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

Chapter Thirty-Five

It had been three days. Three very long days that consisted of occasional torture. And Denmark-Norway was very tired.

He feared that if he slept, the Roman Empire would kill him. And that fear wasn't without reason. At night, ROE always came down to check.

There was a small window in the cell, which gave D-N some sense of time. He was kept inside with spikes driven through his wings and hands into the wall. His wounds healed around them, trapping him. He'd tried a few times to rip himself free, but the pain stopped him.

At least ROE never got his hands on the powerproof jail cells. After the death of the Kingdom of Serbia, all of the dungeons he had made resistant to powers wore off. Sure, he was living now, but he hadn't taken the time to recreate them. Thankfully.

Across from him, the Indus River Valley Civilisation slumped in his own cell. He'd gotten similar treatment to Denmark-Norway.

We need help. I'll have to sleep eventually. Or maybe ROE will find a way to kill me. But who do I ask for help? I didn't leave the best impression... Thoughts circled around in his head constantly.

Sometimes, to keep himself occupied, he mimicked the Chagatai Khanate's stolen power and watched the ghosts. They came and went wherever they pleased, never noticing that he was looking at them.

One of them, the Russian Empire, had something scrawled on his arm. He kicked his feet up and down to get his attention.

Since he couldn't use sign language or telepathy to talk with him, he tried to incline his head towards it. Thankfully, RE understood.

This was meant to be a note to you. We wanted to be able to properly speak to you guys, the Russian Empire explained, turning around so that he could see the message.

Turn in to gold to talk. Oh, that was smart. They weren't able to speak with ghosts anymore, especially since the Chagatai Khanate died. But if someone temporarily became a ghost, they could speak.

Mind if I tell you what I wanted to speak about? You... may die here, but if you survive we won't need to talk as much, RE said. D-N nodded.

Great. So we found out that the Roman Empire gained the powers of the Mongol Empire, who can bend the rules in the Realm of the Dead. He made it so that we couldn't use our powers in the real world. He also made it so that he could mind control us, but not in the same way his powers work. Instead, all he has to do is give us an order, and we have to obey. We can't speak or do anything else while under his control. Worst of all, we can't fight back. We've all tried it. It's impossible.

It was worse than he thought. D-N had believed that the ghosts could at least fight back. He was wrong. ROE had complete control over them.

Denmark-Norway's mind started spinning as the Russian Empire bid him farewell. I wonder, can ghosts be affected by other ghosts' powers? If I could temporarily die, and mimic the Kingdom of Serbia's power, could I stop—wait no, ghosts can't even interact with the real world anymore. My powers might be useless there. Unless Serbia goes by himself, it wouldn't work. How does Serbia's power work? Would he be immune to the rules? Did the Mongol Empire create the rule that dead countries turn into ghosts? If she did, he wouldn't become a ghost. No, that wouldn't make sense, since Serbia did become a ghost. Unless they were so powerful, that their rule surpassed Serbia's power. Also, could Serbia even turn into gold? I don't remember if Serbia could turn the power off or not. He must be able to, since there was a time in the Gold War where he teleported with Bulgaria. So, as long as Serbia agreed, we could—

Are you okay? The Western Roman Empire asked for the fifteenth time that day.

Yes, D-N replied, his train of thought broken. He would resume it later.