p class="MsoNormal"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Flowers for Balaton, An Axis Powers: Hetalia/1983: Doomsday Fanfiction/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"(Chapter 6: Facing the Void)/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Port Elizabeth, New Britain, August, 2015/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina was walking through the streets of Port Elizabeth. The day had gone by rather quickly, after leaving Frankie to deal with her boyfriend, she'd managed to get some shopping done before dusk had set in. The young Swiss woman sat down on one unoccupied benches. A faded 'Whites Only' sign had been hastily scratched off, reminding her that not too long ago, this nation was an unequal one… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"A black sedan stopped in front of the bench she was sitting at, Lina looked up at the car as a familiar woman got out of the car and walked towards her. em"Miss Worth?" /emthe Afrikaner accented woman looked at her with a somewhat tense expression. em"Fraulein Kirkland? What a surprise…" /emLina smiled at the Nation as she got off the bench and walked over to her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""This is of the upmost importance; it concerns your boyfriend…" Alice looked at Lina with a straight face; although it looked like that she would break down at any moment. "Frankie is waiting for us; she's not feeling too well…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina looked at Alice in shock as she thought about what she'd said to her. Lina walked towards the car at a brisk pace, with Alice following close behind. Lina got into the car, finding that Frankie was sitting next to her, trying to hold back the tears. "He's gone…" the Afrikaner stammered through the tears that were welling up in her eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Gone…?" Lina shut the car door as it sped off to an unknown location. She held the woman in a comforting hug as Frankie continued the cry into her shoulder. "Marcus has gone missing, something must have snapped in him… He seemed to be depressed…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""We gotta find him before he does something… drastic…" Lina sighed as she continued to hold Frankie. The Afrikaner nodded slowly. "I'm not too sure where we're going…" Frankie muttered as the car quickly sped past the town square, eventually stopping near a small house. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"A chauffeur opened the car's door, letting Lina, Alice and Francine out of the car. Frankie looked at the small house as she was taken by surprise when she heard a voice coming from behind her. "Smith?" the young woman turned around to see the former Briton getting out of the driver's seat. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Do you have any idea where my cousin is?" she gave the blonde haired man a somewhat depressed look. "I… I don't know…" the assistant felt a lump in his throat as he watched Frankie close to crying again, he had to say something before she became an emotional wreck… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""But that's why we're here, Frankie… Alice has decided to get some of her family members together for a little meeting. Hopefully we can find where he is…" Smith took the young woman's hand as the pair walked inside the old colonial-era home./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Welcome to my home…" Alice sighed to herself as she led the small group inside. em"Karenza!" /emthe Nation yelled out as a young girl, who from Lina's point of view, looking like she was in her late teens; walked out of a nearby room and moved over to the group. She wore a khaki jacket along with a skirt that had a tartan pattern; the girl glanced over to Lina, Frankie and Smith as she sighed for a moment. "This is our motley crew, eh?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';" Alice nodded as the teenaged Nation looked at her with suspicion before adopting a more serious, but also somewhat domineering tone in her voice. "This is one of my long-time associates that we're lookin' for…" the girl looked like she was about to breakdown for a moment as she managed to hold back the tears, if only for a moment. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""We gotta get going, we all have our reasons to find Marcus and he certainly won't be an easy catch…" the woman walked out of the house at a brisk pace and got into the car as she waited for the others to catch up to her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina got into the car and sat next to the girl, Frankie followed the pair into the back as Smith and Alice got into the front of the car. "Umm… Miss…?" Francine looked at the young lass with an inquisitive look. "Marcus hasn't mentioned you, as far as I know…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"The girl flashed a grin at the Afrikaner. "We go way back… Family wise, that is." Frankie raised an eyebrow as the rather cocky girl, who was definitely hiding her real, more stressful emotional state. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You know about your Aunt's heritage, right?" Karenza looked at Frankie as she nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, Cornish heritage, she's from Penzance, although I do know that she owns an old estate in Truro..." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You're a smart one Miss de Klerk, I'll give you that. Your Auntie's family and I go back a few centuries, mainly participated in the smuggling and mining business when Dad was beating up that bloody Frog at Trafalgar. Although it was mainly the dishonest work that made the William's quite well known back in 'ol emKernow/em…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Great… So my aunt is descended from criminals…"Frankie sighed for a moment, trying to emphasise the sarcasm in her voice. "That's only partially true, but I digress…" Cornwall sighed as she adjusted her jacket. "Anyway… I just hope that we find Marcus before he actually does it…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina continued to be on the lookout for Marcus, who seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Although, even though it was only for a moment, Lina finally spotted Marcus, who was making his way through an alleyway. "STOP THE CAR, VERDAMMT!" Lina yelled at the top of her lungs, Smith slammed his foot on the brake at the same moment the Swiss woman yelled out her command. