more before something caught his eye. He looked to his left and saw someone running.

The figure continued to get closer towards Arthur but the nation couldn’t see his face. It was as if it was blurred. The figure was running vigorously away from someone though. The other figure, who was apparently decked in black, was hot on the other’s trail and continued to get closer with each step. This was obviously more than just a game of tag. Arthur had a feeling he knew who that man who was running away was and he knew that something bad was going to happen if he was caught. Arthur tried to call out to the running man but his voice couldn’t work.

‘Damn it, what the hell is going on?!’ Arthur watched as the black clad man was a mere arms length from the other, but suddenly three other black clad people appeared from nowhere from the running man’s front.

‘Where the hell did they come from?!’ As much as Arthur wanted to know what was going on, the vision began to disappear. The last things he saw and actually heard for the first time in the vision was a syringe and the screams of a very familiar nation.

[--]

Arthur woke up with a start and instantly sat up. Unfortunately, there was someone near his face at the time and they collided heads. Hard.

“God fucking damn it!” A female voice hissed from his side. Arthur was momentarily thrown into a daze from the sheer force of the hit and his head merely hit his pillow. What…?

“Oh crap, are you alright?” the voice was back and Arthur blinked several times before slowly getting up. He was still a tad dazed but he focused a little more on who was looking at him. It was that woman from before. What was her name again?

England shook his head a little to shake off the daze and found himself looking at gold colored eyes that were staring at him. It was like a hopeful and expectant stare, as if she was expecting something. Arthur didn’t know what she was expecting, he was still trying to figure out her name. His brain didn’t give anything, but his heart did.

“...Venus?” Arthur said with mild uncertainty. The woman gave a sigh of relief and quickly wrapped her arms around the nation. Arthur’s eyes darted everywhere as his memory of his godmother finally came back. Yes, it was the kind lady that cared for him when he was a baby. It was his godmother. He remembered her in dresses though, but he guessed that the leather worked better for her.

“You kept your promise and remembered me.” Venus said after she let go of her godson. She smiled at Arthur and Arthur knew her smiles weren’t very common.

“Well, not a lot, but just enough.” Arthur gave her a smile and they shared one more hug.

“You grew up, you’re not a little baby anymore.” Venus’s smile became sad and she looked down. “I couldn’t watch you grow up.” Her smile officially became a frown and Arthur looked at her worriedly. He saw the faint trace of tears coming forth from Venus. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, you and Mother had your reasons.” Arthur waved it off but got a weird look in return. “Sol and Luna said they didn’t know the reason why. Do you know?” Venus shook her head.

“I’m his sis and even I don’t know.” she shook her head and quickly took Arthur’s hands. “It’s been hundreds of years since I’ve see you, Arthur. Look at how much you’ve grown.” She then looked left and right, momentarily sneering at the door before turning back to Arthur, “Tell no one I’m getting sappy, squirt. Or I’ll have your head.” Arthur laughed aloud and deep inside, he knew everything would be okay. He was reunited with his godmother and they were connecting again.

For now.

//--//

The thing about tracking devices, they could be put on someone without said someone noticing. Tracking devices were a devilish thing, but sometimes they were necessary. For a certain nation, tracking devices were put on or into the items of each nations’ personal belongings. No, he wasn’t being a creep, he was just being cautious in an extreme way. Now it was time for the devices to be in use.

“He’s here…?”

Even after independence, Alfred remained ever watchful of his former brother figure. He made sure the older man was alright and remained a constant look out. No, that wasn’t creepy, or it wasn’t in his book. Anyway, with the help from the tracking device installed in Arthur’s phone, Alfred tracked his British friend to the Dead Sea.

“He must be really depressed if he’s here of all places.” Alfred mumbled to himself. America looked around warily. He saw the shore of salt and near it was what looked to be a fence. That fence was surrounding an ominous yet large house. Alfred gulped and steeled his nerves.

"Well, here goes..."

//--//

"That's so sweet! V-chan hasn't looked this happy in years!" Sol gushed as he and the others watched the exchange between godmother and godchild. Beside him, Luna and for some reason Saturn watched as well. Luna didn't have any specific country she was close to, so she didn't really get the entire feel from the exchange. In opposition, Saturn was the godfather of Kiku so he knew that Venus's newfound happiness made sense. Maybe he would feel the same when he saw Kiku. He just hoped his godson had a love for drawing.

"Look at V-chan being so happy and smiling." Sol cooed. "It warms my heart."

"Isn't your heart warm enough already?" Luna had to put in. She couldn't resist! The Moon was ignored when a book came out of nowhere and smacked Sol square in the face. Saturn went ahead and took a picture of Sol's face being flattened by a book, an encyclopedia no less. This was going in the album.

