Chapter 37: The Rumors

The next memory faded in, and with it, my anxiety grew. Feliciano and Ludwig were out training in an open park area near one of the World Meeting buildings in Japan.

Ve... I'm bored. Feli thought to himself. He was in the middle of running laps, when he suddenly veered off and shot down an alleyway.

"Italien! Where are you going?!" Ludwig yelled after him.

"Ve! I'm going to explore! Bye Germany~!" Feli waved as he dashed around a corner and quickly scaled the side of the building, Assassin style. He watched from the roof with amusement as Germany rounded the corner in hot pursuit. He paused a moment before running off towards the Meeting Building to look for his runaway friend.

"Germany can be such a slave driver when he wants to be." Feli sighed. "It's not even hard training, just monotonous."

From his position on the roof, he spotted a nearby town, opposite the direction of the Meeting Building. "Oh? Maybe I should explore~!" He grinned, before leaping from roof to roof. Upon reaching the town, he dropped back down onto the streets, looking around himself to gather his bearings.

My stomach dropped. I could never forget that town. "No..." I'd known it was going to be shown, but... now that the time had come, I couldn't... I couldn't! I didn't want to see it all again! My mistakes and fuckups rubbed in my face in front of all those I'd failed! I'd worked so hard, and gotten so far! Was it all truly worthless in the end? Was I doomed to never escape this nightmare?!

"Oi. Veneziano? What's wrong? You're so pale all of a sudden." Romano's question caught the attention of the other nations, who turned to me with concern.

Suddenly, Luciano's expression changed to one of realization as something clicked for him. "So we're finally here." He closed his eyes for a moment, to calm his own nerves.

"Fratello?" Flavio tilted his head, confused, as he looked between myself and Luciano.

"We can't explain. But the memories will." He reassured his twin.

"But I don't want them to know!" I cried out. "I lived it enough times for a thousand lives!"

"I know, Felice. We both have." Luciano pulled me into a gentle hug, but I pushed him away.

"Why? Why can't we just stop here?! Why do they have to see this?!" I was panicking. I wasn't processing my environment or the people around me. My breathing quickened, and I distantly realized that I must've been having a panic attack. There was a high-pitched ringing sound at the edge of my hearing.

"What's going on, Veneziano? Felice?" Romano looked scared. He could sense my mental pain through the link, and had no idea why I was shutting him out.

In my distressed state, Yang came up to me and through sheer will, made himself physical instead of spectral. He slapped me across the face, hard.

"Feliciano!" He yelled, and I stopped. His voice and the physical sensation brought me back to now.

"Who the fuck are you?" Romano stared. This man looked just like me, but with white hair, freckles, and ice blue eyes. I could hear Romano's inner thoughts through the link that he carelessly left open. Who the fuck is this guy?! And why the hell did he slap Veneziano?! Flavio didn't look to have a clue, either, but Luciano didn't seem surprised to see him at all.

"Yang." I said, focusing on him.

"There you are." He placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "Take a deep breath, there you go. And out. Perfect. Look at me. There's no reason to panic. It's a memory. You've done that before, right? It's a Memory Clock Flashback, okay? Only more removed. It's normal. You've been through this before. It's familiar. You're fine. Everything's okay." His words soothed my frayed nerves, allowing me to find my masks once more. My shoulders relaxed and my breathing evened out. My mind centered and I felt calm. I knew this. I'd done this so many times; I was an expert, now.

"Grazie." I smiled softly at Yang. "You really do care." I teased.

"S-so what if I do?! You wouldn't be able to do anything without me!" He crossed his arms.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." I smirked.

"Would someone mind explaining what is going on here?! And who the bloody hell are you?" England gave Yang a pointed look.

"Oh... you can see him?" I looked at Yang's decidedly corporeal form. "Oops."

"Not like you would've been able to hide me forever. Not with us going through these memories." Yang shrugged.

"Yeah, but I sort of planned this differently." I admitted.

"Psh!" Yang laughed. "As if your plans ever go as they're supposed to."

