(In Ivan's head)

Corrupted images flashed in his unstable mind. Blood, gore, tears, death . . . It was all beautiful to him. Victims begging for mercy, mothers crying over lost children. He sat on his throne of broken bodies and watched hellfire burn the world to nothing. It made him smile. The warmth of the blood that would forever cake his hands almost felt motherly and loving. The metallic taste in the back of his throat was sweeter than sugar and the joy of causing world chaos was overwhelming.

But now as he slept in his bed, he did not wish for those images to show. They were too frightening and he would try to scramble away, but the cackling demons would drag him back in. They chained him up and tied him down, but still he kept on escaping. His inner self was trying to run from this hell, but he could not get away.

Again and again he would be beaten, whipped, and thrown to the wild and hungry beasts, but he never lost sight of trying to get back. There was a spark of hope in him ever since he walked through these doors. An angel has come to set him free at last . . .

Hopefully . . .

~;~

(Back to Canada)

"'Cause Canada's really big~!"

I groaned pressed the button on my phone and rolled over out of bed. I crashed to the ground with a loud "kssssssh" and I yelped. "Fils de pute!" I cried as writhed a bit on the ground, trying to get up. "Hmph . . . pathetic," I heard a thickly accented voice mutter. Scornful red-violet eyes watched me as I finally returned to my feet. "Shut up," I snarled before walking to the kitchen. The dorm room was dark and I felt around for a light switch along the wall. Finding one, I turned on the light and proceeded to make a bowl of Chex cereal. Ivan got out of bed as well and got out a bottle of Vodka. "Seriously? Vodka?" I sneered as shoveling cereal into my mouth.

"Would you rather me beating you senseless with it?" He growled before taking a swig of the alcohol. "I'd rather pass," I muttered as looking down at my breakfast, losing my appetite. I washed my bowl out and went to my dresser to get dressed for the day. I wore some old jeans with my favorite red hoodie and I gave Kuma a pat goodbye before telling him to be a good bear and left the dorm so fast that Ivan hadn't even finished his breakfast.

I sighed a bit and slung my schoolbag over my shoulder and walked down the hall. It seemed that some other people were awake because I could hear footsteps within the closed off rooms. I dug my hand in my hoodie pocket and found my schedule neatly fitted between my iPod and phone. I unfolded it as I walked down the stairs slowly. The chatter was held to a minimum for everyone was tired. I first had Economics with Professor Judge, then Language with Professor Langwae, Music with Professor Beat, then lunch, Food with Professor Diche, Agriculture with Professor Corn, and finally Tactics with Professor Caliber.

At least I didn't have Tactics this early in the morning. The halls were beginning to fill up when I left the building and was welcomed with a cool, misty summer morning. I breathed in the humid air that promised a hot day today and approached the main campus. A few girls were already at the steps and my attention was snagged by a girl who looked terribly tired. Dark circles were under her watery blue eyes and her fair blonde hair was a bit tangled. She also looked like she was threatening to break down at any moment, so I decided to try and make her feel better.

"It seems like it'll be a hot day today, don't you think?" I began casually, trotting up to her side. She flinched and I heard a loud, "bong-bong". Then I finally noticed her breasts. They were enormous! The buttons of her blouse were greatly stressed against her bust and threatened to pop open a terrifying surprise. I cringed to think about how her back might feel, but a strike of fear shot through me and I hastily looked at her face. I shivered a bit in horror of what I just experienced but I fixed my gaze on her face, giving her a smile. "I-I suppose . . ." The girl stuttered and blushed. "I'm Matthew Williams, personification of Canada," I said as holding a hand out for her. "Er, I'm Katyusha, personification of Ukraine," She whispered before shaking my hand.

