Flowers for Balaton, Chapter 11

Flowers for Balaton, An Axis Powers: Hetalia/RDNA-verse Fanfiction

(Chapter 11: Healing)

Neu Wein, Royal Dominion of New Austria, April, 2023…

“So… What have the other Agents found out about this place?” Marcus asked as he chowed down on a full English breakfast that he’d made for Claude and himself.  The Liechtensteiner prodded his fork at a small sausage for a moment before replying.

“Not much… We’ve just been laying low for who know how long, but the surveillance is going well, in the RDNA at least. I can’t say much about what the Agents in the Reactionary Nations are facing however…”

“I see…” Marcus replied in English. “What of the Comm- I mean.. uh… Reds?”

“Nothing of note, just few close calls with one or two of our Agents… Hopefully we’ll be able to get to the bottom of what this place is soon enough…” Claude sighed as he finished his breakfast.

“Nice breakfast, by the way… I never knew that you were a good cook.”

“Thanks, Claude…” Marcus smiled as he finished his own breakfast. Not many people appreciated his cooking, probably due to the fact that one of his meals had nearly put Lina and Gilbert off pies for good. “At least someone appreciates my cooking…”

“Some of the superiors have been worried about the implications of sending someone like you to a timeline such as this…”

Marcus sighed as he nodded to Claude, knowing what he meant. “It’s more of the same, isn’t it? I’m the crazy, unpredictable guy that will kill anyone at a moment’s notice… Now I know why there aren’t many people like me in the Agency…”

“At least you’re starting to arouse some interest among the medical staff… For good reasons, that is…”

“Ja…” Marcus nodded as he quickly chugged down another cup of coffee. “The sooner I find out what I am, the better…”          

Claude silently nodded as Marcus rinsed off most of the cutlery and plates. The Prussian then grabbed a newspaper and started reading it. The front page was dominated by rumours of the so-called ‘Otherworlders’ had started to spring up, after reports of strange looking men and women participating in equally strange activities throughout the Free World.

Marcus’s thought of his Canadien counterpart, having been burdened with the unknown fate of his cousin, who was most likely under the jackboot of the Collectivist Internationale… “She’s probably dead… Poor lad…”

The diplomat flicked through the paper a few more times, most stories were on Collectivists, nothing interesting in his eyes. He put down the paper and glanced over to Claude. “I’m just gonna go out for a walk…”

“Go right ahead; just try not to kill anyone.” Claude replied with a slight amount of sarcasm.

Marcus gave the Liechtensteiner a nod as he walked outside, this time remembering to put his sunglasses on. He surveyed the streets of the city, watching for anything out of the ordinary. He hoped that the police, or worse, the Evidenzbureau, weren’t watching him, especially after the ‘incident’ that had occurred a few days prior…
 
He started to walk through the streets of Neu Wein, gaining more than a few odd looks from a few citizens, who were clothed in much more formal outfits, compared to Marcus’s leather jacket and jeans combo…

The Prussian continued walking past more than a few cafes and small apartment blocks that were seemingly taken from the Confederation and transplanted into the middle of Mexico, which was something that Marcus just couldn’t ignore.

Marcus then spotted a young woman in the crowd, her somewhat vague resemblance to Elizaveta and Roderich had piqued his interest. Her thin frame, long brown hair reminded her of a much older Julia…

He started to trail the young woman, noticing her rather archaic looking military uniform, compared to the other more 1950’s-esque clothing. He knew that something was up with the lass. Even with his view from a few meters behind her, the woman’s posture seemed to show that she was stressed about something.

“What’s your take on this, Roza?” Marcus muttered as the Hungarian appeared beside him with a somewhat worried look on her face. “I-is there something wrong…?”

Roza’s face suddenly snapped back to a more upbeat facade, yet it was betrayed with the worried look in her eyes. “There’s something wrong with that girl, but she certainly looks like Roderich and Elizaveta’s offspring…”

The pair continued to trail the young woman, making sure that they were unseen as their target continued to walk, completely unaware of their presence.

