" What do you mean!? This was my fault?! I protected you from that thing for years?! You should be thanking me if anything "
" Thank you for what? Being a terrible liar "
Singapore watched from the side as South Africa and Austria yelled back and forth at each other. Neither one of them could keep their mouths shut when it came to talking business. Half the time it wasn't even business, it was just them bickering about why they hated each other. The country let out a long and audible sigh.
"Nothing beats, like watching an old couple fight." he looks over to Indonesia. The red and white country just shakes his head, letting out a quiet yawn. The two were just there for backup and protection. Singapore didn't care anymore, Europe could have South if that meant some quiet once in a while. He slumped against a nearby wall closing one eye, blocking out the yelling children in front of him.
" This Austria is why all the countries went extinct. Your voice was too much for them to handle. "
" Don't give me that South! At least I have a working mafia instead of one getting fat like yours! " he tried to taunt the other country. South looked even more upset. She walked closer to Austria and stared at him with death in her eyes. The two just stared with dirty expressions for a while.
Indonesia had a good time watching, and pulled out a ration bar from his pocket, munching on the snack while watching the show. No one even seemed to notice. That was until Austria had enough a practically broke his head to look at the two.
" Singapore. DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE SOME SENSE?! WHO'S RIGHT " Austria shoved South away. Singapore groaned, he didn't care but couldn't say it in front of South. He pushed up his cracked glasses and looked in between the two with hesitation. With some hope, he glanced at Indonesia, who raised his hands and took a few steps back. Nobody wanted to deal with this.
" I'm not here to pick favorites. No matter how much I hate both of you, I'm not saying anything. Except for your both acting like children, and are greatly overreacting " he defencly crossed his arms. South's jaw practically hit the floor, while Austria looked like he was thinking deeply about it. After about five minutes, South closed her mouth for a few seconds, only to react with an insult or two.
"You don't understand how hard it is to order a mafia, half of your members are dead or disabled!"
Singapore growls, he was very protective over his group. "At least they don't cry when they get a splinter! They actually learn how to heal themselves and don't argue with each other!"
"You're such a hypocrite!" Austria snapped back. "We all can hear you and Thailand fighting across all three islands! It's a miracle the outside world doesn't hear you!" Austria and South gang up on Singapore. The Asian country wasn't going to just stand around.
"At least I don't hide an Axis in my basement!" The Asian says back. South chuckles and looks towards Austria.
" Don't look at me with your one eye " he points a finger in South's face. Singapore shrugs and looks towards the door. He motions for Indonesia and the two leave as Austria and South start fighting again.
" It's not my fault! I did what I had to. " Austria crosses his arms. South brushes a few leaves off her coat.
" Yeah, yeah sure you idiot. But let me make one thing clear. If I find an Axis sneaking around my building, or my people, you'll be the first one to pay for it. I'll make sure it happens " she flicks Austria in the forehead and leaves.
➳➵➼
France laid her head back, resting it against the large trunk of the Westeria tree. She needed a break, she needed every minute of a calm life she could get. It was late at night, way later than she should be outside. There was always a risk of a random hunter at night, but France didn't care. She needed to be away from the building, from her family, from her memories, from her past. All she ever wanted was a minute of total peace.
No fighting, no bodies, no screaming, just peace, and happy conversations. She used to have peace and the more she thought about it the more and more beautiful it was. But it was cruelly stripped from her own hands a long time ago. And France knew deep down there was no way she could ever get it back. She hadn't felt like this for a long time. It was somewhere in between the war and peace. It was silent but the screams still haunted her head.
She gazed up at the large milky moon, as the wisteria branches gently brushed against her hands. It was soft. She's never felt a Wisteria that wasn't soft, only if it was dead and was is not comforting.
This Westeria tree was different. It had been there since the beginning of the war. When everyone fled, the tree was only a sapling. With a bit of love and care over the years, it never stopped growing. Now, it's big and strong.
France places her hand on a soft strand of purple buds. Her hair slightly wips in the wind. She hadnt had her hair down for a long time, and over the years it had grown pretty long. The country had never really noticed.
France then hears a twig snap. Not now.
She grabs a dagger and holds it up defensively. She looks down and sees a very familiar face. Britain was the one that broke the twig, he took the step back and chuckles. "Hey."
France sighs in relief and puts the dagger down she lays back. She refuses to say anything and watches as Britain quickly scales the tree and sits next to her. The two sit in silence for a while until the female speaks up.
"If you tell me to come back inside because it's getting dark... I will punch you."
"As long as you don't ask, how's my dragon side, I won't tell you to come inside." Britain groans and lays back. France nods her head with a ' humph '
France looks away. "Deal."
