At first we thought it was a joke.

A real HetaOni mansion? Like, the exact same? No way.

Then, we talked ourselves into going. We thought it was just a mansion. No harm would be done in going and checking it out. So, we went. It wasn't too hard to get to the mansion, I mean, it was only a couple blocks and a long driveway away from our house.

Everything was fine in the beginning. We had no problems getting to the place, no StEvEs or other assorted creatures. We didn't see anything. Not until we reached the end of the driveway. The end of the driveway was when we started seeing things. Vague figures in the distance. Moving, talking. Figures with soundless voices.

Alfred brushed it off as a mirage. They weren't actually there, we were just tired from walking. Things really started to get strange when we got to the front door. There was no difficulty opening the door from the outside, of course. And, when we peeked our heads inside there was no one and nothing there. Alfred said we should keep going.

We did.

And, suddenly, it were as though we were in the game. The vague figures became more opaque, and had voices. We didn't realise we were playing until we met him.

Steve. The HetaOni Steve.

At first we were in denial. We couldn't possibly be playing the game. This was just a joke. Wasn't it? A mansion suddenly appearing on a hill in the middle of the night. We watched people die over and over. Watched Italy outside the house making the contract with the journal and Steve. Witnessed England and America die together side by side in the piano room. Helplessly sat by as time began to loop while Italy desperately tried to win the game.

Our first thought was that if we helped Italy win the game we could leave and go home. So, we tried. We left helpful objects in certain places. Guided Japan throughout the house. Tried to make an ending to the game.

But then... Then we began to see our own bodies, bloody and bruised, laying dead on the floor. First, we panicked. Screeching and crying, cursing ourselves for having had entered that unholy place. Then, we had our first fight with him. Our first fight with HetaOni Steve. Alfred led the way, telling me what to do, how to attack him. We won. Needless to say, we were tired. Worn out. Beaten. Bleeding from all sorts of places. We were dying.

The longer we stayed in the mansion the harder it was not to go insane and become one of them. We became the whispers no one but Prussia could hear. We became part of the mansion. Little by little it began to show on our faces. The effects of living in the mansion. We weren't countries. We didn't have the same physical stamina as Germany, France or Japan. This wasn't a game anymore. With every time loop we grew a little weaker.

It was hard not to. We were slowly, oh so slowly losing our minds. Giving our lives to the mansion. To Steve. After the twentieth loop or so, we realised what we had done.

We had willingly given ourselves to the journal. So while we sat up against a wall, slowly dying and losing our minds, we simply talked. Forced ourselves to look back. We made each other remember some of the good things that have happened to us. When our parents got married and we became step-brothers. Learning to ride a bike for the first time. We talked about anything and everything we could remember before we would forget.

Looking down at the floor we noticed what room we were in. We were in the clock room. The room with the clock painted on the floor in blood. And, that was when it dawned on us. This had to be the final clock. The last one we had to break before we could go home. We tried.

Over and over we tried to destroy it in some way. All that we managed to do was open the doorway to go meet the cell full of Steves - people who had gone insane within the mansion, and wander into the room with the slow Steve and... and...

"The key."

The key to the front door. The final key. The last key we had to find. The two of us ran towards it together and ripped it off the wall, quickly using the string of Alfred's sweatshirt to tie the key in a necklace and hang it around his neck so we wouldn't lose it. The both of us were in tears when we made it to the front door and Alfred shakily brought the key to the keyhole and... unlocked... the front.. door.. And then... everything turned to static. I couldn't remember where I was anymore. I could vaguely see Alfred screaming at me, telling me to get up, that we had to go home together, that he wasn't going to leave me here to die.

I noticed the shadow before he did. The large shadow Steve cast. We were doomed from the start. We were going to die. Several bitter words left my mouth, We never should have come to this mansion. All Alfred gave me was a hug and tears. Sobbing into my shoulder as we sat in the open doorway. Where else could we go? Steve was standing right behind us. We didn't want to move. And the key was still dangling around Alfred's neck.

They will tell you that we were kidnapped. Or went missing. They will say that we ran away, left home, and won't be coming back. They will say that Arthur and Alfred are miles away from home. But.

We are here. In the mansion. We thought it was just a game.

We were wrong.

Crunch...