(A/N): This fic is meant to be read in ½ alignment.

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» A Global Enigma «

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An invite to a World Country Meeting soon turns into a murder mystery.
And anyone could be the culprit.

• • ― Professor Layton and Axis Powers Crossover .

Chapter One

A Bloody Arrival

"I can't believe we got invited by Mr. Kirkland himself!"

"Yes, even I am quite honored."

A boy and a tall man were walking down a large hallway adorned with golden frames that contained portraits of many representatives from Great Britain. Besdies noting the honorable men and women in the paintings, the hallway itself was a royal collage of its own: the floorboards were of the finest maple wood, the walls a blended color of beige and cream, the doorknobs a posh bronze, and the crystal-clear glass windows accessorized by the most exotic of fabrics. It truly was a praiseworthy building fit for the Prime Minister himself.

As the two continued their slow pace, taking time to admire all the decoration and design, the small boy quickly fished out a small pad of notebook paper from his pocket and eagerly flipped through its empty sheets.

"I'm sure Flora would love it if I recorded some of the things the representatives will be addressing," he mused aloud, clearly excited. As he continued to walk, he glanced over at his tall accomplice. "I can't wait to see what everyone looks like! I've never even seen a Chinese person before! Are they really as small as I am?"

"Now, now, Luke," his friend interrupted, "Remember your manners: never blurt such offensive things like that – even if they are innocent curiosities." The man tipped his large top hat and winked. "After all, it's what a gentleman does."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Luke said, instantly regretting his rude exclamation. "I guess I'm just really excited is all…"

The professor let out a small chuckle, happy to hear that his little apprentice was just as exuberant as he was. "That's all right, Luke. I know you didn't mean any harm to it. Just make sure you don't stare too much at everyone, alright? We wouldn't want them to be offended, would we?"

"I promise I won't!"

By then, the two had arrived at the end of the hallway, where a grand door with gold crown framing was awaiting to be opened. Beyond its wooden doors were powerful world leaders, who were undergoing intense discussions of global affairs…

"Ready, Luke?" the man asked, looking down at his smaller trainee.

Luke nodded anxiously.

The professor knocked on the door twice (for knocking more than two would be considered rude, no?) and waited to be allowed in. And, in less than a few seconds, the grand doors flew open and a tall gentleman with sandy blonde hair and a faded green British uniform stood before the professor and his eager friend.

"Ah, Professor Layton! What a pleasure to meet you!" exclaimed the young man. He immediately stuck out his hand towards the professor.

"And what a pleasure to meet the Representative for Great Britain," Layton replied back, shaking hands with the man. "I am very honored to partake in such a rare discussion."

"Yes, well, it was the least I could offer after you solved that Folsense mystery," the British man said, letting out a taut laugh.

"Oh, it was nothing, really."

"U-Uh…"

Layton and the British representative quickly turned down to look at Luke, who was awkwardly standing next to the professor, clearly looking like he'd been ignored.

"Oh, Mr. Kirkland, this is Luke, my apprentice," Layton hastily added.

"Why hello there, little ol' chap!" the British rep exclaimed. He bent down to pat the top of Luke's pale blue cap.

"G-Good day, Arthur Kirk-! I-I mean-, Mr. Kirkland," Luke nervously stuttered, avoiding his gaze from the powerful representative. His cheeks were already turning a rosy shade out of embarrassment. "I-It's a pleasure to join your discussion."

"Oh, of course, of course! And it's wonderful to have the two of you here, too. Now, shall we?" Arthur opened the door a little wider and stepped aside for the two to walk inside.

"Hey, Professor," Luke whispered, "Don't you think Mr. Kirkland's eyebrows are really bushy?"

"Now, Luke," Layoton answered back in a hushed voice, "Remember what I told you."

"Yes, but…I can't help but notice that they look like caterpillars!" Luke exclaimed, trying to contain a snort. "I didn't expect him to look like that…"

"Yes, well, life is full of surprises, my boy."

As the two entered the luxurious discussion room, they were stunned by the arquitecture and interior design: a shiny light brown set of floorboards, a wall-length glass window ornamented with light yellow curtains, and a huge dark oak table that sat the other representatives. All the seats were taken except for Arthur's and the ones reserved for the two of them. A few of the nations were talking with one another, while some were staring off straight into space. Another important note was that all of the representatives were fairly young despite the many portraits of old British representatives Layton had seen in the hallway he'd been walking through.

"Professor Layton, welcome to the World Country United Nations," Arthur announced.

At this, the vast array of faces immediately turned to look at the two of them, wide-eyed and curious.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Layton said, tipping his hat off.

There were some nods and grumbles and a few coherent phrases of "you too" as Arthur escorted them into the two seats that were next to his. Layton's seat, of course, was reserved for the one right next to Arthur, while Luke sat next to Layton and a shy blonde girl with an exquisite burgundy dress.

"Now, as for our first current issue," Arthur began, clearing his throat as he did so, "I propose that we start off with the Flu Epidem-!"

"Oh, no, no, no! Not that again!" sighed a man with shampooed wavy blonde hair and a stark aftershave. "You always want to talk about depressing stuff first. Why not try something a bit more happier?"