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina kicked open the car door and bolted out of the car, breaking into a full blown sprint as she attempted to catch up to her lover, who was climbing up a fire escape that was mounted on a small apartment block. "Lina, wait!" Alice got out of the car next, followed by Smith, Karenza and Frankie. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Thanks to Lina's military training, she continued to sprint down to street, watching Marcus climb to the top of the building. She started to climb the stairs with rapid, almost animal like speed. By the time she'd reached to top, her three compatriots had barely reached the bottom of the building. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""MARCUS!" Lina ran over to her boyfriend, who'd started to position himself at the other edge of the building. She noticed that he was gripping the antique pistol tightly as he turned around to face her, his face was stained with tears, and maybe a little bit blood, but she wasn't sure. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"But what was noticeable was the look of terror that was etched across his face. "Stay back, verdammt!" Marcus pointed his Luger at Lina with a look of desperation; it seemed that he was on the verge of insanity once again…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Bitte, lieben… Stay calm…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina looked at Marcus as he slowly lowered the pistol, for a moment she thought that he'd calmed down, but to her immediate surprise, and shock, Marcus held the gun underneath his jaw, knowing that it anyone would get near him, he would fire…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You don't know what it's like! I'm constantly on the verge of hurting you, Lina… Roza's playing me like a damn fiddle! The world would be better off without me anyway…" Marcus continued to hold the gun, although Lina knew that he wouldn't have the guts the pull the trigger… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Re Piran…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Karenza looked at Lina, who was seemingly on the verge of going over to Marcus and hugging him, iregardless of the consequences. But she knew that a Cursed One was a being that was not to be trifled with, especially in unstable situations such as this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I'm so sorry… Mein lieben…." /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Marcus uttered what would seem like one last tearful response as he slowly pulled the trigger, but to his surprise, he was met with a click from the old pistol. em"No ammunition, but how…?"/emLina thought to herself as Marcus slowly lowered his pistol and he threw it to the side, the gun slide over to Karenza's feet, who then swiftly picked up the gun and pocketed it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""K-kernow...?" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Marcus stuttered as he laid eyes on the young woman, who cautiously walked over to the emotionally unstable Prussian and gave him a comforting hug. em"Drog yw genev…" /emMarcus stammered through the tears as he nearly collapsed from the emotional strain that he'd managed put himself through. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""One emotional mess after another... I can't believe this is the way the world works now…" a disembodied voice sighed as Alice and Karenza looked around for its source. "Took you long enough to appear…" Alice sighed for a moment as an almost ethereal blonde-haired man with an odd set of rather thick eyebrows appeared in front of the group. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I'm sorry for not appearing as soon as you wanted; I had to deal with some unforeseen consequences, but at least Miss Hungary was able to help in that regard." The former Nation known as England gave a somewhat warm smile, being somewhat contradictory when compared to his usually snarky personality./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""No fucking way…" Marcus looked at the almost ghostly presence, his parents had told him of the former Nation when he was a child, but he never thought that he would encounter him. His late night encounter with Elizaveta reminded him that some Nation's didn't want to leave the life that they'd left behind. At least he now knew that she wasn't the exception… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Now…" Arthur Kirkland looked at Marcus with a rather stern, if welcoming expression on his face, the Nation certainly saw traces of his looks and personality in the young man, along with sharing other features with a certain German speaking albino. England knew that he would have a rocky road ahead, but at least it was starting to get better, if at a very slow rate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""How about we all go back to my daughter's house to discuss what happens next to Mr Wright…" Arthur looked at the small group as Alice nodded to her father in confirmation as he looked over to Lina and Francine. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I know that you two are going to have a lot of questions, so feel free to ask them once we've gotten back to Alice's home… Oh, and Marcus…" England pulled out a small, rectangular object from his old, tattered RAF uniform and threw it at his chest. Marcus looked at the small item with a shocked expression, immediately recognising what it was. "How did you…?" he looked at the man with surprise as Arthur flashed him a grin. