A/N: Hello everyone~! I'm BACK! :D Whooooo! I know it's been a while since I've updated, and the last chapter was kind of half-assed, but I'll go back and fix it later. ^^ I'm getting excited again, so I should be writing more for this story soon. (Also, holy crap, 60 chapters!)

On the other hand, work has been dragging me through the cemetery lately. (Yes I totally made up that saying, but I think it fits how I feel.) Yesterday, due to a callout/sick coworker, I had to pull 4 hours of overtime. Meaning instead of working 10:30am-5pm, I ended up working 10:30am-10:30pm. Oof.

I would like to reiterate for those of you who missed the memo. I DO NOT ABANDON STORIES! EVER! If HetaOni: Italy's Story wasn't proof of that, then I don't know what is.

Also also! I always love seeing fanart of my stories, so if you have any, please link or send it to me~! And if you want, I'll even put it as the chapter art for the websites that allow that. (and if anyone does a fan animation of my stories or game, I'll legit die of happiness)

Question for those of you who know my RPG, Between Two Worlds… would you like to see that incorporated into Memories of Old? Should I add that in?

Chapter 60: The Bleeding Effect

The memory started back up with Feliciano standing in the middle of the 2P town. He looked much more relaxed than he had the first time, and he quickly ducked into a nearby alleyway before scaling the side of the building, successfully avoiding Kuro's searching gaze.

He pulled out a small compact mirror from his pocket. "Luci? You there?"

A moment later, the familiar face of his 2P appeared. "Do you have to ask that every time? It's getting annoying."

"Sorry, sorry." Feli waived a hand in the air as he sat down, cross-legged on the roof.

"Are you ready?" Luci asked, glancing behind him. He was in one of the spare rooms in the Meeting Building. "I've finally gotten down Looping back to just after Alfred turns the corner, so he doesn't see me anymore."

"Well, I should hope so, after all these loops." Feli replied dryly.

"I'll ask again. Are you ready? I don't wanna fuck this up like last time." Luci twitched as Feli scowled.

"As I'll ever be. This stupid Bleeding Effect is so uncomfortable."

"Shut up, it's not like you haven't faced worse." Luci gave him a deadpan look.

"I think I'll hitch a ride with you this go-around, Ying." Yang popped up with a smirk next to Feli.

"Great, the annoyance is back. And here I was enjoying the peace and quiet." Feli sighed despondently.

"This is Loop 13,158 for me." I explained.

"Woah, wait! You'd been looping for each other for over 100 loops?!" America cried out, blinking in shock.

"I think it lasted about 300 loops, right?" I looked at Yang and Luciano.

"Yep! It was so entertaining, too!" Yang grinned.

"It was a nice change of pace… you know, after you got used to the actual change." Luciano mused.

"Hmm… I know what you mean. After so long of the same script, it really was refreshing to be around new people. It was certainly a challenge, too."

"Glad to know us dying on your watch 300 times is entertaining." Jason deadpanned as Markus elbowed him roughly in the ribs.

"Only yours, Jacie~" I sang with a grin, enjoying the vein I could see on his forehead.

"Why you little…"

"All right, that's enough." Luciano stepped in as the memory continued.

Feliciano and Luci both started to shift with a grimace, each one taking on the other's physical appearance. After a few moments, Feli looked like Luci wearing his 1P's clothes, and Luci looked like his 1P, but wearing his own clothes.

"There." Feli grinned, and several 2Ps shuddered, seeing such an expression on the face of their 2P.

"We should get ready, now." Luci stated, his voice a bit higher, sounding like his 1P. "Good luck. Stay in contact."

"Of course. What else is Yang good for?" Feli rolled his eyes.

"OI!" Memory Yang protested. "I'm not your fucking messenger pigeon!"

"Of course you aren't, Yang." Feli gave him a sardonic smile. "You're much less useful and trustworthy than that."

"You really know how to kick a guy where it hurts, don't you?" Yang winced.

"I don't need Arthur's steel-toed boots to do that." He smirked viciously at his white-haired companion, who flinched violently at the reminder.

"R-right…" Yang looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Hold tight, Yang. Good thing you weigh nothing." Feli smirked as his not-quite-split grabbed onto his arm and held on for dear life.

Feliciano then roof-hopped back to the building that the 2Ps were staying at for their meeting. He scaled the side of the building until he reached a specific window and pried it open from the outside. Yang had opted to return to the mindscape instead of hanging off of Feli's arm whilst climbing.

