IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE YOU SHOULD PROBABLY READ: Lots of different languages are used, if I don't include a translation for something then either you're not supposed to understand or it'll make no difference whether or not you do.

Just to be clear… I just used Google translate for most of this and I'm well aware that it butchers language, if anyone actually speaks the languages that are used in this story I sincerely apologize if my usage of your language offends you but again, it's probably Google's fault, the only language besides English I didn't use Google as a crutch for was Japanese.

Also Hetalia doesn't belong to me, that probably won't change anytime soon but I'll be sure to let you know if it does.

Chapter 1: Wang Yao

The nations sat in the meeting room which was now descending into chaos. Which was probably the only thing reassuring about the current situation, as it was normal for the national meetings to erupt into chaos, though this time was different. They were not fighting because of their differences as they usually would but rather panicking because it was clear that something had changed in the world, something they didn't understand.

It had started rather simply, Greece had been talking about something he'd found after a nap near some ruins at his place. Following the course of any normal meeting someone would have likely pointed out that this was -in fact- stupid to be talking about at a world meeting, but then something extraordinary had happened.

"There was a cat taking a nap there... it looked so peaceful it made me want to take a nap there too..." Greece spoke in his usual calm, slow tone, "But then I saw ένα ωραίο στάμνα ... αυτό έμοιαζε με το είδος του πράγματος μητέρα συνήθως αφήνει πίσω ..."

Germany firmly chimed in to ask Greece to repeat himself in a manner they could all understand, "Warten, Griechenland, könnten Sie bitte wiederholen, was Sie gerade gesagt?"

Greece looked at him for a moment then tried to continue his story, "Γι 'αυτό και πήρε ... τότε πήρα έναν υπνάκο ..."

At this point several other nations were now interjecting.

"Hey I can't understand what they're saying..."

"Ich verstehe es nicht, nur zu sprechen, wie die deutsch genial mich."

"Huh? Jeg kan ikke forstå. Snakke mer tydelig."

"Beth yr ydych yn ei ddweud i gyd?"

"I'm afraid it's all Greek to me, so to speak."

"Pourquoi voudriez-vous pas tout de parler dans ma belle langue à la place de ces dures ceux?"

"무슨 일이야? 난 전혀 이해를하지 않습니다."

The squabbling continued on for quite a while, everyone was confused and in panic, what were they supposed to do if they couldn't understand each other? They'd had difficulties getting along before but now... they couldn't even communicate properly.

"Halt den Mund!" as usual it fell on Germany to calm the meeting, "Wegen- I mean, for the sake of being able to understand each other ve vill all speak in English. Speak clearly and slowly so that those of us who do not know English as vell can understand. Raise your hand but say nothing if you understand."

All but a handful of nations raised their hands hesitantly.

"Good," Germany said, glad that he'd chosen a language most could speak, "Vould someone please translate for those who do not understand English at all?"

A few nations volunteered to do so and went to sit next to non English speakers that they knew the languages of.

"Now that that's out of the way, is there anyone who has any idea vhat may have happened to us?"

The room went silent, no one moved to speak.

After several minutes England spoke up, "It's as if whatever it was that was making us able to communicate as if we were all speaking the same language no longer exists. Nothing like this is happening to the humans so... something has changed in us as nations... I think."

"How could such a thing happen? We've always been..."

"He's right! Nations have always followed our people! We can't just randomly change if nothing's happening to them!"

"Well whether it makes sense or not that's what's happening... probably..." England replied to whoever it was that had been shouting.

"Dude, you don't sound too sure of yourself," America chimed in.

England frowned, "It's not as if there's a precedence for this! If you have a better idea of what's going on then by all means go ahead, I'm sure we'd all love to hear it!"

"Aufhören zu reden so schnell!"

"Beszélj angolul!"

"Mitä? En ymmärrä."

"Chciałbym całkowicie rozumiem z Tłumacz Google w telefonie!"

It was at this point that any semblance of calm in the room shattered into a thousand pieces and the chaos began to once again reign supreme over the nations. There was yammering, some in English but most nations had already reverted back to speaking in their native tongues adding to the chaos.

China -who to this point hadn't spoken at all- slammed his hands down on the table in front of him commanding everyone's attention before shouting, "我們仍然狀態，正如我們一直。！但是，我們不會有太大的更長！如果你的孩子不理解甚至多我就一個人去度過我剩下的時間！ (We are still states, just as we have always been! But we will not be much longer! If you children don't understand even that much I will go spend my remaining time alone!)"

With that he left the room leaving silence (aside from a few confused murmurs from the many who didn't understand Chinese) in his wake.

...

"を待って、中国は、お待ち下さい。"

China hadn't even noticed that Japan had followed him until Japan had started speaking. He stopped walking and turned to face Japan, but said nothing to his little brother.

"どういう意味だったの？(What did you mean?)"

China hesitated, "對不起。我從來沒有用您的語言。(Sorry. I never got used to your language.)"

Japan had to think for a moment in order to speak in Chinese, "你是什么意思？你说的对我们不是国家要长得多。 (What did you mean? What you said about us not being nations much longer.)"

