A/N: Hold onto your hats folks, because this is where things get crazy. From here on out, I'm straying from the original plotline (kinda) in order to do mine. However, this section will still contain a modified canon. Have fun in your confusion. :D

Chapter Forty-eight

Italy!

Italy, wake up!

He opened his eyes to blinding white light. Something was definitely wrong. He distinctly remembered standing in a room surrounded by the monsters, fighting to keep panic from ruling his mind; but he was lying down now, and everything was quiet – quiet but for the voice of the shadow at his left. His vision cleared as the seconds ticked by, and he tried to speak, but the most that would come out was a confused groan.

The shadow, once everything came into focus, was Germany, leaning back against the wall with his arms resting on his knees. "Good, you're awake. Are you alright, Italy?"

Italy wasn't sure. He didn't feel any pain, and they had apparently escaped the mass of Steves that were threatening to kill them all, but he wasn't sure if that could count as "okay." He took a quick glance around. They had somehow managed to escape to the tatami room, and the place was spotless, no sign of any kind of struggle within its walls. It seemed too quiet. "…W-what happened?"

"I don't know. Just a moment ago, we were being surrounded by a lot of enemies, but…" Germany shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense. It seems that we've been teleported here in the middle of a battle, but…" He sounded as if he could hardly believe it himself.

Thoughts swimming in all directions, Italy stared at the door to the hall, following his memories backward in time. The flash. Shouts of anger and shock, a single statement above them all. "…It was Yugoslavia. She…she said that she wanted to disappear somewhere, and the journal must have done something… Maybe it took us with it."

Germany opened his mouth to comment, then closed it again. It was obvious by his expression that the supernatural mechanics of the mansion were incredibly hard for him to wrap his head around. He tried thinking of a way that they could have appeared there without the use of some magic or another, but he gave up after a while. "Where are the others? They aren't here, so they must in one of the other rooms."

"Wait, what if they're still fighting? We have to go back and help them!" Italy leaped to his feet, nearly tripping over himself before regaining his balance. "If we can get in again, then they can get out, right?"

"If we can get the enemies away from the exit." Germany nodded toward the door, and the two pushed past it into the hall beyond. They didn't get far before a voice floated in from the foyer, just around the corner.

"Hellooooooo? Is anyone there?" It was Russia.

"They're not here. Maybe they went upstairs." And that was Japan.

"Sheesh. Those old geezers are always going off on their own. They came here first and yet they're nowhere to be seen!" And America. Why were the others suddenly in the foyer, all the way on the first floor?

"Look, let's go back! I told you, we can't stay here! It was my fault! Come on, let's go back!"

Italy's confidence melted away at the sound of his own voice echoing through the hall. But…but it's not real! It can't be me! It's just another illusion, right? He glanced back at Germany for closure, only to see the same shock plastered against his friend's face as his own.

"We told you that you didn't have to come." China too? How many others were down there? "If you really didn't want to, why did you –"

"I told you! This house is dangerous! I've seen it! We're going to be attacked by a huge monster and everyone is going to die! It's true, I'm telling you!"

A cool breeze swept in from somewhere beyond the foyer, adding to the fear emanating from the Foyer-Italy's words. A chill swept down Italy's spine, and he risked a glance around the corner.

"Ha! You believe that we're going to die? We're nations! You didn't have to follow us here if you were that scared. It's unlike you." Germany. A mirror image of the nation standing right behind Italy, laughing at the terrified warnings of his own close friend.

"You were having a siesta before the meeting, Italy. Perhaps you are still half-asleep?" Japan was trying to sound reasonable, but it only brought out Foyer-Italy's pain.

"Even you, Japan…"

"Excuse me, but aren't we going to look for those four?" Russia interrupted the conversation and brought back the original topic.

"No, I'll look for them! You just stay here! Don't go anywhere!" Foyer-Italy made a move for the stairs, but was stopped when China grabbed his sleeve.

