Germany and Russia stared at the head of the thing, oozing out dark red blood. They adverted their eyes after a few mere seconds; they couldn't bring themselves to look at it any longer. The image, already carved into their memory, made them panic, even though they knew it could no longer hurt them.
And yet why did they feel their fear eating away at their sanity?
Japan and China poked their heads out from underneath the bed. Both of them looked shaky and Japan had started gasping for air. He slowly clasped a shaky hand over his mouth in order to quiet himself but he couldn't.
China placed his hands on Japan's shoulders but his eyes darted from one place to another in fear. "Is it dead, aru?" he whispered.
Germany dropped Russia's pipe and backed up to the desk in front of the window. Using the desk for support, Germany gulped and nodded silently.
Italy crawled out from under the bed and started to cry. "I want to go home, Germany. I don't like this. I don't want an adventure..." he sniffed.
Germany nodded slowly at Italy. "Go home, Italy. Get away from this place. Everyone too, go away. Don't come back..."
"And you?" Japan asked urgently. "What about you? You're not going to stay and find your team, are you?"
"I have to," Germany said quietly. "They can't stay here...they can't stay in a place like this..."
Italy's bottom lip quivered. Eyes welling up, he said, "I'm not leaving unless Germany leaves."
There was no motivation in Germany to argue against Italy, and the others didn't look like they were leaving. He gave them a glare and demanded why they wanted to stay. "If you haven't noticed, we are more like humans in this place! We don't seem to be like countries anymore where we will heal over time. We could probably die in here and who knows what will happen if that happens."
"We do want to leave," Russia said quietly. "But is it even possible to?"
Another silence. Perhaps the state they were in prevented their thoughts from flowing smoothly; they chose to stay. Even if they did maintain their logical reasoning, they soon found out that they couldn't leave even if they chose to.
"Locked?" China asked in horror as he yanked at the door handles just to test them out. The group had found another way past the rubble that had blocked the entrance they went through. When they circled around, finding an alternate route by going back to the ballroom, they found a newly collapsed wall and a hole in the ceiling that they climbed up and out of and into the foyer again.
"It can't be," Germany said, stopping abruptly in his tracks. China stepped away as Germany marched to the doors with the intent of kicking them down. With a grunt, he planted the sole of his combat boots into the wall with a firm kick but it resulted with a throbbing foot and an echoing thud that made the castle seem even more ominous.
"Let me," Russia said, pushing Germany back with his free arm while the other gripped the iron pipe. The group watched with growing fear as Russia hacked away at the wood but it was futile. The wood didn't seem like wood anymore. The door was made of a material that resembled wood in appearance, touch, and even smell, but whatever the door was made of, that was not wood. Russia didn't make a dent on it. The pipe was useless. It would not break the doors open.
"We're stuck in here?" Italy cried.
"There's no way we can go back out there," Japan said to himself. He scanned the foyer carefully and his eyes settled on the high windows behind the staircases. "We can't seem to break windows either," he murmured. "Anything we use to break glass will dissipate."
"Maybe...maybe it was an illusion, aru," China said. "Germany didn't pick up a chair and tried to break the window. The chair didn't exist...we were seeing things-"
"So then why can I actually feel the chair?" Germany demanded. Flexing his fingers, he scowled, "I had it in my hands...It was solid, that's for sure. Tell him, Japan...you picked it up first when you propped it against the door. It was real. There was no way it was an illusion."
"The chair was real," Japan said uncertainly. "But...the glass did not break and the chair...what happened?"
"I...I don't know..." Germany held a hand up to his face and inspected it. What was real and what wasn't? Could he believe his memories? Could he trust his senses? Or could he trust neither of them?
A distant rumble in the background startled them and their heads started pounding again; some were a little short on breath. "Ah...my headache is back," China moaned.
"Let's go somewhere else," Italy suggested timidly. "I don't like it out here in the open."
The five recollected themselves and slowly climbed the stairs. When they found the right side of the stairs blocked, they looked back at the left where they had escaped from the hole.
"Hell no," Germany said at once, remembering how difficult it was to see in that corridor. "Who knows what will attack in that darkness. Let's go back downstairs."
"And risk another cave in?" Japan asked.
"Do you want to go in there, aru?" China asked, pointing.
Japan looked back down and sighed. "I see. Yes, let's go back down then."
Prussia frowned when he saw the castle. He had expected it to be bigger. And awesomer. It was 'okay', if he really had to judge it by its appearance, but there was something off about it.
"What do you think, Spain?" he asked, rubbing his chin. "Don't you think it looks...unawesome?"
Spain's usual smile had faded long before they approached the castle. It had been replaced by a confused frown, as if he couldn't figure out why he was upset. His green eyes scanned the castle's exterior and scratched his head gingerly. "It's pretty creepy," he said truthfully.