"They do sometimes!" I argued.

"72."

"That was—"

"288." He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, well how was I supposed to know that—"

"1094."

"Fine! You've made your point, asshat." I huffed, crossing my arms. "My plans tend to flop, but I'm fairly good at adapting."

"OI!" Romano interjected. "Hate to break up... whatever this is, but could someone explain who this guy is?!"

"This is Yang. He's... er... how should I put this?" I looked at Luciano helplessly.

"Just explain it to them like you explained it to me." He shrugged.

"He's a personification of my anger, hatred, and bloodlust?" I smiled sheepishly at the disbelieving nations.

"Uh, what?" America blinked.

"No, it seems I can't explain it right." I sighed. "I suppose you'll have to wait for it to come up, then."

"And you didn't tell me you had some split living in your head because?" Romano raised an eyebrow.

"Oi! I'm not a fucking split!" Yang cried out indignantly. "I'm my own person, I'll have you know!"

"No, I'm pretty sure you'd still be classified as a split, regardless of the fact that you've developed your own soul." Luciano replied dryly.

"Honestly, fratello. I didn't want to worry you. And Yang doesn't exactly have the best secret-keeping skills. If he'd accidentally let something slip, then I'd be in real trouble." I sent him a glare. "And I can't exactly answer any specific questions about him."

"Hey! I'm good at keeping secrets. You know, most of the time."

"Yeah, right! Just like you kept that secret about—"

"If I let you two get into one of your spats again, we'll be here all day." Luciano cut in with an amused smile.

"You knew about this Yang guy?" Flavio asked, surprised.

"I'm right here, you know." Yang waved his arms.

"Si. Due to... circumstances outside of our control, I found out about Yang." Luciano sighed, looking back towards the memory. The others followed his gaze, watching as Feliciano happily ate some gelato he'd gotten from a nearby stand.

"Ve~ What to do now?" Feli wondered aloud to himself. The sight of several middle school boys gathered together piqued the Italian's interest, and he casually leaned against a nearby brick wall to eavesdrop.

"...telling you!" One boy was saying. "It's real! There's this haunted mansion three hours East of here! That's why people don't go into the forest anymore!"

"Come on, Hiroshi, I thought you didn't believe in ghosts?" One of the other boys laughed.

"You don't understand! You can't go there! Nobody should set foot in that hell!" Hiroshi continued to argue as he pushed his silver hair out of his eyes in frustration. Feli walked away, not listening any further.

I stared at the silver haired teen. His scarf was wrapped tightly around himself, and he had this paranoid look about him. Hiroshi... He'd been there. I knew that look in his eyes, now. It was glaringly obvious to me. He was a survivor of that place. I should've heeded his warning. I sighed.

"Ve! A haunted mansion, huh? Scary. But... it's been such a long time since everybody's done something together... Everybody's been working so hard, lately, and some people are still mad at each other..." Feli leaned against a brick wall in thought. "Maybe... this is an opportunity? It could be fun if everyone's together!" He grinned, and I grimaced.

"I truly am sorry." I spoke, looking up at the nations around me. My gaze was dead, and I knew it. Several nations flinched at the cold, detached expression.

"Sorry? For... ditching training?" Germany hazarded a guess.

"No... for hearing those rumors."

Feliciano quickly ran off towards the Meeting Place. Nobody will want to go if I'm the one who tells them about it. They'll think it's a joke or something, and I'm not too good at convincing people without going mafia on them. America's perfect, though! He's loud, and stubborn. They'll listen to him! Feliciano's excited thoughts echoed around us, and I watched sadly as he ran down the far too familiar hallways of the building.

Ah, ha! There he is! "America!" Feli flagged down the other nation, who turned towards his friend curiously.

"Hey, Italy! What's up? The meeting should start soon, but you're kinda early." Alfred grinned.

"I was walking around town, and heard about a rumor. There's this haunted mansion three hours away from the World Meeting Place, towards the east. I think it'd be fun if everyone went together! It's been years since we've all done something that wasn't work related." Feli's excitement was infectious, and Alfred grinned widely.