"Italy, what's wrong with you? It's like you became a different person all of a sudden, and it's freaking me out! Where's your usual self, aru?"

"Then you have to believe what I tell you! Especially you, Japan. Don't go to the piano room, no matter what!"

"If you say so…" Japan brushed off his words and turned his focus to the rest of the group. "It will be easier to search for them if we split up and agree on a time to meet here again, don't you think?"

"That sounds good to me. I don't want to stick with you all the time –" Russia cast a sideways glare at America. "– and if we each go where we like, we can tell each other about the places we searched later."

"Don't!" Foyer-Italy's voice went flat. He was trying one last time to change the minds of his companions, but it sounded like he had already given up.

"Dude, chill out. It's the best way! If we huddle together to look –"

"You're the only one opposed to it. What are you so afraid of?" Germany turned on his heel and marched down the darkened hall. "I'm going now. We don't have time to waste."

"I'm going too, aru. Let's meet again here in an hour." China followed suit, climbing up the stairs instead.

One by one, the others muttered their farewells and went their separate ways, some searching the halls to the left and right of the foyer, others claiming rights to the upper floors and disappearing upstairs. Within moments, the mirror-image Italy was left alone, standing in the center of the foyer, glancing at the doorways his friends had ducked into, his eyes looking past the walls surrounding him. His sigh was the only sound. "…It was pointless then, wasn't it? Now I'll have to go through it all over again. We can't get out without the key, but now…" He shook his head. "No, I'll make it this time. I'll save all of them. I just have to put on an act. Even if I have to trick them, I'll make it…" A smile stretched across his face, and he fled toward the basement, following Germany's footsteps. "Ve~ Germanyyyyyy! Wait for me! I'm coming with you!"

Silence. There were no more footsteps, no more voices, no one to detect the two nations standing just out of sight near the tatami room.

Frozen in place staring out at the foyer, Italy took a deep breath and muttered, "You…saw that too, right?"

Germany nodded. There was hardly anything else to do in the situation. "…What just happened? Why were we over there?" All of this nonsense was giving him quite the headache.

Italy could only stare at where he had seen himself moments ago, faintly shaking his head, confusion dominating his every thought. "I don't know…" He should have sounded scared, but for some reason, he didn't. "…Maybe this is one of those past memories we're supposed to get when we break a clock."

"But we haven't broken a clock. …And I don't remember this."

"Neither do I."

The foyer was silent again, stretching out time so every moment took years to pass.

Then, somewhere distant, a phone rang.

-x-

Two floors up, things weren't going so great either.

Yugoslavia hadn't exactly known what she had meant when she wanted to disappear, but despite the safety of her current hiding place in the third floor library, she knew, somehow, that something was horribly wrong. And most likely, it was her who had caused it.

The journal was gone. She had noticed that immediately after waking up – apparently the transportation she had wished upon herself had made her lose consciousness too. But she wasn't alone either. Somehow in the commotion of the battle, the journal had brought England along with her; she could hear him somewhere in the maze of shelves, waking up himself, hitting something on a nearby shelf, cursing profusely as a result. It was all very strange to her, foreign even, and that scared her. After going through the mansion so many times, she should have expected everything it had to offer, but this… This was so familiar, yet entirely wrong. She wanted to believe that it was just paranoia, but had a hard time convincing herself.

At that moment, she was drawn out of her thoughts by the sight of England standing in front of the row of shelves she had found herself in, clutching his forehead with one hand – He must have hit his head when he sat up, she noted – and muttering bitterly under his breath. At the sight of her, his expression went from irritable to relieved, as if thrilled to see a familiar face; but immediately after, as if realizing what had happened, the fury returned. "What the hell did you do?!"

"I have no idea! The key was gone, and there was no other way to get out of that room without being attacked, and everything seemed so hopeless…" Yugoslavia had started out angry, but her anger faded the longer she spoke, and by the time she trailed off, she was just tired and confused. She sat down heavily.

England's anger must have gone too, because after a brief moment of silence, he sat down beside her. "…Do you know what happened?"

