Warnings: Same as usual? If you've gotten this far I assume your fine with it all
Chapter 9
Arthur and Alfred had been walking for a while when Arthur gave a gasp.
"Bloody hell! I forgot! I forgot to give Feliciano his ID and paper doll scrap back," he groaned, face-palming. Alfred pinched the bridge of his nose with a grumble.
"Nice going, dumb-dumb. What do we do now?"
Arthur smacked Alfred's arm.
"You could have remembered too, you arse! Whatever. I'll give it to him when we meet back up," he replied. Arthur began walking again. Alfred set his jaw and pushed Arthur's head forward.
"Hey don't blame me for your screw up, man," he snorted, walking ahead. Arthur growled.
"You're such a twat," he snapped. Arthur pushed past Alfred and stomped ahead of him. He spotted an unknown hallway and decided to go down it. Arthur spotted double doors at the end and hurried towards them. He pushed them open and stepped out onto a walkway.
Alfred growled back and ran after Arthur. He pushed through the double doors and came skidding to a stop before running into the blonde.
"Look who's talking, you grump!"
Arthur gave him a sneer.
"At least I was smart enough to find this damn walkway," he replied, walking towards the other set of doors. "But I guess your brain is too full of thoughts of junk food to do much."
Alfred's eye twitched with suppressed anger and he swiftly hooked his foot under Arthur's, effectively tripping the Brit. He laughed and stuck his tongue out as he pushed the doors open.
"Serves you right, asshole!"
Arthur glared at Alfred and quickly tackled him to the ground, smacking him in the head repeatedly.
"You're a complete moron! Why do you have to be so damn insufferable!?" he snarled. Alfred fell with a grunt and raised his arms over his head trying to block Arthur's smacks.
"Why do you have to be so stuck up and mean?!" he growled, raising his knee to smack Arthur in the stomach. Arthur gave a gasp as Alfred's knee connected with his stomach. He rolled off and lay on the ground, a pained wheeze leaving his mouth.
Alfred stayed laying on his back and looked over at Arthur, instantly feeling bad. He hadn't intended to hit him so hard. He sighed and reached over to touch Arthur's hand.
"Hey, I'm sorry ok?"
Arthur took a moment to get his breath back, and when he did he felt tears gather in his eyes.
"I…I don't know what's going on with me…" he whimpered, covering his face with his free hand. Alfred blinked in surprise and rolled over to sit up and place a hand on Arthur's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze.
"Hey, it's alright, man. I'm not hurt," he replied, more than a little confused. Arthur slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, Alfred. I really don't know what came over me," he said, holding his head in his hands. Alfred blinked and awkwardly wrapped his arms around Arthur's shoulders, pulling him close.
"It's alright, dude. I didn't mean it either," he replied, rubbing the Brit's back in slow, gentle circles. Arthur relaxed and sighed.
"I think it's this building. It's messing with my head," he muttered. Alfred nodded, continuing to rub his friend's back.
"Well, you have been getting possessed pretty often. Heh, I think that would mess with anyone's head pretty damn good," he chuckled softly. Arthur gave a single nod. He stood and held his hand out to help Alfred up.
"So…is this the other building you mentioned? The one you and Matthew found?" Arthur asked. Alfred accepted the help and placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder with a small smile. He looked at the building in front of them.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied. Arthur walked over to the other double doors and pushed them open. He stepped inside and grimaced. The air inside was stifling. Looking around, he noticed two doors on opposite sides of the room. He figured they ought to go in the door closest to them first.
"Oh!" Arthur gasped in shock. Laying on the ground ahead was a fresh corpse. Alfred looked away and gagged. The stench was bad and he wasn't sure he wanted to know who it was...
Arthur spotted an ID and walked over to pick it up.
"It seems this person was called Roderich Edlestein. Wha!? He was stabbed!" he exclaimed, quickly taking a few steps back. "How awful."
