Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 106

"So, you're saying you managed to find out who's responsible for this strategy?" Italy asked.

"That's right," Jamaica said. "And I also know how they're able to find our prisoners so quickly every time."

"I know Black South Africa was experimenting with his magic…" Egypt said.

"Not him. But you're close. The strategist was White, and the one tracking our prisoners was Botswana, using his astral projection."

"Is that even possible?" Romano asked.

"Of course it is. If I can use the astral plane to set fire to someone's house, then it can be used to find someone."

"Point taken," Italy sighed. "So, what exactly did you do about it?"

Jamaica turned to Peru and grinned, though not without a hint of sheepishness.

"I hope you don't mind, but I put your brother into a deep sleep," Jamaica said. "I also skimmed his memories, but there's nothing of interest in his recent memories."

"And he's unharmed?" Peru asked.

"Absolutely. He might be a little dizzy when he wakes up, but no harm. I also punished Botswana, and will be keeping a closer eye on him."

"And there was nothing noteworthy in Ecuador's memories?" Italy asked.

"…Nothing of real interest."

"You're hiding something."

"Well, unless Angola has some sort of prophetic ability that made her realise that she wasn't going to see her boyfriend again for a while…"

The others were silent for a moment.

"Oh," Peru said at last. "Does he know that you're a voyeur?"

"It was not by choice!" Jamaica snapped.

"Calm down," Romano said. "Could you at least see what's going on with DRC?"

"Nothing, really."

"Greenland's losing her touch."

"We'll figure out what to do there later," Italy said. "There are more urgent matters that need our attention. It's too late to salvage the situation. We're spread too thin, and so are our armies, and we've got damage control to do in Denmark and Switzerland."

"We're going to need a good counterattack," Romano said. "We just need to decide who we're going after."

"Can't we hurt Portugal and be done with it?" New Zealand asked. "If we can destroy the leader…"

"But that's not going to be very satisfying," Italy said. "We need to think of someone that we can hurt in a very cruel way. Jamaica, I hope you won't mind playing an active role."

Jamaica perked up.

"I've been pretty bored lately," he said. "So, what do you need?"

Brunei sighed as he reached the ship. Malaysia had sent him back since he was worried about Sierra Leone, and because Malaysia was the leader of their group, he couldn't go back himself.

He felt bad about leaving the others, but since they didn't have to deal with New Zealand himself, he figured that it might be okay to go back to the ship and tend to Sierra Leone. Because this sudden sickness didn't feel right to any of them.

He wandered around until he could find Sierra Leone. She was sitting in the command room, close to the bathroom's door. She looked a bit washed out, but she turned to him and smiled tiredly.

"Hey," she greeted. "Are you guys finished?"

"Akmal sent me back to check on you," he clarified. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged.

"I'm getting better," she said. "I think I might have eaten something that disagreed with me. So, how's it going on the other end?"

"Pretty well," Brunei said. "Though I can't help but be worried about the lack of soldiers."

"Right. That does sound a bit suspicious. Maybe we could…"

She cut herself off, her eyes bulging. Brunei closed his eyes and sighed when she darted into the bathroom, the sounds of retching meeting his ears. It would seem that she was not getting better.

"Shit!" Indonesia exclaimed.

Philippines had made sure to target the human soldiers first. Many of them were injured and dying, and after the initial blasts, the people of Wellington had burst from the city, intent on killing them. Those that had firearms kept their distance, while those that only had blunt weapons went charging towards the soldiers. They had no choice but to shoot the storming people, unless they wanted to be lynched. And still they succumbed to the horde, and those that didn't succumb to them were victims of the bullets, despite their best efforts to take cover.

And through it all, Philippines kept a gleeful smile on her face.

Indonesia was distracted for a brief moment by some of the humans throwing Molotov cocktails in their direction, and he only snapped out of it when he heard a pained scream. There were many pained screams, and it was hard to keep track of them all, but he knew this scream too well. He turned back to see that Philippines had grabbed East Timor. His hands were both bleeding, and she held a pistol to his head. That alone was enough to tell Indonesia that the weapon was loaded with those bullets that could kill nations.

"It's a bit noisy here, don't you think?" she asked. "Follow me, and if either of you try something before we reach our destination, you can kiss the nation of East Timor goodbye forever."

Indonesia gritted his teeth, but he still came out of his crouched position behind the truck and stood. Malaysia as well, glaring darkly at Philippines. She giggled before she started to drag East Timor away, and the other two had no choice but to follow.

It was telling that she had no problem turning her back on them, and Indonesia examined the pistol as best he could. Safety was off, and finger was on the trigger. He figured at this point that the slightest shock to Philippines – even from a bird possibly pooping on her – might cause her to pull the trigger. She would be able to hear them the moment they attempted to attack, and Indonesia wasn't going to risk his brother's life.

