Listen to this song during this chapter: "Ciel in Wonderland"- black butler (kuroshitsuji) ost
"France?! France get yourself together! Goddammit you french lovesick idiot!" Andrew grabbed the sobbing Francis by his collar with a snarl, eyes ablaze. "It's his own fucking fault that he fell for that idiotic trick! We can't sa-!" Andrew was knocked to the floor by a punch to the face, "SHUT UP YOU HEARTLESS BASTARD! GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!"
Matthew held the trembling Francis in his arms and stared up at the furious Bit, "W-What do we do n-now?" Bit ran a hand threw his hair with a sigh and pulled a disgruntled Andrew off his feet, "We'll do the only thing we can do at this point and continue searching for Alfred. Billy...Billy probably set that trap specifically for Arthur...he does want to kill him after all."
He saw the frenchman visibly pale and added quickly, "But I'm sure that he wants us to see him kill Arthur. He's sadistic like that. We just have to trust Arthur to take care of himself and go through door number 3."
The four of them looked back at the forbidding door painted with that large bloody three.
Matthew took a deep breath and bravely put his hand on the door knob. He twisted it slowly and opened it at the same pace. The hinges let out a noise akin to nails on a chalk board as what lay beyond the door was revealed.
"It's...a jungle?"
Vines and thorny trees swarmed the dark jungle and the world was deathly quiet save for Andrew's complaints. "It's hot, my feet hurt, there's mosquitoes and I just stepped in shit!"
"SHUT UP!"
Matthew shivered when he caught sight of an animal lurking in the bushes. They all had six eyes and sharp teeth. Bit led the group with a scowl, deep in thought. This is getting ridiculous. Where the hell are you, Alfred? Please...please don't let it be too late...
The group crossed a stream that ran red with what was most likely blood. The air smelled foul and Francis saw a six-eyed boa strangling a tiger.
Then they saw the tree.
It was a large tree covered in moss and an huge thick vine wrapped around the trunk. Looking up into the branches they could see hundreds of red eyes glowing down at them. There was a figure slumped against the bark that was encased in vines that bound it to the tree.
It was Alfred.
His hair was matted with blood, his glasses were gone, and his clothes were torn and dirty. His head was hung low, obviously unconscious.
"A-Al!" Matthew lunged toward's his comatose brother on the verge of tears, only to be yanked back violently by Francis. He looked up at his former caretaker in confusion and anger, "What the hell France?! It's Alfred! He's hurt and-" He stopped when he realized that Francis' eyes were wide in horror and he was staring ahead in fear. Matthew slowly turned his head toward's the tree and let out a choked scream.
The vine that was wrapped around the trunk was steadily unwinding. Whooping and animalistic snarls and yips came from the dark leaves and a loud hiss came from the vine.
That was most certainly not a vine...
The group could only watch in horror as the "vine" became an enormous green snake with brown blotches and six eyes. The thing's head was as big as a man and it bobbed its neck up and down as it lowered it towards the unconscious nation. It opened in great maw to reveal long dripping fangs that were as long as an arm. Just as it was about to descend upon its victim, two gun shots echoed throughout the jungle.
The snake slipped from it's grip around the trunk and hit the ground with a thud, two holes dripping blood where its eyes used to be.
Everyone turned back to Andrew who held a still smoking gun.
"...What? You thought I came unarmed? I'm not an idiot, you know."
Matthew ran over to his brother and pulled at the vines to no avail, "I can't break them!" Bit pulled out a switch blade and pushed the canadian aside. He made short work of the bindings and soon Alfred was in the arms of his sobbing brother.
Francis breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Bit, "Why isn't he waking up?" Andrew frowned, "Did you idiots even check to see if he was breathing?" Matthew let out a scream when he realized he wasn't. Bit tore Alfred from his brother and punched him hard in the stomach. Francis gasped, "What the hell are you doi-" A torrent of water suddenly gushed from Alfred's mouth and Bit turned him so he could empty the contents of his lungs and stomach onto the mossy ground.
The group was silent as Alfred hacked and coughed. "Alfred? Al can you hear me?!" Alfred let out a final cough and turned blearily towards his brother, "M-Mattie?" Suddenly he began to shake his head wildly, "No." He broke out in a wild grin with glassy eyes on the verge of tears, "Y-you're not real...you're just another one of his tricks...one of hi-" It was then that he noticed Andrew and Bit standing behind Francis and his brother.
Suddenly Alfred let out a howl of fury and flung himself at Bit in a rage. Slamming him to the floor, ALfred screamed, "THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?! AND YOU BROUGHT THEM?! ARE YOU INSANE?! YOU'RE GOING TO GET THEM KILLED! AND ARTHUR! YOU FUCKING BROUGHT ARTHUR DIDN'T YOU?! DIDN'T YOU?!"
Bit looked up at Alfred sadly, "Alfred, you know they care about you. Of course they would would come to save you."
"SAVE ME?! SAVE ME?! I'M NOT WORTH FUCKING SAVING DON'T YOU GET IT?! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?! I'M! NOT! AMERICA! I'M NOT...I-I'm not..."
Bit's eyes widened when drops of water fell onto his face.
"I'm not real..."
People are like pebbles skipped along the water
No matter how far you are thrown
No matter the distance
No matter how many skips you make
You will still sink to the bottom