A/N: I have rewritten ALL the chapters for this fanfic and made small edits, so don't panic! It's been too long since I updated this fic, so I made small changes. Also, I bulked the chapters so each chapter has more words to them. This'll be my last A/N for a while, so for now, enjoy the story, which WILL finish by the end of this year!

With the monster stunned, it bought Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland enough time to escape from the room, zipping upstairs and back up to the first floor where Hanatamago happily barked at them all.

"Not now, Hana!" Sweden hushed her and scooped her into his arm as he ran along with the other males.

"Quick! To the safehouse!" Denmark declared and charged up the stairs, looking back cautiously to see no monsters following them, but the uneasy feeling still rattled his body.

While Norway tightly gripped Iceland's hand, the boy just blankly stared at his determined brother, unsure of what to do or say. He just stayed quiet until the 4 males made it to the second floor bedroom and into the secret annex through that odd iron door…

Seeing the safehouse shocked Iceland. He looked around, taking in the dusty surroundings before his eyes rested on a long row of beds with Finland sitting up on it. The Finn watched them emerge from the trapdoor and he smiled delightedly, hopping off the bed but winced and collapsed to the floor, holding his side. In a split second, Sweden was by his side, lifting him gently against his chest.

"We're back," he murmured, "we got Island - everybody's together again."

"Icey!" Sealand cheered and ran up to him, taking his hand, "I'm so glad you're safe! But how did you survive for so long out there?"

The Icelander only stared back at him before averting his gaze shyly and shuffled his feet uncomfortably. He hasn't spoken since the encounter with the monster before. Chills shook his body as he felt as though he's been in that situation before, but he could only draw up a blank and his throat tightened. Norway carefully shook his shoulder and he took a deep breath.

"Ah…" Iceland began with a choked sound and that was it. He closed his eyes tightly and wiped away at hot tears that began to roll down his cheeks before falling to his knees, trying to hold back sobs. Sealand and Ladonia glanced at each other in shock, but nobody else reacted apart from Norway, who simply kneeled down and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Let it all out now, we're safe," he breathed, "none of those things can come up here. The passageway is too narrow for them… so we're finally, finally safe." The younger brother continued to cry heavily into his shoulder and gripped his shirt.

"Dad, has Iceland been hurt?" Sealand whispered to Sweden, who looked down at him while holding the journal.

"Ja… many more times than you can imagine."

Norway took Iceland into the bathroom earlier to help him clean up while Finland quietly began to cook a small meal for everyone in the kitchen corner, helped by Ladonia and Sealand. But with Denmark, he sat on one of the beds while facing Sweden, who also sat at the bed next to him with the journal on his lap.

"So… why are we here away from everyone else?" Denmark began, eyes narrowed.

"It's about this journal," Sweden began and he opened it to the first page, where Iceland's name was repeatedly written again and again, "why do you think he wrote his name so many times?"

The Dane shrugged, but peered at the names written in various shapes and styles. "How many times did he write his name?"

"I can't count. Some are written over the top of others."

"So why would he do that?" Denmark sighed, "this is all too weird! Gimme that book!"

Sweden handed it over reluctantly, but Denmark stood up and moved to sit beside the Swede, resting half the book on his lap and the other half on Sweden's lap. The man didn't complain at their closeness.

"Let's have a read, shall we?" Denmark murmured, "to be honest, it's scaring me a bit. It'll be like reading Icey's mind."

"That's hella scary."

As he finished preparing small lunches, Finland left the kitchen area to let Denmark and Sweden know that the food has been finished when he stopped short by the bedroom area upon witnessing a rare sight.

Sitting quietly, Sweden half-leaned his head on Denmark's head as the two men avidly read the journal with a blanket wrapped around their upper bodies. They didn't glance up at the Finn, but only moved to silently take turns on turning the pages. They seemed so warm, sitting that close together…

Finland let out an amused chuckle and the two men snapped out of their trance, immediately looking at him in shock.

"What's wrong?" Denmark sighed in relief before yawning.

"Nothing," Finland smiled at them both, "lunch is ready. Sealand and Ladonia's just clearing the table now."

The Nordics all hadn't realised how hungry they are now that the sweet smell of freshly-cooked pasta permeated through the air. Even though there's various food ingredients found lying around, Finland explained that he would rather ration the food than use it all up in one go.

