"I got it."
"What is it, West?"
"Prussia, call together the rest of Europe that has either survived or is not yet attacked by General Winter. I have an idea in mind."
Germany set the manual down. Prussia eyed the title before going to the phone. West, man, you need to buy books about domesticated living once in a while.
Belarus wordlessly whisked the Baltic Trio—more like supervised their entry—into Russia's room at the hospital.
"Ah! Good. Now everyone is here." He was still on the gurney albeit the absence of an IV monitor and dextrose. "Now, we can start the meeting."
"What do you have in mind, Big Brother?" Oddly enough, Belarus remained by the doorway, keeping close to Lithuania, much to his surprise.
"We work together to stop General Winter."
Estonia quivered. He nudged Latvia. Who nudged Lithuania. Who went to nudge Belarus but decided against it. He raised his hand. "Um, Mr. Russia, how can General Winter be stopped?"
"Simple." Russia brought out his "magical stick" from underneath the mattress. To the Baltic Trio, it was the dreaded water pipe which bore all their signatures, written in blood. Theirs to be precise.
"Violence cannot be the solution!" Estonia protested. He felt the tip of a sharp knife press hard against his spine. "Then again…"
Russia plucked out a mound of ohagi. "I am sorry to have to disagree with you, Estoniya. General Winter came to us with violence. Now we come to him with violence. First of all, we must make preparations."
"What preparations?" Ukraine piped.
Russia gave his older sister one of his big smiles as a mountain of envy descended on Belarus. "We arm ourselves."
"With conventional weapons?"
"Da. They are useful against the vurdalaki."
Latvia raised his hand. Do I still have to do this? "What do we do when we've rearmed ourselves, Mr. Russia?"
"We will all help the other nations to stop General Winter's campaign." He turned to Belarus. "Belarus, you and Big Sister will start some trouble from the inside." Then he shifted his attention to the Baltic Trio before she could protest. "You three will assist the G8. You all still have muscle, da?"
The three countries nodded. They didn't know whether to be glad or feel depressed. It wasn't intended as a cruel pun, right? Estonia asked, "What would you be doing?"
Russia grinned. "I will make a few phone calls first."
"We've lost contact with our forces at Hakodate!"
"Nani?" Does that mean Hokkaido is lost?
The officer handed Japan his binoculars. The blizzard partially obscured the view from the tower. But the sight was unmistakable. Samurai warriors… against their own offspring.
He could make out the curved lines that came down upon the bodies who struggled to move. There were dark patches on the ground—he did not want to know what that was. This is most dishonorable!
"Sir, people are rising from the snow along our western coasts."
"People?" Japan whipped his head to the man.
"They appear to be samurai warriors from ancient times. The report is obscure but according to the descriptions, they wear lacquer plates and fight with cracked swords." There was evidence of doubt in his voice. "I am not entirely trusting of this information but considering the many years I have served with the men who gave me this report, I decided to seek your counsel on these matters."
Japan returned his sights to the coast. "They are who they are."
"Sumimasen, sensei?" The officer was thoroughly puzzled.
"From what I see here, the report does not lie." The nation turned to him. "Do what you must. Even if we are against our own ancestors."
"Hai." The officer bowed and turned to his subordinates. Orders were given and more bows were received. It pained the nation to go against the people he had known thousands of years ago. If men like Miyamoto were to have been brought up against them, it would be an immense and painful disgrace.
Japan exited the bunker amidst the eruption of the howitzers not far off. Hailing a jeep, he rode back to his troops' base of operations. He met with his superior.
"What is it, Japan?"
"I need to talk to South Korea."
"Same here. He will be on shortly."
"Arigatōgozaimashita." The screen was a mass of static before South Korea's face went onto display. Japan already knew what bad news await.
"South Korea-san, is everything well?"
"Not so, aniki! I'm pretty worried about North. From the looks of it, he isn't taking the winter season all too well."
"Are you sure? Are you secure?"
"Not for long!" Static continued to interfere with the display. "I'm pooling my soldiers at the border just in case something bad happens. It's really cold now!"
Japan felt his shoulders collapse. He is attacking all sides. "How is North Korea faring?"
"You know I haven't heard from him much since…" Gunfire burst just behind the younger nation followed by a mixture of voices and sirens. More gunfire echoed just behind. South Korea turned to face one of his field commanders. "Don't tell me North's gone on the offensive again!"
"It's not North, Korea-san!" The younger nation whipped his head to the screen.
"What do you mean, aniki?"
"It's General—" The transmission ended. Abrupt and hanging. "… Winter."
Japan sulked deeper into whatever space there was behind him. He watched the static for what seemed to be an hour before a hand tapped his shoulder. He looked to his superior and bowed.
"We need to build a defensive line."
Austria's brow went up. "And how are we going to do that?"
"We imitate the Maginot Line. Only this time, we'll make it more awesome than the France's crappy one," Prussia added.
"That's a great idea, Germany! How about I make some pasta while you all work on it?"
Germany's palm met Italy's face. "As I was saying, we need to establish a barrier that would hold out against General Winter's advance. And for that, we are going to need your full cooperation on this."
"Hold on now, hermano." It was Spain. "Do you mean that we are going to pool together all our resources on a giant wall?"
"I did not necessarily mean a—"
South Italy cut him off. "Yeah, potato bastard. This giant wall of yours is going to sap all our supplies!"
