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hetalia2008-12-17 12:35 pm
elycien-xiii.livejournal.com) wrote in hetalia2008-12-17 12:35 pm
[FANFIC] A Christmas Carol: Hetalia Style (Part 1)
For some reason, this incredibly cracky idea occurred to me yesterday as I was watching one of the many Christmas Carol movie adaptations, and I couldn't resist it, so I put together a cast list and got started. x3
Starring Germany as Scrooge, Italy as Bob Cratchitt, and quite a few other characters, I present to you the first half of "A Hetalia Christmas Carol."
Title: A Hetalia Christmas Carol
Author/Artist: me
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Germany, Italy, America, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Prussia, Sealand, Austria, Hungary, Belarus
Rating: G
Warnings: Obviously AU. Uses human names, and I made up a last name for Ludwig so it would work better. No BL, but plenty of crack anyway (you really shouldn't think about these pairings too hard, with the exception of the obligatory Austria/Hungary) and at least one deliberate, somewhat brain-hurting continuity error (all for the sake of cute, I swear!). Also, I don't think I'm too good at writing Prussia... *sweatdrop* Sorry Gilbert...
Summary: Ludwig Dietrich, Berlin's wealthiest and stingiest man, gets a late-night visit from four mysterious spirits who warn him to set his life to rights.
Ludwig Dietrich was the wealthiest man in Berlin.
He ran a counting-house, formerly with his partner Gilbert Weillschmidt, but Gilbert had been dead for several years now. So Ludwig was alone, not that he minded, because without a partner he had no need to share his exorbitant wealth. He was the stingiest man in Berlin as well as the wealthiest, only paying a pathetically small salary to his only employee, Feliciano Vargas the Italian book-keeper.
The snow was falling outside in a picturesque way as the townspeople of Berlin went about their regular Christmas shopping, but Ludwig took no notice and Feliciano was able to spare only a few wistful glances outside. The Dietrich counting-house, formerly Dietrich and Weillschmidt, did not slow down for the holiday season, much to cheerful Feliciano’s dismay.
“Are you sure I can’t—” he started, tentatively.
“No.”
“Even if I work overtime—”
“No.”
“But sir, it’s Christmas tomorrow!”
“Humbug,” Ludwig said.
Feliciano’s pleading was interrupted by the arrival of a newcomer. The blonde, bespectacled man flung the door open with glee, holding a wreath. “Merry Christmas, Uncle Ludwig!”
Ludwig glared over his desk at his American nephew, Alfred Jones. “And what do you want, Alfred?”
“Why, to wish you a merry Christmas, Uncle, of course.” Alfred spread his arms wide. “Even you can’t help but be merry this season!”
“I have no time to be merry,” Ludwig snapped. “It would only lose me money. And you! Poor as ever, and now with a family to support. I always knew you were an idiot.”
“Well, I’m a hero, and heroes celebrate Christmas,” Alfred declared. Across the room Feliciano applauded excitedly, but stopped quickly when Ludwig glared at him.
“Humbug,” Ludwig said again.
“Come now, Uncle, cheer up,” Alfred said. “Look. Come to my house for Christmas dinner tomorrow. My wife and I are going to be giving a great party and I want you to join in!”
He backed away toward the door, but nearly fell over two new visitors who had just entered the counting-house. They were two young men holding collecting-boxes, one blonde and one brown-haired. The brown-haired one smiled. “Um, hello… is this the business of Mr. Ludwig Die—”
The blonde shoved him aside. “We’re, like, totally collecting money for the poor!” he declared. “I’m Feliks and he’s, like, Toris. Give us money now?”
“Of course! It’s the season of giving and generosity!” Alfred put a few coins into Toris’s box, and the young man beamed and thanked him. “See you later, Uncle!”
After Alfred left there was an awkward silence. Feliks put his hands on his hips. “Well?”
“Um, Feliks… maybe we should try somewhere else…”
Ludwig only encouraged Toris’s suggestion by looking up at Feliks, shooting him a cold glare, and snarling, “Humbug.”
“So like, what should we put you down for?” Feliks said, undaunted, whipping out a parchment and quill.
“Nothing.”
“Oh! Like, anonymous?” Feliks exclaimed brightly. Toris buried his face in his hands, shaking his head.
“No,” Ludwig said through gritted teeth. “Nothing. No money. No donation. Nothing.”
