Thanks to FerayEs for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 113
"Okay, so you left us because your boyfriend was in danger," Dominica said. "You still left us with someone dangerous."
"I knew that he wouldn't be able to hurt you," Haiti countered. "I used my magic to cast a protective spell. Unfortunately, it was only valid for one week, but by then you were away from Jamaica."
"You… cast a protective spell on us?" Dominican Republic asked.
Haiti smiled, before turning his attention to St Kitts.
"Jamaica told me that you saw me working," Haiti said. "That's what it was."
St Kitts's eyes widened. Grenadines cleared her throat.
"Alright, so you had a plan for us," she said. "And if it wore off before we got away from Jamaica? And on that note, how did you even know we were gone?"
"We keep track of everything you guys do," Haiti said. "Besides, Spain mentioned to Miguel that you'd be joining them."
As a unit, the other Caribbean nations turned to Spain, who scratched his cheek sheepishly.
"So much for not trusting him," Dominican Republic remarked.
"I-I didn't want you to take any chances!" Spain defended. "And a part of me didn't want you to let slip to Alvora where we're going, or that you know about something going on. Which turned out to be pointless anyway."
Haiti chuckled.
"Oui, pretty much," he said. "So… Any other questions?"
"One more comes to mind," Barbados said. "Why did you join them in the first place?"
Haiti sighed, running his hand through his hair. He was silent for a moment before he focused on them.
"When I was still a colony, things weren't… pleasant," he said. "I think we all know what that's like. I used to be filled with so much anger and resentment. I actually thought of killing everyone with my newfound Vodou. And then, one day… Portugal discovered me. France wanted all his colonies at his house for a while, and Portugal came to visit that one time. Anyway, Portugal saw my potential, and he saw my anger. And so he offered a way for me to process all of that in a healthy way, and striving towards a better goal."
The others were silent for a moment as they processed that information. Spain was the first to frown.
"I thought that it would most likely be Canada that recruited you," he said. "I mean… You're in the same part of the world, more or less, and he was one of France's colonies too."
"I was recruited a while after Mathieu became an English colony," Haiti replied. "And, come to think of it, I think it was why France wanted all of us together for a while."
"And… you said that you had a lot of anger," Dominican Republic said. "Do… Do you think that… there was a possibility that you would have become a member of Requiem instead?"
Haiti winced.
"That… That's pretty much what Jamaica said."
"Which means… You would have really used evil magic," St Vincent said.
Haiti grimaced.
"Technically speaking, most magic on its own isn't evil," he said. "The correct way of saying that would have been that I would have used my magic for evil. Also… I brought a little something for you."
The others turned curious as Haiti approached Dominican Republic, removing something from his pocket. His neighbour looked at the item as it was placed in his hand with no lack of confusion.
"A doll?" he asked.
The doll looked like Haiti, with purple buttons to represent his eyes. Haiti nodded.
"This doll is infused with my spirit," he explained. "If you ever need me, or just want to send me a message, just speak to the doll. I have dolls of all of you too, so I'll be able to communicate with you if need be. Also, please don't use pins on it."
"Is anyone else creeped out by the fact that he has dolls of us?" Bahamas muttered.
"Honestly, I'm not too surprised," Nevis muttered.
"So, any other questions?" Haiti asked.
"Just one that's been bothering me for a while now," DR said. "You had the power to change your country for the better for a long time now, but you didn't. Why?"
Haiti smiled sadly.
"It's because the stronger a nation is, and the more prosperous they are, the more trouble they tend to attract," Haiti explained. "And besides, what you saw… All of that is the humans' doing. If I had a choice… I would have made sure that no child would have gone hungry. But now it's all changing. I made sure that everyone will now have access to food, clean water, shelter and education." Haiti grinned. "I may be confined to our base most of the time, but I've still been talking to my people. And we've had an entire week where we didn't have to worry about Requiem, so I had plenty of time to work on my country."
"By the way, something unrelated," Spain said. "Do you know anything about how Francis is doing?"
"I only know he's been rescued. He should wake up soon. I think he's just sleeping longer because his body is aware of the fact that he's no longer in danger, so the body can focus on healing him entirely."
When a nation died and they were still in a dangerous spot, the body prioritised healing the lethal injuries – the ones that led to the death in the first place – and tried to get a nation awake as soon as possible in order to get away from the danger when they could. Once there was no more danger around, waking earlier was exchanged for the benefit of thorough healing.
"Oh," Spain said, looking dejected. "I-I see. And… What do you know about Andorra?"
"Only what Vlad tells me," Haiti said. "He asked me to see if I can find something on my end, but… It's not exactly an easy thing. He said that, as far as he could tell, there's no way to get rid of Requiem's brainwashing without giving him total brain damage. There's also a risk that his personality would be completely gone, leaving him emptier than anyone who's been lobotomised. And after dealing with Uganda, that's not a pretty picture."
Spain winced at the description, and so did the others.
