Hello! I say hello too much, but how else can I introduce myself...?

Anyways, I'm back again, with the new chapter... Old news. You knew that.

I think it's worth mentioning that this will probably be the darkest chapter yet, although I could be wrong about that... Anyways, there will be a few disturbing things in this chapter, so be warned. Then again... Does this count as horror, yet? I really have no idea what the genre of this is.

I will finally be quiet now.

Chapter Seven:

Estonia wanted to stop himself from ever feeling again. It hurt too much, this business of caring about other people.

"There was something safe about only caring about myself… Then, I didn't have to help the others, and as long as I could save myself, I wouldn't be hurt at all."

He was sitting with his back to the sofa, waiting for Latvia to wake up. It was morning now, and Ukraine and Belarus were still asleep on the other side of the room. Estonia, however, was far from asleep, even now, in the early hours just after dawn.

"E-Estonia?" said a quiet voice behind him, "Am I alive?"

"Lati…" Estonia whispered. Then, suddenly, he lost all control of his emotions.

"You're an idiot!" Estonia exploded, turning to face Latvia. The younger boy was staring at him, his violet eyes wide, "Why did you let Russia hurt you?"

"I t-thought m-maybe I could help…" Latvia said, "I didn't actually manage to… But it's okay… It doesn't hurt too much."

Estonia sighed, turning back to lean against the couch again.

"He killed you, Raivis," he said quietly, "You were dead."

"Well, that's probably good," Latvia said, sounding extremely upbeat considering the circumstances, "That way I got better faster!"

"I'm supposed to protect you," Estonia said, "I…I'm older… So…"

"But you can't protect me," Latvia said, "Because I already know everything that happened, and the truth is a little scary. And you also can't protect me because… I want you to be happy and safe, which you can't be if you're saving me."

"And I'll be happy watching you die over and over?" Estonia asked.

"No…" Latvia said, "I guess not. But… I just want to protect you, because maybe even if I die, you can still smile?"

"I can't smile if I know you're taking my beating for me," Estonia said, "It's me Russia wants revenge on, remember?"

"But when he hurt you, you got really crazy," Latvia said, "And that was scary. You wouldn't smile, except… Except that one time, when you did smile… While you were slicing your own arm apart. And it was really scary, Estonia, and I don't…"

"Latvia," Estonia said, "Forget about it. It's over. It's not going to happen again."

"But you won't forget it, so how could I?" Latvia asked.

There was a long pause, and then, suddenly, the sofa squeaked in protest as Latvia bounced off of it.

"Hey, Estonia, I just got an idea!" he chirped, grinning.

"Go back to bed," Estonia said, "You need to rest."

"No, seriously!" Latvia said, "I know a way to forget for a little bit!"

Estonia considered this information, which seemed rather incredible under the circumstances.

"How?"

"Follow me!" Latvia said, grabbing Estonia's hand. Intrigued, the blonde Baltic followed his younger friend into the kitchen, where Latvia began rummaging through the cupboards.

"I'm not exactly sure where it is," Latvia said, "But it's probably in a high place, since Mr. Russia knows I sometimes take it… He moves it a lot."

"What is it?" Estonia asked, watching Latvia climb onto the counter to look in the higher cupboards.

"This!" Latvia said with a grin. The blonde boy hopped down from the counter, clutching a large bottle in one hand.

"We need those little glasses," Latvia announced, "Where are they?"

"We're going to drink Russia's vodka?" Estonia asked, "Latvia…"

"It helps," Latvia said, "Come on, Estonia… Just…try a little?"

Estonia sighed. As much as he wanted to pretend he disapproved of the idea of getting drunk, if it would let him forget the current situation, he was willing to try it.

"Fine," he said, reaching into a cupboard and pulling out two of Latvia's 'little glasses', "But we'll only drink a little."

Russia woke before Lithuania that morning, for the first time in their shared habitation of his bedroom. The brunet Baltic was still asleep, curled up as far away from Russia as possible.

"I was scaring you…?" Russia said absently, stroking the sleeping nation's hair, "It is much of the strangeness… I was not trying to scare you, my little Litva. But…it is seeming that whenever I am trying not to be scary, I am."

