Disclaimer: Nous ne possédons pas Hetalia, Hetaoni, ou Safe and Sound

A/N: Hey, everyone!

Apparently everyone pities Latvia . . . I don't know why. Maybe because he's a sweet little thing? Maybe . . .

Oh, hi Guest-y!

Enjoy! Please review!


Three

The house was silent as the grave. Although, considering the mess the six remaining nations found themselves in, it was a grave. Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Seychelles, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Hong Kong were in the parlor on the first floor, sleeping. Or at least pretending to, hoping the others wouldn't notice. Luxemburg, New Zealand, and Latvia were dead, their bodies nowhere to be found after the nations left the rooms. Northern Ireland was blind. Thankfully, his shell-shocked attitude had left, leaving the five nations with a foul tempered Celtic nation.

Seychelles sat up quietly, sighing to herself. The sun was just starting to rise in the east and all the clocks were ringing the time. The one clock in the parlor was four hours ahead of the time set on the grandfather clock in the study. Glancing at Liechtenstein, Seychelles stood as quietly as she could and made her way out of the parlor.

"Accorder le repos éternel à eux, ô Seigneur, et que perpétuelle lumière brille sur eux, (Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them,)" Seychelles whispered under her breath. "Que les âmes des fidèles défunts, par la miséricorde de Dieu, reposent en paix. Amen. (May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.)"

Finished with the Catholic prayer, Seychelles silently made her way down the hallway to the entryway. She stopped by what should have been the front door to the mansion. Lowering her head, she shut her eyes tightly.

"Désolé," Seychelles whimpered. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Latvia, New Zealand, Luxemburg. I wish we'd never come here. This place is maudit. (cursed.)"

The light of the rising sun glimmered off a piece of metal, drawing Seychelles' attention to the necklace around her throat. She removed the sailboat necklace, a gift from Romano. She turned the jewelry in her hand, smiling. She and Romano had been on a gondola ride, sightseeing Italy, when Romano had bought the gift for his girlfriend. The male nation had been as red as a sockeye salmon when Seychelles had locked the necklace around her throat.

A quiet creaking filled the entryway, grabbing Seychelles' attention. The African nation looked around in alarm. She was alone in the entryway but for a flash of red eyes.

"Allô? Is that you, Liechtenstein?" Seychelles called. "I didn't mean to wake you up." She turned, stepping forward. Just as her foot touched the floor, the wood disappeared from under her.

"Oh!" The female nation fell through the hole, her precious necklace dropping from her hand. Her fall was halted unexpectedly as pain erupted around her neck.

"One by one, let's have some fun," a haunting voice called through the chamber.

Slowly, silence fell over the room as Seychelles' eyes slipped closed.

XXXXX

Iceland was the first nation to pretend to wake up, having not actually slept. Hong Kong and Cyprus followed him suit with Liechtenstein right after them. Unable to see, or just being lazy, Northern Ireland still pretended to sleep by the fireplace. It took Iceland throwing a pillow, a small rock, and a chunk of metal at him to wake the Celtic nation up. Northern Ireland was not pleased to have what he sure was a bruise forming on his forehead.

"Seychelles?" Liechtenstein glanced around the room worriedly as Northern Ireland muttered angrily under breath. The Celtic nation staggered to his feet clumsily, running into Cyprus in the process.

"Easy there," Cyprus said, grabbing Northern Ireland by the shoulders and steadying him. Iceland scanned the room, his ears and tail twitching nervously.

"Did anyone see where Seychelles went?" Iceland asked.

"Is that some kind of sick joke?" Northern Ireland snapped as he glared at the fireplace, believing it to be Iceland. Not a Bastard appeared in the doorway. He looked angrier than anyone had ever seen him.

"I'm over here, Northern Ireland." Iceland waved a hand before dropping it quickly, blushing. Thankfully, the other nations chose to ignore his useless action.

"He's not lying." Cyprus poked his head out the parlor door. "Seychelles is gone."

"I know it might sound crazy," Hong Kong said, crouching before Not a Bastard. "But what if Notty knows where she is?" Northern Ireland looked at the window like it was crazy.

"If Notty knew were Seychelles went, then he would be one bright cat," Cyprus said doubtfully. Not a Bastard seemed to raise an eyebrow at this sentence.