Alfred took a silent breath of relief. He was worried it was another or their friends. He turned to look and instantly regretted it.
"Ugh! Yeah. Poor guy."
Arthur gave a hum of inquiry when he saw something else nearby. He walked over and picked up the stuffed polar bear.
"I wonder who dropped this…a child, maybe?" Arthur wondered, going back over to Alfred to show him. Alfred's eyes widened and he snatched the bear away. For a moment he was speechless as he looked into the shiny black button eyes.
"..No...This...This is Matty's..." he choked out, eyes filling with tears. Arthur was shocked.
"Oh," was all he could say. Arthur wasn't sure what to think, but thing certainly didn't seem good.
Matthew sat on the ground, back against a wall, and rubbed at his eyes. He hadn't heard Andersen in a while and he couldn't keep running.
"Aww, poor thing. Heheh."
Matthew gasped and looked up. Standing in front of him was a young boy dressed in a sailor outfit.
"W-who are you?" Matthew asked, feeling a little uneasy. The boy snickered and grinned.
"I need to tell you something. Will you listen to me?" he asked. Matthew looked around, then back at the spirit.
"Umm…Alright, I suppose," he agreed, standing up. "Usually I'm afraid of ghosts, but you don't seem all that frightening."
The boy grinned.
Arthur and Alfred had looked all over the building.
"There's so much blood everywhere," Arthur commented as they walked back downstairs. Alfred had been mostly silent, clutching Mathew's stuffed polar bear to his chest. He nodded once with a hum of agreement. Arthur wished he could cheer Alfred up, but he didn't know what to say. They walked into the front entryway when the sound of crying caught Arthur's attention. He followed the sound and gave a noise of surprise.
"Matthew?"
Matthew looked up from where he'd been crouched behind a cabinet. Alfred's head jumped up with so much speed he nearly got whiplash. He ran across the entryway and threw his arms around Mathew.
"Oh thank god, Matty! I was so worried about you!" he cried, helping his cousin to stand. Matthew returned the hug with equal vigor.
"Alfred!" he exclaimed. "I thought you left! I was so scared!"
Alfred pulled back and ruffled his cousin's blonde hair.
"Hell no! I wouldn't leave you behind, kiddo!" he chuckled. He held up the stuffed polar bear in his other hand with a smile. "Don't ever lose this again! You scared me."
Matthew took the bear.
"Kumajiro! I didn't even realize I'd dropped him…Thank you," he replied, grinning happily. Arthur smiled, glad to see that Matthew was alright.
Alfred smiled brightly and gently punched Mathew's shoulder.
"Sure thing, buddy. Come on, stick with us."
Matthew nodded.
"Oh, do you know where the Custodian's Closet is? While I was looking for you, I was told that there was something important in there," he requested. Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"Who told you?" he asked. Matthew shrugged.
"Some spirit," he replied. "It was scary, but it didn't attack me."
Alfred blinked and looked at Arthur.
"What did this spirit look like, Matty?" he asked, a little worried. Matthew shrugged.
"I don't remember. I was panicking too much. Sorry," he replied. Alfred gave a small smile and put his hand on Mathew's shoulder.
"It's ok, buddy. No harm done." He turned to Arthur. "I guess our next stop is the Custodian Closet, hmm?"
Arthur nodded.
"Right. Besides, there are friendly spirits here. Maybe whatever is in the Custodian's Closet will help us get out," he replied, leading the way out of the second building. Alfred was skeptical. Sure there were some nice spirits here. But those were the ones they had gotten their tongues back. The ones who were out to get them were the ones left over.
A deep empty feeling dropped down into Alfred's gut and a chill ran up his spine. In the back of his mind he seriously doubted they were going to get out of this alive. Or, if they did, it wouldn't be unscathed.
Arthur led the two into the first building a paused.
"That hallway wasn't there before…" he said, looking at the new hallway.
"Should we check it out, eh?" Matthew asked. Arthur nodded.
