It had been two weeks since the meeting had ended, and America would be understating it by a lot if he said those two weeks were just stressful. They were a whole rollercoaster of questionable emotions. Mostly sadness though.
Recently, America got into a routine that he couldn't say he was certainly proud of, but it was too normal at this point for America to want to change it. America's routine goes as such: Wake up in the morning, question the existence of life for a few minutes to avoid getting up and doing stuff, get ready for work, go to work, realize he forgot to eat breakfast... again, work, forget to go to lunch, more work, meetings, go home, water the iris, eat dinner for the state's sake, usually have a "nice" conversation with CPR, try to pull an all-nighter, occasionally fail to do so, and repeat.
It's a great routine, isn't it?
As usual, America was going through the routine. Right now, he's heading home. When America got home, he watered the iris and proceeded to start making dinner. And by that I mean heat up leftovers. After only eating about a fourth of his meal, America stopped eating and started putting away his food. Normally, CPR would be saying something by now, but he was quiet today. America couldn't say he knew why, but he hoped this was a sign there'd be no nightmares tonight if CPR is busy with something else.
To burn time, America went on his phone to simply browse the internet, it's not like he had anything better to do, anyway. At some point, America fell asleep, his head dropping onto a pillow nearby.
~~-~~
America opened his eyes to the magnificent sight of a city. Or the closest thing to a city. With just a simple look around, America knew that this dream was happening sometime in the 1700s, most likely before the Revolutionary War. America couldn't recognize which city, though. It had been too long for America to remember specific details.
"America!" America heard a very familiar voice: Rhode Island. America turned around and smiled, seeing Rhode Island run over to him happily.
"You're late, slowpoke!" Rhode Island complained and hit America lightly on the shoulder, which was actually kind of difficult due to how short she was.
"Late for what?" America asked, smiling slightly. There was finally a good dream for once. Or, at least that's what he thought.
Rhode Island tilted her head a little bit and frowned, but didn't answer.
America looked at her, confused, "Rhi? What's wrong?"
"Do you really not know?" Rhode Island looked really heartbroken.
America felt dread like a stone in his stomach, "Not know what?"
Rhode Island looked at the floor, her gaze empty. She looked like some sort of puppet, a toy for a child to play with. America's worry multiplied.
"Rhi, What's wrong? Answer me, please," America was getting even more worried by the second. This felt frighteningly real. Too real. America didn't like this. He wanted to go back to the normal torture because this felt so real it hurt.
Rhode Island's head suddenly shot up, her eyes wide open- and pitch-black. "You were too late to save me. None of them saved me either. Everything has gone wrong," She stepped forward and gave America a look of pure hatred, "AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"
With that scream, the road underneath her broke. America stepped back, his heart breaking upon hearing his own daughter say that, "What do you mean, Rhi? What happened?"
"A lot of things," A new voice said, stepping in. Wisconsin. Wisconsin cast a sad look at Rhode Island, before quickly running in between her and America. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna steal Dad for a sec."
A look of irritation contorted onto Rhode Island's face. With a growl that reminded America of a pet wolf, she lunged towards America. Wisconsin quickly turned around and whispered "sorry" to America before pushing him roughly into a portal that had formed behind him.
America landed hard onto what felt like grass and immediately jumped up, looking around to find himself just outside of the state's place and surrounded by almost all of the Midwestern states. "What the...?" America muttered to himself.
"Sorry about that," Indiana apologized with a small laugh. "We didn't have any other way to bring you here."
"And you won't be able to stay here for long," Iowa added.
"So, we have to explain to you really quickly about what's happened." Minnesota joined in.
America looked around at the shorter states and nodded for them to continue.
"So basically-" Missouri tries to start professionally but got interrupted by Iowa.
"- Rhode Island went to the dark side."
Missouri turned to Iowa and gave him a slightly irritated look, "Seriously? Now you start making Star Wars references?"... And then they started bickering.
The state who just happened to be stuck between the two, Illinois, yelled out, "Both of you shut up, or I'll make you!" Though it was kinda harsh, the two did shut up, much to the relief of a peeved Illinois.
Ohio glanced at them for a second, before continuing, "Yeah, Rhode Island betrayed us, though I doubt it was willingly. It was almost like she was a puppet. Confe-"
A shriek split America's head and he almost immediately fell to his knees in pain. The other states heard the shriek and felt pain too, but they didn't nearly feel as much pain as America did when they heard it.
