(image does not belong to me. credit belongs to its respective owner.)
CHAPTER 4
It's time to start again.
--
You were the last to enter the room, and when you did, you immediately ran into a muscular chest. You gasped and fell back in surprise. You looked up to see a tall, broad man with platinum hair and a long scarf. His purple eyes widened when he saw you. The odd childish smile slowly fell from his face as he stared at you with cold eyes.
Nothing could be heard but the sound of Canada and England trying to catch their breath. Meanwhile, you held yours.
Of course, you remembered him as one of Italy's friends who had died in many time loops. But something felt particularly... off.
"Who is this?" He asked in an (familiar/unfamiliar) accent, turning to Canada and England. You let out your breath and climbed to your feet. You were wary of this man. You adjusted your scarf and made sure to keep your posture straight and head high as you watched him.
"We ran into her when we were searching-"
"Aiyah! Why is there a woman here, aru?!" Another voice exclaimed. You turned to see another man, who was still familiar, but much more vaguely so. He had long dark hair that was tied in a pony tail, foreign clothing and very long sleeves. He held one sleeve over his mouth in surprise. Then you saw another man also with dark hair and deep brown eyes. He was almost expressionless, but you knew he was caught off guard; his eyebrows were furrowed together in confusion and his deep eyes swam with some emotion you couldn't pin down. He also wasn't as familiar to you as the man you had run into.
Unthinkingly, you slipped you hand into your coat and gripped your weapon tighter. There were so many of them to meet, and even more t0 come.
A hand fell on your shoulder, making you jump. Canada quickly apologized; you shook your head to tell him it was okay. Then he said, "Let's introduce you, eh?"
"Yes," England agreed, placing a gentle hand on your back and guiding you closer to the men. "Let's do just that."
You stood there between Canada and England before the three new men and suddenly felt bashful. You looked down at you bare feet.
"We met her in the piano room. She was- er, playing-" He looked at you, frowning. It was almost funny to you- Can smashing the keys qualify as playing the piano? -"And we thought something was wrong, so we went to check..." His expression was uncertain.
"We didn't learn your name yet, did we?" Canada asked in his soft voice. You shook you head no. "You wanted it to write it down, right?" You nodded yes. He turned to his comrades. "Uh... does anyone have paper...?"
The men shook their head. "We don't, da(1)? Perhaps the others will," the tall one said, casually adjusting his scarf. "They will likely be here soon."
The long-haired man nodded. "Aiyah, that's right, aru. For now, I guess we should introduce ourselves." He turned to face you. "I am China. Nice to meet you, aru." He offered you his hand and you did the awkward handshake-thing. He gave you and weird look and you heard an awkward cough from behind, but you brushed it off. Then you turned to the man with the short black hair.
He kept his hands at his sides and bowed. It caught you off guard; you weren't sure if you should do the hand thing or not. "Hajimemashite(2). I am Japan. It is a preasure to meet you." He glanced up and offered you a small, almost shy, nod. You nodded back, holding your hands in front of you uncertainly.
"Aiyah, Japan, I was going for the modern approach! She is young, after all," China huffed, puffing his cheeks out a little. Japan shook his head.
"This is my usuar, traditionar introduction," he replied simply. China sighed. The platinum-haired man chuckled cheerfully, making you turn toward him.
"I guess it is my turn, da?" He giggled, smiling. You raised your eyebrows, but nodded all the same. His childish smile, it seemed to you, had a frightening undertone to it. "Privet(3), I am Russia. Let's get along, da?" You nodded.
"So we are waiting for paper to learn her name?" China asked England.
England sighed. "Unfortunately, yes..."
"I have an idea!" Russia said, still smiling. "We can carve it on the wall, da?"
"Um..." Canada whispered.
"That's a weird idea, aru." China spoke up. "But do you mean like with Japan's katana(4)?" He asked Russia.
"Da," Russia confirmed.
"I don't see why not." England mused. "I say we try it out."
