Here it is, the final chapter! I never thought I'd get this far, but here I am. Yay.

Something to point out before we begin: I wanted to include the beginning of this chapter in an earlier one, but I forgot, oops. I also wanted to include the actual dialogue from the game, but I couldn't find it and I wasn't going to watch a whole let's play to find it. So, you get this instead. The blood signing part is a personal head canon of mine, so I included it. I'll see you at the end of the story!

Chapter 10: Trying to Tie Loose Ends

I found myself standing the rain and feeling how heavily it poured on me and the grass around me. I squinted through the showers and the shape of a house made itself slightly apparent. No, not a house… a mansion. How did I get here?

Faintly, I heard a door slam shut. A man with auburn hair and a blue suit appeared. His suit had blotches of red on it, large blotches. He held a book in one hand and was breathing heavily, staring in my direction.

Feli? I tried to call to him, but my voice made no sound. What was this?

Suddenly, the door behind him burst open, and a monster appeared. The monster, I realized. I felt chills run through my back, or perhaps it was the rain.

Feli broke into a run, the demon close on his heels. He made his way towards me, and I reached out a hand to him, realizing that I was standing at the path's gate into the mansion grounds. Our hands nearly touched, when—

"STOP!" Feli shouted. I jumped and lowered my hand, and the monster stopped, too. Feli huffed from exertion, then turned to the monster. I couldn't hear what he said next, despite him being so close to me. The rain grew heavier.

Feli spread his arms wide, still holding the book, and the monster seemed to nod in agreement. Feli opened the book. The monster reached out a long claw. Feli reached to the monster's claw and pricked his finger on the point. My stomach sank. Feli traced his finger over a blank page of the book, and I peered over his shoulder. Written in blood was the name: Italy Veneziano.

No… I thought. Feli's image began to waver green; the whole world wavered green, and then everything faded to black.

…

I sat up quickly, then fell back down from the stars rushing through my eyes. I opened my eyes again, more slowly, and watched as the nebulas faded into a solid gray space. The murmur of people filled my ears. A girl with bleach blonde hair popped her head into my field of vision. It was the Lady Mari.

"We thought that you would never wake up." She was no longer crying, but her eyes looked close to starting again.

I sat up slowly this time and looked around. There were people all around me, mostly talking quietly to each other in German, though they kept glancing at me… or perhaps it was Mari they were eyeing. I realized that we were in Brittany's hidden room. Or one of them, at least.

"What happened?" I asked quietly. "Did we win? Where is everyone?"

Mari sat back down from her kneeling position and gazed around the room. Everyone who had been looking at her turned away quickly, though they kept stealing glances in her direction. "We did win, thankfully. You struck down the last monster with the knife I gave you. Don't give me that look, I've bandaged your hand and put disinfectant on it. Then, there was a flash of green, and you fell over. Perhaps from exhaustion?"

"Perhaps," I said uncertainly, looking at my bandaged left hand. "That's strange… It's not the first time I've seen green in correlation with something important. I don't know why that keeps happening, I—" I paused. Mari was looking at me sadly, closer to tears than before. "What? What is it?"

"You really are my sister's alternate form, ja?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"You act a lot like her. She would often speak in English using fancy words, trying to analyze and make sense of everything."

"I don't think my words are that fancy…"

"And you have this way about you, a certain determination that my sister also had."

"…Mari?" I asked suddenly.

"Ja?"

"Did… do you really think your sister didn't care about you? It's just, with what you said earlier today…"

Mari pulled the journal from behind her back and opened it up in the middle. "That is what I thought… until I read this." She traced her fingertip along the words, reading silently to herself. "My sister… had a condition. I don't know the English word for it, but my Mutter and Vater said that that was what made her special. We hardly played together, because she always seemed too focused on herself. The things she said to me later in life, she didn't really mean. At least, according to what she wrote. It says here," Mari pointed to a spot on the page, which was written in German, "that she had a hard time expressing her true emotions. She said things that she only partially meant, to try and be strong. She felt pressured by the Cult of Steve to participate, since every other world leader was part of it. She said here that she was glad that I gave her the position of ruling duchess, because she could protect me from what was really going on." A tear dripped down Mari's cheek onto the page. "Ich vermisse meine Schwester…"

I gingerly set a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Es tut mir Leid…" I said quietly. What else could I do?

Mari looked up at me hopefully. "Could… could you stay here with me?"

Aside from that.

"Mari… you know that I could never replace your real sister. Besides, I have a family of my own to go back to."

Mari nodded, then removed my hand from her shoulder. "Ich weiss… But I have a question. Well, I have many, but what I really want to know is… is there an alternate me? What am I like? What is it like in your world?"

