I know I have been running behind in so many of my stories, but I promise you that they all are being worked on! Also I just got the title 'Satan of 2p HetaOni' by one of my friends, so now I'm in a fit of giggles on what I have planned for you all. Trust me when I say there will be feels, table flips, flailing, and foreshadowing galore. Plus a lot of hate because of the torture I shall inflict on the poor characters. Enjoy yet another chapter of 2p HetaOni. And for those also still reading this, I do plan to have yet another version of HetaOni, one where the Ancient Nations get trapped inside. You WON'T want to miss that. Tata~

Darkness was all that met their vision, the light from outside vanishing once the heavy wooden door was slammed shut. Silence met their ears and the nations attempted to look around, squinting their eyes in vain. It was as if the darkness was blocking any attempt at them being able to see. The floor boards creaked underneath their feet as they shifted their weight side to side. The island nation coughed and looked around, dust filling the air and irritating his throat. Were they just going to stand here and suffocate in this disgusting dust or move around? His lips were threatening to twitch down into a deep frown, although no one could see it. Luckily someone brought up his thoughts in a loud voice.

"Alright enough looking around aimlessly, someone find the damn switch." America growled out, peering in the darkness. The grime-covered windows did little to help their predicament, refusing to let even the most helpful ray of light. The rest of the nations began to walk around cautiously, feeling for the light switch blindly with their hands. Canada wandered over away from the group and began to wipe at the window, barley able to scrape off any of the substance off of the glass. He leaned towards it to inspect it a bit more with the poor light he was now receiving from the now grime-less spot.

There was a loud crash, the sound of something breaking. The nations nearly jumped, the sound echoing throughout the mansion, the source of where it came from could barely be traced.

"What on earth was that?" England asked. Italy jerked back after almost tripping on a crack in the carpeted floor when the loud noise came, accidently bumping straight into America. Growling, and not knowing who it was, the American grabbed his weapon and swung it around towards him, the noise having him on edge. Hissing in annoyance at hearing a weapon coming towards him, the Italian raised his knife up and used his other arm to help block the attack, glaring at the direction of his attacker. The sound of metal tearing through clothing made everyone stop for a second to wonder what was going on, prompting an Englishman to quickly search the wall behind him.

"Found it."

The light flickered on just in time for the two nations to see who exactly they were fighting. There was a moment in silence, Japan simply sighing at what had happened. Of course this was rather common of an occurrence; everyone knew of the rivalry, and hatred, that the American and Italian had for each other, but this was bordering on ridiculous. They were here just to check out this supposedly haunted mansion and this was the second time they went at it already. At this rate, the two would destroy the mansion in the ensuing fight if left to their own devices. That would not do.

The two armed nations glared at each other, daring each other to make another move. There was a small cut where the metal had slid against Italy's exposed skin through the tear. England coughed, glaring at the two with a wide smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. There was no need for him to say anything, as something deep within his eyes made the two back away from each other. That didn't stop them from sending annoyed glances at each other. Throughout the silence one of the nations finally spoke up. Just one single word.

"Idiots." Canada said, his loud voice echoing. He frowned, irritated at how loud it was although he had whispered. However, it did gain him the desired effects of his brother huffing in a near-out, and the Italian simply rolling his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest to non-verbally say that he was not going to do anything. America turned away to inspect his weapon, making sure it hadn't gotten damaged by the irritating Italian.

Canada had already started to head upstairs before they could all discuss on what to do next, bypassing the other nations as he stayed quiet, moving silently, boots barely making a sound on the wooden floorboards. Italy stepped forward to peer up the stairs, furrowing his eyebrows at the darkness. He was about to say something, going towards the stairs himself when England placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back, shaking his head with a grin. The auburn-haired nation stared at him with a raised eyebrow but he simply patted him, refusing to divulge his reasons.

"Fine, Canada and I'll be heading upstairs; from what we saw, we need to have. We'll meet back in five minutes, dearies. Don't be late." The island nation smiled, quickly catching up to the nation that was now disappearing up the stairs, mumbling along the lines of 'Wait up!'. There was a limited amount of places where they could split up to, although there still were four floors. Wouldn't it have been better if three people had gone up there? Japan barely noticed Italy turning to examine each of the other hallways.

"Dibs on the back rooms, it looks creepy back there!" As soon as those words left America, he darted over to where the hallway besides the stairs was, slowly disappearing into the darkness, searching for a way to light it up so he could go exploring. If there was one thing the arrogant nation liked, it was getting into scenarios that resembled horror movies, it excited him, and to hell with another nation coming with him, he liked to work alone.

