Chapter 42: Loop 189

The next memory opened up to show Feliciano wondering around the Third Floor Library alone, looking for something. "It's no use. I can't remember where we hid them..." He sighed, looking down at a book. "I was sure I'd left myself a clue, but... no, maybe I'm wrong." He shook his head, placing the book back on the shelf.

"What were you looking for?" Spain asked as the scene faded.

"The Metal Pieces, most likely." I said, not quite able to place the Loop number, yet. "They unlock the hidden Fifth Floor, where the Front Door Key usually is."

"Oh, you mean that room with all the numbers written in blood?" Prussia shivered as he recalled it.

"Yep." I chirped happily. "That's the one~!"

"That's scary, man." America shook his head as the next scene faded in. Feliciano was standing with everyone else in a small square room in the Basement. I instantly recognized the scene, and from the relief on Kiku's face, it could only be one loop.

"Fuck." I cursed.

"Language!" Romano snapped back, but I shot him a glare.

"I think after everything I've been through, I've the right to cuss." I shot back. "Besides... this is Loop 189... Forbidden Loop #4."

"This is the fourth worst loop in the Mansion, then?" Canada asked, looking around himself.

"Yeah." I sighed. "This loop left me absolutely devastated, almost as much as Loop One."

"Yikes." America winced.

Feliciano was saying something. "...make time." He smiled sadly at the group, as Kiku suddenly looked up in fear.

"Itary-kun!" He cried out as the Thing burst through the door just behind Feliciano. The entire room jumped, but nobody could react fast enough.

Japan was pale, as the memory likely snuck its way back into his mind.

"It was scary, but..." Feliciano smiled as the Thing went to bite down on him. "It was fun."

Just as the fangs went to impale him, Arthur cried something, and Alfred pushed Feliciano out of harm's way, shoving a metal pipe into the Thing's mouth instead.

"Sorry, You'll have to settle for eating a metal pipe!" He grinned, as Arthur gave in to his magical exhaustion and collapsed.

The scene faded out. "You saved my brother's life." Romano said, turning to America and England. "Thank you."

"Si. Grazie." I smiled at the two.

"Nah, don't worry about it!" America laughed. "You're my buddy, and I'd be real sad if you died on me."

"Indeed. You are important to us, Italy. So don't throw away your life so casually." England added.

"Ugh, this is making me sick." Kuro sneered, and Japan 'accidentally' stomped on his foot. "ITAI!" Kuro shot a sharp glare at his 1P.

"Oops." Japan smirked. "Sumimasen, Kuro. I didn't see you there, your brooding cloud made you blend in with the wall."

"You wanna fight, bastard?"

"Hmm... Now that you mention it, I could use a warm-up." Japan nodded.

"Oh, I'll give you much more than a warm up." Kuro spat.

The two glared for a moment, before I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I said after a few moments. "I just find the interactions between you two quite funny, since I know you two are actually good friends." I explained.

"Me? Friends with him?" Kuro looked away in distaste, though I could make out the smirk on his lips.

"As if! He's so rude!" Japan agreed, though he didn't try to hide his smirk.

The 1Ps gaped at Japan. They'd never seen him act so rudely or informally before. China, South Korea, America and I all shared a knowing smirk. We were, after all, the only people here who knew him well enough to have seen him like this. China and South Korea during his childhood, America because Japan could get competitive when playing video games—some of those profanities he'd let slip were really shocking when you weren't expecting them!—and myself during the aftermath of the bombs.

While nobody had been paying attention, the scene had changed, and the group was now looking around the Safe Room in surprise.

Asher sniffed around tentatively, before finally letting his hackles fall. "I feel safer, here."

"Wow~! Who knew there was a room like this in that place?" Oliver smiled.

"Actually, Germany built it for me." I informed them, and the group turned to stare at a flustered German. "You kept that promise you made me back in Loop 2, even though you didn't remember it." I smiled. "Thank you."

Suddenly, Germany was bombarded with compliments, and the poor blond looked more than a little overwhelmed. Prussia laughed, finding great amusement in his baby brother's torment.

The memory nations all looked around the room in relief, even Feliciano looked around in wonder and slight trepidation.

"You looked nervous." China pointed out.

