Thanks to FerayEs for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 112

"Are you serious?" Romania questioned.

He was surprised to see that Spain was calling him, and so was Portugal. And when he heard of the request that Spain had to make…

It sounded a lot like what he heard from East Timor and the others. It didn't help that Timor was still spitting up blood every now and again. He just couldn't undo that part of whatever spell had been cast on him. However…

"I understand the emergency," Romania said. "And believe me, I want to help. The problem is I'm wiped out. I've been fighting Egypt and undoing at least two curses, not to mention using teleportation magic in excess. I could send Haiti. He's on standby and he should be more than happy to help you."

"I guess I can't complain as long as Kazakhstan can breathe again," Spain said. "Please, send him as fast as possible. I'm already on thin ice from everyone."

"Understood. I'll give him the bare minimum and he can go as soon as he can."

Romania ended the call before immediately calling Haiti. The phone rang three times before it was answered.

"Vlad, is something wrong?" Haiti asked.

"I need you to get over to Spain's location," Romania said. "Their camp. Just in case, take a spellbreaker with you. Something weird's going on, and you can't be too careful. This is an emergency, and I'll explain some more later."

"…Okay, you're scaring me, but I'll go. Bye!"

Romania sighed as he tucked the phone away, before he turned to the others.

"What's going on?" Portugal asked.

"There was another attack," Romania explained. "Kazakhstan this time. She can't breathe, and she's long past the point where she should have died. She didn't even pass out."

"…Like me, then," Timor gasped.

"Any improvements?" Portugal asked.

"I think… it's starting to slow."

"Good. And in the meantime, we're going to need to do research on the matter. This is all too bizarre, and too worrying."

"Agreed," Romania said. "We'll just need to figure out where to start looking."

Haiti ran over to the others, and he could see Kazakhstan looking indeed bluer than the ocean at night. He cursed, before placing one hand on her throat and the other on her chest. He closed his eyes and tried to see the cause of the spell, but nothing was forthcoming. He frowned, digging deeper. He cursed again before removing the amulet from his pocket, placing it on her throat and trying to undo whatever curse was placed on her once again.

He actually jumped back in shock when her chest suddenly heaved and a deep, shuddering breath entered her lungs. He sighed in relief when he saw that she was breathing normally, before he turned to face the observers.

"Alright, I think it's done," he said. "Now, could someone just explain to me what happened?"

"We're not entirely sure," Kyrgyzstan said. "But… I think it has something to do with spirits. She saw one of her disappeared regions and then… this happened. Do you think it might have been Requiem?"

"Possibly. I'll see if I can put up a few wards for evil spirits while I'm here."

"So, you'll be staying here longer?" Russia asked.

Haiti glanced towards the Russian and shrugged.

"We have absolutely no reason to fight you, so I see no problem with helping you," Haiti replied. He turned to Spain. "Also, could you perhaps ask the Caribbean nations if they're willing to see me? I feel like I have some explaining to do."

"You all have some explaining to do," China snapped.

Haiti rolled his eyes and sighed. He should have known that something like this would happen. None of them had really come to the uninvolved nations' location and interacted with many of them since Prussia was taken by Requiem. It seemed so long ago now. There was when Romania retrieved Andorra where he spoke with Spain, but overall there was little interaction, and especially not in their base of operations.

Haiti didn't even think that they should still be called 'uninvolved'. They were more than involved. Many of their countries had already been attacked by Requiem. Speaking of which…

"China, how are you feeling?" Haiti asked. "I saw the news."

China looked surprised when Haiti asked him that. As though he didn't expect someone he didn't trust to ask him about his wellbeing. He quickly shook it off and sighed, though his face softened a bit.

"I'm feeling better," China said. "My chest still hurts, and I keep feeling thirsty, but I can't drink too much. And I'm not hungry."

Haiti nodded his head in understanding, thinking back to the earthquake from a few years ago.

"After a major disaster in the country, the appetite doesn't come back until at least a few days after it happened. I guess it's the body's way to stop us from getting too sick and making things worse."

China looked thoughtful.

"You know, I never really thought about it," he said. "By the way, does… Does Macau know?"

"Oui," Haiti said. "He outright asked me to check on you when he heard I'll be coming here. He called Hong Kong and Taiwan, but the last he checked, you were still asleep. So, looks like someone forgot to give him an update."

Taiwan, who was hovering around to apparently keep an eye on China, flinched as China turned to look at her. She chuckled nervously while scratching her cheek.

"I think we might have forgotten," she said.

"And you've been in contact with Alvora as well?" Russia sighed.

"Hey, he called us! He was really worried about Yao and… Well, we said we'd keep him updated…"

"Call him now," Haiti instructed.

"He's not in the middle of one of the invasions, is he?"

