Dad. Why are we so, . . . different, from everyone else?

Because we are different.

There is a place where there are 'people' like us.

Really?! Can we go?

By the time the countries were up on the second floor, Australia had already finished the page of a book he found. Upon hearing the footsteps coming, the blue country looked up at them.

"I didn't know you had 'The Fish and the Ring' and 'Nix Naught Nothing'." Aussie said, mostly to China.

"I do?" It was then he took a closer look at the book. At reading the letters, his brow furrowed in minor confusion. "Mind if I-" "Sure."

Book now in hand, China showed it to the rest. Germany recognized two of the letters. South Africa noticed the style they were written in. "That reminds me." The black-red-blue country headed back down the stairs.

"Australia, you can read this?" Germany questioned, seeing as the story was written in a dead language.

"Not a whole lot of it, but a little. America's bet-" Aussie cut himself off. Acknowledging some of the glances, the Outback country defended himself. "I only know a word here or there because Grand-peré would read it to me. Ame's spent the most time with him, so he probably got read to more."

"Do you know your grandfather's name by chance?" With a shake, "What they looked like at the very least?"

"He was mostly white, with this bright red cross on his face." "Sounds like England." "But England doesn't have kids, let alone grandkids." Russia countered China's guess.

"Would you think an Aboriginal would have a flag like that?" Germany asked, bringing up the best assumption he had. Zar held a letter in her hand, and returned just a few moments earlier. "It's possible." "What's an 'Aboriginal'?"

While Zar explained to the Australian, China had gears turning.

"Say Australia? Do you have a case of vials in your bag?" The red and gold country pondered out loud.

"Yeah!" "Mind if we take a look at it?" Australia turned, fetching the bag he slung onto the bag. Digging out the familiar looking case, he passed it over to China. Japan took this moment, realizing they didn't exactly eat dinner.

"While you 4 are busy figuring this all out, me and Aussie are going to get something to eat." She said, motionally calling over the shortest country of the household. He obliged, "What are we eating?" "Whatever you choose from the kitchen. And anything you want?" She asked, getting a few 'I'm good' and the such from the adults.

"Alright. Let's go get you something." From there, she followed the blue country down the stairs.

Down in the kitchen, Japan had already got Australia a glass of water. "I'll see what we have in the pantry that I can make quick, but meanwhile you can see if anything in the fridge catches your fancy."

"Alright. Thank you Japan!"

Giving back a curt nod, she looked to raid her cousin's ample food supply. Inside the official pantry space, there was a whole shelf dedicated to rice, noodles, and tofu. Out in the kitchen she could hear the fridge door open and close. Spying some of the spices higher up and some bread crumbles, Japan got an idea.

"Hey Australia, have you ever had Kung Pao Chicken?"

Silence.

"Australia?" Japan came back out into the kitchen. No Outback country. The opened window was concerning.

"Australia?!"

Night had fallen a while ago, the stars softly twinkling up above. The moon wasn't offering much light either. In a flash Japan dug out a flashlight, already out the door before Russia could come down the stairs.

Zooming around the corner, Japan reached the side that the open window was on. Flipping on the light, she shone the beam to underneath the window. Walking carefully, she followed the set of footprints to a large Parashorea out in the backyard.

"Australia?" She asked once more into the darkness, the tracks ended at the trunk. China had followed her out, meeting her under the nearly branchless tree.

"Japan. What hap-" Such a calm sentence ended in an abrupt shriek as something wet landed on his skull and slid to his forehead. All Japan could make out of it was something red.

China managed to fling it off into the grass, backing away from the tree. "You have the light. . . What is it?" "It-"

A bone-crunching crack sounded from above, another wet slab narrowly missing Japan. The two asian countries watched as the beam of light snaked up the tall tree, landing on a figure sitting in the branches. The height and blockage of the leaves made it difficult to see the country.

"Aussie!" Japan called up, China rather going to look at the trunk of the tree. Small claw marks were ticked into the rougher bark, making their ascent up. "So that's how they got up." What was confusing was when there were the smooth sections of bark- no marks China could make out.

Japan got answered by another crack, a small chip of white slipping and falling to the ground. Getting a confirmation from the other, the chip was indeed a bone fragment. The wet slab was also identified as a torn piece of meat.