"Wait." Canada whispered again. "S-Shouldn't we just wait? Italy and the others should be coming soon. Maybe we should try not to damage anything in the house-"
"-Let's do it, then!"
You saw the quiet blonde sigh in disappointment. Meanwhile, you were confused. They had completely ignored him. And it made sense to just wait for paper to come; there was no real gain in doing it now. But then again, they didn't need to worry about damaging this hellhole, as you had done so more than enough and it didn't seem to make a difference with how you faired. But it was a valid opinion all the same.
You watched Canada's eyes fall to the floor. A wave of sympathy hit you.
Without a second thought, you walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder, like he had a while ago to you. He jumped a little and looked up at you with big, purple eyes. They held a question. But you just shook your head at him.
Then you clapped your hands. All eyes snapped to you. You took a step back and gestured to Canada. You simply crossed your arms and waited.
Canada glanced back at you, eyebrows raised in surprise, and suddenly realized what you had done for him. He flushed a light pink. "O-oh! Thank you," he told you, and then quickly turned to the others. "I-I don't know if carving into the wall would be a good idea... it's okay if we wait a little bit to hear it, right? And I think I saw Italy carrying around a notebook, too, so he probably has paper... so it's okay if we wait a little bit... r-right...?" His voice shook at the end. He fiddled with his fingers nervously and waited for their response.
You nodded at his words. You remembered writing your name in Italy's journal. Did he still have it?
Does he remember me?
You would see him soon. It would only be a matter of time before you had to face him again.
But what was this feeling in your chest? Longing? Regret? It had been so long since you've felt so many different emotions so you couldn't tell. You weren't sure how to react to seeing him again. Would you freak out? Would he?
It's no use worrying about it now, you told yourself, letting your arms fall to your sides. Yes, you would deal with it when it came.
"That's actually a good point," England mused, bringing you out of your thoughts. You saw the others nod. "Maybe we should wait a little while. Is that okay with you, love?"
You blinked when you realized he was talking to you. You tried to clear your head. You gave him a small nod.
"That's seem okay, aru. I guess we should wait after all," China said, stretching his arms a little.
"I agree," Japan said.
"But if Italy doesn't get here soon, I'll use my metal pipe of pain, da?" Russia smiled a scary smile. The other countries seemed to cringe at his words, but China merely scoffed.
"She will have to be the one to use it if she is to carve her name, though," China muttered, glancing sideways at you. "But it would be better to use something with a sharp edge like Japan's katana..."
Russia merely "kolkolkol"d in response, a threatening expression on his face as he did. You couldn't help but wonder: Is that some sort of a laugh?
You heard a sigh. Canada, who had fallen in step beside you, stood shakily with his hands on his knees. His face was still pink. You barely heard him whisper the words "I did it".
Realizing you were watching him, his eyes focused you and he straightened. He spoke shyly, but determination was in his eyes. He ducked his head and said in a voice louder than it had been before, "T-thank you very much!"
He kept his head ducked for a while; you knew he was afraid to meet your eyes. You waited patiently for him to raise his head. When he did, you caught him- and yourself- by surprise.
You gave him a small smile.
"You're welcome", you mouthed to him. He blinked in shock. Then his face broke out into a big, sweet grin.
You almost found yourself smiling again, but you quickly stopped yourself. You glanced away, heat rising to your cheeks. Then briskly, you walked away to the piano.
I can't get too close. I can't get attached. If I do-
No. You couldn't let yourself think of it.
You sat at the piano bench and pressed middle C down gently. You stared at it, thinking deeply. Then you noticed something.
Wait, were these numbers here before?
Numbers were on several of the piano keys, some in red, other in blue, green, and yellow. It was baffling to say the least. You couldn't recall them ever being there before. You weren't sure whether it was your memory that was at fault or if it had written been there written on there by someone only recently.
Or something, you reminded yourself darkly. Would it be that surprising if the monster was responsible for this?