He stayed there for a while, stroking Lithuania's hair and talking softly to the Baltic nation, who did not show any signs of waking. After some time, however, Russia noticed that Lithuania was mumbling something in his sleep.

"What are you saying, silly Litva?" Russia asked.

"Scared…" Lithuania murmured, "Want to go home… Want to be safe…"

"You will be safe, as long as you are staying with me," Russia informed him. It appeared that this information had gotten through to Lithuania, as his eyes snapped open, wide and frightened.

"W-what did I s-say?" Lithuania whispered.

"You were saying that you would be wanting safety," Russia said, "And you have it."

He smiled, but Lithuania did not return the gesture. The brunet Baltic moaned quietly, and retreated under the blanket, to Russia's dismay.

"Litva?" Russia asked, "You are being okay?"

"Ivan, please leave me alone," Lithuania said, "My whole body hurts right now..."

"Then you should be doing something about that," Russia said.

"It's not my fault that I spent the greater part of yesterday half-conscious on the floor," Lithuania said softly, "Or maybe it is. Maybe everything is my fault. Is it, Mr. Russia? Am I that bad?"

"Nyet, Litva," Russia said, "You are not having much of the badness, just the silliness and stubbornness."

"If I wasn't bad, I wouldn't get hurt, right?" Lithuania said, "So… I must be…"

"What is being wrong with you?" Russia asked, "You are acting different, Litva… It is a little bit scary. Can I… Can I be helping you?"

Lithuania heard Russia's words, but he didn't react, didn't move.

"He says he wants to help me… But every other time he tried to help, he only hurt me… So why would it be any different if I asked for his help now?"

"No, Ivan…" he said, very, very softly, "You can't help. No one can help."

"Why not?" Russia asked, "You are always trying to be helping everyone when they are not needing help… So why now, when you are acting strangely and seem to be needing something, will you not help yourself?"

"You w-won't let me h-help myself," Lithuania said, "Please, don't make me talk anymore."

"You used to like talking to me," Russia said, and a moment later, Lithuania felt a large hand on his shoulder, which Russia had somehow located under the blankets.

"What happened, little Litva?" Russia asked, "What is making you so much different?"

Lithuania whimpered, shaking his head, although in some rational part of his mind, he knew that Russia probably couldn't tell he was denying his wish.

"Toris, if you are not telling me what is wrong, I cannot be helping!" Russia snapped.

"When he calls me Toris, he is serious… Serious Russia is a scary Russia… I sound like Latvia… He hurt Latvia… Why…?"

"Litva! Are you listening?"

Russia was pulling the blankets off of Lithuania, and he struggled, trying to keep the last illusion of safety he still possessed. And when Russia finally won, pulling the blankets off and throwing them on the floor, Lithuania was left shivering in the cold of Russia's room, staring wide-eyed at his obviously frustrated captor.

"You will now be telling me about this oddness that is your behavior," Russia commanded, "Speak."

"I'm fine!" Lithuania moaned, "I'm fine, so you don't need to worry about me!"

"And you expect me to not lie to you," Russia said, "When you are lying to me."

"I'm sorry," Lithuania whispered, "Please don't hurt me."

"Oh, you silly little one," Russia sighed, "I will only hurt you when you are misbehaving."

"You're hurting me now," Lithuania said, starting to feel desperate again, "You're hurting me, Ivan!"

"I am not even touching you," Russia informed him.

"There's another kind of hurt," Lithuania said, "The kind you felt when we all left you alone. You know that kind of pain, right?"

"Da," Russia said, "I know that pain. But, Litva… You are not alone."

"And of course, a psychopathic, manipulative person is wonderful company!" Lithuania blurted.

It was then that he decided that he was losing his mind. Whatever had possessed him to say such a thing to Russia was clearly not related to his sanity.

He whimpered quietly, feeling himself begin to shake.

"Lithuania," Russia hissed, "I would be asking you to take that back."

He shook his head.

"You told me not to lie to you."

