Hello! I actually managed to update again this week! (Or did I...? The site is being dodgy again...)
I have nothing to say here. Hrrm. That's not normal for me...
Chapter Four:
Belarus wasn't sure why she had decided that she would be the one to attempt to comfort Latvia. Perhaps it was because Ukraine was busy, and Estonia couldn't even comfort himself.
Not…that she knew the first thing about comforting people. But, at least she was something. And she got the feeling that what Latvia really needed was someone who would treat him like an adult. And as Belarus had no idea how to deal with children, she would have no choice but to treat Latvia as an equal.
She found him in the room they had all slept in the night before, huddled behind a sofa, his head resting on his knees.
"Latvia," Belarus said, attempting to crawl behind the sofa, and finding that she barely fit, "You're going to miss breakfast."
"Don't care," Latvia mumbled, "Estonia doesn't want me there anyways."
"I think he does," Belarus said, "He's just being an idiot at the moment, and so he thinks he doesn't want anyone around. Really, he's probably just so scared of being left behind that he's pushing everyone away without even realizing it."
"Is Lithuania really in trouble?" Latvia asked, looking up at her.
Belarus paused for a moment.
"He's old enough to know what's going on."
"Russia wants to keep Lithuania here, even if the rest of us leave," she said, "He's…becoming very possessive of Lithuania."
"But… But if Lithuania stays here, then none of us will get to leave!" Latvia whimpered, "He always comes up with everything we're going to do!"
"We're all going to get out of here together," Belarus said, "I promise."
"Promises always get broken," Latvia said, "Lithuania promised he'd always keep me and Estonia safe. How can he do that if he's not here?"
"We will get him back!" Belarus insisted, "It will be all right, Latvia."
The small nation smiled unsurely at her, and she smiled back slightly.
"Come on," Belarus said, "Ukraine has to be almost finished making breakfast by now, and she's a fairly good cook. You don't want to miss that, do you?"
"O-okay," Latvia said.
Belarus crawled out from behind the sofa, and Latvia followed. As she started walking toward the kitchen, Belarus felt a small, trembling hand slip into hers.
"He really is just a child, after all," she thought, glancing back at Latvia, "He still needs someone to hold his hand."
It was only when Belarus and Latvia returned, without Estonia, that Ukraine realized that something must be wrong. Leaving the two younger nations behind to eat their breakfast, the girl went in search of the missing Baltic.
"Why would he run off like this?" Ukraine fretted, "I could help him, if he would let me."
When she finally found Estonia, however, Ukraine could only stand and stare. The blonde Baltic was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed. He appeared to be breathing, but from the bruises on his hands, and the blood and rips in his clothes, Ukraine could guess what had happened.
"Estonia…" Ukraine whispered, "Are you awake?"
There was no reply, and so, Ukraine marched off to procure some bandages. With this task accomplished, she set about bandaging Estonia's injuries. When the process was completely, she went back to the kitchen to tell Latvia and Belarus that she might be some time, and then returned to keep watch on Estonia.
It was only about a half hour that she sat there, guarding him, but it felt like a long time. And the more she thought about it, the less she really wanted to be there.
"What if he wakes up talking about guns again? I don't think I can handle that…"
Just when she was ready to give up and leave Estonia to wake up on his own, the blonde Baltic began to stir. After a moment, his eyes opened slightly, and Ukraine found herself frozen in his blue-eyed gaze.
"Uk…Ukraine?" Estonia said, his voice quiet, "What are you doing here?"
"Fixing you up," Ukraine said, "I didn't want you to be all alone when you woke up, so I stayed with you."
She suddenly noticed that Estonia's glasses were still lying on the floor, just out of his reach. Hesitantly, Ukraine picked the glasses up, and attempted to place them on Estonia's face.
"Do you know how awkward it is to have someone else put your glasses on you?" Estonia asked.
"I'm s-sorry…" Ukraine squeaked, attempting to stand up. However, Estonia reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back onto the floor.
"Don't leave," Estonia said, and he sounded so vulnerable and scared that Ukraine couldn't help but comply with his wishes.
They sat there on the floor for several moments, Estonia trying to move and finding out that movement hurt more than it helped, and Ukraine wondering if he would be all right.
"Why does this always happen to me?" Estonia wondered. Ukraine got the feeling that he was talking to himself, and not to her, but all the same, the question startled her.
"No matter how much I try to help…" Estonia murmured, "I just keep getting hurt."
"Oh, Estonia…" Ukraine sighed, "We're all getting hurt, you know."
"When have you ever been hurt?" Estonia snapped, "Russia didn't hurt you!"
Unconsciously, Ukraine found her hand move to rest protectively over her right arm. Luckily, Estonia didn't seem to notice.
"I don't think you know how much the rest of us have been hurt. Estonia… Russia did hurt me."
Lithuania had never felt more desperate… Not to mention, it was extremely uncomfortable in the closet, especially as he happened to be handcuffed to a wall just at present.
"What if Russia hurts the others while I'm locked up in here? What if he takes advantage of my absence to get his revenge on Estonia? What if…?"
The Baltic nation tried not to think about what might happen, but he couldn't help it. Horrible scenarios continued to play out in his mind, until, finally, he began to cry silently.
