Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. This fanfic is loosely based off of historical events. Don't use this as a history reference, as it is fiction.
Hi guys! I managed to edit about this far into this story, so I hope that you like it!
-A year later-
Maria laid atop of Ivan's bed. A wooden drawing board was in front of her and various different types of pencils were strewn across his sheets. A pencil dangled from her mouth while the pencil in her hand was busy darkening the lines of her sketch. Maria hummed to herself as she worked and absently tugged on her hair. Just a little more, she thought, just a little more until she finished. As she finalized her drawing, she heard heavy steps along the hall. The heavy steps along with the strange change in the temperature of the air, Maria knew who was coming.
"Ivan, what do you think of my drawing?" Maria called out over her shoulder. Ivan, who had been passing by his room, stopped and swung in to take a peek. His large form cast a shadow over her drawing, but Maria didn't mind. Ivan stared down the drawing, seeming to judge every line and erased mark before he broke out into a grin and confiscated the piece of paper, much to Maria's displeasure.
"Ivan!" She exclaimed as she tried to snatch her paper from Ivan's gloved fingers.
The Russian broadly smiled and walked over to the wall next to his bed and pinned the drawing atop of the others. He held Maria back by the shirt and took a moment to appreciate the hundreds of drawings that covered his room.
Out of context, it was akin to an insane asylum or something from a horror movie. Hideous, childish drawings covered his wall, bits of embroidered cloth were pinned here and there, and there was a large brownish blotch in one section of his room from where Anastasia had tripped and spilled her drink all over his wall. But when Ivan looked at it, he was overcome with nostalgia.
Ivan could visibly see their older drawings and embroidered cloths were crude at best, but they were covered by their more refined work. He realized how much time had passed since he had bandaged Maria's blistered fingers. Especially now, Maria's beautiful lifelike sketches of the outside garden sharply contrasted against her green blob of a tree.
"You've grown up." Ivan said more to himself than to anyone. Maria blushed and and swatted Ivan's arm.
"I grew up a long time ago Ivan. I'm seventeen now!" She said, slightly exasperated.
Ivan laughed and hung his arm around Maria's shoulder. She had grown to become quite beautiful. Her expressive blue eyes had a soft and playful impression. Now that she was older, she paid more attention to her hair and her clothes. Ivan put weight on her broad shoulders, making her giggle.
"You have come a long way from your triangles and circles." Ivan complimented, he pointed to one of her earliest drawings for emphasis. "…It seems like it was just yesterday when you ran naked down the-"
Ivan couldn't finish the rest his sentence, because Maria pushed him back onto his bed. Her face had a red tint and she crossed her arms.
"Don't talk about such embarrassing things!" She hissed.
Ivan leaned back against the wall and crossed his legs, "And so strong too." Ivan teased.
His purple eyes locked with Maria's indignant blue eyes and she broke off first. She plopped back down in the chair at his desk and swiped a fresh sheet of paper from his drawers.
"You're awfully playful today." Maria mumbled with a hint of annoyance as she settled back down onto his bed.
"That's because he saw Alexei today." Anastasia swung into the doorway. Ivan raised an eyebrow, Anastasia was like a little mouse. Fifteen years old, and she could still somehow make her way through the palace unnoticed. Ivan nodded his head, "Yes, I was able to see Alexei today. But it's also because a certain man is gone at the moment." Ivan's crude remark could only refer to a single man. The man.
At this, Maria turned around and tapped her pencil on the edge of her drawing board. "Why do you dislike Grigory so much?" Maria asked, as much baffled as she was curious as to why Ivan hated their newest resident so much.
Ivan shrugged in reply, and looked to the ceiling. "It isn't a crime to hate someone." Ivan casually replied.
Anastasia visibly rolled her eyes and took a seat in Ivan's chair. She rested her chin on the back of it and pouted, "But why?" Anastasia pressed in steed of her sister. She too had become curious as to why Ivan avoided Rasputin so much. Sure, Rasputin looked a bit strange, and he was a little weird, but he meant well and was very nice as far as she could tell. Ivan shrugged and remained silent, much to the frustration of the prying sisters. They pried and pried, but Ivan remained tight lipped.
"Well, he is not a good looking man." Ivan said at a length to alleviate the frustrated atmosphere. Maria had put away her drawing board and she rolled her eyes.
"Please Ivan, I'm sure you've seen worse." Maria retorted. Ivan shook his head, "I must say that in my entire life, he must be the second ugliest person I have seen." Ivan laughed at the end.
