'How many fingers... am I holding up, England?'

His voice sounded frightened... He feared what the older nation feared the most... It wasn't death, neither hurt. Hurt was something they experienced a lot. Over the years there hasn't been a single year in which they didn't fight. Every year those battles... the blood, the tears... Horrifying pictures... The pictures that conquered their minds as they slept. They knew how to sneak into their dreams... But as time passed, the images slowly faded away. They had to, they couldn't just remain in their minds. There were battles to be fought, decisions to be taken. There was just no other decision than to forget everything...
Death was just another thing. The day they entered this house, the blonde Englishman already sensed a sinister atmosphere. One that sent shivers down his spine. His instincts told him to leave, to not hang around too much. With those thoughts he went to the second floor to explore it with France... And what he feared the most at that moment happened... The house captured them like birds in a cage with no way out. No single window would open, no lock would be unlocked. They were locked in the house... And even at this moment, England could say: ''Didn't I tell you guys that something was not right!? Didn't I tell you that we should leave as quickly as possible?'' But of course, his words would be in vain...
'You can answer, can you? If you ... can see...'
Still, England couldn't decide which was worse.
'I'm sorry, America...' He gasped loudly, trying to push out the words he wanted to say. It was as if some invisible hand tried to strangle him, it's hand surrounding his airtube which made it nearly impossible to breathe. With all his might, he whispered the following words: 'I can... no longer see.'
His dull green eyes could just guess the emotion on America's face. He knew that the younger nations eyes were already clouded with tears. This was just what America had feared... He knew that England's magic was powerful but all powerful magicians had their limits. And England had just exceeded that limit. It was the same as back then, when he used up all of his magic powers which made him blind for a few hours. In those few hours, America could feel the fear conquer his body and mind, unsure of the destiny of his ally. Luckily, the Englishman's sight restored itself after a couple of hours.
Even so, England was too determined to defeat the monster, to show him that his magic power was a lot more powerful than he thought. He'd show America that there was not only one hero. But, there was only one thing that England didn't know: America already knew how powerful he was. He had known England for ages, since he was just a kid and when he was raised by big brother England. They knew each other very well. America knew of England's temper, he knew of his time as a pirate, he knew the taste of his yucky food(who didn't?) and he knew that England cared for him, even if he acted like he didn't. But he did. And England also knew a lot about America. Still, there was one fact that he tend to forget. He acted like a dork, was often scolded as goofball or bloody wanker, but his actions didn't take away the fact that he actually had a mind of his own. His skull wasn't filled with hamburgers, as England said. If only America had talked to him about it... If only he had not acted so recklessly...
'E-England...' His voice came out crackily and as England already predicted: His blue eyes were filled with tears. They had gone through this situation already, England had experienced this blindness before. Still America couldn't help but cry. The magic he had used... America did have in mind that England could blast an army of those monsters away with his magic but never, never he had felt so much power. It was nearly frightening that his friend had such strength. But now America felt... Nothing. It was all gone, as if it had never existed.
'Why...?' he whispered, moving forward and putting his hands on his shoulders. 'Why did you do this, England!? Why did you use up all of your magic!? W-Why...' He tilted his head down, shut his eyes very tightly. Salty tears rolled down his pale cheeks. He could taste them on his lips, a warm but salty flavour...
'A-Alfred...'