Thanks to Ate Luya, AquaEclipse and Eternal Nexus Warrior for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 36

Serbia quickly drew his gun, before either Slovenia or Bulgaria could make their moves. Slovenia snorted in amusement.

"You haven't managed to replicate our technology yet," Slovenia said. "Those bullets won't kill us."

"Not permanently," Serbia agreed. "But it will allow me to restrain you."

Bulgaria and Slovenia removed their own handguns, and Serbia's eyes darted between the two, trying to figure out which one would be most likely to shoot first.

Serbia could hear the others moving outside, and Slovenia and Bulgaria seemed to hear it as well, for they both gained masks of anger.

"Shit," Slovenia said. "What are they doing up?"

"You made a mistake in going for the one sharing a country first," Serbia said. "Lejla woke up, and I told her to wake the others."

"Fuck," Bulgaria said, before he turned to Slovenia. "We need to retreat."

Slovenia didn't answer, instead firing his gun. Serbia jumped out of the way, and Slovenia rushed towards Bosnia, grabbing him and Bulgaria grabbing onto Slovenia. Bulgaria shot at Serbia, who rfdgolled out of the way, having landed on the ground in his effort to dodge the previous bullet. This attempt wasn't as successful as the previous, and Serbia grunted in pain as the bullet dug into his thigh.

Slovenia and Bulgaria disappeared, taking Bosnia with them. And a moment later, the other Yugoslavians rushed into the room.

"What happened?" Montenegro asked. "We heard gunshots."

"Slovenia and Bulgaria," Serbia said. "They work for an organisation that, among other things, is responsible for killing Germany. And they took Bosnia."

"What?" Herzegovina asked.

"Everyone, I need you to grab onto me," Serbia said. "I don't care where, just grab me."

"What are you…?" Croatia asked.

"JUST DO IT!"

They weren't used to seeing Serbia so tense and angry, at least not since the fall of Yugoslavia. Macedonia immediately knelt down to place her hand on Serbia's shoulder, though she was more worried about the gunshot wound.

"We need to get that tended to," she said.

"There's no time," Serbia said desperately. "This is Slovenia's land. He can…"

They were startled by a tremor, and Serbia hissed a curse.

"Grab onto me, now, and I'll explain everything later!" Serbia ordered. "Please!"

There was another tremor, this one harder, and everyone except for Herzegovina grabbed onto Serbia, not quite knowing the purpose. Herzegovina hesitated.

"I couldn't find Kosovo," she said.

"I already sent him to safety," Serbia said. "Please."

She sighed before crouching down and grabbing his hand, just as another tremor hit.

"ADANAC!" Serbia shouted.

…

Slovenia clucked his tongue in annoyance.

"Looks like Serbia managed to get the rest of them out of there," Slovenia said. "None of them are in my country anymore."

"I think Serbia was right," Bulgaria said. "We shouldn't have gone for the person who shares a country first."

"No matter," Slovenia said, turning to the dazed Bosnia. "At least we managed to get one of them. Disappointing, I know, but at least it's a start."

…

Canada and the others were startled by the sudden flash of light and alarmed sounds. And he grew alarmed as well when he saw the figure in the centre of it all.

"Damjan!" he exclaimed, rushing over towards Serbia.

Serbia had a bloody wound on his thigh, and Canada knew that it needed to be treated right away. Serbia was also pale, and looked as though he was struggling to stay awake, most likely due to the spell.

He gave Canada a smile before his eyes rolled back and he went limp. Croatia was the one to catch him.

"Since when is America and Damjan on a first-name basis?" Montenegro asked.

"He's Canada," Kosovo explained. "And he's Damjan's boyfriend."

"What?!" the Balkans all exclaimed in shock.

"I need to go tend to Damjan's wound," Canada said, easily lifting Serbia into his arms. "Any questions, you can ask the others. Olivier! First aid kit!"

Canada left the room, carrying Serbia to his own bedroom.

