Swiss Labyrinth Chapter 3

~I'm terribly sorry for the long wait! I have no excuses except my horrible procrastination. I seriously didn't even work on this until this past weekend, then I was on roll and (with I could been this motivated to finish my architecture project due tomorrow... oh well)~

The stairs seemed to go up forever, and the only light came from Germany's flashlight. Italy clung to the shoulder of his bad hand.

"Turkey, are you okay back there?" Germany called to the back of the group.

"Not really," Turkey panted, his good leg sore and pain shooting through his bad leg with each step. "What about you two?" He spoke to France and Canada, who were helping him.

"We could be better. You need to lay off the kabobs," France jested.

"Shut up, cheese-face!"

"Oh, nice comeback, ottoman."

"That's hardly an insult calling me the name of my empire."

"I meant the furniture you rest your feet on, and YOU DON'T HAVE AN EMPIRE ANYMORE!"

"Guys?" Canada whimpered as a cold breeze flowed around them. A purple aura glowed behind them and the bickering nations calmed down. They remembered that Russia was climbing the stairs behind them and they figured he didn't enjoy listening to their nonsense.

After a while, Germany felt the stairs become slick. He had everyone stop, and he looked down. Water trickled down the steps, and above them in the distance they heard the steady roar of rushing water.

"Watch your steps everyone," Germany said. 'One wrong move could have us back down there with the sharks.' It was a grim thought, but true.

As they continued to climb, the stairs started to wind. The left side of the wall grew dark green from moss, as did the floor, making the matter of not slipping harder. It was especially harder for France and Canada with the extra weight of Turkey holding them back.

"I can help," Russia chuckled behind them. Turkey felt two big arms wrap around his waist. In a matter of seconds he was thrown over Russia's shoulders facing away from the group.

"Put me down, dammit!" Turkey started punching and kicking, but he soon gave up.

France and Canada were happy to be rid of the loud nation, but wondered if it would be okay leaving him in the hands of Russia; those two weren't exactly the best of friends...

Germany made sure everyone was ready before they started moving again. The quiet roar of water slowly grew louder as they ascended the stairs. Then the flashlight shut off on its own. Germany cursed and tried shaking the flashlight to get it to work, but it didn't. When he looked back up, a faint light shined into the were finally at the top.

A small archway at the top of the stairs opened up to a foggy village. Clouds blanketed the air above and rain fell steadily.

"Are we outside?" Turkey, as well as the others, could not believe his eyes. Italy ran out into the rain twirling about with his hands in the air.

"That's impossible. If we were outside, it would be snowing, and a village wouldn't be built this far into the Alps."

"I agree with you, Germany-san. This is also...um...a matter that, uh, Switzerland asked me about..." The group looked at Japan as a flash of lightning illuminated the cavern. "What?! It's just a new software I had come up with that was originally going to be used in children's bedrooms so that they could look at the stars as they slept. Switzerland was curious about it, liked the idea and I gave him a demo. He just took it to a new level, I guess."

Russia's quiet nature kept him from voicing the feeling of suspicion and unease in the pit of his gut, but he felt he should keep an eye on Japan until they found Switzerland. Japan noticed the larger nation watching him intently, and he could understand the unease in his comrades. He admitted that these events seemed too much to be simple coincidences, but he had no idea what Switzerland was up to.

The group slowly approached the village. Germany stopped for a moment, turned his head up to the 'sky' and closed his eyes. He wiped his face, the rain helping to clean off the blood, then he ran his good hand through his bloody hair. For he moment, he was thankful for the downpour. For one, its been a while since he'd seen precipitation other than snow. Second, it would look a little suspicious to be covered in blood, however, his clothes were still stained red. Then he wondered, 'Is it still snowing outside?'

The sound of hooves tromping through puddles ripped Germany out of his thoughts. He looked and saw two men on horseback riding towards him. He looked over to the group and they were already to the village. Trying not to look conspicuous, he quickly made his way to the houses. Peeking back around the house, he saw that the two men were still walking, as if they hadn't even noticed him. One thing he noticed, though, was one of the riders. It was Korea, talking loudly to his companion, whom Germany couldn't identify thanks to the man's helmet. Germany did recognize the man's annoyingly cocky voice, however he couldn't quite put his finger on who it was.

