I found Prussia on the second floor.
The journey downstairs was a blur. I may have tripped once or twice but I can't be sure. My eyes were wide open the entire time and I was rue if anyone looked they would see Japan's death replaying over and over.
Death.
Dead.
Japan was dead.
Prussia was behind a door I hadn't checked. It took two minutes of knocking and crying before he opened up and dragged me in. it was a small bedroom with a tiny desk and an even smaller table. The room was pristine and I wondered if Prussia had spent his time stress cleaning.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked, "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Is that blood?"
He took one look at me and blanched.
"That thing got me," I whispered.
I couldn't tell him about Japan. That made it too final.
He took a look at my shoulder, poking and prodding at the disgusting mess beneath the torn fabric. He tore sheets off of the bed to make bandages for me and did his best to patch me up. He threw his jacket over my shoulders and turned away, gradually starting to pace.
"This is bad," he said, talking more to himself than to me, "We need to get out of here. We need to find West and just run."
"What about the others?" I asked.
"What about them? They'll be fine without the awesome me to protect them! It's you and West I'm most worried about."
I hadn't found Germany or any sign that he was okay. If he was dead, how would Prussia react? My own stomach lurched at the thought of finding his blood stained remains in some far off part of the house.
"Have you found anybody else?" I asked.
"No. I've been here the entire time, but I found this key."
He held a rusted iron key in front of me. On the end the number 2 was etched into the metal.
"What does that mean?" I asked, running my fingers over the key – to make sure it was real and not a false sign of hope.
"Well it opened this door, but this isn't the second room so –"
"It must be for the entire floor."
We shared the same look for a few seconds. Did either of us dare leave the safety of this room? I was already so scared but everybody else was still out there. I had to be braver and stronger. I'd taken Japan's sword with me in case I ran into trouble. I had to be strong like him.
I took the key out of Prussia's hand and marched out the door. He followed me with an almost maniacal laugh and we got started. We checked every possible place in every room we came across but still were empty handed. We completely searched two rooms before coming to a third close to upstairs, which kept locking as soon as it was unlocked.
Prussia spent about a minute going back and forth with the door before I tried knocking.
"Hello~ is somebody in there?" I called.
The door opened the tiniest fraction and France poked his head out.
"Go away," he said and shut the door in our faces.
"Oi France quit being a coward and let us in!"
"No."
Prussia banged his fist against the door.
"If you don't open this door I'm going to bust it down!"
"Then I will build it back up!" France insisted.
"Then I'll bust it back down!"
"And I'll build it back up!"
I actually smiled. Their squabbling was so unfitting of this place. If I closed my eyes then we were back at the world meeting and nothing was different at all. But I had to open them again when Prussia pushed me aside and called out, "Stand back!"
He growled and took a step back then took a run at the door only for France to open it right before collision. Prussia tumbled into the room and hit the large table there.
"Oh Italy, are you injured?" France asked. He began to poke at my poorly bandaged shoulder and the gooey mess beneath it.
"I'm okay," I said. The remnants of my smile seemed convincing enough for him.
"Good, good. We should try to get out of this horrid place now; I would like to get back before the world starts missing my beautiful face."
"France you dick," Prussia groaned. He stumbled over to us while clutching his side. "Did you at least find anything useful?"
"Find anything? I've been too busy hiding from that beast to be looking for clues. You're the least important here; you find us a way out."
I cringed at that remark and the resulting, outraged screech from Prussia. I knew they could argue for hours on end and if I waited that long we would all be eaten. I knew they would be right there when I got back so I continued on upstairs.
