My first Hetalia fanfiction. I've added some OCs (Yes, I know you hate them, I do too, but...) or characters from other anime/manga you might recognize, but just a warning, this is AU-ish, so those characters may be a bit different and may have different situations or background story.

Warming: Not historically accurate, both human names and nation names used (it can get confusing if you don't know who's who), and characters may appear OOCs to you. And I apologize for that.

Pairings (not a major focus, but hinted or explained at a bit. Can be ignored.)

And I must apologies before hand for accents. I'm not very good with them, so I won't attempt many, if at all. If you want to do accents, do it as yourself as you read it.

Declaimer: I don't own Hetalia, only the OCs and plot idea.

Chapter 1: The Mysterious Box

He was standing in a green field of grass, wearing a white dress with red ribbon tied around the neck. America watched the small child stare off into the bright blue sky, a happy smile on his face.

"Alfred!" came a sweet voice calling from behind.

Both heads turned towards the new comer. It was a woman in a sky blue dress, walking with another child who looked similar to young Alfred, except this child had purple eyes and the way his blond hair was styled; parting in the middle of his forehead and curly at the ends.

'Matthew,' America thought, a little shocked at how girly cute his brother looked in that.

The young child's face lit up the moment he saw them and he ran he ran to the woman in blue, calling out, "Mommy!" He reached for her and the woman smiled before picking him up and he cuddled into her hold.

The scene than changed and America found himself looking at the woman in blue laying on the ground, one hand over her bloodied wound while the other reached out to him, her eyes sad yet loving, begging him to com over. But there was another person beside her, and America knew right away who he was. It was Arthur, with his sword drown and pointed off to the side, towards the woman's face.

Eyes hidden behind his bangs and a frown on his face, Arthur, in his red coat, made his way towards little Alfred and Matthew, his coat and the feathers on his hat blowing in the wind. Alfred said nothing as Arthur picked him up and carried him away from the bloodied body on the river bank, little Matthew holding onto Arthur's free hand.

The child looked up at Arthur and was sad at his grim face, eyes hidden in the shadows. Then he looked back to the woman he'd called mother and whispered, "Goodbye mother..." There was more he had muttered out through his tears, but America could not hear. Though whatever it was had caused Arthur to stop in his track, his eyes wide, before continuing on again as if nothing happened.

And the rain continued to pour down as both child and man cried for their lost love and light.

America woke up with a gasp of breath, sitting up in bed and holding one had to his beating heart. Sweat rolled down his face as he breathed in heavily, reflecting upon the reoccurring dream he'd been having lately. Finally, he got out of bed and got dressed for the day, remembering that he had a meeting to go to with his government conserving a certain topic that has been coming up lately.

America sighed. He doesn't understand why they're making such a big deal out of this. It's been fine like this for centuries now, he doesn't understand why they are not making such a big deal out of the existence of his kind. It's not like he could help his existence. After all, he didn't choose to this, he mused fixing his blue tie.

America laughed into the mirror. Yeah, despite being the country of freedom, he was rarely ever "free". He slide his tie up and fixed it around his neck before picking up his brief case and walked out the door.

America stomped out into the lawn, his eyes blazing. People got out of his way as he walked past them.

"Those stupid old bastards," he muttered darkly under his breath. "Think they could control me. Stupid... This is just so stupid! Hah-!"

Because he wasn't looking, Alfred found himself coming chest to head with a black haired girl holding some binders to her chest.

"Ah!" said the girl, before looking up. "I'm sorry-" her deep blue eyes met with Alfred's own and the nation felt the atmosphere shift around them as he watched the girl's eyes dulled over. "Hhh. The Mark of the Old..." she whispered out, as if in a trance. Her voice sounded like wind as she looked up above Alfred's head, seeming as though she saw something there. Alfred did not move. He felt as though this child was not one of his people, yet could not identify where she is from. Though by the looks of it, she may be Asia, so maybe Japan but with some mix bloods in there might be the reason why he couldn't quite place her. Though she seems familiar.

Finally, the girl met eyes with Alfred again, and said, "The curse on you will break soon, and you will return to your former self. To the time long forgotten. A world long lost..." She paused, starring off into the sky with longing in her eyes for something far away. Then, she looked back at him again, her eyes once again dulled of emotions. "He will meet you at 12, and you shall find him at 13. Then, and only than," she emphasized, a hand gripping one of Alfred's own, "shall you decide," she let's go and eased up her poster again, "whether or not you wish to break free..." She looked up and Alfred saw an eagle, his eagle, flew over their heads. The girl than returned her gaze to him and smiled, "from this cursive tie..." The eagle landed on her outstretched hand as she smirked up at Alfred.

