Hello, readers. It has been…a long time since I've worked on this story. (Four years, actually!) Long story short, besides becoming active in other fandoms, my anxiety and depression spiked so terribly (and so constantly) that I haven't written anything, be it fanfiction or original pieces, since 2017. And on top of the anxiety and depression, I ended up with PTSD, and later learned I also have PMDD (though that one is medical/hormonal in nature) on top of that. So it's been quite rough for me these past few years, to be honest. But I recently got my own apartment, and that alone has been so freeing and relaxing, to the point where I have been drawing more than before, and I even started writing again. I honestly feel more at-peace than I have in years.
Anywho, that's enough of me talking about myself. Welcome to the next chapter of Duality! I love how this little oneshot expanded into a full crossover universe, haha.
Poor Elts'll still be out of commission, but one of the other members of her friend group will get the spotlight, for once.
Hungary and Estonia are part of the 'Elts Meri Defense Squad', haha.
Also, if you prefer to read fics on Ao3, I am on there as sardonic_pigeon. This fic, as well as my others, will be updated on that site, too.
*Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya. Elts, Liene, Liutas, and the other OCs belong to me.*
/
Installment Thirteen
Liene and Liutas sat with their mentors at the hotel's cafeteria, relaxing (well, at least as best as they could) and eating dinner. The other test subjects and Nations were doing the same, so the cafeteria was noisier than Liene would have preferred.
Speaking louder than she normally would, Liene turned to Liutas. "Do you know what's keeping Elts so long? She is usually so punctual."
Before Liutas could respond, Latvia added his two cents. "I don't know your friend well enough, but Eduard's the same way, and he's not here, either. Something seems…off, to me." He tugged on the bottom of his sweater, looking a little nervous. "I can't explain it, but I feel like something is very wrong…"
Noticing something, Liutas narrowed her eyes, her body stiffening. "I think you're right. Notice who else isn't here?"
Lithuania tentatively placed a hand on his protégé's now-tense shoulders. "If something's bothering you, you should let us know; we're here to help you."
Scanning the whole room, Liene quickly realized what Liutas meant. "Shit…" she muttered under her breath, at exactly the same time Latvia swore.
"That tall jerk's not here." Liene wrung her hands. "This is bad…"
"I don't know who you're talking about, but neither is Russia." Latvia tugged on his shirt harder.
"Ivan Korovichenko." Liutas's voice was uncharacteristically cold. "Even though he helped everyone out in the lab, before that, well, to be frank, he treated us like shit. Looking back, it was full-on abuse. And I'm ashamed to say that I just took it. But only so he wouldn't go after the others. But that didn't work, and…" Liutas let the end of her sentence trail off, not meeting anyone's eyes.
Lithuania gently rested his hand on top of the blonde's, which was now slightly shaking. "So you think that this Ivan boy has something to do with why Elts is late?"
"Of course he is!" Liene cut in, frowning. "Because that's what he does: ruins our lives. I'm not unobservant; I saw the way he was looking at us during the meeting. I'm used to his stares, but the way he kept glaring at Elts? He started something with her, I'm sure of it. Let's just hope he doesn't still have that flashlight…" Not able to help herself, Liene laughed, though it wasn't because the situation was funny; no, it was nervous laughter.
Latvia tilted his head at her, looking slightly alarmed. "What?"
If she wasn't so worried about her friend, Liene would have made the joke about her mentor looking like a frightened rabbit. Instead, she merely said, "Let's just say I said the wrong thing to him, and I got a nice concussion courtesy of an impromptu weapon. A crime of opportunity, you could say. But it was my fault, he said, always my fault. I've got a nifty scar from it, too, see?" She pulled a handful of her hair to the side, exposing the pink line of a scar that marred her left temple.
Latvia looked like he was going to cry, while Lithuania looked angry. But before either of them could say anything, a silver-haired Nation strode up to their table.
Liene hated herself for it, but she could feel herself blush as the boy met her eyes. Oh no, he's cute. To her, he looked like how she imagined a fairytale prince. She assumed he was the personification of one of the Nordic countries, since all of her friends from the region sat with him at the meeting, though she wasn't sure which one. Though her bet was either Iceland or Norway.
"Hey Iceland, what's the matter?" Latvia made room for the boy, who sat down next to him.
Aha, so I was right! Liene liked that she was able to deduce his identity correctly. Especially since this now gave her something less traumatizing to think about than Ivan's abuse of her, or everything she experienced in the lab.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when Iceland spoke.
"I think the Estonian girl is in trouble."
"What?" Liene's stomach churned.
"I don't know what happened, but a few hours ago, I took a wrong turn, and I happened to catch a glimpse of her walking down the hallway. She didn't look all there, and she was limping and grabbing her torso. But before I could call out to her, Denmark found me and pulled me back to the other Nordics, since we had to go over some meeting notes. I haven't seen her since."
Liene was alarmed. "Liu, we have to find her! That doesn't sound good at all!"
