Through the Picture Frame 20

A Hetalia X Ib Crossover

Chapter 20 – Secret

You were in front of a painting of a mouth, drying Oliver’s hair with his sweater vest.
You frowned.

Name, why were you even standing there anyways?

“Is your hair dry?” you asked.

“Yes,” Oliver replied, “I think it is.” He put on the sweater vest.

“Anyways,” he began, “What do you think we should be doing now?”

“There was a door blocked by red gas,” you began and pointed to a door behind you, “but the gas is gone now. So, maybe we can check if there’s anything in there.” However, it appeared that Oliver didn’t hear you. He was staring at the mouth painting with an unfathomable expression.

“Oliver?” you placed your hand on his shoulder. He flinched and turned to look at you. Oliver’s blue eyes were swirled with pink again, and a wide grin was stretched across his face.

“I…I don’t like him! I don’t like him at all! Not one bit!” he said in a very loud voice.

“Oliver?” your voice was mixed with alarm. He giggled.

“I am Oliver~ I am Olliiiiver~” he sang. Oliver began laughing maniacally and ran back to the mosaic corridor, leaving you to stand there in shock.

Wha…What just happened? How can eyes even turn pink? Oliver…he didn’t go insane…did he?

You followed him into the corridor where he was stabbing a mannequin head with the palette knife.

“In my way! In my way!” he snarled as he mercilessly thrust the knife though its scull. Red paint splattered out, and dark red tears oozed from the mannequin’s eyes. Deciding that it was best not to disturb him, you silently stepped back out of the corridor. However, as soon as you had turned your back, you felt arms encircle around your waist.

“O-Oliver?” you asked, your face becoming flustered, “What are you doing?”

“Don’t leave me, Name,” he said, “I hate being alone.” He pulled you closer to him and rested his head on your shoulder. His hair tickled against your neck.

“Oliver, I wouldn’t leave you. I promised, all of us will leave this gallery together.” You gingerly patted his head and felt his arms loosen. You pulled yourself from his grasp.

“Oliver,” you placed you hands on his shoulders to reassure him, “I’ll always be here with you. And, I hope that we can get to know each other even more in the real world.” Oliver’s eyes looked up at you, sky blue without a hint of pink.

“Okay!” he replied cheerily, “Sorry for loosing myself back there, heheh!” He began humming a jolly tune to himself. Oliver suddenly began talking energetically, way more than normal.

“Name, what’s snow like? Does it fall lightly or heavily? I don’t know!”

“Um, I guess it depends on the wind and temperature…”

“Really? Let’s play in the snow sometime!”

There was a period of silence when he spoke again.

“Name, do you know the game ‘Loves me, Loves me not’?”

“I think so,” you responded, “you’re supposed pick the petals off a flower, don’t you?”

‘Yes! Do you know a way to always get ‘Loves me’?” You shrugged absentmindedly; your thoughts were more concentrated on what to do next.

“Well, you can count the stem!”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” His behavior was beginning to freak you out.

“Name, do you miss Arthur?” You stopped. How does he know about that? I didn’t tell him anything about him…only Al knows.

“How do you know about him?” you responded.

“Al told me. You miss him, right?” he asked, sounding panicked. You weren’t sure how to reply.

“I…didn’t know him very well…but I guess that I wanted to get to know him better, so we could be…friends.” You turned and walked to the colorless room; you needed a moment alone to recollect your thoughts.

“Wait, here, I’ll be back,” you called. Expecting the room to be completely devoid of color, you were shocked to find it vibrantly colorful with a rainbow bridge to the key.

When did this happen? Did I step on something to turn the color back on?

Carefully walking across, you grabbed the key and went out to look for Oliver.

“Oliver! I found another key!” you said. Oliver didn’t seem to hear you as he walked from painting to painting, staring at them intensely.

“Oliver?” he still didn’t pay any attention to you. You shook his shoulder, but he just shrugged your hand off and went off to look at another picture.

“Um…okay, then, I’ll go see what this key is for. If I’m not back soon, then please go looking for me,” you said awkwardly, feeling a little put out by his cold demeanor.

What’s wrong with him? He was acting all eccentric a while ago, and now he isn’t responding to me. Did one of the paintings have a bad effect on him?

You tried the key on the door next to “Fisherman”. With a small Click, the door swung open, leading to a dimly lit room and a staircase going downwards.

“I’ll be back soon, Oliver,” you called out, “Please don’t leave this room.” You closed the door, shrouding yourself in near darkness, with only one dim light at the top of the stairs.