((this is gonna be pretty long. So, buckle up reader, it's a bumpy ride. Also, there is gonna be some darker themes in this one, and to people who suffer from panic attacks and depersonalization/derealization disorders and others, just be careful, okay? I really don't want you to go though a relapse or an episode, so warning. This is the Salem Witch Trials, after all. Also, this chapter was just hard to write, like, I don't want these two dealing with this at such a young age either, but, history is sometimes REALLY unforgiving.. so if this is bad, now you know why.))
Native America, who was watching from actual limbo, was nervous and sad. Why you may ask? Well, she knew that this event had traumatized both of her sons, and they would have to relive it, while the other countries really needed to know. Some, like Prussia, would understand them, since they had been through almost the same things.
By the name alone, most would immediately know what was going on. It's just that infamous.
The twins weren't paying attention to what was about to come next, as they didn't want to think about it, and none of the countries knew, since they had only heard the name a few times, and knew that bad things happened, they didn't know what actually happened, just that it was bad. I mean, why would the two talk about something that would immediately cause a mental breakdown, just from the thought alone? Yeah.... I don't think anybody would want that..
As they got ready for the memory, most weren't thinking it was going to be that bad, as yes there was some sad memories, but the majority were alright. So, basically, nobody was expecting this. This can also be a turning point of sorts.
As the memory began, the two were outside, near a stream. America turned to the stream, then looked over at Canada, who was pretty deep in thought, as a smirk made it's way into his face. He lifted his hand, and a ball of water started to levitate, which made his smile grow bigger. He maneuvered the sphere to be right over Matthew and tried to seem calm, but couldn't help to not be smiling. "Hey Mattie." Said colony was snapped out of his head and turned to the much taller but younger ((I, and I know a lot of other people, would hate that lol)) twin with a curious expression. He also couldn't see America controlling the water above him thanks to him having his hand behind him. "What's that above you?" Alfred asked, unable to not smirk. Canada squinted at him and looked up, and the second he did, Alfred dropped the ball onto him, and when he heard the splash, he started to laugh loudly. "ALFIE!" He heard Canada shout, and this just made him laugh even more, to the point of making it hard to breathe, and making him slightly dizzy, which also resulted in him falling but he didn't even notice. ((Some happiness at least... To bad I gotta ruin it-))
Canada just glared at him and groaned, shaking his head slightly. A person, who was on a walk as well, saw America using his powers and was extremely freaked out. They were also slightly worried for Matthew thanks to his reaction but went back to the town, needing to make an announcement..
This person went unseen by the two, and while waiting for Matthew to dry since it was a pretty nice day, they thought why not stay outside. They were just talking at this point, Canada still annoyed at him but not as much, and was actually amused at this point. The person came back with a few more people, adding four to three new people, and pointed out Alfred, saying that he was the one. The rest of the group nodded and said they would look into it, and the original person, Bob cause I think they needed a name, left. Said group watched the twins from afar, not wanting to get to close to the supposed witch.
After watching for a while, the group was about to leave before one saw something interesting. As the twins were getting up to leave, America used some wind magic to make Canada float. Canada, after realizing what was happening, squinted at America and demanded to be let down. Alfred chuckled and shook his head, walking away while dragging, in mid air mind you, Matthew who was trying to get down by himself, but was getting nowhere. The person who saw this pointed it out to the others, who witnessed it was well, and they immediately decided something had to get done about him..
The next day, after tracking the two to their house, the group and other pedestrians were gathered around, everyone now knowing about America's powers. Two people has ventured inside, to retrieve the two, one to get Canada and the other to get America. The one getting America was 'protected' with some blessings, and the other wasn't, saying that the townsfolk thought he was just a unwilling accomplice.
Once the two came back, they had two specific, very freaked out colonies with them. Canada seemed tired, and was pretty drowsy, so probably just woke up, but that didn't mean he wasn't conscious. He was as scared and confused as America was, but was just a bit slower. America, on the other hand, was wide awake and was trying to get free, but he had his hands bound very tightly behind him. "Wait!-" America tried, but a gag was shoved into his mouth. "Be quiet, monster. We all know what demon you are, if it possessed you or not." A person from the crowd growled at him, making him flinch slightly by the tone. Everyone else, minus Canada, voiced their agreements, but Canada didn't stay quiet. "He isn't a demon or monster though! Let us go, now!" The person carrying him just sighed, shaking their head. "The witch has gotten to this one. He might not be too far gone, however, but before it can get to anymore people, we must kill it." This resulted in a uproar among the people, and the twins now understood what was happening.
