Okay, I know I said I wouldn't be returning until mid-March at the earliest, but I managed to finish all of my homework for the weekend and I wanted to do something besides stare at my phone. Thus, I wrote. Let me know what you like about it. See you at the bottom of the page.


Chapter 5: Being Sensible

The Artist was flipping the clock in her hands when The Vet and the others came over. It was about as big as a standard round school clock, with the numbers one through twelve on its white face and a blue rim around the whole thing and the back. It appeared to be ticking, but in such a subtle way that it was hard to tell.

The Artist flipped the clock to look at the back again. Again, a standard clock, with a small rectangle to cover the batteries and tiny printed words that probably were supposed to signify where it came from. It looked like a bunch of scribbles etched into the plastic.

"…Huh," Brittany said when she was handed the clock. "I guess I never really thought about what the clocks would look like, but it definitely wasn't… this."

"Whatever," The Vet said. "How do we break it?"

"Patience, Vet. We should take this back to the bunker so we can look at it more closely and see if there's any hint of The Author's magic here."

"Fine." Vet rolled her eyes and turned, nearly tripping over Mochi America.

"YO!" It cheered again, smiling as brightly as ever at her.

"I'm starting to think your vocabulary is limited to vague American-sounding phrases," she said to it. It continued to smile, but she felt something cold on her neck, like an ice cube dropped down her shirt. She quickly broke eye contact.

"Should we keep searching for clocks, Brittany?" Damien asked.

Brittany hummed and looked around at the small groups of cult members around larger rubble piles. "I hate to make anyone stay out in this heat longer than they need to… On one hand, it would be good to get everyone's thoughts on the magic of this clock, but on the other hand, if there are more clocks to find, it would be better to leave some people to keep searching."

"Let 'em stay! Let 'em stay!" Mochi America yelled. Vet noticed that Ivan was looking somehow even more angrily at the creature. After what the toilet beer note said, it probably wasn't a bad thing to keep an eye on the mochi.

Brittany glanced down at it again, then shook her head. "No. I think it would be better for everyone to go back to the bunker. Mochi America, we could use your… experience with the mansion to help figure out these clocks."

"Okay." It sounded considerably less excited at this, though its smile never wavered.

Brittany raised an arm over her head. "Everyone," she called, "we're going back inside. If you've found anything useful, we'll talk about it in the bunker."

There were a few cheers and the groups began to merge back into one that traveled back to the hill. Vet noticed that Casey had pulled Brittany aside, and walked over to hear their conversation.

"It's just for a little longer, Brittany, I'll be back as soon as I'm done," Casey said, holding Brittany's hand with hers. "I 'ave a feelin I'm onto somethin important."

"But I have to examine the clock at the bunker, Casey, I can't do that and stay with you…"

"I can 'andle myself for a tick, love. Don't worry."

"But—"

"I can partner with her, Brittany," The Vet interrupted. The two girls looked at her, not realizing until now they were being listened to. "Besides, I'm no magic expert, so I'll probably be of better help out here than inside. Whatever's the most efficient in finding my sister."

"Efficient, yes…" Brittany slowly let go of Casey's hand and took a step back. Vet could see the countries and cult members all walking back towards the bunker, with Mochi America not far behind. Oddly enough, it spun as it hopped, seeming to be keeping an eye on the cult and the three girls as it went. "Fine. I'll bring you both a water bottle when we're done. Hopefully, this won't take long. Stay safe."

"Aye, captain!" Casey saluted and curtseyed at the same time, then held her arm in Vet's direction.

The Vet was about to entwine her arm with Casey's when Brittany grabbed her hand. "W-wait!"

Casey and Vet looked at her. Brittany's eyes were flicking between the two girls, her face growing pink again.

"What is it, lo—love?!"

Brittany pulled Casey's hand to her mouth and kissed it, then dropped the hand and ran after the larger group. Casey was looking between her hand and Vet. Vet waggled an eyebrow at her and Casey covered her face. "What's wrong?" Vet asked. "You call her 'love' all the time; I figured you were a couple."

"W-well, I'd like to be, but I'm still not sure 'ow to broach it, ya know?"

"When this is all over, you should just talk with her. That's the most straightforward approach."

"I suppose… though I wonder why she chose now of all times to do… that."

