Okay, first of all, I'd like to apologize for not updating last week.
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood came out and well...you kinda get the idea. 8D;
Sorry, this chapter is kinda half-assed and rushed cause it's been bothering me for a while that I'm behind one chapter...
Anyways, big thanks to grawrgrawrninja for advertising for me! XD
You guys should read her APH fanfic Band Geeks too! It's really good and unlike my angsty and dramatic stuff, it's humorous! :D
Welp, here's chapter five!
By the way, keep this in mind:
Jeanne = Jeanne d'Arc or Joan of Arc
Abel = Holland
Matthias = Denmark
Lukas = Norway
I realized that Himaruya recently posted human names for some characters but I was too lazy to change them (plus, I like Matthias for Denmark...).
Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Where Are They?
Arthur led them towards the door and turned the knob. It wouldn't open. He grabbed it with both hands, trying to wring it open. Still wouldn't budge.
"Fucking—" he then tensed up, looking over his shoulder pass Alfred. Alfred turned around as well, his blues eyes widening.
"—Shit," he completed Arthur's sentence. Quickly, he got out twin handguns from his holsters and shot the door open. Behind them, the silhouette of the girl was appearing, a chilling giggle echoing in the room. They ran out of the room, Ludwig picking up Feliciano and slinging him over his shoulder as the Italian almost tripped.
Running.
All they can do is run.
Ludwig led them to the second floor where the library was and opened the door, pushing Feliciano inside and letting the blondes run in as Arthur fell on top of Alfred. The German quickly closed the door, locking it. Letting out a sigh of relief, he loosened up. Suddenly, the door in front of him pounded violently. He reeled back, almost tripping over his own foot and stared at the door, a cold sweat dripping down from his forehead. The pounding got louder and louder, escalating to what it seems to be the point where the door will be obliterated to pieces from the force. Then, it stopped. A chilling giggle made them all stiffen up.
"I'll be back..."
They all stared at the door, completely scared out of their wits. Feliciano then gasped.
"W-wait! Lovi, Antonio, and Francis aren't here!"
Even worse.
Another round of obscure violent poundings on the door made them all jump. What scared them even more was that it was accompanied by eerie scratching, as if someone that has long nails was clawing a chalkboard. Arthur blinked.
"...Open the door."
"W-what? That's suicidal!" Alfred protested. Arthur gave him a glare as he spun about.
"ONLY THAT FAG WOULD CLAW HIS WAY IN." The Briton rushed towards the door and grabbed onto the handle. Alfred froze.
As Arthur opened the door, a large pair of hands burst into the room, grabbing the defenseless Briton. He struggled to get out of its grip as he was quickly pulled away into the darkness, his screams forever in the American's mind.
As he opened the door, he was tackled to the floor by the other group.
"GET. OFF!" he pushed them away as he stood up, brushing off the dust from his clothes.
"Then why did you lock the door?" Francis screamed, "We could have been killed!"
"Well who's fault is it to smash and scratch the door?"
"WHAT SHOULD WE HAVE DONE? 'Bonjour! It's Big Brother!'?"
"DO YOU WANT ANOTHER HUNDRED YEAR'S WAR?"
"Well, isn't this nice?" Alfred was smiling in the background with the others.
"Yes, it really kills the mood, huh?" Ludwig stared apathetically. Antonio was laughing at the scene as Lovino just stared with dead eyes. Just then, Alfred noticed that there was someone else standing besides the Spaniard. A familiar young blond girl. Jeanne.
"Jeanne! Where were you?" Alfred exclaimed. She looked up at the tall American, away from Francis and Arthur's bickering.
"Oh, they found me while we were heading here on the floor, unconscious. I'm glad they did, after all, we were chased by a black creature in the corridors," she stated.
"Oui, those shadows were chasing us again," Francis joined in.
"Finally settled things?" Antonio chuckled.
"Anyways, how did you guys know about the girl?" Ludwig addressed Arthur and Alfred. The Briton scoffed, crossing his arms.
"While we were unpacking our stuff, we heard a giggle," Arthur started.
"Yeah, then Arty told me about that and I thought he was hallucinating with his magical friends or something..." Alfred chirped in.
"They're real!" Arthur protested. "But that aside, we looked around and went downstairs to see a girl run towards a wall near the entrance."
"And we found a hidden door but it was locked. But, being the hero I am, I opened it with a paperclip I had in my pocket—"
"That's not very heroic," Antonio commented sarcastically.
"Shut it," Arthur growled. The others stared in bewilderment.