There was a long, painful silence, and then, to Lithuania's surprise, Russia got up and went over to the closet. The brunet Baltic watched him, eyes wide.

"Maybe he won't hurt me… Please, just once, let him not hurt me…"

And then Russia came out of the closet, carrying the handcuffs and what looked to Lithuania like one of Belarus's knives.

"Litva," Russia said, "Did you know that if a nation loses a body part… Your fingers, for instance… Did you know that if someone chops them off, they will grow back?"

"He's going to… No, no, he won't do that… People don't…"

But then, normal people didn't do anything that Russia did.

"Come here," Russia said, and Lithuania had no choice but to comply.

"Maybe if I go quietly, he'll change his mind…"

"You will need to be very still for this," Russia said, "Come over here, and sit down."

Lithuania followed Russia's orders, and ended up sitting at the larger nation's desk. However, he kept his hands under the table, as if that could make them invisible.

Russia pulled a second chair over, and sat down also, laying the knife on the table.

"Give me your hands, Litva," he said, his voice dangerously low.

"Russia, no!" Lithuania whimpered, "I'm sorry…"

"Hands, now!" Russia snapped.

"No!" Lithuania screamed, "I won't! You can't do that to me!"

He leapt to his feet, intending to run away, but his body still ached from the beating he had received the day before, and he didn't get far before Russia was upon him. The larger nation grabbed a fistful of Lithuania's hair, and literally dragged him back, although this time, the Baltic nation did not go quietly.

"You will be staying still," Russia snarled, "Or I will tie you up!"

Panic had overridden every emotion Lithuania had once possessed, and the only thing he could think about was getting out of there, away from the insanity that held him prisoner. He struggled, pleading with Russia, and eventually, he was tied to a chair, his feet secured so that he could not kick, and his hands were forced onto the table, where they were secured by the handcuffs.

"Now, you cannot be running away," Russia said.

"No! No!" Lithuania sobbed. He was far past rational thought, and all he knew was that he wanted to escape from this, that he needed to run away, to escape.

"Don't hurt me…" he pleaded, staring up at Russia, who merely shook his head.

"Little one, you are needing to learn some of the sensibleness," Russia said, "This is to be…"

"No more helping!" Lithuania shrieked, "No more! I don't want your help! I want to go home! I want to see Belarus and Estonia and Latvia and Ukraine, and I want to go home!"

Russia slapped him in the face, and he lowered his head, sobbing.

Then, a moment later, he felt something cold and sharp press against his finger, the smallest on his right hand, and suddenly, he was screaming and struggling and begging again, but there was nothing he could do, and Russia kept pressing the knife down harder. The other nation's enormous strength was serving him well, now, and he kept on sawing at Lithuania's finger as the brunet boy cried and begged, using every word he knew to beg for mercy.

"No! Don't! Russia, please! Forgive me, I'm sorry! Please don't do this!"

The pain became more intense, and then Lithuania was staring down at half of his finger, bloodied and severed, lying on the tabletop.

He screamed, louder than before, not just because of the pain but because of how ludicrous and horrible this whole situation was. This shouldn't be happening, not to him, not when he had only tried to help…

"Maybe Russia never needed help. Maybe… Was I always wrong to interfere? Do I deserve this for misbehaving all the time?"

Russia moved the knife, down to the joint where Lithuania's finger connected with his hand, and he realized that it was going to happen again, that all that pain was going to continue.

"No!" he shouted. He couldn't remember how many times he had screamed that word today, how obvious it was how far he had fallen. Gone was his cheerful exterior, gone was the resolve to take the pain for the others. All he wanted was to escape, to be safe, to have someone there that he could touch besides the cold, insane Russian who held him captive.

"Atleisk man!" he screamed, feeling the knife beginning to press down on his finger.

And then, probably angry at him for failing to speak in Russian, instead of simply pressing down on one of his fingers, Russia began sawing forcefully at Lithuania's hand.

Lithuania could no longer form completely coherent sentences in his native tongue, let alone in Russian, and although he knew he was making Russia angrier, he rambled on hysterically in Lithuanian when he could form sentences, and when it hurt too much to speak, he simply screamed.

