Thanks to AquaEclipse for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 66

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Saudi Arabia arrived, followed by Turkey. A number of nations had already gathered in the meeting room, waiting for the host to arrive, which didn't come quickly enough for their tastes. Oman shared a look with the other three, before focusing his attention to Saudi Arabia.

"Sorry for the wait," he said. "And the short notice. I just flew in from France, and…"

"What is this about?" Syria demanded.

"Well… First off, America's been confirmed dead."

Everyone looked around at the others in the room. America might not have been very popular among them, but no one wanted him to die.

"Wait a moment," Bahrain said. "Where are Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Pakistan? Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"Egypt and Israel weren't invited," Saudi said simply. "And as for the other two, I'm not sure."

"Is there a particular reason why they weren't invited?" Kuwait asked.

"Yes. You see, we had a meeting with the G20, or at least some of them. There, we learned that there are two organisations – nations that operated in secret. They call themselves Requiem and Alvora. Egypt is a member of one, and Israel is a member of the other."

There was silence for a long moment. Oman glanced around. The others were trying to absorb this information, but most of them didn't appear to believe any of it. He supposed that it would be better to watch and see.

"In what way are they operating?" Iran asked.

"They're completely independent of their governments," Turkey said. "In fact, I have a feeling that Egypt is personally responsible for the destruction of his country's mosques."

"Do you have any proof of that?" Syria asked, narrowing his eyes.

"…Not exactly. But we know for a fact that the two groups are conspiring."

"Are they together or not?" Uzbekistan asked.

"They're against each other," Afghanistan said, surprising everyone. "I've actually heard some of this before. Pakistan received a call from someone that wanted to meet up with him. I was suspicious, so I followed and eavesdropped on their conversation. He was meeting with Egypt, Peru and Palestine. They were recruiting him."

"You're kidding!" Turkey exclaimed. "Palestine and Pakistan joined Requiem?!"

"Out of curiosity," Iraq said, "how great a threat do they pose?"

"Requiem killed Germany, Japan, England and America," Saudi Arabia said. "We also suspect that they killed Austria."

"And the other group?"

"…They seem to be a bit more… benevolent than Requiem. But Mongolia warned us that there are a few things about them that make him nervous."

"How's Mongolia involved?" Turkmenistan asked.

"He managed to figure out what they were up to, and decided to seek out nations that he felt could help," Saudi explained.

"We also learned the hard way that setting a trap for Requiem isn't a good idea," Turkey said, looking as though something sour was resting in his mouth. "And Alvora is a bit more open, at least to Spain. Probably because his brother's Alvora's leader."

"Portugal?" Iran asked, blinking in surprise.

"P-Perhaps you should t-tell us who the m-members are," Qatar said.

Oman winced. There was a reason why Qatar rarely spoke at meetings. There was something that happened in his childhood that caused him to have a permanent stutter. And with all the recent revelations, he hoped that it wasn't Requiem.

"Sounds like a good idea," Saudi said. "Which group do you want to hear about first?"

"Why not go with the lesser of two evils?" Kazakhstan suggested.

"Alvora, then," Turkey sighed. "Well, as we said, Portugal is the leader, along with every one of his ex-colonies. Turns out that while the Portuguese Empire died on the humans' side, on the nation's side, it's still very much alive."

"What that implies, we don't know," Saudi said. "Along with Brazil, in the Americas they have Colombia, Ecuador, Canada and Haiti."

"And with us?" Iraq demanded.

"Israel, as previously mentioned. Then they also have Morocco."

"Speaking of Morocco," Kyrgyzstan said, "why aren't the North Africans here?"

"Because, asides from the few who are with Requiem, the entire continent of Africa has been conquered by Alvora," Turkey said. "We think that it might have happened during the African Union meeting."

"The one where Cape Town was bombed?" Syria asked. "Are you saying they're responsible for that?"

"Unlikely," Saudi said, "since both of the South Africas are also part of Alvora."

