NOTE: sorry for delayed update! Here is my work of art!

Prussia grabbed his knife that was hanging at his side. He glanced down the hallway to see if his brother was coming, and, too his relief, saw that the door remained closed. He didn't want to explain why he was sitting next to Italy with a knife in his hand. Especially after the way the young Italian had died.

He quietly grabbed Italy's hand and cut his palm in a deep stroke. He watched as the slow blood fell from the wound. He squeezed the dead country's hand, causing more blood to drip out. He had half expected the body to wince in pain, but Italy was dead; he could not feel any of this. Prussia placed the plain pendant on Italy's palm and closed the dead hand, blood covering the stone in the middle of the necklace.

Italy had enchanted the knife so that only the memories of Holy Rome would transfer. Prussia was at least glad for this, since his brother didn't need any more of the Italian's memories than he needed. Especially the secret meeting. That was something he would tell him about in his own time.

Prussia opened Italy's hand with his own shaking ones, seeing the pendant with the cursed red liquid covering it. Blood had been smeared across its surface, and the blood now covered Italy's palm as well. Prussia immediately cleaned off Italy's hand. The once plain stone was now yellow with black speckles in it. Prussia felt a tear roll down his cheek, immediately wiping it away. Awesome countries don't cry! At least, that is what he always told himself.

He carefully wiped the blood from the pendant with his handkerchief. He put the small thing in his pocket before whipping out his cell phone. There was someone he had to call.

Hungary was walking back from her little trip to the market. For some reason, Austria had given her an exceptionally long list of things he "forgot" to tell her he needed. She smiled, hoping nothing was wrong. Maybe he was planning something? Besides, what could go wrong on a beautiful day like this?

She suddenly felt her phone vibrate. She reached into her dress pocket to see that… Prussia was calling her? She quickly answered, wondering what he could be calling about. The country hadn't called her since… she couldn't even remember when.

"Hungary!" his usual loud voice seemed to be quieter and raspier than usual, like he was trying to keep his voice down.

"Yes, Prussia, what is it?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Are you at home?"

"No, I'm heading back now."

"Whatever you do, don't go inside!"

Hungary stopped. Usually Prussia didn't seem this panicked. She hoped it was a joke. "Is this a prank of yours?"

"No! I'm serious! Don't go in your house!" his voice was urgent.

Hungary was confused. "Tell me why, and MAYBE I'll listen to you!"

Prussia didn't reply. He didn't know what to tell her, the truth was too awful, and lying was pointless. "Just… trust me, just this once!" he pleaded.

Hungary thought about this for a moment. "No!" she said, hanging up before Prussia could protest.

The awesome country put his head in his hands and muttered a curse. He couldn't avoid it. She would find out eventually… there was nothing he could protect his friend from now.

Hungary walked up to the front door and found it unlocked. This was strange; Austria usually had it bolted at all times.

She went ahead and walked in. The house was silent. Usually there would be a piano playing, or Austria would hear the door and come greet her. Yet, nothing happened. The house seemed… deserted.

She lifted her hidden frying pan, fearing that she'd need to protect herself. She cautiously walked further into the house, cursing her boots for being so loud. She carefully walked into the living room.

She nearly screamed. Blood covered the floor. There were red footsteps that appeared to be running out of the room. After following them, she found a bloody knife. She carefully picked it up and turned it over.

On the handle of it, there was a design. She immediately recognized it as Holy Rome's flag.

But why would that be there? They had agreed never to even mention him ever since he left Italy. Could Austria own this knife? Was he even alive?

She whipped out her cell phone and called Prussia. Obviously he knew something; he had explicitly told her to not go in the house, so he HAD to be able to tell her the situation!

Prussia heard his phone ring and saw Hungary's name pop up on the caller ID. He sucked in a shallow breath. His shaking hand lifted the phone. If there was something that made him feel un-awesome, it had to be making his friends upset, and he was involved with this entire situation.

He answered it and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

Hungary's small cries were coming in through the speaker. Prussia had never heard her cry like this. "I'll be right over!" he called into the phone before she could speak.

Hungary heard the connection get cut off. She felt the tears stream down her face freely as she walked to the front door to wait for Prussia. Even if he was a creepy pervert, she needed someone to be with her.

After a few minutes a jeep pulled up to the house. The albino German leapt out of it and ran to the front door, which Hungary had opened for him. Within seconds, Hungary was in his arms as sobs came from her shaking figure.

"P-Prussia, what's going on?" she asked quietly, able to calm down after a few minutes inside.

"Well, what do you want to know?" he asked softly, holding her comfortingly.

"Who died?"

Prussia's arms stiffened. He couldn't tell Hungary that! He didn't love her, but he certainly didn't want her to cry.

Hungary felt the Prussian's arms stiffen and she became worried. Prussia would never show weakness like this, especially not in front of a girl!

