Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 16

Jason stared at his brother as he fell. It all happened so suddenly. One moment, he and Matthew were running, and the next, he heard something from Matthew, and when he turned around to check on his brother, there was something black poking out of his chest.

Alfred rushed towards Matthew, and Jason snapped himself out of his trance. He couldn't afford to just stand there. His brothers needed help.

"Mattie, wake up!" Alfred ordered as he shook Matthew's shoulder.

"Al, we need to get Matt out of here," Jason said, looking towards the battle just as Feliciano screamed and summoned more shadowy tentacles.

Alfred looked over as well, and he bit his lip, but nodded. They turned Matthew onto his back, and Jason flinched when he saw how red Matthew's chest was. He didn't know if it was too late. Alfred grabbed Matthew below the armpits while Jason grabbed Matthew's legs. Together, the two of them carried Matthew towards the door, where Lovino and Marcello were still waiting.

"Dammit," Lovino grit out. "The bastard killed him."

"No!" Alfred said. "Mattie's not dead yet. He can't…"

"There's no life from him," Marcello said. "Trust us."

"No!"

Alfred continued to attempt to wake Matthew up, but all he managed to do was get his hands red. Jason clenched his eyes, holding back the tears that threatened. After trying so hard to find the truth in order to protect Matthew, they failed. Matthew was killed by the same person that killed the other Matthew.

He wanted to punch Kiku.

"How long before he wakes up as a ghost?" Jason asked.

"It could take a few minutes," Marcello said, "or a few hours."

As though on cue, the clock chimed. Marcello and Lovino jumped. They watched as the hallway turned to normal with each chime of the clock.

"It's over, for now," Marcello said.

"No," Alfred said. "It isn't."

Jason wanted to ask what Alfred meant, but the meaning became clear as Alfred looked towards the bedroom door. Feliciano and Kiku were still busy.

…

Time seemed to slow down as Feliciano watched Kiku's tentacle impale Matthew, and Matthew fell. There was movement around him, but he couldn't process any of it. He just stared at Matthew.

"There," Kiku said, and Feliciano snapped out of his daze. "That's done. Now, to just make sure that he can't come back."

Anger surged through Feliciano as he rounded on Kiku. For once, Kiku didn't appear intimidated by Feliciano's anger. Was it all a pretence so that Feliciano wouldn't realise who the person was that had stolen everything from him?

"You took everything from me!" Feliciano said. "And now you want to take more?"

"He was nothing," Kiku said.

Feliciano screamed in anger, his darkness surging. Kiku still remained unfazed.

"I watched you for months," Kiku said. "But you never noticed me. You were too busy with him. I cared more for you than…"

"NO!" Feliciano shouted. "You didn't care for me! If you did, you wouldn't have stolen my happiness from me! Matteo… He was the only person that was always there for me. He was the only person I could tell about anything, and he never judged me. He never dismissed my thoughts or feelings. And you took him from me."

"You never looked at the rest of us. You may have treated us better than your brothers or your father, but you still barely saw us as humans."

"Because all of you were either busy with work or ducked away when you saw me. Even if I tried to speak with any of you, there was a wall between us. You didn't engage me, even when I tried. And I've tried for years before Matteo came along. Finally, I had a friend my age. Did you actually try to talk to me, not as a servant, but as another person?"

Kiku blinked, and Feliciano narrowed his eyes.

"You became jealous of Matteo because we treated each other as equals," Feliciano said. "Was it me that you cared for, or did you just want something like that?"

"I…" Kiku stammered, before he shook his head.

"You let that darkness in your heart grow for a long time." Feliciano had noticed that the darkness around Kiku was stronger than his own. "But did you even try to let in any light? Matteo was my light. The light that you took from me. And now… What did you even hope to achieve?"

"I couldn't stand to see you with him. When he didn't return with the rest of us, I was happy. I could try to get close to you without him in the way. But you wouldn't let anyone else in. You were too busy mourning him and punishing the rest of us. And when I saw him again…" Kiku gritted his teeth. "I knew that you would take him back, and you would forever remain out of my reach."

"I wouldn't." Kiku's eyes widened, and Feliciano continued. "At first, I was surprised to see him again after so long. To hear his voice. But he didn't recognise me, and he was alive. Later, I realised that he had at least some memories of my Matteo. But I still couldn't tell if this was my Matteo, or someone that just looked like him, and received the echoes. I wanted to find out, to keep him safe while the house was like this. And then I would have let him leave. He was alive, and he didn't belong here. But then you had to kill him again!"

Feliciano's darkness flared around them, and even Kiku looked shocked by the display. Feliciano curled his hands into fists.

"I am going to make sure that you can never hurt any of us ever again," Feliciano said, before his darkness launched at Kiku.

…

Matthew opened his eyes. He was in a sparse room. Not even the bed had any sheets. The only other thing in this room was a mirror.

