Where Thou Art, That Is Home (Hetalia Fanfic, Part 2)

What Have I Done?

RECAP:

"Come here, l'amour," Matthew said invitingly. "I'll make it alright again."

Wearily, the fight gone out of her, Alice took a step toward him.

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Alice's POV~

'No more fighting... Please, I want this to stop... Let this be the last one' I pleaded with the universe as I took another plodding step toward Matthew. His arms were still open to me, and his smile seemed so genuine to my weary eyes. What I wouldn't give to just fall asleep in his arms, right then and there.

Matthew beamed even more at me when I was just a few feet away from him. The sword, despite how it seemed to weigh twelve tons, still remained gripped in one of my hands.

He noticed. "Why are you still carrying that, Alice? You don't need it, after all. You can put it down now."

"Mmm," I hummed as a vague affirmation of what he'd said, but I didn't drop the weapon. Some part of my subconscious will was wise enough to keep it with me.

"Alice?" he asked, a note of concern growing more prominent in his tone. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

I shook my head weakly, looking down at the floor between us. Our toes were barely four feet away from each other. "No, nothing's wrong with me."

"Then why aren't you putting the sword down?" he asked me.

I looked up at him then, with a glare so intense that I was sure it would terrify throes of people. "Because there's something wrong."

"With... w-what?" he stammered.

I let out a powerful "Yah!" when I brought the sword up and guided it into his chest. "With you," I whispered in his ear, leaning close before yanking my sword free from his torso.

But, to my shocked surprise, his body fell to the ground and didn't dissipate into ink like all the other times. He clutched at the wound in his chest, red blood blossoming through his shirt, and coughed thickly. Crimson bubbled on his lips.

I sucked in a breath and all but collapsed to my knees. "Stop it... Stop it!"

"Why...? A-Alice..." he asked me, and then fell limp, silent. His eyes were open and lifelessly staring at me in a way that made bile rise in the back of my throat. A broken mewl emitted from my throat as I turned away and promptly vomited onto the white floor. My sick mixed with blood I had shed just a little while ago, from wounds that no longer existed.

This place, this reality or plane of existence, whatever it was, was getting to be too much.

When I looked back, Matthew's body had disappeared and another figure, though this one was greatly smaller than his, was rising to take his place. Suddenly I wanted it to be Matthew who came back, just because he was a familiar face I knew I could love.

'Alice, stop doing this to yourself. He's not your husband, he's not your friend!'

You just killed your own husband, Alice. Why would you do such a thing?

"Please... stop..." I whispered futilely, the taste of stomach acid in my mouth making me want to retch all over again.

"Alice...? Are you... Are you okay?"

I slowly turned my head to see Tael sitting where Matthew's body had been. Tael's scale-speckled legs were crossed, and he only wore the beige shorts he'd been wearing when we'd first met. His hair was long, unkempt, and horrifically uneven all the way to his waist.