---Chapter XV: Annexe (Part 4)---

You...won't...escape...

You...won't...

...I...won't...let...you....

....I....won't....let....you....all...

.......leave.....me....

.....again.......

=*=*=*=*=

"We'll be taking what we came for now."

"What?!!"

"Don't worry, we won't hurt her."

"Now wait just a--"

Before England could even finish his sentence, Oliver used his magic to transport the Second Players back to their base.

---------

As the Second Players disappeared along with (Name), the First Players just stared in silence. They were the only ones in the hall now, bloody and bruised.

"What have they done...?"

The thought run through their heads, echoing in the very depths of their minds...and their conscience.

Ending their ear-ringing silence, a brown haired Italian stepped forward and faced his comrades with a cold, hard stare.

"We should go back to the saferoom." Italy told them.

Prussia creased his forehead, "But, Italy...they've got (Name)!"

"Yeah... We need to save her from those bastards!" America reasoned.

Clenching his fists, Italy shot him a glare. "The only bastardi here are you guys!" he shouted angrily.

They all stared at Italy with wide eyes and looked back and forth between him and his older brother. It was normal for them to hear Romano talk like that...but Italy... This... this has never happened before. Never in their lives would they even imagine Italy to get angry like that.

"Hai... We understand." Japan said softly. Turning to face his comrades, he spoke, "Italy's right. Let's head back to the saferoom, get our injuries checked, and talk about the matters at hand seriously."

Though hesitant at first, they nodded and started to walk.

So much had happened, they all needed to settle down and clear things out. As they walked through the halls, that one question echoed in their minds once more.

"What have they done...?"

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

The (h/c) haired girl tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and asked Oliver in a geniunely curious tone,

"Who's....'(Name)'...?"

----------------

The Brit couldn't help but back away from the girl. "Y-You're joking, aren't you, poppet...?" he asked hopefully.

"Uhm, sorry? I'm serious..." she replied, creasing her forehead. Turning to look at the others, she spoke, "Who are you people? What am I doing here?"

"You don't remember us at all, bella?" Flavio asked softly.

Shaking her head, she frowned. "I'm sorry...but I really can't remember anything... Even right now, I'm trying to...but my mind just draws blank about it."

"...Do you even remember who you are?" a low voice was heard from afar.

The girl turned around to find the source of the voice: it was a young man wearing a tan military outfit with auburn hair along and a strange curl sticking out on a side. What struck to her the most was the man's piercing magenta eyes...that seemed to somehow reflect...sadness? She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but there was just something about that made her feel a little uneasy.

It was a familiar feeling, but at the same time...it was unfamiliar.

"Hey...you...I..." the (h/c) haired girl started, walking over to the magenta-eyed Italian.

Giving her a confused and almost seemingly hopeful look, Luciano raised an eyebrow at her. "What is it?"

"Do I...know...you...?" she asked softly as she gazed into the Italian's magenta orbs, as if searching for an answer from them.

Raising his hand, he gently pat the girl's head and spoke,

"Of course you do, (Second Name)."

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

//Saferoom//

"Well?" the Northern Italian asked, tapping his fingers on the table impatiently.

They were gathered around this long wooden table at the saferoom, their place of refuge. Although that is what it originally is, everyone in the room simply feels agitated and uneasy about the discussion they were having. Italy was actually holding the meeting, strange and uncomfortable as it might sound. He may have been that oblivious guy who would keep mentioning "pasta" during conferences, but that was before they entered that damn mansion. Now, Italy had accumulated so much strength, emotionally and physically, as well as having the confidence that would make the others take him seriously.

America looked down. "...It was...for a good cause." he reasoned.

"And when is attempted murder considered a good cause?!" Italy clicked his tongue.

Shrugging, China raised his hand. "Ah...well, when it's the monster, it is, aru."

"But they weren't those Things, weren't they?!" Italy shouted, his frustrations almost nearing its limit.

France couldn't help but scoff. "They weren't...but they were still monsters, weren't they?"

"That's right. What if all they've told us was just a ploy for us to go along with them? They already admit that they were out to kill us, you know. It was more of a....self-defence." Prussia said.

"Self-defence is when you defend yourself when they attack you. In your case, you guys were the one who attacked!" Italy told them.

Hearing the truth made them freeze.

