Chapter 47: Ill-Fated Vacation
Chapter 47: Ill-Fated Vacation
As the memory faded back in to show the Meeting Place, Romano turned towards me and yelped, startled. I tilted my head, confused. "Ve? Fratello, what's wrong?"
The others turned to see what the fuss was, and several of them gasped in shock. "A-aiyaa...." China's eyes were wide, shining with guilt.
I looked at Yang with confusion, and he snickered as he tapped his left eye. "You dropped the Glamour, remember?"
"But I dropped that yesterday!" I complained.
"Yes, and most everyone was dealing with a hangover." Luciano pointed out.
"So..." I turned to the group. "This is my eye-scar. Stare at it now, and get it out of your system." I deadpanned. Many flushed in embarrassment.
"It looks terrible..." France muttered. Even Louis winced when he got a good look. Asher whimpered and licked my hand.
"I'm sorry... You should never have been hurt that way..." He whined lowly. I just chuckled and scratched him behind the ear.
"Ve... so it's just past this town?" Feliciano's chipper voice drew everyone's attention. Feliciano, himself, seemed off. Like his smile wasn't quite right, and his eyes were still rather cold.
"This must've been relatively close to... erm... the last memory." China noted.
"Si. If I remember correctly, which I'm sure I do, this is Loop 355." I winced a bit.
"What happened?" Luciano asked, catching the expression.
"Er... well, let's just say I wasn't quite over what had happened." I muttered.
"Oh! This is that one?!" Yang laughed, earning himself a glare from me.
"You know..." Feliciano spoke up, looking at Alfred, Francis, and Ivan. "Why don't you three go on ahead? I'll catch up with you." He smiled, and the three shared surprised looks.
"What's up, man?" Alfred asked, confused.
"Ve... I'm a little scared, and need some time alone to pluck up the courage to go." Feliciano admitted. "But don't worry! I'll catch up!" He grinned. "But I saw a gelato stand, and I think it sounds really good~!"
"All right." Alfred grinned. "We'll see you later, then!" He waved as he led the other two nations towards the Mansion. As soon as they were out of sight, Feliciano's smile vanished, leaving behind a stone-faced pessimist.
"Time, that was getting on my nerves." He spat, glaring in the direction of the three. "Now... Since I've essentially thrown this loop..." He smirked, looking around. "What to do, what to do? I think 355 loops has earned me at least one loop's worth of vacation time~" He grinned, skipping off towards the town's busier shopping area.
"You... left them to the Mansion to fend for themselves?" Luciano stared at me in disbelief.
"You of all people should understand that I needed a Timedamned break." I sent him a mild glare.
"Believe me, I know how that feels." Luciano amended. "But I just didn't expect you to take one so soon, that's all."
"Well imagine what I was feeling. Just over a hundred loops ago, they'd abandoned and betrayed me." I stated callously, ignoring the winces of the nations around me. "If there was ever a time to take a break and throw a loop like that, it'd be in the time thereafter."
"I don't blame you." America spoke up suddenly. "After all that death and bloodshed... I would've gone mad. I don't know how you did it, but thank you." He smiled.
"All that death and bloodshed?" I laughed. Luciano snorted, and the group looked at us in concern. "We're nowhere near the end of the Loops." I chuckled. "We're not even 1/100th of the way through!"
"W-what?!" Romano's eyes were wide, and he looked rather panicked and sickened at the information.
"Don't spoil our fun." Luciano stuck out his tongue. "We won't tell you how many loops we've been through."
"Forgive us for not seeing the fun in how long you were trapped in a bloody nightmare." England said flatly.
"That's the only real source of entertainment we have right now." I deadpanned. "You are our source of entertainment, keeping us sane."
"I'm sorry?" England spluttered.
"He means, darling, that having to relive the worst memories of their lives is highly traumatic for the two—sorry, Yang—three of them. As such, we are the only things keeping them sane at this moment, so be a little more proactive in distracting them from the flashbacks, would you, Dearie?" Oliver grinned, slinging an arm around England's shoulder.
"Bloody hell, Oliver! Gerrof me!" He yelled, shoving his 2P away.
"I noticed... you don't use the word 'God' anymore." Canada pointed out. "You say 'Time' instead."
"Oh... well, that's because I don't really believe in God anymore." I shrugged, as my highly religious brother's head whipped up in shock. "If there is a God, then he's either very cruel, leaving me to a place like that and ignoring my pleading, or he isn't as all-knowing and all-powerful as people think. Either way, it was Time that saved us, not God."
"That's... cynical." America turned back to the memory.
"Can you really blame me? After all I've been through..." I looked up at the blue sky of August 15.
"Can you blame either of us?" Luciano spoke up, hands casually in his pockets. "Everything considered... it's a miracle we're still sane enough to function. I'm honestly amazed that neither of us are bloodthirsty monsters..." He chuckled as if he'd made a joke.
