Germany cursed; slamming shut the bedroom door as he looked at the clock. It had been thirty-five minutes, and Germany knew he should return. He walked towards the direction of the conference room, before shaking his head, resuming his search. Prussia watched him fight with his conflicted emotions and decisions, raising an eyebrow. His usually-so-calm brother was now on the verge of panic, his normally streaked back hair now ruffled and strewn. Hungary started trembling, her hand shaking against Prussia's own. He suddenly started forward, going towards the laundry room.
"Come on, West. He'll be alright, ja?"
"Ja," Germany said, a piece of hope in his voice. "Ofcourse."
Prussia led the way down to the laundry room, down some stairs (but it was not quite a basement), hearing a small cry from below. Germany pushed forward forcefully, half-flying down the stairs and stumbling down the last flight before he got up quickly and carried on.
He blinked as he saw Japan and China kneeling next to Korea.
Who was bleeding.
Hungary and Prussia arrived at the scene, before Hungary's eyes widened.
"Japan! What happened?!" Hungary asked, fearful.
"We were scouting the floor, and two men came to us and shot at me. Korea got in the way…" Japan's voice started to crack.
"…and so Korea was shot. The other men ran back towards the place they came from after we heard a lot of gunshots, and then we heard the back door slam shut." China finished, clenching Korea's hand tighter.
"Ja, they broke through the back door," Germany said quietly.
"We need to get you to the conference room!" Hungary cried, kneeling beside the Korean, who simply smiled.
"Hm, nah, it's nice down here."
"But if you don't you'll—" Japan started, before Korea cut him off.
"Before I what? Die? We're nations, we can't die," Korea said, laughing a little. "I'll just be going to the skies, to help create new nations up there too…"
And then, Korea was still.
The conference room was deathly silent as the nations sat, either crying or burying their faces in their hands. Germany had already punched a hole through three walls, and the Asian countries were paying their respects in the living room, where Korea's body lay.
"It's my fault," Germany whispered quietly. "Mein Gott, it's my fault…"
"No, it isn't," England said calmly, which surprised the German who thought no-one was around to hear him.
"I was the one who insisted we have a meeting, who insisted their country was safe, who failed their assigned ta—"
"Germany," England's voice was harsh. "No-one blames you. We needed to have this meeting, or else we'd all be facing the same fate, but alone this time. No-one blames you, so stop blaming yourself."
"But—"
"Hey, Potato Bastard! Where's my brother?!" A voice yelled, loud footsteps coming closer.
Germany paled. "I forgot! The whole thing with Korea…"
"Well, what are you doing, bastardo?!" Romano demanded, looking at the German with anger in his eyes. "My fratello is out there, God knows where, and you're lounging around…"
"Romano…!" England started, before Germany put his hand up to silence England.
"You're right. I was careless and forgetful. He is my one true friend and ally, and I should not have failed my mission."
"Good, because this time, I'm coming too," Romano said, grabbing Germany's arm and dragging him to the entrance.
"Be careful!" England called after them. "America might not have got all of the rogue citizens and my magic might not have caught them either! There might still be some of them lingering the halls!"
"We'll be fine!" Romano called back, before placing his hand on his gun warily.
Germany and Romano walked in an awkward silence, the only sounds being their footsteps and their callings of Italy's name. Two hours passed, and yet they still found no trace of the Italian.
"Fuck! Where is he?!" Romano shouted in frustration.
Germany understood his anger and fear, and he looked around desperately. "I don't know, I just want to find him, too…"
"We better keep looking!" Romano announced, jogging ahead, leaving Germany to catch up behind him, unaware of the presence behind the wall they had just run past.
America directed the other nations to jobs in the conference room. All the nations had quickly re-gathered to re-assess the situations. Ukraine and Belarus, along with Greece and Turkey, had been assigned to gather resources such as food and weapons from across the house. The Baltic Trio were to scout the first floor while Russia and Finland volunteered to scour the second. The Bad Friends trio were already present on the third floor, leaving a worried Hungary behind to help Switzerland and Liechtenstein to help with injuries.
