I just want to add a trigger warning for this chapter. It's nothing graphic, but it does mention some pretty nasty things.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 7

Matthew stared at Feliciano.

"Are… are you saying that your lover's name was Matthew too?" Matthew asked.

Feliciano nodded.

"I always changed it to 'Matteo', though," Feliciano said. "It was just easier for me to pronounce when we were younger, and I kept it as an affectionate nickname when we were older. And it was easier to disguise it as a nickname, since it was almost exactly like his name. But, your way of saying it was how he said it. Matthew…"

"And… You've been avoiding saying his name because it would be confusing?" Matthew asked.

"Yes." Feliciano looked at the sky for a moment before he looked down at Matthew's feet. "Do you feel ready to walk again?"

Matthew nodded. Just as he stood up, the sound of footsteps reached him. He whipped around and Feliciano grabbed his hand. From the way Feliciano was holding his hand, Matthew could tell that Feliciano wasn't happy to hear that sound either.

A tall man came into view, his hands in his pockets and his head facing downwards. Matthew tensed when he saw this man. For some reason, he felt… afraid of this man. It was similar to what he felt when he saw Romulus earlier.

The man looked up and stopped. He blinked before he grinned.

"Hello, Feli," the man said. "And who's your little friend?"

"It's none of your business," Feliciano snapped. "Come on, let's go."

Feliciano started to tug Matthew away. Matthew gritted his teeth as Feliciano pulled him along faster than his feet felt comfortable with, but he didn't want to complain. Because he wanted to get away from this man as soon as possible too. He didn't know why, but he had a very bad feeling about that man.

"You know, I don't think your dad's going to be happy about you being so rude," the man said.

"I don't care what he thinks," Feliciano muttered, his hand tightening around Matthew's hand.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later."

Matthew shuddered. That felt a little too much like a promise.

…

"Here we are," Lovino said. "The kitchen."

Alfred gave a low whistle as he looked around.

"I'm sure Mattie would love to cook here," he said.

"Does your brother like cooking?" Marcello asked.

"Yeah. Cooking and baking. His pancakes are the best! No one does it better than he does, I swear."

Lovino cleared his throat, and he started to look around. Alfred started to look around as well. Now he realised that there were other people there. Alfred recognised Kiku from earlier. He felt his heart drop when he realised that these were all slaves. None of them were even glancing in their direction. And only one of them had a ponytail.

Lovino stalked closer to that person, who Alfred assumed was Yao. He started to follow, but Marcello grabbed his arm and shook his arm.

"Lovino is going to get Yao to come with us," Marcello said. "We don't want to discuss this with too many people around. If one of them gets dangerous…"

"How can they be dangerous?" Alfred asked.

"So far, we've managed to avoid it. We don't want to take chances. You've learned a lot tonight. What do you think is going to happen if the wrong thing is said?"

Alfred looked around again. He supposed that none of them would be happy with their lives, even before they were killed. And they were going to speak about one of their fellow slaves.

Lovino returned, dragging Yao behind him. Yao looked towards the floor, and Alfred wondered what Lovino had said that caused him to be like that.

"Let's go," Lovino said.

They left the kitchen, and Alfred looked around as they returned to the same dining room as earlier. Lovino released Yao, and gestured for him to sit down. Yao swallowed and did as he was told.

"Dude, what did you say to him?" Alfred asked.

"I just told him that we'd like to talk to him," Lovino said. "I have no idea why he's acting like this."

"Listen, we just need to know something," Marcello said. "Gilbert Beilschmidt mentioned that he saw you that night, and that you looked angry to see Mathias Kohler." Yao twitched at the name. "What was that about?"

"I shouldn't have done that," Yao said. "I understand that it was…"

"You're not in trouble," Alfred said. Yao looked up for the first time. "I mean, anyone that takes part in an auction like that deserves…"

"Auction?" Yao repeated. He flushed. "Forgive me. It was not my intention to interrupt."

"No, you're cool. So, you didn't know that there was an auction?"

Yao shook his head.

"That would explain why Master Romulus gave the order to be more careful with him, the last few days," Yao said. "He didn't want the value to decrease."

"Careful about what?" Jason asked.

Yao flinched and he lowered his head again. He stared at the hands in his lap.

"What did my father order you to do, exactly?" Lovino asked.

"…I already had to tell Master Feliciano tonight," Yao said. "I-I don't…"

"What did you tell Feliciano?" Marcello interrupted.

Yao bit his lip, before he looked up. He glanced towards Alfred and Jason.

"Your brother…" he started. "He started experiencing the injuries inflicted on him so long ago."

"What injuries?" Alfred asked. "What's going on with Mattie?"

"…When Master Feliciano called, it was because his feet were cut by glass. Master Romulus gave us the order to make things… difficult for him, because of what happened with him and Master Feliciano. We had to punish him. And one way was by putting glass shards in his shoes."