Despite the strange occurrence, you decided to let it go and focus other topics. After all, you couldn't afford to drop your guard here. You touched middle C again. On it was a yellow number 7. Its familiarity struck you again.
Oh, what was the song your mom always sang? The words escaped you, but the tune remained. And middle C did seem to be the first note. Maybe I can figure it out?
You played a couple of other notes and eventually landed on G, which bore a yellow 6. Is that right? You played it a couple times to make sure.
"Excuse me," An accented voice behind you said. You turned around to see Japan. "Ano(5), do you pray the piano?"
You assumed he meant "play" with an "l". You shook your head. You pointed at him and tilted your head.
"A-ano, are you asking me if I pray the piano?" He stammered, red spreading to his cheeks. You nodded. "I do not, unfortunatery. But I am acquainted with someone who prays it very werr." You nodded again, this time in acknowledgement.
Just then, the door slammed open. Immediately you stood up and stood in front of Japan, bearing your weapon. Just as you did, you saw a flicker of surprise dance across the everyone's faces. You focused your attention on the door, waiting for the beast. But instead, inside walked a muscular blonde man and a smaller brown-haired man. You froze, almost dropping your weapon.
"Ve~~" Italy seemed to say, walking with his arms spread out, childishly, as if he were mimicking an airplane- before coming to a stop behind his friend who had stopped walking. You didn't understand this; however, you did know this: he put on a good show. He looked so carefree, standing next to the stronger-looking blonde. For a second you wondered if he was better off than he had before, but then you realized: nothing could have changed. He was still spinning through time loops. You almost couldn't tell except for the tremor in his voice when he spoke:
"Ve~ G-Germany? Why-a did you stop-" Then he saw you.
He stopped talking. He stopped breathing. He stared at you with wide eyes, unmoving, his expression frozen in a state of terror.
You saw his whole life in the mansion play through his eyes. The first time loop, the second one (even though you couldn't actually recall very much of that), the third, and all the ones after that, saw behind a corner from a distance. You saw him walking up to you, panting, and making you promise not to run. You saw him smiling sweetly and telling you your name was beautiful. Then you saw yourself touching his face. Then, yourself running.
It felt like an eternity of staring. But then, a concerned voice rang out. Breaking free from your reverie, you gripped your weapon again, and realizing it wasn't needed, let your arm fall loosely to your side. "Italy? Italy!"
Germany shook Italy's shoulders violently when he didn't respond. A second later, Italy's expression completely changed. He laughed. His face broke out into a grin as he comforted his friend, "Ve~ I'm-a sorry! I'm-a sorry! I was just-a surprised, hehe! But why is-a there a bella(6) ragazza(7) here-a?" He asked cheerfully and almost cluelessly. But his eyes never left yours.
"Yes," the man named Germany agreed, still eyeing his friend with narrowed eyes. Then he glanced up at you. His expression was guarded. "I vas vondering zhe same zhing."
You tried to relax under his gaze, but his gaze was so intense that you were afraid he might attack. Then you realized he was glaring at your weapon. You slowly put it on the ground. His shoulders finally relaxed, but his expression remained alert. Well, I can understand his suspicion.
England spoke up. "We met her while looking in the room with the piano. We were waiting for you to arrive so we could talk about everything."
"Vhy is zhere a frau(8) here?" Germany muttered quietly. Then he spoke in a loud, strong voice to the men around you. "Let us start zhe meeting, zhen." He announced, still eyeing you. Italy, on the other hand, kept his gaze on the floor. Everyone nodded in agreement. You stood there wondering what usually happened in meeting and if you were welcome. You drew your arms around your torso uncertainly and waited for it to begin.
"First order of business: vhy zhere is a voman here in zhis house?" All eyes turned to you. Germany's icy blue eyes seemed to cut right through you. You immediately looked down to your bare feet.
