Family Ties [Part 99]
Title: Family Ties
Characters (in this chapter): India, Diaspora Israel, Macau, New China, Canada, Quebec, England, Scotland, Wales,
Rating: 12
Warnings: ZOMBIE FIC, ALERT, ZOMBIE FIC, SHOOT FOR THE HEAD.
Summary: Uh, I need to be banned from the kink meme or monsters like this happen? Essentially, Scotland leaves the UK, which gives Northern Ireland an excuse to up and out as well, which leaves England and Wales all alone. Oh yeah, and this somehow leads to World War Three.
The soft clack of china was all that broke the silence in the room. But it was a companionable quiet; that of two people who had lived a long time and seen a lot of things, and were probably the last two to remember them.
“Well, that was quite a scuffle.” The woman once known as Israel commented, sipping her coffee. India, in turn, stared pensively into her tea.
“I’d say that maybe lessons have been learned, but that would be far too naïve of me.” A wry smile touched on dark lips. “Nobody ever learns. Not even you and me.”
Sarah chuckled. “I suppose not. Regardless… you have profited from this war.”
Hazel eyes glanced up. “You think so.”
“At least temporarily.” A shrug of the shoulders. “There is always territory lost and gained. Do you fancy yourself the new Persia?”
“Hardly.” India smiled. “I doubt any can be that decadent these days without consequences.”
“Then what are you going to do with all that oil?”
“Attain decadence, of course.” A laugh, with raised eyebrows. Sarah paused for thought.
“And the consequences?”
“They make life interesting.”
The comfortable silence settled again.
“Yao wouldn’t want you to get reckless, Maya.” Her friend said cautiously. “I suggest you work subtly, though that may already be too late, if what you’ve told me of Khalidah’s conversation with you is true.”
“You say that like I’m some micronation who’s never had an empire before.” A level look passed. “Don’t worry. Your son will be safe.”
Sarah sniffed. “I know. Worry more for yourself. Be careful of the road you walk down. Yahweh can dismantle a nation that does not obey his will. And if not Him, then the world will act in his stead.” She paused, thinking over her words. “When you fall - and that’s when, not if - be sure to have somewhere safe to land.”
India finished the last of her tea. “As long as Yao’s replacements do their job right, I’ll be fine.”
---
“Chinaaaaaaaa.” Macau whined, leaning on the back of Li Shui’s chair. “Hey, hey, China. Come on, let’s go out. You’re going to suffocate on pen fumes in here.”
“It’s a biro, it doesn’t give off fumes.” Li Shui replied curtly, shuffling paperwork on his desk out of the way of Rui’s wandering hands. “And stop calling me that so many times.”
“Is it starting to annoy you Chinaaaaaa~?” he sing-songed the last note with a cheeky grin. Li Shui glared at him.
“Meimei will come in and hit you until you acknowledge her as China too.”
“Meh, one of you’s got to take top dog eventually. I know the whole equality thing was kind of big for gege after communism and all, but I don’t think it’ll last-”
“Macau.” It seemed Li Shui had reached his last nerve, from he glare he was giving him. Rui span round and started marching towards the door.
“Alright, alright, sheesh.” He stretched, bones popping. He’d been growing too recently. “By the way, I’ve got reports for you from the lower downs, if you know what I mean.”
“The Triads.”
“Oh come on, use code words, makes it sound more mysterious.” Rui’s pout suddenly became a grin. “You know they’ve started calling me the Shadow Capital.”
“Out with it Rui.”
He leaned forward conspiratorially. “India is making her move. She’s taking advantage of her still stable economy to take over her neighbours. She’s not making any moves on us, don’t worry, but I’ve heard she would like our support.” He sighed. “I don’t like it, but we need a strong ally when we’re recovering like this. For now, I’d recommend going with it.”
It was starting to snow outside, Li Shui observed as he turned to gaze out the window. The city was bustling with life regardless of the weather, undeterred by political upheaval. Peace. This was what peace was like.
They needed money to maintain that peace.
“I’ll email her.” He said neutrally. “Can you grab Meimei? I need to talk to her.”
---
“Quebec?” a fist pounded on his door. “Quebec, get up, it’s past noon!”
“Fuck off.” Came the muffled reply. “Getting up before noon is for people in charge. Let the working classes sleep.”