No matter how much you look at it, they were the ones who attacked the Second Players first. Their enemies even told them that their purpose their wasn't to hurt any of them--though they also did say it was only for that moment..which meant that they did have plans against them...but they weren't going to do anything at that time.

But...

"But those monsters had to be dealth with sooner or later, si? We just chose to do it sooner." Spain said looking down.

Romano nodded. "That's right..."

"No! That's not right!" Italy shook his head.

Soon enough, bickering started. Arguments on what was right, what they thought were right, what was wrong, what they thought was wrong...everything just started to go into a senseless debate that no one was winning. One side stating that it was clearly wrong to fight, and the other stating that it was fair because they were fighting against the monsters that got them into this horrid mansion.

Monsters.

Not being able to take it any longer, the usually soft-spoken Canadian slammed his fists on the table. "Enough!!! All of you!" he shouted angrily.

The world was definitely turning the other way, because this time...Canada was heard.

"Canada..." France said as he was shocked to hear the Canadian's voice that was no longer a mere whisper.

Noticing that everyone's attention was finally on him and that they were actually listening to him, he took a deep breath.

If they keep denying the truth, then he'll just slap the truth in their faces until they accept it for all that it is.

He had realised this long ago, but now, it was finally time for him to let them hear what they never wanted to hear.

"You keep saying that the Second Players are monsters...but have you all forgotten how they even came to be in the first place...?" Canada asked, knowing that it was almost a rhetorical question.

Silence enveloped the room once more. No one wanted to answer that question...because they knew about it all too well.

Japan slowly raised his hand and spoke, "Ano... It was because of...the wars, right?"

"Yes. Yes, it was because of the wars...but more than that... Don't you guys understand that they were created because of..." Canada trailed off, wanting to hear the answer from at least one of them.

England's emerald eyes widened as it dawned to him what Canada was trying to tell them. "It was...because...of  us, wasn't it?" he said softly, guilt dripped in every word.

When it was finally said, they couldn't help but look at each other with sullen eyes. They knew. They knew that all along. They just couldn't take it in their hearts to accept it.

But now, maybe they could.

And to be honest, it's time that they should.

"That's right. That's the truth." Canada told them, nodding. "They were the products of our weaknesses, our fears, our selfishness, our greed, our anger and jealousy.... They came to be because of our faults. It was during the time of our vulnerability. That time we let ourselves get carried away with the darkness that lied within us. It was us."

"It was us... That time we denied ourselves of our sense of right and wrong. That time we weren't able to bear knowing that we were...destroying one another....along with the lives of....our people and of others... We weren't able to take it....that's why....we...." Germany shook, clenching his fists.

Russia looked away, but spoke, "...that's why we...chose to run away from it...by letting all the darkness within us to be...personified...and take over for us during those times of chaos.... It was us..."

"Doing that made things worse, because we let loose those who'd allow chaos and destruction. It was us... We were...the ones at fault..." France admitted, placing a hand over his mouth.

Canada looked at them. "Yes. You see..?

To be honest, they're not the monsters. If anything.....we are."

Deny ourselves of the truth no more.

"Yeah... that's...true." America said with a sad smile. Hearing that truth hurt the hero, but it's something he needs to accept. And because he is a hero, he knew that he can do something about it. "...but...we can still make things right, can we?" he said.

"We can, and we will." Canada said, smiling.

The others smiled as well. They were wrong, yes...but...it wasn't just of them to make it right with another wrong. They can fix this. It was time to start making things right.

Italy smiled warmly and clapped his hands. "Well, then let's start the real meeting!~"

"Ah, first...should we talk about...(Name)...?" Prussia suggested. "So much had happened earlier with her..."

"Ve...It was wrong of you guys to lock her up here. She was quite furious." Italy commented.

France nodded. "Oui, we know that now..."

"But dudes...aren't we forgetting about...what we saw from the sack?" America asked them.

China shook his head. "I...I still can't believe what I saw there. Is that even possible?"

"Ever since we entered this mansion...everything's starting to become possible." France told him.

Japan cupped his chin. "But...if it really was true that this wasn't (Name)-chan's first time loop......how come we never see a memory of her whenever we break a clock?"

"Hmm...Italy? Did you know anything about this?" Germany asked.

Shaking his head, Italy spoke, "I'm sorry but I seriously had no idea about it. Ever since I met her, I've always wondered how I've never seen her in this mansion before. Just like..."