"Are we seriously splitting up? I thought we all knew that it's a stupid idea. This is turning out to be just like all those horror movies…" Japan looked at the departing nations and sighed in irritation. They didn't even hear him, did they? Why did they always have to do what they wanted? Honestly, if, for a moment, they rationally thought for a change, then perhaps they could have gotten so much done already.

"Well it looks like it's just you and me, Italy." At least the Italian would understand his frustrations, besides, he had a feeling they should all stick together. Something about this mansion seemed rather off. Did Italy also feel that? He was always quite observant, both in battle and out of it. Turning around to question him about it, the Japanese nation expected his one only true ally to be lazing against a wall, waiting for him to choose a direction to go, or even about to simply walk away with a taunt of him being too slow, but he was surprised at what he saw. The Italian wasn't there. Strange, he hadn't remembered seeing the crafty nation leave during their talk; he had just been near him a second ago. Glancing around quickly to see if Italy was about to turn a corner with a big smirk on his lips, Japan's frown only increased. This was not like him to vanish as well, unless it was training of course. Oh what did it matter?

"Why am I the only one who thinks that we should talk about things before running off? I swear, if they don't get back here in exactly five minutes…"

The Japanese nation began to mutter angrily to himself, shoulders hunched tightly due to the stress this was giving him. It was ridiculous. He would simply have to look around before coming back so they all could figure out if it was truly haunted. Besides from that strange crashing sound, it only looked like an abandoned mansion from the inside and outside. If this was how it would be exploring this place, then he hoped that they would never have to be grouped together again. No wonder they never made any progress in their world meetings.

Japan turned to the right hallway of the staircase, spying a door. Might as well start there; he had five minutes to explore anyways, s why not make the best of it? Japan walked towards his destination with quick steps and a sense of uneasiness. Cracks littered the walls near the door, the paint starting to flake off everywhere. How old was this place? His hand extended to grip the doorknob, turning the cold thing in his hands. Wait, it seemed like it was a bit warm, as if someone had already placed their hand on it not even a minute ago. No one had come this way that he had noticed. Was it simply a trick of his own mind? He made to push the door but it wouldn't move, immoveable. It was locked… Frowning, Japan glared at the door. Damn, did he actually have to find a key for it?

That would be problematic; whoever had been the last owner may had taken most of the keys with them. Abandoning the locked door, the door farther away looked more promising. The floorboards creaked underneath his feet, heightening his wariness of the place. It was far too quiet without the other nations. Crimson eyes glanced behind him, hand on his sword's pommel, ready to use it if necessary. Suddenly a thought hit him. This was just a normal house, abandoned and left to the wilderness; why was he, a nation, suddenly nervous like a simple powerless human?

Huffing, he withdrew his hand and went to the door ahead of him, opening it with surprising ease, having expected it to be locked as well. Walking in, his eyes were drawn to the massive TV to the right of him, that portion of the room set up like a living or family room. Three well used white couches faced the TV, the dirtied cushions having holes in them and what looked like to be stuffing coming out of them. Wrinkling his nose at the sight, Japan averted his attention away from that and the large rug underneath everything to the table in the middle of the couches. On the table was a remote, covered in a thick layer of dust that suggested how long it had been there. Removing it from the table, he blew the dust away, trying not to breathe it in. This place could easily be an inspiration for one of his games. Perhaps when he got out he could influence some of his people in that area. A smirk slid across his lips. That would be fun. Pressing the button, his eyes fluttered up to the TV to see the results.

Static.

He should have figured; seeing as it was in the middle of a forest, they probably didn't have cable anymore since the occupants left. His thumb fluttered over the power switch and lowered it to turn the TV off when he noticed something strange about the static. There seemed to be a weird pattern if he looked close enough. Minutes seemed to pass as quickly as seconds, briefly hearing the ticking of a clock somewhere near him as his eyes were glued to the screen. The lines of the white and black static started to change, warping the screen, drawing him closer until…

CRACK!

Japan leaped back, hand on his sword, eyes widening. The hell was that? He glanced around, but the only logical explanation was it came from the TV. Frowning, the Japanese nation was now weary of it, the static returning to how it regularly looked like. Staring at it a few seconds longer, he finally shut it off, silence now filling the room. He couldn't explain it, but this abnormal occurrence definitely confirmed it. Something was strange. He had to hurry and find the others and see if they noticed something out of place for them.

Japan was about to leave the room right away when he caught sight of something shattered on the ground, a glint of light. Squinting his eyes, he saw what looked to be scattered pieces of something. Upon closer inspection of the kitchen on the other end, he found it to be a broken plate that had apparently fallen off the counter. Carefully picking up a piece of the grey plate, his eyes shifted from it to the counter. How did it fall indeed… Wait. He thought back to hearing a crash when the lights were off. Had this been the source of it? Something had to have knocked it off, but nothing had been in here... Standing up, he stored the plate piece in a pocket for inspection later, rubbing a finger along the dusty counter. The circle of the only clean surface suggested where the broken object would have been.