"No, he's on standby at our base." Haiti turned back to Spain. "So, the Caribbeans…?"

"I'll see if I can persuade them," Spain said, before he left the tent.

"I'm guessing she told him," South Sudan remarked.

North Korea and South Sudan were watching as White and Brazil were acting like a teenage couple. Every now and again Brazil would look down towards her belly, as though he was marvelling at the potential of having a child together. And knowing the two of them, North Korea was tempted to say that that was the case.

South Sudan didn't know all the details, but he knew about the potion and that White wanted to have a child. Both nations were still reeling at the revelation. But Brazil, the one that was actually affected by the news, took it very well.

"Well, at least he's doing better," North remarked.

That was what mattered, right? Brazil was doing better after reliving his greatest trauma. And even though they were making North jealous, he didn't grudge them the fact that they were enjoying each other's company.

He hoped, for their sakes, that the potion worked. He didn't like the idea of the two of them being disappointed after their current display of happiness.

When Ecuador opened his eyes, his vision was blurry and his head ached. It took him a while before he could see an improvement to the first problem. But then he realised the big problem.

He was in a room that he did not recognise. He remembered being captured by Requiem – the vow he made with his brother – and he felt his stomach drop. His mind flitted to Angola, and how devastated she would be when she heard that he was captured. Did she know already? Were the others taking care of her?

"Ah, you're finally awake."

Ecuador jumped when he heard the familiar voice. He turned to see Peru sitting in a chair. The other closed his magazine before he stood and approached his brother.

"What are you going to do to me now?" Ecuador asked. He wasn't afraid, just resigned.

"When sunset comes, you'll be taken to our most secure version of the Washroom," Peru stated.

"I-I see…"

He remembered Prussia after he returned from the Washroom. He described the experience as his nightmares and military training rolled into one. The feeling of having your mind picked apart, and all that you were being stripped away… Prussia was thankfully not there for long, but if this was the most secure version, and if he couldn't escape…

How long would it be before he would happily attack his allies? Angola?

His thoughts were shattered by the sound of Peru's amused and mad laughter.

"I know what you're thinking," Peru said. "Don't worry, we're not going to convince you to join our way of thinking." His smile disappeared. "I like you as you are, Garcia. It was never my intention to have you be brainwashed. I never wanted to have your personality stripped away, or have you bent and broken until you're basically a carbon copy of me. I would have liked it if I managed to get you to willingly agree to what we're doing, but I'm not going to force you. And all things considered, I'm not going to expect that you're going to be happy to see me again."

"So then, why…?" Ecuador asked.

"The place is also the most secure base we have. Even if you want to risk breaking the Blood Vow, you're not going to get far. The place is… well, once you see it, you'll understand. The others have already gone on a shopping trip to get you food for your stay there, at least enough to last a while. By the way, I hope you're grateful. The others are curious to know how you taste, but I made it very clear that they're not going to touch you."

"G-gracias."

The two lapsed into silence. Ecuador didn't know what to say to the brother he thought he knew, only to learn that he didn't know him at all. He didn't know what was the real Peru and what was the persona. But… He didn't doubt that on some twisted level Peru really did care for him.

"Are you hungry?" Peru asked. "We have Italian cuisine, so it's pretty tasty."

"Sure," Ecuador replied. "I wouldn't mind."

And since he was going to be a prisoner for a long period of time, and since he didn't think that he would be able to have a lot of food options for a while, it would be a waste to not take advantage of what little he could.

"By the way, one question," Peru said. "About White South Africa making friends with myths or making them real… Anything that can take on the shape of someone that's supposed to be dead?"

Ecuador frowned and shrugged.

"I don't know much about it," he said. "Some of us helped her research a few creatures, especially the ones from urban legends. So it might be possible. But I think she cared more about the larger, more offensive creatures than ones that can just mess with your feelings like that. Why?"

"Just curious."

Ecuador watched as Peru left, and now he couldn't help but wonder if, perhaps, something happened. But he knew better than to try to press the issue. After all, he was a prisoner, and his jailers had no reason to share important information with him.

Brunei watched in bemusement as Sierra Leone lectured Malaysia over the phone. The latter had called to explain what happened in New Zealand and asked if they could take over command of the armies. And now Sierra was lecturing him about not contacting her earlier and making her worry.

Perhaps being single wasn't so bad.

"Fine," Sierra snapped, and Brunei saw her face soften. "How's Virgílio doing?"

Brunei watched as she listened. He wanted to know what was happening to one of the members of the group he found himself a part of. Even before learning that they had lied to him, they were reasonably close.

"Just keep in touch, alright?" Sierra said. "We'll finish what we started."

Brunei straightened when she ended the call. She sighed.

