Hola, amigos! :) I'm back again, with the tenth chapter. Sorry for the late update! Life was a little busy, with exams and whatnot.

So I just updated the same story twice. Well. My OC fic has gotten long and dull and I'm out of ideas for London Hetalympics. Hopefully, I can hammer out a chapter for one of those, soon.

But, anyway, I couldn't resist writing this chapter, because...well, this story is getting pretty exciting. XD

Last note: Read Geirdriful's stories. I guarantee, you will LYAO. Guaranteed.

Happy tenth chapter! ENJOY~

CHaPTeR tEn

.x. Belarus .x.

In a way, the town was beautiful. Golden sunlight splashed over the treetops and across the roofs of the buildings. Shadows contrasted with the light and made up the darker side of the place. There was an air of mystery to the town, the kind of mystery that commanded silence. But in truth, Belarus wasn't one to care for beauty.

Knives in hand, the female nation entered the town, nothing but Russia on her mind. She had a hunch she'd find him here, simply because they were siblings and the connection was there. Still, something nagged at her. It wasn't that she wouldn't find him, exactly. More like he'd be there, but not the way she expected.

An inhuman growl split the air and the monster jumped out. It had empty eye sockets and bloody flesh, some rotted away, revealing its ribcage. The monster spouted four hairy limbs and spat poison. When its saliva sprayed onto the hem of Belarus's dress, the fabric burned away, leaving a golf ball-sized hole.

That angered the nation. This...this thing had just ruined her favorite dress, given to her by her brother. Her eyes turned murderous and she advanced towards it, removing the blades strapped to her thighs. After a short fight, the creature was dead, if it wasn't already dead in the first place. She wasn't injured herself; all she received was a few splatters of dark blood on her dress. Never mind the stains; those could be washed off.

Belarus moved on.

.x. Italy .x.

He just wished he'd had more time. It seemed too early for him to leave.

I...did it...I saved them. At least a little. I wasn't useless, after all.

Italy's fingers wound tighter around the necklace as the world became a blur. He closed his eyes.

I'm sorry, Germany. And Japan, and Romano...and everybody...

...

...?

Italy opened his eyes again. He stared down at the ground far below, and found he had stopped falling. The blast of wind against his cheeks was gone; all Italy could feel was an immense pressure on his wrist.

"You idiot!" a voice yelled from above. "Why did you have to do something so stupid?"

Italy looked up. Romano was leaning out of the tree, one hand gripping Italy's wrist so tightly he stopped the blood from circulating. To his shock, Italy realized that his brother was crying.

"Ro...Romano..."

The branch that supported Romano groaned and began to splinter. Half a second later, it snapped and both Italian brothers fell. Romano grabbed onto another branch with his free hand.

"Romano...you're hurting yourself..." Italy whispered, when hints of blood began to form on the flesh of his brother's hand from the rough surface of the branch.

"I'm not letting you go," Romano said, tears still streaming down his face. "Never."

"But why?" Italy asked, almost crying himself. "I thought you hated me for taking the spotlight for everything. I'm no good to you. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can't live without you!" Romano said angrily. "Dammit, why can't you understand? If you die, you'll take part of me with you." He gripped Italy's wrist even tighter. "You can't leave me. You can't leave me alone, because if you do, I'll never forgive myself for not being able to save my own little brother!"

The branch snapped, just like the first. Italy screamed. This time Romano couldn't grab onto anything, and the two nations tumbled into the air.

As the wind howled around them, Italy felt Romano let go of his wrist and instead reach for his hand.

Italy landed on something soft. He opened his eyes and found all the nations staring down at him.

Germany spoke. "I...I...should not have asked you, Italy. I am truly sorry. You almost...you almost..." He turned away. Italy sat up and rolled off the thing that had cushioned his fall, and Romano did the same. It looked like a bedsheet.

Italy turned to the nations, but they all averted their eyes, guilt written on their faces.

"But I did it," Italy said, confused. "I got the necklace."

Still no one answered him. Crestfallen, Italy dropped the necklace to the ground. "I guess you don't need me, huh..."

"It's not that, Italy," Spain said. "It's just...you could've...well..."

"YOU COULD'VE DIED!" Romano pulled his fist back and gave Italy a hard punch in the shoulder.

"Ow..." Italy winced.

"Don't do something like that again! I'm not going to save your ass next time." Romano scowled at him.

Italy nodded weakly. Secretly, he was glad that the old Romano was back.

"Hey, uh, Italy," America said. Italy turned to face the nation. "That was a really heroic thing you did," the American said, then added, "And stupid."

Italy smiled shyly. "So, are we going to break the necklace?"

"Yeah." They both looked down at the sparkling ruby. "On the count of three..."

"One..."

"...two..."

"...three."

The other nations looked on as Italy and America crushed the necklace with the heels of their shoes, denting its chain and cracking the pearls. Then America took out his gun, aimed it at the large red jewel, and fired.

When the ruby exploded in millions of tiny pieces, the world seemed to brighten. Just a little.

.x. Japan .x.

After the essence became nothing more than dust, a narrow trail carved through the grass, leading deeper into the woods beyond the tree.

"It's probably some kind of trap," America surmised. "We better head in the opposite direction...I mean, who knows what's in there?"

"It is too obvious to be a trap," Japan pointed out. "If she wanted to mislead us, then she could just do so by force."

