Thanks to FerayEs for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 109

Portugal tensed when he saw Italy's name flash on the screen of his phone. He wondered what Italy intended to talk about. Considering they were currently busy with an invasion against several of Italy's allies, he could only imagine how the conversation would go. He wondered whether or not he should answer, before finally deciding to do so. Only one way to find out what Italy wanted, after all.

"What is it, Italy?" Portugal demanded.

"…What can you tell me about what happened with Philippines near New Zealand's capital?" Italy asked.

Portugal's eyes widened. Philippines was near New Zealand's capital? Was that why he didn't hear from Malaysia and the others yet?

"Why?" he demanded.

"Because Philippines was sent back to us with her body bent in ways that not even we have thought to bend a body," Italy snapped. "And all she could say about the matter is that it wasn't any of you, but apparently a dead province. Oh, and by the way, we can't even give her a mercy kill to allow her body to heal without her being in pain. Well? What do you know about that?!"

Portugal simply stared ahead of him as he processed the information. Was Italy being serious?

"I've received no reports from Malaysia and the others," Portugal said. "Now, what's this about a dead province?"

"Look, I don't know much about what happened either," Italy snapped. "Philippines is in too much pain to tell us anything. If this is some kind of trick…"

"Italy, if we had the power to revive nations or regions, don't you think we would have done it sooner? That we wouldn't have had a funeral for Finland? That Prussia would have his little brother back? That Canada would have his brother back? That England would be joining the fight against the ones that killed him? That Japan would be sipping tea with China right now?"

There was silence for a moment on the other end. Portugal was on his way to Romania's room, wondering if Romania heard anything from Malaysia and the others. Finally, he heard Italy grumble.

"It could have been an illusion or something," Italy said. "Besides, some of our reports said that there are monsters and other things helping to attack our cities. I'm guessing that White South Africa helped you with that. That's her magic, isn't it? To make myths real, and to make those myths obey her commands."

"…You know about that?" Portugal asked.

"We checked to see if there would be any dormant magic that could prove useful to us. Both her and Black had potential, but considering they're with you…"

"If you're blaming them, then I would like to point out that they lack experience. Themba – um, Black – is still trying to recover from the trauma of what Egypt put him through, so he's not going to try it again any time soon. And as for White… Well, thank you for clarifying what exactly it is she can do."

In truth, they actually had a general idea, thanks to Khoisan, but it was so satisfying listening to Italy curse at himself.

Portugal approached Romania's room and frowned. He could hear two familiar voices, and just before he reached the door the scent of blood reached him. He stood in the doorway and froze.

Indonesia and Malaysia were sitting on the bed with Romania, and it looked as though they were explaining something. But that wasn't the thing that caused Portugal to freeze. East Timor held a bucket in his arms, and every few seconds he would expel a large quantity of blood into the bucket, which already looked full.

The four nations all froze and looked up when they realised that Portugal was there.

"…Hello Akmal, Gesang and Virgílio," Portugal said, his voice sounding far too calm. "Italy's on the phone, curious to know what happened to Philippines. Do you mind explaining that to him while also explaining to me why the hell Virgílio has a bucket full of blood and why he keeps spitting more out?!"

They flinched at his words and the volume. Romania glanced towards Timor uneasily.

"…Put me on speaker," Italy suggested. "I want to hear this too, and if it just so happens that both of our groups were attacked by some third party…"

Portugal clicked his tongue, but he did as he was asked. Malaysia eyed the phone warily.

"Please don't tell me you just put Italy on speaker," Malaysia said.

"I want to know what's going on," Portugal said. "Why is Virgílio filling a bucket with blood?!"

"Oh, it gets worse," Romania remarked. "When they got here, his mouth was clamped shut with magic and it refused to open regardless of the spell I used. I had to resort to an anti-magic amulet that still took a while to undo whatever it is. Basically his mouth keeps filling with blood, and before he could open his mouth he was essentially drowning in it. And do you know the worst part? It's not his blood."

Portugal felt his stomach jerk a bit, and he could already feel the nausea. Timor spat another mouthful of blood into the bucket, and Portugal took a deep breath to try to calm down.

"I want to know what happened," Portugal said. "And don't leave anything out."

"So, now what?" Morocco asked.

She, Black and Tunisia were staring at the bound bodies of Algeria and Myanmar. It would probably be a few more hours before they were awake, and they had little to do until then. However, they also couldn't take any chances in case members of Requiem decided that they wanted to see what was happening with their two newest 'recruits'.

"We should probably check in with everyone else," Black remarked. "I think Mali and Mauritania mentioned that they were on their way to Libya's capital."

