Chapter 1

Deep underneath the earth an ancient evil slumbers, unaware of the passage of time since its last appearance. It cares not that the people above know nothing of it or what it can do, only that someday it will be unleashed upon the world once more. The darkness stirs; someone has uncovered it and found the ancient tomb that conceals its heart. One of them got very close. The evil smirked, he would be the first to fall.

...

"A... Alfred, please slow down!" The nation of the United States of America stopped and looked behind him only to see his brother slowly catching up to him. He grinned cockily,

"C'mon Mattie, hurry up, the meeting starts in two minutes and Heroes should never be late!" he called. Canada half-glared at his twin, pushing his glasses up his nose,

"And whose fault is it that we're late in the first place?" he snapped, "I told you that stopping to get something from that McDonald's was a bad idea." He ranted. America merely laughed,

"Well we won't be late if we keep running will we?" he grabbed a hold of Canada's wrist and started running again. Canada tried to protest as his brother started his mad dash to the conference building again but never managed it as America's attention was purely on getting to the meeting before it began. With just a minute to spare America and Canada burst into the meeting room,

"And the Hero has arrived in just the nick of time!" he announced to the stony glares of half the other nations in the room. England rounded on the overly exuberant young nation,

"You bloody idiot! I told you that this was an important meeting and that you needed to be here on time!" America laughed,

"And I am on time." He replied with a grin. England opened his mouth to say something when someone pulled him back down onto his seat,

"Fer fuck's sake," Scotland grumbled, "Can we jus' get this bloody thing o'er with a'ready? I've got better things tae dae." England glared at his brother,

"Look, I don't like you being here either, so you can quit whining about it!" he snapped. Scotland merely rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the host country. Switzerland glared at America, his hand slowly reaching to his gun,

"America, just take your seat so I can get this thing started." He groused. America saluted the European nation and sat down, dragging Canada with him. When he was sure that everyone was paying him some sort of attention, Switzerland began,

"Alright, I'm sure we all know this is going to turn into a circus sideshow at some point, so I'll make this brief." He said, "Basically we're here to discuss the progress of various projects regarding renewable energy sources since we're all rather painfully aware that fossil fuels are a finite source, and I think Greece had something he wanted to say about one of his archaeological digs." He looked around the room, several nations were already bored and distracting themselves with their phones or taking naps. He sighed mentally as he continued, "If anyone interrupts a nation that is in the middle of speaking, they are going to very seriously regret it. We have a lot to get through and I'd appreciate if we didn't get sidetracked." He glared over at America at this point, who merely grinned back. Switzerland looked down at his notes, "Right then, Germany you may as well start things off." He motioned to the other nation, who immediately stood up, ruffled his notes and started to speak.

...

The meeting didn't fall into its usual chaos until about three hours in, a new record, though it was mostly because Switzerland kept threatening the nations who were about to cause trouble with his rifle. Eventually Greece was poked awake and he stood up to speak,

"This is not something many will find interesting," he said slowly, suppressing a yawn before he continued, "but some archaeologists have found something... interesting in some of my mother's ruins near Athens." Scotland shifted in his seat, this sounded promising, at least more promising than having to listen to his idiot nephew whitter on about one of his ludicrous ideas. Greece looked at his notes and blinked tiredly, "It seems to be half of a large sphere like object... it also seems to have some interesting electromagnetic properties." Scotland perked up a little at that, he was always interested in these sorts of things. America perked up as well,

"Waitwaitwait," he said, "What kind of interesting properties?" he asked. Greece looked over to the blonde nation,

"Well... it seems to attract lightning." He replied, "How, we're not sure yet, but we have a team of scientists working on that." Scotland actually sat up properly at that,

"If ye dinnae mind me askin' Greece, I'd like tae hae a gander at this thing." Greece looked over to Scotland, completely confused. England sighed and spoke up,

"He was asking if he could come over to have a look at this thing you've found." He translated, then he looked quite thoughtful, "Actually I wouldn't mind taking a look either, come to think on it." Greece blinked then nodded slowly,

"I... don't see why not. He agreed, "We could use some other opinions." Scotland grinned,

"Cool, least we got somthin' sorted oot the day." He quipped. The other nations around him that had been paying attention nodded in agreement, actually looking fairly accomplished. Greece took his seat again and Switzerland stood up,

