Chapter Text
A dim vine-covered subway sits still, a warm breeze occasionally wafts in from outside, clearing the dust, sand and ash for just a moment. It has sat this way for quite a long time, nature has become to reclaim it. Not only nature though, something bigger stirs within. Without a torch, you couldn't catch its tail sneaking around the corner.
The stillness is disturbed, two sets of footsteps, in heavy leather boots yet with the intention of remaining as quiet as possible.
Two young men, twins, it seems. Their rugged clothes stained in oil and smoke. One could presume they're mechanics, or there is smoke in the air.
One of the boys, a more nervous looking one, pulls down the goggles from his head onto his eyes. He messes with a few buttons on the outside and is able to see down the dark stairway ahead with glowing bright night vision. There seems to be an orb outlined through the goggles labelled 'Heat Signature: 300'. When he moves his head it stays in the same place.
"So?" The other whispers in an impatient tone, fiddling with his clothes in a hurried manner.
The boy takes his goggles back off, it seems as much as it is helpful, its too disorientating to have on constantly. "It's here, I can see it. It's down those stairs..." He sounds confident yet comprehensive at the same time.
"And you're sure this is the right thing? We didn't just come all this way for some piece of junk?" The other continues to interrogate, crossing his arms. On closer inspection, these twins do look different, as well as acting different. This one has darker hair with a sour attitude and the other has a friendly nature about him, along with lighter hair. Both of them have quite messy hair that somehow seems to part in the opposite direction by pure coincidence.
"It has a heat signature of 300, the same as that other cyborg life core we found a few years back... I'm sure. This has to work." The other reassures him.
"Right..." The other sighs unconvincingly.
"You don't trust me, Romano?" He asks.
"No- of course I trust you, you're my fratello. Just, with everything at stake..." Romano trails off, looking down into the dark stairway below.
"I don't think Hungary's informant would steer us wrong this time. Come on, you can take my hand if you're scared!" The other smiles at him, holding out his hand towards him. His gloves are fingerless, not on purpose, they seem messily torn.
Romano rolls his eyes and begins to walk down the stairs. "Don't be stupid, bastardo..." He mutters.
His brother chuckles before following. "Worth a shot, no?"
The further they walk down, the darker it gets. Their footsteps seem to echo louder as well, as they slowly leave the sun's light behind them. The air is thin at the bottom, like something had sucked it out. The tiles smashed, information boards faded beyond recognition, ash seeping into the cracks of everything.
At this point, Romano rummages around in his leather satchel until he finds a wind up torch that he turns on, filling the room with a dim light, so they can just about see their surroundings. The other brother now puts his goggles back on. The glowing orb is further down, to the left. A railway track lies before them, delving into tunnels either side. The brother with the goggles points to the left, causing the other to nod in response.
They jump onto the tracks, it's highly unlikely any trains would be coming down here anymore.
"This still feels wrong, jumping onto tracks..." The lighter haired brother comments.
"Feliciano- Italy- be quiet." Romano whispers. "See any other heat signatures?" He continues in a hushed tone as they careful walk through the darkened tunnel.
"Right-" Italy pauses, looking around. "Nothing... but- we should be quick." He whispers back.
His brother nods at him. As they walk on, they start to step over what looks like the remains of humanoid robots, no longer functioning. That and the corpses of some disgusting, decayed large mammals, covered in some kind of black thick liquid; making it difficult to tell what the animal originally was.
Instead of commenting on this, the two decide to stay quiet and continue forward. That's when they spot it, the heat signature they've been tracking is right in front of them. A robot slumped against the wall, no head on it's shoulders.
"Is this it?" Romano asks, crouching beside it. His brother nods and crouches beside him.
Italy takes his goggles off the examine the robot, taking his brother's torch for a moment. "This make..." He whispers. "Only 100 or so were ever made... What is it doing here?" He brushes his hand over the chest plate, where a small blue light is seeping out from within.
Romano shrugs, taking his torch back and shining it on the chest plate. "Who knows, just hurry up. I have a weird feeling we're not in here alone..." He whispers, looking around. Unable to see anything beyond the small range of the torch.
Pulling a screwdriver out of his own satchel, Italy begins to unscrew the bolts holding the chest plate in place, as quickly as he can. A sweat rolls down his forehead as he tries his best to be quiet too. He catches the screws so they don't clatter to the ground and slowly removes the chest plate.
There it is, a shining mechanical heart, light blue in colour, imbued with a force similar to a soul. The two boys exchange surprised glances before Italy leans in to grab it. No resistance, its removed so simply.
