The creaks and groans of the building had continued for what almost felt like hours, though, in truth, it had not been long since the small room's occupants woke up to this dark world of confusion and fear. Explanations were needed, and it had taken a thankfully short time to receive one in the shape of a flickering blue flame that they crowded round.
"So, there's really no way out?" Canada asked, anxiety freezing his voice to barely above a whisper, though that did not change the fact that out of America, Prussia and Germany he had still been the first to speak.
"Unfortunately, yes. That is the very purpose of these closed spaces—trapping victims and separating companions." The spirit's voice sounded genuinely sorry. "Neither reuniting with your friends nor escape is possible."
"Well... are you sure?" As the first thing he had said since the flame's appearance, America couldn't help but flinch slightly when the sensation of the spirit's invisible eyes on him sent a shiver down his spine.
"Yeah, you never know," Prussia added, his grinning in an admittedly forced way. "Maybe you missed something, like some sort of hole in whatever makes up these space things. Evil ghosts can miss stuff like that, right?"
"The only hole here is in your logic." Germany sighed. "If there was something like that, I doubt there would be so many..." He trailed off there, but the silent word of 'corpses' hung in the air like an inescapable omen.
"My companions and I searched and searched for a way out, up until we breathed our last breath. I am almost positive there is no way out."
"Um, yeah, sorry," America said awkwardly. "It was just a thought..."
"I know, and I also know it was not a completely foolish thought." At this, all for nations blinked at him with very clear surprise and confusion. "My and many others' efforts failed, but that does not mean you are under an automatic death sentence. While pessimism seems like the only option in this prison, hope can be the sole factor that pushes you towards your goal. There is something strange about you and the others who were trapped here with you, that much I can sense. It is something unlike this building's previous victims. Perhaps the option of escape really is open to you."
"That 'strange' thing you sense is probably because we're countries," Canada said.
If the spirit was surprised by this fact, there was no indication in its voice. "Even if your efforts are in vain, you will at least know you did all you could. With the knowledge you gain, you could assist the victims who will fall here after you, help them reach the goal you could not."
America tried to give a confident smile. "Well, it won't come to that. We'll make sure to get out of here, and find everyone, too, and then we'll figure out how to tear this place down for good! Right, guys?"
"Hell yeah!" Prussia punched the air, though his voice hid an easily unnoticed tremble.
"I guess there's no harm in trying, right?" Canada only just managed to cover his uncertainty.
"We need to at least be as productive as we can," Germany said. "Our priority for now should be to try and reach Ita— ah, the others, while also trying to find a means of escape. We'll need to explore; we might find some clues."
"It is good for you to hold onto your hope," the spirit said. "It could soon be the only thing that keeps you sane. I am sorry there is nothing else I can do to help you."
"No, it's fine. Great, even." America grinned. "I mean, if you weren't there we would've been all running around scared and everything."
"You would've been scared, you mean," Prussia countered. "I'm never scared!"
As a more light-hearted than serious argument rose between the two, with Canada and Germany attempting to separate them, no one noticed the small flame flicker and vanish completely. It was only when the room's temperature dropped noticeably that everyone paused, the reality of their situation having returned with a sudden force.
"Um..." Canada took a slow step forward. "Maybe we should start moving. What do you all think?"
"Yeah." Gilbert nodded, showing the same uneasy expression as his companions. "That spirit guy said we were brought here by some weird thing, right? Even though it obviously wouldn't stand a chance against me, running into it probably wouldn't be a good idea right now. Let's go and find ourselves that exit."
—Chapter end.
Wow. It actually took me a year, exactly a year, to update this. I always knew I'd let the time slip away from my fics, but I didn't think I'd take it this far 0-0
One reason for such an absence of updates is that I was trying to rewrite the previous chapters. Not just edit; completely rewrite. At first, I told myself I'd only update once I'd completely rewritten all the chapters... then I realised it was soon to be a year, so I thought, "Okay, I'll just do the chapters with England and France for now"... Then I lost even more time due to a lot of reasons, so I said, "Okay, I'll just do the first four chapters for now"... Then even that got away from me, so I could only do the first two chapters :( As I said, this is a complete rewrite: dialogue and description has changed quite drastically, though that could be my opinion, and a new plot point has been added to the first chapter. I would seriously recommend rereading those chapters, though with how long it's taken me to update I wouldn't be surprised if you had to reread it anyway because you forgot everything that happened up to this point XD I was definitely having a few problems there XD
Well, thank you for waiting, even though this really did take forever. I'll try to continue with the rewriting during the summer, because right now I'm suffering from the dreaded monster known as exams... Most free time must be taken up by studying, the rest filled with apprehension, so I definitely won't be able to update for another while. (Hopefully it won't take me a year this time, though XD)
Please review and tell me what you think ^_^