Disclaimer: Do not own hetalia!
Note: This chapter is different from the others in a sense, and when you read it you'll see why. Sorry, but I must warn you there is implies violence in this one! I put more thought into this one because I had a lot of time this week, so I hope you like it!
"Okay, guys," Alfred announced while he, his friends and their counterparts were signing the treaties that bound them together in the war, "We need a cool team name!"
"You're right," agreed Dark America. "We can't just be the Allies again. That name's getting old."
"Yeah…" Dark China said thoughtfully. "How about the Vertex Union? The vertex usually signifies the peak or summit of an ideation, aru."
"And we're the ones who are going to come out on top! I like it," Dark America approved cheerfully.
Feliciano was the last in line to sign the treaty. When he grasped the pen, he hesitated, dismayed at the notion of going to battle without his best friend on his side. The more he thought about it, the closer he came to dropping the pen. However, the treaty stated that if they won the war, they promised to send all the dimension-hoppers back home. If both Ludwig and Feliciano survived, they could return to the way things used to be. With the image in mind, Feliciano signed his name.
On the other side of the conference room, Matthew stood in the corner, assuming he would go unnoticed, pondering his position in the war. To his surprise, Antonio ambled over to him, smiling warmly.
"Oye, everything all right?" he asked politely. "What's with that serious look on your face?
"Oh, nothing," Matthew replied, "Just thinking about the other me down the street in America's infirmary."
"How is he?" Antonio inquired, genuinely concerned.
"He's recovering. When I first came out of the portal, he was in terrible condition. He told me about what happened to his nation…" he left off, remembering his first encounter with his counterpart. Dark Canada had also revealed how guilty he felt since the war was practically his fault, as he put it. But Matthew decided not to mention that. "Ever since America took him in, he's been getting better."
"That's good. Well, the others are about to go over battle strategies, so you should at least come listen," Antonio suggested, and the two went to go take their seats.
When Maria returned to Arthur, Kiku, Ivan, Ludwig and Gilbert, the British man was trying to persuade the German brothers to join them in the war.
"Vell…if the rest of you fight, then I'll join," Ludwig muttered. She could understand his reluctance; Feliciano would be considered his enemy, and he was not sure how to go about that.
"I'm with my brother," Gilbert said, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder.
"Everyone here is fighting, except for..." Arthur glanced down at Maria, who huffed indignantly.
"I'm in," Maria declared, adding swank to her voice. Kiku blinked, wondering how she changed her mind so easily, but Arthur beamed.
"So that's all of us," he said to the Ludwig, who sighed, then agreed to participate in the war with Gilbert. Then, with coincidental timing, their Dark counterparts entered the room, Dark Japan carrying the treaty in his hands gingerly. He set it on the table and glanced expectantly at the other dimensioners.
"Da," Ivan answered for all of them, "We will join your cause."
"Splendid! Just sign there," Dark Britain pointed to the document. "Japan calls it the Genesis Treaty."
"Hai," Dark Japan nodded. "As in, we are the nations that are going to create a new dominion. When we win, we shall forge the genesis of a new era." Maria had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Even her Japan was big on the vague, deep meanings of words and names. As they each took a turn to sign the paper, she could almost feel Dark Prussia's eyes on her back up until the point where the pen scrawled the last cursive "z."
"It's been a long day. Why don't you all retire to the guest rooms and tomorrow we can go over our tactics," Dark Japan recommended, and no one disagreed, so he assigned each of them a room in the hotel across the street, sending a messenger to make sure the rooms were prepared.
"We'll meet here again tomorrow at 8 a.m. sharp," Dark Japan said, then the newly allied Genesis Powers departed the conference building, ready to make themselves at home in the hospitality of the Japanese hotel. As soon as she reached her room, Maria stripped off the tight leather uniform and changed into one of the plain sleeping robes the room came with. After that, she decided to head over to Kiku's room on the other end of the hall. While on her way, Dark Prussia exited one of the rooms lying ahead of her and shut the door quietly.
"I was just about to come see you," he said when he noticed her. "We should start training tomorrow first thing in the morning. There's a small open field a few minutes away from here and that would be the perfect place."
"Oh, what about the Genesis meeting? She asked. "Can we just miss it?"
Dark Prussia chuckled. "I don't need to go to meeting about tactics. My brother can handle the battle plans. Besides, they know I like to do my own thing. As long as you're training with me, Japan won't care that you're skipping."