Feliks rolled his eyes. “You are, like, so irritating,” he said. “Don’t you care about the poor?”
“Of course not! They should go and die and get out of people’s way! And then people like you would stop bothering me about them!”
Toris winced. “I don’t think he wants to donate, Feliks.”
Feliks grabbed his friend’s arm and shot a glare right back at Ludwig. “Yeah. He’s so lame. Come on, let’s go find someone else.”
He marched out, dragging Toris behind him, and slammed the door in their wake. Feliciano flinched at the noise, but Ludwig took no notice. After a while, Ludwig became aware of a sound outside the shop, and glared at the hapless Feliciano.
“What is that?” Ludwig snapped.
Feliciano glanced out the window, and brightened. “Oh! It’s little Raivis singing us a Christmas carol. Why not give him something, sir?”
Ludwig stalked to the door, grabbed the wreath which Alfred had left behind, and threw open the door. Raivis fell silent with a squeak, and held out one trembling hand. Ludwig threw the wreath down at the little Latvian boy. “Shut up,” he shouted, and slammed the door shut again.
This was not encouraging in the least, but all the same Feliciano plucked up his courage to ask his question again.
“Mr. Dietrich, sir,” he said.
“If you’re about to ask me for a day off,” Ludwig snarled.
“N-no!” Feliciano yelped. “I mean, yes… but really! Please? Th-there’s no one here on Christmas Day anyway… and…” He quailed under Ludwig’s stare. “It’d be a waste of time to come in…”
“Fine! Fine!” Ludwig said, standing up. “Take it! But you’ll have to work extra the next week, you hear me?”
Feliciano brightened at once. “Yes, sir!” he exclaimed, saluting.
“I’m going home. Close up shop,” Ludwig commanded.
“Yessir,” Feliciano said again, and waved enthusiastically to his employer as the blonde German left the building.
Ludwig sighed to himself as he made his chilly way home, back to his cold house where the fires were never lit to save money. What was this world coming to? Feliciano was such a waster of money… so was Alfred… no one understood how important it was to be serious about one’s business. Instead, everyone was going around chattering about Christmas. “Bah! Humbug!” Ludwig shouted to no one in particular, causing passersby to avoid him widely. Of course, he was much despised in Berlin, so everyone was avoiding him anyway.
He didn’t notice. When he got to his front door he began to unlock the door, but then froze suddenly. There, before his very eyes, his door knocker was shifting… changing… until it bore an eerie resemblance to a face he knew all too well. It couldn’t be… Gilbert Weillschmidt!
Gilbert leered at him and howled, “LUDWIIIIIIIIG!!”
Ludwig yelped and fell backwards. The apparition was gone as soon as it had come. Shaking, the German stood up and began opening the door again, looking all around him. He’d imagined things, of course. He was tired, hungry… what he needed was to go up to his room, have some supper, and go to bed early. Naturally, that was all he needed…
His peaceful, chilly evening at home was not to be. As soon as Ludwig began eating, he heard the sounds of chains being dragged, somewhere behind him. He froze, terrified and muttering to himself that surely his imagination was running away again. However, he found it very difficult to explain away when at last he turned around and saw a translucent Gilbert standing right there before his very eyes, his arms crossed.
“Hi, Ludwig,” his former partner said, smirking. “Miss me?”
“G-g-g-gilbert!” Ludwig stammered.
“Can I take that as a yes?” Gilbert said. He walked across and sat down on the edge of Ludwig’s bed, swinging his legs, because there were no other chairs besides the armchair that Ludwig occupied. The Prussian man, Ludwig saw, was absolutely covered with heavy chains that he dragged behind him; that must have been the sound he’d heard.
Gilbert saw him staring. “Wondering about these?” he said.
“Of course not,” Ludwig managed. “Y-you don’t even exist. Ghosts don’t exist! You’re a figment of my imagination!”
“Oh, no, I’m definitely here, and I have something to tell you.” Gilbert walked up and prodded Ludwig in the chest. “You’re in big trouble, buddy.” The German was terrified, frozen to the spot, a reaction that Gilbert was evidently pleased with. He smiled broadly. “To put it briefly, you suck.”
“I-I-I-” Ludwig left off stammering for a moment and frowned bemusedly at the Prussian ghost. “I what?”
