Chapter 28

The weather grew warmer as Finland and Belarus travelled south. They slept under the stars and did not see anymore Northern Lights, but the courage they were given that night under the lights did not fade. The pair trekked over hills and through mountains for days until they reached a thin line of trees. Beyond that lay a long stretch of nothingness. No life grew from the muddy land, and a thin fog settled above the ground and hovered a few feet high. Finland pulled a cloth from his bag and motioned for Belarus to do the same. Together, the two of them tied the cloth over their mouths and stepped into the field. The only words they shared, Finland barely whispered at an audible level. "Bela, don't breathe if you don't have to. People die in here; I've seen it." And with that, they disappeared into the smog.

The figure followed the pair for miles. He ate from their hog and he stared at the Northern Lights just a couple miles away, hidden in the dying trees. And when he reached the smog, he did not hesitate to walk in without cover. The smog enveloped his body as well.

Lovino trekked through forests and along the water line until he reached as south as he could go before he had to cross the water southward back to mainland Europe. He pitched a tent made from dead leaves and branches, then stared across the water. "What if I made a boat?" he thought to himself. "Then I could travel back where I came from. The heat will kill me there, and I will not have to suffer through this anymore. Not after Germany has died and the other two left me."

He sighed and tossed a pebble into the water. The waves swallowed it and carried it away to the sunset. Lovino shook his head. "I could not do that." Slowly, he bent down to scoop up a mouthful of water. He hadn't had any since the storm, and his mouth was growing parched. However, the water was salty and bitter, and his mouth was left feeling worse than before.

As the sun set, Lovino sat down at the water's edge and let himself think about everything that had happened to him.

It was all so much.

His brother disappeared and was most likely dead.

Ludwig died.

Belarus and Finland had abandoned him.

Italy… Italy… No, he couldn't think about that.

He had no food or water and it was only a matter of days before he died, if a wild animal did not kill him first.

But death didn't matter.

Not when he was along like this, Lovino sighed and stood with a rock in his hand. He pitched it across the water and watched it sink with a plop into the water. As it sank, he screamed at the sky.

"Damn you! Damn you all! Why did you leave me, you bastards?" He balled up his fists and punched thin air.

However, his fists met something solid. And that something solid let out an "oof," when his fist met it. Lovino flinched and grabbed his fist, about to curse, but when he opened his eyes, all words left him.

"Y-You…" Lovino gasped and looked up at the tall man in front of him. "You're alive."

The figure nodded. "Ja."

"How?"

"I don't know. I blacked out when the water took me away, but a woke up on a shore, most of my skin raw," Ludwig replied.

Lovino could not see the other's face, other than the thin line of Ludwig's lips, but he could see them curled up in pain. Ludwig's breaths came in shallow gasps the more Lovino listened. Although he was alive, the German would not be for long.

"We need to get you somewhere safe. You need help," Lovino stared at Ludwig.

Ludwig nodded but said nothing.

Lovino looked around. The stars were coming out now. And judging by the slight chill, it was winter. Lovino looked up at the stars and observed them. A moment later he looked back at Ludwig.

"I can't say quite where we are, but I would guess we are in southern Sweden or Norway," he said.

Ludwig sighed and turned his head to the sky. "We are close to Oslo," he said after a moment.

"How do you know?"

"I can read the stars as well. Prussia taught me," Ludwig let out a small laugh. "Quite the teacher, he was, but he was smart. He knew everything there was to know about star charts."

"And you do too."

"Never as much as him. I wish I could say it could have saved him in this war, but I would be lying."

"Do you feel that he is gone?"

"I have for a while."

"I'm sorry."

Ludwig just shrugged. After a moment, he asked, "And you?"

"I what?"

"Do you still feel Italy? Or-"

"I used to, but I haven't. Not… Not since the storm."

"Only then?"
"Si."

"We could have saved him."

"I like to think we couldn't have. So I can't blame myself."

Neither spoke a word, but when Ludwig began coughing, Lovino caught him and helped him to walk as Ludwig pointed where to go. Neither knew if Oslo would help them, but they could only hope.