DAY ELEVEN - Iceland

[ladyofthehouse]

[Since the weather has finally been fixed, Austria would like to spend some time in her garden. She'd initially requested it with the intention of using it as a peaceful gathering space for her and her acquaintances, but lately... she's simply relieved she had the foresight to ask for a lock and key.

The accusations and weary looks have grown tiresome and while she's never been a stranger to controversy, the solitude of her garden is a welcome relief.

Although she's not entirely ostracized.]

Do you drink coffee, Herr Iceland?

Comments

[volcanoes]

[The garden is actually quite nice when it's not pouring out, and Iceland looks around curiously a little, though mostly he focuses on Austria.]

Yeah. Did you make food again?

[Discussing the potential of food is better than discussing her potentially being possessed, after all.]

[ladyofthehouse]

What kind of hostess would I be if I didn't provide something for my guest?

[Slice of mokkatorte?]

[volcanoes]

[Iceland's eyes turn into dinner plates. He has quite a sweet tooth, for all his regular consumption of fish and salted licorice.]

Thanks. ...How're you doing?

[What with the Klavier thing and their situation and also there's still that potential possession thing weighing on Iceland's mind.]

[ladyofthehouse]

[Austria serves him a generous piece, but doesn't bother with herself. She hasn't really felt much incentive to eat these days.] There.

[Her lips tighten into a straight line at the question. It's entirely innocuous sounding-- but only when something is not bothering you.] I'm perfectly fine, why do you ask?

[volcanoes]

[If Iceland treats this like international diplomacy, maybe he can work around it better.

On the other hand, Iceland rarely had cause to venture into that sort of thing in-depth at home.]

The last trial was pretty weird. [He shrugs.] I voted for no one, but I didn't think it'd work.

1/2

[ladyofthehouse]

Ja, that was quite the pleasant surprise wasn't it. Even that cat seemed entirely baffled by what Frau Cykes managed to achieve.

2/2

[ladyofthehouse]

[Austria stares out at the garden, looking distant.]

It's a shame to think of what might have been had she only managed to think of it earlier.

[volcanoes]

[Iceland takes a bite of cake and chews it carefully, watching Austria's gaze.]

It's not like it can't be done again.

[ladyofthehouse]

Ja, I imagine it will be our go to method moving forwards.

It's vunderbar that whomever is to blame in the future, will have the opportunity to be saved.

[volcanoes]

And whoever was to blame that week Youmu was killed.

[ladyofthehouse]

[...]

There are consequences for failure.

[volcanoes]

Like what? [Iceland eats more of his cake, slouching just a little and acting every inch the part of teenage nation while his mind darts ahead through potential options.] People are already dying.

[ladyofthehouse]

Precisely.

If it's too late to save the dead from their fate, it seems reasonable that it must also be true for whomever was truly responsible.

[volcanoes]

Does this place look reasonable to you? They're not dead yet.

[ladyofthehouse]

There are things in life, far worse than death.

[volcanoes]

[Iceland replies in German--accented, but grammatically perfect.] You know I'm older than I look. I'll help you, y'know.

1/2

[ladyofthehouse]

[For a moment, a weakness in the carefully crafted facade becomes apparent. Austria meets his eyes, looking terrified.]

2/2

[ladyofthehouse]

[And then as quickly as it had come, it vanishes.]

What do you intend to do?

[volcanoes]

[Iceland isn't Athena, with her apparently endless optimism and determination to do the impossible. He's not his brothers, either, with strength or thickheadedness or both at their backs. He's just Iceland, and the world has slapped his knuckles with enough rulers for reaching for things he's not strong enough to grasp.

But he wants to be strong enough, too.]

What Athena did. [And isn't that a ridiculous idea. He knows it's ridiculous, because someone like them would have so much more to sift through with just sheer number of years gone by alone.] ...Without the hugging.

