A/N: I want to make a quick comment here before this story really begins to develop into the main plot, this will NOT be perfectly historically accurate. I'm taking a lot of writing liberties with this story that do not necessarily reflect what I view of the Confederacy or actual events of the American Civil War (Because I'm from the South so I am a bit biased). Many real event's that took place in real history will be mentioned and written but some things may not actual have happened or I am using my imagination to tweak it. There's nothing involving history much this chapter but I want to get that out there already.
Okay! Here's the next chapter to OSS, it starts with a bit of a flash forward, you won't find out what happened in the meeting room until the next chapter although it's after affects on the main characters are see able. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: icdeadppl doesn't own Hetalia or its character but she does own the OC's plot, and a container of SPAM in her pantry (I don't own the company that make's SPAM though).
South Carolina clutched at her head, coughing as she stared up at a foggy gray sky. A large chime of a clock sounded as she blinked. Was that Big Ben? She groaned, sitting up as she tried to figure out what had happened. Had she been drinking again? No this wasn't hangover pain, after so many hangovers she knew the difference. A meeting…the meeting, yeah the state meeting; she was at it wasn't she? Then Delaware stood up and-…South Carolina shot to her feet, her heartbeat quickening. "No…no no no no no!" she whispered, just as a raindrop hit her nose. This was not good. Not good at all. Even worse than the time when she and Pennsylvania had gotten drunk and fought and United*…shit. Al. How was he going to take this? Her thoughts were cut off by a sudden groan to her left, making the South Carolinian jerk her head so fast to the source she had whiplash. She gasped.
"New Mexico!" The black haired state was laying limp by a wall, his chest barely moving up and down. South Carolina hurriedly rushed over to him; his shoulder was bleeding from a bullet profusely. Dear God…
"Mex-New Mexico! Can you hear me?!" New Mexico weakly opened his eyes a bit, staring at her unfocusedly.
"Wh-what happened?" asked Arizona, sitting up from where she had been laying next to him. South Carolina hadn't even noticed her, all of her attention on the bleeding pre-teen collapsed in front of her.
"He got shot I think, who else is here?" Arizona stretched up a bit, shaking as she looked around the alleyway.
"You, me, Mex, and I think that's Hawaii over there next to Oklahoma. Del-Delaware's over there too with Alaska in his arms I think." South Carolina nodded, gently pressing at his wound through the tear in the cotton shirt which enticed a whimper from him.
"Damn! What the hell should I do?! I only know a bit of kitchen table surgery!" she whispered under her breath before turning back to Arizona and speaking in a louder voice. "Try and wake Delaware up Ari!" The Grand Canyon state slowly nodded, seeming to move in slow motion as she crawled over to Delaware.
"Del…please-please wake up…" she whispered. Arizona sounded nothing like her normal self. She sounded subdued, terrified and anxious; like how she used to act back in the 1800's…
South Carolina shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of that, although her gut told her she would have to sooner or later. New Mexico's safety was more important than that time. Arizona continued to shake the brown haired man, trying to get him conscious. Oklahoma chose that moment to begin stirring. His sky blue eyes flickered open; blinking as he took in the same view South Carolina had only minutes ago.
"Good morning sunshine, can you wake Hawaii up?" Sarcasm, best way to rile up a southern state and get the Okie up.
"I'm not Florida*. Where are we?" He reached over to shake the black haired state, her groaning and curling up in response. The Palmetto State continued to attempt to stop New Mexico's bleeding as best as she could, she had no idea how bad the wound was. It could be fatal for all she knew, there's like a main artery in your shoulder right?
"London I think. Not positive. Help me get his shirt off Oak; Hawaii I'm not Virginia so I won't wake you up nicely, get up!" Oklahoma turned, his eyes widening as he caught sight of his brother and the South Carolinian trying to stop the bleeding. A large pool of blood was starting to spread around the black haired state which was most certainly not making her worries ease at all.
