Japan sighed as he exited the attic. He had no idea where to look. He had been through the entirety of the first and second floors, and he was pretty sure that there was nothing Germany and Prussia could use on either of them. If there was anything they could use, it would be in a locked room or on the third floor. The door leading to the third floor from the staircase had been locked, so he hadn't been able to explore there yet. Which meant that he would have to find a key, and those only ever seemed to show up with the Thing.

Japan looked around, hoping for a miracle. Instead, he spied the door across the hall. Wait, had he ever tried that door? Japan thought about it. No, he didn't think so. He had found the attic on the first try, and when he was looking for Germany's whip he hadn't ever gotten to the fourth floor. Maybe he wouldn't have to find a key after all.

The other door was unlocked. The room was some sort of sitting room, three couches arranged around a table, a couple of beds, a bookshelf. Of course, they were all white. The one thing that stuck out was a lever set in the far wall. Japan walked towards it curiously.

It had three settings, Heaven, Earth, and Hell. Right now it was set in the 'Earth' position. Japan reached out, gripping the lever and pulled it up. Heaven.

Click.

Japan jumped to the side immediately, thinking it might be the Thing again, only to see a sub-machine gun unload into the wall he had just been facing. He paled. After it had run out of bullets, the gun retracted back into the ceiling, ready to kill the next person dumb enough to pull the lever. The bullet holes in the wall were fading, an unsettling thought. In less than a minute, they were completely gone.

Shakily, Japan stood up and touched the wall in disbelief. Not a scratch.

If getting torn to pieces by sub-machine gun fire was Heaven, Japan had no desire to see Hell. Still, it might give him a clue. Standing well to the side now, Japan pulled the lever down to its last setting.

Click.

Ready for more bullets, Japan ducked.

Nothing. Japan looked up and saw the gun hadn't even come out of it's hatch. So what was that noise? Japan went to stand, only to slip on the edge of the rug. He tried to catch his fall with his right hand out of reflex, sending waves of pain up his arm. He hissed, grabbing his shoulder and rolling back to the floor.

After Japan recovered he got up again, carefully this time. As he looked down to glare at the offending rug, he noticed a piece of paper on the floor. It must have been hidden under the rug. Japan picked it up.

The paper had been ripped, and the only thing he could see on this piece were two colored rectangles. The paper seemed important, so Japan tucked it into his bag and resumed looking for the source of the noise he had heard.

He only had to look for about a second.

One of the beds had moved, revealing a gaping hole leading to the third floor. Japan walked over, trying to make out what might be below.

The light in the room was on, but all he could see was white. Japan tossed his bag and katana down first, and then steeling himself (this was gonna hurt) jumped down after them.

The distance was shorter than he had thought, but Japan was still winded by the fall. While he was catching his breath, Japan took in his surroundings.

This room was white, even more so than the others. The floor, the walls, the piano, even the books on the bookshelves were white. The room was sparsely furnished, the main attraction being the grand piano in the very center of the room. Other than that there were a few bookshelves and one cabinet.

Feeling better, Japan stood up and made to grab his bag and katana. But as he turned, he saw red.

Heard ghostly sobs ringing in his ears.

Japan whipped around, staring at the piano.

Nothing.

The cold feeling of dread tingled up his spine. Japan couldn't breathe.

He could still hear it.

Japan grabbed his things and ran out of the room as fast as he could.

The door slammed behind him, and Japan could breathe again.

What the hell had that been about?

Japan didn't know.

Recollecting his thoughts, Japan stood and resumed looking around.

The third floor was barely bigger than the fourth, only three doors arranged around the stairs. One above, one below, and then the piano room.

Eenie, meenie, miney, mo.

Above it was.

Japan walked through the door. This room was a library even bigger than the one downstairs, so huge that the other door he had seen had to lead into it too. Japan looked for the Thing, but it was nowhere to be seen. He sighed, setting his bag down to leaf through the books.

The door opened.

Japan spun around, expecting a fight. He had his sword drawn in an instant.

"Veh! Please don't kill meeeeeeeeeeee!"

"Italy?" Japan lowered his blade staring in disbelief.

"Japan? You're okay!" Italy immediately reached out to hug him, and for once Japan didn't mind his friend's touchy-feely nature.

"Yes, somehow." Japan sighed in relief.