“You suck! I’ve been sent to tell you that you suck!” Gilbert folded his arms. “See, like me, you’ve been being an all-around jerk to everyone else, and I’m here to tell you you’d better stop if you don’t want to end up like me.” He spread his arms, which were weighed down by heavy chains. “Believe you me, it’s no fun.”
“I’ll end up like that?” Ludwig whispered.
“Oh, yeah. Forced to wander the world, weighed down by the chains of your own sin… and all that. If you want to avoid that, you’d best pay attention.” Gilbert winked and began walking to the door. “The first ghost will arrive when the bell tolls one, so be ready!”
“Wait! Gilbert!” But the ghost was already gone, and Ludwig shivered. He wasn’t at all sure whether he should believe what he’d just seen. He decided it would be better just to go to bed. Sighing and getting into his dressing gown, he blew out the candle and climbed into bed, being sure to draw the curtains tight this time. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see what was outside.
---
He woke up as the bell tolled one. The reason for this was not the noise, but the bright, blinding light outside his bed. There was no way it was morning already… Ludwig sat up cautiously and drew the curtains back, squinting. The light dimmed as he did.
“I’m the Spirit of Christmas Past,” a voice declared.
Ludwig could see the figure now. He blinked. “Why, you’re just a little boy!”
The spirit bristled. “I’m just as good a spirit as anyone else,” he said, clenching his fists. “My big brother says I don’t even count as a spirit, but you’ll see! You’ll see just how great of a spirit I am!”
He grabbed onto Ludwig’s arm. The German paled. “W-wait, what are you doing?”
“We’re going to the past!” the blonde boy cried, and with a flash of blinding light the two were no longer standing in Ludwig’s bedroom.
“But this is…” Ludwig whispered, trailing off and looking around. There in front of them was a very familiar building, snow covering everything in sight, and young boys running everywhere.
“Remember it?” the spirit said. “Your old school!”
“Yes,” Ludwig said softly, eyes widening as the unfamiliar sense of nostalgia hit him. “How long it’s been!” He looked at the young boys around him, his old classmates, but they didn’t seem to notice him.
“They can’t see us,” the spirit said as if reading his mind. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
Inside, there was one last boy sitting and writing at his desk, studious. He was a German child, hair blonde and slicked back, and the spirit frowned. “Funny,” he said. “He looks kinda like you.”
“It is me,” Ludwig said, staring into his younger self’s face.
“You spent a lot of Christmases here alone, didn’t you?” the spirit said to him.
“That’s right,” Ludwig said unhappily. “I wasn’t wanted at home…”
“That’s downright depressing,” the young spirit exclaimed. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
The light flashed again before Ludwig could even orient himself, and suddenly the two of them were standing outside another all-too-familiar building. The windows were lit brightly, and the sign above the door read “EDELSTEIN COMPANY.” Ludwig gasped.
“Is this familiar to you as well?” Peter said.
“Is it ever!” Ludwig shook his head, smiling despite himself. “I remember this place. I was apprenticed here to Roderich Edelstein. I learned everything I ever knew from him. Such a strict master he was, but even he made exceptions for Christmas. A party every Christmas Eve, and what events they were!”
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s Christmas Eve now,” the boy said, and gestured toward the building. Ludwig entered the door, followed closely by the young spirit.
The scene inside was one of merriment and happiness. As Ludwig came in the door, a man was standing up on a chair so he could see the crowd, waving. “A word, please! A word before we begin!”
“There’s Roderich himself,” Ludwig whispered.
The room fell silent, turning toward the aristocratic-looking Austrian. Roderich smiled, pleased. “Thank you all for coming,” he said. “Lizaveta and I are very happy to have you back for another year. I hope everyone enjoys themselves – a merry Christmas to all!”
“Hear, hear,” shouted a brown-haired woman beside him, his wife, Lizaveta. She pulled him off the chair, nearly pulling him to the floor, and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Shall we dance, Roderich?”
The Austrian man reddened in embarrassment, but he was smiling. “But of course, my dear.”
The music began, and the party gave way to dancing until the entire floor was whirling and laughing together. Ludwig saw so many familiar faces that night that he could scarcely count them. At one point he even caught sight of Gilbert, dancing with one girl after another. When Gilbert’s path brought him next to the Edelsteins, he took Lizaveta’s hand and whirled her away from her husband. She promptly hit him and began chasing him across the dance floor, whacking away as the Prussian shielded his head with his hands. Ludwig actually laughed.
