Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 73

Spain was very glad that he'd brought his axe with him. He didn't want to know what would have happened if he didn't.

His opponent was Romano, and he couldn't recall that his former charge was such a good fighter. It made all the times he fled from battle seem so distant now. Not only was Romano an excellent fighter, but he was also ruthless.

"Come on, boss!" Romano mocked. "Is that the best you've got? Where's that conquistador now?"

Spain tried not to raise to the bait, not that it was the most upsetting thing he'd heard. If Romano was trying to get him angry to make him lose focus, then he would have to try harder.

He'd told Madrid to hide, that he would come get her when it was all over. He figured that she would have gone running to wherever it was she had been hiding from him, but she couldn't leave the area, and the cathedral itself was ground zero. At least half of it had been reduced to ruins, and he had a feeling that it would only get worse if she got near it. So, she was hiding behind the statue – not a good hiding place, in his opinion, but no one from Requiem spared her a second glance. She had been their bait, after all, and they currently didn't have a use for her. And he couldn't imagine that they needed more test subjects.

That thought actually did cause Spain's temper to flare a bit, but he couldn't allow his thoughts to betray him at this moment. Currently, he was dealing with someone that wanted to see him suffer. Wanted to see him die. He wasn't going to give him any type of advantage.

Spain parried, which resulted in a shift in position. This new position allowed him to see France, as well as his two opponents. He hated to see the unfair situation, and as soon as he dispatched Romano, he intended to help France.

A task that was easier said than done, since Spain was still suffering the effects of having an attack located at his capital. His heart. At least he wasn't suffering as much as Madrid.

Still, there was something odd going on. Requiem had been a bit too organised when the fighting started, as though they knew which opponent to challenge. Did they spend that first part after their arrival figuring out who would battle whom? Was that why Spain and Madrid had such a long chance to chat, all things considering?

Also, why was it only Romano that chose to be his opponent? He was under the impression that all of this was a trap for him. That he'd gotten some of his former colonies in order to attack him. But only Romano chose to fight against him. Why?

The only other participants with two opponents were the Alvora nations. Romania against Bulgaria and Italy, Poland against Hungary and Jamaica, and Finland against Denmark and New Zealand. The formulae were off. He could understand why Philippines would go against Thailand, but the rest…

Considering their history, he was pretty sure that Hungary would have wanted to fight Romania. He also thought that Italy and New Zealand would have fought together against the same opponent, considering their relationship. None of this made any sense.

He knew that he came across as a bit of an airhead, and away from the battlefield, he could be a bit ditzy. But on the battlefield, he was cunning, strategic. He used to be an empire, after all. He allowed his opponents to underestimate him. But it didn't seem as though Romano fell for any of that.

Romano brought his sword down hard, and Spain gritted as the vibrations raced through his arms as he blocked the strike. Romano had a crazed grin on his face – one he'd never seen on the Italian's face before.

"You need to focus, Spain," Romano mocked again. "Can't be too careful."

Spain gritted his teeth, pushing Romano away and adding some distance between them.

"Something's been bugging me," Spain said. "If I'm the target, why aren't you making more of an effort with me? Or, am I too weak for that?"

Romano smirked, probably because Spain was smart enough to try to diffuse the potentially insulting question.

"We knew that you'd be foolish enough to come after Madrid," Romano said. "We also knew that you wouldn't be stupid enough to come alone. Alvora is both a pain and a bonus. And then you brought someone who managed to escape death by being at the right place at the right time. By the way, congratulations for finally getting officially together with France."

Spain grew cold, and his gaze slid towards France. He was fighting two opponents… same as Alvora…

"You see, Spain, you might be a target, but you're not the target," Romano said. "Especially since many of the others who want to make you pay can't be here right now, thanks to your brother and his little club."

Portugal's warning regarding their knowledge of France echoed in his mind, and he realised that they had every intention of harming France that day. He didn't know if they wanted to kill him, torture him or take him. But he knew that they had every intention of hurting him.

Rage unlike any other seared through Spain's veins, and he let out a cry of fury.

"You bastard!" he shouted as he brought down the axe to cut down Romano.

The other managed to block with his sword, and the crazed grin grew wider, as he finally got what he wanted: Spain angry.

"Tiago, I don't know what's going on with you," White said, eyeing the thermometer, "but your body temperature is way too low."

"But I don't feel cold," Sao Tomé insisted.

"Then what do you feel?"

He was silent for a moment, as though trying to figure out how best to tell her.

"Nauseous," he admitted. "A bit dizzy. My left ear hurts. Tired."

"Well, we'll need to do something about that body temperature of yours," she sighed. "Go take a nap, and I'll bring you some extra blankets. Two problems solved. The dizziness and the nausea might recover with some hydration and rest. As for the earache… Do you want me to get you some eardrops?"