"I wonder how the others are faring…" His voice carried along in the big room, making him uneasy. Something just wasn't right; he kept getting that weird feeling in his old bones. Checking the fridge, he found it to be filled with food that was old and moldy. His face turned green and he shoved it shut before leaning over the trashcan nearby, trying not to empty his stomach contents in it. He breathed deeply for a few seconds, trying to calm down. Acid burned the back of his stomach as he swallowed what had been caught in his throat.

Feeling better, he was hesitant to even check out the cupboards and the sink, so he went to the door near the fridge to test if it was locked. Jiggling the doorknob, it indeed was locked. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Did everything have to be locked? It seemed they would have to figure out how to get in, whether it be kicking the doors in, a personal favorite of America's, or finding a key, which would be downright annoying. How long would it take to check every room here, or even find the keys?

Wait…

It had been five minutes already, he had to get back to the hallway to meet up with them. England would definitely reprimand him for not being back on time. Usually he was so precise on time, what had gone wrong this time? Shrugging it off, he made his way out of the room, heading it to the hallway. However, what he saw was not something he was pleased with. He face palmed slightly.

Staring at the spot where they all should have been standing before through his fingers, he could feel a vein pulsing in his temple through his fingers. When they said five minutes, he expected them to be there, especially the one who had been adamant about the time. He tried to soothe the oncoming headache, telling himself that he would simply have to track them down. That was something he was dreading doing. None of the nations every wanted to stay still, and he wasn't even their babysitter. If he was, he would have been richer than China on the first week of watching everyone. Mumbling threats underneath his breath, he was about to walk off when he noticed the door. Slowly his feet brought him closer, noticing for once the designs carved into it.

Slightly calloused fingers brushed over them, following the designs until a huge gash was recognized. Why didn't he recognize it before? Peering at it, he noticed a few more, now able to pick out that they couldn't have been part of the design he had seen. His blood almost ran cold. Was he seeing things or did the marks look like…. Claw marks? That was strange. It was too big to be a dog, so possibly a bear? It could be correct, they were in the middle of a forest after all. Although they came from inside, like something had been trying to get out…

He snapped out from his thoughts, trying to open the door. Perhaps they had left outside to discuss their findings? The door opened easily, and it soothed his nervousness. He had thought, due to his luck with all of the other doors, that this one would suddenly be locked, however strange that would have been. He stepped out slightly, looking around. Thunder loomed ahead and he narrowed his eyes. It seemed the storm was beginning to pick up outside. There would be a problem if they didn't leave soon. Getting lost in the forest outside during this weather was not something he would like to experience. And if for some reason they weren't out here, looking for them would prove just a waste of time.

"Are you out here? Italy? Canada, England? America?" Silence met him and he bit his lip in anger. Where were they? A strong gust of wind blew towards him and he had to shield his eyes with an arm to protect his face. The smell of rain loomed over the atmosphere heavily and he swore he saw a shadow, a bird most likely, swoop before him. He took a step back due to the force of the gust and lowered his arm. Since they weren't out there, it was safe to assume that they lost track of time and were still exploring. Heading back inside, he didn't hear the door's lock click into place when it shut.

Going back to the hallway, he looked ahead to where America had went. Since he was the only one – gods knew where Italy went – who had been exploring the bottom floor, he figure he should go and see what was taking him so long. About to take a step, a flash of a shadow appeared in his peripheral vision on his left, causing him to become alert. He wasn't quick enough to see what it had been but… Was it him, was it Italy? Damn that mischievous nation, sometime he was getting so tired of him and his playful nature.

"Italy? Italy, was that you? This isn't the time to start playing games. Where is everyone else?"

The Japanese nation walked towards the long hallway, bypassing a door on his way. He increased his speed; for some reason, his heart was pounding. This mansion… Something just didn't feel right, even more so now. He heard a door creak, as if it was opening and turned around the corner just in time to see the door at the end close. He frowned. Didn't Italy hear him? Or was it another nation? Children, that's what they were. At his age, the childish acts of the younger nations were getting far too tiring. He couldn't imagine how China felt. Gritting his teeth, he was about to step forward when he realized that he was getting goose bumps underneath his uniform. A chill shuddered its way down his spine, sweat beading on his forehead. What… What was this? Behind him, a dark hand slowly descended towards his shoulder, a harsh breath that spilled a foul stench forth accompanying it.