"Yeah, dude, that sounds awesome! I'm pumped! I'll announce it right after the meeting, so everyone's there to hear it!"

"Oh, please don't mention anything about me." Feliciano added.

"Why not? I mean, it's your idea." I held back a flinch.

"Because I'm the 'cowardly' one, and if they realize I'm the one who heard the rumors, nobody will want to go." Feli pouted.

"All right. No problem!" Alfred laughed. "Leave it all to me! Gotta go, though. Iggy'll be mad if I'm not early this time. I've got a bet to win." He winked as he dashed around Feli and down the hallway, out of sight.

I listened as he slammed the door shut behind him. I winced and rubbed my ears in a familiar old gesture—perhaps purely on habit alone. Feliciano, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by the sound in the slightest, as he wondered off to the kitchens to eat.

"I don't see what's so bad about this..." China spoke up.

"Come to think of it, I don't really remember this." America puzzled. "It's vague, like something from a dream."

"You wouldn't." I mused. "Though, I suppose that's a good thing."

"A blessing in disguise." Luciano sighed.

"What do you mean, we wouldn't remember?" South Korea tilted his head.

"I can't say." I sighed.

"That's gonna get real old, real fast." Yang chuckled.

"The hell do you mean you can't say?" Romano che'd.

"Mmmmmaaaaa..." Yang tested out the word, and when I didn't feel any sort of warning, I nodded. "Magick." Yang spoke up. "We can't say more than that."

I let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened, and I felt no warning from my Journal. Yang gave me a pat on the back. Breathe, Ying.

"Magic or Magick?" England asked suddenly.

"Magick, with a 'k' at the end. The Old stuff." Luciano answered.

"I'm guessing that you're somehow bound from explaining things to us by this Magick." England surmised.

"I can't say." I stressed, and England nodded, his theory confirmed.

"What does that mean, then?" Hungary asked, a worried mother vibe about her.

"That they actually are unable to talk about it without some sort of magical backlash. It could be anything from simply physically restraining them from speaking about it, to instant death or loss of magic." England winced as he explained it. "So it's best not to tempt a Magical Contract, especially one made with the Old Magicks."

"In that case, we should probably be watching for memories to explain, дa?" Russia chimed in.

"That's your best bet, and we'll explain where we can." Yang agreed, though I sent him a mild glare.

"Who made you the spokesperson?"

"I did."

I sighed. "You're an arrogant jerk, you know that?"

"Just remember, I came from you." He stuck out his tongue. "So you're really only arguing with yourself, here."

"So let me get this straight." America interrupted. "We don't remember any of this because of some weird magic or whatever, but you three remember for whatever reason, and can't tell us because of that same magic. Do I have that right?"

"Pretty much." Luciano nodded.

"Italien! There you are!" Ludwig came into the kitchen. I glanced at the clock. It was ten minutes to the start of the meeting.

"Ve?! Germany! You finally found me~ Ve~ Do you want some pasta? You've been running around for hours." Feli asked, holding out a plate to the irritated blond.

"And whose fault do you think that is?!" He glared.

"I'm sorry, Germany! But it was so boring! I wanted gelato instead." Feli grinned.

"Nein. No gelato. Come, we must get to the meeting. I've wasted enough time looking for you." He sighed, and the scene blurred.

Alfred was standing up on a table in front of the room; the meeting was over. "Yo! Dudes! Listen up! I heard this rumor about this TOTALLY awesome haunted house! For reals, yo! We should all go!" He waved his arms around exuberantly, trying to get everyone's attention.

"I vaguely remember this, now." America muttered to himself. "Yeesh. I know I was trying to be louder than normal to gather more attention, but I didn't mean to be that obnoxious." He muttered under his breath.

"Not too hard for you, Al." Canada smirked.

"Hey! That was mean!" America crossed his arms and pouted. "Where'd you get such a sharp tongue, anyhow?"

"I grew up with you."

