1. Gentleman
Ow. My head. Where...where am I? What's going on? Why won't the door open? I thought as I ran around the small room. I approached a small record player and turned the handle. "Hello. You are now listening to my disembodied voice. This will not help you in any way to find me, for this is a recording of the past.
"A series of chambers have been set up for you to find your own way out, and decide which elements are important. To open the door, simply remove the lantern. Remaining safe is an impossibility now, I'm afraid. There is no room safer than the one you're in right now. To pass each chamber, you have to choose who to save, and who to leave to rot. They can all be saved, as there's always a way. Remove the lantern and move on to the next chamber."
Though I didn't want to, I took the lantern. Once the lamp was off the rope, the door squeaked open. "I want to go home," I cried as I cautiously moved over to the next room.
I looked around the dark hall smeared in blood and pitch black when I tripped over something. I felt around and saw a ladder. It was broken, and small, but I took it. "This might come in handy." I stated as I continued.
The next room was large and brightly lit with torches. Prison cells lined the walls ominously. I felt my pulse quicken as I heard a moan accompanied with the rattle of chains. I raced to an open cell and closed the door, hiding behind the wall. "I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
"I-Italy?" a voice croaked. "I-is that you?"
I looked in the shadow and saw a man laying on a torture table, his hands and feet bound. A cloth bag covered his face, and I wish the same was said about his body from the shoulders down (or at [add a space] least from the waist down). In a corner laid a green outfit I would know anywhere. "England?" I asked as I approached the table.
"Italy! It is you!" he cried. "Please, help me out of here!"
I looked around the room. "Don't worry, I'll get you out." I stated unsurely as I stepped to a structure on the wall. "I'm sure this lever will help." I stated.
"Wait," England stopped me. "What lever? Are you sure it'll free me?" he asked.
I froze as I slowly moved toward it. "I-I'm sure." I stated as I slowly pulled the lever until I heard gears working. "What was that?!" I cried.
"What?" England asked. "What happened?"
I took a closer look at the structure above the torture table. "That really big knife, that's what's connected to the lever." I concluded.
"KNIFE?!" he yelled as he struggled. "GET ME THE BLOODY HELL OUT OF HERE!" I tensed as I thought long and hard.
England took a deep breath and attempted to relax. "Italy, can you at least take this bag off my head?" he asked. "I could possibly see something you're missing."
I walked up to him and removed the bag from his head. It definitely was England, I know those thick, unkempt eyebrows in any light.
I threw the bag on the ground as he looked around, freezing and widening his eyes when he looked directly up. "I see..." he stated, "that knife."
"You see anything?" I asked.
He strained his neck to look around the room until his head finally thumped back on the table and shook his head. "I'm going to die down here." he sulked.
"No!" I demanded. "You're NOT going to die! Not any time soon at least!" I insisted. "I'll take another look around." I strained my eyes to see in this dim light until something caught my eye. "Wait! I think I see something!" I exclaimed as I approached a table with a knob on it. The cord led right back to the torture table. "It's a knob, it looks like it's the right thing." I stated.
"Don't turn it too fast," England warned. "If you do, I might be dead before you have a chance to stop."
I nodded as I slowly turned the knob. As I turned it, nothing seemed to happen. I turned it a little more, but still nothing. I continued to turn it more noticeably until I heard England's scream. "England," I called. "are you okay?"
"THAT'S A STRETCHER YOU IDIOT!" he screamed as I stopped abruptly and turned the knob the other way exactly where it was.
"I'm so sorry!" I cried. "I thought it was connected to the cuffs, not the table!"
"THE CUFFS ARE PART OF THE TABLE YOU IMBECILE!" he scolded me.
I cried in a corner until something hit me. "...part of the table..." I repeated. "That's it!" I ran back to the knob. "Okay, if I turn it right..." I turned the knob to the right until I heard England grunt in pain and the gears stretching out the table. "...then it's a stretcher, but if I turn it to the left..." I turned it completely to the left as I heard the gears behind me and the cuffs snap open. "...then it's the release!"
When I turned around, England ran up and hugged me. Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to hug back, but I had to make sure he at least had on pants first. "Thank you so much Italy!" he cried. "I'm forever in your debt!"
"Uh..." I hesitated. "...just never cook for me again and we'll call it even."
We both stood there after I pried England off me. (I never thought I'd see the day.) "Who else is down here?" I asked as England continued to put on his stained shirt and jacket.
"I'm not sure," he answered, "but I do know that Germany did come here before me. I came here to look for him, but I don't know if he escaped, or even came this far to begin with."
I froze and looked at him. "...Doitsu?"
"Don't worry chap," he reassured me with a pat on the back with his green tie over his shoulders loosely. "I don't think he'd still be down here. There have been prisoners here since my medieval times. Plus, he's a smart man. He won't come all the way down here without knowing a sure way out."
I nodded at his truth and smiled. "You're right." I stated. "Thanks."
We both continued out the door looking around for the exit. We tried the trap doors that led to a sewer system of some kind, the door where I came, and every door in the room. The trap doors refused to budge, the door I came from was locked, and every door in the room only led to another cell. I looked up and noticed something. There was another door leading the only way I could think possible...up. "England," I caught his attention, "where do you think that door leads?" I asked as I pointed to the door on the roof.
"I suppose the way out!" he exclaimed as he started jumping for it. "It's too high to reach. You try, get on my shoulders." he stated as I did what he requested. "Now, see if you can reach it." I tried to reach for it, but I couldn't. "It's no use." I informed. "It's too high for me to reach." I looked around frantically. "...Maybe we can use the boxes."
"Italy," he stopped me, "there aren't enough."
I looked around the room for any more objects we could use and smiled when I saw something. "What about those boxes and barrels up there?" I asked as I pointed to a balcony full of unused boxes and barrels.
"And how do you propose we reach them?" he asked. (Is it his job to be such a wet blanket?)
I took all the boxes and arranged them as a staircase to the balcony. "That's how." I smugly stated as I climbed. "Heads up!" I called as I pushed the boxes down.
England already had the other staircase set up by the time I got down. He climbed up and reached, but it was still just outside his range. "Even with this structure," he sighed. "I still can't reach."
"Wait." I stated as I handed him the ladder I picked up. "Try it with this."
He took the ladder from me, used it to push the door open, then hooked it to the brim so we could climb up. "You're brilliant Italy!" he complemented as I followed him up the ladder. I tried to get the ladder back once we were in the small hall, but it was locked in position. "Leave it." England stated. "If we need it again, then I give you permission to do as you please with me."
He sounded so sure I wouldn't do anything too bad to him, but to his misfortune, I wasn't in the mood to be merciful like I always am. He never is to me. "I'd probably just give you to Big Brother France." I heard him groan at my statement.
"Right." he gulped as we crawled down the hall. "If we need the ladder again...you can take me to France and..." I heard him choke on the words. "...leave me to his mercy."