Anastasia snickered as well, but Maria threw her eraser at Ivan in rebuke. "That's a terrible thing to say!" Maria scolded, but she couldn't keep a smile from her face.
"What was a terrible thing to say?" Alexandra said from Ivan's doorway. Anastasia and Ivan slid off of the bed to greet the Tsarina and Anastasia quickly got up from the chair. Alexandra greeted Anastasia and Maria with a kiss, and Ivan with a nod.
"Oh, Ivan was just telling us stories." Anastasia said in reply. Alexandra hugged her two girls close and smiled, but it was slightly strained.
"I see, what kind of stories?" She asked distractedly, glancing out of Ivan's door every once and a while.
"You know, back when Ivan was our age." Anastasia said smoothly.
"Oh, sounds interesting." Ivan stiffened when he heard a distinctly male voice from outside of his doorway. He internally groaned and hid his disdain for the man outside of his door.
Alexandra glanced at Ivan before hesitantly inviting him in, much to Ivan's annoyance. Rasputin walked in and gave the two girls a hug as well. "Precious little ones, how was your day?" Rasputin asked. While they filled him in, Ivan exchanged looks with Alexandra.
Get him out
Ivan's smiling face seemed to say.
I will (I don't know why you hate him so much, you need to be on better terms with him) Alexandra's worried, yet annoyed gaze seemed to reply. There was another emotion on her face that Ivan couldn't quite read.
"Ah, Vanya, I hope that your day was well?" Rasputin walked over and crossed himself before he shook Ivan's hand.
Ivan had the sudden urge to punch him. His name sounded disgusting in Rasputin's mouth and they weren't that close. Why not just call him by his given name? And why did he have to cross himself?
Ivan made sure to give him an extra firm squeeze with his hand before he let go.
"Yes, it was fine." Ivan politely responded.
As Rasputin chatted with the girls, Alexandra made small talk with Ivan. They talked about trivial things. The weather, their relatives, the war. It all seemed so far away, Ivan thought. The blood that was being spilled outside of these walls and the constant echo of voices crying for revolution were only audible to him. Only he knew the horror of this war, but it was easy to ignore it in the safety of these walls.
Ivan had casually raised his concerns to Alexandra, but Alexandra was overall unfamiliar with the nation's sixth sense, and he couldn't fault her for being skeptical. Such a thing was nearly nonexistent when they were on fairly good terms with each other several years ago.
Ivan had telegraphed Nikolai a few times with his concerns, but Nikolai was apparently very unconcerned. Well, Ivan had thought, he had done his part.
"Ah, have you seen Alexei lately?" Alexandra asked.
Ivan raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Yes, I saw him this morning. He seems to be doing much better." Ivan remarked. He didn't miss the quick glances Rasputin and Alexandra gave each other before they finally decided to leave.
"You two are nearly grown women, it's improper for you to linger around in Ivan's room." Alexandra lightly scolded her daughters. The two promised to leave soon, and apparently satisfied, Alexandra kissed her two daughters before leaving.
Once they were gone, the two of them laid down on Ivan's bed with their feet dangling off the sides.
"They probably went to see Alexei." Anastasia said while she played with a lock of her hair. Ivan crossed his arms and his mind seemed to be elsewhere as he tried to put together what that was all about. Anastasia dramatically sighed and hopped off of the bed.
"…Should I go with them?" Anastasia suggested. She knew that Ivan was always uneasy when Rasputin visited Alexei, but she didn't know why he was so tense. Anastasia had a hunch that the strange magic Ivan used somehow conflicted with Rasputin's holy magic, but that was simply conjecture- it was a wild guess based on nothing. Or at least she hoped so.
Ivan looked up at her and gave her a nod. "Please. Thank you, Natsya."
Anastasia slid off the bed and scampered after the two. Maria lazily picked up a book and tried to hide her envious gaze after Anastasia. She wanted to know the secret they seemed to share, but she knew that she would never be told.
Meanwhile Ivan sat at his desk and absently twirled a pen in his gloved hand.
"… I was a fool back then, Matvey. I don't know what I was hoping to accomplish by hiding the existence of magic." Ivan stared at the shelves of liquor behind the bar.
"By hiding my magic from them, I also doomed them to being deceived by Rasputin. In addition to this I lazily protected the family and children. I made it convenient them for me to abandon them to the mercy of Lenin.
" I was selfish, I wanted to stay confined and ignorant to what was happening. Damn it Matvey, I could have done so much." Ivan's grip on the wooden top of the bar tightened and the wood audibly cracked. Although the cracking and splintering would could be heard across the room, the dull drone of voices never stopped. They were used to scenes like this. Ivan took a few deep breaths before he let go of the bar and absently wiped his hand on his coat. His smile, his damn smile never left his face.
