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Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 119

Sweden was on his way to the kitchen to get some coffee for him and Norway. He asked Iceland if he wanted some, only for the younger nation to turn an interesting shade of green before shaking his head. So, that wasn't an option.

He found someone else coming out of the kitchen. Christiana jumped when he saw him.

"Oh, S-Sweden," Christiana said. "Hallo. H-how are you?"

"I'm alright," he said. "What about you? You look a bit jumpy."

"I-I'll be fine. I just…"

Christiana veered to the right, obviously intent on getting away from Sweden. The tall nation sighed in frustration. He loved children, and it always made him feel bad if people were intimidated by him. To his surprise, though, Christiana stopped.

"I'm sorry," Christiana muttered.

"What?" Sweden asked.

"I… I'm sorry. Denmark… he made me do it. It's because… A micronation… has a better time getting closer to other micronations."

Sweden was confused for a moment, before the image of the decapitated heads came to mind. His eyes widened.

"You did that?" he whispered.

Christiana turned towards him, and Sweden could see the tears streaming down the boy's face. He nodded his head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "D-Denmark made me. I-if I didn't… H-he would have… Y-you don't know what they do to people like me! I-I couldn't…"

Sweden stared at the boy for a moment before he sighed.

"Come here," he said.

Christiana nervously stepped forward. Sweden could see the way his body trembled. When Christiana was standing in front of him, Sweden did the one thing he figured Christiana wasn't expecting: he crouched down and pulled him into a hug.

"I don't blame you," he said. "I saw glimpses of the real Denmark. The same Denmark I ran away from so long ago. I can only imagine the things he threatened you with. So stop feeling guilty, alright? The past can't be undone, and I don't think I'll ever get them back, but I completely blame Denmark. You're just a victim in all of this."

Christiana's breath hitched, and he hugged Sweden back. Now that he knew that he was going to get comfort, the boy released all of the guilt, fear and sorrow he stored in that tiny body. Sweden picked him up and held him like that, mostly because the crouched position was starting to feel uncomfortable with him.

While he held Christiana, his mind started wandering towards what he would tell Norway when the other demanded to know what took him so long in getting his coffee.

"So, why can't we leave the country?" Sealand asked, looking up at Scotland.

It confused him that Scotland forbade the two micronations from leaving. Not to mention, Hutt River and Wy were telling him to stay away from them and not talk to them, while Seborga said he was too busy, and Ladonia didn't respond at all. Only Molossia seemed to be willing to talk, but a lot of those conversations involved him complaining about the former United States, now a group of independent nations getting on each other's nerves, as well as a few other American micronations, and Sealand wasn't interested in hearing his friend complain all the time. At least Sealand had Kugelmugel to keep him company, though the other was still a bit shaken by what happened with Austria. Kugelmugel had barely even said a word about art.

"Because something fishy's going on in the world and it's safer here," Scotland said firmly.

At least the older nation was kind enough to take the two micronations out on a stroll. Northern Ireland would usually do it, but he got an allergic reaction from a spider bite and wasn't feeling well. And Wales was sleeping, and if there was one rule that Sealand had been urged to follow as though his life depended on it, it was to never wake Wales up.

"Do you think it has something to do with what happened to Austria?" Kugelmugel asked.

"There's a possibility, yes," Scotland said, a frown creasing his features, and not the usual frown that Sealand would see on his face.

Sealand turned to his friend, and all the boasts died on his tongue. He wanted to tell Kugelmugel that they would find Austria's murderer and conquer them. That they would be the heroes that defeated the bad guys. But Sealand didn't think that Kugelmugel would be able to take those words to heart.

He thought back to when he found out that England was dead. He couldn't believe it, and for the next few days he found himself in a constant state of confusion. He'd always called England a jerk and told him that he would become a greater nation than him. Sealand didn't even care about that last part anymore. He realised that he really did see England as an elder brother, and the fact that he was now gone disturbed Sealand more than he'd ever care to admit.

Kugelmugel had it worse. He actually saw Austria after the fact. Sealand had been with Kugelmugel as he described the scene in detail. There was also one time when Kugelmugel couldn't sleep and turned to drawing, only to grow horrified when he realised that he had drawn the scene of Austria's murder.

One thing that bothered Sealand was that the older nations seemed to have some idea on what was going on, with the exception of Northern Ireland, who appeared just as frustrated with the others as Sealand felt. He wanted to know what they knew, and he wanted to demand them to not treat them as kids. Sealand wanted to, but after he saw the news the previous day, he decided that he might have been better off not knowing.

Still, not knowing what was possibly something very important was bothering him. If only he could get one of the others to talk to him… Perhaps, instead of calling them, he should pay them a visit. Now, who was closer, Ladonia or Seborga?