"Hello, it's lovely to meet you," Northern Ireland said to the lavender curtains. "You look positively dazzling this fine evening."

"Northern Ireland," Cyprus barked. "Quit sweet-talking the drapes."

"Quit leaving the blind guy all by his lonesome self." Northern Ireland stuck his tongue out at the umbrella stand. A silver wing collided with the sofa as it fanned and the nation fell over backward. "Ouch! Dammit!"

"Nice." Iceland glanced away from the winged nation and to Liechtenstein.

"Where could she have gone?" The German nation's lip was trembling dangerous and she looked on the verge of screaming. Northern Ireland scrambled to his feet, kicked a wall, and fell over again.

"God dammit!"

"I don't know," Iceland said, sitting on the sofa beside Liechtenstein. He wrapped a soothing arm around the smaller nation. "It's going to be alright."

"I want big brother," Liechtenstein sniffed. "A-And Belgium, and Austria, and Luxemburg," she wailed. Northern Ireland remained lying on the floor, having given up on walking.

"We'll get you home, Liechtenstein," Cyprus said as he dragged Northern Ireland to his feet by the back of his shirt. "Is there another way out?" he asked Hong Kong.

"I think there's one in the basement, I can go check." Hong Kong watched Northern Ireland yank on Cyprus' long chunk of hair when he staggered.

"Ow!" Cyprus shoved the blind nation to the floor. "I'll come with." He turned to Iceland. "You're in charge of Tweedledum and Liechtenstein."

"Ouch!" Northern Ireland lay flat on his face, his voice muffled by the rug. "Don't push the cripple."

"Shut up, old man," Cyprus grumbled as he and Hong Kong left the room.

"I heard that!" Northern Ireland leapt to his feet and punched out blindly, knocking the clock to the floor and shattering it. None of the nations noticed the angry hiss as the clock smoked lightly.

"They're not there anymore," Iceland said dryly.

"What? Dammit!" Northern Ireland kicked out, tripped on the rug, and fell on his butt. "Is it alright if I just sit here for the rest of my life?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Greenland stood beside the baggage claim with China. Having proven himself too immature at the moment, America had been left with the rest of the nations, after a good wallop from Greenland of course. The female nation was normally sweet and peaceful. Her little brother, however, always seemed to bring out the worst in her. The nation Greenland and China were waiting for made his way down the bustling airport.

"Lillebror!" Greenland called with a grin.

"Hej, sis." Canada returned the smile then noticed his brother's absence. "What's America this time? A drug lord or a vengeful zombie?" He knew America too well to know that when he wasn't with Greenland at the airport, he was wreaking havoc.

Greenland scowled at the mention. "Vengeful victim with a murdered mother." Canada quirked an eyebrow. That was a new one, America must have been growing bored with his other characters.

"He killed my nephew, aru," China muttered under his breath.

"He got him into it?" Canada asked in surprise.

Greenland glared sharply at China. "How old are you?" she snapped.

"I am four thousand years old," China said then blinked in confusion. "Who is that, aru?" He pointed to a teenager heading their way. She was a slim girl with a sheet of silver hair that matched Iceland's and bright violet eyes with a dash of red in them. She wore jeans, fur-lined boots, and a sweatshirt that said 'UMD Bulldogs' on it. She was tall like Sweden with a sauntering walk that was a blend of Denmark and Prussia.

Canada looked over his shoulder to the girl who waved enthusiastically. "Her?" China nodded. "That's Minnesota, America asked her to come. And she wanted to meet her bedstefar. (grandfather.)" Minnesota was the only state of the all fifty to have all five Nordic nations in her blood. She had been named the center of Scandinavian immigration. Therefore, she was eager to meet her five grandfathers. She didn't consider Iceland an uncle but as a grandfather.

Greenland smiled warmly at her niece, being a Nordic herself. "Hej, Minnesota, how is the weather?" she asked.

"It's a bit nippy, don't ya know." Minnesota grinned and hugged her aunt. Drawing back from the hug, she looked to China. "It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm the Land of the Sky-Blue Waters."

"Um, hello, aru." China shook the offered hand gingerly. "Why are you here?" The state's hand was ice-cold to the touch, nothing like what he'd felt before.