((Warning starts here. I won't go into detail, but I do have to say this))
The two were taken to a clearing with a wooden contraption in the center, ropes falling from the top. The closer they got, America tried to get out and away, but to no avail. The townspeople for saw this, and needed to make sure he was.. dealt with.
America was placed on the ground of the contraption, and his wrist bounds were held by a person behind him, as to not let him escape. Then, a man at a podium besides them started to talk. They announced a trial, and started to ask America questions, to which he was told to nod or shake his head at, but they will remove the gag when necessary. America was pretty shaken but couldn't do much, other then agree with a weak nod. "Do you agree with the accusations of you using magic?" A nod. "Do you agree with the accusations of the people of being a witch of any sort?" A silent "no". "Take out the rag."
Alfred breathed deeply/coughed a couple times, and was looking away from everything, crying silently. "So, you do agree with using magic. Why were you?" America hesitated slightly. "I-i.... I didn't know p-people were there and... I wasn't going to hurt anybody! I was just m-messing around!" He stuttered out, and the 'judge' nodded. "Messing around? Interesting.. May we ask your fields?" America thought about what he meant, before sighing. "If I say I'll be seen worse then I am.. but... Elemental with strength I suppose." He mumbled, hoping nothing goes wrong. ((During that time, I should note, while doing some research, there was a 'little Ice Age' that caused economic strain and food shortages)) Some people in the crowd got angry at that. "He's causing the crops to fail!" A person shouted and furvur started among the mass. "Do you agree with this?" America shook his head. "N-no! I-I don't know why that's happening b-but I'm not causing it!" "Denying... Do you deny the other times food has gone scarce as well?" America nods.
The crowd continues to accuse Alfred of all the other things, and he tries to disprove them but dosen't really got the chance to. The end of the trial goes as follows. "So, do you plead innocent or guilty?" America shakes his head, crying still. "I'm not a witch.. I don't know why you think that..." He mumbled, barely able to be heard. "Innocent. Well, as the trial had gone, you were accused to many different things. Most of which, you weren't able to disprove. You are seen as guilty, does anybody disagree with this?" "I do! You didn't let him disprove anything! And if he is a witch, which I know he's not, what will this do?" A voice yelled out, and Canada was at the front, now not being carried.
America sighed silently, relived and a bit hopeful that maybe this won't go too bad. The people glared at Matthew, but he didn't care, and if he did, he would just glare right back. The judge just sighed. "You should know that he is one, of all people. And what this will do is that, if he lives, he's a witch, if he dies, he is not. Everyone here knows that he's capable, maybe he's not a full fledge witch since he's young, but later in life, there's no telling what could happen. So, to stop it before it even happens, he is guilty and sentenced to be hung." ((I hate this I hate this I hate this I hate this- imma have a full on mental breakdown just by writing this!!-))
Canada panicked. He didn't mean to do what he did. Just got stuck in the moment. Well, when they started to.. 'prepare'.. America, that's when he snapped. He shot ice shards at one of the people, barely missing and in turn, barely not killing them. Also, he must be extremely worked up, saying that weaponizing the elements took a massive amount of the twos energy, enough to actually make them pass out right then and there and be out cold for 2ish hours with just one attack, and they never have done it because there was no point, so they were pretty weak when it comes to attacking that way. Canada was in his own state, not being able to control himself, and that was obvious to most.
America, who saw what Matthew was going to do, was worried/downright scared about that as well, struggled for a small while with his wrist bounds, finally getting them to snap off. He then got away, with the guards not knowing what to do and too shocked to really stop him, and went to Canada to try and calm him down, but then...
A gun shot.