England put his hand on your shoulder; you startled slightly and looked up at him. "She can't speak, so we weren't able to learn that yet. Speaking of which, Italy, do you have paper with you?"
"H-huh?" Italy asked, blinking as he was coming out of a trance. You saw him grip a journal that had escaped your notice- in his arms. Then his expression smooth out. "Si(9), I do-a. Do you-a... um... need it for some-a reason...?"
"We need her to write her name down, da?" Russia spoke up in his childish voice. But his expression was unreadable.
Italy's brown eyes widened for a second. He approached you, when all too soon, his eyes met yours and then looked away. He thrust the book along with a fountain pen into your open hands and walked back to stand beside Germany, eyes downcast. You looked at the book and then at him.
You kept your expression neutral, but your heart was drowning in emotion in your chest. You stared at him for a moment, expression still blank, before opening the journal to one of the later pages and gripping the pen between your deft fingers.
Feeling vaguely nostalgic, you wrote what they desired in the book. Then, you adjusted your scarf and handed the book to England.
"Thank you," he said, to which you nodded. He held it open to the page you had written and read aloud:
"I am (Name)."
The room was quiet for a moment as they pondered that. England turned to you once more: "Did I pronounce that right?" You nodded; yes, he had. You glanced around to see the countries looking at each other and nodding. But Italy still wouldn't meet your eyes. You could still hear his words from before ring in your head.
"It's a beautiful name."
"That still doesn't explain why you are in this house to begin with," China murmured, catching your attention. A few of the others nodded in agreement. It was true enough. But how could you communicate?
England gently placed the book back in your hands. "Could you please explain it to us, love? Feel free to take your time."
You stared at him. Slowly, you nodded.
So you told them your story. Edited, of course; you couldn't tell them everything. But you needed to tell them enough so they wouldn't be suspicious.
"I am (Name). I have lived here for a while by myself. I have been alone. I cannot speak. I"
You realized there was not much to tell. You scratched out the last "I" and handed it to England again. He read it aloud.
While he read, you felt many eyes staring at you, some in concern, other in curiosity, others with an unreadable expression. You knew you must look strange to them. You could only imagine what they thought when they looked at you.
You wore a dark coat that had belonged to one of your parent's friend that conveniently had a pocket that could hold your weapon on the inside. Under that, you had a long-sleeved shirt that your mother had worn. Your legs were sheathed by baggy cargo pants that were your father's, but was much too big due to your young age, malnutrition and over-exertion. And, of course, you had your dull red scarf, which your mother had made for you that you used to cover your wounds and also for your own security. In addition, you had no real need for shoes here and it felt like they only slowed you down, so you walked around barefoot. Finally, you wore a rusted necklace that you tucked in your shirt and under your scarf. All, to you, were disposable and you used to survive except the scarf and the necklace. You knew your parents would have understood losing their clothes and preferred they go rather than to lose you. But still, the scarf never left your neck and you never took the necklace off.
Of course, the scarf as important because it had come from your mother, but the necklace? Even you weren't sure why you kept it for so long. It was a simple piece of jewelry: just an old, now bronze chain with a thick oval ornament attached to it. It wasn't necessary to your survival. You thought it had been given to you, but you couldn't remember all the details. It was a long time ago, to say the least.
To them, you must look young and undernourished. Something to pity and to protect. But, heaven knows, you could take care of yourself. You crossed your arms at the thought, grimacing.
You looked up when England finished reading. Waited for any questions or suspicion. After another silence, Germany asked, "How long have jou been here by jourself?"
"And how on Earth did you manage by yourself?" England exclaimed, his expression one of horror. You turned to Germany to answer his question first. Then you took the notebook from England and wrote down your response. Germany was still looking at you, so you gave him a shrug. He raised his eyebrows at that.
"I am not sure."
England read your words aloudd. He turned to you, puzzled. "You can't remember?"
That was a part of it. But you knew that time was also messed up here, as you knew from watching them in previous time loops. You couldn't tell them that, though. You shrugged again. You wrote in the journal again: "I really don't know."