…

Jamaica was, once again, extremely annoyed.

The others were enjoying their dinner, and normally, Jamaica would have tried having fun with them by now. But Haiti's spell was still in effect, so Jamaica couldn't even touch them.

It was painful if he tried.

Dominican Republic had informed everyone about Haiti's house, and that the only part that hadn't burned was the basement. Jamaica wondered if there was, perhaps, some sort of magical protection.

He was slightly annoyed because Haiti hadn't sent a retaliation in his general direction. One would have thought that committing arson on one's personal house would have sparked a reaction, but nope. Which made him wonder if, perhaps, Haiti had another house. One that he didn't inform anyone else about.

…Well, Jamaica wasn't one to judge, since he had one or two houses like that of his own.

Still, Jamaica was left with nothing to do. His original goal was to go off with the Caribbeans, and in one fell swoop, slaughter them all. Maybe keep one or two of them around. And then came news of Alvora, and he needed to see which among the Caribbean nations would be an enemy. Then he not only managed to find him, but he also learned that the enemy nation had cast a spell which prevented him from harming any of the other Caribbeans. Even a friendly pat on the back was risky.

Alvora changed the plans of Requiem… So perhaps Jamaica needed to change his own plan. He might want to discuss things with his ally in Oceania, but he was sure that he could come up with a new alternative that would still cause some misery.

…

Black and White were leading the Benelux siblings down a hallway, on their way to the only three unoccupied rooms on this floor. The Alvora nations and the others stayed on separate floors for the comfort of the non-members.

The third room in front of them opened, and they could see a breathless Botswana, who sighed in relief when he saw them.

"Anika, Themba, thank goodness," he breathed. "I… When did Netherlands and the others get here?"

"They came by unannounced," White sighed. "We're giving them rooms, and then you can tell us."

"Actually, why don't you take care of the Europeans?" Black asked. "I'll find out what Sammy wants."

White nodded her head, before she led the Europeans away, even resorting to dragging Netherlands who decided that he would much rather listen in on the conversation. White was stronger.

Black went with Botswana back to his room, and once the door was closed, he leaned against the wood.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I found Tunisia," Botswana said. "They're in some sort of facility in Greenland. It… It's some sort of brainwashing facility."

Black winced, closing his eyes.

"Do you know who else is there?" Black asked.

Botswana shuddered, but nodded his head.

"Algeria, Sudan, Nigeria, DRC and Uganda," Botswana said. "I took a detour in some of their minds." He looked as though he was about to vomit. "Tunisia told me that they're stripping away all of their sanity and reason. He's right. I went to Algeria's mind. There's nothing human about her left. The others are still hanging on a thread, but it looks like the thread's about to snap."

"And what about Tunisia?" Black asked.

Botswana shook his head.

"He's not there for their indoctrination," Botswana said. "He's there to test the others' indoctrination. Algeria… He was cannibalised by Algeria. And part of the tests they're doing is to test how willing they are to resort to something like that. They're stripping away their humanity and starving them."

"In that state, they're willing to attack anything they consider to be food," Black finished, horrified. "Even if it's someone they used to know. But… What could they be intending for something like this?"

"I don't know," Botswana said. "And I don't want to find out. But we need to get Tunisia out of there."

"…Greenland, you say? None of the African nations would be willing to do that. Greenland is too cold for us."

"And the place is in a particularly remote and northern location."

"There are a few nations on our side who can handle the cold. It's up to them."

Black was already listing through his options, as well as trying to find the best way to tell Morocco about the fate that befell her brother and sister.

…

White led Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg to their rooms, explaining once again to her former coloniser that it was a long story, and that it was late. Netherlands didn't want to let the matter drop, but when Belgium asked him, he finally admitted defeat.

She was on her way back to her own room when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to see Black walking behind her, a heavy expression on his face.

"How bad is it?" White asked.