Silence rang out. Alfred looked down, and saw a hole in his side. He didn't know what to do. Canada just seemed to get angrier, as the earth started to shake slightly, and the weather started to darken. Alfred then knew he and Matthew had to get away, so nothing else happened, and he decided to use the darkening weather to his advantage. Messing with the weather also tired them out really quickly, so they never did that either, but it was necessary this time. America closed his eyes, to try and concentrate more, and a thick fog started to form around them, and in only a few minutes, the whole opening was covered with fog that you could barely see 3 feet in front of yourself in. After it settled, Alfred got away, but it was really difficult. He looked shell shocked, and after a small while of wandering into the nearby woods, he collapsed out of pain and exhaustion. Canada, who had been in the enraged state every since they left, was starting to calm down once they were alone.
America leaned on a tree, as his wound was already starting to heal at a quick rate. Canada, after calming down enough to not be seeing in blurs, quickly started to tend to America's wound, which already almost completely healed, but obviously still extremely sensitive and after what just happened, he didn't even dare touching anywhere on his side abdomen. Instead of that, which he figured would just heal in its own, he tried to bring America back out of coma like state, which wasn't really working at first.
Matthew didn't really know what to do, and was obviously extremely scared and stressed, while also feeling like he had something to do with him getting hurt with what he was doing, and how he could've helped more and maybe, gotten out faster, but no. And he just feels like what happened to Al could've been avoided, and that he didn't help as much as he could have, rather, slowed them down even more. He started to... For lack of a better term, have a full on mental breakdown.
After some time, Alfred started to come back, and could see, barely but still, how Matthew was seeming to be going actually crazy. America tried to move, to calm him down, but was then reminded of what happened. So, he grabbed a nearby stick, and started to just poke him, not really knowing what else to do. And hey, it worked in getting his attention, pretty quickly as well. Canada seemed to calm down significantly when he saw that America was 'awake', and was bombarding him with questions, while trying to not breakdown again, which was really difficult. Alfred tried to answer all the questions, but quickly realized that was impossible, and that Canada looked like he would faint. So, he tried calming him down, to remind him to breathe, which was easier said then done.
After around 30 full minutes of them just trying to process and calm down, America obviously was still pretty distant but not as badly, and Canada couldn't stop himself from crying, in relief and also in fear and stress. They stayed there, in that spot, well into the night, also the two wouldn't, and couldn't, go to sleep without having anxiety of all ranges of being taken again for months, probably years to come because this happened when the two were woken up by being taken out of their room. So, this can be the start to their unhealthy sleeping habits.
The two were basically manhunted during the years, and years to follow, the trials. Everyone knowing about their abilities, and never feeling safe around them, so the two were outcasted to the woods, and would basically steal for to survive, but they knew how to survive in the wild thanks to their mom, but it wasn't fun at all. The two only returned when the empires came back, and we all know how sparse the check-ins are already. They didn't tell, and nobody would be able to blame them for not. They did get over their anxieties, but much later in their lives, like when they were teens, more likely 15~, they are under the age 10 by the way. They are countries as well, meaning they live longer then normal humans, so this, obviously, has a huge effect on them.
All watching in the white limbo were speechless, and not anywhere near in a good way. They were just.. silent. Japan basically called it, when he said that there was a reason why the two didn't share or show their magic ever, but even he didn't know how... bad it was. Nobody could seen this coming, apart from the twins themselves. Which makes me wonder... How are they doing..?
After a while (40ish mins) the countries just got up and left, needing time to take everything they just saw in, and they needed to be away from everyone else to do that. It was.. very uneasy, to say the least, and they didn't want to be in unnecessary tension. Enough said.
2731 words
((That was long, but I didn't want to really miss anything and I didn't know where to end it. Promise most chapters won't be this long. Also, I tried to not use names of actual disorders in fear that people reading this can be hurt by them being put on anime characters, which I can get can be insensitive to some, and also if I'm just wrong, but I failed at that. I also didn't like writing this all that much tbh, like, too depressing, too dark. Used to love writing these types of things, but not really anymore. I just fallen out of it. Alsoooo.. I have a bonus chapter, basically centered around the twins pov on this and how they reacted, but, hopefully with a twist that is entertaining to read. Kinda like, a side chapter that's connected to this one but this one is already full, if you will. Would you guys be interested? Also also, if this gets to 10k reads, we're at 9k right now, I will basically send my ipad through a wall- no joke. Anyways, you're probably sick of seeing words on a screen, so I will go and die a bit more inside, buh byeeeeeeee~!))