Well, I managed to update on time! Shocking!
Anyways, this would have been the last chapter, but something made me start thinking about this story's plot, and so, it is not the last chapter! There will be at least two or three more chapters and an epilogue after this.
Chapter Eleven:
It was the next day when Lithuania's eyes opened, when he found himself lying on Russia's bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was alive, and he did not want to be.
"I should be dead…" he whispered hoarsely, "I want to be dead."
"Little Litva…" said a voice, "Why? Why can't you just…?"
"Russia," Lithuania whispered, "Try to understand. I can't take this anymore."
"I… I am sorry," Russia said, "I hurt you too much."
"Yes, you did," Lithuania said, his voice tired, but not really accusing, even as he uttered the next words.
"Look what you did. I can't even remember what love is right now. But I think… We… We could have had something like love… Except now I can't remember how to love."
"And that is my fault, little one," Russia said, "I… Litva, am I insane?"
Lithuania looked up at Russia, feeling himself beginning to panic.
"Do you want an honest answer?" he whispered, his voice fearful.
"Da," Russia said.
Lithuania took a deep breath, and, then, he sat up, in order to look Russia in the eyes.
"Mr. Russia… Ivan… I think, because you asked me that question, you might be getting better… But, yes… You are-or, at least, you were-insane."
Russia's violet eyes widened.
"You would not be lying?" he asked, his voice sounding as if he wanted Lithuania to have lied, "Friends do not lie, da?"
"You asked for my opinion," Lithuania whimpered, "And that is what I think."
Russia stepped toward him, and Lithuania screamed.
"I'm sorry! Please, don't…"
"Toris…" Russia whispered, "I… I never meant to make you scared of me… I'm sorry!"
And as Lithuania stared at Russia, his eyes wide, something that he had been hoping for finally happened. The door burst open. Help had finally come… But at the worst possible moment.
"What would this be being?" Russia asked in evident confusion.
"We're here to save Lithuania!" Latvia piped up, peeking around Estonia, who looked as if he didn't particularly want Latvia to make their purpose known.
"Oh," Russia said, "Um… He will…. He will not be coming."
"That's for him to decide," Belarus hissed, "You don't get to decide, Russia. You lost that right when you hurt him."
"B-Belarus…" Lithuania whispered, "Eduard, Raivis…? Ukraine? You actually… You came here to find me?"
Suddenly, he realized that he had to choose. He had to choose between Russia and the others, between pain that might result in Russia finally getting better, and the freedom he so longed for.
And he did not know what he would choose.
Belarus stared at Lithuania, willing him to choose the sensible thing, the sane thing.
"Please…" Lithuania whispered, his voice broken, "Don't make me choose…"
He sounded so hopeless, so broken, even when it was clear that things would be all right. It hurt Belarus more than she had thought possible, seeing him so hurt. And it also made her terribly, terribly angry, seeing what Russia had done to Lithuania, to Toris.
"What did you do to him?" she hissed, glaring at Russia.
"I… I'm sorry…" Russia whispered, "I really am…"
"You'll never be sorry!" Belarus shrieked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Estonia wince, saw Latvia cling tighter to him, but she didn't care.
"You're heartless!" the girl shouted, loving the way Russia flinched, looking pained by her words, "You'll never learn, will you? I… I can't believe I loved you!"
"Belarus, I…" Russia started, but, suddenly, the terrible anger overwhelmed the girl, and she lunged forward, her knife flashing as she pulled it out.
"Belarus, no!"
She wasn't sure who it was who had yelled it. Lithuania maybe, or Ukraine, or Estonia, or maybe even little, frightened Latvia. It might have been all of them. But all she could think of was the overwhelming desire to punish Russia, to hurt him for what he had done to her, to their family and to her friends. She would hurt him for all the times he had lied to her.
"Natalya, don't!"
There was a quick movement from the side, a flash of green fabric and dark hair. Belarus' knife went into someone's stomach, and there was suddenly blood on her hands, and on the other person's tattered clothes.
Belarus gasped. The person she had just stabbed was most definitely, by some horrible mistake, not Russia.
"Don't hurt him," Lithuania whispered, his eyes full of pain, blood spurting from the wound in his stomach, "Please."
As Belarus stared at him, her eyes wide, the brunet Baltic pulled her closer, gasping slightly as the knife blade sunk farther into his stomach.
