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Description
---Chapter XII : Beds (Part 2)---

///Italy's PoV!///

Faintly, I could hear droplets of water pitter-pattering down. I was about to ponder about them, when suddenly, I caught wind of a voice.

"Italy.

... Italy."

It took me a while to process what I heard. "Italy? Italy... Who's that, again? Huh? Me?"

"Are you all right? Are you suffering?" I heard the unknown person ask.

I felt a sense of familiarity upon hearing the voice again. "I... know that voice. Who is it?"

"... You can still go on, right?" I heard the person ask once more, disrupting my thoughts.

It feels like it was slowly dawning me; so much that I was starting to tremble a little. "That voice... I'm sure I...

...!!

W-wait! You're---"

"Italy!" I opened my eyes to face sky blue orbs that seemed to shine even in the darkness of the room.

His firm hands held my shoulder, it seems he was the one who shook me awake. "Are you all right? You were having a nightmare." he explained.

I look at him dumbfoundedly. He was calling out to a man named "Italy", right? Could that be...? "...... Me?"

".....Italy? Have you lost your memories again?" he asked me with an expression on his face that was a mix of worry...and fear. By this time, my eyes have already adjusted to the darkness--allowing me to scrutinize fully who this person was: a man with blonde hair and sky blue eyes....with a thick....German...accent.

I see...I remember now....

He raised an eyebrow, noticing my silence. I shook my head and spoke, "... Oh. N-no... I'm... fine, Mr. Germany."

"You..." he managed to say in a low voice. His eyes showed a tinge of sadness...and hurt? What did I do wrong?

I looked away from him and tried to explain. "I'm most defenceless... when I sleep... My memories slowly... slip away. I tried not to fall asleep... I'm sorry."

"No, you have to sleep. It's okay to forget. It can't be good to have only memories of the events in this house..." he told me reassuringly.

Feeling really guilty, I faced him again and tried to talk, "But I--I mean, Mr. Germany--I mean..." I stopped when I finally gathered my self and connected the dots. My memories started to flow back to me. Realising how ridiculous I've been acting, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Ahaha, what am I saying? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've got it all sorted out now, Germany."

"I-I see..." he stuttered, looking unconcinced.

I decided to sway from the subject and pointed at the bathroom door. "I'll go wash my face. You can go to sleep, Germany....It was your voice that I heard in my dream, wasn't it?"

He raised an eyebrow, but brushed it off as I stood up.

"I don't really get it, but if you're all right, I'm going to sleep. If anything comes up, wake me up." Germany said in a concerned tone.

I smiled at him and saluted. "Veh! Sir, yes sir!"

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

As I was already in front of bathroom, I heard a voice from the other side of the door.

"See? Just as I said, wasn't it?" someone said in a low voice.

I furrowed my brows. "A voice?" a muttered to myself.

"Yeah, but he literally woke up. Anyway, [he] will work for [us] until [he] dies. You do know that we have no such... service as compromise, right?" I heard the voice grow cold and sharp.

Beginning to recognise the voice, I turned the knob and entered the room. "What?" I let out as I saw the man on the other side of the room.

It was Russia.

He turned around and gave a surprised look on his face. "Italy..."

"R-Russia..." I replied nervously, not knowing how to exactly react.

I saw him slowly place his cellphone back to his pocket. Giving me a suspicious look, he spoke, "How unusual of you to eavesdrop! Oh, but you're all sweaty. Did you come to wash your face?"

"But I didn't hear anything at all..." I started, but shook my head. "Who were you talking to? You said some disturbing things---"

"It's none of your business who I talk to on the phone, is it? I'd appreciate it if you could leave me alone." he snapped, cutting me off.

I creased my forehead, and took a step back from seeing his intimidating aura. "Do you have something to hide?" I asked, sensing something off about him.

"You did, too, remember? You never told us anything." he told me coldly, his tone hinting irony and sarcasm.

I was taken aback by what he said, but I needed answers. "But--"

"I'm free to decide how I deal with my chess pieces. Oh, but... it doesn't seem to be very useful. I have to find the next piece quickly..." Russia said, walking towards the door.

With my gaze following his figure, I called after him. "Russia!"

"... Go wash your face already." he said before slamming the door behind him.

And at that, I was left there in ear ringing silence.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

///Reader's PoV!///

From what I presume, it was already early morning, and everyone was already up and about when I woke up. The futons were all arranged, some were already cooking something up in the kitchen, some were chatting amongst themselves, others were polishing up their weapons and the rest would just sit somewhere around the room, giving themselves some breathing space and thinking time.

"Well, then, now we can contact the outside world, so we also need someone to stay here. Something like a control tower." Japan said as he stood up from the chair, seeming to be prepared to venture around the mansion once more.

