Alfred's heart beat hard, making his chest stick out and his arms try to reach something. The smell of roses, a hint of cigarette, and the soft breath of Earl Gray, he longed for them. All that was left of that was a letter and a large, ancient, and possibly haunted mansion.

For Ludwig and Matthew they all had a similar reaction, thinking about their older brother, wondering if they were well and whole, and felt betrayed.

"What the heck man? Why did they decide to keep this all a secret?!" Alfred's voice broke the silence.

"I'm sure they had their reasons Alfred. Even here it says, they can't tell us –"

"Damn well Arthur could tell us. But you know him. He's got to protect us. I don't need protecting, he clearly needed it!" The American waved his hands in the air. "Next world meeting imma make it a rule, no fucking world secrets!"

"Yeah, I do know him, better than you do!" Matthew shouted. "Whatever this is its clearly dangerous therefore he had every right to keep it from us! Even Papa Francis and Gilbert agreed!"

"Typical. You always defend him." Alfred snarled. The two brothers felt their bodies stiff from the long night, their eyes dry, and their tempers short.

(It is your time to be Awesome.) Gilbert's words rang in Ludwig's mind, for he'd only said that twice, at the beginning of World War 1 and the end of World War 2, when his brother and he were separated. To hear them again, made Ludwig's shoulders stiffen, his cornflower blue eyes become cold, and his expression severe, the one Feliciano hated to see but admired the most.

With a careful hand, he folded the letter and put it in his pocket.

"Enough. It has been a long night. We will sleep. Tomorrow we will find this Enchanting Room and see what all of this is really about." He gave out these orders naturally, and both the brothers obeyed. With that Ludwig began to walk back to the Main Hall.

"Uhh about that. We can't sleep in rooms, upstairs is completely locked, and Artie probably lost the key somewhere in this stupid mansion."

"I'll look for it." The Canadian volunteered, feeling he needed some time to think and started on his search. He eventually found the key broken in half in the Living Room. Matthew was surprised and disappointed.

Meanwhile Ludwig hired Alfred to get the cleaning supplies and both of them labored in the study, till the Butler was properly wrapped in a tarp, the desk clean, and the wooden floor immaculate, not a single crust of blood between the cracks. Ludwig stood over the shining floor with his arms crossed and a proud smile. Alfred rubbed his wrists where there was this annoying pain and felt his hands softened by the chemicals, but was thankful that the gruesome death scene was no more.

The three of them made themselves comfortable in the Living Room, one of the few rooms that was unlocked. As they prepared the room, the lights in the manor flickered a bit before turning off all together. Thunder rumbled in response.

A small whimper was heard as Alfred sat down.

"I knew this place was haunted." He whispered.

Click

A dim yellow glow emanated from the flame of Ludwig's lighter. The other two came close to it.

"It probably got overloaded." Matthew said.

"Ja. Probably. Where's the circuit breaker?"

"In the basement. Follow me." Matthew and Ludwig began to leave the room and Alfred silently followed. Wherever that lighter went Alfred never let it or the other two out of his sight.

Matthew froze. In front of them lay a blank wall. The Canadian approached it and pressed his hands against the wallpaper, feeling the wall all over. There were no edges, it was perfectly smooth.

"That's... strange. I swore the basement was here." The image flashed in his mind. He recalled when he first visited England's house as a young teenager, right before the war of 1812. He'd also visited last Christmas, this door led to the garden and other parts of the house.

"Maybe you're tired Mat." Alfred tried to sound normal, but his voice betrayed him. Missing basements, light's going out. He shouldn't have watched too many ghost films. Now he felt the house that kept Arthur safe, wasn't safe at all. How his caretaker managed to live with ghosts and poltergeists was beyond his imagination.

"Besides that. It's really odd." Matthew stepped away from the wall. "How else can we get to the basement?" He muttered to himself.

Ludwig let out a long sigh but a knowing smile. "I'm sure Britain doesn't only rely on electricity." The other two followed Ludwig who'd managed to find an oil lamp in the library. There was a meager quarter left and the German charged himself to make sure it was used sparingly till they found more oil.

Before retiring they took a bathroom break and then got a midnight snack for Alfred in the kitchen. Matthew had to tuck his brother into bed with a lullaby until his brother was soundly snoring, his nerves at ease.

"Hard to believe sometimes, your brother is a superpower but inside he's still an innocent child."

"Yeah." Matthew's hands swept the other's hair, while he snored peacefully. "Hard to believe Italy once defeated the Ottoman Empire."

A pleasant chuckle escaped Ludwig's nose. "This is true."

(Italy…)Ludwig began to wonder if Feliciano was involved in this, if he was alright.

A loud yawn dispersed his train of thought.

"You best sleep. I'll wake you up in four hours, after my watch." He said.

Selflessness begged to argue, but Matthew simply nodded and slept on the couch across. His jacket draped over him and Kumajiro snuggled in his arms.