America saw the world around him start to fade to black. The states noticed how America was fading out of their reach, so Ohio shouted out, "Our enemies are-!"
But Ohio got cut off abruptly as America was suddenly in a pitch-black void. "Well, that was a close call." CPR's voice rang out in the empty void.
America's heat shot upwards and his eyes were filled with rage, his mind immediately flying back to what the states said. Rhode Island betrayed them, betrayed him, and America knew exactly who was at fault, "Why did you bring her into this?! She didn't deserve becoming your little puppet!"
Silence greeted America. America clenched his teeth and was about to say more when CPR finally responded, angry, "You know very well that the minute she sided with you, she was already in this. It was you, after all, who's failing to keep everyone together. Those cracks on your arms are proof enough."
America sharply inhaled, clenching his fists and looking down at the floor. America stayed silent, refusing to give CPR the pleasure of hearing a response.
"Well that won't do," CPR stated, sounding disappointed, "Where's all your defiance gone? Where's the anger?" If he could see CPR, America guessed the bastard would be smirking right about now. America knew he was being provoked, but his anger got the better of him.
"It's ok if you hurt me, honestly at this point I don't care. But, leave my family out of this! I'm the one who messed up, not them! So, leave them out of this or I will find you and make sure you regret it!" The minute those words left America's mouth, he regretted them. No doubt CPR would retaliate, but the part that scared America was how.
After a few moments of terrifying silence... "And, I'll make sure you regret that."
The void around America shifted and changed, and America was launched into one heartbreaking moment after another until morning came and woke him up from his worst nightmares in tears.
How could a weakling like him keep the union together?
How could a weakling like him even keep his own mind from falling apart at the seams?
--~--
...
--x--
The Midwestern states (excluding Kansas) ran into the giant house, each state practically running over each other with Illinois and Missouri making it their goal to annoy each other as much as possible while running. The Midwestern states ran into the living room to try and find Texas, California, and Delaware, who had pretty much established themselves as temporary leaders. Once the chaotic group finally located the three, they ran over to explain what had just happened. After interrupting each other several times while trying to explain, they finally managed to get out the entire story of what had just happened with America and how America probably doesn't know that the one they're up against is actually two- a traitor and Confederacy.
"That sounds like a big problem," Delaware said when they were done.
"How is dad supposed to fight back if he doesn't know who he's fighting?" Michigan asked, worried.
South Dakota shrugged, "I dunno, don't ask me." South Dakota's comment only seemed to make Michigan even more worried.
"How are we supposed to stay together if dad can't fight back?" Iowa asked, his voice shaky. That made the Midwestern states glance at each other nervously. If the union split apart, how many of them would actually be able to handle it? What would happen if they couldn't handle it? The answer to that question dwelled in their minds, a terrifying and horrible thought. Luckily for them, however, their conversation was interrupted by a certain shaking female state.
Did I say luckily? My bad, I meant unluckily.
The once cheerful Hawaii interrupted them with tears in her eyes. Not to mention the flower that she always had tucked behind her ear was nowhere to be found. "Hawaii?" Cali asked, kneeling down to look at Hawaii in the eyes, "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Hawaii sniffled a little bit and stuttered, "I... M-me and Alaska... W-we've-" A small sob racked her body before she hesitantly lifted her hand and showed it to her elder sister.
California gasped at the sight and put a hand to her mouth.
"Y-you're cracking..."
...
...
--x--
"I thought we didn't crack!" North Carolina yelled once California told all of the thirteen colonies about Hawaii and Alaska. It turns out three of the territories have cracks, too.
"Well, I didn't think so either until just now!" California shot back. "How was I supposed to know?! This didn't happen last time!"
"Okay, everyone just calm down! This time is different, there must be a reason." South Carolina reasoned, putting her hand lightly on North Carolina's shoulder. Her hand was quickly shaken off, though.
New Hampshire nervously asked, "How big are the cracks currently?"
"Tiny, but they're obvious enough," California responded, trying to shove away her anger and worry.
"Damn it..." North Carolina muttered under his breath, "How long do they have left?"
"I don't know... At best, maybe a little over a month? It took this long for them to show up in the first place, after all."
Silence greeted Cali. A month. Was that really all they had until their siblings... No one wanted to think about it, nor did they truly know. What would happen when they cracked completely? Would they stay like that? Would they just be forced into the real world? Would they... die? A shudder passed through Cali at the thought, that was the last thing she ever wanted.