"Well, I'd never seen the Safe Room before." I admitted. "This was the first time in all 189 loops that I'd seen it. Japan was getting memories from the clocks he wasn't supposed to be getting, and I hadn't been expecting you guys to save me in the Basement. Everything I thought I'd known about these loops was suddenly thrown out the window, and I was scared. I had no idea what to do next, and I felt so useless... I thought that if I didn't to something to take control of the situation, someone would surely die."

"So I hadn't shown anyone this room before?" Germany blinked in surprise.

"Nope. I don't think you'd finished it."

The scene blurred to show everyone coming out of the Tunnels, and heading towards the Basement Cell room.

"Why are you going down there?" Louis asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, well. I'd tripped while running away from the Thing in the tunnel down there, and thought it best to remove the obstacle, since we were down there anyways. I remember finding an odd piece of metal... Was that what you were looking for earlier, Italy?" Germany turned to me.

"Si. Or one of them, at least. But we were down there because I asked everyone to come along down to the basement. I'm sorry, for what you're about to see. Please understand that I had my reasons."

As the group entered the room, which was divided by a thick bars, Feliciano turned to the group. "Before I say anything, I have a favor to ask of you." He pointed to an innocent wooden box sitting in the cell. "You see... there's this box inside the cell, right?"

"Yeah, that one, right? What about it?" Yao tilted his head, confused.

"Can you open it for me? I can't open it, and I want to see what's inside." He replied.

"That's not a trap at all." America rolled his eyes.

"Then, I, the Hero, will open it!" Alfred grinned confidently as he strolled inside.

"You obviously didn't think so at the time." England replied, as America all but fell to the floor in shock.

"I... was having an off day... yeah... that's it..."

"Sure, Al. Whatever you say." Canada chuckled.

Yao and Francis followed after Alfred as Matthew turned to Feli. "What's in that box?"

"Er..." Feliciano hesitated a moment. "Hope?"

"Seems legit." Canada shrugged. "Not."

"Wow. How did you go from that crappy of a liar to this?" Romano stared.

"I'm honestly astounded at the level of stupidity and gullibility it takes for something as obvious as that to fool someone." Louis stared, hardly able to believe that the 1Ps had fallen for such an obvious trick.

"Don't worry, they sharpen up after a while." Luciano reassured them.

"I feel like such an idiot for not seeing anything wrong with this situation." England looked ready to whack his head against the wall.

Matthew looked ready to ask something else, when Alfred spoke up. "The hell?! It won't open at all!" He tried pulling on the lid harder, but it didn't budge.

"That's scary, I know how physically strong you are." England stared. This was the same guy who dragged around his bloody car for an hour to find him! How was this box not smashed to smithereens?!

"What would you have done if he had managed to open that box?" Flavio asked me.

"I'm honestly not sure." I laughed. "I'd been so out of sorts because everything had been different. I was just desperate to keep everyone safe."

"You're pathetic, give me that." Arthur sighed as he made his way into the cell, followed by Gilbert.

"Maybe it's locked?" Ivan suggested as he, too, went inside. Matthew followed.

"Let me try." Ludwig spoke up as he and Kiku went in as well.

The 2Ps watched, dumbfounded, as their 1Ps were easily tricked into what was obviously a trap.

"If Itary was really your enemy, you'd be dead." Kuro sighed.

"Well, sorry for our thought process being affected while in this place. I'd love to know how well you fared, oh great senpai." Japan bit back, making a few 1Ps choke. Yang and I just chuckled.

"Germany." Feliciano stopped the German before he could head inside, waving Kiku on forward.

"Yes? What is it, Italy?"

"You just found something in the Tunnels, right? Maybe it's some kind of clue. Can I take a look?" He tilted his head innocently, and if it weren't for the slight shaking of his hand, the nations watching wouldn't have seen anything off.

"You mean this?" Ludwig pulled out an oddly twisted piece of metal that looked more like shrapnel than some kind of key. "I don't think it's much, but... oh well." He handed it over to Feliciano, who took it firmly in his grasp.

His head tilted down, so his expression was hidden by his bangs. "...nks." He muttered.

"Ital—" Ludwig's words were cut short when Feliciano shoved him into the cell, slamming the door shut with a resounding clang that silenced the room. The nations in the memory all turned to stare at their friend in disbelief and shock.

"You... locked us up?" Prussia raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the Things can't break the bars, and you can't let yourselves out. So it was the safest place I could think of. I'd know where all of you were, and the Things couldn't eat you." I explained, feeling a bit ashamed for the method I'd used.