"正是我所說的話。 (Exactly what I said.)" China replied somewhat coldly turning back around to continue walking in the direction that he had been walking before.

Japan could tell that whatever this was China didn't want to talk about it, but if they really weren't going to be nations much longer then this was no time to sense the mood and refrain from speaking, "但是，这是什么意思？ (But what did it mean?)"

China stopped and sighed, "即使我解釋，你不會明白，那還能有什麼可以做這件事。 (Even if I explained you wouldn't understand, and there would be nothing that could be done about it.)" Then without saying another word China continued on his way despite Japan's protests and insistence that he explain.

...

Japan reentered the meeting room just as Germany had managed to calm the bickering nations (or at least make them quiet).

"Wunderbar timing Japan," Germany stated, speaking English as he had previously discussed to make what was being said easier to understand for everyone, "Did China have anyzing to say?"

"他说... (He said)... 私が意味する、と彼は言った...(I mean, he said)..." Japan stumbled a bit before remembering that he should also be speaking in English, "He simpry said sat we were still nations but wouldn't be much ronger, and sat sere wasn't anything we can about it."

"Zen 'e knows somezing about zis zat 'e ezz not telling us!"

"What good is that if he says we can't do anything about it?"

"Well he might be wrong..."

"Regardless of whether he's right or not we should at least try to get him to tell us what he knows," Germany said, stating the obvious in case there was anyone that hadn't come to that same conclusion.

"I agree..." Japan replied, adding a bit hesitantly, "But how are we going to get Chugoku to tark if he doesn't want to?"

"I say we force 'im ta talk!"

"We can't do that, get someone he likes to talk to him then he's sure to open up."

"But if he wouldn't talk to Japan then who will he talk to?"

"Well what languages can Hiina speak?"

Japan answered quietly, "I don't sink he speaks any ranguages very well besides Chinese... and maybe Engrish but I'm not sure..."

"Who's close to him that speaks either of those languages?"

Everyone looked to Japan, but no one said a single word.

"何？...あたし？(What?... Me?)" Japan stuttered, "But I-"

"You may have your doubts but you've ze best chance ve have to figure out vhat he knows about all of this," Germany stated in his usual serious tone.

...

Japan had been to China's house plenty of times and he was adequate enough at reading kanji (Chinese letters) -as much of his own writing was based around them- and therefore was able to read the street signs in case he'd gotten lost. So it hadn't taken the younger asian nation to find his way to his older brother's home.

He hesitated in front of the door.

Should he really be doing this? Sure China seemed to be the only person that knew anything about what was going on, but China also seemed to want to be left alone. Japan didn't want to bother his brother after having already been told that there was nothing that could be done about the situation anyway, what would be the point in pursuing an answer when it would be pointless?

Japan pivoted, turning from the door and started to walk away before stopping himself.

But what if China is wrong, Japan wondered. Perhaps there was something that could be done about what was happening to them and China was either overlooking it or completely unaware of it. If that were the case then even if it were a bother to China it was in everyone's best interest for Japan to go ahead and try to pry the information out of him.

Japan turned again and approached the door. He had sensed the mood and for once in his life he was not going to refrain from speaking. After all there was no other choice, this was for the good of everyone. He knocked on the door.

There was no answer... after several moments her knocked again and got the same response -or lack thereof.

Japan tried the door and found that it was unlocked, he muttered something quietly to himself about how it's too unsafe to leave doors unlocked in this era as he entered, locking the door behind him mostly out of habit.

"中国、あなたはありますか？(China, are you there?)" Japan asked quietly, there was no response.

Japan wandered around the house, checking rooms that he thought there was some chance of China being in and eventually found his elder brother sitting on the porch. Japan sat down next to his brother in seiza, the traditional Japanese sitting style.

"そこには中-(There you are, Chi-)"

"在中國請。 (In Chinese please.)" China interrupted.

"ああ 御免... 我会尝试。. (I'm sorr-... I will try.)" Japan replied, wondering how he was going to bring up the situation at hand. Should he try to coax it out of him, or simply cut to the chase, which would make China more likely to tell him what was going on? He wasn't sure.

"你想知道發生了什麼事給我們，不是嗎？ (you want to know what has happened to us, do you not?)" China asked choosing cut to the chase himself rather than allowing to let Japan beat around the bush, "這就是為什麼你在這裡，其他的派你來跟我說話。 (That's why you're here, the other's sent you to talk to me.)"

It took Japan a moment to translate China's antiquated style of speaking into something that he could properly understand, and once he had it took another moment for Japan to actually reply, "这是正确的... (That's correct...)"

"然後，我就不會浪費你的時間。(Then, I will not waste your time.)" China stated, sighing he began to speak, "我一直擔心會發生這種事。由於幾百年過去了，我開始相信，也許就不會...我是愚蠢的。 (I have been worried this would happen. As a few hundred years have passed, I began to believe that maybe it wouldn't... I was foolish.)"

