…Outside the mansion, two little boys stood together while looking up at the huge building. They both have their backpacks on as a little white dog bounded besides them, yipping and wagging his small tail.
"Is this the place that Iceland talked about?" the kid with ginger hair asked.
"Yeah! It is! He said that you can find treasure in here left behind by the old owner!" the blonde companion declared. "If I find that treasure, then I'll be declared as a full-fledged nation!"
"What do you mean 'I'?" the other kid yelled. "If that treasure gives you incredible strength, then I'll need it to beat that Swedish idiot and become a country for real! It's 'our' treasure!"
"Not if we race for it!"
"Fine! I'll beat you to it!"
"Yip!"
Both kids ran towards the front door of the mansion and tugged the handle open, easily opening the door with a squeaking noise, and they stumbled in when they tripped over each other's feet.
The door slammed shut just as their dog barked loudly and bounded inside.
Sweden looked around the room as Norway tended to Finland's wounds while the Finn was laid down on a cleaned bed. This room seemed odd compared to the rest of the house; it's strangely spacious despite there being many boxes lying around, not to mention there's a lot more dust gathered here than elsewhere in the house…
Plus, the room is filthy, though there were signs that Norway started to clean up the place manually without using magic; he also cleaned the sheets of all the 10 beds there, draping them above the baths in the bathroom after beating the dust off them and soaking them. It was extremely unusual of Norway to clean without using magic.
"…For some reason, my magic isn't working as it usually would," Norway spoke without looking at Sweden as if he read his mind. "I've been feeling strange ever since I entered this place, so I tried to use some magic to clean up, but it was working at a quarter of the speed… I'm conserving some energy for later…" He sounded depressed as he spoke. Maybe that's why he's refusing to look at Sweden directly in the eyes. The Swede noticed him stiffen. "Did you find the others…?"
"Nej…" Sweden grunted and walked over to wipe some blood off Finland's cheek. Blood doesn't show up very well against black gloves anyway, but he doesn't like it when clothes get sticky with blood… He took a silent breath. "I'll go and look for Danmark and Island."
Norway finally spared him a glance with a hint of a glare behind it. "Good luck."
…As Sweden left through the iron door, he glanced down and noticed a shining object right by his feet just as it bounced off his foot. He let out a surprised gasp and stared at a shiny key before hesitantly picking it up, looking around the room and wandered how it appeared out of nowhere. There were some words written on the hand-sized key: "1st floor library."
"…I'm telling you, we shouldn't have gone in here…" a boy with ginger hair grumbled as his blonde companion kicked the front door in frustration.
"Keep telling yourself that, Ladonia!" Sealand hissed as he relaxed his kicking foot. "What the hell? I'm made out of metal! Metal ALWAYS beat wood!" He yelled again and body-slammed the door, but it didn't budge a single inch.
Ladonia sighed heavily. "That's just great… Now what?"
Suddenly they heard loud footsteps approach them at a fast pace and the boys turned around and screamed.
Berwald still didn't know what to do about that mysterious key. First floor library? Ah, he remembered passing a door downstairs when he went to that large kitchen and discovered the plate shards…
Just as he stood outside the room and onto the second floor, he heard some very loud screams.
Male screams.
From two little boys.
The Swede's eyes widened, too paralysed to move a muscle while his heart beat faster and faster and his mind filtered through memories of the last time he heard familiar screams like those from downstairs. He didn't want to believe it, but when more screams came from downstairs he immediately charged towards the stairs down to the lobby.
One of those tall grey monsters stood there, towering over a pair of boys sitting on the floor whimpering and hugging each other tightly as they leaned against the door. Sweden gritted his teeth and glared dangerously.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" he roared and sprinted towards the monster with his telescopic pole stretching out.
The monster turned to watch him with huge black eyes as it raised a clawed hand, but before it could move its legs Sweden slammed the pole against it's arm and a loud snapping noise was heard. Sweden's heart dropped and looked at the pole, but it was still intact. He really did just break the arm of the monster.
Meanwhile, the boys were watching the battle intensely with a stunned silence, but they were still immobilised with fear. As the monster growled and pulled back its lips to reveal long retractable fangs, Sweden shouted at the boys; "Run! Get behind me!"
Hesitantly, Sealand stood up while gripping Ladonia's hand tightly and they immediately charged by the wall at the side of the enemy, the side where its arm is hanging limply, completely useless for attacking anything. The boys whimpered as they stood beside Sweden.