He tried to remember what happened before he ended up in this room, only for a sharp pain to stab him in the chest. He looked down. His clothes were the same as usual, but he almost expected to see something else there. Something… that had no right being there.

He stood up and walked to the mirror. He had many questions, but didn't know if there was a way to answer them. He stood in front of the mirror, and his face stared back at him. Only… His clothes were different, and the curl wasn't on the side where it was supposed to be. The face smiled, but Matthew knew that he didn't smile.

"Matthew Jones," the 'reflection' said. "It's nice to finally meet you."

In an instant, Matthew knew who this was.

"Matthew Williams," he whispered. "How… How is this possible?"

"Well, you see…" the other Matthew said. "I don't know how to say this, but… you died."

"…What?"

Matthew Williams sighed and looked down.

"Kiku impaled you with his darkness," he said. "The darkness was born through his hatred for me. It killed you in an instant."

"So I'm… dead?" Matthew asked. "But… My brothers…"

Matthew couldn't have died. He couldn't leave Alfred and Jason alone. But if it was true, then…

"Is there anything I can do?" Matthew asked. "Some way to… To go back to them?"

The other Matthew sighed and closed his eyes.

"This was the exact same question that I asked when I died," he said. "I wanted to return to Feliciano. He was the only thing that gave my life purpose. And they usually give you three choices."

Matthew's heart leapt. If there were three choices…

"What are the choices?" he asked.

"The first is to go to the afterlife," the other Matthew said. "You can reunite with them there. But it might be a long wait, and there is a risk that they won't choose that option."

"What's the second choice?"

"The second choice is to stay where you died. To haunt the place."

"Is that what Feliciano and the others chose?"

As soon as he said the name, Matthew's chest tightened. He remembered hearing Feliciano's voice as he died. What did he feel? He essentially saw the person he loved die a second time, and this time, he could have stopped it. He might have felt that he should have stopped it.

The other Matthew sighed and shook his head.

"Kiku killed me because of the darkness that had been growing in his heart for months, fuelled by anger, hatred and jealousy, all pointed towards me," he said. "When he killed me, the darkness in his own heart eased. However, someone else also had darkness growing in his heart for a few weeks at that point."

"Feliciano," Matthew said, to which the other Matthew nodded.

"Feli's darkness mixed with Kiku's darkness. It doesn't help that Kiku's darkness was the reason why Feliciano's darkness grew to the point that it completely overwhelmed him. And when Feliciano killed everyone because of the darkness in his heart, including the person who caused the darkness to spike and who also had darkness in his heart… A curse was made. Their ability to choose was taken from them, and they became trapped in the house. The same fate befell anyone else that died in that house."

"So, their choices were robbed from them. And, what's the third choice?"

"To return in another life. If there is someone that you would like to be reunited with, this is the best choice. It is the choice that I ultimately made." The other Matthew smiled sadly. "I think I owe you an apology. I was reborn as you, but we were always separate people. But the choice was made. Through that choice, the universe conspires to make sure that the two people find a way to reunite. Your car broke down while in the proximity of the place where Feliciano would be. We look like each other, and sound like each other. And, if I had a normal childhood, my personality would have been exactly like you." He bit his lip. "Other than Feliciano, one other person was on my mind as I died."

"Francis, right?"

"My father… Even now, it's strange to think of him like that. I grew up with the belief that my parents didn't want me. And before my death, I found out that they weren't even my parents, and that my father hadn't stopped searching for me. I wondered… what would life had been like, if I had been allowed to grow up as his son?" He chuckled. "I suspect that I wouldn't even have met Feliciano. Francis wouldn't have had anything to do with Romulus if not for me."

"Everything happens for a reason."

"But yet, it's not predetermined. The universe conspired to make you go to the Vargas Manor. It didn't conspire for you to meet when the clock chimed. And the feelings you felt towards him… Only my trust for him was what you felt. Anything else, that was all you."

"And… I assume that it was also your fear when I saw Feliciano's father?"

The other Matthew flinched and nodded.

"The damage he'd done… Not even death could make the fear go away. The same with Mathias Kohler."

"…But… You didn't feel the same towards Kiku."

Matthew couldn't understand why the other Matthew didn't feel any fear towards the person who actually killed him. The other Matthew nodded.

"It's because the things Kiku did to me aren't as damaging as the things Romulus or Mathias did to me," the other Matthew said. "At least, not while I was alive. I realised after I died that Kiku was the one that told Romulus about something being between Feliciano and I. A lot of what I suffered was because of him. And yet… I feel sorry for him. He was in love with someone he couldn't be with, and he saw me in the position that he wanted to be in. That said, being in love with someone is not the same as loving them."

"Loving someone means that you put their happiness first," Matthew said, "even at the cost of your own. I think… Yao loved you."

The other Matthew closed his eyes.

"I think I suspected when I was still alive," he said. "But I only knew for sure after I was dead. It… It was difficult. And I couldn't help but wonder about all the things I'd done to him. Made him feel."