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I had to stop you, Marcus, one way, or another…" the former Nation started to walk towards the other end of the building, where the fire escape was located. Marcus threw the small object over to Karenza, who quickly pocketed the item along with his pistol. "Keep it safe, will you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"-0-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Somewhere near Moscow, Union of Socialist Soviet Republic, November 1956…/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You're a worthless whore; your little revolution has failed, and our glorious Union stands triumphant over your defeated Nation…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"a Soviet guard shot Roza a cold, unfeeling grin. The young Hungarian had just seen Russia drag Elizaveta way, presumably to be brutally interrogated by the KGB, or even Ivan himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Roza felt a jolt of pain go through her body as the butt of a rifle impacted into her ribs, the impact of which made a sickening crunching noise as she felt a few of her ribs snap. "Comrade Braginsky told us to take care of you…" the guard pointed to his compatriot, who was grinning at her with an almost gleeful, sadistic grin./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"The young Hungarian struggled to stand up as the overwhelming sense of pain coursed through her body, it seemed that she would spend her final moments alone and surrounded by her tormentors./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Since we have to follow orders…" one of the guards muttered nonchalantly as he held his rifle in front of Roza as she struggled to get to her feet, which he found rather amusing. The older man slammed the butt of his Kalashnikov into Roza's face, he watched as her injured body collapsed against the concrete wall. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""…We have to carry them out, but to not do so…" the man knelt down in front of Roza's face, staring at her with almost no emotion. "…would result in what you're currently experiencing…" the guard laughed as Roza spat in the man's face, but he seemed unfazed by her response. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Very well… If only your beloved Hungary got to see you in this state…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"the man chuckled as he walked out of the cell, leaving her with the second, seemingly more unstable guard. em"Dimitri, keep the woman alive, unless Comrade Ivan gives any other orders…" /emthe younger man nodded as he grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it over to the cell so it gave him full view of Roza's bruised body. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I'll leave you two alone…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"the guard gave the pair a sadistic smile as he closed the door, leaving Roza alone with a seemingly unstable guard. But she certainly knew, from that point on, that her time was up…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"(Chapter 6: Facing the Void)/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Port Elizabeth, New Britain, August, 2015/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina was walking through the streets of Port Elizabeth. The day had gone by rather quickly, after leaving Frankie to deal with her boyfriend, she'd managed to get some shopping done before dusk had set in. The young Swiss woman sat down on one unoccupied benches. A faded 'Whites Only' sign had been hastily scratched off, reminding her that not too long ago, this nation was an unequal one… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"A black sedan stopped in front of the bench she was sitting at, Lina looked up at the car as a familiar woman got out of the car and walked towards her. em"Miss Worth?" /emthe Afrikaner accented woman looked at her with a somewhat tense expression. em"Fraulein Kirkland? What a surprise…" /emLina smiled at the Nation as she got off the bench and walked over to her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""This is of the upmost importance; it concerns your boyfriend…" Alice looked at Lina with a straight face; although it looked like that she would break down at any moment. "Frankie is waiting for us; she's not feeling too well…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina looked at Alice in shock as she thought about what she'd said to her. Lina walked towards the car at a brisk pace, with Alice following close behind. Lina got into the car, finding that Frankie was sitting next to her, trying to hold back the tears. "He's gone…" the Afrikaner stammered through the tears that were welling up in her eyes. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Gone…?" Lina shut the car door as it sped off to an unknown location. She held the woman in a comforting hug as Frankie continued the cry into her shoulder. "Marcus has gone missing, something must have snapped in him… He seemed to be depressed…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""We gotta find him before he does something… drastic…" Lina sighed as she continued to hold Frankie. The Afrikaner nodded slowly. "I'm not too sure where we're going…" Frankie muttered as the car quickly sped past the town square, eventually stopping near a small house. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"A chauffeur opened the car's door, letting Lina, Alice and Francine out of the car. Frankie looked at the small house as she was taken by surprise when she heard a voice coming from behind her. "Smith?" the young woman turned around to see the former Briton getting out of the driver's seat. