America, France, and Canada started to get restless. England had been gone for a while now. How much longer would they have to wait?
France sighed and unfolded his arms. "I'm tired. Let's go find him and move on."
America gave France a bewildered double take. "Are you sure?" he asked. "Can't we just stick around a little bit longer? I mean, it's pretty uh...cozy up here."
France and Canada exchanged looks. The air chilled them and the dust still floating in the air was still a constant annoyance to their noses. To prove this point, France turned away from the brothers and sneezed loudly. The sound echoed in the foyer until it faded slowly, softly.
American and Canada suppressed their shudders. "Can you be a little more quiet?" Canada asked France.
France sniffed sulkily and said, "Thank you for blessing me with silence."
"Bless you," America and Canada murmured simultaneously.
France held a haughty hand up to their faces, turning his head away from them dramatically. "No. It is too late now," he said crossly.
America sighed heavily and Canada laughed nervously. The two faltered when the castle rumbled trembled again, but it was slight. A few slabs of stone fell from the ceiling and the stairs but when all was still again, they were returned to the quiet peace.
"Let's go look for him," Canada coughed, "I have a feeling that something might happen to him."
It took the combined effort of France and Canada to drag America down the stairs, leaving the little light that managed to shine in through the foggy windows. America had started out protesting with nervous chuckles but the moment they locked arms with him without the slightest sign of letting go, he panicked. Flailing his legs around and straining his neck back up towards the light, he cried, "No! No! No! Don't take me down there! It's sooooo dark! You have no idea what the dark can do to me!"
"America, calm yourself," Canada said soothingly, "You've been in the dark plenty of times."
"Yeah but this kind of dark is evil, I tell you! Just stop and listen!" America demanded frantically.
France and Canada ceased their movements and the three scanned the foyer, holding their breaths. The demeanor of the foyer somehow intimidated them; they couldn't bear to stay silent in fear of what they possible could hear. It was better, they thought to themselves, to know nothing than to know something in a situation like this.
"Let's just...let's keep going," France said weakly.
"Uh..." America bit his bottom lip, shooting a glance towards his brother.
Canada met his gaze for a moment and showed America a small, comforting (at least, he hoped) smile. "I expect you to be strong, you know," he said to him, "like the hero you are, right?"
America's deep frown softened, eventually forming a thin line. He took several deep breaths, eyes glued to the ground. The tension in his shoulders went away and he looked to the side at Canada. "Thanks, bro," he said.
Canada gave America a ghost of a smile. "That's what brothers are for."
The two North American brothers directed their attention to France, who sniffed loudly. "Waahh, I remember when a lot of people treated me as their big brother..." He brightened and, while pointing at himself, added eagerly, "You two don't think you could refer to me as your big-"
"No," America said at once. Canada merely smiled and shook his head.
"Oh, cruel world!" France cried, burying his head into America's shoulder. "To live in a place where no one looks up to me as their older brother...take my life now! I bear my chest to you, oh menacing castle in the depths of the German wilderness!"
America's lips twitched into a small, wearisome smile. "Have you been taking acting lessons lately?"
France's bottom lip quivered. "No! Well, oui, but to have no one as my little brother-oh non, the mere thought of that just makes me want to die!"
"France," Canada scolded lightly, "Italy still calls you big brother, if you've forgotten. And don't say such a thing as dying so lightly. Especially in a place like this," he added with an air of discomfort.
The three reluctantly tip-toed down the stairs, continuing their descent into the darkness.
Since the Germany and the others were back downstairs, they weren't sure where to go now. The hall they had encountered the monster was blocked off but they were able to go back through that hole they had found. Not wanting to explore into new territory, they reluctantly returned to the drawing room in order to see if the thing was really gone.
Just to be sure.
"I don't want to look at it," Italy whimpered, clutching Japan's arm.
"Close your eyes then," Germany breathed as they gathered outside the drawing room. None of them poked their heads in through the now empty door frame. Though the room was brighter than before, they still had an uneasy sensation resting at the pit of their stomachs.
"You first, Germany, aru," China laughed nervously.
Germany straightened his back with dignity. There was no way he was going to let some silly dead monster get the best of him. He had seen plenty of bad things in his life as a country; so what if that monster was unusually frightening to him? So what if it drove him mad? It was only temporary. There was no real harm. At least, not at first.
As long as he could keep his composure, he should be able to be okay. So why did he feel so scared?
Germany peered slowly past the door frame, towards the spot where he last saw the monster's head by the wall. He expected a wild shudder to run through his spine but instead, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. "England?"
"England?" Japan asked, stunned.
"Huh? What is England doing here?" Russia asked, poking his head in.
Germany ran into the room and gritted his teeth at the sight of a thrashing young man. England looked sickly pale compared to the bright red blood that stained his face and neck. His outstretched fingers clawed at his messy, matted blonde hair in desperation as he gasped for air, eyes widening with panic and shock.
"Calm yourself!" Germany said firmly, crouching down by him. He held England's shoulders down so that his actions would cease and it helped. England blinked rapidly and stared up at Germany, lips parted as he seemed to struggle for words. It was as if he just realized he was no longer alone anymore.
"G-Germany?" England whispered hoarsely. He gave off a shaky laugh and stared at his bloodied hands. "Ahaha...Oh God...please tell me I'm not dreaming...I am not seeing things, am I? Germany...you're really there, aren't you? Please? Tell me you're here. Tell me."
