Yeah! I have a bit of a break this weekend so because I have some free time rather than projects I present... Drum roll please! CHAPTER 11! XD lol ok that was definitely the caffeine and sugar kicking in . anyway I hope you enjoy chapter 11 I made it a lot longer than I intended it to be because I was enjoying it but yes unfortunately I had to stop so there would be many more chapters after this. I'm hoping this story will be longer than my other ones for some reason they end up being twelve chapters... Don't ask how or why I have no clue -_-; I can guarantee that this one will definitely be longer. Forcing myself to do so so no worries about it ending in a chapter or two, because I'm finding it difficult to try and do that (again I'm forcing myself to make this longer than my other stories). Anyway enough of my talking...Er...Typing... Oh you all know what I mean.

Chapter Eleven

Over the next few weeks I felt compelled to start wondering around the house I was going to have to call home since I didn't know when this stupid war was going to end. The story France had told me has long since disappeared to the back of my mind along with that saying Prussia told me. I had already begun forgetting bits and pieces of them. I sighed as I stopped in front of a huge dark oak door with scratch mark running down the entirety of it. I laughed, Belarus must have paid a visit or something but then again I don't think even she could reach the top of the door where the scratch marks began then again who honestly knew? She was the grudge's twin in my opinion but at least she somewhat likes me now…Sort of… Anyway! I walked towards the door curious to see what lay beyond it but when I tried turning the door knob it wouldn't budge, it was locked. This only served to make me even more curious because whatever lay beyond it was clearly not meant to be seen by anyone.

Frustrated I searched the area trying to find some sort of key and stumbled upon another room with an old oak door. I slowly opened it and looked around in astonishment. The room was huge and painted a dark red, the bed was covered in black and red sheets, an old worn out cherry wood desk sat undisturbed by a huge window overlooking the entire forest beyond the yard of the house. Dust was thick making the, what I presumed, once luxurious room seem uninviting as if a darkness had over taken the light that once resided here. I remembered following Germany and Italy around the entire house a week ago but never once did I find this hallway making me wonder. I had scanned this house many times but this is the first I've seen of this place, it was so big and nice that I find it hard to believe that I could have missed it. Come to think of it I wonder why the doors in this hallway are all dark oak wood doors. Oak trees don't grow in this particular region at least not to my knowledge and I spent a lot of time examining books on the surrounding area. There was something that Prussia and France were clearly not telling us and I was pretty sure that Spain was in on it too.

I walked over to the desk and started searching through the drawers finding old yellowed papers and dusty pencils. That is until I pulled out one of the top drawers to the desk and found a red, leather bound journal with intricate designs carved on the front of it. I took it out and set on the desk and found silver key underneath untouched by time and gleaming vividly in the dim light shining through the window. I slipped the key into my pocket before taking the journal, after all, I wasn't going to leave it there maybe it had something interesting like the answer to why these rooms have oak doors or maybe even why I couldn't find this hallway before. I left the room and returned to the locked oak door and tried the key hoping that it was the right one and sure enough the door clicked signaling that t was unlocked now. Excited I threw open the door but I wasn't ready for what I came face to face with once it was open. I dropped the journal I had been holding and slowly made my way over to the stained glass window that took up the entirety of the opposite wall. In the center of it a huge cherry blossom tree stood silently with its glowing white trunk, suddenly France's story came flooding back to me. I looked towards the opposite end of the window finding intricate patterns of red, gold, and silver swirling around. That must signal the end of the story so I looked towards the opposite side of the window to see figures gracing it. I ran my hand along it stopping when I saw the figure of a young girl with shoulder length silver hair with vivid ruby red eyes standing next to a boy with short red hair and streaks of gold in his hair. I guess he had blond streaks and it was too dark to make out the color of his eyes. I started at the beginning running my hand along the window but when I reached the cherry blossom tree in the middle the girl's hair had turned black but her eyes remained the same ruby red color.

