Chapter Thirty-seven

Malta's consciousness regained its strength as the world materialized around her, and even in the foggy confusion that followed, she somehow knew exactly what was going on. "Wait a minute… What on earth?"

She found herself in one of the second floor bedrooms, the one where hey had found Yugoslavia fighting the Hulk Steve not too long ago. Now, Steve was back, and was towering victoriously over a group of half-conscious nations with only one left standing strong. The nation's identity was painfully obvious to everyone in the room, Malta included, even with the red streaks that covered her face and stained her clothes.

Yugoslavia was the last to face the Thing.

Her companions tried to convince her to stand down, to run and leave them here to handle the monstrosity on their own. She was the weakest link, after all, and although no one told her this, she knew.

"No! Y, just run!"

"Move… Please, go!"

"I… I c-can not…" Yugoslavia stood in the center of the room, her eyes locked on the monstrous gray Thing standing mere feet from her. It was even larger this time than it ever was; it was a shock that it didn't break the ceiling entirely. "If I move from here…"

"That's the enemy that Yugo fought on her own! But everyone's seriously injured! …And why am I just standing here and watching?"

"This is horrible…"

Malta flinched slightly, turning to face the sudden new voice beside her. "…Canada?!"

Canada continued speaking without acknowledging Malta's comment. "What the heck? Even with so many of us fighting it, we still can't defeat it?!" Only then did he seem to notice the figure standing to his left, and his eyes widened slightly with surprise. "Malta? Huh, you're there? You're the one who was talking just now, right?"

"Y-yeah. Anyway, we have to go help Yugo!"

"…I don't think that's possible," Canada murmured, wringing his hands anxiously. "We're transparent, see?" He was just waiting for her to make a joke about his normal invisibility, but it never came. "We can't even touch anything. We're only supposed to watch quietly."

"Oh no…!" Malta tightened her fist. Quiet wasn't her specialty. "Wait, look!"

Andorra cursed under her breath, curled up on the floor and biting her lip in attempt to ease the pain. "My leg…is broken… Ugh…! Move, Yugo! Please, move!"

"Yugoslavia!" England would have run forward, if he wasn't kneeling on the ground with sticky crimson running down the side of his face.

The Thing slowly walked toward Yugoslavia, a sickly snarl rising in its throat. Frozen in place, Yugoslavia did the only thing she could do: take a step forward and attack. She was able to fit in a few slashes with her knife before it was nearly on top of her, and by then the blade was sailing through the air and hit the Thing square in the head, sinking deeply into the gray flesh between its eyes. It collapsed heavily.

"…Its weakness…is its forehead…" Her voice now was shaky, regretful, almost grieving. "T-too bad… I win again…" The Thing disappeared before her, so she started glancing around rapidly at the nations at her feet, worrying about injuries when she herself didn't look in the best of health. "England, your injuries…are you okay? Everyone is still breathing… Thank goodness. Malta…you can still move a little… right?"

"What?! Stop, please! Not again! This time it's Yugoslavia?!" Canada's voice cracked in fear at the thought of losing another close friend.

Malta put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort herself as much as him. "Oh please no…"

Yugoslavia swayed unsteadily on her feet, her eyes wavering in and out of focus before she crashed to the ground, slamming the side of her head on the cold, bloodstained floor. "I…did it… I…saved everyone! I…I made no…mistakes…!"

Malta stared at her fallen friend, her eyes wider than they had ever been before. "Yugo!"

"Hehe…" Yugoslavia smiled a tiny bit, looking more relaxed than she had in a long time. "Your injuries look serious…but you are alive, so you will heal… Thank goodness… Thank goodness He helped me…"

"He?" Canada murmured, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Who is she…?"

"You all may not know this, but…" Yugoslavia's breaths were shallowing by the minute, but that didn't stop her from continuing. "…we have actually been here several times…s-six before now… The first time, I was not…useful at all… I could finally get you back…but I am sorry… Now it is my turn to fall…"

"You've got to be kidding," England murmured, fighting back the dizziness that threatened to overcome him. "You're saying this is the seventh time? That makes no sense!"

Yugoslavia let off a short, quiet laugh, the kind that warns of something far from humor. "I w-went back in time, you see… I managed to g-get out of here. But I was the only one…who got out… I did not want that. I…had to get you all out…"

Germany scoffed gruffly from his place across the room, trying to hold back the blood threatening to seep out from his injured arm. "You – you idiot!" You didn't have to get us out!"