“I think you’ve got that the wrong way round.” Canada didn’t sound particularly amused by the resurgence of laziness in his province. “Either way, you’re coming with me to see Mexico at the North America summit. Work with me here, I’m still not quite officially recognised yet, come on, eh?”
“Je suis mort, vas-y allez sans moi.”
“J'étais mort, mais j'y vais, et tu viens avec moi! Lève-toi!” The doorknob rattled as Canada tried to turn it, but he didn’t know that Quebec had pushed a wardrobe in front of it in case of this very incident. The Nation on the other side was becoming increasingly frustrated. “Je suis étonné que tu sois capable de diriger un pays, t'es tellement paresseux! ”
“Je ne t'écoute pas!” Quebec turned up the music on his headphones, but not before he heard Canada’s last retort.
“D'accord! Très bien! Tu n'auras pas de pancakes!”
A loud scraping sound of the wardrobe being moved, followed by the door opening a crack. “Tes... pancakes? Faits par toi?”
Canada raised his eyebrows. “Oui.”
The door opened. “Alright, you twisted my arm.”
“Did you miss my pancakes that much while I was gone?”
“Fermez la!”
---
“… and the negotiations are to be completed by this afternoon. In other news, after stepping down from his position after a disastrous term in office lead to war and social uprisings, the former President of the United States of America had this to say-”
“For god’s sake Wales, change the channel.” England groaned from the other side of the room. Green eyes glared over his well-worn and well-loved copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “They’ve been cycling around the same stories for the past hour.”
“But I haven’t been able to hear half of them because you keep telling me to turn it off. I’m just trying to catch up.” The other replied, but muted the sound anyway. “And don’t boss me about just because I look different now. I’ll grow again, you’ll see.”
Arthur grunted something about population damage and housing problems, but went back to reading his book. It was then that James hobbled in, tossing his crutch to the side before flopping on the sofa with a large sigh and a little dignity. It was really, really gross to watch him re-grow limbs. Granted, it was slow, but he had half a shin now and it just looked odd when he walked.
“Finished your phone call to your boyfriend?” the youngest brother snarked. James flipped him the bird.
“Just because yer own wife’s gone off trying to sort out politics in the Med with his brother.” He snorted. “Don’t get bitter, yer’ll turn into even more of a grumpy old sod.”
“Fuck you.” England replied, having stopped listening half way through what James was saying. The door to the lounge opened again, America stumbling through and collapsing against a book case, sliding down with a groan. England watched him. “Good shift?”
America made a sound somewhere between a curse and a moan, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. “You got those painkillers on handy?” Wales tossed him some out of pity. The younger Nation popped two and swallowed them dry. “Thanks. This sucks much more than I thought it would. House makes it look easy.”
“That’s rather the point of it being a punishment, America.” England spoke like he was talking to a colony, but really, America was being childish. Surely he was getting used to the negative repercussions of war by now. “It’s not meant to be easy. None of this is going to be easy for the next few years. Hell, the next few decades. Remember how long it took everyone to trust Germany again?”
America looked down at his feet and said nothing.
“Shouldn’t you be at that conference-summit-thing?” Scotland asked the sullen nation. America shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, you know, I guess…” he mumbled. “But I don’t think they want to see me and my new boss wants me to stay out of trouble for a while and… um…”
“And you’re avoiding Canada.” Wales said bluntly. The younger Nation flinched and England looked at his brother reproachfully. Wales ignored them. If you couldn’t be honest with your family who could you be honest with? Glancing back at the TV, however, he noticed something he’d been waiting for. “Lads, look!” he cried, turning the sound back up.
“-India and Pakistan… and I’m just receiving more information on the Ireland situation…”
The Nations leaned forward. Most of the time, watching the news was like watching a gossip channel, but this was much more serious. Much more important. Dora burst in, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Am I late? Have they announced it?”
“Shh!” the four of them hissed.
“The remaining fragments of the Northern Irish secular counsel have agreed with the Republic of Ireland parliament on a coalition of government, at least for the time being. This will hopefully lead to better organisation of aid and evacuations of Splash Zone areas. Areas of Ireland have been prepared for the incoming refugees. Residents who refuse to leave irradiated land will have aid provided to them, but are strongly advised to evacuate the area…”
Arthur sighed. “… I was almost… well, hoping…”
“A split would be too hard on Aine.” Scotland shook his head. “And even if there was one… it might just lead to a new state. Not North coming back…”
Gazes turned to Wales, expecting him to comment in a similar manner. Wales, however, was smiling.