Several of the watching nations whistled in appreciation as he slipped into the room that Luciano and Flavio shared. He made his way over to the wardrobe before donning his 2P's clothes.

Now, Feliciano looked exactly like his 2P. There was absolutely no telling them apart.

"I mean, we all saw it when you two pulled that prank on us, but…" Flavio trailed off.

"It's somehow different seeing it like this." Prussia finished. "Almost scary."

"Scary?" I tilted my head with a small secret smile.

"We're not scary." Yang continued, that same secret smile on his face.

"We're terrifying." Luciano finished, also sharing our smile.

"I mean, we already knew that, but…" South Korea shook his head as he shared a glance with America, who grinned.

"I feel like I'm missing something, here." England looked between the three of us.

"Oh, I think the memories skipped over that." America tilted his head as he thought.

"Yeah, it would've come up around the end of the Second War, if that was the case." I added, and the others stared at me before turning to England and Oliver for answers.

"I believe that the spell is… er… confused? There're so many memories that I think some of them got skipped; likely because of the Mansion's memories in particular. If there are as many as we fear there to be…" England trailed off.

"This spell was created with humans in mind." Oliver picked back up. "Needless to say, it wasn't made for several thousand years' worth of memories."

"So will it show them later, or just not at all?" I asked, curious. I'd rather they not be shown, because many of the skipped over memories were… sensitive.

"The spell was never made to go backwards. I do believe that it's safe to say we won't see them."

"In that case, we'll just tell you a bit of it." America decided. "The three of us were held prisoner somewhere towards the end of the Second World War, and we sort of trauma-bonded. That's why we're so close."

"You were kidnapped?!" Romano cried out, and even Luciano shifted uncomfortably.

"Technically." I stretched out the word. I didn't want to explain this to them. It was personal, and quite frankly traumatic. None of us wanted to talk about it.

Luckily, the memory picked back up, distracting nearly everyone.

Feli, who now looked the part of his 2P, stretched as he walked along the cobbled streets of the town. He hummed idly to himself as his fuchsia eyes scanned the streets with a sharp gaze. Several people would stop and bow in respect to him as he passed, before continuing on their way.

"Why are they bowing to you?" Memory Yang asked, tilting his ghostly head in confusion as he fell into step beside his counterpart.

"Because Luciano is the King of the Network of Italy. Imagine going grocery shopping and finding the Queen of England taking a leisurely stroll down the street—it's about the same concept."

"Oh, I see. So because he's the well-known king of another country, the people here can't help but stare."

"Precisely."

"Oi! There you are!" Kuro glared as he came bounding down the street. His irritation was visible and the nearby people scattered like mice. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Che." Feli threw Kuro a mild glare. "I had to gather a few things before we set out. Best to be prepared, after all."

"You could've at least told us." Kuro huffed, crossing his arms like a pouting child.

"And where would be the fun in that?" Feli smirked, idly playing with a knife.

"Come on. Markus and Klaus are waiting for us, and if we take much longer, I'm going to get… hungry." A predatory gleam flashed in Kuro's eyes as they swept over his people.

"Oi. Don't go eating your own people, that's practically autocannibalism."

"Wait… you're a cannibal?!" France looked a few shades too pale.

"It's a medical condition." Kuro waived it off lightly.

"What?" America deadpanned.

"It's a genetic condition of my people. An actual disease that means they have to eat human meat to survive. It affects roughly 75-90% of the population, which means I have it too. It's so common that several restaurants serve it."

"How barbaric." China looked disgusted.

"It's not that bad." I spoke up, and several 1Ps turned to me in shock. "Just like in our world we have the option to become organ donors upon death, in 2P Japan, they have the option to donate their body for consumption. Some people even specify which businesses they want to go to. Plus, they have 'vegan' options that mimic the necessary minerals that are found in the human meat." I smiled as they stared.

"So you basically made human tofu?" America blinked in surprise.

"It's actually rather clever." Canada mused. "A relatively moral and humane way to consume human meat on a large scale, without raising people like cattle."

"DON'T SAY THAT SO CALMLY!" France hid behind England, who looked like this information was nothing new to him.

"And why do you know all this?" Romano asked me, and I smiled.