"I'm here, I'm here," Germany said quickly as the others crowded around them. "What happened to you?"
England's mouth twitched. His eyes softened and his irregular breathing gradually returned to a steady pace. "Ah...so you really are here..."
"Yes, yes, I'm here," Germany said, "We're all here. But what are you doing here?"
England took several moments to recollect himself. All signs of madness vanished and he flushed, gingerly massaging his forehead. "Me? Why...America brought me here."
"America? He's here too?" Japan asked urgently. Incredulous looks
Germany silenced Japan and said sternly, "England, have you ran into a monster of some sort?"
England's body jolted and his breathing suddenly hastened. Germany held his shoulders down again as China and Italy helped England sit up.
"T-Thank you...ugh, I don't know what just happened...the images of theirs faces...no, they have no faces. It was just a gruesome mess of meat and muscle thrown together..." England muttered bitterly. His thick eyebrow twitched and he suppressed a wild shudder. "Horrible...how horrible..."
"You ran into it too?" Italy asked weakly.
"Too?" England repeated, furrowing his brows. "Don't tell me...you've seen them?"
"Yeah, we've seen it, aru," China said.
"I see..." England stared at his bloodied hands. Flexing his fingers slowly, he added, "Why do you say 'it'?"
"What else can it be called?" Germany asked grimly.
"No, that's...that's not what I meant," England shook his head. "There were two of them. 'It' should be 'they'."
There was a dead silence the moment England's words faded away. They. They, meaning more than one. As if his brain had failed to process the new information, Germany whispered, "What did you say?"
The corners of England's mouth twitched. A few beads of blood dripped from the corners and he raised a hand to wipe it from his deathly pale chin. "I said what I said. You mean to tell me you only met one?"
Italy made a noise that sounded like a mix between a whimper and a groan. Japan clenched his hands and said quietly, "We've only seen one. Although...there might have been more but it is uncertain."
"Mein Gott...what the hell kind of a place is this?" Germany hissed to himself, helping England up.
"Oi...we need to find America and the others and get out," England said hoarsely.
Germany's face tensed as the others behind him grimaced. "Others? You mean...you mean America isn't here alone?" Germany asked gravely.
"Who else is here, aru?" China asked.
"France and Canada."
Italy made a small whimper. "Big Brother France is here too?"
"We must find them," Japan said urgently.
England, holding onto Germany's arm to steady himself, added, "Exactly, so we can get out of here quickly."
"We can't," Russia said.
England forced himself to look Russia in the eye and questioned nervously, "What? But...why? What do you mean by that?"
Italy, Japan, and China cringed to themselves as Germany gritted his teeth. England, noticing the four's sudden movements, panicked and demanded Russia to explain. "By 'can't', do you mean that we can absolutely not get out of here? As if it's physically impossible to even if we tried? That kind of 'can't'? Or do you mean that we shouldn't? There's a difference between 'can't' and 'shouldn't' and don't tell me that you guys 'wouldn't', because whose will is to stay around here?"
"We...simply can't," Russia said tonelessly, shaking his head. "It's futile."
England stared at the Russian man for what seemed to be the longest time. Seconds ticked away in silence. Everyone watched England's face as it slowly started to reveal his raw emotion. "I don't believe you," England whispered. However, a growing dread had already spread on his face. If he was trying to hide his panic, he was failing at it. He reached out to clutch onto Germany's sleeve and shook him. "Tell me!" England demanded. "Tell me this isn't bloody true! Germany!"
His pleas ceased and vanished into the silence once more. China and Japan exchanged looks and Italy stared at the ground. Russia kept his gaze on England and Germany shrugged England's weakening grip off of him.
"Dammit," England breathed as his hand plopped down beside him. His eyes traveled to stare blankly in front of him. They were dull and lifeless; England had already lost hope. "Dammit...we can't escape. Ahaha...hahahaha!" England leaned forward and held his hand over his mouth to muffle his laugh.
The others watched, stomachs dropping. They could see that England was nearly within insanity's grasp.
"Oh well," England chuckled. "We can't die anyway, so it'll be fine. Who cares if we end up hurt? That's what has always happened in the past...so what if there's something out there? So what? Death is nothing to us..."
"No," China said quietly.
England didn't seem to hear him. "As long as we can fend for ourselves, we'll be fine, right? There's got to be a bright side to this, haha..."
"England," Italy said urgently, "it's not like that anymore!"
"Anymore...anymore? Anymore what?" England asked tonelessly. His lifeless eyes studied Italy for a moment before he added, "Who knows? The possibilities are endless. What will happen to us? Is there really no exit? Surely there is...surely..."
"Unless we're killed," Russia said.
"Killed? Ha!" England spat. "Ha! As nations, how can we be killed?"
"In this place," Japan said sternly, "we are not countries."
This concept made England falter. Signs of false confidence that slight insanity gave him wore off and his eyes, which were no longer dull, flashed in alarm. "W-what?"
Germany sighed. The fact that he could feel the majority of his strength dissipate in that castle was real. He was able to do superhuman feats through sheer muscle. Of course, as a country, his muscles grew by not only working out, but by centuries of a harsh life as a nation. That power he gained throughout the years was gone. He felt powerless. He felt weak.
He was no longer a 'country'. Officially, he was still Germany, and impressive European nation and power. But where was his power? What is he without it? In that castle, his own being was not like a country, but like a human.
They could all very well die.