“Gee, I wonder what I should do with all this compensation money.” He lifted his voice in a purposefully false manner. “I suppose I could buy that new gaming platform with the holograms-“
Somewhere in the hallway, a door burst open.
---
The snow was piled high in the streets. Ukraine held on to her brother’s arm as they walked through the streets, through the markets that had been set up to replace the shops that were destroyed. It was like 200 years ago again, were it not for the occasional tank abandoned half way into a brick wall. Russia breathed into the wool of his scarf - new, one that his sister had made while in physical therapy to get her hands steady again. It was more purple now, she said it matched his eyes. Brought out the colour in them, even when he looked so dejected.
Something ran into Ukraine’s legs, nearly knocking her off balance. Russia caught her quickly, but winced as the movement pulled on a healing wound. The siblings turned their attention to whatever they’d bumped into.
A small child had wrapped its arms around Ukraine’s leg. A girl, judging from the clothing and the bow in her hair. Platinum blonde, just like…
“Sister.” The little girl mumbled. Ukraine’s breath caught. Russia almost wanted to scold the child, for nearly knocking them over and for saying such a thing. But she didn’t know any better. Surely, this child had lost her family too.
Grey blue eyes turned on him, sharp in intensity like a hawk spotting its target. He knew that gaze. It used to give him more chills than winter ever did. Now, it made his heart stop, before stammering back to life.
Back... to life...
“Brother.”
---
Germany covered Prussia’s sleeping form with a blanket, leaving him on the couch and not bothering to ask why there were children’s toys everywhere. He felt the answer would only give him a headache.
Notes:
-This is, in fact, the second to last part of this fic, which ends on chapter 100/Epilogue. I just want it finished. If you've enjoyed it up to this point, I hope I can finally give you guys some closure, because since you've stuck with me this long, that's the least you deserve. <3
- And yes, it's a kinda-sorta cliffhanger even if you know exactly what is going to happen.
- No I will never resolve India's thing with Saudi. After wars big as this, there are always lingering factors and conflicts even after the main fight is over. This is one of them. Use your imaginations.
- French corrections by leyyn! Thanks!
Characters (in this chapter): India, Diaspora Israel, Macau, New China, Canada, Quebec, England, Scotland, Wales,
Rating: 12
Warnings: ZOMBIE FIC, ALERT, ZOMBIE FIC, SHOOT FOR THE HEAD.
Summary: Uh, I need to be banned from the kink meme or monsters like this happen? Essentially, Scotland leaves the UK, which gives Northern Ireland an excuse to up and out as well, which leaves England and Wales all alone. Oh yeah, and this somehow leads to World War Three.
The soft clack of china was all that broke the silence in the room. But it was a companionable quiet; that of two people who had lived a long time and seen a lot of things, and were probably the last two to remember them.
“Well, that was quite a scuffle.” The woman once known as Israel commented, sipping her coffee. India, in turn, stared pensively into her tea.
“I’d say that maybe lessons have been learned, but that would be far too naïve of me.” A wry smile touched on dark lips. “Nobody ever learns. Not even you and me.”
Sarah chuckled. “I suppose not. Regardless… you have profited from this war.”
Hazel eyes glanced up. “You think so.”
“At least temporarily.” A shrug of the shoulders. “There is always territory lost and gained. Do you fancy yourself the new Persia?”
“Hardly.” India smiled. “I doubt any can be that decadent these days without consequences.”
“Then what are you going to do with all that oil?”
“Attain decadence, of course.” A laugh, with raised eyebrows. Sarah paused for thought.
“And the consequences?”
“They make life interesting.”
The comfortable silence settled again.
“Yao wouldn’t want you to get reckless, Maya.” Her friend said cautiously. “I suggest you work subtly, though that may already be too late, if what you’ve told me of Khalidah’s conversation with you is true.”
“You say that like I’m some micronation who’s never had an empire before.” A level look passed. “Don’t worry. Your son will be safe.”
Sarah sniffed. “I know. Worry more for yourself. Be careful of the road you walk down. Yahweh can dismantle a nation that does not obey his will. And if not Him, then the world will act in his stead.” She paused, thinking over her words. “When you fall - and that’s when, not if - be sure to have somewhere safe to land.”
India finished the last of her tea. “As long as Yao’s replacements do their job right, I’ll be fine.”
