Thanks for the reviews! Sorry for being late... again. This chapter was a lot harder to write than I thought. Now, on with the show!
In an odd twist, they found themselves bumping into China, who was thankfully in a more agreeable mood than yesterday and appear to not be holding grudge over the 'incident'.
Yes, Germany had heard of what happened with the borderline bizarre contest China and Belize had over what food they should order with England's money. Aside from it being childish and pointless, he decided that for the sake of his sanity that he's going to pretend that never happened.
To put it shortly, China was curious about what Germany and Japan were up to and when they were going to over their next plan before the next ambush happens. It was a little annoying,, but Germany could actually understand his impatience. And, not seeing any harm, they kindly gave him a brief explanation over how they're going to judge whether or not Mauritius will be a danger to the group.
Germany half expected a minor complaint and a huff from the old man before walking away to return to his own business, but not for China to get angry.
"You're going to check on that boy?" China asked in disbelief before glaring at them, looking insulted. "Why didn't you go to me, aru?"
He frowned at the weird reaction but he answered truthfully and hoping that he won't set off China further. "I hadn't thought of it. But why would I?"
"I care about Mauritius too, aru. He's a nice boy, when you get past the influence France had on him."
"I see… Not that we'd mind the help, but how can you be of assistance?"
"I've lived for thousands for years, Germany. I know more about how our kind works than all of you combined and I think I can help you deduce whether Mauritius is having traitorous thoughts." China explained in a deadpan tone. His face then scrunched up as he looked away. "Besides, I… I have more… experience with in the matter of brainwashing than either of you."
That statement left Germany staring at him blankly, and it took a few seconds for him to remember his vague recollections of reports of Chinese indoctrination and accusations of supposedly brainwashing that it might be true.
He blinked, before narrowing his eyes. "Do you now?"
"Yes… somewhat." China said curtly before scowling at them. "What are you looking at me like that for? It's nothing you, America, Russia haven't delved in before, aru."
He tried to ignore. Germany wanted to point out that in his case, it was mass propaganda and a zealous nature fueled by desperation. This was his opinion and it didn't justify it anything, he knew, however he still knew it paled to whatever China did. But he held his tongue. This was not the time to start an argument.
Germany was promptly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Japan clear his throat and he saw the latter .
"I think we should listen to him, Germany-san." "While Romania-san will be helpful, especially since he rescued Mauritius-san, perhaps it will be even better if we have someone who's… experienced in this sort of thing."
China looked visibly surprised at Japan's support for some reason.
"Thank you, Kiku. So, let's go find the Romania and see what's going on with Mauritius already. It's risky to leave him alone for too along if he is being affected, aru."
"You're being helpful today." Germany couldn't help note. It was more of an observation than anything else.
"I am always helpful. Who helped distract Haiti and prevented Honduras from destroying the television set yesterday, aru?" China snapped, becoming, at the slight implication that he wasn't. He then recomposed himself and continued calmly. "It just so happens that this is something I can be very helpful at."
"He did not mean it in a bad way. It's good to see you wanting to help, China-san." Japan spoke up, looking at his old brother figure with an unreadable expression.
The show of appreciation made China flinch, and he stared at Japan in what almost appeared to be surprise. Meanwhile, Japan's eyes narrowed slightly before something indecipherable passed through them. It's hard to tell with Japan. However, Germany had a feeling that there's something going on between them, but he wasn't going to pry.
"It's nice to see someone appreciates my help." He huffed, going back to his old self. "Now, let's go fetch that Romanian and get this over with, aru."
As China brusquely walked away for them to follow, Germany and an equally surprised Japan shared a nonplussed glance before more or less shrugging, ultimately deciding that the enthusiasm should be appreciated and they resumed their way.
Japan retook the lead and led them to the room, practically the unofficial infirmary, and in there they found Romania, wide awake and his head regenerated, sitting up on a bed grinning and talking with Moldova while Ukraine watched on with a patient smile. They all stopped what they were doing when they went into the room, and Romania burst out laughing.
"Well, well, look who it is," Romania gave his usual fanged grin, though slightly tired, as Germany and Japan approached the bed. "I had a feeling you'd be showing up for a visit."
"Hello, Romania." Germany greeted curtly with a nod, feeling a small smile tug his lips but never come.
This situation made nations' return from their temporary deaths a lot more relieving than usual.
Germany wouldn't be lying if he said that he's also glad to see Romania without a piece of his head missing. The East European had fully regenerated, although there's what appeared to be a long scar on his forehead but should also vanish with a bit of time. And Romania looked and acted like his usual cheerful self, he looked a little worn down and weak, expected but still not good news
"Nice to see you're not bleeding anymore. Nothing keeps you down, huh?" Romania chuckled, but still kept up his grin.
"And it's good to see you've regenerated." Germany responded taciturnly, managing to hold back a wince. He really didn't want to talk about that right now. "I'm fine. But how is your fever, Romania?"
"Better, thanks to Ukraine over here." Romania smiled gratefully at the woman.
"Moldova, can you go put this medicine away? I don't think we'll need them after all."
"Sure, Miss Ukraine." Moldova nodded, took the bottles, and went away to do as he was told.
Surprisingly, at this, Germany managed to smile, even for a brief moment. Even in their not-so-functional group, it's nice to see that some nations were setting aside their differences and coming together to help each other. Now, if only the others were try to do the same.
But going back to the main issue at hand… "Romania, do you know how you–"
"Don't worry, Germany. Ukraine filled me in on what happened. Cameroon punched a chunk off my head right off and killed me, damn." Romania cut them off, scowling before gazing up at them with a sympathetic look. "Oh, and I'm... sorry about France. I wish I could've..."
Germany frowned at the reminder that yes, one of his fellow nations was gone. "Don't be. You already did plenty of help and we probably wouldn't have lasted as long as we did without your help. It wasn't your fault."
He meant, but it was also true. Romania helped plenty and he was personally the one who rescued Mauritius. It was because of Algeria that France had to stay and delay his damn ex-colonies for them to escape. But she had already admitted her guilt, which was more than a lot of them could do, and now wasn't the time to throw blame around like Canada did.
"Ugh, I can't believe that guy managed to get a cheap shot at me." Romania groaned in dismay and he began smacking his own head. "Stupid, stupid, stupid…!"
"Romania!" Ukraine cried out exasperatedly as she came out of the bathroom. "Don't hit yourself when you've recently regenerated part of your head!"
"Da, da, I'm sorry." Romania winced at the scolding before releasing a long sigh then frowning up at Germany. "Seriously though, if I hadn't gotten cocky back there, I probably could've helped saved France."
"You were caught by surprise. We all were." Germany said earnestly. Not even he saw the attack coming. "You're hardly the only one who feels guilty. What matters is that the rest of us made it out and that we won."
It's true that Romania could've possibly helped prevent France's brave sacrifice if he hadn't been killed by Cameroon, but what's done was done now. There's no point in dwelling on what could have been. France had been captured. Nothing could change that unless they have another happy accident like with Liechtenstein. Not that Germany was any happier with this as anyone else was.
He was an idiot, but yesterday his opinion of him had been rapidly changing as France helped however he could, as well as proving to be one of the more competent nations and one of the few who were taking responsibility for the events happening. And now Germany felt legitimately angry that France had to sacrifice himself.
"Still, this sucks. France's gone, our club's no closer to being unified than the Middle East, I died and woke up with a fever for all my hard work…" Romania started grumbling balefully and he rubbed his head. "Not to mention I had this weird nightmare while I was out."
"A nightmare?" Germany echoed. It wasn't anything abnormal, but with everything that's happened…
"Da, but don't worry about it. Just your usual night terrors, or death terrors in this case," Romania waved it off dismissively, rolling his eyes, before looking at them expectantly. "So, what's up? Something tells me you didn't show up just for a visit."
Germany then decided to cut to the chase. "We were wondering if you can help us verify Mauritius."
"You see if any of those bastards altered with magic or something like that?" Romania asked curiously, and at Germany's nod, he smirked. "Sure, I can do that."
Before Germany could try to thank him, China decided to enter the conversation. "Before we do that, we'd like to ask you some questions about what you found when you rescued Mauritius, aru."
Romania nodded and leaned back. "Okay then, go ahead."
"What did you find down there?" China immediately asked.
"Well, the first thing I noticed when I went in was Mauritius out cold in the middle of the room and these weird sounds."