After a length of silence, Ivan continued. "I later found out that Rasputin, under the supervision of Alexandra, had been using his magic to counteract mine." Ivan shook his head as he spoke, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying.
"He claimed to have detected a "demonic chain" to Alexei- which was my magic. I told him that he had to stop meddling, but he then accused me of casting the magic- which was true." Ivan added.
"But I became enraged, partially because I had to play the part, but also because he accused me of trying to hurt Alexei. Alexandra, in turn, believed that I had been insulted by Rasputin and tried to deescalate our situation.
"I told him that he was an ignorant and false starlet…" Ivan's smile, for a second, dropped before he quickly put it back on again. "And then he threw holy water on me Matvey. The sheer ridiculousness of it, can you imagine? Salty water being thrown in my face, and he even had the nerve to cross himself right after. Had Alexandra not been there, I would have snapped his neck."
The entire room went dead silent. Alexei, Anastasia, Alexandra, Rasputin, and Ivan were motionless in the middle of the room. Water dripped down Ivan's hair, and the nation's smile was frozen on his face. This disgusting, salty water seeped through Ivan's coat and dripped onto the floor. A minute seemed to pass, and Rasputin expectantly waited for something to happen.
Ivan wiped his face with the sleeve of his coat and looked around for a towel. Once he dried his hair and neck with one of the towels near Alexei's bed, his purple eyes slid over to Rasputin.
"So? What did you think would happen?" Ivan's voice had a dangerously light tone to it.
Rasputin crossed himself and diverted his gaze. "I am glad, my friend, that my suspicions proved false-" Ivan twisted the towel and smashed Rasputin's cross right out of his hand with it. The wooden necklace splintered against the floor, and the priest cried out in surprise. Ivan went up to him so quick, that Alexandra thought that he was going to kill him.
"I am not a demon, I am not the devil, I cannot be killed by such foolish methods. I am not trying to kill Alexei, I have been with the Tsar's family for generations, and you dare insult me like this?" Ivan said in a low voice in Rasputin's ear. Ivan grit his teeth and shoved Rasputin away.
"You have ten minutes to leave this place, or else I will personally rip your throat out and feed you to the dogs." Ivan said as a matter of fact.
"You will do no such thing! Rasputin had good intentions." Alexandra quickly came to defend the starlet, but she dared not physically intervene. Rasputin even made a move to put a hand on Ivan's shoulder, but Ivan shoved Rasputin against the wall. Ivan took a moment to compose himself. He willed the heat that rose in his ears to lessen, and he was quick to put his usual smile back onto his face. Ivan turned to Alexandra and looked at her with a disappointed and angry gaze.
"You did not trust me? You would trust a man you've only recently come to know for a scant few years over me? Why did you not ask me? Or even better, ask Nikolai? It is foolish and stupid that you would think that I am a devil. I have walked into the church with you many times- why the sudden suspicion?" Ivan tried to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"The Tsarina is a good judge of character." Rasputin shakily responded as he straightened his clothes. Alexandra walked over to provide Rasputin some support and went white when she saw the dent in the wall.
Anastasia padded over to Ivan, much to Alexandra's distress, and put a hand on Ivan's back.
"Don't bully Ivan. Grigori, you did an awfully mean thing to him. Why would you dump water on him? You should apologize. And Ivan, that must have really hurt Grigori, you should apologize too." Anastasia said diplomatically. Ivan moved away and straightened his coat.
"I won't apologize to an ignorant swine who refuses to listen." Ivan's dark words didn't match his light tone.
"Ivan Braginsky! That is quite enough. You are becoming more and more dangerous and violent! I don't want you to go near Alexei or the children while you are in this dreadful state." Alexandra sternly commanded.
Ivan's chilling purple aura began leak out, and Alexandra called Anastasia over.
Anastasia frowned and remained rooted to her spot with crossed arms. "Ivan is just angry, it isn't a crime to be angry. He won't hurt me." She said with such confidence that it fractionally made Ivan's anger lesson.
Alexandra was having none of it though and she called out with more force, but Anastasia remained rooted. Even when she was urged by her dear friend, Rasputin, Anastasia's infamous iron will showed itself.
She turned around and put her hands on her hips.
"You wouldn't hurt me, right?" Anastasia asked as if she already knew the answer. Ivan's irritation didn't subside, but he crossed his arms and shook his head. "Da, of course not."
