#although my desire to both get the loot from the box and have a green check mark on my map…..

[impossible-rat-babies]

ngl I’ve been really enjoying how kinda puzzle heavy the exploration areas have been. they aren’t especially hard puzzles, but they keep the exploration engaging and give you reasons to run around an area/return to an area

[psykertroll-blog]

The Raven’s Old Flame

A gift for my latest follower, @burgers-1776. This is an AmeViet one shot (Although I guess you could say that this is more of an America character study). I hope you enjoy~

If one were to examine him closely, and look behind the bright, pearly white veil of his smile, though he would not say so himself, Alfred had to be the unluckiest country in the world.

However, this bad luck was not what one would usually think. While others would usually remain in the shadows of their mediocrity, wealth, land, and prosperity came quickly for him. In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, America had grown from a fledgling colony constantly on the brink of annihilation, beset by enemies from all sides by Spain in the south, France and Canada in the northwest, and the numerous Indian nations in the frontier, to that of a superpower, with influence spanning the globe. He was still beset by enemies on all sides, yes, but now he could not only survive, but thrive, so much so that any worries of invasion, disease, or famine were far from his mind.

Yet, while America had all of these blessings, Alfred believed himself to be truly cursed.

For you see, it was not a sickness of the body that plagued him, nor was it a sickness of the mind.

No, the disease that was currently taking root in his heart was love.

Love. What a deceitful thing indeed.

The object of his desires was but a few feet away from him. While the chaos of the meeting room swirled around them, and nations of all stripes and colors fought in an ever rising pitch, at that very moment, Alfred felt as if they were the only two souls in the entire world.

There she sat, the picture of elegance in her green dress. Her raven hair shone, gleaming as it glistened in the sun, and her skin glowed with health and vitality. When she stared out of the window, exasperated with the never ending disaster in the background, he still found her to be as enchanting as always, and all Alfred’s heart could do was painfully soar, even though he knew it had to be caged for evermore.

After all, every time he set his heart free, it mutated from that of a budding flower, to a parasitic weed. This weed would grow, and grow, and grow, until its roots choked the life out of his love.

It had happened before, and it would happen for evermore.

Vietnam was almost torn asunder by his and Russia’s tug of war. It was a miracle that she hadn’t died…

His feelings were sharply divided on Vietnam, of course. Sometimes, he hated himself for even entering the war. Other times, he despised himself evermore for abandoning Lien on that day in Saigon. He turned his back to her and her people’s pleading cries for help, scrambling to escape the communist taint that was quickly taking over the south, but his people had decided that he had to leave, and as a nation, America would do what had to be done.

Whatever the case, in the end, Lien was alive and well, and so Alfred thanked his lucky stars that she didn’t end up like his last love.

What he did to Texas was wretchedly evil.

He killed her, yes, watched the life slip away from her eyes as she died by the bullet of his rifle, but that was not the worst of it.

Not by a long shot.

It was 1864, and Savannah was burning.

For months now, they had marched through Georgia. From November to bleak December, the Union men destroyed all in their path. Railway tracks were melted and twisted, farms were looted by marauding soldiers and the opportunistic scavengers that followed them, and entire cities were decimated as Sherman’s army drew steadily nearer and nearer to the sea.

And now, at the pinnacle of his campaign, Savannah was finally burning.

America walked into the house, a dark, solemn look on his face. He knew what had to be done. Lincoln had ordered it, and so the task would be carried out to the full. When he first read his boss’s letter, Alfred was speechless.

It was… unspeakable.

He didn’t even know if he could DO such a- a monstrous thing.

He was in agony, pure agony, but Alfred was but a nation, meant to serve his people, so he would do it all the same.

No matter what, this hellish war must end.

A shrill cry rang out in the ruined building. Judging by the sound, it was in the room right next to him.

America slammed open the door with the butt of his rifle, and saw a tiny, frail, but determined figure standing tall over a wooden crib. She pointed a shotgun point blank at his chest, and without another word, she spat in his face.

All the same, America would not be deterred. Unfazed, he wiped the spit from his face, and with a blank expression, he snatched the shotgun away from the bloodied woman and bent it in two, flinging it out of the window.

His voice was the essence of calm as he spoke.

“Stand aside, Georgia.”

“I know what you did to her. I know. You Yankee devil, you Northern scum, I know what you did to her, and I know what yer comin here to do! I ain’t lettin you come one step close to this here child. You can burn down my towns, you can loot and salt all of my farms, and destroy my railroads. In fact, you can kill me right here and now, just like you did to Texas, but you ain’t takin another step-”

Without another word, America harshly slapped Georgia, sending her to the ground.

“Shut up. You know nothing.”

Much like an automaton, he mechanically reached into the crib, and cradled the squalling babe in his arms. Instantly, the child grew quiet, and giggled as he grabbed Nantucket with his tiny hand.

He was the spitting image of Texas. With his tan skin, brown hair, and hazel eyes, Allen Jones looked just like his lost Lenore.

Lenore Jones née Carriedo. A beautiful name for a beautiful woman. When he first met her, Alfred could have sworn that an angel had fallen out of heaven. At the time, he was still a young colony of England’s, still in that awkward, prepubescent stage between a boy and a man. Even so, while his appearance was that of an eleven year old runt, and hers that of a seventeen year old youth, he was amazed by her radiance. Yet, much like himself, she too was overshadowed by the might of Empires. From the Spanish Empire, to the Mexican Empire, she was under their yoke, ignored and forgotten in her dusty corner.

Alfred, however, was enthralled by her. While their relations were little more than that of an acquaintance in the 18th century, by the 19th century Alfred had grown into a man, and the two fell deeply in love as he pried her from the clutches of her sister to the south…

Only for her to die by his hands a scant twenty years into the future.

