The Secret of Britannia
Chapter 6
A/N: Hey guys! I'm back! I might not be able to post next week as its going to be hectic. My birthday and dress rehearsal for my play is on Monday and then my sisters dance recital is on Tuesday, then we have endless things to do until our performance Friday and Saturday! So here is an extra long chapter and hopefully I can post the week after! Thank you all for reading, reviews, and follows! Hope you like this chapter!
Wales and North were sitting in the living room, Austrailia left to deal with the business he was sent for an hour ago, leaving Wales and North with their sleeping brothers. Wales was on the rocking chair, reading a book while North was on the recliner playing a video game on his computer. Scotland and England were still fast asleep on the couch and currently showed no signs of waking.
North sighed as his character was killed for what felt like the thousandth time. He had to refrain from shouting as he didn't want to wake England nor did he want to have to deal with an angry Scotsman.
"If it is bothering you so much stop playing it." Wales sighed.
"I can't. I have to beat this boss." North whined.
"You don't have to, you want to." Wales stated. "Take a small break and come back later when you can think calmly."
North huffed and was about to retort when he heard a small sound of pain coming from the couch. Wales seemed to have heard it too he looked up from his book and at his baby brother, whose brow was furrowed in pain.
England continued to whimper and shift in pain and fear, waking Scotland up. He blinked sluggishly, before his brain caught up to the situation. He reached up and gently shook the small brit awake.
England woke with a gasp and pushed himself up, allowing Scotland to properly sit up as well. "Is everything alright lad?" Scotland asked. England nodded while rubbing his eyes.
"It doesn't seem like it." North said making the two nations on the couch jump.
"When did you arrive?" Scotland asked.
"A few hours ago." Wales replied.
England yawned. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting then." He said then looked around. "Where is Jack?"
"He said he was going to attend to some business. He left about an hour ago." North smiled.
England nodded and stood up. "Would you like some breakfast?" He asked.
"Sure." North replied. England nodded and headed toward the kitchen.
"Hey Arthur." Scotland called, making England look back towards him. "No distractions okay, we don't need you almost burning down the house again." England stuck his tongue out at him and continued into the kitchen.
Once he was gone North and Wales turned to Scotland. "So what happened exactly?" Wales asked. "I want to know everything from the start." Scotland sighed and began his explanation.
"Woah." North said once Scotland finished.
"It's worse than we thought." Wales sighed. "There may be no way to stop it this time. We might have to erase his memory again."
"But only Mum can erase his memory. Right?" North asked.
Scotland shook his head. "Dylan and I had to erase his memory shortly after the revolutionary war. He tried to get to Art while he at his weakest." He turned to Wales. "We messed up last time, we don't have as much control as Mum had. That's why he's such a scatterbrain now. I don't want to risk it, he might forget everything this time."
"Wait." North said. "You erased his memory before? Why didn't I hear about this."
"We didn't want you to worry. Besides, if you heard we were planning on erasing Arthur's memory, what would you have said?"
"Absolutely not." North replied, annoyed.
"Exactly, that's why we did it without telling you. It was too close that time. Even closer than now." Wales said.
"I don't care. Tell me exactly what happened." Scotland and Wales glanced at each other. "No excuses. I want to know everything."
Scotland sighed. "Okay."
England was laying on his bed, holding the blanket close to him as he stared out the window. It was a rainy day as usual, normally he wouldn't mind a little rain he actually finds comfort in it, but today he didn't find any comfort in the gloomy weather.
A knock at the door snapped him out of his depressed thoughts. "Arthur?" A calm voice England recognized as Wales said. "I know you're upset but you can't hide forever. America got his independance. There is no way to change that, you need to move on." England buried his head in his pillow and covered his ears, growling when Wales knocked again. "Come on Art. I know you are there. It's been a month already, you need to come out." England remained stubborn and refused to reply. "Fine." Wales grumbled. "I'm going to get Alistair to drag your little butt out of bed, you ungrateful whelp."
England angrily screamed into his pillow once Wales left. Scotland and Wales only showed up today and he was already fed up with them, well Scotland hasn't come up yet but the oldest of the family was always looking for something to use against him. He can't recall a time when his oldest brother was ever nice to him. He just wanted to stay in bed and away from everyone else while he thought about what he was going to do now that he lost one of the few people he allowed himself to care about.
He growled when he heard a knock on the door. "Bunny let me in. I just want to talk." Scotland sounded strangely sincere and almost like he was pleading.
England sighed and slowly got out of bed, walking hesitantly to the door. He opened it just enough for him to look through. "What do you want?" He asked softly, took shocked by the Scotsman's tone of voice to be angry.
"I just want to talk." Scotland said, even his expression was sincere, if not sad. "Can I come in?"