The others had joined Germany and watched in shock as their fellow nation trotted by. Russia glared menacingly while Japan stood dumbfounded. Even if they didn't get along so well at times, he refused to believe that Korea would actually work with Switzerland.

After a few minutes, the two men on horseback had left their line of vision, and the group suddenly realized how drenched they were, and the chill of the downpour was finally getting to them. They wandered deeper into town, being careful of anymore of Switzerland's lackeys or Korea. France felt a chill run down his spine, caused not by the rain, but by the emptiness of the town. Not a single soul could be found, and all the curtains on each window were down. Behind some windows, faint light could be seen through the curtains. One time, Italy looked up to a window, clutching onto Germany when he saw the curtain flutter, as if someone had been watching them.

Soon they saw a fairly large building with a sign bearing a red cross above the door. Germany tried the doorknob, figuring this was a hospital, but it was locked. He pounded on the door a few times with his good hand, calling out, "Hello! Is anyone in there? Please, let us in!" No one answered. Germany tried again. "Please, someone help us! We have three injured people! PLEASE LET US IN!"

"And we're cold, too!" Italy chimed in.

Russia pushed the two of them aside, and with one swift kick, the door was ripped from it's hinges.

"Jesus Christ!" An older looking man with long white hair tied back into a ponytail had been standing behind the door. "If you had just a little more patience, I vas about to open ze door! Vell, don't just stand there, come inside!"

The group did as they were told and the man pushed the door back up into its place.

"I'm very sorry, sir. We can fix that later," Germany stated, bowing humbly.

The man sighed. "Don't vorry about it." He turned to the group. "I am Dr. Fritz. Sorry it took me so long, I'm ze only person here right now und I was on another floor. Vat can I do for you gentlemen?"

Germany held up his busted right hand, Russia his left, and Turkey tried squirming out of Russia's grip to talk to the man face to face, but yeah, that didn't happen. Even so, the doctor could see all their injuries plainly. He walked over to the reception desk and started scribbling words onto a paper.

"Vat are your name's?"

Germany looked to the others with worry, the others returning the look of unease. He cleared his throat, and after a moment he had an answer. "My name is Ludwig Beilschmidt."

"I'm Feliciano Vargas."

"Francis Bonnefoy."

Things got awkward when it came to the nation who lived nowhere near Switzerland's place.

"Kiku Honda-desu."

"Ivan Braginski."

"Matthew Williams." But no one really heard Canada.

Turkey tried turning around again, and when he failed, he just fell limp over Russia's shoulder in defeat. Taking off his mask, he said, "Sadik Adnan..."

After writing their names down, Dr. Fritz looked at them skeptically. Shaking his head, he walked to a hallway and lead them upstairs to an examination room. He asked the three injured nations to take a seat. Russia dropped Turkey onto one of the seats heavily.

"Pislik!"

"Quit whining." Turkey did as he was told, not wanting to push the already upset nation.

The uninjured nations stood the doorway and watched as the doctor checked the rate of bleeding from the others' wounds. Finding Russia and Germany's injuries not quite as severe, and started to clean the deep gashes in Turkey's leg. Turkey grimaced each time the alcohol-drenched cloth barely even touched the surface of his wounds. Soon the gashes were clean and Dr. Fritz began stitching them up. About halfway through this process, Italy had fainted and collapsed, and was now laying in France's lap.

After Fritz finished wrapping gauze around Turkey's leg, he moved onto Russia's hand, cleaning, stitching, then wrapping it as well. When he moved to Germany, he motioned the nation to stand up.

"I'm going to have to take you to get an x-ray. Please follow me, Herr Beilschmidt." Russia followed as they went to another room. The x-ray process took a little while, but when the results were in, they showed that nearly every bone in Germany's hand had been broken.

Germany was reminded of a time back during World War II when he was trying to get a grenade out of Italy's mouth. He had managed to do so, but didn't have any time to throw it, and it exploded in his hand. Within minutes it had begun healing. Judging by the x-rays, this certainly wasn't going to happen.