"Anyways, we found a staircase but Arty said that we shouldn't go down because it felt...off."
"Feliciano said the same thing," Ludwig remarked, looking at the Italian. He was staring at the door with distant auburn eyes. Ever since they saw the island, Feliciano has been completely out of it...then again, he's always scared and running away. But he has been able to see and predict where the shadows were, along with his brother. Guess being Catholics isn't a bad thing in this case.
"Sorry to jump off topic—sort of—I'll be frank, but have you noticed that something is wrong with not just with this manor but the entire island?" Arthur asked, his fingers digging into his arms. He looked uncomfortably away as Alfred placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. "I mean, there's this...vibe coming from this island but I don't really know where..."
"...I agree. At first I thought it was the house but when Antonio and I were outside in the garden, there was still that heavy feeling of...dread," Lovino shivered. Antonio brought Lovino into his arms.
"I think it's obvious that we should escape this place...but first we have to find the others," Antonio stated. They all nodded in agreement.
"The only question is, where are they?" Francis asked.
As nightfall was about, Alfred was looking out the window of the library towards the glaring moon. He looked from his seat at the window sill to see almost everybody asleep, excluding Arthur and himself. The Briton was reading his tome and looked up to see Alfred staring at him.
"Shouldn't you go to bed by now?" Arthur whispered almost inaudibly as he quietly closed the tome and placed it next to him. Alfred shrugged.
"Someone has to be on night watch."
Arthur managed to let out a small smile but then frowned. Alfred tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"...Nothing." Alfred grimaced. He may be a bit dim but he knows Arthur well. A little too well. He quietly walked towards the Briton and sat next to him, wrapping his arms around him. Arthur buried his face into Alfred's shoulder, trembling.
"...We need to get out of here...before something bad happens...to you," Arthur's voice wavered through the muffles. Alfred blinked. Something bad happening to him? He stroked Arthur's soft blond hair, trying to calm him down.
"Nothing will happen to me," he pulled away to see Arthur staring down with a solemn look on his face. Alfred cupped the Briton's chin, their eyes meeting each other, "After all, I'm a hero—your hero." Arthur's cheeks became slightly rosy.
"...Git, that was corny."
Feliciano stretched when he woke up, letting out a yawn. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. Antonio and Lovino were talking near the window, Francis and Jeanne were immersed in a book they got from one of the bookshelves, and Alfred and Arthur were sleeping together, Arthur leaning on Alfred as the American's head was on Arthur's, under the window at the far end of the library. He looked around for his favorite German. Ludwig came out from one of the rows of shelves, walking towards Feliciano as he was awake. He rolled his eyes.
"Put on some clothes already. I don't get why you have to sleep naked every time, especially in this situation," he sighed in exasperation. He then looked at the two remaining sleepers. "When will those two wake up? I know Alfred was on night shifts but..." As if on cue, Alfred woke up, slowly opening his eyes and blinking. He wiped the dried drool from the corner of his mouth and carefully got Arthur off his shoulder. He let out a loud yawn and looked around.
"Ngh...what time is it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes before putting on his glasses.
"Like we would know; our cell phones are jammed so we can't get calls or even check the time," Lovino spoke up.
"Not to mention the clocks in here are old and don't work anymore," Francis said as he looked up from the book.
"But judging by the sun, I'm guessing it's early morning," Jeanne looked out the window.
"Well then, we should get going, right Lovi?" Antonio heaved his large battle ax over his shoulder. Lovino nodded as he headed towards the door. Feliciano jolted, a worried expression was quickly apparent on his face.
"W-wait! Where are you going, Lovi?" Feliciano stood up suddenly, running towards his brother and Antonio, grabbing onto his arms. Lovino pried his brother's hands off his arms with an irritated sigh.
"Even though it's safer for us to stay in a large group, our progress will be slow if we don't split up to search for the others," Lovino then looked at Antonio. The Spaniard nodded.
"Right; plus, I'm sure everybody here can defend themselves." Feliciano looked down in disappointment.
"...Just come back safely then," he trembled. Lovino rolled his eyes and lightly hit Feliciano's head with his fist.
"Fine. Well, we'll investigate outside in the gardens. C'mon Antonio!" Lovino rushed outside, Antonio following him.
"...Even though he told us to split up, I think we should investigate the manor in this group."
All eyes turned to see Arthur slouched on the wall beneath the window where he and Alfred were sleeping, staring blankly at the floor. He then looked up.
