Chapter 9: Alba

The next day saw the nations in high spirits, joking and laughing about, still riding off the high from the previous night's memory. They had a hearty breakfast before settling down to talk amongst themselves. America and Canada were chatting about the latest videogames released in their homes while France and Russia, surprisingly enough, were comparing recipes from home. China was in the middle of a fierce debate about something with Germany, Prussia was goofing around with Spain, Japan and England were comparing tea, and Italy and Romano were sitting back with a cup of coffee watching the entire scene unfold.

"This is nice." Italy smiled, taking a sip of his drink. Romano sighed contentedly as well, settling into his chair a little more.

"Yeah. It is. I missed this. I missed them." He also took a swallow of his coffee.

"I did, too. Man, I was so surprised when I first came back. I woke up in Germany's room, you see. So it was quite the shock."

"Oh? Wait... what were you doing in the Potato Bastard's room?" Romano's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Uh... n-nothing... His house just gets really cold, and he's a furnace! So..."

"You don't get cold like that. Don't lie!"

"Fratello! C-can we not talk about this right now?" Italy practically begged his brother. "We're just friends! It isn't like that."

"Uh, huh." He didn't believe his brother for a moment.

"I still have the picture of you cuddled up to Spain. I could give it to him, you know." Italy smirked wickedly, watching as his brother's eyes widened in horror.

"Y-you still have that?! Feli! Please!" He begged, "Whatever you do, don't give it to the Tomato Bastard! I swear, I'll never hear the end of it!"

"Then don't bring up the little detail that I sometimes sneak into Germany's bed." Italy knew he had his brother. There was no way he'd want that picture getting out.

"F-fine. Fucking bastard. Blackmailing your brother. I taught you too well." He huffed and crossed his arms, sticking out his tongue at his little brother.

"Oh, that's mature."

"I never claimed to be mature, just more mature than you." He smirked, green eyes sparkling with mischief.

"I know that look. Who're we gonna prank?" Italy's golden eyes also gained a spark of mischief.

"How about... Prussia?" Romano said after a moment of thinking.

"Prank the prankster? I like it. Mr. Austria would be proud."

"You're too old to call him 'Mr. Austria', especially now." Romano reminded him.

"I know, I know. But old habits have the tendency to crop back up on you sometimes."

The prank ended up being a classic ice-cold water balloon over the head. Only this time, they mixed fine particles of glitter in with the water. The end result was a soaked, shivering, sparkly Prussia, and a laughter-filled room.

"ITAAAALY!" Prussia cried. "You aren't supposed to prank me!" He spluttered, looking at the two.

"Oi! I helped prank you, too, Bastard!" Romano growled. Sometimes he got really tired of how everyone only noticed his brother.

"I know! That's why I said 'Italy' instead of 'Ita'." Prussia pointed to Veneziano Italy. "He's Ita." Then he pointed to Romano Italy. "And you're Romano. But you're both Italy, so the full name is the two of you combined." He crossed his arms with a triumphant smile, which was ruined by his sudden sneezing.

Romano blushed furiously. He wasn't used to people remembering that he was Italy, too. And to be honest, his people were much friendlier than his brother's. He wondered briefly if their personalities got swapped somehow.

"Perhaps you should change out of that, bruder?" Germany suggested, hiding his amusement. It wasn't often that he got to see his older brother get pranked, and he was enjoying every second of it.

"Ja, ja." Prussia left the room, returning about ten minutes later. Now that he was in fresh, dry clothes, and looked to have taken a quick shower, he seemed much more comfortable. Though glitter still clung to him like, well, glitter.

The room around them shimmered, taking the nations to another memory. "Again? Well, it was nice while it lasted." Prussia sighed. He was getting tired of these stupid memory things. Couldn't they get some kind of a break once in awhile?

As the next scene faded in, Feliciano was shown walking around Glendan alone.

"Where am I?" England asked.

"Ah, we'd finished up our basic Time Training, and you were pouring over some research and spells in the lab in Upwhur. For a Jump this big, we needed to combine that time-travel enhancement spell I'd stumbled across earlier with the natural magic of the land. So you needed to locate the most powerful intersection of Ley Lines we could access as quickly as possible." Italy explained.

"And you were...?" England raised an eyebrow.

"I was waiting for you to find it. In all honesty, I was going to miss Glendan, and thought I'd pay him one last visit before we left." Italy smiled warmly, even as Feliciano wondered around a significantly rougher part of town. It was nightfall, but the Italian didn't seem fazed.