She was about to get up, to rush out of the room, but she paused when she saw Estonia and a pretty brunette Nation walk into the cafeteria. And they looked angry.
/
Trying to push the unsettling interaction with Ivan Korovichenko out of his mind, Estonia walked with Hungary into the cafeteria. The plan was to grab some food for Elts and themselves, then head back up to his room so they could check on her.
But that plan was dashed when he saw Lithuania waving him (and by association, Hungary too) over to his table. Not wanting to ignore his friend—despite the pressing circumstances—he and Hungary joined the small group.
Before he could say anything, Liene spoke. "Have you seen Elts?" She nervously wrung her hands. "Iceland said that he saw her a few hours ago, but she looked hurt."
Hungary gave Estonia a knowing look, and he inwardly cursed. Now he had no choice but to tell them what happened.
"Elts is currently in my room" he began, trying to phrase his words wisely. He gave up when he realized there was no easy way to say it, no way to make it sound less horrible than it was. "I'm not going to lie to you; she's hurt badly."
The noise Liene made was quiet, though it was caught between a gasp and a whimper. Liutas instinctively put a hand on her shoulder.
"It was him, wasn't it?" Liene's voice was so quiet that Estonia leaned in closer to hear her properly. "He was glaring at her the whole meeting. This…this is my fault." She pressed her hand tightly to her mouth, looking sick.
"Why on Earth would this be your fault?" Hungary took the empty seat next to the frightened girl, concern evident in her eyes.
"I spurned his advances. He has feelings for me, but I cannot deal with him near me. Not after what he did to us. But also because he looks like the spitting image of his father, and that man…he…" Unable to finish the sentence, she curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her stomach. "But Ivan didn't listen; he still thinks that if he persists, I will accept his feelings. But I could never." Her voice got angry. "In his messed-up mind, he sees Elts as competition, since she won't let him near me. He didn't like how close we were sitting during the meeting, I'm sure of it. So I bet he confronted Elts when she was alone, after the meeting. And he hurt her. What did he do?"
Estonia filed that disturbing bit of information away in his mind; he would ask Elts the nature of the encounter when she was well enough to speak.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Iceland spoke.
"Ivan? Are you talking about Russia?"
"No." Liutas took over, since it was clear Liene no longer had any interest in talking. "Ivan Korovichenko, one of our classmates."
"And a colossal dickbag!" Hungary wrinkled her nose.
"Wait, you spoke with him?" Liutas turned to the green-eyed woman.
"And gave him a black eye, too!" Estonia could sense Hungary's pride in the action. "He didn't understand that what he did was wrong. I know Eduard here was trying to be discreet about her injuries, but that asshole broke six of your friend's ribs and cracked two. One of them punctured her lung, so I had to drain it so she wouldn't drown in her own blood. And on top of that, whatever he did gave her a concussion, as well."
Unable to hold it back anymore, but clearly not wanting the rest of the cafeteria to see, Liene turned to the person closest to her and cried into their shoulder. That person happened to be Latvia, who looked incredibly surprised at first, though he soon wrapped his arms around his protégé.
"This is not your fault," Estonia heard him murmur, sounding more authoritative than he usually ever did. "Do not blame yourself for the actions of someone who abused you." To Estonia, it almost sounded almost like Latvia was reassuring himself of this along with Liene.
Noticing that the Nordic table, as well as the one with the Americans, Canadians, and Britons, was starting to look their way, Estonia turned to his friends. "I think it would be best if we continued this conversation in my room. That way we can discuss things further without prying eyes, and Liutas and Liene can visit with Elts. I just need to grab some dinner for her, as well as something for Hungary and myself, and then we can go, if that's okay with you."
"While you all do that, I think I will notify the other Nordics, if you think that would be prudent," said Iceland. "I know our protégés get along with yours, and will probably want to know what's going on. Ingveldur—my own protégé—said that the Estonian—Elts? That's her name?—is quite close with all of ours, in particular."
"I think that's fair. Just let Denmark and Finland know that they should keep this to themselves, at least for the moment. I know they can be hot-blooded and protective, but let's give Elts some discretion at the moment, and let her decide what she wants to do when she wakes up," Estonia answered.
Iceland nodded, and took his leave from the table.
"Take your time getting food," Latvia said softly. "I think Liene needs some time to get her breathing back to normal." He kindly rubbed his protégé's back. The girl was still shivering, and Estonia could tell that her breaths were shaky and shallow.
While Latvia was occupied, and Lithuania and Liutas were having a quiet, but serious, conversation amongst themselves, Estonia and Hungary got up to grab their dinner.
"I don't understand why no one helped those girls back at their school, before the lab." Hungary was clearly still angry. "They aren't Nations like us; there's no historical excuse to fall back on for why they were treated like shit. Istenem, the small one thinks this is all her fault, and it sounds like she has been told this enough times to take it to heart! Why didn't the teachers do anything?"
