Where Winter Meets Summer (Rusame Countryhumans)

Invitation of Doubt (Russia POV)

Pain.

Pain was all I could feel nowadays. Every twitch, every stretch, every everything would send shockwaves through my entire body. I lay in bed, wondering just how much worse life could get...

Countries, big and small, came to challenge me with their Awakenings in hand. Most of them, I had never met in my entire life. But that was the sad reality of things. Things had gotten so bad that Nurse WHO gave me permission to take a week of recovery. So here I was.

As a countryhuman, injuries such as these would often disappear in less than a day, but lately I had been suffering so much of them that my ability to recover had been exhausted. Painkillers and pills did little to nothing to help and nights were often spent sleepless.

Long story short, the school had waged war on me.

Rummaging through my giant medical cabinet, I found the roll of bandages extremely thin. Just like every other supply, I was about to run out.
My thoughts were cut short by a knock on the door. My nerves began to go off and uneasiness began to swirl in my mind. I was not expecting any visitor and my newfound paranoia was not helping. It was 7 in the morning, an unusual time to go knocking at someone's door.

"Perhaps it's just Ukraine or Belarus here to check on me or something..."

But it wasn't. Instead, a single envelope lay upon my doormat.

I picked it up and absentmindedly traced the fancy gold swirls with my finger, wondering what to make of this.
In the envelope was a card that read,

COME JOIN US TO CELEBRATE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA'S 18TH BIRTHDAY...

Bring your finest clothes and wonderful spirit to dance the night away.
7:00 PM on the 4th of July at the White Manor.
1600 Westworld, North America

Buffet//Drinks//Gifts Optional

Contacts...

"No way," I thought to myself, "This has to be a mistake."

I had NEVER been invited to a birthday party or any other celebration before, not to mention it was HIS celebration. We hated each other's guts, through and through, so getting that invitation was beyond suspicious. Making amends was not possible, he was not like that. Forced? Possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. So why would he... unless this was some sort of plot?

I began to play with that train of thought and the more I did, the more I agreed to it.

"That dipshit. What's he planning?"

9 hours had passed and nothing had changed. I was getting more and more frustrated at the invitation. I went on a walk, picked up more medical supplies, did some homework, cleaned the house, but the dumb party just couldn't leave my mind. What could I do to make me forget? Besides getting drunk that is.

A glint in the corner of my room caught my attention. I had found it forgotten in one of my many drawers, buried under piles of old trash. A shining red gem glistened in the evening sun.

It was a Conduct, a special stone given to countries to access the human realm by one of the three Powers. Think of it as a hall pass. It was strange because I had absolutely no memory of ever receiving one. Then again, I had a lot of gaps in my past. I gently rolled the stone over the palm of my hand, transfixed on the way the light was dyed blood-red as it passed through the gem.

"Maybe I could make a trip to Earth?" I thought. Surely that would keep my mind elsewhere since humans could be so melodramatic. *