Without looking back with his trained eyes on the monster, he murmured. "When yer mama finds out that you two are here, he's going to murder me. Stay behind me." Sealand and Ladonia gulped, taking another step behind him while staring at the injured monster fearfully.
"Wh-what is that thing?!" Sealand squeaked, shaking all over.
"I dunno… I want you two to go wait for me at the top of the stairs, and if anything goes after ya, run to me, got it?" Sweden said, still watching the silent monster as it started to breathe more heavily by the second.
"But papa—"
"Now." The Swede growled. But just as Sweden was going to attack the monster again, it collapsed to its side with a heavy thump before slowly fading into mid-air while its ominous black pits gazed at him and disappeared completely into thin air. The Swede stood there, breathing lightly before relaxing and sighed heavily. Behind him, Sealand and Ladonia nervously walked back besides him just as the thing disappeared. Without saying anything, Sweden turned around with his heart calming down before opening his arms wide enough to hug the boys tightly.
As soon as Iceland finished with his business in the library, he stepped outside quietly and closed the door after looking up and down the corridor. He slipped the journal into the inside pocket of his brown jacket and suddenly stopped as he glanced down to see a white dog sitting there, wagging its tail happily.
"Yip!" the dog barked, still sitting.
"H-Hana… Hanatamago? What are you doing here?" Iceland blinked then frowned. "Finland never brought you here… Unless…" he closed his eyes and thought deeply, thinking of who else technically owns the dog. "Oh no…" he sucked in a breath and hurriedly broke into a run, but screeched to a halt and glared at the white dog. "You are NOT going to tell anyone about this, got it?!"
Iceland felt stupid talking to a dog like this, but he had a stab of guilt when the dog whimpered in what he thinks is sadness. He sighed in agitation before clicking his fingers and Hanatamago suddenly walked besides him, wagging her tail. "Stay with me, and do NOT leave my side unless I tell you to! Even if I'm in trouble and I tell you to run away, then you run away. Bark if you get it…"
Hanatamago stared at him with lovely chocolaty-brown eyes before yipping cutely.
In the Safe Room, Finland laid back on a spare bed without his shirt as bandages were wrapped around his waist. Luckily he hasn't lost too much blood or he didn't lose any organs from the very deep wound, but Norway kept adding on more bandages as blood seeped through the material, frowning worriedly. Sweden sat on a spare bed, watching Norway work his magic with worry. On either side of him, Ladonia and Sealand sat quietly and stared at Finland's sweating, unconscious face. Norway said he wouldn't use magic, but he used some of it to encourage Finland's skin to grow quickly and cease the bleeding. There was no doubt that it'll become one large scar, though its unknown whether it'll be permanent or not. Scars are nothing new, however.
"W-will Finland be alright…?" Ladonia asked, trembling, "I mean, nations can't die…" Besides him, Sweden stiffened and he reached out to hold the Finn's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Ladonia looked down at the floor and shut his eyes.
"Mama will be alright… he's reeeeally strong!" Sealand burst out suddenly, breaking the silence and trying to sound optimistic but his voice was wavering. "H-he even fought Russia with millions less soldiers than he did in the Winter War AND he still beat him against all odds!" Deep down, Sweden smiled at the fact that his son learnt some important history about his 'mama.'
He eventually spoke in a soft tone of voice. "Ja. Finland is much, much more powerful than you think. He'll pull through, now that he knows that yer both here."
"Mmhm…" Sealand hummed, managing to smile. Ladonia remained deathly silent.
Finally, blood stopped seeping through the thick wad of bandages, but even when he used a small amount of magic, the Norwegian's muscles were trembling and he relaxed, breathing heavily.
"He… he should be healing up properly on his own now…" Norway muttered and rested against the wall.
"Okay. Stay here an' rest, I'll go look for Danmark an' Island," Sweden said and stood up, grabbing the telescopic staff as he went.
"W-wait!" Ladonia yelped and jumped to his feet. "I'll go with you! I'm a nation too! I'm strong as well!"
The Swede gave him a stern glare. "Nej. I'm not risking your life again. Stay here an' protect Suomi and Norge an' yer brother."
Sealand said nothing as he sat there watching Finland's face. He blinked when he swore he saw the Finn's lips tremble with a murmur. Sweden saw it too, and he stepped over to lean close and whispered, resting his forehead on Finland's; "I'll be back. Jag älskar dig."
With that, he turned again and left through the trapdoor in the ground without looking back.
CHAPTER END.