Chapter 31: General Summer

I was sure that the next memory would start with the World Wars, but to my surprise it showed Lovino and Feliciano sitting at a table, dressed very well. The tension in the room was palpable, and the other men across from them were dressed in equally expensive suits.

"Oh, shit." I cursed, sharing a look with Romano. "I forgot about this."

"To be honest, I was hoping it wouldn't be brought up." He sighed.

"Would you mind explaining?" England raised a large bushy eyebrow.

"This is a very important mafia meeting between the Vargas Family, which is us, and a rival family who was at roughly the same power level at the time. It was supposed to be a meeting to discuss a peace treaty and possible alliance." I explained.

"But?" America pressed.

"It didn't go to plan." Romano glared at the Don sitting at the table across from the twins.

"As entertaining as this meeting has been, I find myself unable to fully agree to the terms of this arrangement." The man spoke, and the twins tensed, along with the three men behind them.

"Nice knowing you." The man smirked as he stood. One of the guards that'd been near Feli, shot him in the head, and the Italian pitched sideways off his chair, dead. Romano looked at the other men.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that." He said, cracking his knuckles. The men held him at gunpoint, as the other Don laughed.

"Ow." Feli shook himself as he straightened in his chair, making the men pale drastically. A small clink was heard as the bullet fell to the table. Feli casually wiped the blood from his brow with his napkin. "Aw, you made me ruin my nice suit~" Feli spoke in a politely disappointed tone, like someone had accidentally spilled pasta sauce on his pants by accident.

"Wh-what the hell are you?!" One of the men demanded. Even Feli and Lovi's own men seemed unnerved, but they hid it well.

"We are the Vargas Brothers. Dons of the Vargas Famiglia. The Crimson Wolf and the Golden-eyed Devil. We are your Death." They spoke in sync.

Suddenly, gunfire filled the room. The three men behind Feli and Lovi started firing at the rival Don, while the twins were taking out his cronies.

As quickly as it began, the fight was done. The man had escaped, and the men he'd left behind to cover his escape were dead. "Fuck!" Lovino cursed, before he gave a small hiss of pain, his hand clapping the back of his neck as his eyes widened in sudden realization and fear.

"Fratello?" Feli turned to see his brother holding a dart in his hand, and he paled. The scene faded out as Lovino crumpled to the ground.

"Were you just poisoned?!" England's abrupt question reminded the nations about something important.

"Ai! Romano! You're mortal to poison!" Spain flitted around his charge like a worried mother.

"Oi! I'm fine, now. You can thank Veneziano for that." He roughly pushed Spain away, embarrassed.

The scene faded back in to show Lovino laying in a bed. His face was flushed, and his breathing was labored. Lavi was a ghost image beside Feli, while Luci was corporeal, currently changing the wet rag that was placed on Lovi's forehead.

"I was able to counteract the poison enough to buy us some time." Feliciano said, pulling a pack over his shoulder.

"You sure about this?" Lavi asked, looking worried.

"It's the only thing I can think of. I'm at a dead end... The concoction is too complex for me to derive an effective antidote... I need his advice." Feli sighed. "Luci... Please look after him while I'm gone. We've only bought ourselves a month, tops."

"Of course. Take Flavio with you, though. He's got a right to go." Luci sat down on the edge of Lovino's bed, though the dark-haired Italian did not stir.

"Si." Feli said simply, gesturing for the incorporeal blond to follow.

"We'll be fast." Lavi reassured his twin. "I won't die."

"You'd better not, idiota." Luci glared before his gaze softened. "You'd better not."

The scene faded once more, leaving the nations with more questions than answers. "Who're you going to look for?" Canada turned his gaze towards me and Flavio.

"We were going to see if we could find a certain grump and pull him out of retirement to give us some advice." Flavio huffed, thinking about the man we'd found.

The scene faded back in before anyone could ask anything else. The two were in a snowy wasteland. There was nothing aside from ice and snow. No trees or shrubs dared grow in the blank canvas of white. To make things worse, there was a horrid blizzard, though the cold didn't bother Feliciano at all.

"How can you stand this?!" Lavi asked, unable to feel the cold because of his non-physical state of being.

"I'm General Winter the Second!" Feli laughed. He didn't even sink into the undoubtedly deep snow. "This is a sunny day to me." He stopped walking as they came upon a cavern. "In here." He motioned for the other to follow as they walked into the tunnel.