She looked paler near the middle then she had at the beginning but still she stared longingly at the tree as if hoping it had all the answers. What shocked me most was that the picture of the house she had lived in until her last breath was the one that we were in now. It didn't seem possible though because France said it took place in a different world and besides our world was still here. Something in the pit of my stomach turned making me feel sick, what if France's story was wrong? What if the story had become distorted over time and what truly happened was somehow depicted here? I backed away from the window, grabbed the journal I dropped by the door and ran out of the room as fast as I could. There were too many possibilities, too many things that could have happened that I didn't want to face what reality was. There was no way the story could have been true! I slammed my door shut and threw myself on the bed, if that stained glass window depicted the story then whose journal did I pick up? I looked at it and let my curiosity take over and slowly opened the front cover to find a picture. It had the same figures that were on the window, the boy and the girl; I turned it over and read the names on the back. It read: 'Noah and Ryo' so the girl in the story's name was Ryo and the warlock's name was Noah.

"Japan?"

Prussia's voice was all too familiar so I sat up and looked at him as he stood in the doorway of my room. Italy, Germany, Spain and France looked in from behind him.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

I was silent as I thought about showing them the picture and journal as well as the stained glass window.

"Are there any doors in this house that have oak wood doors?"

"What brought on that question?"

"Please just answer."

He looked at me seriously, "On the third floor of the mansion is a hallway with a locked oak wood door so yes there is a hallway that has oak wood doors."

"Do you know what's behind that door?"

"I said it was locked so no I don't."

I was silently looking down still contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to show him the journal. I shook my head deciding it would probably be for the best so I grabbed the journal hiding behind me and held it up.

"What's that Japan?" He asked.

"It's a journal idiot." Germany chimed in.

"I knew that." Prussia threw back crossing his arms over his chest showing that he had no clue to begin with.

"Where did you get that Kiku?" France asked smiling as I glared at him.

"I went looking around and found the locked oak door so I explored a little more to try and find a key to it. I found the key in a dusty old room near the end of the hall; it was hidden underneath the journal so I went to see what was locked behind the door. I was surprised to find a stained glass window that covered one of the walls entirely…" I trailed off remembering the gruesome connection I made with it.

"How beautiful we must go see it!" France excited exclaimed.

"No, once you see it you'll regret it." I whispered almost inaudibly.

They looked at me strangely before dragging me out of the room and back up to the third floor hallway. I struggled against France's and Spain's grip but failed miserably because of how weakened I had become over the years. They bust opened the door and, just I had done with the journal, let me drop to the floor as they realized why I didn't want to come back up here. They, just I had done, slowly made their way to the window and gently let their hands grace the surface in complete and utter shock.

"It's depicts the story you had told us France." I said as I allowed my hand to once again run across the surface of it, "But I think the story had been diluted over time according to the human mind and so by the time you heard it the story was no longer what it once had been. This is history or at least that's what I got from it."

"Japan perhaps you can retell it by looking at this since you seem more connected to it than any of us." France said backing away.

"What are you talking about?"

"Everything that has been happening has been similar to the story but instead of involving a girl it involves you." He replied, "Just now you said that the story might have been changed over the years just as the world changes, I couldn't get that looking at it even if I came back a second time. Don't you see Japan if this happened in the past then it's repeating itself so if you tell us the story you get from this maybe we can stop a repeat of what happened."

I understood the concept of what he was saying perfectly fine but something within my was shouting not to go through with it. Perhaps it was because I was afraid to find out something that might directly link me to it or perhaps I was afraid that if I was right then it would no longer by a story, a work of fiction, and it might actually be happening again. It was already too late to turn back so I nodded my head and started from, where I figured out earlier, the beginning.

"Alright." I softly said, "Long ago before the creation of our world there was another similar but by far more divine. Three friends who trusted each other with their lives began to fight in a war that had spanned time itself. In this small group of friends there was a warlock and two gods all three of which fell in love with the element of fire. Unbeknownst to them the element they loved was controlled by a goddess much like the other six elements of water, ice, earth, storm, celestial and wind. People had labeled them as pyros and because of that made fun of them. Once day the teasing stopped and they didn't know why but to them it was a welcome comfort."

The words seemed to be coming to me from some place beyond reality so I kept my hand on the window moving from each picture in what I presumed was he order.