She tried to pull away, but somehow, she couldn't seem to move. She could only stare at him, at Lithuania, at the boy she had tried to save… The boy whom she had stabbed while trying to avenge the wrongs done to him by her own brother.
"No one needs to die," Lithuania said softly, "Please, Natalya… Don't hurt Russia… He's been hurt enough…"
He pulled her into his embrace, leaning against her slightly, his breathing painful, sobbing.
"Toris…" Belarus whimpered, "W-why…?"
"Ssh…" Lithuania whispered, "No killing… Please… I hate it when people get hurt… When they die… The only person who needs to die…is me. Because…I don't want to live…anymore."
And then, quietly, his voice agonized, he whispered a few quiet words.
"But even though I want this… It…still hurts…" Lithuania whispered, his voice growing fainter.
"Natalya… It hurts…"
"Toris…?" Belarus gasped. Lithuania's body had suddenly become terribly heavy. It was then that she realized she had killed him.
"Toris!"
Unable to stop him from falling, Belarus attempted to lower the boy to the floor gently, only for him to fall with a painful-sounding thud.
"L-Lithuania!"
Latvia's pitiful, frightened sobs rekindled Belarus' anger, as did the sight of Lithuania, lying unmoving on the floor, her knife embedded in his stomach.
Reaching down, Belarus pulled the knife out of Lithuania's body. However, as she straightened, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
It was Estonia. The blonde Baltic shook his head slowly, tears in his eyes.
"Don't become a killer," he said, "You… You don't want to end up like me."
But, Belarus realized, it was too late. She had already become a killer, and it was irreversible. She, Natalya Arlovskaya, had murdered someone she cared for dearly, and his death could have been-no, should have been-avoided. It made no difference to her that Lithuania would come back, that he would live again, would have the second chance a human could not. It only mattered that she had stabbed him, the boy who only meant to do her good.
The knife clattered to the floor, and Belarus sank to her knees.
"I killed him…" she whispered, "I'm already a murderer. Toris…"
To her own surprise, Belarus began to feel tears welling up. It did not take long before they spilled over.
"I'm sorry, Toris… I didn't mean to hurt you… Why? Why do you always have to save everyone…? Idiot… C-come back… I'm…sorry…"
Ukraine stared at the scene in front of her. Belarus was kneeling on the ground, sobbing, with Estonia standing behind her, staring down at her with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. Russia stood a short distance away, half-glaring, half-surprised, and appearing more than a little angry, watching the three children who were within dangerously close proximity to him.
"Latvia," Ukraine whispered, trying to keep her voice calm, "You need to go downstairs, okay?"
"B-b-but…" Latvia started to protest, but Ukraine cut him off, her voice firm.
"I'm going to bring the others, but I want you to go now. Go…go find a snack. You must be hungry by now."
Latvia's eyes filled with tears, but, then, he nodded, and turned away. A moment later, his footsteps told Ukraine that he had run away.
"One person safe…" the girl thought, "Three…no, four…to go."
"That was not very much of the niceness, little sister," Russia said to Belarus, his voice low and sinister.
Belarus didn't even appear to notice Russia, but Estonia's eyes widened, and Ukraine knew that he had heard.
"Estonia, Belarus," Ukraine said, "Russia and I need to talk. Please go downstairs."
Estonia looked up at her, shaking his head.
"I'm not leaving you alone with him," he said quietly, "You can't make me."
"Eduard, take my sister and go!" Ukraine commanded. They were running out of time. She could see it, could see Russia visibly struggling not to lose control with both of his sisters so close. And she could see that he desperately wanted to unleash his anger on someone, whether it be Belarus, the helpless, unconscious Lithuania, or, more likely, Estonia, who could not be allowed to face Russia's anger.
"No!" Estonia shouted, "I'm not leaving you alone with him! I told you that already, and I'm sticking to what I said! I… I won't leave you, Katya. I won't!"
Ukraine had never realized it before now, but, apparently, raised voices were one of things that made Russia lose his self-restraint. Her entire focus on Estonia, she never saw Russia reach inside his coat. Estonia, however, saw the motion out of the corner of his eye. His reaction was slightly delayed, for before he could act, Russia had his pipe firmly in hand.
"Belarus, get out of here!" Estonia shrieked, pushing the girl out of the way, and, to Ukraine's relief, closer to the door than she had been.
Russia's pipe crashed down on Estonia's back a moment later. The bespectacled Baltic screamed, his glasses falling to the floor as his body jerked from the impact.