"Well since we have actually accomplished something today, I'm going to call for a break." He said, looking relatively pleased for once. Almost immediately Italy grabbed onto Germany's arm and the rest of the nations in the room broke off into their little cliques. America bounded across the room, dragging Canada with him,

"Hey England! Do you want to come to McDonald's with Mattie and me?" he called. England grit his teeth and sighed,

"No America, I don't even like McDonald's." He ground out. America's happy grin fell a little,

"Aww but England..." he whined. England glared at the younger nation,

"No means no Alfred," he snapped, "there are plenty of other places to eat that I'm sure Switzerland's very proud of." American pouted a little,

"Ok then," he muttered, he turned to Canada, "Looks like it's just you and me then bro." Canada sighed,

"I'm sorry Al, but I've got to agree with England here." He was already well prepared for the pout his brother sent his way, "We can go to McDonald's some other time, eh?" he suggested. America sighed and continued pouting childishly,

"It's not fair, McDonald's makes the best hamburgers in the world." He muttered. Scotland chuckled as he patted his oldest nephew on the shoulder,

"Better luck next time laddie." He said before turning to France, "I a'ready ken whaur you want tae go, an' I'm game... so long as ye're payin'." France chuckled, tucking a stray stand of hair behind an ear,

"Worry not, mon cher, I was already well prepared for that." He replied with a brilliant. England snorted as he looked between the two nations,

"I'm going to see where Portugal went." He muttered, feeling a little put out that he wouldn't be able to spend the lunch break beating the frog into tiny pieces like he normally would. Canada looked fairly thoughtful,

"That's an idea," he said to himself, "I wonder what Ukraine's doing." America pouted as his twin wandered off, looking for the Eastern European nation,

"Everyone has a date except from me." He whined, "Hell, even my brother's going out with the commie bastard's sister." Scotland rolled his eyes,

"An' there's the reason why." He told the younger nation, "Ye're bratty, impulsive and far too quick tae jump tae conclusions. Not only tha', but ye can haud a hell o' a grudge; Russia's been a democracy fer the last twenty years." America glared at his uncle,

"Hey come on, that's uncalled for." He half whined. Scotland stared at his nephew levelly,

"Jus' tellin' ye like it is laddie. Somebody has tae, so we can deflate that ego o' yours." America turned red in the face, partially out of embarrassment and partially out of anger. France, seeing where this was going to start heading, grabbed Scotland's arm,

"Ok, now you've made your point, we should really get going L'Ecosse." He told the Celtic nation. American snorted,

"Doesn't matter, I was already leaving." He muttered darkly, turning around and sweeping out of the door. France watched him leave nervously then looked back at Scotland with a sigh,

"Honestly, mon couer, did you 'ave to go and piss 'im off like that?" he asked. Scotland snorted,

"Like I said, someone has tae tell him whit's whit." He looked back at France again, "Dinnae worry, love, he'll forget a' aboot it soon enough." France hummed in slight disagreement but said nothing else on the subject,

"If you say so, mon cher. Either way this is not getting us our lunch is it?" Scotland chuckled as he looped an arm around the French man's waist,

"It's no' and I'm starvin'." The two nations chattered happily as they left the conference building for their well deserved lunch break.

...

America sighed as he wandered through the streets of Zurich, hands stashed firmly in his pockets. What Scotland had said had touched a nerve with the younger nation,

"Stupid Scotland and his stupid opinions." He muttered darkly, "People shouldn't talk to Heroes like that." His thoughts were interrupted by a scream coming from a nearby side street,

"Hjälp!" American didn't think twice about rushing towards where the voice was coming from, 'help', after all, was very much an international phrase. When he got to the street, he saw several Swiss citizens were already there, guns drawn at... America's heart stopped and caught in his throat. Standing right in the middle of the street was something that haunted the nation's dreams whenever he watched a scary movie. The thing that was attacking the young woman who had screamed looked like a corpse that had been dragged out of water mere moments ago. He flinched as one of the men closest to the pair fired his rifle at the creature, aiming for its shoulder. America started shaking, his vision going blurry as not only did the wound not bleed, but the bullet didn't even seem to affect the... thing that was still holding the girl by her arm. Several of the people that had been gathered around backed off; clearly this was something that they couldn't deal with by themselves. America could feel himself wanting to bolt right back to the conference room, but when he looked at the scene again, he quashed the impulse. Scared of zombies or no, heroes did not leave innocent people to die. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, America took his pistol out,

