Thanks for all the follows. I'm sorry I'm late with this, I got my dates mixed up. Here's an extra long chapter for you.
Kayle X
Some days later
Belarus sat at the table, eating her breakfast quietly. She thought about what had happened over the last few days she'd been here. Romania had shattered every bone in his body, except his facial ones, which gave him the ability to talk ("Great... We'll have to listen to him whining now," groaned England). He had been in a full body cast for about a week, before he was released. Nations did heal faster than humans, after all. Belarus had been exceptionally upset, and a little guilty, since Romania trusted her to catch him, and she had failed. Not only to catch him, but her actual magic!
Norway had scoffed when she confessed her feelings to him, feeling too embarrassed to face England. "The idiot had it coming Belarus. When he read Twilight, he broke into America's house and covered him in sparkles. Naturally, America woke up halfway through and kicked him out so hard, he broke his butt."
"What?" she asked incredulously.
"I'm not lying... But Romania says he going to 'sparkle-ify' America any day now. I highly doubt it," Norway replied, like it was normal for a member of their trio to break into a house and sparkle up the person inside. "And it's not like England's completely innocent either... I remember the time our plane to a World Meeting broke down, so we flew there on his eyebrows... Those things are magical."
Belarus spat out her coffee, spluttering. Eyebrows?! Maybe ghosts weren't too bad then... "What about ghosts?" she coughed.
"Ghosts? Normal. If you don't get attacked by a dead mother wanting revenge for her child or a dead serial killer at least once every 6 months, then you can't call yourself a member of the Magic Trio."
Belarus smiled at the memory. Ever since she came to live in England's house, she never saw a single ghost. Now she knew why- England had sent them all into the afterlife, willingly or not. She munched her cereal a bit quicker, wanting to go outside and explore the forest.
"Belarus! There's another World Meeting today," England said, striding in. He was already dressed to go out. "We leave at ten, OK?"
"Got it," the girl sighed, a little disappointed. England smiled at her on her way out. He was so happy that she was here (not that he would ever tell anyone). The house felt alive again, like it was when America had stayed with him, before...
Before...
England sighed unhappily. He focussed instead on cleaning away Belarus's breakfast, and ticking off Kill demons from his list. He had gone on his own after yelling at Romania in the hospital. That just left tutoring, hiding everything from the others and Mission Z.
Mission Z, as the Magic Trio had called it, was a standard magical mission where England would knock out America and then Canada to cast protection spells over them. They always did it before facing a formidable enemy. The other two had finished theirs earlier. America and Canada were much harder to do because they were smart and attentive. It had been a lot easier when America and Canada were colonies, but now they were independent (legally. To him they were still the little colonies he raised) it was a whole lot harder. England always got the other's help with America and Canada. He groaned, realizing he needed to get around to it soon, otherwise once the war really got into motion, he would spend his days worrying. Right now it was that little period of time where everything was building up, waiting to explode.
"England?" Belarus brought him back to reality. He smiled at her, tucking the list away and making a mental note to talk to Jack later.
"Great, you're ready. If we have time afterwards, we can go to the forest, if you want?" he asked her. It was time for her to get acquainted with all his- no, their allies. And hopefully seal the deal with a few more of them. She brightened immediately.
"Yes, please!" she practically yelled, and England laughed, together they went out, making their way on the path. Belarus ran ahead, laughing, knowing she would never get tired of the wonders of this world. How had she lived under Russia's shadow so long? What did stand to gain from marrying him anyway? He was a former superpower and she was a poor country on his borders. Well, getting richer anyway, with England's help. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't notice the ghost until it was too late. She bounced off him, shaking her head to try and clear it.
"Well, lookie here boys! We have a young maiden travelling all alone!" came a jeering voice. She really didn't like the way he was talking, or the mocking laughter. But she kept her composure, standing up and glaring at him.
"I'll have you know, my big brother is travelling with me!" she snapped in her most authoritative voice.
The people facing her were clearly highway men- the kind that stole from the rich and killed anyone who defied them. Belarus, being able to see and feel ghosts, was vulnerable to their attacks, but they didn't know that. The front one cackled at her, baring his ugly yellow teeth. "Where is he now, missy?"
"He's hanging back because he knows I can kick your butts back to your little huts in the woods," sneered Belarus, although she was screaming inside. Where is England?! she panicked. She had her knife on her, but she could only take on three enemies at one time, and there had to be about 6 of them. However some were laughing at their leader, because Belarus had one upped him.
"You've got some tongue little missy!" roared the man. "How about we cut it out for you?" Quick as lightning, two of the guys pinned her arms behind her back, and a third grabbed her hair, pulling her head back. She struggled as the man forcibly opened her mouth, but bit down hard on one of fingers. "You little-!" He grabbed her mouth roughly. "I am going to make you-"
"What is going on here?" Belarus nearly cried in relief. She would recognise England's voice anywhere. She heard the swish of a sword being drawn. "Unhand my sister, freaks."