“I didn’t know you could actually laugh,” the spirit of the past said, sounding awed.
Ludwig shook his head, still chuckling. “I’d forgotten what a cheeky lad Gilbert was in his youth,” he said. “Lizaveta never put up with it. She had a strong arm for such a beautiful lady.”
“Oh, look, there’s you!” the spirit exclaimed suddenly, pointing. Sure enough, there was young Ludwig, barely into adulthood and standing off to one side by himself, looking awkward. As they watched, Roderich approached him, accompanied by a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair.
“Ah, Ludwig! There you are,” the Austrian said. “I wanted to introduce you. This is Natalia Alfroskaya. She’s visiting from Belarus.”
Natalia curtsied, her face serious. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Young Ludwig took her hand and kissed it, his eyes never leaving hers. He was enchanted. “No, the pleasure is all mine.”
The spirit of the past looked from young Ludwig’s lovestruck face to the face of the older man standing beside him. The older Ludwig had a very similar expression. “Beautiful Natalia,” he said softly. “She meant the world to me.”
“Really?” The spirit sounded incredulous. He stared at Ludwig with wide eyes, miserly and miserable old German bachelor that he was. “What happened? We have to see!” He took hold of Ludwig’s hand, and the German tried to pull away.
“No, please! Don’t show me that Christmas, anything but that!”
But it was too late. The light flashed again, and there they stood in the middle of a snowy evening. Before them were Natalia and Ludwig’s younger self, walking slowly hand-in-hand. The younger Ludwig was still a young man, but his face looked somehow more worn now. As the older Ludwig and the spirit watched, Natalia turned to her fiancé.
“How long must we wait before we are married?” she said.
“Not long now,” Ludwig insisted. “I promise. But I don’t have enough to pay for the wedding now…”
“If we scrimped we could make it,” Natalia said. Her eyes narrowed. “No, you have some other reason for putting off the wedding. You’re too obsessed with your wealth now, Ludwig.” Out of nowhere, she pulled out a knife and held it against the German’s throat. “You don’t love me anymore.”
Young Ludwig gulped, stammering, “O-o-of course I d-do, my dear! Y-you’re the most important person to me… please put that away…”
Natalia glared at him coldly, and then turned away, slipping the knife back into wherever she had it hidden in her dress. “You’re not worth my time anymore,” she said coolly, and turned to walk away from him.
Young Ludwig stared after her, speechless, and the older Ludwig had tears in his eyes as he watched the tragic spectacle. “My precious Natalia,” he whispered. “How could I ever have been so blind?”
“If you want my opinion, you’re better off without her,” said the young spirit, his eyes wide. “She was obviously psychotic. She threatened you with a knife!”
“Don’t say that about her!” Ludwig turned on him, furious and in tears. “Be gone, spirit! Leave me!”
And with another bright flash of light, the blonde young boy was gone and Ludwig stood alone in his room. Slowly he retreated to his bed, drawing the curtains again, and curled up under the covers, crying bitterly.
---
Cast list for this chapter:
Scrooge: Germany (Ludwig)
Bob Cratchitt: Italy (Feliciano)
Fred: America (Alfred)
Collectors for the poor: Lithuania (Toris) and Poland (Feliks)
Caroling boy: Latvia (Raivis)
Marley: Prussia (Gilbert)
Spirit of Christmas Past: Sealand (Peter)
Mr. Fezziwig: Austria (Roderich)
Mrs. Fezziwig: Hungary (Lizaveta)
Isabella (?): Belarus (Natalia)
...I can't remember, actually, if Isabella was really her name - the girl Scrooge fell in love with as a young man? Oh well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. Hope you enjoy ^__^ Next part coming soon.
Starring Germany as Scrooge, Italy as Bob Cratchitt, and quite a few other characters, I present to you the first half of "A Hetalia Christmas Carol."
Title: A Hetalia Christmas Carol
Author/Artist: me
Character(s) or Pairing(s): Germany, Italy, America, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Prussia, Sealand, Austria, Hungary, Belarus
Rating: G
Warnings: Obviously AU. Uses human names, and I made up a last name for Ludwig so it would work better. No BL, but plenty of crack anyway (you really shouldn't think about these pairings too hard, with the exception of the obligatory Austria/Hungary) and at least one deliberate, somewhat brain-hurting continuity error (all for the sake of cute, I swear!). Also, I don't think I'm too good at writing Prussia... *sweatdrop* Sorry Gilbert...
