3rd Person POV

"Brother! Brother!" Feli called. He kicked Lukas in the ribs, hoping it would make him stop biting Romano. Surprisingly, Lukas didn't budge at all. "He won't let go until your brother releases his curl" Emil explained. "Romano! Let go!" Feli commanded. It was apparent the other merman didn't want to listen, but he did anyways.

Lukas stumbled backward, falling on the sand and looking very weak. Almost unresponsively weak. "Nor!" Mathias called as he sat by Lukas. Emil sat at his other side. Meanwhile, Feli was healing Romano's neck. "You really shouldn't have wasted your time with them!" He said to his brother.

Lukas remained to be unresponsive, which instilled fear into Mathias and Emil. "Lulu, are you okay?" "B-brother?" There was no reply. "Are you hurt or just tired?" "B-Both" Lukas managed to reply. His body didn't move a muscle, exempt for the bare essentials to be able to speak. His voice was weak, but loud enough to be heard.

"You hurt my brother!" Feli screamed. "Well you hurt mine too, fish man!" Emil replied. Feli gave the island nation a very dangerous look. It was a fact that he had never liked Emil, but this time you could see the hate swirling in his eyes.

"I always hated you! I would love to kill you!"

"Does it look like I care!? I wish I had a knife right now because I'd jam it right up your fishy a—"

"Brother, shh"

"Ugh, fine Lukas..."

"He's just protective over me" Lukas said to the mermen. "You better believe I am!" Emil added, emphasizing it. "So how do you like it when someone pulls your curl, hmm?" He then asked, looking at Romano. Romano didn't answer. Emil then had the idea that maybe the way to teach Romano a lesson was by pulling his curl.

Without asking, or even giving a forewarning of any kind, he seized the merman's curl and pulled it taught. Romano's face immediately flustered and he started whimpering. After a short time, Feli took Emil's hand away. "What did you do that for, jerk!?" Romano snapped at Emil. He was proving to be very unpopular among mermaids.

"What you call jerks, are actually humans. We are curious creatures" The Icelander said with a smug look on his face. Romano growled lowly. "I will slap you so hard that your face falls off" he uttered. It was obvious that he wanted nothing more than to shred Emil into pieces, but Feli stopped him by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"C'mon brother. They're gonna die anyways. No need to waste any more time" Feli said. Together they walked back toward the water, but Lukas called out in hopes of them returning. "If you want to come back and try to be friends again, we're always ready!" He shouted. Feli went into the water and splashed his tail. He was literally flipping Lukas off. "I'd rather keep all ships away from here and watch you suffer!" He yelled. "So much for sympathy..." Lukas said just loud enough for Feli to hear. He wasn't that far from the water's edge, so it didn't have to be too loud. Earlier he yelled just to gather attention.

"Why would you get sympathy from me? You have done absolutely nothing for me!" Feli screamed. That was both true and false at the same time. It was true that Lukas had never physically done anything for the merman, but he had contributed to Feli in an emotional way.

I don't mean all the hate and anger, but the authentic friendly love that the Norwegian had expressed to the merman. He had talked to Feli and given him friendly hugs. Whether the merman thought of it as friendly or otherwise was outside of Lukas' power. And to tell you the truth, it wasn't like Lukas didn't want to do anything for Feli, but there wasn't anything he could really do physically.

"What can we do!?" He asked. "Die!" Feli shouted before diving out into the depths of the water. That was a really nice thing to hear...sarcastically speaking. "Die, die you little dirty humans, die!" Emil said, mocking Feli. He actually did the merman's accent pretty well considering he had one already that was much different. "So how's my brother?"

"He doesn't look good..." Mathias said softly. Lukas, though he did speak, had not moved an inch since Romano let his curl go. "Let's feed him" Emil said. Mathias nodded, but found that the fruits they had collected were a bit withered from sitting in the sun. They didn't have mold growing on them yet, so they were still edible.

Lukas had been getting weaker with every passing moment, and by the time Emil and Mathias had gotten him a meal together, he could barely speak, or even open his mouth for that matter. "Come on Lulu, say something" Mathias pleaded. He at least expected a 'thank-you' or something. But out came nothing. Exempt for a very pitiful groan.

Emil was just as worried as Mathias was, but he approached it differently. He thought that as soon as he could get food in his brother's body, the sooner he'd feel better, but Mathias thought that it had to be more than hunger. "Eat it!" Emil said, shoving the food down his brother's gullet himself. That, however, resulted in an epic fail.

Lukas seemed to have no strength whatsoever and the slice of fruit simply fell out of his mouth. "C'mon Norge, this is bad!" Mathias said, grabbing Lukas' hands and squeezing them lightly. It was apparent that the Norwegian was still conscious though, due to the fact that he still blinked and moved his eyes, but everything else was complety and totally unresponsive.

"Maybe he bit down so hard on that devil's neck that it hurt him too" Emil said calmly, suggesting a possibility. "How in the world would that happen?" Mathias asked confusedly. Emil shrugged a bit, then had an idea. "He was tugging his curl pretty darn hard...I don't know how that silly hair curl business works, but it might have done something. Paralyzed him even" The Icelander said.

Mathias' expression was filled with worry. He had remembered times when he played with Lukas' curl and found out all sort of weird things it could do. He once helped to get a piece of gum out of it that one of the micro-nations had spat at him, and Lukas was whimpering and crying just with the lightest of tugging. Imagine full force pulling.

"He must be badly hurt. This is very serious...Feli could probably heal him, but I doubt he will" The Dane said sadly.

"Yeah, what turned him off so quick?"

"Like..why he hates us?"

The Icelander nodded.

