Hey again! Here's another update to keep you on your toes while we work on the game. By the way, if you want to see some screenshots/art/whatever, please check out our group on deviantART at the link here:

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This chapter might come off as a little boring because it was made for the sole purpose of matching with the gameplay. It may read as dull, but if you were to play it it'd be fun, trust me.

Enjoy~


Chapter 9: Phantom in the Mirror

Phantom in the Mirror

Owner: Prussia

World 1

Type: Zweihänder (German two-handed longsword)

She was so obviously lost, but she wouldn't dare admit it. After all, there was nothing scarier being lost in an unfamiliar place. Lili scolded herself for being so forgetful. Switzerland had drilled the directions into her head more than once, and yet she just had to forget.

The first part, the teleportation, was easy. They'd practiced going to several other countries. Safe countries, of course; some were too dangerous to cross into. All it took was to think about the country, and in only seconds they'd be at desired nation.

"In a forest in France, there's a hidden door leading underground," Switzerland had said, and after that a series of complicated directions involving this tree and that meadow. He had taken her to the forest, but no further because, if he was involved, the Creator would be suspicious and Lili would never make it out alive.

"Eighty-ninth tree, ninety-ninth iris," Lili muttered to herself. It felt like an impossible task; she'd already lost count at the fifty-third iris. They were strange coordinates, but she knew that if she didn't find her destination, there would be nothing left to help her.

Eighty seven, eighty eight, eighty nine. She was here. At least, she hoped she was.

Lili swallowed, gripping her gun so hard sweat began to dampen the leather grip. Slowly she raised her hand and traced a small spiral with a triangle at the center onto the thick bark shell of the tree.

A gear whirled somewhere, and she heard a soft click.

A loud crack ensued and the bark layer of the large tree peeled away, revealing a metal door. There was no doorknob, only a flat box demanding an access code.

Fingers shaking, she typed in the year the French Revolution erupted. The screen on the box blinked and the door slid open, revealing darkness. Fearing, she reached her hand in and felt nothing but empty air.

She took a deep breath, gathered her nerves, and jumped.

. . . .

The fall lasted a couple of seconds; Lili didn't even have the time to scream. She could feel the wind in her hair, her breath catching in her throat, the cold air whistling in her ears...

She landed on something soft. Lili took a moment to gather herself, then shakily got to her feet. She was in a dim room. There was nothing around her but a simple white door.

Lili stepped forward and twisted the doorknob, relieved to find a less than challenging obstacle. Why, the door wasn't even locked...

Immediately alarms began to blare. A screen she hadn't noticed before flashed a warning. As if she'd been shocked, Lili jerked her hand back and turned to run, only to remember the only exit was twenty feet above.

She held her breath and waited, but no guards came rushing from in or out. Instead, red lights from all around cast their gazes upon her like small eyes. A split second later, they shot out equally red beams, each as thin as spider silk. When they hit the ground, a wisp of smoke formed at each spot.

Lili danced away before one beam could fix itself on her. The hem of her shirt fell victim, however, and the fabric burned away, reduced to dust. She gulped, a thin trickle of sweat making its way down her forehead. Before another could assign her a fate similar to the edge of her shirt, Lili pressed herself against the cold white wall and held her breath as a beam swept across the floor, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake.

When it had passed and she was sure moving would be safe, Lili turned to look across the room. The door had swung open, as if daring her to enter, but it was too dark to tell what was beyond. Somehow, she knew it wasn't going to wait forever.

Lili slowly began to advance across the room, careful not to come in contact with any of the red lights. There were a few close calls, but in a little more than a minute she had made it safely to the door.

Her heart pounding from such a narrow escape, Lili quietly stepped through and shut the door behind her.

. . . .

The next room lit up immediately the moment she stepped inside. There was nothing that displayed the significance of the room, but that just made her warier.

In front of her was yet another door, but Lili had learned her lesson and wasn't about to make the same mistake again. She fished out a coin from her pocket and tossed it.

The coin clinked softly against the floor. Nothing happened.

She couldn't wait forever. Cautiously, Lili took a step forward. Then another. Then another. Then another, until she was literally just walking towards the door. Before she touched the doorknob, her eyes swept the room one last time.

When she touched the knob, the floor gave away.

Lili screamed as her hands fumbled for a hold, but her fingers grasped empty air. Her thoughts flashed back to a memory from so many years ago, one she would never forget. She'd been on the balcony, singing to herself, only seven years old. A vine had climbed all the way up their house, and from it had sprout a tiny, fragile flower that shone when the sunlight splashed on it. She had been trying to reach it, going as far as to climb onto the balcony edge, her fingers outstretched. Only seconds later the hard cement of the balcony had disappeared.

She couldn't remember much of the fall, only that moment when she realized she was falling and cold fear gripped her heart. And then she had heard a grunt and arms supporting her weight, felt the warmth beneath her and the relief that coursed through her veins like rushing water. She'd been trembling, sobbing, but safe.

Lili had opened her eyes to her brother staring down at her, his face white as a sheet. "B-Big bruder?"

Vash had said, "Don't do stupid things like that. It's dangerous," set Lili down, and gone back to working on his gun model.