"It might lead somewhere important," he replied. Leading the way once more, Arthur walked along the new hallway and was surprised when they arrived outside a door labeled 'Custodian's Closet'.
Alfred blinked.
"That was easy..." he said, his voice hinting his suspicion. It was a little too easy given what Hell they had to go through earlier. Arthur hummed his agreement. He tried the door and it opened easily. As soon as Arthur stepped inside he was hit was a horrible odor.
"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed, pressing his hands over his nose and mouth. Arthur, reluctantly, walked in further. He recognized that smell, unfortunately. Alfred cringed and pulled Mathew behind him.
"Don't look," he ordered, turning his cousin around as he looked inside. "What's in there, Arthur?"
Arthur looked around and saw nothing unusual, except for how big it was. He walked over to the closet and opened the door. The smell was overpowering and he had to take a few steps back.
"Someone died in here!" he called back. Something inside, behind the body, caught his eye. "Alfred, Matthew, I think you ought to come here. There's some sort of light inside the closet."
Alfred was reluctant to let Mathew inside but, with a sigh, did. He held his nose as the two walked closer.
"Ugh! What light is so important?"
Arthur walked closer to the closet and peered back inside. Now that he was looking properly, he could tell what the corpse inside was wearing.
"Oh…That's…This corpse belongs to Natalia," he said, feeling a little sad. Arthur shook his head and leaned back in.
"Look back into the corner, Alfred. Doesn't it look like a gap or something?" he asked. Alfred sucked in a breath and looked in, having to pry his eyes from the gore of the corpse. He noticed the gap in the wall.
"Hey, yeah! That is a gap! Should we check it out?"
Arthur nodded.
"Yes," he said, stepping over Natalia's corpse and into the closet. "Be careful not to step on the body."
Arthur pressed against the wall at the back and it creaked open. He slid through the opening into an odd room with a single light and a ladder. Alfred held the gap open while Mathew stepped inside and, giving one last look to Natalia's corpse, slipped through himself. Once through, he looked around the room.
"Well, we don't have much in the way of options, do we." he snorted, walking over to the ladder. Arthur joined him at the base of the ladder.
"Apparently not," he agreed. Arthur tested the ladder and frowned. "It's a bit shaky. We should go up one at a time. I don't think it will hold all of us at once."
Not wasting any time, Arthur began to climb up the ladder. Matthew looked at his cousin.
"Do you want to go next? Or should I?" he asked. Alfred put a hand on Mathew's shoulder and gave a cheeky grin.
"You next, little buddy. Be careful, ok?"
Matthew nodded.
"You be careful too," he said, before climbing up after Arthur. Alfred gave a small chuckle and watched Mathew climb up, quickly following.
"Alright, where to now, Mr. Tour Guide?" he teased, dusting some cobwebs and heavy brown dust off his pants as he stepped through a door and into, surprisingly, a bathroom. Arthur stood outside the stall, looking down at the body that was shrouded with their school uniform coat.
"I think…that's Lovino," he said. Matthew was looking away sadly. Alfred's eyes widened and he blinked back a tear.
"Poor Feliciano..." he whispered. He had heard from Ludwig that Lovino didn't make it but... this was really bad. Arthur nodded.
"We have to get out of this school. I can't handle anyone else dying," he said, leaving the bathroom. Alfred hummed agreement and led Mathew out.
"Where should we go now?" he asked, voice melancholy. Arthur shrugged.
"I suppose we just keep walking around. This school is changing more often, it seems, so maybe we'll be able to find new areas," he said, leading them downstairs. Matthew nodded.
"It does look pretty different than when we first saw it," he agreed.
Ludwig and Feliciano had been searching for the others for a while, however, Ludwig had no idea where they were. Everything had changed. There were new hallways and spaces that shouldn't be next to each other were. They were currently looking at a strange split in the directions of the hallway.
Ludwig chose a random hallway and came to a stop before a machine with a lever.