"Everyone back off!" he shouted, raising his arm to take aim at the creature's head. The Swiss people in the street didn't need telling twice; those that were within range of the foreigner's pistol shot scrambled out of the way, those that weren't kept their own guns trained on the situation. America used his free hand to steady the one holding his pistol, took a very careful aim and fired. The bullet hit its target and with a wail the creature dropped the girl to the ground. America grinned cockily as the zombie fell back against a wall,

"And that gentlemen, is how we deal with zombies." He said, but just as he was about to put his gun away, the creature stirred and got back up with a snarl. America's face paled; that wasn't supposed to happen, zombies were always killed with a shot to the brain. The Swiss people backed up, keeping their rifles trained on the creature, though many were clearly scared out of their minds. The girl who had been attacked took the opportunity to run out onto the main street, presumably to get back-up. The zombie like creature ignored her and looked at America, snarled and started to walk towards him. America backed up, this was not good. One of the Swiss men who was closest to the blonde nation fired at the zombie and pushed America out of the way,

"We will take care of this," he told the foreigner, "Run." America shook his head,

"I can't just leave you guys to deal with this... thing by yourself!" he protested. The man turned to him,

"We are trained for this sort of thing, now go!" he snapped. America didn't need telling twice as he bolted out of the side street. He was terrified, this was not something he was equipped to deal with, and neither were the Swiss people, well trained as they obviously were. America's thoughts raced as he ran back towards the conference building. Who would be able to help him get rid of something that was clearly not natural? The first thing that came to mind was sandy hair, green eyes and a perpetually annoyed expression. England. He always believed in the supernatural and magic and things. He'd know exactly what to do. Nodding to himself, America outright sprinted towards the conference building.

...

The rest of the nations filtered into the conference room, annoyed that their break had now ended and that they had to deal with at least another three hours of boredom before they could enjoy the rest of their day. England looked around the room, fully expecting to see or hear America come bounding into the room. Scotland took his seat next to his brother,

"Whit's the matter wi' you?" he asked, "Ye look as though ye've gone an' lost somethin'." He noted. England snorted as he turned to his brother,

"I'm just fine thank you Angus," he replied shortly, "I'm just looking to see where America vanished to, he's supposed to be speaking first." Scotland snorted,

"Ye'll be lucky if he turns up," he said, "He wis in a richt proper mood when he left fer lunch." England narrowed his eyes a little,

"You pissed him off again didn't you?" when Scotland didn't reply, the younger nation sighed, "Great, now he's probably gotten himself into some sort of trouble. " he muttered. Scotland leaned back in his chair nonchalantly,

"No' my fault the bairn cannae handle ony criticism." He retorted. The Celtic nation looked over to Switzerland, who was frowning as he shuffled his papers in an agitated manner. Scotland quirked an eyebrow at that, something was obviously up. He was just about to ask his younger brother for his opinion when the doors to the room burst open and America came running in, panting. The super power stopped, looked around the room, found England and rushed over to him,

"Iggy, you've got to help me! I went for a walk and there was this girl. She was being attacked by this... zombie thing. I shot it in the head like you're supposed to only it didn't die, now half the people in the street it happened in are taking this thing on by themselves..." he babbled furiously, clearly scared out of his wits. England frowned and put a hand on his ex-charge's shoulder,

"Hang on America, slow down. You're not making any sense." He told the other nation. Scotland, who's ear was a little more trained frowned in consternation,

"I think I caught most o' that," he said slowly, "but it doesnae make ony sense..." he agreed. America took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down,

"Th...there was this zombie in one of the side streets." He said, voice wavering, "I, and what seemed like half of Zurich, tried to take it down, but it didn't die when I shot it in the head." Half the nations in the room sighed in irritation and rolled their eyes dismissively. Clearly America had fallen asleep somewhere and had a nightmare or had some sort of hallucination brought on by lack of junk food. England searched his ex-colony's face for any hint that he wasn't either lying or having some sort of hallucination brought on by his overactive imagination. Finding no sign of either, he sighed,