There was an awkward silence between us as we entered the semi-empty school. "S-So who do you have first?" I asked stiffly. "Economics," Ukraine muttered, her tired eyes glancing at me warily. A smile reappeared on my face and I said that it was mine too and we made our way to the classroom. It was in the northeastern part of the school and as I opened the door for Katyusha, I was amazed by how large the room was. Bleachers sat on one side of the room, groups of people already seated amongst the rows, and a podium stood on a platform in front of a large projector screen.

The two of us made admiring noises and sat together at the top. Ukraine seemed to have calmed down a bit and it made me feel a bit better about myself. Small desks were screwed to the floor of the rows and I reached into my bag and pulled out my notebook and Economics book and set them on the little desk. Ukraine had done the same and simply watched people socialize with each other. The room steadily filled up with people and to my pleasure, Gilbert was in my first class as well. "Hey Birdie, I see you survived the night," He sniggered as sitting down next to me. I saw him stare at Ukraine with eyes that were widened to comical proportions. "Birdie, are you aware that you got yourself an awesome set right there?" He muttered in my ear.

I flushed furiously and shook my head wildly. "No, Gil! You know I'm terrified of those!" I whispered back, jerking my head a bit as a gesture to her . . . er . . . large assets. The Prussian boy had to practically mash his face in to keep himself from roaring with laughter and I blushed even further and smacked him repeatedly until he calmed down. I turned to face Katyusha and she was giving us a "what the hell?" look. "Um, Gilbert this is Katyusha, Katyusha this is Gilbert," I introduced and leaned in to Prussia's ear. "Keep your eyes on her face or so help me I'll castrate you myself." The albino ignored me and shook Ukraine's hand delightedly. "I personify the above all awesome of all awesome country of Prussia! I'll be the awesomenest guy you'll ever meet!" He cried excitedly, before getting his stuff out.

Katyusha said nothing but gave him a small smile and returned to her staring. "'The awesomenest guy you'll ever meet?' really Gil? Really?" I growled irritably but the albino cackled softly. Professor Judge scurried into the room and told everyone to sit down. The students obeyed and sat down in the bleachers as the little man stood at the podium. "Good morning class! I am Professor Judge and I will be teaching you economics. I trust that you know what economics is, and if not, you may need some serious help." There was a ripple of chuckles and it seemed to make the tiny Professor relax. "Now, I would like to start us off with some easy questions. Who can tell me what our world economy mainly runs on?" My hand shot up before any others and he pointed at me. "Oil!" I blurted out. "Precisely!" He cried and started to discuss how oil is the main thing that the economy runs on. "Know-it-all," Gilbert muttered and I elbowed him firmly in the ribs and took a few notes.

The class rolled by and I left the classroom with Katyusha and Gilbert, each of us grumbling about our stack of homework we have to do before the end of the week. I said goodbye to Ukraine as she parted to go to her next class and Gilbert and I headed off to Language. "Do you really have to be an asshole Gil? You kept on calling me names in Economics and I'm already sick of it!" I snapped as we settled into the bleachers. "Jesus, Birdie! Cranky aren't we? I was just teasing you know, what's got your panties all up in a bunch?" Prussia snarled as putting his book up on the table. I sighed and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Gil I didn't mean to snap at you. I guess I'm a little tired," I said.

"It's okay Birdie, just try to be an awesome friend and get more sleep now."

"I'll try."

Language seemed to fly by and I had to scramble between doing my work and taking some more notes. To start off the year, we have to do an essay on our country's native language and where it originated from and so on. I had Music with Katyusha and thankfully we didn't have any homework. "Hey Katyusha, do you want to sit with me and Gilbert at lunch?" I asked her as we left the room. "Um, actually I-I was going to sit with some friends of mine, sorry Matvey," She said in a regretful tone.

"It's okay, I'll see you later!" I called as we parted ways. "See you, Matvey!"