"Okay, I'll be up at sunrise," she replied, and then she continued to Kiku's room as Dark Prussia went in the other direction. When she knocked softly on his door, Kiku slid it open, revealing that Ludwig and Gilbert were already inside. They were sitting in chairs that had been provided, holding bottles of beer in their hands as Maria and Kiku knelt on the traditional cushions by the low table.
"Hello, Maria," Ludwig greeted pleasantly, "Ve vere just about to discuss our…situation." She relaxed her shoulders, and then sighed.
"What's there to discuss? We're trapped in another dimension with no way home while our counterparts engage in warfare." Her candor was dripping with sourness, but it was the truth.
"Our counterparts…" Ludwig murmured. "They're so different yet so similar to us. The other me, he's heartless. I can't believe he despises Italy so much, yet I know vhy he does."
"Hai, I've noticed that my counterpart is very serious and a bit severe as well. While he seems composed on the outside, it's as if there are darker thoughts inside his head," Kiku explained.
"Yeah, the other Prussia is very… intense," Gilbert speculated. "He's offhand and aloof about everything. He walks around like he rules the world. I mean, he's me, so he's awesome, but in a way that kind of makes me shiver." Now that, Maria could agree with.
"The other me is so by-the-book and perfunctory," Maria told them. There was a silence while the four of them remained thinking and reflecting on their differences.
"Well," Gilbert stood up, "We can figure everything out after some sleep. I'm tired. The other Japan was right; it's been a long day." Kiku nodded and Ludwig stood up as well and the two German brothers left the room, leaving Maria and Kiku behind alone. Under different circumstances, Maria would have been totally psyched to be in a bedroom of Kiku's, but right now she was too somber.
"I must be dreaming," Maria said glumly with vain hope. Kiku looked at her with despondent eyes.
"I'm afraid not. Look," he exhaled, "I tried to explain earlier why I had to join the war. I spoke to my counterpart before the meeting. If he died in the war, there would be no one to send us home. Without his help, we could be stranded here, possibly forever. That's why I have to fight with him. If the Genesis Powers win, he promises to do whatever he can to send us home."
Maria stared back at him expressionless. While she understood his reasoning, she was still mad that he decided to get involved. "What if you end up against Yao? Or Feliciano, or Alfred? Are you going to fight them, too?"
"It won't come to that," Kiku stated simply, but kept his eyes down.
"And if it does?"
"I…I don't know," he whispered. His troubled expression saddened Maria, and she decided it was time to leave. Gilbert was right; they could figure it out in the morning. Without saying goodbye, she soundlessly returned to her hotel room. She did not realize how exhausted she was until her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep almost instantly.
The next week went by rather quietly, the only notable events being Maria's training sessions with Dark Prussia. For one she thought so despicable and wicked, Dark Prussia proved to be an excellent teacher, having her master the use of twin knives in combat. They were the only weapons that Maria could handle without having to worry about harming herself. However, her mentor taught her fighting techniques so unique; she had never seen some of them before. He showed her how to read her opponent's movements and where to strike at certain times. After many lessons of learning to be light-footed and how to stab with lethal accuracy, even Dark Russia admitted she looked deadly in combat.
"Good thing you're a fast learner," Kiku complimented after watching her practice with Dark Prussia for a session.
"Well, I am learning from the expert," she replied in a low voice, "But I haven't fought in as many wars as you have, so I don't know how long I'll last out there…"
"Don't worry, you won't be alone. You'll always have help," Kiku smiled at her warmly.
"Thanks," Maria smiled back, "I know all this training is going to pay off. Anyways, Prussia cancelled today's session, so I can actually go to a Genesis meeting."
The Genesis Powers and their counterparts had been sitting at the conference table for a couple of hours, and Dark Japan was going over the updates on the war campaign against Dark China. Dark Russia's armies had already begun advancing into Chinese borders, but progress was slow. Maria was literally on the verge of falling asleep, and so was Gilbert and Arthur. Abruptly, Dark Prussia got up out of his seat. Dark Japan stopped mid-sentence as he spoke.
"This is boring. We're getting nothing done," he said, "I'm going to go give Poland what's been coming to him for a long time now."
Dark Japan just sighed and nodded his head. "I guess that's fine. The Vertex Union hasn't made a move yet so go ahead." Dark Prussia chuckled, making the Japanese man raise an eyebrow.
"West and I have already conquered most of Poland," he said in amusement.
"You have? Already?" Dark Japan asked, looking at Dark Germany.
"Yes," the blonde answered stiffly, "My armies have been pushing into his country for almost two veeks now."
"And you're just now telling me?"
