More Than a Dream (COUNTRYHUMANS AU)

Resilience

Written: January 19, 2024

Previously:

"Hello." South's voice was like another empty whisper of the wind. Okinawa stared at her once-thought deceased older siblings in fear and disbelief. She jumped out of North's arms with childlike joy and hugged South and Japan. North stepped back, his arms prepared to attack.

Okinawa hugged her older siblings, unaware of the dull, rusty knife Japan held over the prefecture's head.

"No!" North shouted as Japan struck Okinawa hard, her skull opening with a sickening crack-like an egg dropped onto the floor. An ear-piercing scream rang out before Okinawa fell back, blood gushing out of her like a spring of water, her skin graying, cracking.

________

Okinawa lay on the ground, a knife jammed in her skull. North Korea's stomach churned as the sea of blood spilled onto the ground, staining it an eerily luminous mahogany. North Korea's breath caught in his throat. Japan and South Korea stared off into the distance as the child rose, her eyes robbed of their light. The teal was now an empty midnight green.

"North?" Okinawa's usual inquisitive tone took a flatter edge. Her voice was dead and monotone. Okinawa wiggled out the knife lodged in her head and threw it aside. "Why are you scared?"

North Korea's heart pounded in his chest as he sprinted away from the nightmarish scene, the echoes of Okinawa's lifeless voice haunting his every step. The world around him seemed distorted, the colors bleeding into a surreal panorama of horror.

He stumbled, gasping for breath, but the relentless images of Japan and South Korea, with their cold, vacant stares, urged him to keep running. The air felt thick with dread as he desperately tried to escape the twisted reality that had replaced the once-familiar landscape.

As North distanced himself from the ghastly tableau, he entered an eerie, desolate space. The ground beneath him felt uneven, the shadows playing tricks on his senses. His surroundings morphed into a surreal dreamscape, a distorted reflection of the world he thought he knew.

A voice whispered through the air, a chilling melody that seemed to emanate from the very fabric of this nightmarish realm. "North," it called, the sound sending shivers down his spine. He turned around to find Russia standing amidst the surreal landscape, her figure obscured by the shifting shadows.

North Korea's breath caught in his throat as he stared at the enigmatic figure. The twisted version of his sister, Okinawa, stood beside Russia, her eyes void of life, a mere puppet in this distorted reality. The air crackled with an unsettling energy as Russia spoke, her voice a haunting echo in the empty space.

"Why run, North?" Russia's words were a subtle caress, a paradoxical blend of warmth and coldness. "There's nowhere to hide. Embrace the inevitable. Become one with us."

Confusion and fear churned within North Korea as he tried to comprehend the surreal scenario unfolding before him. The boundaries between reality and nightmare blurred, and he felt the weight of a decision hanging over him.

A disconcerting calm settled within North as he cautiously approached Russia. The nightmarish landscape shifted, warping into a distorted fusion of their respective territories. Russia's eyes gleamed with an otherworldly intensity, and North hesitated, grappling with the conflicting emotions that surged within him.

As he stood at the precipice of a decision, the specters of Japan, South Korea, and the lifeless version of Okinawa lingered in the shadows, silent witnesses to the unfolding drama. The air crackled with an otherworldly energy, and North Korea's fate hung in the balance.