Thanks to Bosnia1995 and FerayEs for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 123
When Wales teleported them to the current location of the shires, Scotland didn't expect to see Croatia lying on the couch. The other nation yelped and jumped a bit, which unfortunately resulted in him falling off the couch. Muttering a few words that Scotland didn't need to know the language of to understand what was being said, Croatia pushed himself up and glared at the British nations.
"You know, a little bit of warning would have been nice," Croatia snapped.
Scotland turned towards Wales, eyebrow raised.
"I thought we were supposed to be with my shires?" he questioned. "So, what are we doing here?"
"If you're looking for those British regions, you're at the right place," Croatia huffed. "They're outside. Kosovo is playing with them, and Macedonia and Montenegro are keeping watch. They've been cooped up so long that they go outside whenever the weather permits it. And since you're here, I'm guessing you know about Requiem and Alvora too?"
Scotland blinked. Croatia had always struck him as quiet and laid back. Then again, he'd always thought the same about Wales. Scotland couldn't remember ever hearing the Eastern European talk so much.
"Yeah, I know about them," he said at last. "Where can I put North down?"
"Over here," Croatia said, moving away from the couch to allow Scotland to lay Northern Ireland down. Once that was done, he turned his attention back to Croatia.
"So, are you involved in this too?" Scotland asked.
"If you're asking me if I'm part of Alvora, the answer is no," Croatia replied. "Serbia and Kosovo are. And Slovenia and Bulgaria are in Requiem. We fled to Canada after Slovenia and Bulgaria decided to attack. They managed to lobotomise and capture Bosnia, and Serbia ended up injured from it."
Scotland was silent as he absorbed all the information.
"Why would they lobotomise him?" Scotland asked.
"They love doing that," Wales replied. "Among other things, it helps them when they're brainwashing their new 'recruits'. It's also temporary for nations, but it can really mess with your mind. Some of the nations on our end that recovered were pretty traumatised by the ordeal."
"And we could only imagine what state Bosnia is in," Croatia sighed, before turning to Wales. "So, any chance that you're going to try to rescue him, like you did for Tunisia?"
"It's not as simple. We don't know where he is, despite our best efforts. Botswana said that the lobotomy messed with his mind to the point where he can't even find him through astral projection, and other methods of finding him through magic haven't worked. We also tried searching for Slovenia and Bulgaria, but there's a block there. And I couldn't ask Ireland about it."
"He probably wouldn't tell you anything, anyway," Scotland sighed. "So, of all the places you could have gone, why Canada? And where is he anyway?"
"He's still busy in Europe," Croatia replied. "I think he told Quebec that Denmark killed himself, and Canada is left to try to sort things out over there. Oh, and they have this sort of magic where even the non-magical nations can teleport, and since Canada and Serbia are in a relationship, this is where we ended up."
Scotland closed his eyes, trying to calmly process the information.
"Okay, let's see if I can get this straight," he said. "Denmark is one of the nations suffering from a large-scale invasion. We also heard about what happened to Sweden and Norway's royal families. So, I'm assuming that Denmark was a member of Requiem?" He waited long enough for Wales and Croatia to nod their heads. "Okay, so why the hell did he kill himself? And how did he kill himself?"
"I don't know many details," Wales sighed. "I do know that Norway helped make sure that Denmark and Switzerland couldn't escape, and the two of them were outnumbered. Switzerland managed to kill Lithuania before he died, and Denmark shot himself in the head afterwards. They have modified bullets that can kill nations."
"And why exactly was Switzerland there?"
"Because Switzerland and Denmark were lovers."
Scotland was silent as that was processed as well. Croatia chuckled.
"Get used to it," he said. "Both groups take the phrase 'odd couple' to extremes. Canada and Serbia, Wales and North Korea, Black South Africa and Morocco…"
"That reminds me, you said something about White?" Scotland said, turning to Wales. "And something about me needing to sit down."
"You better," Wales said. He waited for Scotland to do so, and Croatia also looked at the Welshman curiously. Did he not know about it? "Anyway, we've been working on a bunch of side projects throughout the years, without the use of experimenting on regions like Requiem. And one of Romania's projects… Well, Anika's pregnant."
Scotland felt his mind short circuit a bit. Even among nations, something like that was unheard of and unnatural. Croatia's jaw also dropped, and he himself dropped on the ground. Wales just stood there patiently.
"Okay, when did that happen?" Scotland asked. "And who do I need to kill for doing that to our former colony?"
"It's only been a few days," Wales said. "It would normally have been weeks before we found out, but one of Egypt's gods revealed she's pregnant. Which, unfortunately, means that Requiem also knows about it. But on the plus side, anyone that wants to hurt her can't even touch her. So she's safe. And then there are three others who are in the same boat."
"Please don't be any more British colonies," Scotland muttered, rubbing his face. "The timing sucks, though."
"Agreed."
"…Does this news have anything to do with you and Pat going out drinking yesterday?"
"Pretty much."
