And now for an update on my personal life! After school ended we had part of that Tropical Storm which added a lovely amount of water, and then I got to play with [read:babysit] my neighbor's twin 6-year-olds. We went door to door selling "Mud Flavored Mud Pie! Fortified with Chlorophyll!" Surprisingly, nobody bought. Ah, good times, good times. And then I had a piano recital, and according to a lot of the audience I did extremely well. *cheers* Also, it's literally pouring buckets outside and I'm lying in bed with my computer typing. I literally can not see more than twenty feet out the window, and the trees I can see are having a spaz attack. Holy bleep.
Thank you again, A Field of Starlight, for being a sort of editor-thing and letting me know when I've made whoopsies and dingdongs. [As Jack puts it.] Hey! Hey world! Go read her stuff!
Language warning: Contains Romano. You may not have noticed, but I prefer not to swear, unless not swearing would put Romano OOC.
And now for your chapter! Apologies for OOC Switzerland [he really does care about his sister, you know] and review it! :D
The Baltics left the meeting discouraged. It was just a useless clamor of yelling, with a handful of half-brained ideas thrown in for good measure.
"Now I know how China feels," muttered HK, massaging his temples.
"I'm still worried," said Lithuania.
"About which one?" snapped Estonia. The meeting had put him in a bad mood. "Them, or the aliens?"
"Both, I guess." Lithuania was a bit taken aback by his vehemence.
"Remember Atlantis?" Latvia intervened.
"China said she was nice," said HK with a faraway look in his eyes. "He told me stories about her."
"What did she look like?" asked Lithuania, interested.
"China said she looked like a goddess, with olive skin and dark hair piled up on her head and held there with a golden net. He said she had blue eyes and wore a dark blue sari. He talked a lot about her."
"Sounds like someone had a crush!" teased Latvia.
"What happened to her?" said Lithuania, more interested in the story.
"That's just it. All we have on it is China's word, and it's not as if he isn't trustworthy, but he's the only witness. He said there was a comet or meteor of some sort that landed in the ocean near her, and it caused a tidal wave that engulfed her island. He remembers that she stood on the highest spire of the citadel, refusing to give in until the very last."
They were all quiet for a moment, suspended in the thrall of the story.
Then Estonia said, "We have to have another meeting tomorrow, don't we."
"Probably," sighed Lithuania.
"What are you going to do?"
"We're"- Lithuania emphasized the we- "going to ask for ideas that will actually work this time."
"What are you for?" Estonia's tone was icy.
"What?"
"Are. You. For. Getting. The. Nations. Back. Or. Are. You. Going. To. Abandon. Them."
"I…I don't know!" burst out Lithuania. "So stop being all frigid and just be normal, okay?"
Estonia stopped for a moment. "Normal? What normal? There's nothing left of normal in this world at the moment," he said softly, and then stalked away, leaving the three of them staring after him in confusion.
~The next time they meet~
The old red building was once again crowded with nations. After a few minutes, Lithuania reluctantly took control. "So, um…"
All eyes turned to him again. He really really hated this. The words he'd tried to compose fled his mind, and he turned beet red.
"Ah, frankly, last time was terrible. Really and truly. Because honestly, you people argue too much, or take this all as a joke. It's not a joke. We've only got a bit less than a week to rescue them. Or, if we have to….abandon them."
"You can't just abandon my brother!" hollered Belarus,
"What if we choose to?" Cuba's dark expression obviously meant he was thinking of America.
"We can't!" shouted Romano. "And curse all you fucking bastards that say so!"
"I'm not a boy!" retorted Hungary.
"Well, do you say so?"
And it was full of noise once again. Lithuania threw his hands up and walked away. "I'm done," he said. "They're just too stupid…" he walked out of the building to one of the weather-beaten picnic tables outside and put his head in his hands.
Latvia and Estonia followed him. HK had stayed inside to at least try to calm people down. "It'll be all right," said Latvia encouragingly. "Sorry about yesterday," said Estonia apologetically. "I had a migraine, and you know how I get." Lithuania nodded. Estonia didn't get migraines much, but they were the stuff of legend.
Reassured slightly, he sat up. The darkness of the alien ships immured his face in shadow. "I think there's a storm coming," he said as the wind pulled at then, tugging their clothes and
setting Latvia's too-large shut up shirt so it flapped wildly in the wind.
"The alien ships are below the clouds," pointed out Estonia.
"You never know."
Lithuania stood, smiled at his friends, and headed for the building as the wind blew harder. In the ten steps to the door, though, it ceased,
"That's weird…" muttered Estonia. They didn't have time to dwell on it, though, because Switzerland came running out of the interminable gloom, looking wildly disheveled. He skidded to a stop in front of them, his voice filled with decidedly un-Switzerland like emotion. "Have you seen her?" he gasped. "Have you seen my little sister?" His normally stony green eyes were wild.
"No," said Lithuania anxiously. "What's wrong?"
Switzerland ignored him and barged through the doors.
