Welcome, welcome, welcome! This is Yours The Author here, bringing you the third book in the Cult Series! Hoo, boy, are we in for a long one. This may end up being the longest book I've written… or it might not be. We'll just have to wait and see!

I'm probably not going to write another chapter for this for a while. I go back to college soon, and I'll be busy with work. I hope I'll have a little time to write, but don't count on it.

Trigger Warnings: Contains OC heart OC, OC death, blood, gore, crying, demons, and labeling.

I'll see you at the bottom of the page.

The Author, The Rogues, and The Oni

Chapter 1: Acting Okay with This

I was fiddling with my phone when my life changed. Again.

The doorbell rang, and I sighed. Being the only one not tied to a video game, it fell to me to answer the door (My little brother and sister—The Gamer and The Deviant, respectfully- were playing Brawl). I walked to the door, opened it, and—

Whoosh!

I gasped as the wind blew through me, a lukewarm gust that spread to my limbs and disappeared as quickly as it came. I had felt that wind before.

I blinked and did a double take. Standing before me, on my own front porch, were twelve countries, all anime-like, just like I was now. I counted them just to be sure; Feli, Lovino, Ludwig, Gilbert, Alfred, Arthur, Mathew, Francis, Yao, Kiku, Ivan, and Antonio.

"Guys?" I said.

Feli, who was at the head of the group, nodded. "Si, ragazza. We came to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" All twelve of them came to ask me something? I thought. It must be something entirely dire. What could it be? A dangerous mission?

"Would you like to go to the movies with us?" Feli asked.

Oh.

I hesitated. As cool as it would have been to watch a movie with my favorite characters, I was technically banned from hanging out with the countries until further notice.

See, after the whole debacle of being teleported to an alternate dimension, my older sister The Vet and friend Brittany Davis agreed (for once) that it would probably be a good idea to give me a "break" from the cult. That, and no one was really allowed to hang out with the countries one on one, to be fair to everyone in the cult. This was pretty much breaking the rules right here.

"Um," I said, looking down at my feet. "That's really cool of you guys, and I'd like to go, but I'm not really allowed to be with you. People might get jealous or something, and I don't want to get into trouble, and—"

"The others don't have to know," Feli said. "Come on, ragazza, we asked you. After everything we've been through together, don't you want to do friend things with us?" The other countries behind him nodded in agreement.

I paused. Then I slowly asked, "Are you sure we won't get into trouble?"

Feli put one hand behind his back and crossed his heart with the other hands finger. "I promise, ragazza."

"Well…" I said slowly. I really didn't want to get into trouble. Feli's eye twitched. "…Okay. I'll go with you guys."

Feli sighed and clapped his hands together. "Bueno. Let's go right now—"

"Hold up, Feli," I said. "I have to tell my siblings I'll be gone. Don't want to just disappear off the face of the Earth, right?"

"…Right," Feli said. He seemed annoyed, but I wasn't very good at reading expressions, so I chalked it up as me reading him wrong.

I put on some flip flops and poked my head into the living room. My siblings hadn't moved from their spots an inch. "Hey, guys?" I said.

"Yeah?" The Deviant said. I flinched, unaccustomed to my siblings being anime in appearance, which they weren't aware of due to the laws of alternate dimensions. The Gamer said nothing.

"If anyone asks—and don't worry, no one will ask—but if someone asks, I'm going with The Artist to the movies. Okay?"

"Okay," The Deviant said. "Bye, Author."

"Bye, Devi." I walked back to the door. The countries were still standing outside, some tapping their feet or checking their watches. "Okay, I'm ready now. So, where are we going?"

"Endlich…" Ludwig muttered. Gilbert smacked Ludwig's arm and they glared at each other.

"Is… everything okay?" I asked.

"Ja." Gilbert said shortly. I decided not to press him.

"So, what movie are we seeing? Should I bring popcorn money?"

"It's a surprise, bella," Lovino said. He gestured to the white van with black windows parked in my driveway. Of course. Only a van would fit all of the countries. "Now, let's-a-go!"

I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Since when was Lovino so chipper and Feli so… not? I climbed into the van with the other countries while Feli got into the driver's seat. I glanced back at my house as the van drove away. It would be the last I saw of my house for a long time.

About Fifteen Minutes Later

"Wow," I said. When Feli said we were going to the movies, I pictured one of the small theaters that were relatively close to home. Nothing like this!

The building looked to be two stories high, taking up most of the parking lot, which was surprisingly empty. It was brick, with two large signs that were probably supposed to show what movies were playing. For some reason, they were blank.

"Is this place open?" I asked. Wait, where was this place? Surely, I would have seen it before. I must not have been paying enough attention to where we were while we were driving.

"Hai," Kiku said shortly. Was it just me, or was everyone short on temper today?

We walked inside. The interior was even more magnificent than the outside. Clean yellow marbled floors, high ceilings, and two long counters on either side of the room, serving popcorn and other snacks. The actual theaters were tucked into the back, and there were signs for the bathrooms by the theater rooms. And it was completely empty.

