48. You care so much for someone you hardly know.
Ladonia panted heavily as tears streamed down his face. He was tied to a chair, and had long ago exhausted his efforts of escape. He couldn't recall how long he had been here, but his whole body had grown stiff from sitting, and the ropes were digging into his skin. He would occasionally jerk a bit, as if he was still trying to free himself, but he had tired himself out, and was now just hoping whoever had kidnapped him would do something.
To his relief, at the time anyways, his capture walked in. He was a tall man with dark hair, that immediately intimidated Ladonia, and a new wave of fear rocked through his body as he began shaking. He remembered the first time having met Sweden at this point, this is what it felt like, but worse.
"You've grown quiet, I thought I was going to have to come and gag you, good kid." The man said. Ladonia looked away.
"Let me go!" He yelled, jerking once more in his seat, but the man just laughed.
"God, no wonder no one came to save you." The man said, before grabbing Ladonia's ginger hair. The boy wailed as he was pulled backwards, mostly out of pain, but the man's words began to echo in his ears.
"Shut up!" He yelled. "They'll come for me!" He argued, but the pain in his head only grew worse as the man pulled tighter.
"Really? You seem to have a lot of faith in them, you've been gone for days, and not a word has been said." The man said darkly, but Ladonia closed his eyes, wishing he could cover his ears and press the man's words far from his mind.
"You're lying, you jerk, stop!" He cried, but his words were coming out more as begs. The man let go of his hair, and pulled up a chair across from Ladonia. The boy whimpered, but was thankful for the release. The man sat down.
"I have no reason to lie to you, I have you in my complete power." The man said, a smile forming on his face that creeped the young boy out.
"Now, why don't we talk about Sweden, huh? He's your, what, dad?" He asked, recalling his research on the micronation Ladonia. There was a place in Sweden where it resided, so it made sense.
"He's not anything to me, he's a jerk like you." Ladonia lied. He longed to be in Sweden's arms though, he hated the idea that he wouldn't come save him. That no one knew he was missing, probably not even the other micronations.
"Then I guess it's no surprise he hasn't answered any of my ransom letters." The man said, which made Ladonia stiff with fear. He shook his head quickly.
"No! He'll come save me! You'll see!" He yelled, but his words were drowned out by a loud laugh. Ladonia recoiled.
"God, you think so? You seem to have a lot of faith in a man who doesn't even recognize you as his." The man said. He stood up and approached the boy, making him squirm to get away. Hard hands grabbed his cheeks, and Ladonia did his best not to cry at the unfamiliar touch.
"Not even your King knows you're gone, no one does." He explained. Ladonia shivered and whined. The man's grip squeezed his face, and his let out a small cry.
"Stop it." Ladonia begged, trying to pull his face away. "They love me, stop it…" He cried. The man rolled his eyes and let go, but before Ladonia could relish in the release, a hard hand slapped him, knocking his whole face to the side. A small scream had escaped Ladonia, and he had bit his tongue hard in the process. Blood spilled from it, and the micronation loathed its taste.
"How old are you? It's time you face the facts, no one loves you. They hardly tolerate you." He said, which Ladonia knew he couldn't have known that. He didn't know anything about his relationships, but somehow, his words still rang true. How could anyone love him? He knew Berwald was only forced to watch him, he and Finland loved Sealand more anyways. And the other micronations constantly called him annoying, and would lock him away in his laptop. The boy felt his lip quiver, which the man didn't fail to notice.
He smiled at his work, and cut Ladonia from the chair, not bothering to look where he was cutting, and slightly knicking Ladonia's arm. The boy felt it, but didn't react, not with a knife so close to his skin.
"Where can I find Sweden?" The man asked, looking down at the boy who was now cowering in the chair, one hand holding the bleeding cut. Ladonia closed his eyes.
"I don't know." He whimpered, which was a lie. He was living with Sweden, after all, but if he gave him that information, then they would hurt Sweden, and probably Finland and Sealand too, if they were with him. The man sighed.
"You sure do care for someone who wants nothing to do with you." The man said, before grabbing Ladonia by the arm and yanking him down. The boy yelped as he fell, before being dragged by the man. He screamed and cried, wanting to return to the chair, scared of what was going to happen to him.
