HetaOni: The Last Rebellion
Chapter 2: Strategy
Words: 2,370
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After Russia and China shut the door behind them, a silence ensued. A silence thick with worry, with apprehension, of what-do-we-do-next...it was far too thick for me. But I...didn't know what more to say...I felt so...helpless...again...
"Everyone." America announced. "Listen, I think we need to sort out our priorities and make a plan. So right now, what is our main goal? Apart from getting out, of course."
"Saving Spain and Romano." Prussia replied. "But without England's magic..."
"Yes. That's our top priority, and Russia and China will do all they can to help." America replied.
"But...there must be something else we can do...to help England, right?" Canada proposed. "England...is there absolutely anything you can think of that might help you restore your magic abilities faster?"
"W-well..." England muttered, looking hesitant. "Have we been inside every room in this mansion?"
"As far as I kno-" Germany started.
"No." I replied affirmatively. "There is...one place...that we haven't been in yet." England's faded eyes widened.
"Then maybe we should..."
"But..." I cut in quickly. "We found it in only one time loop, and...it was..." I clutched the side of my head, not wanting to remember what happened inside. Prussia came closer to me and put an arm around my shoulder. I took a deep breath and continued.
"You see...I think that there are many other places we haven't been inside here. Think about the way the rooms are arranged. The second floor seems to be bigger than the first...but that's not true, it just seems that way because we've probably already seen all of it. So what I'm trying to say is...there's too much empty space between the rooms. It just doesn't seem right. There must be something there in all of those spaces..." I tried to explain.
"But...what about that room you were talking about?" England asked. Germany shot him a deadly glare before seeming to remember that England couldn't see anymore, and averting his gaze to the floor. I bit my lip.
"I...in that time loop...we discovered it when we were in that japanese-style room..." I looked at Germany, and he turned back to me before nodding slightly to show that he understood what I meant. "The room where Germany and I were chased..." I then directed my line of sight onto Japan, who nodded as well.
"And later Japan, Germany and I were chased." I finished. "The room that has the door that led us to the meeting place that one time..." Glints of recognition sparked into the nations' eyes as they realized exactly which room I had been talking about. I turned back to stare at the wall behind the crowd of them and continued.
"At the end of that room there's sliding doors, right? Me and Germany found one of the pieces of paper in the doors on the right...and so, in an earlier time loop, which one exactly I'm not positively sure but it probably was one between the third and the seventh, I'm guessing...I got curious and decided to try to go inside the doors on the left. The room was completely dark so me and Germany looked for a light switch...but we couldn't find one..." I stopped and took some deep breaths. It was hard to continue speaking about it. "But...right when I thought I had found something, a doorknob on the opposite side of the room, the...Thing...came...from..." Oh! I hated this! I hated this time loop! It had really been all my fault that everything had gone wrong! If I hadn't been stupid enough to go into that dark room...Germany...wouldn't have...Trying to hold in sobs I cupped my hands over my mouth and squeezed my eyes shut. Germany, becoming concerned, tentatively placed a hand on my shoulder, and Prussia tightened his grip on me. The rest of the countries in the room were in suspense, not wanting to know what happened next but at the same time, the curiosity was killing them. So I put my hands down and tilted my chin up, trying to keep my composure. It had only happened once, and it wouldn't happen again. Because this time...I would be more careful, right? I have been more careful. Yes, it'll be alright. It'll be okay!
"The...Thing...came from the door Germany and I had entered the room from, and we felt its presence too late, so..." Hands trembling, I continued. "It was aiming for me, but Germany was closer to the door and tried to attack it in the darkness, and...it was no use...Germany attacked it right as it was lunging for him. I had hardly even been able to process anything out of fear, but I had just started to...run away. I knew it was too late...I knew that Germany was...d-done for...and as I was escaping the room, somehow running past Germany and the thing...right when I reached the open door I heard a crack...and I...k-knew..." My voice had started shaking badly and I was mustering up all my courage in order to not burst out into tears. Germany looked sickened, and I turned away in guilt.
"I-I'm sorry...Germany..." I whispered sadly. "I thought...I heard you shout at me to...r-run..." But for all I knew I could have been hallucinating. I would...never know. But Germany looked me in the eyes.
"No, Italy, please...it was the right thing to do." He assured me. Maybe he was right...maybe I would have been killed too if I hadn't run. I thought for a second, and decided to get it over with and explain the rest.
"I...ran to the left-side bathroom to escape, with the Thing following me nearly the whole way, but I lucked out and he somehow lost me when I got there. Somehow...it always goes away if you go into the bathroom...and I'm thinking maybe it's because of the toilet store...and...wait!" I realized something. "I'm sorry, this might sound stupid but...maybe the toilets here have some magic in them?"
"Ah, yes!" Japan said. "The innermost toilet on the left side in the bathroom here...along with the ones on the first floor, they have this kind of...store in them. Perhaps there is magic involved. I've never really known how they worked, after all..." I tilted my head.
"Japan...I think you actually may know more about those stores than I do..." I told him. "How did you discover them in the first place?"
