"Do you want me to walk you in?" Finland asked when we pulled up to Russia's house.
"No, that's okay. You can just drop me off here." Things were about to get heated, and the fewer people around the better. "Thanks again for the ride."
"No problem! You should come hang out with us again sometime!" He smiled and waved as he drove off.
I took a deep breath and walked into Russia's house. Even though I had lived there my whole life – well, as long as I could remember – I still didn't feel like it was my home. It was Russia's house, and he let me stay there. At least, that's how it always felt. "Hello?" I called out hesitantly from the foyer. "I'm home." I heard voices from the right hallway, so I followed it to Russia's office. The voices stopped when I knocked on the heavy wooden door.
"Come in," called Russia. I opened the door and walked in. Russia was sitting at his desk, and Lithuania was standing in front of it, looking distressed. "Lithuania," Russia said calmly, standing up, "please leave us." He followed him to the door and closed and locked it behind him. I swallowed nervously. He must know I was about to get very, very mad.
"Russia, I –" He silenced me with a look.
"What made you think you had permission to stay out all night?" he asked quietly.
"Um, well, Lithuania said it would be okay, and you didn't say I had to come back right after the meeting, and, um, I, uh –" Russia put a hand up to stop me.
"Look," he said, running a hand through his hair, "I obviously made a huge mistake sending you in my place yesterday. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have never even suggested it. It won't happen again."
"But it wasn't bad! I mean, yeah, it was scary and nerve-racking, and a lot of people stared at me, but I've never been outside this house, and it was nice and kind of fun, and I made new friends, and –"
"Siberia, shut up. You are never leaving this house again, and that's final." Something inside me snapped, and I went quiet. Very quiet. I heard my blood rushing in my ears, and my adrenaline spiked.
"No," I hissed. I wouldn't hold back. Russia could handle me if he really wanted to do this.
"What's wrong?" he asked, crossing his arms. "You've never had a problem with staying here before."
"I don't want to stay locked in here forever. I want to get out."
"That's not happening. I will never let you roam freely. It's too dangerous."
"No!" I grabbed something off his desk and threw it at the wall. I will enjoy making you bleed. Russia smirked at me, and I wanted to rip his face off. I rushed at him, and he smiled widely. My vision went completely red as I jumped on him, knocking him to the ground. "I fucking hate you," I said as my hands tightened around his neck.
"Do you not see why I can't allow you to leave?" Russia gasped, even managing to laugh. It pissed me off even more. I squeezed his neck tighter, lifted up, and slammed his head into the floor.
"You're so fucking stupid!" I screamed. "Why can't you just die? Die! Die! Die!" I accented each die by slamming his head into the ground. Russia frowned.
"Okay, that's enough," he said, throwing me off. I slammed into the wall and fell to the ground. I felt my rage drain out of me quickly, and my vision went back to normal. The room spun, and for a second I thought I would throw up. I put my head between my legs, feeling dejected and ashamed. I wouldn't apologize; there was no need for it when I could barely hurt Russia anyway.
Russia kneeled next to me. "You understand why you can't leave, yes?"
"I do," I said, sniffling. "But England said –"
"Forget what England said. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have this problem."
"You mean, if it weren't for him, you would still have control of me."
"Yes, exactly." Russia sighed. "I guess it's about time I tell you."
"Tell me what?"
"What you are, where you come from."
"What?"
"Don't interrupt me. You are…you are me."
"I'm what? How is that –?"
"I said don't interrupt me. You are…another version of me. You're from a different world, parallel to this one but different. A world where everyone is…more willing to do the things I was hesitant to do.
"I figured if I brought you to this world, you could do the dirty work necessary for me to achieve my goals. You could also do things my boss ordered me to do, but I didn't want to do…" He paused, shaking his head in shame. "I should have known what would happen. We share the same soul, so we cannot both inhabit the same world. Since you don't belong in this world, when I brought you over, your soul was destroyed. All that was left over was the basic nature you inherited from your world: rage.
"Fortunately for me, you were exactly what I needed. You would do anything and everything exactly as you were told. When you weren't needed, we could simply lock you away where you wouldn't be seen or heard. My boss was satisfied, and I didn't have to dirty my own hands.
"Then one day, Lithuania found out what you are. He was able to get ahold of England before I could restrain him. I kept you under close guard, but England slipped through my defenses to 'save you.' He was able to make you an artificial soul, so you would have a conscience, but he wasn't able to override your basic nature."
I listened to Russia's story feeling very confused. I should have gotten angry, but I was too exhausted. "You brought me over, so you wouldn't get your hands dirty. But now you can't control me, so…"
"I still have to take responsibility for your actions." He sighed again. "I would have sent you back as soon as I found out what had happened, but England told me…"
"Told you what?" Russia looked away from me. "What did he tell you?"
"If I sent you back, you would most likely die."
"How many times have you considered sending me back anyway?" I asked carefully. Russia looked at me and refused to answer. I sighed. "I guess you won't be winning the Big Brother of the Year Award. Or I guess Alternate Self of the Year. So I'm Russia, too, huh?" I laughed bitterly. "I would almost rather be sent back than be locked up in here forever."
"You don't really mean that."
"Yes, I do. Dying would be better than staying here when I know I can handle being outside."
"That's not what I heard."
"I didn't hurt anyone…"
"No, but you easily could have. Do you really think I would endanger the world, just so you can roam around freely? No, you are my responsibility."
"What if I proved to you that I can control myself?"
"Yeah? And how would you do that?"
"Give me one week outside, and I promise I won't hurt anyone."
"You won't lose control at all? Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"I might lose control, but I will keep myself from hurting anyone." Russia thought about what I said. When he seemed to come to a decision, he spoke.
"You have one week. If you lose control, you can't hurt anyone or do any damage. You can't use magic to help you, so no more of England's spells. And," he paused to look me square in the eyes, "if you fail, I will send you back. Do we have a deal?" He extended his hand for me to shake. If I did this, there was a very good chance I would fail. Even if I didn't die from being sent back to my "own world," I didn't think I would like to live there. Then again, if I didn't do this, I would stay locked up in Russia's house forever. I took his hand firmly and shook on it with him.
"Deal."
EXTRA: In Which Russia Plays Dirty
Russia's POV
Siberia exited my office full of confidence, and it made me sad to think I would have to send her to almost certain death. But she was my responsibility, and I would do whatever it took to protect the world from her.
"Um, excuse me, Russia?" Lithuania called from the doorway as I began to clean up from the fight.
"Come on in, Lithuania," I said, smiling. He entered the room nervously. "Did you hear all that?" He nodded.
"Are you actually going to keep to the deal? If she makes it, will you really let her out?"
"Yes, if she makes it. But I have no intention of letting her make it."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to make her mad. She has to realize what a danger she is to others, and the quicker I prove it to her the better."
EXTRA: End
What do you know? I got another chapter out early! Okay, so here is where I stop knowing what exactly is going to happen. If you would like to make suggestions on what Russia might do to make her mad, I would love to include them! Also, I would like to give a big thank you to narusai12 for following and favoriting this story. Welcome to the party, and thanks for reading!
