The Thirteenth Colony (State Humans/Country Humans)

Chapter 27: Hear No Evil, See An Evil...

It had been a week since Georgia's funeral. Ame had called all the colonies to the war room, with two exceptions.

Upon opening the large wooden door, North saw most of the other colonies already gathered around. Ame motioned for him and South to take a seat. Once they had, he began. "What I'm about to say is going to shock a lot of you. Your all going to be angry, and you'll all no doubt have a lot of questions. All that I ask is that you let me explain everything first."

North and South exchanged a worried glance before looking back at Ame. North decided to sleep up. "Shouldn't CT and Virginia be here if it's this important then?"

Ame shook his head, "Virginia has to be at the negotiations with the French and Spanish. I already told him everything. And CT..." He seemed to consider very carefully how to approach the subject of the colony that had been the subject of almost as much concern as Georgia was sadness. Finally, seeming to find the words he wanted, he continued, "I think you'll see why I've decided to leave her out of the fold for now once I explain what's going on."

North felt a knot form in his stomach at the thought of things getting even more complicated then they were. But he decided Ame, at the very least, deserved the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm sure all of you remember what happened on the months leading up to Georgia's first appearance. We had just taken a large amount of land from the Spanish, and there wasn't any colony assigned to it. Because of this, Georgia was born to fill the void, taking control of all the new territory." A wistful smile tugged at Ame's lips as he thought back to the days he considered to be his happiest. They expression fell from his face as he continued.

"Now that Georgia is gone, we need someone to take control of that land. And, because nothing has changed much in terms of politics, that means that another Georgia shall be born."

North's ears tweaked at that. 'Georgia was coming back? Could it be that even after death, Georgia managed to pull through.' Sensing the excitement in the room, Ame waved his hands in a dismissive way. "Before any of you get to excited, this isn't the same Georgia we knew and loved. This new Georgia won't be the same have any of the same experiences, trauma, memories, or really anything that our Georgia used to have. He'll be exactly the same as the original Georgia was at birth. For all intents and purposes, the Georgia we all knew is still dead."

Just as quickly as his heart had soared at the thought of getting his brother back, it fell into a deep pit. He wasn't alone in how he thought, it seemed, for all around the room long faces and internal tears stood in unison.

Ame let everyone process the news for a little before continuing. "I know each and everyone one of you will help raise Georgia like he was completely original, without taking out any malice on him. Everyone assembled in this room, that is..." Once again, he trailed off. After mustering his thoughts, he pressed on, "I know everyone here loves each other unconditionally, no matter how often you may fight or bicker. But Connecticut... She's just to unstable right now for someone young and impressionable to be around. I'm going to give her this news, and she'll still be able to be around Georgia a little, but I can't risk exposing him to CT to much. I don't want to make it a official rule or anything, addressing things that directly could risk making the situation worse. But I do want each and every one of you to try to keep them separated. For both their sakes."

Same Time

Missouri smiled as he stoked a brush across his colorful painting. He'd been working on it for the duration peace talks Quebec and Louisiana had been attending. Technically he attended them too, but only in the sense that he waited outside of the conference room and draw the portrait of the event.

Suddenly, he felt someone grab his shoulders from behind him. In a instant his hand fell to his hip and towards his holster. The assailant must have seen this because she released her grip on him, "Hey hey take it easy, it's just me Missouri."

Turning around, he saw Louisiana, hands raised in the air. Missouri formed words in his mind, but they never quite reached his mouth. It took him a second to even realize it had happened, since his injury was so recent in his life.

He often tried to speak, and sometimes didn't even realize he didn't. Almost every time it happened, his mind put him back into his fight with Florida, and the cut on his neck he gained as a result that robbed him of his most prized possession, his voice.

Seemingly sensing the train of thought her brother was riding, Louisiana nervously chuckled, "Guess I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. My bad." To an extent, Missouri was removed from his train of thought. If only temporarily.

"Anyway, we're ready for you." If Missouri was able to let out a sigh of relief he'd have done so. The plan had been formed by the rulers over in the old world to gift their former Spanish allies a painting of the peace talks, to try and stay in their good graces. Since paint wasn't nearly as available as France must have thought, Missouri had been forced to paint right outside the conference room.

Picking up his diary, Missouri wrote down, 'Any idea who the Spanish delegation for the closing of the talks is going to be?'

Louisiana shrugged, "They left it a mystery same as we did about you." If Missouri was the same person he had been before his injury, he probably would have been excited, if a bit anxious, about the surprise of who he'd be talking to. Now, though, he just saw it as another potential danger.

Missouri grabbed his painting carefully so as not to disturb the still wet spots, and entered the conference room. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the new lighting, he froze.

"Hola Missouri. Been a while hasn't it?"