The winds raged on with no signs of stopping. The entire house was black with the only light coming through the windows.

Lithuania's expression switched from panic to determination. He became a completely different person.

"We need to meet up with the others," Lithuania ran out the room.

The timing couldn't be worse, thought Prussia.

Prussia barely managed to keep up following what he could of Lithuania's figure in the darkness. The two came upon the other nations who were gathered in the dimly lit dining room. Everyone frantically chattered among themselves, but Prussia couldn't really understand what anyone was saying.

Poland was huddled between Hungary and Ukraine. Latvia was shivering in the corner with Estonia trying to calm him down. Romania had a single lit candle and a thick book reciting some odd chant as Bulgaria and Moldova watched on. Slovakia and Czech were bickering about hyphens in the midst of all this chaos. Prussia spotted Belarus aggressively glaring from the shadows because of all the noise.

The place was in complete disarray.

Despite this, Lithuania calmly took a deep breath, "Everyone calm down! We need to get this place settled before Russia comes back or we're all screwed!"

Everyone gulped, ending any idle chatter.

"We need candles, flashlights, to unplug any electronics, and to board the windows."

In an orderly, fashion everyone went off to do their task without question, surprising Prussia. He finally remembered how things got done around the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth.

Lithuania set his sights on Prussia, "Stop slacking around and do something!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Prussia huffed.

Prussia headed outside to the nearby shed with Hungary, Ukraine, and Poland to grab some boards. One of Russia's many tedious tasks was stockpiling wood for the furnace for situations like these. If Prussia has to credit Russia for anything, it was his foresight.

Considering the house was mostly windows, Prussia wondered if there would even be enough.

"What if there's not enough boards and someone gets sucked out of the house!?" Prussia shuttered at his own insane thoughts.

"You're too much of a worrywart, " Hungary laughed. "The useless people like Romania and Prussia will be by the boardless areas so everyone else will be safe!"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Prussia grumbled. "If I get sucked out the windows I'll be sure to drag you out with me!"

"It's best not to think about it!" Ukraine smiled.

Even without Russia the house was scary in a different kind of sense.

Prussia and the other nations under the darkness and against the harshness of the storm boarded up the windows faster than he thought. Well, it was mostly because of Prussia but he had to act humble for the sake of the other nations.

During one of his trips, he began to hear a faint sound in the depths of the shed. Was it a ghost!? Prussia cautiously flashed his flashlight. His light caught the glimpse of something, a small blob heading straight for him.

Prussia prepared to bolt until he instantly recognized the creature and old friend.

A small yellow chick.

"Weren't you supposed to be with West!?"

Prussia quickly grabbed the chick. His fur was completely drenched. He hid the bird in his inside coat pocket, and went on with his task.

He'll find a way to deal with him once things calm down.

As he passed by Lithuania, the little chick began chirping causing Prussia to freeze.

"What was that?"

"That uh...was me!" Prussia stammered. "You know because I'm a free bird and all that jazz!"

"You're a terrible liar."

Lithuania effortlessly opened up Prussia's jacket. The chick was in plain view oblivious to Prussia's plight.

Caught, Prussia decided to confess. "I found him in the shed...what's the big deal anyway!?"

"Put it back in the shed!"

"I can't ditch him outside in this storm! Besides, isn't he super cute?"

Prussia proudly gestured to the chick in his hands. Lithuania paused for a brief second. He almost faltered before regaining his composure.

"I agree that he's cute, but that's all the more reason not to have him around Russia!"

Both Prussia and Lithuania knew that Russia had a bad history with animals. While he did have a cat, it was rarely home and could hardly be considered an indoor cat. Most animals ran away from Russia as if they could sense the true depths of his heart.

Poland overheard the duo's disagreement.

"As long as he takes responsibility for it, shouldn't it be fine?" Poland said. "If he gets in trouble with Russia then it's his own fault."

"You're right…" Lithuania said. Prussia was annoyed how much Lithuania valued Poland's opinion over his. "Once you get an opportunity get him out of here as soon as possible."

Lithuania stroked the chick for a moment until he saw Prussia's smug grin. He retracted his hand hurrying off to do something else.

Soon everyone secured the house. Thanks to Romania's black art candles, the nations could at least see. All that was left was waiting for Russia, however, the hours waned on as the nations grew hungrier.

Russia wouldn't be all too happy if they started eating without him. Russia didn't care if he was late, that's the kind of unreasonable man he was.

Lithuania wanted to ease the increasing tension.

"I'll make some coffee!" Lithuania got up and headed to the kitchen with a flashlight.

Prussia's stomach arched painfully, "Damn Russia...I bet he's probably eaten already and is just torturing us for fun."

"I got an idea!" Romania cheerfully grinned. He gestured to a crack between two boards. The nations caught sight of what appeared to be a lighting rod near the house. "Someone can get a signal by climbing that thing. Most of the lighting will go into the rod and then we can call Russia!"