"Well... okay." He didn't sound convinced. You hoped he wasn't suspicious of you now, but what else were you supposed to tell him? "And what about my question?"
You took the book from him again. "I'm strong", you wrote and showed him. His thick eyebrows merely pulled together and he gave you what appeared to be a skeptical look. So you reluctantly grabbed your weapon from the floor.
It was [a] (weapon of choice). Surprise was on everyone's faces. You held it in your hand for a few more seconds before tucking it away quickly. You felt vulnerable having shown them.
"You can use that?" Canada whispered. He didn't say it insultingly, but with awe. You nodded at him. "Wow."
"It's... good that you know how to defend yourself, love, but you don't need to worry about that now." England said, thick eyebrows furrowed. His green eyes shone with sincerity and good intent as he continued, "We'll take care of you."
I've heard that one before.
"Yes, that's right, aru. You don't need to worry about fighting." China agreed. "We're all experienced in fighting here. We can take care of it." Everyone was nodding their heads at that. You, on the other hand, weren't so sure. But you chose to remain silent.
Slowly, you nodded again. They smiled. So you dropped your hands to your side and looked to the ground. You would have to hide the true brunt of your strength until the need for it came. You felt a tense despair all of a sudden. When you were finally left alone later that day, you wrapped your arms around yourself and shut your eyes. Then you opened them and exhaled a small sigh.
Here we go again...
--
The meeting started soon after the talk about you. Germany called everyone to order. Everyone stood in a circle. Japan told you quietly that it was alright if you wanted to be a part of it, but also said it was fine if you didn't want to be. You figured they were just being polite, but accepted the offer anyway. Instead of standing, you sat on the piano bench between China and Russia.
You watched a listened closely at first, but then started to daze off once you realized they weren't saying anything new or unusual. You turned halfway to the piano and stared at it blankly until something the men said caught your attention.
"-and by breaking the crocks, we adjust the time... so it is imperative that we do this. We have broken the crocks on the 2nd and 1st froor. Now, only this froor and the one above are reft," Japan explained. You noticed more clearly now how his accent shaped the r's in his words into l's. A lot of them seem to have some kind of accent, you thought.
And they found out about the clocks, you realized a bit late. You hadn't known about the clocks until after Italy and his friends came and you witnessed them discovering it in the first couple time loops. You wouldn't have guessed.
Italy spoke up suddenly: "We found-a this weird scrap of paper. And then-a we found a safe inside a room in the kitchen." Internally, you nodded.
"A safe?" Canada wondered. "Maybe the numbers on the keyboard... could be some kind of hint?"
You nodded, as did Russia. "Yeah, then we can open the safe and make some progress. So, first of all... shouldn't we take a look at the scrap of paper that Italy found?" He suggested.
England hummed in agreement. China took the paper from Germany whom Italy handed it over to so their side of the circle could see. It seemed he didn't want to approach you; his eyes remained glued to the floor. England leaned toward the Chinese man as he appraised the scrap. Soon, his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Yeah, they're a perfect match. Try sticking them together."
The group came together in the center of the circle for a minute and mulled over the paper. You decided to stay on the piano bench. Suddenly, a phone rang out, making several of the men jump in surprise. You, on the other hand, were unfazed. You cocked your head in curiosity.
"Argh!! S... sorry, it's my cellphone." England apologized, pulling the device out and frowning at it.
China spoke up, "Again? Russia's also rang earlier."
"Same-a here!" Italy exclaimed in that (fake) cheerful voice of his. "We heard a piano!"
England looked at him strangely. "A piano? Well, anyway, I'll answer it."
He accepted the call and put the cellphone on speaker. A familiar note rang in the air. You turned to the piano, trying to figure out which note it was. Has this happened before? Maybe it has and I didn't witness it- or maybe not?
I don't remember...