"Hm-" Italy hums, looking around, thinking that went too well. Whilst looking, he notices something as he peers over his brothers shoulder. There's a... tall wall of that black viscous liquid towering over him, it seems to have fur stuck within it.
Noticing a look of fear on Italy's face, Romano turns around slowly. "What is it-" He stops himself upon noticing, looking up and pointing his torch at it. The monster resembles a large rat the size of a 7 foot human. Dead, white eyes, covered in that sticky black goo, drooling over his shoulder. Romano notices something wrap around his ankle at this time too.
Before the monster has a chance, Italy grabs his brothers hand and pulls him out the way. They have to scurry to their feet, causing them to kick and trip over a few robot parts. The loud clattering infuriates the beast and it lets out an ear piercing screech.
Whilst running, Italy almost drops the life core, only just managing to grab it again before stuffing it in his satchel hastily.
"Dio merda-! Disgusting thing almost got me-!" Romano exclaims, breathless as they run down the tracks.
Looking back over his shoulder, Italy can see that it's following them rapidly. Luckily for them, one of their best skills is running away. Soon they make it back to the platform and climb up, helping each other when needed. As they sprint to the stairs, Italy slips on a loose tile and falls.
"Shit-!" Romano comments, immediately bending down to grab his arm. However, as he looks back he notices multiple of the rat like creatures pouring out from either side of the tunnel entrances. "GET UP! GET UP!" He shouts desperately, pulling him with all his strength.
Italy manages to get himself up and finds himself similarly panicking when he notices the pure amount of monsters behind them. The two scream as they sprint up the stairs together. The sunlight welcomes them as they reach for it.
Waiting outside for them in a desolate, decrepit city, overrun by sand is a very odd looking car that seems like its been made out of various scraps of metal and robotic pieces. It resembles an old racing car in shape, despite the fact it can fit about four people.
They rush for the car and fumble in their pockets for the keys before getting inside. Taking the wheel, Italy puts his goggles back on and smirks. His goggles seem to connect to the car as a message 'Connected to: Angela'.
"I don't know what's worse, those things or letting you drive...!" Romano comments, doing his seatbelt and gripping onto the side for dear life.
"Don't you worry fratello! I've got this!" Italy reassures him, grinning. The monsters are approaching rapidly, screeching horrifically. Just as they're about to catch up, the engine starts up and a gigantic cloud of smoke puffs out of the exhaust pipe, momentarily blinding the creatures.
After the wheels get to grips with the terrain, it suddenly zooms off into the vast horizon, a path of far reaching desert sand. Every so often they will pass the remains of a city, no longer in use. However, they're going so fast they can't really take anything in.
"SLOW DOWN!" Romano then screams.
The car suddenly slows right down, making them jolt forwards and backwards in their seats.
"I think- we lost them." He says breathlessly.
Taking off his goggles, Italy looks through the wing mirror to his right. "Oh- you're right." He looks relieved, smiling.
"I'm so... fucking pissed you're the only one who knows how to drive this thing." Romano mutters, catching his breath.
"This thing?? Don't talk to her that way. She's gotten us out of so many messes!" Italy argues.
" 'She' is a hunk of garbage, Feliciano!" He argues back.
"You only say that because you couldn't do better. What did you want me to do?? Make a Mercedes? A Ferrari? Those haven't existed for hundreds of years! Where would I get the plans or the parts?" Italy rambles to him, clearly very upset, not noticing that the life core is about to fall out of his satchel.
"Hey hey hey- I get it- chill out- look, the life core-" Romano quickly states, gesturing his head downwards.
"Ah-!" Italy exclaims, quickly putting it back in and resting it on his lap. "That was close... But hey- we did it! And we should get back before it gets dark at this rate." He smiles, looking up at the deep blazing sun above them, just about to set.
"Yeah..." Romano leans back now and stares thoughtfully out the window with a pained expression on his face.
For a few hours they ride in silence, basking in the pure emptiness of their world. Before the sun has officially begun to set though, they see a little village in the distance, boarded off with high metal walls. They maneuver around to the front iron bar gates and get out of the car to open them. Once they've entered and parked, they close the gates again.
The stronghold is small but it seems like it could house about 30 or so people. However, currently it seems eerily empty.
"Do you think Hungary and Spain are back yet?" Italy asks his brother, looking around for their cars.
"I can't see their car... Or- where- where is the truck?!" Italy asks in a panic.
Romano mutters something under his breath and runs into the nearest house without knocking. He looks around every room but can't find anyone. He then goes into the next one, Italy catches up to him.
"Fratello, what's going on?" He asks, getting increasingly nervous.