---
“Chinaaaaaaaa.” Macau whined, leaning on the back of Li Shui’s chair. “Hey, hey, China. Come on, let’s go out. You’re going to suffocate on pen fumes in here.”
“It’s a biro, it doesn’t give off fumes.” Li Shui replied curtly, shuffling paperwork on his desk out of the way of Rui’s wandering hands. “And stop calling me that so many times.”
“Is it starting to annoy you Chinaaaaaa~?” he sing-songed the last note with a cheeky grin. Li Shui glared at him.
“Meimei will come in and hit you until you acknowledge her as China too.”
“Meh, one of you’s got to take top dog eventually. I know the whole equality thing was kind of big for gege after communism and all, but I don’t think it’ll last-”
“Macau.” It seemed Li Shui had reached his last nerve, from he glare he was giving him. Rui span round and started marching towards the door.
“Alright, alright, sheesh.” He stretched, bones popping. He’d been growing too recently. “By the way, I’ve got reports for you from the lower downs, if you know what I mean.”
“The Triads.”
“Oh come on, use code words, makes it sound more mysterious.” Rui’s pout suddenly became a grin. “You know they’ve started calling me the Shadow Capital.”
“Out with it Rui.”
He leaned forward conspiratorially. “India is making her move. She’s taking advantage of her still stable economy to take over her neighbours. She’s not making any moves on us, don’t worry, but I’ve heard she would like our support.” He sighed. “I don’t like it, but we need a strong ally when we’re recovering like this. For now, I’d recommend going with it.”
It was starting to snow outside, Li Shui observed as he turned to gaze out the window. The city was bustling with life regardless of the weather, undeterred by political upheaval. Peace. This was what peace was like.
They needed money to maintain that peace.
“I’ll email her.” He said neutrally. “Can you grab Meimei? I need to talk to her.”
---
“Quebec?” a fist pounded on his door. “Quebec, get up, it’s past noon!”
“Fuck off.” Came the muffled reply. “Getting up before noon is for people in charge. Let the working classes sleep.”
“I think you’ve got that the wrong way round.” Canada didn’t sound particularly amused by the resurgence of laziness in his province. “Either way, you’re coming with me to see Mexico at the North America summit. Work with me here, I’m still not quite officially recognised yet, come on, eh?”
“Je suis mort, vas-y allez sans moi.”
“J'étais mort, mais j'y vais, et tu viens avec moi! Lève-toi!” The doorknob rattled as Canada tried to turn it, but he didn’t know that Quebec had pushed a wardrobe in front of it in case of this very incident. The Nation on the other side was becoming increasingly frustrated. “Je suis étonné que tu sois capable de diriger un pays, t'es tellement paresseux! ”
“Je ne t'écoute pas!” Quebec turned up the music on his headphones, but not before he heard Canada’s last retort.
“D'accord! Très bien! Tu n'auras pas de pancakes!”
A loud scraping sound of the wardrobe being moved, followed by the door opening a crack. “Tes... pancakes? Faits par toi?”
Canada raised his eyebrows. “Oui.”
The door opened. “Alright, you twisted my arm.”
“Did you miss my pancakes that much while I was gone?”
“Fermez la!”
---
“… and the negotiations are to be completed by this afternoon. In other news, after stepping down from his position after a disastrous term in office lead to war and social uprisings, the former President of the United States of America had this to say-”
“For god’s sake Wales, change the channel.” England groaned from the other side of the room. Green eyes glared over his well-worn and well-loved copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “They’ve been cycling around the same stories for the past hour.”
“But I haven’t been able to hear half of them because you keep telling me to turn it off. I’m just trying to catch up.” The other replied, but muted the sound anyway. “And don’t boss me about just because I look different now. I’ll grow again, you’ll see.”
Arthur grunted something about population damage and housing problems, but went back to reading his book. It was then that James hobbled in, tossing his crutch to the side before flopping on the sofa with a large sigh and a little dignity. It was really, really gross to watch him re-grow limbs. Granted, it was slow, but he had half a shin now and it just looked odd when he walked.
“Finished your phone call to your boyfriend?” the youngest brother snarked. James flipped him the bird.
“Just because yer own wife’s gone off trying to sort out politics in the Med with his brother.” He snorted. “Don’t get bitter, yer’ll turn into even more of a grumpy old sod.”