"Sorry about this…" he started sheepishly as everyone began to tuck in, "I couldn't find any sauces or tuna to cut and mix in… and I can't tell if the other food stuff are in-date, and pasta can last a REALLY long time."

"Don't apologise," Sweden said, "we'd rather have something to eat than nothing."

"True!" Sealand chirped with a full mouth and Ladonia huffed at him in disgust.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, idiot!" he complained.

Sealand snickered and swallowed his food, turning to his brother. "You sound like dad!"

Horror crossed Ladonia's face. "WHAT. NO, I DON'T!" he shrieked.

The older Nordics laughed and carried on eating, apart from Iceland who only picked at his food with a silver fork while leaning into his hand with his elbow on the table. Norway glanced at him, but ate more of the pasta before talking to him. "How're you feeling now?"

His brother glanced at him, pursing his lips slightly before sighing silently and his fork scooped up some pasta and ate it reluctantly. He didn't seem as hungry as the others are.

"You'll need to build up on your strength," Norway spoke softly, "we got the key, so we'll need enough strength to fight our way out of here."

"But we haven't even explored the whole mansion yet!" Denmark suddenly spoke up, but froze when the Norwegian glared at him, as if telepathically telling the Dane to shut up. But Iceland abruptly stood up and covered his mouth before running to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

"Nicely done, you idiot," Norway growled at Denmark before leaving the table to walk over to the bathroom.

In a bathroom cubicle, Iceland threw up in the toilet and his stomach lurched, trying to empty out all the food he ate. His throat felt as though it burned from all the stomach juices mixed in with the oily yellowish-white solution spewing from his mouth, but all he could think about was about the mansion and the monsters and how he easily accepted death like it was a regular experience.

"Island?" someone called from the bathroom door, but the young man ignored the call and proceeded to stand up shakily, leaning on the bathroom sink for support and ran the tap to rinse his mouth out with the water, trying to get rid of the disgusting smell of vomit. He really wished that he could at least brush his teeth or use mouthwash…

Someone knocked on the door this time, but Iceland didn't react. He only stared into the mirror above the sink, seeing how pale he has become and how dark the circles are beneath his cold eyes. His hand rested on the tap and twisted the top, continuously running some cold water until the basin was full to the brim with freezing water reflecting his face. Without saying anything, Iceland bowed down to submerge his head and closed his eyes. He released his breath into large bubbles without surfacing, all while the young man heard loud noises echo deeply somewhere, but he found a strange feeling of comfort in this watery world, despite how small it really is in comparison to life…

Suddenly, someone seized his shirt and yanked him back from the sink, rudely pulling him from his peaceful daydream and Iceland gasped for air, breathing heavily as he leaned against Norway.

"What the hell were you doing, Island?!" he demanded and forced him to stand up, tightly gripping his shoulders and shaking him, "were you trying to kill yourself?! Just why?! You can't do that! Not when we're so close to leaving this place!" Iceland's head tilted down to look away from his eyes, but Norway firmly shook his shoulders again and he yelled. "Don't look away from me!"

"I'm sorry…" Iceland whimpered, closing his eyes as his body began to tremble.

Norway pursed his lips and slowly let go of the boy's shoulders, reaching to his face to rest his hand on his cheek. Iceland gripped the hand, keeping it on his skin to feel the warmth with some tears running down his face.

"Nor…" he mumbled, looking at his brother with glassy eyes, "Nor…"

"Shh…" Norway hushed him, pulling him into a hug, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. You really, really scared me."

"Nor…"

"And you're finally speaking after what happened down at the basement. I thought you lost your voice for good…"

"Noregur," Iceland spoke more firmly, not breaking the hug, "I'm fine now. You don't need to treat me like a child."

"No. I'm treating you like a brother." But that came out as a soft laugh and even the Icelander smiled slightly. But his smile dropped and he sighed a little.

"Do we really have the key…? I only went by my memories of the… other times… I've been here…"

"Yes, we do have the key," Norway answered gently, "and we'll leave as soon as we have all rested properly."

"Yes, that's a good idea!" Iceland spoke determinedly, "I remember the first time I got that key, and it was like some silent alarm gone off and all the monsters in the mansion stopped at nothing to get to me!"

