Memories of Old

Chapter 55: The Bloodbath Loop

Chapter 55: The Bloodbath Loop

"I made a mistake." I said as the group of 12 nations in the memory went towards the Fifth Floor staircase.

"You... made a mistake?" England raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well... I've made a lot of mistakes, but... This one... was my fault."

"Shut up. It wasn't truly your fault." Luciano argued, but I sent him a flat look.

"If you blame yourself, I can blame myself. Don't be a hypocrite." I argued.

"F-fair enough."

"Why do you think that this one was your fault?" Asher asked me, concern in his gaze.

"Because I waited too long... We stayed holed up in the Safe Room for four and a half weeks straight, with nobody venturing outside. We were recovering from some rather nasty injuries, and by the time we were well enough to make for the front door key..." I sighed. "The Things were beyond restless. It was a formula for disaster."

"I think I remember you being rather concerned with how long we spent in the Safe Room..." Japan puzzled over his hazy memories.

"Si. This last time... we only spent a few days, but... after this... I never wanted a repeat of this... carnage." I shuddered. "Even still, after this loop everyone became restless if we spent too long in the Safe Room. You all subconsciously remembered the consequences, which made things easier on me."

The nations in the memory smiled and laughed, looking refreshed and mostly back at 100%, though a few still had some minor limps and aches.

"Ita? What's wrong, buddy?" Alfred asked, tilting his head curiously.

"I... nothing, it's nothing... I hope." Feli muttered. "I'm just nervous."

"We all are." Kiku agreed. "But it'll be okay. Don't worry so much, Itary-kun."

"Did we know?" Japan asked me, looking at the scene intensely.

"No. You didn't know. You knew some but not everything. I'd gone with the 'I saw stuff in the clocks' method, which meant I could push you all in the directions I wanted you to go in without explaining everything.

The group entered the Bloody Handprint Room with no small amount of trepidation, and Feliciano hung towards the far right side of the group.

The nations startled again at just how much blood was all over the room. It seemed to have doubled since they last entered, but those who were able to vaguely recall the Final Loop, shuddered when they realized that it was only just the beginning of the blood.

The nations in the memory, however, ignored their nerves and guts telling them to turn around, or be quiet, and instead pushed forward into the Blood Clock Room.

"I think it was like this..." Feli spoke up, guiding them through the puzzle that he, himself, had set up all those loops ago to ensure that they never got this far without him.

"Why did you set up that magical puzzle?" England asked me.

"Well, after Loop One, I got nervous... I tried very hard to keep those deaths from repeating. Germany and Prussia had entered the room alone and gotten gravely injured getting me the key to the Front Door... So I set up a puzzle that requires at least three people to complete to ensure that never happened again. At the very least, I could try harder to be there." I explained as I watched them solve the puzzle and enter the Cage Room.