Italy broke off, waving his hands all over the place as he relayed his story. "As soon as you left a big grey monster jumped out and tried to kill us! Someone screamed, I don't remember who, didn't you hear?"

Japan frowned. "No...I didn't hear anything at all..."

"I was scared and confused so I ran away. I'm sorry we left you behind Japan..." Italy looked down at his feet, and Japan really hoped he wouldn't start crying.

"Don't apologize Italy, anyone would have run. Even me."

"Veh."

"But I have no idea what's going on. The front door won't open, neither will any of the windows. Our cell phones don't seem to work either." Japan sighed, running his good hand through his hair.

"Hey...you're hurt." Italy gently touched the wound on Japan's shoulder, and Japan winced.

"Yes, I am. That Thing cut me pretty deep."

"Sit, let me fix it." Italy started untying the makeshift bandage.

"Fix it..?" Japan looked at Italy quizzically, wondering what on earth he could possibly mean.

"Just sit." Japan did as he was told. Italy put his hand on Japan's shoulder and started singing softly.

"There, good as new!" Italy stood up and smiled. Japan moved his arm slowly. Italy was right, it didn't hurt anymore.

"How..?"

Italy shrugged. "I'm so glad I found you Japan! Are you hurt anywhere else? Are you hungry? I have some pasta!" Italy took out a plastic container and showed it to Japan, smiling.

"I'm...fine." Japan said, pushing the food back towards Italy. "I'm surprised that you're so calm Italy...I expected you to be panicking. But you've even been walking around the house..."

For a fraction of a second, Italy's bright smile slipped. For a fraction of a second Italy looked so sad, like he was going to cry. Then it was gone. Japan wasn't even sure if it had been there at all.

"Well...when it showed up, I wanted to cry and cling to Germany. But we were all so scared we ended up running in different directions. And when I was by myself I had to do something so I started looking for everyone." Italy smiled and rocked back and forth on his heels. "I surprised myself with how responsible I can be! Germany's going to be so proud of me!"

Suddenly Italy's smile dropped.

"Um...have you found them yet?"

"Yes, they're on the fourth floor. I'll explain on the way." Japan picked up his bag and started out the door. "They've both been worried sick about you, let's hurry."

They made their way upstairs, Japan was almost relaxed. After all, they had all found each other. Now they just had to focus on escape. Italy's good mood was contagious, and he was excited to see Germany again.

"Germany? Prussia?"

When they entered the attic however, the Thing had them both backed into a corner. Germany was bleeding badly and Prussia wasn't in much better shape.

The Thing turned around, eyes glinting.

"Verdammt.Too soon..." Germany growled.

"Japan, take Ita and run!" Prussia attacked the Thing to distract it, but it didn't work. It lunged straight for Italy, but Japan blocked It with his sword. Still It went for Italy, who had pressed himself against the wall in terror.

"DIE"

A giant purple ball of God-knows-what was flying straight at Italy, but Japan took the hit instead.

"Japan!"

He fell to the floor, unmoving.

"Japan?"

Italy hardly noticed when Prussia finished It off, just stared in horror at the unmoving figure on the floor.

"He's still breathing." Germany checked Japan's pulse. "He's probably unconscious."

"Grazie a Dio..." Italy wrapped his arms around Germany's neck and sniffled, burying his face in Germany's shoulder.

Germany, who looked rather flustered at the moment, awkwardly patted Italy on the back. "You're not hurt are you?"

Italy shook his head. "Are you? You're bleeding..." Italy detached himself from Germany and ran his fingers over the gashes in Germany's stomach visible through a hole It had ripped in his shirt.

Germany winced. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch."

"Hold still." Italy pressed his palm against Germany's wound and started humming. In a minute, Germany was healed. "There you go, all better!" Italy smiled, calming down now that everyone was alright.

"Dude...awesome." Prussia smirked.

"I'm not even going to ask how you can do that Italy." Germany shook his head, grabbing Japan and sitting him up against the wall.

"Are you hurt anywhere Prussia?"

"No, I'm a bit sore but I'm not bleeding or anything. I'm too awesome for that." Italy giggled, skipping back over to Germany and hugging him again.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, once Japan wakes up we find somewhere safe and rest. I don't know how long we've been here; probably close to a day. Even though the sun hasn't moved at all." Germany glanced out a barred window. The cheery sunlight flowing through did little to warm the room. "We're not splitting up again."

