Chapter 48: Burdens of Magic

The next loop appeared in a flash of motion and chaos. "Japan, run!" Feliciano shouted, blocking the bladed tail of a Fire Thing. His knees nearly buckled under the power of the strike, and he almost didn't dodge the claw swipe.

"What?! No!" Kiku cried out, running towards the battle. Feliciano shot him a fierce glare that shocked the Japanese man so much that he froze mid-step.

"Please. I can handle this!" Feli ducked a bite, and jumped back before he could get hit by the dangerous tail. "Trust me." He pleaded. Kiku held his side gingerly, and his white uniform had several worrying red spots. Kiku stared at Feliciano for a moment, conflicted.

"... Fine. But if you don't return to the Safe Room in twenty minutes, I'm coming after you." He relented.

"Grazie." Feli sighed in relief as Kiku ran off towards the Safe Room. "Now..." Feli turned his full attention to the Fire Thing. "Let's see what this can really do." He took a deep breath, and focused.

His sword started to glow white, and he swung it with all his might, sending the magic straight at the Thing, cleaving it in two. The Fire Thing vanished, even as the memory dimmed a bit.

Feliciano panted, leaning against the wall for support. Ow... can ya maybe do that a little weaker next time? Yang complained.

"Oh, hush, you." Feli shot back. "I'm sick of your commentary."

Better get used to it, 'cause I'm here to stay. Forever.

Dio, somebody shoot me. Feli sighed, finally having caught his breath. "Magic level down by forty percent... That spell takes far too much energy." He noted.

"Forty?!" England cried out in shock. "I'll say! That's far too much magic for a single attack!"

"Says the guy who used an immobility spell on thirty!" I shot back, annoyed.

"You what?" Oliver shot England a dangerous look.

"Uh..." England gulped, and I decided to save him... just this once.

"Yeah. It was stupid, but I was testing out a method to fight—" I cut myself off as my sensitive ears picked up a faint clicking sound. It sounded almost like an electrical crackling.

"To fight?" Japan prompted me to finish my earlier statement.

"That." I pointed to a Thing that was slowly creeping out from around the corner down the long hallway Feliciano was in.

I had to stop myself from drawing my sword, reminding myself that this was only a memory, and that it wasn't here.

It was tall and lithe, and instead of the light grey color of the normal Things, it was about the same color as a storm cloud, and the bladed tail was held high and proud behind it, though the blade was jagged and chipped, looking almost like a lightning bolt. Its claws were a metallic grey, and its face was elongated slightly, like a cat's. It also, as opposed to the other Things, had ears atop its head, looking like scaly rounded cat ears. Its eyes were black and soulless, and yellow bolts of electricity crackled from the tail and claws. Its footsteps were silent, and it made a crackling sound every few seconds. It opened its mouth with a faint hiss, its long forked tongue dripping saliva on the wooden floor as its ears perked up.

It made another clicking sound, and zeroed in on Feli, who paled rapidly. Fuck.

"That... is one of the most terrifying creatures I've ever seen in my life." England shivered.

"You and me, both." Klaus agreed. Most of the nations, 1Ps and 2Ps, took an involuntary step back.

"Thank your lucky stars you never ran into one in your current memory." I reminded the nations. "It's called a Lightning Thing, and while they're blind, their hearing is sharper than the normal Things by about thirty percent. Minimum." I paused, looking at the Thing in contempt. "And they're wicked fast. Maybe not light fast, but..." In exactly half a second, the Thing was across the hallway, slashing at Feliciano, who barely put his sword up in time to save his life. "Fast enough." I finished.

"Bloody hell." England stared, and Romano held me close, trying to reassure himself that I was still alive.

"That... needs to burn." Louis' upper lip curled in disgust.

"For once, I think we agree." Oliver cringed. "I don't think I'd give that thing my cupcakes."

"Wow, never heard mom say that before." Jason whistled. "But I've seen worse." He stared at me.

"Oh, you're treading on thin ice, Jacie." I warned him.

"What? I'm sorry; I couldn't hear you. You should speak up, old man, your voice is as tiny as your penis."

"Oh, you did not just insult his dick." America gulped, backing away from his 2P. "You're on your own, man!"

"It's okay, Al. Really." I smiled as if it didn't bother me at all. "After all, if an insult to my manhood is the most creative response he can come up with, then he really is nothing to worry about." I said flippantly, causing Jason to fume.

"Come here and say that to my fucking face, you coward!" He glared, face red with anger. I twitched. Words like 'useless' and 'coward' were sensitive for me, and only reminded me of my failure in the Mansion.

"Oh, did I find a touchy topic?" Jason pressed, slipping into a bit of an accent in his anger. "I'm sorry, ya yellow-bellied, lily-livered, bastard! You don't know dung from wild honey!"

"You're asking for your death, pezzo di merda." I spat, glaring at the asshole. I bristled in anger even before he opened his mouth with a response.

A sudden cry of pain interrupted our argument, as Feliciano was electrocuted through his sword from the blade of the Thing's tail that he'd blocked. "Y-you bastard..." Feli glared. He'd managed to break away before too much damage had been done, but he still looked pretty bad off.