England stayed behind to keep his strength up, so the enchantments on the doors would hold. He sat there for a little while, keeping an eye on America to make sure he was okay.
Then, his phone rang.
He raised an eyebrow, picking it up before greeting the caller with a small, "Hello."
"England, it's me!"
"Scotland?! What's wrong?"
"Well… we…"
"Sc-Scotland?"
America glanced over, seeing England begin to panic.
"Sorry, little brother, but…"
"Scotland what the hell is going on there?!"
"We tried to keep them away from your capital, but… we just…"
England felt an agonising pain rip through his chest as he stumbled back. America gave a sharp cry, running over as Switzerland did the same. England kept the phone held to his ear, to which the other end remained deathly silent.
"Sc-Scotland?"
A small scuffle, and then another weak voice answered it.
"England?"
"Wales! What's happened?!"
"Aha… well… I'm sorry," the small voice came from the other end. "We all tried our best… Northern Ireland is still fighting for you…"
"What do you mean?!"
"The citizens… they realized a secret…"
"What secret, Wales?!"
"It's not just your bodies that can end a nati—"
The line was cut off by the sound of a gunshot, and then a small thud. England's chest flared with pain again, and he cried out, Switzerland baffled at what to do.
America hastily grabbed his own phone, ringing up Northern Ireland.
Three times there was no answer, until…
"Who is it…?"
"Northern Ireland?" Came America's quick reply.
"Mm…yes…"
"What's happening? Scotland and Wales were on the phone then their end went dead, and they said you were fighting for England, what's going on-?!"
"America. There isn't much time. Listen," came the voice, hoarse and raspy. "Our land is us, and we are our land. If one can be healed, then so can the oth—"
Again, the sound of an explosion, and the other end hung up.
"N-Northern Ireland?" England called, having heard the conversation from America's phone (Which he had left on speakerphone)
America dropped the phone to the floor, stumbling back.
Four nations in the space of three hours?! And what did they mean by the bodies and the nations? What was going on?
"Am-America," England said quietly. The blonde haired American turned to the older country, a sadness in his eyes.
The hurt country's eyes look back at him in agony.
"My brothers… they're okay, aren't they?"
"Of course," Alfred said, the lie flowing from his lips easily.
"Good," England said, a hint of relief in his voice. "Tell them to hurry up and get here…"
"You need to rest," Switzerland insisted. "After this rare occurrence just happened, and the fact you're still channelling magic, it means your body is on the verge of collapse."
"But…"
"England, get some rest," America insisted, pushing down the older nation onto a makeshift bed on the floor.
As soon as England was on the soft surface, he fell asleep.
America felt Switzerland's eyes on him.
"It was safer to lie to him," Switzerland said, after a long pause of silence. "Any stress could have tipped him over the edge and caused him to collapse."
"So, what happens when he wakes up? Is it safe to tell him then?"
"I don't know. Maybe? I can't tell yet. He's in a very exhausted position."
"I see."
And there, they waited in silence.
The Bad Friend Trio continued their path on the third floor, each of them not knowing what to say, what to do to comfort the other. They all had things on their mind. For Spain and France, it was of the Italian brothers, and for Prussia, it was Hungary.
"Hey, you two," Prussia suddenly said, disrupting the silence. "They'll be fine! Even though they're not as awesome as I am, they're still awesome!"
"I really hope so," France muttered. "He's been gone for about six hours now…"
"And God knows who is still in the mansion. The house is so big, we might not be able to tell what is happening…" Spain also grumbled, clinging to his battle ask.
"Pfft, you two worry too much," Prussia chided, glancing into a room. "They'll be fine. My awesome bruder is with Romano and they'll both find Italy, ja?"
"Yeah…" France said.
"…I really hope so." France concluded.
A/N: So that's Korea and most of Britain down. Thanks for the reviews and follows I got, and I'm sorry for it going too slow for now. Out of curiosity, does anyone have any theories on what's going to happen?
The more reviews and follows I get, the faster I update!
P.S ~ The story will get faster paced, I promise!