Romania was creepy.
Not your common shade of creepy, either, but the real, deep creepy you only got in cults and death-metal concerts.
It was for this reason that Hungary wasn't surprised to find him calmly sipping his tea, watching two scorpions tear each other viciously apart in the confines of an old fish tank, when she burst in his front doors. "Romania!" she screeched, letting the doors slam shut behind her.
Without taking his eyes off the fighting bugs, he answered, "Yes?"
"When was the last time you checked on The Door?" Hungary felt yet another stab of pain claw through her stomach, and gritted her teeth to keep from wincing. Romania took a long sip of tea before finally setting the cup down on a nearby side table with a soft chink.
He stood and stretched, taking amusement in Hungary's quickly reddening face, before finally answering her question. Sort of. He cocked his head to the side innocently. "The Door?"
"Yes, The Door! What other door could I possibly be talking about?"
The auburn haired man shrugged. "I checked last night before I went to bed. Everything was fine, then," he replied. "You can check again if you don't believe me."
Hungary narrowed her eyes. "Of course I don't believe you," she muttered. He glared. "Now come on. Let's go make sure you haven't somehow ensured the destruction of the world."
She strode from the main hall, not waiting for Romania to lead her but knowing exactly where she was going regardless of this. The pain in her stomach increased steadily as she crossed the interconnected halls and nearly leaped down long flights of stone stairs. Romania scurried behind her, holding tightly to his cap.
When they finally reached the last staircase, the younger of the two was panting and clutching his chest. "Walk... slower..." he wheezed. The woman rolled her eyes. "Just give me the keys."
He began to limp down the stairs, toward the barred arch that served as the entryway to the dungeon. "Like I'd... trust you with my... keys," he scoffed and panted at the same time, smiling over his shoulder.
Hungary tapped her foot as Romania tried each different key in the heavy lock, going through more than half on the loop before finally the lock grudgingly clanged open. "Ladies first?"
She shoved her way through before Romania could make another idiotic comment. "Did you move it or something?" she asked impatiently when she found the first room empty.
Romania shook his head with a grimace. "It moves on its own. Creepy shit, that thing is... It must be in the back room."
A bit taken aback, Hungary allowed the other nation to take the lead this time. The dungeon generally smelled like damp, musty air and old bones, but nothing could mask the sharp smell of ozone The Door gave off. Walking through an arch that was, in comparison to the first, far smaller, the back room was lit with the shifting, iridescent colors that laced around the floating Door. First purple, then red, then orange, Romania watched the light shift over Hungary's pained face. Her right hand was clenched tightly around the cloth of her dress over her stomach.
"See?" he said matter of factly. "The Door's absolutely-"
Bang! Romania flinched and turned. There was a deep scratch in the crimson wood that hadn't been there before. "What's that?" Hungary murmured.
Bang! Bang! More scratches appeared, jagged and crisscrossing, some beginning to leak a yellow light. "Romania, is this normal?"
The trailing colors began to dance fervently around The Door. Shadows danced on the wall behind the two countries, silhouettes with no source, as the door began to give off a loud whirring sound. "Romania!"
"Calm down! Calm down! I'm sure this is totally normal!"
Another thump against the door and Hungary had fallen to her knees, hugging her stomach. The whirring grew to a near deafening shriek as the shadows lashed out with sinister claws. Romania rushed forward, gripping the chains around The Door and trying desperately to cover the cracks with the rest of his body. "Stop it! Stop it!" he shouted, as if yelling at it would end the chaos. The light coming from the cracks now was blinding, the room beginning to shake. "STOP!"
And suddenly everything was silent.
Hungary looked up, feeling the pain vanish immediately. Romania looked back at her, their eyes locking, and he stepped carefully away from The Door. "Is it... over?" he asked.
Hungary swallowed. "The lock," she whispered hoarsely. "Where did it go?"
Romania bit his lip, eyeing the bare patch beneath the knob where the lock had once been. Without any better response, he shook his head. Slowly, tentatively, he reached out to touch the handle.
The Door exploded into splinters.