Familial Affairs

Nightmares

Turkey swam to shore with the disoriented child. When they arrived, he was placed on the ground so that Turkey could check on him.
He moved the hair out of the child's face and stared into the kid's dark amber eyes. This wasn't Greece at all, but he had long curly hair, so who else could he be?
"Please don't hurt me!" The kid raised his arm in self defense while flinching.
"Who are you?" Turkey demanded. He didn't see any wounds on him, so he didn't bother asking if he was ok.
"I'm Rome." He wiped some soap out of his eyes.
Turkey stared in disbelief, had he really just saved Rome's life? He pushed the thought back, knowing that if Greece was dreaming then nothing would make sense. It's not like they did earlier, but aren't nightmares worse than reality?
Turkey got up and tried to walk away, but something attacked him. He was thrown down to the ground by a large dog creature again. This time it had long burgundy fur, and large saber-like teeth. More of them showed up and they attacked the two. Turkey watched as one bit a large hole in Rome's chest and ripped out a large pipe like organ that Turkey couldn't identify. They unpinned him and ran off.
He heard soft footsteps. He was too shocked to get up, and was unable to identify the figure that stood next to him.
"Are you ok?" Turkey could recognize that soft voice anywhere.
Turkey sat up to see Greece. He hugged the nation as if he hadn't seen Greece in years.
"Turkey, your mirror is broken, you need to finish your mission before you become stuck here forever. It's the only way you can leave. Please, I need you." Greece slowly turned to dust, and Turkey could tell that he was waking up. He relaxed at the idea of things returning to a normal like state again.
He saw a bit of glass in Rome's chest. Turkey examined it, only to be given some of Greece's worst memories from living with Rome. Turkey took the shard and held up his hand mirror. The mirror had no glass in it at all and was rendered a simple vanity. He placed the shard where he saw fit and surprisingly enough, it stayed. Turkey then saw a ring of keys on Rome's side. He took them and examined them.
     There was writing on the side, it read: memories best left forgotten. He clipped the keys to his belt. He then looked around himself. He couldn't identify where he was, but the more he looked around the more he noticed something build around him. It was a house of sorts, perhaps he'd find something important.
     It was Turkey's house back when he was the Ottoman Empire. But there was something really off about it. Everything was mirrored. He heard something behind him, and he spun around quickly. He didn't want to be attacked by any more dogs. But this time it wasn't dogs, no. Turkey knew the man he saw behind him, for it was him. But there was something off about him. His eyes were void of any and all emotion. His mask was off and was attached to a ring of keys. Turkey felt something pull him away from the man, but he ignored it.
     "May I ask what you're doing in my house?" His voice brought chills to the spine.
     "I'm sorry but, I don't even know." Turkey backed up a little. He took in a deep breath but his lungs felt like ice.
     The other Turkey revealed that he was holding a knife. He lunged forward and tried to dig the knife into Turkey's chest. He managed to dodge the attack, but the man lunged at him again. Turkey held the vanity up to block the attack, and sure enough it worked.
     The two struggled more, the evil Turkey had managed to deeply puncture Turkey's arm, but immediately got hit in the head with a large slab of stone. It broke on impact and knocked out the other Turkey.
     Turkey sat up, panting as he did so. He ripped the knife out of his arm. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to use it for the remainder of his mission. He took the keys off of the other Turkey and saw a large glass shard poke out of his side. He fixed the glass shard onto his mirror. It was large enough now to look into Greece's room.
     He saw Greece sit at the edge of his bed, he was rocking back and forth slightly. He could see that his phone was on but he couldn't identify what he was doing on the phone.
     Turkey sighed in relief knowing that Greece was ok. But it was time for him to find what ever it was that these keys went to. He checked the mirror again and saw that Greece was now trying to go back to sleep.
     He had bandaged up his arm minutes before the world around him started to change. He was placed in a large hallway. He looked beside himself and saw Greece, but he couldn't have been any older than five.
     "Hey kid, what's all this about?"
     The child turned his head to face him, revealing two large gaping holes where his eyes should have been. Turkey jumped back in shock.
     The child reached up for the mirror. Turkey handed it to him, not sure what would happen. He handed it back immediately after. He began to cough. Turkey patted on his back, but the coughing got worse. Blood spattered out of the kid's mouth.
     "Hey! Are you ok?" Turkey asked. He was fairly helpless at the moment and despite how much it sounded like the child was dying, he didn't know how to help.
     The child reached a hand into his mouth and pulled out a large glass shard. He placed it on the vanity, the mirror no longer in pieces.
     The child then pulled Turkey forward. He followed him, but was without a doubt cautious. He lead him to a small vault. Turkey reached for the keys he had clipped to his belt. He shifted around for a key that looked like it'd fit. He held up the key. It was small and was the only key with writing on it. The child smiled at the sight of the key. He took the key and used it to open the vault. Once open, the vault stretched open into a large door size. Turkey walked through as the child tugged on his arm.

     They were surrounded by darkness. Turkey felt the child let go. He wasn't sure if he was alone now or not. He heard something in the distance. He walked slowly towards it and saw Greece on top of the maskless Turkey. He held up a knife and swung it down. Turkey gasped slightly. Greece looked up, he screamed and skidded back. His head hit the ground in his struggle. He started crying as he laid there on the ground.
     Turkey walked up to him, "no, it's ok. Hey, I'm not here to hurt you."
     "Why not? That's all you've ever done!" He gripped the knife as he spat those words out.
     "Listen, that me that you killed, I've killed one just like it. It wasn't actually me."
     "How can I believe you? Look around yourself! I've killed so many of you! But no matter how many I kill, you keep coming back! Why can't I just get rid of you?"
     Turkey took in a deep breath. He took his mask off, "I'm not leaving until you can be happy again." He extended out a hand to help Greece get up.
     The ground began to feel water-like. Greece sank into the ground, and shortly after, Turkey did too. The two were falling. The world around them was a deep burgundy color, and it was beyond freezing.
     Greece held his knees close to him as he fell. Turkey reached out to him, "please! Just accept my help! I want to see you happy again!"
     Greece wiped his eyes, "why? Why would you care?"
     "Because I love you! I wouldn't have gone into your head to help you if I didn't! Now, please, I need you to be happy again!"
     "But I hurt so much! How can I just be happy again knowing the kind of shit I've been through?"
     "Let me help you! It might seem like nothing, but knowing that you need others can be beneficial." He extended a hand.
     Greece reached out. The world around them felt lighter as Greece pulled Turkey closer for a hug. He took a deep breath in. Their surroundings turned pale blue. They gracefully landed.
     Greece wiped off the remainder of his tears. He began to fade away.  Turkey checked the mirror, it was day, and Greece's eyes were beginning to flutter open. Turkey smiled. He felt his own body begin to fade away.