"Well, outwardly, at least." I joined him in chuckling. The others looked at us oddly, but didn't say anything.
We were then treated to a montage of Feliciano eating gelato—which he greatly enjoyed—wondering around the town, and essentially just goofing off. He ate at several restaurants, bought frivolous things, and even snuck into a wedding. At some point, he walked off with a guy and a girl and disappeared into a local hotel only to emerge a few hours later alone with a big goofy grin.
"Did you just get laid?" Prussia asked teasingly, a large grin on his face.
"No." I rolled my eyes. "I laid them. You really think I'd let them top?" I raised an eyebrow as Germany choked on his spit.
"That's my brother." Romano nodded proudly.
"Two in one go? Nice job." South Korea complimented.
"Eh, you think that's good? You should've seen the time I went to France's place! I got a harem of twenty-seve—" I glared at a bright red Flavio who'd clasped his hand over my mouth.
"We don't need to hear exclusive details of your sex life, fratello." He refused to meet my gaze.
"Yeah, because you know too many exclusive details already. Remember Venice?" I grinned beneath his had as he went even brighter.
"S-SHUT UP!! THAT NEVER HAPPENED!!" He yelled aloud, smacking me upside the head.
"Oh, wow. You actually made the levelheaded one blow up. That's an accomplishment." Luciano whistled appreciatively.
Several 2Ps stared in shock. Flavio hardly ever yelled, so seeing him blow up like this was an entirely new and foreign scene to them. It'd be like the 1Ps watching the me that they thought they'd known blow up angrily at someone.
At one point, Feliciano even went back to the hotel that the nations were staying at for the Meeting. "Phew! I nearly forgot where it was!" Feliciano smiled.
I'm shocked you remembered, Ying. Yang spat. Ooh~ I wonder if we'll see that lovely ex-brother of yours?
"Yang..." Feliciano started aloud before responding mentally. "I'd shut the fuck up, if I was you."
He then made his way back to his room to find a note on the bed. 'Veneziano; I've left the meeting to go home early, so don't dick around too much before coming home. Please be careful, I've got a bad feeling about something... –Vino.'
"Huh. So he ended up going all the way back to Italia?" Feli hummed. "That does sound nice..." He looked out the hotel window longingly. "What was Italia like, again? It's been so long... I can hardly remember..." He sighed. "I remember, but... memories aren't the same. You can't just look at a picture of home and feel safe, after all."
"That is true." Russia sighed sadly. He wished his family could go back to being happy like they used to be, but war did terrible things...
I gripped my Journal a little tighter in my hands, taking a moment to feel my connection to my people. When I first reconnected fully with my lands and people, I cried. It was such a relief to feel them once more. It was much subtler for the others, though. Perhaps it was because they were unaware of what was really going on? Or maybe it's simply another part of being the Ryuuzu.
Feliciano reached for the door handle, which he'd locked on reflex. The sky was now dark, but he hesitated. "Something's... not right... I feel anxious all of a sudden." When his hand touched the knob, he drew it back as if burned. "I-it's cold! But no! They shouldn't be able to come out here!"
The door started banging, and he flinched back, terrified. A moment later, the banging stopped. He sat there, huddled in the corner for a bit before he ventured back towards the door. He touched the handle and relaxed a bit. "Normal temperature..." He looked out the peephole. After another few minutes of harsh debate, he cautiously opened the door.
The hallway was suspiciously empty, sans the claw marks in the door and on the wall opposite of Feliciano's door. There was also the severed head of Francis, laying there on the floor.
Feli sighed, more inconvenienced than anything at the sight of the severed head. "Of course you'd be the one they'd fling at my door." He sent an offended glare at Francis' head.
"Hey!" France shouted, miffed. "That's no way to talk to the dead!"
"Forgive me for being accustomed to being surrounded by your corpses." I shot back. More than a few people shivered and looked away.
Feliciano went over to Francis and rolled his head out of the way with his foot. England laughed lightly, amused by Feliciano's callous treatment of his rival's detached cranium. He then bent down and picked up what looked to be a note.
"So they're literate?" Feli raised a surprised eyebrow. "No... the writing's too small... too neat..." His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he read the words. "'Come home, my dearest Ryuuzu no Ko. The rest of your friends await, as does your clock. You're late... An escort will arrive at dawn if you get lost.' This wasn't written by the Things... does that mean that... there's someone who controls them?!" He shuddered in disgust.
"Wait, what?!" Oliver and England cried out in synchronization.
"Please never do that again." Louis stared at the two flatly. Klaus nodded with a shudder.
"You mean there's actually a person behind all this bullshit?!" America cried out, beyond shocked.
"We can't say anything more." Luciano stated, spitting on the ground in disgust. "Time, just thinking of that... THING that once called himself human makes me want to take a shower."
"I have lava—" Romano offered, jokingly.
"Fratello~!" Flavio complained. "I want my other Fratellino to stay solid, thank you. Not melted."