"しかし 中国..." Japan started before reminding himself that he was supposed to be speaking in Chinese, "我的意思是...中国，发生了什么事？ (I mean... China, what happened?)"

China seemed reluctant, he wanted to tell, but after having kept quiet about this for so long he wasn't even sure where to start, "不要叫我'中國'，日本。 (Don't call me 'Chugoku', Japan.)"

"しかし..."

" 我的名字是王均瑤，而不是中國，我將不勝感激，如果你沒有一個名字，我很快就會有無權要求像我打電話給我。 (My name is Wang Yao, not China, I would appreciate it if you didn't call me by a name that I will soon have no right to claim as mine.)"

"随后姚明，发生了什么事？ (Yao then, what happened?)"

"這是幾千年以前...我們的一種 -國家- 在那些昔日不存在...(It was many millennia ago... our kind -nations- did not exist in those olden days...)" China -or rather Wang Yao- paused for a while to allow this to sink in, and just as Japan was about to complain that Yao himself wouldn't have anyway of knowing about such times if they'd ever existed Yao continued, "一個女人叫我們在一起，她談到帝王如何行動為自己的進步和人民需要有人將直接代表他們...(A woman called us together, she talked about how kings and emperors act for their own advancement and that the people needed someone that would represent them directly...)"

Once Japan had managed to decipher what Yao had said it took a moment for him to understand what it really meant, "あなた... 你是人类？ (You... You were a human?)"

"是的，我會為一個又很快。(Yes, and I will be one again soon.)" He replied, " 當她跟我們，她用魔法使之讓我們都了解對方...這神奇的是一個月左右投在此之前，讓我們為國家創造了新的國家般的你 - 當他們上升的神奇...(When she talked to us she used magic to make it so we could all understand each other... that magic was cast seasons before the magic that made us into nations and created new nations -like you- when they rose...)"

"魔法？ (Magic?)"

"是的，女人用魔法...不一樣的魔法沒有什麼可以做。它已經很長一段時間，因為她死了。 (Yes, the woman used magic... without the same magic nothing can be done. And it has been a long time since she died.)"

"那么也许有人使用魔法可以- (Then maybe someone that uses magic can-)"

"好像我們任何人會想到這樣的魔力，所有國家現在身邊除了我都是神奇的產品...我就是在那裡唯一一個誰倖存下來的所有論文年...即使我就沒'噸想過做這樣的事情。(As if any of us would have thought about such magic, All of the nations around now besides me were products of the magic... I'm the only one that was there who's survived all theses years... Even I hadn't thought to do such a thing.)" Yao stated a bit solemnly, "...此外，我們可能沒有時間來完成法術，我不知道會發生什麼自己或大家一旦魔術逐漸消減...將我們都變成人？我會死的年齡為你們消失？(... besides, we may not have time to complete the spell, I'm not sure what will happen to myself or you all once the magic has worn off... will we all become human? Will I die of age as all of you disappear?)"

Japan replied adamantly, "这并不意味着我们不应该尝试。事实上，我们应该，因为我们不知道什么时候魔法消失后会发生什么更努力。 (That doesn't mean we shouldn't try. In fact, we should try even harder because we aren't sure what will happen when the magic wears off.)"

Yao sighed, "也許... (perhaps...)"

"我们应该尽快告诉其他人，所以我们都可以寻找一个解决办法在一起。 (We should quickly tell the others so we can all look for a solution together.)"

Yao hesitantly agreed, seeing little other options available.

...

Yao had hesitated to go back in front of the others, but Japan had quickly brought him before them. Leaving little time for the Chinese man to come to grips with the fact that he was about to tell the others that there was a possibility that they would disappear without a trace after about a weeks time, not that he'd have been any more comfortable about it had he been given plenty of time.

"Oh Japan, You're back," Germany said upon realizing that the oriental nations had returned.

Apparently the others were still trying to communicate in English, Japan could only hope that Yao would be able to understand, "はい...ええと...Yes, ドイツ-さん. (Germany-san)"

"So is China gonna tell us what he knows about what's going on or what?" America asked seeming quite impatient.

"安靜下來，你張狂西部的孩子！" Yao shouted at the American.

Japan was about to remind Yao that America wouldn't understand Chinese when the loud western nation himself complained, "Dude, I don't get what you're saying at all."

"Then perhaps you should study languages more you ignorant fool."

Nearly everyone in the room -especially those involved- blinked, they hadn't expected Yao to be able to actually speak English so fluently. It shouldn't have been such a surprise after he'd been able to understand what the others were saying before the meeting went to chaos earlier, but even so it seemed odd that he would be confident enough in his fluency to even be chiding America about not studying languages.

"If you can speak in English why weren't you doing it from the start?"

"Ja, why veren't you?"

" 'Oo cares? Just talk already~"

"Oi, will you all quit yapping?!"

Yao waited a moment for Germany to calm the chattering, then with a sigh he began, "Back in the time when the Earth was flat, when my people believed that our kingdom was at the centre of the world, when we truly believed in such things as dragons and evil spirits... There was a human by the name 'Wang Yao'..."