Now that the nations had time to really look at him, they noticed several white streaks in his hair, which was long and even when tied back into a ponytail it went to his mid-back. He had a little bit of stubble on his chin, giving him a ruggishly handsome look. His golden eyes seemed deeper and sharper than before, and Feliciano exuded this aura of power and confidence.

"Dude... as a middle-aged adult... you're badass." America stared in awe. Was this how people saw the Great Roman Empire? Suddenly, the little pasta-lover's heritage became obvious.

Even the ruffians in the shadows knew better than to bother this man on his evening stroll.

A sudden loud cry pierced the night, and Feliciano's brows knit in worry. He dashed around the corner to find a tiny toddler wailing in fear and pain. He had bruises all over him, and looked to be all alone.

Feliciano's expression melted. "Oh, little bambino..." He scooped up the young child, who quieted in the strong calming presence. "Why would anyone abandon someone as adorable as you?" He asked, as the child looked up at him with piercing blue eyes. His hair was a dark brown color, and something about the child made Feli sigh.

"It's not like I've much else to do, now is there?" He wrapped the child up in his coat, keeping him warm. "Come now, little one. Let's get you some dinner. You must be starving."

"You... adopted a child?" Romano blinked as the scene faded out.

"Almost." Italy sighed. "I almost adopted a child. But I raised him for quite a while." He smiled as they were treated to a montage of Feliciano visiting the child at the orphanage often, giving him gifts and attention and teaching him how to fight.

He taught him several lost things, such as Latin and Italian, and even the true history of the world.

"Papa Feli?" The boy looked up at him. He appeared to be about six years old, now. "I don't like my name. Bruce doesn't fit me. Can I change it?" The child scrunched his nose in distaste.

"Oh? And what would you change it to?" Feliciano challenged, patting his lap so the child could sit.

"I dunno... maybe... uhm... You choose!" He grinned up at the once-nation, who laughed.

"All right, you want me to name you?" Feli thought for a long moment. "Hm... how about Layfon?"

"Lay...fon?"

"Yes. Layfon Alseif." Feli grinned. "A very strong name for a very strong boy. One day, you'll become a great man, and you'll be able to work towards any kind of future you want."

"Really?? Do you think... I could see the Green world you talk about so much?" The child looked up at Feliciano with hope.

"I..." Feliciano looked heartbroken for a moment. When I go back in time... this child will no longer exist... What am I doing, getting attached to this human boy? "Of course." He grinned.

"YAY!" The newly christened Layfon cheered, oblivious to the lie his father figure had spoken to him.

The scene faded out, only to show more montages of Feliciano playing with Layfon and the other orphan children. And eventually, Feliciano said goodbye. He left, telling Layfon to remain strong and protect everyone while he was away.

"You left...?" France watched the scene sadly, as Layfon quietly cried as he watched Feliciano leave.

"I had to. I was going to erase this future. What point was there in getting attached or adopting a child that would soon cease to exist?" Italy pointed out coldly.

"I do see your point." Japan sighed.

The next scene faded in. Feliciano was driving the Roamer, a look of fierce concentration on his face.

"What's going on?" France asked, concerned for his friend.

"I left Arthur at the lab." Italy answered. "I'd lost too many friends, I couldn't lose another. That aside, I'd felt odd kei that was unusually strong coming from this area, and went to investigate." He pointed to the sky, where part of it was blue, rather than the tainted grayish tan color the nations had grown used to seeing outside the Regios. And above that, was the Aurora that had brought them here.

"The Aurora is a very mysterious thing. I'd been studying it for centuries before I finally found Tempus. All I could tell was that it was a massive concentration of kei energy... perhaps strong enough to transcend time and space." Italy smiled softly.

"I see... Then perhaps... does the Aurora appear where the ley lines intersect?" England asked.

"That's exactly what I was going there to find out." Italy smirked. "But I ended up stumbling across something I hadn't expected."

Before the nations could ask what he meant, they saw several enormous Contaminoids that were battling several strong looking individuals. Two Regios were standing on either side of the battlefield, which was surrounded by several Air Purification posts, much like what one would find within the Regios.

"Saya wanted to make this battle easier for them, so she erected these posts to purify the air." Italy answered. "Those... are the Heaven's Blades Wielders of Glendan." He smiled, gesturing to the warriors. "The year is 5000 TF."

There seemed to be another battle between two people off in another area, but Feliciano continued to head towards the area with the Contaminoids.

"O-oi! Is that Glendan?!" Romano pointed towards the Regios that'd served as his home for millennia.