"Don't think I'm antagonizing Brittany or anything, but do you think she was… jealous?"

"Jealous?" Casey cocked her head. "What makes ya say that?"

"It's just, with the way she was looking at us both when we were about to link arms and all… do you know how good she is with relationships?"

"From what I've seen," Casey said as she led The Vet to a larger pile of rubble further from the others, "she 'as a 'ard time makin friends, she does. Even before the whole cult thing, I never saw 'er talkin to a lot a people at school. I think she's gettin better, but it's still a process."

"She may not know the difference between friendly interactions and flirting. Maybe she sees linking arms as a romantic thing to do?"

"I guess," Casey said. "I didn't mean for it to come off that way, though. Did you think that I…?"

"Oh, no," Vet said quickly. "Besides, I have a boyfriend, and we're pretty close. I didn't meet him until the end of junior year at high school, though now that we're both out of college and trying to find work…"

"Aw, that's cute, it is!" Casey giggled. "I 'ope you two 'ave a 'appy life!"

"Oh, that's probably not for a while. I still want to get into vet school and have a real job, not just waiting tables."

"Ah, of course. 'Ere we are!" Casey stopped in front of the pile. It was maybe twice their height and three average human lengths across. It was almost like the pile had been put together rather than occurring naturally in an explosion.

"So, what makes you think this pile has something special?" Vet asked.

"It's just a feelin, really; I didn't see anythin pokin out of it, but I've come to trust my feelings. Ya know, I felt that The Author 'ad somethin special about 'er, too, after we met."

"Okay…" Vet felt a bit uncomfortable, but shook her head. "Let's try to do this quickly so we can get those water bottles…"

In the Bunker…

Brittany waved her hand and a small overhead projector— like you'd see in school in the old days— appeared. She turned it on, and a square of light appeared on the wall. She slid the clock onto the surface of the machine and the clock appeared in all its perfectly colored glory.

"Hang on," The Artist said. "I remember when these were in school. I thought the stuff you put on it had to be see-through for it to work."

"I was thinking the same thing," Damien nodded. "How is this working, Brittany?"

"Magic," she said nonchalantly, not looking away from the clock's image on the wall. The Artist rolled her eyes and Damien huffed. "Alright everyone," Brittany called. "This is a clock."

"I don't know where I was going with that statement."

Some light laughter from the crowd of cult member sitting on the floor around her. "Why don't you look for traces of The Author's magic?" Feliciano offered.

"Yes, of course, right-o." Brittany opened her book and scanned the pages. Finding what she was looking for, she nodded and hovered a hand over the clock… only to pull it back with a gasp.

"What is it, ragazza?" Lovino asked in concern.

"It seems…" Brittany frowned. "It seems the clock is naturally resistant to magic, even the powers granted to the cult members. I can't scan for magic traces."

"Maybe Arthur's magic will react differently, oui?" Francis asked.

"I doubt that I can if even a cult member's magic couldn't do it, but I'll try." Arthur scooted next to the projector and waved his hand over the clock. Nothing happened, negative or otherwise. "…Huh."

"Indeed." Brittany frowned. "This was our only lead so far into where The Author is, but if we can't scan it, we're back to square one. We can't just break it without learning if it has anything to do with her…"

"Why don't you just take out the batteries?" The Artist asked. Everyone stared at her, some suppressing laughs. "What? It's not that stupid of a suggestion. Let me try." Without waiting for the okay from Brittany, The Artist scooted up to the clock and flipped it over to see the back. She pried at the plastic rectangle and pulled it off, revealing a single AA battery. She carefully grabbed the battery from both ends and tugged. It took a little muscle, but it finally came out with a pop… and green sparkles. The group gasped as the sparkles flew into the air before fading as quickly as they had come over The Artist. "That was her…" she said quietly, stunned. "That was her magic, I've felt it before!"

"Try to break it!" Brittany said. "We know the clocks are related to The Author; now we just have to break all of them!"

The Artist set the clock face-up on the floor and slammed the heel of her black boot into the center. The crack of glass could be heard by everyone in the bunker.

The countries looked around nervously, expecting flashes of memories and time shenanigans, but nothing seemed to happen… until Brittany stood up suddenly. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what-?" Antonio began.