"I don't know, Erzsébet," Estonia was tired, so tired. The more he learned about the Baltic test subjects, the more he was reminded of himself, as well as Latvia and Lithuania. "But while there's nothing that can be done about the past, we can help them, now. They're not alone anymore. And I'll be damned if anyone tries to hurt them again, or tries to justify their treatment, or their pain."
Hungary nodded. "Couldn't have said it better, myself."
They grabbed their food, as well as some bland but filling items for Elts, silently, then headed back to the table.
"Are you ready to go?" Estonia directed this more towards Liene than to anyone else.
"Yes." She slowly got up, though she winced as she started to take some steps. Almost reflexively, she grabbed Latvia's hand to steady herself.
"Wouldn't you rather be guided by Liutas? You've known her longer than me," Latvia blurted out.
"You were closer. Plus, you smell like home. It keeps me grounded." Liene spoke no more after that. Latvia made sure to walk a little slower than he usually did, to accommodate for his protégé's limp.
Almost sensing the question he knew Estonia had, Latvia quietly spoke. "Her surgery is right after the conference is over. She's been enduring the pain this whole time. Even now."
Estonia winced, though he admired the girl's perseverance.
Lost in thought, the walk seemed to go faster than usual, and soon, he found himself at his door. Swiping his hotel key, he opened the door, letting himself in before holding it open for everyone else.
"Elts?" he called. "Are you awake?"
/
Back in the cafeteria, Iceland quickly, and quietly, explained to his fellow Nordics why the Baltic table looked so distressed. And, like he predicted, the reactions were mostly explosive, though to their credit, it was done quieter than usual.
"I'm going to kill him." Taaveti Kemppainen, the Finnish test subject, spoke calmly, but matter-of-factly.
"Now let's not be too hasty," Finland responded, though the usual warmth in his eyes was replaced with anger. "I know she means a lot to you, but I doubt she'd want you to get in trouble for starting a fight that would end in murder, even if it was merely temporary."
"You're right." Taaveti sighed. "I just hate him. I hate him so much. I tried helping Elts and her friends back at school, before Longevity. But no one listened. No one cared. And then I found out that so many of the teachers worked for Longevity. And that our whole school experience was a damn social experiment! Elts and her friends were bullied so badly because all the adults wanted to see just how far Ivan would go. It was a show to them. Well, they got a blockbuster hit, all right; he went too far one day and Liene—that's the Latvian girl—ended up with a concussion due to blunt force trauma to the head. She—"
The boy was cut off by the sound of metal cracking. Iceland turned toward the noise, and saw that Denmark had snapped his fork in half.
"The more I hear about this whole thing, the madder I get," the spiky-haired Nation muttered.
"My thoughts exactly," agreed Iceland.
"So what should we do about it?" inquired Ingveldur Sveinsdóttir, Iceland's protégé.
"I have a plan." Denmark's smile was cold. "We add some Nation rules to our 'Nation Statutes' document."
"But we don't have a formal document for rules!" Finland looked incredulously towards his friend.
"We know that. But that Russian asscravat doesn't."
"That's actually a smart plan, surprisingly," Norway stated. "There's only one hitch: Russia knows we don't have a rules document, too. Of course he'll tell his protégé that if Ivan K. asks him about it."
"Then let's just make it look like good ol' Ivan B. is in on it, too…"
/
And that's the end of this chapter! I hope it was worth the four-year wait! (Is anyone still reading this?)
This adds some different perspectives to the story: Liene and the Nordics. While most of the story will still be alternating between Estonia's and Elts' perspectives, there will still be little interludes like this that give some insights to what some other characters are thinking.
Poor Liene in this D: This chapter really showcases how her way of thinking was warped by what she experienced at school, even before being traumatized at the lab. She deserves all the hugs kaskdhfjsdhf.
Latvia is such an awkward mentor, but he's trying his best. (He's being very sweet, here, though.) He sees a lot of himself in Liene, so he's trying to comfort her the way Estonia and Lithuania comforted him. (Also, Estonia is correct in his observation; the line about Liene's abuse not being her fault is also him reminding himself that the abuse he himself went through was not his fault, either, even though he still struggles with it.)
The Nordics joining the Elts Meri Defense Squad makes me laugh, especially Denmark. But at the same time, I can see him reacting this way. (It's probably obvious, but Denmark is one of my faves, XD) Like he doesn't even know Elts, but he's still pissed off by how she was treated. (Idk, I just really like protective!Denmark, XD. I wrote him this way in TWL towards Estonia, though that friendship actually blossomed into a sweet romance, in that fic.)
Taaveti is a very sweet character. But mess with his friends, and there will be hell to pay. (And while Elts is technically his ex, the relationship ended due to the trauma of being experimented on over and over again, so there are no hard feelings. The romantic chemistry between them is gone, but a deep, platonic bond remains.)
AAAND, the 'people Liene thinks are attractive/cute' list gets another addition: Iceland X'D
(So far, her list is Elts, Latvia, and Iceland. The funny thing is, all three of them look completely different, so it's not like she has a specific type.)
See you next chapter!