They pause. For some reason, France feels different. She had always been one to love being around Britian. His sense of understanding and calm words always soothed her frayed nerves. But she just wanted to be alone. Part of her was tempted to just leave at this point
Britain groaned loudly again and rubs his face while he was laying down next to France. "My dragon side seems to be the next national crisis. It's gathered more attention than Romania's spare coffin."
"Why?" France asks.
"Everyone is constantly asking about it. It's like it is all they can do! I know they are interested, and maybe care, but I can handle myself. I've been through almost five world wars and still, everyone is always at my heels. " Britain complains and adds in hand gestures.
France nods and listens from the side.
"I've been alone for a long part of my life. I can handle it a little longer..." Britain sighs.
France chuckles and covers her mouth for a split second. The hybrid raises an eyebrow.
"What? Did I say something?"
"Kinda. Just... Britain. You clearly don't like being alone. You may say you're used to it, but you're clearly still desperate for... love." France says as she watches the stars. But she had to be truthful as well. She still had a lot of love left for him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldnt forget. She couldnt forget their past.
Britain thinks in silence.
"Do you think the dead are still around?" France asks quietly. "Sometimes I see the star and feel their eyes stare back. When I was little, my mother used to tell me that everyone always turned into a star when they died. " France smiles as the white dots in the sky reflect on her lavender eyes. Britain looks at her and smiles. "I wonder if it's true."
Britain looks up with her. "I don't know. But it would be nice... To know that they're still around. Watching. Waiting. Comforting."
Britain smiles. He saw how some stars had some slight color. He kinda named each star for each person he's lost. He just hadn't remembered until France brought it up. It had been a long while since he had enough time to notice.
The light yellow one he named England, the light Blue one Scotland, the green one Wales, the pink one Northern Ireland, and a white one London. It was the smallest way he could keep his siblings and best friends with him.
Britain sighs as he stares at the cluster. "I miss you guys... Always will..."
France looks over at him and gives a pitiful look. "Hey. Wanna... play a game?"
The hybrid looks at her confused. " A game? What do you mean? "
France smirks and playfully punches his shoulder. "Tag!" Then she gets up and runs off before Britain could react. He blinks a few times still trying to figure out what had happened but quickly snaps to attention.
"Hey! I Wasn't ready!" He gets up and follows. France was always the one to have the upper hand in games like this. She would always be able to jump over the river when he would tumble in. Britain chuckles at the fond memories of their old home. France had beaten him before, but not this time.
France laughs and goes further into the forest.
Britain follows but loses her almost immediately. She was definitely great at stealth. He walked quietly and listened for any shuffling. The wind blew through the large trees, blowing up a few dead leaves. The air was still for a few seconds as the country stayed low to the ground. He wasn't aiming to get ambushed. Britain glanced around slightly, but randomly caught sight of the familiar country hanging upside down in a large tree. France waved at him and blew a kiss before disappearing back into the darkness.
Britain blushes for a second before again, realizing and dashing off. He looks up in the trees for any sort of color but no red, blue, or white was found.
The hybrid then has an idea. He sniffs the ground for France's scent. It was almost instantly he smelt the sweet scent of Westeria and Vanilla. It overpowered the smell of the trees and rare flowers that grew from the ground.
Britain chuckles. France must still have the same fragrance she used to have, he wasn't sure how, but she must have needed a break from the forest and sweaty smell. He follows it and once he passes throught a large shrub, he sees her looking up at another Wisteria tree. The pale moonlight cast down over the tree, making her even more oblivious to his presence.
Britain smiles and slowly sneaks up. He sees her about to turn her head so he steps behind a tree. France glances around for a few seconds before looking back at the Wisteria.
She was completely distracted by it, but the branches should cover and the smell should confuse Britain. That would hopefully give her a few extra minutes before he found her. Britain knew if he didn't have his heightened senses, he'd have no chance in finding France. Over the years she had gotten more and more skilled at hiding.
But, Britain was close by then, right behind her. The hybrid knew he had wanted to do this for a long time. He grabs the branch and wraps France in it while turning her around. France yelps in surprise but when she turns around Britain has a large smirk on his face. "Gotcha." He says.
France grumbles, " Not yet you don't " she breaks the branch and jumps at the hybrid.
Britain yelps and didn't react in time. The two tumble over with a yelp, rolling down a large grassy hill.
France and Britain didn't know how to stop until they reached the bottom and lost their momentum. The two roll onto the ground in utter silence, but the awkward tension quickly erupts into a bundle of giggles. France continues to flail around, unable to contain her excitement. She hadn't felt this good in a long while. She felt so free, so alive in the moment. The moments that were snatched away from her felt like they were rolling back.