"Good news is, he found the missing Africans," Black said. "The bad news is that they're being brainwashed."

White sighed.

"Of course they are," she said. "But there's more, isn't there?"

Black pursed his lips, before nodding.

"Tunisia is being used to test the effects of the brainwashing," Black said. "He was cannibalised by Algeria. Sammy said that there's nothing human about her left. The others still have a shred of humanity, but they're losing it fast."

White felt a bubble of nausea in her stomach. Hearing that, she could understand why Black looked the way he did. And she felt guilty. The plan had been to get the nations to sign the contracts and start working on fixing the damage that the humans had done to their countries. There had been no need to have them all together. But Requiem changed everything. They should have insisted that everyone stay in one location, but the others were already resenting the fact that they had lost their independence. If they stole their freedom as well, then they would achieve the opposite of what they intended.

Trying to place their comfort first had resulted in Tunisia being captured and forced to suffer through horrible torture.

They were going to send the message in the morning: all of them needed to come to South Africa immediately. They would pick them up at the airport, and they would take them to a safe location. And they would make sure that the others realised that they were only doing this for their safety.

They couldn't allow Requiem to continue as they were. They couldn't allow anyone else to fall victim to them.

…

Israel sighed, allowing the flood of questions to wash over him. He had explained everything about Alvora and Requiem, and told them that Slovenia and Bulgaria were both members of Requiem.

Lebanon, not being involved, took Kosovo out of the room and towards the regions. And since Canada and Quebec were busy tending to Serbia, Israel was completely alone with the remaining Yugoslavian nations. They were dealing with a sense of betrayal. They were dealing with the loss of one of their own. And they were worried about another one of their group being injured. Israel had a lot on his plate.

"Please," he said, raising his hand. "I understand that you've got a lot of questions, but could you please ask them one at a time? I'm only one person."

They thankfully grew silent, and Israel waited patiently for one of them to speak first. It was Herzegovina.

"What happened to Bosnia?" she asked.

"I don't know," Israel said. "Damjan is the one that dealt with the others. You'll have to ask him once he wakes up."

"But… What would they do?"

"We still don't know what they do to their prisoners. Your guess is as good as mine. However… The odds of them being brainwashed are very high."

"Of course," Montenegro said. "It would make sense, actually. To do it like that. What I want to know is how they would have escaped."

"They seem to have a device that can do it," Israel said. "A teleporter, if you will. Some of us have seen it first-hand. Then there's the fact that they were in Slovenia's land. A nation can instantly travel anywhere in their own country, provided they are in the country. I don't think many nations outside our two groups know how to do it. Especially not with passengers."

The others looked around at each other. No, they hadn't known that they could do that.

"And… how did we get here?" Croatia asked.

"We've had a spell cast on us a few centuries ago, and we keep adding it to our newer members," Israel said. "It allows us to instantly travel to any nation we want. Useless for invasions, in case you're wondering. It takes us directly to the person. But it's also draining. It's easier, but it has its negative aspects."

"Is that why Damjan passed out?" Macedonia asked.

Israel simply nodded his head.

"What are you going to do to us now?" Montenegro asked.

"It would be in your best interest to stay with us and allow us to protect you," Israel said. "They already targeted one of you. It's entirely possible that they would target more. Again, we'll need to ask Damjan if they said anything to him. There are other nations that turned up missing as well."

"And what do we have to do in the meantime?" Croatia asked.

"Relax," Israel said. "It was night where you were, right? Get some sleep."

"One more question," Macedonia said. "What was that about Serbia having a boyfriend?"

Israel shrugged his shoulders, a small smile on his face.

"We decided to move away from our countries' politics," he said, "and pursue our own happiness. Damjan and Matthew are just one pair."

Macedonia smiled.

"Then I'm glad he decided to be happy," she said.

…

Texas had gone to the airport. She was waiting for two arrivals.

She gasped when someone pounced on her from behind, covering her eyes, but a giggle in her ear told her who it was and made her relax.