Hawaii blinked awake, yawning as she looked around. Her head cocked a bit taking in the scene. "What's wrong with Big Brother New Mexico?" she asked, confusion in her eyes. Oklahoma still sat there stunned.
"M-Mex…?"
South Carolina snapped, turning around to point a bloody hand at him. "Don't just stare you idiot! Help me get this shirt off so I can see how bad this really is!" Oklahoma sat in place for a couple more seconds before responding slowly to take New Mexico's uninjured side. South Carolina carefully moved New Mexico a bit, working with Oklahoma as the two finally slid his bloodied shirt off. The wound had clipped the top of his shoulder, it didn't look bad (South Carolina had had way worse in even more vital areas but not the point) but she wasn't a doctor; South Carolina was better at shooting the bullets than healing people from them.
"I-is it...bad?" She slowly shook her head.
"I'm not sure. It looks like it just caught his shoulder a bit but…this is a lot of blood. Give me his shirt, let's try and stop it." Just as Oklahoma handed the shirt over to her, a cold hand grasped her shoulder, startling her into whipping her head around. At first all she saw were pale green eyes that made her freeze in fear until she saw the dirty brown hair accompanying them.
"D-Delaware…" He was silent, his glasses skewed as he leaned over to look at New Mexico's shoulder. The First state's eyes narrowed into sharp green slits as he pressed a red piece of fabric onto the wound.
"We need to keep pressure on it no matter what; he's already lost a lot of blood hasn't he?" Rhetorical question of course, it was obvious by the blood around them how bad it was. "I think it caught an artery but he's healing fast." Delaware motioned for Oklahoma to press down so he could wipe his hands on his pants. He then turned to South Carolina who fidgeted under his hard gaze, avoiding making direct eye contact.
"U-um…"
"I want an explanation." Delaware sighed. "But that can wait until New Mexico's stable. He needs time to heal." She nodded, still with no eye contact. The wall to their right looked very interesting apparently.
"I can carry-" Delaware had already leaned down and lifted him up, making Oklahoma stand up alongside him to keep the constant pressure on the still trickling blood injury.
"I've got him." South Carolina frowned but nodded as she stood up, wiping her hands on her jeans. After getting himself situated with one arm holding New Mexico up, Delaware's other hand took Oklahoma's place so he would be easier to carry. Arizona was up as well, holding the still unconscious Alaska in her arms as The Sooner state calmly wiped his hands on his own pants and reached down to pick up Hawaii, who had been quiet since South Carolina yelled.
Delaware began to walk quickly, setting out from the alley while South Carolina paused for a moment, wrapping an arm around herself. He stopped, looking back at her.
"Come on South Carolina, New Mex need's to rest." She nodded, beginning to shuffle her feet forward looking at the ground.
America felt strange, like the time he let Hawaii back a cake and she put spam in it*. It was a similar gut feeling but not quite the 'You-just-ate-something-really-weird-that-even-England-wouldn't-touch-it' kind of feeling. It was more of a 'Something-bad-just-happened-feeling'. Something was wrong for sure, that much he subconsciously knew. He just wasn't exactly sure what.
His hand touched the center of his chest. It had suddenly started hurting badly a couple of minutes ago, making his breathing uneven for a bit. Had something happened back in his home; a city bombed or DC under another anthrax alert? Delaware or Virginia would call him, unless one of the cities was theirs and they were out cold. Actually now that America thought about it, Delaware would try to call him even if he was severely injured and on the verge of passing out. He was that kind of stubborn, had been ever since America'd met him.
America slid his free hand into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone. 'No New Messages' was on the screen. Still…chest pains and bad gut feelings? It just wasn't adding up.
He glanced up at the current speaker, Switzerland, who was going on about border patrols and immigration and such. America slid his cell back into his pocket before resting his free hand to softly drum on the table with his fingertips, the other hand still on his chest. The blond haired man failed to notice the concerned British man watching him or Canada shooting him worried looks through shy, violet colored eyes. America wasn't normally this quiet, especially when a meeting seemed to be dragging on and on (Like now).