I jumped as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and I frantically fished it out to see an envelope blinking on the screen. I clicked a button and scrolled around before finding the text message. It read:

meet me outside. i $ us some McD's 4 lunch :D don't worry i got some for gilbo ;)

Rolling my eyes, I replied:

I have food in my room. I'll just bring something down instead. But thank you anyways :)

After sending the message, I ran to my room, grabbed a bag chips along with some gummy worms and a Coke while throwing Kuma three pieces of fish before storming back down the stairs. While going down the stairs, I ran head-on into some random thing. The wind was knocked out of my lungs when I hit the object and then I suddenly yanked up by my throat and slammed against the wall. "Watch it, Matvey," Ivan's voice hissed, his red-violet eyes seething with anger. "Sorry," I choked, staring him straight in the eye.

"I am in no mood to be messing with you, так что следите с моего пути," He snarled before throwing me bodily down the stairs. I rolled down the stairs painfully, but no cry of pain ever reached my lips. As I slowed to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, I simply stood up and recollected myself, numb to the pain in my body. That asshole really thought that pushing me down the stairs was going to scare me into submission. I glared at the space where the Russian was and snorted before walking down the hall and outside.

"About time you got here!" Alfred cried as he stuffed his face with a burger. "Sorry, I ran into a mishap on the way," I murmured as sitting down with my food. The sun glared brutally down at the earth and I was already beginning to sweat in my hoodie. Prussia was eating sunflower seeds lazily, looking bored and sleepy. I pulled my sweatshirt over my head and set it aside as I began to eat my chips.

Some boys were running around shirtless in the sun, playing Frisbee and hacky-sack. Girls sat in their "Social Circles" and gossiped and laughed and were just being their complicated selves. There was a silence between the three of us, besides the disgusting gobbling sound that was emanating from my brother as he ate at his crazy and inhuman speed.

The silence remained for the rest of lunch and I threw my trash away before heading off to Food. I could tell that the boys were having a hard time paying attention in Food because Professor Diche had decided to wear a low-cut hot pink blouse and was practically flashing them every time she leaned over at a certain angle. I just rolled my eyes and listened intently, taking more notes.

Agriculture was kind of interesting. Professor Corn had a heavy southern accent and it made everything he said a bit hard not to laugh. He could be dead serious and you will have blood in your mouth because you just cannot laugh or you'll find a pitchfork up your ass. I now feel the need to cry now. I already had a crap load homework and it hasn't even been a week yet.

I dragged myself to the locker rooms that were all the way in the freaking back of the school. I changed into a white T-shirt and red basketball shorts and as I turned to exit the crowded locker room, I spotted a flash of fair hair and mocking red-violet eyes. Maple on a bleep blop! He was in my Tactics class and this will just go splendidly! I slunk out of the locker room and was accompanied by Cuba, after the whole him almost killing me because he thought I was America thing.

I resisted the urge to puke at the sight of Cuba's ridiculously hairy legs and just gave him a "help me" look. Professor Caliber brought us out into the hellish heat of the outside world and lectured to us that having a military is one of the most critical things you need to stay a strong country. I looked down at myself to see that I am very thin and the only reason that I had a so called "six-pack" is because of my crazy metabolism. No matter how much I eat, I stay a freaking skeleton. I have zero upper-arm strength, but I am very fast, not to mention my lightening reflexes.

So to sum it all up, speed and agility equals good and strength equals bad.

It was kind of hard to understand Professor Caliber because he had a very low voice and his words were all ran together. "I am going to assign each and every one of you a partner to carry out the exercises together. You will have the same partner for the rest of the year so I don't want to hear any 'ifs, ands, or buts'!" In my head I was screaming, "Please not Ivan, please not Ivan, please not Ivan, please not Ivan!" as the teacher named off out partners. "Cuba and Poland, Sweden and Germany, Russia and Canada . . ."

!

I think I died a little on the inside when Professor Caliber said that. Ivan and I inched toward each other, stopping when we were within and three foot radius of each other. The professor gave us a list of exercises to do for the rest of the class. The list was: 25 lunges, 50 push-ups, run around the school twice, and 35 chin-ups. We also had to complete it with our partners which made it even more humiliating. Ivan picked at every little thing I did wrong and was just being plain obnoxious. I snapped at him twice, but I rewarded with a fist jabbing me in the throat.

