They've Returned

The Passed Nations

Russia's eyes blinked open and he looked around. He was in an empty room. The walls were made of marble and formed the shape of a large circle. The floor had an odd patterned design. In the middle of the room, there was a strange pulsing object sitting on a pedestal.

"Where am I?" Russia thought aloud. He looked at the pulsing object and walked towards it. It was the only light source of the room. When he looked at it closer, it resembled a human heart. He reached forward to touch it. As soon as his fingertips touched it, they felt as if they were burned as if the heart was made of fire.

"OW!" Russia exclaimed. He blew on his fingers to cool them. He heard the sound of glass shattering and saw that the heart had broken. Then, somehow, the pieces lifted themselves up and a glass jar appeared on the pedestal. The pieces dropped into the jar one by one, making a little clinking noise. Once the last piece clinked in, a lid sealed the jar and it magically lifted itself up near the ceiling of the room. A tiny door opened and the jar carefully placed itself into the cabinet on the wall. Then, the door slammed shut, echoing around the room.

"What was that?" Russia asked himself.

"Hello Russia."

Russia whirled around to face a group of CountryHumans that he could have sworn weren't there before. But they weren't the ones he knew.

They all wore old-fashioned clothes, some older than others. Some were tall, others were short. Their flags were faded, some more than others. One man stuck out against all of them. He was tall and had an eye patch covering his right eye. It was Russia's grandfather, the Russian Empire.

"Hello Russia," he repeated again. "I've waited a very long time to meet you."

Russia was at a loss for words. His grandfather had been dead for almost a hundred years. But here he was, looking quite alive.

"How... how are you alive?" Russia asked.

"I'm not," Rus replied. "Neither are you or anyone else in this room."

"Who are you guys?"

"We are countries, empires, and kingdoms who no longer exist," Austria-Hungary replied. "But we call ourselves the Passed Nations."

"We are a group of deceased CountryHumans who are brought here to this room when we die," Yugoslavia explained. "We then meet one another in the Room of Life where we are restored to our former glory. We remain there for the rest of eternity."

Russia tried to take in all the information. "But, I wasn't ready to die," he said. "I was shot" — he looked at the German Empire — "by your son, who just so happened to be raised from the dead, along with Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy, and my mother, Soviet. How did that happen?"

Russia's grandfather sighed. "There is a way to come back to life," he said. He pointed up to the cabinet where Russia's heart was stored. "Did you see that compartment? Each one has a number. If you say the number, then the word, 'open', the jar will be placed back on the pedestal. If you manage to put the pieces of the heart back together, you will be able to travel back to Earth, with the choice of bringing someone with you."

"Sounds easy enough," Russia said.

"But there is a catch. As soon as you unscrew the lid, you will become temporarily blind, and you will have to put the pieces together while they are still as hot as fire."

"So, I have to put the burning heart back together blind?"

Rus nodded. "Nothing is as simple as it looks. Reich managed to do it, but only because he cheated because he was wearing gloves."

"Speaking of Reich, where is that jerk?"

"When he first came here, his actions had been so terrible that he was banished to the Shadow Room instead of the Room of Light," Austria-Hungary explained. "The Shadow Room is dark, depressing place where only the worst Countries are sent because of their terrible actions on others. Because of what he did to you, he was punished even more. The reason he turned into ashes was because he didn't deserve an afterlife. His lifeless, soulless remains will roam the earth, forever and forevermore." Austria-Hungary shook her head. "I always knew he was a troublemaker, even to the extent of torturing and killing millions of innocent people."

"He's a madman," Russia said. "That's one thing for sure. But if he can out his crooked heart back together, then so can I." He looked at his grandfather. "I'm up for the task. 126, open!"