They laugh for a while before settling down. The wind continues to blow gently in the background. France smiled and closed her eyes. Maybe they finally ran out of energy.
They giggle, then pause. They were on top of each other...
France coughs then gets off of Britain.
"Sorry..." She slightly chuckles. She tried to hold in her laugh but it was funny to her.
"It's okay. I... don't mind..." He mumbles the last part rubbing the back of his head.
France and Britain are oddly quiet, looking in other directions.
Suddenly, Germany's voice is heard. "France! Britain! Come quick!"
The two Europeans perk up then get up quickly. Britain, in his panic, takes France's hand and they run to Germany who was over the hill.
"What is it?" Britain asked, France was processing that Britain was holding her hand.
"Our scout group got attacked! Austria wants everyone to get back before we're attacked again, and he wants to meet up with everyone. This could be the start of another one... " Sabine paced around his feet nervously.
France swallowed hard at the German's words.
Another war.
And here she had thought that they had came far. She thought something had changed. Sure, they fought a lot but no one would ever actually start a war... Until now.
➳➵➼
The human turns the key and now the cell was locked. The other human laughs. "Try getting out now."
The creature in the corner growls slightly.
"Haha. We're going to get paid real good with you."
"And it's gear, look at all this." The human that locked him up, held up a sword with a saw blade. "This could go for millions!"
The creature curls up the second they leave. His yellow eye glinted in the little light that seeped into the dark basement. The stone under their feet was cold and rough and their head pounded. Another failed attempt at freedom. They knew it wasn't time to give up, they knew they couldn't give up. There was so much more than just them on the line.
"Tell me we're going to punch them once we get out!" A voice said next to the creature.
"Are you sure that's the best route?" Another voice says.
"Of course!"
"...I do slightly agree, but it..." The voice looks at the curled-up creature.
The creature sighs. " We have to stick to the objective. Were not even out of here yet. Don't get ahead of yourselves... "
"Right!" The second voice said strongly.
"Maybe we can just punch them on the way out...."
A silence settles over the cell and the second voice pulls the first over. "Listen. We both need to stop telling him to use violence, you know what its-"
" Will you all shut up...? " the creature growls to themself. "I'm fine. Let's just find a way out."
. . .
Greece pulls up his bow, glancing in between the arrow and the country at his side. "Youuuuu're sure this is the one?" He asks before firing.
Egypt groans. "I've told you before, yes. Are your ears working?"
"I'm just making sure, Israel's making a big deal about this country. Must be pretty valuable to someone or something."
"Maybe they're UN or EU. We could use them back on the island." Egypt adds. She looks then sees Israel sneak by the door. She gives a hand signal. "Now! Now!" She tells Greece.
Greece sends his arrow and it hits a circuit board.
It only takes a minute for the two humans to run outside with guns. "Who broke the circuit board?"
"I don't know!" The other human replies. "Just fix it! The boss is gonna be mad if they find out. I'll keep watch."
He goes over to the circuit board and pulls the arrow of the box. "Someone broke it!"
The other human stares at the arrow in a confused look, but grabs it and inspects it closer.
" You know what kind of arrow this is!? " he exclaimed, staring at his partner who shook his head." It's an old kind of arrow used back during the purge. They were used by a few countries to fend off opposing forces when the states started dying. These things are so rare no one has seen them in over fifty years.
Israel uses her magic while they are distracted. She lifts up her hand then squeezes her hand and the two humans ram each other in the head, knocking them out with one fair swoop. Greece grunts and throws his bow over his shoulder.
" Let's get to work... " the two jump down from the large tree.
Israel looks at them then smiles. "This was easy. " She looked back at the humans on the ground and chuckled. "I'll get the country, you two keep guard."
Egypt nods and flies up into another tree. Greece looks at the humans with a grim look and keeps a keen eye on them as Israel peeks around the corner, slinking around it quietly. Taking a good look at the building Israel kicks through one of the large wooden doors and walks into the large building. It was dark and damp but otherwise looked generally well maintained.
There was a large desk in the corner with a few files and she picked one up. The label had been scratched out but there were papers stuck neatly inside. She flicked open the cream file and Inside were a few pictures of a Country with tethered wings huddled in the corner. She smirks happily, running a hand over the picture. " We found you... "
Spinning around she glances around the room and spys a small set of stairs. Despite a bad gut feeling she goes down them quietly. "Hello? Anyone here? I'm here to help you out." She sees the cage and goes to open it, but it was already open. "What?"
There was nothing but an empty cell. She was confused, until she heard a high pitched ringing. She follows it back up the stairs and to two beds. She sees a red button glowing.