"Yup." Italy answered.

"A-and that's Zuellni! The Academic Regios!" Japan recognized the other one.

"I've heard of it, but we never went." Romano tilted his head, looking at the Regios that was under attack from a flying Contaminoid. It was extremely fast, and he doubted anyone aside from a Heaven's Blade Wielder could take care of it. Or a nation.

What the humans didn't see off the bat, as they finished off all the other Contaminoids, was a fifth Elder Contaminoid.

Feliciano noticed, however. The single man who'd defeated the Contaminoid that'd been attacking Zuellni had come over to the other group of Heaven's Blade Wielders. Nobody but Feliciano had noticed the new threat thus far. Even Glendan began to move away.

Feli huffed, and grabbed his radio. "Glendan! This is Feliciano Vargas, access code 0222!" He called out. "Connect me to the Queen immediately, over."

"Y-yes sir! Over!" The voice came over the radio.

"Feliciano?" A woman's voice sounded from the other end. "It's been a long time. Don't tell me you're the idiot driving the Roamer out there all alone?"

"I am. But you need to stop the Regios. There's another Contaminoid out here. And it seems to have the ability to suppress its Kei... My gut says it'd be safest to keep the Regios—both of them—where they are."

There was a brief moment of silence as Glendan stopped its retreat, keeping the air purification barrier up. Several of the people looked up in question. "Roger that! Looks like I'll be counting on you again."

"Honestly..." Feliciano finally pulled to a stop. "You take far too much after Carlos the First."

"Do I? He is my great-great-great-great grandfather, or something like that."

"Don't remind me how old I am, please."

"You're... what, 5,000 years old?"

"... Eight thousand and some change, now, actually." Feliciano reluctantly answered. The queen whistled appreciatively from the other end. "Shut up. I'm going, now."

"Take care~"

Feliciano sighed as he exited the Roamer. The Wielders turned towards the newcomer. "Who are you?" One man asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

Feliciano went to open his mouth to reply when the man who'd defended Zuellni finally reached them. "P-Papa Feli?!" The golden-eyed once-nation whirled around in shock to find a well-built handsome young man. His brown hair stuck up at odd angles, giving him a messy appearance, but his bright blue eyes were sharp and wide with disbelief.

"Layfon." Feli smiled softly. "You've grown."

"I... It is you..."

"Hm? What's this? You know him?" One of the other warriors asked.

"I'm afraid now's not the time for a reunion, though." Feli smirked, turning his attention in the direction of the Aurora. "I didn't order the Queen to stop Glendan's retreat for no reason, after all."

"Wait, you ordered the queen?! Just who the hell are you?!" Someone else asked.

"I'm Feliciano Vargas. Guardian of Glendan." He smirked, holding up the Badge that the Royal family had given him and his brother all those millennia ago. The group froze, staring at it in shock.

"Th-that makes you..." Layfon stuttered.

"I'm older than you think." Feli chuckled. "But at any rate, we've got company."

"Right." Layfon activated his Heaven's Blade.

"Oh? So you were one of those chosen to wield that blade?" Feli grinned and ruffled his hair.

"H-Hey!" Layfon flushed.

"I'm sure it'll serve you well."

"It's temporary. It'll stay with Glendan after this battle is finished." One of the Warriors spoke up.

"No." Feliciano answered, a steel in his voice. "It'll stay with its wielder. Layfon will keep the Heaven's Blade. If Saya has chosen him, then it will stay with him. After all." Feliciano pulled out his Celestial Blade. "I didn't help create those Heaven's Blades you all wield so proudly to simply sit and collect dust. Have you any idea how long it took us to create those?" He huffed, even as the group blinked at him in shock.

"You... made these?" A woman asked, eyes wide.

"Myself and my two brothers." Feli answered. "Restoration, 0-2!" He cried out, as his Dite activated, separating into the two short-swords. The wave of Kei that rolled off the middle-aged man nearly sent the humans to their knees. "Of course, the Heaven's Blades were a failed project. They're the prototype for this. A Celestial Blade."

"Prototype..." Layfon's eyes were wide.

"You're all so tired. Let me handle this one." Feli smirked.

"You're an idiot for trying to fight an Elder alone." Romano glared.

"I'd had a lot of pent up energy and Kei. I hadn't had a fight in months, fratello!" Italy replied.

"Even so, you're a baka for not bringing any kind of backup." Japan sent Italy a miffed look, even as Feliciano sped off to greet a very large snake-like Contaminoid. It looked almost like a Chinese dragon, and it had a very large frill. It flicked its tongue, looking right at Feliciano.