"Aussie! That you? Can you come down?" Japan called up, doing her best to hide the worry in her voice. "Japan. Do you think you could climb this?" "Not without proper gear. Or a rope to pull myself up."

The leaves rustled up near the top, pinpointing the location of the country further. "Promise not to be scared?" The Australian asked, not yet revealing himself from the branches.

"We promise." She dutifully called up, lowering the light as to not accidentally blind the younger country. Yet they could still make out the form.

China was frozen in either awe or shock, watching the Australian come down. Head-first, and moving much like a gecko or squirrel. If he hadn't known the background, he could have easily mistaken this as a weird panda. The Australian eventually reached the ground, doing a 180 when his hand reached the grass. When his feet were planted firmly on the ground, he moved the remains of the bone out of his mouth.

"Is that my cow leg?" "You had a cow leg?" "Mhm. Japan said I was welcome to anything in the fridge."

Thankfully that was the perfect distraction from the unhinged jaw and second row of teeth Aussie had. That didn't stop China from noticing the skin stitch together and the sharper and more saw-like row duck out of sight however.

"How have you not broken your teeth on that?" China pointed towards the remains of the femur. "I've had larger ones. The skulls are the trickiest to not jab into the side of your mouth however. But skulls don't have that much marrow in them. Femurs do, so I eat a fair bit of them."

"Why did you need the marrow?" "Cause I haven't eaten any yet for the week. If I don't get some I become sick and have withdrawals of sorts." He replied simply, seeing that there was not much left of the cow.

By now the rest of the countries had braved the outdoors, one of them shining a flashlight their way. A thick Russian accent sounded through the backyard, (even though author can't do accents worth a crap) "What happened?!" Aussie quickly answered, dropping the white shards into the tall grass.

"Oh. I saw something that looked like a raccoon out here so I came out to chase it off. I forgot to tell Japan. Sorry mates." China chipped in as well. "It's alright Australia. Just let us know next time."

Zar looked ready to ask another question, a knowing glance from Japan putting it on hold. She changed her question, "Well if it's all good now, how about we head back inside?" "Yeah. It's getting late."

After getting the Australian some actual food and the rest finishing up their discussion, the six countries met up in the living room one more time. Aussie had a small bowl of Kung Pao Chicken in his lap as he sat on a floor cushion.

The remaining five remained silent, letting Aussie eat a bit before they asked their questions. It didn't take long for the smallest to notice as well.

"Why are you all so quiet?"

"Well. We wanted to let you eat before we asked you some questions. Is that alright?" "Mhm. What all ya got?"

China started it off. "How long have you and your brothers been traveling?" "Eeh. I, I don't know for sure. Zee's better at keeping track and remembering things. But we've been traveling for at least 10 years. Well, it felt like ten years. Time's confusing."

(Yes Aussie. Yes it is. And thanks for pointing out another issue author has.)

"Yes. I suppose it is, especially when countries age differently than humans." "By chance can you read this? I know you mentioned that you only know a few words, but does the writing look familiar?" Zar pondered, handing the enclosed letter to him.

While Aussie was hunting through the lines of text, Germany got a selection of the vials ready. ". . . Some. . . South Africa- where did you find this?" "It was with Rosie when I found her again in the park. Why?"

"It means Grand-peré's ok! Thank you!" He beamed, holding the letter close. "You're very welcome." Zar answered back. China looked ready to ask a follow-up, but got discouraged by the rest. Germany instead took the reigns, holding some of the vials carefully.

"Do you mind telling us what's in these?" "Only a few, but I will say right off tha bat to not let the black one break. Unless you have an enemy. Then make sure it breaks on them." He ended with a small grin, working on setting his bowl of chicken down. Picking up a few that looked like the more traditional snake venom, "These are all the ones I can do. I can do normal snakes such as Adder, Taipans, Copperhead, and a few others." He explained, going through the corresponding container with each name. One was left unaccounted for.

"What about the last one?" "Uh. . . I'm not fully sure. It's not like any of my snakes, so who knows. We theorized that it's just my own. . . Would explain why I can store so much of it compared to the rest."

While Germany was caught on 'store', Russia jumped right into the next question.