Germany nodded and looked at us. "Incidentally, it seems that that monster also goes outside, so those out there are in for a hard fight, as well. Austria has informed us that they have dispersed and will take care of it all at once."

"M-Mom...Dad..." I choked out as I remembered that they were out there, still in danger from those monsters.

Spain walked up to me and gave me a reassuring smile. "Ah, don't worry, chica. Austria and the others will protect them!"

"The whole world is gathered here. In other words... we are united with the whole world right now." Germany informed us.

China raised a hand and asked, "What should we do?"

"I want to search for the metal pieces. I hid one somewhere on the 2nd floor. Let's search for it and then go to the 4th floor." Italy told us.

America snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Oh! I remember that one. It's the one that you and I hid, right? I saw it when we broke the clock."

"What the hell? You should have told us yesterday!" England scolded, crossing his arms.

The blue-eyed American shook his head and explained, "... It'd have been a little dangerous if I'd told you yesterday. I... won't say who to, though."

"You mean one of us was going to die? In that case, who can go get the metal piece?" France asked, giving a troubled expression.

Spain stepped forward. "I'll go, then. If you tell me where it is, I'll go get it alone."

"I'll go, too. What are the chances the Thing is going to appear?" Romano asked, turning to his younger brother for answers.

Italy looked at him with a hesitant face, but took a deep breath and spoke honestly. "......100%."

"Heh, bring it on. Never underestimate the country of the Mafia." Romano smirked.

Italy spoke up, raising his hand, "I'm coming with you. If possible, we should go in few numbers."

"Do you mind if one more goes? I'm coming with you. It's not far from here, and I'll request reinforcements if anything comes up. And I'd be grateful if they came running to us right away." Germany said, exchanging looks with the other countries.

Russia took a seat beside Prussia and spoke, "So... five people will be too much. All right. We'll be ready to leave right away. Prussia, can you get in touch with those outside?"

"Okay. England, Canada, (Name), you'll help me." Prussia said, meeting our gazes.

America looked at the search party and explained to them, "The place is the room opposite to thefireplace room. It's supposed to be well-hidden under the carpet."

"Got it~ Sir, we're off, sir." Italy smiled and saluted as they went off to the designated room.

As they left the saferoom, a pop-up menu appeared before me.

==

Germany's Torture level went up.
Italy learned a new skill.

===

The menu suddenly changed to display the countries who went out to retrieve a metal piece.

Italy, Germany, Spain, and Romano exited the safe room and headed over to the room located at the lower-right corridor of the second floor, the one in front of the fireplace room.

As they cautiously went inside the room, they searched for a metal piece and found it under the dusty carpet.

**Found: "Piece of Metal".**

"I hid it here... I don't remember that at all." Italy said slowly as he studied the small, cold object.

Romano turned to his brother and asked, "Oh! Hey, Veneziano, where's the monster going to come from?"

"Oh, er..." Italy's eyes widened, slowly recalling something.

As if on cue, a large monster fell from above and landed with a heavy thud on the floor. It eyed the countries before it and stepped closer, causing them to clench their weapons tightly and prepare for battle.

With all four of them, it wasn't that difficult to fight off the alien-like creature. Spain and Romano still had a great amount of strength with them, physically and emotionally, so they were a great help in battle. After a few more attacks and hits, the monster finally disappeared just like it always does.

Italy's Party was victorious!

2 EXP were received!

100HETA were obtained!

Onigiri was found!Hot Pepper was found!

-----

After catching their breaths, Germany turned to Italy and squinted. "You..."

"I thought it was going to come from the door, not from above..." Spain whispered.

Italy only shook his head and gave an apologetic look, "Sorry, he'll drop from above."

"Now it's too late!! You should have said itbefore it appeared, you bastard!" the Southern Italian scolded, making his younger brother flinch a little. He quickly regret his action and looked away. "Anyway, let's go to the 4th floor, quickly." he said as he opened the door to exit the room.

Italy suddenly felt a little panicked, "I said I was sorry! Oh, don't go ahead on your own! It's dangerous!" he called after his brother.

I was going to monitor them further, when I felt my phone vibrate in pocket.

......My phone?

I nervously reached for my pocket and took out my phone. Looking at the phone screen, I saw that someone was calling me. It was an unregistered number.

"W-Who could this be?" I thought to myself, a bit scared of whoever would be calling me.

Not wanting to face my worries at the moment, I waited for the caller to stop.

But it didn't.

Brushing off all the 'what-ifs' going on my mind, I decided that there wasn't much harm in picking it up. What could possibly happen in just one phone call?

With a trembling thumb, I pressed the button on the screen and answered the call. Placing my phone to my ear, I spoke,

"H-Hello?"

The other end of the line went silent for a while, until I heard a familiar voice.

"(Name)?......It's me."

I dropped my phone.