"It was around the time this whole mess started, anyway," Turkey said.

"Do you think it's possible that they might have tried to set a trap for Requiem?" Oman asked.

"It's possible," Saudi said, frowning thoughtfully.

"We also had to do a bit of digging," Turkey said. "They tried to keep it hush-hush, but we managed to find interesting information. Along with Cape Town, the capitals of a few other Alvoran nations were bombed, along with Lesotho. So, they weren't lying about him being injured…"

"They just lied about the nature of his injuries," Saudi finished.

"And asides from the Lusophones, Sierra Leone is also a member on the Africans' side," Turkey finished.

"There doesn't seem to be an Oceanic nation involved with Alvora. In Asia… This one's a bit… questionable."

"What?" Iraq scoffed. "Are you going to say they have North Korea?"

"Yes."

There was silence in the room as everyone demonstrated their best expressions of shock. Oman glanced towards Yemen, Lebanon and Jordan, making sure that they looked appropriately surprised as well.

"Huh?" Iran managed at last. "North… North Korea is actually a participant?"

"I see what you mean regarding a few things being questionable," Bahrain commented.

"Actually…" Turkey said. "You know what, we'll get to that when we talk about Requiem."

"They also have India, Malaysia, East Timor and Indonesia on their side," Saudi said.

"East Timor is Portuguese, so that matches what you said before," Syria mused.

"I'm almost afraid of this part," Kuwait sighed. "Who are the Europeans involved?"

"Asides from Portugal," Saudi said, "they also have Wales, Romania, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Prussia and Serbia."

"An interesting combination," United Arab Emirates mused. "Is that all?"

"It's hard to say," Turkey sighed. "For one thing, we don't know if Moldova and Kosovo are involved, considering Romania and Serbia are."

"But with the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo…"

"Check your news. It 'magically' settled itself."

"Why do you say it like that?" Turkmenistan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Apparently, both groups know how to take complete control over their humans. Mongolia explained that it's a major difference between the two groups. All of the crap they've been through the past few centuries… Requiem made it happen, and Alvora let it happen."

"You're joking," Syria said disbelievingly. "You're saying that they allowed something like the World Wars to happen?"

"The one thing I'm thinking about is the Angolan Civil War," Yemen said. "Doing that to yourself…"

"That reminds me," Saudi said, focusing his attention on Yemen. "I noticed that your own civil war is dying out."

All eyes were on Yemen, who smiled sheepishly.

"I guess everyone decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to keep fighting, what with everything happening in some of the other countries," he said. "My boss is worried about the random deaths in Germany, Japan…"

"Oh yeah!" Syria exclaimed, before he focused his attention on Turkey and Saudi Arabia. "Do you know who's responsible? Specifically?"

"We don't know which nations in particular, but they're definitely Requiem," Saudi said. "Alvora just conquers. But unfortunately, we don't know many details about what happens then. The nations conquered by Alvora are prohibited from speaking about them."

"Prohibited?" Iran asked. "In what way?"

"Some sort of nation magic or something," Turkey said, waving his hand dismissively. "And now comes Requiem."

"The two Italy brothers are the leaders," Saudi Arabia said.

"Then we've got nothing to worry about," Kuwait said dismissively.

"If only," Saudi sighed. "Turns out, Requiem is made up of excellent actors. Just seeing New Zealand… They're seriously messed up."

"New Zealand?" Bahrain repeated. "What do you mean by 'messed up'?'

"That failed trap we mentioned," Turkey said. "It was for New Zealand. He's pretty strong, by the way."

"In the Americas, they have Mexico, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina and Jamaica," Saudi Arabia said. "I'm not sure about Jamaica, but the rest of those nations are cannibals."

"What?!" Afghanistan asked, horrified. "You… You can't be serious."

"Apparently, they had a bit of fun with America's corpse," Saudi Arabia said, face twisted in disgust.

