A/N: Hello all, and welcome to my first (and probably only) HetaOni fanfic! I've been obsessing over the fangame recently (That's probably why I've been so depressed…), and so I decided to incorporate my OC! Yeah, creative right? I'm actually writing this more for myself than for you guys, just because I feel like it… *sigh* I'm terrible. Anyway, here comes the uber long disclaimer message that probably no one will read anyway.
~~~DISCLAIMER~~~
I do not own HetaOni, Ao Oni, or Hetalia. (If I did, they wouldn't be as awesome as they are.) They are all owned by their respective owners.
I do not own a lot of the plot for this story. I'd say that I own between 2% and 6% of this story's plot, but that's about it. It's a fanfic based off of a fangame, what do you expect?
I do not own the two characters Andorra and Malta. They are OCs that belong to two of my friends IRL (who I will soon force to get FF.N accounts, so you'll hear more about them ^j^). To my friends IRL who may be reading this: I may have messed up the descriptions…and personalities. Just a little. PLEASE TELL ME.
The videos that I am basing this fic off of, the funny voices that I now hear in my mind every time I write this, and the term "toilet sushi" belong to the wonderful YouTuber MrEVOLVF. He should get an award for hilarity and optimism under dark circumstances. And for his epic Italy voice. 'Nuff said. (By the way, someone tell him that said happy birthday~!)
The comic that I also kinda base this off of is by ~mieulinhtu on DeviantArt. It's beautiful artwork, and awesome storyline work. She's amazing.
The cover picture actually belongs to a wonderful artist somewhere on the 'Net. Because I found it off of Google, and I wanted to use it. Please don't kill me for that.
I do, however, own 2% to 6% of the plotline, along with my OC Yugoslavia and her attributes. I also partially own the title, the other part of which has been "borrowed" from Shannon Hale's novel Book of a Thousand Days.
All other things that do not belong to me will be noted in future chapters.
Geez Louise, that was a mouthful. Oh well, I had to say it. No use in not giving credit, eh? :) Alright, I'll stop forcing you to read my mind's wanderings and just get to the story now. Feel free to review and give critiques, as long as they're nice! Hatsa la pasta~!
-x-
HetaOni: Book of a Thousand Mistakes
Chapter One
Running.
That was all that it could do. Run, run, run for its life. There was no way for it to stay and fight, or for it to hide. There was nowhere for it to hide where IT wouldn't find him. There was simply no way.
And so it ran.
It ran from the kitchen, to the hallway, past the locked library door. It ran past the door, past the stairs, to the main foyer of this horror house. The hallway branched off in three directions from there: one straight ahead, one to its right, and another to its left. The path to its left was the shortest of them all, but it was exactly the path that he was looking for. It was the exit, the one door that separated its pudgy body from the safety of the outside world. It could hear the sound of IT's footsteps behind it, so it made the final decision that it knew could seal its fate. Jumping up as far as it could, it gripped the door's handle and turned it one way, then the other.
Nothing.
No, it squeaked to itself. No, it's locked? It can't be locked! It furiously tried again, and again, but its attempts all ended in failure. No, that's impossible! There has to be a way out! There has to –
Its mind drew to a halt as it heard the sound of raspy breathing from just behind it. Freezing in fear, it slowly turned around to face its attacker – or would have, if it had not been suddenly thrown from its perch on the doorknob, and if its vision had not gone black from the impact of the blow. It cried out in fear, in pain…
…But there was no one there to answer.
-x-
A deserted house in the mountains, about three hours on foot from the world summit place.
No one knows how long it has been there or who used to live in it. Rumor has it that it was haunted…
-x-
A lazy afternoon sun poured amber ray onto the bright green treetops, falling in a dappled pattern through the leaves onto the rocky soil below. This forest stretched out in every direction, the extent of its size hidden by the peaks of jagged mountains dotted all around. Behind one of these peaks was Andorra la Vella, the capitol of Andorra and the host city of the latest world summit. And practically built into the side of another was a great mansion, a large building of brick, wood, and stone, standing proudly with its red-tiled roof skimming the tops of the trees beyond, all but hidden from the world around it.
From beneath the trees emerged a trio of figures, cautiously stepping into the light and gazing in awe at the mansion before them. They were all female and around the age of 20, but that was where the similarities ended. The tallest, a girl with dark blonde hair and blue-green eyes, had a small duffel bag dangling from one shoulder, as if she was planning to go somewhere as soon as their venture was done. The shortest, a usually-hyper brunette with hazel eyes, had been previously digging in her pockets for something, while the other, a brunette with green eyes, was attempting to walk normally with the added weight of a European otter spread across her shoulders. All preoccupations came to a halt when the mansion rose into their field of vision, reaching out toward them with the comforting sights of old bridges and a well-worn walkway leading right to the front door.
"It is really here," the blonde breathed, readjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder as she walked, flanked by her two companions. "It is so much bigger than I expected…"
The hazel-eyes brunette placed her hands on her hips, and stared harder at the stone-and-wood exterior of the mansion, as if she expected it to do something like disappear or talk back at any given moment. "I thought it was just a rumor… I never thought we would actually find it!"
"It has such a desolate feel," the girl with the otter commented, allowing the creature to scamper down her arm and leap nimbly to the ground by her feet. "Not bad!"
The blonde shot her friend a confused, questioning look. "Desolate? Is that how you would describe it, Andorra?"
"Hey," Andorra snapped, holding her hands in the air in mock surrender, "don't judge me, Yugo."
The other brunette snorted in annoyance, turning her attention away from the half-argument to examine the house again. "Well…I don't think it's very interesting, though. Can't we just look at it from the outside and then go back?"
