"Done for today?!" Pinga wore an expression of pity and amusement, "The night has just begun!" she gestured to the now setting sun, "we'll be working alllllllll night!" She happily informed emphasizing the 'l' in 'all' for dramatic effect.
The four siblings just sighed in disappointment.
This was going to be a long night-
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"Let's go guys!" Masks signaled to his siblings.
The memory had skipped to the break of dawn and North America was currently facing off a wendigo much bigger than what they had begun with last night.
Maska hopped down from his hiding spot and threw fire at its face causing it to roar in anger. He shot an arrow tipped with ice magic at it's feet to keep it from moving and crushing them.
Mexico and Kanata snuck up from behind, taking advantage of the monster's immobilized state, and cut the tendons to its limbs leaving it defenseless.
Maria calmly walked up to it twirling a gleaming, silver weapon. She approached it with no fear and sliced the beast up finishing him off.
The whole battle sequence was only about thirty seconds.
The four siblings smiled at each other and exchanged high-fives in celebration.
Pinga, who had been spectating on a nearby tree pushed herself off of it and began to applaud, "You four have learned so much in one night! I'm extremely proud of you!" She praised.
She turned her attention to the sky observing the horizon in the distance, using her hand to shield her eyes from the waking sun, "Dawn is now upon us meaning your first night of training has concluded. We'll regroup with the others now."
Maria sighed, "I wanna take a nap!"
"Same here." Kanata sleepily replied trying to suppress a yawn.
~Lil time skippp~
"Welcome back!" Their Mother ran to her children engulfing them into a bear hug.
The four only groggily nodded to her or yawned in response.
"Pinga really worked you to the bone didn't she?" The Ancient stifled a laugh seeing her children in such an adorable state. "I'm sure she'll let you take a brake right?" Native America gave a side glance to her cousin who pouted.
Pings crossed her arms, "Yes I'll give you guys a quick break. But if I'm being honest with you I was gonna take you to the cave systems and fight some Daqqanoenyents (flying heads)" she kept the last part to herself.
~•~
The memory concluded as the mystical curtain rose. Everyone took a couple seconds to adjust back to reality. A similar feeling to walking out of a theater after a three hour movie.
"So you did all that training?" Spain asked a bit flabbergasted comprehending the recent memory.
"Yeah, it was brutal..." Maria shuddered.
"Wait till we get to Aunt Sedna's form of 'training'." Alfred laughed out loud.
His other three siblings deadpanned with a death glare, "Don't remind us." They all hissed.
"What?!" He contained his smile. He knew how bad they hated their Aunt's training, "I actually liked it!"
"HOW?!" Maria raised her voice, "I thought I was gonna DIE!"
"That's what made it fun!" Alfred sent his signature smile blinding those who witnessed it. "The risk of death is what makes things fun..." the superpower narrowed his eyes, his smile intact as a dark aura formed around him.
"I know what you mean, Amerika-" Russia stepped forward, "That's why I specifically enjoy fighting with you. You always make it more... interesting."
Everyone in the room shuddered from a sudden chill, except North America. It's as if they're just used into Alfred going into this state.
"Pack it up emos." Diego grunted seeming to not be fazed by Russia's aura either, "It feels like Halloween in here."
The others just stared at them in shock They weren't affected by such a strong aura, especially from two terrifying superpowers. It's as if no one knew North America properly.
That got England thinking though. How much do they really know about North America? Not only as a colleague but a parent. Everything they've seen was new or a surprise. How would they be able to keep large secrets like this? England has known his children for centuries!
Then again. How much do they actually talk. One on one. Like normal people. No business. No polite small talk. Just- talking...
It shocked England that he couldn't think of a time where he had a decent conversation with his children.
The only memories that resurfaced were-
Insults. Bullying. Ignorance.
No wonder North America was such a mystery! They didn't even want to talk to them! Everyone was always so horrible to them! They probably felt so lonely. England even recalled when their seemingly "close friends" would hurt and insult them!
He saw how they reacted to the sudden compliments from everyone. It genuinely shocked them. England actually was mumbling under his breath about them being ungrateful for such praise. Now he knew. His children were young. The earliest memories of their colonial parental figures are probably full of hate.
It must've been so shocking to see any form of maternal praise after such a long time...
His mind flooding with these sudden connections made England feel like he was going to be sick. He placed a hand to his mouth and wrapped an arm around his stomach. France took notice.
"Are you alright?" The Frenchman bent down slightly to look into his fellow country's eyes. Everyone turned to see what was going on.
England struggled to answer, "I-I'm fine. I just need a quick break-" he responded in a quiet voice. Almost like a whisper, which was strange for the former empire. The man then swiftly exited the room. It only took a few seconds for France and Spain to follow. The rest just awkwardly stood there staring at the empty doorframe.
"I hope Mr. England is ok!" Italy worriedly cried, "He looked sick, almost like he ate a bad plate of pasta!~"
"I'm sure he'll be fine." Germany reassured Italy and those around him, "We can use this opportunity to take a quick break ourselves." He nodded to everyone who silently nodded back.
"Meet back in about thirty minutes..." he finished and exited the room as well with Italy and Japan tagging along.
•With England, France, and Spain•
"England! What's wrong?" Spain urgently asked.
England still didn't respond. He held a distant look on his face, eyes glazed over.
"Talk to us! Please!" France pleaded. He was getting impatient and seriously worried. He's never seen England this broken looking.
"We're- we're such horrible parents..." the Brit finally said. His voice just barely a whisper. It surprised the other two that they caught it.
France wasn't satisfied with the answer, "I think we already established that..." Sad, but it was true.
"Everything we're learning is new. Everyone in the world is just finding out about their pasts like us." England paused to take a shaky breath.
"As parents, guardians, it should be expected that we know everything of our children. We're supposed to be protecting them. We are the people that our children should be coming to with problems." England's brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. He refused to make eye contact so he was just gazing at the floor, "For years, instead off taking right parental actions we have not picked out the flaws of our children. Using it against them and calling them disappointments. We were so abusive...."
"We just found out that we're grandparents too! Something that has been kept from us for so long! When did this start? When were our children so distanced from us?! When did we become so untrustworthy? When...?When did we become such bad parents....?"
Silence filled the room. They were letting the words soak into their minds and process them. England was right. When did they become such bad parents?
"And just to add on to this-" England interrupted the other two's thoughts.
He looked from the floor looking into their eyes with confidence, "When was the last time we had a proper conversation with our children?"
"A 'proper conversation?'" Spain repeated, "well that was just-" he stopped mid sentence.
"Tell me. What comes to mind?"
England watched as France and Spain's faces contorted into expressions of sadness and realization. England knew that they have just made the connection that he'd just figured out earlier.
There was nothing...
There were only memories of hate-
"No-" France gripped his hair, "there's got to be something more!"
"We did that to them." Spain froze in disbelief, "and we watched others do the same as well. We watched and stood by as our children were being hurt-"
"How..." England began as he choked back a sob. His gaze was fixated on the floor again, arms tightening around his torso. After pausing for a couple seconds he looked back up with tears brimming in his eyes.
"How could we let this happen?"
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Gooooooooood day everyone!
I'm alive!
Sorry I haven't posted in a while.
I've now gotten used to school and my other activities so now I can begin writing again! Schedule may be the same but I have ideas so look for updates in the future!!!
Thank you for reading!
Stay safe!
Love y'all!!
_~•*LUCII OUT*•~_