Arthur gritted his teeth and took a quick glance at the professor.

"Well, France, what do you suppose we talk about?" England asked through slitted eyes.

"'France'?" Luke whispered aloud. He quickly turned to look at the professor for an explanation. "Why did Mr. Kirkland call him by his country's name?"

"Well, since this is a World Country discussion, I suppose it's easier to call each person by his or her country's name," the professor replied.

"Oh, I see…" Luke quickly took his pad of paper out and began to write the professor's answer.

"Hey! How about we talk about global warming!? I have a great idea for that!" exclaimed a rather peppy representative (who was probably excited because of the two cans of drippy-sweet soda he had in front of him on the table).

"Oh, PLEASE not that stupid 'Let's-build-a-hero-so-he-can-reflect-the-sun' idea! That is plain bogus!" France snapped as he made a flip of his hair. "Nobody can create a human that can do that."

"Aw, but I thought it was such a good idea! What did you think about it, Japan?"

A rather small Asian man with a bowl-cut sheepishly looked down at the table, trying not to answer the question in an offensive way.

"I…I think it's an okay idea," the man quietly replied.

"There you go AGAIN, Japan! Never speaking what you mean!" cried another country as he angrily banged his fist down on the table out of frustration. "Just tell America that you think his idea is stupid!"

"Stupid? I don't think it's stupid! Geez! Is everyone against me or something?"

"Brother," the shy girl that Luke was sitting next to murmured. She took her angry brother's hand into hers. "Please try to understand where America is coming from. I sure he means no bad intentions."

"L-Lichtenstein…"

"How about we talk about border issues?" advised a rather tall young man. "I was wondering that since I have control over the Baltic Countries, I was wondering if maybe we could rename them with "Soviet" in their name!"

At this idea, Luke noticed that three countries that were sitting next to each other immediately began to shiver and shake, clearly terrified by not only the idea, but also at the man who had advised it.

"Russia, please try to understand that this isn't all about you," huffed an intelligent-looking representative with glasses and a mole.

"Oh, but it's not all about me," the Russian said, "I was only giving an example."

Suddenly, a cold aura spread over the room and everyone quickly grew silent.

"Is anything wrong?" Russia asked, cocking his head innocently. "I hope I didn't-!"

"A-Ah, how about we talk about…imports and exports, aru?" another Asian country asked. His incoherent accent made it even more difficult for Luke to transcribe the discussion down on paper. "I have some great new items that I know everyone would like!"

In a blink of an eye, the small Asian man was fumbling in his pack to display his new products to the others. "This idea came from Shaolin, since Kung-Fu movies are all the rage in America these days."

"They are!" agreed the perky American with a bright smile.

"Here we go with America again! China, are you really just focusing on America just so you can get money from a superpower?" France asked bitterly.

"Uh…no?" China hesitantly replied, quickly darting his eyes away from the Frenchman. "But…I have a cashmere scarf if you'd like. I'll give it to you for free, aru." He offered a bright red-colored scarf that he'd pulled out from his big pack of items.

"Oooh, yes, I'll take it!!" France immediately snatched it from the small Chinaman's hands and wrapped it around his neck. "Ooooh, it's so sexy! …Like me!"

Despite the lively arguments the representatives were having, Luke noticed that all he had written down was useless junk about all the other countries. Luke quickly looked at the old-fashioned grandfather clock that lay in the left corner of the room. It seemed that for the past 30 minutes they had been talking about selling items and other useless junk – they hadn't even discussed into an actual topic!

Was this really what happened during a World Country Meeting?

Luke turned to look at the professor. It appeared that he, too, was surprised by the remarkable amounts of nonsense that these countries were talking about.

"Everyone, everyone!" England shouted, pounding his hand on the desk. "Let's all get to a topic and stay with it, alright?! Alright, now…how about…-!"

"A BREAK!" screamed a rather lax representative.

The proposal had come from a country with light brown hair who had a strange strand of gelled hair that curled upwards. The two countries who were sitting next to him were covering their ears with annoyed looks.

"I-Italy-!" cried a stern, muscular young man. "What are you-?"

"Why'd you have to yell so loud, Veniciano?!" exclaimed the other, who looked shockingly alike to the yelping little Italian. "I'm right next to you, you know!"

"Aww, I'm sorry, brother!" But I'm just really hungry for pasta…"

"Aughhhh! When will you understand that Great Britain doesn't HAVE pasta!?"

"Waaah?! No pasta!? Why wouldn't Great Britain have-?"

"Look, just-!"

"I agree with North Italy," England blurted, standing up from his seat. "I suppose we should take a break. It's…tea time, anyway."

"You and your tea," America said, shaking his head back and forth with dismay. "It's always about your tea."

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The break room was rather small, and it was really hard for all the representatives to move around each other (ah, how British lifestyle was quaint and small!). There were antique cabinets and patterened curtains, along with many paintings done by famous artists.

Layton was talking with a couple of countries, while Luke was chowing down on the scones and buttery buscuits that were laid out for the representatives to eat. (America clearly didn't like the selection and decided to pop out another Coke).