"Dad asked if I could come, he said I can hang out at your house until I'm needed." Minnesota grinned widely. China noted she looked exactly like Denmark when she smiled. "I don't know what you need me for."

"America knows." Canada patted his niece's shoulder. "Or else you wouldn't be here."

"What did you find out?" Greenland asked Canada, changing the subject. Minnesota instantly lost her devilish grin and became serious as she listened closely to the conversation.

"Georgia convinced Texas, Washington, and Maine to call all the nations for information," Canada said. "The Italy brothers and Germany said it couldn't be Rome or Germania. It's not Aztec, Mexico would have known, and it's not mother. We couldn't ask Greece about his mother, he's too busy chasing girls."

"How old is Greece right now, aru?" China asked curiously.

Canada shrugged. "Around sixteen. His hormones have kicked in and he's causing a lot of trouble for Turkey. He keeps hitting on every girl he sees."

"It's kind of unnerving," Minnesota piped up. "I mean, I like roses as much as the next girl, but coming from Greece . . . it's just weird." The state shivered at the memory of Greece swooning over her for an entire week before he moved onto Florida.

"Anyway, it's not Scandinavia or Ancient Egypt. We haven't been able to contact Syria or Kenya. Scotland said his brothers are resting peacefully, he just spoke with them last week. We got a hold of Romania and he agreed to meet us at China's house," Canada finished.

"So we have one more person to meet up with?" Greenland groaned. "Great."

Minnesota glanced up at the television screen. "Um . . . Auntie Greenland," she said meekly.

"Yes, Minnesota?" Greenland looked to her niece.

"I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but his flight is six hours late." Minnesota pointed to the screens.

The surrounding travelers jumped at Greenland's furious scream. "Kneppe!"

Canada flinched and Minnesota whistled. "I didn't know Auntie Greenland knew how to swear."

"Please don't start, Mayo," Canada pleaded with his niece. Minnesota had the ability to start a fight with only a few words, and she wielded it happily. It was the major reason why the Midwest could never have a normal meeting.

"Mayo?" China asked, confused. "Why did you just call her a food, aru?"

"Oh, it's not the food," Canada explained. "She's nicknamed after the Mayo Clinic in Rochester." Minnesota smiled widely at these words.

"I have forty-three degrees in doctoring from seventeen different colleges, one hundred and twenty-three years of experience, and I can perform any surgery you name," Minnesota said proudly. "I spend a lot of my free time working in the Mayo Clinic . . . and patching up my siblings when they're being idiots."

"That is a lot, aru," China said in surprise. He had no idea the states attended college.

"And that's when I'm not working at the state parks, the universities, or helping out at the various museums," Minnesota added.

Greenland slapped a hand over her niece's mouth, eyebrow twitching. "Wonderful, my Good Samaritan, absolutely wonderful," she said through gritted teeth. "You're a saint we all need to copy."

Minnesota's eyes widened with realization. "I'm sorry," she wailed. "I didn't mean to make you angry or to make you feel lower than me, or anything like that! I'm sorry!" China and Canada could practically see the smoke leaking from Greenland's ears. Apparently, so could Minnesota.

"I'll shut up now," Minnesota squeaked.

China scanned the television screens. "I do know about you, but I am not staying here for six hours, aru."

"I'd like to get some rest, I've got jetlag," Canada said, stretching.

"Great, let's go up to China's house!" Minnesota said happily.

China blinked. "I live south of the airport," he said.

"Don't start, China, you always go up in Minnesota," Canada warned with a shake of his head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After some searching, Hong Kong finally remembered how to get to the basement. He and Cyprus made their way down the staircase. At the base of the stairs were two doors and a cement wall, boxing the two nations in a small cube.

"Do you remember which door you're supposed to go through?" Cyprus asked Hong Kong warily.

"I think it's this door." Hong Kong turned to the left door and twisted the ancient doorknob.

"I'll check this one," Cyprus sighed and opened the right door. "It's no use not looking and finding out you're wrong."

"Yeah," Hong Kong agreed, stepping into the dark room. The door swung shut quietly as Hong Kong made his way down another set of stairs. He stopped once he reached the floor. The chamber was dark with no visible door.

"Dammit," Hong Kong muttered. The sensation of dampness on his foot, caught the nation's and he lifted it to look. His shoes had gotten considerably by the water leaking into the room.