England backed up just enough to let Scotland in before shutting the door behind him. "What do you want? Do you wish to rub it in my face that I lost?" He asked choking up slightly.
Scotland shook his head. "No. I wanted to make sure you are okay. The maid said you haven't left your room in a month, and that you are hardly eating anything. She said you weren't even drinking that tea you love so much anymore. It's not healthy Art."
England frowned and sat down on his bed. "I don't care whether it's healthy or not. I am an empire and a grown man, I don't have to listen to you. I can take care of myself."
Scotland scoffed. "It sure looks like it."
England threw one of his pillows at Scotland, hitting him in the face. "What are you really doing here Allistair? I know you aren't here to ask me about my health. What is your real motive?"
Scotland grabbed the pillow and placed it back on the bed. "I don't have another motive. I just want to help."
England lost his temper and began screaming at the Scotsman. "Why!? Why do you care all of a sudden!? You never did before so why now!?"
"Because!" Scotland yelled back before taking a deep breath to calm down. "Because, I never had to take care of ye. When we were little I kept my distance so you could get stronger. Have you ever heard of an island nation lasting very long? Especially in those times? You were taken by Rome for goodness sakes-" He was cut off.
"Because you let me! You didn't help me when I needed you most! Do you know how horrible it was there? Do you even understand? He acted as if I was lower than dirt, if I did anything out of line he would hurt me! All I wanted was for you to help me, to save me! You never did! I hate you!" He screamed, the last sentence in Old English.
Scotland backed up, shocked by the last sentence. He looked down sadly. "I understand Bunny. If that's how you feel, then I won't bother you." He said then left.
England was left alone, he sat on the bed panting and slightly lightheaded from both the outburst and the lack of nutrition he was getting. He collapsed backwards in bed once his mind finally caught up with what just happened. 'Great.' He thought. 'He only wanted to see how I was doing and once again I ruin everything.'
'You can fix it.' A dark voice called. It was deep and raspy, sending a chill down England's spine.
He quickly sat up and looked around. "Who is there? Show yourself?"
'I'm here Albion. I'm in your mind, always have been.' The voice chuckled.
"Who are you?"
'Oh, just someone who can help you. I can bring Alfred back, make him love you again, and I make it so that your brothers are always with you.'
"How can you do that?" England asked, worried but desperate enough to trust a voice in his head. As long as he had a family, he didn't care.
'Just follow the singing. It will guide you."
"Singing? What singing?" He questioned, but got no response. Suddenly, he heard a soft voice singing a calming tune. He got up and followed it almost in a trance to a clearing with a angel statue. The singing stopped and he snapped back to reality. "Where am I?"
'Don't you see?' The voice returned. 'You are at my grave.'
"Your grave?"
'Yes. I used to help people with my magic, but they found me a threat and killed me. They placed a curse on my grave so I would never be able to move on to the afterlife. If you can free me I can help you.'
England hesitated, he wasn't sure about this as spirits were tricky folk. This spirit may be lying to him to get what they want. He sighed it couldn't hurt, not really. He was willing to risk anything just to be happy again, to be loved for even just a few seconds more. "Okay."
He walked up to the grave and began chanting a curse lifting spell. He was halfway through when someone tackled him to the ground. The side of his head hit a rock, effectively knocking him out.
Scotland sat up from where he was laying on top of England and turned to the grave. The spell had backfired and actually strengthened the curse. He heard a very quiet sigh and a woman's voice whisper. "Thank you, my child." It was so quiet that if he didn't know better he would have thought it was just the wind.
He looked down to his brother, wincing when he saw the wound that was now bleeding freely, the blood running down his face and turning his blonde hair red. "I'm sorry bunny, but I couldn't let you free Him."
Scotland carried his little brother back to the house where Wales was pacing in the kitchen. He ran over when he saw the gash. "What happened?"
"He was halfway through the spell when I got there. I tackled him and he hit his head on a rock." He explained, laying England down on the couch.
Wales followed alreading having prepared a first aid kit and a damp cloth. "And the curse?" He asked as he cleaned the wound.
"The spell backfired, the curse is as good as new." Scotland smirked. "He's not going to be pulling another one of his tricks anytime soon."
Wales shook his head as he finished, placing a bandage on the gash. "It will probably take less time for the curse to weaken, after all Mum's power is the only thing keeping it there and even though Arthur's magic is stronger than Mum's is, the accidental power boost is just that, an accident, it won't take long for the magic to wear off."
Scotland frowned. "Way to be a debby downer. I was trying to stay optimistic."
"And I'm just stating the truth." Wales said standing. "What are we going to do about Arthur?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean he will remember what happened when he wakes up and will probably try again even if He can't contact Art. We warned him about tricky spirits, he knows to never set one free. He must have offered something pretty big for Art to decide to free Him." Wales stated.