Summary: Ludwig Dietrich, Berlin's wealthiest and stingiest man, gets a late-night visit from four mysterious spirits who warn him to set his life to rights.
Ludwig Dietrich was the wealthiest man in Berlin.
He ran a counting-house, formerly with his partner Gilbert Weillschmidt, but Gilbert had been dead for several years now. So Ludwig was alone, not that he minded, because without a partner he had no need to share his exorbitant wealth. He was the stingiest man in Berlin as well as the wealthiest, only paying a pathetically small salary to his only employee, Feliciano Vargas the Italian book-keeper.
The snow was falling outside in a picturesque way as the townspeople of Berlin went about their regular Christmas shopping, but Ludwig took no notice and Feliciano was able to spare only a few wistful glances outside. The Dietrich counting-house, formerly Dietrich and Weillschmidt, did not slow down for the holiday season, much to cheerful Feliciano’s dismay.
“Are you sure I can’t—” he started, tentatively.
“No.”
“Even if I work overtime—”
“No.”
“But sir, it’s Christmas tomorrow!”
“Humbug,” Ludwig said.
Feliciano’s pleading was interrupted by the arrival of a newcomer. The blonde, bespectacled man flung the door open with glee, holding a wreath. “Merry Christmas, Uncle Ludwig!”
Ludwig glared over his desk at his American nephew, Alfred Jones. “And what do you want, Alfred?”
“Why, to wish you a merry Christmas, Uncle, of course.” Alfred spread his arms wide. “Even you can’t help but be merry this season!”
“I have no time to be merry,” Ludwig snapped. “It would only lose me money. And you! Poor as ever, and now with a family to support. I always knew you were an idiot.”
“Well, I’m a hero, and heroes celebrate Christmas,” Alfred declared. Across the room Feliciano applauded excitedly, but stopped quickly when Ludwig glared at him.
“Humbug,” Ludwig said again.
“Come now, Uncle, cheer up,” Alfred said. “Look. Come to my house for Christmas dinner tomorrow. My wife and I are going to be giving a great party and I want you to join in!”
He backed away toward the door, but nearly fell over two new visitors who had just entered the counting-house. They were two young men holding collecting-boxes, one blonde and one brown-haired. The brown-haired one smiled. “Um, hello… is this the business of Mr. Ludwig Die—”
The blonde shoved him aside. “We’re, like, totally collecting money for the poor!” he declared. “I’m Feliks and he’s, like, Toris. Give us money now?”
“Of course! It’s the season of giving and generosity!” Alfred put a few coins into Toris’s box, and the young man beamed and thanked him. “See you later, Uncle!”
After Alfred left there was an awkward silence. Feliks put his hands on his hips. “Well?”
“Um, Feliks… maybe we should try somewhere else…”
Ludwig only encouraged Toris’s suggestion by looking up at Feliks, shooting him a cold glare, and snarling, “Humbug.”
“So like, what should we put you down for?” Feliks said, undaunted, whipping out a parchment and quill.
“Nothing.”
“Oh! Like, anonymous?” Feliks exclaimed brightly. Toris buried his face in his hands, shaking his head.
“No,” Ludwig said through gritted teeth. “Nothing. No money. No donation. Nothing.”
Feliks rolled his eyes. “You are, like, so irritating,” he said. “Don’t you care about the poor?”
“Of course not! They should go and die and get out of people’s way! And then people like you would stop bothering me about them!”
Toris winced. “I don’t think he wants to donate, Feliks.”
Feliks grabbed his friend’s arm and shot a glare right back at Ludwig. “Yeah. He’s so lame. Come on, let’s go find someone else.”
He marched out, dragging Toris behind him, and slammed the door in their wake. Feliciano flinched at the noise, but Ludwig took no notice. After a while, Ludwig became aware of a sound outside the shop, and glared at the hapless Feliciano.
“What is that?” Ludwig snapped.
Feliciano glanced out the window, and brightened. “Oh! It’s little Raivis singing us a Christmas carol. Why not give him something, sir?”
Ludwig stalked to the door, grabbed the wreath which Alfred had left behind, and threw open the door. Raivis fell silent with a squeak, and held out one trembling hand. Ludwig threw the wreath down at the little Latvian boy. “Shut up,” he shouted, and slammed the door shut again.