"Hmm….I wish there was a label on this thing. Then we'd know if we should pull it or not," he said. Feliciano nodded and gripped it.
"Well, let's find out anyway."
He pulled it down but the rust on it was making it difficult.
"Feliciano!" Ludwig exclaimed angrily. There was a brief rumbling and then nothing. Ludwig sighed. "Feliciano, you shouldn't pull strange levers!"
Feliciano let go and stepped back from the machine, head hung slightly.
"Sorry, Ludwig..." he apologized, twiddling his fingers. "It just seemed better than doing nothing."
Ludwig shook his head.
"It's fine, since it didn't seem to do anything. But please be more careful next time. I don't want you to get hurt," he said, placing a hand on Feliciano's shoulder. Feliciano blushed slightly and smiled.
"Ok. But I don't think you would let me get hurt, Ludwig," he replied, leaning into the German's touch slightly.
Ludwig gave Feliciano a small smile.
"Of course not," he replied before leading him along the hallway. Unfortunately, there wasn't anywhere else to go due to the multiple holes in the floor.
They headed back down the winding hall and took the other way. This one was short and stopped at a small room. In two corners of the room were marble pedestals. Ludwig looked at the statue he had.
"Maybe this goes on one of them," he commented, walking over to one of the pedestals. There was a round groove in the center that seemed like it would fit the dragon statue. Ludwig set it down and it fit perfectly. "We'll need to find a second one."
Feliciano hummed.
"But where do we even start to look for it? This one was given to us," he wondered aloud. Ludwig shook his head.
"I don't know. However, we can't go any further in this area. We should look elsewhere," he replied. Feliciano nodded once.
"What if we go back and meet up with Arthur and Alfred? Maybe they found the other one!" he suggested hopefully. Ludwig nodded and smiled.
"Good idea. At the very least, they might have some valuable information," he agreed.
The two walked back the way they had come and managed to find their way back to the meeting spot.
"I suppose we'll have to wait for them to show up," Ludwig said. Feliciano nodded and leaned absentmindedly into Ludwig's chest.
"Sì. I wonder how long we'll have to wait," he yawned quietly. Ludwig shrugged and blushed, hesitantly wrapping an arm around Feliciano.
"Alfred! Look, they're there already. We won't have to wait," Arthur's voice came from the other side of the hole. Ludwig looked over and saw as Arthur and Alfred and…Matthew came into view. Even though he didn't know Matthew very well at all, he was happy to see that Matthew had survived.
Feliciano pulled back and smiled, waving happily at the others.
"Yay! You all are alright! Hi Mathew!" he called. Matthew smiled and waved back.
"Hi. It's good to see you two," he called back. Arthur walked to the edge of the hole.
"Feliciano, I have you're ID. I'm sorry that I forgot to give it back earlier," he said. "I'll toss it over to you. Ready?"
Feliciano perked up and nodded.
"Alright. I'm ready."
He crouched into an awkward looking position, making Alfred laugh loudly. Arthur tossed the ID over to Feliciano.
"It has your paper scrap with it. Don't lose that again," he told the Italian. Feliciano fell to the side to grab the ID, nearly losing it down the hole.
"Phew. I got it! Grazie," he replied, sitting back up. Arthur nodded.
"Oh, by the way, we wanted to tell you that we found something odd. There is a secret passage that leads from the Custodian's Closet to the girl's bathroom upstairs," he said. Ludwig frowned.
"That is odd indeed," he agreed. Feliciano froze at the mention of the bathroom but occupied himself with stuffing his ID and the scrap of paper into his pocket. Alfred noticed the Italian tense.
"I would probably stay out of there though, dude. A girl died in the closet and it ain't pretty," he added, hoping that would derail bringing Feliciano back to his brother's corpse. Matthew nodded in agreement.
"Arthur, Alfred, we were wondering if you found another marble statue? We found where they go," Ludwig inquired. Alfred shook his head.
