Madness, a hetalia - axis powers fanfic

"Are you sure it's really there?"

"There is nothing there."

"You're seeing things again."

"Something is wrong with your eyes."

"Have you been drinking again?"

"I can't see anything."

"You need to grow up and stop reading children's books."

"Such things do not exist."

...Yes. It's there. Why can't you see?

Am I mad?

But it's right there!

Fairies...why only me? Why am I the only one that can see you?

Special? I'm not special. Everyone laughs at me. They mock me.

Am I mad?

I must not tell anyone. Let them think it was just a phase. A childish game.

Yet over there in the field is a unicorn. Brownies are chasing each other through the hedges. In the sky is a large red dragon, frolicking with a white one.

How can you not see that?

I must be mad.

At the meeting, I see the fairies floating around their heads, pulling faces and doing impersonations. I would have laughed before and made everyone question my sanity. Now I merely smile, yet even that gives people cause to worry.

I think I'm mad.

When the work is done and the night is still young, I will often walk in the forest and feel the old ways. I'll see the spirits of the dead; axes and bows in hand. I'll talk with the tricky sprites, exchange riddles with the dragons that gather, aid the fairies caught in a spider's web. They used to be mean to me, but now...

...now I'm sure that I'm mad.

I'll watch the moon at night rippling in the water. I'll wave to the Neck, surfacing for a brief moment before disappearing quietly into the murky river, knowing that I will not fall for her tricks again. I'll wander passed the hobgoblins as playing pranks on each other, hoping they will not include me in their dangerous games. I'll glance at the ogre lying asleep against a fallen oak tree, careful not to awake him in case he tries to eat me again. I know now which creatures to avoid and which are safe.

I am mad.

In a meeting, I'll sit and glance out of the window, watching the wildlife of whoever's home I'm in. I'll get a poke in the ribs, laughter will follow and I'll make an excuse, saying I was looking at the creatures outside. People will look at me with confusion.

Some will even ask questions.