This was not encouraging in the least, but all the same Feliciano plucked up his courage to ask his question again.
“Mr. Dietrich, sir,” he said.
“If you’re about to ask me for a day off,” Ludwig snarled.
“N-no!” Feliciano yelped. “I mean, yes… but really! Please? Th-there’s no one here on Christmas Day anyway… and…” He quailed under Ludwig’s stare. “It’d be a waste of time to come in…”
“Fine! Fine!” Ludwig said, standing up. “Take it! But you’ll have to work extra the next week, you hear me?”
Feliciano brightened at once. “Yes, sir!” he exclaimed, saluting.
“I’m going home. Close up shop,” Ludwig commanded.
“Yessir,” Feliciano said again, and waved enthusiastically to his employer as the blonde German left the building.
Ludwig sighed to himself as he made his chilly way home, back to his cold house where the fires were never lit to save money. What was this world coming to? Feliciano was such a waster of money… so was Alfred… no one understood how important it was to be serious about one’s business. Instead, everyone was going around chattering about Christmas. “Bah! Humbug!” Ludwig shouted to no one in particular, causing passersby to avoid him widely. Of course, he was much despised in Berlin, so everyone was avoiding him anyway.
He didn’t notice. When he got to his front door he began to unlock the door, but then froze suddenly. There, before his very eyes, his door knocker was shifting… changing… until it bore an eerie resemblance to a face he knew all too well. It couldn’t be… Gilbert Weillschmidt!
Gilbert leered at him and howled, “LUDWIIIIIIIIG!!”
Ludwig yelped and fell backwards. The apparition was gone as soon as it had come. Shaking, the German stood up and began opening the door again, looking all around him. He’d imagined things, of course. He was tired, hungry… what he needed was to go up to his room, have some supper, and go to bed early. Naturally, that was all he needed…
His peaceful, chilly evening at home was not to be. As soon as Ludwig began eating, he heard the sounds of chains being dragged, somewhere behind him. He froze, terrified and muttering to himself that surely his imagination was running away again. However, he found it very difficult to explain away when at last he turned around and saw a translucent Gilbert standing right there before his very eyes, his arms crossed.
“Hi, Ludwig,” his former partner said, smirking. “Miss me?”
“G-g-g-gilbert!” Ludwig stammered.
“Can I take that as a yes?” Gilbert said. He walked across and sat down on the edge of Ludwig’s bed, swinging his legs, because there were no other chairs besides the armchair that Ludwig occupied. The Prussian man, Ludwig saw, was absolutely covered with heavy chains that he dragged behind him; that must have been the sound he’d heard.
Gilbert saw him staring. “Wondering about these?” he said.
“Of course not,” Ludwig managed. “Y-you don’t even exist. Ghosts don’t exist! You’re a figment of my imagination!”
“Oh, no, I’m definitely here, and I have something to tell you.” Gilbert walked up and prodded Ludwig in the chest. “You’re in big trouble, buddy.” The German was terrified, frozen to the spot, a reaction that Gilbert was evidently pleased with. He smiled broadly. “To put it briefly, you suck.”
“I-I-I-” Ludwig left off stammering for a moment and frowned bemusedly at the Prussian ghost. “I what?”
“You suck! I’ve been sent to tell you that you suck!” Gilbert folded his arms. “See, like me, you’ve been being an all-around jerk to everyone else, and I’m here to tell you you’d better stop if you don’t want to end up like me.” He spread his arms, which were weighed down by heavy chains. “Believe you me, it’s no fun.”
“I’ll end up like that?” Ludwig whispered.
“Oh, yeah. Forced to wander the world, weighed down by the chains of your own sin… and all that. If you want to avoid that, you’d best pay attention.” Gilbert winked and began walking to the door. “The first ghost will arrive when the bell tolls one, so be ready!”
“Wait! Gilbert!” But the ghost was already gone, and Ludwig shivered. He wasn’t at all sure whether he should believe what he’d just seen. He decided it would be better just to go to bed. Sighing and getting into his dressing gown, he blew out the candle and climbed into bed, being sure to draw the curtains tight this time. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see what was outside.
---
He woke up as the bell tolled one. The reason for this was not the noise, but the bright, blinding light outside his bed. There was no way it was morning already… Ludwig sat up cautiously and drew the curtains back, squinting. The light dimmed as he did.