Morocco glanced towards Tunisia, and they knew they were both thinking the same thing: Who would be watching Algeria and Myanmar?

Morocco sighed, leaning back as she crossed her arms.

"I'm really curious about how they managed to get them like this," she said.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Tunisia said with a shudder. "I've been a part of the process, remember?"

Morocco winced at the reminder. It was hard to forget that Tunisia had been tortured by Requiem, and cannibalised by Algeria. And seeing Algeria there at that moment… It might not have been the most pleasant experience for him.

"If you want, I can watch them," Morocco said. "You don't have to make this hard on yourself."

Tunisia smiled and shook his head.

"It's okay," he said. "I don't think they can do anything with their bodies dead. Why don't you join Themba?"

"…Asim, go and rest," Morocco ordered, drawing on the authority of a conqueror against their conquered nation. "You were the conduit for a technique you've never used before. And the last thing we want is for you to have a PTSD episode."

Tunisia flinched, and he opened his mouth to argue, but Black came rushing back, looking disturbed.

"I can't reach Mali or Mauritania," he said. "And there's something worse."

"What do you mean?" Morocco asked.

"Try tapping into Mali. He's closer to you, so you should have better luck."

Morocco frowned, but closed her eyes and tried to think of the nation of Mali. And she could feel… cold. Emptiness. Her eyes snapped open, and she stared at Black in horror.

"You don't think…?" she whispered.

"I hope not," he said. "I'm going to see if I can find them. They were last near Tripoli. I'm just glad Umkhulu at least taught us how to teleport."

Black and White had both been receiving lessons from Khoisan. They were doing rather well, but asides from their specialties, it would take a long time to truly be able to call themselves magic users.

"Good luck," Morocco said.

Black smiled before he disappeared. Morocco fell to her knees, and Tunisia looked at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Is Mali alright?"

"I don't know," Morocco admitted. "I can't sense him at all."

"And… what about Mauritania?"

Morocco focused, before she frowned.

"I can feel her," she said. "But she's not in Libya. And she's not awake, but the state she's in… I have no idea."

"Do you think Requiem did something to them?" Tunisia asked.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

Morocco looked back at her sister and Myanmar, and her mind flashed back to how Algeria was flung back. She wanted to ask Romania if he had any hand in it, but the opportunity hadn't come up yet. Also, was she the only one with that protection?

She winced when she grew aware of a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She subconsciously placed her hand on the area. Realising exactly where it was she was touching, she couldn't help but wonder if the potion was a success, and how soon it would be before they were able to tell.

She also needed to figure out how and when she would tell Black. A part of her wanted to be honest with him, but another part was afraid that the potion was a failure, and yet another part was afraid that he wouldn't want a child with her. Since this wasn't normally within the realm of possibilities for nations, it never came up in conversation.

Perhaps she would have to speak to the others.

"What the hell, idiot?!"

"Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?!"

Delaware sighed in frustration, trying very hard to ignore the two Carolinas. And if it wasn't them arguing, it was the two Dakotas.

Delaware tried to remain calm and patient, but with most of the former states of America gathered together and several of the micronations, it was already a recipe for chaos. The fact that they were there for their own protection did not help. He wished that New Mexico, Texas and California could have explained a bit more. All they really explained was that there was a war brewing, and that it would be safer for them all to be together in a place with excellent protection.

And the fact that some of the Canadian provinces attempted to explain the situation did not help matters.

Ever since the death of America, everything was a blur of suspicion and confusion. Texas did say that the former American states could trust each other, but if anyone else approached then they would have to call her, California or New Mexico. Tensions were high, and a few arguments had turned bloody.

And Delaware's patience was not helped by the absence of Hawaii. She absolutely refused to answer any of his calls. At least he knew that Alaska and Minnesota were safe.

And then, to make matters worse for all of them, they were suddenly swamped with more responsibility than they were used to. Because they were no longer states. They were nations. And they were supposed to do their own work along with America's. Or at least, to a degree.

He was starting to think that Alaska had the right idea in deciding that she wanted to be a Canadian province. And some of the other northern states, such as Vermont and Montana, appeared to be considering it as well.

Honestly, all Delaware wished for at this point in time was to have someone to offer a better explanation for everything.

Romano, New Zealand and Greece all looked up when Italy entered the office. Based on the annoyed expression on his face, and the fact that he dragged Egypt along, they could sense that they wouldn't have good news.

"What happened?" Romano asked. "Did Portugal confess or something?"

"I just have more questions than before," Italy sighed. "Apparently, Philippines isn't the only one affected. East Timor's mouth was sealed shut and continuously filled with blood, which basically forced him to drown in blood. Romania managed to undo it, but East Timor was still emptying blood into a bucket."

