"I believe that someone in this house has been trying and succeeding in causing a whole number of problems and trouble." Kiku began, the whole room quiet.
Everyone save Flávio, Allen, Oliver and Francois was seated throughout the lounge. Feliciano and Lovino were seated together, not long having joined them. Even more recent to the room though was Kuro and Luciano. Most 1 and 2p's had been shocked to see the two tagging along behind Lutz after he had returned. Both 2p's were taken aback once they saw Feliciano's injuries, though neither Lovino, Luciano or Kuro had said a word yet.
"I believe most of us have come to the same conclusion." Arthur explained, receiving nods in agreement.
"So now we just have to figure out who and why." Matt concluded before the room fell into a quiet silence.
"Where do we even start?" Xiao muttered, clueless.
"Why don't we start with you, Luciano. You were the first to start acting weird, why?" Ludwig inquired, as most heads turned towards the Italian.
"Because yesterday Francois told me something and I'm not sure if I believe everything you're going to say." The darker haired Italian explained, hostility in his voice. This took a few by surprise.
"What did he say?" Yao asked seriously.
Luciano seemed to pause before answering. "He said that you 1p's hate us, think you're so much better than us because you're the first version, think that we are all insignificant beings apart of a just another job that you need to do to save your precious world!" He spat, clearly upset.
"Is it the truth? Or is it just a big bunch of bullshit?" The Italian continued, eyes narrowed towards the rest of the room.
No one said anything, honestly taken aback.
"W-What are you talking about?" Arthur stuttered on his words, one of the first to break from his stupor.
"Tell me! Is it the truth or a lie!" The magenta eyed Italian was furious.
"It's a lie! A big fat lie!" Alfred hurriedly exclaimed.
"I promise you Luciano, no 1p has said anything even remotely similar to what you have told us. You have my word." Kiku spoke up, voice calm as he backed the American's statement.
"Okay and so if I believe you, can you prove it?" The Italian 2p countered, however he had lost an amount of anger, relieving many.
"We can. Feliciano, you were with Luciano last yesterday weren't you? What happened?" Matt inquired, shifting the attention to Feliciano.
"Sì, we were painting together like normal when Francois walked in. He told me that Lovino had been looking for me and was outside in the back garden, so I left to find him." The auburn haired 1p explained quietly, voice slightly shaking.
"And after that Francois would have told Luciano what he did-" Arthur was cut off.
"Ve~, there was something else." Feliciano added, looking like he was about to continue before Lovino spoke up.
"After whatever the fuck happened last night, Feliciano told me that he had been looking for me, as Francois had told him. Well I had been out all day with Antonio, Andres and Francis." The slightly older brother stated, voice hoarse and clipped.
This new piece of information was news to both the 1 and 2p's ears.
"Oui, we were. Both Antonio and I can back his story too." Francis contributed.
A thoughtful silence enveloped the room before more then one person came to the same realisation.
"You couldn't have ripped Flavio's shirt if you weren't here! That means you're innocent and have been framed!" Matt exclaimed, others fervently nodding in agreement.
Lovino looked conflicted for a few moments before he stood, growling lowly.
"It's one thing to beat the shit out of me, yeah most of the time I probably deserve it, but when I'm falsely accused? I'm going to rip my stupid counterparts head off! And then to whoever caused this mess, I'll castrate him with a fucking spoon! And don't even think I've forgotten about the prick who did this to Feli!" The Italian exploded, olive eyes blazing lividly as he left the room in a stupor once more.
"Calm down and don't do anything irrational. We don't need them to hate us anymore." Arthur was the voice of reason, sighing in exasperation.
"Oh so its all about not pissing them off anymore, well sorry but I think you missed that boat! What about me! I already hate them! I hate them so much! But you go ahead and say another condescending thing stupid Brit!" Lovino was wild, surprising many with just how angry he was.
When no one said anything the Italian allowed a pissed off smirk to form on his face.
"I thought so. Now you have nothing to say. Fuck you all." Lovino glared as he stormed through the lounge room into the kitchen and out through the back door, promptly slamming it with enough strength to shake the walls.
Feliciano was the first to react to his brother's spout of anger, sighing loudly before giving Arthur a disappointed look.
"Did you have to say that?" He inquired pointedly, voice shaky and expression weary.
"I didn't think he'd react like that!" The Brit spluttered.
"Doesn't mean you still should've said it." Antonio was solemn, face expressionless for once. Both him and Feli had witnessed Lovino's numerous moments of anger, and both knew not to make it worse than it already was.
"Okay... let's get back to where we were. So Lovino's innocent and both Luciano and Feliciano were tricked. What's next?" Matt explained quickly, trying to get the room back on track after the Italian's outburst.
"Trying to figure out who is behind it all I suppose." Ludwig supplied and was met with nods in agreement.