"Well, you see, soon after we came here I came into a room that was completely dark myself. It's another bathroom further up the hallway from the other one. I found the light switch to see the Thing standing there, but luckily I managed to defeat him on my own before finding a key laying on a table. That was the key that I used to open the door where Prussia was hiding...those matters aside, I noticed something strange about the toilet in that room. I think there was a sort of spark in the corner of my vision where it was, and I was curious. I lifted the top of the back of it and found a mechanism. You could buy or sell the products available in the toilet using the products you had and...something I'm still very curious about, 'hetas'. 'Hetare' means 'useless' in my language, so this just seemed very odd...but 'hetas' seem to essentially be things that all of us collect after we defeat the Thing. We can all access them if we would like to. But, that is all I know about the stores, Italy."
"Veh...but they're so strange...they must be magic!" I pointed out.
"Well...I could take a look. Japan, you said it was the innermost toilet on the left side, right? That had the store?" America proposed. Japan nodded an affirmative, and America took England's arm. "Let's go, England."
"A-ah...shouldn't Japan come with us? Since he knows the most about them..." England protested.
"Yeah, you're right. Japan, wanna go?" America asked said nation.
"Mm, I would be happy to." Japan bowed slightly and went to join America and England. They all entered the bathroom and left Italy, Germany, Prussia, France and Canada in the original room. I stared ahead in silence. Maybe this could help...right? Even if England couldn't somehow get magic from the...toilet, maybe they could learn something useful from investigating it. But also...I was...kind of worried about Russia and China...so many things could go wrong...! They were the only ones outside of the saferoom now...oh, they would be...the only...t-targets in the mansion! No, no! I can't think like this! They were going to be okay, because I wasn't there, right? The Thing mostly just targeted me...it would be okay! Even if it found them...they would fight! They're strong enough to handle themselves! And...just like Spain and Romano...they're strong enough by themselves too! Until we can get them back, they'll fight and survive! It'll be okay!
"Oh, right..." Prussia broke the silence, and I remembered that his arm was around me when its grip loosened. "I've been wondering...do any of you know...about that...hole? In the room in the basement with the ropes that we couldn't escape with?" I visibly flinched. That was another topic I didn't really want to discuss. But...at the same time...I thought it might be necessary to tell them what I knew to make sure that I couldn't make a mistake concerning it again. Or anyone else, more importantly.
"That...hole." I began, sighing. "Please...please don't ever go near it, okay? I may as well just tell you...I don't think the hole leads to anywhere. It's just a trap to lure you in with the use of curiosity, and if you even dare to look in it too deeply, you're finished. Something...maybe the Thing...maybe something else...just grabs you if you go in there, and you're done. Please...the first time someone leaned into it I had no idea it was a trap, I wasn't even thinking...and their legs just...disappeared, and they screamed, and I heard their head being crushed! And...I ran for my life!" A few tears had escaped from my eyes now, and I whimpered in despair.
"No, it's okay, Italy, I'm sorry...you don't need to say any more..." Prussia apologized for bringing it up and started to stroke my hair. Germany stared into the distance with a distraught expression. France and Canada, seated on the bed to the left of Italy's, looked down in grief.
"But...but I...all the time loops after that I just...stopped the person before they could do anything..and I...told them what I just told you just to get them to not do it...and luckily this time they didn't get a chance to try anything..." I sputtered out. I could feel it in the room, the question that seemed to literally be hanging in the air. Who was it? As if I was answering to an unseen force, I said, "Who was it? It was you, Prussia..." Said albino's eyes widened. It was as if he already knew that it was probably him. He was the one who was curious enough to be asking about it now, after all. The silence was drawn out, until France spoke up.
"Italy...mon doux cher...I think you should be resting now..." He said gently, probably barely able to stand seeing me cry...even though he had sometimes been the cause of my tears in the past. That past that seemed millions of years away, blurred by too many memories of similar loops happening in one single place. That past that, even with all of its hardships, seemed heavenly compared to the hell of this mansion. That past that I won't ever wish to change. I sighed, my eyes falling half-closed.
"Veh...I guess you're right...but...shouldn't you all rest too?" I asked. France looked around at the three other faces in the room that looked determined to do something. Germany decided to speak.
"We'll be fine, Italy. We'll stay nearby to make sure you're still all right, but I propose that we hold a meeting at the dining table to discuss what to do next." He said, looking up to see the other countries who silently agreed. Prussia gently removed his arm from its place around my shoulders, and France, Canada, and Germany got up to leave.
"Wait, no! Germany!" I called out weakly. "Stay here!" I probably wouldn't be able to sleep alone!
"Italy, I'll only be on the other side of the room." He pointed out calmly. But I protested again.
"Please! I can't sleep alone!" I argued. Germany sighed loudly, but complied.
"I'll stay here with Italy." He told the others. France chuckled, and Prussia and Canada smiled, not seeming surprised at all.
"T-thank you, Germany..." I said guiltily.
"Go to sleep." He ordered me. So I settled down and tried to slip into unconsciousness under Germany's caring watch.
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A/N: It's 2:53 in the morning. Tired. :/ Anyway, hope you liked this chapter even though not much stuff happened. Please review and let me know if there's any mistakes, what I can improve on, what you liked, or what you'd like to see :) Just review! xD