Suddenly, her smile disappeared and the girl fell backwards. Freedom flew off her and landed on Alfred's shoulder just as he reached out and caught her in mid fall. A sent of jasmine washed over him, and Alfred found it somehow relaxing and comforting.

The child opened his eyes and Alfred noted that they we're back to normal again. The world was once again alive and buzzing with people walking past them.

"Oh!" said the child, quickly getting up. "Thank you," she blushed, looking down at her skirt. Alfred was instantly reminded of Japan when he saw her reaction, but the blush was cute, he noted.

"Hey, no problem little missy," said Alfred, smiling back.

The girl blushed harder, gripping the hems of her skirt before looking up when she saw brown wings and then smiled. "Oh, what a pretty bald eagle," she complimented, looking at the strange bird. "May I?" She reached out a hand towards him.

"Sure! Go ahead!" Alfred replied, and she did just that.

"Ahh, he's so obedient." Alfred's eyebrow twitched at that. Though he knew it was meant to be a compliment, he still couldn't help the strange feeling of being insulted. Good thing the girl was not looking his way.

"What's his name?" she asked, eyes still on the bird.

"Freedom." Oh how ironic. Alfred wanted to laugh at that. Yeah, freedom. What a nice word. Too bad his was restricted.

"Freedom," said the girl. "That's a nice name."

Alfred smiled at her gentle look. "He also has a partner!" he said. "Her name's Liberty!"

The girl looked up at him. "Liberty?" She looked down at Freedom and run her pointer finger down his head, a small gentle yet someone sad smile on her face. "What nice names. Fitting... for eagles of the United States of America." Freedom stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and craving into her gentle touch. "Isn't that nice, Freedom? You'll always have someone by your side..."

"Luna!" Came a shout from somewhere within the crowd.

Alfred turned his body half way around and found a boy up ahead, running towards them, his black eyes set on the girl, Luna.

The boy, Alfred noted, had black hair to go with his eyes, and fair white skin. He was wearing a black suite as though he was going to a funeral or something important. Also, from what Alfred could tell, he seemed to be a few years older than the girl. 'Maybe he's her older brother?' Alfred thought, not able to tell because they were not his people.

Luna looked past Freedom and her face seemed to lit up when she spotted the boy. "Acheron!" she shouted towards the running boy.

'Acheron?' thought Alfred. 'Now why does that name sound familiar...? Where have I heard it before...?'

While Alfred was digging through his memories for the familiar name, Acheron locked eyes with Luna and had finally made his way over to them.

"Lumina Willows," said Acheron, his eyes narrowed. "You're late, AGAIN!" Lumina coward a bit at his harden gaze, a small, awkward smile on her face as she looked up at him with guilty eyes.

Alfred snapped out of his thoughts the minute the teen spoke. He wanted to laugh at how much that last sentence reminded him of Arthur. Just add the British accent in there and Alfred would be convinced that Arthur was the one standing beside him. That would've made him jump out of his skin, the last thing Alfred needed right now was Arthur here. But prophase he should pay the man a visit sometime soon to get ride of this stress...

"Sorry Ash," Lumina apologized, handing some of the binders over to Acheron.

"Acheron," interrupted Alfred. "Is that name derived form something?"

Both children looked up at him strangely. Alfred suddenly felt uncomfortable and awkwardly judged when under such powerful gazes for ones so young.

"Umm," he splattered out unintelligently, and not for the first time.

Finally, he gathered his wits together and remembered where he heard that name before. "Oh!" he redeemed himself, snapping his figures. "Greece! Yeah! Right! Acheron, the river of woe in Epirus! One of the five rivers of the underworld right? Hahaha, oh man-! Wait." He stopped his laughter and stared at the smiling boy. "You're named after a river of Hades?!"

"Yes," Acheron answered calmly, a small smile on his face. "You see, my father, or rather, my entire family, has a thing for the underworld, and I guess," he shrugged, looking off to the side, "so do I."

"Oh," said Alfred, finding it a bit strange that a family, or any family family at all really, would have a likeness of any kind for the underworld.

Acheron turned towards Lumina. "Anyways Luna," he addressed her. "We have to go." He looked at the watch on his risk. "We're already late as it is." He grabbed onto Lumina's free arm and pulled her away. "And we still have to find that idiot runaway fox to sigh these." He indicated to the documents in his arms. He muttered some things darkly under his breath and Alfred caught something about Luke and laziness.