"Looks like some unforeseen circumstances," she said. "Akmal and the others were attacked by ghosts, apparently. Luckily, Philippines was too. But Virgílio … He was forced to drown in blood, and he couldn't even open his mouth until Vlad managed to undo the spell."

Brunei winced.

"That sounds gross," he remarked. "Is he alright?"

"He's still spitting up blood, but at least he's no longer drowning in it. Come on. We need to finish Wellington, and the best way to do that now would be an air strike."

Black went to the human that pointed him to Mali's corpse. He had a few questions for her. The fact that she wasn't reacting like the other humans made him feel a bit suspicious, but he was still grateful for the fact that she could point him in the right direction of the ones he sought.

He found her sipping tea. The soldier who handed it to her quickly saluted Black before scurrying off. He probably knew about the threat that Black made, and the fact that he could carry out the threat.

"Now then, do you mind answering a few questions?" Black asked.

"I already know some of what you're going to ask," she sighed. "Why I'm not acting like my countrymen, how I knew you're a nation, and how I knew who you were looking for." She took a sip of the tea before turning to Black. "You have nations with magical and psychic abilities, correct?"

Black hesitantly nodded. He had his own abilities, yes. But he didn't know where this human was going with this.

"You see, humans have these abilities as well," the girl said. "We're just very rare, and those of us who actually have these abilities tend to keep quiet. I'm clairvoyant, and I knew what you are and who you were looking for the moment I saw you."

Black had met his fair share of wisemen who were actually able to access the mystical, so he didn't doubt her claim.

"And is that also why you're not acting like the others?" he asked.

"That's right," she responded. "Unless the nations are aware of us, we can't be influenced by them. I've been trying to get to another nation for a while now, but… Well, emigration isn't exactly easy if you don't have a means to support yourself."

"I understand. If you want, I can see if I can help make arrangements for another country. Anywhere in particular?"

"…For the first time in decades, I'll say that Africa is the safest option. I saw the news. You're doing a good job."

Black smiled at the compliment.

Seborga scowled as he watched the enemy camp. Algeria and Myanmar were captured. He wasn't sure whether or not Alvora would actually try to interrogate them. After all, as far as they were concerned, they were people only recently brainwashed to be loyal to Requiem, and wouldn't know any vital information yet.

Such as locations.

Still, they would need to retrieve Algeria and Myanmar at some point. He had a feeling that Greenland wouldn't be happy if her hard work went to waste.

He would just need to wait for the opportune moment.

Dominican Republic glanced at the others. They were all nervous about it, but Spain had made it clear that Haiti wanted to speak to them. The idea of having to speak to someone that deceived them made them nervous. And that wasn't even beginning with the other reasons why they were nervous.

Haiti inspired unease among them due to the voodoo in his country, and DR couldn't forget when Spain told him not to trust Haiti. And finding out that Haiti had been lying to them for a long time was also not something that could easily be forgiven. Moreover, they had no idea what Haiti even wanted.

DR, as Haiti's neighbour, had been keeping a close eye on the condition of the country. He was actually alarmed to see that things were improving. Drastically. So, how much did Haiti keep hidden?

He could see Haiti working on a tree, carving something while muttering in some sort of strange language. They all stopped, afraid of what would happen if they interrupted Haiti in his 'work'. Yes, they heard about what happened to Kazakhstan, and they remembered what China told them. But that didn't mean that they completely trusted Haiti, who was supposedly trying to create barriers.

Spain's presence did make things easier, though DR wanted to feel annoyed when he noticed how relaxed Spain was. It was clear that Spain trusted Alvora, at least. Most likely because his brother was the leader.

Haiti stepped away from the tree and turned to them. He smiled, and Dominican Republic could feel his unease subside a bit, only to be replaced by anger and outrage.

"Hey guys," Haiti said. "I'm glad you actually came."

"What do you want?" Cuba demanded.

Haiti didn't flinch, but there was a bit of hurt that flashed in his eyes. His smile turned sad.

"I guess I deserved that," he said. "I lied to you, and you're angry. I know a simple apology isn't going to change that, but would you at least be willing to hear a few explanations?"

Dominican Republic sighed before he crossed his arms.

"We're listening," he said. "First, I want to know why you left us alone with Jamaica if you knew he was dangerous."

"Fair enough," Haiti said. "The reason why I originally left… First, I have to tell you that Sao Tomé and I are together."

"And what does your love life have to do with you lying to us?" Bahamas asked.

"Hold on," Spain said. "Wasn't Sao Tomé captured by Requiem near the beginning of all this?"

Haiti nodded.

"Oui," he sighed. "I went to save my lover from my enemies."

DR's expression softened.

"So, does that mean your house didn't really burn down?" St Lucia asked.

"Yes and no," Haiti groaned. "I originally lied about it, and then Jamaica actually set my house on fire just to spite me."

…DR had no idea how to respond to that.