"Come on, Japan, you know us," Dark Prussia said lightly, "We like to do our own thing. As for telling you, it just never came up." Never came up? Maria thought, they must not take this very seriously, or maybe just see Poland as insignificant…
"Has he sent for help even?" The Dark Philippines asked, just hearing this for the first time as well.
"He did send an SOS to my nation," Dark Britain said, "And probably one to France as well, but he's not strong enough to interfere yet. Though I don't know about America."
"He tried to send one to him, too, but it vas intercepted and besides, America's too busy absorbing Canada and helping China," Dark Germany informed him.
"So that's that," Dark Prussia said impatiently, "So West and I are going to go there now with our counterparts. And would my trainee like come as well?" He asked with mock politeness, expecting her choice to be obvious.
"Sure," Maria answered. As she left the room with him and the others, she began to feel anxious, as if something terribly bad was going to happen…
After their small helicopter that Dark Germany had called for landed on an abandoned Polish farmland, an escort military car was already waiting for them. As they got off the helicopter, thedriver stood up and saluted the Dark German brothers.
While they were being driven to the main German camp, Maria tried to mask her revulsion from the scenes around them. They passed through towns who buildings had crumbled under the bombings used by the German Blitzkrieg strategy. Farms and fields had been tracked by the vehicles of the army coming through. Every once in a while, Maria's gaze would fall on a dead soldier's body whose wounds were so absolutely horrific that she had to close her eyes. The mangled corpses littered everywhere were almost too much for her, but she told herself in her head that this is what real war is like, and she used the sight of them to remind her of why she was truly fighting.
After two hours or so of traveling through the Polish battlegrounds, with smoke billowing in the distance, they finally arrived at the military camp and a large general's tent was prepared for them to reside in while each person was assigned their own smaller, but still better than others, tent for sleeping in. Once she set up her tent, she went to the makeshift command room with Dark Prussia.
Once inside, Dark Prussia lounged on a folding chair as his brother and their counterparts, Ludwig and Gilbert, settled in on their own chairs, holding cans of beer.
"Wait," Maria said, confused. "Aren't we going to join the battle out there?"
"Nah," Dark Prussia yawned, "Our armies don't need our help. They're about to take Warsaw right now. Poland didn't stand a chance."
"You're not even going to take part in the final battle?"
"Nope," he replied with the same indifference, "My awesomeness is only needed against actual opponents, not weaklings like Poland." Maria almost could not stand his cockiness and arrogance. His inflated ego disgusted her.
"If you're so great, then why are you an ex-nation? You're not even on the map anymore," she retorted, crossing her arms. At this, the albino sat up, and even Gilbert rolled his eyes.
"Look. While you were busy with your imperialist problems," Dark Prussia said, throwing her own weakness back at her, "West and I decided to unite into one big country to increase our strength, and I let Germany keep the title because he's the responsible one. Judging by the way that Briton and the Frenchie freaked out after seeing our combined might, I'd say it worked." Maria just glared back stubbornly, trying not to let that imperialist comment get under her skin.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice how awesome you two became under America's shadow." Maria shot back.
"You mean the America who created a sphere of influence on your islands?" Dark Prussia smirked, while his brother, Ludwig and Gilbert stifled their laughter.
"No, I was talking about the America who kicked your ass come World War II," Maria was nothing short of insults.
"Oh, my bad. I thought we were talking about the America who used your islands as stepping stones to get beat Japan in that same war," he countered.
"Hey!" Maria snapped. "I can't believe you just went there."
"Ha, you better believe it. Anyway, it's time for another knife lesson." Dark Prussia led the way out of the tent. Giving up, Maria followed him through the camp, which was set up along the Vistula River, just kilometers away from the capital of Warsaw. The two trained along the riverbank, Maria's objective being to keep from falling in the water while fighting him.
She had come close to falling in twice, but still remained dry, when Ludwig came jogging over an hour later.
"The other Germany vants you two to return to camp right now," he said when he reached them. "His army has taken the capital and has Poland captive."
"That was fast," said Dark Prussia half-smiling. When the three of them returned, Dark Germany was putting on his general's cap and Gilbert handed each of them their own. Maria could hear commotion outside. The army that was in battle at Warsaw must have just returned with their spoils of war.
"I've been waiting for this," Dark Prussia murmured. Then two German soldiers entered the tent, dragging a blonde haired man with bright green eyes wearing a tattered, bloodstained green uniform.
"Poor, poor Poland," Dark Prussia spoke softly but in an ominous voice. "You've been beaten once again. I'm surprised you've managed to elude your demise for so long."