"They soon stumbled upon the goddess of fire but they didn't know that she was the goddess of their beloved element. All three of them had a secret crush on her and dared not speak of it to anyone else other than each other. One day the warlock, Noah, had mustered up the courage to talk to her and found out that her name was Ryo, meaning Dragon, he found her name to be odd since she was a girl but it didn't take him long to figure out why her name was what it was. He found out her secret by accident and she forced him to promise her that he wouldn't tell another soul about who she really was. He reluctantly agreed even though it meant that his friends couldn't know anything more about her other than the fact she existed. Years passed by and the other two had become even more reluctant to talk to her but Noah had found common ground with her. Her secret was now his and it brought them closer together so within months they began to date and not long after that they married. They were happy to be near each other, so much so that the world and war around them didn't matter. Sure enough a merchant from a far off land with long silvery pink hair and equally silvery pink eyes began to talk to Noah's two best friends. She had told them Ryo's secret and let them know that Noah had kept it from them all these years. She messed with their heads telling them a lie that would cause the first war to end and another to begin. She had told them Noah had wanted the goddess for himself so he refused to tell his friends. When they confronted him he tried telling them the truth but the darkness within their hearts only grew and their hatred for their friend flourished." I continued looking at the others behind me.

"Continue Japan." Prussia said wide-eyed.

I nodded, "They had soon become so full of hatred, sorrow and darkness that they returned to the merchant for advice. She smirked telling them that they should begin a war for the one they loved the most and kill Noah. However, this idea made them skeptical of the merchant's sanity so they asked her many more questions. She suggested that they kidnap the fire goddess and try to make her fall in love with the two of them and leave Noah even though it was painfully obvious she hated this bit of advice. She was, after all, blood thirsty. Delighted by the idea and since of hope they set out to kidnap the goddess and make her theirs so they could have their friend Noah back as well as have their love. This plan, however, didn't work she remained in love with Noah and escaped their clutches more than once and on occasions where they knew there was no way she could escape Noah would somehow find her and they would have to fight against the magic he harbored. Over many years Ryo had began to pale and her hair began to change from silver to blood red telling Noah that this was taking a toll on her. Without her knowledge he started a war against the two of them, bringing about the one thing that they didn't want to happen, the two were labeled as dark gods. In shock they decided to gather allies to help them but they didn't know that Noah was doing the same thing. Noah constantly kept an eye on Ryo and every year she became paler and paler and her hair darker and darker. Noah talked to some of her friends, five of them, three of them Luna goddess of the moon, Suna goddess of the sun, and Lacey the goddess of storm decided it would be better to take her away from the stress of war. She was distraught thinking that Noah had no idea where she was and with each passing week she fell deeper and deeper into depression. She sat in her…." My voice trailed off as I recognized the next sequence.

"What?"

"She sat in her dark red room at the desk in front of the huge window staring longingly out at the forest beyond the courtyard of the mansion. Her rub gaze never faltering so her three friends brought Kayla and Kaleb as well and soon she began to leave her room to talk to them. With this change she also began to take walks through the forest and stumbled upon the cherry blossom tree she had sometimes seen from her window. A waterfall sat next to it filling the river below with its icy waters and the wind howled creating the most wonderful melody. She constantly came back knowing it was the last one in the world but every time she returned she found that it would allow one cherry blossom to fall and die. This worried her so in a soft weakened voice she said, "Why do you allow the world to create such pain and misery that you let me see one cherry blossom fall each time I visit?" of course the tree remained silent pointing only at the water. She looked into the water but saw nothing but her own reflection. Still despite her worry she continued to return to the tree for it gave her great joy to see it and every time she came the tree seemed brighter. At least that is what one of her friends said to another when she visited and would stay after to watch it dim. They figured it was because she had more life left in her than her appearance gave off. However, this couldn't prevent her from looking even sicklier with each passing day and before anyone knew it the once silver haired fire goddess had black hair and a tired look to her but her beauty didn't falter. Every day she became even more worried that Noah would so something stupid in her absence and so her worry only grew. Several years later she stood in front of the tree and watched yet another blossom fall to the ground and shrivel away and its brightness dimmed but its radiance remained untouched much like Ryo. "Why? Is whatever you love so important that you would let the worry and suffering kill you?" Ryo asked suddenly realizing why the tree had been pointing to the water. She was doing the same thing and so she smiled, "Indeed whatever you love is worth the price that must be paid as it is with me perhaps you and I are not so different after all." Tears began to run down her face…" I trailed off for a moment.

