"Italy, you're going to trip us up if you keep clinging to me like that," Germany said as he tried pulling Italy off his arm.
Italy wasn't budging at all. His arm was firmly wrapped around Germany's as if he were holding on for dear life. Due to this clinging, Germany and Italy were beginning to stumble slightly as they walked. There weren't walking very fast, and so Japan was slightly further ahead than them.
"But it's so dark and scary, and you told me to stay close to you," Italy replied.
"Not this close," Germany told Italy with a sigh. "We really will trip if you-"
"Waahhh," Italy cried as he tripped.
Italy tumbled, falling into Germany and dragging him down to the floor. Italy had a soft landing as he had fallen on top of the larger nation, his face pressed against Germany's muscular chest. Germany, however, didn't have a soft landing at all as he hit the ground hard. He wasn't injured, but he did bump his head.
"Are you two alright?" Japan asked; turning to check what had happened.
"I'm so sorry, Germany," Italy began to cry as he pulled himself up. "I didn't mean to make you fall."
"We're fine, Japan," Germany said as he sat up with a groan. "Italy, I told you you'd make us trip! You should have stopped clinging to me when I told you to stop!"
After the two of them sat up, Italy was now sitting comfortably on Germany's lap.
"Ve! I'm sorry!" Italy continued to apologise without realising the position he was in.
"Just get off me so we can keep moving," Germany ordered Italy, feeling uncomfortable with Italy on top of him.
"Right, I'm sorry," Italy said as he stood up, allowing Germany to also stand up.
The trio continued to walk, but Italy no longer clung to Germany as it was clear he was not in a good mood with him. Instead, Italy started walking closer to Japan to be sure he'd not get in Germany's way anymore. Germany rubbed the back of his head where it had hit the ground.
"Are you sure you're okay, Germany-san?" Japan couldn't help but be concerned; after all, they were not in the greatest place to become injured as they lacked in supplies for treating any injuries.
"You don't have to worry so much," Germany replied. "I'm really fine."
As they walked down the long dark path, it only seemed to be getting darker and soon shadowy figures began to appear. As more of the ghosts appeared, the trio stopped where they were each standing, unsure if it would be safe to continue.
"What could they be?" Germany questioned as he glanced around at the ghostly creatures surrounding them.
"I don't know," Japan said in reply. "They don't look very friendly."
"Italy, why are you standing so far away from me?" Germany hadn't realised how far Italy had strayed from his side. "We don't know what kind of danger there could be, so don't wander off."
"I wasn't wondering off," Italy was shaking; he was scared of all the shadows. "You seemed mad at me, so I thought I'd keep my distance."
He felt like he couldn't do anything right. If he stood right by Germany he was too close, but if he's not by Germany's side then he's too far away. Italy didn't want to get in Germany's way anymore, but by keeping away he only made Germany worry about him.
"I'm not mad at you," Germany sighed. "I just wish you wouldn't be so clumsy. Now come over here, it doesn't seem very safe in this place."
Italy nodded, held tightly to his white flag, and began walking closer to Germany. Unfortunately, the ghostly figures didn't appear to be friendly at all. As Italy walked through the darkness, one of the shadows charged straight for him while letting out a screech.
"Watch out!" Germany shouted as he watched the creature draw closer to Italy.
Germany pulled out his pistol for protection, but knew he couldn't risk shooting near Italy's direction as it was rather dark and he didn't want to accidentally hit Italy. It was Japan who rushed in to save Italy. He quickly placed himself between Italy and the shadow and slashed the creature with his katana. The blade went straight through the ghostly body of the shadow, causing it to float backwards and retreat.
As more came closer, Japan continued to fight them off with his katana, protecting Italy. Germany shot at the ones coming from the other side. As they didn't have physical bodies, they couldn't be injured in the same way a living person could be, but they appeared to either fell pain from attacks or at least flee due to being scared of the attacks.
Soon they had all left, and the trio felt safer again. Italy had been helplessly waving his flag the whole time, but stopped to let his arms rest once the fight was over.
"Ve~ Japan, that was so cool!" Italy said with a big smile on his face, clearly impressed with how Japan handles his sword.
"It was nothing, Italy-kun," Japan said. "You didn't get hurt at all, did you?"
"I'm not hurt." Italy said, and then turned to face Germany. "Are you alright, Germany?"
"Of course I'm fine," Germany didn't appear very happy at all.
"That's good," Italy replied.
"Let's just keep going," Germany said as he started to walk further down the path.
Italy and Japan followed, but after a small while, they could hear a loud sound in the distance coming from behind them. It sounded like something large thumping against the ground, and was getting louder and faster as if something was approaching them. The trio turned to look behind them and saw a giant silhouette of something in the distance.
"Something scary is coming!" Italy cried.
"It's so big," Japan commented. "I'm not sure we'll be able to take it on if we choose to fight it."
"Let's go, we have to get away!" Germany shouted. "We don't know what we're up against."
The three of them began to run along the path. None of them turned back to check how close the monster was as they could tell by the loudness of each step it took. Italy, powered by fear, had sprinted to the front and was far ahead of Japan and Germany. The two of them did their best to catch up so that Italy wouldn't go out of their sight. A door soon came into sight.