But there was one word that he did not translate into Lithuanian, and it was the one non-Lithuanian word that would likely make Russia angry.

"Natalya!"

He still remembered, somehow, that he must not call for Estonia and Latvia, and so Belarus was his only hope. He screamed for her to help him, to save him, but there was no reply.

"You would be calling for my sister," Russia hissed, "She will not come. She cannot hear you. Now, little Toris… Now you are like me, da? You are alone."

And he knew, somehow, that Russia was right, that he was truly alone, with no one to help him.

Lithuania looked down at his bloodied, mangled hand, and discovered that he had lost exactly two and a half fingers. It seemed as if the pain had been far more than he should have felt from that.

"That will be enough for now," Russia said, "I am thinking that you have learned your lesson."

Waking up and discovering that three people had mysteriously disappeared and left her alone was one of the most disturbing things Ukraine had ever experienced. It was most definitely not the most disturbing, but it came fairly close.

"I understand Estonia's fear now…" The girl reflected as she pulled the blankets off and went to look for the others, "This is a bit unnerving."

However, when she reached the kitchen, she discovered Belarus standing in the doorway, apparently watching something inside.

"What's going on?" Ukraine asked.

"Look at this," Belarus said, sounding completely disgusted, "It is nine in the morning and these idiots have gone and done this!"

"What?!" Ukraine asked, "Belarus, I don't…"

Her expression fierce and angry, Belarus gestured at the kitchen table, and, for the first time, Ukraine noticed Estonia and Latvia.

Estonia appeared to be asleep, his head resting on the kitchen table, while Latvia was currently drinking straight from what looked to Ukraine like a bottle of vodka.

"They're drunk," Belarus said, "Or, at least, Latvia is."

"Well then, we should take that away from him," Ukraine said.

"I would not recommend…" Belarus started, but Ukraine ignored her.

"It's only Latvia," she said, "He can't be that unpredictable, even drunk."

She marched into the kitchen, and at that moment, Latvia noticed her. The tiny boy grinned in an almost frightening manner.

"Whash goin' on?" Latvia slurred.

"I need that vodka," Ukraine said, "May I please have it?"

"But me wanta keep it…" Latvia protested.

"You need to go back to bed," Belarus informed him from the doorway, "And stay there until you're sober."

"Wanta drink more," Latvia said, "You can 'ave some if ya want…"

Ukraine glanced over at Belarus.

"How do we get that away from him?" she mouthed.

"Grab it," Belarus said, "Grab it and run."

Ukraine decided that this was a fairly concrete strategy, and so, she marched over and took the bottle out of Latvia's hand.

"One would think you wouldn't be able to hold that much alcohol," she said, and smashed the bottle on the floor.

"Whatcha do that for?" Latvia asked, looking as if he were about to cry, "Me wanta drink it…"

"You don't need to drink anything," Belarus said from behind Ukraine, "Come on, Latvia. You're going to lie down."

"No wanna…" Latvia mumbled, but, somehow, Belarus managed to shepherd the tiny boy out of the room, leaving Ukraine alone with the unconscious Estonia.

"I really thought you were smarter than this," Ukraine said, sitting down in the chair next to Estonia.

Of course, there was no reply.

"Oh, Estonia…" Ukraine sighed, stroking the boy's hair, "Don't you see? We're here for you, so don't do this again… Okay?"

I...told you it was going to be disturbing, right? I think this chapter might very well mark the point of no return for Lithuania... Well, maybe not the point of no return, but the point of...something bad, anyways. *feels extremely guilty*

And the regenerating body parts idea may or may not be the result of me binge watching half of Tokyo Ghoul last week. That is all I have to say on the subject.

Translations:

Nyet (Russian)- No

Atleisk man (Lithuanian)- Forgive me

Note on the translations: I am not one hundred percent sure on the correctness of these, although I'm trying my best to check as many sources as possible in order to get them right. So, if anyone happens to speak any of the languages used here and throughout my stories, and the translations are wrong, please help me out! :)

Also, I fail at writing drunk characters. Especially Latvia. So, yeah. That's all I need to say, I think.