"I thought you said he was in retirement? Like, dead kind of retirement?" Lavi asked as he admired the formations within the admittedly large cavern.

"Let's hope he held off on that for a bit." Feli winced. "I can't risk asking any other nations right now. If they find out that you and Vino are mortal to poison..."

"Yeah. I'm not sure if the 1Ps would take advantage of that, but I'm sure there are several 2Ps who would. And it wouldn't be too hard to piece together that you have one, too." The blond sighed. "But are you sure he's here? I mean, I know it's the land of ice and snow, but we're in the middle of Antarctica!"

"You mean you went to Antarctica!?" America asked, stunned. "So this must be sometime after 1911, right?"

"Actually, it's a little before that. I already knew how to get there because I'm General Winter. I can... erm... It's like Nation Traveling. You know, when you can instantly teleport to anywhere in your nation so long as you were in it to begin with? Think that but only with snow." I explained.

"So you can travel to anywhere with snow on the ground instantly?!" Japan spoke up, amazed.

"Yeah, though the farther away it is, the more draining it becomes. So going from Europe all the way to Antarctica was pretty exhausting. But I could sense him here, which is why I came."

Feliciano rushed ahead suddenly, and Lavi had to run to catch up. "H-hey! What's with the sudden marathon?!" He panted as Feli came to a stop. He was going to say something else when movement caught his eye.

"Ah, Feliciano. What a pleasant surprise!" General Winter stood before them, looking the same as he had all those centuries ago.

"You're still alive." Feli grinned. "Magnifico."

"Yes, well I figured you may need a hand for a while. And I met this young boy... I've promised to keep him company for a while." The General smiled, and I noticed Canada's face heat up a little.

"I need your help. Fratello's been poisoned, and he's dying. I cannot save him with an antidote. Please! You're much older than me... Do you know anything that can save him?" Feli begged, falling to his knees.

"Please. I know you don't know me, but I'm Lovino's 2P, Flavio! I can't leave my twin. He needs me, and so does Feliciano! If there's anything I can do..." Lavi also fell to his knees to beg.

I pretended not to notice Luciano's red face as his brother mentioned him. He's such a softie at heart.

"You know, you probably could've found a spell or something." Yang spoke up as he coolly surveyed the scene.

I didn't know magic back then, Yang. Not like that, at least. I wouldn't really learn anything useful until...

"All right, forget I said anything, then."

You're being unusually nice today. I gave him a suspicious look.

"Honestly? I don't want you to shove me back in there! I like being out here, even if nobody but you and Luciano can see me." He huffed, and I chuckled a bit. I noticed that Luciano caught the whole exchange because there was a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"I see." General Winter's voice drew everyone's attention back to the memory. "If this is the case, then I may have a solution."

"R-Really?!" Feli's eyes lit up with hope, and I couldn't help but scoff at my past self. Hope is for fools.

"Yes. As I understand it, my counterpart, General Summer, is also looking to retire. Head to the Eastern Lands of Persia with your brother, to the desert called 'Dasht-e Lut'. But be careful. It is the hottest place on Earth, and you may not survive the trip. Make sure that this is what you want to do. There is no guarantee that General Summer will even accept the offer." He warned.

Feliciano had a determined look on his face. "I'll do it. If there's any chance of survival for my brother... Thank you, General. I'm in your debt yet again."

"Go. And be wary, young one. I wish not to take back my post so soon."

The memory faded again. "I thought Death Valley was the hottest place on Earth?" Hungary tilted her head.

"Actually, it wasn't known that the Lut Desert was the hottest place on Earth for a while. Death Valley had the record in 1913 for a temp of 134˚F." America smirked proudly. "Until the Sahara Desert displaced that with a temp of 136˚F in 1922." He pouted.

"That's about 58˚C." Canada supplied. "You're one of the only nations that still uses Fahrenheit, Al."

"Anyways, it wasn't until 2005 that we got an actual reading on the Lut Desert through satellite infrared imaging. Temp rolled in at a toasty 159.3˚F. Or..." America paused for a moment. "70.7˚C for the rest of you guys." England choked.

"Bloody Hell! Who could stand that kind of temperature?!"

"Nothing must grow there." France concluded.

