Family Ties
By: Aubrie1234
"Is he still sick?"
"Yeah. He's gotten worse, really..."
"Isn't there anything we can do?"
"Not unless you want to steal some of Arthur's spellbooks."
"If it heals Father, then that's just fine with me." Juan had recently come back from his trip down to Isla Juana, the island nation he represented, only to meet Kanata and Mexico when he came back. Their father, Maska, had recently come down with a terrible cold, and unfortunately, Juan had to leave his sister and brother to care for their father while he was away.
Maska represented North America before the settlers came, and they guessed that he was sick because of all the disease brought in. However, unless they could somehow find a widespread cure, Maska was going to be sick for a long time and could possibly die!
That was one of the reasons Juan had left for his country. He was hoping for a cure to be found and the other Caribbean countries were worried about their father. Maska had given life to all of them: Kanata, Mexico, and the Caribbean. There was nothing to represent the new country, though. The new one called America. Some them wondered if that was another reason why their father was sick, that he might be tiring himself out trying to give life to a new personification. They weren't exactly sure how it worked, but there were many theories, basically.
"But how are we going to get to them?" Kanata asked. He was interrupted when Maska started giving a hacking cough. Quickly he and his siblings brought an iron pot to Maska's side, allowing the nation to turn and cough blood and the contents of his stomach into the pot. Maska's usually tanned skin gave away to a pale pallor and his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat. He blearily blinked his eyes, looking at them. His eyes were glossed with fever and confusion.
"W-who-?" He spoke in a tongue that they shared, a mixture of all the known Native American ones. However, he then began coughing again.
"It's us, Kanata, Mexico, and Juan!"
"What?" He gave them another confused look, "Do I...know you?" This worried them even more.
"W-we're your children, your kids!" Mexico pleaded. Maska stared at them as if they were strangers. Then his eyes narrowed.
"You're children of the settlers, aren't you? Get out!" He grabbed a thick stick beside his bed and swung it at them, where they dodged and ran. When they were out of the house and out of range, they cried.
"He didn't even recognize us!" Kanata wailed, returning to English. They spoke English whenever they weren't around Maska, taught to them by their 'big brothers.'
"We need to get those books!" Juan said, sniffing as he tried to wipe his tears away, "For Father!"
"Arthur won't miss these because Francis had them." Kanata said, putting down the stack of books. They were hiding out in a clearing in the woods and had gotten out all of Maska's magical equipment except for one. Maska would get even angrier at them if they went to retrieve his bow, so they left it behind.
"So we're just sending him away until we find a cure?" Mexico asked for assurance. Kanata nodded.
"All the poles are up!" Juan called. Whenever Maska preformed magic, he always made a circle by putting up several wooden poles with Native American items on the ends, such as dream catchers and the such. It was their closest replacement for Arthur's magical equipment.
"Okay," Kanata scanned the book he had found, "and if we want to make sure this works, all of us need to hold hands and speak at the same time." Mexico and Juan padded over, each grabbing one of Kanata's hands.
"What do we need to speak?" Mexico asked.
"Patrem tuto nostros exportare. It's Latin, I think. And we need to shout it."
"Got it." They held their hands tighter and began to chant the saying louder and louder, each time with more vigor. Slowly, the poles and the circle began to glow and shake until he became a great rumble and suddenly, a white light shot out of the circle. It flew into the air and sailed over their heads, heading to the cottage, where another rumble shook the ground. This shocked them out of their chant.
"Father!" They ran back to the cottage, going inside to find Maska's bed empty and the bow gone. They searched high and low around the house, but the man was gone.
"What have we done?!" Mexico fretted.
"If we bring him back, he'll just be sick again." Juan said.
"But-"
"He's right, Mexico." Kanata said, shaking his head, "Until things get better here, we can't bring him back." They went back to clear up the circle with heavy hearts, wondering if they had truly done the right thing.
Over the years, things didn't get better, but now there wasn't any sickness threatening to kill off their father, so they searched for the book to bring him back. However, Arthur had somehow gotten it back and when they searched for it, they couldn't find it. Afraid of what Arthur might do to Maska, they decided not to tell him and searched for the book on their own. And yet, after decades of searching, they weren't able to find it. They continued to, but their hope was waning.
Another thing was that they wondered if Maska had somehow been reborn as Alfred, but they knew it wasn't true. Alfred was too different from Maska for that to be possible and didn't wield a bow the way their father did. But since they knew they had been born, they wondered where Alfred had come from. It was a mystery that still bugged them to this day, adding to their resentment of the loud nation. Maska had been quiet and serious was just a bit of xenophobia, unlike the loud and friendly Alfred.
And yet, as the years passed, they slowly forgot what their father looked like until all they could remember was his bow and the tricks he could preform with it. He was amazing with it, able to do things no one else could do. That was his defining ability and so special that was probably why his children still remembered it, even if they didn't remember him.
However, Maska was about to make a reappearance, but in the strangest of ways, one that no one ever expected.
Notes for the story:
Patrem tuto nostros exportare = Transport our father to a safe place
Juan = Cuba
Kanata = Matthew = Canada
Mexico = Camila
Alfred = America
Arthur = England/Britain
Maska = ? = ?
I hope you like this! I bet you can either guess who Maska is or have no idea. I know who he is, but it won't be revealed until later. Anyway, read & review!