"Shush! Listen!" Everyone quieted. Mochi America looked like it was about to shout something when Damien slapped a hand over its mouth. Very faintly, there was a ra-ta-ta-ta sound repeating in succession, with a sudden, quiet bang sounding off every so often. "Gunshots…!" Brittany gasped.

"Aiyah!" Yao shot up. "Did some people stay outside?"

"Just two, but if they're shooting… come on!" Brittany unsheathed her katana and ran for the door. Everyone scrambled to follow her.

Brittany burst out of the bunker, nearly sliding on the grass and falling down the hill. She looked in the direction of the mansion and gasped. Almost hidden in the distant heat waves, there was a solid gray mass swaying around in the rubble. "Come on!" She shouted again once more people had come outside. They all ran to the mansion, Mochi America watching closely before hopping after them.

At the Mansion…

The Vet rolled to the side, nearly colliding with another pile of scraps to avoid the attack. She was working quietly, which was just as well since she wouldn't have been able to hear anything Casey said over the sound of her machine gun. Casey aimed the gun at the back of its head and fired; it roared and turned to her, letting The Vet have a moment to breath and really look at what they were facing.

It was an Oni, no doubts about it: gray skin, long fangs and claws, and glaring black eyes. It was also much larger than any she had seen at the first battle of the mansion, swinging its bulky arms around in a circle like a helicopter. Casey leapt backwards and tripped over a piece of stone, landing hard on her back and giving a pained cry.

"Casey!" Vet shouted. She ran between the monster's legs and skidded to a stop between it and the fallen girl. Trying to keep her aim true, she shot at the monster's forehead. It stumbled back and roared loudly, making both girls cover their ears.

Suddenly, there was an even louder roar, making The Vet, Casey, and the monster turn to see a large group of people charging at them, weapons drawn and yelling. They swarmed the Oni like ants, cutting, beating, and shooting it until it collapsed in a bloody heap. The cult cheered.

Brittany dashed to Casey's side and held her hand. "This is why I said staying out here was a bad idea, you idiot! I should have—I should have known breaking the clock would do something like this-!"

Casey put her hand on Brittany's and smiled weakly. "Couldn't 'ave… known that… idjit."

"…Are you hurt? Show me!" Brittany cried.

Vet hurried over and knelt next to them. "Listen to me, Casey," Vet said seriously. "I'm going to go over all the main parts of the body; just follow my instructions. First, turn your head from side to side and tell me if it hurts."

Casey did what she was told and said only "Just a slight 'eadache; nothin serious."

"We'll take a look at it later. Now, wiggle your fingers…" They went down the list, everyone crowding them on all sides to see The Vet at work. Vet nodded once they were done and turned to Brittany and the rest of the group. "She has a headache and a sore back, but the only real issue is her left ankle. She must have twisted it when she tripped."

"Why did you let her trip—ow!" Casey punched Brittany's arm lightly, which meant there would probably be a bruise there tomorrow morning.

"Don't get like that, wanker. I'm alright, I promise."

"…Okay." Brittany turned to someone who looked like Poland. "Can we get the medics to wrap her ankle, please? Thank you," she said as a small number of the cult members flocked to Casey. Before Brittany could be ushered away to make room, Casey pulled her close and whispered something in her ear. Brittany nodded and stood up, making her way to the Vet. Vet raised an eyebrow. "Listen, Vet, I just want to say two things. One: I'm sorry I blamed you for Casey tripping. B: Thank you for pinpointing her injuries."

"You're welcome, Brittany," The Vet replied. There was an awkward silence for a moment. "…Casey told you to apologize, didn't she?"

"No! Well, yes, but—I would have apologized on my own… eventually…"

The Vet hummed and gave a small smile. "They're almost done," Vet noted, nodding in the direction of the medics. "Wanna see what we found?"

"So you did find something?" Brittany asked in surprise. "Was it a clock?"

"No, but it's definitely something weird. Come on." The two girls walked up to what was left of the pile. "We were clearing away the rubble for a few minutes, and we noticed a hole in the ground. But not just any hole…" Vet pointed into the round dirt hole. There was a very short flight of stone stairs, ending at a wooden trap door, all in perfect condition.

"Fascinating…" Brittany said.

"Yeah, I guess. We were about to go tell you all when we heard the sound of glass breaking."