Acheron turned to Alfred before walking passed him and said, "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Jones." He lowered his head a bit in a bow.

"Yes, nice meeting you again, Alfred," Lumina smiled as Acheron dragged her passed him. "Let's meet again soon!" She tried to wave with the hand holding the binders.

Alfred smiled and nodded after the two, who were now off. He waved as they went, and thought, 'The moon and the river of woe hah? Why did I suddenly see the image of a girl crying on the banks of a black river, sobbing under the moon, and a boy watching her from his place standing on the surface of said river?'

"Wait," he interrupted his own train of thought, the smile whipped from his face. "Did they just-? Did I-?" He looked to Freedom and the eagle shrugged as his answer to Alfred's questions. Seeing this, Alfred also shrugged. "Hm, oh well. What were we talking about again? Oh right! Those old geezers," he growled out the last sentence, his eyes going sharp and his face twisted into one of anger as he thought back to the events earlier that day.

Than, his stomach growled and Alfred checked his watch. "Oh," he said with realization. "It's almost 12. No wonder." He scratched his head and looked around. "Hmm, I should get something to eat." A big smile graced his lips. "McDonald's, here I come!" Alfred held up one hand into the air like a superhero and ran towards his car.

Freedom flew away from his shoulder and took to the sky, his eyes gazing down at Alfreda's as he soared away.

Alfred exited the fast-food joint with a huge bag of McDonalds in his hand. Granted, he could've gone through the drive through, but Alfred rather liked going into the store today, since he wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere, and would like to see and interact with his people. Although, that one guy in there was pretty strange. He kept glaring at Alfred from his place sitting in front of his laptop, and Alfred didn't know why.

But he decided not to care, for nothing was not going to ruin his good mood now that Alfred had a large sized bag of Big Mac in his arms.

Where as one hand was holding the bag, Alfred's other was stuffing his face with a Big Mac and he breathed in the late October air of D.C.

"Ahhh, nothing like a Big Mac to brighten my day," said Alfred, a happy smile on his face as he took a step forward. "Hmm?" A blur rushed passed him and Alfred turned his head to the right, in the direction of the wind.

There, he saw an elementary kid being bullied by three high school boys and was being pushed to the back of the store by them.

Alfred frowned and followed them to the back of the store to find the blond haired child being held up against the wall by one of the older boys, probably the leader, who looked about ready to punch the struggling child.

Alfred locked eyes with the child for a moment, and felt as though he'd seen that shade of blue somewhere before. But couldn't quite remember where. Alfred noted that the kid seemed pretty calm for someone in his predicament, and was wondering why that was. That calmness of his, though good, was probably what got him into this mess to began with.

"Hey!" Alfred called out to the group. "What do you guys think you're doing to him?" He began to walk towards them.

The three teens looked back at him and Alfred felt a suddenly feeling of unpleasantly wash over him. For some reason, his instincts were on high alert and Alfred, his back straight from centuries of training, wars and battles, knew deep in his gut that he had to get rid of these guys, for even though they felt like his people, Alfred knew they were not good news.

"Let him go!" Alfred ordered.

The fact that the teens merely glared back at him meat that he was not able to control them to his will, and that in itself meant either he was loosing his touch, or they weren't his. Than, the person in the middle, the leader motioned with his head for the other two to attack.

The two teens smirked evilly, their eyes red as if possessed by some monsters out for blood, and advanced towards Alfred.

Alfred sighed and shoved the last piece of the Big Mac into his mouth just as both teens ran at him, fist ready to punch his face in.

Alfred ducked, but the teen on the left was apparently better than his partner and so, instead of running off, stopped and brought his fist down. Alfred blocked it with his hand and winched.

'Damn,' he thought. 'This kid's strong.'

Than, Alfred noticed the other kid coming back toward him and reached out a leg to kick the boy in the gut and Alfred didn't hold back this time, which worked out well for him in the long run, because the kid ended up spitting up blood and kneeling over in pain. Alfred smirked and began to crush the hand of his other opponent, who'd gotten angry at Alfred's assault on his friend and attacked him from the front while Alfred's glaze was to his friend. Although Alfred knew that these were his own people he was hurting, something in him told him not to hold back against them and he'd listened to it.