That appeared to pique China's interest. "Weird sounds, you say?"
"Da, it sounded like whirring or ringing or something." Romania bared his fangs in distaste and shrugged. "I don't know. They were annoying, but also… calming, in a weird way. Anyway, I gave a quick look around and I saw that it was coming from this speaker."
"Subliminals, probably…" China muttered under his breath, much to the confusion of Germany. "What did you do after you found the source of the noise?"
"I destroyed it, what else? Something told me it was bad news," Romania bared his fangs in another brief toothy grin before his expression became a thoughtful one. "Weirdly enough, Mauritius started to wake up after I did that."
"Did he?" China raised an eyebrow, looking very interested.
"Da, and no offense to the guy, but he looked terrible." Romania commented sympathetically with a slight grimace. "I mean, you all saw him, but seriously. He was really out of it. I think they drugged him. Even Mauritius thought they did, and he also mentioned something about hallucinations."
Drugs? Hallucinations? That hardly sounded reassuring.
China narrowed his eyes as if this confirmed whatever suspicions he had. "Hm. Subliminal sounds, then. He must've been under a state of hypnosis, with the drugs further keeping him weak and compliant. It makes sense. If they had won, it'd be easier to keep him in a docile state while being susceptible to suggestion as they move him somewhere else while continuing to indoctrinate him. But what kind… and which was ultimately keeping…"
The Asian went off into a series of borderline incomprehensible mutterings in his dark musings, away in his own little word. And understandably, it began making everyone feel uncomfortable, which Germany deciding to be the one to snap him out of him."
"Does this sound familiar to you?" Germany finally asked, detesting being left out of the loop.
"It does, aru." China said grimly, crossing his arms with a concerned frown. "If I'm right, then there's no way they could have successfully programmed him with this method in less than two days. We should still verify, just in case."
Germany nodded, no argument there.
"The only thing that got a real reaction out of him was when I mentioned Seychelles," Romania spoke up again, glancing at the both of them. "He looked relieved to know that she wasn't there at the fight."
"That hardly means anything," China scoffed derisively. "In case you've all forgotten, Mauritius had nearly punched Canada."
Japan coughed, reminding everyone that he's also in the room. "Actually, I am pretty sure Mauritius-san would have done that regardless of his state."
"Plus, he did kind of deserve it." Romania lightly added, rather unnecessarily in Germany's opinion.
"Even so, it's possible that Switzerland or whoever was toying with his mind managed to leave a small impression on him, in other words, a desire for violence. Or what if they somehow have the means to implant a trigger command into him in a short amount of time so that he'd
"Well, it's to see you're as optimistic as ever, China." Romania sarcastically remarked, rolling his eyes.
"I am being realistic, aru!" China snapped at the Romanian, becoming red in the face as he began fuming "None of you are as experienced as I am with these things!"
"No one's doubting your knowledge of the field of brainwashing, China," Germany assured him before an argument could break out. "And you have a point, we need to be very thorough about this. We still don't know what the Order is truly capable of."
China looked pleased with Germany's agreement. "Yes. We'll need to get the story from Mauritius's mouth to make sure… if he remembers anything and his memories are truly reliable of course. But his account should still give us clues."
"I can perform a quick search through his memories for anything that might help." Romania offered helpfully, smiling slightly. "Nothing fancy, I might be out of practice though."
"That'd be appreciated." Germany said. "Well, let's get started."
Romania's eyes widened, blinking. "Wait. We're going right now?
"Ja, we need to do this if we're going have the meeting." Germany explained before looking at him uncertainly. "Is that a pro-"
"Really? That's great!" A broad grin spread across Romania's face as he rubbed his hands eagerly. "I've been itching to stretch my legs after…"
Romania's optimism promptly evaporated at a sudden drop of temperature in the room, with the culprit being none other than a very displeased-looking Ukraine glaring at the blonde like a mother would at their naughty child after getting caught.
Romania gulped audibly before turning to them with a nervous smile. "Um, you might need to give a compelling argument to the nurse here though."
It took a lot of persuasion from a surprisingly stubborn Ukraine to let them take Romania even though the man in question had no problem with it. An intimidating look from her shut him up. She only relented when Germany promised that he won't 'force' Romania to do anything else for the rest of the day unless it was extremely important until he's back at full strength.
He'd be lying if he didn't feel a little glad to see concern like that from Ukraine under his exasperation at the argument, along with feeling impressed with her new assertiveness.
And Germany realized that he could hardly blame her that much for her reluctance when Romania got out of bed and nearly stumbled. Romania's movements were a little sluggish and slow, his reactions not so much, but he's clearly far from being back to full health. However, it didn't seem that it's likely that he'd suddenly collapsed. Germany supposed that as long as Romania didn't overexert himself, the latter should be fine.
They found Mauritius lying on the guest room's sole bed just as he apparently was for the entirety of yesterday, looking like he was practically bored out of his mind before Germany and the others came in. He no longer looked as worse for wear as he did when they rescued him.
When they entered, Mauritius flinched and looked at him with surprise. "O-Oh! Hey, Germany, and… China?"
"Hello, Mauritius." Germany greeted curtly, keeping it simple, and he got straight to the point. "How are you feeling?"
"You mean besides the headache, nausea and finding out France sacrificed himself for me?" Mauritius's face darkened at the last one, and then he shrugged. "Just fine, I guess."
"Don't joke around, aru." China chided him with a scowl as he stood next to Germany. "This is a serious issue."
"Right, right, I'm sorry," Mauritius grumbled, then he glanced up at them uneasily. "So, uh, are you here to…"
"…To make sure that you're not going to suddenly stab us from behind? Ja, that'd be correct." Germany didn't mince his words as he nodded.
The confirmation made Mauritius turn visibly nervous. "O-Okay, then, sounds good. I'd like some answers too."
"Ja. But before we do that, I was told by Monaco that yesterday Seychelles came by to see you without telling anyone." Germany stated pointedly. He knew the full story, but he'd like to see his reaction.
Despite his dark skin, Mauritius flushed red and became tense. "U-Uh, oui, that happened. But she did tell you that I had no idea Michelle wasn't allowed to see me, right? And I tried to convince her to leave when I found out but-"
"It's all right," Germany quickly assured him before the island nation could go off rambling. "But is it true that nothing happened? You didn't feel… anything odd?"
For a split second, Mauritius scowled, but it vanished just as quickly and he went back to frowning. "Non, everything was just fine. I didn't hurt her and I never felt any urge to do so."
Germany mulled over that answer. He trusted Monaco's judgment and what she had told him yesterday about what exactly happened. And it didn't sound like Mauritius was lying… but then again, considering their circumstances, that didn't really mean shit.
"Well, that still doesn't clear you of suspicion." China stated a little harshly, regarding him with scrutiny and distrust.
Mauritius looked like he wanted to disagree but he seemingly and lowered his head. "I… I know."
"Don't worry it, Mauritius," Romania was kind enough to smile toothily at the island. "That's why we're here, to see if the Order messed up your head and help you out."
"What you can tell us about your time at Switzerland's house?" Germany asked.
Mauritius proceeded to give a full, if not rather inadequate, recollection of the events that he. It turned out he had developed partial amnesia regarding, describing that his memory began to get blurry and with spaces missing sometime after getting briefly tortured by the African nations.
But to summarize what had happened, or what Mauritius said had happened, here's the rundown: He had woken up in Switzerland's basement right where Romania had found him, where after being given a nasty surprise by Nigeria, Switzerland showed up and began to conduct 'tests' on him. Mauritius couldn't remember much of them, but one of them included being put through the Chinese water torture.
China found a nearby wall really interesting after he heard about that.
After that, the African nations, who seemed to have been helping oversee the 'testing', all decided to torture him for the fun of it. Germany couldn't help wonder how France would react if he discovered that two of his former colonies plus two others took turns cannibalizing him. He tried to put it out of his mind. Anyway, the details began to grow hazy from there as Mauritius began to 'black out' and experience… strange things.
…Including feeling violated for some reason. At that moment, the atmosphere became very, very awkward.
"Don't tell him yet," China whispered to them harshly. "We're here to see if he's been brainwashed, not traumatize him further."
"He has a right to know, China-san," Japan whispered with a disapproving frown.
"Hence the 'yet', Kiku," China's whispering could hardly be called whispering now. "We can tell him later, and when he's fully recovered."
"Uh, was it something I said?" Mauritius's puzzled question reminded everyone that he's also in the same room as them, and they immediately stopped their 'secret' conversation.