Prussia cleared his throat. "I told West I wanted to tell you myself, but I don't think I can…"

Hungary interrupted him. "I need to know! Please, I just want someone to tell me…"

Prussia sighed. "You see… Italy was killed." He whispered, trying to keep himself from crying.

Hungary stiffened. No, this didn't make sense. Italy couldn't be dead… he was like a son to her… he couldn't have died… who would even kill him? He was the nicest of all the countries!

Before she could stop herself, she broke out into loud sobs. She stood there, and Prussia tried to comfort her, also crying at this point. He knew that she would want to know who had killed her Italy, but that was something that he felt shouldn't be revealed for a while.

Soon, Hungary couldn't cry any longer. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red. Prussia's jacket was soaked through with tears. Prussia simply held her as her breaths became even. "You better now?" he asked quietly.

Prussia felt a nod come from Hungary. "Do you want to see Italy?"

Another nod. Prussia carefully picked her up and carried her to his jeep. She nuzzled close to his chest, trying to get some sort of comfort from him, wanting another person near her. She was calmed by his steady heartbeat.

The drive to his house was quiet and slow. He didn't want to disturb Hungary, especially since they were about to see Italy's body. She, in turn, was silent.

He got out of the jeep and helped Hungary out. Her legs and arms were stiff and shaky, but she could still walk with him. The walk to the door was like an eternity that ended too soon for comfort.

He quietly walked in to find Germany in the kitchen, holding a bottle of beer. His jacket was missing and his hair was disheveled. His eyes were red and there were tearstains on his face. When he saw Hungary, he stood and went to his room. It was obvious that he was embarrassed to be seen in such a state.

Prussia had never seen Germany act so… clueless. Usually he would try to at least pretend everything was alright; rarely had he gone through a grieving like this. He didn't seem to know what to do with himself. It would only get worse in time. He felt the necklace in his pocket; suddenly it felt heavy, like a burden he had to carry. A burden of guilt and sorrow. He shook it off and looked at Hungary.

"Are you sure about this?" his eyes were filled with concern that rarely appeared there.

Hungary took a deep breath and nodded. Prussia took her hand and led her over to their sofa.

Italy's face was uncovered and had been cleaned of any blood that had been on it. There was a small bouquet of flowers in Italy's hands. Germany had apparently prepared the body for the countries about to come into their house.

As soon as Hungary saw him, she froze. Without even meaning to, she fell to her knees. It felt like a thousand knives were being stabbed into her heart. The feeling brought tears to her eyes.

He was really dead. She didn't want to believe it, but here was his body. There was no way to deny it. She let out dry sobs, her eyes had run out of tears to cry. Prussia bent down and gave Hungary a hug, trying to comfort her.

Hungary began to speak, her voice dry and broken. "Italy… Italy… ITALY!" she screamed, as if trying to call him back to the land of the living. She buried her face into Prussia's shoulders, her shoulders shaking.

Prussia suddenly remembered about the pendant in his pocket. It seemed to be a mark of treachery, burning into his soul, guilt weighing down on his shoulders as he realized what he had done. He may have not done the deed, but he allowed it to happen. It was like watching an innocent being executed.

Hungary kept screaming into Prussia's chest, sending another surge of guilt through him. He couldn't do this anymore. He could barely contain himself, the guilt pushing in on him from all sides, seeming to smother him.

Prussia and Hungary spent the next ten minutes crying in each other's arms, each trying to comfort the other. These attempts were fruitless, however, as the two could only cry harder and harder.

After a long while, Prussia stood up and brought Hungary over to a nearby chair. He sat down and helped the female country into his lap. She curled up next to him, tears streaming down her face, her energy for sobbing had left her at last. Prussia simply stroked her hair and tried to hold back his own tears.

They sat like this for an hour. During this time, the countries Germany had called filed into their house, wanting to see Italy.

Romano and Spain were the first ones to arrive. Prussia had known it was them because of the squealing tires that marked an Italian speeding into a driveway. Romano didn't shed a tear, but it was obvious he was holding them back, his amazing self-control was near superhuman. After ten minutes of seeing his dead brother, he and Spain left, this time the Spaniard driving. One cannot spend forever without crying, apparently.

Next came Japan. He simply came in and shed a few tears for Italy; no one in that room had ever seen him show that much emotion about something. He got up and gave Prussia and Hungary a comforting hug, and they accepted the kindness. After this, Japan left.

Next, Belgium came. As Italy's friend, she had rushed over to Germany's house, hoping that it wasn't true, even though she knew it was. Her mind set was very similar to Hungary's, her grieving nearly just as violent. She spent a long time at the German's house, simply sobbing and clinging to Italy's dead body.

England soon came after her departure. After shedding a few tears for Italy, he motioned for Prussia to talk to him. The albino country then placed a now sleeping Hungary onto the chair and stood.

"What is it, England?" he asked in an almost annoyed voice.

"When do you plan on giving the pendant to your brother?" he asked seriously.

Prussia's hand dove into his pocket, gripping the cold stone. "Soon."

England sighed. "Are you scared about him getting his memories back?"

