Now we go into the really big meat of the story! Not the ending, of course, but it's a big part of it. Did you figure out who the murderer and the protagonist are? For those of you who haven't gotten the murderer, the background music of this world is going to be hidden from you ;D

/= ? =/

When Li Xiao opened his eyes, he found himself wearing a nobleman's robe. He turned around and realized that everyone else was dressed like noblemen and lieutenants of war. The only two exceptions were Antonio and Arthur, who were both wearing their pirate outfits. They turned around and saw that the area that they landed in was filled with rich wildlife and no fog at all.

"W-what is this realm?" Alfred looked around, trying to straighten out the jacket he messed up. "Is this the murderer's?"

"If that's true, that means this place is more messed up than what it's trying to portray." Kiku stated. He didn't look like a nobleman, but more like a warrior. "But it feels…normal."

"That wouldn't be surprising." Antonio straightened out his hat. "If this world is what I think it is…"

"Whose world do you think it is?" Gilbert looked at him, adjusting his Tectonic Knights uniform.

He was about to say something when Li Xiao tensed up. They turned their heads to see a huge wave of soldiers swarming around them, spears in the air, and ready to counterattack. Matthew hid behind Gilbert (if Charice was here…dear god) as a figure emerged from the crowd, making the Chinese man tense.

"Who do you think you are, trespassing on the queen's land without permission?"

"Trespassing on-?" Arthur turned to Antonio. "Whose world is this?"

"By the law set upon by the queen, you are all under arrest until pardoned otherwise!"

Jose Rizal?

/= "Greede, the Capital of Freedom" by White Knight Chronicles =/

The crowd was herded into the nearby castle, noticing that all of the nobles there were staring at them, some of them throwing strange glances and others creepy snickers. Feliciano had to whimper and grab Antonio's arm, the only one he could trust at this point. Everyone else had to watch all of these people as the soldiers marched them on.

"What are these people?" Matthew whispered to the others. "They can't all be Shadows, can they?"

"There's no way." Arthur looked around. "None of them have the aura around them."

"But…so many of them look so familiar." Antonio blinked. "W-wait…"

"What?" Alfred blinked.

"…don't you see it?"

They all looked up before realizing it: many of the soldiers surrounding them were wearing Spanish armor with British insignias on them. The people around them seemed to wear noble Spanish attire, with the occasional British and Japanese robes. Nothing seemed to be in order…

"V-veee…" Feliciano flinched. "Why do they look like people from our world?"

"…because…"

The soldiers stopped them in front of a door, revealing a long scratch that resembled a Nazi swastika. Li Xiao had to note that as the doors swung open, revealing a long corridor with servants and someone on the throne on the other side of the area. They walked forward, and they were able to see the person on the throne.

It was a woman dressed up in yellow, wearing a beautiful pearl necklace and cooling herself with a fan made out of pure gold. As they got closer, she was screaming at someone to get her desert from the kitchen while trying to keep professional in front of them. Nonetheless, the familiar voice got all their attentions and the minute they were able to see each other's faces…

"Hm? What are these people doing in my presence?"

"N-no…no way…" Feliciano whimpered.

Li Xiao couldn't bring himself to say the word, but after staring at her for so long, he had to say it. He couldn't deny hearing the name as it escaped his lips.

"Charice?"

/=+=/

"Hm? Jose! Jose, what did you bring them here for?"

He couldn't believe it. It was most definitely Charice standing in front of him. But something wasn't right. There was no way she was a victim of a kidnapping with the way she was acting. In fact, she was completely ruling the world inside her head!

"My most noble queen! We found them in the hidden quarters of the garden, and as such we brought them here upon your orders!"

"Please, they're most notably drunk off the wine!" She said with a snobby voice (that made Li Xiao's ears bleed). "Look at their attire! They are most definitely of noble blood!"

"But my queen-"

"Look at them. Half of these men are obviously new to this kingdom! Give them a warning and let them go."

"…yes, my lady."

The soldiers immediately relaxed, leaving all of them alone. Li Xiao looked back up to the queen as she was staring at all of them with a blank stare. The minute they made eye contact, his eyes soften and he felt his heart pierce itself yet again, lame as that was.

"…queen…?"

"Yes, queen. I am Philia Mindanao, Queen of the Ever-Reaching World of Yellow!" She twirled around. "How strange, for my name must have reached you."

