Chapter 11

Norway did not sleep that night. He kept pacing. Pacing across the house. Pacing across Matthias' room. Pacing across the kitchen. He never stopped moving, never stopped listening.

But he knew he would never hear anything. The outside world was silent to him. He was deaf. All he could hear was the gaping silence of the house.

No more Matthias.

No more coughing, no more sickness.

No more mermaid stories.

Now he was alone.

Norway found himself back in Matthias' room when his legs quit working, and he sank onto the bed. Everything hurt. He shouldn't have been moving that much, not when his legs weren't like they used to be. He only had human strength now.

No, I don't. That's a lie, Norway. Don't tell yourself that, you idiot. You still have people, a capital. You are not a human now. You are still a nation. One of the last nations, but a nation.

Norway pulled up his pant leg and looked at his leg. Even though it was healed, he could still see where the bone was mangled and the flesh torn apart in the plane crash. It was still hideous, no matter how much time passed. Matthias had stared at it so much that first day they worked out, and after that, he could still feel his gaze bore into the leg some days. Norway wasn't sure what hurt more, the disgust Matthias felt, or the fact that the ex nation forgot how he helped Norway before he became sick and Norway had to care for him. That sickness stripped so much away from him.

"Norge, are you sure this is the best idea?" Matthias asked. He was struggling to keep up with the northern nation.

"Yes, I am sure. There is nothing else I can do."

"It's dangerous."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious. The rest of this war was not dangerous at all, as you can tell," Norway grunted. He turned a corner. In front of them stood his house. "Follow me around back."

They walked around to a big shed in his backyard. The two of them ran inside and found Norway's plane waiting for them. "Get in. I'm flying."

Matthias did as he was told, and within minutes, the two had pulled the plane out of the shed and taken off. The plane was not very large, and Norway knew Matthias was questioning their ability to take down one of the war planes that had been built to deflect small bombs as it carried nuclear weapons to countries that would soon become vast graveyards.

"It's small, but it'll do what we need it to. If Russia is flying that plane, he will stop at nothing to take us down first, before he takes our people. He'll capture us and make us watch, so if we can take him away from where most of my people are and make him crash somewhere, the ocean perhaps, it'll take care of our problem."

"Are you sure that'll work?"

"Positive. I know that son of a bitch, and he wants us to watch our nations fall." Norway flew towards Stockholm, the city in flames. Even as they got close, they couldn't hear screams. Everyone was dead. "Now to find Russia."

They plane should have been nearby. Not enough time had passed since the bombing of Stockholm for the plane to be very far. Norway and Matthias were still far away from the city, and they hadn't passed a single plane on their way, so they knew Russia would be somewhere around here.

"Come out, you filthy animal, come out come out wherever you are…" Norway hissed.

Then a sudden chill passed over them.

"He's got General Winter on his side," Matthias whispered.

"And I have magic," Norway replied. His eyes narrowed, and he cracked his knuckles. "Hold on tight."

Norway spun around quickly towards the direction the wind came from. He followed it as the cold grew stronger. As he flew, he began to feel icicles form on his wings, and his knuckles tightened.

"Take the wheel, Matthias," Norway commanded, and the Dane barely made it to the wheel before they spun out of control. He held the plane aloft as Norway held his hand out and began chanting something under his breath. The cool air turned damp and warm in the plane, and the flying grew less rough.

Then a large plane appeared out of nowhere. It zoomed straight over them, nearly knocking them sideways. Norway flinched, nearly grabbing the wheel from Denmark, but he stopped himself and continued to chant, only stopping to tell Matthias to follow the plane.

"Speed up. Go as fast as you can take the plane," Norway ordered. Matthias pulled the throttle forward and the plane jerked forward, flying as fast as the larger and more advanced plane. Matthias never thought a plane as old as this could do that, but then he remembered Norway's magic.

Silly me, he thought. Together, the two of them hurried after the Russian craft.

Just as they began to draw closer, the plane took a dive.

"Follow it," Norway mumbled in ancient Norse, and Matthias' hand flew away from the wheel. On its own, the plane dove after it and took every turn the larger plane took. There was no escaping the Norsemen.

Norway knew what would happen next. The plane would give up its escape and turn to fight. That would be when they would lead it away from Oslo and to the ocean.

And the plane did exactly that. It spun around in a manner Norway thought no plane could do without falling out of the sky, and a freezing gust of wind shot it forward at the smaller plane. Norway cursed aloud and dropped the plane several feet, so that it missed being hit by only a few inches. Then he cast spell after spell around the plane to block bullets and bombs from getting to it. Now it was time to begin the chase.

The Russian followed well, and the two crafts sped across the Northlands. Norway was growing weary from the magic. With his country not at its full strength, he could only manage using so much magic. The case was not the same with Russia, however. His country was so vast and so capable now. His magic was almost getting stronger by the minute.

And now they were closing in on Oslo. Norway had very little time to stop the nation. He let the plane drop, and Russia followed suit. They kept doing that until they were too close to the ground for Norway's comfort.

Come on, just a little further, he told himself. If this doesn't work, you have one last thing you can do. Norway knew it was more risky with what little magic he had left, but he knew there was only one more thing he could do in the case that he could not crash Russia's plane.

That moment of thought proved almost fatal. Norway was brought back to reality by a shout from Matthias.

"Look down!"

Norway risked a glance out the window. Right below him, the Russian craft flew the same speed as him. Before Norway had a chance to correct himself, the plane flew up, right into him and Matthias.

