A/N: I apologise for the LONG wait, and I've been busy searching for a new job too so I've been feeling tired an awful lot. So hopefully I'll recover soon.
Iceland stared at the trapdoor in front of him, shivering all over. But then he took a deep breath and his worried gaze steeled into a glare and he held his journal close to his side. "I'm ready."
At that, Sweden yanked the trapdoor up and Denmark swung his axe straight down, bashing in the head of the first monster that popped out of the ground. The Thing let out a roar and collapsed back down the stairs, knocking over two other Things.
"Fin, take these!" Sweden quickly took 3 unused bullets from his pocket and handed them over to the Finn, whose face took on the happiest expression he'd ever seen.
"Great! I was running really low!" he smiled and pocketed them.
"Norge, you ready?!" Denmark called out, but the room temperature dipped to almost sub-zero as he said that and an apparition of Norway patted his shoulder, leaving a cold sensation.
"I already was. Now get everyone out." The Norwegian's cool tone calmed the excited Dane before the ghostly figure suddenly slipped down through the cracks of the floorboards. Sweden was the only nation not surprised by the move, and hurriedly told his sons to carry Norway's inactive body.
"Let's go!" Denmark shouted and spun his whole body around while gripping the axe handle tightly, pirouetting to decapitate the 2 incoming monsters that stumbled up the steps together. He slowed to a halt with a laugh, unaffected by the spinning though his vision took a second to recover. "NOW we can go!"
The group carefully ran down the steps and through the open iron door into the empty bedroom. They were half-surprised that there were no monsters in here, but wondered if Norway's apparition was leading all of them away.
"I hope Norway comes back…" Denmark whispered and advanced on towards the closed door before suddenly stopping short of touching the handle. "Hold on. Do those monster materialise in different rooms or something?"
Finland rolled his eyes. "Who cares? We have to move now!" He reached over and opened the handle, swinging the door open. Denmark sucked in a quick breath and held his axe above his head to prepare to attack, but no monsters rushed at them. "Denmark, come on!"
The Dane blinked, and before he knew it everybody was outside the bedroom. His mouth hung open and he glanced behind him, but they're not behind him.
"Hold on, how did you get past me?!" he quickly asked, glancing back and forth, but the rest of the group were in the corridor and not in the bedroom.
"We walked past you, dummy," Ladonia murmured under his breath, trying to hold Norway's body by his feet but he's losing the strength to carry him for long. Sealand was struggling too to keep hold of the young man.
"Denmark, you're gonna slow us down," Sweden said with a glare.
"Denmark, please!" Iceland pleaded and ran over quickly, "we can't lose anyone this time! Come with us now! I can't turn back time again!"
Just as he was about to snap, Denmark's head began to throb and a flash of red pulsed in his vision, making him flinch and his skin paled. He blinked rapidly and wiped his eyes until his vision restored; and his eyes rested on Iceland who was kneeling on the floor, face filled with fear.
"Wh- I-Iceland?" Denmark stuttered, unsure of why he saw red for a brief moment and hurriedly kneeled down to make eye contact with the Icelander. "Hey, are you alright?! Did you see what I see?"
"Papa, what's he talking about?" Sealand asked Sweden confusedly. He did not reply and watched the two with interest.
"Denmark, if you see any weird flashes in your eyes - just ignore them!" Iceland suddenly spat angrily, "you're seeing a past memory, so leave it and ask me later! COME ON!" He yelled that last part loudly and roughly grabbed his hand (with surprising strength) before forcing him to run with him.
Finland and Sweden glanced at each other and readied their weapons, silently agreeing to talk about what just happened later.
"I don't think I can carry Norway any longer! I don't want to drop him!" Ladonia complained as the group hurried down the stairs into the first floor.
"He can't feel anything right now – we can just drag him by his feet if you can't carry his body!" Sealand suggested.
"You will NOT treat him like that!" Sweden interjected, looking around for any sign of the monsters, but they were still absent. "I'll carry him!"
"Now hold on – let me carry him!" Denmark growled and when they reached the first floor he put his axe down on the floor and leaned over to pick up the Norwegian, slinging him over his shoulder before reached down to pick up his axe again. "There!" He grinned satisfactory and looked ahead to the front door, which was (naturally) unguarded. "Ice, you got the key?"
