Thanks to AquaEclipse for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 70
Bhutan swallowed nervously when the door opened, revealing Romano and Greece. So, there were two people that wouldn't like what he had to say.
"I see you're awake," Romano said. "Had a nice dream?"
Bhutan shrank back. He already knew that Greece was bad news, but Romano was one of the leaders. He especially didn't like it if there was a delay.
"There's something very specific I want to know about," Romano said. "Spain. Do you have anything that could even remotely relate to him."
Bhutan shook his head. No, nothing that could be related to Spain.
"Are you sure?" Romano asked, raising his eyebrow.
"I-I haven't seen anything to do with Spain," Bhutan said, swallowing thickly.
Romano stared at him for a long moment, making Bhutan nervous. Well, more than he already was. He knew that Romano was the one that determined whether or not he would be in pain.
"It doesn't look as though you're lying," Romano said. "Damn."
"Looks like it's Plan B, then," Greece said.
One didn't need to be an oracle to know that those words weren't good news.
Greece stalked closer, taking a cloth out from one of his pockets. Bhutan tried to scramble backwards on the bed, but there was nowhere for him to escape. Greece pressed the cloth to his mouth and nose, and he struggled a bit, before a fist connected with his stomach. It wasn't too hard, but it was hard enough to force him to gasp for breath. It took a few inhalations for him to realise the situation, but it was too late.
"Show us Spain," Greece ordered.
His vision was pierced by white, and through the whiteness, he could see shapes forming. Figures. One he recognised as the nation of Spain.
He was forced to watch the vision, feeling nervous with everything he saw. This vision was more powerful than those he had before, and he wondered if it had anything to do with whatever was on the cloth that Greece still kept against his face.
Eventually, his vision faded to black, and he went limp. But he wasn't allowed to rest, as the cloth was removed, but a slap collided with the left side of his face, snapping him somewhat back to reality.
"It would seem Delphinia should be given in smaller doses," Romano remarked.
"Sorry," Greece said, though Bhutan knew that it wasn't directed at him. "Now then, tell us what you know."
Bhutan swallowed thickly, shakily pushing himself to a seated position. He didn't want to be in too prone a position with these two nearby. He knew that he had no other choice but to tell them exactly what he had seen. Romano would know if he was lying to them.
"Spain's looking for someone," he said reluctantly. "A child. Someone related to him."
"We know that much," Romano said. "Does he find the child?"
Bhutan nodded his head.
"Are there other people with him?" Greece demanded.
Bhutan released a shaky breath.
"China, Thailand, Ukraine and France," he said.
Romano grinned.
"China and France happen to be priorities too," he said. "Especially considering France already cheated death once. And as for Thailand… Well, the Washroom is out for the time being. But maybe someone would like a pet. And I'm sure Belarus would want to have a little chat with her sister."
Bhutan shuddered. He actually liked Thailand, and wouldn't want anything to happen to him. Especially if these monsters weren't going to kill him. Death would be preferable to anything they could do.
"Will there be a confrontation?" Romano demanded.
"Y-yes," Bhutan said. "Three groups."
"Three?" Greece repeated. "That means that Alvora is there too."
"How many of them?" Romano demanded, and Bhutan could clearly see how annoyed he was getting. Whether it was the situation or him, he didn't know.
"Th-three," he yelped.
"That makes eight enemies in total," Greece muttered. "If we want an edge, then we'll need to take at least nine."
"We're going to have to ask someone with magic," Romano muttered. "Ireland is out, Egypt is still en-route… That leaves Jamaica. And his magic isn't that powerful."
"What about Belarus?"
"She's more of a medium. Practical magic isn't her strong suit. Offensive magic is definitely out." Romano tuned back to Bhutan. "Who else is going?"
"R-Romania, Poland and Finland," Bhutan stammered.
"Hungary would like to take on Romania," Romano muttered. "And Denmark would enjoy putting Finland in his place."
Bhutan swallowed nervously. Romano then turned back to him.
"Where exactly are they going?" Romano asked.
"I-I don't know," Bhutan admitted. "I-I don't know the city."
"That's not too surprising," Greece sighed. "Any landmarks that you can use?"
"W-well… There's a ch-church or something. White w-with a b-blue roof."
Greece and Romano shared a look, and Bhutan hated how satisfied Romano looked.
"I know exactly the place," Romano said. "I think that's enough. For now. I'll ask one of the others to send in some food for you."
Bhutan's breath hitched. They were mostly keeping him starved, probably because they seemed to think that the less food he had, the more likely he was to see something useful to them. The fact that they felt the need to feed him now only fuelled his guilt, instead of bringing relief. He knew that his information could be used to harm others.
Fortunately, he found a loophole in all of this. He only told them what they wanted to know, in other words, what they asked for. He didn't tell them any more than that. It was his only defiance. They had learned early on that they needed to ask him, since he refused to be a willing accomplice.