"So we can definitely rule out Feliciano, Lovino, Francis, Antonio and Andres because they were also with Lovino yesterday, Flavio, Luciano, Kuro and Matt because Allen punched you too this morning." Kiku come to the conclusion.
"Although that also means that everyone in this room could also be innocent, we just don't have proof. However I do have a couple of main suspects." The Japanese male continued.
"Oliver, Allen and Francois." Kuro supplied and Kiku nodded.
"Wasn't Oliver a victim though, isn't that why they attacked Feli this morning? Because they believed he was the one to steal Oliver's cooking supplies." Lutz explained and most began to think about that.
"Yes he was, that could possibly rule him out, and I believe that Allen is also innocent. The way he acted after you punched him this morning Alfred was so unlike him." Matt added.
"That would leave Francois as the culprit then." Francis stated somewhat unsurely to the rest of the room.
"Francois? He doesn't seem like the sort of person to do all of this though." Yao questioned.
"That's because you don't know him properly." Luciano muttered, drawing the attention of the room to himself.
"I have to agree. Francois might be quiet and forlorn but can be seriously arrogant." The 2p Canadian explained.
"Not only arrogant but stubborn, lazy and manipulative." Luci added darkly, eyes narrowing.
"And how do you know this?" Ivan questioned, speaking up from his thoughts.
"Because I mostly grew up with him. I've seen how much of a asshole he is." The Italian continued, a moment of silence following.
"Alright. Why don't we get everyone else down here, Matt go and get Allen, Oliver and Francois, and Luciano get Flavio. Antonio or Feli get Lovino. We're gonna talk this out now." Alfred exclaimed.
Before the Canadian had the chance to leave the room though, he suddenly remembered a piece of evidence from this morning.
"Just another thing." Matt started quickly, getting everyone's attention.
"This morning in the kitchen as soon as Francois entered the room he was glaring at Feliciano, and then he was going on about how Feli was definitely lying, blaming him for Luciano's weird behaviour and destroying Flavio's shirt too. And that's not all, I saw him smirk at Feliciano's injured body as he and Oliver left the room." This new information left the room silent once more.
"I remember that, I'm glad someone else noticed it. It must have slipped to the back of my mind." Feliciano replied quietly, a grateful smile on his face.
"It sounds like Francois also may have had something to do with how both Allen and Oliver are acting too." Arthur sighed.
"On second thoughts, get everyone down here except for Francois." Alfred stated and everyone could agree with this, all now 99% sure that the 2p Frenchman was behind everything.
Both Matt and Luciano headed upstairs to collect their respective brothers, whilst Antonio helped Feliciano out the back to locate Lovino.
Not even ten minutes later Lovino was sullenly seated beside his brother once more, and Allen, Oliver and Flavio had all been brought to the lounge with reluctance. All three 2p's quiet and eyes directed at the floor.
"We need to talk." Alfred explained before either of the three could say a word.
"Has Francois said anything to you in the past couple of days? Anything at all?" The American continued, a serious tone in his voice.
An awkward sort of silence fell upon the room, most looking towards the three newcomers with slight distrust and curiosity.
"He said something to me..." Oliver began uncomfortably, gaining the attention of the room.
"I knew it." Arthur stated, giving an exasperated sigh afterwards.
"I'm assuming he told you something about how the 1p's hate all of you and that we are responsible for all the problems circulating around at the moment. I'm guessing he would've mentioned something about Feliciano being the one to steal your supplies too?" Kiku speculated, an eyebrow raised.
"You're pretty spot on there..." Oliver trailed off quietly, lowering his head and looking towards the ground once more.
"Oliver then went and told me everything this morning and I just lost it... I didn't even take reason into it. God, I'm so sorry." Allen explained desperately, upset with himself.
No one said anything for a few moments, most taken aback by the American's words and his seriousness.
"That explains one thing. Now onto the other." Matt started quietly. All eyes looked towards a sullen blonde Italian.
"Flavio we have proof that Lovino did not do anything to you or your belongings, he was out with myself, Antonio and Andres pretty much the whole day. He wasn't even home. Did Francois approach you at all before or after dinner last night, before you found your shirt destroyed?" Francis asked calmly, tone friendly.
It took a few moments but finally the Italian spoke up.
"Sì he did. He mentioned he saw Lovino exit my room with a pair of scissors. ...I made a mistake." Flavio explained, voice sad.
"This explains everything. It seems that everyone has been tricked by Francois. I don't know what his plan was but we've got him figured out." Alfred stated proudly.
"How did you figure this?" Oliver inquired softly, unsure as to how they had come across that conclusion.
Kiku quickly went into an explanation for what had occurred, leaving Allen, Oliver and Flavio mostly shocked.