"Hm... You're an ugly one, aren't you?" He asked rhetorically. "Not that I haven't seen uglier. Compared to some, you're a prom queen." He chuckled at his own joke.

"Not really the time for jokes." America muttered. He was still trying to process the massive size of this beast.

Feliciano, however, wasn't perturbed in the slightest, even as he narrowly dodged a strike. He used the attack to jump up on the monster's head. His blades managed to pierce the Contaminoid's thick armor and he ran down a good length of the beast. He flared his kei, which glowed so brightly around him that it became nearly white.

The humans watched, enraptured. "I've never seen Kei so strong..." One man said. He had an almost-afro and a serious look on his face.

"Papa Feliciano..." Layfon stared in shock.

"Even your kei can't touch those levels, kid." The first man said to Layfon.

"He rescued me from the streets after my parents abandoned me." Layfon spoke up. "He taught me the basics of kei, and took me to the orphanage. He hasn't aged a day in all these years."

"Nonsense!" A woman spoke up. "There's no such thing as an ageless man."

"Ah, but that is where you're wrong." Another woman's voice spoke from the Nen'i petals that floated around the group.

"Y-your Majesty!"

"He's thousands of years old, you know. He's ageless. He's been around since before the Regios... before the Contaminoids. He built Glendan. Essentially, he's Glendan's God." The Queen chuckled.

"Y-you're kidding!"

"If Feliciano wants Layfon to keep that Heaven's Blade, then it's his. Feliciano's word is law."

"So someone like that... found me?" Layfon watched with renewed awe.

"A time before the Contaminoids..." The other man muttered as the scene faded out.

"W-wait! What happened?!" Prussia looked around, confused.

"I beat the Contaminoid." Italy answered with a shrug.

"You say that like it's nothing..." Canada sweatdropped.

"It's expected in those times." Romano answered. "If you don't kill it, it kills you."

Another brief scene flowed in. This time, Feliciano was driving the Roamer with several people inside. Layfon and his platoon of four others.

"So what is it you're going to show us?" Layfon asked, his head tilted innocently.

"I promised you, didn't I? A long time ago." Feli smiled wistfully. "That I'd show you the Green world?"

"Green World?" Nina asked, confused. "You mean the world before the Regios?"

"Si. Er... that's Italian for yes." Feliciano chuckled.

"Italian?" The white-haired Nen'i user asked.

"My home language. Italy was a country that died out thousands of years ago. The language of that country was Italian." Feliciano grinned.

"Wow~ So there were a bunch of different languages, too?" the shorter guy with a baseball cap asked.

"Here we are. The Ruins of Tokyo." Feliciano announced, handing out the helmets to everyone so they could breathe.

"This... is the Green World?" Layfon asked, disappointed.

"This way." Feliciano smirked as he led the group up over the crest of the hill.

They gasped in shock. Spread out below them, was a forest of trees. Green trees. And unlike last time, it wasn't just Ginko trees anymore. Now it consisted of Fir trees, too. The trees spread as far as the eye could see, forming a view that one might commonly see in a pre-TF park or wilderness.

Feliciano's eyes sparkled as he dashed down into the grove of trees, the others following. They struggled a bit as sand became dirt and grass grew beneath their feet. When Feliciano took off his helmet, they half-panicked, but he reassured them that it was okay.

"The trees purify the air." He explained.

"It's really grown." Japan grinned.

"Si~ It's done more than just that, though." Italy smirked.

Feliciano was about to say something else, when he paused, tilting his head to listen with wide eyes. "It... no way..." He got this crazy grin on his face as he dashed over to a tree and looked up.

"What is that?" Layfon asked, pointing to the strange feathered creature that made its home in the branches of the tree.

"A bird. That, Layfon, is a bird. A wild animal..." Feliciano felt tears running down his cheeks as he spotted a nearby deer. "Life... Life is returning." He laughed, startling the larger animal into sprinting back to the small herd.

"The future... This... Life can return. Hope is not lost." He grinned as the scene faded out.

"Perhaps another break?" England suggested.

"Fair enough." Italy smiled as the Break Room came back into existence.

A/N: So I've gone back and edited what I've written thus far for Chrome Shelled Hetalia. As you can tell, the story is finally coming to a close. We've hit 5000 TF, which is the year Feli jumped back in time to save everyone.

I'm also thinking of giving England back his memories, too. Who'd be interested in that?

Words: 3,354

Pages: 7

Posted: 04/18/2019