Orange and Navy (The Many Colours of Life and Death AU)

Chapter Twenty-One

The Kingdom of Bulgaria sat down with the Second Bulgarian Empire, who was his grandmother. The Dutch Empire, a friend from when he was a ghost, apparently, sat nearby. Before he'd asked to be revived, he'd chosen SBE and DE to tell him what had happened.

"So... where would you like to start?" his grandmother asked.

"Maybe some of your memories of me? It might give me an idea of what I was like," Bulgaria suggested, drumming his fingers on the armrests of his chair.

"Well, you used to spook me a lot. With your instant teleportation power, it wasn't hard," she huffed. "At one point, I was carrying an old lamp downstairs. You scared me, and I fell all the way down, and got glass shards stuck in my arm. You had to do extra chores for a week, and couldn't use your powers for the duration. It was almost worth it."

"Please tell me you have better memories than that," Bulgaria laughed.

"Let's see... sorry can't find anything!" SBE grinned.

"Was I that bad?!" Bulgaria grimaced.

"No, I'm just messing with you," she said. "You always helped your father out with gardening, despite saying that you hated it. Your favourite flower was the rose. You said it was resilient."

"Where's my father nowadays?"

"Oh, he left the town a while ago. Sometimes I visit him, though. He... never knew that you died. I kept it a secret. I didn't want to break his heart. You usually didn't visit him anyways."

"Ah. Maybe some time, we could visit him together?"

"That would be nice."

They talked for a few more hours, with SBE telling him about his life, the good and the bad. Eventually, she left for the Dutch Empire's explanation of the Gold War. Halfway through explaining how it even started, Bulgaria had a memory.

Chunks of ice fell from the ceiling. He had a sword in his hands. Covered in blood. A blue and yellow country was on the ground nearby. Dying. Then he raised his sword above his chest, stepping closer to his victim.

A red country pushed him down, and suddenly blood covered his chest. He'd landed on a sword, which was now protruding out of his skin.

Then it went dark.

He blinked in surprise, his chest rising and falling unevenly. What was that...? He recognized that country for a second. The one who pushed him down. A name came to mind. The Ottoman Empire.

"Bulgaria?" The Dutch Empire seemed to repeat, looking concerned. Bulgaria dragged his eyes up to meet his gaze.

"What happened... when I died?"

The British Empire listened as his child, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, told him about his life. They didn't leave a single detail out.

Meanwhile, he continued to notice a second country, who introduced himself as the Kingdom of Ireland, standing nearby, listening as well. Every time BE wasn't looking, he could see Ireland glancing at him out of the corner of his vision.

"I wasn't involved in the Gold War," UKGBI sighed. "I've only heard stories of what you did. I believe during the beginning, you were against the Austrian Empire. Both of your alliances had skirmishes. Some say you were the leader. At one point you lost your hand... it doesn't look like you got it back."

The British Empire looked down at his hands. Sure enough, it had been replaced by a hook. His other hand was made of glass, and there was water inside of it.

"Not to worry, the power stored inside that hand was apparently turned into one of your magic water halos. Or so you told me. As a ghost. When you still had your memories," UKGBI continued. "You also had a necklace, but you broke it during the last battle so that you would have more power."

"How did I die?" BE asked without even meaning to. He'd been impatiently waiting for his child to get to the point. As he uttered the words, a memory flashed in his brain. Clear as water.

A sunset. A beautiful sunset.

Dark blue waves crashing against the cliffside. A dark feeling of death looming behind him. The orange sky fading into navy blue.

It looked exactly like where he'd woken up earlier that day.

"Dad? Are you alright?" UKGBI said, shaking his shoulder.

"Yes... yes... I'm fine. I think I had a memory?" BE said.

"Of what?"

"A sunset at a cliff. I think it was where I died. But how would I die there? I don't think I fell off," he mused.

"I believe you were too wounded at the end of the battle. You were taken to the sunset as... one of your last wishes," his child said.

"Oh. Well, it was a nice sunset. I'd say it was worth it."

UKGBI muttered something that BE couldn't hear, but it sounded almost... resentful, yet full of sorrow.

"What was that?" BE asked.

"Nothing," his child said, avoiding his gaze.

"No. Tell me what you just said," he demanded.

"I'm not—"

"What did you say?"

"Stop—"

"What did—"

"Why didn't you come to see me instead?!" UKGBI shouted. The glass of water that BE was drinking from shattered, water spilling everywhere.

BE stared at his child.

"You had the time," UKGBI croaked. "You could've... said goodbye. But you didn't."

"I-I'm sorry," BE sputtered. He hadn't even thought about that. What was the past version of himself thinking? Surely his offspring was more important than a pretty sunset?

"An apology doesn't fix everything," UKGBI sighed, standing up. They stared down at their father, before storming away to their room.

"That went well," the Kingdom of Ireland remarked, regarding the British Empire with a cool glare.

"Shut up."

(924 Words)

Apolagies for the short chapter I wrote a bunch of it today ;-;

I'm going to be posting on Tuesdays now

Have a good day :D