"I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice." The man said, before leading him to a small room. It was completely white, and a table sat in the middle of it. Ladonia was a bit confused, having expected for worse, but then he noticed, sitting on the table, was his laptop.
He stiffened, and began pulling on the man harder.
"Let me go!" He screamed, unsure what was going to happen. "No! Pappa!" The boy was thrashing around now, despite his aching body and tired mind. But the man was much stronger than him, and simply tossed him towards the laptop.
"You're an internet micronation, so what happens when I break this?" He asked, a dark smirk forming. Ladonia whimpered.
"It will hurt me!" He cried, reaching for it, but was yanked back by the man, who approached it carefully.
"Will it now?" He asked with fake curiosity, before lifting up the device. Ladonia grew still. He never let anyone touch his laptop, except for his close friends, and even then hardly. To see this man observe it, made Ladonia feel naked. He closed his eyes tightly.
"So, if I were to do, this…" The man said, before letting the laptop fall to the ground. The device hit with a loud thud, and Ladonia wailed out. He could feel its inner circuit breaking within him, as if it was himself that had been dropped. He doubled over in pain.
"Stop!" He begged, feeling more tears fall down his face. The man picked the laptop back up and looked it over.
"So this thing is connected to you, interesting." He said, before laying it back on the table, and opening it up. The screen lit up, but it was a bit crooked, and some of the plastic had fallen away from the first drop. Ladonia whimpered and came over.
"No, leave it alone." He said, but the man took both ends of the laptop and began to pull the screen away from the keyboard. Ladonia screamed and fell in the ground, feeling like himself was being torn apart. The pain was awful, and he begged for the man to stop.
He felt the laptop snap in his hands, and noticed how Ladonia grew silent at that. He bent down towards the boy and rolled him over. He was still breathing, which meant it hadn't killed him. Probably simply passed out. The man rolled his eyes and kicked Ladonia in the side.
"Worthless, should have grabbed some other micronation." He spat, before dropping the laptop beside Ladonia, causing him to jerk in his sleep. The man simply left the room, planning to try and contact the King of Ladonia, now that he had proof he was here, and being hurt.
When Ladonia came to a few hours later, he found himself back in the room with the chair. He was clinging to his laptop, which had already begun to repair itself, after all, it was a part of Ladonia. He thought about trying to contact anyone through it, but figured whoever was hurting him would be smart enough to disable it before hand. Ladonia wiped his eyes and shivered, realizing how cold the room was. It hadn't been cold before.
That's when he noticed he had been changed. He was wearing what looked like a nightgown, covered in old pinkish stains. Ladonia curled up on himself, trying to keep warm.
He had just began to fall asleep when the door opened. Ladonia's blue eyes looked up ,before they shot open with fear when he saw the man fro before.
"Get up." He demanded. When Ladonia hesitated, he took it upon himself to yank him up by his hair, making the boy wail in pain.
"Don't hurt me anymore!" He yelled, pulling against the man despite the pain, but he was simply dragged on, into a different room than before. This time, the only thing visible was a large screen, and on it, was a picture of Sweden. His eyes looked sullen, but Ladonia hardly noticed.
"Pappa!" The boy cried, running towards the screen, but was stopped by a different man's fist in his gut. Ladonia gasped and fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath.
"Don't touch the equipment." The man snarled, and Ladonia only whimpered in response, his eyes looking up towards the screen.
"We were able to contact Sweden, without your help, you're even more useless than we imagined." The man behind him said. Ladonia closed his eyes and shook. He didn't want to hear him speak.
"Want to see what your father had to say when he found out we had you?" He asked, an evil smile forming on his lips. Before Ladonia could even respond, the video began moving, and Ladonia felt his whole body grow stiff.
"I've been inf'rmed by the king of Ladonia that ya have his nation in captivity…" Sweden's voice was hoarse, but Ladonia could hardly comprehend it. He didn't catch the signs.
"The nation of Sweden has no interest in the micronation, however, and will no longer keep correspondence with ya. The micronation is not m'problem, and will be useless, as he knows nothing." Ladonia began to shake his head at his father's words, and felt like throwing up.