Scotland looked down ashamed. "I got into a fight with him. He thought we were here to rub his loss in his face." Wales looked down at England sadly. "I tried to tell him otherwise but he didn't believe me, he exploded. I bet He told Bunny that He could bring Alfred back and make us love him."
"But we already love him." Wales said shocked. "Why would He say that?"
"Because Arthur doesn't know that." Scotland said sadly. "He thinks we hate him, and it's my fault. I forced all of you to avoid him and to keep him away. I made him feel unloved."
"That's not true." Wales sighed. "We all had a part in it. We all chose to keep him away and to throw stones and shoot arrows. It was all of us." England stirred in his sleep, furrowing his brow at the noise. "We need to make a decision before he wakes."
"What do you think we should do?" Scotland asked.
"I think we should try to erase his memory." Wales stated.
"Dylan, memory is a very fickle thing. If something goes wrong, even one tiny thing, he could forget everything."
"The only alternative is to leave him how he is and hope he doesn't go back there. Judging by how close it was this time, I don't think we will be able to stop him."
Scotland sighed. "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
Wales nodded and grabbed a book from the coffee table, opening it on the memory erasing spell. "What?" He asked, seeing Scotland's look.
"You were awfully prepared."
"Well when you left I knew what would happen so I made sure to be prepared for it. Now can we hurry, before he wakes?" Scotland nodded and they got everything set up, beginning to chant. Magic flowing from their fingertips to the unconscious Brit. Scotland's magic a deep blue, much like his flag and suit, and Wales a fiery red like his pet dragon.
They were almost finished when their magic started going haywire. It was flickering and occasionally shooting out to some other part of the room. "What's happening?" Scotland asked, once they were done chanting.
Wales looked at him terrified. "We don't have enough control over our magic for a spell this big."
"I thought you said it would be fine!?" Scotland yelled, through the chanting was finished his magic didn't stop.
"I never said that, and I thought we would have enough control with the two of us!" Wales yelled back.
"What do we do?"
"The spell is over, stop your magic." Wales said though his was still going.
"Easier said than done." Scotland scoffed. They both focused on reining their magic in and soon enough, they were able to stop it. "No, no, no, no, no." Scotland mumbled as he ran over to England and collapsed beside the couch, grabbing his youngest brother's hand. "Please be okay. Please remember us."
Just then Dris flew in, almost running into Wales in her haste. "I felt you lose control of your magic. What happened?" She asked, then looked down at England. Her eyes widened and she landed so she was sitting on England's chest.
Wales looked at her, tears in his eyes. "We tried doing a memory wiping spell, but we couldn't control it. Please help him."
Dris nodded and closed her eyes, after a few moments she opened them again. "Don't worry you only wiped his memory from when He began talking to Albion."
"So Albion's okay?" Scotland asked, hopefully.
"Well, because you did lose control of your magic and because this is such a strong and fickle spell, there is some damage."
"What is it?" Wales asked nervous.
"It's nothing really bad but he might just randomly forget what he was doing or what he was going to say, which will most likely cause him to have trouble concentrating."
"So our brother is going to be a scatterbrain?" Scotland asked bluntly.
Dris looked shocked. "Well, yes. I guess if that's how you wish to phrase it. You boys were lucky it wasn't serious this time. Don't you dare ever try this again, he might just forget everything next time." She said sternly, looking like a mother even though she was only six inches tall. They both looked down ashamed. "Well. I'm sure you've had enough chastising from me, you'll probably hear a lot more once I tell the other fae."
"Do you have to tell them?" Wales asked, wincing just imagining what it will be like once they found out.
Dris shrugged. "It's either I tell them and they be upset, or they find out themselves and be furious. Your pick."
Wales sighed. "Fine."
Dris giggled and bowed. "I will see you when the mob arrives. Goodbye for now." She said as she flew out.
"So you two are the reason Art is so forgetful?" North asked.
Scotland nodded. "We feel bad anytime he randomly forgets something or can't concentrate, but it's better than what could have happened."
North turned to Wales. "And you want to try again?"
Wales put his hands up in defense. "Hey, only if necessary."
North shook his head. "I swear I'm the only sane one here."
While the Brothers were talking in the living room, Arthur was making breakfast. He decided to make a simple fry up*, since his brothers were there. He hummed to himself as he got everything ready.
He just got the sausage and hashbrowns cooking when his cell phone rang. He frowned and pulled it out of his pocket, sighing when he saw that it was Germany.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hello England. I just wanted to inform you of the G8 meeting next week. It will be held in America so plan accordingly." The German said gruffly.
"Of course. I will see you then." With that he hung up.
