Out of the Shadows

VI

Germany locked himself in his room as soon as he arrived back home. Italy, who drove him there in the first place, just stood alone in his living room. She decided to give him some space to calm his nerves and, in the meantime, went to the kitchen to cook something for the both of them.

Meanwhile, Germany sat crossed-legged in his bed. He wanted to cry, but no tears would come out. He couldn't understand what he was feeling, a mixture of guilt, anger and frustration. He was also very tired, but didn't want to sleep only to have more nightmares.
"You failed. How did it occur to you that you'd be able to actually achieve something?"
He tried to ignore that voice but he couldn't, it was right. He failed. He always does.
A knock on the door startled him from his thoughts. "Germany?" He didn't answer. "I know you're not asleep. Please, open up." Still no answer from him. Germany heard a loud sigh from the other side of the door. "I just wanted to tell you that... You did nothing wrong... After everything that happened, you two shouldn't be in the middle of all this." Germany didn't feel like crying but for some reason tears just spilled out of his eyes with each word. "... I'm sorry... I'll leave your breakfast on the table, rest well." He wanted to answer, to thank Italy for everything she did that he did not deserve, but words choked up on his throat. He sat there, sobbing quietly, wishing he had never climbed that damned wall.

•

His hands were still dirty, he could still feel his legs shaking. That fingernail that tore open was as present as the pain it came with. But he wasn't really there. Germany has had enough nightmares to distinguish a dream from reality, and this was definitely just another dream. He ran somewhere, anywhere, looking for help but, out of nowhere, the trail he followed disappeared. In fact, everything in his surroundings disappeared. He was slightly confused and tried to wake up but before he could, he spotted a dark figure in the distance. His legs moved on their own and approached it. With every step he took, the darkened figure became more visible. It was a man, wearing a black suit, his back facing Germany as he quietly hummed to himself a familiar yet eerie melody. "Oh no." Germany muttered, trying to stop his feet from coming any closer to that man. This wasn't his usual nightmare; he never saw him before, let alone come close to him. As he was mere centimeters away from him, he suddenly stopped. A quiet but firm voice sounded in the background, but it was muffled by the dark presence right in front of him. Germany shuddered as the man stopped humming to let out a dark chuckle. "You never learn, do you?" The voice sounded raspy and weak, but oddly familiar. While the voice in the background got louder, the blank world they were in started shaking. The figure turned slightly, not enough to make out his face. "Don't trust them." Was everything he said before everything crumbled.

Germany's eyes shot open and he abruptly sat up only to crash his head into France's. A loud laugh erupted from his side and he looked up to find Poland, Great Britain and Sweden surrounding him. "Germany, are you ok?" Great Britain asked, looking at him with a worried yet confused expression. "What happened? Why were you asleep in the middle of the conference room?" Sweden also asked, although he sounded a little bit annoyed rather than confused, but he was still visibly worried.

Why would Germany, out of all nations, be sleeping during an important meeting?

As France hissed and held his head in pain, and Poland still laughed at the scene, Germany looked around, feeling uneasy. He noticed the goosebumps on his arms as he felt eyes staring at him from every side. But nobody else was there yet, just the five of them. "I'm fine." He finally answered, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he felt a hand rub his shoulder caringly. "I just need some rest."