DISCONTINUED

Chapter 36

FInally you have arrived; I have been expecting you. A voice from behind them said. The entire group seemed to all turn sharply. Just in time to see a man standing behind them, a hand on his hip and a smile on his face.

"Ai-ya! How do they keep sneaking up on us?!" China exclaimed. Prussia unsheathed his sword once more, swinging it.

"Well, I guess here goes another round of fighting!" He said. "Yaaaaa!!" He let loose a battle cry, charging towards the man.

"Prussia, non!!" France yelled, but it was too late. Prussia grew closer to the man, who just stood there calmly, and raised his sword for a downwards slash. But as soon as the sword began to come down, the man leapt to the side with inhuman speed.

"Huh?!" Prussia skidded to a halt, looking behind himself just to see the man, standing there unscratched. 

"Ah, I see." The man said thoughtfully. "You are the impulsive and loud one." Prussia gritted his teeth, clenching his sword tighter.

"Who are you calling impulsive and LOUD?!" He asked, running forwards for another slash. The man simply danced away, always staying one step ahead of the former nation no matter how fast Prussia himself moved.

"Bruder! Stop!!" Germany yelled. But his older brother just ignored him, still trying to hit the strange man.

"This is getting a little sad." Russia commented. 

"Poland, stay still so I can slice you with my awesome blade!" Prussia yelled, getting frustrated.

"My name is not Poland." The man said, folding his arms. He was still watching Prussia intently with bright green eyes, never taking his eyes off of him.

"Oh for god's sake." England muttered. He began walking over to Prussia, grabbing him by the ear and dragging him back towards the rest of the group.

"'Ey! Lemme go!" Prussia protested. "That thing's a dream thing, right?! That's the enemy!" England just gave him a stern look and gave the German's ear another tug.

"I mean you no harm." The man said simply, catching all of the nations off guard.

"Well this is a change, not many of...." China quickly searched for a word to describe whatever the man was. "...Whatever-you-are are that friendly. All of the ones we've met have tried to attack us."

"We are known as Arcanas, from the tarot cards known in your world." The man said in response. 

"Ah, that's why your names sounded so familiar!" England said, dropping Prussia. "You're based from the tarot cards!"

"Well...I could have easily told you that." France muttered.

"Shut it." England shot at him. France only replied with a grin in the Brit's direction.

"And which Arcana are you?" Canada asked. This time, however, the man did not reply. He just stood there silent, eyes studying each of the nations. ".....Is something wrong?"

"Maybe he's like mine and doesn't like his name." America suggested. "Though it's weird, he's the only one who said his name was my name."

"While we did not originally have these names, we have beared these titles for several centuries." The man suddenly said, glaring at America slightly. "Not all of us are so accepting with keeping them."

"But why call himself America of all things?" The American persisted. The man rolled his eyes, blowing a strand of hair out of his face.

"The one who shares your face, he does not share the same views as our "Master"." He explained. "The one who he protected called him the name he cherishes now."

"The one he protected...." Canada repeated softly.

"Even when we are combined with a new body, Master tends to still call us by these 'Arcana' names." The man continued. "For your kind cannot survive here without a suitable body, so we are the best choices he has to keep them here." His expression twisted into almost one of disgust. "Especially if he wants to keep them from leaving."

"Hm, I think I know what you're talking about with the name thing." China said. "He did the same thing to me when he first started to drug me up. He started to call me 'Hanged Man' and it just started to stick."

"I am Priestess, the Second Arcana." The man said, putting a hand on his chest and smirking. 

"Why the hell are you answering the questions out of order?!" Prussia demanded. "It's really annoying!"

"I think he only responds to us if we tell him something about ourselves." Japan suggested. France slowly nodded.

"Priestess, that is the arcana of knowledge." He said. "It makes sense."  Germany walked forwards, right to Priestess.

"Good. Now we can finally get some answers." He said. "Pol- er- Priestess. We are not from this world, we have come here to save our friend Italy. Do you know where he is?"

"The Fool?" Priestess said. "Yes." Finally! Maybe now they could finally get him and get out of there!

"He is in mortal danger!" Germany said. "Where is he?!"

"He is--" Priestess began, but was cut off by several bullets flying between him and Germany. Both of them leapt back, looking up at the source of the shots. It was from the watch tower nearby. The window was open, inside shaded with darkness. Only the barrel of a shotgun was visible, and it was pointed right at Priestess and Germany.

No intruders allowed!! Leave at once!! A voice called from up there, firing several more bullets at Priestess.

"Hey!! Knock it off up there!" America yelled, shaking a fist at the person inside the tower.

"That sounds like Switzerland, even in dreams he's still gun crazy!" Prussia exclaimed. Priestess put a hand on Germany's shoulder, making the taller nation turn sharply.

"You have to defeat him in order to gain acess into the castle." He explained, backing away slowly. "We will meet again." Another gunshot sent Priestess backing away even more, eventually breaking out into a run.

"Wait!!" Germany called. "Come back!" Too late. Priestess had already ran out of view. 

"Germany-san...." Japan trailed off, unsure of what to say. The German had been so close to finally finding his friend, but like every other time, the opportunity was snatched right out of his hand once again.

"We were so close...." Germany said quietly, head lowering. Japan took several steps towards the nation, looking sympathetic.

"Germany-san, it's all right." He said. "He will be back. For now, we need to get into the castle." 

"He is right! Let's go!" China said. 

"It'll be fun! Kesesese!!" Prussia added. The rest of the nations began heading towards the tower. Germany stood still, hesistating. Something metalic glinted in his hand before he clenched it and slowly began following them in. 

A few minutes later, however, Japan walked back out, glancing around rather nervously. China followed him out, eyebrow raised.

"Is....everything all right?" He asked. Japan didn't reply for a few moments, until he turned to his older brother shaking his head.

"It's nothing."

"All right." China said, looking and sounding relieved. "Take as much time as you need." The older nation turned and went back into the tower, leaving the Japanese man outside alone.

"It's just my imagination...." He told himself, glancing over his shoulder. "If someone was following us, I would have seen them by now. It's just my imagination." Glancing around one last time, Japan turned and headed back into the tower. To follow the others.

Woo! Another chapter! 

Next few chapters are going to be reaaaaaal fun to write! Just gonna say that. I hope you all are looking forward to the next chapters as much as I am!

See you all then!