Chapter twelve: Dissolution

An: I'm not going to give an excuse. I know it's been a while. I had a very hard time with finishing this story. Due to circumstances beyond my control. My health for one. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy.

In a house was a kitchen where fire wood burned over an old fashioned pot belly stove. I stood beside the stove holding my tiny cold hands up and out taking off my mittens bare as the day she left us. There my older sister lit the kettle for a fire, making breakfast stiring a pot with a wooden spoon, made of stars things took on my dreams. At least that's what my father mentioned sister's soup was as good as my mother's. I looked up from my warm boots in comforting memories.

Then not long after did the home filled with laughter end between the three. My sister, little sister, and me. Now that house is old without the family, I'm use to.

"Where have I seen this before?" There in the midst of all the chaos he stopped to ask himself, where his mind had gone."

"It's nothing personal." The words said again out of the blue of his mind after hearing it.

Am I just loosing myself? He thought to himself.

"This is the darkness that is among us. Some if not all countries have worn a dark coat seeking to do as their boss has ordered them to. Does a country have wants, goals or dreams?

What does a country dream when the world sleeps?

A country dreams, of the never ending divided plain, and the desire to not loose itself.

To protect our people, the very back bone of who we are as a world.Isn't that our unified goal, as it stands that we are that much closer to the light. Everyday...We keep on fighting for our dreams won't we?

"Isn't it obvious? They are all my instruments and you'll never wake up "

"Ivan!

Ivan woke again swiming out of the cloud and braking free. He rose from the smoge just in time to witness his sister wear the same uniform that was placed on his own shoulders. " My next order! I will order Belarus to wear the dark coat." Each of the coutries that wore the dark coat know and remember it's orders given. They are forced to do their bidding.

Each one of the dark soldiers rose up like a wave of smoke off the ground and formed into a skull. Belarus braced herself and the silent dark swept over her. When she surfaced from the shadows and goo stepping out in her hard coat. Yao chuckled and raised his hand with goo spreading from his finger tips and onto her back like strings to a dancing doll.

Ivan gasped at the sight of the uniform on his sister but upon closer observation noticed something about the dark soldiers around them.

Belarus danced silently on he toes, and moved almost as if dancing on thread. She bobbed and curtsied before literally throwing a beam of light that ripped up the earth.

Ivan panted bearly missing the hit, he steared at the gaping earth torn up from the ground. Yao lifted his hand and like a broken doll Belarus rose to her feet. She brusted the ground open again causing weak earth, lifting in a light jump and crashing to the ground like a sledge hammer to brick.

Ivan blocked off her attacks clashing with his own and she looked up at Ivan tearing with a blank expression.

"Bella! I know I didn't wake up before but I'm awake now. "

Ivan spoke and blocked another one of his own parties attacks from his sister being controlled by Yao. Yao was only a step up from the Major. He watched as the strings of his puppets moved to his will.

"We have a promblem up here!"

"It's going down! If he hits that button it's going to shoot!"

Ivan could clearly hear the American from his microphone, and so could the others with their two ways.

"Sifu! Help me!" Lei called as he walked like a moth to a flame to the botton in front of him.

Yao snapped out of it enough to push Bella into Ivan's arms. Ivan held onto Belarus as Yao called Lei's name breaking him free of the control of the dark coat.

Lei grinned back at Alfred regaining control of himself enough not to press the botton.

Ivan found the other countries with heavy dark coats that dripped from their exteriors.

Trapped under their clutches the shadows woved themselves around the countries.

Many arms woved themseles around the many countries like a large cloud of dark smoge. Trapped under their claws the Russian solider tried to get away.

Ivan woke up and stripped away the goo that kept him sealed up. He broke the oozing shell making an opening to get out of the darkness. shadows latched onto him and forged up his arms. The shadows arched out and covered his bare back making suite of armor. One that he could forge to his will out of the palm of his hands.

March. March. March. He lifted his hand and thought as he pointed and ordered Koll to do as told. "March."