"Hahaha!" Jason laughed. "Man, that's hilarious! You're all locked up!" Markus whacked Jason upside the head, making him bite his tongue. "Ow! Mother fucker!"

"JASON!" Oliver glared, holding out his hand, an irritated expression on his face.

"Shit, fine." He fished in his pocket for a quarter before tossing it to the other.

"Swear jar." America explained to the 1Ps. A few snickered.

"Itary-kun?!" Kiku's voice turned our attention back to the memory at hand. Feliciano ignored him, and walked a few steps away, out of reach from anyone who may try to reach through the bars and grab him.

"Hey, America..." He turned to face them. "Why don't you say it?" He had a cool expression on his face, detached and mildly amused.

"Italy!" America blinked in shock.

"Say it. In front of everyone. Who lured them here?" He smirked darkly.

"Sick acting skills, but your hand's shaking." America pointed out.

"Oh. I hadn't noticed at the time."

"You... you're trying to get them angry with you." Romano stared at the scene in disbelief. Asher stared in confusion.

"Why would you want them to hate you?" I glanced at the wolf.

"It's easier that way. I can handle their anger better than pity." I stated. "At least, that's what I thought at the time." Now I know I can, because I've already fallen below that rock bottom.

"What?!" Yao glanced between Feliciano and Alfred. "What are you talking about?!"

"America?" Ivan turned towards the Superpower, who resolutely ignored them. His face was set in a hard, determined line, and I knew he wasn't going to say anything.

"By the way, there's nothing in that box. It's just an empty box, sorry." Feliciano shrugged nonchalantly, as he walked to the middle of the room, turning away from the shell-shocked nations. He fidgeted with the Piece of Metal, trying to fit it in his jacket pocket, before he gave up and slipped it into the pocket of his pants.

"It can't be... What's the meaning of this?!" Matthew demanded.

"Hey, America! What's going on here?! What are you hiding?!" Arthur turned his angered gaze towards Alfred, who continued to stare at Feliciano resolutely. He did not appear angry, only disappointed.

"Huh?" Feliciano turned to look at Alfred. "Aren't you going to say it? Why not?" He glared. "Read the atmosphere for once!"

"Italy!! Open this door!" Ludwig demanded fiercely.

"Aw~ But if I open the door, you'll get mad at me." He pouted, before a dark smirk graced his expression. "Then again, you already are."

"Son of a—" Ludwig's words were cut off by his brother's quiet ones.

"Italy..." Gilbert looked sad, not angry. He appeared to be attempting to figure out why Feliciano was doing this.

"Aren't you going to say it?" Feliciano asked Alfred one more time. Upon seeing the expression of the other nation, Feliciano sighed. "Fine then." He looked at the rest of the room. "You see, I'm the one who told him the rumors about this place."

"What?" Francis asked. He, like the others, was blown away by the statement.

"I'm the one who told America. About this place." He smiled. "And America immediately went to ask everyone to come check it out~ Just as I wanted him to."

"Th-then..." Kiku stuttered, trying to process this new information.

"Right. It wasn't America who started this, because I told him. That's why you're all here, now." He smirked again, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. Feliciano looked incredibly amused, almost giddy.

"You told him? You're kidding, right? Why?" Gilbert shook his head.

"No reason in particular. I just happened to hear the rumors about this place, too, and then I told America~"

"Why did you lock us up, here?" Francis looked like he wanted to slap the Italian, but he also looked conflicted.

"Hmm... Because you'd get in the way?" He tilted his head. "You'd gang up on me, and ruin all my plans. So just stay there for a while, okay?"

"Wow, nice wording. You're really building up yourself as the villain, here, but you're being completely honest at the same time." Luciano complimented.

"WHY ARE YOU SUPPORTING THIS?!" Flavio and Romano cried out together. "I don't understand!" Flavio continued. "Why do you need to play the villain?"

"Because I didn't want them to come back for me if I died, okay?" I shot back defensively. "I thought if they hated me, they'd be happy to leave me behind, and then they could all go back to their normal lives... without me."

"BAKA!" Japan whacked me upside the head—hard.

"Ow! K-Kiku?!" I had to look to see if it was bleeding. It wasn't.

"You really are an idiot if you think we'd just leave you behind!" He glared.

"I know, I know! Please don't hit me again! Sumimasen!!" I bowed in apology, my sudden switch to Japanese made him blink.