"Russia, no!" Ukraine screamed, running over and managing to get between Russia and the fallen Estonian, "Don't hurt them! Don't hurt either of them!"
"K-Katya…" Estonia whispered, groping for his glasses. It was then that Ukraine realized that it was at least three times now that he had called her Katya, and not her more formal, full name, Yekaterina.
"Big sister…?" Russia asked, sounding confused and almost frightened, "What would you be doing now?"
"Let Eduard and Natalya go!" Ukraine pleaded, "They're only children!"
She heard an indignant growl from Estonia, heard Belarus's sobs, and knew that, somehow, she had to get them out of there.
"You're making him angrier," she said to Estonia, "Take my little sister and go!"
"I don't want to…" Estonia whispered, his voice breaking, "I don't want to leave. I'm not a child…"
"Eduard, go now!" Ukraine snapped, "I… I can't let him hurt you. I promised to help you, so… Go on."
Sobbing, Estonia stood up, and, going over to Belarus, pulled the girl to her feet.
"Let's go," Estonia whispered, so quietly that Ukraine could barely hear him from where she stood, "K-Katya wants us to leave."
Ukraine waited until their footsteps faded away, before turning back to Russia. Her younger brother was staring at her, looking both shocked and confused.
"I almost hurt Belarus…" Russia murmured, "I was not meaning to hit Estonia… I would have hurt my sister…"
"I know…" Ukraine said, "Brother, please… This has to stop. Look…look at Lithuania. Remember… He was so scared. He was scared you would hurt him, he's afraid of being hurt… But he still took a knife through his stomach for you. He… I think he loves you very much, as a friend… But he needs to go outside and see sunlight… He needs to live, Russia. We all need to live again."
"What would you have me do, sister?" Russia asked, "If I am letting him leave… If you leave, and Litva leaves… You will not be coming back."
"Maybe in time," Ukraine said, "Maybe in time we could come and visit…"
"I don't want to be alone!" Russia whispered, his voice quiet and childish. For a moment, Ukraine was transported back to their childhood, and she realized then that his voice still sounded the same.
"Russia…" she murmured, "You never grew up."
"What is this you are saying?" Russia asked, evidently confused, "I am much of the grownness, big sister! See? I'm taller than you!"
"You sound just the same as you did when we were little…" Ukraine whispered, feeling the first tear run down her cheek, "But you were so innocent then… And now…"
"Litva said I was crazy!" Russia informed her, his eyes wide, "Am I crazy? Is that why…? Is that why my voice never changed? Why everyone else acts different from me? Why, big sister, am I different? Am I crazy?"
"Russia, you need to calm down…" Ukraine said. The taller nation was becoming visibly upset, and, although she had never seen this kind of panic in him before, she felt that any emotion from Russia was likely to be dangerous. She had come, through some bizarre turn of events, to fear her own brother.
"Am I crazy?" Russia persisted, "Ukraine, please tell me! I don't know what's going on anymore…"
"I'll help you!" Ukraine said, "Russia, I'll come back, I'll try to explain, but please…"
Her gaze wandered to Lithuania's crumpled form, and in his expression and in the evidence his tattered and bloodstained clothes gave, she saw a glimpse of the horror he had gone through at her brother's hand.
"Please let Lithuania go," Ukraine whispered, "Russia… He's broken too. He's… If you are crazy, then… Don't you want Lithuania to go away, before he becomes crazy too?"
"It's too late…" Russia murmured, his voice distant, "I already made him broken and crazy, Ukraine… I… I broke my only friend…"
Russia's purple eyes met Ukraine's, and she saw in them confusion and grief.
"I'm not a good friend, am I, big sister?"
Ukraine stared at him.
"He…he realizes now what he's done… But he still won't let poor Lithuania leave!"
"Oh, Russia," she said, tears threatening to fall, "You would be a wonderful friend if only… If only you didn't hurt your friends…"
"I can't stop…" Russia whispered, "I tried, and… I hurt him more, Ukraine! There's…so much blood… So much blood, everywhere. And most of the blood is on my hands… And then…a lot of it…is on Litva. I hurt him so much that… He's covered in blood… Everything's…red…like blood."
OK, I need to make a mental note not to write AN's while listening to action music. (AKA the "Attack on Titan" opening.) It's very distracting.
Anyways, enough rambling. I'm not completely sure what I think of this chapter, but... It's definitely not the worst thing I ever came up with... I hope?
Reviews are much appreciated, and thank you all for your support so far! :)