The three of them walked back to the room where the others were waiting. Fritz took Germany into the room next door, asking the others if they didn't mind them talking alone. Having been granted permission, Fritz closed the door and Germany sat on a stool. Fritz sat in front him in a swivel chair. First, Fritz began aligning Germany's bones where they were meant to be in his hand, and when he started to bandage the fingers, he spoke.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, little Luddy? I guess you go by Germany now, zough, don't you? Und you're definitely not 'little' anymore."

Germany sat, dumbfounded. Who was this man? He tried searching back into his memories, but turned up nothing.

"Of course you don't remember. You vere just a child ven ve met. I can't believe its been almost three centuries since zen." Fritz stopped his work and looked up into Germany's bewildered eyes. "I miss being your brother's boss." Finishing the bandages and splints, he continued. "Ah, those were the days. Trying to conquer nations, succeeding sometimes, then failing others. Still got Silesia out of it, though."

And that's when it clicked.

"Fritz? Old man Fritz?! You're alive!? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?"Germany was standing now, looking down at the older man who was had a melancholic smile on his face. "Does Big Brother know?" Fritz chose to ignore the question, motioning for Germany to sit again so he could finish the bandaging.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Later that evening, the group and Fritz sat quietly around a table in a dining room near the main reception area of the small hospital, eating dinner. Fritz had offered for them to stay with them for a while until they healed, which the group gladly accepted. The mindfuck dealt to Germany earlier had his brain in a tizzy and he couldn't think straight enough to form a plan on finding and dealing with Switzerland. Even now, he sat at the table, staring at his food, holding his fork in his good hand, but not moving whatsoever.

Italy, saddened by the lack of pasta, chose to go to bed early. Turkey sat next to his new crutches, digging into his food as if it was his last meal. France sat across from him, trying not laugh as he watched the other nation scarf down his food. Russia hadn't ate and didn't have a plate in front of him; he had turned down the offer of food as he didn't feel hungry. Instead, Russia sat staring at the table. Japan and Fritz sat, eating their food in silence, watching the others.

Soon, a knock came on the door in the next room, then a crashing sound as the door fell to the ground. Fritz jumped up and ran into the other room. Germany stood and watched through the doorway, just in case it was Korea.

"What the hell happened to your door, Fritz?" It was the other man Korea had been speaking to. Germany's eyes widened in shock when the man took off his helmet, revealing short, messy, silver hair.

"Some unruly customer came in earlier und couldn't vait for me to answer ze door. He's gone now, don't vorry about it, Prussia."

Germany fell back against the wall, slowly sitting on the ground, both of his hands covering his mouth. 'Why? Why is he here? Is he working with Switzerland? How come I didn't know about this?' The others were watching him questioningly, and France stood up, acting as if he was going to see what was going on. Germany raised his hand, gesturing for the other to halt. He turned his head to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"I told you not to call me that in public. It's just Gilbert."

"Zere's not a soul around, Prussia. Vat does it matter?"

Prussia chuckled. "You're right, Fritz. Sorry. Anyways, have you seen these guys?" Germany could only imagine that his brother was showing the older man pictures of the group.

"I'm afraid I haven't, vat is zis about?"

"Oh, they're just trespassers and the boss wants us to round 'em up. It has been a few hours, maybe they left the town already and Vash just didn't notice."

"Does zat mean your leaving town to go find zem?"

The nation sighed. "Afraid so. I can't believe it, you're alive again and I have to spend the time I want to be having with you chasing around a bunch of intruders." When Germany heard his brother's voice break, he peeked around the doorway to see his brother and Fritz hugging. "When I take care of these, guys, I'm making this my permanent residence, Fritz. I can't stand being away from the awesomest boss ever." He broke away. "I have to go now. See ya later."

Prussia put his helmet back on and as he left, he put the door back up.

Germany stood as Fritz entered the room.

"Who was that?" France asked. Fritz ignored another question and went back to his seat.

Tears in eyes, Germany answered, "It was Big Brother, he's *hic* working with Switzerland, *hic* like Britain." He was crying now, just not being able to comprehend any of what he just saw or said. France ran over to comfort the nation, who had fallen down to his knees.

"I'm sorry Germany. I couldn't tell you earlier. I couldn't have you all getting caught yet. You need to stop Svitzerland." The group looked to the elderly man who sat staring down at the table. "I don't know ze full extent of his plans, but I just know something bad is going to happen."