“Fuck you.” England replied, having stopped listening half way through what James was saying. The door to the lounge opened again, America stumbling through and collapsing against a book case, sliding down with a groan. England watched him. “Good shift?”
America made a sound somewhere between a curse and a moan, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. “You got those painkillers on handy?” Wales tossed him some out of pity. The younger Nation popped two and swallowed them dry. “Thanks. This sucks much more than I thought it would. House makes it look easy.”
“That’s rather the point of it being a punishment, America.” England spoke like he was talking to a colony, but really, America was being childish. Surely he was getting used to the negative repercussions of war by now. “It’s not meant to be easy. None of this is going to be easy for the next few years. Hell, the next few decades. Remember how long it took everyone to trust Germany again?”
America looked down at his feet and said nothing.
“Shouldn’t you be at that conference-summit-thing?” Scotland asked the sullen nation. America shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, you know, I guess…” he mumbled. “But I don’t think they want to see me and my new boss wants me to stay out of trouble for a while and… um…”
“And you’re avoiding Canada.” Wales said bluntly. The younger Nation flinched and England looked at his brother reproachfully. Wales ignored them. If you couldn’t be honest with your family who could you be honest with? Glancing back at the TV, however, he noticed something he’d been waiting for. “Lads, look!” he cried, turning the sound back up.
“-India and Pakistan… and I’m just receiving more information on the Ireland situation…”
The Nations leaned forward. Most of the time, watching the news was like watching a gossip channel, but this was much more serious. Much more important. Dora burst in, wiping her hands on her apron.
“Am I late? Have they announced it?”
“Shh!” the four of them hissed.
“The remaining fragments of the Northern Irish secular counsel have agreed with the Republic of Ireland parliament on a coalition of government, at least for the time being. This will hopefully lead to better organisation of aid and evacuations of Splash Zone areas. Areas of Ireland have been prepared for the incoming refugees. Residents who refuse to leave irradiated land will have aid provided to them, but are strongly advised to evacuate the area…”
Arthur sighed. “… I was almost… well, hoping…”
“A split would be too hard on Aine.” Scotland shook his head. “And even if there was one… it might just lead to a new state. Not North coming back…”
Gazes turned to Wales, expecting him to comment in a similar manner. Wales, however, was smiling.
“Gee, I wonder what I should do with all this compensation money.” He lifted his voice in a purposefully false manner. “I suppose I could buy that new gaming platform with the holograms-“
Somewhere in the hallway, a door burst open.
---
The snow was piled high in the streets. Ukraine held on to her brother’s arm as they walked through the streets, through the markets that had been set up to replace the shops that were destroyed. It was like 200 years ago again, were it not for the occasional tank abandoned half way into a brick wall. Russia breathed into the wool of his scarf - new, one that his sister had made while in physical therapy to get her hands steady again. It was more purple now, she said it matched his eyes. Brought out the colour in them, even when he looked so dejected.
Something ran into Ukraine’s legs, nearly knocking her off balance. Russia caught her quickly, but winced as the movement pulled on a healing wound. The siblings turned their attention to whatever they’d bumped into.
A small child had wrapped its arms around Ukraine’s leg. A girl, judging from the clothing and the bow in her hair. Platinum blonde, just like…
“Sister.” The little girl mumbled. Ukraine’s breath caught. Russia almost wanted to scold the child, for nearly knocking them over and for saying such a thing. But she didn’t know any better. Surely, this child had lost her family too.
Grey blue eyes turned on him, sharp in intensity like a hawk spotting its target. He knew that gaze. It used to give him more chills than winter ever did. Now, it made his heart stop, before stammering back to life.
Back... to life...
“Brother.”
---
Germany covered Prussia’s sleeping form with a blanket, leaving him on the couch and not bothering to ask why there were children’s toys everywhere. He felt the answer would only give him a headache.
Notes:
-This is, in fact, the second to last part of this fic, which ends on chapter 100/Epilogue. I just want it finished. If you've enjoyed it up to this point, I hope I can finally give you guys some closure, because since you've stuck with me this long, that's the least you deserve. <3
- And yes, it's a kinda-sorta cliffhanger even if you know exactly what is going to happen.
- No I will never resolve India's thing with Saudi. After wars big as this, there are always lingering factors and conflicts even after the main fight is over. This is one of them. Use your imaginations.
- French corrections by leyyn! Thanks!