"Ah, yes, The Artist broke the clock before we heard the gunshots."

"I guessed that might be it. Anyway, once the sound stopped, the trap door opened and an Oni came out. Don't know how it fit in there, to be honest, but we started fighting once it was all the way out."

Brittany was still looking at the trap door in the hole. It looked ancient, though surprisingly well maintained, given the number of bombs that had been dropped on the mansion. Something occurred to her. "I think we destroyed all of the clocks in the mansion with the bombs."

"What do you mean?" Vet asked. "We clearly didn't; we found one that wasn't broken."

"Let's think this through." Brittany began to pace back and forth in front of the stairs. "In the game, the clocks gave the countries their memories back; bits and pieces, yes, but from what their psychologists have told me, the countries remember every time loop that occurred at the mansion. But when we broke this clock, some of The Author's magic appeared, and then—"

"The Oni appeared," Vet finished. "What do you think this means?"

"I have my suspicions…"

"But you're not going to tell me." The Vet crossed her arms.

"I want to, really, I do, but… I want to make sure first. Once I find some quiet time, I'll contact… them."

"Who's them?"

"YEAH!" They jumped and turned to see Mochi America staring up at them.

"A-ah… hello there…" Brittany said nervously.

The mochi remained quiet, simply staring. Staring. Staring.

"Brittany! She's better now!" Damien called. Brittany quickly ran back to Casey, and The Vet followed, glancing back once or twice at the mochi. It continued to stare.

"You can walk just fine, but try not to run or jump for a few hours," one of the medics told Casey as they helped her stand up. "We'll take a look again later; the magic in the medical supplies should do its thing."

"Thanks, mates," Casey said as she carefully put some weight on her leg. Seeming to feel no pain, she walked up to Brittany with a bright smile. Brittany was wringing her hands and looking at Casey worriedly. "I'm fine, love, I told you I'd be okay. Though I must admit…" She whispered something too quietly to hear, but Brittany blushed and covered her mouth. "Cutie," Casey said in finality before turning to The Vet. "Are you alright, mate?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; I managed not to run into the piles during the fight, believe it or not."

"Oh, I believe it. Did you show Brittany the stairs?"

"Yep. What should we do now?"

The countries came up to the rest of the girls, followed by the rest of the cult. "Where'd the mochi thing go?" Matthew asked quietly.

"YO!" Everyone turned around. Mochi America was sitting (?) by the stares. Once it had their attention, it hopped down the stairs.

"Where are ya goin, little fella?" Casey asked, walking as quickly as she could towards the stairs. "We don't know what's down there—whoa…"

The group peered down the stairs. Somehow, the trap door was open, showing a light too bright to clearly see past. Brittany stepped a little closer, and Mochi America hopped into the light and disappeared. "A portal…" she said quietly. Then, loud enough for everyone to hear: "I think we just found a portal to the Onis dimension."

"Is that a thing?" The Artist asked.

"The way dimensions work is… complicated. I'll explain another time." Brittany looked around at her group, settling on Feliciano. He looked tense, eyeing the portal warily. She gently patted his shoulder. "If we're all together, we'll be fine. Who knows? Maybe it leads to nowhere and we can just come back out and find another way."

"No," Feli said, still gazing at the trap door. "I'm sure The Author is down there."

"I can feel it, too," Casey nodded. "That's why I wanted to stay and look through the pile; I felt somethin special. This is the way to go."

"…Okay," Brittany agreed. "Are we already to go?"

"You still owe us each a water bottle," Vet said, half-jokingly. Brittany sighed and waved a hand. A water bottle appeared in Casey and The Vet's hands in a puff of smoke. "Sweet." The Vet gulped down the water, Casey doing the same. "Now we're ready to go."

Brittany wrapped an arm around Casey's waist and led her down the stairs. "I can walk just fine, love—"

"I just want to make sure," Brittany said, not looking at her.

"Okay, okay, you goose."

"Let's go, everyone." The countries and their cult walked down the stairs and through the portal. After a second, the trap door swung shut behind them, against the law of gravity.


I wasn't entirely sure where this chapter would lead me, but I'm pleased with what happened. I've got a few more plot points figured out now, so it's just a matter of getting to them. What did you think? Leave a review and tell me what you thought. I'll see you soon… I hope.