Not Over Yet
Part 10
Rapunzel. That is what Arthur felt like sitting in his home on what would have usually been a lazy Saturday evening, a book in one hand and a cup of Earl Grey in the other. Ever since the last world meeting the trend of increasing violence had caused new restrictions to be placed on the nations. They varied from nation to nation, but everyone that had been caught up in the fire now had at least one permanent body guard that followed them everywhere. Arthur was by no means an exception; he was actually on house arrest for the foreseeable future. Most of the G8 were, considering the global implications if something actually happened to them. Even his communication was being restricted to an extent. No one knew the extent of the relationship between a nation and its personification, but all involved agreed that they did not want to test it. So, he was locked in his own fairytale tower. It was just as terrible as he had ever imagined, which was to the extent that most fully grown adults spared to the circumstances of fairytales. If he really thought about it, Arthur supposed that his hair would get to the length of Rapunzel's at this rate, with his lack of access to a barber. He had cut his own hair before, but not in years. The thought made him grimace. When he was young he had once tried to grow his hair out and it had been an unruly mess. It would not have surprised him if garden shears had been unable to cut it. Rapunzel he was.
Other than his entrapment being the obvious cause of his restlessness, there was also the underlying factor of America. Not just America as in the personification, but in its entire entity. Even in the indescribable conditions the nations had been in after the fire, it was a general consensus that someone had to figure out what America had to do with this before any action could be taken against Russia. It had not been their intention, but basically all of the nations' bosses had investigated as if they suspected the two countries to have been allied. Arthur supposed the suspicion came from Alfred's past secrets and the mention of the treaty by Russia, but it was only afterwards that the personifications started suspecting Alfred's involvement. In the beginning they had all been merely worried for his safety. Now, no one was sure of anything. Arthur was included in that mass of anxiety, especially since there had been no activity by the entity of America whatsoever. The personification, president, congress, nothing responded. The only thing different was that the usual information flow from the superpower was cut off, completely. No one knew what was going on within the nation's borders. Russia was just as quiet. That left one major question up in the air: was there going to be an October world meeting?
Arthur was pretty sure there was going to be one, he just was not going to be allowed to attend. He had already brought up the matter with his boss on several occasions, not having anything other than mindless paperwork to do, and had been given a "Maybe." "We will have to see." and "I will have to check with the other nations." every time. It made him feel like a child again. He actually wanted to attend the meeting, even with how they had been going as of late. He thought that the nations probably needed to have one now more than ever, lest World War III began. Besides, it was never a good idea to go around being needlessly hostile towards the world's only superpower, if for no other reason, because he has nuclear weapons. Any kind of international agreement does not mean much if the whole world turns against you anyway, and that was just America. Russia had got his point across just fine, he did not need to be a superpower to pose a threat. If suspicions were correct, the two were allies and were not going to have any problems fighting a war together. Arthur could honestly say that he never saw that coming.
The whole mess made Arthur ache everywhere. His head due to the complexity, his heart from worry, and the rest of his body from the memory of all the pain he had endured to this point. Age may have been turning him into a sentimental old fool, but he did not want another war, especially against the boy that had a tendency to wring him out like an emotional rag. He had already been in enough agony over discontinuing his visits to America, but now this? At this rate he would never see Nikkita and Jackson again, or Alfred outside of the battlefield for that matter. Arthur shuddered. If the battlefront ever got onto American soil he would end up staring into both a pair of luminescent blue and stormy gray eyes. The first time he would ever see Jackson in a war they would be enemies. Funny how the past liked to repeat itself like that. It was Alfred's teenage years all over again. Arthur could definitely live without another one of those experiences. This child would be the death of him, they all would!
Only when that realization hit did Arthur have the will to finally toss the book aside. He had not been focused enough to read a single word, but normalcy should have been comforting. It was not. What was going on in that Alfred's mind right now? Arthur would do anything to know at this point. He was desperate. Desperate enough that he had initiated a call to the frog several times in his house arrest, even. He usually had the willpower to wait for anyone to contact him instead, but that was wearing quite thin. He could not even talk to Matthew with his restrictions, though. The boy's proximity to Alfred had deemed him a security risk for a number of reasons. Arthur needed to keep his calls local, and preferably to non-G8 members. He had already broken that with the frog, which their bosses had allowed to slide, but he had not been so fortunate with the rest. Really, they could not keep avoiding the problem forever. Someone had to find out what was going on inside America.
That special someone always seemed to be up for debate for some reason. Arthur would have been more than happy to volunteer himself, but his boss had not been nearly as onboard, as if the house arrest did not already suggest that. Arthur could only assume that the other nations were having the same issue filling that slot, be it with themselves or some of their people, as he was. He had actually tried on several occasions to go to America, though he had always been caught before successfully being able to leave his own borders. Finding a way inside the now closed off country of America was quite a feat that Arthur truly did not believe he had fully accomplished, seeing as planes and ships that were actually allowed through were monitored heavily, but he was willing to risk everything to at least try. He figured he could always get in through Canada at the very least, if he could actually get there first.
Bring. Bring. Bring.
Arthur blinked rapidly, startled out of his internal debate.
Bring. Bring. Bring—
"Kirkland residence, Arthur speaking."
"Do you really want to go to that meeting?"
Arthur immediately stiffened. This was his boss.
"Yes. We need to talk to each other. We have not had a chance in an entire month."
He heard a sigh on the other end of the line. He could tell just how frustrated and tired his boss was. The situation had not been easy on anyone.
"You know I do not like suspecting America just as much as anyone else, but if there is even a chance that he was involved—"
"Then it is war." Arthur finished for him.
"Then we are all in trouble, war or not."
Arthur crossed his arms. He knew this, all of it, but it did not change a thing. If they all let this progress they might as well have been aiding it along.
"But we cannot let this go unchecked." Arthur gritted out, trying his best to get his point across without losing his temper.
His boss went silent for a moment, before something a little surprising happened.
"What do you think happened, Arthur? Did Alfred have anything to do with this?"
It was not unusual for Arthur to be asked his opinion, but he had been so shut out of this entire scenario that it shocked him more than a little to finally be asked.
"I-I… I do not think he knew about what Russia was going to do at least. If he had anything to do with it at all, he had no idea that this was going to happen."
Arthur did not realize how sincere his words were until he spoke them. Seconds before he had no idea what he believed, but it was true: he could not see Alfred having anything to do with the fire even if he could be as scary as the Russian if he wanted to be. The boy really tried to do his best, even if he was a little misguided at times. Even when Arthur had identified a bit of that manipulative side he had come to learn about he still did not think that had changed. Alfred had absolutely nothing to do with the fire.
"Well, I believe you Arthur, but I still have to be cautious. It may not mean much, but maybe Russia wanted the world to turn against America? It is just a thought, however, I am sure you can make something of it. You can go to the meeting, but security will be following you. Good evening, Arthur."
Even after the click that signified that his boss had hung up, Arthur still held the phone to his ear, frozen. Russia wanted the world to turn against America. What had they all done?