He once again sighed as he went back to making breakfast, he really didn't want to deal with the other countries anytime soon nor did he want to go all the way to America. Luckily as a nation he could just nation hop instead of going by plane, but he would still have to spend the night as it tends to take a lot of energy to nation hop so far.
He got another phone call just as he was cracking the eggs. At seeing who it was he let out a groan and answered it.
"Yes Alfred?" He asked annoyed.
"Hey dude! I've got this awesome scary movie and I wanted to see if you could come over and watch it with me?" America asked excitedly.
England smiled, he loved that even though America became independent, he was still very much a child and still needed his former brother and mother country.** "Okay. How about we watch it next week when I am over for the G8 meeting?"
"Aw!" America whined. "Can we not do it earlier? It's a really good one Japan gave me."
England winced, knowing that if Japan made it then it would scare America even more than usual. Though he likes to pretend that they aren't creepy, japanese movies freak him out the most. "Sorry Alfred, but my brothers are still here. It would be rude to just up and leave."
"How long will they be there?" America asked.
"I don't know. They didn't really say." England said as he dished out his finished fry up onto four separate plates.
"Are you sure you're okay Artie? They usually don't stay this long and you looked like death when I last saw you." America questioned, worried.
"I'm fine, I promise. They just decided to bother me for as long as they can." England said choosing to ignore the fact America called him 'Artie'.
"Ah. Well when you come for the G8 meeting then." America sighed, before his tone changed back to his happy carefree attitude. "Hey! You can stay at my place! It's much cheaper than renting a hotel room."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude."
"Of course I'm sure! I wouldn't be askin' if I wasn't sure Artie."
"Don't call me that!" England shouted, "and I guess it wouldn't do much harm if I stayed over for just one night. It's not that I want to or anything, it's just cheaper." He said, blushing.
"'kay dude! Well I'll be seein' ya!" America cheered.
"There was so much wrong with that sentence I don't even know where to start!" England exclaimed but found America had already hung up. He growled and shoved the phone back into his pocket before grabbing the tray filled with plates and cups of tea and headed into the living room.
"I swear I'm the only sane one here." Arthur heard as he entered the living room.
"I'd have to agree." Arthur said, making his older brothers jump. He set the tray on the coffee table and sat on the couch. "What are you talking about?"
The three older brothers looked at each other then to the youngest. "Nothing much. Just what's been going on lately. Speaking of which how have you been?" Wales answered, making sure to distract England with a question so he wouldn't notice they were hiding something.
"Nothing much." England said, leaning forward to grab a plate once his brothers chose theirs. "I just got a call from America and Germany while I was cooking."
"Yeah?" Scotland asked. "What did they need?"
"There is a G8 meeting next week and America wanted me to stay at his house so we could watch one of Japan's scary movies."
North looked at him concerned. "But aren't you scared of Japan's movies too?"
England scoffed. "Not at all. It's just some movie, it would be completely illogical to be scared of something that wasn't real."
"M-hm. Sure." Scotland said smiling that knowing smile that infuriates England.
"Shut up." He said, taking a bite of toast.
A/N: How did you like it? I made England scared of Japan's movies because let's all admit, that ish is scary, and this is coming from someone who lives off horror movies.
*I know that British people actually don't eat a fry up traditionally anymore and usually prefer cereal and toast (I mean who doesn't? I eat cereal for most of my meals. XD) but I needed England to actually make something and be away long enough for Scotland's story so I decided to have him make this.
**Okay so I love that Britain is called a Mother country for places like America, Australia, and Canada. I can just imagine England hears his title and just being like. "What is this? I am not a mother, I am a man." and just being so done with his colonies. It makes me laugh so I thought it might make you laugh or go aww. Either one works honestly.
Also like in the anime, England got over the fact America left him. They are on good terms now, America still needs England and vice versa. I did have him upset in the flashback because one, America was one of the first people he allowed himself to care for and love, like a brother you perverts, and America left him like his brothers did when he was younger. So, yes England is very upset, he does get over it pretty fast though, with the help of his brothers.
Scotland does love his brother and does what he can to protect him though he tends to stay in the shadows and help indirectly. Everything he does he does for England's well being, and yes that includes avoiding him and having Wales, North, and Ireland chase him away. The time where England grew up was rough and if he was coddled he wouldn't have lasted very long, especially as and island nation, against other nations or against the creature that Britannia is trapping. Scotland knew this and put out an extra effort to make England stronger, sadly that meant staying far away and forcing him to grow and fend for himself. There were occasions when Scotland would help but because he always hid him actually helping with him being a jerk England didn't recognize it. Scotland does love and care for his brother, England just doesn't realize that, well until after the Revolutionary war that is. They still get into fights but Scotland is now much more openly caring.