Romano continues looking around but can't find anyone in the houses. "They're all gone! Bastardos!" He shouts. He punches a nearby desk and notices a note perched on it. Intrigued and looking for an explanation, he picks it up and reads it out loud: 'We can't do this anymore. If we have any chance of surviving we have to head to the Kuppel, it's the only way. We're sick and tired of waiting on your stupid plan, he's comatose, he has no pulse. We have to leave now before it's too late. Forgive us, leaders.' "Shit..." He mumbles.
"Our people... all of them- they just- left?" Italy asks quietly, in a state of shock. "Then- what about Hungary and Spain?"
"They must have went with them, most likely trying to protect them from getting themselves killed instantly." Romano sighs, looking down. He's noticed an open wound on his ankle, from when that monster grabbed him with its tail.
Italy looks down at it as well and covers his mouth in shock, he's unsure what to say.
"Your face as well, Feliciano, it's bleeding, from when you fell earlier. It hasn't healed." Romano comments in a defeated tone.
Touching his cheek with his hand, Italy now sees the blood on his fingertips. "Then... they're already dead." He states, staring at his hand still.
Romano simply looks down.
"Then... At least we've signed the certificate in advance. All we need to do now is write down the date and... Give him the life core." Italy explains, trying to focus on the situation at hand.
His brother nods and stands up straight. "Let's do it. With any luck... Spain and Hungary still might make it back. Plus, they might still have a few people left, it could just be ours that died. We could work around this." He tries to have hope, despite the signs.
Italy nods in agreement, even if he doesn't fully believe it. With that, they quickly head into a small building that has a hatch in the floor. Walking down the ladder through the hatch, they find themselves in a mechanics work room. Though, it looks more like a laboratory, just with robotic parts in place of human biology. A figure is sat on a work bench covered in a dirty white sheet. The two walk past it and straight to a framed certificate on the wall. Italy takes it down and takes the paper out of the frame, looking at it intently.
It reads: 'In the scenario in which our countries lose their entire populations and become human, the following members of the alliance choose to offer themselves as members of the new Country, the Zuletzt-Spes. The Zuletzt-Spes, as chosen by the members, will become their one sole immortal protector. Upon the finished signing of this document, all participants will serve under the Zuletzt-Spes until a new alliance is formed.
The chosen Country is: (Formally) Germany, Ludwig Beilschmidt.
Signed by: Prussia, Gilbert Beilschmidt. Austria, Roderich Edelstein. Hungary, Elizaveta Hedervary. North Italy, Feliciano Vargas. South Italy, Romano, Lovino Vargas.
Dated: .'
The date has been left blank until this day.
"Hey, what day is it anyway...?" Italy asks.
"Oh... Let me do the math." Romano responds, leaning against the wall for a moment as he figures it out in his head. "I... believe. Its- the 3rd of October, 2412." He says hesitantly.
Italy chuckles. "What an old system... To think we used to use it every single day." He picks up a pencil and pauses before writing. "It's... Germany's birthday. Pretty fitting, huh... I wish I got him a gift."
"I think you've probably got him the greatest gift of all time, if this works." Romano replies, crossing his arms and smirking a little. "Can't believe that bastardo won the vote." He rolls his eyes a little.
"You were for it in the end!" Italy smiles, writing the date down on the certificate before framing it back up on the wall.
"I wouldn't be running around doing all this bullshit otherwise." Romano mutters, though the comment itself isn't full of venom.
Italy then takes the glowing life core slowly out of his bag. "Only one more thing to do." He says quietly, striding towards the covered figure sat on the desk. He hesitates for a moment before taking the sheet off with his spare hand.
Beneath is an unconscious man. Extremely well built with beautiful blonde hair, it remains perfect and untouched. The man seems to be missing half of his face, replaced with mechanic parts and a glass eye. He is also missing an arm on that same side, it has been replaced with a robotic arm made out of scraps and spare robot parts. They've tried their best to make it look clean and uniform but with the old materials they were working with, it is slightly rusty.
"How are we going to um..." Romano pauses, standing behind his brother and looking over his shoulder. "Do we need to... cut him open?" He gulps nervously.
"Honestly I was hoping Prussia and Austria could have been here to show us... They know more about this stuff than us. Though- I bet Hungary would know." Italy explains, holding the life force up to the man's bare chest.
"Well- we need to act quick. Considering he only had one person left. We could lose him any minute now." Romano says, biting his nails slightly.
"I know! I know! But I'm- I'm not a surgeon... I don't know what to do... Oh Germany..." Italy starts to panic, tears forming in his eyes.
"Hey- hey, don't panic. Why don't I do it?" Romano suggests.