"Well…" I paused. Where could I start? "I have a big sister; we call her The Vet. She looks a little more like me, but with shorter hair than me, shorter than me height-wise…"

Mari looked up at me in fascination. I took it as a sign to continue. "We have a Mom and a Dad… and a little brother and littler sister. We're all two years apart from each other, and—"

"A brother and sister?" Mari's face lit up a bit. "I always wanted a bigger family, but Mutter and Vater decided to focus on me and Katharina before they…. they…"

"I'm sorry…" I said again. "I didn't mean to bring it up…"

"Nein, it is fine. I miss them, is all."

"And my world… well, there are many more countries, for one thing."

"I wasn't born yet when the twelve great countries became the only ones to exist. I was never told why or how it happened."

"That's odd… oh, and there's no Prussia. It fell out of favor many, many years ago."

"I see…" Mari set a hand on her chin. "I wonder how that happened."

"Should I continue?" I asked.

"Nein, I think if you say anymore, the universe will explode."

I breathed a laugh. "So, where is everyone?"

"They are all outside. I think Brittany is checking for any casualties."

My heart stopped for a moment. "There were casualties?!"

"I hope not, but if there are, Brittany will tell you. Perhaps you should go and check on her." Mari stood up and brushed off her shorts. "I must speak with my people. They are my people, now."

"Yes, you should do that. I'll try to come back… I hope." I stood up and rushed for the exit. I made my way up the stairs and entered the bar. I was surprised to see all of the countries standing around the bar. They looked up when I came in and hurried towards me.

"Bella, you're okay!" Feli cried happily.

"Don't scare us like that again, ragazza," Lovino snapped.

"Why did you even pass out? You hardly did anything," Ludwig harrumphed.

"I think fighting monsters counts a lot more than you're giving me credit for," I replied in annoyance.

"Well… I suppose you're right. I'll let it pass, this time," Ludwig said, wagging a finger at me.

"Gee, thanks Ludwig. Hey, where's Brittany?" Everyone paused and looked at each other. "Guys?" Matthew pointed towards the back of the bar, and I saw Brittany sitting at table three, a basket in front of her on the table. I pushed through the countries and sat across from her. "Hey, are you okay?"

Brittany looked up at me quietly. She looked tired. "I found the only casualty."

"Only one? That's… not great, but it's not too bad. Who was it?" Brittany pushed the basket towards me. Inside were dead looking weed flowers, and sitting on top of that was the wrapper of a granola bar. "Julia…!" I put a hand to my mouth.

Brittany pulled the basket closer to her. "She must have run off when I was ushering everyone to the safe spaces. That bloody fool…!" She slammed her fist on the table, and I jumped. Just as quickly as the anger came, it subsided. "Why didn't she just listen to me? If she had stayed with me…" Brittany put her arms on the table and nestled her head in her arms.

"There was nothing you could do…" I said quietly. "Those monsters were so powerful, and—"

Brittany snapped her head up. "I could have done something, ijit! A little girl, all alone… I should have stayed with her!"

I put my hands on the table and looked Brittany in the eye; a brave but risky move. "No, you couldn't. If it weren't for Mari, we'd all be dead. Julia… she was confused and made a mistake. It's not your fault. I'm not asking you to get over it; I'm just asking you to forgive yourself. Would Julia want you to beat yourself up over her?"

Brittany glared at a spot on the table, then lowered her head back to where it had been before. "…No."

"Exactly." I reached over and took hold of one of her hands.

She looked up at me. "Thanks, lass. You're not so bad, once you get over the ditzy forgetfulness."

I swatted her hand. "Are you going to hold that over me forever?"

Brittany snickered. "Yes."

I breathed a laugh again, then thought, forever…Wait! "How are we going to get home?!" Apparently, I asked that really loudly, and the countries appeared by the table.

"Actually, Author, you have given us the way home," Arthur said.

"Me?" I asked. "How?"

Arthur pulled out his smart phone and showed me a picture. It was the strange circle I had drawn when I wasn't thinking. "This," said Arthur, "is a magic circle. One specifically created for getting us from this dimension into our real one."

"Wha…?" I spluttered, "HOW?" I had never drawn a magic circle in my life, and I had never learned how to do it. I didn't even know what a magic circle looked like, for Pete's sake!

"It seems you have an intuition for magic," Arthur said. Did he look… proud? "This is how we're getting home."

"Magic is real…" Brittany said quietly.

"Duh, dude. What did you think the monsters were?" Alfred said. Ivan flicked him in the head. "Ow!"