"I guess he only dealt with us because of Lulu."

"But why would he turn away so quick?"

"Mermaids are indeed weird. He doesn't like us, so when Nor told him about Belarus, he didn't wanna put up with us"

"It's not like we're bad people"

"I guess he just hates humans"

"I wonder why?"

"Only heaven knows." The Dane sighed and ended the conversation.

They sat beside each other, contemplating what to do. Things seemed hopeless, but it was a sheer miracle that more mermen hadn't come yet. Once that happened, all three of them would enter a world of unending torture, which anyone in their right mind would not want. The clock was ticking, protection was gone, and no other options available.

"He wants us to die..." Mathias said softly. "We are nations, so we can't die. Doesn't he know that?" Emil asked, his head cocked to the side a bit. "I personally think he's too mad to think clearly" Mathias said, sighing. There was a long pause before Emil spoke again. "He has to cool down, just like anyone" He said.

"Do you think he cares if Lulu is hurt or not?" Mathias asked. "I personally think he does" Emil replied, "Whether he shows it or not, I think he really does still care. In fact, he cared enough to not let Romano shred us. that has to tell you something."

Mathias thought about it. Feli had indeed stopped his brother from torturing them right then and there, and that simple act showed that the merman probably did still have feelings for them, somewhere. "Maybe we just have to ask?" The Dane said. Emil shrugged. "At this point, anything is worth trying"

So it was. Mathias walked a few feet out into the water and yelled Feli's name in the loudest Viking voice he possibly could. Taking into consideration the Dane's general size and strength, his volume could probably have been heard at least a mile away. At least it seemed like it could, but whether it could or not, only science could say.

"What do you want?" Asked a very angry and emotionally distressed merman. Feli crawled onto the shore, but still had his tail. "Please, come here. We must ask you something" the Dane spoke, hoping the merman would show signs of wanting a fresh start. "I don't want to talk to you." Was all Feli said, and he sat on his tail with his arms crossed.

Mathias took a deep breath. He was a salesman that had once convinced a wealthy man to pay three times the original price for a doll that his daughter wanted. He had also convinced a woman to pay for an outfit twice it's original worth. If he could accomplish such things, why was it so hard to convince a merman to help out? You may say that it shouldn't be hard, but a merman's mind is much stronger than a human's.

Mathias couldn't think of any tricky things to say to Feli that wouldn't instantly trigger a red flag. "Can you please help Norge? I think your brother paralyzed him" was all he could find to say. "MY brother!? LUKAS BIT HIM ON THE NECK!" Feli screeched, sounding like a wounded banshee. "He was provoked to do it" the Dane said softly.

Feli opened his mouth to say something in protest, but paused. His mouth closed and he looked toward the ground with his head slanted, as if considering something. Indeed, Lukas had not proved to be the violent type, and it would take someone provoking him in order for him to go on the attack like he did. "Paralyzed...did you say?"

Mathias nodded quickly, cracking a bit of a smile. His smile turned into a frown at Feli's next words. "Why should I care?" He asked, sticking his nose up into the air. "Because...he's your friend" Mathias said quietly. Feli wanted to say 'I don't care!', but he wasn't one to tell lies, and that would have been a lie. He indeed did care.

Saying nothing, he crawled toward Lukas and examined him. Since the time that he'd let go of Romano's neck, he hadn't budged at all. Not even a twitch. Feli dared not show it, but he was actually worried. He settled his gentle hand on Lukas' head and closed his eyes as if focusing.

After a moment or two, Lukas sat up on his own and gave Feli a big smile. "Th-thank you" He said. His voice was still a bit shaky, but hey. At least he could talk and move again. Feli stood up, staring down at Lukas silently. Not a 'your welcome' or anything related to it was said. Just plain silence.

Lukas stood up as well and seized Feli in a tight, warm hug. It was a friendly hug. A type of hug that Feli had only felt once before, and that was when he and the Norwegian were in the water. A heavy blush covered his cheeks. "H-Hey!" He began to say, but was cut off by Lukas' apology. "I am Sorry" He said, his bright blue eyes filled with sincerity.

Feli could tell a lot about a person by looking at their eyes, and he could not deny that Lukas really meant what he said. He was truly, authentically sorry for what he did, and Feli didn't really know how to react. All he knew was that looking into Lukas' truthful, deep eyes was making him reflect on all that he had done for the Norwegian. He had helped him so much, and realized that Lukas had in fact given him something in return.

That something wasn't tangible, but that something was very valuable. That something was a thing that no mermaid could give, for they did not understand it. That something was a strong love for a friend, and Feli began to feel the love from Lukas now. It was a love unlike anything he'd ever felt, and it touched his heart.

"Do you forgive me?" Lukas asked after a long pause. As Feli was considering, he looked away, but soon turned his gaze back to the Norwegian's eyes. "I can't say no" He said. Lukas smiled a very sweet smile, and Feli found it irresistibly cute. "Why do you have to be so cute!?" He said playfully. "Maybe it's a curse" Lukas replied with a wink.

Both of them were smiling, and Norway huggled up to Feli and giggled like a child. "Oh God you're adorable...stop! STOP BEING SO CUTE!" the merman said with a smile. "I would if I could. Maybe" Lukas responded with a soft laugh. Feli sighed and the hug was broken. At least for now.

"You love me right? As a friend?" Lukas asked, his eyes full of hope. Feli paused, but then nodded. It wasn't that he didn't want to love Lukas as a friend, but rather that he didn't know how. "Y-Yes...well...I'll be going back to the ocean now..." He whispered. Lukas wanted to tell him to stay, but he knew that the merman probably needed time alone for now. It seemed like the best thing.