"There were a few restaurants in that town that served it. Most 2Ps have tried it at least once, and Luciano's rather fond of the 'other other white meat', so I decided to give it a try, myself. It's really not bad. Better than chicken~"

"I'm impressed you had the guts to try it at all." Kuro gave me an appraising look.

"Like I said—it was actually pretty good~! I wouldn't mind coming for a visit sometime and having a little more."

"I have some great homemade recipes, actually, that—"

"Can we please stop talking about eating people?" France was now rather green.

"Says the man who eats frog legs and snails." England gave him an unimpressed look.

"That's different." He protested.

"I can see this topic is making several people uncomfortable, so shall we just get back to the matter at hand?" Oliver spoke up, gesturing to the memory where Feliciano had now met up with Klaus and Markus, who were squabbling about something.

"I leave you two for half an hour, and you're already fighting. Why am I not surprised?" Feli sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It was his fault." Markus protested.

"I don't give a fuck who's fault it was. You either stop now, or answer to me." He held up a knife threateningly, and Markus was quick to back down.

"Sorry." Klaus apologized.

"Whatever." Markus looked away. It was the closest they'd get right now, apparently.

Feli gave an exasperated sigh as he twirled his knife between his fingers. "If we don't start heading out now, the others will get anxious. Fuck knows we need them to worry."

"And who's fault do you think that is?!" Kuro glared.

"Like I said—better to be prepared. I have a bad feeling about this case." He let a shudder run down his spine visibly, and the other three quickly donned serious expressions.

"If your gut is saying something bad, then we should listen." Klaus spoke up softly.

"Perk #1 of being with the 2Ps!" I turned around suddenly to look at my group with a grin, startling them. "They actually listen to someone when they say they have a bad feeling. They don't just brush it off." Several members of my group looked down in shame.

"To not trust someone's gut—especially Luciano's or his 1P's—is an exercise in fatal stupidity." Kuro spoke up, looking at me, before he turned back to the memory.

"Now come on." Feli snapped as he turned around to head into the forest. "We've wasted enough damn time."

"Hai, hai." Kuro rolled his eyes as he fell into step beside Feli, though he stayed about a half step behind him, showing respect to the man he perceived to be his leader.

"Hey, don't leave me here alone, you bastards!" Markus growled as he stomped towards them, causing Klaus to sigh.

"And again, I'm forgotten."

"You're not alone, you fucking idiot. Klaus is right there." Feli twitched with irritation, causing Markus' brow to furrow.

"Who's Klaus?"

"Prussia." Feli deadpanned as he put a hand on Klaus' shoulder, causing the white-haired nation to startle.

"I always forget you can see me."

"Get used to it." Feli glared. "And don't forget Klaus again, Markus. Or you'll answer to my knives." He stuffed his hands in his pockets irritably as he led the other three nations through the forest. "If my gut's anything to go by, the last thing we need is to leave a comrade behind."

They walked in relative silence as the dappled sunlight fell to the ground. The weather was warm, and a few fluffy clouds skirted across the sky. Birds sang in their trees, and the entire forest hummed with life. It was peaceful, and the nations could easily forget just what kind of hell awaited them ahead.

Feli let a very tiny smile flit across his lips, but quickly dropped it when he noticed Kuro staring.

"You're in a good mood."

"So? It's a nice day out, and my fucking annoying brother isn't around to vex me."

"Ah, I see. Is that why you were glaring at him throughout the meeting?" Kuro smirked.

"None of your fucking business." Feli stopped abruptly as the Gateway came into view. The other three followed suit, confused.

"Luciano?" Markus questioned.

"I don't like this." Feli hesitantly reached out and brushed his fingers across the iron. "My bad feeling got worse. We need to find the others."

"Right." Kuro laid his hand on the hilt of his katana as Markus held his hockey stick warily. Klaus drew his sword, prepared for anything.

"Look. The birds won't come near this place." Klaus pointed out, gesturing to a hawk who had abruptly altered his course to avoid the airspace above the Mansion.

"If even the animals are scared…" Markus scowled.

"We're wasting time." Feliciano drew his knives and stepped through the gate. "We need to find the others. Right now, that's our main objective. We can't forget that."

"Hai!" Kuro nodded as he kept his katana at the ready.

With that, the 2Ps entered the Grounds of the Mansion.

"Hahaha…" Memory Yang laughed, a sadistic gleam in his icy-blue eyes. "Let the next round begin." He grinned as the memory faded out.