"You're fucking kidding me! I'll just—" Arthur's voice drew our attention back to the memory again, and Arthur's attempt of a magical spell fizzled out before anything happened. "Shit! Because time's stopped! My magic—!"

Oliver held out a hand towards his 1P.

"NO! I'm not participating in your bloody Swear Jar campaign!!" England glared, causing Oliver to sigh.

"Ah, that's right. Thank you~ You were really helpful!" Feliciano chirped, rubbing the fact that Arthur had saved his life earlier, in the Englishman's face. "Well, I'll be going now~ Thank you for finding this for me, Germany!" Feliciano grinned as he walked to the door. "You too, America; thanks for everything." He reached for the door handle, when Alfred spoke. His voice was calm, devoid of anger. There was only sadness.

"You really should have learned how to smile a little more naturally."

Feliciano froze, a look of shock painted on his face, and that expression made the other nations pause in their anger.

"Did you forget what we said yesterday?" Alfred continued. "The one who laid out the rails... yeah, it was you." He gave Feli a grin. "But I chose to run on them. I could've chosen not to, but I chose to get on those rails. "No one thinks it's your fault."

Tears fell from Feliciano's eyes, and Kiku spoke up. "Itary-kun! Please! Open the door! You don't have to do this alone! We can—all together—get out of here!"

Feliciano paused, looking at them with a conflicted and pained expression. "No." He finally answered, his voice thick with emotion, yet strangely hollow at the same time. "We can't."

"Italy!!" Ludwig cried out again, though it was with worry this time, rather than the anger of earlier.

"I'll tell you one more thing." Feliciano said, turning back towards the door, so as not to look at his friends. "The Thing is after me. That's why no matter how many of us are gathered together, it will target me and attack me first. That's why I tried to keep close to the doors as much as possible, though it was a little pointless." He sighed. "This ends here." He spoke with conviction, as his eyes hardened. "I'll make this the last time." He paused, faltering for a moment, his hand resting on the door handle. "... If I come back, give me a good scolding." He sent them all one last smile, before leaving the room.

Once outside the room and a bit down the hall, Feliciano let out a shaky breath and sat down against the wall. "They got really mad at me. Germany's face was so scary... straight out of a nightmare!" He took a few minutes to gather himself before standing up on unsteady legs. "Well, now... where was it, again?" He moved towards the exit of the Basement. "I don't really—"

The sudden shrill ringing of his cell phone made him jump with a cry. It also made many other nations jump in alarm and surprise.

"Germany! Japan!" He called out, before remember he'd locked them up. "Oh, right... they're not here."

"Because you locked us up." Germany huffed, a little annoyed. Sure, he understood why he'd done it, but that didn't mean it didn't still annoy him.

"My phone? Scary... Who is it? And how can they call me, anyway? There's never a signal in this place..." Feliciano looked at the Caller ID, which showed a picture of Lovino, grinning ear-to-ear as he held a violin.

"What?!" He stared in shock, his hands shaking badly as he clicked answer. Th-that's right... I have a brother! His name... is... "Um... Roma—"

"You IDIOT!!! What took you so fucking long to answer, goddamnit?!" Lovino's voice cried out from the phone.

"Oh? I was there, too?" Romano blinked, sharing a look with his 2P. Hopefully he wouldn't be an idiot and die.

"What?! What?! It's really true?! How? You are Romano, aren't you?!" Feliciano's tears flowed down his face as he held the phone with both hands.

"Of course it's me! Ack! Wait— Spain! You can't take my phone! Give it back!"

Romano shot Spain a glare. "I called my brother, who'd been going through hell for almost 200 loops, and I finally get the chance to talk to him, and you take my phone?!"

"Eh! I probably wanted to talk to him, too!" Spain defended himself.

"Uh, huh. Sure. You'd better hope that the call doesn't get cut off here, or I'll be pissed."

"Spain, too? It can't be! Why?" Feliciano shook his head slowly, unable to understand why things were changing all of a sudden. He held back sobs, covering his mouth with his free hand.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Now, listen, Veneziano— wait... are you crying?!" Lovino sounded distressed.

"No, I—I'm just so happy. Hey, Romano... can you fill in for me at work tomorrow?"

"What?"

"Tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and for ever and ever... can you?"

I quickly ducked under my brother's swat. "I know what you're going to say, and I agree. I was being stupid. Please don't hit me."