"Wait... so are you two summer and winter, too?" Markus suddenly asked, having missed the earlier explanation.
"No. Flavio and I are just normal nations with a couple benefits removed." Luciano answered.
"Benefits removed..." Canada's brows furrowed in concern. "You mean poison and sickness? You two are mortal to that, too?!"
Oliver laughed. "Don't be silly! If they were mortal to poison, there's no way Flavio would've taken my regimen. Right?" His tone dropped into dangerous territory when Flavio chuckled nervously and didn't answer.
"A-actually..."
"You mean to say that you worked your way up to Level 38 in my Regimen with a human's tolerance and mortality?!" He glared. "And you never thought to inform me? Have you any bloody idea how stupid that was?! I could've killed you! Permanently!"
"I-I'm sorry! I just really didn't want to burden my fratellino with worry anymore and thought that your regimen was the perfect opportunity!"
"Count your lucky stars that you survived." England advised lowly. "Oliver may not seem like it, but he truly does care about you all. If he had unknowingly permanently killed you, he truly would go mad, and not even I would be able to stop that spiral."
Flavio shuddered at the thought of Oliver truly going insane... well, insane compared to what he was now.
In all the commotion, nobody noticed Feliciano heading back to the Mansion. The heads of Ludwig and Gilbert were skewered on either side of the Front Gate in greeting, and Feli shuddered in disgust. "So much for a vacation." He sighed, ignoring the limbs and organs that were spread out around him on the walk to the Front Door.
Said door was opened in greeting, propped by a severed hand, which didn't even cause Feliciano to pause. The bodies of his dead friends didn't seem to bother him much at all, until he saw Arthur's strangely intact corpse leaning against the entrance to the Fifth Floor. His eyes were open and unseeing, and Feliciano paused to say a prayer over the man as he closed his eyes. He stared at him for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. You... should not have died.
Upon reaching the Grandfather Clock, which was sitting innocently in the Blood Clock Room, Feliciano stopped. Kiku's body was laying just off to the side of the clock, mutilated, but in one piece. His mouth and eyes were open in what was surely a scream of pain, and words were drawn above his head in blood. 'Where were you, Feli-nii?'
That's not Japan's handwriting... Memory-Yang noted.
Feliciano's hands clenched in anger as he approached Kiku with tear-filled eyes. "I'm sorry I failed you. But I... I needed one day... one carefree day... I hope you can understand. I won't take another one. I'm so... so sorry, Japan..." Feliciano closed Kiku's eyes and mouth and said a prayer over him as well.
He then turned to the Clock. "One more time... rewind." He spun the hands in a counterclockwise motion until it struck 12, and chimed. The white light surrounded him, as the Magick took him back again. "I'll find another way..."
A/N: Woohoo~ another update~! ^^ Hope this makes a few peoples' days better. Sorry I didn't update sooner... Past couple days my depression's been kicking up, along with a bit of anxiety. Yesterday, I literally had no energy to do anything, and it was pretty bad.
On a similar but happier note, Feb. makes 6 months clean of self-harm for me~! ^^ I'm feeling pretty good about that.
Still looking for the jobs. Job #2 said they've hired me, but haven't given me a start date for a few weeks, so I'm not sure what that means. -_- Job #3 is still being looked for, and now I'm considering finding a different Job #2. So shit's a mess right now, but it'll get better!
My Wattpad Army Rises~! *Evil laughter* Where are my people?! Sign-ups in progress! Message me on Telegram, and I will add you to the Group Chat. ;)
Also, my uncle has shut off the wifi at the house for my devices, as he was rather cross with me (read; done with my BS) for spending money on coffee at Starbucks. My fault, I know, but I digress. So updates may not be as often as normal, as I'll need to head to (ironically) a café or Starbucks in order to update my stories and whatnot.
I can still read your reviews, and message you on Telegram (As I've got 3 gigs of data each month that I pay for). So don't worry about that too much.
Again! Big thank you to all 632 Wattpad followers! You guys rock, alongside my First Response Reviewers, who always rush to read my new chapters as soon as I put them out (Even when you're at school, or otherwise doing stuff that you should pay attention to). Your reviews make my day, and I'm very grateful for each and every one of you.
GIGANTIC THANK YOU TO LILIE who drew the Chapter Art this go-around. She's been working on it for a while, and it's finally come to fruition~! So give her a shout out, because she did amazing! (And her sunset photos are seriously phenomenal!)
The last line of the fic, "One more time, Rewind. I'll find another way..." is from the song, Rewind, from Chronexia (I think I spelled that correctly???). It's such an awesome song that really fits HetaOni, so give it a listen.
Thank you to everyone who subscribed to me on YouTube (same username), Instagram (Same username), and DeviantART (same username). I haven't had so much activity on Youtube since I posted my HetaOni AMV and my Sakura Kiss Full English Fandub! XD You all rock!
Words: 2,107/2,401
Pages: 5
Posted: 09/12/2019
Edited: 03/20/2019
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