The Library of Knowledge | TLoK Book One | Complete

Chapter 4: The Basement.

I honestly don't even remember the date I published this on 'cause I'm in the middle of trying to edit this book...

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The States and America looked everywhere you could think of; the attic, top floor, fourth floor, third floor, second floor, and the ground floor, all the rooms, closets, bathrooms and spare rooms included. And even after all that, there was still no sign of crazy-State-Florida.

Fifteen minutes or so later, everyone met in the living room, Florida-Man obviously not there. The states were talking among themselves, unbeknownst to them, America was listening, and couldn't exactly say he liked what he was hearing.

"Do you think he went outside? Like, not in the backyard?"

"He knows we have to stay a secret from the outside world, for our own safety,"

"Wot if Sincerely ate 'im?"

"What if he went in the basement?"

"W-What if he went back to Papá?"

That last comment broke America's heart. It was the young State Hawaii who said that. She looked so sad when she said it, and looked on the verge of tears. He stepped out from where he was listening, and walked over to the hula-State.

The other States just watched, unsure of what he was going to do. America lowered himself so he was eye level with his daughter, and hugged her.

Hawaii hugged back almost immediately, and started to cry. A few of the States watching also teared up, and Alaska joined in on the hug right away, with Texas following right after (they couldn't stand Hawaii looking like that). More and more States joined in, and soon enough almost every State was crying about their brother, America included.

Sure, Florida was probably the most unstable, loony, and creepy State of them all, but everyone loved him and that wasn't going to ever change.

A few minutes later, the States let go, and America looked back to Hawaii. "W-Would you like me to check?" He asked, looking in her eyes. "Y-Yes e 'oluʻolu..." (please) She responded, while letting go of her father. straightened out her hula skirt, then backed away to give her father room.

America then crossed his legs, and focused on his breathing.

He needed to feel his States' presence.

The thing about America was that he knew right away if one of his States decided to leave the U.S.A, or if they stupidly decided to turn Confederate again, but he couldn't tell right away if one of his States went back to their land. In order to check, he would need to feel the States living presence, which took a lot of concentration. So that took a few minutes as America was not the greatest country for that kind of thing. That craziness was usually Vatican City's thing, but who's counting?

A few minutes later America opened his eyes and looked to Hawaii. "He's still in his StateHuman form," He announced, extremely relieved in what he just found out himself.

Everyone exhaled in relief, also glad that Florida didn't decide to go back to his homeland. When the Staates did that sort of thing it also put a lot more strain on America. Yeah, in the end America did have a say in what his children did with their land, but with the children being in their StateHuman forms, it took a weight off his shoulders that he didn't have to look after hundreds of thousands of people in a country. Now he only had to look after 51 children and keep them relatively happy so they don't let their emotions make poor decisions for the whole of America. What fun.

"There's only one place we haven't checked... the Basement..." Ohio said to America, looking pretty glum.

The States weren't allowed in the Basement, because that was where America kept everything from when his States broke apart, North and South. All the states knew this; they weren't allowed there because if Confederate gained its human-like form, it would destroy America.

America knew he should have destroyed everything from that time, but Confederate was a part of him, and weather he liked it or not, it was a part of his States' history, and you can't bury history all that easily: it would always be there, haunting you down. But this was about Florida-Man, And if he tampered with the gigantic box in the middle of the room that held everything, Confederate could easily come back.

However, America could still feel Florida with him, so everything was okay.

"I'll go down there and bring up anything I find, and I won't open anything without you guys being there," America said bravely, putting in the impossibility long passcode to get into the basement. There were like 90 digits! How the heck does America remember that?

The States silently waited for the first minute or so, not saying anything.

But only three minutes later, when America still didn't return, the States started getting restless.

"Is dad going to come back?"

"What if Confederate came back?"

"It couldn't 'ave, us southerners would'a felt it,"

"Do you think Sincerely is down there?"

"Will Papá be okay?"

"That's it- If dad's not up here in two minutes, I'm going down to him,"

"You can't-"

Just then the door to the basement opened. "You guys sure talk a lot," Sincerely walked out, with a leash on his collar. America then came out. For some reason, there were pieces of tape against his sunglasses, and if he was trying to keep them in place. Nobody noticed. Nobody except two States, but they knew better then to question their father about his weird acts in front of everyone. Weird. Would he tell his children the whole story?

A b s o l u t e l y. N o t.

"Papá!" Hawaii yelled, running from where she was with Alaska to her father. The multicoloured State wrapped her arms around his leg, and squeezed, clearly happy that her father was still alive. She didn't know it, but if America lost his CountryHuman form, the States would immediately loose their forms as well.

"I'm alright, there's no need to worry," America said, letting Hawaii hang onto his leg. He let go of Sincerely's leash, and rotated his body so he was facing the basement door.

He moved his leg so that Hawaii could still hold on, and he wouldn't hurt her. America then closed the basement door, and typed in a really, really long code so that it locked. It was different form the entrance one, but nobody but him knew that.

The American Country then turned around, an unpleasant look on his face.