One hour passed. The storm outside became nothing but a lulling trickle. The clock was ticking, ticking, its pendulum swinging, the Earth slowly spinning. Ludwig opened his drowsy eyes. The fire in the fireplace was small. He got it another log, and prodded the embers around with the poker. When a wave of fatigue hit him, he hung his jacket and did reps of push-ups and sit-ups on a carpet.

Eventually Ludwig visited the library thinking that in Arthur's vast collection he'd find something to keep his mind preoccupied. In fact he became a little curious, perhaps it would tell him something about Arthur himself. His eyes passed the rolling hills of leather binds, gold or silver letters embedded in them with ribbons holding a certain place. He smirked. It seemed the Brit was very fond of fairytales, folklore, and the magical world, no doubt influenced by his brothers. It was the biggest collection.

On the other side though, as Ludwig strolled into a particular section, he quirked and eyebrow.

Freud… Jung… there was a fairly large portion on psychology, dream interpretation. Then right after that, Lovecraft? Just on the other shelf as his lighter passed, the books here were fairly thick and with strange letters on them. Pulling one out Ludwig couldn't find a single word in English or even any other recognizable language. The harder he tried to make sense of it; he started seeing double and quickly put the book back.

Lighting flashed out of the corner of his eye. To his right was a table with a desk lamp. A book was open and it seemed someone had been writing some notes out of it.

On an open page, there was a sketch of a cadaver, dressed in red meat, its bony spine visible. Ludwig blinked his eyes. (Did… did it just move?) When he glanced at it again, it was a still drawing. (No. I must be very tired.) He yawned.

The drawing turned its ugly head. In the dark recesses of its empty, black, soulless sockets two bright red stars burst.

"Raargh!"

Ludwig tripped in fright, with one wrong step back, he fell and hit his head on the floor. His hand, which pulled his personal pistol out, pressed the trigger. The bullet flew out the window. Shards of glass shimmered down all over him, shattering like rain violently splashing into puddles. He swore heard the sound of a woman laughing.


Space, the vastness of it. Alfred loved it as he watched the stars look like little holes of light on a black canvas. He was floating in a space suit outside the ISS. He let the weightlessness carry him, feeling safe, knowing he was tied to the station with a cord.

Or so he thought.

When Alfred turned he saw that line had broken and he could feel something pull him away from the only thing keeping him from floating out into the darkness. Now vast abyss felt malevolent, pulling him away from safety. Alfred tried to his jet pack to push himself back. His thumb madly fidgeting with the button, but nothing worked. He began to paddle frantically, his breath increasing. He knew he shouldn't be doing it, but at this point he wanted anything to work. It felt like he was falling, his heart on the verge of exploding and he had to breath fast to keep up.

No matter how far he reached out, pushing every muscle, extending all parts of his arms and legs, as if he could grow bones at the moment, just to touch the cord that snaked away from him.

Oxygen low and running empty. His screen beeping. His heart beating in erratic palpitations. Eventually he just stood still and let the darkness surround him.

In his sky blue orbs was Earth reflected in them, his beautiful home. He turned right as Venus and Mercury were in front of it. He turned left... so were the other planets. All of them neatly aligned in a row.

Alfred remembered. Today was the day that came every 26,000 years. The Galactic Alignment and he planned to watch it with everyone at his house... but no one came to the meeting. Something happened to all of them.

In the few seconds he blinked, a green wave of energy burst from the sun, like a tsunami of energy and Alfred closed his eyes and shielded his face. At least he'd die quickly.

Matthew woke up on a sheet of ice as the sun set in the Northern Sky. He was wearing his thick coat, Kumajiro at his side as an actual polar bear.

"It's such a shame today is our last day, Matthew." The bear said.

"Kuma, stop saying silly things." Matthew said in a worried tone. When Kumajiro said something cryptic, it often held meaning to it.

"Just watch and stay by me."

Matthew turned his attention as the sun turned pale and set. Its light faded, consumed by the dark blue sky. It was clear that night as he breathed hot air over his gloved hands. Above him he could make out every single star, and map the constellations in a matter of seconds. That's when a green streak of aurora borealis loomed over them.

"They're coming…" The bear looked at Matthew, with the saddest black eyes and a whine.

The Canadian trembled, feeling as if there was nothing beautiful about this phenomena, nothing felt right. Something terrible was going to happen, his heart knew it. It wasn't long before he clutched his stomach, folded over, and cried. Pain searing the stars slowly disappeared in the night sky. He could hear his people scream but why? Who was causing him pain? They were no shots fired, no missiles launched, nor sirens wailed. They were being eaten alive, consumed whole, whipped and clawed at by something horrible but Matthew couldn't see it yet.

Digging his fingers into the ice he forced himself to get up, to fight this.

"How do I stop… it?" Matthew asked, using all his strength to get up.

"You have to wake up. You have to see beyond the veil. Then you will see everything, and you will know. Time is short. If you waste it, everyone will die."

Matthew woke up.


A bright light burned the German's eyes. He woke up. Outside angry, frustrated, black storm clouds loomed over London. Ludwig tried to hold his head and vision still as it cleared. He could hear the birds sing so clearly and the wind blow. It was bright outside. Perhaps morning, or noon?