"I knew you were spying, Sol!" Venus roared before whipping her head towards Arthur who was now standing up. "And when the hell did you get taller than me?!"

Arthur shrugged nonchalantly but he really was proud of his height. Being the same size as the frog but shorter than both of the North America brothers and the kraut really spiked his temper. "I've been this height for a while now, Godmother." Almost immediately, Venus's face became a brilliant shade of red and Sol began cooing at her expense. Luna sighed and went over to Arthur, Saturn following close behind.

"Arthur, you haven't officially met Saturn, right?" The Moon asked as she gestured to the gray and white washed planet. Arthur shook his head and Saturn silently walked forward. Saturn noted that Arthur's eyes flickered to his broken rings before looking back at his face.

"I am Saturn." he said in monotone. "It's been many years since I have seen you, Arthur. I made many pictures of you, you know."

Arthur blinked. "Really." Saturn nodded; it didn't even look like he was ashamed of it either. Before either person could say anything, the door opened once more. This person was someone Arthur didn't see from the entrance and his memory didn’t provide any extra assistance. He had blonde hair and droopy blue eyes. In his mouth was a cigarette and out of the cigarette was a steady flow of smoke.

“There’s someone by the door, boss.” he said, looking to Saturn. “Don’t recognize him.” He then turned to Arthur. “Hm. Who’s this?”

“Arthur, Venus’s godson.” Saturn replied as Venus visibly flushed at the title once again. “What are you doing here, Titan?”

“Decided to crash the party with Hyperion.” Titan glanced behind him and a crash was heard from another room. “And that’s my cue. Gotta get bro with crazy glasses out. See you, boss. And Artie,” A tick appeared on Arthur’s head and Titan smirked. “the guy at the door seemed to know you.” With that, Titan walked away with smoke lingering behind him.

“I’m sorry about Titan’s attitude.” Saturn said to Arthur. His face didn't change but his voice did a bit. “He’s not one for etiquette.”

“It’s okay.” Arthur shook his head. “If there is someone at the door who knows me, we might as well go.”

“Are you sure you should be up?” Venus asked before glaring at Sol since he was glowing with pride. “Just worried, s’all.”

“It’s alright, Godmother. Come on, whoever's there is waiting for us.”

“God damn it, stop calling me that! It’s embarrassing!”

[--]

“Why am I not surprised that it's you?”

Alfred grinned at Arthur with a burger filled mouth. He took a massive gulp and waved at his former brother.

“Hiya Artie!” the American laughed before inhaling a shake. After being led into the house by Titan and Hyperion (who kept on walking the wrong way), Alfred found himself in the dining room where Jupiter, Neptune, and Uranus were situated. The three planets masked their initial surprise pretty well and now they were curious. Why was Arthur’s younger brother here? How did he even find this place?

For Alfred, it was just plain awkward. The three people that sat near him scared him a bit. Mostly the one with the red eyes that looked suspiciously like Russia. The other two looked like Lukas and Emil but all three of them were staring at him. It really unnerved him, especially the curious eyes of the red eyed one. However, fate seemed to be kind to him since he had extra rations in his bottomless pockets. Rations equal a supply of burgers, fries, and shakes.

“In the name of Queen Elizabeth I, what the hell are you doing here?” Arthur grumbled as he glared at his former protegé. Alfred raised an eyebrow and gulped down another bite of burger.

“I was worried about you, bro. So I tracked you with a tracking device!” Arthur's whole body spazzed.

“WHAT?!”

Luna coughed and Alfred blinked up at her, not seeing the problem. Venus’s palm met her face and Sol laughed. Saturn merely took the seat next to Jupiter and Uranus. Arthur rubbed his temples and sighed in aggravation.

“Nice crowd you got here.” Alfred remarked. “Especially the hair; looks cool.” He chowed down on another burger that appeared from nowhere.

“So this is Alfred now?” Sol laughed. “He really does act like Mars!”

“No kidding.” Venus mumbled, crossing her arms.

“The resemblance is uncanny, isn’t it?” Jupiter giggled and Alfred flinched. Jeez, he even sounded like Ivan!

“Dude, what happened to your hair?” To avoid further being-creeped-out-ness, Alfred looked to Neptune and asked him that question, to which Neptune flinched. He tried to flattened down his tresses but they refused and simply sprang back up. Uranus’s face darkened and his arms seemed to encircle his brother slowly, daring Alfred to say that again. Alfred simply laughed, not sensing the atmosphere.

“So,” Alfred looked up at Arthur. “who are these dudes?” Arthur facepalmed.

//--//

“Initiate the plan at once.”

“Yes sir.”

“Retrieve him, bring one of Earth’s dearest to us and make him suffer.”

[END VIII]