"But… Peru was with Pakistan…" Afghanistan said. "And if they're still together…"

"This is a bit too unbelievable," Iran said, shaking his head.

"Don't worry," Turkey said. "We're aware."

"I think we had the same reactions," Saudi said. "In Africa, they have Egypt, Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia. In Asia, they have South Korea…"

"And it turns out, South is the insane twin, while North was the target for his insanity. North Korea is also one of the Alvora nations that were bombed."

"They also have Nepal and Philippines. Then, among the Europeans…"

"Hold on," Emirates interrupted. "Is it really necessary for you to list everyone?"

"I thought that's what we decided earlier?" Syria asked.

"It just seems a bit… unnecessary."

"Trust me, it's necessary," Turkey said. "The last thing you want to do is trust the wrong nation. Like Switzerland. Apparently, he's with Requiem."

"But…" Kuwait said, eyes widening. "He's supposed to be neutral! Are you saying that his neutrality is a lie?"

"Exactly," Saudi said, before he glanced towards Turkey. "And then they also have Greece among their ranks…"

"Are you kidding?" Bahrain asked. "Is this genuine, or Turkey trying to paint Greece as a villain. Again?"

"This is true," Saudi sighed. He turned to Turkey. "I told you that this would be their reactions."

Turkey huffed a bit, before focusing his attention on Bahrain.

"Believe me, I was shocked to hear this too," he said. "And he's not the only one of my former territories."

"The rest of the Europeans are Ireland, Denmark, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belarus and Slovenia. At least, those are the ones that we know of. Asides from having official members, they also have sleepers. The identities of three had so far been identified: Andorra, Taiwan and Latvia."

"They're also responsible for the disappearances of regions," Turkey continued. "And they've been performing experiments on them."

"What?!" Iraq demanded. "You're joking!"

"We wish it was the case," Saudi sighed. "The others managed to speak to one of the regions that escaped. One of America's states. They said that the things she described are truly horrible."

"Among the things they've experimented with are ways to permanently kill nations," Turkey said. "And we don't know how many nations' regions they've used. Some nations' regions are lucky, others are not."

"And what are we supposed to do now?" Emirates asked.

"While Alvora is still debatable, we definitely can't trust Requiem," Saudi said. "Everyone needs to be on their guards. Don't trust one of these nations so easily, especially a Requiem nation. If you have any reason to believe that you're being threatened, you need to seek help immediately."

"We mostly came to warn you of the danger," Turkey said. "But I think we're going to have to go to war soon. That's what Requiem wants."

"And Alvora?" Uzbekistan asked. "What do they want?"

"They apparently want to bring an end to the rules that govern nations," Saudi Arabia said. "We don't know how they're planning to do that…"

"But we did notice that the nations under their control had an increase in their GDP," Turkey remarked. "It seems that they're helping out with things like that, but we don't know what their angle is. And we don't know what they're willing to do to achieve those goals."

Oman glanced towards Yemen, who had a frown on his face. He could see that his friend wanted to comment on their words – wanted to defend the organisation that the two of them were now members of – but at that moment, Yemen glanced towards Oman, who shook his head. At the moment, there was too much distrust, and he didn't think that it would be wise to reveal their allegiance to the others. Not until they no longer had a choice. He glanced towards Lebanon and Jordan, who looked uncomfortable, but he knew that they wouldn't be able to say anything. They were bound by contract, and so they were the least threatening elements at the moment.

"You're saying that a war is inevitable?" Syria asked. "So then… why don't we attack first? We can take them down before they get us."

"There's another problem that Afghanistan raised earlier," Saudi said, glancing towards the confused Afghanistan. "Requiem's been recruiting, and we don't know if Alvora's been doing the same. And since we don't know about any new members…"

"It could be anyone," Iraq said, eyes widening. "It could be someone in this room."