Description
---Chapter XII : Beds (Part 2)---

///Italy's PoV!///

Faintly, I could hear droplets of water pitter-pattering down. I was about to ponder about them, when suddenly, I caught wind of a voice.

"Italy.

... Italy."

It took me a while to process what I heard. "Italy? Italy... Who's that, again? Huh? Me?"

"Are you all right? Are you suffering?" I heard the unknown person ask.

I felt a sense of familiarity upon hearing the voice again. "I... know that voice. Who is it?"

"... You can still go on, right?" I heard the person ask once more, disrupting my thoughts.

It feels like it was slowly dawning me; so much that I was starting to tremble a little. "That voice... I'm sure I...

...!!

W-wait! You're---"

"Italy!" I opened my eyes to face sky blue orbs that seemed to shine even in the darkness of the room.

His firm hands held my shoulder, it seems he was the one who shook me awake. "Are you all right? You were having a nightmare." he explained.

I look at him dumbfoundedly. He was calling out to a man named "Italy", right? Could that be...? "...... Me?"

".....Italy? Have you lost your memories again?" he asked me with an expression on his face that was a mix of worry...and fear. By this time, my eyes have already adjusted to the darkness--allowing me to scrutinize fully who this person was: a man with blonde hair and sky blue eyes....with a thick....German...accent.

I see...I remember now....

He raised an eyebrow, noticing my silence. I shook my head and spoke, "... Oh. N-no... I'm... fine, Mr. Germany."

"You..." he managed to say in a low voice. His eyes showed a tinge of sadness...and hurt? What did I do wrong?

I looked away from him and tried to explain. "I'm most defenceless... when I sleep... My memories slowly... slip away. I tried not to fall asleep... I'm sorry."

"No, you have to sleep. It's okay to forget. It can't be good to have only memories of the events in this house..." he told me reassuringly.

Feeling really guilty, I faced him again and tried to talk, "But I--I mean, Mr. Germany--I mean..." I stopped when I finally gathered my self and connected the dots. My memories started to flow back to me. Realising how ridiculous I've been acting, I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Ahaha, what am I saying? I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I've got it all sorted out now, Germany."

"I-I see..." he stuttered, looking unconcinced.

I decided to sway from the subject and pointed at the bathroom door. "I'll go wash my face. You can go to sleep, Germany....It was your voice that I heard in my dream, wasn't it?"

He raised an eyebrow, but brushed it off as I stood up.

"I don't really get it, but if you're all right, I'm going to sleep. If anything comes up, wake me up." Germany said in a concerned tone.

I smiled at him and saluted. "Veh! Sir, yes sir!"

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

As I was already in front of bathroom, I heard a voice from the other side of the door.

"See? Just as I said, wasn't it?" someone said in a low voice.

I furrowed my brows. "A voice?" a muttered to myself.

"Yeah, but he literally woke up. Anyway, [he] will work for [us] until [he] dies. You do know that we have no such... service as compromise, right?" I heard the voice grow cold and sharp.

Beginning to recognise the voice, I turned the knob and entered the room. "What?" I let out as I saw the man on the other side of the room.

It was Russia.

He turned around and gave a surprised look on his face. "Italy..."

"R-Russia..." I replied nervously, not knowing how to exactly react.

I saw him slowly place his cellphone back to his pocket. Giving me a suspicious look, he spoke, "How unusual of you to eavesdrop! Oh, but you're all sweaty. Did you come to wash your face?"

"But I didn't hear anything at all..." I started, but shook my head. "Who were you talking to? You said some disturbing things---"

"It's none of your business who I talk to on the phone, is it? I'd appreciate it if you could leave me alone." he snapped, cutting me off.

I creased my forehead, and took a step back from seeing his intimidating aura. "Do you have something to hide?" I asked, sensing something off about him.

"You did, too, remember? You never told us anything." he told me coldly, his tone hinting irony and sarcasm.

I was taken aback by what he said, but I needed answers. "But--"

"I'm free to decide how I deal with my chess pieces. Oh, but... it doesn't seem to be very useful. I have to find the next piece quickly..." Russia said, walking towards the door.

With my gaze following his figure, I called after him. "Russia!"

"... Go wash your face already." he said before slamming the door behind him.

And at that, I was left there in ear ringing silence.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

///Reader's PoV!///

From what I presume, it was already early morning, and everyone was already up and about when I woke up. The futons were all arranged, some were already cooking something up in the kitchen, some were chatting amongst themselves, others were polishing up their weapons and the rest would just sit somewhere around the room, giving themselves some breathing space and thinking time.

"Well, then, now we can contact the outside world, so we also need someone to stay here. Something like a control tower." Japan said as he stood up from the chair, seeming to be prepared to venture around the mansion once more.