"We don't have to go in there, do we?" Romano asked in a trembling voice. Cowering behind Spain, he glared at Prussia and added, "Can't we just wait for them to get back? I'm not going in that place."
Prussia grinned. "Aw, come on, Italy number two!" He bent over towards Romano, hands placed haughtily on his hips, and smirked at him, "What's a little wittle castle gonna do? Besides, West and everyone else is in there. It'll be fine. Come on. Let's find the front door."
"How do you know they're here?" Taiwan asked Korea uncertainly, trying to keep up with his long strides.
"Japan left coordinates on his kitchen table. It was easy, da-ze." Korea said casually, bending over-hanging tree branches out of his way. He released the branches before realizing that they would be able to hit the others behind him and glanced behind his back, only to see that the branches flipped back and forth over their heads, missing them by inches.
Sometimes, Korea wondered why the rest of his siblings were so damn short. Of course, Macao was the only exception and maybe Korea could include Thailand as being decently tall, but the others were just plain short.
"Do you bust into his house often?" Macao asked, bringing Korea out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Whose house, da-ze?"
Macao rose an eyebrow. "Japan's," he replied.
"Oh, yeah, why?"
Macao shared a smile with Thailand. "Just wondering."
Korea shot the two a mock sour expression before casting a quick look ahead of him. "Hey! Hurry up, I can almost see the castle!"
Hong Kong and Vietnam exchanged weary expressions. "All I see is fog," Vietnam called, voice echoing. Grimacing, she added in a quieter voice, "And it's best to stay quiet. It doesn't feel safe."
"Huh? Yelling doesn't do any harm, da-ze," Korea said, grinning at her. "In fact, yelling is a WONDERFUL way to EXPRESS yourself with FEELING and EMOTION!" he shouted into the air much to the group's dismay.
"Oh, Korea," Taiwan chided. She sighed and glanced around at their surroundings uncertainly. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"
Korea stopped the group and scanned the forest clearing for higher ground. Setting his eyes on a fallen tree, he hurried to the splintery trunk and grabbed onto the overgrown vines growing over the fallen tree trunk. Pulling himself up as he climbed, he was able to get high enough to spot a distant building even through the fog.
Pointing, he called, "Over there! Wow, I didn't know they like to vacation in creepy old castles."
"I don't think they're, like, vacationing," Hong Kong said.
"Well what are they doing then, da-ze?"
"How am I supposed to, like, know? You dragged us here in the first place."
Korea laughed and climbed back down to the ground, rejoining his siblings. "Good question. Why don't we go find out the, da-ze?"
Taiwan frowned. "How much further then?"
"Uh...I don't know." Korea's face fell when they sighed heavily, as if they were about to give up. "You guys don't sound very excited," he added.
"Well, some of us are pretty old, ana," Thailand laughed, stretching his arms.
"You're not that old," Korea smiled. "What's a few thousand years or so? I bet when I get to be a few thousand years old, I'll still be in tip top shape!"
"I'd like to see that," Vietnam said with a tiny hint of amusement.
"Challenge accepted, da-ze," Korea declared. Clearing his throat, he added, "Ahh...well, actually, that will take a long time. A few thousand years you know. In the meantime, let's go on the vacation already, da-ze."
"It's quite a vacation so far," Macao laughed nervously.
Hong Kong raised his hand, waiting for Korea's acknowledgment. "So like, can I go home after today? I don't want to spend the rest of the week here. It has a bad aura. No feng shui or anything."
England's head pounded viciously, threatening to knock him out again even though he had just woke up. His throat parched and his eyesight fuzzy with a strange purplish hue, England attempted to sit up but he had lost his sense of what was up and down. He had thought for a moment, he was sitting up but it eventually dawned on him that he was lying flat on the floor, staring silently at the bloodied ceiling.
The blood was new; it dripped onto his face, beads of blood rolling down his cheek and neck, seeping into his collar. Whose blood is that? he wondered, but even the voice in his head sounded feeble. Could it be...is this my blood?
His fingers twitched. He found that after a few minutes, he was able to move them a little. Another few minutes passed and he found the energy to raised his right arm and wipe the trail of blood from his cheek. Shifting to the side so that the blood on the ceiling wouldn't drip onto him, England tried to think back on what had happened.
The memories, suddenly fresh in his brain, started to give England an immense, cold feeling that sent him scooting back towards the wall, hugging himself with his eyes firmly shut tight. What horrible images that had burned into his mind. He prayed he never had to run into things like...those things again.
England grimaced and gritted his teeth, clapping his hands over his ears as another loud roar echoed somewhere. It was unusual for him to act like so, but he had an intense urge to hide. His teeth started chattering and beads of sweat broke out, mingling with the beads of blood.
His vision became incredibly blurry and this time, his surroundings gave a red glow. It wasn't before long that England grew so panicky that he writhed on the floor, desperate to find a source of comfort.
He found none.