Sao Tomé smiled. There was a reason why White was Alvora's African leader. She made sure to take care of all of them.

Before he could respond to her question, a scream echoed through the base. No one hesitated, immediately running off to see what the source was, though Sao Tomé was forced to lean against the wall after a few paces. And then he had to go look for a bathroom.

Poland's opponents were Hungary and Jamaica, though it was mostly just Hungary fighting against him. Jamaica preferred to hang back, acting more as a support for when Hungary needed a moment to collect herself. Those moments were rare, but they still occurred, and Poland was denied an opportunity to recover as well.

As their blades locked yet again, he could actually hear Hungary giggle.

"Like, what's so funny?" he demanded.

"You're actually fighting me," she said. "Seriously. It's always so good to see."

Poland wasn't as impressed as she was, and pushed her back again, trying to be the one on the offensive, but she blocked the strike way too easily.

"And why would you be so happy that I'm fighting you seriously?" Poland asked.

Hungary's smile widened, and Poland immediately went on his guard.

"You know, I really was fond of you, Feliks," she said. "You were always so sweet. You were fun to be around with. But there was always one thing that baffled me. You were a good fighter, but you never really made an effort. We both know that some things would have never happened if you'd taken your battles more seriously."

She was talking about the partitions, Poland knew that. He could still remember Lithuania's face from that first time. His best friend. He knew that Lithuania would have been more worried about him than he would have been for himself, and Poland didn't want that. He didn't want Lithuania to ignore his own situation in favour of worrying over Poland's. So, he'd taken a risky gamble.

He tried to upset Lithuania.

Laughing in Lithuania's face when the other was scared and distraught was a pretty mean thing to do, but it was all for a greater purpose. Russia wanted Lithuania, and he wanted him alive. Poland, on the other hand… He didn't want Lithuania to miss him. To mourn him. Because with those first partitions, he was sure that he would have died. And he might have.

Alvora was what kept him alive.

The first partition hadn't been part of the plan. Hungary was wrong. He and Lithuania both gave it their all, but they lost. And so, they did what was necessary afterwards. If that meant they had to suffer, then so be it. If it meant that they would never have to suffer again, then they would gladly sacrifice a few years, decades, centuries to the cause. The ends justified the means. And the end was far from near.

It was only the beginning of the end.

Poland's attention was brought back to the present when Hungary started laughing.

"Did they tell you what our files said about you?" Hungary asked. "What we wanted to do to you?"

The thought of it made him want to shudder. Yes, he knew what their plan had been for him, and just the reminder made him feel nauseous.

They had wanted to recruit him.

Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania had taken it upon themselves to take care of Uganda. The former prisoner still had a blank stare, but every now and again they thought they saw a flash of recognition. A small reaction to what they were saying, and that gave them hope.

So when the screaming started, they were all unprepared.

"Damba, what's going on?" Rwanda demanded.

Uganda shook his head, his hands clutching it while tears streamed down his face. The others realised that he must have been fully conscious now, and figured that he must have remembered all of the horrors done to him by Requiem.

Several of the other nations had come to investigate, and they couldn't get Uganda to calm down. He eventually stopped screaming, but what replaced the screaming was equally, if not more, horrifying.

"They made me," Uganda cried. "They made me do it! They made me do it! They made me do it!"

"What did they make you do?" Burundi asked gently.

Uganda sobbed, clenching his eyes closed.

"Uganda…" Tunisia said softly, standing at the doorway.

Uganda's eyes snapped open, and they immediately fixed on Tunisia. The distressed nation pitched forward, emptying the contents of his stomach on the sofa. Everyone made sure to avoid looking at White's face, knowing that she wouldn't be too thrilled of having her furniture ruined.

"Tunisia…" Uganda whispered, raising his head. "I'm sorry. They made me do it. They made me…"

"I know," Tunisia said, cautiously stepping closer.

Everyone made room for Tunisia, curious to know what happened between them, but knowing that it wasn't the time to ask. Tunisia's hands were trembling, and he rested one of them on his torso. A few nations noticed this, and some of them seemed to understand the implications, for they all looked sick and horrified.

When Tunisia reached Uganda, the latter immediately wrapped his arms around the former's waist, sobbing frantically. Tunisia placed one arm around Uganda while stroking his head with the other. But he was still trembling slightly.

Central African Republic rounded on White, a look of fury in his eyes.

"You're the leader here, non?" he asked.

She nodded her head, a look of apprehension on her face.

"Requiem needs to be stopped," he announced. "I don't know about the rest of you, but my armies are yours to command. We can't let these… creatures continue to do this to us!"

There were cries of assent throughout the room. White closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"I agree," she said. "We can't let this go on. We need to get a victory over Requiem. Even if they won't be able to feel it."