Macau and Azores looked after Lesotho and Swaziland as the two nations played in the water. They mostly just needed to make sure that they didn't go too close to the waterfall, and they needed to make sure that the mermaid didn't decide to attack. According to the two South Africas, her moods could be a bit unpredictable.

"Any more news about China?" Azores asked.

"He's complaining, which is good," Macau replied. "That means he's on his way to recovery. But Hong Kong still told me that he's a bit careful when he eats. He eats slowly, and he tries to avoid food that's too strong."

"Well, at least he's eating."

Macau smiled. He really enjoyed Azores's company, and thinking back on it, it had been inevitable that the two of them should end up together. Macau couldn't imagine his life without the island next to him. But still, for the longest time he had been worried about what China's reaction to the two of them would have been. He had a feeling that China wouldn't have approved.

Macau frowned when the two children suddenly stopped playing, both turning towards the direction of the waterfall. Macau rose to his feet as the children backed up, before making their way towards the other two, panic on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Macau asked.

"C-can't you see it?" Lesotho asked, pointing towards the waterfall.

Macau tried to see what Lesotho could have meant, but the waterfall looked completely normal. Azores also came closer.

"What exactly are you seeing?" Azores asked gently.

"There… there's a man under the waterfall," Swaziland said. "But… he's covered in blood, and there's blood in the water. Can't you see it?!"

Macau looked carefully, but he couldn't see anything. Not even anything remotely resembling blood. He looked up towards the sky.

"I think the sun's getting to you," he said. "Why don't we all just go inside, alright?"

"But…" Lesotho started.

"There's nothing there," Azores said gently. "Come on. Let's go inside."

The children shot the waterfall one last nervous look before they ran inside. Macau started to follow them, but then he heard the sound of a faint chuckle. He would have dismissed it as the mermaid, but the voice sounded male. He turned back to the water, and towards the waterfall, but there was still nothing there.

When Singapore first woke up in an unfamiliar room, she thought that Philippines had moved her again. But when she heard other voices outside, she started to think that she had been rescued. Until she tried to go out the door.

Locked.

She fought against every instinct that told her to pound on the door and yell for help. She didn't know where she was, and there was a chance that her current prison was worse than her previous one. Instead, she tried to see if she could look through the window, only to realise that the window was nothing more than a decoration. The stained glass looked beautiful, but thick. A quick examination told her that she wouldn't be able to break the window.

She jumped when she heard the lock turning in the door, and she nervously turned towards the wooden rectangle. She would learn more about her situation the moment it opened, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't like it.

She was right. Philippines came in, looking tired and moving stiffly, but it was still Philippines, and Singapore knew that freedom was definitely not in the cards.

"Hey there, Aminah," Philippines said. "I hope you haven't been lonely. I had a rough day, so it was necessary to move you. But we can go home soon, if you like."

Singapore didn't respond. Instead, she just stared at Philippines.

"Where are we?" Singapore demanded.

"We're somewhere safe," Philippines said, and her face flickered with impatience. "Are you hungry?"

No, Singapore wasn't hungry. She wanted to get away as fast as possible. She was losing her nerve with Philippines, and the brief moment where she thought that she might have been free made her want to cry. She just wanted to go home to her country and not have to deal with a kidnapper that kept violating her personal space.

Philippines grinned lopsidedly, before she moved towards Singapore. Again, she noticed that her movements weren't particularly fluid, and if this affected her speed…

Just as Philippines reached out towards her, Singapore decided that enough was enough. The door was still wide open, and she wouldn't let this chance go to waste. She darted away from Philippines, ignoring her startled cry, and flew out the door. She didn't know which way the exit was, and after a brief moment of searching for the staircase and finding nothing, she went left and hoped for the best.

However, she should have known that luck wasn't in her favour. The moment she rounded the corner, she had to stop when she saw someone approaching. Jamaica also stopped in surprise, before his mind seemed to register what was going on. She knew that she couldn't run back the other way, so she would have to get past him somehow.

He lunged at her, and she used his momentum to dart past him. She almost thought that she was free, until he grabbed her wrist. She tried to pull herself away from him, but he threw her against the wall and wrapped his hand around her throat, hand still around her wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Let go of me!" she managed to choke out.

She punched and kicked him, but he held firm. He only grunted when she punched him in the throat, and his grip around her tightened. And when she kneed him in the groin, he sank his nails into her skin as a look that promised agony crossed his face.

Singapore whimpered when Philippines came into view, looking just as angry as Jamaica.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Philippines hissed.