"Have any of you seen her?" he screamed. "Liechtenstein!"
The hall was shocked into silence, which made the next clap of sound seem even louder. Mist filled the air, and lights seeped from the base of the spaceships. "It's another projection!" shouted Estonia down the halls, and they all came flooding out. Just in time, too, for the terrible countenance of the alien appeared.
"Today," it spat, "today we have taken more of your number to, shall we say, give you an incentive. You petty fools squabble about the lowest of things, like aiersvakor at a quorg of shrrgruilin." Though nobody knew what an aiersvakor or a quorg of shrrgruilin was, they felt suitably chastened and ashamed.
"This is the face of the first extra we have taken, as it is now."
Switzerland knew he was going to see his sister up there, but he still wasn't quite prepared for the shock it'd give him. There she was, bruises and all, and a bloody cut stretching from her lip to her chin. On the side of her neck, just above where it sloped out of view was an infinity shaped brand. Her eyes were closed.
The effect on Switzerland was immediate. His face turned white, and for a moment Lithuania feared he might faint. But the two hot red splashes of anger spread across his cheeks, and he spewed Swiss profanities and emptied his gun towards the sky.
The alien resumed speaking, the image of Liechtenstein disappearing. "We cannot guarantee her safety. Hurry up and decide what you will give us, for we may allow some of you to-" It cut off and cocked its head to the side.
"Out leader does not wish to enslave you. Xi finds you imbeciles amusing, and has a great wish to watch you all slowly die, just as this one will if you don't hurry. Xi has told us you need di-hydrogen monoxide to live. We would have you continue your deliberations, for receiving is always easier than taking, We will supply you with di-hydrogen monoxide."
The projection winked out.
"What's di-hydrogen monoxide?" someone called out.
"Water," responded Taiwan.
As if on cue, a drenching deluge soaked them all to the skin.
"NOW can we discuss things?" bellowed Lithuania. He'd liked Liechtenstein. They all had loved her youthful innocence, and now because of their stupidity, she was gone.
"They're all going to die if we don't help them!" he continued, wet brown hair plastered to the sides of his face. "The alien was right! All we do is argue! We need to actually do something!"
The force of the storm increased, ropes of water lashing the ground. "We can continue inside," he said, as the nations darted under the shelter. He was last, and he looked over his shoulder to see Switzerland fall to his knees, curling in on himself like a withered plant.
Lithuania opened the door, sending light spilling across the huddled form. "Are you going to come in? It's nasty out here."
When Switzerland didn't move, Lithuania went out and extended a hand. He knew about the other's infamous temper, but right now, he didn't fear it. There were worse things to be afraid of.
"I am the worst older brother in the world," he heard the blond nation say, a repeating chant.
"No." said Lithuania firmly, "You're not."
Switzerland sat up. "My little sister is going to die because this gaggle of morons can't decide. And what can I do? Nothing." He clenched his fists so hard red welled up around his palms.
Lithuania was at a loss for words. He'd never had a sibling, but he'd had Poland, and they were close, like brothers…and he couldn't imagine a life without Poland's silliness and humor to liven it up.
Perhaps Switzerland read this in his face, for he grasped the extended hand Lithuania had all but forgotten about, and came to his feet. Without another word, he went inside the building, stopping once at the door for a nearly inaudible "Thank you."
Lithuania nodded in response, letting the door swing shut behind him. With prodding from Estonia and Latvia, he reluctantly mounted the table to talk again. "We're going to need to actually do something to help them. But first, we're going to need to take a vote, so, ah, all for saving the world?"
No hands went up. He was only half-surprised. Nations do not abandon one another.
"So, ah, I guess we're rescuing them." He gave an uncomfortable chuckle.
"I have a plan," said Switzerland abruptly. "I have planes, old, but flyable. Do you think we could fly up there, find the mothership, and shoot it down?"
"How big is the earth?" asked Norway.
"Like, huge!" shouted Poland, throwing his arms out and accidentally hitting Spain in the face. Lithuania smiled at his antics.
"If the earth is really that big," continued Norway, "then won't it take a really long time? Who knows, we might not even be able to see it. It could be above the hexagons."
"Liechtenstein was in her room when she was taken," snapped Switzerland in the tone of someone refusing to accept defeat. "So the mothership must be near her. It's only been ten minutes. I will personally fly up there and shoot a hole into every ship if I have to."
And thus began a more helpful discussion, full of planes and missile types and strategies, and in some cases, things not related at all, but at least it was better than arguing.
The attack was scheduled to occur within the hour. Enough time to round up all the planes and things that would be needed, and enough time for the heavy rain to stop.
Lithuania didn't have enough planes or missiles, and he had no experience flying one anyway, so he was confined to the ground, watching anxiously as fireworks burst across the black sky. Switzerland, Belarus, SK, Prussia, and Greece –oh, and what's-his-face – had been elected [and in a few cases voted] to go on a rescue mission, all on one ship.
There was nothing to do but wait and see.
Again I reminds you to review. :3