The impact flew them across the sky, out of control. Norway was so tired now, even in his panic. He couldn't correct himself. He was going to die. His capital was lost. He was nothing now, just a man. As blackness closed in on his vision, Norway spat out a few last words. Then he felt a strong force and saw the plane fly back like he did.

"It's safe, Matthias. Oslo is safe."

Norway shook himself out of his thoughts. He couldn't be thinking about that anymore. He didn't want to think about his leg, about what happened in that crash, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't stop remembering what Matthias did for him, what Matthias did when he made that promise and did not leave his side.

Matthias used to be so trustworthy, even if he was a little but wayward. The great nation was always a goofball, but his friends were so important. He would never leave the nordics, no matter what.

That sickness did something to him, Norway decided. It's the fall of his nation that brought this on. Denmark is a new man, not the proud nation he once was. He is selfish now, victim to the flaws of men.

Norway sat at the kitchen table and stared out the window at the backyard where Matthias disappeared into the world forever. Then he let his thoughts and memories take over him again. "It's all I have left now…" He murmured.

Norway woke up on the ground. The first thing he noticed was it wasn't his bed. This was too hard to be his bed. The next thing he noticed, was he was alive. The memories of the plane crash flew into his mind all at once, and his eyes flew open. He tried to sit up, but someone pushed him back down.

"Don't get up. You're hurt," a voice commanded.

Norway grunted. That was the third thing that he noticed. The pain. His leg seared, and he let out a gasp.

"Yep, now you feel it. I was able to get out of the plane with a parachute, but you were out cold. I had to leave you inside, Norge. You're a nation, so you would live. I wouldn't. But here I am to save you and bring you home!" Matthias' lopsided grin came into focus.

"Is my capital safe?" Norway asked.

Matthias laughed. "You tell me that. You're the one who can feel it."

"It's safe…" Norway closed his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Pretty close to home. I contacted some men, and they are bringing a truck over to get you home with. I said I'd take care of you. As long as they help the men and women and keep them alive, it'll keep you alive. It just takes another- an outside person to keep you healthy," Matthias explained.

"I doubt an idiot like you could play doctor well," Norway joked.

"Hey! I can be a great doctor! Remember all those times I watched Sealand when he was sick?" Obviously, the Dane did not understand his joke. Norway sighed. He never did. No wonder, Matthias thought he was such a serious, boring man. "Hey, are you okay, Norge?" Matthias poked Norway's shoulder.

"I'm fine, now get out of my face," Norway snapped. "I can't breathe."

"Yeah, no one can. The bomb went off. It didn't hit your capital, but it did explode in the wilderness and got a couple small villages. You could feel it from here."

"Matthias, it's not safe for you here," Norway warned. "That truck needs to get here soon. We need to get back to my house and make some blockades to keep the radioactivity out."

"Relax, it's fine," Matthias coughed. "Just… just a little, ah, hot, I guess. I'll be fine, I.. I promise."

"We'll get you safe inside."

"Norge, you're the one who needs to get to a safe place, not me! I'm fine!"

"No, you're not."

"There's no arguing with you, is there?" Matthias laughed. A moment later he stood up and said, "I see the truck! Help is here! At long last, we are rescued from this desolate land!"

"Shut up, stupid Dane. You're making yourself a target. You'll get shot."

Matthias sat down. "You really are no fun."

Norway rolled his eyes. A few minutes later, the truck reached them, and several men lifted Norway into the bed. He bit his cheeks, trying to keep from crying aloud from the pain that erupted in his leg once more. One of the men warned him to not look down. Norway didn't have enough energy to lift his head, so he didn't then, but when they made it home, he snuck a look while Matthias was dressing the wound and wrapping it up. He felt sick.

"Calm down, Norge! It's just a scratch!" Matthias joked. Even then, Norway could tell the Dane was not okay. Matthias was pale and quickly losing all his energy. By the time Norway was able to stand again, the Dane was bedridden.

That was the day Norway set up the barriers to keep intruders and radioactivity out. After that, he lost all use of his magic, and soon after that, his nationhood, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Norway never looked at his leg again until it was healed. Even now, it disgusted him. But this wasn't the time to think about that anymore. He stood up and walked over to the back door. Norway knew he needed to sleep, but he had to look out there one last time. He peeled away the curtain on the back door and peered outside. Sitting there across the yard on the other side of the fence, was Matthias.

Norway gasped. "Matthias!"

The Dane didn't hear him. He kept shouting something that could not reach Norway's ears, but he could see the anger in the man, the hatred.

Norway shouted again, "Matthias!"

The other still could not hear him.

Norway began shouting out spells and curses he knew would not work, but he needed something, anything. The Dane had to hear him. He had to get back in.

"Dan! Denmark! Hear me, please!" Norway was sobbing now too, watching Matthias react the same way he did.

"Denmark, please. I'm sorry…"

He saw Matthias spit out a few last words. Then Norway did it. He opened the back door, just a crack. He swore he could hear Matthias screaming at him with all the hate in the world, and he couldn't handle it.

"Shut up, stupid Dane!" Then he shut the door and went to his room.

When the sun rose, Matthias made his way back to the village. His heart aching, he searched for Torben. The man was waiting in the old Danish shop.

"I have something to tell you," Matthias spoke up.

"What is it?" Torben looked up at him.

"I was Denmark. I was your Dane."

"Oh, really?"

"No…" Matthias hesitated. "I am your Dane."