He groaned and cursed, wondering how even ended up in the library.

The floor was glittering, with what Ludwig could tell was broken glass. Examining the window there was a whole in one of the highest glass panes.

The image flashed of the monster he'd seen. Ludwig jumped up to the desk. There were no books on the desk. (This... I swore there were books here.) He passed his hands on the many binds of the books. All of them he could read in plain English. He glanced back at the window. He remembered shooting his gun. And that laughter. But everything else contradicted him and he finally agreed he might've made up some things.

Returning to the lounge room he saw that Matthew and Alfred were also just barely waking up, but more like they'd just come out from drowning in a pool.

"- and then I saw this green flash!" Alfred said.

"I saw… something like that too." Matthew put his hand over his mouth, thinking, what could it mean? The brothers had a certain connection of knowing when the other had a terrible dream, one Ludwig was familiar with.

"Me too." He said as he approached the brothers who were gathering their bearings.

"Dude did someone hit you on the head?" The moment Alfred finished his sentence, he pulled out his gun, waiting for whoever hit Ludwig.

"Nien... I thought I saw something and I woke up on the floor." That was all Ludwig was willing to admit. "It was a trick of the light."

"Oh, what time is it?" Though Alfred asked, they all pulled out their phones. All of them were dead. "Shit. We must've left them on."

Ludwig checked his wristwatch. When he glanced at it, he let out a small gasp. "According to my dead watch... it's 3:33."

Tapping the glass the clock didn't seem to move. In fact now that he paid attention to it, the house was eerily quiet. He couldn't hear the tick-tock of the grandfather clock. They all turned their heads toward it. One hand at 12, the other at 6 and one at 3 and it didn't seem to move at all.

Matthew came up to the clock that was in a rather odd location on the wall. He noticed two thing cuts on the floor right next to it. He opened the access panel of the clock. With a finger he spun the hands.

Click.

The other two quickly stood behind Matthew hovering over his shoulder. With just enough force he swung the pendulum.

The wall rumbled before it finally moved and it revealed a secret hallway. Slow but cautions steps were taken as the three of them entered the Enchanting Room.

"Dude, Artie seriously needs to get some new hobbies." Alfred said as they entered the room. It was dark, only lit by some three wax candles on one wall.

From what little light these candles gave and the daylight that tried to creep its way into the hall, they could make out a large tome sitting on the desk. There were paintings hung on the wall, a single bookshelf, books scattered everywhere, a large map with a spider web of yarn sprawled on all four corners, pictures taped, news articles beside them. There were even old tawny colored pieces of parchment, some were flaking away from the years.

"You know Arthur, he likes a good parlor trick." Matthew said, as they proceeded to approach the desk.

Once again Alfred could feel something come up from his stomach, but luckily he just let out some gas. "Sorry." His hand covered his eyes and he only peeked through a little sliver.

The other two weren't too disturbed by a measly burp. They were disturbed by the book. Its cover was made of human skin, there was no mistaking it. And the spine, was a literal human spine. A round ornament made out of human teeth decorated the cover with a seal made out of what they hoped was just blood colored wax. There was a marking on it.

All three of them were spell bound as their hands reached out to touch it and when they moment they did, visions flashed in their mind, memories that weren't their own with familiar faces, flashes of green, blue, and red, places they'd never seen, and then three shots of a gun.

When they awoke from their trance, they were all gasping for air, their pupils small and frightened. They could now hear the wandering whispers in their ears that were crying, begging, laughing, and screaming in agony. The world slowly warped when they turned their heads as if they were drunk. A couple minutes passed and the effects wore off.

"What the fuck was that?!"

"I don't know… but we have to read that book." Matthew said remembering that they had to do this, to be strong, that time couldn't be wasted.

"No, no, no I'm not reading… that thing!" Alfred pressed himself against the wall. "It touched my mind, and I feel like… like nothing makes sense anymore! If this was so fucking important... what happened in there... that's something I needed to know like not at the last minute?!"

Ludwig picked Alfred up by his collar and pressed him against the wall, even though his hands were shaking a little. "You are going to read this, and together we're going to figure out exactly what is going on. Those were our instructions. You saw what I saw! Everyone, our friends, took part in this… sacrificed effort into this. You are the United States. Grow some balls!"

As the two nations were locked in a stare off, Alfred could see Ludwig was afraid, very afraid, just as he was. But he was also willing to go through things he didn't understand. And Ludwig knew that inside Alfred, beyond the child, there was a fire, an untamable fire of freedom and liberty, and to preserve those very ideas no matter what the cost. With that they reach a silent accord.

They took the book out into the daylight of the library and sat down at a table. When they opened it. The first chapter was written in Latin, but soon the letter quickly changed into each nation's dominant language. They read.

"I had no knowledge of what was to come… nor did I care. How the knowledge changed me, it will also change you. As you read this, you will come to learn fear as I have. You too will come to understand… or you will perish."