He was also fortunate that Romano didn't press him for more details. He didn't want to see the satisfaction on his captor's face.
…
Singapore stared blankly ahead of her as Philippines played with her hair. They were lying on a couch together, in what could have been considered a cuddle if both of them were there by choice. Classical music was playing, and that was basically the only way to stave off boredom.
There weren't any books, and Singapore hadn't seen anything remotely resembling a TV or a computer. She had enough awareness to know that Philippines was trying to make sure that she didn't learn of anything going on in the outside world. She also realised that Philippines didn't want her to realise that she was trying to invoke Stockholm Syndrome, so anything that could remotely make her realise what Philippines's behaviour could mean was kept away. Singapore realised this, and that was why she wasn't succumbing to Stockholm Syndrome.
She just needed to pretend that she was.
But it wasn't an easy thing to do. Part of the pretence was allowing Philippines to touch her when she didn't want or like to be touched. Singapore had always been particular about physical contact, and she had tolerated Philippines before all of this started, but now, even the lightest brush made her nervous. She couldn't help but wonder when Philippines would grow impatient, and would claim Singapore's body. She also remembered when Philippines took a bite of her, and whenever Philippines would nuzzle her face against Singapore's neck, she feared that the pain would come again, along with the feeling of being a scrap of meat.
Singapore jumped when Philippines's phone rang, and the other sighed, pulling away from Singapore to answer it, moving to the other side of the room as she did so. That was another thing: the only means of communication was Philippines's cell phone, which she kept on her at all times. She didn't trust Singapore enough to let down her guard when it came to the mobile device.
"What is it?" Philippines asked, keeping her voice low.
No matter how curious she was, Singapore didn't dare move closer. If Philippines realised that she was eavesdropping…
Her stomach stung at the reminder of when she'd accidentally overheard Philippines on her phone and when the other woman realised that she was there.
"Of course!" Philippines exclaimed eagerly.
Singapore decided that anything that made the cruel woman sound so excited couldn't be good.
"Give me five minutes," Philippines said, before she put the phone away. She turned to Singapore again and started walking closer. "I'm sorry, my pet. It seems I have to leave you for a while. Duty calls."
Singapore tried very hard to look disappointed, when in fact, she was cheering inside. She would get a small reprieve, and hoped that Philippines would be gone for a long time. Actually, she didn't mind starving to death a few times. If it meant that Philippines wouldn't be returning, then she'd accept that torture.
Philippines pulled Singapore to her feet, before leading her back to her bedroom – her prison cell. Again, she wasn't trusted enough to not attempt escape. She could use this opportunity, but she had no idea how long Philippines would be gone. For all she knew, it could be a simple ribbon-cutting ceremony or something. It could be something that only required the minimum amount of time on Philippines's part.
"Now, be good," Philippines said sweetly, before closing the door.
Singapore flinched when she heard the lock click, before she sighed in relief. It might only be for a short time, but she had some time to be free of Philippines.
With that in mind, she climbed into her bed. Nothing much to do but sleep. It had been hard to do, ever since that time when she woke up with Philippines lying next to her. She just needed to pay attention to when the door was unlocked. Until then, she could catch up on much-deserved rest.
…
"So… That's Madrid?" Finland asked.
Romania had to say that it was most likely correct. And while he had expected something like this, he was hoping that he would be wrong.
The child was living under a bridge, far from anyone else. He supposed that even the homeless population that had no reason to care about the passage of time would have noticed that the child didn't grow older, and had chased Madrid away. There was a nest of the things collected, but Madrid…
The child was too small to be living alone like this.
Why didn't Madrid go to find Spain? It was as simple as that. Or, was the child afraid of something?
Romania shook himself when he saw that Madrid was leaving the nest under the bridge. Did the child have something else to do? What could…?
The conditions Madrid was living in made Romania realise what the child was about to do. After all, food and clothes had to come from somewhere.
"Come on," Romania said. "We need to follow."
He didn't know how much time there would be before Spain arrived, and where Madrid went, Spain would go. And hopefully, Requiem wouldn't follow, but just in case they would be there.
…
When Jamaica received the message that his help was needed, he was more than ecstatic.
He'd tried to manipulate the other Caribbeans by turning them against Haiti, but then Dominican Republic asked if he and Haiti had had a fight, and he realised that his efforts wouldn't work. It's been a few days, but Haiti's absence hadn't caused them to feel alarmed yet. After all, they were under the impression that he had gone to investigate his house that had burned down, and that could take a while to sort out.
His other alternative had been to remotely torture Sao Tomé, Haiti's lover, but without constant surveillance, he had no idea how well that was going. And he couldn't constantly survey him, because the other Caribbean nations were around.
So, yes, he was happy to be asked to help out with something that could possibly provide immediate results. And besides, he could manipulate the other Caribbean nations using Spain as well.
