She couldn't breathe, she couldn't speak, she couldn't cry; all she could do was watch her loved ones unknowingly walk up to the foreboding mansion that had been haunting her for years. She wanted to scream and cry out her misery, but the lack of oxygen in her lungs made that impossible. She wanted to stand in front of the door, protecting her companions from the horrors inside the seemingly harmless foundation, but her legs wouldn't budge, and without oxygen for her own blood, how could they? She wanted to hold the four nations in her arms, forever guarding them from the fear, anguish, and red, sticky blood that surely awaited them inside.
Blood. It covered every door handle, every barred window, and every clock face inside the place. Pools of crimson red lay on the once-clean hardwood floors, counters, tables, and on the piano… It was all horrifyingly true. It had really happened. There were bloodstains all over the walls, on the tiles, on the ceiling… The disgusting liquid even dirtied the plain, previously clean white beds. In every bedroom, on every floor, and on every bookshelf, in every library. The red stayed there, and soaked the books in its filth.
'It really did happen… didn't it? How many loops is this now…? I seem to be forgetting… how many times I've seen those I cherish become painted in red…'
Red stained everything in the mansion. But that's all it was, this time. A stain. A revolting stain that only Italy and Shizuka could see. Because a stain is a reminder of something that once was there, and now is not. And these particular stains were the ever-so-grim reminder of what once was - the reason they had to rewind time on so many occasions: the deaths of those they wanted to keep safe, those they cherished, and those they loved.
"Ve~! It's really here!" The sound of Italy's voice reached the corners of her thoughts, and she was numbly pulled back to the present.
"I thought it was just a rumor… I never thought we would actually find it…" The Japanese man remarked, looking up at the mansion that was old, and leaked of a rather unpleasant aura that somehow he failed to notice.
"It has such a desolate feel… not bad," ex-nation, Prussia commented, smirking almost triumphantly.
'Oh… it's my turn, isn't it…?' Taking a quick and painful breath, she gained the energy to speak. "I don't think it's very interesting, though…" She noted that her voice sounded less convincing than in the last loop, though no one else seemed to notice.
"Me neither. Can't we just look at it from the outside and then go back?" Japan asked with an indifferent expression.
"Ja… I don't even know how you convinced me to come here, Shizuka," the also indifferent German agreed, arching an eyebrow at his brother's careless attitude.
"Aww, after all the trouble we had to find it? C'mon, let's just go in for a little while!" The Italian looked over at Germany with a pleading face.
The German sighed and complied, nodding. He walked forward and placed his hand on the door knob, twisting it and pushing it open.
The feeling of despair immediately gripped her as they walked through the doorway. Each foot tread upon the memories of those lost by that door- those who died trying to escape, and those who almost did escape. The thought made her stomach flip- both she and the Italian nation. The stains were there- on the floors, on the walls, on the ceiling… What they saw was completely different from what everyone else saw. The other three looked down the corridor, down the hallway that flanked the set of stairs directly in front of them, and to the hallways on either side of them. They saw flawless white walls without a spec of dust on them, and clean hardwood floors, yet again without any dust. The corridor revealed no tables, no banisters, no shelves, no couches, not anything. The area was completely empty of excess furniture, although there wasn't any dust to indicate that the previous owner moved out and did not return. It was all abnormally clean.
Japan trailed a finger along the wall to check, and found no residue. "Ano… Italia-kun… are you sure this house in abandoned?"
"Ve~ I'm sure~! There's no one here! It's just really clean~!" was the response, which echoed eerily through the empty halls.
"C-can we go now?" the question came from a startled Germany, who tried to hide the embarrassing stutter with an even more awkward cough.
But Germany's brother, Prussia, was not one to let things slide by so easily. "Kesese~! What's the matter, West? You scared?" He elbowed his brother's side teasingly.
Suddenly, there was an unqualified crash, and everyone jumped.
Germany didn't even attempt to pry the frightened nation off. Once again, he stuttered and tried to convince his friends to leave. "W-we should really go, now…"
"Oh, don't be silly. It's not like there are any ghosts or anything. Where is your common sense?" Japan asked, lifting an eyebrow. He turned down the hallway to the right, where the sound came from. "I'll just go see what happened and come back."
'No, don't leave yet… Don't leave me… Please, no…' "Nihon-kun, I'll go, too." Shizuka walked beside him and added with a smile that did not reach her eyes, "you shouldn't go alone, despite the unlikely possibility of danger." '... I've said that too many times to look sincere... My smile is faltering...'