After a few minutes, Philippines came to a stop. She spun around, before adjusting the aim of the gun. Timor screamed when Philippines shot his foot. Malaysia and Indonesia both let out cries of alarm.

"Now that we're away from the humans, we can have a little chat," she said. "And then we can play."

"Is that all this is to you?" Indonesia demanded. "Some sort of twisted game?"

"You invaded the lands of eight of my allies, seven of them with your armies. Two of my allies are dead. Believe me, I'm taking this very seriously."

The pitch of her voice dropped with the last sentence, and the temperature with it. Philippines appeared somewhat different from the last time they encountered each other, and it took Indonesia a moment to realise that it was because Singapore wasn't around. Philippines had no reason to think that they were going to take her obsession away from her, so the way she was seeing them and her approach to all of this was completely different.

In a way, this was more frightening.

Indonesia glanced towards Timor, who was trying to crawl away. Philippines didn't appear to be bothered by this, and in fact smiled down at Timor.

"We're going to have some fun later," she said, as though assuring Timor. "Once I kill Malaysia. Then I wonder what I'll do to Indonesia. Oh, I can lock you in a room together and take turns torturing you. Which screams will be louder: the screams of pain, or the screams begging me to leave your brother alone?"

"Bitch," Indonesia spat.

Philippines looked up at him, a surprised expression on her face, though there was still the amused smile.

"You know, I didn't really expect something like that from you," she remarked. "You'll definitely be fun to play with."

Indonesia gritted his teeth. Malaysia raised his handgun, and Philippines turned her own towards him.

"In case it's not clear, this thing is loaded with nationkillers," she said. "If the two of us fired and hit our opponents, who do you think is going to win?"

Malaysia narrowed his eyes, and Philippines's smile widened.

"Tell you what: why don't we get rid of these useless weapons and play with each other?" she asked. "Break them apart and we'll be able to have some fun."

"And why should we agree to play your twisted game?" Malaysia demanded.

In response, Philippines adjusted her aim to the injured Timor.

"I could kill him right now," she said. "And I would do it in the blink of an eye. Your weapon will only injure me, and I've been shot enough times to be able to gain even two seconds from a supposedly instant death. You may kill me temporarily, but is it worth risking the permanent life of your friend?"

Indonesia longed to help his brother, but he knew that the moment he got too close, Philippines wouldn't hesitate to shoot him. It also scared him that she could change her mind so easily. And that also brought another level of horror.

What did she do to Singapore?

"And what guarantee do we even have that you'll keep your word?" Malaysia demanded.

"Because I've been out of the loop for a while," she said. "Asides from that time you tried to steal Aminah from me, I've seen no action. I'm a bit bored, to be honest."

Indonesia could do nothing but stare. Was she really so twisted that she found a battle to the death as fun? And she appeared to be a bit too confident. She was either a better fighter than Indonesia assumed, or she had another trick up her sleeve. Still…

He glanced down at East Timor, before he removed his weapon. Philippines grinned.

"Now disassemble it," she instructed. "I'm not taking any chances. Don't want anyone to cheat."

Indonesia and Malaysia shared a look, before Indonesia did as told. In case of emergency, he still had a kris in his belt. He had to thank Syria for the blade, and he was very impressed by the creation. Syria had been a bit intimidated by the design, but a part of him was also curious about the challenge, and he actually asked if there were any other designs that they wanted him to try.

Considering how Syria always appeared to be a sourpuss that tended to keep to himself, seeing him absolutely giddy was an unusual experience. Indonesia chalked it up to Syria being happy that he could practise what he loved again. And considering how skilled Syria was, it was a shame that he had been denied the right to forge weapons for such a long time.

Malaysia clicked his tongue before following suit. Philippines smiled, and to Indonesia's surprise, she actually dismantled her own gun. And then she pulled out a bolo knife.

"Time to play then," she said before charging at Malaysia.

Mali screamed as his back hit the edge of a nearby building. He opened his eyes through the pain to see that Mauritania was struggling against the goddess's hold.

They thought it was Egypt who had the gods. They weren't expecting any in Libya.

Mauritania continued to shriek as she tried to get herself free, before suddenly going silent and limp. This broke Mali through the haze of pain.

"No!" he yelled. "Mara!"

"She'll be fine," the goddess said, before dropping Mauritania on the ground. "I think she'll make a nice pet. But you…" She smirked as she raised her sword. "You will have to die."

Mali tried to move out of the way, but his legs refused to work, and pain ripped through him. For a horrifying moment, he wondered if his spine had been broken. But then his attention was drawn towards the raised sword, and he felt himself pale.

And then he wondered if gods had the power to permanently kill nations.

When China walked out of the tent, he was surprised to see that Ningxia and Xinjiang were sitting outside. The two jumped to their feet when they saw China, relieved smiles on their faces.

