If he could express the thoughts in his mind just then, France's and Scotland's ears would be bleeding heavily with all he had to say to them. Fortunately for them, he was in no condition to even chew his breakfast properly. The recovery from death, the feeling of being torn apart, and the signs of another past trying to break through was damaging his body beyond the point where he could not fight back the pain and was left almost paralysed at times.

But it had given his mind time to think. Each of his past forms came from a different century. They would have followed on after each other had he not placed on the seal which kept back 13th, 14th, 15th and the 16th centuries. His magic had worked to some degree until that bastard came along. He knew from the early 17th century if he recalled correctly. That meant the next one to appear would be from the 18th century and he had little doubt over which historical event he would be from.

The other two must have guessed this too because Francis was keeping his distance. He was refused to enter Arthur's room and busied himself with fussing over the knight and the phone calls instead. Arthur could hear him walk along the hallway and make loud exclamations in his native tongue whenever the stress came too much for him to bear.

At least he could do that. Arthur was confined to the bed with nothing but his thoughts to occupy him. This was getting completely out of hand. After the 18th century breaks free, what would then happen? Arthur only had two centuries left in him before they reached the current times. That meant another two days before...

Arthur grinded his teeth together in anger. He had two days left and they were no closer to the damn cure! Lying here on the bed was not going to help! He should at least be given books that he could study and work through. Just because he was weak did not mean he was useless! Sod the bloody others! He would just have to do this himself!

His arms shook violently as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. His vision blurred badly from the movement and made his stomach turn. Arthur kept his mouth firmly shut and the bile soon settled down. Taking a deep breath to prepare, Arthur slowly swung his legs around and off the mattress. All good so far, he thought as he grasped hold of the bedside table, now for the tricky part.

He eased himself up onto his feet and leant against the bedside table to keep his balance. The energy to move must have zapped him completely dry of his remaining strength for, with a heavy bang, he hit the ground merely seconds later and cried out in pain.

The bang must have echoed for everything went silent downstairs. Arthur could hear a door open. Shit. He did not want to be found on the floor like a helpless grandmother! He was a nation! He was a nation of strength and power! He refused to ever been seen this helpless and weak!

He gripped tightly onto the quilt and tried to heave himself up with both hands. The quilt, unknown to him, was creeping across the mattress. When he sat up, the whole quilt came off the bed and fell across Arthur. He yelled as he hit the ground again. His limbs were too sore to move again.

"What the bleedin' hell are you doing now?"

Arthur fought against the urge to close his eyes and play faint. He would have given anything to escape the humiliation of becoming this weakened form. But he didn't. Mastering up the last of his dignity, he glared up at his brother who stood over him with an eyebrow raised.

The sickening feeling was back. He barely managed to roll onto his side again before the vomit reached his mouth. The bin was tossed underneath his mouth in time. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes again. Why did this have to happen to him? He was on good terms with all magical communities and was on stable terms with the nations that he knew held magic.

"Ya ill!" Scotland lectured as Arthur puked into the bin, "For once in ya measly life, act like it and stay in bed! Ya'll only kill yourself if you stay this damn stubborn!"

Ill? Scotland thought that he was only ill?! Ha! He knew this feeling. He had been through this before. It wasn't quite the same but it was there nonetheless. He had had a civil war! He experienced it then! This felt like nothing else could. This was the cold decaying hand of death gripping around his soul. If this continued then it could finally claim him after all these years...

He fell back onto the wooden floor with his breathing heavy and uneven. He still couldn't bring himself to talk so settled on raising his hand slowly and sticking up two fingers at the Scot in rude gesture.

Scotland ruffled his red hair in frustration before moving back the bin and picking up his younger brother. He placed England back into the bed and pulled the quilt over him. He then picked up a tissue from the side and dabbed at Arthur's mouth to clear away any remains of the vomit. Arthur's skin felt icy cold against his fingers.

Neither of the two had noticed the door opening behind them. A little face was poking out around the side and gazed over at them. He had been watching them since Scotland arrived. He wandered silently over to the bottom of the bed and began to scramble up under the quilt.

"The Knight is now eating," Scotland said in a tone that really meant 'he's not causing any trouble unlike someone else'. "France has been taking care of him. He'll be able to move around like normal soon."

That was some relief to him. At least his past forms held their immortality for now. But if France was right in saying it was coming from him then so was their immortality. Immortality would not last if he was divided up anymore. He raised his hand and moved it through the air. Scotland caught on and picked up the notebook on the side and placed a pencil in Arthur's hand.

Immortality. Divided. Won't last.

Scotland barely even looked at the words before sighing. "Yeah, I know."

Of course he did. Arthur rolled his eyes before scribble down one more word.

Pirate?

"Called up the Royal Guards. We've been checking in on them every hour for updates. Nothing has been said but with them on the lookout, the bastard won't get far. Got any ideas on where he may be heading?"

Arthur nodded. He had given that some sort too during his time alone. He scribbled down his next sentence and held the notebook out flat on his chest for Scotland to read.

Will need vessel. Sturdy. Powerful.

"We got the waters watched. I told them not to approach him. Any signs and they're to get me. I'll be the one to get him back."

The pirate would be back here by the end of the day at the latest then. That put Arthur at further ease. That pirate would be kept under lock and key and they would also have another pair of helping hands: though Arthur was not happy about having America involved in this.

He lifted up the book to write again. Cure. Magic. Something off.

"What do ya mean?" Scotland's eyebrows furrowed together. "This is a first for us both but I know magic when I see it."