He then focused his magic again, even as the Thing readied for another attack. This time, instead of throwing out the energy in an arc, he kept it coated around his sword, causing it to glow white. Even still, he flinched as he blocked the claws of the Lightning Thing, expecting another electrocution.

"Nothing?" He blinked in surprise, barely dodging the attack that followed the failed swipe. "I see... the magic coating the blade!" He smirked. "Now I can fight you!" He made a move to attack, when the memory hazed suddenly.

"What's going on?!" Hungary cried out, worried for my past self.

"He's used too much magic. He's hit his limit. If he pushes past this, he'll either die, or lose something." England explained calmly.

Feli did push through it, though. I... can't let it end, here... And while he managed to fend off the Lightning Thing, the memory blackened entirely.

"D-did you just...?" Flavio's voice was somewhat shaky.

"No." I answered. "I did not die." I sighed. "Judging by what I'd just done, this is Loop 418." I said.

"And the numbers keep climbing." Louis sighed.

There was a small groan. "Well, shit." Feliciano said, though the memory was still black. "Seems like it was me this time." His voice was strained, and he seemed to be in a lot of pain. Despite this, he chuckled to himself. "How ironic." Footsteps were heard before Kiku's voice called out.

"Itary-kun!"

"Ita!" Gilbert's voice followed.

"By God, what has happened here?!" Arthur gasped.

"This is so annoying. We can't see anything!" Prussia complained.

"Well I did go blind, you know." I shot back, somewhat annoyed.

"Ja, well... it's boring when we don't know what's going on!"

"Oh, I'm sorry that watching my memories is too boring for you." I spat back, sending a glare at the white-haired 1P, who immediately backpedaled.

"I-I didn't mean it like that, Ita!" Prussia defended. I wasn't really mad, but... these memories weren't exactly good ones, and the more we watched, the less patience I had.

"Hold on..." Oliver said, making us stare in confusion. "He brought out a grimoire of his own. It looked similar to England's plain banged-up brown one, but it was a whitish color that had yellowed over the years. It also had strange stains of various colors (including red) all over it. "Ah, here we are~!" He muttered a spell, and suddenly the memory became visible.

Feliciano was sitting against the wall of the hallway, the Thing was gone, and he looked badly injured. His sword was held tightly in his grasp, and his eyes were closed. Blood leaked from beneath his eyelids like tears, and Kiku, Gilbert, and Arthur stood around him in shock and worry.

"How can we see this? I mean, Feli's obviously blind, and Lovi's not around, sooo...?" America trailed off with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a simple spell I found millennia ago~! Never had a use for it, to be honest. It allows us to see what's called a Time Echo." Oliver bounced on his heels in excitement. "We're basically seeing the past outside of the memory's boundaries~! Essentially, this is viewing the past as an illusion layered on top of the memory itself." He twirled around with a large grin. "I've been wanting to try this particular spell out for ages, now~! But I've not gotten the opportunity!"

"I can't believe I'm related to you." England sighed, sending a mild glare at his 2P.

"Well... that's handy." Canada shrugged, just happy we could actually see what was going on at the time.

"Ran into a Thing. It's been taken care of." Feli panted, answering the Englishman's question.

"Yeah, and it looks like you've been 'taken care of', too!" Gilbert winced, looking over Feli's injuries.

"I'm fine." Feli protested.

"You're blind, your eyes are weeping blood, and you can hardly move—don't you dare try to stand, Italy—and you call that fine?! You're as bad as bloody America!" Arthur fumed.

"Yeah, yell it a little louder, I don't think the Things heard you in fucking Kansas!" Feli glared blindly at Arthur, unnerving the man.

"L-look. Itary-kun's got a point. We need to head back to the Safe Room." Kiku interjected. "Any arguments can wait until we get back."

"I'm with Japan on this one." Gilbert peered around them warily, as if expecting an attack at any moment.

"Well, at least you're properly paranoid." Feli sighed, putting a hand on the wall and another on his knee to help himself to his feet.

"Oh, no you don't! You're far too hurt!" Arthur stopped him.

"Yeah, Ita! Let me!" Gilbert grinned before he carefully lifted Feliciano bridal style. Feli bit back a hiss.

"Fuck you! That hurts!" Feli snapped, making Gilbert reel back in shock.

"Why did Ita suddenly become his brother?!"

"He's likely just in pain. People tend to act out of anger when in pain." Arthur answered, but he also did shoot Feli a concerned look.

The memory faded out.

"I take it you hadn't told us that loop?" England surmised.

"Si... Though I explained what I could thereafter." I answered with a sigh.

The next memory faded in to show an exhausted Feliciano sitting beside a downcast Kiku. They were in the Safe Room, and everyone else was asleep. They were sitting in the kitchen area, a single candle providing light for the two.

"Are you sure?" Kiku asked, as Feliciano held out his Journal to the Japanese nation.

"Si." Feli answered, his unseeing gaze bore into the other man with all the seriousness he could muster. "I need you to write this entry for me. I can't... I'm blind, and you are the only one I trust to touch my Journal."

