Welcome to Chapter Two of 'Duality'! This continues the interactions between Estonia and Elts Meri.

I almost feel weird writing one of my own characters from an original story into an already-established series, but it helps me de-stress, so I figured 'why not'. It's also an interesting way to explore both characters.

Hopefully, Estonia isn't too bad in this; it's sort of weird writing him as a mentor-figure to Elts. (At this point, I'm just guessing how he'd react to her.)

*Once again, Hetalia is not mine, but Elts Meri and everyone else from her world is.*

Installment Two

The rest of the ride to Eduard's home, as well as the time they spent unpacking her stuff, was a blur to Elts. After her breakdown in the car, she was too drained to even speak. Not to mention, she was embarrassed by the fact that she latched onto Eduard for comfort, even though she just met him. It was obvious that she wasn't doing well, so the bespectacled boy told her to lie down in the guest room for awhile, especially since it was evening, anyway.

As she climbed the stairs, her mother's face suddenly appeared in her mind. "You're weak!" the woman hissed, causing Elts to bite her lip. "It's been, what? A month since you were liberated from the facility? And yet you still can't function? Typical Elts, you can't even do this right. Even Liene is up and about, and she had organs ripped out her while she was still conscious!"

"Shut up! We all suffered," Elts muttered, trying to force the sneering woman's face from her mind. She succeeded, but Feia Marinova took her place. "Poor little EE. You were supposed to be the star student. But you're just a failure. You couldn't save anyone, not even yourself."

Stop. Please. I did my best… Elts sank to the floor, a hand instinctively covering her throat. After a few moments—though it felt like an eternity—she took a deep breath and composed herself. Cracking her neck and narrowing her eyes, she climbed the rest of the stairs and threw open the first door she saw. Mr. von Bo—Eduard—said that the door closest to the stairs was my room, so I guess this is it. She glanced at the plain blue walls and neatly-made bed before flopping down on it, exhausted. She thought that it was odd that none of her stuff was in the room with her, but she was too tired to care. Shrugging to herself, she wrapped the blankets around her, creating a cocoon.

After a few minutes, she began to feel stifled, so she peeled off her turtleneck and slacks, tossing them to the floor. Because she was dressed in hospital gowns for so long, clothing still felt a bit constricting on her, so she only slept in her underwear whenever she could. She knew that Eduard was busy with his paperwork, so she figured she'd have time to take a nap and redress herself before he let her know a late dinner was ready.

Wrapping the blankets tighter around her, she closed her aching eyes and allowed sleep to overtake her.

/

After Estonia settled into his office, he suppressed a groan when he realized that he forgot the flash drive he needed in his room. Once his laptop booted up, he ran up the stairs. But as soon as he entered his room, he realized that something was wrong. Elts was curled up on his bed, her face looking distressed, even in sleep. The shine of sweat was visible on her forehead, and he could see that she was biting her lower lip tightly.

He wondered why she was in his bed, but he pushed that thought away in favor of waking her up. "Miss Meri?" he tentatively asked. When there was no response, he shook her shoulder lightly. The response was explosive.

"No more!" She shrieked in English, kicking the blankets off of her and pushing herself against the wall. "Please. I can't take any more…"

Estonia noticed that she was only in her underwear, but that didn't faze him. Instead, he focused on the fact that his protégé's eyes were glassy, almost like she was looking at something that wasn't there. He recognized that look; Latvia used to stare that way after his 'punishments'. He knew what he had to do, even though he didn't like it.

"I am so sorry, Miss Meri." The blond drew his hand back and slapped Elts across the face.

After a few moments, the copper-haired girl shakily brought her own hand to her face, her eyes finally clearing. "Mr. von Bock?" she finally asked, dropping English for her native Estonian, though her voice was barely above a whisper. "What are you doing in here?"

"This is my room."

Elts' face lost the last bit of color it held. "Shit."

"It's okay; I do not think my directions were clear enough." Since Estonia was no longer focused on preventing another breakdown, he was finally able to look at her properly. His breath caught in his throat when he realized how thin she was. Her thick clothing projected the illusion of health, but now? Her bones, especially her ribs and shoulders, jutted out in ways that looked painful. The fact that she was able to not only walk properly, but carry boxes and suitcases adequately, was a marvel to him.

Once he got past the shock of her emaciated figure, he noticed that she was covered in scars of various types, as well, with some still looking a bit fresh. One that stood out to him in particular was a reddened slash across her throat.

"Are you ashamed of me?" Elts stated, not meeting the blond's eyes. "The experiments were supposed to make our healing speed up, but it didn't work on me. I was the only one it failed with. I should have healed faster; everyone else did. But I'm not."

Estonia could guess that she was referring to not only her physical state, but her emotional state as well. At this moment, it really dawned on him that she was one of his citizens, and therefore, a part of him. And she was suffering because of it. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around his protégé, pulling her close to him.

"Why would I be ashamed of you? You were put through so much, and you didn't deserve any of it. You suffered greatly, but here you are. I know it doesn't seem like you're healing, but you are. Trust me. I know from experience."

As Elts sobbed into his shirt, Estonia noticed a particular set of scars etched into her upper back. 'Honor student'? What? Without thinking, he rested his hand on top of the nearly-healed gashes, eliciting a gasp from Elts. She jerked away from his touch, and, for a second, he saw Lithuania in her place.

Feeling stupid, especially since his friend had the same reaction whenever the scars on his back were touched, he removed his hand immediately. "I'm sorry."

Elts merely shrugged before leaning into his arms once more. "This is indecent," she eventually whispered, seeming to catch onto the fact that she was only wearing underwear around someone she barely knew. "I am so sorry."

"Don't be." And Estonia meant it. The last thing on his mind was how much—or how little—clothing the copper-haired girl was wearing. All he cared about was making her feel safe and secure. He only knew the basics of what happened to her during her time at the facility, but from the nature of the scars, as well as her emotional state, he figured it was worse than anything he could imagine.

Everything was silent for awhile until Elts looked up at him.

"Who are you?" Though there was still some fear clouding Elts' eyes, Estonia could see the wheels turning in her head, trying to theorize why someone so young had such a high government position. He knew he stated that he was a personification before they left Old Town, but he wasn't sure if she processed it.

"I'm a friend," he finally answered. He would save the rest of his answer for another time, when the girl would most likely process it better. "And I'm here to help you."

Of course, Eduard has the last, dramatic line of this chapter, haha.