Like a puppet he did as he was told. Ivan held a hand to his own neck and voiced out mouthing the words, 'Stop.' Koll haulted at his words and the other smirked, now understanding what it is enemy was doing and up to all along.

"My Voice." The major might have used them with dark power within the coats, but never did he imagine he shared the same fate. He would learn from his mistakes.

Ivan's face lit up at the sound of his voice and what he soon discovered. "Bella it's okay, wake up." Bealrus rose from her sleep with a fire and she ran for Koll as he tried to get away.

She broke the ground around him causing him to loose his blanace at the broken earth beneath his feet in the towns square. Yao then had his turn binding him in a goo up to Kolls's neck making an outter shell, Koll still tried to inch away trying to relieve himself from the shell. Then from the air the American put on a pair of goggles and with Lei at his side aimed a missile, "I have a few more operatives, and you'll be the first I test this on if you try to get away!"

Koll stopped in his tracks trying to order his many shadows to eat the others surrounding him. Ivan used the lightning from his hands sealing up the goo. Ivan then lifted his hands like an instructor to his sympany and gave the shadows one last order to consume him.

All at once all of the countries made it finding out the one thing that Koll used against them all.

Ivan walked right back over to Koll holding him in place as it was he was still as stone and dark as coal, coat to back. The final role of a country is it's greatest lesson.

When darkness tries to consume the world, we take hold of it and control it.

Ivan cuffed Koll's hands behind his back as he knelt in a dark stilled stance.

Alfred landed his plane letting Lei go and he ran to Yao's open arms as a son would to his father.

Natalia stepped over giving Ivan a small hug and a small smile. She then walked over to the American man to see what he was up to.

Alfred paying with his raido devices speaking back and forth with a few others. She leaned over studying the expressoin of his face taking off his head set. She leaned over his shoulder, and he gazed up at her. He then took his head phones away from her and gently poking the tip of her nose with his index finger.

"Nope." He smirked.

"Will you be leaving?"

"I suppose Ms. Arurofusuka."

"Natalia." Belarus corrected Alfred poking him in the nose back.

"If you ever change your mind about joining our states."

"I'll look you up, American boy, but I haven't settled on an agreement."

"You'll not come with me then?" He said starting up his plane and lifting off the ground to take off,

"Not now Alfred, I'm busy." Natalia then kissed Alfred on the cheek. She then lepted out of the plan and called her brother from the ground. Ivan scrambled after his sister running to catch her in arms. She fell right into his arms

"Are your feet on the ground yet Natalia?" The Russian male asked with a grin as he held his little sister then looked up at the sky as she pointed.

"I think, I left something in the air ontop the clouds."

While in the aircraft Alfred sailed away ontop the skylines reporting back to the given distress singal.

Yao looked up at the plane waving his hands and shouting,

"Hey! You bring back my pupil this instant!"

Belarus held something close to her chest as it broke free from the back pack she was holding. Then the young solider boy slipped out of the back raising his hands with a smile. "Here I am Sifu Yao."

Ivan took them all back to his Kwoon before sending them off to the path of the ships to sail across the waters. Natalia took a stance sparing with Lei who waved his hand for her to make her move.

"You'll never go back to how things were?" Ivan of course talking about their agreements between he himself and Yao.

"It was one night of exchange and it will never happen again."

Ivan frowned at Yao and took a look at the many gold fishes they rescued from the hotel floor placed into Kwoon upon a shelf in Yao's room. The two of them standing on either side of that room in a stand off.

"Fight me once more before I go?"

Ivan blushed and stood still staring back at Yao using his words against him yet again.

Ivan waited as Yao made his stance and Yao ran forward charging his opponent. He then threw his fists at Ivan and he blocked back.

The Chinese martial artist slid to the floor and just as the Russian male was about to hit him in a round house kick sweping his foot up kick him. "You'll always trip up, without me around.

Ivan then turned around grabbing Yao's leg missing his mark, and Yao placed his hands both on the ground catching himself and liting a hand and gripping Ivan's coat. "And... you'll always look back to me from your land."