"After all the trouble we had to find it?" Yugoslavia smiled at the girl encouragingly. Although her expression was that of the kindness expected from her, there was something different in her eyes, some distant twinge of –
"Don't tell me you're scared," Andorra chuckled amusedly. "Come on, Malta! We can just go in for a little while, right?"
Malta huffed, "I'm not scared! I just…" Trailing off, she let out an exasperated sigh. "…This place just gives me the creeps, that's it." These words were lost in the whistling of the wind, however, as the three started crossing the rocky lawn side by side, completely oblivious to the secrets that this mansion held from them.
Almost.
-x-
"…It is much cleaner than I thought, too."
That happened to be one of the truest statements that the three had heard all day. After forcing the door open (it wasn't even locked, for some strange reason – Andorra began to think that it was the fault of a few local rowdy teenagers), they had emerged into a relatively large foyer area, devoid of furniture aside from a chandelier high above their heads. A staircase rose into the darkness in front of them, standing beside a short corridor. Two other corridors stretched out in either direction, their ends also obscured in shadows. Everything was colored in earthy tones, from the cedar wood flooring under their feet to the simple beige paint decorating the walls. It gave off the impression of a recently-built home, except for the uncomfortable chill that wafted through the air. Andorra had entered first, so she had taken a place sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, glancing around at her surroundings. Malta was standing close by, trying to see the end of the hallway to the left of the foyer area. Yugoslavia, having been the last one to enter, still hovered near the door, crouched down and staring at the wood beneath her feet. The remark had come from her, not surprisingly. She appeared to be examining the flooring for dust, of which there was very little.
Malta broke her focus away from the blackened abyss at the end of the hall and glanced back at her friend. "What? …Yeah, I guess. H-hey, can we go now?"
Pressing her elbows to her knees, Andorra rested her head on her fists and grinned, fighting to hold back her laughter. "What's the matter, Malta? You scared?"
Before Malta could retaliate, a loud crash emanated from the hall to the right, echoing through the corridors and breaking the gentle silence of the mansion. They all flinched. Malta jumped nearly a foot in the air and was forced to steady herself on a nearby wall. Andorra leaped to her feet and nearly managed to fall off the stairs in the process. Yugoslavia tensed, clutching her duffel bag tightly to her chest, loosing her balance and falling onto her backside. They all stared in the direction of the crash, no one really wanting to be brave and go see what had caused it.
"…L-look," Malta stammered, clearing her throat nervously, "we really should go now."
Andorra let out her internal snickers, although whether they were real or just to relieve her stress, no one was quite sure. "Ha! Don't be silly. It's not like there are ghosts or anything. Where's your common sense?" Shrugging her shoulders to stretch them out a little, she stared in the direction of the sound and started walking, her pet otter trotting at her heels.
"Be careful, Andorra," Malta warned, standing back and holding out a hand to help Yugoslavia back onto her feet.
"I know," Andorra called over her shoulder. "I'll just go and see what happened. I'll be right back. Besides," she added with another laugh, "it's not like I'm going to die or anything!"
Malta could have sworn that she felt Yugoslavia's hand stiffen in her own, but when she glanced over at her, the Balkan nation looked completely normal, her mood its usual calm-but-careful uneasiness that came with situations like this. Odd… Ignoring the strange paranoia in her mind, she glanced back at Andorra, who had flicked on a light switch before slipping through the door at the end of the hall, disappearing from sight.
-x-
The room was a kitchen. It looked like a normal kitchen, for the most part, with a refrigerator, sink, counters, and plenty of places for storing food. There was even a pantry in the corner of the room – at least, what she thought was a pantry. The room opened up into a sitting area-type space: a large white rug with four chairs scattered about it and a bookshelf hugging the wall. It was all very plain, to say the least. The only decoration was an aged bronze-colored clock sitting on top of the bookshelf, its hands frozen from potentially years of mistreatment and abandonment.
Andorra saw all of this and had no definite thoughts. Sure, she thought that it was plain, but that's it. Even in its plainness, the room just didn't have any significance. There weren't even any plates or cutlery in this kitchen. There was only… She paused when her gaze swept over the scene of a pool of shards near the edge of one of the counters, and the otter glaring at them and chittering quietly to itself.
"Stay away from that, Keongwoo," she warned, nudging the otter away from the shrapnel as she kneeled down beside them. "A ceramic plate…? It's broken. I have to be careful not to hurt myself." Then again… Reaching down and gently picking up a piece, she snatched a discarded dishcloth from the counter and wrapped it around the broken ceramic, stuffing it in the pocket of her jeans. …Then again, it can't hurt to have something sharp with me, just in case… She pushed herself to her feet and started once again toward the door, Keongwoo scampering across the floor to take up its place at her side. Somehow, her eyes caught sight of a trash can far across the room from her, filled with an empty box labeled "SUPER TOASTS" in black ink.
…Okay then.
Shaking her head in confusion, Andorra reached for the cool metal of the doorknob and turned it slightly, hearing the tumblers inside groan with the unusual movement. Nevertheless, it clicked open in less than a second, and so she forced it open to rid herself of the object obstructing her path. When she did, she didn't know what to think.
She saw nothing.
A/N: I'm sure I completely screwed up half of this chapter, with my wonderful OOC interpretations of those OCs… Eh, whatever. Expect extremely random updates, but more to come later~! (By the way, because of my OCD-ness when it comes to grammar, some direct quotes from the game may be changed a little. Sorry about that. And the whole three-person thing instead of four. Some other stuff will be edited because of that. But I still don't own the plotline.)
* And before anyone asks, YES, Keongwoo is the otter, and NO, I had no idea that it was a name before my friend (the one who owns the OC Andorra) told me about it. *