Like a Phoenix
Chapter 9
The silver haired boy ran his brown jacket sleeve across the cracked frosted window, wiping away the smeared fingerprints. His gaze hardened as even more thick clouds of grayish-black ash rained down.
"How did this happen?" He asked the elderly woman sitting behind him, tending to her cats. The old woman turned her gaze over to the boy, who's been at the window every since they entered the shattered shack the old woman calls home.
"Well, I'm not sure myself, dear. But all I know is that if this keeps up, then we'll be in a heap load of trouble." She said. "Why don't you come sit down? It won't do you any good if you just keep standing there."
Iceland sighed and twisted around. He walked over to the chair the old woman was patting, careful not to trip over the loose floor boards. He took a seat and his black puffin flew up on the back of his wooden chair. The old woman stroked her purring cat, having cat hair flying everywhere. She fixed her gaze over at him as he couldn't help but stare out the cracked window.
"Why do you keep looking out that window, sonny?" The old lady asked curiously.
"It's hard to explain. But…I'm somehow…I just feel connected to the land…and I dread something terrible is going to happen because of this." Iceland explained, careful not to slip out anything that would say he was the actual country.
The lady slowly closed her eyes and sighed. "Is that so? Say, I haven't caught what your name was."
Iceland turned his attention to the woman and stared at her with his purple eyes. "Uh…well I don't….don't really have a…have a name. But…I guess you can just call me…Ice."
"Oh? Don't have a name? How sad. Are you an orphan?"
"Not exactly." Iceland shifted his gaze back to the raining ash as he felt a pang of guilt and anxiety for what could come of this.
. . .
"Everything is in order, Feliks sir!" a man dressed in black stated.
Poland lifted his head and smiled. "Hey, like thanks, man."
The funeral was going to take place in two days and now all of the arrangements were sorted out. They were going to broadcast the funeral service all across the nation and now that those preparations were in order, Poland was finishing up with some paperwork that he hadn't gotten to since he was in the hospital for quite some time.
"You're like, dismissed." Poland said, not bothering to look up as he signed another paper. The man exited the room as he finished his signature.
Ever since the plane wreck, Poland had been thinking about what went wrong. He had heard a lot of gossip about how it could have been intentional because they were going to Russia after all. Since the Polish and Russian relations still haven't improved, a lot of people were wary of this and that they think it was a planned assassination attempt.
Poland knew that they crashed because of the fog, but it could have been intentional too. What also makes the situation even more suspicious is that Russia had called Poland a few days after the crash, saying that his boss would be investigating the matter. This had worried Poland knowing that something was up. But he couldn't figure out why.
He snapped out of his thoughts as he grabbed another stack of papers.
"This is so totally like, boring."
All of a sudden, the pink phone on his desk began to ring. Poland reached over and answered it with a simple hello.
"Poland, this is England. My boss and I are not going to be able to make it to the funeral. My sincerest apologies."
Poland almost dropped the phone. "Wait, like why?"
"One of Iceland's volcanoes just erupted and the wind just started to blow the ash over into my country. Airplanes can't fly in the dense ash clouds and if they do, the engines shut completely off, sending the airplane crashing into the ground." England explained.
"O-oh. I-I like, see then." Poland replied into the phone.
"Once again, my apologies. But alas, I have to go. There seems to be an accident involving the ash I must reside to. Farewell, Poland. And good luck."
Click. The line went dead. Poland just sat there gripping the phone tightly, his knuckles turning white.
"Just when things were like, running so smoothly!" Poland thought. Suddenly a cold sweat ran down his back making him get goose bumps. What if the wind keeps blowing the ash? It could affect the other countries as well! Then, nobody would be coming to the funeral!
A loud bang filled the room, making Poland jump. He looked to see the door had swung open and the man dressed in black appeared in the door way, a ghastly expression filled his face.
"Feliks, sir! I just got a report that one of the volcanoes on Iceland erupted and is spewing ash everywhere!"
"I know. Arthur just called and like, informed me that he can't come. The ash is covering all of like, England." Poland responded. The man looked to see the phone still in Feliks' hand. Poland noticed him staring, and put the phone back on the home base.
"Also, I've got reports of-" Ring Ring Ring. The phone began to ring, interrupting the man in black. Poland answered the pink phone again and the man listened careful to what Poland was saying.
"Wha-? You too, Nikolai?...Huh? How do you not know if your boss can like, make it?... In America?...Oh….What do you like, mean Berwald isn't either?…. Oh, I like, see…Alright, bye." Poland hung up the phone and looked at the man in black.
"Norway isn't attending. I don't know about his like, boss. He's in America right now. But Berwald and his boss aren't like, attending either. It's like, the same reason with the like, ash." Poland explained.
"Sir! This isn't good!" the man in black obviously exclaimed.
"Of course it like, isn't! The ash must like, be spreading quicker than I like, thought." Poland thought alarmingly.
"Feliks, sir?"
"Go get like, people to like, investigate how fast the ash is moving and like, get people to answer like, any call that comes in, to the max!" Poland stated, panic at the tip of his voice.
"Yes, sir." The man in black left leaving Poland uneasy.
. . .
"So Alfred, do you know of any good restaurants around here?" Norway's boss curiously, not bothering to look at America.
"Yeah! There's a bunch of good ones!" America exclaimed. "You could always try—"
Norway's boss reached into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating cell phone out of his suit's pocket as America continued to ramble on about different restaurants that consisted of different fattening and greasy foods.
"Yeah?...Really?...Ash huh."
"Ash? I don't think there's any restur—" America immediately shut up when he saw that the boss wasn't talking to him, but into a cell phone.
