Readers,

So, I'll probably cut down on these ANs. They're a little odd, aren't they? Anyway, I've gotten very little feedback about this thing so far, so I have no idea what I'm doing. Let me know if you guys like this or not. Seriously, you guys are my only way of knowing. D : (Help)

Japan and I ran as fast as our legs would carry us until we reached the room with the covered closet. We hadn't even reached the stairs when I realized something. "Wait!" I shouted, looking back in the direction of the library. "What about that book you found?"

The older man tilted his head, confused. "Which book?"

"The one about exorcisms! That thing was too strong to have been anything in this world. Maybe it was a demon?"

Japan looked doubtful. "And you think that book could have some information about how to destroy it?"

I shrugged. "Might be worth a shot." Even before hearing his reply, I began cautiously back towards the library. "Maybe we can lure the thing somewhere else and grab it while he's distracted?"

Next to me, Japan stayed silent, but drew his sword once more. I took that as a sign that he would go with it and continued forward.

When we reached the small wooden door that led to the library, I had expected there to be at least some indication that the creature had been here. Maybe some kind of indentation on the wood, or the vicious pounding and roaring of the beast itself. It hadn't been more than a minute that we'd left the room.

But the silence in the hallway felt like static in my ears, and when Japan pushed the door open, the emptiness of the library was clear as day. The beast wasn't there. It had felt heavier before, when the creature was lying in wait, watching us and readying itself to attack. Now it just felt calm, if not a bit oddly cool.

"Where did it . . .?" Japan didn't bother to finish his sentence. Instead, he brushed past me and went straight to the shelve to the left of the aisle, shaking his head in a way that I thought must be strange for him.

While Japan hunted for the book, I walked around the center of the library, watching in case the creature was just lulling us into some false sense of security. As I neared the right set of shelves, I tripped, nearly falling into a dusty pile of books. "What the . . .?" I glanced down at what I'd stumbled on and scooped it up.

"What did you find?" Japan asked, looking away from his shelf for a moment.

I picked up the little piece of silver. "A key." I replied, glancing at the inscription on its side. "To the attic, as far as I can tell."

Japan looked moderately surprised. "An attic?"

I nodded, walking back towards him and pocketing the key. "Have you found anything yet?"

The older man instantly took on a slightly bitter expression. "Not yet." He replied, turning back to the shelf. "But it was right here. Do you think the creature took it?"

"If it did, that means it could actually have helped us." I grumbled, running a hand over my eye. I longed to ask whether he thought we could fight this thing or not, but I was afraid of what the answer might be. "Shit . . ."

Japan sighed, shoving a few dust-covered novella back into it's place. "I don't think we're going to find it, Miss Mari."

I couldn't help agree with him. "Should we just focus on this key, then?" I rested my hand against my back pocket. "I mean, it could be important."

"I suppose." He replied. "Let's just get out of here for now. This room is . . . disturbing."

We left the library in a hurry- holding the key tightly until we'd made it out- but neither of us were too thrilled about the prospect of yet another room to explore in the mansion. We had to climb three sets of stairs before we reached the attic, and even then, I was apprehensive about entering the room. Japan had to take the key from me and open the door on his own. I felt bad about that but I didn't have time to dwell on it as the door swung open.

Where dust had filled the air in the library, only the dying scent of mold and the crushing weight of the air assaulted us as we entered. There was something unnerving about the thought that even mold might not be able to survive here. As we stepped in, the room felt almost hollow, the footsteps echoing in the space even made the Japanese man look disturbed. I stepped further in, looking around the room. It seemed free of any demonic forces, but the air still weighed heavily, almost as if it was a burden to breathe the air inside.

"We should look around." Japan's voice shook gently.

I nodded absently, mesmerized and nauseated by my own thoughts running rampant, spinning around the room faster than I could catch them. I stumbled over my own feet, knocking against Japan.

He glanced in my direction, concerned as he steadied me. "Perhaps the scent of mold is bothering you. Would you like to wait outside?"

"No." I grit out. "Let's keep looking." I pushed myself off of him a tad rougher than I probably should have and began to look around the room. I half-stumbled over to the farthest corner of the room, trying to look like I was examining the table as I leaned against it. The suffocating smell was beyond overwhelming, forcing me to brace myself up against the table. In doing so, I noticed that the table was unbalanced. Normally in situations where furniture was unbalanced, I hardly noticed. But this time, the feeling of an unbalanced table made me feel sick to my stomach, and it took effort not to throw up my lunch on the scratched wooden floor. Finally, as I regained some of the composure lost from entering the room, and feeling less nauseated than before, I found the strength in me to push myself up off of the thing and walk back over to Japan.

He gave me a look, as if he were wondering whether he should be concerned or not. "Sorry." I muttered, running a hand through my notably stringy hair. "I-I'm fine. Have you checked over here much yet?"

He shook his head- more to clear it than in response to my question. "Not yet. There's something about this bookshelf, though . . ." He ran a slim hand over the wood, motioning towards a spot on the ground where the dust had been swept away. "Would you mind standing back?"