"Ve~ You had to get out with us!" Italy was seated beside Germany, shaking like a leaf, trying to regain his breath after his weak attempts at fighting the Thing.

England's gaze softened slightly, ignoring his dizziness as he pushed himself to Yugoslavia's side. "Y…"

"C-come on …let's carry her…" It was Prussia who spoke, a shockingly pained tone in his usually annoying voice. Whether it was from physical pain or from a fellow ex-nation potentially dying in front of his eyes, no one was sure. "Anyone?! Isn't there any unawesome person who can move? And what about China and the others? Aren't they back yet?!"

Malta forced herself to her feet, the unbearable pain in her torso replaced by the pure concern and fear for her friend. "M-make a place where she can rest! It can be anywhere! I'll help look after her! A really safe place! …Someone!"

I can hear their voices… I was all alone back then, but now they are all alive. I am so happy… I am so happy, but… "H-hey…England…"

England kneeled beside Yugoslavia and grabbed her hand between his, an expression of pain and pure fear on his face. "Y, just h-hold on… Oh, I know! I'll make a place for you. The best place for you to rest at ease…"

"R-really?" The corner of Yugoslavia's mouth twitched upwards, in as much of a smile as she could muster in her waning strength. "…C-can it have lots of beds…where everyone can rest? And a big table, where w-we can all…eat together…and somewhere for I-Ita to cook…"

"Yes, definitely. All of it." England stared intently into her eyes, mortified at the sight of the blue-green orbs rapidly losing their sparkle. "Stay with me, love. You're not going to die today. You can't die today."

Yugoslavia's breathing hitched. It was too obvious what was happening, but there was nothing anyone could do to change it. "I…I do not…want to die here… I w-wanted to escape…with all of you…" Her head fell to the side, unable to stay focused on the ceiling any longer. "It was me…everything, my fault… Y-you must all hate me…for k-keeping secrets…"

"Hate you?" Malta, already to her feet, all but dragged herself over to the ex-nation with a look of reassurance on her face, along with thinly veiled fear. "Yugo, no one hates you… None of us could ever hate you…"

Yugoslavia didn't respond, the words blending together into one long string of murmuring. A red haze coated her vision, haunting her last moments with the sickening color of pain, blood, and her own uncountable failures. For a moment, everyone thought that she had already disappeared from the world, she started to sing. Her voice was shaky, coarse, off-key, and on the verge of complete silence, and yet the words still projected throughout the room.

"In just one hour they'll be

Laying flowers

On my life, it's over…tonight

I'm not messing…no I

Need your…blessing

And your…promise to live…free

Please do it…for me…"

As the final note faded into the thick air of the battlefield, Yugoslavia's body relaxed, her expression morphing from one of pained sorrow and grief to the contemplative look that Greece so often possessed. Her chest rose one final time, falling with a single shallow breath, and never moved again. Her hand grew limp and cold in England's grasp.

"Y? Y…" England couldn't comprehend what had just happened. The entire world had topped and held its breath for that moment, but now that it had passed, everything was going so fast. The river of time was dragging him along at an unfathomable pace, and he was struggling to keep up with the current. "…Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia!"

Italy's eyes had grown as round as dinner plates with shock. "No…"

"Crap…" Prussia coughed loudly, trying to get rid of the unnatural lump in his throat. There's no way… "M-Malta, take the others outside! England's out of control!"

When England finally broke out of his trance, he grabbed Yugoslavia's shoulders and shook them, as if he could really wake her up jut by doing so. "Yugoslavia! Stop screwing around with me, Y! Your eyes are still open! Y! Yugoslavia!"

"England, calm down!" Prussia demanded, grabbing England's arm and all but dragging him away from the now deceased ex-nation. "West! Give me a hand here!"

"She is…" Italy couldn't move, unsure of exactly how to feel. There were so many emotions battling for dominance in his mind that they all just formed a turbulent whirlpool of confusion. "No, it's impossible… Wait…why…?"

"England!" Germany's voice was louder than anyone's ever heard it before. "Calm down!"

"C'mon," Malta stated to Andorra, staggering to her feet and holding out a hand to her friend on the ground, "let's leave. Your injuries look the worst. …Andorra?"