"Would you...?" Italy asks tearfully.
Looking down at the core, Romano gulps anxiously, considering the gruesome nature of the task at hand. Before he can reply though, they hear the sound of the iron gates creeping open above ground. They look at each other quickly.
"Let's go take a look. Ready a weapon." Romano advises, grabbing a hammer from a nearby tool box. Before waiting for a reply, he heads up the ladder.
"Ah- dio mio." Italy utters, looking over at Germany. "Hold this for me Germany." He then places the life core firmly in Germany's hands before quickly following Romano up the ladder, equipping himself with his screwdriver from earlier.
As they emerge above ground, they can see two people walking towards them. A man and a woman who are equally covered in blood. The woman, who looks very physically strong, with beautiful long brown hair, is helping the man stand by holding his arm over her shoulder. He seems to be in a lot of pain, holding his side.
"Spain!" Romano shouts, running towards them, instantly lending a hand and helping the man stand.
"You two are ok... Thank goodness. Is the document signed? Did you find the life core?" The woman asks, a sense of urgency in her voice.
Italy quickly nods, approaching them. "Yes, we signed it just now with today's date. We found the core too. It's just downstairs. I'm about to insert it but um... I might need some help with the technique." He replies.
"In that case, I'll show you. Romano, take Spain to this room. There's a first aid kit in there. You know how to use it right? Disinfect, then wrap?" She turns to Romano, making sure he's taken in the information in his state of panic. He only nods back at her before quickly taking off with Spain to one of the nearby buildings.
Italy sighs in relief as he leads the woman to the hatch. "Phew... I thought you might have died, Hungary. I don't know what I would have done..." He admits, frowning.
She chuckles a little. "You know I don't go down that easy!" She smiles for a moment but it soon drops into a serious expression. "It was carnage though. We lost every single one of them and almost ourselves. We tried to convince them not to go but in the end... We just had to try our best to protect them. It was no use though... We were swarmed at the half way mark." She sighs. "I'm glad you both completed your mission though, we still have a chance."
Smiling a little, Italy opens the hatch and they head down the ladder. The lights flicker as they tread down, causing them to not see the layout of the room. Once they're down, something important is missing.
"Germany?!" Italy shouts, looking around. He's nowhere to be found. "He was- he was right here, I left him with the life core!"
"Don't panic, let's split up, we'll find him. It either means it worked or someone's snuck in here. I'll take the South side of camp, you take the North." Hungary quickly commands, heading outside to look for Germany. She calls his name loudly as she does.
Italy soon does the same, entering many buildings and looking around, but he can't see him. He decides to head up their tall watch tower to see if he can get a better view. The low sun gets in his eyes as he climbs. Once he's at the top he covers the top of his eyes with his hand, squinting, trying to see if Germany is nearby. His eyes widen as he notices a man in the distance, standing barefoot on the hot desert sand. The sun perfectly postioned around him. Immediately Italy climbs down from the tower and jumps the fence, sprinting over to the man. Thankfully he's wearing trousers but Italy imagines the hot sand must be hurting his feet.
Somehow, he feels as if he can't approach him just yet. He stands two steps away, waiting for Germany to notice his presence.
"Germany...?" He says quietly.
The half cyborg slowly turns to face him. His glass eye now glowing with the same blue hue that the life core radiated. Upon seeing his face full of life again, Italy Immediately bursts into tears and wraps his arms around his shoulders. "You're alive...! I was so scared you'd never wake up...!" He cries, burying his head in his shoulder. It's warm... like it used to be.
"Italy... is this the end of the world? How am I... still here." Germany asks, his voice is usually very deep but it's quivering a little.
"I'll answer all your questions soon but- we need to get back to the camp." Italy answers him, stepping away but holding Germany's waist.
"Very well... I assume those monsters are to blame..." Germany looks down, noticing the blood on Italy's face. He wipes it off with his finger, revealing the scratch from when he fell. "You're... human. Since when?" He seems very worried, his hand shaking.
"Since today, don't worry. Please come with me... It's getting dark." Italy suggests, sliding his hand into Germany's hand and holding it close.
Without another word, Germany nods. He then leans down and kisses him on the lips lightly. "Were you waiting for me this whole time? You dummkopf..." He whispers, wiping Italy's tears with his spare hand.
"I really missed you... It was so hard..." Italy cries, starting to get emotional again.
"I'm here now, and I'll protect you. I promise." He smiles at him gently, despite the situation, he can't be upset with him this time.
As the sun sets behind them, the two return to the camp, hand in hand. It seems that distance truly makes the heart grow fonder. This is true of time as well.