"You ok Japan?" France asked.

"Yes just a little… Overwhelmed…" I sighed and went on, "One of her friends had followed her yet again and couldn't stop from crying herself to see the decline in her friend's mind. Was love really worth the price one had to pay to have it? If so what was so special? Both of them thought this but it was her friend that returned to the mansion while she stayed. "Perhaps in the future something of this scale can be prevented although I don't know how." Ryo whispered as she collapsed to her knees crying. Life was worth living only when you had something to live for and now she also had someone to live for but for how long she did not know. She was desperately clinging to life, living only on borrowed time now, the world had given up on trying to stop the bloodshed and was dying slowly and it was affecting her nothing more. Noah didn't know that that was the reason behind her decline in health. She stared at the tree just like her it was hanging on but only by one blossom and she knew all too well that eventually it would fall like the others before it and she knew that she would too. She wasn't scared though, she didn't know why but she wasn't. What she didn't know was that Noah was finding it harder and harder to cope with the fact that she wasn't around. He knew her friends did it to protect her but at the same time he couldn't stand being without her. Then finally a few weeks later he killed his two friends ending the war but took his own life that same day by drinking poison. In that moment Ryo had been standing in front of the tree watching the last blossom fall to the ground and die just as the tree had. With a few last tears falling from her face to the ground she smiled as she realized the presence of her friends. "With the last blossom gone there is no need for me to stay in this world for just like this tree I no longer have the power to remain alive." She turned to them her eyes shining a ruby red like they used to through her tears before she collapsed. They rushed to her aid only to find that those words were her last breaths in this world and they promised her that they would all be reunited once more in death. The world around them collapsed and became nothing more than a distant memory." I finished as tears streamed down my face.

I turned to the others to see that they too were crying, even strong Germany was crying like a kitten that had lost its mother. It was just too sad and there was too much that was similar to the happenings now to ignore anymore. It was no longer a story it was now reality, it was history.

"Japan." Italy said softly as he walked over to the other wall.

"What is it Italy?" We asked through our sobs.

He looked up at the ceiling and then at me, "That's not it this right here isn't a wall it's a way to hide something."

We watched in tear filled astonishment as he pulled what we thought was a wall down revealing another stained glass window with a continuation of the swirls of gold, red and silver. As well as more pictures depicting…US! I quickly made my way over to it unconsciously letting my hand glide over the designs.

"There's more it." I said still crying, "Though the world had become nothing more than a memory it allowed its own memory to rebuild itself. Once more the world was peaceful and happy but saddened by the loss of its most wonderful creations, the elements. However it came to pride itself upon its countries creating them to be a certain way and to rule for certain amounts of time to prevent a relapse of what had happened. The only fault that the world had within the creation of the countries was that the memories of its previous creations had lingered on. Unknowingly the world doomed itself to repeat its tragic past and stories of a world parallel to theirs spread like wild fire. Unfortunately the story was changed and modified over time; no one ever knew that they were walking on a world similar to the one that had been destroyed. Over time the shadows of the past changed their form and were reborn within the countries and every so often war broke out among them. These shadows became the known as their darker sides or the dark side depending on who mentioned it. No one knew that these darker creatures were the trapped souls…" I backed away from the second window in shock.

"Japan?" Germany asked.

"What's wrong? Please finish the story." France said desperately.

"No one knew that these darker creatures were the trapped souls and memories of those who had died in the previous world trying to warn the present of the horrors of the past." I whispered.

"WHAT!"

There was no way! It wasn't possible for a soul from some other world to become the darker half of anyone. Not unless they truly regretted the mistakes they had made and didn't want them to repeat. Still! It wasn't possible was it?