My dear readers,

I'm very sorry that it's taken me so long to update! My old computer seems to have died, so I'm taking advantage of my Gramma's computer while I'm staying with her. Last we left off, Mari was trapped in the basement cell with Prussia, France, and America. Naturally, she wants to kill Aja and Xenzik for taking so long. Let's see what happens in the world of HetaOni in chapter 8!

All countries belong to the author of Hetalia, the setting belongs to the creator of HetaOni, Relient K and their songs belong to Relient K, and my characters belong to me.

…

It was starting to get late. My 'internal clock' felt it, and was begging me to sleep. But I couldn't sleep. Not yet, anyway. France was slumped against the wall, and America was next to him. The two seemed to have fallen asleep rather quickly. Prussia, however, was leaning up against the bars of the cell, still staring at the far wall, even after I'd walked away.

Now I sat at my computer, staring blankly at the screen as it loaded a video. I'd decided to look up the next part of the game, just so I could see what to expect. 'Assuming the game hasn't been too screwed up.' I thought to myself miserably. Sighing, I pushed the thought away. I see no use in regretting what's already happened. But what if the game had been changed? What we actually were totally screwed?

"Damn. . ." I sighed to myself, bringing Prussia back into the real world. "What's up?" He wondered, sitting next to me. I looked up at him with tired eyes, and he looked back with his demonic red ones. I vaguely remembered Austria's 'demon douche' comment and let myself smile a bit. "Not a lot." I replied. "I was just wondering if I need to call Aja. This whole thing, my trying to plan all of this, might blow up in my face. . ."

Prussia laughed a little. "Kesesesesese! I wouldn't worry! You've got ten countries on your side and two teenage girls." I grinned and punched him in the arm. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But you've all gotten hurt in the ga-." I broke off suddenly, coughing. After a few seconds it stopped, but I still reached to pull pills out of my duffel bag. "What are those?" Prussia asked.

"Kalydeco." I said through a second bout of coughing. "It's. . . A cough medicine." I shoved the pills in my mouth and swallowed them, hoping to God that they'd go down without a fight. After a few minutes, the painful, dry cough finally turned into a helpful cough, clearing my throat. I looked back at the bottle, noticing that it seemed light. That's when I realized that I'd just taken my last two pills.

"Oh, dear God!" I grabbed my phone and dialed Aja's number.

Ring. . .

Ring. . .

Ring. . .

"What?" Aja answered, sounding rather annoyed.

"Aja! Get Zik on the phone, too!" The sound of the phone being moved and Aja talking came through.

"Mari? What happened?" Xenzik's calm voice made it's way through the phone.

"Guys, I need to talk to you in private as soon as we can meet up. Hurry, please! I'm dying here!" The two stayed silent for awhile. I could hear Zik sigh, and Aja giggled a little. "Is Prussia bugging you?" Zik asked, obviously trying not to laugh. Fuming, I yelled into the phone. "No! I'm out of my Kalydeco!"

"What the hell!? How could you let yourself run out, you idiot!?" While Aja screamed at me, Xenzik stayed a little more calm, trying to reassure me. "Shut up, Aja!" I yelled back at her. "It's not my fault! I was scheduled to get a refill today!" not wanting to deal with Aja anymore, I slammed the top of the phone back down and threw it on the ground towards the wall. I brought my hand up to suppress another session of coughing.

By now, Frog and America had woken up and were looking at me, America with concern, France with curiosity. "Dude, are you okay?" My home country asked me, walking over and putting a hand on my upper back. "Are you sick or somethin'?"

I Looked up at him and nodded slightly, unable to talk over the wheezing. France had walked over as well, but kept his distance (Thankfully). After the coughing stopped, I pushed America away and reached weakly from my bag. I opened it up and pulled out a small bottle of water, chugging it quickly. As soon as I caught my breath, I glared at each one of them in turn, earning me three satisfying flinches. "No one says a thing about this to anyone." I stated. ". . . Please. . ."

At the last word, all three guys gasped. "She asked nicely!" Prussia looked genuinely surprised. "Sh-Shut up!" I punched him in the arm again, but it was much weaker this time, and he looked a little worried. "Sure, Mari. We won't tell anyone." America decided for the group. "As long as you tell us what exactly is wrong with you."

I stared at him for a second, not in a good enough mood to pretend I hated him for asking that question. I knew I'd have to tell them sooner or later. "Well, I guess you'll find out in less than 12 hours anyway." I laughed a little, despite the grim meaning behind the statement.

"I'm a CF patient. That stands for-."

"Cystic fibrosis." All heads turned towards America, who had is eyes closed sadly. "A lot of people, around 30,000 in the U.S. alone, die of it every year."