“No doubt about it… She's a Nation.” Roza muttered as he noticed the young woman turn around suddenly, as if she heard something that no one else did. “...Aaaand… I think she's spotted us!” the Hungarian added, fading away as Marcus turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction.

“I really hope you know how to defend yourself, Marcus...” Roza said sarcastically as their target was only a few metres behind them, seemingly in hot pursuit of the Agent.

“I only learnt CQC because of you, seeing that you were rambling about that Metal-whatever-it-is!” Marcus grumbled internally as he tried his hardest to blend in with the crowd. “Plus… I’ve never liked fighting anyway...”

Roza rolled her eyes as she appeared next to Marcus, who'd started to speed up into a full blown sprint. “Just keep running! She's catching up to you, damn it!”

Marcus quickly darted into a nearby alleyway, which was awfully similar to the one that he'd encountered Alfred in… He suddenly felt a sense of panic overwhelm him as he tried to find somewhere to hide.

“There's gotta be something here, maybe a cardboard box would suffice?” Roza quipped as she looked for something. “You have that perception thingy, right?” she continued as Marcus came across a dead end.

“Umm… Yeah… I have it...” Marcus muttered as he activated the device that was on his wrist, causing the young woman to lose sight of him. “Why the hell have I not used this before?”

“You tell me...” Roza chuckled “I guess that your lack of being noticed at work actually has some use… Now try to sneak out of here without alerting her.”

Marcus nodded as he slowly, but surely made his way out of the alleyway, although the woman noticed something out of the corner of her eye, making her whip her head around to face the mysterious figure.

“Mama? Papa…?” the woman stuttered with a mixed bag of emotions. The two Cursed Ones saw a darker side to the girl, who was seemingly on the verge of snapping entirely, probably only taking one word or action to do it…

“Must be my imagination...” she muttered to herself, slowly looking around for anything out of the ordinary. Marcus stood stock still as he watched the young woman slowly exit the alleyway, looking like she'd seen a ghost.

“I saw something...” Roza muttered as she poked her head around the corner, watching the girl walk away.

“What did you see? Roza?” Marcus asked, switching off his perception filter.

“Something dark… There's something inside her that threatens to snap her sanity...” Roza looked to the side, a crooked grin forming on her face as she looked at Marcus, making the Prussian a little uneasy. “Oh the things we could do together… We could find Ivan, and beat up that Amerikai bastard again… And wipe out those Reds. Wouldn't it be fun!?”

“Roza, this isn't you...” Marcus hissed as the Hungarian pinned him to the wall, holding the knife close to his neck. “Don't do this to me, damn it...”

“Why not…? It's going to be fun~” Roza grinned. “You'll eventually come around to it… People always do… You feel it too, don't you~”

“What would Elizaveta think of you!? She would be ashamed of you!” Marcus snapped, feeling his temper get the better of him. “She would be ashamed of her precious 'sister' being no more than a revenge driven psychopath that has nothing to live for! Surely there must be a better way to spend time in the afterlife...”

The young woman suddenly froze, trying to come to terms with what Marcus had said. “Marcus… I'm already a demon...” the Magyar stuttered, nearly breaking down in his arms. “I don't think I'll be able to stop this… Even if Ivan gets his comeuppance, the madness won't stop.”

“Just… Try to keep it together, for my sake, and yours.” Marcus muttered as he held Roza close to him. The Hungarian nodded and gave him a somewhat weak smile, knowing that she may never recover from her madness. But at least she had someone to share it with…

“Shall we go back to the safehouse, or should we go walk around for a bit?” Marcus smiled as Roza nodded, giving him a slightly more upbeat smile.

“Igen… Might as well become a bit more familiar with this place… Especially with those Reds running about!” she smiled, fading away into Marcus's subconscious….