Japan and the other watching nations reeled back in shock. "You... you actually let him touch your Journal?" Luciano stared.

I just grinned in response as Kiku reverently took the proffered item and carefully flipped it open. Several nations leaned forward to see what was inside the book. They were greeted by bloodstained pages with messy cursive scrawled carelessly between the lines on the page. As if pulled by an unknown force, Kiku placed a single finger over the bloodstained thumbprint in the front cover, and there was a slight glow, nearly imperceptible.

"That," I gestured, "was the Journal accepting Japan as my Secondary."

"I see..." Kiku muttered, suddenly able to understand the weight of the object that Feliciano had entrusted him with—even if only temporarily.

The memory faded out as Kiku neatly wrote down the entry as Feliciano spoke.

"I'm guessing someone died?" Austria spoke up, still uncomfortable with the entire situation.

"Si. France did. I was unable to protect him... It had been such a long time since I'd had to fight blind... and add to that the fact that I was rendered human for the first time in centuries, and... it wasn't easy. I had to relearn my echolocation techniques..." I sighed.

"Sounds like a big pain in the ass." Romano huffed, crossing his arms. Though he did remain near me. Such a paranoid fratello~

"It was!" Yang spoke up, startling those who'd forgotten he was there. "Sometimes, we couldn't see fast enough to avoid some of the Elemental Things, and the Lightning Things are fucking impossible to fight while blind!" He scrubbed his head in frustration, messing up his hair.

"Relax, Yang. We shouldn't need to fight them again for a long, long time." I chuckled.

"The fuck does that mean?!" Romano shot me a look. "You won't have to fight them ever again!"

"With luck, you're right." I muttered.

"Nani?" Japan's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Wow, look! The next memory's starting~!" I piped up suddenly, trying to change the topic. I got a sharp glare from Romano, Flavio, and Japan for my efforts, but before they could say anything, the next memory actually started.

It started off as several scenes of Feliciano walking down various hallways in the Mansion. Every now and then, a shimmer would be seen, almost like a trick of the light, or the heat waves you'd see coming off asphalt in the summer. He slowly, but surely started moving around more quietly, and didn't have to look around as much as he used to.

"What the hell are those shimmers?" Jason asked, pointing at a reddish-pinkish shimmer by the stairs.

"You'll have to wait to find out, just like I did." I looked away, causing Jason to growl.

"Why you little..."

"Hey!" America cut in. "Cut it out! Stop antagonizing each other!"

"I will when he stops being such a—" I started, but Flavio, surprisingly enough, cut me off.

"If you finish that sentence, Feli... Remember that trip to the Grey Isles?" He smiled innocently, tilting his head thoughtfully. A strong shiver ran down my spine, and I clamped my mouth shut. "Ah, I thought so." He nodded, still wearing that innocent smile.

"And now I'm reminded why you're scary." Kuro took a step back, causing Japan to look at his 2P strangely.

"You're calling someone else scary?" He questioned.

"You haven't seen Flavio mad." He shuddered.

"Let's just all be glad that he doesn't get mad often, si?" Romano stated quickly, trying to get away from the topic. He knew Flavio was going to lay into him later for some of the stupid stunts he'd undoubtedly pulled in the Mansion, but he'd already laid into his 1P for That Loop earlier, and Romano had no intentions of provoking his 2P again any time soon.

The scene slowed down when Feli was entering the Mansion again. He looked out to the tree line, and his eyes caught a flash of blue. He stopped, and looked into a very familiar pair of sapphire blue eyes. "A-Asher?" He asked in disbelief.

Asher II's head whipped up to stare at me, before realizing that my past self was the one who spoke.

The eyes were the exact same color as Asher's had been, back in Feli's childhood.

"Asher was good doggie." Russia sighed sadly. He really did love animals, but his inability to control his strength made it a very bad idea for him to have one. "I am not understanding, though... this is obviously different dog." He gestured to the blue eyes that had locked with Feli's.

"Feli... Is... is that your...?" Asher's eyes lit up in understanding. "That's why you can understand me..."

"You figured it out fast." I complimented, scratching his chin. I found my gaze drawn to the dark blue eyes hidden between the leaves of a bush. The familiar eyes pierced my heart with pain.

"Si..." I stared at the now empty bush. Silver... The memory finally faded.

A/N: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY~! And also, for you single people like me, HAPPY SINGLES' AWARENESS DAY~! Hehe~

So surprise~! Another chapter! A holiday update! Whooo~!

Hope you've enjoyed this chapter, Silver's coming up, so look forward to that. For the record, I'm not planning to add anyone else to the viewing. I'm having a hard enough time remembering everyone as it is. ^^;

It's been raining all day, here. I love it~! Though I am on a flood warning, but eh. No biggie! I'll be fine! And my stuff's backed up, so ha!

Random fact of the day: I'm hungry.

Also, please feel free to download Telegram; it's a free app that lets you text or talk to people in other countries without any pesky fees. ^^ I've made a group chat for Hetalia fans, so message me on there, and I'll add you~!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!

Words: 2,632/2,787

Pages: 6

Posted: 02/14/2019

Edited: 09/20/2019