"Japan has a point," Germany agreed. "We'll take the trail."

And thus, the nations followed the path into the woods. Not long later, it ended at a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a small seed the size of a cashew.

"Ha! That was easy!" America rushed ahead and tried to pick it up, but dropped it as if it were scalding hot. "Ow! What the..."

Narrow, slanted words slowly appeared on the ground. Everyone read them earnestly:

You have succeeded in destroying one part of me, and so you have received a clue to the next essence, as you will every time you destroy one; this is simply because I am impressed.

This seed is not destructible, unless you give it a chance to live. Here are the ingredients:

Liquid shadow
Blood from one nation. I will not tell you which one
An angel's tears
A six-leaf clover

They stared at the words. And stared.

Prussia said what was on everyone's minds. "Where are we going to get these ingredients?"

Right on cue, another three paths formed at the edge of the clearing.

xXx

The nations split up. America, France, China, and Canada took the left trail. Spain, Romano and Prussia took the right trail, and Japan, Germany, and Italy took the middle.

Japan went ahead, katana gripped tightly in his hand. Sunlight filtered through the trees, casting patterns of light on the ground.

At any moment, they could be attacked.

The Asian nation had anticipated a zombie-like creature jumping from the shadows, a tree toppling over, and the plants suddenly coming to life, but he did not expect the ground to give away beneath his feet. The world flipped, then Japan landed...but not in darkness.

He was standing in the exact same spot before the fall, but Italy and Germany were gone. The whole forest was silent. Japan surveyed his surroundings, and decided everything seemed alright...safe enough, at least.

Until he turned to his left and saw himself a few meters away.

Japan almost screamed. He took a step back, and his other self imitated him perfectly. Japan stared at himself for a moment, then cautiously raised his hand. Just as he had expected, his other self raised his hand as well to match Japan's.

So I am looking at my reflection, Japan thought. Then perhaps...this is a mirror?

He moved foward slowly with his arms extended, until his fingers bumped against smooth, cold glass. Japan walked the length of the mirror and bumped into...himself. Again. He twisted his head to look at his second reflection. Dark, opaque eyes stared back. In the glass, he caught sight of himself reflected in another glass that was reflected in this glass.

Sudden Japan realized he was surrounded by mirrors. He could see at least ten reflections of himself and countless of the trees around him. It made him wary.

It made him scared, too.

He could feel it in his blood: someone-something-was close by. It was definitely not human. Japan scanned the mirrors intently, muscles tense.

He heard it before he saw it. A roar ripped through the air and he glimpsed the zombie's reflection. Half flesh, half bone and all blood, with jagged teeth and shiny black eyes, it charged at him from behind. Japan was ready. He slipped into the samurai's stance and swung his katana, slicing off one of its limbs.

It shrieked and lunged for Japan. The nation ducked, but he was an inch off. The zombie knocked away his sword and sunk its teeth into his arm.

Japan bit back a scream and tried to pry open its jaws with his free hand. The pain made him see dark spots and he willed himself to focus. The zombie tackled him and he fell, its teeth still locked on his arm.

His sword was a few feet away. If he could just reach out his arm...

Japan rolled onto his stomach and the monster began to claw at his back. He could feel the cuts it made and the sharp stabs of pain that traveled down his spine as he dragged himself towards his weapon. When he was sure he was going to lose consciousness, Japan's fingers wrapped around the hilt of his sword. He lifted it and stabbed the blade straight through the zombie's heart.

It moaned and crumbled to dust. Japan lay there, breathing hard, covered in blood, dust and sweat. He felt so weak he couldn't even move.

Poison, Japan thought. So this is its ultimate weapon.

Japan could feel its venom rushing through his veins, as quick as running water. His head pounded and the trees began to swim. But before his vision blurred completely, Japan saw it.

Reflected in one of the mirrors, a vivid green clover perched on a small island in the middle of a beautiful lake (perhaps it was only a hallucination), small and fragile.

It sprouted six leaves.

.x. Germany .x.

"Germany?"

"Yes, Italy?"

"Um...where did Japan go?"

Germany blinked. Hadn't Japan been in front of them a few minutes ago? Somehow, the Asian nation had disappeared, and Germany hadn't even noticed.

Did he wander off by himself? No, that does not seem like Japan.

"Germany, is...is that Japan's hat over there?"

The German followed Italy's pointing finger to an obect lying in the grass a few feet away. They approached it, and Germany knelt for a closer look.

Indeed, it was a Japanese-style hat, olive-green with a yellow star embroidered on the front. He picked it up and stood, a wary feeling coming to him. A small breeze fluttered the leaves, a cloud passed over the sun, and the shadows became more conspicuous.

"Do you think he's okay?" Italy asked finally.

Germany hesitated, then looked up at the morning sky. "I don't know, Italy. I really don't know."

It was about to rain.

Short chapter, sorry. ^^' I can say it's kind of a filler. The next chapter will be better, obviously.

Thank you for being patient with me (although I probably flunked AMC. AMERICA, WHY IS YOUR MATHEMATICS COMPETITION SO HARD?)! To those of you who don't know what to comment about, here's a question: What do you think Belarus will do when she finds out Russia is gone? Make your response creative. :)

Until next time, which is soon. :D

Love,
~Anna~