I backed up towards the wobbling table again and watched as he gripped the bookshelf by it's front-facing edge. I was honestly surprised when the shelf shifted easily to the side. It hadn't looked very light, and Japan hadn't looked very strong. I wondered briefly to myself whether the older man might be stronger than he looks. But that thought died a quick death when the shelf was completely shoved over.

"What . . . Is that . . .?" I asked, kneeling down in front of the frantically wiggling white ball of . . . was that even fur? The little thing struggled, trying hard to push itself either through or out of a crack in the wall.

Japan looked stunned, his arms falling to his sides limply for a moment. "Th-that looks like . . ." He leaned down by the creature, poking it gently. "I think it's a . . . a mochi?"

"Yeah, I have no idea what that is. Is it native to Japan or something?"

The man raised an eyebrow at me, as if he'd expected better. "Not exactly." He poked the creature one more time to be sure. "It's a rice cake."

I couldn't say anything for a few moments as I processed that. "It's. . . food?" I asked, trying to avoid looking at the little ball. "Sentient food?

Japan struggled for a moment before nodding simply. "Yes."

"Alright then." I straightened up. "Might as well help the little weirdo out. Can you pull him out?"

"I don't think I'll be able to." He replied. "It's stuck rather deep in that crack. Maybe Germany can help?"

I shrugged. "Why not? He's muscle-y, sure." Japan straightened up and started to head towards the door. "Don't worry, little guy. We'll be right back." I smiled at it, and it blinked at me. Taking that as a sign that it at least heard me speak, I followed after Japan, hoping that Germany could do something.

Unfortunately, the blonde seemed a little less than happy to leave the iron fortress that had apparently materialised in the short time that Japan and I had been out of the room. "I don't know, I just . . . I think it would be too dangerous to leave without my whip. You know, in case that thing shows up again."

His excuses were really getting on my nerves, but Japan made a small noise beside me. "What a coincidence." He pulled a long leather strap off of his belt. "I had found this earlier and forgotten to give it to you." He passed the whip through the iron door.

"O-Oh . . ."

"Now you can help us, right?" I asked, crossing my arms.

The blonde hesitated for a second. "W-well, the thing is, I'm really hungry."

It was a miracle I hadn't punched him yet.

"Please, couldn't you find something for me to eat?" He asked. "I'm so hungry, I can't move."

I shot a sharp glance at Japan who seemed a little too shocked to notice. "B-but, Germany-san, where are we going to find food in a place like this? It looks like it's been abandoned for decades!"

"Please, Japan!" The German begged. "I'm sure you can find something! I really can't move right now!

I'm sure I could have fought him, but Japan shook his head, letting out a resigned sigh. "Alright, Germany-san, we'll find something for you."

Without really waiting to see if I would follow, Japan marched out of the room, jaw stiff and fists in tight balls at his side. Still, as I followed him down the stairs and down the hall towards the bathroom, I got the feeling he wasn't that angry. When we turned the corner, I was a bit surprised to see the door at the end of the hall hanging open.

Right away, I got the feeling it might be a trap, but my companion ventured forward anyway. "This is where we saw that thing go, right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "So why do you want to go in there?"

"Because the last time it left an area we'd seen it in before, it left a key behind."

I shook my head, not really agreeing with him, but not really shooting the idea down, either. Instead I just followed him as he pushed gently through the door.

There was a thump, and I hit the ground hard. When I looked up, I saw Japan standing over me, facing a huge grey thing. The creature.

"It's here!?" I demanded. I tried to stand up, but a sharp pain in my back kept me down. As soon as I'd said it, the room went dark. I forced myself up despite the pain, groping blindly at the wall for a switch. "Japan, the lights!"

Suddenly, without either of us hitting the switch, the lights flickered back on.

Japan took a second to start moving again. "S-Sorry." He apologised, turning to look around the small room. "That just . . . surprised me."

I nodded, deciding not to push it.

We were able to leave the room after we found a key sitting on a table, and made our way back upstairs towards the bedroom the key was supposed to belong to.

At this point, neither of us were thrilled to find another door standing in front of us. There were too many possibilities of what could lie in each room. Still, there wasn't really another option.

I took the key from Japan, unlocking the door and pushing it open. The very last thing I expected was to be tackled to the ground by a familiar figure.

"Mari-san!" Japan shouted, surprised, but didn't really move to do anything.

As I blindly shoved at my attacker, trying to push them off, I felt them stiffen. "Mari?"

The voice caught me by surprise. I looked up at the person sitting on my torso with wide eyes. " . . . A- . . . Aja?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded, climbing off of me and helping me up.

I couldn't believe my eyes. "I just woke up a few rooms down. Why are you here?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. I had the same thing happen to me." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "I'm glad you're here, though. It's good to see a friendly face."

"Sorry, but, what the hell is going on?" A white-haired, red-eyed man stood just past the doorway, scratching at his head.

"Prussia?" Japan tilted his head.

Red eyes grew wide. "Japan! You're alive!"

Japan smiled slightly. "Yes, I-."

Aja pushed her way between the two men, holding her hands up defensively. "Look, guys, I know you two wanna catch up, and I certainly wanna compare shitty days with Mari here, but I think we have more pressing matters to deal with." She gestured towards the stairs.