"Arthur and I didn't. Matty, did you find a little statue?"
Matthew shook his head.
"No, I didn't," he replied. Feliciano looked up at Ludwig.
"Where should we look?" he asked. Ludwig shook his head.
"I don't know," he said. Alfred shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry, man. We'll keep an eye out for one too."
Ludwig nodded and turned to Feliciano.
"Let's just keep looking," he said, leading Feliciano away. Feliciano turned back and waved as he was led away.
"Bye-Bye!"
Alfred waved lazily and turned back to Arthur and Mathew.
"So where to now?"
Arthur shrugged.
"We do what they're doing. Just keep exploring," he said, walking away. Arthur led them along the changed hallways. As they walked, Arthur spotted some papers on the ground. He picked it up and read it over.
"Natalia's Notes. Hmm," he hummed. Arthur opened it to one of the pages. "'I attempted to tell my beloved Ivan of my findings today, but he wouldn't listen. Why doesn't he listen? If he had…we could have gone to Sunnyside Middle School together. Maybe I'll go on my own, first, and then when he has time to worry over where I am, I'll return. Then he'll listen to me. And then we can go back together'…Wait, there's drops of blood on this. What happened?"
Alfred shook his head.
"I don't know, man, but she sounds a little crazy," he replied. Arthur sighed.
"We'll keep an eye out for more of these. Maybe there will be important information from them," he said. Alfred shrugged.
They walked for quite a while, however, they came to a stop outside the Science Lab. Blood was smeared over the doors. Alfred grimaced.
"Do we have to go in here?" he complained, not wanting to deal with another clue in blood. Arthur was about to reply when he saw Peter walk around the corner. The ghost child grinned and walked into the Science Lab.
"I…maybe? It could be important," Arthur said. Alfred groaned and turned the handle.
"Alright, let's get this over with."
Arthur and Matthew followed Alfred inside. The room was rather large and, though dirty, still mostly intact. Standing at the front of the room was what looked like a tall man with a sheet over him.
"…I really hope that's not a body," Matthew whimpered. Alfred nodded and walked up to it.
"Yeah. I'll check."
He reached out and lifted a corner of the sheet up to look. He gave a sigh of relief and turned back to the other two with a smile.
"It's ok, dudes. It's just a dummy."
Matthew and Arthur sighed.
"That's good," Matthew said. Arthur began looking around the lab when he spotted something on one of the tables.
"Hey, it's another statue," he told the others. Alfred turned to look.
"Hey yeah! Nice catch, man," he picked it up. Matthew smiled.
"Now we can give it to Ludwig and Feliciano," he said. Matthew's eyes went wide when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Neither Alfred nor Arthur were close enough to do that. Matthew turned and let out a scream. The anatomical model was right behind him, muscled hand on his shoulder. He ran forward past Alfred and Arthur.
The sheet on the model fell away as it began to approach and Matthew screamed louder.
"ANDERSEN!"
He ran towards the exit. Alfred jumped and ran towards the model. How the Hell did Mathew know its name? And how was it moving?! He grabbed a chair from one of the desks and hit the model over the head with it.
The "anatomical model" didn't even flinch. It grabbed Alfred and began to squeeze him tightly around the throat.
"Alfred!" Arthur and Matthew shouted at the same time. Both ran over and attempted to get the "model's" hands off Alfred. It smacked at Arthur and Matthew with its free hand, attempting to fend them off.
Alfred kicked at the model as he gasped for breath, trying to pry the gross, fleshy hand from his throat. Eventually, as it attempted to attack all of them, it dropped Alfred.
"Alfred run!" Arthur shouted, dodging a fist to the face. Matthew ran over and grabbed Alfred's arm and began pulling him towards the exit. Alfred coughed and hacked, his vision blurry. He tried to hurry to stand and pushed Mathew out the door.
"Go... Get out, Matty!" he cried. Arthur grabbed Alfred and practically threw him out the door.
