Weeks turned into months and the ghost still never showed. Russia felt it was safe to leave his sisters alone when they stopped thinking and worrying about it, so he finally went out on his expeditions once again.

Just as he feared, the witches left a nasty scar on his arm. Worried that it would spread false rumours, Russia always wore long sleeves to cover the scars, even though it was almost the peak of summer and the weather was getting warm and humid. Thankfully they were heading up north towards the Baltic Sea, so the weather would be much cooler there.

They reached the edge of the sea and Russia's troops decided to rest in the forests nearby. Since this was not their territory, they were heavily on guard against attacks, especially from the Teutonic Knights who liked picking fights any chance they got in the name of their God.

Russia was patrolling the outskirts of the forest, finding a village nearby on the sea. Not seeing any soldiers amongst the peasants, he didn't think much of them and went back in the forest towards his own people until a few local armed men blocking his path away. Ahead of them was a much shorter person in matching armour. Russia could just make out his devilish red eyes from several meters away and a chill ran up his spine when he recognized him. He was in no mood to go through all this again.

"You won't get away from me this time, Kievan Rus'!" yelled the little nation with a mischievous laugh, his voice hoarse from shouting.

"Leave me alone," shouted back Russia, his fists clenching at his sides. He was surprised to feel a sharp pain in his arm but thought nothing of it—at least not right now.

"You come into my woods and expect me to just let you walk away?" retorted the young germanic nation. He unsheathed his sword and started running towards Russia. "You're stupider than you look!"

Russia unsheathed his own sword then, realizing he had no choice. Besides, they weren't battling over a lake this time. He felt no danger beyond the enemy charging at him.

Before their swords could clash, a flash of misty grey light shifted between them, screeching loud enough to push Teutonic Knights to the ground with enough force to crush his lungs. His soldiers fled at the unnatural occurrence while their nation spasmed before recovering enough to crawl away. "What the hell is that?!" he panicked, seeing a second shadow form next to Russia's. "You freak! You're possessed!" he shouted, turning tail and running away with his men.

Russia froze in fear as he looked at the ghost that had materialized from his own shadow. She had stopped screaming and had turned towards him, staring at him. She couldn't harm him, knowing she was bound to him. Russia couldn't escape the feeling that the old witch looked familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint where he'd seen her before. He couldn't have possibly seen her before: her face was monstrous with her skin charred and ashy, sickening grey. The skin of her throat that formed that stomach-turning wail was melted away, leaving her vocal cords and larynx bare. Russia wanted to vomit seeing her, until his gaze crossed hers and he felt sympathy wash over him. She seemed sad.

Soon, her form melted away into shadows again, returning to Russia's own with a fresh, searing pain in his arm. He pulled his sleeve up to see that his markings were glowing a bright orange that was quickly fading back to the usual pink scarring.

He realized with horror that the witches of Kiev had tricked him and his sisters. They didn't help them to exorcise the spirit at all.

The twins bound their mother's soul to his.

Sorry for the long wait, but here ends this short fic :)

Comments are always appreciated, either good or bad. You can always message me on my Tumblr ( grimwoode) too.

I hoped you enjoyed it and I look forward to writing more!