"I don't think he resented you," Matthew said. "And I think… A part of him was happy to see me. Or… I don't know how to think about us. You said…"

"I am you, and you are me, but we are not each other. So… what are you going to choose?"

"Do I have to make a choice?"

"I'm afraid you do. But there's no rush. Time becomes irrelevant."

"What's going to happen to you?"

"No matter the choice, the two of us will merge and become one. We are exactly the same." The other Matthew winced. "We even died at the exact same age. Down to the last second."

"…Fate can be cruel sometimes. But… what about your wish to reunite with Feliciano?"

"I technically achieved my wish. Unfortunately… I wasn't allowed to enjoy it. It might have been easier if my memories came to you earlier. But unfortunately, people don't usually regain any memories from their past lives. But echoes remain. Déjà vu, for example."

"Oh, I see. So… This is entirely my choice?"

"That's right. And whatever you choose… You won't have to be alone."

…

Jason peeked inside the room. Kiku was gone, and Feliciano was on his knees, crying. It had been a while since the sounds of battle ended from inside.

"What happened to Kiku?" Jason asked.

Feliciano jerked, before he looked up at Jason. The teen swallowed the lump in his throat. He couldn't forget that Feliciano had killed dozens of people.

"I managed to overwhelm him," Feliciano said. "He just… disappeared. I can't sense him at all anymore. How… How's Matteo?"

Jason flinched.

"Matt… He's dead," Jason said. "Alfred's still trying to revive him, but… There's no hope. Marcello says that he can't sense any life from him. This… This is what you wanted, right? He's going to stay behind and take the place of…"

"That's not what I wanted," Feliciano interrupted. "I was… I was so glad to have Matteo back, but… I knew that he wasn't completely my Matteo. He had his own life. He had a family, something that my Matteo didn't have. And I didn't want to take him away from it. He had the life that my Matteo should have had. I just… I wanted him to be happy. Even if it was without me. And now… Now it doesn't matter."

Feliciano started to hum a song as he rocked himself.

"…He's going to wake up here, right?" Jason asked. "As a ghost, like you?"

"I don't know," Feliciano said. "He didn't before."

"…Right."

"What the hell?!"

The two of them turned their attentions to the door. Jason leaned back, and both Marcello and Lovino were glowing.

"What's going on?" Alfred asked, looking between the two.

"I don't know," Marcello said. He cocked his head to the side. "A choice?"

Feliciano also came to the door, and he stared at his brothers.

"What's going on?" Feliciano asked.

"So, it's not you doing this?" Lovino asked.

The two became translucent, and Alfred discreetly moved away.

"The curse is gone."

Jason, Alfred and Feliciano all gasped. Standing a short distance away was Matthew wearing strange clothes.

"Matt?" Jason asked. "Is that…?"

He looked down at his brother's corpse. His throat tightened. This was the final confirmation that Matthew was truly dead.

"Which Matteo are you?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm both," Matthew said. "I'm sorry… After I died the first time, I made the choice to see you in another life. And it finally happened, only for me to be killed a second time." He looked towards Alfred and Jason, and his smile turned sad. "I'm sorry. I know that you two will miss me, but… I decided to stay. I mean… I'm dead, so there's no way for me to come with you. The other choices are going to the afterlife or meeting in the next life. I mean, I love you – you're my brothers, after all – but…"

"That's not the kind of choice that you would make for your brothers' sake," Jason said. He turned to Feliciano. "Are you really okay with staying with him?"

"Yes. The part of me that is Matthew Jones chose it too. Because Matthew Jones started to feel the same feelings independent of Matthew Williams. And he wanted to explore those feelings, while also letting Matthew Williams' last wishes come true." He sighed. "Even after death, Matthew Williams didn't feel scared or angry at Kiku. He just felt sad. Kiku's anger and jealousy kept him here." He turned to Feliciano. "Some of the things you said to him finally got through to him. And when you were fighting him, he could finally let go. That was when he disappeared, and the curse ended."

"And now what?" Lovino asked.

"Now, you're given the choices that you were denied before. Will you stay, or will you leave?"

…

Jason and Alfred stood next to their car as they waited for the tow truck. They couldn't leave with Matthew. At least, they were allowed to have a funeral for him. A grave had appeared for him in the graveyard, close to the grave of Matthew Williams.

The alternative would have been to find a way to transport Matthew's corpse, and that would have been extremely unpleasant.

"Mom and Dad aren't going to be happy if we tell them about Matt," Jason said. "We're going to have a hard time explaining it."

"We'll think of something," Alfred said. "All that, for nothing. What did we actually do to help?"

"Don't know, to be honest." Jason looked back along the dirt road that was barely there. "Do you think we'll come back?"

Alfred smiled.

"If Mattie thinks he's going to be rid of us, then he doesn't know us very well," Alfred said.

Only the epilogue is left. Thanks for everyone that stuck with this story.