"Don't be a bloody idiot!" he snapped, rushing after them. The door slammed shut behind them. Alfred stood with some weakness and breathed heavily, eyes wide at the door.
"Good god! Don't tell me that was a Real person!"
Matthew whimpered, rocking back and forth.
"That was…oh god! He…that…" he muttered, looking scared. Arthur frowned.
"Matthew?" he inquired. Alfred pulled Mathew into a hug and shushed him.
"It's ok, Matty. Shhh. Just breathe," he said soothingly. Matthew clung to Alfred, breathing slowly.
"Alfred…that was a person," he said. Alfred swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to be brave for his cousin, and continued to rock the scared blonde.
"...Yeah. I-I know. But it's gone now... You don't have to worry."
Matthew nodded and slowly relaxed. Arthur sighed.
"I wish we could rest after that, but we ought to keep going," he said. Alfred nodded and gave Mathew's back one last rub before straightening.
"Yeah, you're right. We need to get this statue to Ludwig and Feliciano."
The trio wandered the halls for a bit. Arthur had found a few more scraps of Natalia's notes along the way. Most were babbling about how much she loved her brother or how much she hated everyone who took his attention away from her. There was one bunch of papers that got his attention, however.
"Hmm. It looks like there are more than usual," Arthur commented. "'I must write down the proper instructions to 'Peter's Circle of Eternity', or more properly known as 'Peter in the Everafter' as well as how to reverse its effects.
"'Peter in the Everafter – Proper Observance: What causes the spell to work, is the phrase 'Peter we beg of you'. It must be repeated for each participant, and then once more for Peter. Following this, the paper doll is ripped apart. (If the original doll from the Kirkland estate be unavailable, a reproduction will work as well.) If everything is performed properly, the spirit will pass by harmlessly and nothing of note will happen. However, if performed incorrectly, then Peter will attach to any available spirit medium in the area, and all participants will be spirited away.
"'Procedure for Reversal – If Peter has been angered, you may atone by redoing the ritual properly, but in reverse. Use your remnant of the doll, then recite the phrase the correct number of times, and finally, put the pieces together.' This…Natalia…she…."
Arthur was horrified and enraged. How could she have done this!?
"Alfred, Matthew, we have to find Natalia!" he said, marching off down the hall.
Not too long later, they spotted Natalia, who was entering a room.
The three walked into the room. It looked to be a library or something similar. Natalia was standing by a bookshelf.
"Natalia," Arthur said. The girl turned and gave a small smile.
"Dobry dzień, Arthur. What a pleasure to see you," she replied. Arthur mentally prepared himself.
"Natalia…we have some information we'd like to share with you," he told her. Natalia crossed her arms in front of her stomach and nodded once.
"You have my attention. What is it you would like to share?" she asked. Arthur explained about Peter, and how he had found out about the true identity of the murderer. Natalia hummed, her finger tapping her cheek.
"So, Peter was the perpetrator? I had no idea… Very interesting indeed. Thank you for providing me with this valuable information. However, you've only solved half the mystery. You have yet to figure out who, exactly, Peter is. There's still a lot of ground left to cover before we've learned all there is to know about this school… " Natalia thought for a moment then turned away. "At any rate, there's someone I need to find. If you'll please excuse me…"
Arthur frowned a bit.
"Wait! I'm not done talking with you," he called after her. Natalia looked over her shoulder with an unamused glare.
"Yes, you are. I've lost interest in what you have to say," she snorted. Then a sly grin pulled at her lips.
"Who was that boy in the staff room, I wonder? Was he a classmate of yours? A brother, perhaps?" she mused in a very diabolical way. "You share a strong bond."
Natalia pouted slightly and tapped her chin with her index finger. "I would enjoy it so if more people like that came around for me to watch. It is so much more… zabaŭliaĺny."
She began to cackle madly. Alfred grabbed Mathew's shoulders and backed them up slightly. This girl was nuts! Arthur's frown increased.
