Shattered Souls Make Good Pets

15

"You went out on your own?" Germany asked, the three nodding tiredly. They'd only slept a few hours, and it was getting to them.

"At least tell us what the riddle is," England said, "I could care less about what time you got it."

"I am the sacrament to California, a concrete jungle of gold," Russia recited, his eyes drooping. The nations got the idea and left the three of them be, letting them continue sleeping.

"Sacrament, California," Estonia muttered to himself, "Sacramento, California's capital."

"Does it have gold?" China asked, using a nail file.

"No, but it is a concrete jungle." Estonia sighed, "We might as well go."

"I think Estonia-san is right about the location," Japan said, showing them a scroll. It showed how to find the next clue, which seemed to be in... a cannon.

"Sutter's Fort," Mexico said, studying the photo for a few seconds, "it's in Sacramento."

"Let's go!" Prussia exclaimed, Poland following him into the pilot's hold. The plane started moving almost immediately, people going about their mornings with the trio, Iceland and Norway, and Greece still sleeping.

People had early morning prissiness, especially England and China. It got to the point where the two started trying to fight, and France having to physically carry England away from trying to maul the Asian while he was held back by Japan.

Sweden was having his fika time with Denmark and Finland, Turkey was trying to inconspicuously draw a dick on Greece's face, France was babying England while China tried to kill them both, Germany trying to control the chaos before he heard a clunk coming from the cockpit and ran over, the two remaining Baltic's were chatting, Spain, Italy, and Romano were playing with the little dragon, Switzerland and Lichtenstein were having a fun time ignoring everyone, and everyone else was causing minimal chaos.

The three who had stayed up stayed asleep.

Russia gulped as he looked around his surroundings. It was two twin mansions, one much larger than the other, but it was desolate and empty. There was a garden in the center, but everything was dying. A fountain that was probably at one point beautiful sat in ruins, covered in vines, moss, rust, and mold.

He chose the smaller mansion on the left first, running his hands along the white ...paint... and wincing as it peeled. The entire mansion was white -both of them were- covered in black murals like shadow puppets, but more... artistic.

The black painted vines ran randomly along the walls, and the windows were lined with grey. He saw a large shadow puppet-like drawing of a dragon, as well as one on the side of the house of a person with their hands extended growing plants from their fingertips.

He noticed that most of the paintings were of plants though, black silhouettes of flowers against the white, especially along the bottom or when a floor changed. A few cats, a few dogs, something that looked like a wolf pack, a... griffon, a big painting on the side of the house of this long skinny creature with a crown of antlers, a woman with a big bag walking a child, a woman with ram horns and pointed ears, a few demons, a few mythical creatures. It was fairly archaic yet random.

He snuck a few looks into windows, only to find the rooms (that looked like bedrooms) were empty.

He found a big black door leading into the house, lined with dark grey with silver handles. There was no knocker, and he was concerned, but just pushed the door open, looking on the other side to find it had no lock.

Okay.

It was uncomfortable here.

This place should be full of people, or at least have some life. There were a few flags and banners, but not the American one. Some feathers and art supplies were spilled, he saw a few medals from being good soldiers to humans dating back hundreds of years, a plaque on the wall, a little bookshelf on the wall that should be full of normal books, but it was only filled with a Roman Catholic Bible, the Protestant Bible, and the Blue Back Speller.