"Actually, I've looked in on it before. Migratory birds sometimes lose their way and end up falling from the sky, dead, because they've roasted to death. They feed the ecosystem there, which is surprisingly thriving." Japan chipped in.

"As fascinating as this is, maybe we should pay attention to the memory?" Luciano quipped dryly, crossing his arms.

"Perhaps he is right." France conceded.

"Still... Over 70 degrees... that would kill a normal human without the right protection... Let alone someone who's attuned to winter like you." China sent me a worried look.

The next scene showed Luci, Lavi and Feli standing at the edge of the desert. Luci had a backpack on, while Feli had secured his twin to his back. Lavi was still incorporeal, so he wasn't carrying anything.

"Lucky asshole." Luci shot Lavi a glare.

"Wh-what'd I do?!"

"You can't feel this stupid heat."

"Lay off him, Luci." Feli sent his 2P a glare. "I'm already hot, and we haven't even entered the desert yet!"

"Let's just try to keep you from melting, si?" Lavi tried to play peacekeeper.

"I'd be careful what you say." Luci warned his twin. "Feli has a really short temper when he's overheated."

"Noted..."

"Come on. Night's closing in, and I'd rather travel in the cold than the heat." Feli spoke as he started walking. The memory blurred as the three traveled (four if you count the unconscious Lovino) for several days, resting in the shadows of rock formations where they could.

On several occasions, they had to find shelter and waste an entire day because of the wind. The nations were horrified to see the 30 mph (17mps) winds carry quartz sand grains of 1mm in size. The sand pelted the three nations, making Luci glare at his brother for not having to worry about it, which caused Feli to snap at his 2P.

The nations quickly realized that an overheated Feli was highly irritable.

Feliciano ended up squinting for several days due to getting sand in his eyes more than once. Eventually, on the ninth day of travel, Feliciano finally collapsed, unable to find the strength to move forward. He looked to be sweating profusely, but on closer inspection, he appeared to be literally melting.

"Shit, Flavio!" Luci called out, and the blond dashed back to try to help. "Find him, okay? You're the only one unaffected by the heat, here. Find General Summer and bring him back here... Please?"

"Okay." Lavi looked like leaving them was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had no real choice. The memory went a little hazy as Lavi ran off and Luci tried his best to offer the two nations some kind of shade, seeing as there was none at this time. He even used a little spritzer fan on Feli, trying to provide some kind of relief to the shriveling, melting nation.

Lovino was looking worse than he had in the previous memory, likely due to the increased heat and all the travelling they'd been doing. Feli looked as bad as his brother, now.

"L-Luciano." Feli tried to sit up, but Luci sent him a glare.

"Stop. I've sent Flavio on ahead. He's not affected by the heat like us because Lovino's too weak to materialize him in the 1P world. Conserve your strength."

"So you are the one who's sought my help." A woman with flaming red hair and dark skin walked up casually to the three nations. Her eyes were a fierce green color, like spring.

"A-are you General Summer?" Feli asked, staggering to his feet, despite his 2P's protests.

"I am. And you are the young nation that my brother has chosen to succeed him." She spoke.

"Please. He said you were looking to retire, as well. Can you...?" Feli trailed off, looking at his twin.

The woman was silent at first, contemplating her choices. Finally, she sighed. "It is not yet time for him to die. Even if I didn't want to, the Fates would have my head if I did not grant him this power."

"The Fates?" Feli furrowed his brows in confusion.

"That is none of your concern. Yes. I'll save your brother." She knelt down next to Lovino, and placed her hands on either side of his temple. A strange red glow surrounded the two, and Lovino whimpered in pain. After what felt like hours, but was only around five minutes, she pulled away. The flush from Lovino's cheeks was gone, and he now looked to be asleep.

"The heat of Summer has burned out the poison from his veins. This will only happen once. He is still vulnerable, though now holds a higher tolerance. I suggest being more careful." She cupped her hands, holding a small ruby. She then melted it down in her palm and reshaped it to a spherical shape, before attaching an earring backing to it. She then pierced Lovino's left ear with the stud.

"That will keep his powers in check until he learns to control them. I won't ask you to accompany him, seeing as you are Winter, but have him meet me here to train in one week." She stood, carrying Lovino in her arms. "Come. I will guide you back to a cooler place." She turned her gaze towards Luciano. "Carry Winter. It's a miracle the idiot hasn't died yet." She huffed, as she bent some of the heat away from the area around Feliciano. He sighed in relief, even though it was assuredly too warm for him, still.