"So… they know you got the key somehow?" Norway asked carefully. Iceland nodded.

"But I got it now, and none of us have died, so my plan's finally working after so long…"

Norway smiled and patted his hair. "I'm glad."

But Iceland sadly glanced down, saying; "I'm more than 'just glad'. You have no idea how many times we've all been through this place, and how many times I've seen you all die."

"I haven't read that journal yet, but… would you mind if I do?"

"No. I won't mind. I'll only feel embarrassed and ashamed…" Iceland shrugged. Wordlessly, Norway leaned down and kissed his forehead, making the young man blush lightly.

"Thanks for being open to me," the Norwegian smiled, "I'm just happy that you're being honest with me. I can trust you more now."

"Yeah, yeah, j-just go read the diary…" Iceland huffed, but with a hidden smile that Norway barely noticed.

Back at the dining table, Iceland opened the journal and glanced at Sweden and Denmark. "Would you guys mind if I read this from the beginning? I want to keep everyone in the loop."

"Sure, go ahead!" Denmark said and Sweden nodded.

"How long is this going to last?" Ladonia asked as he sat down at the table beside Sealand. Finland gave them both a concerned glance.

"Will it be alright for you two to hear about what happened in this place?" the Finn asked Iceland. He shook his head.

"What you're all about to hear will be triggering for those who are less than keen on blood, gore and death," Iceland explained, but seeing Finland bite his lower lip slowed his mind down, and he added quickly, "don't worry, Sealand, Ladonia and Hana have NEVER been in this mansion before, so they haven't been harmed at all."

"What? Really?" Sweden spoke up in surprise, "but didn't things stay the same in the other time loops, like with whoever got involved here first?"

"I don't know what changed in this time…" Iceland thought carefully, looking at the younger boys and the dog, "…but I'll get to that theory in a moment. I need to read this journal out to you all so you know what I've been through. It'll also help me, as well…"

As silence dwindled in the room, Norway rested his hand on Iceland's, murmuring; "When you're ready."

"Yes, I'm ready now…" the brother took a deep breath and exhaled, opening the book to flip through some pages before stopping at a random page.

"…I now know for sure that I have an amazing power; the power to travel through time. But I can only do this when I find a certain clock within the mansion. I noticed from the last 3 times that it changes location each time, as if it has a will of its own…"

Denmark looked genuinely confused and almost spoke up, but Sweden nudged him and shook his head. Iceland bit his lip and skimmed through the pages before stopping halfway through the journal.

"…Finland's dead already. He shot himself right after I left the room. He must've known that Sweden already got killed by one of those things. And Norway completely disappeared because no matter how hard I looked in the mansion, he wasn't seen anywhere. Denmark was in the attic, just murmuring to himself again and again from shock. I'm completely alone again. This is the 7th time I tried to bring everyone out alive, but they wouldn't cooperate, even when I told them everything I've been through before we even entered the mansion, but they just ignored me or thought I was going insane and went inside the building. I couldn't just leave them alone, so I had to go with them otherwise my time magic wouldn't work." Iceland didn't look up from the pages, but he wouldn't want to see the other's reactions either. "I might as well kill myself. I just can't do this anymore. Will I really be able to keep everyone alive? Do I have a limit on the times I can travel back in time? It doesn't seem like it. It's as if something or someone inside the mansion is playing a cruel joke on me, deliberately formulating this game to see how long me and my friends last.

"But no. No. I won't give up. Not as long as I have this power to go back. No matter how many times people cry, I won't cry anymore. There's no point to shedding tears, they do nothing to solve problems but make you look weak! I'll rise above those monsters and beat them myself! I'll use my time magic against them, even if it uses up my energy quickly. If the time comes, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Norway asked.

Iceland frowned, looking at the small section of the page that got ripped out. "I don't know… but this page has been torn out. I forgot what I wrote here."

"What? Why would you tear that half of the page, Island?" Denmark queried, tilting his head.

"I don't know!" Iceland raised his voice angrily, "I never damaged this book, no matter how much I hate it! Somebody's ripped it! Hana!" He glared at the dog, "did you rip the page?!"