"Normally I'd put this down to your overactive imagination Alfred but..." he paused as he looked over to Switzerland, who was listening, but still shuffling his papers in a somewhat nervous fashion, "I believe you." He finished. America sagged in relief,

"You do? Oh man, I thought you were going to think I'd gone crazy or something." England patted the younger nation on the arm as he turned to his brother,

"Sounds like a Wight or something." He said. Scotland frowned as he thought about what America had said,

"Possibly," he agreed, "though where the hell it's come frae, I've nae clue." He sighed, shaking his head, "Either way, we're gonna have tae take a gander at it." Switzerland banged his fist on the table,

"No one is leaving until the meeting is over." He snapped, "And besides, even if what America said is even halfway true, the militia will more than take care of the problem." England sighed while Scotland scoffed at him. Both knew that very few even believed in magic any more, even when it was clearly staring them in the face. England looked at Switzerland,

"That may be true, but from America's description, it doesn't sound like this is something that can be dealt with by force alone." Switzerland snorted again,

"The idiot probably thought he'd shot it clean in the head and actually missed." America's eyes narrowed,

"You weren't even there!" he snapped, "I did get a clean head shot; the fucking thing fell to the floor and still got back up!" Switzerland was about to retort again when Finland spoke up,

"It is probably something like a Wight or something then." He said, looking nervous when everyone's attention turned to him, "But that sort of thing requires an awful lot of magic to even exist, so where's it come from?" England shook his head,

"The only way we're going to know is if we go and investigate ourselves." Scotland remained quiet, brows furrowing further as he thought. There wasn't nearly enough of a magical field around Switzerland's house to allow anyone to create a Wight, even if someone found out how to do it. He shook his head to clear it, he probably overthinking things, but something nagged at him that this was something far, far older and that much more dangerous. He was brought immediately back to the present when Italy called over from the windows,

"Vee... I think we might have a problem." He said, pointing down at the garden outside. Several nations went to the windows to see what the Mediterranean nation was talking about. Several of the younger ones screamed and scrambled back, allowing Scotland to dash over and take a look himself. Shambling up the street were at least ten of the creatures America had described followed by another, much larger creature, with eyes that burned like coals in a fire. Scotland reeled as a wave of dizziness came over him. These weren't Wights, those were created by magic. These were simply the Dead; souls that had been brought back from death to do the bidding of whoever summoned them back. The Celtic nation gripped at the windowsill when the dizzy spell passed and looked around the other nations, who were staring out of the window nervously. The vast majority of them were not prepared for this; hell even the few nations that did know magic wouldn't know how to deal with these things. In fact, Scotland mused as he looked over to China and India, he was probably the only nation in the room who knew exactly what those creatures down there were. He sighed,

"This is absolutely fan-fucking-tastic." He growled in irritation, "We've got a necromancer on the fucking loose and naebody else kens or cares aboot the Charter." The red haired nation sighed again as he looked over to his brother,

"England, you and the rest o' the countries that at least ken some magic get protection spells on those doors. Those things aren't gonnae be deterred by just one set." He told the younger nation. England, for once deferring to his oldest brother's experience, nodded and motioned to Finland, Norway and Iceland. Scotland looked to the rest of the countries, who were looking at him expectantly, "A'body else, get awa' frae the windows and stay in the centre o' the room." Most of the nations complied, obviously the Scotsman knew what he was doing, though several muttered something things about 'respect' and 'heathen' under their breaths. Scotland searched the room for Switzerland, who was cleaning his rifle, "Oi, Switzerland, whit way's north?" he asked. The blonde nation looked up and pointed in the right direction,

"That way." He replied, "But why do you want to know that?" he asked suspiciously. Scotland rolled his eyes a little as he checked the other cardinal directions within the room,

"I'm gonnae try somethin' that I've no practised in a guid thousand years or so. He replied, "If it works we'll be safe." Switzerland narrowed his eyes at the northern nation,

"If it works?" he snapped, "so what happens if it doesn't?" he demanded. Scotland merely motioned to his brother, Noway and Iceland,

"Tha's why we're daein' the doors, ye eejit." He deadpanned "Now will ye kindly shut yer trap and let me think!" Scotland took a steadying breath, walked up to the wall facing the North side, took out his trusted claymore and closed his eyes, praying that this would work.

...