"Okay... wow, shit. God, I feel so bad. I'm so sorry Feliciano, and to you too Matt. If you'd like to hit me back you can if you'd like, I'm open." The 2p American said to the bemusement of the room, tone still upset and guilty. The bruise on his cheek from where Alfred had punched him earlier a contrast blue to his darker skin.
His words left both 1 and 2p's shocked.
"Thank you... but I'm not going to hit you, I-" Feliciano started, a weak smile forming on his face before he was interrupted.
"I will." Lovino exclaimed abruptly, anger in his voice once more, jumping to his feet. He didn't get very far before both Feliciano and Antonio pulled him back to his seat.
"Please don't do anything fratello, this isn't your problem. You don't get to decide what I should do, it's not his fault." The younger Italian muttered quietly, although his words were still heard throughout the room.
"Although, I wouldn't stop you from punching Francois." Feliciano continued, weak smile appearing once more.
Lovino grumbled irritably, but didn't say another word, however he did let out a snigger at his brother's second comment.
"I should apologise too, mi dispiace Lovino. I guess I found myself victim to Francois without even realising it." Flavio apologised sincerely, letting out a weary sigh. The blonde Italian's neck was also covered in dark, painful looking bruises.
"Whatever..." Lovino made a sound of disgust before lowly muttering an apology of his own.
"I guess I should also apologise for my earlier assumptions too. I'm sorry I suppose. Don't think I'll ever repeat that either." Luciano groaned, half-assing an apology that still managed to sound mostly truthful.
"Hopefully there's no more hard feelings. Everything that happened in the last few days should be thought of as a lie, we were used by Francois to cause chaos, but why is an excellent question?" Arthur concluded, questioning the group of twenty three other personifications.
"Maybe it was for his sick entertainment!" Lovino spat out but was met with disagreement.
"No, he's lazy remember, he wouldn't go to all this effort just for fun. There's a motive behind it." Matt explained completely serious.
"It sounds like he was trying to turn us against one another." Lutz suggested and most instantly turned to face him, faces contorted into shock.
"You're right! Remember the prophecy, if we don't all bond by a certain time, then both our worlds will be destroyed! We can't bond if we hate each other! Our worlds would have definitely been destroyed!" Alfred all but yelled in horror.
"Why would he want himself and all his friends and family to die?" Feliciano asked innocently, amber eyes wide.
"Because he's selfish." Luciano's snide comment was mostly ignored.
"This is more than just pride on the line here, there has to be a serious reason as to why Francois did this!" Oliver exclaimed passionately.
"Well why don't we go and confront him, ask him about his reasons for all of this?" Matthew suggested and winced when more than a few personifications jumped at his presence.
"I totally forgot you were here bro, but that idea is great! Let's go!" Alfred started and was almost at the stairs before he was stopped.
"Sending all twenty three of us up there is a bad idea, five or six at most shall go. Once you've got the answers bring him downstairs." Ludwig stated abruptly and everyone nodded.
"I'm going." Luciano stood instantly and no one moved to stop him.
"I shall too." Matt stated.
"I believe there should be at least a couple of 1p's that confront him too. I'll be one of them." Arthur muttered before standing.
Kiku stood with a nod and moved towards the others.
"I think I'll go too." Oliver commented quietly before joining the group of six.
"Good that's six, find out what you need to. Good luck." The blue eyed German explained strictly.
The group made up of Alfred, Arthur, Kiku, Luciano, Matt and Oliver all made sounds of agreement before climbing the stairs.
Francois was nursing a bottle of red wine, his figure facing the lone window in the room, lilac eyes watching the plain landscape outside.
"It seems that it's all gone down the drain now." He muttered emptily, running a hand through his tangled blonde locks.
"They figured it out so quickly too. I can't do anything..." The Frenchman let out an irritated sigh before sculling half the bottle of wine.
Francois had heard the group in the lounge unraveling his plans. They wouldn't understand his reasons why, and it wouldn't be soon before someone came to drag him down there, in front of all their angry faces.
Taking another long sip from the bottle, the Frenchman felt anger take over, smashing the almost empty bottle against the small wooden table beside him, before throwing the top half of the bottle towards a pile of already cleared bottles of the same substance. A smashing sound followed. Wine stained the table.
"At least if I'm drunk enough I don't have to remember any of it." Francois sighed before taking another bottle into his hands.
That's how it went, bottle after bottle, dark wine staining the wooden table, carpet and his already dirty clothes. With each bottle that passed, the Frenchman's vision blurred even more and his body became so heavy that he found it too hard to hold himself up, slumping into the lone chair situated by the table. His ability to see did not hinder his ability to drink though. Francois was so intoxicated that he didn't even notice the door being slammed open.
I'm not sure of half-assed is even a real word, it is for me, but I'm not too sure about the rest of the world, I used it though.
Thanks for reading and reviewing. I wrote this chapter back in 2018 and I wont be editing it until I finish the fanfic.
-Ella