"Natalia…I'm disappointed in you," he said. Natalia stopped laughing for a moment before looking at Arthur, her head cocked to the side.
"Hm? Now, why would that be? Weren't you a veritable fan of mine?" she smirked. Arthur shook his head and held out one of the papers he had found scattered about the school.
"Because of this!" he snapped. Natalia looked down at the paper, unamused.
"Da? And?"
Arthur grit his teeth.
"What is this 'Peter in the Everafter' malarkey?" he demanded. "And what are the ruins of the Kirkland estate!? You intentionally put the wrong instructions on that blog! You wanted the ritual to fail!...Was it for your 'beloved'? Ivan? Your own brother!?"
Natalia began her maniacal laugh once again then it stopped abruptly and she glared.
"You think you're so smart, da? We'll you're not!" She stepped closer and her glare intensified. "Anyone who takes stuff posted on the net and swallows it whole without a second thought is a fucking tupień!"
Suddenly her expression turned to one of a girl who had lost her mind. "But Ivan… Darahi Ivan smiles at me when I do right by him. Oh, Ivan… Moj salodki… I would do anything for you…anything at all…"
She calmed once again and looked at Arthur unamused.
"But you occult freaks, you can all rot in Hell, for all I care!"
Alfred's eyes widened and he cautiously pushed Mathew towards the door. Arthur growled.
"You're a horrid, sick, bitch," he snapped. "How could you do this!?"
Natalia looked indifferent as she shrugged her shoulders.
"It's my duty to protect my sviatlo. And I won't let anyone get in my way!" she growled stepping into Arthur's face and pushing him back. Alfred gasped and pushed Mathew behind himself.
"Arthur!"
Arthur only stumbled a bit, but he wasn't deterred.
"Natalia…you died here. Do you even remember what you were thinking when you died?" he asked. Natalia backed off and her expression softened.
"Niama. Try as I might, that is the only thing my mind won't remember," she explained. Arthur sighed.
"Your selfishness cost you your life. You're very last actions….You lost your mind, and killed yourself!" he told her, showing her the page that she had written last – her suicide note. Natalia looked at the paper and her eyes widened. She back away as a scream built in her throat.
"Ugh. Niama... A-A-AHhhhhhH!"
She grabbed both sides of her head and fell to her knees as she screamed. Arthur backed up, eyes wide, and moved to stand beside Alfred and Matthew. Matthew whimpered and clung to Alfred tightly. Suddenly, Natalia's eyes went blank and her cheeks sunk in; the skin stretching over the bone. She gurgled deep in her throat as a black fog tumbled from her mouth.
"UGHHHHHHHHGLUHHHHH..." she moaned. Alfred's eyes were wide and he pushed Mathew farther back, ready to push his cousin out the door at a moment's notice. Arthur watched as Natalia rose into the air and, after hovering for a moment, disappeared. He blinked and shuddered. Arthur had no idea what feel about what just happened, other than highly unsettled.
Alfred's body was still tense as he watched the small light float in the air. He wasn't sure what to expect anymore. Arthur sighed and ushered them to the door.
"We should go. I think we have all the information we're going to get here," he said. Alfred nodded and left, pulling Mathew with him.
"Damn... That was... sad." he remarked. Arthur shook his head.
"In many ways, yes, it was. She was a sick person," he replied. "Though I'm surprised Ivan hadn't ever mentioned her…"
Alfred nodded.
"Yeah... She was basically his stalker though, so I would imagine he would want to keep it quiet. Heh, he was probably afraid of it scaring Yao off," he teased. Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Alright, let's go meet up with Ludwig and Feliciano," he replied, walking off down the hall.
Translations: Dobry dzień = Hello (Belarusian), Darahi = darling (Belarusian), Niama = No (Belarusian), zabaŭliaĺny = entertaining (Belarusian), Moj salodki = my sweet/dear (Belarusian)