"Che. Fine." Romano crossed his arms. "As long as you understand that it was absolutely idiotic of you to ask me that."

"No." Lovino answered.

"Romano—" Feliciano tried again, but he was cut off.

It's your job. Just get your ass back here and fucking take care of it yourself!" The phone started breaking up. "An... real... idiot... well... ly..."

"What? Romano! I can't hear you! Hello!" Feliciano called into the phone, but a moment later the call dropped. "It got cut off..." A silly grin spread over his lips. "Hehe~ Their voices! It's been so long!" He laughed happily for a moment, before he stared at the phone forlornly. "I wish I could go home."

Feliciano shook himself as he started searching the Basement for something, returning to the Tunnels from earlier. When he got to the area around the burned remains of the ladder, he paused, thinking. "No... It isn't here, after all. Where did I hide it, again? Was it on the 3rd floor, maybe?" He paused for a moment. "Maybe not. Ugh, I'm so nervous now... but if I calm down, I'll remember. There was another one that I hid with America. And then... Um..."

"I FOUND YOU, VENEZIANOOOOO!" Lovino's voice called out from above, causing both Feliciano and the viewing nations to look up at the mouth of the cavern, where Lovino and Antonio stood. It was a sheer drop of about twenty to thirty feet, or that's what it looked like, at least.

"What...?" Feliciano slowly looked up, an expression of bewilderment that quickly turned to horror as he recognized his brother. "Ro—Wh-why?!"

"Good thing the Front Door wouldn't open, so I was just loitering around here." Lovino smirked, an intense relief was evident in his expression and his tone. "I finally found you! What the hell have you been up to?!"

"Oh, you know. Slaying demons." I deadpanned.

"You're actually not lying." Luciano sighed.

"Oh, yeah, huh?"

"Ita! Thank God!" Antonio grinned. "You can't stay there all alone! Where are the other guys?"

"What—what are you doing here?! We didn't ask you to come!" Feliciano shook, his shock was starting to turn to anger.

"That's a swell thanks." Romano huffed.

"He's just worried." Flavio reminded his 1P.

"What did you do with the clocks?! Did you break all of them?!" Lovino demanded.

"How... how did you know about that?!" Feliciano reeled back.

"Answer me! Did you break the last clock?!"

"Clocks?" Austria looked confused.

"Oh! I can answer this one!" America beamed. "So time was all fucked up in that place, right? And we figured out that we could correct time by breaking these clocks that were hidden throughout the Mansion! But whenever we broke them... Er..."

"We'd get back what I can now only assume are memories from previous loops." Japan finished.

"Sounds about right." Yang nodded. "Except you forgot to mention that every time you break one, there's a fucking ti—"

"Yang!" I cut him off sharply, as I felt my Journal heat up dangerously. "That's enough. We cannot speak of that yet." I glared.

"S-sorry." He apologized meekly.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! I've known this guy for less than three days, and I can already tell this is outta fucking character! What the hell happens if you break this stupid contract thing?" Romano looked rather horrified.

Luciano gave an irritated sigh and rolled his eyes angrily. "What part of we can't say don't you fucking understand?!" He glared.

"Hey, now. That's enough, Luci... Vino's just stressed... we all are." Flavio stepped in.

"And you think we aren't?! This is Feli's Timedamned memories, here! And technically, MINE, too! This place doesn't exactly bring back memories of the fucking Bahamas, you know!" Luciano snapped, making all the 2Ps take a wary step away from the nation that was glowing with a dangerous grayish red aura.

"Come on, Luci..." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, it's okay." I soothed him. It took a couple of minutes of breathing exercises, but he finally reigned in his Magick.

"It can't be... You weren't supposed to know about that... What are you even doing here in the first place?!" Feliciano demanded, drawing our attention back to the memory at hand.

"Romano, I know you're happy to see him, but don't get too excited—" Antonio was cut off by Lovino, who's expression had become very serious.

"Veneziano! I'm coming down there right now, so don't move!"

"N-NO!" Feliciano screamed out, terrified. "Don't come here no matter what! Go home!! What are you doing here?! How—how did you know?" He stared.

Lovino stared back for a moment. "Try saying my name."

"R-Romano..." Feliciano started, but his brother cut him off.

"No! Say my full name." Lovino demanded, and Feliciano hesitated a moment.