Though, for now…
"How long is this going to take?" Venezuela demanded.
Jamaica also had to fetch a few nations.
"Patience," Romano said. "He'll come."
"And so will Alvora," Hungary said. "But I don't see any of them yet."
"You're looking forward to getting rid of Romania, aren't you?" Belarus asked, a smirk on her face.
"Of course."
"I can just imagine his face when he sees both of us," Bulgaria said.
"Don't let your guards down," Italy warned. "Remember, we're dealing with nations who are prepared for us."
"That means that they're not going to be easy to deal with," Greece said.
The nations of Requiem were determined to get at least one victory that day. They weren't too picky, as long as they could do something to Spain, and as long as they could do something to Alvora.
This was not how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to have made enough preparations to prevent something like this from happening. They were supposed to have conquered half the world by the time someone had gotten wise to their activities, and there should have been no one that could stop them.
Jamaica could see that everyone was frustrated, and frustration usually led to desperation, and desperation led to mistakes. And they couldn't afford mistakes.
They just needed to find a way to really hurt Alvora. They needed to weaken the biggest threat. And then they would need to fix any other cracks that appeared in their system.
"…There are a lot of humans around here," Romano said. "Hurting Spain should be extremely easy."
Jamaica smiled. That was at least something. So many humans, ready to slaughter.
"You haven't had a chance to have a proper meal yet, have you?" Chile asked, directing the question at Jamaica.
"No," he sighed. "Haiti made sure that I wouldn't be able to harm any of the others. And it's a bit difficult to slip away and get someone."
"Thought so," Chile said. "So, when we heard that you would be coming along, we got you some leftovers."
Jamaica grinned when the Tupperware container was given to him. He should have known that his friends would take care of him. After all, finding someone with similar tastes was pretty difficult.
"What did you do to Paraguay?" Romano asked, glancing at the two South Americans.
"We tied him up and left him in the kitchen," Venezuela said. "With enough food in sight. The glutton will be driven insane soon enough."
Jamaica chuckled as he took a little bite of the cooked meat. Venezuela knew how to properly spice and cook meat. No one would be able to tell what the source of this was.
…
Dominican Republic had opted for a trip to the town. He wanted to see the culture of Jamaica, and see what he could buy. A part of him kind of enjoyed lording it over Haiti that he was richer than the other nation. Made him feel just a bit happier about his own situation.
He didn't think much of it when his phone rang, though he was a bit surprised to see that it was Spain.
"Hola," DR greeted. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"First, tell me, who's with you and where are you?" Spain demanded.
"Woah, calm down. What's got you so stressed? Anyway, me and the other Caribbean nations are at Jamaica's place."
DR had to arch his eyebrow at the very colourful Spanish curse that came from the other side.
"Where's Jamaica now?" Spain demanded.
"I don't know," DR said, frowning. "Everyone's scattered at the moment, to be honest. I'm on my own at the moment, but…"
"You can't trust Jamaica! He's part of the group that murdered Germany and the others!"
DR froze at those words. He glanced around, deciding that he should probably continue this conversation somewhere else.
"What are you talking about?" he asked in a low voice.
"It's a long story, and it's risky explaining it over the phone," Spain said. "But you need to get away from Jamaica. He's bad news. And be careful of Haiti too, though he's not as bad. If you can, convince the other nations to come to France's place. Don't let Jamaica or Haiti see you leave, okay?"
"W-what's going on?"
"I'll explain when I see you. But please, don't trust Jamaica, and get here as soon as possible. Can you do that for me?"
Dominican Republic was silent for a moment. He didn't know what Spain meant when he said that Jamaica was part of the group that killed Germany and the others. Did it mean that there was an alliance of nations that decided to do things in a more extreme way than usual? And what would Jamaica be doing with nations like that?
But, then again… He did notice that Jamaica seemed to act differently. He seemed tense – which wasn't something they usually saw with Jamaica – and he also seemed to be avoiding physical contact. Not to mention, some of the things he'd been saying, especially regarding Haiti…
And then he realised that there was something else that bothered him, and that actually scared him more than Spain's vague message: Jamaica hadn't been smoking at all. Not even a tabaco cigarette.
Jamaica had a horrible tendency to smoke at all times of the day, and he didn't particularly care if he had company. He'd been scolded by many of the others for the habit, particularly the girls. So the fact that he hadn't been indulging in that habit made him realise that there was really something bad happening.
"…Alright," DR said. "I'll see if I can figure something out. I don't think anyone's going to agree to something without a proper explanation."
"Thank you," Spain breathed.
DR wanted to ask more, but the only the dial tone responded. Pursing his lips, he decided to see what Haiti had to say about all of this.
No answer.
…
"Alvora," Belarus said.
Everyone was immediately on their guard, following her gaze. They could see only three of them, standing at the other side of the area.
"We'll wait for Spain," Romano said. "And then we'll start the party."