Prussia shook his head. "I'm just worried that he'll hate me. Eventually he'll get all of the memories back, even the ones Italy doesn't have. I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Prussia, we did the right thing!" England said in a fairly annoyed voice.

Neither of the countries saw Hungary open her eyes slightly, having been awoken by the sound of England's small shout.

"Look, I know that! I'm just worried about West!" Prussia insisted.

England looked at Prussia. "That is unavoidable! Is that really ALL that you're worried about? Did you even forget about Austria's part in this? What he must think of himself right now?"

Hungary had to use all of her energy from gasping in surprise. What did her precious Austria have to do with any of this? She closed her eyes and continued listening, just in case they looked at her.

"Yes, I know what he did, and I know what this is all for, but I don't think I can go through with this!"

England's voice sounded stern, almost angry. "Look, do you have the pendant ready?"

Prussia nodded. "Yeah, I'm not completely unreliable!" Hungary heard Prussia take something out of his pocket.

"Well, it looks like you got that part over with. Did anyone see you do it? Has anyone figured it out yet?" England said, worried.

Prussia sighed. "Nobody has any clue about this, I promise. I was all alone when I did it."

Hungary was confused. What had Prussia done? It seemed to involve Italy, England, Germany, and probably Austria, from the sound of it. What was going on?

England sighed. "Prussia, I would give your brother the necklace if I could. But he hates me, so he probably wouldn't believe any of the memories. Besides, I think it would all be better coming from his brother."

Hungary's head was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. What were these memories? What was going on?

"Yeah, well he probably would've taken all of this the best from Italy! Did you ever think of that?" Prussia sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

"Italy knew what he was getting himself into, but I guess he forgot that it would take a while for Germany to accept all of this without him. We just need to keep moving! His death will not have been in vain!" England sounded sad, a little brave, and very hopeless.

"I just wish that this hadn't happened…" Prussia was definitely crying now.

England sighed. "I do, too. If Austria wasn't running away right now, he probably would've said the same thing."

Hungary panicked slightly. What was he running away from? What was going to happen to everyone?

Prussia's phone rang. "It's Austria!" he said excitedly, quickly answering.

"Where are you?" Pause. "Hungary's at my house." Pause. "Well, I can't exactly explain this to her!" Pause. "Well, man up and call her!" Pause. "Of course she'll be mad at you! What did you expect?" Pause. "She can't be mad forever! She'll understand why!" Pause. "Fine, I'll tell her! But you owe me one, bro!"

Hungary heard Prussia hang up. "We need to wake up Hungary."

She heard the two men walk over to her. Prussia nudged her. "Hungary… wake up…"

She peeled open her eyes, pretending to have just woken up. "We need to talk." Prussia said, helping her to her feet.

So England, Prussia, and Hungary took a walk to a park near the estate. She could tell that those two needed to tell her something about Austria, but she couldn't figure out what it was. But if he was involved in Italy's death… she honestly didn't want to think about it.

They found a bench underneath a great oak tree. England gestured for her to sit. She reluctantly obliged, knowing that this was not going to be easy to take.

"Hungary… there is something Prussia needs to tell you." England said, obviously throwing Prussia under the metaphorical bus. The albino seemed scared and angry at the Englishman.

"Well… Hungary… you see…" Prussia took in a deep breath and sighed, knowing it was better not to wait. "Austria was the one who killed Italy."

Hungary gasped. Her hands flew up to her mouth. She stared at the ground, tears falling down her cheeks again as her arms shook. "No… he… he'd never do that… you're lying… why would you lie to me…" her voice shook.

It took the men everything in them to not cry at this. They knew that she might go into denial, but they didn't realize it would hurt them this much.

Prussia sat down next to Hungary and held her close to him. "I'm sorry."

He felt Hungary begin to sob harder. "NO! WHY WOULD YOU LIE TO ME?!" she hit him, her arms too weak to bring him any pain.

England sat down next to them and placed his hand on Hungary's shoulder comfortingly. There wasn't much else he could do; he barely knew the country! But he was a gentleman, and, as a gentleman, it was his duty to comfort a lady.

Hungary's mind put all of the pieces into place that she could. Austria had killed Italy, England and Prussia were aware of this the whole time, and it all had something to do with memories.

"Hungary," Prussia said softly. "It'll be okay. Everything will be okay, eventually."

Hungary knew these words. She had said them before; and they were lies. She had said them to her precious Italy when Holy Rome disappeared, but he never seemed quite so cheerful or carefree after that. And now she was being fed the same exact lie.

And she wanted with all her heart to believe every word of it.

NOTE: again, sorry this is a little late, but I've been fairly busy. I'll try to have more frequent updates. On the side note…

This does NOT support Hungary x Prussia; they are simply friends that are grieving together. No need to get ship-crazy over this! Who am I kidding… you are the fandom's members, and you will ALWAYS go ship-crazy… I can't stop you…

Leave a review, pleases! :3