"Oh, bloody hell!" England kicked at the ground. How many hours had they been working on the damn thing? They had started at the crack of dawn and it was already noon! And yet the hole was so shallow that there was still grass growing in it.
Despite Canada's fear that he would have lost his mind by the morning, his brain seemed to be functioning okay. But physically, he was worse than yesterday, if that was even possible. No one said anything about it, probably because they didn't even notice. It wasn't as if he was being lazy though. Barely ten minutes in he was panting like a dog and the world spun with those purple dots…Even now that he was resting, he didn't feel much better…Maybe if he took a quick nap he would have some more energy… He made an effort to slow his breathing and leaned his head against the tree's trunk, flicking an army ant off that crawled too close to his face. He closed his eyes and tried to block out England's cursing. But right before he was about to drift into unconsciousness, he was startled by a booming voice in his ear.
"Dude…" Even though it was softer than usual, it still ear shattering. Canada recognized the voice, even without having to open his eyes. America sat down right next to him, but Canada scooted away from him a little, a sign that he didn't want to be bothered. It wasn't that Canada didn't want to spend time with his brother, he just really felt like he was going to pass out, and didn't want to do it while America was trying to talk to him. Surprisingly enough, America remained silent, except for his rapid breath that seemed to tear in and out of his lungs.
His eyes seemed to focus on something that wasn't there and he kept spitting on the ground. Canada understood the need to spit. There was a bitter, rotten taste to his saliva now. The remainder, though scant, was just enough to drive someone insane. Soon, Germany came over to the tree, carrying Italy who was fast asleep. His hollowed out eyes made him look like someone else. After them, Prussia sauntered over and sat down next to Germany. He lazily lifted his fist to punch Germany in the arm, though it turned out to be more of a gentle pat. England finally noticed that they were giving up on the well and glared at everyone by the tree.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? We need to keep digging if we want water. You know - to survive!" Russia, China, and Japan gave England apologetic looks as they joined everyone else at the tree.
Japan hesitated as though he was contemplating staying to help England, but he eventually gave into the strain on his body, and whole-heartedly gave up. That only left France, who looked as though he was using all of his energy to just stand. His knees shook as he sighed almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry, Angleterre." With that, he plopped down, almost falling into the hole.
England didn't seem any healthier than the others. There was no color to his face and he had a lost look in his eyes, like he wasn't totally grounded in reality… which was just the case. Something about this island didn't seem to be real, and every once in a while he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that he usually associated with dark magic. But that couldn't be the case. Out of him and his fellow companions, he was the only one who was even interested in magic, and if by chance there was someone else, they probably wouldn't even know what dark magic was. So England dismissed that thought quickly and assessed his own condition.
England was probably worse off than anyone else, but he didn't plan on giving up so easily. Everyone else could just accept their fate and die, but no. Not him. He was going down fighting, even if it meant… meant... what was he thinking? Oh, right. America. Yes, the little twat needed to return his 'Doctor Who' collection. "Amrca… yneed ta… Who…" And then everything became dark.
Everyone had seen his collapse. While most of them were truly concerned about their friend, they simply couldn't bring themselves to get back up. Instead they took England's fainting spell as a sign to go to sleep themselves. Soon, one by one, they all drifted off into slumber.
"Yes, very soon." the mysterious voice echoed in Canada's dream. But this time he thought nothing of it. It was only his imagination.
"Dude, come on!" It was America's voice. But Canada didn't care. He could wait until after he was done sleeping to tell him all about aliens or whatever. His eyes flew open when his body was painfully wrenched back and forth by his brother, only to involuntarily shut again when the shaking halted. Everywhere on his body ached, and he really didn't want to move. He didn't even want to open his eyes. When he tried, it felt like gravity concentrated more on his eyelids than anywhere else on earth. When he did open his eyes, he saw America leaning over him, but in the blink of an eye Canada couldn't see his face anymore, because it was buried in his shoulder.
"Are you… crying?" Canada asked in a raspy whisper; he couldn't believe it. He had never witnessed his brother crying. What could have happened to make him so upset? He tried pushing his brother off of him, but that just made him hug him even tighter. Canada awkwardly patted his brother's back, "What's wrong?" England's voice projected over America's sobbing, but Canada couldn't see him. "You weren't waking up. Just like…" England sighed. He couldn't finish his sentence. He couldn't say the name.
"Who? Just like who?"