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Do you have any idea where my cousin is?" she gave the blonde haired man a somewhat depressed look. "I… I don't know…" the assistant felt a lump in his throat as he watched Frankie close to crying again, he had to say something before she became an emotional wreck… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""But that's why we're here, Frankie… Alice has decided to get some of her family members together for a little meeting. Hopefully we can find where he is…" Smith took the young woman's hand as the pair walked inside the old colonial-era home./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Welcome to my home…" Alice sighed to herself as she led the small group inside. em"Karenza!" /emthe Nation yelled out as a young girl, who from Lina's point of view, looking like she was in her late teens; walked out of a nearby room and moved over to the group. She wore a khaki jacket along with a skirt that had a tartan pattern; the girl glanced over to Lina, Frankie and Smith as she sighed for a moment. "This is our motley crew, eh?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';" Alice nodded as the teenaged Nation looked at her with suspicion before adopting a more serious, but also somewhat domineering tone in her voice. "This is one of my long-time associates that we're lookin' for…" the girl looked like she was about to breakdown for a moment as she managed to hold back the tears, if only for a moment. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""We gotta get going, we all have our reasons to find Marcus and he certainly won't be an easy catch…" the woman walked out of the house at a brisk pace and got into the car as she waited for the others to catch up to her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina got into the car and sat next to the girl, Frankie followed the pair into the back as Smith and Alice got into the front of the car. "Umm… Miss…?" Francine looked at the young lass with an inquisitive look. "Marcus hasn't mentioned you, as far as I know…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"The girl flashed a grin at the Afrikaner. "We go way back… Family wise, that is." Frankie raised an eyebrow as the rather cocky girl, who was definitely hiding her real, more stressful emotional state. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You know about your Aunt's heritage, right?" Karenza looked at Frankie as she nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, Cornish heritage, she's from Penzance, although I do know that she owns an old estate in Truro..." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You're a smart one Miss de Klerk, I'll give you that. Your Auntie's family and I go back a few centuries, mainly participated in the smuggling and mining business when Dad was beating up that bloody Frog at Trafalgar. Although it was mainly the dishonest work that made the William's quite well known back in 'ol emKernow/em…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Great… So my aunt is descended from criminals…"Frankie sighed for a moment, trying to emphasise the sarcasm in her voice. "That's only partially true, but I digress…" Cornwall sighed as she adjusted her jacket. "Anyway… I just hope that we find Marcus before he actually does it…" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina continued to be on the lookout for Marcus, who seemed to have disappeared into thin air. Although, even though it was only for a moment, Lina finally spotted Marcus, who was making his way through an alleyway. "STOP THE CAR, VERDAMMT!" Lina yelled at the top of her lungs, Smith slammed his foot on the brake at the same moment the Swiss woman yelled out her command. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina kicked open the car door and bolted out of the car, breaking into a full blown sprint as she attempted to catch up to her lover, who was climbing up a fire escape that was mounted on a small apartment block. "Lina, wait!" Alice got out of the car next, followed by Smith, Karenza and Frankie. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Thanks to Lina's military training, she continued to sprint down to street, watching Marcus climb to the top of the building. She started to climb the stairs with rapid, almost animal like speed. By the time she'd reached to top, her three compatriots had barely reached the bottom of the building. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""MARCUS!" Lina ran over to her boyfriend, who'd started to position himself at the other edge of the building. She noticed that he was gripping the antique pistol tightly as he turned around to face her, his face was stained with tears, and maybe a little bit blood, but she wasn't sure. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"But what was noticeable was the look of terror that was etched across his face. "Stay back, verdammt!" Marcus pointed his Luger at Lina with a look of desperation; it seemed that he was on the verge of insanity once again…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Bitte, lieben… Stay calm…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Lina looked at Marcus as he slowly lowered the pistol, for a moment she thought that he'd calmed down, but to her immediate surprise, and shock, Marcus held the gun underneath his jaw, knowing that it anyone would get near him, he would fire…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You don't know what it's like! I'm constantly on the verge of hurting you, Lina… Roza's playing me like a damn fiddle! The world would be better off without me anyway…" Marcus continued to hold the gun, although Lina knew that he wouldn't have the guts the pull the trigger… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Re Piran…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Karenza looked at Lina, who was seemingly on the verge of going over to Marcus and hugging him, iregardless of the consequences. But she knew that a Cursed One was a being that was not to be trifled with, especially in unstable situations such as this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I'm so sorry… Mein lieben…." /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Marcus uttered what would seem like one last tearful response as he slowly pulled the trigger, but to his surprise, he was met with a click from the old pistol. em"No ammunition, but how…?"