…
Andorra looked up from his book and brought the earphone out of his ear. He smiled when he realised that France was breathing again. So it was only a matter of time before he woke up again. And Andorra didn't want to miss it.
But for the next five minutes or so, he would have to leave France's side. He needed a bathroom immediately, and then he would need to get some water, and perhaps some snacks. Actually, it might be more than five minutes. Could he get someone to help him with the snacks? Because he had a feeling that France would need some sustenance soon.
But first, bathroom.
The moment Andorra left the room he crashed into someone. It took a moment to recover his footing (and make sure that the other person didn't lose his footing). Once it was established that no one was about to painfully fall to the ground, Andorra looked up to see Portugal standing there.
"Nicolás, is something wrong?" Portugal asked.
"Sorry," Andorra apologised. "I just need to go to the bathroom. By the way, France is breathing again. Could you help arrange for snacks? He'll probably be hungry."
Portugal nodded, and that was all Andorra waited for before he continued to run to the bathroom. Because now it was urgent.
…
"Fuck! Son of a…!"
Italy turned towards New Zealand, who was starting to employ the colourful vocabulary that Romano was famous for, especially back before they revealed themselves. Italy immediately rose from his seat when he noticed that New Zealand was clutching his chest, breathing heavily.
"Fletcher, are you alright?" Italy asked.
New Zealand shook his head.
"No," he gasped. "They sent an air strike. W-Wellington…"
Italy's eyes widened. The blow was softened somewhat by the distance they put between them and their countries. But since New Zealand wanted to keep an eye on what was happening in his country, he could feel everything the way a nation would normally feel it.
"How bad is the damage?" Italy asked.
New Zealand chuckled dryly, and Italy already knew. The damage was extensive, and if someone were to give New Zealand a fatal injury in his current state…
"They have far too many victories today for my taste," Italy growled. "I think we need to devise a better plan for revenge."
There was still the matter of those ghosts to deal with, but that would have to come later. Alvora was a very real enemy they had to face, and they had a proper idea regarding their motivations. They would have to be the first priority.
…
"S-so, Libya is gone?" South Korea asked.
Egypt was pacing and Eritrea had his head buried in his arms. They knew he was frustrated, but they also knew that he wasn't crying. He wouldn't cry. No, they knew that he was seething. He needed to know what happened to his beloved. He needed to know that Libya was alright.
But he wasn't. Egypt's description of what happened to Philippines combined with Alvora and their territories attacking Libya's country made it impossible to believe that Libya would be safe and unharmed. No matter what, Libya was going to suffer, and Eritrea couldn't save him.
"What are we going to do about it?" Ethiopia asked. "I mean… He's one of us. We need to do something."
"And we shall," Egypt said. "As soon as we know what to do. We're being invaded from all sides, and they're using techniques which can override our own precautions. I also get the feeling that Alvora has no idea what's going on with Libya, so we can't even go to one of them. I tried calling Romano, but he's also out of ideas."
"Can't you use your magic to try to find him?" Palestine asked.
"That's what I've been trying to do. I've tried connecting with Hamza's essence, but…"
Egypt came to a sudden stop, his annoyed expression melting into a thoughtful one.
"You've got an idea," Nepal said, grinning. "Don't keep us in suspense."
"Black South Africa has the ability to connect telepathically with anyone he can think of," he said. "He's inexperienced, but I managed to see the potential inside him. He should be able to find Hamza, regardless of where he is. And with enough of a boost, not even other realms should be safe."
"Alright, there are two problems with that plan," South Korea said. "First, we'll need to find him. And that's going to take a while. Second, we're going to need to give him a good incentive. Any ideas?"
"I might have one."
Everyone turned to Sudan. He was still inexperienced with his new personality, his new cruelty. And they hadn't had a proper chance to get to know him much yet. After the programming, it was important to bond, which was what they had strived to do. But casual conversations were nothing compared to practical experiences.
"And what is it?" Egypt asked curiously.
"I can still feel what's going on in that upstart's land," Sudan said. "Alvora is using it as one of their attack points."
"I noticed," Ethiopia remarked.
"One of the nations there is White South Africa."
Egypt's eyes widened, and slowly a smirk came to his face.
"This is perfect," he said. "Two… no, three birds with one stone. Not only would she be able to tell us where her brother is, but she would also give him incentive to help us. He wouldn't want any harm to come to his sister, after all."
"You said three birds," Somalia pointed out. "What's the third?"
"As it turns out, White's the mastermind behind their little strategy. She's the one we need to have a little chat with. Italy and Romano have been eager for that as well."
"Then we have a target," Nepal said. "Now we just need a plan."
…
Morocco sighed as she watched the sunset. This day was long, and even though they had suffered their losses, they had also had a few victories.
Lithuania was dead too, and Ecuador was captured. The news reached them not too long ago. They managed to kill Switzerland, and Denmark committed suicide. The news just came from Sierra Leone that they managed to destroy New Zealand's capital. They were closing in on the capitals of Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the path to Egypt's was clear.
