Hi! I know this is late and I really have no excuse. I just hate writing dialogue, which is what this chapter is supposed to be full of, so I kept putting it off. Sorry! This isn't the full chapter I had planned, but rather a good closing point on a chapter I've decided to draw out a bit so I can work on my dialogue and relationship building. So, if this is a bit shorter, that's why. I'm sorry it's been so long! I'd like to thank Midnight, AnimeLover, Terra, Dorkinabigbox, Chelea, and for their awesome and touching reviews. It always makes me smile to see someone has enjoyed my story. I love reading that people have enjoyed my work, or reading criticism, which I feel is important to grow as a writer. I promise to try to update more frequently. Rest assured I will not abandon this story. It may take a while, but I will finish it. Read on and enjoy!

-Symbolic

"Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says

to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . ."

-C.S. Lewis

Fifty-three, there were fifty-three cracks in the ceiling and thirteen water stains. Iceland raised her eyebrows a bit. That was twelve more cracks and three more stains than the last time she had been locked in here. Iceland sighed, she felt as though she was going to drop dead of boredom any minute. There was only so long she could count cracks and guess what made up the crusty, old smell that seemed to permeate the cell that no amount of air fresheners could kill. She would know, she had once sprayed five air fresheners and it hadn't even put a dent in the smell. She glanced over at the open cages wishing the people would wake up soon. She kicked the ground and tapped her fingers over her elbow. Impulsively, she got up and walked over to the cages.

Iceland stared down into the first cage at the sleeping body inside. If she tilted her head just right and plugged her ears, she could almost believe he was dead. She took her fingers away from her ears and wrapped her hands around the wires of the cage. She took a moment to stare at the near-identical body to one of her brothers. He looked almost too similar to believe they were separate people. Her lips curled into a sneer as irritation and loathing skipped through her. Finland was always her least favorite brother. He always looked disgusted at her and did nothing but insult her. She began to violently shake the cage.

"Hey! Wake up! Up, up, up!" She yelled.

Iceland sighed in disappointment when the shaking only moved his body around, but didn't wake him up. She spun around and sat down on top of the cage, putting her elbows on her knees and resting her head on her hands. She stared up at where she knew the stairs would be and wished that her brothers had left her a light of some sort. She wondered if she asked for one, would they bring it. Maybe Sweden would, or big brother, but Finland would only sneer at her and Denmark would just shake his head in disappointment. Iceland swallowed a lump in her throat at the thought, she hated disappointing Denmark. She had come to expect it with the others, even, though it pained her to say, even with big brother, but Denmark was the only one who at least didn't despise her and insult her every chance he got.

Iceland sat on top of the cage for a while, ignoring the pain that came from the wire biting into her skin through her clothes. She wondered what her brother's alternates would be like when they woke. She could already tell that they were seriously different from her own brothers. She knew that if her brothers woke up in such a situation that they would fight their way out. It was one of the reasons that they hardly ever got pulled into international disputes, everyone knew not to mess with them, especially Finland. Finland was very strong and he wasn't afraid to show off that strength, unlike her big brother who was also very strong, but usually didn't care enough to really show it off or use it to his advantage.

Iceland sat up straight when she heard a slight gasp. She looked around before leaning over to look between her legs inside of the cage beneath her. In the cage she could see that Finland's alternate, Tino, had woken up and was staring back at her with a mixture of shock, horror, and anger. She stared at him as he sat up and looked cautiously back at her. Slowly, Tino moved his eyes off her, always looking back every few seconds, to take in the room around them.

"Sucks doesn't it?" Iceland asked in blasé voice.

Iceland giggled when Tino jumped and turned back to face her. She raised her eyebrows when his eyes met hers and giggled even harder when he quickly looked away. She stood up and knelt down, turning to face the cage and stare directly at Tino. She waited a moment until he was looking at her before throwing her arms open in a dramatic gesture.

"Welcome to your new prison for the next indefinite amount of time!" Iceland called out with a giddy grin on her face before she broke down into peals of laughter.

"You can come on out if you want. Explore a bit, take in the sights!" Iceland invited as Tino's eyes widened and he leaned away from her.