"Why do I feel like we're forgetting something?" Luci muttered. The memory faded out as Feliciano finally lost consciousness."

"You left me!" Flavio accused, pointing at me and Luciano.

"Oh, I knew we forgot something." Luciano snapped his fingers in realization.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Flavio pouted, as Yang and I laughed.

"Not like you could feel the heat anyways, you know." I pointed out. "Besides, all you had to do was follow the link to Romano."

"Not the point." Flavio crossed his arms like a child who was denied candy before dinner.

"So you are Summer," Japan looked at Romano. "and you are Winter." He then looked at me. "How poetic."

"Yeah, well. It was a bitch until we learned how to contain and control our powers. I'm practically useless in the rain, unless it's a summer storm."

"So like Mustang from FMA?" America raised an eyebrow.

"Sh-shut up! I'm fine in a summer storm, but put me in a winter rainfall, and my flames fizzle out." Romano huffed, annoyed.

"Just like how it's really hard for me to form snow in the summertime." I added. "That's why sometimes we'll visit the Southern Hemisphere. Well, we used to have to do it anyways to spread our seasons, but we've learned how to do that remotely, by now. Sometimes it just does us good to go there just to recharge." I chuckle.

"So does the cold bother you?" America asked curiously.

"Sometimes. If it's really cold, then yes. But a light snowfall or something is just a uncomfortable. Usually my Inner Flame can keep me warm, but when it dips below a certain point, even I have to go crawl into a fireplace." Romano admitted.

"So fire cannot burn you?" Russia tilted his head.

"Nope. I can drink lava." He smirked.

"I remember that." I sent him a flat look. "You melted 37 thermoses trying to figure out how to take it with you."

"Oh, like you were any better?! How many thermoses did you shatter with your liquid nitrogen?!"

"Seventeen, if you must know. Which is twenty less than you."

"Now, now, come on! Let's all just be friends!" Flavio gently pushed the two of us apart.

"SHUT UP, FLAVIO!" We yelled in sync, before returning to our friendly bickering.

"I tried." He shrugged, turning back to Luciano.

"Don't look at me." Luciano paused for a moment. "It'll be the Wars next, won't it?"

"Likely." Flavio answered, looking at the group of nations playing around. "I hope everything will turn out okay."

Luciano gazed off, an oddly forlorn look on his face. Flavio couldn't even begin to guess what his brother was thinking about, but he caught the barest whisper of his brother's voice, so faint that he wasn't even sure he heard it. "I'll be there for you, Feli. It's coming. Not much longer, now... Our greatest mistake."

A/N: Hello everyone. So I nearly forgot to write this chapter in. XD So this will be the last one of the Unification ARC. Now, we'll move onto the WWI and WWII Arc.

So that full-time job? It ended up falling through. :/ So I'm on the hunt again, wish me luck everyone. (Lately it seems that great things are happening to me, only to fall through at the last minute due to my idiotic past mistakes). I'm staying optimistic! I've got a roof over my head, food in my belly, a computer that works to write on, and Internet. I've got a part-time job, and even if it isn't a lot, it's still something, right? I'm an optimist by nature. ^^

Just clearing something up. The World Wars Arc will not really detail the War itself. It's going to concentrate on the relationships between the personifications and how they handled things on a personal level. I'm sorry if that disappoints some of you, but ultimately I'm not a fan of historical novels or stories. I fear that if I try to turn this next Arc into one, I'll lose my motivation and end up dropping it for a few months as a result. So if you were looking forward to that, I'm sorry.

Also~! For those of you who wanted to see Leonardo da Vinci. I'm sorry. He'll appear in flashbacks later, but I miscalculated and ended up skipping the years that he was alive. Rest assured, Feli was friends with the guy, and he'll be showing up in the form of flashbacks within the memory. (Like that's not confusing. XD)

I've recently gotten into the Assassin's Creed fandom. I've been watching playthroughs on Youtube, and have found myself enamored with the plot. ^^ I'm on ACIII, now (having already been through one, two, Brotherhood and Revelations within the past three days or so). Any other Assassin's Creed fans out there? :D

What do you think? Should I try my hand at a crossover of the two? XD

Words: 2,839/3,125

Pages: 6

Posted: 01/20/2019

Edited: 03/11/2019