Andorra stared at the bloodstained body of her friend across the room, appearing as if someone had spilled some kind of red juice across a photo of the ex-nation sleeping. "What? Oh, sorry… It's been a while since I lost a friend… I don't know how to react…" She grabbed Malta's hand and heaved herself upwards, wobbling on her good leg before steadying herself on her friend's shoulder. She didn't take her eyes off her deceased friend, unable to convince herself that she had passed on. "I feel sad, but also angry and hopeless, and empty… I don't know how to feel, you know?"

Malta sighed quietly, turning away from the scene of the battle and facing the doorway. "Yeah, I know. Just don't start crying, okay? And don't look back. …Let's just go. No one needs to see you like that."

"…Okay."

-x-

"Are you okay?" Canada insisted, waving a hand in front of Malta's unfocused eyes. "If you can't stand up, you can lean on my shoulder…"

"What?" Malta turned her attention away from the carnage and glanced back at the translucent form of Canada beside her. "I'm – I'm fine. What about you, though? You're clenching your hand too tightly. It's bleeding."

Canada glanced down at his hand, then quickly shoved it into his pocket. "This is why I didn't want to break the clock… I can't do anything to help here… It always happens. Always…" He glanced to his right, at the doorway to the fireplace room. It had been left open, so they could see the figures inside bathed in faint firelight, now sitting in a cloud of dismal silence.

Five minutes had passed since the death of Yugoslavia, and the nations had already gathered in the fireplace room across the hall, the newcomers half-frozen with shock, the witnesses swept with grief. The story had been told – since no one had the emotional strength to finish the tale on their own, it was passed between those who had seen it with their own eyes, along with a box of tissues.

"You're kidding…right?" Canada was the first one to respond after the witnesses went silent. His voice wavered, and despite trying to stay strong, his yes burned with submerged tears. "Yugoslavia is… Wait a moment! How could such a thing –" He couldn't finish, so Russia took over the conversation.

"Those voices coming from the other room. Is that Italy and England?" There was a lack pasta-loving Italians and stuffy Brits around, so he just drew the conclusion and went back to speaking. "I guess we'd better not go in. They were…the closest to her…"

"If only I had gotten here sooner, aru…"

America suddenly shot up from his seat, slamming his fists on the table in misdirected anger. "You? I'm the one who made us split up! If anyone should be…" He paused, his eyes moving to something across the table from him. It looked like a book bound in leather, and that was exactly what it was. "…Hey, what's that book on the table?"

"This?" Germany picked up the book and turned it over in his hands, trying to figure out what it was just as much as everyone else. "I'm not sure. It was lying on the ground in the library downstairs. …It seems more like a journal than anything else."

The same thought ran through Malta's and Canada's minds when they saw the book, its worn cover sporting the same slice from corner to corner as it did in the other time. "The journal!"

"That's Yugo's," Malta muttered, as if she actually saw the ghostly image of herself in the hall and heard her exclamation. "It's her journal."

Prussia snatched the book from his brother's hands and opened it up to the first page, staring in confusion. "There's something weird about this thing. Look, on the first page." He turned it so that the others could see. "There's her name, and a bunch of other writing here…"

"Yugoslavia…" Andorra pressed her lips into a thin line, staring at the script at the bottom of the page. Sure enough, it said Yugoslavia, but something didn't add up. "…That doesn't mean she owns it. It kinda looks like this is a…a contract sign page." She opened her mouth again, but no sound came out. After a moment, the nations' eyes widened in shock, and they crowded around her to see whatever it was for themselves.

Malta glanced at Canada, hoping that she wasn't the only one to lose their hearing, but she was alone. The ghost of Canada that had been standing beside her just moments ago was gone – literally gone. Even if she had the capability to see him when his brother couldn't, she still wouldn't have known where the Canadian had gone. "Canada?! Wait a second…" She felt an odd sensation, like someone was pulling her heart backward out of her body, and she instantly knew. "Crap, I'm going to be pulled back! No… No! I have to stay just a little longer – just a few seconds! What's in that journal?!"

She didn't get to find out, because she was pulled away from the scene before another word was spoken.

-x-

Players: 14

Survivors: 14

Missing: 0

Deceased: 0

-x-

A/N: Credit for the song mentioned above goes to the singer Jem. The song is called 24, and it fits HetaOni so much it's scary. ._. Anyway, that's where that came from. I couldn't make something like that up on my own.