THIRD REICH
It was unfortunate that they had technically been banned from going on an airplane, so a prolonged ride across the sea and through Europe was unfortunately the only remaining option. He liked to think it wasn't their fault that they accidentally knocked down twenty-four barrels of fruit and made it a waterslide down that one road.
JE and Italy had proceeded to pass out the moment their heads hit the pillows of the train, so he was left to fend for himself against the boredom of Europe's endless towns. It was a fate he would've preferred to not have met, but the company of those two was all he had, and he wouldn't really be willing to risk it.
Like always, his mind detached from the present, mind returning to its anchor in the past. What a reflective man, German Empire had praised. But it was nothing to be proud to him; more like an ocean of what ifs that he drowned in daily.
Reich had always despised his roots. Being the Representative for one of the most historically atrocious countries was his truth, and seeing the wide berth in between him and everyone else all the time was his destiny. When JE and Italy had entered his life like a shining beacon, tackling him in the hallways one day and practically giving themselves a permanent invite to his future, he had found it a little easier to breathe then.
They said he was devoid of joy. The rumors were horrible. But against all of it, the pair had been somewhat of both a shield and a sword. Clearly he was not devoid of empathy or appreciation or anything of the sort, because if he did love, he loved them, whether platonic or romantic.
Throughout the years Italy had taught him how to cook and JE had taught him how to spar. When they had left for the escape, it was what they did all day long. For once, in those days where sweat rolled trails down his face and Italy's laughter chimed in symphony with the clang of the Imperial Japanese guntō, he had felt like he had gotten somewhere with his life. He had discovered something no one else had.
And that was probably why he hated the idea of meeting America, Russia and China. Maybe he was irritated at how they never had to face anything like that. Maybe he felt that whatever he had ever done, it was overshadowed by their global power. Even in his own historical defeat, it was them, the antagonists of his story. Yet he was the antagonist of everyone else's.
He would bet a million dollars that even now, their disappearance was all the Global High student body talked about. Not him, not JE, not Italy.
"Reich, you good?" JE's voice startled him out of the ocean.
"Yeah. Just thinking."
JE cracked a half-smile. "Like you always do. You know, when you think, your eyes completely lose all its focus. It reminds me of how you used to act back in class."
"Everything they taught was stupid. You know that," Reich said.
"You're such a cup is half empty guy."
"Yeah, okay."
"Don't tell me you're still ticked off about us going to find them?"
"I don't think it's worth it. I still don't," Reich looked far into the distance. "Why do we have to team up with them when clearly, we have the upper hand? We have more information, and we started this whole thing, for real, not them. Not when—"
"Representatives are being silenced," JE interrupted softly.
Reich swallowed. His friend's gaze was painted with forlorn regret— but resolve.
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Saudade | CountryHumans RusAme
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