"I do!" Iceland took a deep breath and pulled the cold object from his pocket, walking towards the door.
A loud gasp made them all look around in shock and Ladonia and Sealand yelped, clinging to each other. Denmark tilted his head in time to feel Norway stir over his shoulder. "Norge?!" he exclaimed, eyes wide and dropped his weapon to the floor and moved the young man so that he's sitting comfortably in his arms. "What's wrong? Did your spell run out?"
Norway only stared at him silently before his eyes slowly closed and some words slurred out of his mouth.
"Run… they're coming… set fire to this place…" And he stopped speaking, falling unconscious.
"Ice, we gotta—" But just as Denmark looked up, Iceland was sitting on his behind after being thrown back from a punch by one of the monsters, which materialised in front of him.
Snap.
Within a fraction of a millisecond after that noise was made, a bullet fired into the monsters head and made it tumble over, as dead as a doornail. Finland hurriedly reloaded another case into the rifle and looked around, pursing his lips when he heard what sounds like a stampede coming in from somewhere. Deep vibrations rocked the whole mansion to the point that dust began to tumble from the ceiling in pretty grey wisps.
Sealand and Ladonia ran over by Iceland's side and helped the winded young man onto his feet, before he quickly lurched to the door and inserted the key into the lock, twisting it.
A click was heard and Iceland almost broke down crying.
In the west corridor, the door leading to the basement suddenly got smashed and a horde of monsters spilled out of it. They came in sorts of shapes and sizes, but their appetite for blood is the same for all. Iceland yanked the heavy door open and glorious sunlight spilled into the first floor. Tasting the fresh air, the young man charged outside, but glanced back to watch Sweden, Sealand, Ladonia, Finland and Denmark with Norway running out.
For a brief moment, Denmark swore and turned back to close the door, but he saw the monsters running into the hallway, so he quickly dropped Norway to the grass and ran back to the entrance, pulling the door shut. The key may still be on the inside of the door, but he's determined to hold the door until somebody does something.
Freezing anxiety stirred within Iceland and his mouth grew dry. Sealand and Ladonia both yelled for him to get away, but the Dane just flashed them a smile. "Not until my awesome nephews are safe! Go take Norway somewhere safe!"
Sweden just sighed and rolled his eyes, pulling out a few pieces of paper and tissue from his pocket before walking up the shaking door and placed the items on the doorstep. He then took out a lighter from his pocket and set them alight.
"What are you doing?" Denmark blinked, still holding the doorknob.
"Denmark, do you have a lighter?"
"Ja?"
"And some papers?"
"Ja—well, nothing important."
"Good, put them in the fire."
"Awesome!" Denmark laughed and let go of the doorknob, but yelped and seized it again when the door almost opened. "What the hell, Sve?! I could've gotten eaten!"
"Just trust me, they won't go near a fire. They fear fires," Sweden reassured him and then looked at the first-floor windowsills. The windowsills are made out of wood. And it didn't look like it rained for ages in this area.
"Alright, but if I die then you're not invited to my funeral!" Denmark growled and let go of the doorknob.
Iceland, Finland, Sealand and Ladonia watched nervously as the door swung open almost immediately and the monsters went to run out to them, but upon seeing the tiny fire on the doorstep they flinched and retreated back inside the building, grumbling and hissing loudly. Denmark let out a hoot and danced on the spot, grinning like an idiot. Meanwhile, Sweden was busy setting the windowsills on fire of the front of the house.
"Papa's a genius!" Sealand cheered loudly and Ladonia only stared with his mouth wide open.
"Don't forget that this is the only time when arson is acceptable!" Finland sternly told them, but with a small smile.
While they spoke, Sweden ran quickly around the corner of the house and disappeared for only a minute until he returned to the group from the other side of the house. He wiped his forehead and let out a huge sigh. "It's done. I set all the windowsills on fire. This place should hopefully burn down now with all the monsters in it."
"That's brilliant!" Finland chuckled, "now we can go home altogether!"
Iceland's lips twitched up into a smile before letting out what feels like the first yawn in ages.
TBC