"And the last thing we need is for someone to sabotage our attempts to fight against those two groups," Turkey said. "And attempting to attack them could make us targets. Mongolia said that the thing that scares him the most about Alvora is the fact that they're very loyal to each other."

"To the point that they would put each other ahead of their own countries," Saudi said. "Which makes them dangerous, should an attack fail."

"But why attack Alvora in the first place?" Oman asked. "It sounds like Requiem is established as being a threat. You yourself admitted that you're not sure about Alvora. So, perhaps we can leave them for now, and focus our attentions on Requiem?"

Saudi shrugged, silently telling him that he had a point. Afghanistan narrowed her eyes.

"What I overheard when they were recruiting Pakistan," Afghanistan said, "they were trying to hurt India and Israel on a very personal, very unnecessary level. People like them… I'd say that we'd be better off siding with Alvora, as long as they're dealt with. And as long as we can save Pakistan from their influence."

Oman narrowed his eyes. He wondered if they could perhaps get an ally in Afghanistan.

…

Portugal was pacing in Romania's office, phone in hand. He was mulling things over, thinking about the phone call that he had received earlier.

Portugal was surprised to see the name on the phone's screen, and quickly moved to answer it, going to the office for privacy.

"France?" he questioned. "This is unexpected."

"I think we need your help," France said.

Portugal frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Some of us are preparing to go to Madrid," France said. "Antonio spoke to Venezuela, who told him that there is a new version of Madrid somewhere in the city, and Antonio could sense him."

"…He's planning on going after him, isn't he?"

"Oui. A few of us are going, but I'm worried that it might be a trap. I was wondering… If you care for your brother, could you ensure that someone in your group could protect him?"

Of course Portugal cared for his brother, but he also cared for his friends. The nations that devoted their lives to his dream. He couldn't ask them to risk their lives more than they already were.

The fact that they were still waiting for news from Haiti and the others wasn't helping his nerves.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Romania standing there, looking at him with worry.

"What's on your mind?" Romania asked.

Portugal allowed Romania to lower him into the couch, and he leaned his head against his lover's shoulder.

"France called me earlier," he said. "They found out that there's a new Madrid somewhere in the city. Antonio could sense him. The problem is, the news came from Requiem. It's bound to be a trap."

"And you're worried about your brother," Romania finished.

Portugal nodded his head.

"France also asked me to send someone to help them, just in case," he said. "The problem is, with Raj and Gilbert…"

"You haven't heard from them yet, have you?" Romania asked, eyes widening in understanding.

"I'm worried that Requiem would succeed in killing one of them," he said. "Or worse. And I couldn't live with myself if that were to happen."

Romania was silent for a long moment. Finally, he opened his mouth.

"If I were in your place," he said, "I'd want to make sure that my brother is protected as well. I know that they don't trust us, so it would be best to keep out of sight. I could go myself, and I could ask Tino and Feliks to come as well. With everyone scrambling around, they've been having a hard time trying to get to someone else. We can focus on a possible threat."

"Are you sure about this?" Portugal asked.

Romania smiled, before giving him a peck on his nose. Portugal pulled back slightly, wiggling his nose at the strange sensation.

"I'm sure," he said. "He's your family, after all. I know that you would do the same for Alex. And as for Raj and the others… I could try reaching out to them. See what's going on."

"Thank you," Portugal sighed.

…

Bangladesh watched everything in confusion. He was unable to hear (there was a niggling at the back of his mind, but he wasn't sure what it meant, just that it was related to his current state of deafness), but he could see that the two gods were nervous.

Yes, he could recognise the gods for what they were, and while he was confused by their presence, he knew that there were other problems to deal with.

Everyone else was unconscious, and he didn't know what the cause could be. They were breathing, so he knew that they weren't dead. But he didn't know what was happening, or why Vishnu and Ganesha were so nervous.

He sat down, staring at India. He could vaguely recognise the rest, but he knew who India was. And he wondered why the other looked so hurt.