"Yao, you're awake," Ningxia said. "That's great!"

China stared at the two of them and massaged his temple.

"I must still be dreaming," he said and flinched when he realised how raspy his voice was.

"You jerk!" Xinjiang exclaimed. "We were worried about you!"

"That's why I think I must be dreaming."

He remembered what Xia said about the regions being worried about him. Perhaps his elder brother was right. The thought made him feel warm, and that was when he realised he felt a little cold.

China started coughing, and Ningxia quickly rushed to his side.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

China didn't answer, but when he looked down at his hand, he noticed droplets of blood.

"I'll go get Ukraine," Xinjiang said, before rushing off.

China was confused for a moment. Why Ukraine? And then he remembered Chernobyl. Of course, she had some experience with nuclear-related injuries. Just like Japan.

"Come on, I'll help you lie down again," Ningxia said, before she helped China inside.

"W-wait," he croaked. "There's… there's something I need to tell everyone."

"And it can wait," Ningxia said sternly. "Yao… You were attacked with nuclear weapons, and it wasn't just Beijing. You need to take it easy."

"You don't understand. It's urgent. I… I spoke to Zhili."

Ningxia tensed.

"But… she's been dead for decades," she whispered. "If you really spoke to her spirit…"

She looked horrified, and China couldn't understand the exact reason for it, but he needed to continue.

Before he had a chance, though, someone else burst into the tent. He blinked a few times to make sure that he was seeing right. Was that… Taiwan? And was she crying?

"You're awake," she said. "You jerk! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!"

China grunted when she pounced on him, and he was further surprised to note that she was hugging him. Was this the same girl who tried to keep her distance?

Hong Kong and Inner Mongolia followed shortly after, and China noted that they looked relieved as well. Even Hong Kong had a small smile on his face.

"How are you feeling?" Inner Mongolia asked. "Do you need some painkillers?"

"What I need is to explain what's going on," China huffed. "It's really serious."

"What are you talking about?" Hong Kong asked.

"Remember when I spoke about my predecessor? My older brother, Xia. I saw him and Zhili. And they warned me of something bad coming."

"Worse than this war?" Taiwan asked. "Worse than Requiem?"

"Requiem is directly responsible for what's coming, even if they don't know it yet. All of the regions they experimented on… All of the nations they killed… Their vengeful spirits are going to come back soon. And if they succeed… There will be nothing left of the earth."

"Can't we turn to something else?" Sealand asked, staring at the TV.

Scotland wanted to agree, but he couldn't. Not yet. He wanted to know what was going on in the world, and considering he couldn't ask Ireland or Wales – the two who actually knew what was going on – this was the best he would get.

He had a hard time believing Australia when the younger nation told him about all the things going on. The two groups conspiring in the shadows, Ireland being the one responsible for England's death, experimenting on the regions, including Scotland's counties, most likely… But then Australia pointed out that he had no reason to lie, and he had no reason to come up with such an elaborate lie.

Scotland's first instinct was to confront Ireland and Wales about it, and he had every intention of ignoring Australia's warning to not let either of them know that he knew what was going on. But the moment he arrived home, he spotted Northern Ireland playing with the two micronations.

And he realised that he couldn't confront them.

Australia had made it pretty clear that the only thing keeping all of them safe was their ignorance. Ireland and Wales apparently had a truce that would only last as long as Scotland and the others didn't know what was going on. As long as they didn't know that at least one of them was a murderer. He had no problem if it was only him in trouble, but he would have to keep the micronations and Northern Ireland's safety in mind. Australia admitted that he didn't believe that Wales would hurt them, but Ireland would most definitely have no problem with it.

Now that he knew what was going on, he could see that Ireland and Wales were indeed tense around each other. The two would avoid eye-contact as much as possible, and they barely spoke to each other if they could help it. Knowing that they were part of two groups engaged in an odd sort of war, it made sense that they would want to avoid each other.

Scotland wondered which group was responsible for what was going on right that moment. The news kept circulating between Denmark's capital being pretty much destroyed, and with Switzerland having a new string of accidents and suicides, and then there was also a large fire in Bern. New Zealand also appeared to be under attack, with Northern Ireland demanding to know why Australia didn't seem to be sending any troops to help him. Ireland had also apparently called New Zealand to ask what was going on, and Wales's expression of worry appeared to be forced. An odd thing to see on Wales. Unless, of course, New Zealand happened to be an enemy. And then there was what was going on in North and East Africa, specifically the Horn of Africa. From what he could gather, it was as though the entire continent had turned on five specific nations.

Now that Scotland knew what was going on, he longed to know more details. But as long as he still had to worry about Northern Ireland and the micronations, he couldn't risk it. And he had a feeling that trying to send them to safety wasn't an option.

This was infuriating, but Scotland needed to think about protecting the others. That was his job as elder brother.