"...Just like...the Second Players?" Canada said softly. Italy nodded. Looking up in thought, Canada spoke, "...Do you guys think that maybe...she was brought here by the Second Players...and had never met any of us--that's why we don't have any memories of her or something?"

"Well, it's possible...but how come we met her in this timeloop?" England wondered aloud.

Romano raised a hand. "Mhm, maybe she's like us?"

"Si. We are proof that timeloops can change in greater measures." Spain agreed.

Japan thought for a moment. "Still, a lot of things aren't adding up..."

"Then, maybe we should think of the details once we get (Name) safely back with us?" America suggested.

England nodded. "Right, we also have a score to settle with the Second Players holding her captive...but we'll deal with it civilly."

"But how will we find them? I can't remember a single place in this house that could possibly be their base." Italy said sadly.

Spain scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well, we did try to find their base in all floors without telling you...but unfortunately, we couldn't trace it at all. Maybe the annexe? We're not sure..."

"I see... So we really have to check the annexe more thoroughly later." Italy decided.

Tilting his head, France asked, "Well, it sounds a bit impractical for all of us to go there yet, so just a selected few should check the annexe....so, is there anything else that we need to take care of?"

"Oh, hey, that reminds me, I've been wondering... Thanks to that journal, a lot of enemies were gone, but where did they go?" Russia piped up.

England raised an eyebrow. "What? Well, if those four wound up in the past, then obviously the enemies also--....Oh..." his eyes widening at the thought.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

"Luciano Vargas. We need answers. Now." Flavio said in a low voice, far from his usual cheery one.

The Second Players were currently in their base, about to hold a tense discussion. They've been through so many confusing events earlier, and now they felt like they were going to go even more mad than they already were. In the end, they were successful in getting (Name) back to them, but not all things went according to plan.

One thing was that the other 2Ps found out that it wasn't the girl's first time loop--and that they couldn't remember a single thing about it.

Another would be that, for some unknown reason, the (h/c) haired girl had lost her memories without their intervention.

Luciano shook his head. "I can't tell you right now."

"And why the fuck not?! We deserve to know!" Allen exclaimed angrily.

Oliver hushed the redhead in a depressed manner. "Allen, language... and quiet down, the poppet might hear you."

"She's in the other room, the walls aren't that thin, old man. And what happened to you?" Allen asked, curious about Oliver's change in character.

Matthieu thumped his brother's head. "Probably 'cause his beloved 'poppet' doesn't remember him, you dipshit."

"Enough about that. Our questions are still left unanswered." Kuro told them, turning to the magenta-eyed Italian.

Luciano frowned. "I already told you, I'll answer them--but not right now."

"How do you even know more than we do? We all went to this place together." Francis said, suspicions breeding in his mind.

Looking away, Luciano muttered. "We.....did."

"Then how come we didn't know about the girl's previous death or about even about the girl herself?!" Zao asked.

Luciano just stayed silent and ignored the question.

Nikolai squinted his eyes. "Why aren't you telling us everything? Are you hiding something from us? Are you going to betray us or something?"

"I'm not!" Luciano replied, angry at the accusations against him.

Lutz crossed his arms. "Then what did you do? How come we don't remember?"

Reaching his limits, Luciano finally snapped and shouted,

"How could you guys possibly remember?! It's not even your first timeloop!!!"

And as that revelation was made, it was like the whole room was placed in a painful standstill.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

Meanwhile in a room next to where the Second Players were discussing, a (age)-year old girl was idly walking around, singing a strangely familiar song.

"Ma...rukaite....chikyuu...." she sung slowly, not even knowing what the words meant. It just flowed from her mouth. It gave her a warm, happy feeling.

Her friends told her that they needed to talk about something, so she needed to stay in a different room from them for a while. She understood and patiently waited.

She continued to sing that familiar song. "Marukaite...chikyuu...Maru...kaite...chikyuu....boku...." she paused. "Huh? I can't remember the next word..."

While she was trying to recall the next lines of the song, she heard giggling from behind her.

Turning around, she saw a little girl wearing a cute, frilly, red dress that went up to her knees.

Taking a step back, she nervously asked, "Uhm, hello little one...What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to play!~" she beamed. "What's your name, big sister?"

Smiling at the little girl's cuteness, she replied. "My name is (Second Name). What's your name, little girl?"

"I'm (Name)! Nice to meet you!~"