"What? The pipes were repaired three weeks ago." Hong Kong backed up the stairs, watching the wet floor. A strange sound filled the room and the water begin to slowly rise. Reaching the top of the stairs, Hong Kong tried to open the door but it was locked.

"What?" Hong Kong yanked at the doorknob but it refused to give. "Cyprus?" Glancing back down, he saw the water was only a foot from him, filling the entire room. "C-Cyprus!" The nation spun around and banged on the door desperately. "CYPRUS! HELP ME!" He felt the water crawl up his calves, to his thighs, and past his hips. "CYPRUS!" Hong Kong screamed as panic flooded his stomach.

"One by one, let's have some fun."

XXXXX

Cyprus groaned as he looked around the dark room. There was no sign of a door. It looked like a simple closet.

"I guess I should have believed Hong Kong," Cyprus sighed and turned back, closing the door behind him. He opened the second door slowly.

"Hong Kong?" Cyprus peeked into the room and the color drained from his face. Hong Kong lay unmoving on the landing of a set of stairs. He looked considerably pale and soaking wet.

"Hong Kong?" Cyprus knelt beside the Asian nation and felt for his pulse. "Oh tanrım," he swore softly, stumbling back. "Oh tanrım." Turning, he fled from the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Romania yawned as he followed the rest of the passengers off the plane. Blinking blearily, he could barely distinguishing the Chinese signs from the English signs. He did not appreciate a call from some boy saying 'howdy' at two o'clock in the morning. Not to mention he was told to catch a flight to China, threatened if he didn't obey. The caller had said something about brown recluse spiders and sticking them in his bed.

"Naibii (damn) planes," Romania muttered as he moved toward the baggage retrieval.

"Are you Vladimir?" a girl standing beside the carousel asked. She was a teenager who looked strangely like a mix of the Nordics, America, Germany, Prussia, and France.

"Who are you?" Romania asked suspiciously. He'd never seen this girl before, she could be working for that activist group.

"I'm Julie Jones." The girl held a hand out. "I'm Alfred's daughter, I hail from Minnesota."

Romania blinked, ignoring the hand. "You are Minnesota, then?" he asked.

"You idiot!" The state slapped him upside the head. "You can't just come right out and say that. What if a mafia heard and decided to use me to get something from dad?"

Romania rubbed the back of his head. "Copil, (brat,) I'm too tired for this. Where is China's house? I want to sleep."

"Hey, don't think I don't understand you language, dumbass," Minnesota growled. "And it's Yao's house."

Romania glared at the state as he attempted to lift his suitcase up. "I am too tired for this mic fată. (little girl.)"

"You're lucky dad told me to leave Babe at home." Minnesota scowled at her grandfather's friend, watching him struggle. "And my 'Minnesota Nice' ran out when Netherlands started lecturing me on how to do a proper neurosurgery."

Romania blinked again as he finally succeeded in dragging his suitcase form the carousel. It fell to the floor with a thump. "How are we getting to Yao's house?" he sighed.

"I'm driving." Minnesota finally took pity on Romania and took his suitcase from him. "Don't worry, I'm a very safe driver. I've driven through a blizzard before."

"A blizzard?" Romania blinked before sleepily following the state. "This girl is crazier than Russia."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A blind Northern Ireland was worse than a shell-shocked Northern Ireland. Iceland rolled his eyes as the winged nation gave yet another complaint. The fox-nation stood quickly.

"That's it," Iceland said. "I'm looking for Hong Kong and Cyprus."

"What? You're going to leave me alone?" Northern Ireland glared at a portrait. No one bothered to point out he wasn't looking at Iceland.

"Liechtenstein is here," Iceland snapped. "If you learned to be quiet then I wouldn't have to leave."

"If I could use my magic then I wouldn't be completely blind," Northern Ireland snapped at the sofa. Iceland sighed when Liechtenstein sniffed again. He patted her hand comfortingly.

"I'll be right back," Iceland said, smiling reassuringly. "I'll bring Cyprus and Hong Kong as well."

"O-Okay." Liechtenstein nodded sadly as Northern Ireland began muttering insults at the drapes again.

"See you later, Northern Ireland," Iceland called as he left the room.

