Life's return

Let Justice speak

TW: Semi-religious discussion. 

New York and Alaska dragged America into the sanctuary of the church behind Italy.  They cleared a spot behind the pulpit and laid America out on his side. They propped his head up.

Alaska gave her brother a worried glance. 

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I can't help but think we're cornering our selves in here."

"This place is beyond warded, between the holy symbols and the actual, well, wards," Italy said as he lit a stick of incense. 

The smell of myrrh and frankincense wafted through the small building. The smoke danced in the multicolored sunbeams from the stained glass window.  A trinity symbol glowed with the late morning sun. 

New York sat down and tried not to look at his father. His eyes fell on Poland, who was quietly praying in a pew near the back of the church. Alaska tiredly laid down on a different church bench. Snores soon came from both of them. Italy sat near the door on the other end of the sanctuary. The light from the window falling on him so the trinity knot was framed on his face.

"So, when Should I go?" New York asked himself under his breath.

"*You'll know, If you listen to your patrons.*" Italy said in his own tongue. 

New York jumped.

"*The acoustics in here are amazing aren't they*?" Italy stretched and leaned back. 

"*What do you mean by-*"

"*Your Patrons? It's written on your face. Or have you lost yourself?"

New York sat with that for a second. 

"*What are you getting at?*" He growled.

"*Who does your plan really serve? Who will It help?*"

New York tasted blood. He forced his jaw to relax. His chest felt tight. 

"* What do you know?*" 

Italy answered with a shrug. 

"I know you are tired and need to be nicer to yourself." 

"Fuck you."

____________________

"Why do you warp me?"  

She was sitting there with her sword. Her blind eyes glared into his soul. Her limbs were twisted. Her scale unbalanced. Her sword bent.

"You will be served. I swear it." He said. 

She screamed in rage and agony.

"You betray us both,"  The other said. Her torch was dim. Her crown bent. 

"I Will serve you soon! I just need-"

"Who is served by this? Who will this help?"

New York jumped awake.

 The sun outside had shifted. It was about noon. Italy was gone. Poland was nervously preening his feathers.  Alaska was still asleep. 

"So, what's the plan?" New York asked.

"Try to stay alive and find the others."

"I guess schlepping Dad around makes that a little more difficult."

"Yes but we will manage. I have seen in more dire straights."

The older man's reassuring smile felt more like a challenge. He fought the urge to slap the look of his face. New York knew Poland was likely just as freaked out as everyone else was, and was probably just trying to keep it together. Didn't mean he had to like it though.

"As soon as Dad and Alaska are safe, Justice will be served." The thought brought an odd comfort. "Then I can say good bye."

______________

Texas worked with his siblings to sift through the ashen remains of the camp. A large part of the woods had been burned. Alaska didn't mess around when she didn't want to be followed.

"Found something!" Louisiana said. It was a foot print, about New York's size.

"It's a lead." He walked to his sister. They kept searching. A thread here, another track there. once they reached the place where trees abruptly turned into city,  he felt his mind want to wander.

He started to picture a ranch in the old west.

 A small family of homesteaders, Ma, Pa, and their young son. Maybe a milk cow or two, a couple horses, and a good hunting dog. Worst they had to worry about was the neighbor's bull and maybe a coyote or fox.

Property of a bout twenty acres, big enough for a boy to explore and be safe. 

Ma could be Maria, Pa could be Thomas, and the boy's name could be-

"Tex! You got anything to add?" Dixie asked.

"Maybe we should check if there's a church?" He said.

"Backing up Lu?" Alabama asked. 

"Well, the steeple kinda answers that question," Louisiana said, "Gives us a place to start anyway."

"Let's just hope the place is well warded." Dixie cast a glance towards the woods. 

Russia had laid out a napkin with some crackers and a packet of salt on a near by stump.

"What are you-"

"Between Baba Yaga, personifications of war, and everything else I have seen, the last thing I need is a God damn Leshy coming after me for Your bad decisions."

"Are we even in the right region for that to be an issue?" Louisiana asked.

California took of their pack and and dug out a couple of ketchup packets.

"Do nature spirits like tomatoes? Would mustard be better?"

"I mean, what would be a better symbol of hospitality?" Russia asked.

They nodded and added both and a sugar packet.

"Really?" Dixie asked. "Y'all gonna leave a trail?"

"You wanna piss off the nature spirits?" California asked.

Russia tied it up and buried the offerings in a pile of leaves.

They started walking towards the Church's steeple. The narrow streets were coble stone. The houses seemed to loom over them as their foot steps echoed.

"What I wouldn't give for a wide open space." 

A twenty acre ranch. A pair of Holsteins grazing  peacefully as a seven year old boy plays with his dog. 

Pa would come home about supper time, tired from a hard day's work. Ma would have some spicy beans cooked up with bacon and rice and freshly cooked tortillas. 

After dinner, Pa would read his boy the bible while Ma knit. They'd sit by the light of the lantern and listen to Pa and the night sounds. Crickets and frogs would serenade the little family to a peaceful slumber.

Texas snapped back to reality. The church was in sight. It had a yard off to the side that was overgrown with mums and marigolds. Stone markers, well worn with time, showed the places age. It was pretty in a way.

"This is as close as I can get," Dixie said. "I'll guard from out here."

"Why are you-" Alabama started to ask, then suddenly remembered. "Oh, yeah..."

"Just look for York and Laska so we can go."