"I know that, wanker! I just…" Brittany shrugged. "I don't know. But there's no time for messing around! You probably have people to get back to, right?"

I gasped. "My parents! They don't know I'm in another dimension! We've got to go, right now!"

"Let's go, then!" Yao said.

We all hurried to the outside of the bar. "Chalk, please," Arthur said. Brittany handed him a small piece from her pocket, and Arthur knelt to the ground and began to draw.

"Warte!" Brittany and I turned; the other countries too focused on Arthur's drawing. It was Mari, running as quickly as her short little legs could run. She was holding a knife.

"Mari!" Brittany said, raising her hand in greeting.

"You know each other?" I asked.

"We do now," Brittany replied. "Remember that other person who gave me information? I didn't know who it was, other than that it was someone who was in the castle. Turns out, it was Mari!"

"Author," Mari said after she stopped and caught her breath. "I want you to have this." She held the knife out to me. "It had gone missing after the fight, but I found it again, just now." The handle of the knife had been cleaned of the blood I had left from my injured hand.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "It was your sister's, and—"

Mari pushed the knife into my right hand. "It will be of more use to you than it will to me. It is poetic, in a way, giving you her knife. Please remember her in a good light."

I slowly wrapped my hand around the hilt. "I will," I said quietly. "Hugs?"

"Hugs," Brittany and Mari said simultaneously. I carefully put my new knife in my pocket and wrapped my arms around the girls. They hugged back, tightly.

"I promise I won't forget you," I whispered.

"I certainly won't," Brittany said. "Though I'm not sure what I'll do, now that the I'm not trapped here against my will."

"I can arrange a plane ride for you," Mari said.

"Actually," I said, "I know you want to go home, but maybe you could stay and help just a little longer? You're a great leader. Everyone in the country listened when you told them the monsters were coming, and Mari could use some assistance ruling this country." I took Mari and Brittany by the hand and put their hands together. They looked at each other, slowly nodding.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't leave so soon," Brittany said. "I've made a little life for myself here, and I don't really have much of a family to go back to." She nodded in finality. "Alright, I'll stay and help!"

"I appreciate your help, gute Freundin," Mari nodded back, curtseying.

"Author," Kiku's voice said. "We're ready for you."

I turned away from the girls and saw the countries standing around the circle, looking at me expectantly. I nodded, then turned to Brittany and Mari one last time. "Goodbye," I said to them, hugged them one last time, and joined the circle. Arthur began to murmur some sort of magical incantation, and the world around me faded to white…

Elsewhere…

"What took you so long, sausage boy?" A man with brown hair and a curl coming off the left side of his head spread his arms in mock welcome. "We were waiting for you!"

"Do not call me sausage boy," a man with white hair tied in a ponytail said quietly.

"What; still sour after your boss died?" The man with brown hair's voice went dark. "I thought we all agreed that getting rid of our bosses was the best thing for all of us, capire?

"Katharina was the best ruler I have seen in a century. I waited a long time for someone of her caliber, and if you want to fight over it, I'll gladly comply, Trottel-!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," a soothing voice echoed through the dark room, and the men stopped speaking. A woman stood in the back of the room; her appearance shrouded in the shadows. "There's no need to squabble. As a mother, I know what losing someone important feels like. Of course," she turned her head to the man with white hair, "You did all agree that separating from your world leaders was the best course of action for my plan."

The man with white hair nodded. "Ich weiss, Frau. It's simply… strange, to be free like this. I never thought the day would come."

"I know, dear," the woman said. "You'll soon get used to it. Now, did you get what I asked you for?"

The man nodded and handed a small vial to the woman. Inside was a small amount of red liquid, collected from the hilt of a knife. The woman held the vial carefully and whispered a strange sound. She held a syringe in the other hand, filled with a clear, silvery liquid. She dropped a single drip of the liquid into the vial. Then, she quickly put a cork in the top. The silvery liquid touched the red, and the red began to bubble angrily, violently… and then it stilled. All that was left were green sparkles, lighting up the room slightly. The woman held the vial close to her face, illuminating her purple eyes. "Fascinating," was all she said. She continued to stare for a moment. "Forget Brittany Davis," she finally said. "I want to know more about this… Author, character."

To Be Continued…

Bum...bum... bUUUuuuUUUm!

A cliffhanger? Oh no! *Dies*

Yep. A cliffhanger. Now, if you're new to this series, the next book is called The Author, The Rogues, and The Oni, which is already fully completed, so you can pop over to my profile and find it as soon as you're ready. Keep in mind that said story is in the Ao Oni / Hetalia section, because reasons you'll see when you read it. I had a blast editing these chapters. I'll try to start editing the next book tomorrow. Until then!