Russia stood up, knocking his chair over as he did. "You still haven't explained how your alive." His purple eyes glowed with anger towards the other.

Fritz stood as well, backing away from the large threatening figure out of fear. "I vas hardly told anyzing! Ven I voke up, I remember Prussia hugging me, happy zat I vas alive. I vas told zat ve vere living inside of a mountain, zat I would be trained as a doctor, und zat vas it! I vasn't told how I vas brought back, I vasn't told vy. Venever I try to bring it up vis Prussia, he avoids ze question completely!"

Japan and Turkey sat, watching the dispute quietly, wishing they could've contributed. Japan felt empathy for Fritz, since he, too, had some dirt against him, even though he didn't understand the situation as a whole. Turkey was still trying to wrap his head around his best friend working for that psycho, Switzerland.

Finally, with a distraught sigh, Turkey spoke. "Guys. I think we can all agree that it's been a long day. There's no need to start biting each others' heads off over things we have no power over right now anyways. Let's just get some rest and take care of things tomorrow when are minds are clearer."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Soon Russia's hand was healed; Germany's was almost fully functional; and Turkey could finally walk without his crutches. During the past few weeks, they hadn't seen Korea or Prussia, nor did they see many of the town's people as Fritz was too nervous about letting them leave the apartment, however, it was finally time for them to continue their search for Switzerland. Fritz had been kind enough to lead them as far as the next town and gather any supplies they would need.

One thing that each of them had to do before their search, though, was change their identities. Germany had dyed his hair black and wore it down; Italy wore his hair back and dyed it darker brown, like Big Brother Romano's; Russia also dyed his hair dark and cut it shorter; Turkey dyed his hair bright bleach blond and looked like one of those tan surfer dudes; Canada and France straightened their hair and France almost looked like Poland; Japan surprisingly didn't change his look at all.

When it was time to leave, Fritz had some supplies with him in a backpack, such as some bread and water. He also brought a first aid kit. People gave the eight weird looks as they walked through the town towards the one tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. Today, the holograms gave the cavern a downcast look, signaling 'bad weather.'

It had actually taken an hour for them to reach the other end of the city and when they did, Germany looked back, finding that Turkey was behind. "You alright?"

Turkey waited until he was closer to reply, and he did so panting. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just haven't walked like this in a month, that's all." Part of the reason was that he still had a limp, and an hour of walking still took a lot out of him.

"Well, we'll still try to slow the pace."

"Hey guys, isn't that Liechtenstein?" They to see France walking towards the child out in the open. She was facing away from the group and the rest of them could sense something foreboding about her. Fritz started calling to him warning him to stop, but France wasn't listening. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know what your brother is doing, would you?" France tried his best to sound sweet, but fear laced his voice.

The figure flickered, then its head turned 180 degrees to face him. Then it clicked in France's mind that this definitely wasn't Liechtenstein. A wailing sound came from the hologram, "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" then there was a deafening screech that had France falling backwards, trying to scamper back to the rest of the group. Horse hooves thundered behind them and when they looked, Korea was hurdling towards them.

"Scheiße! Everybody run!" As the rest of the rest of the group complied, Russia grabbed Turkey and slung him over his shoulder and followed the others. Turkey watched as Korea slowly gained on them, and when they made turns, it seemed that with each corner, he grew closer and closer. They came to a fork and chose one of the three routes quickly before Korea rounded that last turn. After going around a few more turns and forks, the group finally stopped, taking much needed breaths.

France's chest hurt, that demonic hologram of Liechtenstein being to blame. "How did it recognize us?!" France exclaimed. "We had disguises and everything!"

"I'm sure Switzerland had the system familiarized with each citizen, so it would be understandable that it would notice the ones it's never seen before." Germany sat against a wall, panting. "Next time, just listen to us when we tell you to stop!"

Turkey continued watching for Korea, even after he was put back down on the ground. He ignored the others as they debated how Korea knew about them. Something other than the arguing penetrated his eardrums: the distant clicking of horse hooves.

He raised a hand to everyone and hissed, "Hush for a moment!"

