Denmark was the first to get out of the dark lobby that lead to the safe room as he pushed the trapdoor above his head and his eyes squinted to get used to the brightness of the room before blinking. His eyes met Norway's and he cheered loudly, leaping up to hug him tightly.
"Nooooooooooooorge!" he cried happily into his shoulder, "I thought you were a goner when we all separated!" Norway blankly patted his back, but then he hugged him back, closing his eyes.
"No. Where were you anyway?"
Sweden climbed out of the trapdoor with Sealand and the young boy ran forward to hug Denmark too, laughing. "Norway is smart! He knows what to do when chased by those monsters!"
The Swede noticed a small smile curl on Norway's face before it disappeared and the Norwegian patted Sealand's hat. "Thank you, Sealand. Danmark?"
"Oh! Right!" Denmark smiled brightly and let go of him, standing straight. "I was in one of the bedrooms!"
"…Doing what?" Norway raised an eyebrow and the Dane snickered.
"Stuff that you wish you'd do with—"
Sweden poked his shoulder with a threatening glare, tilting his head towards Sealand and Ladonia, who walked over when he heard the commotion. Denmark sighed. "Alright, I was in the bedroom, cowering because I was locked in for no reason."
"How is that possible?" Ladonia suddenly asked. "I mean, me and Sealand came into this place through the front door and when we tried to open it, it wouldn't open! Is someone trying to keep us in?"
"Or something," Sealand added, shivering.
"Let's not get paranoid, everyone," Norway spoke up, clapping once to get everyone's attention, "point is, we're trapped in this mansion and as far as we know, there is no way out."
"But Island is still missing…" Denmark murmured and his Norwegian companion looked down at the floor, narrowing his eyes.
"Not if I can help it. I'll go ahead and look for him," he grumbled.
Sweden suddenly spoke up, shaking his head in disagreement. "No. We will call an emergency meeting right now, and pool in every bit of information we know about this place."
"Smart thinking, Sve," Denmark whistled and gave his shoulder a hearty pat, "of course, that would've been my first idea too!" Meanwhile, Norway stepped aside to pull a chair out from under the table to sit on it, crossing his legs as he watched his family.
"I know that there's a monster living in this place, and as far as I know it wants to kill us," Norway began. "It's persistent and attacks anyone without provocation."
Sealand raised his hand and quickly cut in. "Why did you guys go in this place anyway? Didn't you know it was dangerous?"
The Scandinavian nations all glanced at each other, wondering too.
"We went here because Danmark talked about exploring an empty mansion," Norway spoke quietly, staring at the Dane. "Just because Danmark wanted to see this place and explore it for the fun of it, completely unaware of the dangers…"
Everyone looked at Denmark, who is no longer smiling or showing any positive emotion in his expression. He just turned away, feeling shy all of a sudden and heavily guilty. His eyes rested on Finland's unconscious form on one of the beds and his gaze fixed on his fever-ridden face, seeing his mouth twitch in obvious discomfort from either terrible dreams or the pain in his wound or both. Denmark sighed and ran his hand through his hair hastily, feeling his heart race.
"Yeah, yeah, I had no idea what was going to happen here in this creepy-ass mansion," he breathed and shut his eyes tightly, turning his back on the fellow Nordics. His throat is burning from trying to contain his hysterics. "A-An' it's m-m-my fault what happened to Finn… an' Island disappearing… an' your kids getting stuck in here…"
Norway and Sweden glanced at each other nervously before walking towards him. Sealand and Ladonia watched silently, unsure of how to behave in a situation like this.
"Dan, we're not saying it's your fault at all," Sweden spoke gently.
"It really isn't, Danmark. You just wanted to have fun with us and there's nothing wrong with that," Norway added and rested his hand on the Dane's shoulder, but Denmark slapped it away and spun on his heels to glare at them.
"No! You're trying to guilt-trip me by telling me all that crap about it not being my fault! It IS my fault!" he ranted furiously. His yells echoed off the walls, bouncing around.
Sealand gulped and hurriedly whispered to Ladonia. "The monsters will hear Denmark!"
"They won't come up here! Norway says they won't come up here!" Ladonia angrily hissed back.