And now… now their child would fall to the same fate.

Allen Jones represented the newly formed Confederacy, and he had to die.

With a twist of the neck, the deed was done, and Allen hung limp in his embrace.

Gently laying him in the crib, America did not listen to the keening wails of Georgia. Instead, he stoically walked outside of the building, fell to his knees, and vomited.

“She wouldn’t want you to be like this, ya know.”

Alfred shot up from his slouched position, frantically looking around as he was ripped from his musings. The room was emptied out hours ago, and the sun had long since lowered from high noon to a breezy twilight. Once his eyes set upon the woman standing next to him, however, he stopped.

It was Georgia.

“Wh-what?”

Alfred stared, wide-eyed in his confusion.

“You know what I mean, ya idjit. This is downright pathetic. Who the hell do you think you are, mopin round like some sad ol mule? Get up.”

She pulled at his arm, dragging Alfred out of the chair. Struggling, Alfred tried to escape her iron grip, but it was to no avail, and soon the pair were out of the meeting room. Before he even knew it he was thrown into Georgia’s car in the parking lot, and he turned to the blonde, pissed off.

“Okay. The fuck is this about, Georgia-”

“Oh, be a dear and shut yer pie hole fer just one second, will ya? I came to pick yer sorry ass up, that’s what, and I’m sick and tired of yer shitty attitude.”

She pulled the car out of park, and swerved onto the road, slamming the gas pedal hard as she drove.

A tense silence then fell upon them, neither daring to make the first move. After thirty minutes had passed, the sun had set, and they were in front of the hotel where the rest of the nations were staying.

There, Alfred could clearly see Lien through the glass windows of the lobby. She was leaning against the wall, and had an irritated expression on her face.

All the same, she was painfully alluring to him. So much so, that a tiny, anguished sigh managed to escape from his throat before he could suppress it.

Due to this, Georgia was the first to speak.

“See what I mean? This is exactly what I was talkin about. What a disgrace.”

At that, Alfred quickly looked away from the lobby and scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Again, I have no clue what you’re going on about-”

“Quit it with the act, America. You love her, don’t ya. In fact, before you even try to answer that with yer dumbass mouth, I know you love her. I know because I’ve seen the same look in yer eyes over a hundred years ago.”

Shocked once more, Alfred jumped up in his seat. He yanked his seat belt clean off, and tried to slam open the car door.

“Well, it’s been swell, Georgia, it really has, but as you can see, it really is getting late, and I gotta hit the hay. I’ve got a day chock full of back-to-back meetings tomorrow, you know, the usual bullshit, so I can’t stay and chat, ahahahaha-”

His second attempt at escape, however, was once again an abject failure, for Georgia pulled at his ear, keeping him in the car.

“Hush up, will ya? You don’t wanna start up a commotion in front of yer precious Vietnam, now. As I was sayin, before I was so rudely interrupted, you and I both know that yer in love with the gal, so there’s no use runnin away with yer tail between yer legs-”

In response Alfred slammed his fist down on the top of the glove box, snapping from Georgia’s endless tirade.

“Alright, fine! It’s true! I love her! I love her so much that I could die! You fucking happy? I don’t know why you’d even care, seeing as you hate my guts, but there it is! I love her, so the fuck what? It’s not like anything’s ever going to happen because of it! You’ve seen for yourself the clusterfuck that goes along with my damn love life! There’s practically a death toll next to it! I wouldn’t be surprised if it was cursed!” He breathed heavily, lowering his voice to a low rumble. “It’s better if I do nothing at all than to involve myself with her again. It’s a miracle that Lien is even alive. I’m not taking the risk of her dying, not for my stupid feelings. Now shut up, and leave me alone.”

Exhausted, Alfred leaned his head onto his two hands, and clawed at his forehead in frustration.

Georgia, meanwhile, laid back in her seat, and lit up a cigarette before she spoke again.

“America- no, Alfred. I’m not going to say that none of it was yer fault. What you did was despicable, and I’ll never forgive you for it. But we did despicable things as well. You murdered your own flesh and blood, but we used him for our own political agenda. It was a horrible time for us all, but all the same that time is now in the past, and I wish you would get over it. You may want to wallow in yer own misery, forever alone, and to be fair, I may want that as well, but ya see, Lenore wouldn’t want that for you, Allen wouldn’t want that for you, and if this Lien is worth anything, she wouldn’t want that for you either. While we may not live for an eternity, Alfred, I have a feelin that America’s gonna stick around fer a few centuries yet, and I gotta say, those centuries are gonna be an awful long time to suffer through alone. Granted, I don’t hardly know much bout whatever happened between you and this here gal aside from all the stuff that blasted on the news forty years ago, but if you don’t get your sorry ass in there and talk to her, I’m gonna kick that same ass so hard that you’ll still be feelin it when yer old and gray.”

“I- Georgia-”

“If I’m callin you Alfred, you’d best use my name as well.”

“Erm, I mean, Sarah…”

“Yes? I don’t got all month for ya to stutter like some yeller bastard, so just spit it out.”

Alfred tilted his head, and for the first time in a long while, his smile was genuine.

“Thank you. For everything.”

“Pssh. Whatever. This is a one time thing, ya hear? Now get outta my car.”

“Will do.”

With that, Alfred did as Sarah asked, and hopped out of the car. There in the lobby, Lien still sat by the window, and as she looked up, she could see him as well.

He walked inside, sat beside her, and said hello.

She smiled, and took his hand…

And from there, their future was set.

For better or worse, the raven’s old flame was finally put to rest.

[prue632bloog-blog]

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