"I-Italy." He said, eyes widening in horror as he finally understood. "Italy... Roma...no..."

"That's right! I'm Italy too!" He nodded fiercely. "I may not know everything you remember, but I do plan on carrying at least a little of that burden on my shoulders! You haven't been alone this whole time!!" A few tears leaked from Lovino's eyes, as he tried desperately to get through to his brother. "You've... broken quite a few clocks, haven't you?"

"Y-yes, but..."

"The flow of time got fixed. That's why we were finally able to get here." Antonio explained. "Not just us, you know? The others are also coming to help you guys." He grinned.

"I fiiiiinally found you." Lovino sighed in frustration. "I've been trying to find you for ages—couldn't find you—the phone wouldn't work, and sometimes I felt these little shocks, like half of me had disappeared, every single time—You IDIOT!" He yelled, tears falling thickly.

I wasn't able to bear it... Feliciano's thoughts echoed. That's why several of my memories flowed over to Romano and he came looking for us. He clenched his fists. Why did they have to come here?! Why?! Even if something happens to me, if my brother is here... No. He cut himself off. I've already had too much of the first time and I'm getting confused. I have no idea what I should do.

"Veneziano?" Lovino asked, sensing his brother's thoughts wandering.

"I'm sorry, Romano. I have to go. I'm sorry, but... just go home!" He yelled, before running off back up to the house. Lovino's voice called after him.

"Ack! You bastard, wait!"

The scene sped up as Feliciano searched throughout the Basement, First Floor, and a majority of the Second Floor. He finally came to the bedroom across from the Fireplace Room... The same room he'd died in during the Second Loop.

"You're an idiot to think I'd just go home. Or stay put." Romano sighed.

"Si. I was. But to be fair, I wasn't exactly thinking straight." I replied.

"Was it here?" Feliciano asked himself aloud. "I've finally got everyone together. I'll definitely get them to escape... or else I'll be doomed to a world where I'm all alone. Then again, even though I tried my best to be at least a little reliable, they still couldn't trust me." Feli sighed. "If... If I went back, they wouldn't get mad, would they?" A watery smile played on his lips as tears welled up again. "I'd say I'm sorry, and they'd yell a lot and scold me... and then... they'd hug me... and I'd hug them... And... and they'd also apologize..." Feliciano sniffled, his sobs starting to overwhelm him. "All this time... I really... with them... from here..."

"Oh, Veneziano..." Romano looked at me sadly.

Suddenly, a gigantic Thing—the same one that had killed Feliciano in Loop 2—burst through the door. Feliciano jumped, and whirled around in shock, slowly backing up as it advanced, a terrifying grin on its face as its tail swayed in anticipation.

"Oh..." Feli gulped. "Ger—ma..." He shook his head. "No! I can't keep relying on them! It's my turn to protect them!" He narrowly dodged the Thing's attack, as he twisted his body to draw his sword from his flag.

"I won't lose!" He cried as he slid under another claw strike and between its legs, lobbing off its dangerous tail. It roared in pain and frustration, as it turned its vicious glare on Feliciano. He was unable to fully dodge the swipe to his left side, and blood flew through the air.

"VENEZIANO!" Romano cried out on reflex.

"Relax fratello. I'm fine."

"You died. Several times." He glared. "That's not fine."

"But I'm fine, now." I stressed.

"Good luck." Yang patted my shoulder.

"I should wish you that. You'd better pray that they don't find out what you did, or you'll be massacred." I muttered lowly to Yang, who suddenly went as pale as his hair.

"Yang-san?" Japan asked, tilting his head in confusion. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, er... Um... y-yeah!" He stuttered, feeling terrified of Japan, in particular.

Luciano laughed. "Oh, Yang. You're going to die some very painful slow, agonizing deaths."

"Well, he will if their guilt doesn't overwhelm them first." I pointed out through the Link.

"True, very true." Luciano replied.

"Wait, why would he die?" Flavio puzzled.

"Because these 1Ps are going to kill him." He answered simply, and Yang gulped.

"We're going to kill him? Why?" England's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Because he used to be a complete demon." I sent him an icy glare. "He..." I took a deep breath. "He betrayed my trust—in perhaps the worst way possible—and cost us a loop that we very well may have escaped on. Simply because he was bored."

"As terrible as that is, I feel that there's something important that we aren't seeing..." China muttered.