The creature stood there, watching. It let out a low rumbling sound, beginning to slowly shuffle in our direction. Both Japan and Prussia drew their swords, and Aja shifted closer to me.

"Aja." I grabbed her by the shoulder. "We should get out of here."

She nodded, and the two of us made a run for it, past the creature. It turned to swipe at us as we ran, but Prussia launched himself at it.

"Over here, you scone-colored bastard!" He called, slashing almost wildly at its legs.

The lumbering beast stopped and glared down at the man. That gave Prussia all of about a second to prepare himself before the creature slammed a fist into his side, sending him flying into the wall. When it moved away, Prussia slumped to the floor, still conscious, but just barely.

None of us moved; it was impossible to look away from the man as he fought his way to his feet, still clutching his sword. Blood ran down his face, and his eyes burned red. "Come on," He goaded, getting into an offensive position. "Is that the best you've got?"

The beast began to move again, but it had barely taken a step before Japan hacked at it with his sword. "Mari-san, please get Prussia-san out of the way."

The man looked like he was about to protest, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him along. Aja grabbed at his other side, helping drag him down the hall. "Where are you taking me? Japan!" He called, struggling like we were his enemies.

"Oh, quiet." I snapped. "We have a safe room. Germany's there. I assume you know each other."

He didn't say anything, just nodded stiffly. Either it hurt his pride or his back to be lugged around, but he pulled out of our arms, following us instead.

"What about him?" Aja asked, motioning towards Japan.

Oh. Right.

Prussia cackled wickedly, his eyelids drooping. "Don't worry about him. He might look like an old man, but he fights as well as the next soldier."

I rolled my eyes as we neared the door to Germany's room. "The next soldier being you?" I sneered. "Because that didn't work out so well."

We had just barely pushed our way through the door when the snow-haired man went limp in my arms. "Damn it!" I cursed. "Are you even trying anymore?"

He didn't respond. If anything, he grew heavier in my arms as I tossed him onto the bed in the corner. I heard Aja shutting the door firmly, but focused on the unconscious body beneath me. I leaned in gingerly, doing my best to examine him as he lay there, but I couldn't see any bleeding other than that from the relatively small cuts on his face, so I left him be on the bed. "Germany!" I called, slumping into a chair. "Get out here! We found your brother."

There was a loud clanging and a startled sound from Aja as the blonde ripped open the iron door in the far corner of the room. "Bruder!" He cried, marching over the the bed as soon as he saw the pale man. "Is he okay?" He demanded, facing me.

I shrugged. "I'm no doctor, but I saw what happened. That thing slammed him into a wall so hard it cracked. He might be okay, but he's gonna hurt for awhile."

"Oh, hush, Mari." Aja scolded, arms crossed, leaning against the door. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

Germany looked confused. "Who's this? And where's Japan?"

"I'm Aja." She introduced herself sweetly, giving a little wave.

I sat up a bit straighter in my seat, rubbing a hand over my eyes. God, I was tired. "We found her in the same room as your brother. I guess she got here the same way I did."

He looked like he was going to respond when Japan burst through the door, shoving Aja out of the way and slamming it shut with a wide sweep of his arm. The man stumbled towards the bed, leaning heavily against one of the posts.

"Japan!" Germany shouted.

I looked him up and down in shock. "You look like hell." I told him. "How badly did that thing mess you up?"

He shook his head, still breathing a little heavy. "I'm fine. It didn't do much to me- just tore my clothes a bit." He rested a hand on Germany's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

The German shrugged him off. "I will be once mein Bruder is up and moving around."

It took nearly an hour for Prussia to wake up. As soon as we were sure that he could walk, Japan and I told the others about the weird mochi thing on the fourth floor.

"So," Aja had her hands resting on her hips. "You're saying that there's a living, breathing dessert stuck in a wall in a dusty room on the fourth floor."

Japan nodded. I sighed.

"Why did you want me to help?" Germany asked, perplexed.

"Because you look like a less cosmic-powered version of He-Man." I deadpanned. "You could probably just take the wall down if you can't pull it out."

He looked like he was about to protest when Prussia spoke up. "Let's just head upstairs and see it for ourselves, ja?"

Germany turned out to be completely useless. Who saw that coming?

He tugged valiantly at the little creature until it cried in pain. "If I pull any harder I might kill it." He told Japan, who looked distressed.

"It doesn't really matter anyway." Prussia argued. "We still haven't found Ita yet, have we?"

Japan shook his head. "No."

I crossed my arms over my chest, watching the faces of the men twist into something deeper than concern. It hit me hard, realizing how much their friend must have meant to them. "Japan, why don't you let Aja and I help you find Italy?"

"Couldn't we all go?" Asked Prussia.

"That might be too risky," Aja answered for me. "since you're still weak from earlier. And it's best if your brother stays to take care of you."

Prussia didn't respond.

Instead, Japan nodded. "Alright. We should go."

With a quick goodbye to the brothers, the three of us filed out of the room and went on our way to find Italy.

That chapter was impossibly difficult to write. I'm losing my touch. (Not that I ever had it in the first place, right?)

-Otto