The clicking slowly grew louder and louder and echoed through the tunnel. Soon the horse came into view around a corner, but its rider had disappeared. Turkey tilted his head in confusion, cautiously walking up the large creature. It's saddle was definitely empty, 'then where did Korea go...?' Turkey puzzled. He soon found out.

Someone grabbed at Japan's chest from behind, and just as fast as it had happened, the hands disappeared and the group heard the cackling of the other Asian nation.

"JAPAN! ON YOUR CHEST!" Japan looked down just in time to see a small red blinked device attached to his chest before it exploded, sending him flying backwards. His ears rang, and when he opened his eyes, Germany was shouting above him, probably telling him to 'hang in there' or 'don't die.' Something felt different in Japan. Not pain, not fear, just darkness. Then memories flooded into his mind. His face became void of all expressions and he sat up robotically. He assured Germany that he was fine as soon as his hearing came back.

Above them in the darkness of the high ceilings, Korea was jumping around, staying out of sight, his eerie laugh echoing through the corridor. Needles cut through the air, moving so fast that the group barely had any time to dodge them.

"You don't want these babies to get you! They're each laced with poison that'll kill you within minutes! I love these things, they're so awesome and badass! HEY JAPAN! I'M A BETTER NINJA THAN YOU!" Japan shook his head at the annoying nation as he dodged the needles.

At one point, Russia drew his scarf off and whipped it in front of a barrage of needles, catching each one, then he sent them flying back into the darkness all in one swift motion. A squeal of pain resonated in the air above them, and Korea fell down from his perch into the center of the group. Korea glanced around at everyone, but a made a mad dash between the large gap between Italy and Japan.

Russia went in fast pursuit, the others choosing to stay behind; they each knew that Russia was still in a foul mood over the loss of his sisters and had no intention of getting in his way. They also knew that he could take care of himself.

During the chase, Korea ripped the needles logged in his shoulder out and discarded them on the ground. He also discarded grenades. Russia dodged each one, and one time, he shouted, "THAT WAS MY SISTER'S SCARF AND YOU RUINED IT!"

"WELL, IF YOU HAD JUST TAKEN THE NEEDLES AND DIED, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT NOW, WOULD YOU?!" Korea was slowing down, the effects of the poison taking hold and his vision starting to cloud. He saw a pipe above him and he leapt for it. His hand was inches away when Russia grabbed his long white cloak, yanking him down.

Russia threw Korea face down and sat on top of him, pulling the smaller nation's head up, threatening to break his neck. The group soon caught up with the two of them and Germany quickly started the interrogation.

"Tell us what Switzerland is planning! NOW!"

Korea scoffed. "I guess I could, I mean, I'm going to die soon anyways, damn Commie." Russia slammed his head to the ground then brought it back up. "THE HELL, MAN? I was just kidding!" After a sigh and trying to fight the poison, he opened his mouth to tell them, but when he looked back at Japan, he closed his mouth swiftly. Japan's dark, soulless eyes foretold agonizing torture if Korea ever told. So he sighed again. "You know what? Fuck you guys. It's too late anyways," and those were his last words before the poison finally claimed him.

Germany sighed and looked back to the group. "Hey, um, where'd Japan go?"

~How'd you like all those mindfucks? They get crazier later on ;D As for Prussia... I was originally going to have him show up WAY later in the story, but as I was trying to name the doctor, one of my friends threw out the name 'Fritz' and I got the awesome idea of "OH MY GOD WHAT IF I PUT OLD MAN FRITZ IN HERE!" then I threw in Prussia cuz you can't have Old Man Fritz without Prussia. Please don't kill me over Fritz' horrendous accent, but he's the only who's getting one, besides... oh wait I can't say this one And I'm not going to explain the whole thing with Fritz talking about child Ludwig cuz I'd piss off all the weeaboos. Also, the thing with Turkey thinking about how his 'best friend' is working for Switzerland, I ship TurkeyxPrussia.

And the hallway with Korea and stuff, there are lights on the walls located just above their heads, then the ceiling goes on forever, and there are beams not visible to those below, so that's how Korea's getting around above them. And the hospital Fritz works at doubles as an apartment.

Alrighty, here translations:

Turkish: Pislik = Asshole~