"I refuse to elaborate beyond that. What's done is done. It was a long time ago." I shook my head, trying to dispel the images from That Loop.

Feliciano stood, panting hard as blood dripped from numerous wounds and injuries caused by the Thing. They looked serious. The door burst open again, and for a moment, some of the nations feared that it was another Thing. They sighed in relief when they saw Lovino, Kiku, Ludwig and Gilbert enter the room.

Lovino screamed when he saw the Thing, stumbling back into Gilbert in shock. "The fuck is that?!"

"What the hell?!" Gilbert stared in shock, too. "It's huge!"

Feliciano didn't seem to have noticed them, and he was panting hard, leaning on his sword.

"Itary-kun?" Kiku asked, unable to see the extent of his friend's injuries from the angle they were at.

"Italy!" Ludwig cried out, as the Thing vanished.

"Haha... I win... again..." Feliciano smirked. "Oh, looks like you... guys found me." The scene faded out as Feliciano collapsed and his friends ran over in concern.

"Did you...?" Romano turned towards me.

"I didn't die." I reassured him. "I think I fell into a coma later on in the Loop, but I eventually woke up again." I smiled. I quickly whacked my twin upside the head, hard.

"OW! Felice, the fuck was that for?!" Romano rubbed his head, checking for blood. "Ow."

"Oh, quit whining, you baby. I didn't hit you that hard." I rolled my eyes. "That was for not listening to me when I told you to go home."

"Like I was going to fucking go home when you were in that much danger?!" Romano glared.

"You could've at least been a little more considerate of my situation. What help would you have been from the inside, huh?! Maybe next time, bring a fucking rope!" I glared, but there was no venom in my words, and he relaxed.

There were several scenes that flashed by. Feliciano waking up, him finally explaining everything to everyone, Roderich and the others showing up outside, even Feliciano and Ludwig's journey through time, causing a minor paradox and giving everyone a headache. The scenes faded in and out just fast enough for me to explain them, including the Contract we signed as humans, and the plans for what to do when we escaped.

It finally slowed down to show Feliciano and the group of 11 nations finally getting outside. They burst out, and the grin on Feli's face was huge. "We–! We're out!" He cried joyously. He looked back at everyone, to make sure they were alive.

"Of course we are!" Lovino smirked, pulling his brother into a hug. He was bloodied and bruised, but alive. Everyone was alive. Even Lili looked injured, and a worried Vash was tending to her injuries. The nations outside looked up in surprise as the group burst out.

"Italy!" Roderich called out, a smile on his face.

"Papa Austria!" Feli grinned, "Mama Hungary!" He ran and hugged the two, as they hugged him back.

"We're so glad you're okay, Ita!" Hungary cried. "We don't know what happened in there, but you look terrible!"

"It's okay! It's over, now. We did it!" He grinned, elated.

"Um... forgive me for interrupting this happy reunion, but... What do you think we've been fighting out here?" Yong Soo crossed his arms.

"Ha! I'm here!" South Korea cried out in happiness.

"You shouldn't be happy about that." China reminded him.

"Y-you're right! We all need to run!" Feliciano startled. How could I forget?!

The group of nations started to make their way quickly back off the Mansion's grounds, helping the injured where they could. But before they could get far, a massive group of more than thirty Things burst forth from the Mansion, causing my group to startle, and some to even scream.

"Wh-what?!" France cried out. "There were that many?!"

"More. This is their advance group." I explained. "You haven't even seen their real fighters, yet. This is... easy." I sighed.

"Wait... you mean we didn't get out on this loop?" Germany asked. I glanced around in confusion.

"You... you all didn't really think that we'd gotten out on this loop, did you?" There was silence. "Oh. You did." I sighed. "No... it's one of the closest loops we had to getting out... Everything was new and different... After over two and half years of Looping... of the same monotony over and over, I'd finally had something change..." I looked up just in time to watch Ukraine meet the business end of the Thing's claws.

Russia's head whipped up as he heard her cry, and though it was a memory and he couldn't do anything, he still ran over to his sister. "Nyet!" He cried, trying to swipe his Pipe-sword through the Thing, only to have it swish through air. He growled, looking down at his sister, dead. Tears dripped to the ground.

I walked over to him, placing my hand comfortingly on his arm. He looked like he had half a mind to shrug it off and possibly pound my face into dust, but when he caught sight of my expression, he paused. "You... are crying."

