Chapter 24

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I sit on the sofa, wincing, while Spain wraps a bandage round my arm, just below my shoulder, where there's a rather nasty hole from a certain country's pickaxe. "Zubicu, how many times do I have to tell you not to fight Russia?"

I sigh. "But Spain, Russia challenged me! And you know I can't turn down a fight from the one person I can't defeat!" I whine.

It's been a week since the playfight between me, Romano, and Spain. Since then, someone was genius enough to start a rumor that I'm going to try and become stronger, which is false, I'm happy as I am at the moment. However, Russia took this the wrong way, and decided this was a good opportunity to invade me. I got a tip-off from Lithuania, who overheard him talking about it to his boss, so I had time to prepare.

But I swear fighting with a pickaxe is against the rules! It's no wonder I lost!

I wince as he tightens it. "Ouch!"

"Lo siento, Zubicu, but I need to make sure it doesn't come off." he says. I nod and let him tie it, still wincing, but bite back the cries of pain. 

"This is horrible. I can't defeat Russia, he's too strong! I'm going to lose! What am I meant to do about this, Spain?" I cry, distraught at the fact that I may finally lose a fight.

Spain sighs. "Zubicu, don't worry, OK? Prussia, France and I will help you. I am pretty sure other countries will help you too." he says. I nod.

"I suppose." I sigh. "I hate help, though. Why can't I handle it by myself? My men are strong and we have good resources, so why are we losing?"

"Russia is strong, stronger than all of us individually. It's little surprise. Don't worry, Zubicu; none of us will laugh at you for this. If you lost to someone like France, then yes, we would."

"Anyone would." I agree, laughing. He finishes cleaning and bandanging my wounds and finally leaves it. "Thanks, Spain." I say, smiling. He nods. I try to stand, but the many wounds to my legs make me fall almost instantly with a cry. Spain quickly catches me and helps support me.

"You OK?" he asks, worried. I nod, wincing in pain.

"Yeah...I'll be fine." I reassure him through gritted teeth. I try to take a step but instantly fall again. Once more, Spain catches me.

"No, you're not alright. Sit down and stay, OK? There's no way you'll be able to walk on crutches or even in a wheelchair in your current state." Spain says, sitting me down before I can argue. It's true- I have scratches and torn muscles everywhere, not to mention the amount of gashes I have, and bullet wounds. I'm a complete mess. When Spain leaves the room to get something, I begin to cry with worry and fear.

"What am I gonna do?" I wail. "I don't want to lose my territory to anyone, least of all Russia!"

Romano walks in, rubbing his head with his eyes closed, having clearly just woken up. "What's all the noise?" His eyes widen as soon as he sees me. "Whoah, what happened to you?"

I sigh, turning my head down and to the side, closing my eyes as I explain. "Russia's attacked me again." I mutter. Romano sits down next to me and ruffles my hair.

"Hey, it's alright, ragazza. We'll get him away from you." he says, turning my cut and bruised face to look at him. His grip makes me wince in pain. "Plus, you're strong. You've put up a good fight so far, most of us would have lost a long time ago."

I sigh, looking down to the left next to the sofa while I talk. "I know, but I can't hold out much longer. My land is starting to get destroyed, and it doesn't help that Russia keeps picking fights with me. Hundreds of my men have died already fighting in the war, I'm starting to run out of supplies, and Russia's blocked off all communication to my brothers America and Canada, even England and my cousin Hungary. So I can't ask any of them for help, and I'm too shy to even approach anyone else. You know I am. Plus, Lithuania told me yesterday he's going to block off all communication to all the other countries that he can tomorrow. You and Spain are the only two I'll be able to talk to."

He nods. "You have us, though. Spain and I will help you, and Spain can get word to those other two bastards he hangs out with. I can try and tell the hamburger bastard and his brother about it, too."

I look up at him in shock. "You'd do that for me? I thought you hated my brothers!"

He snorts. "Trust me, I do. But you need help and Spain'll be busy telling the other two bastards, and there isn't anyone else who can tell them for you."

I smile weakly, trying not to wince at the pain it brings. "Thanks, Romano. I really appreciate it."

He nods, standing up. "No problem. I'll have word out to America and Canada by tomorrow." he says simply, before leaving the room.

I sit there in shock. Romano actually called big brother America by his name and not 'hamburger bastard'! This must be a really big deal for him. Either that, or something else is going on.

Spain comes back into the room and feeds me something. "Romano talked to you, si? He was grumbling about something to do with America and Canada when he passed me, then yelled about how I have to tell France and Prussia you need help."

I nod, and explain what I told Romano. He listens patiently, then when I've finished simply says, "Oh. Well, that is a bigger problem than I thought. You need to tell us this, Zubicu, or we can't help you! Don't worry. As a matter of fact, France and Prussia are visiting me tomorrow morning. I can tell them then." he says.

I smile and nod. "Thanks, Spain." He smiles, patting my head gently, being careful not to hit too hard or I'll be put through a lot of pain. "Oh, how is Sukrutra?" I ask. My little pet defended me in my last fight, which is why I didn't get any broken bones like usual, but she was critcally injured and is now in intense care.

Spain sighs. "It's not looking good. She's pulling through, but it's very slow progress and we fear that if she doesn't start healing faster soon she may start slipping away again. They're doing all they can to help her, but she was badly injured. They say they haven't seen anything like her injuries before, so they don't know if they'll be able to help her."

I nod sadly. "Alright. Thanks for being honest."

He smiles sadly and gently rubs my head. "It's OK, Zubicu. Your strength has rubbed off on Sukrutra. I'm sure she'll be fine." he says. I nod again. With another smile, he also leaves the room.

I want to go upstairs and rest, but I'm in such a mess I can't, and now I'm not concentrating on anything the world is starting to go blurry. No, I can't fall asleep! What if I never wake up? Russia might attack me again when I'm asleep, too! I can't fight back if I'm not awake! No....no....must not....fall...asleep....

Despite my best efforts, I feel the world spinning as I fall over, pain shooting all through my left side, and everything goes black.

Zubicu- a Hetalia fanfic.Where stories live. Discover now