"That's a terrible idea!" Hungary spatted.

"Oh yeah? Do you have anything better?"

Hungary grimace.

Prussia snorted, "Who's going to do such a stupid plan?"

Everyone looked at him. He felt his blood go cold.

"Why is everyone signaling me out!?"

"It's kind of your fault we're, like, in Russia's house, so it's only fair." Poland shrugged.

Prussia gulped, unable to completely disagree.

"Still...just holding that thing will burn my hands off, won't it?" Prussia said.

"It's not like you'll die!" Romania smiled. "Only the cool Prussia can do it!"

"If you put it that way, it can't be helped! Kesesese!"

Bulgaria realized Romania could be a bit scary too.

Lithuania heard a strange chirping noise from beneath him. He looked down to see Prussia's bird tugging at his pants.

It never parted from Prussia which could only mean bad news.

Lithuania rushed outside to see a strange sight. The nations gathering around a lighting rod. He soon spotted Prussia on top of the rod flailing a cordless phone like a maniac.

He felt his heart stop.

"What are you doing you idiot!?" Lithuania shouted.

"Trying to get a signal, duh!" Prussia said.

"You're going to hurt yourself!"

Prussia ignored Lithuania. He wasn't strong like he used to be, but he should be able to endure a mortal blow, right?

"It's gonna take more than some thunder to kill me-"

A strong crackle hit the rod. Everything in his body began to burn as if he was on fire.

Prussia let go, falling into some nearby shrubs. Lithuania and the others rushed over to a bruised up Prussia.

"I told you, you'd get hurt!"

Prussia smugly raised the phone, "I got the signal…"

All the nations were in shock.

Prussia could barely hear their voices. His vision was blurry, his ears rang, and his entire body hurt. Maybe he actually did die?

Surrounded by nations who hated his guts seemed like a fitting end.

I leave all my awesomeness to you, West.

He felt a rough hand pat his head. He could faintly hear a voice in his ear.

"You did a great job."

Hearing those words, Prussia fell asleep.

Prussia aggressively mashed his potatoes as Brandenburg watched on. His younger brother had always been an oddball, but today when he came over for their meeting he was clearly in a bad mood.

Brandenburg thought making his brother a meal would cheer him up, but they seemed to only give him a target for his rage.

"I'm tired of polish dishes! German dishes are clearly the best!"

"Right..." Brandenburg awkwardly agreed "Now about the treaty-."

"Brother, listen to this!" Prussia interrupted. "I asked Lithuania to make me a German dish one time and you know what he says? 'Poland wouldn't like that'. I don't care what Poland likes! We always eat what he wants to eat, it's super annoying!"

"Uh-huh." Brandenburg didn't know what to say. He just wanted to get their meeting started, "Lithuania the pagan kid with the dopey face, right?"

"Yeah him!"

"This meeting is about Poland, so please keep your love affairs to yourself."

Prussia choked on his potatoes.

"He's not my lover!"

"Right, care to explain the one time I caught you two all over each other?"

That was a rather awkward moment for Brandenburg. Witnessing his brother and his former target embracing in broad daylight.

"We were just messing around! It's nothing serious!" Prussia insisted.

"I don't care what you do in your private time as long as it doesn't interfere with business. Considering the Wehlau-Bromberg treaty, it might be best to cut off any unnecessary loose ends."

Prussia found himself unable to say anything back.

A part of him didn't want to think about boring political stuff, however, his brother was right. If he wanted to help the Holy Roman Empire, he would have to become stronger. He hated working under Poland anyway. There was nothing keeping him at that house.

Suddenly a flash of Lithuania appeared in Prussia's mind. He shook it off.

Prussia thinking about that guy is pure nonsense.

Prussia hated walking back from Brandenburg's place to Poland's house. Fourtunely, that won't be a problem once the treaty is finally settled.

He opened the front door intending to head straight to his room, but heard a commotion in the kitchen. He was met face to face with Lithuania who was making dinner.

"Oh you're back. Are you done being mad?"

"Don't make me sound like a child, and yes I'm still mad!"

Lithuania rolled his eyes. He clearly didn't respect him. Maybe it would be best if he did stay at Brandenburg's place full-time.

He prepared to stomp out the kitchen until he noticed a particular smell.

The smell of meat and potatoes. A nearby in german cookbook also caught Prussia's attention.

"Are you making Hasenpfeffer?"

"I got it for cheap," Lithuania avoided eye contact with Prussia. "It's not the best…but now you can't complain anymore!"

Lithuania nervously stirred expecting Prussia to laugh at his awful cooking attempt.

Instead, Prussia wordlessly hugged him from behind.

"What are you doing!?"

Lithuania attempted to push him off but Prussia gripped him tighter.

"Man this sucks," Prussia muttered to himself.

Lithuania didn't understand what Prussia meant.

At least not yet anyways.