Germany prayed to God that his face wasn't red from embarrassment and cleared his throat. "N-Nein, we were just… discussing what you told us. A-Anyway… Romania, are you ready?"
"Da!" An eager grin appeared on Romania's face. "Let's find us some answers!"
"Wait, what's he going to do?" Mauritius looked nervous, but given what he went through, one couldn't blame him.
"I'm going to use my amazing magic powers to search your mind for your missing memories,"
"You can do that?" Mauritius asked with surprise.
"Of course I can," Romania seemed offended at the implication that he couldn't. He starter rubbing his hands. "Now, you just stay still and trust me, alright? I'm going to put my hands on your head and you might feel a little tingly, but there's nothing to be scared about."
"I… I don't know…" The younger nation almost seemed to be inching away from Romania.
"Do you want to know if you're going to be a danger to the group or not?" China asked impatiently.
Mauritius still seemed rather reluctant, but he eventually bit his lip and nodded. "A… Alright."
With that, Romania's expression morphed into something more serious as he slowly raised his hands and placed them on both sides of the visibly uneasy Mauritius's head. It wasn't until after around five seconds where the former's eyes became more focused, like he's deeply concentrating, while Mauritius remained stiff and unmoving.
About a minute or two passed where they just simply waited, until Romania suddenly pulled away and Mauritius relaxed. The Eastern European was snarling.
"…I can't find them." Romania said finally with frustration, narrowing his eyes in anger.
"What?" Germany gaped.
"Either I'm really out of practice, or having gotten punched in the head to death did a number on me, or that must've been some hypnosis, because I can't find any of the missing memories. That or someone erased them."
Shit, that wasn't good. "Can't you bring them back?"
"Sorry, don't know how to do that." Romania looked quite annoyed with the fact. "I can bring long lost memories back to the surface, but not magically restore them."
Germany really wanted to ask how of all things, Romania didn't know how to restore lost memories, but he was cut off before he could even get a chance to speak.
"Didn't you at least find anything that could help us?" China asked with a displeased scowl.
"Nu, nothing," Romania hissed irritably, hardly pleased himself. "I didn't sense anything weird either. I'm not sure if that's good or bad."
Biting his tongue to stop a curse from flying from his mouth, Germany turned to look again at the center of the issue. "Mauritius, I don't suppose you've had any of your memories come back since yesterday?"
To his dismay, Mauritius shook his head, just as disappointed as they all were. "No, sorry."
Great. That left them with practically nothing.
"So what do we do now, Germany-san?" Japan asked worriedly.
What do they do now? Well, right now there's nothing they could do. But they still couldn't just let Mauritius wander around freely or remain here unmonitored. Also, maybe this wasn't the best place to discuss that, not in front of someone potentially dangerous."
"I say we discuss this in another room." Germany decided, looking at everyone expectantly. "Does everyone agree?"
He was met with nods and a couple murmurs of agreement.
"Good…" Germany then looked back again to Mauritius apologetically. "I'm sorry, but it looks like you'll have to stay here alone until further notice."
Still looking nauseous, Mauritius weakly nodded. "O-Oui, that's fine."
At least he's taking it... somewhat okay.
"I'm… sorry we can't do anything more right now." It seemed like an appropriate thing to say. And Germany was hardly overjoyed over how helpless they all were.
"And I'm sorry I can't help you with your memories," Romania added dryly, and he repeatedly smacked himself while grumbling. "Dammit, dammit, dammit..."
"N-No problem, thanks for trying to help." Mauritius replied in a small voice, not meeting anyone's eyes. "Can you... please take care of Michelle for me?"
"We'll make sure she's fine." Germany assured him, it seemed like it was the least they could do.
"Merci..." Mauritius looked relieved with that, but then he winced. "Uh, no offense, can you leave now? I… I want to be alone, please."
Filled with pity for the younger nation, Germany and the others obliged and took their leave, not even China seemed to have any objections to it. And as they left, Germany felt frustrated that they left feeling only a little less uncertain than before.
Dammit, Prussia. How could you allow this?
/ / / / /
Once the others were out of sight and earshot , he was finally able to vent.
Romania wasn't an idiot, and he'll heavily resent anyone who thought that he was.
And whoever's behind this trap, Nigeria probably, must think he was. Big mistake.
That guy probably thought that there's no way a 'mediocre' mage like Romania would ever detect his hoodoo or voodoo or whatever that magic's called. He'll give the piece of shit some credit though. Romania almost did miss it, almost. But when he did detect that weird presence, he wondered how the hell didn't notice it right away. There's so much malice that it could drive someone crazy… which may be what that guy's going for.
Damn, wasn't he a clever bastard?
He just hoped he managed to make his confusion and frustration convincing enough. If that thing did sense that Romania was talking bullshit, then maybe he will have to go a long while keeping this problem to himself just so it'll fall into a sense of security.
…But not without possibly endangering this group in the process. Oh, there's a slight chance that they're now harboring a walking, talking tracking chip.
Ah, but it's not like Romania didn't have a plan for that… Okay, maybe he didn't have a plan for that little detail, but he's currently working on it, see? He should totally have something figured out before someone died because of Romania keeping his trap shut for everyone's sakes.
He'll win, he just needed to be patient.
"Go ahead, pretend that no one can see you or figure out what you're planning," Romania whispered coldly to someone who he knew couldn't possibly hear him. "I'll play along, at least until I find a way to make you let him go."
Oh, he'll find a way. He'll be damned if he won't.
"And until then, let's play the long game. Who knows? It might be fun."
It's a risky game, he knew that. But it's the only good bet he's got right now at the moment. Exposing the bastard might end up making things turn for the worst and make the thing inside Mauritius quit the long game. That'll end up being disastrous.
Hmm, he'll need to talk to Egypt when that guy comes back from the dead. He'd be a big help. But the others will have to remain oblivious about this.
After all, the best way to fool your enemies was to fool your allies first.
/ / / / /
Okay, this was good. This was going good, so far. She got Tunisia to agree to let her come in. Maybe she could really do this.
Hungary kept her hands clasped together over her lap, trying to stomp out the feelings from the awkward atmosphere, as she sat on the bed. But she kept waiting patiently while Tunisia situated in a chair away from the bed, ate his meal.
Part of her wanted to facepalm for not having come up with the idea of convincing him to eat so he'd calm down a little earlier. Well, yeah, she still needed to convince Tunisia to let her in (literally and figuratively) first. But it could've made things a tad easier, maybe. And the poor man would definitely need the nourishment. In the end Hungary was glad she thought of it, because when Tunisia opened his package he immediately started gorging down the food. He really was starving.
On the downside, they're stuck in the whole awkward silence like last time with Hungary not feeling any more comfortable than Tunisia was. At least she wasn't alone in this... Wait, why's she glad about this? Her goal was to make him not want to die inside!
It certainly seemed like that was the case. It looked like he's actively trying to avoid talking or even looking at her.
"How's the noodles?" Hungary asked with what she hoped was a friendly smile, hoping to break the ice.
Tunisia shrank back at the question as if Hungary wanted to smack him and looked away, muttering. "They're delicious."
"Yes, they taste great, even better than the rice." Damn it, was that the best you could come up?
"Mmm." Tunisia didn't offer any more of a response and kept looking uncomfortable and returned to eating his food.
Hungary resisted the urge to groan at her own failed half-hearted attempt at getting rid of the tension and get a decent conversation going. But what was she supposed to do? She didn't know how to talk to Tunisia, especially with… with this going on. And he clearly didn't want to talk to her. At least he wasn't forcing down the food so that she'd lead more quickly, he was eating at a rather slow pace actually.
And was it just her, or did he look nauseous at several points? Was it the nerves?
It didn't help that she didn't actually... know Tunisia. Hungary didn't think they were friends, they weren't even officially allies. He seemed nice and approachable, if not a little bland (no offense) compared to his proud party girl of a brother and his stuck up sister with a stick up her ass.
Yes, she could maybe ask the nations here who knew Tunisia better than she did for a few pointers. But Hungary had already figured that Tunisia wouldn't want anyone else involved with his issues. Besides, Egypt's out of commission for who knows how long and Algeria... well, Hungary's not going to talk to her anytime soon.
Hungary nearly sighed in relief when Tunisia finally finished his food, while glad to see that he actually looked sort of satisfied, and she anxiously watched as he looked up at her with nothing but wariness.