Scotland wanted to continue with the questions, but he stopped when the front door opened. A few seconds later a young girl with auburn hair came into view. She wasn't looking in their direction, but Scotland could recognise her instantly.
"Cait…" he said.
Caithness came to a sudden stop and whipped her head around. Her eyes widened when she spotted Scotland. And he could see that she was far too thin to be healthy, but there was a bit of a glow about her.
"Scotland…" the girl muttered.
She was a red blur as she shot towards Scotland, and he soon found himself with a crying child in his lap, arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He patted her back, not quite knowing what to do. All he knew was that she was crying out of relief.
"Well, someone's happy to see you," Wales said. "And I can see she's doing better."
If this was Wales's definition of 'better', then what did she look like before? Did she even get a chance to gain some weight? Colour? And what about the others?
"Will?"
Scotland looked up at the teenager at the living room's entrance, and he could clearly see the resemblance to Canada. Croatia mentioned Quebec, right?
"Hey Olivier," Wales sighed. "As you can see, Scotland and Northern Ireland know, and I don't have my phone with me, so could you tell the others?" Wales turned to Scotland. "Do you have your phone with you?" Scotland nodded. "Then call Australia. He would probably want to know you're safe."
"Right," Scotland sighed. "We know how Sealand can be. Australia is probably thinking the worst now."
…
Hutt River could do nothing but stare at Seborga. The Italian micronation seemed different somehow. His eyes were open, and there was a smile on his face, but the smile felt sinister, and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. In fact, if not for the curl on the side of his head, Hutt River wouldn't have recognised him.
"Marcello…" Hutt River whispered. "How… What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you, of course," Seborga said. "And I know that you're aware of my involvement in the war, so we can skip that part of the conversation."
"What… What do you want with me?"
"We need eyes and ears. We can't rely on our sleepers anymore. And while we do have someone with China's group, Australia and the other Oceanic nations are still a bit out of our reach."
"You want me to spy on them?"
Hutt River was relieved that that was all that Seborga seemed to be interested in, but there was still the little matter of Hutt River not wanting to do something like that.
"Pretty much," Seborga said. "This is war, after all. And spies are a valuable resource. Don't worry. We'll be sure to reward you. Perhaps in regards to your little tax trouble?"
Hutt River tensed. How did he…?
"So, when were you going to tell anyone that you're dissolving?" Seborga asked. "Not by your choice, I'm sure. You're too vain to be interested in a slow suicide. Then again, there are loopholes. But is Australia going to help you with those loopholes?"
Hutt River's knees started to tremble, and he had to back up until he could safely sit down on the bed. Other than him, of course, Australia was the only one that knew about that. But they'd been so busy with all that was happening that they couldn't really do much about it.
"H-how do you know about that?" Hutt River asked.
"Like I said, spies are a valuable resource," Seborga said. "You and the others helped us gain a lot of information, so thanks for that."
Hutt River shuddered. He hadn't wanted to believe that Seborga was involved in this war. Now, the evidence was standing right in front of him.
"You… Did you kill Ladonia?" Hutt River asked.
"Not me personally," Seborga said. "Denmark sent Christiana to do that. Not that he wanted to. But after what happened to some of the others, Christiana would have to think twice before he defied us."
"Others?"
Seborga smirked.
"Ever wondered what happened to Rose Island?" Seborga asked. "My dear sister that thought she could ignore us. Well, she's not thinking that now."
Hutt River's eyes widened.
"You… You didn't… Your own sister?" Hutt River asked.
"Oh, I did," Seborga said. "I've taken care of several of our fellow micronations. See, while they might look down on nations that kill a micronation, a micronation doing the killing isn't pathetic at all. Now, to kill a nation… Well, Genoa didn't want to cooperate either. I made my brothers so proud that day."
"You're insane," Hutt River whispered.
"Pretty much. Now, you get two choices. But you're still going to be our spy. Anyway, you get to choose between the easy way and the fun way. If you choose the easy way, we'll even throw in a bit of land of whatever country you choose. Should help with those pesky taxes. And if you choose the fun way… Tell me, how many people are here?"
Hutt River wasn't a nation. He didn't have to deal with war or invasions or terrorism. But he knew a threat when he saw one. And he knew now that Seborga wouldn't hesitate to act out on that threat.
"Why me?" Hutt River whispered. "Out of all the people you could have asked, why me?"
"You mean, other than the fact that you're in a desperate situation that I can easily exploit?" Seborga asked, and Hutt River flinched at the words. "Well, to be honest… I've always liked you." Hutt River leaned back when he saw Seborga coming closer. "You've always had this… elegance about you. And underneath that, there's a sharp mind, and under the proper conditions, a cutthroat mentality. You like twisting your words to manipulate the people around you. And I respect that."
Seborga gently took hold of his chin, and Hutt River hated how much the contact burned.