Israel processes, then realizes it was a distress signal. There must have been another human that fled. She runs out and gets her hands ready for a fight.
Greece perks up. "What is it?"
"It's a trap. The Country isn't there, but there is a distress signal sent out." She pauses. "Egypt! See anything up there?" She calls trying to look over the hill.
"There's something on the hill. I think it might be a whole squad... Be on alert!" She yells back.
Israel holds up her hands and is ready to fire energy at anything out of place. Greece swallows hard as shouting is heard from below them on the hill.
Then, out of the bushes came humans with rifles and they started firing.
Greece eeps and jumps out of the way behind a rock, Israel fires back and uses magic to block the bullets from hitting her. Egypt jumps away trying to find cover and uses her wind flute, she plays and lifts up the humans and they crash back down.
Israel fires at them more and shields Greece as he runs out and fires some arrows.
Egypt groans and stares down at the two countries below her. They were in trouble
" WE GOT COMPANY! TANK AT TWO! " she called.
Greece and Israel perk up and paused, searching tiredly for the tank. They had walked straight into a trap, Isreal knew she should have been more careful. She rolled her eyes at the sight of the tank, they were all destroyed a long time ago.
The machine paused a few yards away and a loud cranking noise echoed across the field.
"They're bigger than I remember." Greece mumbles Isreal nodded in agreement, staring absenmidendly at the machine. Everyone stood solid for a few seconds before the tank fired and all three countries ran.
Israel puts up a shield as she and Egypt hide behind the large tree as the ground shakes slightly from the blast. Greece looked left and right and eventually scrambles inside the house.
Israel panics. "We can't fight a tank, even with our magic!"
Egypt nods. "Tell Greece we have to-"
The tank then fires again and the house behind them crumbles to pieces on the ground. Egypt felt sick.
"Greece!" Egypt and Israel yell in unison. They pause and wait, staring at the dusty wreckage. Egypt started to run towards the rubble but Isreal caught her by the hand and pulled her back. " Its too dangerous! "
Egypt shakes her head as tears prick at her eyes. Greece had fought so far and so long. She glanced up at the sky, but caught sight of exactly the opposite of what she thought.
"What's that?" She chokes
Israel looks up and there's a person with Greece in hand. Their wings flapped, keeping the two in the air.
Greece yells, then sees he was suddenly in the air. "W-W-What?!" the Greek yells in fear.
The person dives down and Greece yells more. Greece wasn't a fan of heights or plummeting towards Earth at mach 1.
The person slwoed down, let him go and he landed right next to Egypt and Israel.
He flies up then dives down at the tank and pulls out two swords and stabs right into the top.
The swords went through and pulled them up and the door came off. (Mind you, this is about a 100-year-old tank, so it's rusty old and not very strong).
The people inside flead since the tank was too broken to use.
Israel watches this in amazement.
Then just flies over Israel, Egypt, and Greece. He was about to just leave.
Israel calls out. "Wait!" The person looks at her then turns around and flies down to her.
He had a mask on. One that covered all of his face. It was white with golden greek-like design, with black eyes.
Israel takes a second while processing the mask. "Are you a countryhuman?"
He pauses, then nods.
"So are we, as you can see, and we have a proposition. Come with us and live with other survivors we found."
The masked person pauses, then folds his arms. He shakes his head.
"What? Why?" Israel was confused.
He just turns to leave.
"Wait, why? Why won't you come and join your kind?"
The person pauses then takes out his sword and feels it. "Italy." He says, slightly muffled.
"Italy?... Uhm... Italy knows were the island is, but he's not there right now."
"But he will be there." The person turns his face to look at them. "Right?"
"Y-Yes." Israel says. Why did this stranger want Italy so bad? What were his motivations?
The person turn to them. "Then... take me to your... safehouse." His muffed voice sounded deep and almost threatening.
Greece goes up to Israel. "Are you sure we should put this person on the same island we are on?"
"They seem fine, and I sense they won't hurt any of us." Israel assures Greece.
"That's not the vibe I'm getting!" Egypt adds in.
Israel huddles them up. "Why do you guys not trust him?"
"He took out an entire tank like it was nothing!" Egypt states.
"And look at him!" Greece says. All three of them do. The person was just chilling, holding his sword and his arms were folded. He was looking at the trees. "He gives off serial killer vibes!"
"Greece don't be so judgy."
"I will! So that I can stay alive." Greece says to Israel with a shrieky voice.
Israel thinks. "We've had worse... France wouldn't come along because she had Andorra, and she tried to kill us. He's the first one to not try and attack us."
Egypt and Greece agree with that, but they're still skeptical.
"Besides it's nothing we can't handle."