Apparently, Japan seemed to notice it and lifted a curious eyebrow. But he said nothing as he gently scooped her hand into his.
"Be careful, you two!" Prussia warned, watching them wander down the hallway.
"We will," came Japan's calm response, turning toward them to briefly send a reassuring smile.
The trail of crimson from before seemed to follow her down the walls. Hand prints, skid marks, footprints, blood sprayed on the walls, drops, drippings, streaks, words reading, "GET US OUT" - they all terrorized and mocked her as she passed them, saying, 'remember us? Are you scared? Why are you still here?'
She didn't realize that Japan had spoken to her until she felt a soft poke on the hand he was holding, and even then, she couldn't gather what he'd said to her.
"Shizuka-chan?" He looked at her in a concerned way, watching her dazed, dull eyes as her face slowly turned toward him.
"No, I just thought I saw a spider," she replied quietly, her lips curling into another empty smile.
He just looked at her with a troubled expression. It was obvious that she hadn't been listening to him, so how could she properly answer his question? The thought racked his brain as he tried to rationalize the situation. Shizuka had been acting odd since the World Summit. Her normal, sweet, quiet words were replaced by monotone, blank, emotionless phrases that were stated as simply as possible, and not with her usual finesse. It also seemed like whatever she said was only to prove or convince someone of a point. She took control of the situation and organized the plan in which the countries would head to the mansion, saying that America's group should go there first, three hours before the second group- Germany's group- would go. Germany had been the hardest to convince. Shizuka used tact and certain words, as though they were practiced, and told him that it would be a test of courage, seeming to know exactly what to say. Needless to say, it worked.
"It will be a test of courage. America, the self-proclaimed hero, will lead the way for everyone with his group. I thought he'd rather like that, and so I devised this plan," she told him, and indeed, the idea captured America's interests immediately.
He was broken from his thoughts when Shizuka's calm voice halted his train of thought. "-Nihon-kun…"
"I'm sorry, did you say something, Shizuka-chan?" he asked, looking into her eyes for some sign of liveliness.
She turned her face toward him, her eyes still rather dismal. She remained silent as she outstretched her finger toward the object in front of them: the first door down the hall, just a little farther back from the one at the end of the hallway. He hadn't realized that they'd just stopped right in front of it.
He nodded, giving the doorknob a firm twist. His anticipation was cut short when he discovered that the door was locked, and so he dropped his hand back to his side and headed down the hall again with Shizuka loyally at his side.
As they entered the second and final door along the hallway, Shizuka's grip on Japan's hand tightened slightly. To Japan, the walls were white, the floor was beautiful hardwood, and the furniture inside was dust-free. It really was just too clean.
"Shizuka-chan, your behavior worries me." His deep voice broke the silence that had been between them.
"I'm fine. Really, I'm okay," she assured as she held his hand up to her lips, kissing it. She smiled at the warmth it had and lightly nuzzled. "The cleanliness of this place just makes me a little apprehensive."
Japan seemed to believe her mostly as he smiled at her. "I agree. For a house that is supposedly abandoned, should it not be dusty?"
Shizuka nodded, not yet releasing his hand. 'The lack of dust is not he only thing odd about this mansion. Then again, perhaps I am the only one who can hear this screaming...' "I don't like it..."
His thumb brushed across her cheek softly in a reassuring way, making her smile again. "We'll be out of here soon enough, Shizuka-chan."
'If only it were that simple...' She lowered his hand again, but did not let go of it.
There was a white sofa to their right, and like the rest of the places seen so far, it had no dust upon its surface- or its cushions, Japan noted as he patted them. The white rug that it was set upon was without a dirty footprint or blemish, as well. Even upon closer inspection, nothing could be found.
They then looked at the table in the middle of the room, where people would usually eat, or so they surmised. Japan checked each chair and every surface, not surprised when he found nothing there either. "This must be the kitchen," he commented as he looked around.
He then turned to the left of the room and saw something out of place on the ground by the counter. He bent down to see closer, and discovered that it was a shattered plate. "The plate is... broken. I have to be careful not to hurt myself."
It was then that he noticed that Shizuka was not next to him, and he did not have her hand in his. He looked around almost frantically, not exactly sure why he was suddenly so alarmed, and spotted her by the wall on the left side of the door. She was dragging her finger along its surface slowly. He got up from his kneeling position and headed over to her. He stopped behind her and cautiously outstretched his hand toward her, lightly tapping her shoulder. She whirled around to face him, surprise evident on her features.