Singapore didn't answer, instead she just continued to fight against Jamaica, or tried to. Jamaica released her throat in favour of grabbing her other wrist, and Philippines grabbed her chin.

"You disappoint me, Aminah," Philippines snarled. "I thought you were learning. I thought you were on your way to being perfect."

"You were hoping that I would suffer from Stockholm Syndrome," Singapore snapped. "It doesn't work when you know how it works. And even then, there's no way I would ever love you."

There was silence for a moment, and the only reaction to Singapore's words was the tightening of Philippines's grip. Philippines narrowed her eyes.

"I didn't want to do it, but you've left me with no choice," Philippines said. "I think it's time to introduce you to the Washroom." She turned to Jamaica. "If you don't mind, I would like your help too."

"All things considered, I'm more than happy to help," Jamaica said, slowly grinning.

France was in the kitchen, eating the brunch when Portugal came in. Portugal blinked in surprise, before offering a friendly smile. France watched as Portugal went to the fridge and removed a bottle of fruit juice.

"How are you feeling?" Portugal asked.

"Better than yesterday," France sighed.

"That's good to hear. Anyway, I was thinking of sending you to Antonio sometime after lunch. I wanted to give you a chance to rest."

France smiled in gratitude, both for Portugal's consideration and for the news that he would be returning to Antonio soon. He continued to eat as he watched the other nation pour himself juice.

"There's something I want to know," France said. "Why all the secrecy? I mean, you must have planned this for a long time."

"I did," Portugal agreed. "And as for the secrecy… Because humans and nations alike are resistant to change, and I wanted us to have a decent system in place before we started to act. Our plan was to go to each nation individually and offer solutions to current problems, among other things. Because there would always be problems."

"So in other words, not even you think that you would be able to truly achieve your goal."

"Creating a utopia isn't my goal. My goal is for nations to not be subject to the will of humans. If two family members are at war with each other, they would treat each other cordially and not with violence and abuse. If a human messed up, the nation shouldn't have to die for the mistake. I would also prefer it if the people who actually experienced history and knows all of the flaws of every system that ever occurred to be in charge, instead of humans who ignore history and repeat it. Over and over again. I also don't want nations to be under the thumb of a human with more pride and greed than is healthy. I want nations to have a voice in their own fates."

France stared at Portugal before sighing and nodding.

"I understand your reasoning," he said. "And what about Requiem? Are you willing to get them to change their ways?"

Portugal's face darkened.

"I'm not a fool," he said. "I know there's no way to achieve that. And with the damage they've done… I don't even think that simply defeating them would be enough. We would either have to kill them, or imprison them somewhere with no hope of escape. And unfortunately, they have the upper hand where that is concerned. They spent decades, if not centuries, developing places like that. But… There's also something else I would like to find out, if it's possible. We know that some of their members were brainwashed into becoming members. If we can somehow find out which members, then there may be a hope of freeing or rehabilitating them."

France thought about his own suffering, and what he'd managed to learn from them.

"I think, just like you, they do have a point," France said. "You were all hurt by other nations in some way, correct?"

"Pretty much," Portugal agreed. "Though my former colonies were raised with my ideals, and the amount of suffering they had at another nation's hand was minimal."

"The point is, they have grudges too. But while you decided that you want to prevent anyone else from experiencing that, they decided that they wish to punish."

"Not all of them, and from what I saw, many of them develop a grudge after they join Requiem. And for all we know, many of them could simply use it as an excuse for their cruelty."

France felt several of his body parts tingle, and he was inclined to go with Portugal's assessment.

"My former colonies on your side," France began. "They're not… resentful, are they?"

"You mean, do they hate you like some of Antonio's former colonies?" Portugal asked.

France flinched but nodded. Portugal was silent for a moment.

"They're only slightly annoyed by certain parts of your personality," Portugal explained. "Imane considers you to be a bit overdramatic, Agewe sees you as a bit arrogant, and so on. But they don't hate you, and they don't really have a grudge over the things that happened in your history. The long history lesson of your own time under Rome certainly helped, and let's not forget the Germanic invasions."

France shuddered at the reminder. Portugal smiled softly.

"One thing I stress to all of them is that history extends to far longer back than a few centuries," Portugal said. "Whenever one of them complained to me about one of the other nations, I told them about the history when that nation was a subject, and suffered under another. One thing I value is empathy, and I wanted to make sure that everyone in Alvora has it."

"I suppose that it's a good foundation," France said. "And how many nations are in relationships? I think I heard that it's a common thing."

"Just about everyone is in a romantic relationship. It just sort of happened."

France thought about his own feelings for Spain. Perhaps it just happened, or perhaps there was a long process. Either way, he wasn't going to condemn anyone for wanting to be happy.