"You're a little desperate, aren't you?" Romania asked as he blocked Italy, before he had to duck from Bulgaria.

"Well, you have been a headache," Italy said casually. "And headaches need to be dealt with in the best way possible."

Romania caught Bulgaria checking his watch, before he prepared for another strike. Romania blocked it and narrowed his eyes.

"I noticed that you don't seem to be putting in as much of an effort as you could have," Romania said. "Let me guess: You're stuck here until the hour's over too, am I right?"

Italy casually shrugged.

"It gives us ample time," he said. "And if one of us manages to defeat our opponents, we can go to help one of the others. That being said, we have plenty of time to kill."

"And plenty of potential victims," Romania remarked. "I'm surprised you haven't brought in more of Spain's former colonies for this little trap."

"In case you're wondering, your activities in the Washroom have really started to annoy us," Italy said, all amusement gone.

"Is that why you decided on a brown note?" Romania asked.

Italy's expression darkened, and even Bulgaria decided that it was his cue to back up.

"How do you know about that?" Italy snarled.

"We've thought of the possibility of there being trouble," Romania said. "A combination of hypnosis, magic and mental training."

Italy's eyes widened when he seemed to realise that at least one of their intended victims had called to report this fact, and he lashed out in rage. Romania defended himself against all the strikes, but he couldn't help but glance towards Bulgaria, who was once again checking his watch.

The moment the group arrived in Canada, Serbia was immediately tackled by the nation. The others all watched the scene with some degree of amusement, though their exhaustion was evident also.

"Damjan!" Canada cried out. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Serbia smiled softly as he returned the younger nation's hug.

"I'm sorry," Serbia said softly.

"Next time you need to go somewhere, don't leave a note!" Canada scolded. "Take me with you!"

Serbia's hold tightened. After what happened, he wasn't so sure that he was going to let Canada anywhere near Requiem.

"Was it at least worth it?" Canada asked.

"Well, we managed to get Raj and Gil," Serbia said. "But…"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Canada pulled back, looking at Serbia carefully.

"What happened?" Canada asked. "Does it have something to do with that call?"

Serbia sighed, nodding his head.

"I'll explain later," he said. "For now… I need a bit of rest."

Canada nodded his head, before turning to the rest.

"What about you?" he asked. "Will you be staying a while?"

Haiti shook his head.

"We still need to get back to South Africa," he said. "Thankfully I already dropped off Akmal, Sierra and Abdul." Haiti yawned. "So tired…"

"You don't want to rest first?" Canada asked.

"I'm worried that, if I do rest, I wouldn't have the strength to get back," Haiti said. "Besides, Tiago's waiting for me. I can't let him wait for too long."

Thailand gritted his teeth as Philippines's utak clashed with his krabi. She had a relaxed look on her face – one that he would often wear – which only served to terrify him. She wasn't taking this battle seriously. He wasn't considered a threat to her.

"You know, I don't get why you don't just run away," Philippines remarked. "You're not a target, and you're not with Alvora. You can just decide to leave now."

"Sorry," Thailand said. "I can't do something like that. Not after all the things you've done."

Philippines rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, you sound like Brunei," she said.

"Brunei?" Thailand repeated. "What does he have to do with this?"

"Oh, he accompanied Malaysia and his group when they invaded my territory. Apparently, he's a protectorate, but he was so worried about Aminah…"

Thailand's eyes narrowed.

"What did you do to her?" he demanded.

"First, tell me if I should consider you a threat," Philippines countered.

Thailand was confused for a moment, before he recalled how… fond she was of Singapore. He quickly shook his head.

"We're just friends," Thailand insisted. "And if I did feel affection for her, then it would be as a little sister."

"Oh," Philippines said, brightening. "Okay then! And to answer your question… I would never hurt Aminah. I love her! She just needs some convincing, though."

"So, you took her to be brainwashed."

"Nope. I wouldn't count brainwashing her as a victory. It would be much more satisfying if she surrendered herself all on her own."

Thailand shuddered. He didn't think that Philippines truly understood what 'love' meant. It sounded too much like obsession. But he wasn't stupid enough to say it to her. He'd seen enough of Japan's anime to know where it would go.

Afghanistan listened to Lebanon and Jordan as they recounted their experience with Alvora, and what they had seen and heard. She felt a bit disgusted when she heard about the fate of the British counties. And those weren't the only ones that had been taken…

Oman and Yemen were also there, Oman watching her reactions, and Yemen curiously listening to the other two female nations. Afghanistan had to admit that he looked more relaxed than she'd ever seen him before.

After finishing their explanation, Afghanistan was quiet for several moments. She needed to think about all of this. As Oman said, this wasn't like it was done in the past. After mulling things over, she turned to Oman.

"If it can help me get Pakistan back," she said, "then I'm in."