"Where is everyone?" I asked. My voice seemed to echo slightly.

"Can you keep a secret, poppet?" Arthur asked.

"Yes?"

"This theater is brand new, and only a few people can get in at this point in time!" Arthur looked proud of himself, for some reason.

"…Cool." What else could I say? I wasn't sure how to feel about that information. I was still worried about getting caught. Oh, that reminded me…

"Hey guys, I'll be right back. I have to use the bathroom," I said.

"Wirklich?" Gilbert muttered.

"I'll be right back, don't worry." I walked over to the bathroom, looking back only once. All of the countries were looking in my direction; not a one was talking to another. I turned my head and quickened my pace. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting.

When I reached the bathroom, I thought, oh no. People.

Somehow, I hadn't noticed that there were three other people in the building; two boys and a girl. One boy had slicked-back black hair and was wearing a dirty polo shirt and ripped jeans. The girl had her arms wrapped around his neck, her blonde hair curly and hypnotizing. She was wearing ripped jeans and a white blouse. The last boy had short blonde hair and had a dirty hoodie and not ripped jeans on.

Rogues, I immediately labeled them. I kept my head down and hurried to the bathroom. Maybe they wouldn't talk to me—

"Hey, you," the boy with black hair said.

Shoot. I hurried faster.

"Bobby, get her attention."

Just as I reached the door to the bathroom, I felt two hands grip me by the shoulders, lift me up, and turn me around. I was now facing the group of three, the blonde boy being the one who lifted me up. I put my hands together and stared at my feet.

"Hey," the black-haired boy said again.

"…Hey," I said quietly, not looking away from my feet.

"You came here with all of them?" The black-haired boy pointed behind me, and I looked to see him pointing at the countries.

"Yeah," I said, not daring to elaborate.

"What, you doing some compensated dating with all of them?" I looked up in surprise. I hadn't expected him to know what that was. I only knew because the word had been used in a YouTube video I watched about a year ago.

"N-no," I said. "They're just some friends I met… a while ago. It's not a date or anything!"

"Hmm," the girl said before nuzzling her face into the black-haired boy's neck.

The blonde boy said nothing. He looked almost… nervous?

"Hey, what's your name?" the black-haired boy asked suddenly.

I looked back down at my feet. "T-the Author," I said quietly.

"What, don't you have a real name?"

"I prefer not to tell strangers my name, if you don't mind."

"I'm Ryan. This is Sally," the blonde girl glanced up at me with a smirk, "and this is Bobby," Bobby nodded at me, his forehead sweaty. "Now, what's your real name?"

I glanced behind me at the countries. They were still looking at me, even more impatient seeming than before. "I'm sorry, I don't want to keep my friends waiting. Bye," I hurried into the bathroom. None of the rogues followed me.

I finished my business and left through the bathroom door. I was worried that the rogues would still be there, but they seemed to have left. The countries, however, were now waiting on me outside.

"Took you long enough," Ivan said. The other countries nodded, except for Arthur.

"Now, now, everyone, the poppet was just meeting some new friends! Say, would you like a cupcake, poppet?" Arthur handed me a cupcake from seemingly nowhere.

"Sure, thanks," I said, taking it from him. It was beautifully decorated, a chocolate cupcake with white icing piled high on the top. I took a bite, remembering only a second later that Arthur was supposed to be a bad cook. However, the cupcake tasted just as sweet as I had first expected. Maybe baking was more Arthur's strength? "This is delicious; thank you, Arthur!"

Arthur put a hand to his chest and smiled, eyes closed. Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Come on, ragazza," Feli sad, taking my arm in his. "The movie will start soon."

I let Feli pull me to the nearest movie theater, the other countries surrounding us, as if to not allow us to escape.

The theater was dark, as if the movie had already started. I saw three shadowy figures sitting near the front. It seemed that the rogues were watching the same movie as us. Say, where were the tickets for the movie? The countries hadn't given me a ticket, and there hadn't been anyone to take the tickets from us in the first place. Things weren't adding up…

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, a smooth, lovely woman's voice echoed throughout the room. Her voice made me feel tingles run up and down my spine, like someone was tracing a cold fingertip along my bones. Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear much more of her voice. Welcome to this theater. I hope you enjoy your stay, since it's the last place you'll see… after this!

Suddenly, I felt something cold run through my body. I tried to cry out, but my voice choked in my throat. I clutched the arm rests tightly, and I heard some quiet moans from in front of me. I closed my eyes and felt the cold feeling spread to my extremities, making me lose my grip on the arm rests… and this world.

Bum bum buuuumm!

Another cliffhanger! The things I put you poor readers through! Blah blah blah.

Remember, if you don't want to keep looking through the Ao Oni/Hetalia tab of this website, either follow me or follow this story. It'll save you a lot of trouble.

So, who are these rogues? Why are they in the theater and no one else is? You'll have to wait to find out.

So leave a review, tell me what you thought, and I'll see you next time. Until then!