"If I'm correct, the only people missing are Kiku, Wang, Ivan, Gilbert, Elizabeta, Matthias, Lukas, and Abel," he stood up, brushing the dust off his black dress shirt and straightening his yellow tie.
"Although I don't want to say it, I agree with Arthur," Francis said, "Who knows what might happen if we split up? I think Lovino and Antonio will be fine though."
"Then it's decided that we'll all stick together, correct?" Ludwig asked. Everyone nodded. "Alright then, since we're already on the second floor, we should check out Kiku's room first." As they went out of library, Ludwig looked around the corridor to see if there were any of the strange creatures lurking about. There weren't any...yet. Quickly, they walked towards Kiku's room with a Chrysanthemum on the name plaque. Francis reached for the doorknob and twisted it. It was unlocked. He opened it wider and walked in, as did the others as they looked around. Right after Arthur, being the last of the group, walked in, the door slammed behind him. He immediately turned around and tried to open the door with no avail.
"...No good, it's completely locked from the other side," he sighed, giving up as he kicked the door in irritation.
"...But the door can only be locked from the inside," Jeanne remarked. Surely enough, they looked at the lock to see it open.
"I don't feel anything so it should be fine for now," Feliciano commented. Ludwig nodded and walked about in the room, looking around. Alfred opened the closet to find it empty, Arthur looking under the bed only to find dust, Jeanne looked out the window to see a normal scenery, and Francis was examining the bathroom.
"I guess they're not here," Jeanne stated as she let the curtains drop.
"Hold on a minute." Everyone looked at Ludwig as he knelt down near the window. He picked up a long blade—or rather, part of it. It was a broken katana—Kiku's katana.
"Shit...that can't be good," Alfred hissed. Then, they all froze as they heard a faint sound. The sound of bells chiming. They looked around, seeing nothing as the cacophony grew louder and louder before it abruptly stopped.
"AHHH!" Jeanne screamed as what it seemed to be a little girl was pulling on her wrist with excruciating force. Francis immediately lunged forward, drawing his rapier from his waist and slashed the girl. It didn't do anything. He gulped in fear as the masked girl wearing all red turned towards him. Suddenly, two other girls came from behind her, as if she was multiplying. They all drew out a hatchet from their robe's sleeves, holding it above their heads as they were about to strike. Alfred whipped out his handguns and shot the weapons out of their hands, in which they all gasped and looked towards him. They all started walking towards him before running in his direction. He ran towards the wall, running on it for a brief moment before kicking off of it, back flipping and shooting the girls on their backs. They let out a piercing scream before falling to the floor, disappearing in red particles. One of them struggled to survive, looking up at the group. Her mask fell off only to reveal a large red eye as her face staring at them. As she disappeared, Feliciano stiffened and turned towards the window.
"I see you."
They all turned to see the girl in white hovering at the window, the maniacal smile on her face as she giggled and started laughing like mad. Arthur held out his hand, a green light appearing as he chanted incantations quietly. She then glared at the group and disappeared before Arthur could finish.
"...What was that all about?" Ludwig was still slightly shaken by her appearance. Whoever she was, she was obviously the most dangerous out of everything they've seen so far in the manor.
"Who knows?" Arthur sighed as he held his head. "Damn wanker made me use up most of my energy." He then saw something on the floor. Alfred looked where he was looking and saw a shiny object on the floor, a key.
"Why do these things carry keys around with them? It doesn't make any sense," Alfred commented as he shoved the key in his pockets.
"...Wait...take the key out again," Francis said. Bewildered, Alfred did as he was told and showed Francis the key.
"...And the other keys that you guys found...don't you think it's strange that all the keys we've found are guest room keys? Specifically, keys to OUR rooms?"
"Except for this one," Feliciano took out the bloody key that leads to the basement. "This is the only one that doesn't lead to a guest room."
"...Anyways, Kiku and Abel aren't here so we might as well keep looking; there's nothing else in this room and I doubt we want to stay in this room any longer," Ludwig said. They all nodded and left the room. Just as they left, Alfred looked over his shoulder to see a girl in black looking at him with red eyes as she clutched onto her teddy bear.
Dun dun dun-
Who's the girl that Alfred saw?
Who knows? /shot
Anyways, yes, I added a tidbit of USxUK in there for the giggles (and because they're my OTP).
I'll try to update chapter 6 THIS weekend (if possible)!
Sorry if there's any delays...finals are coming up...
Welp, that's it for now!
You guys know the drill: review and I'll update faster!
Don't forget to read grawrgrawrninja's fanfic, Band Geeks!