(A/N: Hey guys! I haven't had one of these for a while so I thought I should add a quick little one. Thanks for the reads, the votes, adding this story to your reading lists and especially the comments. Tbh they never fail to crack me up XD Anyway I'm nearing my 5K milestone as well as a certain part of the story where things start to get pretty tense, I hope to make a 5K view special around that time, that'd be very convenient. Thank you again and I hope you continue to enjoy.)
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"Sometimes we are so focused on what we want, we miss the things we need."
-Anonymous
|Reader's POV|
"Phew~"
Japan had used the key to open the door to the prison cell and three people filed out of it.
"Thanks! This was a good place to take refuge in, but then we couldn't get out and we've been waiting for you guys to get here!"
"This is the only time we're doing you this favor!" China huffed.
"Oh, well...Anyway, Prussia, what were you doing here, again?" Germany asked.
"You guys wouldn't wake up! I had a really hard time after that! It's a miracle I'm still alive!" Prussia exclaimed.
"You better have stayed alive or I would've killed you." I paused. "I know that makes no sense...God, I can't even talk properly." I looked up at Prussia, frowning. "Just don't scare me-or us-like that again."
"(Name)'s right, you worried us." Japan agreed. He stepped forward. "Prussia, you were gone when we woke up. Was it because you encountered that thing?"
"Oh, that. When I was having fun keeping watch, when someone suddenly began to pound on the door. When I opened it, I found it was HIM." Prussia emphasized the 'him' part as he turned his head to glare at the man next to him, who was also trapped in the cage.
"His face was a masterpiece. But he came out swinging his sword at me and I got a little injured."
"Aw, come on, I said I was sorry! It was just a flesh wound, anyway!"
I chuckled lightly. I guess those two are pretty familiar with each other.
"Anyway, while you three..." He trailed off when his gaze landed on me, his clear blue eyes locking with mine. "Excusez-moi, I suppose I should say while you four snored away."
The man drifted towards me. The entirety of his actions and looks screamed elegance. From the poised posture, to the graceful strides he took to reach me, I could already sense that he was going to be an...interesting person. He grasped my hand in a gentle yet firm grip and lifted it to his lips, giving the back of my hand a neat, soft kiss. Blonde locks of hair curled around his shoulders, an addition to the stylish, chic kind of look he was going for.
He pulled away, still holding onto my hand, tipping his head to bow politely. "My name is France, mon cher. And how should I address such a lovely lady?"
I snapped out of my little daze and straightened my back, staying frozen in place. "U-Um, hi. I'm (Name)." I said awkwardly.
"A pure, innocent petite fille like you is frightened, being in such a dangerous place, I'm sure."
I smirked lightly, finally gathering my courage and pulling my hand from off his. "Ah, and that's where you're wrong. If you knew me, you'd know I can protect myself, thank you very much." I replied, mixing a hint of sass in my voice. "Invading my personal space and having a bit of charm isn't going to woo a girl like me, by the way, nice try." I tapped his nose and smiled mischievously.
"wHOA! SOMEONE JUST GOT ROASTED, TOASTED!"
I snickered, tilting my head to see a young man cupping his hands around his mouth, saying other stuff like, 'Need some aloe vera for that burn, France?' He spotted me and grinned like an excited little kid. "Hey, (Name), right? I'm DA HERO!!" He paused for dramatic effect, posing with both hands on his hips, chest puffed out slightly. After a few seconds passed he looked down at me and raised his hand. "But you can call me America. It's nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too, America." I answered. I grabbed his outstretched hand and began to shake it. I took the chance to examine him.
One of the first things that caught my attention were his blue eyes. They shone as brightly as stars would, filled with vivacity and liveliness. Another thing would be his short, wild blonde hair, which had a cowlick sitting atop his head. It reminded me of the gravity defying curl Canada bore. Now that I think about, knowing that those two were related made sense but didn't at the same time. The vague similarities were drowned out by the differences. Canada had a calm, muted aura around him, while America seemed to be more friendly, cheerful and animated. America looked to be around my age and-
"Ouch-!" America quickly let go of my hand, which started to feel numb for some reason.
"Sorry! I've heard that my grip can be a little strong...?"
"I see." I massaged my arm, feeling a pang of guilt when America looked dejected. I put on a smile and curled my fingers into a fist, lifting it up. "How about a fistbump next time?"
America beamed happily. He enthusiastically, but gently this time, bumped his fist against mine. "Got it."
I wandered back over to the group and picked up from where France said, "And then, before we knew it, that monster was there ahead of us, attacking America. We were going to sneak away behind its back, but then America waved his hands and said, "Hey~! Over here~!!" with a huge grin." He facepalmed, glaring daggers at America. "...So we got dragged into it."