The leader cackled. "Oh hoh hoh! So this is the little girl's big brother! And who might you be?" the man said, striding forwards. She couldn't see what happened next, but she heard a scream and the slicing of flesh. The men's grip on her loosened, and she used the chance to rip herself free, barge between them and run next to England. She nearly stopped in her tracks.
England was in his pirate uniform and he was every inch the ruthless pirate. His eyes glowed a fierce emerald green, which lit a spark in her heart of something she'd never felt before, his posture was perfect and his sword was currently pointed at the ghost highway man in front of him. He kicked the man over, pressing his sword into his throat. "I am Captain Arthur Kirkland, her Majesty's sailor and knight of England. How dare you lay a finger on my sister, scum!" he snarled. Belarus grinned inwardly when England muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Are you OK?"
"Yes, I'm good," she muttered back. The highway man saw the chance to lunge at England during his momentary lapse in concentration.
"NOW NATALYA! ATTACK!" he screamed, clashing swords with the leader.
Belarus wasted no time in taking down the first man while the other's brains were still catching up. She brought out her knife from inside her sock sheath, slashing him across the face, making him scream. The actual wounds would not kill them, nor would stabbing them in the heart, but it would stun them long enough to perform an exorcism. She hadn't gone so long dealing with ghosts without knowing how to perform a quick exorcism, after all. She snapped around, hitting her next attacker on the nose with the handle of her knife, before turning it on him and driving it into his side, then shoving him into the third man. By now England was dealing with the fourth man, running him through with his blade. His pirate costume disappeared, replaced with his uniform. Belarus watched, the adrenaline rush over. They were all stunned. England's smile, however, quickly turned to one of horror.
"Behi-"
Somebody hit her on the back of her head, making her fall, smashing her jaw on the hard gravel path. She felt a metallic taste in her mouth, blood! Her attacker pressed her into the ground with his foot. She saw England's feet coming towards her, but she could hear the zing of a blade falling, she was dead-
"HEY!" came another voice, and suddenly the weight was lifted off her back. She tried to turn around, but England had reached her and was holding her tight.
"Don't look, don't look!" he said frantically, just as unearthly hiss reached her ears, and a scream. She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling England's groan rather than hearing it. The man had stopped screaming now, and she could hear slurping noises. "That's disgusting..."
"Hey, I always pounce on the chance for a good meal... Literally." She knew that voice! But it couldn't be... Her eyes flew open, and she pushed England away, twisting around to face her saviour. It was who she suspected:
Romania. He had silver blood dripping down his chin, and he was grinning. The man behind him twitched every now and then, completely drained of blood. His pupils were dilated, and his nails were sharper as well. He did, in fact, look pretty scary. England moved in front of her, holding out a handkerchief. "... At least wipe your face, you bloody git."
Romania took it, eyes snapping to Belarus, who was half hidden behind England. In a second, he was shoved England out of the way, causing him to slam into a nearby tree with his strength, and was looking down at Belarus in such a way it made her tremble. "Ooooh, hello there..." he purred, laying a hand on her upper arm. All of a sudden, he gripped it tight, making her whimper in pain. "I can smell your blood a mile away, and boy, it is very potent..."
CRACK. England had shot a magic spell straight at Romania's head, and it met it's target, causing the vampire to shriek and fall. "Remember yourself, you bloody twit!" shouted England, Belarus running to his side. His wand (the one with the star on the end) was out, and pointing directly at the vampire. Romania groaned, blinking a few times until his eyes were back to normal.
"Hey... What...?" he mumbled. England lowered his wand and went to help his friend up, leaving Belarus frozen in her spot. She watched the two friends. Romania saw the bloodstains on his shirt and face, and gasped. "Oh my god! Did I-"
"No, just a ghost highway man," England interrupted. "You almost got Belarus though. You need to control your vampire tendencies." As if on cue, the highway men began to groan and stir, coming around. "We should deal with them first..."
A quick exorcism later, England was walking in between Belarus and Romania, who kept shooting her terrified looks, like he was the one who just attacked. She looked in his direction and he was off, leaving dust in the air and stones defying gravity as he used his vampire speed.
"Please don't kill meeeeeeeeeeeeeee," he shouted, each word getting fainter as he ran further away. Belarus stared after him incredulously.
"He was the one who attacked me, and he's begging for mercy?" she shrieked, hands trying to beat the dust out of her dark green knee length dress, which was lacy at the top. England sighed.
"Listen, Romania wasn't himself back there," England explained. "It's why we control how much human blood he has; it turns him kind of... Feral."
"What, so he can't ever drink human blood, just animals? It is like Twilight..."
England laughed, "No! He can have up to a certain amount. Usually he drinks from allocated cups with the 'correct' amount in it, but..." he finished with a frown. "As you can see that wasn't the case..."
"Oh, I see."