"I-I'm finished." Tunisia announced quietly, his eyes clearly begging her to go away.
"Good. Why don't you put it in the nightstand there? I'll throw it out for you later." Hungary suggested softly with a reassuring smile. It would probably be the least she could do for practically forcing him to have an unpleasant conversation.
Tunisia looked at her oddly before averting his eyes again. "Th-Thank you."
"No." Tunisia cut her off harshly, hugging his knees to his chest. "There's nothing to talk about."
Hungary felt one of her eyebrows twitched. And here she thought he'd loosen up a little with a full stomach. She should've known it wouldn't be so easy. Well, maybe she needed to push a bit more.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure there is." She said with a bit of forced cheeriness. "And remember, if we don't help you soon, eventually everyone's going to catch wind of that there's something going on with you."
Once again, Tunisia blanched at the idea for some reason.
"I have no reason to believe you." Tunisia said coldly.
"I kept the entire incident a secret from everyone, which I'm sure would get me in trouble if Germany ever finds out," And Hungary didn't want him to get angry at her again. "And I even kept my mouth shut when your sister when she came and accused me of harassing you."
"Look, I don't think we'll go anywhere arguing in circles." Hungary was honestly getting sick of it. She mustered up a reassuring smile. "Why don't you tell me what happened to you? That's all I want to know. If you give me context and help me understand why this is bothering you so much, I'll consider leaving you alone."
It would've been almost funny how annoyed Tunisia looked with her stubbornness if the situation was a lot more light-hearted.
After what felt like years, Tunisia let out a long, defeated sigh. "Fine."
"Thank you," Beaming, Hungary stood up from her chair and went and sat next to Tunisia on the bed, who immediately
"Y-You don't need to be so close, you know." Tunisia stuttered nervously, scooting a little away from her.
"I think we can have the conversation better this way." Hungary said brightly, resisting the urge to grin at his expense. Besides, Poland always said she was a comforting presence. "So, what's going on?"
Tunisia hesitated, but he answered, "It's my brother– Morocco."
"I already had that figured out." Hungary said not too dryly. "What's going between you two?"
"He's been after me for a while. He doesn't want to kill me," Something in Tunisia's tone implied that he wished that Morocco would. "But he's obsessed with making me like… just like him. You haven't fully seen him, Hungary. Morocco's insane…"
Hungary believed that. The entire confrontation that got a knife stuck in one of her breasts made it clear Morocco's not in the right mind. "But why is he so obsessed with you?"
"When we were fighting in Switzerland's land, I was helping Algeria against Cameroon." Tunisia explained, deliberately avoiding the question, and he swallowed. "He… ended up literally throwing me across the field."
Hungary's jaw dropped. "He threw you?"
"Yes. It was a lot more painful you think."
"Then what happened?"
"I-I… was knocked out by the impact, but it didn't me long to come to. And then, I…" Soon after trailing off, Tunisia's eyes widened and his face became pale as a ghost. "Morocco… appeared right in front of me."
Call her crazy, or, well, crazier, but Hungary suspected that there's more to it than what Tunisia was saying. But she figured that she's lucky enough that Tunisia's telling her this, so she made no comment on it.
"He knocked me out and… and dragged me away over to Switzerland's house."
Hungary nodded along… until she did a double take when something didn't add up. "Wait, you said he took you to Switzerland's house?"
"I think that's what happened."
"Really? How odd. I don't remember seeing Morocco dragging you away to the house." Hungary remarked in puzzlement, and then she shrugged. "Then again, I was busy trying not to get electrocuted by giant birds, so maybe I missed you."
"Maybe he went another way. I don't know, I was unconscious during that." Tunisia looked annoyed, and he shook his head. "But that doesn't matter. Anyway, I woke up in the room where you– you found me– and Rahim– Morocco… started talking."
"About… what?" Hungary could only ask.
"It's none of your business!" Tunisia suddenly yelled, and his expression morphed into something furious. But his eyes flashed– terror, maybe? "We talked and he kept rubbing in my face how much I didn't truly know him. He went on this whole spiel about I'm a fool for following Islam and how I should… be more like him."
"But you didn't want to." It was a statement than a question.
"Of course I didn't want to! I'd never want to be anything like my brother! But then he… he…"
He didn't need to say anything more. Hungary managed to connect the dots, and she felt sick to her stomach. "He sexually assaulted you, his own brother?"
Tunisia gulped, understandably looking very queasy. "…Y-Yes, he did."
Well, that finally answered that question. Ugh.
"…O-Oh." Hungary blinked, then she instantly felt stupid. "Oh no, that's… I'm sorry–"
"D-Don't." He cut her off listlessly. "Just don't, please."
"But I don't understand this, Tunisia. What's so bad about any of this?" Hungary regarded him with scrutiny, trying to find some hidden meaning to any of this. "This isn't a laughing matter. I understand why what Morocco did would leave you shaken; I'd be more suspicious if it didn't. But you're not any less of a victim than Mauritius is."
"N-No…" Tunisia said hoarsely. "I'm not… I'm not innocent…"
"Yes, you are. Anyone who says otherwise deserves to get a concussion by my frying pan."
"You don't understand, Hungary–
"Because you won't tell me, that's what. So, why don't tell me now, Tunisia. Why are you not a victim?"
"Because I'm… I'm…" Tunisia trailed off and gnawed on his lower lip, looking extremely conflicted and anguished about something.
"What? You're what?" Hungary leaned closer with curious narrowed eyes.
She was left unanswered for one long minute until Tunisia gulped, and an slowly opened his mouth. His voice was ragged with despair. "I'm… g-gay."
The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop and Germany yelling at someone from somewhere in the house, although the second one's not so rare. Hungary could utterly feel her brain short-circuit.
Hungary stared at him with her eyes-wide open, blinking a few times before "…I'm sorry, what?"
Did she seriously hear that right?
Tunisia shot her an irritated but tired look. "Don't make me say it again!"
"But– But– I– you– you said…" Hungary would've been embarrassed at how she's fumbling her words if she weren't so gob smacked. Her mouth fell open. "Did you just say you're gay?"
Tunisia flinched at the exclamation, paling, but he nodded shakily at her all the same. "…Yes, yes I am."
Hungary wasn't really sure if there really were a good number of times where she had her mind blown, not counting anything in this whole mess, considering that she knew she's pretty weird and her bad luck brought her all kinds of trouble. But this was certainly now one of those times.
He… Tunisia's gay. That's… absolutely absurd!
"But… But you're a Muslim, and they treat gays like dirt." Hungary pointed out flatly, staring unblinkingly.
"I am a Muslim." Tunisia looked almost annoyed at the slight implication that he might not be.
"And one of the Muslim nations with the biggest stick up their asses is your sister." She continued in an even flatter tone. And Algeria's also kind of a jackass, but she wasn't going to mention that in front of him.
"Don't talk about Algeria that way!" Tunisia glared at her. "If you're going to insult someone, insult me. She's done nothing to deserve it."
Hungary wanted to argue otherwise, but she's too overwhelmed to do that. She leaned back. "…Wow."
But then her brain promptly short-circuited when she tried to find any form of sense from this discovery.
"Wait, wait, wait, no! This doesn't make any sense!" Hungary yelled, more of less flipping out for lack of a better word. "How can you be gay? You've never even struck me as gay."
"Don't you think I've asked myself that for centuries? And second, that's why no one knows!" Tunisia hissed in obvious annoyance, shifting in discomfort. "I never asked for this, you know."
"But– But– But…. Y-You…"
Okay, okay, calm down, Hungary.
"Alright, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just– " Hungary facepalmed, her mind demanding that she get ahold of herself, and her hand slid down her face as she looked dumbfoundedly at a still annoyed Tunisia. "Wow, so… you're gay?"
Tunisia was now exasperated at this point. "Yes, we already established that. So, please don't say it again."
"Since… when?" Hungary needed to know just how pathetically oblivious she was.
"I don't know. Since I was " "I never felt any attraction towards women, no matter how I tried."
"And… And you've basically kept it to yourself all these years? I'm guessing Algeria doesn't know either, because…" Well, she didn't think that needed explaining. It wouldn't make sense.
"That's right. I've never told anyone." Tunisia said solemnly, frowning. "Least of all my sister."
"Really? Not even France? He'd never hate you for it and I'm sure he'd never rat you out." Hungary was sure of that. If anything, he'd probably encourage it and try to set Tunisia up on dates all the time.