"Alright. This is more for your brother, but what are the slits on the sides of his neck and torso?" This caught Straya off guard slightly. "Oh. He showed you his gills?"

China plowed through the minor shock like it was just another obvious fact. "Yes. I assuming he hides them under his neck wrap, unless, . . ." "He wears it full time- easiest way to make sure they stay kinda wet and don't dry up and rip. At night he sleeps in the bathtub."

"Has it always been this way?" "Err. Maybe? I know it was a main thing Papa and Grand-peré fought over a lot. Along with other things."

"Ah. Speaking of, where is the rest of your family? It's been brought up a few times it's been just you and your brothers for a while."

The somewhat faltered smile on the white-starred country fell considerably, the looks of an unhappy memory being brought up. "Y-you don't have to share if you don't want to. We were just curious." Zar jumped in, getting ready to cast a deadly glare at the red country.

The Australian was silent for a while, brow furrowed in thought. "I-. I don't remember much. Grand-peré was busy talking with Mamam and Papa, but it's fuzzy about what it was they were talking about. Grand-peré took us four off to bed, I think, a-and then. . . T-there was smoke, a-and fire. I can't remember what happened, but there were just the f-four of us left." Aussie was struggling not to frown or cry, taking a few moments to recollect himself.

"Sorry I can't remember anymore. I just know that Canada or America got hurt the most, Zee remembering the most of it."

"It's ok. We'll see if we can find them tomorrow and see if we can get any of them to help clear a few things up." "Good luck." Aussie commented after a soft chuckle.

"And why's that?" Russia countered. In terms of strength he'd be at ends with Canada, but if push came to shove surely he could easily beat America or Zealand.

"If we don't want to share something, we won't. It's that simple." "Even if we bribe you?"

To this Aussie full on cackled. "Ya mates are funny. Anyways, I think I better go off to sleep." He went to grab his empty bowl- only to find that Japan had already sniped it and took to the kitchen. With that, he waved g'night and went up the stairs. Zar made sure that the rest of the countries respected the little's wishes.

Once they couldn't hear anything from the upper level, Russia cleared his throat. "So. What now?" "Well, I'm not sure. But I think I can say we safely got all we'll get from Aussie tonight."

"Do you think the talk of the three older countries led to the fire starting?" Japan suggested with what info they had. "Maybe cousin. But it still feels like we only found a small part of a larger story." "I agree. . . Think we can find Zealand and get him to tell us the rest of the story?" "Maybe Rus. But from what Australia made it out to be it won't be easy. There's also Canada and America as well." Germany added on.

"But we also have to consider their strengths and weaknesses. . . Which we don't know much of." "We actually considering what I think we're considering?" "Just as a last resort, like if a building tomorrow catches fire and they scatter again."

"Which is incredibly unlikely to happen. Besides, the courtroom as the rest of ya call it is the least likely to go down in flames despite what all can happen  within it's doors. I remember one time Argentina managed to get caught on fire during a meeting and, after the chaos had ended, managed to get put out without much damage to the room." Zar shared, remembering the chaos of that day. If anything the big concern was the more office-styled structure connected to the large multi-floored courtroom.

China sat up, heading to a small side closet. From a shelf came a small container. On one end where three nubs, the rest of it a smooth cylinder besides areas to grip and a latch. The rest of the dead-language symbol was intact as well, branded on the side.

"I picked this up when we were looking at what was left of the unknown blank that tried to attack Germany." With a pull of the latch, three small needles came from the nubs. "I took some of this to one of the labs in my country, and they confirmed that it was a neurotoxin. Specifically, a potent narcotic."

"Potent on human terms, or, ours?" Zar asked, albeit hesitantly.

With another press of the button and retrieval of the sharper ends, China kept silent for a minute.

"Well. If it were towards humans I'd have no reason to keep it hidden." He reasoned, allowing the rest to draw conclusions.

But as the rest of them chatted, all failed to notice the little blue country listening in at the top of the stairs.

Listening with a big, ol', sharp-toothed grin.

It's late. At this point I don't care anymore besides getting the story. Now just kinda consider here on out a big ol' rough draft. Wether I get around to making it a final draft, we'll have to see.