As Luke swallowed the last of his fifth scone, he eyed a rather young-looking country that was standing near a corner of the room. He immediately identified him as one of the Three Baltic Countries – one of the representatives who had shivered after Russia's remark about borders and country names.

Curious, Luke decided to approach the boy.

"Hello there," Luke introduced. "My name's Luke. What's yours?"

The boy, realizing that someone was actually talking to him, immediately flinched and trembled with fear with shock. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost – or at least something that was out to harm him. However, when he realized that it was merely a boy around his own age that was speaking to him, his regained his composure.

"M-My name is R-Raivis Galante," the boy stuttered shyly, "But…you can call me Latvia. It's easier that way."

"Latvia, huh? I've never heard of your country before."

"Oh, well, it's a rather small country," the blonde boy said with flushed cheeks. He put a hand to his face, embarrassed. "After all, nobody would know of my country unless they knew… him."

"Who?"

"R-R-Russia."

It seemed that saying the large Eurasian country's name was a handful for the young adolescent.

"Russia?" Luke turned to scan the small room for him. It wasn't that hard to find him, since he was the tallest of all the other countries – plus he was rather dull in color in contrast to the vivacious colors of the room. "What's so bad about him?"

"O-Oh! N-No, nothing's wrong with him at all! He's a real great guy! A real…great guy!"

"Why're you getting so hysteri-?" Luke stopped mid-sentence as Layton's words reminded him of such rude behavior. After all, a gentleman wasn't supposed to press for information – it wasn't polite. "Y'know, nevermind. I shouldn't be asking you so many questions…"

Latvia's lips twisted tight at Luke's dismayed face. The fidgety country took a sharp glance over at Russia, who was talking with his favorite Asian accomplice, China.

"Uhm, Luke…"

"Yes?"

As Luke turned to look at the country, he could see a glint of helplessness in the boy's eyes – it was as if he was suppressing something.

"What you were saying about before. About Russia. I…"

EEEEEEEKKKKKK-!!!

A female's shrill cry pierced the atmosphere. All chatter and chuckle faltered as dozens of heads made a sharp turn towards the foreboding sound.

A mass of bodies scuttled out of the parlor room and out into the hallway, where the noise had been made. As a frenzy of heads and national clothing bounded out towards the sound, Luke and Latvia were all that remained in the now empty room, full of discarded biscuits and teacups.

"W-What do you think that was?" Luke asked, clearly distraught by the sudden noise.

Latvia didn't answer and turned away with a guilty face.

"Latvia?"

"Oh God…" a voice from the hallway shrieked.

Without thinking, Luke left the adolescent country in the parlor room and ran towards the crowd of people, who were standing around the entrance to one of England's guest bedrooms. Luke weaved through the crowd with his agile body until he arrived at the front to get a firsthand look.

And it wasn't a pretty sight.

The first thing Luke noticed was the river of blood that the body was drenched in. It was staining the shiny hardwood floor into a deep maroon shade. The next thing was the body, which was laid limply on the floor. The man's head was on the ground, with his back towards his horrified audience. His clothes were rather extravagant, with a dark purple tailcoat and fancy dress shoes. But what had ruined such elegant fashion was the single, bloody dagger that had pierced his back.

Luke's stomach coiled into a knotted mess and he could feel the scones he'd eaten wanting to come back out.

"A-Austria…" sobbed a nearby girl, who was apparently the girl who had let out the scream. She covered her face with her hands as her tears continued to drip down her face and onto the floor.

"What is the meaning of this?!" yelled England. "Who in the bloody hell would do such a thing!?"

"I'm not sure," Luke found himself replying, "But…whoever did this…isn't going to fess up."

-to be continued…

LUKE'S NOTEBOOK

World Country Representatives are addressed by their country's name because it's easy to remember and to make discussions go quicker.

Arthur Kirkland has really bushy eyebrows. REALLY bushy ones. They're like caterpillars! He needs to get a wax.

China really IS small! But he's taller than me. Am I really that small? Wait till I tell Flora that I saw a Chinaman!

America loves soda. Coke, especially. I saw the cans in the bin.

France seems like a real snobby man. He really likes to flip his hair around. And he eyed me all the time and got me all sore the entire time we had break-time. What a creeper!

Latvia is a really nice chap. He's a bit shy. Oh, and he's really quirky sometimes, too. Like, he thinks someone's going to get him from behind or something. But he's a real nice chap. Next time, if Mr. Kirkland will let me, I'll sit next to him. Do you think young representatives are allowed playtime?

A-Austria was found in one of England's quarters sprawled on the floor…with blood. And every single country was with us except for North Italy and South Italy.

(A/N): Alright, so that's the first chapter to this really weird crossover. Yes, I am Chinese, so I hope I'll be allowed to get away with the little "Chinaman" jokes. But really, you can't help but think it's funny that Luke thinks Chinese people are small. I found that rather cute. Oh, and his remark about England's eyebrows. Hee, I had a kick out of writing that. (ARTHUR'S EYEBROWS ARE EPIC.) So if you could please tell me what you think about this crossover, it would be great!