Canada thought. Was someone dead? No. No one could die. It just couldn't happen. Stuff like that only happened to other people. Not his friends. Not nations. "I'm so sorry… He's still… He's not… But…" America blubbered into his brother's shoulder. Canada laughed nervously, "What are you talking about?" "Who is it?! Just give me the name!" He screamed in his head. "He won't… He's… I'm sorry…"
Canada accepted the fact that no one was going to tell him who they were talking about. Though his bones screamed for him not against the weight and force of America, he forced his brother off of him so he could look around. They were still in the spot they had all fallen asleep in. England returned to a circle made up of everyone other than Canada and America. It looked like they were huddling around something, or someone. There was a lot of sniffling coming from one person, but even though the others weren't crying, everyone else had a somber expression. "Oh no…" Canada thought, "Someone died. Who died?! I can't see!" He decided to count everyone off. Only one person was missing, so whoever was missing was the person everyone was huddling around. Okay so America was here with him… in the circle was England, France, China, Russia, Japan, Italy… Germany was holding that person's hand to his face. There was only one person that it could be.
"PRUSSIA!" Canada stumbled whilst trying to run over to him. Everyone turned to him in shock. He was so loud. Had he ever been that loud before? He squeezed his way through the circle and there, lying on the ground was Prussia. His lips were starting to turn blue and he wasn't sure if his stomach was moving with breath or not. Canada was trembling as he put two fingers on his friend's neck. There was a pulse. It was faint, but he still alive. He sighed with relief as someone put their hand on his shoulder. "He's not waking up, but he's still alive…" For now. That's what France meant to say at the end, but he couldn't squash Canada's hope.
"It's time." Canada snapped to attention. It was that voice again. "Who's there?!" Everyone quizzically stared at the blonde. "Please! You have to help us!" "Canada, who are you talking to?" England slapped his face a little. He might still be dreaming. "PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" Now he was sobbing hysterically. To the others, it must have seemed as though he was having a fit of sorts.
He couldn't see through his tears to check where the voice was coming from. He wiped them away and stood up. "Where are you?!" On the tree in front of him was the crow. It cawed and stared at Canada pointedly, as if to say 'I know something you don't'. The look it was giving him wasn't human. That crow knew something. It flapped its wings and lifted off of the branch. It hovered in the air and Canada stepped around his friends, slowly making his way toward the bird.
He had never been very fond of birds, due to a traumatic experience when he was little at the beach. A group of seagulls assaulted him to steal his food. A part of him was screaming to run away, but the rest of him knew that this bird might be able to save his friend. How silly was that? A bird saving a human… But Canada was going to take any chance he got. "Where the bloody hell are you going? Get back here!" England's voice seemed to be far away as Canada focused solely on the bird.
Canada didn't hear him. He sprinted toward the bird as it flew away into the heart of the jungle. He ignored the various scrapes and cuts that now decorated his face and hands as he tripped over his own feet and was repeatedly whacked with foliage. He was surprised at how fast the crow flew, granted it was smaller than what he imagined a crow to be. He couldn't help but marvel at its beauty. As he looked at it, he found it was impossible to tear his eyes off of it. "Canada!" He thought he heard someone call his name, but it was so distant, barely audible. He didn't care anyway.
And after some time of following the strange bird, they reached a cave on the side of a cliff. The ocean water to his right did not meet a sandy beach. It met sharp rocks, and violently sprayed the cliff with white foam. The crow hovered in the air and turned around to see that Canada was still following it, before proceeding into the cave. Canada hesitated before chasing after it into the utter and complete darkness. And it was totally black.
The second he entered the cave, it felt like he went blind. He turned around to see the daylight of the cave's entrance, but even that did not reach inside the cave. He heard the crow's wings flapping and tried to walk in the direction he heard it coming from, but the sensation of blindness made him too dizzy and he dropped to knees.
"There's no way I can find you in here." Canada pleaded, "Please, I need a light."
"A name." said the voice. "What?" "Give me a name." "S-Sir…" Canada stuttered, "I am Canada. And you…" "I meant, I want you to name me. Tell me what you would like to call me." "Well that's weird. Why doesn't he just give me his actual name?" "Uhh…" Damn, what was a good name? "Raven." It was the first thing that came to his mind, and he mentally face palmed. This man was going to think that he thought his pet crow was a raven.