"Mia, get off me," she said.

"Aw, how'd you know it's me?" California asked.

"Only one person I know has a giggle like that."

California released her, and Texas whirled around, not surprised to see California pouting slightly.

"You're no fun, Olivia," California complained.

"Requiem is involved," Texas said. "There's nothing fun about the situation."

California sobered up, before her eyes darted around.

"Where's Ava?" she asked.

"She's not here yet," Texas responded.

"You don't think they got her, do you?"

"Hey, you could give me some credit!"

California's face lightened up, and she spun around to embrace New Mexico, who had approached them from the side. Texas sighed in relief. That meant all three of them were there now.

"Come on, let's get going," Texas said, before she spun towards the direction of the exit.

"Um, how are we getting there?" New Mexico asked nervously.

"They have this island that came by who could drive us," Texas said dismissively. "Quebec and Canada were both busy."

"Ooh, are they cute?" California asked enthusiastically.

"Pretty cute. And apparently interested in Alberta."

California pouted, and New Mexico couldn't help but chuckle at that.

…

Yemen was still awake, processing everything. He had decided to join an organisation that had been lying to the world for centuries. Well, one of two, and apparently the nice one.

He couldn't help but laugh at Portugal's reaction when Oman told him to learn the human names of all the members. The European had muttered that it wasn't a rule, but Yemen could see that it was true. They called each other by their human names.

It felt… nice, actually. The thought of it. It meant they trusted each other. It meant that they were loyal to each other.

Though, he didn't think he'd feel comfortable if they immediately started calling him by his human name.

…

Canada was keeping a vigil over Serbia. The latter had yet to wake, though his life was no longer in danger. The bullet had managed to miss the artery, and when Canada removed it, he realised that it was the same type of bullet he had been shot with.

They knew already, thanks to Indonesia, that a wound, even non-fatal, took a longer time to heal naturally. And Canada knew first-hand that these types of wounds were really painful. But Serbia would be fine. His life wasn't in danger, and he would be fine. He just needed to wake up.

Canada placed a kiss on the other's forehead, and while the older nation stirred, he didn't wake. Canada would still wait with him. As long as was needed.

…

Denmark couldn't sleep. His thoughts were keeping him awake. And the more he thought, the more he figured that one of the others was an Alvora nation.

The possibility had played around in his mind for a while, but he was sure that now, he knew who it was. And he was making plans around this nation.

He knew that Alvora knew about all of their identities. And throughout the day, he'd seen this nation acting a bit differently than before. It was very subtle, and he doubted that the other three noticed it. But Denmark could see the small signs. How his fingers would twitch whenever he suddenly noticed Denmark's presence. How he looked as though he was trying to decipher Denmark's words. And how he'd hesitated before eating the food that Denmark had prepared for them.

He figured that he wouldn't have seen it himself, had he not been looking.

He knew that he needed to deal with his enemy, before he could work on the others. Or perhaps, he should deal with them all in one fell swoop. He had the power, as well as a weapon.

Denmark was starting to get impatient. Not only because he wanted to accomplish his goals, but because he wanted to return to his Swiss lover.

The scene where Prussia revealed that Denmark is interested in green-eyed blonds had a fair bit of foreshadowing. Both Poland and Switzerland are green-eyed blonds, and both are on opposite sides. But we already knew that Poland's lover is a Nordic, so the assumption was that it would be Denmark. However, there was an extra bit of foreshadowing in favour of Requiem: Prussia revealing what type of person Denmark found attractive. Prussia and Lithuania spent the entire Soviet era pretending that they weren't lovers, and Alvora's strongest quality is loyalty. Prussia wouldn't betray the love-life of one of his allies if he had to keep his own love-life secret. He was also specifically talking about honesty while drinking. Knowing Denmark and Prussia's personalities and mutual love of beer, they would have gone drinking together.

Still waiting for the election results… seriously, wish us luck.