---CHAPTER V: Three Paths (Part 3)---

//Canada's PoV!~//

As I began to regain my consciousness, I hear a voice calling out my name.

"Hey, Canada!!"

Whose voice was that..?

"Wake up, you bloody wanker! Open your eyes!"

Oh. It's England.

I tried to gather enough energy to bring myself to get up. I start to flutter open my eyes and let it adjust to the sudden brightness. My vision was blurry...where are my glasses?

I still felt disoriented, but I managed to speak.

"Egh... Ha... uh? ... Wh.. Whaz'happened?" I asked the emerald-eyed man who was sitting beside me.

"I don't know! ______ rushed over to me and told me that she found you unconscious here so we headed over here as soon as we can. When I found you, you were lying on the floor, near the piano, with maple syrup." He replied.

I creased my brow for a moment as my hands searched for my glasses. It was beside the maple syrup bottle I had. Now it's all covered in the sweet liquid...not that I don't like it. I began wiping it with my handkerchief.

"You scared me! Did something happen!?" England asked with a worried expression.

I decided that it was best not to explain to him how the Thing suddenly appeared in the room...not to mention it not seeing me. (=__=")

"Ah... Hem... No... I can't remember very well but... Since the flow of time is strange, you didn't run into it..." I told him.

He tilted his head. "Run into... what?"

I felt a sharp pain in my head. "Aouch... My head hurts...I... I don't think that creature will be coming to this room for a while...That's all I'm going to say."

I finally finished cleaning up my glasses. As I put it back on, I noticed something.

"Ah... I...England...you said that _____ told you about me, right?" I asked him.

England raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, we both headed here--"

He suddenly turned his head to the door and saw no one.

"Bloody hell. W-Where did she go?!" England exclaimed.

We both got up to our feet.

"This is bad. We shouldn't let her walk around this place alone!" I told him.

"Right. I'm terribly sorry. I didn't notice that she wasn't following after me." England said in low voice.

"Where could she be?" I asked as headed towards the door.

"Maybe she's still in the library on this floor. That's where I last saw her." The Brit replied.

"Alright, let's go." I said.

We both rushed towards the other room across the hall. I was about to open the door of the room, when I suddenly heard voices coming from the other side.

"N-No...I don't...."

My eyes widened. Was someone in there? Is it the monster?!

I flung the door open and ran inside. England followed.

"______!" England shouted.

The (h/c) girl stood there, her back facing us. She was just standing still. What's wrong?

We both walked towards her. Her head was down. I placed my hand on her shoulder. "______, what happened? Are you okay?" I asked her.

She was silent for a while. Then, she spoke in a very low voice.

"I'm sorry."

England and I looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

"______, love. What are you sorry for?" England asked.

She shook her head and then spoke again. This time, her tone suddenly changed back to how it normally was. "N-No... I... I didn't go to the piano room. I'm sorry if I didn't follow you, England. It was... I was...uhm, scared... Sorry for being a burden."

Our faces suddenly soften at her statement.

I backed off a bit as England went up to her and cupped her face. He made her face us. She was really pale and her eyes were watery.

England sighed.

"Everyone here is just as scared, _____. Don't worry. We understand that you were scared of the monster. What scares us more, though, is whether you're safe or not. We're gentlemen here. We'd never let a lady such as yourself walk alone in this dangerous house. We'll protect you and we assure you that we'll get you out of here. All of us will get out of here, alright?" He said in a soothing manner.

I've never seen England act this way before. It's rather reassuring. I saw _____ eyes brighten up a bit after hearing those words. She still seemed so fragile, though. I want to say something, too...

I walked up to them and took _____'s hand. I smiled and spoke, "England's right. You shouldn't worry, we're here. And don't think you're a burden. You're far from it! You always did something to help at all the right times. You even went to get England when you saw me unconscious. I'm very thankful for that."

She looked at me and a small smile formed on her lips. Then, she turned to England, who nodded in agreement with my words.

_____ took a deep breath and spoke once more.

"Thank...Thank you so much."

==================

The three groups survived successfully.
Meeting in the piano room.

==================

Third Person PoV

"--and by breaking the clocks, we adjust the time... so it is imperative that we do this.

We have broken the clocks on the 2nd and1st floor. Now, only this floor and the one above are left." The Japanese man explained.

Italy suddenly piped up. "We found this weird scrap of paper. And then we found a safe inside a room in the kitchen."

"A safe? Maybe the numbers on the keyboard...could be some kind of hint?" Canada questioned.

Russia nodded. "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?"

England snapped his fingers and spoke. "Yeah, they're a perfect match.Try sticking them together."

As the others were discussing about the papers, the tall, Russian man suddenly noticed the girl beside him. He turned to her and spoke, "Hey, _____...."

The girl turned to face him and asked nervously, "Y-Yes...?"

"I've been thinking....Do you kn-..." Russia stopped.

"Do I..what?" The girl asked.

Russia shook his head. He was silent for a while, but then spoke once more.

"You... You have something on your face."

The girl's hand shot up to her cheek. "Wh-What? Where?" She asked.

The man reached his gloved hands towards the girl and wiped off something from the her right cheek with his thumb. He then looked closely at his thumb and said, ".......Huh."

The girl gave a confused look. "What's wrong?"

Russia then looked at her and replied.

"It seems like pink and blue icing."

____'s eyes suddenly widened. Horror was written all over her face. "That's...I...well..."

Now, Russia found this intriguing. It wasn't supposed to mean anything to him but...her reaction made him suspicious of the girl.

He was about to ask more questions when a loud ringing of a cellphone was heard.

"Argh!! S... sorry, it's my cell phone." England apologised.

China tilted his head. "Again? Russia's also rang earlier."

"Same here! We heard a piano!" Italy exclaimed.

England gave a puzzled look. "A piano? Well, anyway, I'll answer it."

No voice was heard, but there was a sound of a piano.

"It really was a piano. But it was a different note from the one that Russia heard. Italy, did you also hear a different note?" Japan asked.

Italy nodded. "Yeah, it was 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.

"Yes. If we do that, we'll soon be able to meet America and France. Though they'll probably get mad at us for taking so long." Japan said.

"Eh? What?" Italy said, confused.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" England asked as he furrowed his brows.

Japan then looked around him questioningly. "Er, what...Did I say something wrong?"

China turned to the man beside him. "... Russia."

Russia nodded. "Yes, I know. It's okay."

"Ex... cuse me?" Japan asked, obviously confused.

"You said 'something wrong'... was it on purpose? Not that I care to correct you, but...poor Prussia." England said sympathetically.

Italy agreed. "Yeah, why did you say France and America, Japan?

The ones we have to save are Prussia and France, right? Why did you say America?"

Now it was Canada's turn to get confused. "What?!"

"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." England explained.

Russia fell silent.

"Only... America? No, wait a minute..We-Well, America said at the meeting place that he wanted to come...

And I said... I'd come with him...so I came here with America..." Japan tried to remember.

"Wait? Japan, what's wrong with you? The three of us came here with Prussia, remember?

America didn't come, and France got separated from Russia and the others..." Italy told him.

"You guys..." China said as he tried to calm the others down.

"Wait! Wasn't America the only one who disappeared? Why do you keep bringing those two up?" England said, frustrated by all this.

Japan then gave an exasperated look.

"What on Earth is going on......?"