The class seemed to drag on forever until Professor Caliber finally told us to get changed. I literally crawled out of the locker room on my face and dragged myself up to the dorm and changed into a fresh Mario T-shirt and some old pajama pants before collapsing onto my bed, disrupting a polar bear from his slumber. I groaned into the sheets hopelessly as I reflected back on the homework that was all crammed in my bag. C'mon Canada! Grow some balls and do your homework before that bastard comes to kill you! I reached down from my bed and pulled my bag up on it and pulled it all out.

I whimpered at the mountain of books and papers and then pulled out my laptop and booted it up. Time rolled by at a painstakingly slow pace and to my pleasure, Ivan had not even step foot in here yet. I yawned widely and stretched my arms out, my fingertips brushing against the ceiling slightly. My stomach growled a bit and I decided to take a break. Perhaps I could ask Alfred if he would like to out somewhere to eat for dinner. Taking out my phone I composed a message for him and sent it. No more than two seconds later, my phone went off. I smiled at Alfred's approval and slid out of bed and onto the floor.

"I'll see you later Kumazaka."

"Bye-bye."

I met Alfred at the end of the hall and as we went down the steps, I felt a strange sensation in my stomach. You know that feeling you get when you know something is going to go bad? That was exactly how I felt. As we rounded the corner, I spotted Russia leaned up against the wall, his hair hiding his face so I couldn't see. The halls were mostly empty because it seemed that everyone was too hammered with homework. "Well look what the cat dragged in," America cried with a smug look on his face as he situated his glasses.

The giant's head snapped up to glare at the offender and I took a sharp intake of breath. His face was purple with ugly bruises and blood was dripping from his nose and his lips were stained with the red liquid, making him look even more frightening (if it were even possible). His red-violet eyes were ablaze with anger and a deep loathing as he shot razor sharp daggers at my brother. My idiot brother just laughed at him. "Looks like I really pushed his buttons huh, Mattie?" He elbowed me playfully in the ribs and I glanced a bit nervously at the angry boy, no . . . the angry demon that stood before us. I could see a faint smile appear on his bloodstained lips. Suddenly, he flashed forward and punched my brother right in the jaw so fast I didn't see it coming.

Alfred made an outraged yell that included a few choice words and dove into a ferocious fray with the demonic boy who had a wide psychotic smile that revealed crimson teeth. Snapping out of momentary shock, I ran toward them, demanding for them to stop.

"C'mon guys! Stop! Hey! STOP!"

Ivan suddenly stopped when he had America in a brutal headlock, his red-violet eyes were wide like a child getting caught stealing from the cookie jar. But the look was short-lived and he snarled and threw Alfred aside like he was a ragdoll or something of that nature. His steps were careful and slow, like a predator stalking his prey. As he drew closer, fear rose in my throat and I backed up until I hit the wall softly. The demon's face was no more than about an inch away from my face and I could smell the blood on his breath.

"It's all your fault."

That was all he said before limping away, leaving my brother groaning on the floor and me against the wall terrified and shaking like a leaf. It turned out that Ivan was all bark; he can sure as hell bite. I slid down against the wall and hugged my knees like a child would if it were about to cry.

I was the fool for not believing him.

~;~

A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! ^^; I apologize if this was in anyway confusing or suckish. I am not very happy with the chapter but whatever. Plus I was a bit pissed when I writing this for some odd reason. O.o; I promise you all that the next chapter will be better than this was so don't leave me yet! DX Oh yeah, if I am to go through with it being better it's probably going to take me the rest of the week because I'm going to be a bit busy this week bit it will be!

Translations:

Fils de pute = Son of a bitch!

так что следите с моего пути = so stay out of my way

REVIEW PLEASE!

c(^^c)