Your memories were all jumbled up and it was frightening to say the least. But you had to keep a straight face. You stared at the piano blankly, trying to make it seem like you were trying to determine the note, but in reality, you were trying to figure out what was wrong with your memories.
"It rearry was a piano. But it was a different note from the one that Russia heard. Itary-kun(10), did you also hear a different note?" Japan asked his ally.
Italy nodded. "Yeah, it was-a different."
"Only one note. That's the only thing in common. But there is no doubt that they're a big hint. We should all solve this one by one." England stated, face suddenly filled with determination.
"Yes. If we do that, we'rr soon be abre to meet America-kun and France-san(11). Though they'rr probably get mad at us for taking so rong." Japan mused, putting his hand to his chin.
A brief, odd silence filled the room. You could feel the uneasiness in the air, knotting your stomach.
Italy was the first to speak. "Eh? What?"
England furrowed his eyebrows. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Everyone turned to face Japan, confusion painted on their faces.
"Er, what... Did I say something wrong?" Japan glanced around him. A bit of concern was now showing on his once-unreadable face.
China, who had been silent, lowered his head. He was expressionless. "...Russia."
Russia nodded slowly at him. "Yes, I know. It's okay." He responded lowly. Your eyes darted between the two men, now thoroughly confused.
What's going on?
"Ex... cuse me?" Japan said, looking utterly lost.
"You said 'something wrong'...was it on purpose? Not that I care to correct you but... poor Prussia." England told him, concerned.
"Yeah, why did you-a say France and America, Japan?" Italy added, tilting his head. "The ones we-a have to save are Prussia and France, right-a? Why did you-a say America?"
"What?!" Canada said, alarm in his soft voice. His purple eyes were wide. His mouth hung open, but no words came out.
England spoke again, this time nervously, "C-come on, now, what's wrong with you? We're here to save America, aren't we? Neither France nor Prussia came to this place." His lips pressed together in a thin line. Didn't he say Prussia was here before?
A movement in your peripheral vision caught your attention. You turned to Russia who was adjusting his scarf around his neck silently. His eyes were narrowed in a dark expression. Among all this chaos, he had barely spoken. You couldn't read his expression. "..."
Your eyes then focused on his scarf. It was an odd thing to be noticing, especially given all that was happening now, but you couldn't help but notice how it compared to yours. It was tan and very long. Meanwhile, yours was red and considerably shorter and now fell a little above your waist. His was spotless and yours was dirtied with who knows what. He's kept it in good condition.
His scarf must be important to him, too, you thought.
He noticed your gaze on him and looked up. Your eyes met. You quickly glanced away and instead looked to your own scarf. Yes, it was dirty. But that doesn't mean much, does it? You adjusted it a little on your shoulders and tried to tune back into the intense conversation.
You tried to pay attention as best you as could, but ran into some difficulty. You could feel Russia's eyes on you the whole time. You swallowed and tried to make yourself listen in more. You knew the whole memory issue going was probably important, but you still couldn't stop the shiver that raced up your spine as he watched you with his cold eyes.
I need to be on my guard, you thought, burying yourself further into the comfort of your scarf. I need to keep my distance.
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foreign words A/N (please correct me if I'm wrong!):
-da(1) = yes (Russian)
-hajimemashite(2) = nice to meet you (Japanese)
-privet(3) = hello (Russian)
-katana(4) = a long sword that was used by Japanese samurai. (Japanese)
-ano(5) = um (Japanese)
-bella(6) = beautiful (Italian)
-ragazza(7) = girl (Italian)
-frau(8) = woman (German)
-si(9) = yes (Italian)
—kun(10) = a friendly honorific that can be attached to the end of someone's name; it is often used when talking to males that are usually younger than you (Japanese)
—san(11) = a polite honorific that can be attached to the end of someone's name; it is often viewed as a way of saying "Ms", "Mr", or "Mrs", but can be used on anyone's name to show them respect (Japanese)