Libya was another problem.
It concerned her that they didn't know what happened to Mali and Mauritania. They could connect through territories, but…
She jumped when there was a flash beside her. It took her a few seconds to realise that it was Black, and another two to realise that he wasn't alone. There was a human woman with him, and in his arms…
"Is that…?" she whispered.
"Yeah," Black sighed. "We failed. We were supposed to protect them, but… We failed."
She winced. She gazed down at Mali's corpse. He was empty. The nation of Mali was gone. And Mauritania…
"What happened to Mara?" she asked.
"She's somewhere in Egypt," he said. "Though, where exactly she is, I can't say."
"Egypt?! How did he…?" She shook her head, before focusing on the woman. "And… who's your friend?"
"A clairvoyant. She's immune to whatever it is Requiem is doing to make their people act like that. I figured she could be great for the Helpers."
The Helpers were what they called the humans that aided Alvora. If Black decided that the woman could be of help, then Morocco would accept it. Still, the fact that she was Libyan threw her off a bit. She didn't know if the woman was really immune to Libya's influence.
Before she could raise any concerns, the sound of running footsteps reached their ears. They all turned to see Tunisia rushing towards them, looking pale.
"Asim, what is it?" Morocco asked.
"It's Basira and Myanmar," he explained. "They're waking up."
"I'll be right there," Black said. "I just need to put Mali down somewhere safe."
Morocco nodded, before she followed her brother into the tent where they kept Algeria and Myanmar restrained. She saw them twist around, groaning in pain or discomfort. After a while Algeria's eyes snapped open, fixing on Morocco. She'd never seen so much hatred in those amber depths before.
"Imane," Algeria spat.
"Bonjour, Basira," Morocco said. "Get comfortable. Once you calm down, we're going to have a little chat."
…
Coming back to life was supposed to be a moment of celebration, but not for him. Because he knew that he would soon have more pain, and the knowledge that Spain would be able to experience it made him feel sick to his stomach. He didn't want to wake up, because he didn't want to go through that again, and he especially didn't want Spain to feel it.
Except… something was different. It felt as though he was lying on a bed, and it didn't seem as though he had anything wrapped around his wrists or ankles, thus restraining him. It was also warm and comfortable.
He warily opened his eyes, and he found himself in an unfamiliar room, but it was comfortable. He tried to think of where he might have been, but nothing came to mind.
"Francis!"
He turned to face the speaker and was surprised to see his little brother. He sat up and tried to make sense of it all.
"Nicolás?" he questioned, wincing at his raspy voice.
Well, it was to be expected. The only sound he was really allowed to make recently was the sound of his screams.
Andorra grinned, before he placed a plate of cheese and crackers on his lap.
"I figured you'd be hungry," he explained. "And I also figured that they wouldn't have fed you."
France stared at the food before he took a cracker and dipped it in one of the softer cheeses.
"You're not incorrect," he said. "Mais, Nicolás… Where are we?"
"We're in Romania."
France pursed his lips.
"That means… we're in Alvora territory," he said.
"They rescued you," Andorra explained. "That was their whole reason for going. Portugal personally went to help you."
France sighed.
"Did something else happen?" he asked.
"Well…" Andorra said. "You may want to avoid Angola. Luckily, she's not here."
"Pourquoi?"
"When they rescued you, Ecuador was captured."
France winced. The fact that Andorra took the time to mention Angola told him all that he needed to know. He bit into another cracker as he tried to work out all that he was feeling.
…
Ecuador looked up when the door opened again. Peru returned, but he brought Greece along and…
Ecuador stood when he saw the god accompanying them. He knew that this would not be good.
"Time to go to your new home," Peru said.
The god snapped his fingers, and Ecuador had the sudden sensation of being submerged underwater. He could feel his breath abandoning him. He didn't know how long it lasted, but eventually he could breathe easily again. It took him a moment to realise that the area was a lot colder.
"Welcome to the Atlantic Washroom," Greece said, smirking.
Ecuador froze, before he gazed at his surroundings. They were in a courtyard, but it wasn't the building this courtyard belonged to that caught his attention. In one instant, he realised who this god was, and why this place was their most secure base.
He could feel his hopes of escape vanish as he stared at the ocean surrounding him. He suspected that Poseidon was the only reason why he wasn't drowning right now.
"We'll bring you groceries in a week," Peru said. "I also made sure you have enough books and puzzles to keep you busy. So until we come back, make yourself at home."
I mentioned the last time that we saw Libya that it was night, but here it's sunset. That's because the spirits of his brothers took him to a realm where time is irrelevant. It's specifically night because it would be disconcerting for Libya, and without the streetlights, even somewhere as familiar as his own capital would be a labyrinth.
I also designed Haiti as having the same wavy hair as France, only perhaps a bit shorter and black. He's also dark-skinned with violet eyes. I figured the violet eyes would have been a great way to reference the French history as well as his magic.