"Are you alright?" His eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion.
She took a moment to answer, blinking. "Hai..." 'Did I… make a mistake...?'
"Then why were you over here...?"
"I was checking for dust here. I remembered that we forgot to check the walls." She smiled sweetly and showed him her finger. "No dust here, either."
He gently held her hand and checked her finger for dust. Then he nodded in agreement and looked up at her, grinning. "I see. Well, I found a broken plate by the table."
"You didn't cut yourself, did you?"
He smiled gently and shook his head. "Iie. But I believe that was the source of the crash earlier."
Shizuka nodded with her empty smile, tilting her head slightly. "You're probably right. But what do you suppose knocked it over? There aren't any open windows- In fact, they're all barred shut."
"... That's a little strange, don't you think?"
Nodding in agreement, she expressed her thoughts out loud. "It looks like a prison… I feel as though we're trapped here… It's just unnatural that there are bars in the windows, regardless of people living here or not." An involuntary shiver traveled up her spine, which caught Japan's attention immediately.
"Are you really that uncomfortable here?"
"Hai..."
"I see. Then we'll leave this place immediately once we return to the others," he told her reassuringly, gently scooping her hand into his again. This made her anxiety ease up a bit as a real smile replaced the worried expression that was present earlier.
He returned the notion as he saw this, then lead her out the door and into the hallway.
Shizuka's vision swirled and tilted as they walked down the corridor, the walls flashing from white to dark crimson. She blinked numerous times as though that would help with her sudden impairment, but when that didn't work she shook her head in hopes that it would do the same. While that also did nothing to help, her vision suddenly fixed itself again, settling with un-swirling dark crimson. She tried not to look at the stains, but couldn't keep from glancing over every once in awhile.
'Right there is where Russia died in the fourth loop… China got stabbed clean-through right there in the seventh loop... Canada's chest was slashed there in the last loop, and he died… America got his arm ripped off there in the twenty-fifth...' She couldn't resist the urge and hugged Japan's arm at the memory of an entire limb being torn away- the sickening snap of a broken bone being yanked from its joint, the sound of liquid spraying onto the floor, the tearing of skin, and the horrible, terrifying screams that came from the Yankee's mouth as it all happened.
"- Shizuka-chan? Did you hear me?"
She froze then as she realized that she had involuntarily maneuvered around his arm and to his side, where she was embracing him tightly and had her face buried in his kimono.
"Shizuka-chan?" They had stopped walking, and he was holding her close to him with one arm, looking down at her pitiful state. "What happened? Please look at me."
Her head slowly pulled away from his side and tilted upwards so she could look up at his worried expression. "... Gomenasai..." she apologized softly, blinking a few times.
"Iie, don't apologize. Just tell me what's going on," he said gently, stroking her hair.
"... Kowai… kowai..." She buried her face in his side again and gripped the cloth of his kimono.
"Is it this house?"
"H-hai… Nihon, you must keep walking. Please, don't stop..."
"Nani…? What on Earth are you talking about…?"
"Ikimashou..." She slowly let go of his side and resumed holding his hand, looking ahead as her feet once again moved her forward.
The light tug on his hand was enough to get him to move along with her, but he was still entirely perplexed. '… It will all be over once we leave this place, then I can ask her what scared her.'
As they neared the end of the long hallway, complete silence greeted them. The other countries weren't anywhere to be found, and there was no trace as to their whereabouts.
Japan sighed, holding his head with his free hand. "Did they leave, after all? How regrettable." He walked to the main entrance again and gripped the doorknob, giving it a firm twist.
"... It won't open..."
This is something I've been writing since last year. It's my interpretation of the "Hetaoni" fangame, in story-form. It's still somewhat rusty, but I hope you all like it. I have other parts on another document in my Gmail, so I'll try to update regularly. But please keep in mind that I am 17, and that means that I'm a Junior in Highschool (if you're American, like I am). I have a lot of homework to do after school. I get online whenever I can, or whenever I care less about finishing my math (like today). I am also in a major writer's block with this particular story, so if after a certain point I don't update on it, that's why. I also don't have access to Youtube (it's a long story) at home or anywhere else, so I don't have the exact storyline to follow.
I do not own Hetaoni, Hetalia, or any of the characters. Except for Shizuka. Again, she is my over-used OC.