Bound by Destiny | COUNTRYHUMAN AU

Awake and alive

TR towered over me and my father, blade in one hand, whip in another. He wore a crazed smile, eyes wide as he circled us, like a hawk watching its prey. Without warning, he swung his left arm as a stinging pain burned my body. Tears clouded my eyes as I was whipped over and over again. "Please stop..." I whimpered which only earned me harsher whips.

"STOP ALREADY! I BEG YOU!" Papa pleaded. I nearly cried in relief as TR stopped whipping me. But to my horror, he simply strode over to Papa and roughly grabbed Papa by the chin. "Can't bear to watch your boy be tortured hmmm? I was saving this for him but if you insist..." without warning, TR whipped Papa before using his knife and digging it into Papa's left eye.

"Aughhhhh–" TR, that...that motherf***er, he threw Papa down onto the ground. TR clutched Papa's eyeball in his hand and I nearly threw up if it wasn't for the fact that I was sobbing hysterically. "Stop it! Stop it! Stop it already!" I cried, choking on my saliva. TR threw the eyeball onto the ground and it rolled to hell knows where. There was a shriek as I looked up to see a young boy dressed in a black shirt and shorts–he must have been about 5 years old.

"Vati..." the boy looked on, eyes wide.

"Ja, Deutschland?" TR asked. Ah, so this was the Prince of Darkness. Germany said something in German to which TR chuckled. "Oh du süßes, unschuldiges Ding, Deutschland. Sehen Sie, diese Leute sind sehr böse –"

"LIES! YOU'RE THE EVIL ONE! GERMANY PLEASE–OWW!" Papa was cut off as TR sank his bloody knife into Papa's thigh. He warned that if Papa were to say something again, my wings would be off my back. Horror filled me. My wings...no, they couldn't be gone! How would I fly? Papa's wings had been ripped out already and his back was stained with blood. I was surprised that he was even conscious. Germany's eyes widened and I shot him a pleading look. All he did was turn away. How dare he–

TR continued, "These people are very evil, that's why Vati needs to punish them." My rage boiled over and I yelled, "LIAR! GERMANY YOU CAN–" TR slapped me–hard–and I fell to the ground as the monster began to kick me, each blow harder than the last. I shut my eyes as I tried to endure the pain. A childlike laughter rang in my ears and I felt even angrier. How could that German prince laugh at other's suffering? A part of me knew that I was going insane but I paid it no mind. I felt TR flip me onto my back and I sighed in relief, thinking the attack was over. I was wrong.

My eyes shot open as I felt the knife sink into my back. It felt like I was on fire and burning. I could hear the sound of cartilage and muscles being ripped apart as half of my wings fell to the ground. My vision blurred. It was so painful. It was as if I was dunked in lava and taken out.

I vaguely remember Germany coming over and Papa begging to spare me. I let out a low and husky chuckle. I was going to die. Haha, there were so many things I...

PAIN! IT RUSHED THROUGH ME, AS MUSCLES AND CARTILAGE WERE CUT FROM MY BODY. PAIN! And then...nothing. I was falling through oblivion–sweet, sweet, sweet oblivion. My torture had finally ended.

*

I woke up, arms flailing about, gasping for breath as tears streamed down my face. Prof. EU who was sitting in his seat calmly got up as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "Calm down Poland, calm down. You're safe here," he said. Slowly, with more encouraging words, my tears receded and my gasps turned into hiccups. With EU's assistance, I managed to sit up, groaning at the pain it caused me.

"Do you need some painkillers Poland? I can get Red Cross or Crescent," he asked gently. I shook my head, "I've...had worse." EU's eyes darkened when I said that but didn't comment. Just then, Prof. ASEAN came in. His eyes lit up as a relieved smile crossed his face. The two professors conversed in low voices before ASEAN took EU's seat.