The Third Option

Prologue

Hey everyone, now, this might seem familiar to some people who were around and knew my stuff from 2012/13, because that's when I originally put this story up. Then abandoned and took down from ff.net a few years later because it was taking up space, or I was embarrassed with the writing. Looking through this again, I can see how it'd be the latter. The writing was garbage, but I hope it's looking better now, even though you can't really polish a turd.
Anyway, I had this random burst of nostalgia/inspiration to continue with it. I mean, I put a lot of time and effort into planning this huge world with so many characters all playing a part in this big dystopian battle between the people and this evil system and it seems a shame to just let the first 22 chapters sit on my google docs gathering dust (and taking up room).
So, hopefully I can finish this time. Who knows? Anyway, whilst this is a Spamano fic, there are side pairings. I don't know which side pairings I'll be taking out and leaving in, so I don't have a full list, but it'll definitely have AusHun, TurkNed, GerIta and Sufin. And PruMona in this first chapter, since it's pretty important to the start of the story. I don't really have an opinion on PruMona anymore, but at the time it was one of my crackships.
Now the warnings: this story will contain violence, blood, and character death, lots of character death.
So, enjoy!

...

Monique - Monaco

...

The fire seemed to be taunting him.

It danced across the walls, from far below to the corners of a barely-visible ceiling. The flames were beautiful, horrid ballerinas weaving out a song of death. But whose death? That was for Gilbert to decide. They threw shadows across the far ceilings, sharp and jagged like the rocks the cavern was carved out of. The diamond cuts that covered every single centimetre of surface were long and pointed towards him, like a firing squad of knives. Maybe the cavern was actually carved into diamond, but it was impossible to tell now. Everything was soot and dust and dried blood.

The fire came from the pit before him, his nails digging into the crumbling rock at the edge. His knees stung, and, as he looked over the edge, a string of blood and saliva dropped into the mess of flames and stone spikes packed into the floor. Certain death. It was an efficient, but messy, killing machine. If Gilbert had to choose a way to die, the pit would be bottom of his list.

"Thirty seconds."

Gilbert choked back a sob and looked up at the pair of terrified faces before him, with puffy eyes and drying tracks of tears streaking down their cheeks. They were well past tears now, only room for numb terror. This wasn't real. It couldn't be! Everything had happened so suddenly, and Gilbert wanted this to be a bad dream so badly. But the blood in his eye from a split forehead and the string of his scraped palms told him it was really happening.

How could he choose?

His little brother hiccuped quietly, rubbing his runny nose with the back of his hand. Gilbert could see the bruises covering his legs, and face; the police were never the kind to be gentle. Ludwig was a strong boy, and Gilbert barely recognised the broken, terrified mess he'd become.

Monique simply sat at the bottom of her cage, having accepted her fate. She could see the spikes through the bars across the bottom floor, and knew they would be the closest she got to a proper grave. He would choose Ludwig, of course. His brother was the most important person in the world. But he could not do that to her either.

Gilbert turned to the man behind him.

Emperor Roderich III, leader of the Eurasian empire. Autocrat, and a brutal one at that.

"You really are taking your time. Weighing up your options, or just panicking? Actually, don't tell me. I don't care."

"Please," he begged, "there's gotta be some other way. Take me instead."

Roderich's allowed a smirk to twist his smooth, fine features as he thought. Or acted like he was thinking. The man was sitting on a heavy, wooden throne, dwarfed by his heavy, maroon robes in a way that would be comical, if Gilbert was in a jokey mood.

As it was, he just lay on the floor, handcuffed and beaten and cold for the first time in his life. Eurasia didn't get cold, but down here there was no room for light, and even the fire was too far away to heat up the frozen rock. Gilbert's shoulder ached.

The Emperor's eyes flashed through his delicate glasses with nothing but pure evil. As far as Gilbert could see, there was no goodness left inside of him. Everyone said it. Maybe he had been human when he was born, but his bloodline was poison and Roderich was the result of his own fate. A monster raised to retain control, to not be the weak link in his family's chain.

To his right, stood General Zwingli in his decorated military uniform, holding a gun aimed for Gilbert's head, in case he tried anything. His eyes gave away no emotion, as usual. Zwingli never missed, and Gilbert didn't want to do or say anything that might make him turn his gun on Monique or Ludwig.

"Well, there is a third option," Roderich, tapped his chin with a finger in pretend thought, smiling, "I probably should have mentioned it, before you had to decide who should live."

"Will they live?" asked Gilbert, afflicted with hope. "Both of them?"

"Of course."

"You promise?"

Roderich studied him. "You are in no position to demand such a thing, but, be that as it may, I promise. I swear on my life, and theirs, that they will be free to go. No harm will come to them."

"Then what must I do?"

Another wicked smile. "Oh, I think you already know that."

Gilbert turned back to look at the terrified faces before him, then looked down at the vortex of fire calling him. The two cages, Monique in one, Ludwig in the other, swung lazily above the pit, the chains holding them to the ceiling creaking and groaning.

"Ten seconds." Roderich's hand hovered over a pair of levers, on the wall next to his throne.

Ignoring their cries, their protests and words of self-sacrifice, Gilbert turned back to Roderich.

"I choose the third option," he whispered.

"Good boy."

...

I know Roderich is the bad guy here, and I'd like to take the opportunity to say I'm not doing that because I hate him or want to shit on his character or anything. I really like him and thought it would be fun to explore him as a villain. Also, when I first started writing this, I was just finishing up with a story where Gilbert was the villain and Roderich a good guy/victim, and thought it would only be fair to swap their roles for this. But I also like AusHun so made Hungary another villain here. Again, thought that would be fun to explore, this pair of arseholes who are also in love. Anyway, I've probably rambled enough, so hope y'all enjoyed this.