Arthur shook his head and dropped the notebook. It didn't feel like magic. Their magic came from the nature's energy and this didn't feel like it. He just didn't know what it was exactly. But with two days left, he had better find out soon.

The quilt was tugged off his chest. He blinked in surprise and looked down at the bulge that was moving underneath. Curious, he lifted it up to see a small grubby pink face looking up at him. Little Arthur puffed out his cheeks and then wiggled over to Arthur's side and cuddled up against his chest.

Neither of the two older nations said a word as they watched him in silence. Arthur placed his arm over the child and closed his eyes. It felt nostalgic... and it made him smile for the first time that day.


Alfred had fallen asleep on the boat. He was out of flying saucers sweets and managed to drop his last one at the beach and it felt like a true sacrifice to make because he was so hungry. Hopefully this Sealand character would have plenty of food for him to eat.

He wasn't even aware of the boat stopping until the jolt made him wake up startled. They had arrived at their destination so he cautiously made his way to the end of the vessel, only briefly noticing the steel pillars instead of a bottom of a ship. He and the pirate made their way up the ladder that was hanging down and onto the platform. Alfred yawned and rubbed his eyes. Texas had been tucked away neatly in the pocket of his jacket. The beard he had brought was tossed away ages ago because it was becoming too itchy to wear.

When he woke up some more, he noticed that they weren't on a ship but instead a fort. It was a tall steel fort in the middle of the ocean. They had came all this way here because of this? He didn't get it.

"Hi England! Hi America!"

Alfred blinked and looked over at a boy who was dressed in sailor gear. Those eyebrows meant that he had a connection to England. Oh! He remembered now! It was that boy that kept sneaking into meetings! Haha! So he was Sealand!

"Hi there!" America said warmly, forgetting all his troubles in that small moment. "Nice fort, dude!"

"Thanks!" Peter said proudly with a similar grin on his face. "Why are you both dressed up? Did you bring me an outfit too?"

"Nah, we were just –" What where they doing again? The Pirate had brought him here but he didn't know why. He looked around for Britain but the other had wandered off to explore the fort on his own. An idea suddenly hit him. "Hey, Sealand! Do you have a phone? I have to make a call."

"Yes!" Sealand was keen to show off all that he had. It wasn't much but he saved up to get all that he could. He rushed off into the office and returned with a phone for America. "We have great reception out here!"

Alfred sat down and quickly dialled out the number for Arthur's house. Maybe France would still be there. The phone rang a couple of times before someone answered. "Allo?"

"France!" Alfred said urgently, "It's me! I'm with Britain. Well, I think its Britain. It kinda is. I mean, he's not quite like himself but –"

"Amérique?! Where have you been?"

"I'm with Sealand! And Britain! Listen, he's not like himself. It was my fault. Almost. Kinda. A bit. It's mostly Toni's fault! I kinda started it – maybe – almost. I told him that I wanted to Britain to have more time to hang out and chill and Toni took it in the wrong sense. How would you explain what 'time' is? I was so confused and -"

"Amérique?! What is this? Toni? I don't under-"

"- and I had no idea that Britain was a pirate! That's pretty cool, I didn't know that he was actually fun before! Well, it's not that fun but it was back then! I always thought it was he was a boring fuck who did nothing!"

"Amérique! Merde! What is hap-"

"I bet he did nothing but drink tea in his cabin though. Do you think he made anyone walk the plank? Haha! That's a funny image, right?"

"Actually, that is a myth. We have far more torturous methods than a simple dip into the water..."

A cold chill ran down his spine as a shadow fell over him. He looked up and smiled innocently at the Pirate who was standing there and looking faintly amused.

"Hey dude! I was just talking about you –"

"It doesn't matter." The Pirate waved a hand to brush the event away and eyed the phone. "Place it down."

Alfred returned his attention back to the impatient Frenchman who was ranting down the phone at him. "Wow, calm down! Take a chill pill! Remember all that I said, kay?" He then hanged up before Francis could protest and handed the phone back to Sealand. "Thanks!"

"Enough with the friendly chatter," the Pirate said as he looked between the two. "I have explored this fort top to bottom and pleased to see that it has been kept in excellent condition considering minor damages. The defence is high and the offence outshines any war vessel. With this in mind, I have chosen to make this my vessel. Care to become my first mate in return?" he said casually to Sealand.

"You want to make a pirate ship out of my fort?" he said suspiciously.

"My dear boy, if you allow me to take charge of this fort once again... I'll sweeten the deal for you. In exchange, how does a full nation status sound?"

Peter's heart almost skipped a beat. He would become a full nation? He'll be able to join the world powers and become one of them? He wasted no time in nodding his head.

Alfred scratched the back of his head. The pirate having control of the fort was not a welcomed idea. "Hey, don't you think –"

"I have no time for you anymore," the Pirate cut across him with little patience. "You had helped me to get this far but your presence is no longer required."

The Pirate had taken out his gun and pointed it towards Alfred who took a step back closer to the edge. Out of all the times for him to be defenceless, why did it have to be now? He looked down at the dark waters beneath him and then back at the Pirate.

"I have been longing to do this ever since I first saw your face." The Pirate smiled darkly. "Goodbye, America."

Before anyone could react, the gun fired and Alfred's body fell back off the edge of the fort.

Sealand watched in alarm before looking back at the Pirate who blew the smoke away from his barrel.

"Man your stations!" the Pirate barked as he turned around to look at the few mortals. "We have a new heading!"