Italy saluted. "Aye-aye Commander!"

"Ngh...my head..." Japan sat up slowly, wincing.

"Japan! Are you hurt? Thank you so much for keeping that Thing from getting me!" Italy had Japan in a death grip, hugging him.

"I'm fine Italy, but I can't breathe..."

"Oh, sorry~" Italy giggled again. "Anyway, we're going to find somewhere safe to rest! Do have anywhere in mind?'

"Er...I honestly have no idea. We need a room we can lock that has a lot of room, and probably one that we haven't seen the Thing in would be best." Japan sighed, streching to get rid of the stiffness the Thing's attack had left him with.

"Veh, I found a key! I haven't gotten the chance to see what room it's for yet though." Italy held up a key proudly.

Germany took it. "It simply says 'Second Floor'. That's not very specific."

Japan sighed, standing up slowly. "It's the best we have. Let's go."

The room the key unlocked was spacious, a giant table surrounded by chairs in the center. There was also a fireplace with firewood, which Prussia lit with his lighter. Glad for some warmth (it was very cold in this house) everyone sat around the fire. Italy fell asleep in Germany's lap, prompting Prussia to tease him.

"I'm locking the door now. If any of you need to get anything, do it now." Japan looked between the two brothers, who both shook their heads.

Japan locked the door tight, putting the key in his bag.

"I think we're safe." Prussia leaned back, using his hands for support.

"It should do for one night at least..." Japan sighed, staring into the fire.

"One night is good enough right now." Germany sighed, absentmindedly petting Italy's hair. "I want some beer..."

"Why do you think the Thing was so hell bent on getting Ita?" Prussia asked, glancing down at the sleeping Italian. "As soon as it saw him, it completely ignored the rest of us. It was weird."

"Maybe because he can't fight back?" Japan suggested. "Other than that, I don't know. It was bizzare." He shook his head.

"What does it matter? We're all safe and we're all together." Germany sighed again, keeping his eyes on the fireplace. "What we need to focus on is what to do after this."

"I agree. I checked, almost all of the doors are locked. And I don't think there's a back door anywhere either. The only exit we have is the front, which is locked."

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. That Thing really has us trapped doesn't he? Man, I am way too awesome for this..." Pussia flopped down on his back, when suddenly a though occured to him. "Wait, why don't we just make a way out? Like, hack down the door or something?"

Japan shook his head. "I don't think that will work. In the room across from the attic a pulled a lever and nearly got killed by a sub-machine gun. But the wall simply...absorbed it. The bullets didn't even get into the next room I don't think."

Prussia drooped a bit at his idea getting shot down. There was a long silence filled only my Italy's soft breathing and the cackle of the fire.

"We're simply going to have to find a key for the front door. There doesn't seem to be any other way. Until then, we sleep." Germany stretched. "We'll need a watch."

"We could play rock, paper, scissors to decide." Japan suggested, holding out his hand to play.

"Fine, whatever. I just wanna sleep already!" Prussia whined.

"That seems acceptable." Germany nodded.

"Rock..."

"Paper..."

"Scissors!"

Prussia sat in one of the table chairs glumly, cursing. This was completely un-awesome. He glanced behind him. Ita had started shivering earlier, so West had put his coat over him like a blanket. He had also slung an arm around Italy's waist, pulling him close enough to snuggle into his shirt. Prussia quickly snapped a picture to wave in his brother's face later. Just friends his ass.

Japan was curled up by himself a couple of feet away from them, using his bag as a pillow.

"Tch. It's okay, I'm totally fine being on my own over here, keeping watch. You know why? I'm just that awesome!" Prussia shivered. "What the hell? Is the fire going out? I just got cold all of a sudden..."

The doorknob rattled.

"Oh shit!" Prussia pulled out his sword and glanced at the other three. "They're out, no way they're gonna wake up... It's okay, I can do this. It probably can't get through the door anyway..."

Prussia gulped, looking again at his sleeping friends. "Fuck this, if I jump out suddenly and take it by surprise I might stand a chance..." He creeped towards the door, ready to open it. "Here we go..."

AN: IGNORE ME AND MY SCREWING WITH SHIT. JUST IGNORE IT. XDDDDDDDDDDD

AND I (MIGHT) WORK ON OTHER STUFF AFTER THIS. I THINK.