Tunisia's face darkened. "I couldn't trust him either. It wouldn't have been any better with you Westerners."
Hungary glared right back at him, feeling particularly offended by that. "What do you mean we're no better? In case you haven't noticed, we treat our gays as actual people."
"You don't get it, do you?" Tunisia said bitterly, scowling. But most of all, Hungary could see anguish in his eyes. "Of course you don't. Have you seen how they normally treat gays in the West? My accomplishments, land and my very being would mean nothing to you. I'd just be a gay Muslim to you Westerners, something to celebrate for and be treated like glass."
Hungary really wanted to argue otherwise, but after a bit of thinking she realized that maybe Tunisia had a point. Nowadays Western politics were rife with virtue signaling. Hell, it's the racism accusations against her for not letting those Muslim 'refugees' into their countries that's why she and Poland's reputations were becoming trashed by the European Union. Tunisia being gay wouldn't have done him a lot of favors on either hemisphere.
But she wouldn't have treated him like a fragile prize. She'd had experience being persecuted, belittled and people being overall disdainful of her.
"Alright, you have a point there…" Hungary muttered, albeit a little reluctantly, folding her arms.
"And you wouldn't be any different," Tunisia turned his scowl onto her, looking at her. "I'd just be fodder for your perverted fantasies."
Hungary flinched at the accusation, but she narrowed her eyes and quickly retorted. "That's not true. I would've had a bit of fun pairing you other nations in my head but I'd never think of you as less than a person."
"I don't believe you." Tunisia bit out, nothing but distrustful of her.
A surge of frustration went up at that harsh rejection. She was just about sick and tired of being the 'bad guy' in situations, regardless of whether she truly was or not, and part of her wanted nothing more than to tear into him for that.
"Well, it's true." Hungary said sincerely. "I'm not an idiot, Tunisia. The last thing I would want would be to make you feel more of an outsider. Also, I kept this entire mess to myself because of how terrified you looked. Shouldn't that be proof that I care, even a little?"
"You could be planning to blackmail me." Tunisia muttered darkly, eyes darting to the floor.
Somehow not managing to scowl at the very idea, Hungary merely crossed her arms and answered, "Tunisia, if I wanted to blackmail you, and I don't, I think I would've done it a while ago. It's been pretty clear from yesterday that you don't want this going out."
Blackmailing him, god, how ridiculous.
"Besides, what the hell would be the point of that?" She scoffed, narrowing her eyes and daring him to come up with a good answer. Why would I want to blackmail you? And is this really the time for that kind of crap?"
What would she gain from blackmailing this poor young man, especially in this situation? They're already having a hard time not breaking out into all out brawl with the New World Order doing God knows what and no doubt making plans to get rid of them.
She sighed at this, and her face softened. "And I don't know about you, but right now I'm a lot worried about your mental health than anything else."
"Why would you be worried about me?" Tunisia asked, sounding like he couldn't believe someone else would care about him.
"I told you, didn't I? You shouldn't suffer alone." Hungary said, offering a brief warm smile. "We're all in this mess together, so we should try to help each other instead of letting this entire situation rip us apart and make it easier for the Order to kill us. Or do you think differently?"
If he had a response for that, he didn't offer any, and he fell back into a grim silence as he stared somberly at the floor again.
"Why… are you like this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I don't understand you!" Tunisia exclaimed, and then shrunk back in embarrassment. He bit his lip. "Why you're so nice to me. And how can you… you bring yourself to like seeing men... together and do… stuff? Don't you feel even a little ashamed of yourself?"
Oh, he wanted to know that? She wondered if her explanation might help him somehow. In that case, then she'll give him the truth.
"W-Well, it's just that seeing men together is… cute. Sometimes it's hot, and I..." God, she never had to explain her fetish to anyone, hadn't she? Hungary smiled sheepishly. "It's not something that's easy to explain. But there's nothing wrong in liking seeing men together."
The porn… eh, that's another story, but not one meant to be told today. In fact, she should not bring that up at all.
Tunisia didn't seem any less appalled, however. "…That's it? You find seeing them… kissing and stuff cute and hot?"
"That's practically it. I like seeing them do that," And maybe other things, but that's not important. She looked at him quizzically. "Were you expecting another reason?"
"Of course I was," Tunisia replied almost automatically. "It's- It's wrong. You're a pervert for something– like that?"
Hungary looked at him blankly. "…Why is it wrong, though?"
Tunisia stared at her as if she had just said that there's nothing wrong with torturing small animals and draining them of their blood. "Why is it– It's disgusting."
"Well, that's your opinion." She said, shrugging. They'll need to work on that later. "But it's not exactly a healthy opinion for someone who's actually gay."
"I don't understand…" Tunisia murmured.
Welcome to the club, Hungary remarked dryly in her mind. She didn't understand this, the gay thing, either. And there's something else that's bothering her, something that she just might not be able to forgive Tunisia for if he's fully conscious of it.
She won't betray him, but she needed to know just how bad the situation she's dealing with here was.
"And there's one thing I don't understand. If you're gay…" Hungary started to say as Tunisia looked up at her blankly, and she tried to suppress her anger as she went on. "I've read about what your people do to your gays. I've read about what your neighbors, including your sister do, how you all treat them. How could you do nothing for them and even encourage that mindset when you're gay too? They're your people."
Tunisia suddenly looked really, really pale and found his shoes fascinating. He spoke in a very low voice, "If you really do know, then you know why I have to keep this a secret. I can't risk anything. No one can know. They'd– I'd be disowned from my family. My boss would kill me. Everything would just– fall apart."
"That doesn't explain why you don't do anything for your gays." Hungary pointed out.
"It's not like I enjoy watching it happen!" Tunisia snapped, startling Hungary, and the look on his face was pitiful. "You think I don't feel guilty causing my people pain? You think it doesn't haunt me, especially since that very well might be me too if I'm not careful? But I have to do it. I must. There's no other way for me to redeem myself.
"You think making your people miserable when they'd probably already been abandoned by their families and friends will redeem yourself?" Hungary asked skeptically with a disapproving frown, struggling not to raise her voice at how infuriating the idea was to her.
The question made him freeze. "I… I…"
"Well?"
"They need to be punished." He said the words as if they were agonizing to vocalize.
Hungary could only look at him with pity. "Do they really, though?"
"You wouldn't understand. It's– it's unnatural!"
"Yeah? Well, so is Anubis's existence, which I'm sure heavily contradicts a lot of points in many religions. You have no right telling them who they can't love."
Alright, that might have been a bit too harsh and blunt, but she needed to shut down that ridiculous 'it's not natural' argument somehow. Unnatural, her ass. Wasn't their very existence itself unnatural? There's nothing about nations or walking personifications of the land mentioned in any religion. And that's not even getting into the other weird stuff nations have…
Tunisia was taken aback by that retort. He looked like he had his mind blown.
"Wh-What am I supposed to do, then?" Tunisia demanded angrily, throwing his hands up in defeat before lowering his head. His voice was quiet and resigned, "How else am I supposed to redeem myself if I can't get rid of my feelings?"
"Tunisia, you don't have anything to redeem yourself for."
"Yes, I do!" He exclaimed, even glaring at her again. "You don't understand. This isn't normal. I'm a disgusting person, Hungary."
"You're not disgusting. You just want someone who'll love you, that's perfectly normal."
"It's not!" Tunisia exclaimed. "Ugh, how could you say that?"
Begrudgingly, Hungary decided that there's not much point in arguing with Tunisia about the 'right and wrongs' of homosexuality right now, not when he's not exactly calm. So, she let it go for the time being.
"So, you've... you've just spent all these years not telling anyone you like men while your community looked down on everyone like you?" Hungary said in horror. "You had to watch your own family look at them, them not knowing that you're one of them too, and agree with them? That's horrible."
"Don't pity me, Hungary. I can't take it." Tunisia muttered, dripping with bitterness.
"Can't I show even a little compassion without you getting upset for it?" Hungary said dryly, feeling just a tiny bit sick of that. But she shook her head and sighed, "But I understand. And I meant what I said; I can't pretend I can understand what you must've gone through."
She felt genuinely unnerved when Tunisia laughed in utter defeat. "You're right, you can't. So can you please leave now?"
Hungary thought about that while looking at the anguished nation in front of her, who just actually went through the pain of spilling everything about his secret to someone who's practically a stranger to him, the only . How could even consider leaving?