America sighed. He'd just have to wait for a call…or a news report but it was most likely the call would come first. He pressed his hand a bit harder on his chest, eyebrow's furrowing in anxiety. Hopefully.
They were in a park, South Carolina didn't know which one but it did have a playground. Alaska and Hawaii were playing on it under her and Oklahoma's watchful eyes, Arizona was suppose to be watching them too but hadn't moved her gaze from the ground since she sat on the picnic table bench. To say the Palmetto state was concerned over the normally rambunctious girl was an understatement.
Delaware was at the picnic table next to theirs, gently but firmly holding down the pressure on New Mexico's wound. He said a couple of minutes ago that the injured artery was fixing itself rather quickly and should be stable enough for The Land of Enchantment to recover without Delaware's constant keeping pressure on it. He hadn't died and that's what mattered most.
South Carolina shivered. Most people would notice a bunch of people around a picnic table that held a bleeding kid on it. Yet it was as if no one could see them, although when Oklahoma bumped into a jogger on his way to the table, the man apologized and was able to see him fine. It was as if something was blocking people from seeing the states except on contact. That thought alone would make anyone uneasy. "Hey! Big Sister Arizona! Look at me!~" cried Hawaii, sliding down a long red slide. The brown haired girl's face didn't waver from the ground and Hawaii frowned but apparently sensed the mood (As Japan would say) and didn't pressure her.
"You okay?" whispered Oklahoma, gently nudging The Grand Canyon state with his arm. She shrugged, still staring at the ground. Oklahoma's blue eyes held full concern for his sister as he shifted to sit closer to her. South Carolina sighed, rubbing the temples of her forehead. She'd offered a bit ago to go find a pharmacy or something and get disinfectant for New Mexico's wound and maybe some gauze but Delaware said she could do it after he talked to her. Sometimes she swore he didn't act like an annoying, bossy older brother but a perpetually disappointed parent.
"South Carolina." She looked up, meeting the First State's eyes. That pale color, just a shade or two away from the colored eyes she'd feared for so long. It made her want to run, and he had absolutely no idea why. "Can you explain what happened back there and who was the-"
"Your shadow." whispered Arizona, still staring at the ground. Everyone looked at her, the noise of Alaska and Hawaii running around playing fading into the background.
"What?" asked Oklahoma. She'd been quiet for over ten minutes and her first words are 'Your Shadow'? Arizona looked up, her hazel eyes a mess of many emotions but mainly fear as she stared into South Carolina's darker eyes.
"South Carolina, where's your shadow?" Her hand pointed at the ground. Where there was Delaware, Arizona, Oklahoma and even the distant New Mexico's shadow there was a open space where the eight's state's shadow should have been between Oklahoma and Delaware. Keyword: Should. South Carolina's shadow was gone.
Now the plot's starting to kick off a bit. There is a reason this story is listed as supernatural you know. There are so many subliminal hints of future event's in this chapter (And past one's that will be explored but those are obvious) so I'm actually pretty proud of this one. We're beginning to see the more quiet, thoughtful side of Arizona; she can't be peppy all the time you know! What happened with NM getting shot will be explained in the next chapter as well as why only SC seem's to know what's going on (Although the Trio know more than they're telling, the only real one's having no idea are Delaware, Hawaii and Alaska). So until next time, please leave your comment below for improvement's and such as well as questions.
*United is short for United States of America, it's what South Carolina call's America a lot except when she's around her brother (North Carolina) or one other state I won't mention yet. :)
*Florida's the sunshine state so calling Oklahoma sunshine is like calling him Florida, which annoys Oklahoma a lot
*Apparently there's such thing as a Spam cake. I kinda want to try it, just to see if I like it you know?