"Hana wouldn't," Sweden objected, "you tied it around her neck, she wouldn't reach it enough to rip it."

"Well somebody tore the page!" Iceland complained.

"Come on, Ice, just read more to us…" Norway encouraged him gently and the boy sat back down with a glare.

"Oh fine!" he muttered, flicking through the pages towards near the end of the journal and stopped. "…I finally found Svíþjóð and Finland, but as I feared I was too late…"

"S- Svíþjóð …" Iceland stared in horror as he ran into the bedroom, finding Sweden kneeling beside a bed with Finland lying on it. Sweden's shirt was tied around Finland's upper leg, seeming to act like a tourniquet, but it's drenched in blood. "What… what happened to Finland…?"

The Swede didn't reply, but gazed at Finland's face while holding his hand.

"Hey… we got to go. J-just wake Finland up, and we'll leave this place…"

"No…" Sweden grumbled, not looking up, "I can't leave him. Not for anything."

Briskly walking over to the bed, Iceland just noticed a massive red stain of blood on Sweden's stomach, realising that he's been badly wounded, but then the boy gagged upon realising that a long, thin spike was sticking out from his stomach, glistening with fluids. Iceland took deep breaths, barely managing to brave a glance at the man without thinking of the spike.

"Svíþjóð, how the hell did that happen?!" he demanded, trembling. He could feel a severe fear of spikes revelling in his conscience.

"Accident," the man mumbled like it's a normal thing, "dropped my spear while falling down the stairs and got impaled by it. But Finland was injured, so I had to save him."

Iceland swallowed a huge lump in his throat and looked at Finland, lying very still on the bed with his eyes still open. The Icelander opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything. "We need to get out of here…"

"I know." That came out as a fierce growl and the boy stepped back in fear, seeing the Lion of the North glare at him with such ferocity and… blame. Sweden always looked scary, and it takes some getting used to, but this was the first time he gave Iceland such a punishing gaze.

Iceland gulped and glanced away meekly. "S-so… let's take Finland with us and go!"

Sweden didn't respond to that as his expression softened and he looked down at Finland again. Through his broken glasses, his eyes seem to dull before he let out a cough and slowly leaned against the bed awkwardly, stroking the dead nation's cheek.

"Svíþjóð … please… we have to go…" Iceland's plea fell on deaf ears as Sweden suddenly stood up sluggishly and dragged himself onto the single bed, snuggling close to Finland while being careful to not move the staff sticking out of his stomach. Iceland swallowed his fear of the weapon and carefully stepped closer to them, knowing with dread that he has failed again. "…Svíþjóð … Is there anything you want me to do?"

The man only closed his eyes with his breath becoming slower, just about pressing his forehead against Finland's blonde hair.

"Svíþjóð," Iceland spoke up more loudly and shook his shoulder, trying not to break down crying, "is there anything you want me to do for you?!"

"…Cold…" the Swede breathed out and lifted his arm to wrap around his companion, "The moon is beautiful… We're safe now…" He only continued to talk on to Finland, even though it was obvious that he can no longer hear him, muttering random things about the times they spent together and the times spent apart. "…I love you…"

A tear ran down Iceland's cheek and he clutched his shirt over where his heart leaped a beat. It was just a beat, but it hurts. He listened more to Sweden's coughs and talks of happier memories, and personal experiences that Iceland never knew of. Iceland didn't need to hear any of this, but he stayed, watching the couple in the bed as life trickled from them like an eternal Winter breeze.

Suddenly, a ragged cough shuddered through Sweden's body with a gasp and Iceland whimpered, knowing that he just died halfway through talking about a magnificent black horse named Lucia.

Brushing away tears, Iceland dragged his feet closer to the bed, seeing the couple's quiet expressions and took a deep, shaky breath before reaching the end of the bed to unroll a thin sheet over them. But he didn't stop unrolling it until it covered their bodies and eventually their faces. The young man wished he could get rid of the spear from Sweden's stomach, as it made the sheet look like a tent, but he just left it. While Sweden was alive a few moments ago, he talked about a camping trip with Finland where they failed to erect a tent properly and the thing ended up collapsing on them, but the Fin laughed and pretended to be a ghost with spooky wailing noises.

'I wonder if they're watching me now as ghosts,' Iceland thought coldly.