"And can we trust that… statement?" Romano asked.

"I happened to hear when Portugal discovered East Timor. I don't think he's that good of an actor. Plus, they weren't exactly happy to have me on speaker."

"What did they say?" New Zealand asked, wincing slightly.

"Apparently they did have Philippines at their mercy, but then they were knocked back. A girl arrived, and Philippines's body started twisting in ways that… well, we saw the results. While this was going on, someone that East Timor claimed was Ermara approached and…"

"Ermara?" Romano repeated. "If memory serves, she's dead."

"I know. And Zamboanga was also supposed to be dead, remember? Anyway, while Philippines was physically tortured, East Timor was forced to drown in blood. And the unusual thing is that Romania says that it isn't his blood." Italy rounded on Egypt. "Well?"

Egypt had a frown on his face, and he shook his head after a while.

"This definitely isn't the work of a mortal," Egypt said. "Not even a mage. It might be a god, or a vengeful spirit, or a demon. That being said, I don't think Alvora would have any idea as to which of the regions are alive or not."

"We should probably check on the ones that remain. I'll have to ask Marcello to do that. And your thoughts about the blood?"

"…I have absolutely no idea why East Timor would be drowning in someone else's blood. I can see if I can learn anything from the gods."

"See that you do." Italy turned his attention to Greece. "I think it's time to pay our little oracle a visit."

Greece nodded his head in understanding. Something completely unexpected happened, and they needed to find a way to prepare for it.

Jamaica sulked as he reached Philippines's base. He'd been promised a more active role, and just as he was about to make some preparations, he was asked to check on Singapore, who was temporarily deceased.

It was scary what happened to Philippines, and he wondered what could have caused it, but until they knew more, they were only speculating.

He arrived at the room where he knew Philippines would be keeping Singapore. He used his magic to open the door, and promptly froze in shock.

Singapore appeared to still be asleep – or dead, or whatever – but she was not alone. She was surrounded by former regions. Jamaica knew for a fact that they were dead. Some of them he helped kill in the first place. What was bizarre was how each of them appeared to have dark grey skin, almost black.

He blinked, and they were all gone. He shuddered as he searched around. He knew that this wasn't a figment of his imagination, but what exactly it was, he had absolutely no idea.

But he would have to report it to the others. And, perhaps, it might have been safer to move Singapore. Not that he particularly cared about what happened to her, but he knew that Philippines would be furious with him if something happened to her precious Aminah.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

Australia glanced towards his fellow nations. They were almost at Sydney, and they would soon learn whether the nation intruding upon Australia's land was friend or foe. He hoped for the former, because if it was the latter…

He was fairly confident in his abilities, but he was more worried about the other two. Tonga and Papua New Guinea were considerably smaller than him in both landmass and physical forms. Also, they didn't share Australia's habit of wrestling with the crocs. If there was only one, then they might be able to handle it if it turned out that the nation waiting for them was a foe. And if there was more than one, or if it turned out to be someone really strong…

Australia promised himself that he would do everything in his power to allow the other two a chance to escape.

A few minutes later saw them near the harbour. Australia frowned before he found a parking spot. The nation was close. He could sense it. They went along the harbour with Australia taking the lead, as he was the only one that had an idea of where to find them. They were walking for a few minutes before Australia forced them to a sudden halt.

Australia took note of the fact that they stopped in front of the opera house, but that didn't matter. He could see a familiar girl sitting next to the building. She smiled when she saw them and stood up. She didn't look to be older than fifteen or sixteen, and even though she lost her previous status in favour of another, Australia would recognise her anywhere.

"Hawaii," he muttered.

She smiled as she approached them.

"Aloha," she said. "I would have called, but I don't have your phone number. I figured waiting for you to find me would be the best way to reach you."

"What are you doing here?" Tonga asked.

Hawaii's smile fell a little and she sighed.

"It's about that war going on," Hawaii said. "California gave me a brief summary of the situation, and what kind of danger we're all in. And I was thinking… It might be best to be around nations that might have a better idea on what's going on, and who have a better chance at protecting themselves and others."

Australia nodded his head in understanding. Well, that was his reasoning with keeping the Oceanic nations together in the first place.

"Why aren't you with the other American states?" Papua New Guinea asked.

Hawaii grimaced.

"We're not states anymore," she said. "We've all been upgraded to nations, and no one knows how to handle it all. And because everyone's confused… I just wanted to secure my survival, and maybe find out a bit more about what's going on. If I knew more, I could pass on the knowledge to the others, and they can make plans."

"Fair enough," Australia said. A smile broke out. "Welcome to the club."