"Are you serious? And, Mattie…"

"He received the injuries. But… I didn't. I never hurt him. I was the one that tended to his wounds, who held him as he cried, who comforted him when he wanted nothing more than to go to Master Feliciano. It… It broke my heart."

"And why would you do that?" Jason asked. "Why would you ignore your master's orders to help him?"

Yao closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Master Feliciano… wasn't the only one that loved him," Yao admitted. "He was three years younger than me, but… He never felt like a child to me. And when I spotted him with Master Feliciano… I was shattered. Of course, who would want someone like me?"

"Were you the one that told our father about their relationship?" Marcello asked.

Yao shook his head.

"I was heartbroken, not vengeful," Yao said. "A part of me hoped that things between him and Master Feliciano wouldn't work out, and I would be there to pick up the pieces. I waited for two years. But when he was in so much pain, both physically and emotionally… I did nothing. I didn't want to take advantage of his pain. I still hoped that things would change."

"So, we have a love triangle," Jason said. "Normally, that would give you motive to kill him."

"I told you," Yao snapped, "I never hurt him! And I certainly didn't kill him. I was just as shattered as Master Feliciano when he died. And… I was the one that gave Master Feliciano the bottle of poison. I thought he was going to use it on himself, and I didn't blame him. I didn't anticipate what would happen." Yao closed his eyes. "I didn't fight when I realised what Master Feliciano was doing. When he killed me… I accepted it. I hoped that I would see him again, but that didn't happen."

"…Why did you look so mad when you saw Kohler?" Alfred asked.

Yao twitched again, his face twisting in disgust.

"It happened when he was thirteen," Yao said. "Mathias Kohler came to the house to discuss business, and he noticed him. He cornered him in one of the bedrooms. I was in the next room, cleaning, when I heard something. I used the secret passage and the spyholes to see what happened."

"In the bedroom?" Alfred repeated. He felt himself growing pale. "Wait, was he…?"

"I knew that I, as a lowly servant, wouldn't be able to do anything," Yao continued. "So I went to get someone that could and would help. Arthur wasn't like the rest of us, and he could interfere with the guests when they cross a line. And he certainly crossed a lot of lines. We managed to save him before Kohler took things too far. But it was still far. I held him as he cried, and I tended to his bruising. And Kohler said that they would finish this the next time he came."

"That piece of shit," Jason said.

Marcello and Lovino had their fists clenched. Alfred was glad to see that they looked just as disgusted as Alfred and Jason.

"And, did he?" Alfred asked.

Yao shook his head, his lips twitching in a small, triumphant smile.

"Arthur and I worked together to make sure that their paths never crossed again," Yao said. "And as far as I know, Master Feliciano never found out about it. I don't know what might have happened to Kohler if Master Feliciano knew. He would deserve all of it."

"Okay, I understand your reaction then," Alfred said. "Do you know what happened afterwards? Do you know if he tried to get back at him at all?"

"I don't know," Yao said. "I hate to say it, but Master Romulus saw me and put me to work. I think he also noticed the way I looked at Kohler. He might have punished me properly later, but Master Feliciano punished everyone first."

"What kind of work did he tell you to do?"

"Honestly, I can't even remember. I just know that it kept me busy until Master Feliciano's scream. If I could have, then I would have stayed close to him, keeping an eye on him. I could have seen who killed him. I could have stopped them." Yao closed his eyes, a tear rolling down his cheek. "I wish I could have saved him."

"…Did Feliciano know how you felt about his lover?" Lovino asked.

"I think he found out after we died. He's not very patient with me, but when it comes to him, I'm the only one Master Feliciano trusts."

"So, he didn't think that you killed his lover?" Jason asked.

"No. He understood. He was angry about me being in love with him too, but I was the only person he feels is an ally, even now. He was angry when I had to tell him about what happened to him, after their relationship was discovered." He looked towards Alfred and Jason again. "When I left them, your brother had the lashes from when Master Romulus whipped him."

"Why the heck is Mattie suffering these things?" Alfred demanded. "And what is Feli doing to him?"

"As far as I can tell, Master Feliciano wasn't doing anything to harm him. He was angry about your brother suffering, but he hasn't done anything to hurt him."

Alfred frowned. They hadn't heard anything about what Feliciano might have been doing to Matthew, until now, and Yao said that Feliciano wasn't hurting Matthew. On the one hand, that's good to hear. On the other, why was Feliciano keeping Matthew? What did he hope to achieve? It wasn't as though Feliciano was the one that asked Alfred and Jason to look into the death of his lover. Then it would have made sense if Feliciano was holding Matthew hostage.

There was something else there. Something that Alfred was missing.

"You didn't see or hear anything else that night, did you?" Jason asked.

"Nothing significant," Yao said. "I wish to find out who killed him too."