The voice chuckled. "I didn't expect you to be so funny. Very well, I am now 'Raven'." Canada had so many questions he wanted to ask this person. He tried to find the right question for this moment, but he doubted every single one of them. He then realized how long there had been silence. "Are you still here?" "Yes," the voice laughed, "I am waiting for you to ask the question that has been troubling you the most." Canada was confused. Which question was he talking about? The voice sighed drily, "You are very curious about my identity aren't you? And why I am here on this island. But that isn't the question you want to ask me the most. Quite frankly, you really don't care who I am, so long as I can make you a certain promise, yes?"
"Can you save my friend? He's dying… Maybe some water or food or shelter… Anything." The voice scoffed, "Just the one friend then?" Canada panicked and quickly answered, "No! No, I have more friends! They aren't well either!" "So you would like me to save all of your friends? Is that it? You want them to live." Canada sighed from relief. "Yes." "I can do what you ask… for a price." Canada's heart sank, "I don't have anything to give you. When I get back home though, I have lots of things, like pancakes and maple syrup that you can have." The voice chuckled darkly, "You really are very funny. But you do have something right now."
He was sure he didn't have anything on him. Confused, he fumbled in his pockets, but to no avail. "Tell me, how much would you give for me to save your friends?" Canada answered hastily, "Anything. I would give anything you want." "Anything' is a pretty wide selection. Think about this carefully." Canada had grown impatient. Prussia could die any second now. "I'm sure! I'd give you anything and everything! Just tell me what you want!"
He was on the verge of tears. Maybe Prussia was already dead. Maybe it was too late and this man couldn't help him because they had been talking for too long. "Your soul." Canada breath hitched and he was sure his heart skipped a beat. Surely this man was kidding?! He waited for the man to start laughing at his own joke, but there was dead silence. So Canada chuckled instead, "Ha… That's funny… but… what do you really want?" "I have already given you my answer." The man said this in a serious and impatient tone.
"Sir…" Canada started, hesitant to trust the man with the information his was about to give him, "I'm… I'm not a human. I wouldn't think that I would have a soul." "Is that so? Because I can assure you that you have one at the moment." Before he could speak, Canada felt like the air was pressing down on him, and he gasped for air, waving his hands in front of him, trying to find something to grab onto. "So…your decision then. You can take my offer, or you can let your friend die. I want an answer, NOW." the word now seemed to shake the walls of the cave with its intensity.
Canada could breathe a little once again, but only just enough air to speak if he wanted to. "This isn't happening," Canada thought, "This is a hallucination. Or maybe it's a dream. Maybe waking up was a dream too. Right, I'm still asleep. And Prussia isn't dying. Of course he couldn't die… He's a nation. Nations can't die."
"I'll take your silence as a no. Very well, but please, do come visit me again. I'll look forward to it." Suddenly, there was light in the cave, but there was no man. The cave was empty, minus a few spiders. "Hello?" Canada scanned the cave ten times, but there was no one except himself. It took all of his strength to keep from crying. But he reminded himself that it was just a hallucination… or a dream. Either way, it wasn't real. He realized that he could breathe again and gulped in the sweet, humid air as he jogged out of the cave and made his way toward his friends.
When he arrived, there was no circle around a dying Prussia. Instead, everyone, including Prussia, had continued digging the well. The first one to notice that Canada had rejoined them was Prussia, whose eyes widened at the sight of him. But it wasn't with excitement, or happiness. It was with worry and terror. "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO?! THAT WAS
LIKE, SO NOT AWESOME." He raced toward Canada and shook his shoulders, trying to rattle his head into sanity.
But Canada was confused. Prussia was asleep when he left for the cave, wasn't he? Maybe it was like what people say about being in a coma. Even though you're unconscious, you can still hear your loved ones talk to you. Oh but… Someone probably told him what happened. "I… err… thought I heard a helicopter. But how are you awake? Are you okay?" Prussia grimaced, "That bastard Russia apparently found a vine with water…" He nodded.
Even though Prussia didn't seem it, Canada was at least grateful to Russia. He looked in his friend's direction, and Russia was looking right back at him, smiling. Canada waved, and when England saw who Russia was waving back at, he hurried over.
"Hey, welcome back. Are you alright? Maybe you should just rest for the remainder of the day. You can help with the well tomorrow." Even though Canada was a worried that everyone must have thought he was crazy, he appreciated the opportunity to skip out on the back-breaking work for the day. He nodded his agreement and sat down under the same tree he rested under before. "See? It all turned out okay. Of course, everything was going to turn out okay." And with that, Canada gratefully drifted off into sleep.
"Damn… he didn't go for it. At this rate… No. I'm not going to die. But next time he will definitely make the deal. I just need more time…"