The teen's face turned from anger to agony and he tried to get out of Alfred's vice-like grip. Alfred took pity on him and let go when he kicked the teen in the gut, sending him stumbling back a few feet, blood dripping from his mouth and he held his bone crushed hand to his chest.

The leader watched them with a shocked expression on his face before it morphed into one of fiery as he turned to face Alfred. The teen let go of the child and the blond fell to the floor as the leader made his way towards Alfred.

Alfred took a glance at the blond haired child to make sure that he was safe only to see him land gracefully on his feet, unharmed and still calm. But there was something new in his strange blue eyes. Something that Alfred could only described as amusement and recognition, if his pleased smile was anything to go by.

After a mere glance to make sure that the child was okay, Alfred's gaze shifted back to his upcoming opponent, who had pulled out a small dagger and came charging at Alfred. But before the teen could stab him, Alfred caught his knife hand and made him drop the weapon. The teen than tried to hit him, but Alfred punched him in the gut first punched, hard, and sent the teen flying backwards towards the wall, succeeding in making a small dent where the boy's back connected with the concrete.

The wind blew and the two teens quickly stumbled to get to their leader and get away from Alfred. He watched as the two teens shouldered their leader away and out of sight, a frightened look clear on their faces, but at the same time, a hint of resentment that promised revenge was present in their unnatural blood red eyes.

"Hah," said Alfred. "That'll teach them." He dusted his hands and, still holding onto the bag, turned towards the blond haired boy.

The child was now standing in front of him and Alfred looked down at the boy. "You okay kid?" He asked.

The child nodded his head and said, "Thank you, mister. That was amazing, what you did just now."

Alfred placed a hand to his head and laughed. "Well, all in a days work for the hero, I'd say!" he said, and his smile turned warm as he glanced down at the child. "Your welcome, kid." He patted the boy's shoulder. "Say, you're pretty calm about all this." he crunched down to the kid's height. "Can I ask why?"

The kid smiled and said, "Naturally, it'd be, 'may I'. But since I am but a child right now," he looked down at his hand, "I'm not suppose to correct adults, even if they're wrong. And so," he looked up with a tired sigh, "I must answer to the word, 'can I', and my answer is, it's because I knew everything would be alright." He smiled. "And it is." The blond shrugged as if he was used to being right.

Alfred stared at the child for a moment, trying to place him, but was unable to. Finally, he laughed. "Man," he said through laughter. "You reminded me of my former guardian for a moment there." Because his eyes was looking up to the sky, Alfred did not see the sparks in the blonde child's mystic blue orbs.

Alfred sighed and whipped aways his tears before it could fall and his gaze shifted down to the blond. "Kid," he petted the blond on the shoulder. " You're in freaking America. The land of the free! You're free to do whatever you damn want!"

The child smiled and studied Alfred for a moment. Alfred found that he could not look away from the boy, wondering why he seemed so familiar and where he had seen those deep, yet clear blue eyes before.

Finally, the boy spoke. "Thank you... Are you alright, mister?" he asked, studying Alfred's face carefully, a look of concern on his face. "You look old and tired."

Alfred stared at him for a movement, thinking how the kid knew he looked old and tired when others didn't. Than, he broke out into a laugh to try and hide the fact. "Who? Me?" he questioned, standing up. "Old? Tire? Puff, none sense! I'm not old or tired! Not at all! I'm still pretty young, I tell ya!" Alfred took out another burger from the bag and shifted his body to the side, away from the mysterious child, and he started eating the burger slowly.

"... You're a bad liar, you know that?" the child stated, coming to stand in front of him again. "I mean, sure your appearance is young, but..." He looked Alfred up and down and finally rested his gaze on his eyes. "Your demeanor is different." Alfred raised an eyebrow, a bit startled that the kid saw through him. "You act goofy to hide it all, and in actuality, you're very observant, knowledgeable, and responsible. To me, you seem almost ancient... Wise, beyond your age appearance indicates you to be." Alfred stared opened mouth at the child. How could he say that to him when the boy himself is the same?

"So," the boy continued, his wised blue eyes gleaming. "Care to tell me what's really on our mind? I'm willing to listen, if you need me to."

Alfred stared at the boy for a moment. For some reason he could not explain, Alfred found himself relaxing in the presence of this strange boy. The wind blew and the next thing Alfred knew, he was sitting in a bench behind McDonald's, telling the kid all about his troubles.