"Si." I nodded. "It is always sad to lose family." I looked up at him, before directing my gaze towards Lovino, who was distracted for a moment when Antonio was killed, costing him his life. I flinched as he was killed by the Thing's teeth, half-expecting the all-too familiar pain of our link snapping.

Asher yelped in shock, dashing over to Lovino, momentarily forgetting that it was a memory. Romano followed his bonded, before hugging him around the neck. "Shh, shh... it's all right, Asher. I'm here." Asher whined pitifully, glancing back at Lovino's body.

Russia looked back at me. "Oh..." Then, he pulled me into a hug. "It is okay to be sad together, then."

"Oh, Felice..." Romano breathed, "I'm so sorry..."

Feliciano screamed, something terrible. The nations had never heard me scream like that... not when Emma died and we'd been burned at the stake... not when Lulu was killed... not when my brother and I had been separated... not when Holy Rome had died... not even in Loop One. No, this was on a completely different level. A pain so intense that there was no distinguishing between mental, physical, and emotional.

"FRATELLO!" He screamed, and several of the nations—2Ps included—covered their ears with a wince. Russia hugged me tighter, and though I'd felt the pain so many times that I was practically numb, I still felt the familiar wet substance leaking from my eyes. I hugged Russia back, knowing that this pained him, too. And unlike me, he was not used to watching his loved ones die.

The entire memory shook and tinted first red, then an icy blue color. I suddenly became more alert as I realized something for the first time. I looked over at Yang. "This is your birth, isn't it?" I asked him, and he just laughed.

"Took you long enough, Ying." He smirked. "Oh, I was around beforehand, but this was me being released."

"You were born in this?" China's eyes widened as he took in the gore and blood around him. Only a handful of nations were left alive, including Kiku and Feli.

Everyone else was dead.

"Yeah. Like he said earlier. I was born from his hatred, anger, bloodlust, and pain. I'm also partially a representation of his Winter powers, I think. Why else would I have white hair and blue eyes?" He pointed out.

An echo of laughter was heard on the wind, as Feliciano turned his golden gaze skyward, the Things dead. It was only then that the nations saw the icy-blue flecks in his eyes, that hadn't been there beforehand.

"Itary-kun...?" Kiku hesitantly walked forward.

"Please... Kiku..." Feli turned towards his friend. "Tell me. Why does it hurt so much? Why does it feel like I've lost everything I've worked for? Why? Why does God hate me?"

Kiku looked at his friend sadly, unable to answer him. "Wakaranai."

Feli looked at the last Thing left alive, the same one that had originally chased him out of the Mansion in the First Loop. It grinned at Feli, and deliberately turned around and went back inside.

Feli sank to his knees, Lovino was still beside him, his blood was already cooling. The deceitfully bright and sunny day should've been filled with cheerful laughter and plans for a sleepover at Kiku's house. Instead, it was yet another sorrowful ending.

He carefully pulled out his Journal and clicked his pen. Numbly, he started writing the entry. "How could I have made such a stupid mistake?" He muttered to himself. Before their eyes, Feliciano shut down, his masks slipping back into place as if they'd never been removed.

With a weary sigh, he got to his feet, and put his pen away. He ignored Kiku, Yao, and Roderich's cries for him to come back. "On to Loop 190."

As the scene faded, Asher threw back his head, and let out a terrible, mournful howl. Because even though his bonded was still alive, he'd died at one point. Permanently. And he'd never even known. So while it wasn't the Song of Mourning, it was close enough. His single note hung in the air as the loop finally faded entirely away.

A/N: So here's Loop 189~! I know some of you are probably disappointed that England going blind wasn't in there, but rest assured it'll be shown in a different loop. I feel that that was something that affected Alfred more than Feliciano, so I left it out. (I also spent a good three hours trudging through the HetaOni videos on SotetAG's Youtube channel to make sure I was as accurate as possible on the cannon scenes.)

The important parts of the Loop, the parts that I feel had the most impact on Feli, is what was shown. Especially the devastation he felt when it failed. I hope I did it justice.

The next chapter will bring us closer to the fabled Forbidden Loop #1, Loop 222. Fear the triple two, and glare at your clock whenever that time is shown. That's why I chose that number for the loop, after all. *Evil smirk*

Words: 5,747/6,589

Pages: 12/13

Posted: 01/28/2019

Edited: 03/15/2019