"No! No you jerks made him say that! You made him!" He screamed, standing up and running towards one of the uniformed men, but he was stopped, sent flying into the other wall.
"We couldn't have told him that, your king gave him our message, if anything, HE told him to say that, because he doesn't really care what happens to you." The man said, but Ladonia was covering his ears, refusing to listen to them. He rocked on the floor.
"Pappa loves me, my king loves me, Mamma loves me." Ladonia repeated to himself. He didn't want to believe their words, but it was so hard, hearing Sweden say those things, even if he knew they were untrue.
"No one loves you, you need to learn to accept that, you waste of space." The man said, before yanking Ladonia back up. The boy didn't resist, though he he whined at his tight grip. He let himself be lead back to the room from before, and thrown to the floor.
"Perhaps when I return, you'll give me more information, despite your Papa saying you know nothing." The man said, before shrugging.
"But if not, I have a few tests I want to do on you anyways. After all, I'm very curious if a nation functions the same ways as humans." He said with a dark laugh, before shutting the door. The young micronation was screaming as he left, pressing himself against the wall and begging for someone to save him. He was scared out of his mind, and all he could hear was his father's words. 'The nation of Sweden has no interest in the micronation.'
He wasn't aware that Sweden had been forced to say that, in order to prevent further torture on the boy.
A week had passed and Ladonia had been practically left alone during it. Occasionally, food would be brought to him, but he couldn't even force himself to eat. He laid on the floor, hugging his laptop to himself. All he wanted to do was sleep, and not have to think about where he was, how no one was coming to save him.
When the door opened, Ladonia assumed it was another person bringing him food. But when he looked up, he saw it was the first man, the man who had hurt his laptop and showed him the video. Ladonia whimpered and tried to hide himself away, not wanting to be hurt.
"Pathetic." The man mumbled, before walking into the room over to Ladonia. The boy could feel a scream enter his throat, but was stopped suddenly by the sight of a knife.
"Where did you get that scar?" The man demanded, pointing the knife towards his face. Ladonia whimpered and opened his mouth to speak.
"I-It's paint." He cried, tears running over the red streak.
"What the hell?" The man asked, before he forcefully began rubbing Ladonia's face. The boy yelled and jerked away, but was forced to stop when he felt the man's fingernails digging into his face.
"Why doesn't it come off?" He demanded.
"B-Because it's a part of me, stupid!" He yelled, but immediately regretted it when his fingernails dug deeper in.
"Shut up,brat." He said, before bringing the knife up to the boys face. Ladonia screamed and panicked, knowing what was about to happen.
"Sit still, god!" The man yelled as the knife dug into his skin, slowly shaving off the line of pain from his cheek. Ladonia was panicking heavily, and couldn't stop screaming, the pain was awful, and tears dripped into the wound, making it worse. When the man had what he wanted, he pulled away, leading a deep gash on Ladonia's face.
"We'll have to test this and see what makes it stay." He said, mostly to himself. Behind him came a woman in a suit, carrying with her bandages. They must want the wound to heal properly to see if the paint would grow back.
Ladonia whimpered as he was patched up. The woman was cold, and uncaring, just like everyone else in this place. When she was done, she patted the wound with a smirk, making Ladonia flinch.
"Maybe now it will scar." She told him, and Ladonia whimpered. He could remember when he would brag to Sealand and the other micronations how it actually had been a scar.
Both of the doctor's left without a word, and Ladonia curled back in on himself. He longed to be home, with Sweden and Finland and Sealand and all his friends. He wanted to believe they still loved him, was looking for him.
He would often talk to himself quietly, looking towards the wall, since he knew there had to be cameras in the room, and he didn't want them to see him talking to himself. He would pretend to be Sweden, and tell himself to be strong. He would pretend to be Finland, and tell himself he was being such a brave boy. He would even pretend to be Sealand, and say how much he missed him, and would always protect him when he returned home.
Ladonia closed his eyes, and whispered. "I want to go home." It was a montage he said to himself constantly, as if it was the only words he knew.
A few more days passed, and food hadn't been brought to him. He wondered if maybe, they wanted him to starve to death. It was a terrible way to go, but he longed for it. He was a micronation, he may not come back to life, but anything was better than here.
