DISCONTINUED

Chapter 39

Their side of the castle was almost exactly similar to the other, only with a green floor rather than a red one.

"He couldn't have gotten far." England said as they all finally entered the maze. The other three agreed and they began heading through the maze. In fact, they had made it through the room before something strange leapt out at them. 

It had the head and wings of a bird, a falcon or a hawk maybe. But the feathers and flesh on its wings seemed to have been replaced by sharp metal bars. It gave a screech and dove for England, who immediately shot a light spell at it. France followed up by slashing down on it. It fell to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. 

"What even was that, aru?" China asked as they carefully skirted around the place it had died.

"My best guess would be one of the animal protectors of this area." England said. "I want to call it a Falke, but I'm not sure if that's it's actual title. Be careful, there may be more in the area."

And indeed there was. More Falkes and even other bird monsters attacked them as they slowly moved through the next two rooms. None of them were too strong, so the group was able to get rid of them quickly. The numbers of these monsters decreased as they reached the end of the third one. And ahead of them, they could see Prussia, glaring at something they couldn't see.

"Quick! There he is!" England yelled. "Get him!" 

"I got him!" France shouted, running ahead and tackling Prussia. When the rest finally caught up with him, all they could hear was Prussia's indignant yells.

"'EY! 'EY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He demanded, squirming from underneath France.

"Seems like we caught the real one." France told the group, looking over his shoulder to them. 

"Get off me France!" Prussia yelled, pushing the frenchman off him and scrambling back to his feet. "We got to hurry!"

"Why?" France asked, dusting himself off and standing as well. 

"I saw another me running into this hallway, that must be that guy that offed Switzerland!" Prussia quickly explained. 

"But we saw two of you going down different hallways." Russia pointed out. 

"Three Prussias?" China said, sighing. "Ai-ya. One is more than enough."

"Hm, it could be Prussia's arcana or it could be Reve." England said, thinking quickly. "Let's proceed carefully." Prussia turned and swung his sword out.

"Yea! Chaaaarge!" He yelled, about to run off once again. England put the palm of his hand on his forehead.

"...That's the exact opposite of carefully." He muttered. They began to head out when yet another Prussia leapt out of the mirror and rammed himself into the real one. Prussia was sent stumbling back a few paces, only to glare up at the other him. 

"Augh! You son of a--" He began, before he realized who was in front of him. This Prussia looked almost exactly like him, except for the fact he was in his old war uniform. The same uniform he had worn during the War of Austrian Succession. This Prussia held a giant and thick, silver broadsword over his shoulder.

"Whoa! I look awesome!" The real Prussia exclaimed, looking the other one up and down. "I remember that uniform, I looked badass in it. Hell, I still do!"

"Now's not the time for narcissim." China said, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Oh come on, it's not gay, it's masturbation!" Prussia said cheerfully. (I can already see it now. Get yer minds outta the gutter.)

"Ooh, never thought of it that way~" France said with a slight wink. (FRANCE NO I ALREADY TOLD THE READERS TO GET THEIR MINDS OUTTA THE GUTTER! SAME GOES FOR YOU!)

"How did I get stuck with this group?" England asked himself, shaking his head.

"Tresspassers of my domain, you have made a grave mistake seeking me out." The other Prussia said, swinging his broadsword out and sticking it into the ground. "Prepare to be cut down by the Emperor, the fourth arcana!" 

"He even sounds awesome, oh man!" Prussia said, jumping up slightly. "Can we not kill him?" 

"You're losing focus, Prussia!" England scolded. "He wants to kill us!"

"Mon ami, he is right." France agreed, holding up his own sword. "Come on, we'll let you take first strike." 

"...You dare ignore my threats?!" Emperor said, pulling his sword out of the ground. "Foolish tresspassers, die by my hand!" He charged forwards, only to stop dead cold as both England and Russia sent an ice storm at him. Prussia was on him immediately, jumping up and slashing downwards. Emperor seemed to have been expecting this, since he quickly blocked the slash with his own sword.

But that's where France came in. He attacked Emperor's exposed lower half, kicking his feet out from underneath him. But the time the arcana had scrambled back to his feet, Prussia was on him once again. There wasn't much England, Russia, or China could do, as the two friends darted around Emperor, moving in perfect unison. It was almost as if they knew what each one was going to do and when they were going to do it.

Eventually, both struck at the same time, sending Emperor flying back towards the mirror he jumped out of. He staggered up, dropping his broadsword.

"What...how could simple knaves..kill one such as myself?" He asked, looking at both France and Prusssia. "It's impossible."

"Quite the talker, isn't he?" China commented as the other three took a few more steps closer. 

"Just like the real one~" Russia agreed.

"No...my kingdom, everything I have worked for...I can't die like this...not so soon..." Emperor continued, as if he hadn't heard China and Russia. He fell down, his back against a table right in front of the mirror. Prussia began walking towards him, the grin on his face unreadable for once.

"Get....Get away from me...." Emperor hissed as Prussia knelt down in front of him.

"...It's okay." He said, reassuringly. "Dying isn't as bad as it seems." Emperor glared at him.

"How could you possibly know how this feels..." He asked.

"I died before my time too, too many times to count." Prussia simply responded, catching the dying arcana off guard. "Sometimes slow, sometimes fast. It's not that bad. It's scary, but it'll be okay." Emperor lowered his eyes, closing them slowly.

"...Empress...I'm sorry...I hope we do not meet in the afterlife so soon." He said quietly. His body began to fade into millions of white particles. But those particles didn't disappear. As Prussia stood, the particles surrounded him, spinning until they formed a bright light.

"Wh-whoa..this power.." Prussia breathed as the light faded. 

"Do you feel okay?" China asked, stepping forwards with a rather concerned look. "Do you need to sit down?"

"Feels freakin AWESOME!!" Prussia finished, turning with his normal grin on his face. "WOO!! What a rush!" 

"Uhuhu~ What a pleasant surprise~" Russia said. It certainly didn't take the Prussian too long to go back to his normal mood.

"Hm...." England put his hand on his chin, thinking. France glanced over at him, obviously thinking the same.

"Who do you think the Empress is?" He asked, voicing both of their questions.

"My first guess would be Hungary, but it could be anyone." England finally said, after a few minutes of thinking. The ground suddenly shook before anyone could say anything else. A loud screech, one from a violin. filled what felt like the entire castle.

"W-whoa! The hell was that?!" Prussia asked as the screeching faded. 

"....I think we're about to meet who Empress is." England said. "Come on!"

Two chapters in one day. Aren't you guys lucky?! Eh? EH?

Anywho! See you all next chapter! Bye bye!