"Italy!" Germany called out. "Go to that room; we can't stay on this path; it's getting closer!"
Italy did as he was told and waited by the door before entering. He didn't want to go in alone in case there were more monsters inside. As Germany reached the room, he opened the door and dragged Italy inside. Japan the caught up and also entered the room. Germany slammed the door shut once all three of them where in the room.
"I think we should be okay in here," Germany said between exhausted breaths. "You two can take a break, I'm going to check that this room is safe."
Germany began to wander around the room, pistol in hand for protection. Italy and Japan sat on the floor to catch their breath. The room was cold, very cold, but at least it appeared to be safer than staying on the path.
"I'm too old for this," Japan sighed as he slumped against the wall.
Italy, sitting beside him, was shaking. Tears dripped from his eyes; he was trying his best not to cry, but the tears wouldn't stop. Japan could hear him sniffling.
"Please don't cry, Italy-kun," Japan tried to comfort him. "We'll get out of here soon; everyone is doing their best to find a way out."
"But what if monsters are going after them too?" Italy cried. "I'm so scared, Japan. None of us are safe here, are we?"
"Don't be so negative. Everyone can fight if they have to, so I'm sure they are all okay," Japan wasn't really sure what to say to calm Italy down.
"But I can't fight," Italy didn't seem like he'd stop crying any time soon.
"Germany-san and I can fight for you, so don't worry about that," Japan said, unintentionally making Italy feel more like a burden to them.
Nothing Japan said seemed to comfort Italy. Italy soon cried himself to sleep, resting his head on Japan's lap; he was so exhausted. Germany finished checking the room and returned to be beside Japan and Italy.
"I think we're safe in here as long as nothing can come through the walls," Germany explained. "Is Italy doing okay?"
"He's scared," Japan said. "He has cried himself to sleep."
Germany crouched down beside Italy and touched his sleeping face. He wasn't just cold; he was freezing. Germany removed his jacket and draped it over Italy in hopes that it would keep him warm.
"You'll freeze," Japan said to Germany.
"I'll be fine, Italy needs it more," Germany said, not taking his eyes off Italy. "We can't stay here much longer, we need to make some progress so we can find a way out of this place, but for now, we should rest."
Germany was clearly worried about Italy. He braced the coldness of the room until he felt that Italy had rested enough. He gave Italy a nudge, but he wouldn't wake, so he nudged him harder and began to shake him. Italy wasn't waking, and Germany began to worry.
"Italy! Wake up!" Germany shouted as he shook him. "Wake up!"
Italy eventually woke up to see a worried looking Germany peering over him.
"Finally, you're awake," Germany said in relief. "Don't make me worry about you like that."
Italy shivered as he once again felt the coldness of the room.
"Germany, isn't this yours?" Italy asked as he sat up and held onto Germany's jacket that had been covering him. "Why do I have it?"
"You were cold," Germany said as he took the jacket back from Italy and was able to cover his arms from the cold again.
"Thank you," Italy said with a smile, grateful that Germany would give his own clothes off his back just to keep him warm.
Suddenly the extremely loud sound of the music box playing echoed throughout the realm. Everyone covered their ears just as they did the first time the sound played and waited for the sound to stop.
"Germany!" Italy cried as he removed his hands from his ears. "That was so loud and scary, just like earlier."
"Like earlier?" Germany recalled the sound of the music box being like that which was heard when they first entered the realm. "Does that mean someone else has arrived here?"
"That is a possibility," Japan stated. "Do you think we should go back to check? If they arrived like we did, they probably ended up in the same place as we did."
"We can't go back!" Italy began to panic. "The monster is out there! I feel safer in here, even if it is very cold."
"Italy! What did I tell you about sitting around and doing nothing?" Germany scolded Italy. "If we are right about someone else coming here, then we should find them. We decided we were all getting out of here together, so we're not excluding the newcomers. After all, it could be someone we know."
"Ve~ Okay, Germany, but promise me the monster won't come after us again," Italy sounded scared, but was doing his best to be brave.
Germany didn't want to make promises that he knew he couldn't have any control of. There was no way of knowing if the monster would come back, so Germany could only look Italy in the eyes and say the most comforting thing he could think to say.
"I can't know for certain that the monster will not appear again, but I promise you, Italy, I will not allow that monster to harm you if it does come after us again," Germany stared into Italy's teary eyes with a huge sense of duty to keep his friend protected.
"Thank you, Germany," Italy replied, knowing how serious Germany was. "Just don't get yourself hurt when protecting me."
"Don't worry about me," Germany spoke confidently. "I'm determined to get us all out of here unharmed."
Japan and Germany stood up, and Germany offered a hand to help Italy up. Italy took one look at the hand and then looked away, pulling himself up off the cold ground.
Italy was tired of feeling so useless, always being the one who couldn't fight for himself. He felt bad for causing Germany to trip up; he didn't want to be in anyone's way. He wanted to be helpful, but lacking any weapon made him feel even more powerless. Little did he know, Germany also felt just as powerless after not being the one to save Italy when he was first attacked by the ghosts.