The Polish man's green eyes glared into his red ones. Maria observed how he act with much more dignity that her Poland did, but maybe he too would act like this if the circumstances were the same. She doubted it. The German soldiers forced Dark Poland to his knees and tied his hands behind his back. Then they saluted their general, Dark Germany, and exited the tent.
"In the last var, you only managed to survive because the Allies save your sorry ass, but this time, it vill end differently, you can be sure of that," Dark Germany warned menacingly. Ludwig shivered involuntarily; he did remember what he did as Germany on his Earth during World War II, but he was not this cruel back then, was he? No, Ludwig told himself, Feliciano would not let that happen anyways.
"Your very existence reminds me of how badly that war ended," Dark Prussia growled, but still the Polish man said nothing and only glared back. Then the red eyes met his brother's, and Dark Germany nodded with an evil glint in his eyes. The German general grasped his long leather whip from the table and stood before Dark Poland.
When he cracked the whip, it tore through the captive's clothes and left an ugly red line on his flesh. Dark Poland cried out as his tormentor cracked the whip again and again, mercilessly, while Dark Prussia grinned wickedly, flashing his sharp teeth. Each time the whip struck skin, Maria used all her willpower to keep herself from flinching while Ludwig and Gilbert looked away. Dark Germany cracked the whip upon the Polish man's face, creating a bright red mark streaking down his left cheek, and his agonizing cry made Maria sick to her stomach. It was inhumane, what these two were doing to him. They were punishing him just for existing! Maria wanted to help him so badly, but she had to keep her cover—she needed Dark Prussia's trust and she could not afford to ruin it now.
When Dark Germany finally stopped his torture, his brother turned to Maria. "Have you ever used a whip before?" the albino asked. Knowing where this was going, Maria shook her head and maintained a straight face. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ludwig's puzzled look for a fleeting second before he masked it.
"No," Maria lied. The truth was, she knew how to use a whip because Ludwig had given her lessons when Kiku had them bond together. Ludwig and Maria did not really have much in common, so they just practiced using the whip that day and she got extremely good at it. Dark Prussia gestured for his brother to teach her.
Dark Germany showed her how to grip the whip and guided her hand as he cracked the whip on thin air. "That's exactly how to aim," he instructed Maria, who nodded like a good student. "Give it a try," he said as he positioned her in front of the Polish man. "Aim for the face; it's more rewarding that vay."
She looked down upon her to-be victim, whose green eyes met hers. He did not deserve this, and Maria wanted to do anything but harm him. Then she remembered that it was imperative that she keep her cover. When she cracked the whip, she missed Dark Poland completely. "Try again," Dark Prussia coached, "Your flick of the wrist looks great, you're aim was just off." Good. He couldn't tell she did that on purpose. Maria tried again, but to be convincing, she struck Dark Poland across the chest with less force. But even he cringed, the guilt made her throat go dry. Then she turned to her red eyed mentor.
"Sorry, I guess I'm more of a knife person." Smiling apologetically, she gave the whip back to Dark Germany.
"That's okay," Dark Prussia said, though he sounded disappointed, "Can't be good at everything like me." Then he called for the two soldiers to come inside. "Get this vermin out of my sight," he ordered and they heaved Dark Poland off his knees.
"Stake him outside in the middle of the camp," Dark Germany commanded as they heaved the Pole outside. Then he turned to the counterparts. "That's all for today. I just need to discuss some things vith my brother. You three can return to your tents." Maria, Ludwig, and Gilbert did not argue; they left as soon as they were dismissed.
"That was horrifying," Maria said in a low voice as they made their way to their tents. The queasiness she felt had yet to go away.
"It's hard to believe that that is supposed to be another version of me," Gilbert said, downhearted. "Everything about this world is so…screwed up."
Ludwig only looked at the ground in shame for reasons he could not explain. Feliciano was the biggest difference between himself and his counterpart. Without Feli's cheery influence, would he have turned out to be the same cruel torturer? One friendship, one pinky promise, had sent them down opposite paths? By the time the three of them separated into each of their own tents, he was depressed. Wearily, he wondered how Feliciano was doing without him. It was then that he regretted with a heavy heart all the times he had taken his pasta-loving friend for granted.
Maria settled down in her tent, but did not change nor make ready for bed. Instead, she waited for the sun to set and for all the talking between the German soldiers in the camp to die down until she could only hear crickets chirping. Then she silently slipped out of her tent and snuck towards the middle of the camp, the black uniform helping hide her in the shadowy night. With the twinkling stars and the luminescent crescent moon above, she skulked around until she became close enough to see a figure whose wrists were chained to two wooden stakes, holding up his torso. Even though her steps were barely audible, the Pole could sense that someone was there and his eyes reflected the moonlight as he searched the darkness in front of him.