She made another desperate grab and something rough dug into her fingers. A rope.

Shuddering at her narrow escape, Lili held on to the rope like it was her lifeline. Perhaps it had been placed here in case the system made an error and sent one of the guards tumbling down. She swung forward and grabbed onto the wall. Footholds were dug into the wall and Lili slipped her feet inside them, her hands still wrapped tight around the rope. Slowly she placed a foot into a foothold slightly above the previous, and then lifted herself upward.

It seemed eternity had passed when she finally made it to the surface. Lili let go of the rope and watched it tumble into the darkness, then crawled away from the gaping hole and collapsed, her entire body shaking. She felt tears coming but willed them away. No, I won't cry. I have to escape this horrible game.

After she had caught her breath, Lili stumbled past the awaiting door. Unlike the previous rooms, this room wasn't empty. Chairs and tables were placed almost symmetrically, except that most the ones on the left were broken and rotted, and the ones on the right mostly clean and new. There was a vase at each side, one full of fresh red roses, the other empty. Some of the paintings were disturbing; one of them portrayed a child's birthday party. All the kids in the picture were smiling and laughing, but the rest of the scene was wrong. In the background, a silhouette of a hanged person was painted, his feet dangling and arms limp. The cake on the table was oozing some kind of black substance. What seemed to be a human heart sat next to the cake, still pumping. The presents were rotting, fruit flies buzzing around the ribbons. And the birthday boy seemed to be smiling like the rest, but at a closer glance the wild hysterical laughter coming from him was not really a laugh, but a scream, his eyes bulging out in extreme terror instead of excitement. What looked like red face paint became blood dripping down his face, and somehow the shadows on the children's faces became decayed flesh, bits of bone peaking out from underneath...

Lili looked away, her breathing picking up speed again. She wanted to tear down the picture and toss it in the hole in the previous room, but that was probably not the best idea. She scanned the room again. The whole place could be a mirror image, she decided, save for a few misplaced items. I wonder...

She removed half the roses in the left vase and placed them in the right one. She rearranged the chairs, tables, and adornments, until the entire room was symmetrical, broken items on the left and new ones on the right. She switched the paintings around, moving the birthday party picture to the left side of the room.

And the door swung open.

. . . .

"Liechtenstein," the man in the chair said, "or is it Lili?"

"Lili," she confirmed. She shuffled her feet, suddenly feeling awkward. "Are...are you Austria?"

"So Switzerland sent you," he said, mostly to himself. "About time. And yes, I am Austria. Are you here to get me out of this awful place?"

"I...I think so," Lili answered. She moved towards Austria and began sawing at his ropes with the Swiss Army knife Switzerland had given her.

"That oaschloch France locked me up because he didn't have the guts to pick a fight with the stronger countries like Russia or China," Austria said as she worked. "But that's all he's good for, don't you think? Picking on the smaller countries?"

"Uh, yes." Lili cleared her throat. "Mr Austria?"

"Just Austria is fine," he said. "What is it?"

"Switzerland told me to come here because you knew something important," Lili said, as she finished cutting the last of Austria's ropes.

He rolled his shoulders and rubbed the places where the ropes had dug into his skin. "Ah, yes. Of course. You want to know who the Error is."

She nodded.

Austria leaned forward in his chair, his violet eyes darkening. "We aren't supposed to know," he said in a low voice. "None of us are. But I found out by accident when I was patrolling Vienna. He was there, planting a bomb in Schönbrunn Palace. Naturally, I was furious. He was destroying a world heritage site!"

"So who was it?" Lili asked.

"I shouted at him and he ran," Austria continued. "He was wearing a hood, but I glimpsed his face for a split second." He leaned closer. "It was..."

That was when time slowed down.

The silence was deafening as Austria faltered and his eyes grew large. Suddenly he wasn't in the chair anymore, but laying on the floor, trembling violently.

"Austria! A-Are you okay?" Lili knelt next to him.

"Vienna," he said in voice barely above a whisper. "They're destroying Vienna."

Lili could only look on in horror as he coughed blood and crimson pooled onto the floor. She stood to see if she could find anything of use when she saw the words on the wall.

They were blood red and still dripping, each letter forming slowly across the white surface.

CHEATER.

Austria grabbed her wrist and yanked her down until his lips were right by her ear. "The...Error...is...sia," he whispered, and coughed weakly.

"Don't talk," Lili said. "You need help!"

But Austria shook his head. "...rror...is...sia," he repeated.

Lili, helpless, leaned closer to hear him better. "W-Who is it...?"

"...Russia," Austria said, almost inaudibly.

Cheater, a voice was chanting in her head, and all around the bloodstained room. Cheater, cheater, cheater, cheater, cheater...

"Russia?" Lili asked desperately. "Is it Russia?"

CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER CHEATER

When he didn't reply, Lili shook him. "Austria, please, stay with me!" she cried, but the light in his eyes had died and Austria was gone.

End of Chapter Nine


Congratulations, you just finished 2000 words. Thanks for reading and again, if you want to see stuff about the game go to the link at the top of the page.

Byes~

...x Whitlinger x...