"Don't run into any mirrors, bastard," Northern Ireland called back. "I've heard animals get distracted by their reflections easily." The nation fanned his wings and fell backward, still off balance.

Iceland glared back at the parlor. "Just for that, I'll make sure you trip." He stormed up a set of stairs and looked around the hallway. 'I know Hong Kong said the doorway was downstairs, but they still might have come up here.' The fox-nation made his way down the hallway.

"Icy, t'rn b'ck," a voice whispered. "Go ta the oth'rs. It's not s'fe ta w'nder al'ne." Something jerked at the Nordic nation's tail.

"What?" Iceland looked back, rubbing the base of his tail. He spotted Not a Bastard following him closely. "This isn't funny, Northern Ireland. If you've been pretending to be blind this whole time, you're going to regret it." When no one responded, Iceland continued on his way, muttering insults about the winged nation.

"Lillebror, st'p. Ya'll die." Iceland collided with a rather solid object that wasn't there.

"Oof." Iceland rubbed his face. "What the hell?"

"Icy, it's me. It's yer storebror. Please, t'rn b'ck." Something nudged Iceland in the opposite direction, back to the parlor.

"What the heck is going on?" Iceland walked around the invisible force and made his way down the hallway. He stopped at a doorway and peered in. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he wandered into the center of the room.

"Hong Kong? Cyprus?" Iceland called, spinning around slowly as he searched the room. There were no windows, the only light flooding in from the doorway and the holes in the wall. Not a Bastard hissed loudly, glaring at a spot directly to the left of Iceland. He seemed to be urging someone on.

Suddenly, the door to the room slammed shut and locked, keeping Not a Bastard out.

"IC'LAND!" a familiar voice shouted.

"What?" Iceland whirled around in surprise. He made to walk for the door but he collided with something. "Ow!" Rubbing his forehead, Iceland squinted. His own reflection looked back at him. "A mirror?" There was a loud clunk and another mirror fell by Iceland's right side, somehow surviving the fall.

"What?" Iceland jumped and glanced to his side. Turning, he attempted to run but he collided with another mirror. "Oof!" He tried racing around the mirror, but he ran into three more.

"Icy, don't m've. He's f'llowing ya."

Every turn Iceland took led him into yet another mirror. There was no end to the maze. That, or he was running in a never-ending circle. Eventually, he ended up in the center of the whole mess. As he paused, he heard a strange screeching noise. Every mirror turned to face the nation. Iceland's ear lay flat against his head, his tail hung limp, and his eyes widened in fear.

Ever so slowly, the outer most ring of mirrors fell forward, colliding with the next ring. It began the domino effect and every row of mirrors fell into the next. There was the sound of shattering and tinkling glass as the death trap neared the fox-nation.

"One by one, let's have some fun."

Iceland screeched, ducking and covering himself as the last four mirrors collapsed in on him. Strong, warm arms enveloped Iceland as he lost consciousness. His violet eyes raised to meet sad orange eyes and black messy hair.

"Icy."

XXXXX

Cyprus threw the door to the parlor open and rushed in, stopping when he only spotted Liechtenstein and Northern Ireland. He stared at them in horror.

"Where's Iceland?


A/N: Yep, there you go. *Gasp* Who is this ghost who tried to rescue Iceland? Gee, I don't know. Was that sarcasm? No! . . . I'll take that as a yes.

Yes, Minnesota is explained more than Georgia. What do you expect? We're from Minnesota, not Georgia. If you're from the states, tell us what you think your state should be like. I'm open to suggestions.

Alright, Minnesota . . . she is the center of Scandinavian immigration and the only state to have complete Nordic immigration. Everyone else has one to three of the Nordics. She's a blend of the Nordics, France, and Germany. She's usually very sweet and apologizes if she insults someone, but she can be foul-tempered when something makes her mad. She's excellent with medicine and loves nature. Her siblings call her "Mayo" after the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Brown Recluse spiders are native to Texas. They're nasty little buggers.

In Minnesota, you always go up to the cabin, even if it's south.

'Don't ya know' is a stereotype of Minnesotans, we don't actually say it. Same with 'ya, no,' and 'ya, sure ya betcha.'

The Mayo Clinic is one of the best in the country. Some of the best doctors in the world stop by there.

Coming up in the next chapter . . . more creepy ghost time!