Anastasia nodded and looked at her mom as if this was all the proof she needed. "This is ridiculous, Anastasia, come over here right now." Alexandra was tired of her daughter's stubbornness. Anastasia rolled her eyes and looked right at Ivan with a mischievous, yet slightly nervous smile. Ivan knew that look, he knew that she was planning something outrageous and he physically tensed.
"Ivan, I trust you." Anastasia declared. She walked over to the window and opened it before walking back. Ivan could see where this was going, and he made a move to stop her before she could start, but Anastasia was too fast. She vaulted herself out the window, and Ivan bolted after her. Of all the carelessness, of all the foolishness, Ivan angrily thought as he fell after her. He caught her just in time and managed to safely land with her in his arms. Alexandra ran over to the window and was about to cry when she saw that Anastasia was alright.
"You reckless, stupid girl! Return this instant!" Alexandra shouted.
Ivan's purple aura leaked out at an incredible rate, and he set Anastasia down with a not so happy smile. He pulled her cheeks as far as they could go, "Anastasia, there is a limit to recklessness. This will be the last time that I am so lenient." Ivan crossly gritted out between his teeth.
Anastasia wrenched her cheeks away from Ivan's fingers and folded her arms to hide her shaking hands. "I knew that you would save me. You aren't a bad person, human or not." Anastasia said casually. Ivan snorted, but all of his previous anger was replaced with relief.
"Thank you, Anastasia. Although I can't say that I can save you from the wrath of your mother."
Ivan laughed at the memory and took a small sip from his vodka bottle. "She was a reckless child, but I am sure that her stunt stole several years from Alexandra's life. After that, she was more lenient towards me. Rasputin and I ran to each other four or five times a month, but we minded our own business.
Everything else that happened soon afterwards passed in a blur. Rasputin was murdered, Nikolai abdicated his throne, and the family was banished and the provisional government fought for me to rejoin the circus of politics."
Ivan scoffed at the end. "They threatened me with the safety of the family, but I threatened them in kind. They did not bother me once again, but then- then Lenin came into power. He introduced the romantic idea of communism. The rich were stripped of their lands and their riches. And the family, the family was moved to Yekaterinburg, and that is when things became complicated.
"Lenin had a small problem with me. The other nations refused to acknowledge him without me, but he didn't want me, a symbol of the monarchy, to continue to live and run the country. And I would have gladly disappeared into Siberia for a couple of decades, however his idea of communism intrigued me, and I agreed to meet with him.
It was a beautiful day in Moscow. The skies were clear and the air was warm. He pitched me the idea of communism, and he told me how I could help. He tried to bend and twist me, tying me with words like duty, help, service, and my people. I more or less agreed to help him, simply because I saw a new opportunity for the Russian people. I familiarized him with politics, and I was allowed to visit Nikolai and his family on the days that I didn't work. It was quite a commute, but I was content with the arrangement. I wished that the family was kept in better living quarters, however they fared well considering the political climate in Russia."
Ivan became silent after. The bar had quieted down as many of them had returned home. The lights seemed dimmer for some reason, and the music was barely audible. Matthew swirled the remainder of the beer in his glass and carefully put it down on the bar. "How did it happen? With Rasputin and the family?" Matthew asked, wanting a little more elaboration.
Ivan did just glaze over a significant historical event. Ivan He casually took a sip straight from the bottle and slowly exhaled, as if he was letting out a puff of smoke. His smile remained firmly planted and his purple eyes searched the shelves of alcohol as if they were filling in the blanks in his memory.
"There is little to talk about… I did attempt to kill Rasputin, but I had failed. He had remarkable luck. I couldn't have made another assassination attempt because Alexandra had automatically suspected me, so I stopped. But she always believed that I was responsible for the final assassination that took his life- but I was not a part of that." Ivan thoughtfully tapped his shot glass on the bar.
"She would remain bitter about this fact until her death, even Nikolai had somewhat distanced himself from me." Ivan added as an afterthought.
"Everything else…" Ivan took a long pause and waved his hand. "Is not important. It is well known and recorded in history textbooks what had happened… Nikolai and his family were eventually moved to Yekaterinburg, and I thought that everything would become better once things settled. That's what I had thought."
I'm sorry that this chapter is a little short and a little slow, but things will start picking up now because of where they are in Ivan's story right now. Thanks for reading!
As always, constructive criticism and thoughts about the chapter are always appreciated. Make sure to favorite this story if you liked it and follow it to get regular updates :) Hope you guys liked the chapter!
~Preuss