Germany nodded and looked at us. "Incidentally, it seems that that monster also goes outside, so those out there are in for a hard fight, as well. Austria has informed us that they have dispersed and will take care of it all at once."

"M-Mom...Dad..." I choked out as I remembered that they were out there, still in danger from those monsters.

Spain walked up to me and gave me a reassuring smile. "Ah, don't worry, chica. Austria and the others will protect them!"

"The whole world is gathered here. In other words... we are united with the whole world right now." Germany informed us.

China raised a hand and asked, "What should we do?"

"I want to search for the metal pieces. I hid one somewhere on the 2nd floor. Let's search for it and then go to the 4th floor." Italy told us.

America snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "Oh! I remember that one. It's the one that you and I hid, right? I saw it when we broke the clock."

"What the hell? You should have told us yesterday!" England scolded, crossing his arms.

The blue-eyed American shook his head and explained, "... It'd have been a little dangerous if I'd told you yesterday. I... won't say who to, though."

"You mean one of us was going to die? In that case, who can go get the metal piece?" France asked, giving a troubled expression.

Spain stepped forward. "I'll go, then. If you tell me where it is, I'll go get it alone."

"I'll go, too. What are the chances the Thing is going to appear?" Romano asked, turning to his younger brother for answers.

Italy looked at him with a hesitant face, but took a deep breath and spoke honestly. "......100%."

"Heh, bring it on. Never underestimate the country of the Mafia." Romano smirked.

Italy spoke up, raising his hand, "I'm coming with you. If possible, we should go in few numbers."

"Do you mind if one more goes? I'm coming with you. It's not far from here, and I'll request reinforcements if anything comes up. And I'd be grateful if they came running to us right away." Germany said, exchanging looks with the other countries.

Russia took a seat beside Prussia and spoke, "So... five people will be too much. All right. We'll be ready to leave right away. Prussia, can you get in touch with those outside?"

"Okay. England, Canada, (Name), you'll help me." Prussia said, meeting our gazes.

America looked at the search party and explained to them, "The place is the room opposite to thefireplace room. It's supposed to be well-hidden under the carpet."

"Got it~ Sir, we're off, sir." Italy smiled and saluted as they went off to the designated room.

As they left the saferoom, a pop-up menu appeared before me.

==

Germany's Torture level went up.
Italy learned a new skill.

===

The menu suddenly changed to display the countries who went out to retrieve a metal piece.

Italy, Germany, Spain, and Romano exited the safe room and headed over to the room located at the lower-right corridor of the second floor, the one in front of the fireplace room.

As they cautiously went inside the room, they searched for a metal piece and found it under the dusty carpet.

**Found: "Piece of Metal".**

"I hid it here... I don't remember that at all." Italy said slowly as he studied the small, cold object.

Romano turned to his brother and asked, "Oh! Hey, Veneziano, where's the monster going to come from?"

"Oh, er..." Italy's eyes widened, slowly recalling something.

As if on cue, a large monster fell from above and landed with a heavy thud on the floor. It eyed the countries before it and stepped closer, causing them to clench their weapons tightly and prepare for battle.

With all four of them, it wasn't that difficult to fight off the alien-like creature. Spain and Romano still had a great amount of strength with them, physically and emotionally, so they were a great help in battle. After a few more attacks and hits, the monster finally disappeared just like it always does.

Italy's Party was victorious!

2 EXP were received!

100HETA were obtained!

Onigiri was found!Hot Pepper was found!

-----

After catching their breaths, Germany turned to Italy and squinted. "You..."

"I thought it was going to come from the door, not from above..." Spain whispered.

Italy only shook his head and gave an apologetic look, "Sorry, he'll drop from above."

"Now it's too late!! You should have said itbefore it appeared, you bastard!" the Southern Italian scolded, making his younger brother flinch a little. He quickly regret his action and looked away. "Anyway, let's go to the 4th floor, quickly." he said as he opened the door to exit the room.

Italy suddenly felt a little panicked, "I said I was sorry! Oh, don't go ahead on your own! It's dangerous!" he called after his brother.

I was going to monitor them further, when I felt my phone vibrate in pocket.

......My phone?

I nervously reached for my pocket and took out my phone. Looking at the phone screen, I saw that someone was calling me. It was an unregistered number.

"W-Who could this be?" I thought to myself, a bit scared of whoever would be calling me.

Not wanting to face my worries at the moment, I waited for the caller to stop.

But it didn't.

Brushing off all the 'what-ifs' going on my mind, I decided that there wasn't much harm in picking it up. What could possibly happen in just one phone call?

With a trembling thumb, I pressed the button on the screen and answered the call. Placing my phone to my ear, I spoke,

"H-Hello?"

The other end of the line went silent for a while, until I heard a familiar voice.

"(Name)?......It's me."

I dropped my phone.