[ladyofthehouse]

You're terribly stubborn. [She says it with mock exasperation, smiling slightly despite herself.]


[She tightens her fingers around her coffee cup.] ...I suppose if you'd like to try there is nothing I can do to stop you. You're welcome to do your best.

[volcanoes]

You have to help, too. [Iceland acts imperious about it, but really he knows that nations that don't lie to other people and themselves are rare. He eats more of his cake while he thinks.] But if a human can do it we should be able to.

[ladyofthehouse]

By all accounts, feeling as though I am to blame for what happened is ridiculous. I know that there was nothing I could have done differently, I did exactly what I was supposed to.

I mislead everyone about how closely I truly resembled Professor Pine, it's true. I recognized the similarities earlier on than I admitted just as the cat said.

She certainly would have been quite easy to assign blame to, but was it truly myself? Had I been carrying around something so insignificant in the grand scheme of my life? Was I to die for such a thing, I could not fully comprehend myself? What of my people? [Austria looks afraid.] If I died...

And then Frau Konpaku eventually realized that she may have been Ivy with such terrible remorse and feelings of guilt. I consoled myself with her suffering. Nein, it couldn't have been myself. Compared to her, my role in things was nothing. Compared to her my blame was insignificant. There was no reason for me to carry such darkness in my heart, I had done nothing wrong.

I never believed she deserved to die for such a thing, but learning that we'd picked the wrong person to blame...

[volcanoes]

[Iceland can believe that she'd convinced herself of Youmu's guilt out of a sense of self-preservation. Iceland had never once considered Norway a potential victim of possession, and he doesn't think he would have even if Norway had been possessed.]

That's when you knew it was you? [That had been when Iceland had started suspecting her, himself.]

...So we just have to make you not feel to blame, I guess.

[If only it was as easy as just declaring his intentions.]

[ladyofthehouse]

I apologize for continuing to lie to you.

Everyone had gotten so heated after our failure, I--[She grimaces, thinking of how quickly it was suggested she be killed after the fact.]

...I thought it would be safer to continue the charade.

[volcanoes]

It's probably safer now. [With Klavier walking around unpossessed now.] I wouldn't have said anything, either, if it was me.

[...He really hopes he's not possessed, though.]

[ladyofthehouse]

Your brother is an invaluable resource for companionship.

[She doesn't parse words or hide behind polite requests. Staying silent is how she ended up in this predicament and if Iceland is indeed possessed, his blame needs to be resolved.]

Utilize him.

[volcanoes]

If it turns out I'm one of them I'll tell him. [Austria can still be scary, apparently. But Iceland doesn't want to think about if he's possessed or not right now.]

We should work on getting that thing out of you. [Not that Iceland is entirely sure how to start.]

[ladyofthehouse]

Shall I lay down on a bench and talk at length about how much I resented my mother in my youth?

[It's a joke, but she really has no idea either.]

[volcanoes]

If you ask for a fainting couch the cat will probably make anyone who lays on it pass out. [CAT.]

...What about your memory? [From the cabinet.]

[ladyofthehouse]

I thought it was rather self-explanatory.

Was there something you needed me to elaborate on?

[volcanoes]

The guilt part, I guess. [Iceland isn't as good at this as Athena, but he's going to push forward anyway.] You acted like you didn't have any, but that can't be true.

[ladyofthehouse]

I thought you summed up my absolution rather succinctly. [Maybe she has to say it out loud for it to work.]

There was nothing I could do to rectify the situation. Holy Rome needed to leave my home in order to become the head of the empire. I did my best to support her while she was under my care and raised her to the best of my ability. I was at the beck and call of those ruling me and their decision to sit back and allow Holy Rome be dissolved was something beyond my control. Ultimately the blame I carry in my heart is unreasonable and should promptly leave post haste.

....

[Austria looks around, wondering when exactly the cardiac arrest is supposed to begin.]

[volcanoes]

...You must be guilty about something having to do with it still.