"That's right. I always wondered if the personifications of the countries felt the effects of these kinds of diseases." I told them absentmindedly. "To tell the truth, cystic fibrosis isn't a super common disease. There are about 70,000 cases of CF worldwide, so America has almost half of 'em. That's the most of any country. It kind of sucks that I have it, and it's pretty bad because of my 13 years of living with little treatment. . . I was probably pretty stupid for running away from home when I was that sick."

I lowered my head a little and smiled slightly. "I was given 3 months to live almost 3 months ago, and I'm out of medicine. At most I'll last for half a day. And that's assuming that I stay at this level of cough. If it gets any worse, I'll be bedridden within the hour." America and France just kind of stared at me, but Prussia got up and went back to the bars of the cell.

'Why's he so upset? He's not the one dying.' I thought bitterly, pulling my iPod out of my pocket. "Do you guys like Relient K?" I asked. France and Prussia just looked at me, and America nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I love those guys!" America laughed. I smiled and turned on the song 'Sadie Hawkins Dance'. It was my favorite song by that band.

All the girls in the bathroom talkin',

Who they gonna take to the Sadie Hawkins.

My ears are burning, but I kept on walkin',

Smile on my face and air guitar rockin'.

"Ever heard this song?" I asked. All three shook their heads 'No'. I shook my head in disappointment. "Aww, but it's my favorite song~!" I giggled. "That and In Love with the 80's." I grinned like a madman as I swayed to my beloved music. It was my number one favorite thing. I could never sing when I grew up, and I doubted that I'd live that long anyway, but it wasn't the singers I admired.

It was the beat. The big, beautiful sound that vibrated from the bass guitar. All of my favorite songs were filled with the loud pounding sound that I adored. I turned off my iPod as I heard footsteps. "You guys hear that?" I asked, attempting to stand up, and failing, landing in America's arms.

"Yeah. . ." The albino backed away from the bars and pulled his own sword. The footsteps grew louder, and it sounded like there were a LOT of them. I pulled myself up and stumbled over towards Prussia, leaning on him slightly for support. America pulled his gun and France drew a small knife. "France, how the hell are you gonna kill Steve with something like that?" I snapped, and France just kind of stared at me.

"Mari?" Xenzik and Aja walked around the corner tailed by the rest of the allies and axis with Canada. I dropped my weapon and ran to the bars. "Thank GOD you two are here! Hi Canada." Canada looked confused by the fact that I'd noticed him, and Xenzik went to unlock the door. Leaning up against the bars, I decided not to move until the door had been pulled open, upon which I slowly got out, holding onto the bars.

As soon as I got out, there was some more game talk, so Aja and Xenzik pulled me to the side with Ivy and Vixue. "Why are they here?" I asked, pointing at the other two.

"They wanted to know what was wrong." Zik explained.

"You didn't tell them, did you?" I asked, glaring at Aja in particular.

"Of course not." Xenzik replied. "We know you wouldn't want us to do that. But you should tell them." I glared at her for a moment before shaking my head no. Instead I reached into my bag and brought out the empty pill bottle, handing it to Ivy before turning away. "Go ahead and tell them." I told them, walking over to Prussia.

"Are you okay?" He asked as I slumped against his shoulder. I could feel some of the other countries and humans looking at me, but I didn't care as I started coughing again. Throughout the session of wheezing and sheer pain, a thought crossed my mind. 'This is too fast. I shouldn't be this sick yet!' I could tell that the acceleration of the pain and how fast the disease was taking over had something to do with this alternate universe. That had to be it.

I could feel Prussia grabbing my arm as I collapsed, my vision blurring in the pain. I could feel an immense amount of pressure in my chest as my lungs seemed to instantly succumb to infection and fill up with the mucus that prevented me from breathing. It was hard just staying conscious, but pulling myself up seemed like it would have been impossible without Prussia's support.

All around me, I heard gasps and countries as well as humans freaking out as I fell back down. I realized that my attempts to stay awake would be futile in the end, so I allowed myself to slump back against the brick wall, and welcomed the darkness that quickly ensued.

…

And that's how Mariotte Summers died! No, no, JK. She'll be fine. . . Probably. Eh heh. . . Anyway, hope you enjoyed that. If you want to learn more about CF, look it up. It's a real thing, and all the facts I put in are real, as well as the drug Mari was using. BTW, I'm coming out with a Soul Eater story, for those of you that like that anime/manga. I'll be using mostly manga happenings for that story. Thanks for reading, your reviews are always appreciated, and make sure you check out my other stories, and Himiwari-Chan's Aja POV. And review on her story for God's sake! No one's done that yet!

Peace,

~Otto-Chan.