"Fair enough." America shrugged.

"Yes, I imagine that the more we see, the more we'll remember. Though I believe we should remember as we go." England surveyed the scene as his own memories started to trickle through. "Ah. I remember now. You were being so obnoxious." America rolled his eyes, letting the slight slide.

"Ve~ Germany, Japan! We should go, too!" Feli turned towards his friends with a grin.

"Count me out." Lovino stood up and left the room, Spain on his tail.

"What was that about?" Prussia asked.

"I had a headache from dealing with idiots all day." Romano explained. "Last thing I wanted was to deal with you guys outside of meetings. No offence."

"Offence taken!" Canada shot Romano a glare.

While the group had been arguing, several of the nations had agreed to join Alfred's group, bringing the total number of nations up to ten.

"So it begins." I sighed, looking at the group in the memory as they all headed off together, rowdy as ever.

"Italy?" South Korea looked at me with confusion. I just shook my head, my feet following the familiar path to the Mansion with little thought.

I nearly walked into my memory self, and had to remind myself that I wasn't living this, I was watching it. The birds flitted around the trees, and the hot summer sun shone down.

"August 15." I stated.

"Huh?"

"The date. It's August 15, and we arrived around 12:30 in the afternoon."

"Oh." America nodded, accepting the random bit of information.

"That will be important later. Keep that in mind." I stated as the group came upon the towering Front Gates. They were made of black iron, and had beautiful and intricate designs. I would've liked them, if I didn't know of the demons that lied within.

"There is a Mansion, about three hours on foot from the World Meeting Place. No one knows how long it's been there, or who used to live in it. Rumors said that it was Haunted." Luciano muttered under his breath.

"You cannot easily set foot into that 'mysterious Mansion' in your town. Because if you anger its former occupant, you will not get away lightly... Especially when there are no people there..." I quoted Hiroshi. It was something I'd heard him say many years after I'd started.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Austria looked at me puzzled.

"Ah, ignore it. I heard Hiroshi-kun say it a long time ago."

"You mean that boy that you heard the rumors from?" Canada asked, and I nodded.

"I am having bad feeling about this place." Russia spoke up as we all walked towards the Mansion.

"Me too..." England admitted.

"I'd be worried if you didn't." I chuckled humorlessly. "You subconsciously remember the dangers of this place."

"The... dangers?" Japan sent me a questioning look, but I pretended not to notice.

"At any rate, it'll be a thirty minute walk from here." I continued. "Best get comfortable."

With that, I hummed to myself, trying to keep the memories at bay. Luciano walked to my right, as Yang strolled by my left side. I was scared, but deep down, part of me was excited. I'd missed this place as much as I'd hated it. Perhaps it was some kind of Stockholm syndrome, but I'd slowly started to think of the Mansion as home. Or maybe it was the closeness that we'd been able to find while in this hell?

I hoped we'd find that closeness again. That we'd find that bond once more. And that maybe this time, I wouldn't walk away alone.

A/N: As promised, here's today's update. ^^

I have someone who's 11 hours ahead of my time zone, and I promised to update within a timeframe of 6AM-10AM my time. I then realized I had work today from 6AM-11:30AM, so I'm now up at 4:30 in the morning specifically to update this for you guys~!

And I'm very tired. XD LOL But it's better for me to be up and about anyways. ^^ (And maybe now I can eat instead of catching that extra ten minutes of sleep or whatever... I have a bad habit of eating once a day).

So. We finally have reached HetaOni. We're here. The next chapter should make some of you tear up. Also~ Yang is actually introduced to the group! Were you expecting that? ^_~

For those of you who don't know, Hiroshi is the name of the main character in the original Ao Oni game. That was just my little nod to him.

As always, if you want to draw some fanart, you can PM me or just send it to my e-mail, [email protected].

Betweentwoworlds(at)italymail(dot)com for you fanfiction.net people who can't see the link. XD

Words: 2,576/2,918

Pages: 6/7

Posted: 01/24/2019

Edited: 03/13/2019