/emLina thought to herself as Marcus slowly lowered his pistol and he threw it to the side, the gun slide over to Karenza's feet, who then swiftly picked up the gun and pocketed it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""K-kernow...?" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Marcus stuttered as he laid eyes on the young woman, who cautiously walked over to the emotionally unstable Prussian and gave him a comforting hug. em"Drog yw genev…" /emMarcus stammered through the tears as he nearly collapsed from the emotional strain that he'd managed put himself through. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""One emotional mess after another... I can't believe this is the way the world works now…" a disembodied voice sighed as Alice and Karenza looked around for its source. "Took you long enough to appear…" Alice sighed for a moment as an almost ethereal blonde-haired man with an odd set of rather thick eyebrows appeared in front of the group. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I'm sorry for not appearing as soon as you wanted; I had to deal with some unforeseen consequences, but at least Miss Hungary was able to help in that regard." The former Nation known as England gave a somewhat warm smile, being somewhat contradictory when compared to his usually snarky personality./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""No fucking way…" Marcus looked at the almost ghostly presence, his parents had told him of the former Nation when he was a child, but he never thought that he would encounter him. His late night encounter with Elizaveta reminded him that some Nation's didn't want to leave the life that they'd left behind. At least he now knew that she wasn't the exception… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Now…" Arthur Kirkland looked at Marcus with a rather stern, if welcoming expression on his face, the Nation certainly saw traces of his looks and personality in the young man, along with sharing other features with a certain German speaking albino. England knew that he would have a rocky road ahead, but at least it was starting to get better, if at a very slow rate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""How about we all go back to my daughter's house to discuss what happens next to Mr Wright…" Arthur looked at the small group as Alice nodded to her father in confirmation as he looked over to Lina and Francine. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I know that you two are going to have a lot of questions, so feel free to ask them once we've gotten back to Alice's home… Oh, and Marcus…" England pulled out a small, rectangular object from his old, tattered RAF uniform and threw it at his chest. Marcus looked at the small item with a shocked expression, immediately recognising what it was. "How did you…?" he looked at the man with surprise as Arthur flashed him a grin. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I had to stop you, Marcus, one way, or another…" the former Nation started to walk towards the other end of the building, where the fire escape was located. Marcus threw the small object over to Karenza, who quickly pocketed the item along with his pistol. "Keep it safe, will you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"-0-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="text-decoration: underline;"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Somewhere near Moscow, Union of Socialist Soviet Republic, November 1956…/span/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""You're a worthless whore; your little revolution has failed, and our glorious Union stands triumphant over your defeated Nation…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"a Soviet guard shot Roza a cold, unfeeling grin. The young Hungarian had just seen Russia drag Elizaveta way, presumably to be brutally interrogated by the KGB, or even Ivan himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"Roza felt a jolt of pain go through her body as the butt of a rifle impacted into her ribs, the impact of which made a sickening crunching noise as she felt a few of her ribs snap. "Comrade Braginsky told us to take care of you…" the guard pointed to his compatriot, who was grinning at her with an almost gleeful, sadistic grin./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"The young Hungarian struggled to stand up as the overwhelming sense of pain coursed through her body, it seemed that she would spend her final moments alone and surrounded by her tormentors./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Since we have to follow orders…" one of the guards muttered nonchalantly as he held his rifle in front of Roza as she struggled to get to her feet, which he found rather amusing. The older man slammed the butt of his Kalashnikov into Roza's face, he watched as her injured body collapsed against the concrete wall. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""…We have to carry them out, but to not do so…" the man knelt down in front of Roza's face, staring at her with almost no emotion. "…would result in what you're currently experiencing…" the guard laughed as Roza spat in the man's face, but he seemed unfazed by her response. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""Very well… If only your beloved Hungary got to see you in this state…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"the man chuckled as he walked out of the cell, leaving her with the second, seemingly more unstable guard. em"Dimitri, keep the woman alive, unless Comrade Ivan gives any other orders…" /emthe younger man nodded as he grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it over to the cell so it gave him full view of Roza's bruised body. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';""I'll leave you two alone…" /span/emspan style="font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif';"the guard gave the pair a sadistic smile as he closed the door, leaving Roza alone with a seemingly unstable guard. But she certainly knew, from that point on, that her time was up…/span/p