“I’m the Spirit of Christmas Past,” a voice declared.
Ludwig could see the figure now. He blinked. “Why, you’re just a little boy!”
The spirit bristled. “I’m just as good a spirit as anyone else,” he said, clenching his fists. “My big brother says I don’t even count as a spirit, but you’ll see! You’ll see just how great of a spirit I am!”
He grabbed onto Ludwig’s arm. The German paled. “W-wait, what are you doing?”
“We’re going to the past!” the blonde boy cried, and with a flash of blinding light the two were no longer standing in Ludwig’s bedroom.
“But this is…” Ludwig whispered, trailing off and looking around. There in front of them was a very familiar building, snow covering everything in sight, and young boys running everywhere.
“Remember it?” the spirit said. “Your old school!”
“Yes,” Ludwig said softly, eyes widening as the unfamiliar sense of nostalgia hit him. “How long it’s been!” He looked at the young boys around him, his old classmates, but they didn’t seem to notice him.
“They can’t see us,” the spirit said as if reading his mind. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
Inside, there was one last boy sitting and writing at his desk, studious. He was a German child, hair blonde and slicked back, and the spirit frowned. “Funny,” he said. “He looks kinda like you.”
“It is me,” Ludwig said, staring into his younger self’s face.
“You spent a lot of Christmases here alone, didn’t you?” the spirit said to him.
“That’s right,” Ludwig said unhappily. “I wasn’t wanted at home…”
“That’s downright depressing,” the young spirit exclaimed. “Let’s go somewhere else.”
The light flashed again before Ludwig could even orient himself, and suddenly the two of them were standing outside another all-too-familiar building. The windows were lit brightly, and the sign above the door read “EDELSTEIN COMPANY.” Ludwig gasped.
“Is this familiar to you as well?” Peter said.
“Is it ever!” Ludwig shook his head, smiling despite himself. “I remember this place. I was apprenticed here to Roderich Edelstein. I learned everything I ever knew from him. Such a strict master he was, but even he made exceptions for Christmas. A party every Christmas Eve, and what events they were!”
“If I’m not mistaken, it’s Christmas Eve now,” the boy said, and gestured toward the building. Ludwig entered the door, followed closely by the young spirit.
The scene inside was one of merriment and happiness. As Ludwig came in the door, a man was standing up on a chair so he could see the crowd, waving. “A word, please! A word before we begin!”
“There’s Roderich himself,” Ludwig whispered.
The room fell silent, turning toward the aristocratic-looking Austrian. Roderich smiled, pleased. “Thank you all for coming,” he said. “Lizaveta and I are very happy to have you back for another year. I hope everyone enjoys themselves – a merry Christmas to all!”
“Hear, hear,” shouted a brown-haired woman beside him, his wife, Lizaveta. She pulled him off the chair, nearly pulling him to the floor, and placed her hands on her shoulders. “Shall we dance, Roderich?”
The Austrian man reddened in embarrassment, but he was smiling. “But of course, my dear.”
The music began, and the party gave way to dancing until the entire floor was whirling and laughing together. Ludwig saw so many familiar faces that night that he could scarcely count them. At one point he even caught sight of Gilbert, dancing with one girl after another. When Gilbert’s path brought him next to the Edelsteins, he took Lizaveta’s hand and whirled her away from her husband. She promptly hit him and began chasing him across the dance floor, whacking away as the Prussian shielded his head with his hands. Ludwig actually laughed.
“I didn’t know you could actually laugh,” the spirit of the past said, sounding awed.
Ludwig shook his head, still chuckling. “I’d forgotten what a cheeky lad Gilbert was in his youth,” he said. “Lizaveta never put up with it. She had a strong arm for such a beautiful lady.”
“Oh, look, there’s you!” the spirit exclaimed suddenly, pointing. Sure enough, there was young Ludwig, barely into adulthood and standing off to one side by himself, looking awkward. As they watched, Roderich approached him, accompanied by a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair.
“Ah, Ludwig! There you are,” the Austrian said. “I wanted to introduce you. This is Natalia Alfroskaya. She’s visiting from Belarus.”
Natalia curtsied, her face serious. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Young Ludwig took her hand and kissed it, his eyes never leaving hers. He was enchanted. “No, the pleasure is all mine.”
The spirit of the past looked from young Ludwig’s lovestruck face to the face of the older man standing beside him. The older Ludwig had a very similar expression. “Beautiful Natalia,” he said softly. “She meant the world to me.”