[You know, since you haven't had a heart attack yet.]

[ladyofthehouse]

[HUFF.]

This is ridiculous.

[volcanoes]

I know. [Honestly, this entire situation!]

Do you feel guilty you couldn't help? Even if it's unreasonable.

[ladyofthehouse]

It's a little more difficult after the fact.

[Austria rubs her temple, looking agitated. It'd come so naturally to bury her feelings watching her cabinet memory play out. Now she's only made this more difficult on herself to resolve.]

Given that it's much too noticeable to request asking for my cabinet to be opened again... I might need some time to think about things more indepthly.

[volcanoes]

I studied that case we messed up. [As in he hardly left the area where he could review said case the entire week.]

Maybe we can use the fake case, too? It would have been aimed at you.

[ladyofthehouse]

[Austria's thought about it a lot herself. Not as noticeably as Iceland, but there's no reason to be so obvious in the common room when you yourself are the culprit.]

As Professor Pine I assume the role as Charlotte's caregiver. This parallels my role as Holy Rome's caregiver. [Simple enough so far.]

Given her aspirations in life, it was my responsibility to ensure that she could succeed. By refusing to give her a starter I ensured her failure. Meanwhile I did prepare Holy Rome, but not adequately enough.

The repercussions of my actions as Professor Pine was Charlotte dying. In contrast Holy Rome was dissolved and as a result lost her memories.

[Austria looks thoughtful.] Which in essence could certainly be interpreted as a death of sorts. She eventually became Germany.

...Who is a very successful country in her own right currently. Yet I still feel irrevocably guilty about things.

[volcanoes]

If your Germany is like my Germany, maybe you feel bad she has to lead the meetings. [A fate that no nation would ask for, except maybe America.]

Do you think it's your fault he--she lost her memories?

[ladyofthehouse]

I'd much rather have her do it than have to do it myself. [No remorse for that torture at all.]

I suppose there is some level of responsibility I must take for that. Forgetting the entirety of a previous existence to become a new person...

Things certainly aren't the same as they were.

[volcanoes]

[Iceland finds the idea of forgetting everything and becoming someone else entirely a pretty frightening prospect. It's essentially death. Maybe it's as close to death as one of them can come without actually vanishing entirely.]

What were things like before?

1/3

[ladyofthehouse]

They were wonderful times. I didn't fully appreciate them for what they were.

[Austria sighs. She doesn't particularly want to talk about how things had been, hence why she had been so quick to cut everyone off at the knees when they wondered how she could be so callous about--]

2/3

[ladyofthehouse]

[The coffee cup in Austria's hands drops abruptly onto the table with a crash. Broken ceramic and hot liquid flood the table.]

3/3

[ladyofthehouse]

Oh dear. [Austria disinterestedly inspects a cut a ceramic shard inflicts on her hand, as coffee spills over the edge of the table.]

Clumsy me.

1/2

[volcanoes]

[Iceland startles at the shattering coffee cup. They can't have solved Austria's problems this easily, so something else must have startled her, but he can't figure out what.]

[volcanoes]

[And then--watching her inspect her bleeding hand, it's unsettling. He pulls back and ices over a little, both to protect himself and to hide his own spiking concern.]

...Are you okay?

[ladyofthehouse]

I'm fine. Something as insignificant as a cut isn't anything to us, now is it? [She smiles.]

However, blood would be somewhat troublesome to wash if I were to get it on my dress.

Perhaps we should adjourn for the day, while I seek the infirmary. Mmm?

[volcanoes]

[Iceland definitely needs some time to himself to think, considering what he's just witnessed. He's not sure he's even talking to Austria.

He can't tell anyone.

A careful nod.]

We can keep going later. [He stands up, still watching her.]

[ladyofthehouse]

Ja. That would be best. [She'll stay seated, watching him with equal interest.]

I look forward to our next conversation together, Herr Iceland.

Hopefully it will be much longer.