America was quick to defend himself, "I couldn't fight it alone! What's the problem?! I just thought we'd have three times more chances to beat it-"
"So, since we weren't ready to fight, we couldn't fight, and we ran away to this place." Prussia cut America off, continuing the story. "We took refuge in that cell, but then we couldn't open it from inside, so we had no choice but to wait for you guys to find us." He concluded.
"...We need to explain to them what is going on. Why don't we split up into two groups?" China suggested.
"Indeed. Their injuries aren't that severe, either. I'll keep looking around the basement. (Name), do you mind-"
"I'll stay behind and tend to these three's injuries." I volunteered, starting to take out some medical supplies from my backpack while I listened to the others continue to split up into groups. "I'll get them fixed up in no time, Japan."
"England and I will stay to lecture America."
"I have some things to tell them, too."
I glanced at Germany and Canada, stifling my laughter. They were trying to seem all stern and whatever, but I could see how relieved they really were to have found their brothers.
"Then I'm coming with Japan!"
I almost facepalmed. I guess America's a bit rusty with the magical ability of 'reading the atmosphere', or so it's called.
"Weren't you listening? We're going to explain to you what's going on, so you have to stay!" China scolded America, looking annoyed.
"Aww, do I have to? Japan can explain it to me, can't you, Japan?" America looked at Japan with hope in his blue eyes.
Hesitation.
"Very well. I would be glad to do it."
"Oh and America, catch." I said, throwing him a few band-aids and a bottle of ointment.
"How did you know...?"
"When you shook my hand, your sleeve lifted a tiny bit and I could see a few cuts and a bruise or two. I'll treat the bruise properly some other time, but you better take care of those cuts or they'll turn into scars." I explained carefully, receiving a surprised look on America's face as he stared at me. "What? I'm an observant person." I shrugged, the tips of my lips turning up a little. I waved casually. "Good luck."
"Well, we'll go and look around. We'll see you later."
"I'm coming with you, too!"
My head whipped to Italy, my eyes narrowing.
"No, we'll be fine. We'll just look around and we'll be right back. Canada, England, I'll lecture him on your behalf."
I breathed out a sigh of relief. Japan was quick to dismiss him.
"Give him a good earful." Canada piped up.
"No, wait. I'm coming with you. There's something that has been bothering me."
"Er, but..."
"It's just something I want to check out. Please."
"I see. you may come along, then. We'll be back in about 15 minutes. See you later."
"Japan..."
I approached Prussia, getting stopped by Germany. "I think you should treat France's injuries first, I believe they're more severe. I also want to lecture my bruder, do you mind?"
"Of course not, be my guest." I nodded, heading toward France. "Sit down and let me see any of your wounds." I said, dropping cross legged to the ground. I plucked some of the medical supplies from my pocket and placed it on the ground beside me.
"(Name)? I'm sorry if I insulted you. I apologize for labeling you as a normal girl who would easily fall for my charms, I can see that you're a witty, strong fille. You're different, and that's someone I wish to befriend. Am I granted permission to start over with you?"
"I'd love that."
"My name is France, it's a pleasure to meet you, (Name)."
"The pleasure's mine. I forgive you." I returned his smile. "So are you hurt anywhere?"
"I believe I scraped my elbows and knees, nothing too severe."
I nodded and took hold of his arm, rolling up his sleeves. I turned his arm so I could smear some antibiotic cream on his elbow. I carefully wrapped his elbow with a gauze bandage, ripping the piece off from the rest of the roll. After tightening it, I stood up. "Do exactly that to any other scrapes you have. If you find something else, call me. I need to talk to someone."
"Alright, au revoir, petite fille."
I headed for Prussia, who met my gaze, his eyes screaming, 'Help'. Once I reached him, I patted Germany's shoulder. "I think Italy's calling you."
Germany nodded, giving one look at Prussia before rising and moving toward Italy. I sat down in front of him.
"Ahh danke, frau. You're a life saver."
"No problem." I replied. "Where were you hurt?"
"Hurt? Pfft, nein. A few cuts, nothing serious." Prussia folded his sleeves, showing his forearms to me, which were decorated with minor cuts.
"Hmph, stop trying to be tough. It's not working." I giggled, emptying out my hoodie's pocket. "Huh...I guess I forgot a few things." I saw my backpack, sitting nearest to Italy.
"Italy, can you grab my backpack, please?" I asked.
He responded in silence. I glanced at Italy, staring into his brown eyes, shifting his sorrow filled gaze from the prison bars of the cell to the others.
"I-Italy?"