Iceland waited a few moments before heaving a sigh and letting her arms drop in disappointment.

"Are you all going to be this boring?" she asked.

When Tino just continued to stare at her, Iceland threw her hands up in the air and groaned. Turning, she stomped away from the crates and laid down in the dry spot in the corner and once again started counting the cracks and stains. She heard a slight shifting and turned over on her side to stare at the crates. She could see Tino turning around to look at the others. She also noticed that her own copy was waking up. She smiled and waved when Tino looked over at her. She chuckled under her breath when he flinched and turned back to her waking copy. Very slowly, she watched as Tino slowly left the cage, turning around to check her with nearly every step and flinching every time her smile grew wider. The smile dropped off her face when Tino reached the cage and started rubbing the back of her copy, Emil. She could see Tino's mouth moving, but she couldn't make out what he was saying.

Iceland stared blankly at the scene. She had never seen Finland act that way with anyone, even Sweden who he claimed to care about. Iceland felt the chill of the cell suddenly and she wrapped her own hands around her arms, imagining her big brother doing what Tino was doing. He never had. Despite her calling Norway her big brother, Denmark had been the one to raise her, however grudgingly he did so. Norway may have discovered her, but he had dropped her off with Denmark the first chance he got. Anger burned through her. It wasn't fair. From what she had seen, her copy was weak and sniveling, he hid behind others. He wasn't strong, he didn't have magic, he didn't even seem overly smart. So why did they dote on him when her own brothers never looked at her without disgust coloring their faces?

Iceland suddenly stood up from the floor, not even caring when Tino and Emil flinched. She stormed over to the cages and pushed Tino away from Emil's before upending Emil's cage and sending him sprawling out onto the cold floor entirely. She smiled, but instead of feeling happier, her actions only made her feel more hollow and angry. She growled and threw the cage to the other side of the room. She turned away from the others, kicking Tino's empty cage in frustration. She growled in frustration and kicked the cage again, only getting angrier as the cage did nothing but clatter around, but remained unbent and upright.

"Man, could you keep it down? I've been kidnapped and put to sleep with some of Lukas's creepy stuff, I don't need a headache on top of it," a voice Iceland recognized as Denmark's copy Mathias called out.

"I did not have any part in this. Just because magic was a part of this does not mean I was responsible for any of it," Lukas spoke up.

Iceland turned around and stalked towards the edge of the cell. Just outside the bars was a broken pipe from the ceiling that Iceland had used last time she was locked down here to bang on the bars until Finland finally let her out in a cloud of swears, threats, and dodging fists. Iceland grappled to reach where it sat almost out of reach of the bars. Her hand managed just to catch the pole and roll it a bit closer to her so she could take a firm grasp of it and pull it inside the cell. She held the pipe in her hand and stalked towards the cage. She raised the pipe over her head, ignoring the looks and sounds the others around her were making, and swung down at the cage. But the pipe wouldn't move, she grunted and tried again. It was no fluke, something was stopping the pipe. She spun around, keeping one hand on the pipe, and saw Berwald towering over her, a dark look on his face and the pipe firmly enclosed in one hand.

"Don't."

"Why would you stop me? All our reports indicate that you hate him," Iceland asked.

"I don't. He's family," Berwald responded.

"So?" Iceland questioned confused.

You could still hate and hurt family. Her family did that all the time. Norway hurt Denmark, Finland hurt Sweden and anyone else who stood still long enough, she hurt Norway, or at least tried to.

"I don't what 'family' means here, but back home we've come to accept its meaning as looking out for each other," Lukas said, staring at Iceland with a hard look that made her flinch internally at how similar it was to the look her big brother always gave her.

"That's weird!"Iceland snapped out before relinquishing the pipe and storming off to the corner of the cell.

Iceland looked down at the dusty, dirty corner before laying down and staring at the ceiling again. She could hear them talking in the corner, but she could have cared less what they were saying. They were strange, not normal…they were everything she wanted in a family. They stuck up for each other, her family would rather tear each other down. The idea that they were everything she wanted in a family but that they weren't her family made a deep, burning rage grow within her. A burning rage like the fires she often set, and like an accelerant, she was lit and the fire was about to flare.