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Maryland spoke up, her foot tapping nervously on the floor, "So what can we do about it? We can't just stand here and do nothing..." She trailed off, silence greeting her as her eyes glanced nervously around the room. "Is that really all we can do?" She asked, her voice laced with unimaginable sorrow.
Delaware clenched his fist, looking like he wanted to cry and punch something at the same time, "What is there left to do?"
North Carolina stood up suddenly and yelled at Delaware, "You know damn well we have another option! One life for all of us, how hard can it be?!"
In a split second, Massachusetts rushed to North Carolina and, just like that, Massachusetts slapped his brother in the face. Hard. "Don't you dare think about sacrificing Rhi," On closer inspection, California noticed that Massachusetts had tears threatening to leave his eyes.
North Carolina raised a hand to his stinging cheek and scowled, "I don't want her dead either... but," North Carolina glared at Massachusetts, "if sacrificing her means that the rest of our siblings get to live, I know she would sacrifice herself without the slightest hesitation- that's just how that fun-sized numbskull is. And... I don't want to take the chance that we might die if we split. I don't want to take the chance that Dad might die," North Carolina gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. This was obviously a hard decision for him. No, scrap that, an impossible decision. Who could opt for sacrificing their siblings with a straight face?
Don't answer that.
After calming himself down a little, North Carolina's sad but determined gaze raked across the room. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door behind him.
After a moment's hesitation, South Carolina stood up to follow him, pausing at the door. "North can be dumb and hot-headed sometimes, but he has a point," She turned her head to look at her siblings. "I love Rhi so, so much, but... I don't want to see the rest of my siblings dead on the floor," She choked out a small sob and, with tears streaming down her face, she hurried off after her brother.
After a few moments of tense waiting, no one else joined their siblings.
Massachusetts fell down onto a chair behind him, shocked by what his siblings just said.
"United we stand, divided we fall..." Connecticut quoted faintly, but Cali didn't turn to look at him, she just felt shocked by what her older siblings just said like Massachusetts.
Massachusetts looked up at his siblings and, with a hopeless look that tore Cali's heart out, stated bleakly:
"Then we have already fallen,"
--x--
PR observed as Confederacy practically tortured their father. Despite all the anger he let fester in his heart, he felt a pang of sadness when he saw his father so sad and broken. He glanced towards his sister and felt his heart lurch. He didn't like how... emotionless she looked. PR knew that Rhode Island's expressionless state was his doing, but it irked him that someone so cheerful the day before was now just an empty shell. He could hear her laugh echoing in his head.
He clenched his fists harder.
No more laughter, PR didn't want laughter from those who don't care about him even though he thought they did. Gradually, the joyous laughter echoing in his brain turned into malicious cackling, mocking him and everything he does. PR hated it. Hated them. He was never enough for that 'family' no matter what he did. He had ignored that fact for years, but the incident forced him to open his eyes and see the truth.
PR doesn't want to be in a family that doesn't care about him- has never cared about him. But even so, PR couldn't stop himself from caring about them no matter what he did, and PR hated that. PR hated everything about them. What did they have that he didn't? What made them so special? Why does Dad always care about them more than he ever did for PR?!
Why...?
Why was PR left to be nothing more than an afterthought, a slight rustle in the wind?
Now they are calling him a traitor, acting as though they hadn't betrayed their own family before.
PR wasn't the first one to realize how broken their family was- how could he ignore the signs? It wasn't his first toxic family, after all. PR quickly shook the memories starting to surface in mind away, he didn't want to think about those times. That family had been broken, too. But it was so much more broken that PR didn't see this family as broken until recently. That time was so hopeful, when he was first accepted into the union. He remembered being so unbelievably happy, but now that happiness was long gone.
Their broken family is why he and Confederacy worked together. Confederacy was weak and fading when they first came into contact, but PR helped him grow more powerful- so powerful that they could make a difference together. PR built the foundations and is still building the foundations for a new family that would actually care about him for once.
He didn't care what he had to do.
He didn't care who he'd have to hurt.
He spent so long being trapped, and now he'll finally be free from them, the neglection, the pain he'd tried so hard to forget- everything.
All he had to do now was wait.
Wait for his Dad to die.
...
...
It's a lot easier said than done.