"I-It had, but…" Li Xiao looked at her. "You don't…remember me?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, but I don't remember every man I've talked to!" She laughed. "My goodness, it's like every man on this planet seems to want me for my looks…or is it my wealth?"

"P-Philia-"

"Dude, back up for now." Gilbert whispered. "The guys here are getting tense, and Feliciano's getting hives."

"…fine."

/=+=/

They didn't bother finding the party home. Instead, the minute they got out of there they got out of there. Antonio led the way as they marched down the marble pathway toward the entrance of the castle. There were two guards there, but they didn't seem bothered by a mess of men leaving the party. Feliciano didn't want to see their faces as they continued on.

"This place is getting crazy!" Alfred exclaimed as they were far enough. "Since when did Charice become a queen?"

"Since when was she such a bitch?" Gilbert sighed. "Danke gott she decided to let us go."

"Ve~~~this is getting confusing..." Feliciano stepped forward before freezing up.

"Eh? Feliciano?"

Matthew's remark made everyone freeze and turn around, seeing the Italian shiver and scratch his arms rapidly. Kiku quickly ran to his side and lifted up his sleeves, revealing that the marks that he had from Arthur's spell was glowing a bright light, and the rest of his skin was red with scratches.

"You're hurting yourself, Feli."

"But…it's so itchy…" He whined. "I'm scared…"

"Guys. You might want to see this."

Everyone turned to Antonio as they saw themselves on a hilltop over a hidden area. They all dashed up to his side and saw a huge city covered in brown, nothing like the rich yellow wildlife around it. They could barely see the dirty people on the floor, begging others to give them food. They were the poorest of the poor.

/= "Serenity" by Resident Evil 4 =/

"Oh my god…" Matthew blinked. "This is…"

"Do you think this is Charice's hidden self?" Arthur looked at Antonio. "The problems that she's running from?"

"It would make sense…concerning the fact that the rest of the area is beautiful." He answered, straightening his hat. "Li Xiao, your call."

"We're going down there." He folded his arms. "But with the robes we have now, we're not going to last."

"How about some type of illusion spell or something, Iggy?" Alfred grinned. "Those'll work now, right?"

"Don't call me that! And…I guess I can try." Arthur sighed. "Everyone close your eyes. If the spell gets into them, your vision will be altered as well and I can't afford anything like that."

"V-ve…"

/=+=/

The illusion spell gave them the same dirty rags that the townspeople bore, and they felt comfortable entering that way. As they walked through the alleyways, they saw a lot of the people on the roads were women with little kids. Antonio turned his head and saw with shock that one of the boys was himself, and quickly walked away before the boy could get a good look at him.

"V-ve…" Feliciano went behind Li Xiao. "I just saw a boy that looked like me…"

"That's common among all the people here…I think Kiku and I are the only exceptions…"

Throughout the streets, they could hear open arguments about the queen. Some were calling for her head, others were saying that she should be punished for the cruelty that she gave upon them. Li Xiao could only hold his head and shake it. Could Charice really do something like this?

"…you think this is where Cute-Obsession mode comes from?" Gilbert looked around. "Or is it from the other place?"

"I say…I have no idea." Alfred shrugged. "But whatever the cause is, that's the least of my worries."

"You're right. We have to find the other three kidnapped nations and try to save all of them." Kiku turned to Li Xiao. "But if they're anything like Charice, they're going to be embedded in this world."

"Yeah…changing them is going to be hard." Li Xiao turned his head. "Feli."

"Ve~?"

"Are your arms still itching?"

"N-no…they're glowing." Feliciano turned his head. "They're pointing toward the…shore?"

"There's an ocean here?" Arthur blinked. "Goodness, how big is Charice's world anyway?"

"Well, without any restrictions it should be limitless." Antonio held his head. "If we go into a ship and sail the ocean, we're only going to hit another section of Charice's mind."

"Ve…so we have to go on a ship?"

"It's not like we have any other choice." Matthew answered. "I have a strange feeling that this is all we're going to see of Charice's kingdom here."

"Besides, I've been keeping a high ear on things." Gilbert winked. "I heard from a few nobles on the way out that the queen's going off to another kingdom."

"By ship?"

"By ship."

"That means…" Li Xiao turned to the ocean. "We need a ship. Let's go."

/=+=/

Long chapter is long. Long enough, but heck.

Guess what the "?" song is?