"Danmark, we believe you when you said you had no idea the monsters are in this place!" Norway spoke loudly, "we know you'd never put us in danger!"
"Like hell I would!" the Dane spat. "I'd never put you in danger, Norge, but Sverige is a different story!"
Sweden raised his eyebrow. "So you'd lead us all here to play the tragic hero and only rescue yourself and Norway for a fairytale ending?"
Denmark flew into a rage and threw a punch at the Swede, but he caught his fist with a grunt and held his other wrist tightly. Norway stumbled back, staring in surprise at the sudden attack while Sealand and Ladonia both gasped and stepped back quickly.
"You know what? Fuck you, Sweden!" Denmark screeched and yanked himself away, storming towards the trapdoor. "I'll murder those fucking bastards and save you AND the rest of the guys, then you can diss me all you like about how I'll only save one person!"
"No! Danmark!" Norway yelped and ran to him, hugging him around his waist to hold him in place. "You can't go!"
"Yes, I CAN!" the Dane yelled and tried to pry the Norwegian off him, but he clung on tightly. "Get off!"
"Danmark, please!" Norway cried, looking up at him, "I don't want any of us to get separated!"
The Dane breathed heavily with his nostrils flaring and took deep breaths until his body relaxed, collapsing to the floor on his knee and staring down at the oak wooden floor, thinking of who or what could be roaming underneath those boards without fear, thinking of how to get out of there alive and wondering if he could actually do it without help. Norway still held onto him as he buried is face into the fabric of his long black coat, breathing in his smell.
"I don't want us to separated," he mumbled. "I don't want to be alone again."
The word 'alone' struck something in Denmark's heart pretty hard and he bit his lip, closing his eyes and sitting up straight. He turned around while still kneeling down and pulled Norway into a tight embrace.
"S-sorry, man… I really lost it there…" he grumbled, squeezing his eyes tight. "We went through worse, this place shouldn't be any different from the past…"
Norway's arms wrapped around him and he rested his chin on his shoulder. "I haven't lost it yet because you're here, so don't screw yourself like that again, or I'll get lost for real."
While they hugged, Sweden looked over at the still-unconscious Finland, feeling consumed by jealousy at Norway's openness to hugging Denmark in a critical situation. He wants to hug the Finn, but no, not while he's sleeping and recovering.
Sealand coughed nervously, unsure of how to interject in a tense time.
"I just realised… Hanatamago came into this place with us, but now she's missing…"
Elsewhere in the mansion, Iceland quietly walked with Hanatamago towards a door on the first floor that is locked. But then he took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door, swinging it open. His canine companion looked at him anxiously with a whimper, unsure of going inside with the boy. A chill emanated from the room in front of them, the kind of chill that… wrenches your soul with dread and a fatal sense of foreboding and imminent death upon feeling the cold air on your person. Iceland, however, just stared ahead through the open door, not bothering to close it.
Quietly, he turned and kneeled down to see the dog eye-to-eye, petting his head.
"Hana… I'm going in. But before I do so… I need to confess a few things to you. I know this is mad of me, because you have never been in this mansion before, not even in the previous… 'timelines', but I think I made some sort of death wish," Iceland began nervously. The dog whimpered again, as if imploring him to explain more.
"A long, long time ago… No – many, many timelines ago, we were all living happily and together because of a unique bond that only us Nordics share because of our flags and history. Even though we argue a lot, we stuck together in the end no matter what. But one day, I heard some kids in town talk about a mansion that's said to be haunted and nobody knows who owned it. I mentioned about it to Denmark, but he didn't seem to pay attention to me. Or so I thought he didn't…
"At the world meeting, he mentioned what I said to the other guys, and we all agreed to check the place out. It took us 3 long hours, but we eventually made it. We didn't want to leave right after just arriving, so we decided to make the road trip worthwhile and fully explore the mansion.