They both fell over trying to grab the other his time Ivan landed onto of Yao who laid across the floor.

Ivan hissed as he fell on his rear across the floor and Yao looked away with a blush rising as he coughed. "Anyway. I would say I won."

Ivan grabbed Yao's hand holding it, "You'll not give me credit for knocking you down?"

A small smile crept back onto Yao's face as well as the Russian male smiling back at him.

"Do you always have to be so rough? I am wounded."

Ivan blushed and stood still staring back at Yao using his words against him yet again.

They both chuckled while holding hands but a shock between them. As they pulled hands away from each other with a pain. Their hands lit a flame between them and a mark left on either of their palms. They clashed and to each of their hands was a wound.

Sometimes all that's left after wrackage is to build back up and move forward. Though even at a stand still with a small connection once had, little is left to be remembered. So with little to no words between the lands only waters apart, there wasn't a good bye. They shifted apart in a break as others came in and interveined.

A slim quiet moment between the two countries before they heard a slam that made the kwoon shake.

Lei walked in quietly and so did Natalia with a slight bow of appology. A fist to the light of their hand.

The martial artist master took a deep breath turning around sitting up and looked to the doorway. "Lei wang, what have I told you about taking care of our kwoon?"

Belarus had a knot on her head as well as Lei when they recived a call when their tranportation. "Sorry Master Yao." The two said together in unison.

Yao dismissed them with a wave of a hand until the call came again for them to leave their destination.

The floor board made a creek and the chinese violen stuck from the floor boards and he picked it up. He softly strummed the strings played the small violen, taking a seat and gently playing a soft tone with both his hands as he sat on the floor. The tune soft and mellow as it played throughout the city begining a new. Lanterns being rekindled as Yao gazed at the glass panda ontop his mantel. There scrolls hung a long list of students and people from towns they met. Many of the names listed in golden ink laced with many flowers alining them in respect. Ivan placed single flower there in offering and gazed at his hands a moment. His radio going off with a message of ready transportion.

Ivan sat and listened as he held his cheek listening for corodinates to sail them played from his erhu and Ivan listen to him play. The melody he played stayed with him on the trip across the waters. Yao and Lei led the two Russian speaking countries to the waters.

Taken back Ivan and Natalia were shipped back along with Koll to give word to Sargent St. Peter, while at home base.

"Did you find the operative and target weve been looking for?"

"I did, but your main target is being held up in a cell for close observation." Ivan answered his mind elsewhere trying to bring it back into focus of the room.

Pete in a rapy tone and stroked his goatee flipping up his sunglasses to gain eye contact with the other. "Well done." He said shifting his sunglasses and peering over the top of them with a grin.

"I like your style. Tell you what Ivan, after you're ready, I've got another job for you Lieutenant general."

"Sir?"

"I have a good feeling about you General. You'll keep our well known and rival that of our polar opposite."

"Will do." Ivan said clicking his heels together and giving a salute.

Ivan felt a pain in his hand where he and Yao exchanged a hand shake in ending of their agreements.

"One more thing, you'll be traveling and keep an eye out because our neighbors are wanting a new borderline."

Ivan nodded and gathered the metal upon Pete's desk and his hat as captian of his playing feild. He walked out of the office humming a tune he couldn't forget.

"Wait...Ivan. I'll get my coat!" Belarus trailed behind her brother.

Pete stood up and put on his general hat, "Things are about to change."

Ivan only smiled softly at Belarus standing outside as two separate choppers made it to the base. One landing and the other dropped a latter before Ivan. He turned arounnd hearing his sister call him from a distance as the chopper pulled away. "I will return."

"Ivan! I'm leaving!" She waved with both hands to her brother as he smiled at her.

Ivan waved back to his little sister and climbed the latter to his next destination.

These days I only look back and see how things really have changed between the three of us. Order of no communication with my big sister. Arragnged by my superior, but I'm finding more ways than on to keep it together. That large family of those to bring to a table will be a grand plan to become the promise of the stronger country, I promised the son of winter to be.

The end