"It's me, Maria," she whispered, coming face to face with the captive. "I'm the Philippines from another dimension…I don't know if you know about us…" Then green eyes met the brown, and she heard him speak for the first time.
"I heard about the dimension travelers and figured that that was you since you weren't with Japan," Dark Poland said. His voice sounded like that of Poland from her Earth, but was grave without the perkiness. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again.
"I'm sorry. For what happened back there," she said so quietly she was not sure if he heard her or not. Maria knew that "sorry" was not enough—the pain he endured, how could he ever forgive anyone for that?
"Don't say that. It's not your fault I'm totally weak and pathetic," he replied forlornly. "I actually wanted to say thank you."
"What? Why?"
"I know you held back on purpose with that whip. Prussia was watching your hands, but I was watching your eyes. If you were going for my face, then you would have focused there," he told her. This version of Poland was strange to Maria. Normally, Poland would say something ridiculous and absurd, but this one was levelheaded. Maybe, being on this Earth, history had hit him a bit harder, making him a more prudent person.
"Well, I shouldn't have done it at all. It was a terrible thing to do to another person."
"Prussia and Germany aren't known for being humane," Dark Poland said sullenly. "You don't seem like someone who'd follow them." It was not really a question, but Maria felt she had to explain herself.
"I have to make sure that my friends survive this war. To do that, I need to learn how to fight, and he's taught me a lot about sadism. If I stick with him, I can make sure he doesn't kill any of my friends," she poured her heart out. She had not told a single person about her motives and Dark Poland was willing to listen.
"Have you talked to your friends about this?' he asked. When she shook her head, he said, "Maybe you should. That way, you can all protect each other." There was another pause. "Can I ask you a small favor?"
"Anything." With the guilt burdening her heart, she felt she owed him.
"I've been a terrible friend to Lithuania. I haven't always been there for him, you can even call me a traitorous person at times. He's under Russia's house right now. Do you think you can check on him and tell him that I'm sorry?" Remorse seemed to flow out of him with his words, and there was no way Maria could say no.
"Of course." Dark Poland smiled weakly at her words, and then looked beyond her into the distance.
"Warsaw is in flames," he said sadly. "I can feel it in my bones." Maria wondered if he meant that literally. She was not sure what it was like to have her nation utterly ravaged and devastated. It must have been excruciating for a nation. When he looked at her again, his expression seemed wistful. "Am I, like, a total wicked hipster back on your world?"
"I guess you could say that," Maria giggled at the memory of her Poland and his obsession with the color pink.
"That's good. I wish I could be like that…if the state of affairs were simpler," he said longingly.
Suddenly, they heard the Dark Prussia's signature chuckle and Dark Germany's voice coming towards them. Dark Poland's voice grew into an urgent whisper. "Hurry! There's a tent that way," he gestured by tilting his head, "that's empty. Go now!" Maria nodded, then planted a light kiss on his forehead, an action of pure friendship, but sacred all the same, and without a sound hurried into the tent. Empty, as he said, probably because the soldier was on sentry duty at the edge of the camp. Through a small slit between the two flaps of the entrance, she peeked outside.
Dark Prussia had walked up to Dark Poland and gripped his chin harshly and Dark Germany carried a torch that enabled Maria to see what was happening.
"You useless excuse for a country," the albino sneered, and struck a blow across his face. "We told you this was going to end differently this time around." Then, he brandished a glossy knife, whose blade seemed to glow in the light of the moon. He gingerly traced an "X" where the Pole's heart would be, ripping his uniform but barely tearing his flesh. The entire time, Dark Poland wore a brave face, a face Maria thought impossible for any Poland to wear, and his green eyes did not portray any fear.
"Are you afraid of death?" Dark Prussia asked, licking his lips. The look on the Polish man's face did not falter. "Well, you should be." Then the Prussian's arm tensed with the blade pointed at his fatal "X."
Maria clamped her hands over her mouth to hold back a terrified scream, and tears welled in her eyes as she witnessed the execution of nation.
From the Author: I know I kind of strayed away from the actual plot in this chapter, but that's cuz I wanted to focus on character development. I promise I'll go back next chap! And I know that I make the Germans out to be the bad guys, but this is not meant to be the least bit racist! I'm just using the characters from hetalia. And if you pay attention to Ludwig, who is Germany from our Earth, he is against all of this. As for the whip lesson, I referenced my other one shot Friend Zone in the Pacific? so you guys should check that one out as well. I'm going to stop typing now, so please review! I love hearing from you guys! :D