America hung up the final roll of neon green streamers and stepped back to admire his work. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. He had at last finished decorating for his Christmas Eve party. It had taken twelve hours and he hadn't slept since Tuesday, but it was all worth it. This Christmas party would be his best one yet. That was a guarantee.
He sat back on his couch. It would be maybe a half-hour until the large, extra-cheese, extra-sausage pizzas would arrive so he would have some time to relax. Well, relax as well as he could. He was rather nervous about this party. It was the first time everyone involved in the Mind-Weaver Incident (that was what they had come to call it, though it wasn't very creative) had gotten together since then. Outside of meetings, anyway. This party was kind of a big deal.
A big deal for the nations, and for America himself. No one seemed to completely trust him after what happened. They all knew it was the Mind-Weaver's fault and that America wasn't doing all of that on purpose, but it was a scarring experience for some of them. Plus, the last thing some of them saw, as they informed him later, was Canada and America sobbing creepily over them.
All in all, he wasn't trusted and neither was his brother and he was looking to change that at his Christmas party. Everything had to be perfect. And it was! Everything was going to be absolutely, positively, nothing-going-wrong, perfect!
America sighed and pulled out his phone. Two more hours until the party started. Though, Canada and Japan said they'd come early to try and help with anything left over. There wasn't much to do now so America supposed they could just play some scary games for a while. Yeah, that would be fun.
This would be fun.
America's thumb hovered over the nation group chat. He wanted to ask if everyone was still coming to the party. He wanted to make sure that they would come. He was kind of worried that they'd all ditch him last minute. But he turned off his phone and tossed it on the couch. It was OK. If they didn't come, he'd go get them himself and force them to pay for everything like usual. Everything was normal now. Everything was perfect.
Well, that's what he told himself anyway. It's not very heroic to be worried about people's opinions all the time. So, America slid himself off the couch and went to fetch some good scary games that he could play with Japan and Canada.
Mere minutes later, someone knocked on the front door. America sprinted to open it, tripping on air once or twice.
"Merry Christmas Eve!" he greeted his guests enthusiastically, though a bit breathless. "Welcome to my humble abode!"
"Merry Christmas Eve to you as well, America," Japan returned, bowing slightly as he entered.
"America, your house becomes less humble when it has four stories and a giant pool in the back," Canada said.
"It's just a saying dude," America clapped his brother on the shoulder much harder than he intended, sending the Canadian stumbling forward. He really needed to realize his own strength.
Japan was looking around at all the decorations. "It's very... sparkly."
America took that as a compliment. "Thanks! It radiates good ol' Christmas cheer, right?"
Japan nodded, though he was just trying to be polite.
"Hey, America," Canada called from the kitchen. He was pointing at a ginormous cake shaped like Santa Claus's head. "What's this?"
"Food for the party, duh!" America said with a laugh. "What else would it be?"
"A nightmare?" His brother suggested. America didn't hear him.
"So, anyhoo," The American said, pulling a video game out of God knows where "I don't need any more help because the hero always gets his stuff done before the deadline, so I was thinkin' we could play games."
Japan leaned forward to read the game title. " 'Zombie Amusement Park of Death'?"
America nodded happily. "Sounds totally radical, right?"
The Japanese man looked a bit apprehensive but Canada smiled.
"That'll be fun, eh."
"Hells yeah, bro!" America fist-pumped like a child that just won a Victory Royale on Fortnite. He immediately began skipping over to the television, expecting the other two nations to follow suit, which they did. The game took about twenty minutes to set up because Canada randomly disappeared and America and Japan went off to go find him, only to realize that the Canadian was sitting on the couch where they had last seen him, looking very bewildered. Also, America accidentally plugged in the wrong cables, the battery on one of the remotes died, they had to retrieve the pizzas America had ordered, and the loading screen froze. After forever, Zombie Amusement Park of Death was ready to be played.
"So, what you do is shoot all the zombies," America explained once they had entered the first round. "Don't get bitten, because then you'll die and the hero can't revive you unless I've got a medical syringe."
The other two nodded solemnly, and, for a wonder, no one died until round thirty-six when America tried to warn Canada about a zombie behind him only to find his brother was gone (but in reality he wasn't). In the end, the hero got sneak attacked and wasn't able to be revived.
Japan sighed. In an attempt to keep America from starting any pointless arguments with the apparating Canadian, he suggested they play a new game. There was still an hour and a half until the guests were supposed to show up, so both of the North American twins agreed.
Halfway through a game called 'Quiet Mountain', the Asian island nation started to feel a weird sensation in the center of his chest.
"Nani?" He quietly mumbled to himself, rubbing a hand over the tingling, burning spot. Canada gave him a weird glance but continued with the game. The feeling slowly faded away, and Japan tried to forget about it. However, only moments later, the sensation returned, burning like a ring of fire.
"NANI?!" He exclaimed loudly, springing to his feet and drawing the full attention of the twins now.
"Japan? Dude? What's up?" America asked as he paused the game.
"Are you alright?" Canada questioned. Japan hesitantly nodded. He, of course, was not alright in the slightest but didn't want to concern America and Canada. The pain seemed to be growing worse by the second, piercing the flesh of his chest and lungs like a hot poker, causing him to gag and wheeze.
"I'm just going... t-to go to... the bathroom..." Japan choked out, feeling a slight twinge of Deja Vu. Hadn't someone said something similar to that before? His mind was clouded with pain so it was hard to remember correctly.
He sprinted off to the bathroom, hoping to leave the Groundhog Day sensation with Canada and America, but the feeling followed him. It followed him right up until he closed the bathroom door and pulled up his shirt and gazed at the scar left behind from the Mind Weaver incident. A scar that was now red and inflamed, a deep crimson ring around it. The ring seemed to be... pulsating with the beat of his heart.
He blinked. There was no way... Sometimes the old wounds of a nation would flare up in correspondence with the event, like England on July Fourth, but there was absolutely no reason for the scar to be hurting this bad. It was ridiculous. It wasn't possible. Was it?
Japan slowly edged his hand toward the throbbing area. Gently, with his forefinger, he traced the scar. As soon as he touched it, the pain, just as suddenly as it appeared, vanished. The red color quickly fading to match the color of the flesh around it. A chill ran up Japan's spine.
"What in the world just happened..." He whispered out loud. Suddenly, a loud ding ran out from behind him, causing him to jump a foot in the air and drop the hem of his shirt.
"I've got it!" America's muffled shout called out, followed by a loud thump. Japan sighed and shook his head. The horror games must be getting to him. He exited the bathroom and returned to the main hall where he was greeted by England and France trying to kill each other.
"Things are normal," Japan said to himself with a small laugh. "Normal."
But oh, how normal they weren't.
A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL! The sequel to Disturbia is here ((though a bit later than hoped. Things got hectic and mah new laptop made it confusing to type for a bit ;-;)) and we're gettin' straight into it! I'm hoping to write it in a way that'll please you guys, and I'm hoping to shell out enough plot for this project to be complete! The next chapter should be out by New Years, but no promises. Have a nice Christmas!
*For those who don't know, apparating is a type of magic from Harry Potter that allows wizards and witches to teleport from one place to another.
My helpful motivation for this chapter was The Living Tombstone's remix of Carol of the Bells and L'Orchestra Cinematique's epic version of Deck the Halls. Check out those tunes!