"Oh….I understand. Alright. Bye." Norway's boss hung up his phone and tucked it back into the pants pocket. He sighed heavily and started to walk the opposite way they were previously going. America had a puzzled look on his face and sauntered after the boss.
"Is…everything alright, sir?"
"It's none of your business. Now just take me to your boss!" Norway's boss demanded.
"What's with this guy?"America thought to himself as he took the lead. They both walked through the bustling city streets of New York City towards the hotel where America's boss was temporarily staying.
After about a half an hour of walking, they finally reached the entrance to the Hyatt Regency. America had called his boss ahead of time to tell him that Norway's boss wanted to see him. The elevator ride was long and uncomfortable as people crammed in to get a free ride. When they got onto the 27th floor, America tried to ask what the phone call was about, but Norway's boss simply ignored him.
The boss ran his fingers through is silky, slicked back black hair as he knocked on America's boss's hotel room. America's boss opened the door and politely invited him in. America followed behind. That is until Norway's boss insisted that this was a private matter and that someone like him should not hear such an important matter. Having no choice in the matter, America's boss shooed America out of the room.
"Someone like me, huh? Who does that guy think he is?" America thought angrily. He really wanted to hear what was so important. What if it was some kind of world crisis! What if Russia became the Soviet Union again! America shook his head and leaned against the small hallway of the 27th floor.
"Room service." said a hotel worker, only a couple doors down from where America was leaning. The worker disappeared into the room and America's eyes caught on something. His mouth suddenly allowed a devious smile to spread across his face, as if he were the Cheshire Cat. America quickly walked over to the dinner cart the hotel worker left in the hallway. He quickly snagged a glass cup and strolled back to where he was last, as if nothing happened.
America waited impatiently until the hotel worker disappeared from sight. After he left, America pulled out the glass cup that he stole out of his bomber jacket. He smiled and looked back and forth between the cup and his boss's hotel door.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you know." a voice in the back of America's head informed him.
"And satisfaction brought it back." America smugly thought back. He placed the glass cup up on the door and he positioned his ear against the bottom of the glass.
"So about the phone call I received…It was from Nikolai."
"What was it about? Did something happen?"
"As a matter of fact something did."
This was what America wanted to hear. He pressed his ear harder to the glass to try and hear their soft quiet voices louder if that was possible.
"Is it something important?"
"Well, Nikolai explained the situation to me. Apparently a couple of the volcanoes on Iceland erupted and is continuously spewing ash, even as we speak. The wind has carried the ash across to Europe and is affecting the air traffic. England has shut off all of their airports because of the ash. The ash not only has affected England, but is now affecting my country. The airports in Norway are now closed. Leaving me trapt here."
America's eyes widened. Ash was spewing all over Europe? He had never heard of such a thing! Did that mean it could also travel over to America? America snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his boss begin to speak.
"But, if the volcanoes keep spewing ash, then other European nations will be shrouded in the ash as well!"
"Exactly. And if that's the case then nobody will be attending the Polish President's funeral."
America's mouth hung open as apprehension filled his face. "N-Nobody would attend the funeral? But that can't be!"
"Oh I see. That is true. Devastating, but true. We'll have to wait and see though. If the ash reaches Poland and if they close their airports then we will have to inform them that we cannot make it. Alfred would have to call Feliks then."
"Nikolai has already informed Feliks that he is not going to be there. Whatever happens, happens and we should just deal with it."
"You're absolutely right. So in the mean time, I hope this doesn't inconvenience you at all. I'll have Alfred help you with whatever you need."
"Of course this inconveniences me! I'll have to stay here longer now! And I don't need that buffoon to take care of me!"
America clenched his fight into a tight ball. Man he hated Norway's boss. He didn't do anything but help Norway's boss and what does he get in return? Insulted right in front of his face. Well not really his face…but you know what he means.
"I'm sorry he acts that way. But he's the best we've got. I'll try to get him to behave."
The door handle suddenly twisted and the hotel door of America's boss sudden opened, causing America to lose his balance and fall over onto the carpeted entrance of the hotel room.
"Alfred! What we're you doing?" His boss angrily asked staring with beady eyes at America.
America looked up at his boss's furious face and replied, "I-I wasn't doing a-anything, I swear!"
"It's obvious that he was listening to our conversation." Norway's boss stated. He kicked the glass cup out of America's hand and walked out of the room, stepping on America's fingers in the process.
America recoiled his hand into his chest and held back from yelling out in pain.
"This guy is an asshole! He must really hate me for just trying to help him!" America thought. His boss grabbed his shoulders and helped pull him up from the floor. His boss sighed and patted America's shoulder.
"Listen, Alfred. We all know this guy doesn't like you. But you still have to escort him. And don't do anything to get revenge on him. Got it? I know you don't like the idea of it, and neither do I to tell you the truth. But please, bear with it alright. At least until we have this whole ash crisis figured out." America's boss explained.
"I got it, boss. I'll do my best. After all, I am a hero!" America explained, ignoring the pain still lingering in his fingers. America ran down the hall to catch up Norway's boss.
America's boss merely chuckled and said, "Good luck, Alfred. You're gonna need it."
A/N: Alright. In case people get confused. Nikolai is a human name I used for Norway. I hope it wasn't too confusing. Another thing to clear up. Although Poland's boss was the actual boss in real life, America and Norway's bosses are completely made up characters. It is a little confusing but bear with it. I have no idea how their real bosses act and I didn't want to make Norway's real boss an asshole. Thanks for bearing with me and thanks for reading so far~!