"It's not a wall—"
"I do have some left over stones back home," mentioned Turkey.
Greece scoffed. "Like they'd stand up to something."
"Would you just shut up, kid?"
"Would you stop waking up my cats?"
Mein Gott! Germany rubbed his temples as a wave of arguments erupted around the beer hall. His eyes searched for his older brother… and found him meeting Hungary's frying pan.
A series of booms erupted from the north followed by a series of rapid bursts and distant crackles. Beijing was now under siege. From Han Dynasty soldiers to those who perished in the Second World War, it grew increasingly difficult to stave off the seemingly endless number of warriors that arose against them.
China felt his thigh bulge from where the flaming arrow had once hit. It was now getting worse. Much worse than a normal scratch. He told himself repeatedly that he would have a doctor tend to it once the city has been held. He told himself the same thing back at the Wall.
The Wall is gone. Xinjiang, Gansu, Ningxia, Nei Mongol, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Laoning, Shaanxi, and now Hebei? "How are the city's northern districts?"
"Sir! They are converging from all sides!"
"How is that possible?" China glared at the young man. "Did we lose Shanxi?"
The officer gulped. "Shì de, xiān shēng."
Shǐ! They were flanked. Beijing's southern districts were secure but a counter-offensive by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would yield little to no success. The armed forces were heavily strained. A third of their ground forces were lost to the winter season with the dead soldiers being reanimated as frozen conscripts fighting against their own brethren.
China stared back outside at the pecks of snow that continued to whiten the city. The unusually cold temperatures forced people indoors to avoid freezing to death if they lingered too long outside.
Air battles were now out of the equation. The brutality of the snow storm would literally drop any aircraft within its atmosphere. We've lost over twenty airbases and we cannot do anything about them!
"How many aircraft have we relocated so far?"
"Sir, the numbers are inaccurate and we are still doing a recount."
Still counting? "What were the original numbers?"
"Around 300 aircraft, sir."
That's already inaccurate! An irritation in his thigh caught his hand's attention. The nation sat down to relieve his leg pain. "Diu… this hurts."
"Sir, we can get a medic to treat that."
"I don't think—"
A general stepped into the room. The junior official gave his salute and respects before being relieved by his senior. The older man turned to the nation. "China, our northern districts are being torn apart by our own weapons." He cleared his throat. "Are you still able to assist our men at the front?"
"I am ready as ever."
"Ké yì. The 27th and the 65th are fully committed at Changping, Shunyi, and Pinggu."
Prussia felt himself being yanked by the collar. At least he didn't drop the bombs in his hands.
"Hey, West! What the hell was that fo—"
Germany pointed to a spike in the ground. Prussia sighed.
"Uh, thanks, West. I almost went up like that…"
"Watch your step next time, okay? And take off your iPod, verdammt! I've been telling you over and over again that I've covered this area with mines."
"Did you fence it?"
"I was going to." Barbed wire lined the horizon as German engineers set about digging holes and making concrete domes. "It may not be much but it would offer some protection against General Winter."
"Yeah, his goons will be popping up out of the ground in any number of places."
"Not unless they're snowed over right?"
Prussia smiled. "Right." I was just about to say that.
It did not take long for the bunkers to be set up. However, the weapons that were to be installed into them were delayed causing a very annoyed Germany to march to the road where the goods were supposed to pass through.
His palm went to his face upon seeing Austria and Hungary arguing with the convoy escorts.
"What the hell is going on here?" Germany demanded.
"Why don't you tell us?" The look on Hungary's face was enough to scare Prussia. Only Prussia. If that glare had evolved, then Prussia would not be the only nation terrified to wits end.
"We are establishing a defensive line!"
Austria raised his voice. "We do not need a defensive line!"
"It's for your own safety! Don't you see the threat General Winter poses?"
"We do! But this is too much."
"Mein Gott! You really don't understand, do you? General Winter can cause people—dead people—to come up from the ground and fight you! Considering how many have succumbed to the cold in the past millennia, who knows how many conscripts he—"
Hungary's frying pan made short work of him. She didn't have to do it. In fact, she had never used it on Prussia's younger brother. But because of anger, she had lost it.
"Turn back, now!" She ordered.
The driver of the lead vehicle thought about making one final protest before dropping his head in agreement. He entered the truck and was about to pull back the stick when someone came into view not far off.
"Hey, West! What's taking the guns so long?"
Austria and Hungary turned to glare at the nation who proceeded to wave at the trucks in bewilderment and frustration.
"Wait! Why are you leaving? You can't just go!"
"They can. We made them go," the aristocrat remarked. "You should as well."
Now Prussia was annoyed. "Look, Four-eyes, if you don't want to get your arsch frozen over like the others, then I suggest you—"
She was fast. He was faster. Hungary was definitely surprised that Prussia had caught her frying pan mid-flight. The older Germanic nation gripped the cast-iron steel above his head and shot Hungary a look that subdued her. It was that face of his… the face that she had seen countless times in the past. The way Prussia stared at her; it was as if his eyes glowed.
Tense silence.
"If you don't want our help, then fine. We're leaving."
Prussia stooped to lift up a semi-conscious Germany. Heaving towards the lead truck, Austria and Hungary could not help but watch them go. No longer were they irritated nor angered. They were, rather, timid albeit slightly frightened.
As the trucks disappeared into the horizon, the wind picked up and General Winter broke through the fencing.