"And these old geezers think that they could control me like a tool!" he vented out. "I'm not a tool! I'm not some puppet that they can control! I mean, I should have a voice in my own government too right, but is that really what happens? No! No, I never get a say... Never..." His eyes glazed over for a moment, before returning to normal again. "I tried," he mindlessly said. "I really did. But no one ever listens! No one listens... Because to them, I'm too young and inexperience... To him, I'm too young..." The child raised an eyebrow at him and Alfred shook his head to get away from the old memories. "Anyways, I make suggestions to them. I really did. I tell the presidents, but do they ever listen? No! And I can't even vote! Ahh, man if only I can have things done my way..." He looked up to the sky.

"... And do you want to have it done your way?" asked the child, staring up at Alfred with intense eyes not belonging to that of a child, but of an ancient who could see through to a person's inner soul.

"Hah?" Alfred turned towards him, confused.

"What if you had the chance to have things done your way? If you could have your own free will, separate from the people and the land, would you take it?" The kid stood up and smiled down at Alfred. "Do you, Alfred F. Jones," Alfred's eyes widened as he stared up at the boy, for he was sure he had never once introduced himself to this boy, as impolite as it was. Man would Iggy be so mad at him if he ever found this out, "wish to have your own free will and be your own person, or will you choose to remain with the land and its people as the United States of America?" Alfred's mouth dropped and the smiling blond brought out a black wooden box from behind his back and handed it to Alfred.

Alfred continued to stare at the boy for a moment more, apparently still in shock, before blinking and reaching out both his hands to take the rectangular box from the boy. He looked at the elegant box in his hands and noted how nice and well taken care of it looked. The minute the box came into his hand, Alfred almost dropped it because of how heavy it was. The box felt so powerful, yet at the same time, familiar to Alfred, like a distant memory, and Alfred didn't know why.

He noticed that there was a picture of two white globes in the middle of the lid and it seemed to be moving, slowly spinning and coming closer to each other, to the middle. On the side of the box were pictures of beautiful craved leaves and flowers all winding together. In the middle was the elegant carving of a fully bloomed rose, but it's center seemed to be missing something.

'A key,' Alfred realized, tracing his figures on the 3D rose petals surrounding the black hole, and he wondered where he had seen this familiarly carved box before.

"It's up to you," the boy spoke up, snapping Alfred out of his analyzation.

Alfred looked up and found the child holding a red envelope, with a gold lotus seal on it, out to him. Alfred glanced back and forth between the smiling boy and the envelope before finally taking it.

"To decide what you want to do from here on out," the kid continued. "Will you solve the mystery. Find your answers and be free from the land and it's people? Or will you stay the way you are now, Alfred? It's your decision. You decide where to go from here... Although," he leaned in, hands behind his back and a big smiling on his face, "if you choose not to gave chase, than please take good care of the box until its owner comes to take it back. We all know how much he treasures that box." The boy glanced down at it and Alfred did the same. The child than straightened his postures again, glancing down at Alfred with an evil smirk on his face.

When Alfred looked up, he noticed that the boy's form seemed to be fading in the wind.

The blond smiled warmly and said, " But if you do chose to give chase, than take head of my warnings. It will not be easy to over come, and you will have to fight, so make sure to have weapons with you. However," he held up a figure, his eyes opened and serious as he leaned down to stare Alfred in the eye. "Note that only your fellow nations and other magical creatures are allowed to enter."

The kid stepped back and moved his pointer finger to his lips, his eyes gleaming with mischief and merit. "And be warned young Alfred," he continued. "For the person with the watch knows the time... And he will do anything in his powers to prevent you from getting what you seek." And with that, the boy smiled and his form completely disappeared into the wind.

Alfred stored at the spot where the mysterious boy had been just a moment ago. Than he blinked and looked down at the box. He looked at it for a moment longer before he stood up and turned around to head back to his car. Holding the box with the letter in one hand, carefully tucked between his arms and his side, Alfred checked his watch with the hand holding the McDonald's bag. His eyes widened when he read the time: 12:32 p.m.

'He will meet you at 12 and you shall find him at 13,' Alfred heard the voice of the little girl echoing in his head. 'Then, and only than, shall you decide, whether or not you wish to break free, from this cursive tie.'

Alfred's eyes widened in realization and recognition. Making sure that the box and envelope were safely secured, Alfred made a run for his car, all the while remembering back to the mysterious girl named Lumina. Now he remembered where he had seen those eyes before. The eyes of the blond haired boy, they were the same shade of blue as Lumina's...

Please review.

Next chapter: Calling up help.

See who Alfred calls up for help. Also, I'll be introducing a favorite pairing of mine in this one.