"So, where are we going now?" Alfred asked. "Hey, who was that other person you mentioned?"

"Lars Janssens," Lovino said. "He tends to be outside with his brother and sister. We might be able to find them without a problem."

"Be careful," Yao said. "Mister Janssens can also be a bit… grabby with us. He's dangerous."

"Thanks for the tip," Jason said. "So, let's get him then. And I also think we need to talk to Arthur at some point."

"Arthur?" Alfred repeated. "Why?"

"Because in these kinds of stories, the butler is usually the one that knows the most about everything going on in the house."

…

They had gone through another door, and this time, they found themselves in a bedroom. Feliciano tensed when he entered the room.

"This is my father's room," Feliciano said. "We definitely shouldn't be here."

Feliciano pulled Matthew back through the door and shut it again. He frowned at the door.

"Why is the house being so difficult tonight?" Feliciano asked.

"What's different?" Matthew asked. "Maybe if we knew what's different…"

"…Other than you being with me, I can't think of anything that could be different. The house shouldn't be acting like this."

A few hours ago, Matthew would have scoffed at the idea that the house should be acting in any way, but after everything he'd seen this night, he wasn't going to argue with Feliciano. He knew that no one would ever believe them if they left.

For the first time since everything started, Matthew thought about his brothers. He felt guilty that he hadn't spared a thought to them earlier. He wondered if they were still asleep, or if they had been caught up in the bizarreness of the house. How would Alfred be handling the fact that there were actual ghosts around?

"Is there any way that we could check on my brothers?" Matthew asked.

Feliciano twitched a bit, before he turned to Matthew.

"Why do you want to check on them?" Feliciano asked.

"I just want to know that they're handling everything okay," Matthew said. "I want to make sure they're safe."

"…I don't know. We're having a hard time getting to the room that I want to go to. I don't know if we'll be able to get to your brothers before the clock chimes again."

"The clock… It's been more than an hour, right? It feels like a long time."

"When the clock strikes thirteen, things are different. That includes time. It could last for a few minutes, or it could last for a few hours. Either way, we won't be able to escape this effect until the clock chimes again. There was one time that it took days to chime again."

"Days? And… what happened in the meantime?"

"…There were other travellers that came. They were caught when the clock struck thirteen. They couldn't escape. They're still here."

"When you say they couldn't escape…"

"They ended up being killed. The dead are jealous of the living. And some can be more violent than the others in their jealousy." Feliciano averted his eyes. "I'll admit that I might have killed a few of them too. Only the living would be able to solve the mystery, and their lack of progress… the same madness that took me that night took control of me again."

Matthew stared at Feliciano, who was intent on looking away from him. Feliciano reached out to open the door again, and they entered a different room. Feliciano's hold on Matthew's hand tightened again, and Feliciano took a step inside.

"This was my room," Feliciano said. "My prison. I was kept in here for weeks after my father found out about our relationship. I was alone. I could only wait for notes slipped through the door. Someone else would always bring me my meals. Never the person that I wanted to see. My father made sure of it."

"Your father was a cruel man," Matthew said.

"He was. He still is, but he's scared of me." Feliciano smirked lightly. "My hatred for him fuels much of what happens in this house. He knows that right now, I'm the master of the house." Feliciano's smirk fell. "Or, I am normally. The house isn't obeying me right now."

Matthew squeezed Feliciano's hand, before he looked around the room. It looked nice, but it felt cold. It was as though Matthew could feel the sorrow that the room had soaked up all those years ago.

His eyes eventually fell on something and they widened. He released Feliciano's hand as he walked closer.

"What is this?" Matthew whispered.

"…I painted that portrait a few months before everything happened," Feliciano said. "I needed to keep it hidden, but late at night, when I was feeling lonely, I would look at it. When I was locked in my room, I took out a painting from another frame and used that frame for that painting. It was the only way that I could look at him in all that time. My first opportunity to see him again, and he was taken from me. Before that, the last time I saw him was before my father threw me in my room and locked the door. Even that night, I didn't get a chance to see him before he was killed. This portrait… It was my only companion for those dark weeks. And the only way I could see him after all of us died. It stays here, and no one else can even look at it. It's the only thing I love in this entire house."

Matthew swallowed. He knew that Feliciano was dodging the obvious question.

"Why does it look like me?" Matthew asked.

"Matthew Williams," Feliciano said. "He was my lover. It's not just your name that's the same. Your face is the same, your voice is the same, your demeanour is the same… And I know that your soul is the same."

Matthew whipped his head around to Feliciano. He'd accepted that he reminded Feliciano of his lover, but this…

"What do you mean?" Matthew asked. "How could our souls be the same?"

"You have his memories," Feliciano said. "That song I played, the one you recognised… he was the only other person to have ever heard it. It's not a coincidence that you're so much like him. You are him."