Norway woke again just before dawn. Denmark was still fast asleep.
Norway knew what he had to do. He stood and stretched. He walked to his own tent, where he changed into clean clothes -it wouldn't matter what he was wearing, but something about clean clothes made him feel prepared. He avoided looking at the narrow, 4-foot-long box on his desk.
Norway went to wake Iceland, only to find that he was already up.
"Hey, Iceland."
"Hello, Norway. Why are you up so early?"
"I could ask the same of you, Little Brother."
"Mm."
"I wanted to see you. It has been a few days."
Iceland knew when his brother was lying, but he did not say anything about it. "Norway, is that the only reason you came? To see me?"
Norway chuckled softly. "Why? Were you expecting something?"
Iceland frowned. He hated having his own words thrown back at him. "No, I just…" He shook his head. "Never mind."
"I wanted to talk to you, Iceland."
"About what?"
"I have to…do something. And while I'm gone, I want you to run things."
"I can't do that. Why can't you do that?"
Norway looked away. "I have to go. I'm sorry."
Iceland had known his brother for a very long time. He knew (at least he thought he did) exactly what Norway was going to do, even if he never said it.
He hugged Norway. "Lykke til, Big Brother."
When he let go, he swiped his eyes. He had NOT been crying. Nope.
"Don't cry, Little Brother."
The sun was coming up as Norway left Iceland's tent. He slipped into his own tent and opened the box.
A sword rested in a nest of red velvet. Golden runes ran down the length of the blade. Norway could read them, but he didn't read them now. He lifted the sword out.
Perfectly balanced at two inches from the cross-guard, it was light yet strong. It was surprising that it had turned out as well as it had, given that it had been reforged from pieces of a once legendary blade long ago.
He left the tent. He thought about checking on Denmark again, saying his good-bye, but he did not. He did not need any distractions.
Killing England would be hard enough.
A/N: Cliffhanger!
I might be slightly evil; I divided Day 18 into two parts, so there will be more that happens during that day. I'm also not sure when I'll be able to type anymore up, so please be patient.
Also, in the last chapter, I forgot to mention that there was a Gutters reference. You all should read Gutters, by Glass-of-milk, if you have not already. (Yes, it is another fan-fic. It is also a lot better than mine.)
Google Translate tells me that "Lykke til" means "Good luck" in Norwegian. I have no idea if that is accurate, as I do not speak Norwegian (yet).
Anyone noticed the very subtle references to things that originate from England? (*cough*Harry Potter *cough*)
Thank you all for over 1,000 views as of this morning!