"He's good at heart, I swear, Belarus," England replied, steering her into the train station. "Just a little..." he stopped, not knowing how to finish his sentence, "... Misguided in his goodness, I suppose." Belarus silently agreed with that. Although she had met a whole new side to Romania and her image of him would be altered, she still saw him as the 'Italy' of the trio. And maybe one day it'd be a quartet.
"Eng-Arthur!" yelled a voice.
"Jack! Just the man I want to see!" England exclaimed. Jack reached them, urgency clear on his face.
"There's been an... incident," he said in a low voice. "You have to come quick. It's Tinkerbell."
"What?" Belarus cut in. "What do you mean? What happened?" Tinkerbell was her friend, the only other female she'd met so far in the war. Anger bubbled up inside her. "Did someone hurt her?"
"It's her wings," Jack told them, trying to pull England along. "You have to come quick, she's bleeding out- If you don't fix her, then she'll never fly again!" England ran with Jack, Belarus barely managing to keep up. "Quick, take my hand!" he shouted, and England grabbed his hand, before reaching out for Belarus's.
The cold wind hit her face, and she gasped, watching the station shrink below her. "Jack, you can fly?!"
"Yeah! I'm Jack Frost!" It all made sense now. The trips around the world, the freak storms in Poland... For a second, she wondered how Poland dealt with that. She could imagine him hiding in his bedroom with his hair curlers, crying his eyes out while Estonia tried to comfort him. And she knew how he'd got out without her noticing!
She glanced down at the scene below her, and despite the terrible situation, she felt her spirits lift. Golden farms glowed up at her, surrounded by green fields occupied with sheep, horses and cows. She could see a tractor puffing away every now and then, and then a dark green forest would appear, it's top branches swaying as if it was waving a hello. She waved back.
They dipped and Belarus felt her stomach churn, like going down a roller-coaster (she didn't know that though- she had never been on a roller-coaster in her life). England let go of her hand and she was falling. She yelled out, closing her eyes and preparing for a painful landing-
FWUMP. She hit some guy, who staggered slightly under the speed of her fall. She looked up, immediately noticing the guy's pointed ears. "Oh... Sorry!" she squeaked, jumping out of his arms. To her surprise, he bowed.
"Not to worry, miss Belarus. I saw you coming," he smiled at the shock on her face. "Yes, everyone in the magical world knows who you are now. You are associated with England after all."
"Talking of England, where is he?"
"He went inside the house to treat miss Tinkerbell. But allow me to introduce myself. I am Amonor Syrin, the prince of the western Elven Kingdom," he said, bowing again. Belarus curtsied.
"I'm Belarus, a nation... But you already knew that." Amonor laughed.
"Yes I did, but it's nice to make your acquaintance. Though I must ask... Do you know anything about this war? My father has been closed off about it." They began making their way in, where England was slowly healing Tinkerbell's wings. Minty was there too, holding one of Tinkerbell's hands, more for his benefit than hers.
"Well, from what I've experienced," Belarus said slowly, "I think we're fighting someone on the other side..."
"Look. The energy signals are clearly there, they're coming back!"
"Old enemies back for revenge..."
"Starlight?" she mused. "Where on earth would they get starlight? The stars are in the sky."
"So are they," muttered Norway.
She slammed her knife through the red dot, unable to hear the pained yell on the other side, but she felt a satisfaction.
She didn't notice Amonor's fading smile. "What do you mean? The other side?"
"Like... I don't know how to explain it. Like another presence... of us." The whole room fell silent. "It's just a feeling though... I feel repelled by whoever it is- Er, why are you staring at me?" she said, a little unnerved.
"We're fighting them?" Amonor hissed, glaring at England. "How long were you planning to keep this silent?"
"If your father didn't tell you Amonor, then he did so for good reason," England replied calmly. He jumped when Amonor slammed his fist down on the bedside table. "What the bloody hell do you think-"
"I REFUSE TO LET MY PEOPLE PARTICIPATE IN THIS WAR!" he shouted. Belarus quickly slid over to Tinkerbell.
"Hey are you OK?" she whispered. Tinkerbell nodded, and the two turned to the growing argument.
"There is no reason why-"
"Your father agreed to it!"
"Guys-" Minty started. "England-"
"This is still innocent people we're sending to their deaths!"
"And think of how many more will be killed if they get through!"
"England you should-" Minty tried again.
"My people can easily hide!"
"What about the people of England? Remember, if this country falls so will you!"
"ENGLAND! AMONOR!" yelled Minty with surprising ferocity. The day had barely even begun (it was midday by then) and already it was full of new discoveries. "England, you should look at this. It was taped to Tinkerbell's leg. I didn't notice it until now." With growing foreboding, England took the piece of paper. He read it out.
"Hiya babe, heard you are gathering a little army against us. This one was just a warning. If you don't submit to me, I will-" he broke off, dropping the paper and running out.
"W-what does it say? Amonor?" Belarus asked in a small voice. Amonor looked down at the paper, then back up at her.
"If you don't submit to me, I will come after your precious little colonies next, doll face. Then your beloved little sister. Lots of love, Allen xx."