Yugoslavia had to think for a moment, just to make sure she got her words right. "…Well, when we were in that room with all the enemies, and I saw that there was no key…I suppose I panicked. That key is the only way out of here, as far as I know, and with it gone, we would have no chance of leaving… I was desperate to get out of that room, so I shouted for something – I have no idea what I thought it would do – to make me disappear somewhere. The journal must have responded to it…" She risked a glance toward England. "…and when you grabbed my arm to pull me away from that Thing, it must have brought you with me."

England wasn't looking toward her. He was staring at the shelf looming before them, scanning the books row by row, looking for something to point out as abnormal. But everything seemed completely normal – except for the aura of the room. A realization turned his focus back to her. "Wait, you said that you wanted to…disappear somewhere?"

She knew what he was implying, and held up her hands in defense. "…Oh, no! No, not like that. I did not mean I wanted to die. I only wanted to be away from that room." She managed a dry smile. "I guess it worked out in the end."

No amusement. "Well, I suppose it did… But while we're down here, the others are most likely still up there fighting all those Things. They would probably be wondering what happened to us."

"We should go back," she agreed. "If we find a way out for them, then they should be able to retreat. And maybe we could find the key somewhere –"

"Herro?"

England and Yugo both snapped their heads toward the library doorway, where a very surprised Japan was standing. He also seemed different from when they had last seen him; he had been in the middle of the fight before, fighting creatures that he knew fairly well, but now he seemed almost clueless about the mansion. As if he had just arrived at the horrible place moments ago.

"Oh, England-san. I did not realize that you had come upstairs." Japan glanced past the shelves, first one way, then the other. "If you don't mind, who were you talking to just now?" It was then that he noticed Yugoslavia, a realization followed immediately by a moment of confusion. Strange. I don't remember her coming along… But before he could voice his thoughts, he pushed them away, not wanting to let on that he had forgotten someone. He added before the others could reply, "I have already checked out the rooms on this floor. There does not appear to be much, just this library and a room with a piano. I was just about to go upstairs, if you would like to join me."

A sudden swell of panic hit Yugoslavia, but she tried her best to keep it down. "Thank you, Japan, but…we were sort of in the middle of something here." She had to pinch England's arm to keep him from saying anything.

Japan had seen enough horror movies to know what was going on. Flustered, he backed slowly out of the room. "Oh… r-right, of course. I will just…be upstairs then…" He darted away without another word and disappeared up the stairs, his kimono trailing after him.

Crisis now averted, England rubbed his arm where it had been pinched, squinting out past the doorway. "What's he going on about?"

"Something is wrong. Something is terribly wrong." Yugoslavia dropped her head in her hands and tried to calm her reeling mind. This had never happened before. "We are in one of the other time loops, we have to be."

"How do you know?"

"Did you see how Japan just acted? He should be upstairs fighting, not down here wandering around! …It was just like how everyone acted in the beginning, when they were all still clueless about what was in the mansion…" She suddenly felt very tired, as if she could fall asleep right then and there.

"Well if you know that we're in another time loop, then certainly you remember what's going to happen, right?"

She shook her head, her face still pressed into her palms. "No. I do not remember a thing… Oh, what have I already done wrong…?" Her head jerked up from her hands, suddenly very serious. "England, we have to remember not to be seen by out past selves under any circumstances. If we are, we could change the future for the worse – possibly even destroy time entirely – so we should probably hide somewhere until we know for certain that everyone is together again."

England nodded once in agreement, though he still seemed unsure of all this. "Yes, but where are we going to hide? Wouldn't that Steve monster be in this time loop too?"

"Yes, it should be… We should hide in the piano room, then. Japan has already checked it, and it had been the only room that Steve would not go into before…this." She gestured to the air with one hand, then picked herself up off the floor.

England followed suit, grateful to get moving. "Let's go, then. Even if Steve does find us…well, we can manage somehow."

"Of course. We are both strong enough to defeat it now. …But there is something I would like to do first."