Rise Again {Countryhumans X Reader}

Chapter 8 - Black Lightning

A few days ago...

Jagged spears of black lightning stabbed the air as an injured Empire appeared and collapsed onto the floor of the base.
Many officers ran toward the Empire, asking questions and offering help, but the Empire shook them off.

    "In all my days with you, Byzantium, I've never seen you defeated before," a voice commented. The owner of the voice strode towards the injured Empire, and helped Byzantium to his feet.

The Western Roman Empire looked at his injured sibling with pity. "Who has the audacity to do this to you, brother East? To even use a teleportation crystal to fall back and retreat.. Once our big brother gets wind of this, he'll literally blow his top off."
    "West..." Byzantium whispered. "How are my soldiers? Are they being treated?"

Western gestured to an officer who walked out a door. A few moments later she came back in, and nodded.
    "They've been taken care of, Byzantium. Don't worry about them."
The injured Empire sighed, relieved, and finally let a medic treat his wounds.

The medic took off the visor that covered her eyes, and they started to glow a soft green color. She hovered a hand over his burns and wounds, they closed up and crimson skin smoothed over. She began treating the small scratches and whips of scars on his face. The small scratches healed over quickly enough, but the whip-like scars refused to go away. The medic met Western Roman's eyes, and shook her head helplessly. She put her visor back on.

Western Roman stared at his brother's war-torn face, disbelief etched in his own.
Who did this to you? He thought angrily. Germany? Byzantium said that he was going to invade one of that Countryhuman's bases because he had picked up a strong magical aura. Magical aura... that was it.

Byzantium had found a magical being hiding within the West, that was why he had decided to take his troops and retrieve them. But from the looks of it, he had failed.

Western Roman tapped his chin, deep in thought.

———

The gigantic branches of the tree swayed gently in the cool breeze, the leaves on the nearest branch brushing Western Roman's face. He lounged on the hammock, still thinking about why his brother had failed to retrieve the magical being.

Byzantium lay in another hammock beside his, also high up in the branches of the tree. This was the only natural thing in the base; all the other pieces of nature had been demolished in order to make way for barracks, weapons forges, such and such. The generals had also wanted to cut down the tree they were in right now, but the Roman Empire had not allowed them to.

Ever since, the tree had been a place for the Empires to decompress after a stressful situation, and strictly forbidden to other members of the base. Except.. perhaps - fine, a few special people were allowed. But they had to be out of the Empires' sight if they also wanted to stay in the tree.

Western Roman's brother lay unblinking, his eyes roving over the inside of the tree's sunlight dappled canopy. His scars looked fainter, though they were still as prominent as his citrine yellow eyes, devoid of their dark glow from earlier when he appeared in the base's emergency room with half of his army in the next room. He seemed detached and lost in thought, or still shocked from his battle.

But Byzantium suddenly spoke.

    "Grey and white." Western Roman whipped his head round.
    "What did you say?"

    "Grey-white - magic... energy? That's what gave me this." He brushed his hand across his scars, and lapsed into silence.