“Really?” The spirit sounded incredulous. He stared at Ludwig with wide eyes, miserly and miserable old German bachelor that he was. “What happened? We have to see!” He took hold of Ludwig’s hand, and the German tried to pull away.
“No, please! Don’t show me that Christmas, anything but that!”
But it was too late. The light flashed again, and there they stood in the middle of a snowy evening. Before them were Natalia and Ludwig’s younger self, walking slowly hand-in-hand. The younger Ludwig was still a young man, but his face looked somehow more worn now. As the older Ludwig and the spirit watched, Natalia turned to her fiancé.
“How long must we wait before we are married?” she said.
“Not long now,” Ludwig insisted. “I promise. But I don’t have enough to pay for the wedding now…”
“If we scrimped we could make it,” Natalia said. Her eyes narrowed. “No, you have some other reason for putting off the wedding. You’re too obsessed with your wealth now, Ludwig.” Out of nowhere, she pulled out a knife and held it against the German’s throat. “You don’t love me anymore.”
Young Ludwig gulped, stammering, “O-o-of course I d-do, my dear! Y-you’re the most important person to me… please put that away…”
Natalia glared at him coldly, and then turned away, slipping the knife back into wherever she had it hidden in her dress. “You’re not worth my time anymore,” she said coolly, and turned to walk away from him.
Young Ludwig stared after her, speechless, and the older Ludwig had tears in his eyes as he watched the tragic spectacle. “My precious Natalia,” he whispered. “How could I ever have been so blind?”
“If you want my opinion, you’re better off without her,” said the young spirit, his eyes wide. “She was obviously psychotic. She threatened you with a knife!”
“Don’t say that about her!” Ludwig turned on him, furious and in tears. “Be gone, spirit! Leave me!”
And with another bright flash of light, the blonde young boy was gone and Ludwig stood alone in his room. Slowly he retreated to his bed, drawing the curtains again, and curled up under the covers, crying bitterly.
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Cast list for this chapter:
Scrooge: Germany (Ludwig)
Bob Cratchitt: Italy (Feliciano)
Fred: America (Alfred)
Collectors for the poor: Lithuania (Toris) and Poland (Feliks)
Caroling boy: Latvia (Raivis)
Marley: Prussia (Gilbert)
Spirit of Christmas Past: Sealand (Peter)
Mr. Fezziwig: Austria (Roderich)
Mrs. Fezziwig: Hungary (Lizaveta)
Isabella (?): Belarus (Natalia)
...I can't remember, actually, if Isabella was really her name - the girl Scrooge fell in love with as a young man? Oh well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. Hope you enjoy ^__^ Next part coming soon.
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Well, I’m a hero, and heroes celebrate Christmas
and
Give us money now?”
really made me crack up XD
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I think Gilbert telling Ludwig that he sucked was one of my favorite lines xD and Poland telling him that he's totally lame. Oh em gee.
Thank you for sharing--I really loved it so far :3
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If I may ask, would the ghost of the Christmas future be... Russia?
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My school preformed A Christmas Carol last weekend, and after working on it for like 3 months or whatever, I'm really sad that it's over, so I've been eating up anything A Christmas Carol-related lately, haha.
And oh my god, Alfred, Poland, and Gilbert just cracked me up. This is fantastic.
Her name is Belle, by the way. ^.^
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Oh the characters fit the role so much xD
I think Arthur makes a better Scrooge though. Bwahahha!no subject
OH U GILBERT, Y U SO CANON. xDDDDDD
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Gilbert!Marley is just win! Sealand was terribly cute and Belarus!~ Oh Belarus! And their remarks after she left. ^^ I cannot wait for Stave II!
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...I was waiting for Natalia to break Ludwig's fingers, but looks like she only does to people she REALLY doesn't like. ALSO LOL GILBERT IS SO DAMNED AWESOME LUDWIG WILL NEVER GET RID OF HIM, EVERRR
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All the countries do.
this was great to read, by the way. I love this story SO MUCH and Hetalia just makes it 32478932x more awesome.
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Glad you enjoyed <3
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Epic win. XDD
Marley!Gilbert is epic win.
This fanfic is epic win! XD
No, really... This is one of the best hetalia fanfics I've ever read!
I need MOAR! Or I'll send Marley!Gilbert to haunt youuu!