"No, I'm still staying."
Tunisia snapped his head up at her. "What did you say?"
"I said I'll stay." Hungary firmly while crossing her arms, daring him to change her mind.
"B-But why? I've already told you what you wanted to know, I even told you my worst secret!" "What more could you want from me?"
"Honestly? To give you a big hug."
This took Tunisia aback. "Wh-What?"
"How can you expect me to leave after finding out about all this?" Hungary glared at him. "How long have you spent with this emotional baggage? You really want me to leave you to be miserable when you finally have someone to finally talk to about your feelings? No, I'm staying and helping you through this."
"I don't want your help." Tunisia brushed her off harshly. "It's not your business. And I told you, I deserve to suffer alone. I'm used to it."
"But you told me, me, your secret." Hungary said, scooting closer to him with a knowing look. "Isn't that proof that you just want someone who you can pour your heart to?"
Tunisia flinched, that got him. He started trembling and keeping his eyes firmly on the floor. "I…. I… I didn't…
"It's okay to cry, Tunisia," Hungary said as soothingly as she could, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I know we're not friends, but you can let it all out."
"No… I don't want..."
"Just let it go, Tunisia."
Finally, Tunisia gave up on suppressing his feelings, and he completely broke down to tears. He sounded so miserable that Hungary decided to carefully wrap her arms around him in an awkward but comforting hug. Surprisingly, Tunisia didn't resist or tried to break away, he only sobbed into her shoulder.
There's still a lot of question she needed to ask. But so what if she still couldn't have all the answers right now? That didn't matter right now.
Hungary would rather help someone first.
/ / / / /
"I have been informed that acquired a… diary?" Mother's browser knit together as she spoke that last word as if she wasn't used to saying it,
"Haiti's diary, yes. What of it?" Egypt did not like how worried she looked.
The way Mother stared at him grimly reminded Egypt of when she'd speak of her land's troubles. "Do not remove the talismans it, Atum. Make sure that the others do not as well. There is nothing but evil in it. The man who sealed them inside should be honored for his efforts."
Egypt was touched by her concern for him, but that was a danger he was already aware of. "Actually, we all know that already. There was a note warning–"
"I know about that as well." Mother said, wringing her hands. "But you still need to be warned. What's inside the diary is alive, Atum. It is alive and angry. Keep it away from anyone's hands."
"And what's inside the diary that's so dangerous?"
Mother and threw a look around her as if someone might be eavesdropping and leaned close near Egypt's ear. "Gods, Atum. The owner's favorite gods, the worst of the Loa."
Egypt felt the air get caught in his throat. "H-Haiti's gods?"
"Yes, the Loa." Mother's voiced was laced with disdain. "They are on the side of their favorite subject, thus they are your enemies, and they will happily fight for him should Haiti ask them to. And they can be terrifying enemies. I am sure Baron Kriminel demonstrated that."
The memory of the man with the crooked grin and glowing eyes who managed to hold his own against Anubis flashed in Egypt's mind, and he was immediately hit with dread. Oh, of course Haiti had his gods on his side.
"And... and you're saying that they're all sealed in Haiti's diary?" Egypt wondered how that could've possibly been accomplished.
"No, just one of the families. The rest still roam free. But even this gives you a large advantage." Mother said confidently. "The one sealed inside the item are the Petro loa, the most violent of them all."
Egypt instinctively tensed at the name for some reason.
"They are among the most powerful, and that is why being near the diary is dangerous." Mother warned. "It will attempt to manipulate those who might be sensitive to its power, like you."
"The ones with the magic touch?" Egypt had wondered why he felt uneasy around that diary. But how can it do that?"
"They are violent spirits, Atum. They corrupt people into committing violent acts, and so they will try to do the same to you or someone else." Mother's words were heavy with concern, and she looked at him "Haiti is hoping that you or one of your allies will be tricked into freeing the Petro family, resulting in them destroying you all and the land around them."
What?
But when he thought about it more, he realized it made complete sense. Why else would Haiti make such a big fuss over them having his diary only to suddenly and suspiciously change his mind? It was obvious from the beginning that it was a trap. He wanted them to free his gods for him and possibly cause untold destruction in the process.
"I... I don't understand." Egypt muttered, raking his hands through his air as he processed all the information. Why doesn't he show up and remove the talisman himself in front of us?"
"Because to him, it would be a waste to do it right away." Mother narrowed her eyes in cool anger. "He would rather wait until there are more of you, if none of you free the Loa first."
Damn it. If Mother hadn't told them this…
"I... I see." Egypt said as he tried to maintain his calm in front of his mother. "Thank you for-"
Suddenly a sound like thunder rumble in the distance, and lightning flashed, blinding Egypt for a brief moment. When he regained his sight, he's sure that he saw his Mother become pale as she stared at the sky.
There weren't any storms in the Abyss of Waters, were there?
"M-Mother, what was that?" Egypt asked nervously, feeling a chill go down his spine.
"...It is nothing, let us continue." Mother said hastily, and before Egypt could try to ask, she spoke again. "There is also another god you must be prepared for."
Egypt felt his jaw drop. "Another god?"
"Y-Yes. Please be careful with Pele, known as the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes." Mother explained quickly while looking around nervously. "Go to our water gods for help against her when she attacks."
"Wh-What?" Egypt stuttered, but he wasn't given any time for questions.
"Do not trust Bosnia, or any other suffering from the same condition. Kill them, let them die as they are, my love."
He couldn't understand, his mother was going too fast for him to keep up.
"Listen to me, Atum!" Mother shouted at him, almost screaming. "A number of the nations of the New World Order have plans should a certain member die. So, when you-"
Then lightning came crushing them upon them, and everything went white.
"...Atum! Atum, are you alright, my child?"
Slowly but surely, the ringing in Egypt's head faded and as his vision cleared, he was met with the sight of his mother, looking worried sick.
"M-Mother?"
"Oh, you are alright." Mother sighed in relief. "Thank the gods."
"Wh-What happened, mother?" Egypt asked weakly, feeling a slight headache.
"That was the work of our enemies, Atum." Mother scowled as she threw a resentful glance at the sky. "As I said before, there are… other forces at play here. They do not want me speaking with you, my love,"
"Are they gone now?"
"I hope so. Strange, we should have been protected here..."
Egypt had more pressing questions on his mind. "Who are they, Mother? Isn't there any way you can tell me?"
If they are powerful enough to reach this place...
"I cannot, and for that reason we must not waste any time." Mother stated firmly yet kindly, grasping Egypt's shoulders. "There is one more thing you must know, something very, very, important."
"Wh... What is it, Mother?" Egypt could not help feel anxious.
In response to that question, Mother simply smiled at him warmly, and she gently released his shoulders to gaze at their impressive surroundings fondly.
"Atum. Do you know why I named you Atum, before you forgot?" Mother's voice was fond yet filled the same melancholy she carried in her final days. It comforted and pained Egypt to hear at the same time. "You are like our creator. You are the finisher, the one who completes. Just as you are finishing what I, the Ancient began, you will finish this."
Egypt could only stare at his mother in hopeless confusion. "F-Finish? I do not understand. Finish what?"
"My son, my sweet Atum…" Mother's smile shined as brightly as the sun, and felt just as warm. Her voice soothing, she cupped his face with her soft hands. "Make us whole again."
/ / / / /
"...Tupi?"
"Yes, child?"
The then named Tupinamba smiled sweetly at his father, sitting on his lap while they had been watching the people go. "Why are humans so weak?"
Tupi's normally aloof face softened into a smile, a smile that he only reserved for Tapuia, Tupinamba himself and those who were worthy. "That is an easy question to answer, boy. But why have you thought it?
"Well... They just break so easily," Tupinamba replied innocently, an innocence that centuries from now people would find unnerving, his grin equally so. "They even break each other. They cannot return as we do. And they are so easy to control, foolish too. Why do such creatures exist?"
"Indeed. Why do they?" Tupi mused with a smile as he watched the creatures themselves go about their day. "They are such simplistic animals. They submit easily and have a strong tendency towards foolishness. They look like us, but they grow fast, then with time they grow old and feeble and die, if they do not break first. And unlike us, they will not come back. Their bodies will remain and wither away to nothing."
"Although their creativity is something to be commended...Their creations, while beneficial and impressive, they only serve to facilitate their own demise, yet they fail to see this." Tupi grinned maliciously down at the boy. "Or did you truly believe that it was I who created the weapons we use? The tools we use."