"But then everything went downhill extremely badly. The door slammed shut and we were trapped. We got separated… we never found each other… we lost hope. But it was my entire fault that we were in that mansion in the first place and I was so damn determined to get us out that I searched and searched. In the end, I found the other guys, but… I was too late. Finland was dead already – he shot himself. Svíþjóð could barely tell me his last words because he got half his body eaten. Denmark lost his sanity and couldn't speak properly and Norway used his magic to sacrifice his life to save mine so I had one less monster to try to kill me…" Iceland slowed down, blinking back tears at the gut-twisting memories. Hanatamago listened before nudging his hand to make him carry on explaining.
"R-right, sorry… anyway… After everyone died, I went to the library to keep searching for a way to get out of the mansion. But then I… I just gave up. I suddenly started to smash everything in sight. I just ripped the pages of books, shoved bookcases over, and that was when I had a better idea. Instead of pushing the bookcases, I just simply pulled one and I let it crush me. I'd rather be dead.
"But even when the bookcase crushed my ribs… and the broken ribs punctured my lungs and heart… I was still alive. I was in agony. I just cried out and shouted, but not for anyone to help me. I just wanted to die so badly. I shouted until my throat was dry. It was then that I noticed one of the monsters just standing there, looking down at me. It didn't do anything but stare. I wasn't scared anymore. I knew that death would be a relief to me, but then I felt that more than everything and anything in the world, I wanted to exact revenge on those bastards. That was when I spoke up to the monster…
"I said; 'You think this is a fucking game? I won. YOU didn't technically kill me. I killed myself. So I win. And there's nothing you can do about it…' The monster just blinked at me, and I carried on without thinking at all, so I said; 'If you want to repeat everything again so you could kill me, then game on. I'll be prepared to win again and again and again…'" Iceland chuckled. "I really let that monster have it. I know it's furious that I defeated it back then, but I didn't think that I can actually travel back in time."
Hanatamago only looked around worriedly, but Iceland stroked her head reassuringly.
"But as I lay there, dying slowly, my hand touched the leather of this journal…" Iceland slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and took out the black journal, showing it to the dog. "I just picked it up and for some reason, I felt as if someone was telling me to write my name on the first page. I just did that with my own blood, and then… a bright light flashed before my eyes and I felt dizzy and sick, but then I woke up in the world meeting room with the other guys alive and well. That was when I knew that I travelled back in time, but my journal wasn't with me like I thought it would be.
"But all I know now is that I inadvertently challenged the monsters of this mansion… it's a deadly game that can only be repeated over and over again until the desirable outcome has been met, and the odds are not in my favour. I have people that I need to protect without getting killed and the opponents just eat whoever gets in their way. If I can get everyone out of the mansion without getting any of them or myself killed, I win. But if the monster eats any of my companions then I lost and I have the option of turning back time. But if I get killed… then it's game over," the Icelandic teen was quivering all over while explaining his story and the dog sitting in front of him watched patiently. Hanatamago licked his hand gently and the boy let out a soft laugh, trying not to cry.
"I'm so, so sorry that I got your mommy Finland trapped in this place…" Iceland breathed sadly, "but if I can get THEM out safely, then it matters more than keeping me alive. I'm the one who got them here in the first place. I only mentioned this place to Denmark because it sounded interesting and we barely spent time together outside work to have… fun…"
Somewhere in the large mansion, a deep grumble was heard that sounded like a small earthquake. The low tones gently shook the building, but caused no structural damage whatsoever. The dog let out a whine and rubbed herself against Iceland, but the teen did nothing but stroke her back.
"Hana… Whatever happens, don't let the monsters touch you," Iceland gulped, rubbing his eyes. He handed Hanatamago his journal, slipping it underneath her collar. But the book seemed awkward, so the young male tugged at his ribbon from under his shirt collar and tied it around the journal, securing it into place so it wouldn't slip out. "Go to the other guys. They should be safe right now, but PLEASE find them! They'll understand everything once they read this journal. I wrote down the location of the key to the front door of this mansion, so that they can… come and recover what's left of me. I should defeat the monsters by the time they arrive."
Hanatamago just whimpered and looked at him sadly, raising her paw at him. Iceland shook his head.
"I'm so sorry, Hana. I love you too," he murmured before turning away from her and he stepped over the threshold, closing the door behind him and leaving the key in the lock on the outside.
The white dog whined loudly and scrabbled at the door pathetically, trembling all over.
CHAPTER END.