"Another entry…" Iceland muttered, oblivious to the stares from his family and flipped back to a random page, grimacing as he read out the paragraph: "Found Finland in the attic with his right arm torn off. I knew he's ambidextrous with guns, but he's finding it difficult to use his rifle with just one hand. But before I could do anything, the monster Finland was fighting lunged and bit his head off. I couldn't stop crying and screaming on the floor, and I felt someone lift me and carry me out of there – it was Denmark, but he had such a hateful glare that I thought he was ready to shout at me for not protecting Finland enough."

"'I couldn't believe that I'm writing all of this right after Svíþjóð and Finland died in front of me. I NEED to finish everything before it gets worse! But I know how to turn back time now. I done this twice, and I'll keep doing it until everything is back to normal. It's my fault that everybody came here in the first place. They may have chosen to come here, but it doesn't help the fact that they actually got killed over and over again. I can't just tell them everything, they either won't believe me or they'll be woefully unprepared. I need to stop all this on my own."

"…That's enough," Iceland grumbled and slammed the journal shut.

"But why? I need to hear more!" Denmark spoke up and reached over, but Iceland glared at him viciously and held the book to his chest.

"No more!" he cried, "I can't stand it anymore! I can't stand all this anxiety and crying! I should be the one to fix everything and keep you all alive!"

"Island, calm down…" Norway spoke gently, but Iceland's eyes were wide and his breathing was shallow.

"I-I-I can't!" he gasped out, trembling while still clutching the book and being tearful. "I can't! I can't!"

Suddenly, the trapdoor vibrated noisily and everybody's blood ran cold as they shot looks at it. Iceland was still whimpering under his breath while staring ahead, but Norway managed to put his hands on him to pull him into a comforting hug, hoping to calm his panic attack.

"Shit… did they get through the door? Did you shut it, Sverige?" Denmark whispered hastily. Sweden didn't answer, looking scared. "Sverige!"

"I-I did, I swore I did…" he replied hurriedly.

"Now what? We need to get out of this place! We got the key, so why the wait?" Finland spoke lowly.

"Yer injured, Finland," Sweden said, looking at his bandaged side, "you need to rest until it heals…"

"Dammit, I can't fight after eating food! I'll be all cramped up!" Denmark groaned and went to pick up his axe from a spare bed. The trapdoor rattled roughly again as though someone's banging against it. Ladonia and Sealand both whimpered, holding each other.

"What are we going to do?" Ladonia hissed to Sweden, "are you going to protect the whole group?"

"NOBODY is going to fight alone!" Norway said determinedly and pulled out his magic wand. "I recharged enough magic for a certain spell to keep us safe… but it'll mean using up my entire strength. Someone'll have to carry my body as long as the spell is in place."

Sweden and Iceland looked at him in confusion. "What spell?" Sweden asked.

"It's…" Norway sighed and stopped, but the shaking of the trapdoor and the loosening locks on it spurred him to quickly finish. "My spirit leaves my body to create a ghost-clone of myself. I can distract the monsters while you guys get to the front door. They won't be able to physically harm me, but it means my body becomes a dead weight."

"No way am I letting you die for us!" Denmark seized his shoulder, almost snarling.

"It's only TEMPORARY!" Norway spat back, "I won't even feel a thing! But guys, I want EVERYONE to listen to my plan summary, as I won't repeat myself! Got it?"

Everyone looked at him while grabbing their weapons. Sealand and Ladonia are on standby to carry Norway, Denmark got his axe, Sweden unlocked his staff, Finland checked the remaining ammo in his rifle and Iceland just stood there, clutching his journal hopelessly. He was thinking of how strange the turn of events are. They have the front door key, but it doesn't seem right. In this time loop, they've only been here a few hours, which was the shortest time spent compared to other times…

"One more time: I use my magic, my body becomes a dead weight so Ladonia and Sealand should carry me together; Sweden, Denmark and Finland stay with them with weapons out until they get out of the mansion. I run down to the basement so the monsters will be far behind me. My magic wears off and then I wake up with you guys," Norway repeated.

"What will I do?" Iceland asked him quietly. Norway rested his hand on his shoulder with a smile.

"You do the honour of opening the front door."

CHAPTER END.