He wasn't aware that his captors had abandoned the facility. Somehow, word of where they were had gotten to Sweden, and they were planning attack. They had left the place, leaving Ladonia behind. They didn't care whether they found him or if he died before they got there, they only wanted to ensure that they didn't get caught.
When Sweden and his men, which included part of his army, Finland, Denmark, and Norway, came to the abandoned hospital, they almost turned back. The place was empty it seemed, and there was no sign that life had been here over the past two weeks. But Sweden refused to give up until every room was searched.
The door opened, and Ladonia quickly pulled in in himself, holding his laptop tighter to his chest, his small body quivering. The last time he had been left alone for a few days, and then someone had came in, they had cut his face. He feared what they would do now, and prayed that it was only a food delivery.
But his prayers were interrupted when a loud yell came from behind him, and what had it said? Was that his name?
Ladonia turned around, and his eyes met with the large form of Sweden. The boy stiffened, and quickly looked away.
"No more videos!" He begged. "Don't want them!" Assuming this was some sort of trick, but those thoughts melted away when strong arms wrapped around his thin body, and tears began to hit the nightgown and soak through.
Ladonia didn't hug back, could hardly even register what was happening.
"I've found you!" Sweden cried into the micronation, holding him tightly. He was on his knees, and wailing loudly. Enough that it had drawn the attention of the others, and soon the room was filled with people, people Ladonia was convinced he would never see again.
"Pappa?" He whispered out, as if this dream may burst any moment. Finland had now thrown himself around the boy as well, weeping and kissing his hair. Ladonia was practically suffocating, but he began to cling to Sweden tightly.
"You came for me!" He cried out, burying his face into the other man. He was underfed and exhausted, but he could not stop himself from crying hard, exerting all his energy into loving his savior, the man who he was convinced no longer loved him. Sweden pulled away and kissed his face all over, as if he couldn't get enough of Ladonia, as if he might be ripped away from him once more.
"What did they do to ya?!" Sweden yelled when he noticed the bandage on his cheek, which was dirty from tears and had bled through. He gently touched it, and Ladonia winced.
Finland immediately reacted by pulled Ladonia closer. Ladonia suddenly remembered that the man who he called his mom was there, and his heart swelled once more.
"You came too." He cried, before hugging Finland's waist. He hugged Ladonia against him, and was crying once more.
"Of course we did, God, you poor baby." He said, before lifting him up into his arms. He had become so light, how long had he gone without food?
Ladonia was crying hard now, hiding himself in his Mamma. "They said you wouldn't save me. They...They hurt me Pappa!" The boy wailed, which only caused Sweden to join in the hug, holding both Finland and Ladonia.
Behind them, Norway and Denmark had discovered the video camera in the wall. Of course, all other ones had been broken, but they must have forgotten this one in their haste to leave. The pulled it off the wall.
"Sve, we have a camera." Norway said, causing the man to look back at them. Neither Denmark or Norway could remember a time when Sweden had cried so hard.
However, Ladonia began shaking his head. "N-No! You can't watch that!" He screamed, thrashing Finland's arms, hardly aware who he was hurting.
"No! No! You can't! They hurt me! You can't see it!" He cried. Finland had put the boy down to avoid further injury, and Sweden suddenly caressed the other's cheek, that was now bleeding from the boys overgrown fingernails.
Ladonia had tried to run at the others, but fell over, quickly realizing he hadn't used his legs in days. He whimpered on the ground, before curling his legs up, simply hiding himself from everyone. Even if he was saved, he was still petrified.
Norway and Denmark looked at each other, before closing their eyes and frowning. They needed to watch the tape, they needed to see who had done this to their little nephew, who had broken Sweden with each letter they sent him, accounting what they were doing to Ladonia. They already knew what had happened to Ladonia it wouldn't be anything new.
Sweden and Finland rushed to the boys side, Finland pressing him against his chest, where Ladonia sobbed quietly.
"You love me, right?" He asked. Both nations nodded.
"We love you so much Ladonia." Finland whispered.
"God, we were so worried, we love you more than anything." Berwald followed up. The boy didn't look up, but allowed himself to be lifted back up by Finland, who was careful to hold him close. Berwald rubbed his back carefully, before looking towards the others.
"Let's get out of here."