"No. I have seen them make their arrows, Tupi. I know they make tools" Tupinamba said eagerly.
"Hmm. Good on you for being observant, boy." Tupi praised and ruffled the beaming boy's hair. "It will serve you well."
"Thank you, Tupi." The boy was very pleased with the praise from his beloved father.
"Do not let it go to your head now, you are still a child. Arrogant boys will easily find themselves failing to dodge the arrow about to lodge in their eye before too late." Despite the harsh sounding words, they were spoken with a smirk and the boy felt no spark of disappoint. "But to finally answer your question, boy, it is simple. They exist to serve."
"You can crush them easily." Tupinamba said confidently. Tupi would never fall to humans!
"Perhaps I can, but they have the potential to be a nuisance when in large numbers as you have seen in our battles," "But their strongest do make good meat. Keep those insects in line, boy. Find a way to completely control them, and your future may be easier."
"Yes, Tupi."
"...Tupi?"
"Yes, boy?"
Tupinamba was hungrily eyeing the meat his father was cooking over the fire. His mouth was watering at the intoxicating smell coming from the fresh meat and he'd want nothing more than to devour it all. But he must wait patiently for Tupi to give him his share.
"Can you truly receive more power by devouring the warriors?"
"Do you not believe it, boy?"
"I do not mean that." Tupinamba said hastily, Tupi would never lie to him. "But can we truly gain that strength, even if it is from humans?"
"It would be ridiculous if we could not, boy. Have you not seen me grown stronger with every ritual?"
"With the right ritual, yes, you can."
Tupinamba's eyes lit up excitedly and he was practically bouncing from his spot on the ground. "Have you ever done it, Tupi? Have you eaten anyone from our kind? Will I ever do it?"
His father's shoulders relaxed again Tupi chuckled heartily as he turned and smiled fondly down at the eager boy. "Indeed I have, boy. There have once been more of us here in these lands before you arrived. I fought them. Some fought admirably; others were pathetic or made the foolish mistake of remaining weak. The strongest and best of them helped me grow stronger.
"It is shame that a lot of them struggled to the very end instead of showing proper courage," Tupi's smirk was carnivorous, a terrifying sight to behold for the humans, but a wondrous thing for the little boy. He licked his lips. "Despite that, their fear made it all the more delicious."
Oh, Tupinamba could just imagine.
"As for you," Tupi turned his smirk to him."I high expectations for you, as you know well."
"I know, Tupi." Brazil replied dutifully.
"I am sure you will be able to devour our kind as well. Let us hope that you will be able to devour my remains, when I fall, so all my power can pass on to you."
Tupinambá giggled at the affection and gave his father an adoring smile. "You will not die, Tupi! You are one of the strongest ones in this land!"
Tupi's smile instantly vanished.
"T-Tupi...?" Did he say something wrong?
Tupi did not respond, he only frowned and stared solemnly down at the confused child, as if pondering over an important decision.
"My adorable little Tupinambá, I believe it is time that I reveal new knowledge to you." Tupi announced with a small smile that did not reach his eyes.
"N-New knowledge?" Tupinambá repeated nervously.
Usually, Tupinamba would be ecstatic at the prospect. Nis father always had interesting things to tell. But Tupi's frown, the way his brows were furrowed, almost as if he was not looking forward to sharing his knowledge with Tupinamba like he always was, was worrying. He sat up straight anyway and paid full attention.
"Yes…" Tupi said distantly, staring off into nothing for a moment before looking. "Little one, you remember how… distant I was after I found you?"
"I do," Tupinamba answered easily. He remembered his entire life clearly.
When he had first met Tupi, he was not the loving man he was now. He recalled Tupi looking startled at his appearance as the little boy introduced himself, which eventually turned into outright hostility before roughly the man dragged him off and throwing him into a hut that he was not allowed to exit. Tupinambá did not understand any what was happening. In later years, he would have assumed that this was the man mistook him for an enemy or a threat.
But in that time, he did not understand what was wrong, and he spent several days alone in the hut crying for Tupi to come back.
Eventually Tupi did come back but with another one of their kind with them: Tapuia, a kind-looking man. He spoke gently while Tupi regarded little Tupinambá wearily from next to him, and they explained that they would be raising him. Tupinambá was delighted at the idea of having a family. But even after that, it had taken Tupi some time to become close to him.
Tupinamba had always thought that it was because Tupi was not used to being affectionate and how idea how to raise a child. It was what Tapuia had always told him.
"There is a reason why I was not kind to you at first, boy." Tupi's face darkened, as if he was not proud of whatever he had to say.
"What do you mean?" The boy could not help but feel slightly afraid of the answer.
Tupi did not provide it at first. He glanced at the fire, and then back at Tupinambá. Then took a deep breath, and at last answered.
"Truthfully told, when you had first appeared to us, smaller than you are now, I had thought of devouring you." Tupi admitted with a somber frown.
Those shocking words nearly stopped little Tupinamba's heart, but they pierced like arrows all the same. He drew back, gasping and gazing with hurt – horrified eyes up at his solemn father. No. He could not believe it. His father had wanted to eat him? His father, who so kindly picked him up, taught him and raised him alongside the man known as Tapuia?
"Y-You wanted to devour me?" Tupinamba stammered in disbelief. He felt ashamed for the weakness, but he begged for this to not be true.
"Do not fear, boy. It was a long time ago, and you are here now, are you not?" Tupi said in a soothing voice, before looking off to the side with a scowl. "It was a foolish, foolish idea. So foolish that I have still not forgiven myself for having had thought of it. What a stupid man I was then…"
"Y-Yes," Tupinamba failed to speak without stuttering and he clenched his small fists in frustration, hating the cold feeling gripping his heart.
Of course, how he could ever doubt Tupi? If his father had wanted him dead, he would have done the deed at any time and in any place. Tupi was so much stronger than that the child that was Tupinamba. He refused to look back on this fact with fear. Tupi loved him. There were too many times that Tupi had proven that.
"Tapuia had insisted that I let you live when he discovered your existence." His father further added with a hint of fondness for the other man, who was sadly absent at the moment, under his heavy remorse. "Be thankful to him, boy, it is partly due to him that I saw reason."
Brown watery eyes peered up at Tupi in surprise, but it soon passed. Tapuia had helped convinced Tupi to allow Tupinamba to live? That made sense. Tapuia was a gentler man compared to the bloodthirsty Tupi, even if the two were not so different in the end, battle or not. Tupinamba felt himself developing a newfound appreciation for him.
But Tupinamba still could not believe what he had discovered.
He would do anything for his father; even die for him, when the time came for him to actively participate in war. Anything. In Tupinamba's naïve and childish mind, as twisted as it all was, he did not believe that Tupi would ever die. And in turn, he believed that Tupinamba would not fail with Tupi to guide him. If it ever came to it or both of them desired it, Tupinamba would even happily fight to the death with his father as a way of finally proving himself.
But to discover that Tupi had first considered eating him when he had first been found, from when he was not even anything close to a warrior, instead of kindly taking him in and raising him as he did, it shook the boy to his very core.
"I am sorry, little Tupinamba." The words took Tupinamba by surprise, especially in the saddened, remorseful way they were spoken. He heard never heard his father speak with such self-hatred and remorse. "I was a foolish, cowardly man then. Do not worry, you will be much better."
"But why would you have eaten me?" Tupinamba's bottom lip trembled as he choked out the words.
"Because of your very existence," Tupi said darkly, his eyes hard with self-disdain. "The appearance of a small child of our kind in our lands is often an omen, boy. It is a sign."
"A-A sign of what?" Tupinamba could only ask. He dreaded the answer.
"That our time is coming at an end. The child is a successor, the evidence that the current holder of the land will perish one day. A… usurper, one might also say."
For the first time in his life, as far as he could remember, Tupinamba's blood became cold as the rare freezing night and he could not find his own voice. The words hung heavily in the air as Tupinamba stared at his father in wide-eyed utter horror while Tupi towered him with an emotionless, unaffected expression.
Tupinamba could barely find his voice. "Y-You are going to die?"
"Yes, but not now. Perhaps not soon and I do not know how, but it will surely come one day. For both Tapuia and I," Tupi was blunt in his words while his face was grim, for he did not see the value of mincing words. "He does not have long, either."