"I was such an idiot, and now I can't even protect the others. I made things worse again…"
He heard the door to Russia's bedroom open, and froze, not knowing what to expect. He identified the heavy footsteps as belonging to Russia, and, panicking slightly, attempted to find some way to disguise the tears that were still evident on his face. However, before he could wipe away his tears, the footsteps were almost upon him.
Russia opened the closet door, smiling in a way that rather frightened Lithuania. As he looked down, trying to avoid Russia's gaze, he noticed that there was blood on the other nation's coat.
"Russia… What did you do?" Lithuania whispered.
"Do?" Russia asked, sounding so incredibly innocent that Lithuania might have almost believed nothing was wrong, had it not been for the obviously fresh blood on the larger nation's coat, "I have not been doing anything, Litva. I was just getting us some of the provisions."
"There is blood on your coat," Lithuania said, "Whose?"
Russia's smile wavered slightly.
"It is not being any of the new blood…"
"Russia," Lithuania said, "Don't lie. Friends don't lie."
There was a moment's pause, and then, Lithuania's head jerked back as Russia slapped him in the face.
"Friends are not always questioning each other," Russia hissed, "Do not be questioning me, Litva, or I might be planning more of the bad things for Estonia."
"It was Estonia… Why him? He won't be able to take it… He'll end up insane again, and it will be horrible…"
"Russia… Ivan… Please," Lithuania said, "You know it was me who started this. You've said it often enough. It's my fault that all this happened, so don't hurt the others. They did not start this."
"Da," Russia said, "That is true. I will… I will be trying not to hurt anyone in the future."
"If you have to," Lithuania said, "If you're so angry that you absolutely have to take it out on someone…"
He paused for a moment, wondering whether he might not be losing his mind.
"If you have to hurt someone, then let it be me. You can do whatever you want to me."
Russia reached over and unlocked the handcuffs, allowing Lithuania to finally wipe the telltale tears off of his face.
"Litva?" Russia asked, "Were you crying?"
"Of course not," Lithuania said, smiling at Russia, "I like being here. You're my friend."
"Silly little Litva," Russia said, "You were just telling me that friends should not lie."
"I... I just don't want you to be sad, Russia," he said, "So… I lied… Because I didn't want to hurt you."
"If you are not wanting to hurt me, why do you question me?" Russia asked, looking slightly confused.
"Because I have to tell you what is right and wrong," Lithuania said, "No one else ever tried, did they?"
"I know what is right," Russia said.
"Russia…" Lithuania sighed, "Ivan. Please. I need you to listen to me. You cannot solve anything by hurting us. All you will do is push us over the edge, into insanity and despair. None… None of us want that."
"You think I'm insane!" Russia said, his tone angry and accusing, "I know you think that. You have always been thinking I am insane, and you are still saying you are my friend? Litva… Why are you lying to me?"
"Russia, I'm not lying," Lithuania said, "I'm trying to save us all, before it's too late…"
"Your time with America was not much help to you," Russia hissed, "Now you are trying to be everyone's hero. I will not let you leave me, my little Toris, even if everyone else does. You will stay with me."
"Forever?" Lithuania said, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to overwhelm him, "You want to keep me prisoner forever?"
"If you will not stay with me willingly… Then, da, Litva. I would be keeping you prisoner."
"Russia, please!" Lithuania sobbed, "Why can't we just be friends? Why do you have to keep everyone prisoner? I can't… I can't truly be your friend until I can trust you not to hurt me! Don't you see? You're alone because you made everyone scared of you…"
"It is not my fault!" Russia roared. His violet eyes alight with anger, the large nation grabbed Lithuania by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
"I am trying to be helping you!" Russia shouted, "I am trying, Litva, but you are not believing me! I am wanting to help, but instead of letting me help, you try to defy me!"
Lithuania could barely breathe, let alone form coherent sentences. However, he managed to choke out a few words.
"I'm sorry… Russia… Can't… Believe you…"
"Why not?" Russia hissed, "Why don't you trust me? Tell me, Lithuania!"
The larger nation released his grip on Lithuania's throat, but as the brunet crumpled to the ground, Russia began kicking him.
"Tell me why you don't trust me, Litva! Tell me!"
"Tell me why you hurt me!" Lithuania screamed, "Please! And don't say it's because you want to help!"
"I am trying to be helping you!" Russia shouted, kicking Lithuania harder, "But you won't believe it! Why can't you just listen?"
"We didn't do anything!" Lithuania wailed, "Estonia and Latvia are children, and you torture them! They can't take it, Russia! I can't protect them anymore, and you won't stop hurting them! You even hurt your own sisters… Why, Russia…? You said we could be friends, but instead you hurt everyone…"
There was a cracking noise, and for a moment, everything went dark, and all Lithuania could do was scream. When he came back to reality, sobbing, he realized that Russia had managed to break at least one of his ribs.
"I'm sorry!" Lithuania sobbed, "Please forgive me, Mr. Russia!"
"You sound like Estonia now," Russia said, "So sure of yourself, and then suddenly having the scaredness."
Lithuania couldn't reply. He could only cry and try not to start screaming again. It hurt so much…
"I want to go home… I just want to go home… Where is my home? Where is Belarus…? Estonia, Latvia…? Is it okay for me to get hurt so much? I'm tired of being strong… Please… I don't want to do this anymore… Just… Let me die..."
May I just say that I feel incredibly guilty about what is happening here...? And that is not normal for me...
Anyways, next update should be on either Monday or Tuesday, and tomorrow, I will plan to update "Written in Blood"