"Ah, sorry, ragazza." He apologized, looking at me with a bubbly smile. "What do you need?"
"My backpack." I repeated in a hushed tone. My breathing came to an abrupt stop, making me unable to speak regularly.
The look on Italy's face was unsettling. Is whatever Italy was planning going to be executed? When is he going to strike? How? What is going to do anyway? Why? There are times like this where I wish I could just read minds, but I can't. So all I can do is stay focused, and keep my guard up at all times.
I want to know what he's planning so badly. I'm going mad over it.
"Bella? Here's your backpack."
"O-Oh...thank you." I faltered, taking the bag and placing it beside me.
I got out a few alcohol wipes and some ointment that prevents infections from spreading. I gently grabbed Prussia's arm and swiped the alcohol wipe across the cuts on his forearms.
"Frau? You look...uncomfortable. What's wrong?"
I glanced up at Prussia and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just a little anxious about something."
"You can always confide in me." Prussia hesitated, gagging. "Ugh, I sound like Japan talking about sappy, deep stuff. What I mean is that I'll always be here if you feel like venting about whatever. Even your gross girly problems."
Laughter escaped through my lips. "Aha, wow, Prussia. Thanks." I carefully applied the ointment, taking a pause to gather my thoughts. I tentatively stole a side glance toward Italy, waiting until he was far away, talking to Germany. "It's about Italy, and maybe Japan, too. First we were solving this puzzle and when I stayed behind to wait for Italy, he was talking to...to himself. Something about how he dropped too many hints, weird things like that. But that doesn't make any sense, it's like he doesn't want us to get closer to figuring out how to get out of this mansion."
"That does sound odd." Prussia murmured, his eyebrows narrowing. "Go on."
"Second, Japan's also been acting weird. So there's these clocks that we find in every room, and once we break them the proper time returns in that room. However, everyone also gets false memories about things like who went to the mansion with who, things like that. But I think Japan saw something more and whatever it is, Italy wants him to forget about it. Sure, it's not good to be believing these false memories, but Japan thinks it has potential. Maybe a missing puzzle piece that'll help us somewhere along the way. When Japan mentioned this Italy just exploded. And if that wasn't weird enough, the third thing I've noticed recently is that Italy is planning something. I don't know what is it, or when he'll strike but there is a plan brewing in his mind, I'm certain of it. He was looking around at all of us, then shifting his gaze to the prison cell."
"......Huh. Mein gott, you've got a lot going on in your mind as well, frau."
"Yeah, you can say that."
Prussia seemed to be deep in thought. "Have you told anyone about this?"
"Um...no. The people I'm close with so far are Germany, Italy and Japan, but Germany is close with Italy so he'll probably deny that he's planning something, Japan is doing a lot of thinking of his own, and Italy...well, you know. I've only just recently met the others." I gave a sheepish smile, awkwardly pointing finger guns at Prussia. "You're the first person I've confided to. I'm glad we found you...I guess?"
"Kesesese~ Good to know, little frau!" Prussia patted my head and tousled my hair. He smiled widely. "Don't worry, the awesome Prussia will investigate into this further. You have nothing to worry about anymore." He pulled his hand back, chuckling. As I attempted to smooth down my hair, he smirked and leaned in close to me. "Did you miss me?~"
"Well, duh, of course I did!" I admitted, looking down at the ground, my bottom lip jutting out slightly. "I literally just said it, everyone else is going through other stuff so I have no one to talk to. I've been keeping these thoughts to myself and it's slowly killing me. Just being able to talk to you, hearing you laugh your obnoxiously but hilariously weird laugh, and seeing you smirk or smile......It's reassuring. I've missed it."
".
..
..."
Prussia did a double take, leaning back and exiting my personal bubble. "Damn, I was definitely not expecting that."
I playfully rolled my eyes, giving his upper arm a fistbump. "You should've. As your friend, I'm supposed to protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't do so."
"Hey, listen, my disappearance wasn't your fault. I was the one that insisted that you get some rest, and even if I had to share a prison cell with those two, I don't regret it. Don't forget that I'm also supposed to be protecting you."
I nodded quietly, smiling softly. "Yeah, okay. But why were you so surprised? You have plenty of people that worried about you. Germany, Japan, Italy, me."
Prussia shrugged and explained, "West and Japan don't really express their feelings too passionately and Italy explains things in an exaggerated way. Even if I know deep down behind Japan's emotionless eyes and West's stoic expression that they care..." He scratched at his cheek, which was tinted with a light shade of pink. "Sometimes it's nice to just hear it out loud for once."
I silently stared at him, suddenly tugging him into a fierce hug.
"Thank you."
"For what, exactly?"
" For being there when I need you."