"Tapuia too?" Tupinamba exclaimed in horror. Not even his sweet, non-violent other parent was safe from this- this curse?
"Indeed. He has accepted this long ago, however," Tupi said as he stared hard into Tupinamba. "And so should you, my dear boy."
But Tupinamba could not accept this. He bit his lower lip to prevent himself from sobbing, even as the tears left his eyes.
"Your existence proves that one day we will fade. And when that inevitably happens, you will have our lands, our people and our power."
"B-But Tupi, I do not want you to die because of me!" Tupi was fully crying now. He could not bear with the thought of Tupi dying because of his existence. "I love you. I do want to live without you or Tapuia. If eating me means that you will not fall, then–"
"Fool!" Tupi roared, his rage resonating through the woods, startling the shaken boy enough to back away from his father's rage. "If the best of warriors among the humans, a foolish race, can show courage at their inescapable fate when they are about to die to give us their strength, why should I cower when I am faced with the proof that my demise is guaranteed? Why should I try to foolishly escape my fate? Since you will live and inherit the land after I die, then that means that you will become stronger than I ever was."
The child trembled in guilt and terror as his father towered over him. Tupi's wrath was a wonderful thing to behold, especially when brutally killing his enemies, and Tupinamba relished watching it before his eyes. It was rarely directed at him, only for when Tupinamba did nothing foolish. Like the time Tupinamba thought that he could tame a big spider with water…
Now, Tupinamba was reminded of why he dreaded ever angering Tupi.
"And you, if I can face my fate with bravery, then surely you, as the superior child, face your future without me." Tupi's voice was cold yet confident, even as he glared down at the boy.
Tupinamba could hardly swallow the lump in his throat. "B-But I –"
Tupi did not allow him the chance. He sneered. "Silence. Cry if you want, that I will allow, for I know how deeply your love runs for me. But spare me the pathetic pleading and whining. I did not teach you to be so inconsiderate of yourself and your future."
"I-I am sorry, Tupi." Tupinamba whimpered, nothing but ashamed of himself.
Tupi was expecting so much from him, and Tupinamba was doing nothing but disappointing him with every objection he made.
To his agony, his father said nothing to, and instead allowed the boy to continue his sobbing and hiccups. This was all too much for him to take in all at once.
Eventually, the hard anger slowly left Tupi's face. The crying boy did not notice how his father slowly walked towards him until the crunching of the leaves alerted him as Tupi sat down right to next to him.
"I know my words are harsh, but they are simply the truth." Tupi whispered as he and put the child on his lap. "I understand that this is difficult for you, living with the knowledge that one day I will surely die."
"What am I to do, Tupi? Am I supposed to just watch you fall?" Tupinambá felt despaired at the thought.
"…No. My fate will not justify any carelessness or foolishness." Tupi said sharply. "I will fight and survive to the best of my ability, as I always have."
"And will I truly be as strong as you say?" Tupinamba could not help feel doubtful. He did not want to end up disappoint Tupi on top of losing him.
"Yes. I can see it inside you, the potential to be someone greater than I ever was and lead our people to glory we did not believe possible." Tupi's eyes glimmered with something any normal personal would consider terrifying as he grinned widely, perhaps a bit too widely, at the child. "It is unlikely I will live long enough to see it, but I know you can do it, Tupinamba. You are my pride and joy. I am already so proud of your progress."
Tupinamba's heart swelled in pleasure at the words. "I… I… Thank you, Tupi."
"You need not worry over me, boy." A smile returned to Tupi's face. "If I will fall, it will be in battle. I will be content dying doing what I love and with the knowledge that you will live on."
That brought a smile to the boy's face. He was still not happy at the prospect of his father leaving him, but knowing that he'll die doing what he loved brought him some relief.
It helped restore confidence into Tupinambá.
"I will not disappoint you. I will make you proud, Tupi." Tupinambá declared confidently, beaming.
Tupi laughed heartily. "I know you will."
…
"But Tupi never got to fall in battle like wanted," Brazil remarked in a distantly cold tone, and he dropped his resentful gaze to the sleeping man in front of him. "And guess who I have to thank for that?"
Portugal, of course, didn't answer and remained perfectly (infuriatingly) oblivious in his sleep, his head bowed with his expression almost peaceful and chest slightly rising every few seconds. Thankfully, he wasn't snoring. His dear big brother had always been a bit of heavy sleeper.
He had generously left Portugal to himself so that his dear old colonizer could be able to get some sleep without Brazil's presence keeping him awake. It was a shame, Brazil would've loved to torture him that way. His suffering was sweet. And it could make Portugal more... vulnerable. No, the sleep deprivation will come later.
Wouldn't want for Portugal to doze off during their bonding time, hm?
"You took him from me." Brazil growled hatefully. "You took him and Tapuia from me. You even tried to take my identity."
Brazil had been daydreaming off to the past again. It's a bad habit, yeah. But it's easy to fall back into his memories of Tupi and Tapuia with Portugal around. They brought about all kinds of emotions. Besides, he's feeling more… emotional, since everything that happened yesterday.
Yeah. He had heard what happened from Mexico. South Italy had escaped, so they could kiss their possibility of getting a toy for Portugal early than planned goodbye. Brazil only vaguely noticed how he clenched his fists as he felt a strong surge of irritation, betraying the utterly emotionless expression he was currently wearing. Apparently, none of them had thought of bringing shortcuts or rocket launchers.
He would've been a lot angrier if Mexico, Guatemala and Argentina hadn't insisted that the traffic was just impossible. Brazil won't tolerate excuses, but if there's one thing he'll always believe, it's that the city's traffic is a pain in the ass. Brazil let it go, let them rest and thanked them for their work anyway, and told himself that what mattered was that he had Portugal.
Also, the enemy turned out to be a no-show, which was disappointing, but it meant that they realized how suicidal it was to come here. Oh, but Brazil's not letting his guard down. He won't let Portugal out of his sight. He won't let him get the slightest idea that there might be hope for him.
Portugal was only allowed to be happy if Brazil allowed it.
"I'm not surprised you don't understand what it's like, hating someone so much but loving them at the same time." Brazil spat out bitterly, feeling incredibly to wake Portugal up. "Do you have any idea how maddening it is? No, of course you don't, you'd have to understand it."
There's really no way to properly describe his feelings. But Brazil could say this: there's only one way he could ever both satisfy his hatred and love.
You know, Portugal and Tupi were so different but so similar in a way that just fascinating to Brazil. Portugal's laid-back, while Tupi was vigilant and hard-working, so the former brought Tapuia more to mind, who Brazil's also accounting for. Both of them raised Brazil, were so kind towards him, and taught him many things. They're both fierce warriors, ruthless and determined to the end, but then Portugal decided to bury that aspect himself as the foolish humans became more 'moral'. They crushed his potential just like they helped crush Tupi.
But Brazil knew that the old Portugal was in there somewhere, he just had to work hard and carefully to bring it out, while also molding it to his liking so that his former colonizer could be the father that he longed for.
A perfect blend of the three: Tupi's bloodlust and insatiable appetite for flesh, Tapuia's along with their love for Brazil mixed with Portugal's charm and easygoing personality.
"I'll have my father back," He promised solemnly. "One way or another. I'll have him and my revenge, and I'll get it in the most satisfying way possible."
It's perfect. Was there any better plan for Portugal with how conflicted Brazil's feelings were? He'll torture his former colonizer; make him feel how weak and pathetic he made Brazil, Tupi and Tapuia feel, put him through hell. And when his hatred was nearly satisfied, he'll put Portugal through the room as the final step.
Anyone who'll try to stop him will find themselves as his father's first meal.
/ / / / /
Germany never thought he'd be so glad for a meeting, even if's just a few nations compared to the entire UN.
They were all gathered in the living room, which was barely big enough to accommodate everyone without feeling too cramped. Everyone was here, excluding Mauritius and Egypt, and even Canada was here, though he kept his distance.
Panama was situated far from the other nations, lying against a wall with his arms crossed and a bitter expression that Germany still wasn't accustomed to seeing on his face. Germany couldn't really fathom why he'd want to be in the room if he hated them so much, but he supposed the Central America would rather not have people on his case for going , it's time to get down to business.
"Alright, let's begin the meeting."
Well, here's the beginning part of the meeting. And hey, I finally wrapped got to the dialogue-heavy parts of two of the subplots, advancing the overall plot in the process. I hoped you enjoyed! The next one will have more characters. Please review, if you have a minute.