"The thing is, I don't want to see you fade away," Seborga whispered. His grip tightened, and Hutt River hissed at the pain. "That being said, I have no problem with hurting you to get what I want." Seborga leaned back, releasing Hutt River's chin. "And also, micronations make the best spies. Nations can't sense us in their lands, and with our ability to go anywhere instantly, we can go where nations can't and leave just as easily. And in your case, you can just use the excuse that you were getting antsy being locked up like this, and just wanted a change of scenery. You'll get a scolding, but considering the crazy stuff micronations usually do, they'll see it as normal. I should thank Sealand for that. They would be a little more suspicious if it's a micronation from a Requiem nation, like me."
Hutt River averted his gaze. He didn't know what to think or feel, but there was one prevalent emotion: fear. He was afraid of Seborga. He was afraid of harm coming to the others. And he was afraid of dying. He closed his eyes and swallowed thickly, knowing that he would regret what he was about to say.
"I'll do it, under two conditions," Hutt River said. "First, I'd like a place somewhere in a Requiem-controlled area where I can hide if anyone finds out I'm a spy."
"Fair enough," Seborga said. "What's the second condition?"
"Wy, Sealand, Kugelmugel, Molossia and Australia's other micronations are to remain unharmed."
Seborga smirked.
"I wonder what they'd say if you showed them how much you really cared," Seborga remarked. "Deal." Seborga handed him a cell phone, and Hutt River reluctantly took it. "Keep this on silent at all times. Use text to communicate, and we'll do the same. It's designed to delete messages after twenty-four hours to reduce the risk."
Hutt River examined the phone. It looked a lot like his own, at least until he turned it on. The background was plain, and he only seemed to have the contacts and messaging apps. The contacts were names that he did not recognise.
"These are all members of Requiem, but we gave ourselves different names in case someone stole your phone and got curious. You are to report to me, Vatican, Veneziano or Romano. Any other members of Requiem can send you messages with requests, and you are only to respond to those numbers if they send you a mission. Understood?" Hutt River nodded. "Good. Now, my name is Wolf McBride. Vatican is Marlon Pesaro. Veneziano is Sjors Bateson. And Romano is Alf Buckholtz. Now, any questions?"
"Just one," Hutt River asked. "Who came up with the names?"
"We had a website generate random names." Seborga shrugged. "Vatican, San Marino and I had a laugh with this."
"So… You're Wolf, Vatican is Marlon, Italy is Sjors and Romano is Alf. And the others?"
"You don't need to worry about who the others are. The point is, all of them can contact you, and you have to respond. We can understand an hour or two's delay, since we'll accept that there are other people around you. But if you take too long to respond, then a bomb will go off somewhere in Oceania. It might even be near your fellow micronations."
"You… you said you wouldn't hurt them!"
"I said near them. Like maybe the house across the street from Wy."
Hutt River shuddered and nodded. He made a mental note to regularly check the phone for any messages.
…
Australia was hesitant when he saw Scotland's number appear on the screen. He knew that Ireland knew that Australia had told Scotland, and after all of the reports he'd heard about Requiem, he knew that taunting their enemies with their failure was something that they would do. He knew that Ireland would rub it in his face that he had doomed Scotland and Northern Ireland, but he still answered the phone. He supposed that it was time to face the music.
"Hello?" he greeted.
"Tell me, did you think that you'd get rid of me that easily?"
"Scotland! You… It's really you, right? How?"
"I used a bauchan while Ireland was distracted with Wales. That reminds me, I'll need to thank the little guy."
Australia didn't know what a bauchan was, as long as it helped Scotland escaped. He sighed in relief.
"So, what happened to Wales and Ireland?" he asked. "And where are you now?"
"I knocked Ireland out, and Wales took me to Canada," Scotland replied. "My shires, who I thought were dead, are all here. Well, the ones that aren't dead."
After hearing what Requiem did to regions, Australia couldn't help but grin at the thought that Scotland had been reunited with his own.
"That's good to hear," Australia said. "So, what are you going to do now?"
"Don't know yet," Scotland said. "I'll need to wait until North wakes up, and see how he feels. Turns out that at some point Ireland messed with his mind."
"Yeah, the micros said something about him being a sleeper, or something like that."
"Yeah… There's another group out there, right? You guys that want to keep out of it. Think you can tell them what's going on at my end?"
"Sure. And if you'd like to join, just tell me."
"Great. This is a lot to take in."
"Yeah, I guess so. And we still don't know everything. But if there's anything else, just let us know. But I should warn you: Requiem doesn't care about neutrality. They've attacked a few of us too. And if Ireland is pissed off enough…"
"Don't worry. I'll be careful."
Australia hung up, and his shoulders felt lighter. A smile bloomed across his face. That was a heavy burden lifted.
…
"We'll need to do something about Bosnia soon," Slovenia said, watching the aforementioned nation. "This is getting ridiculous."
Bulgaria grimaced. They'd entered Bosnia's room with the intention of distracting him, and found many sheets of paper scattered across the floor. Each sheet had one word written over and over again: Lejla, Herzegovina's human name.
It was clear that they would need to get Herzegovina as soon as possible. Bosnia was useless to them now, and that needed to be fixed.
In 2020, Hutt River was dissolved in order to pay off taxes. The story was started long before then, so in-universe it's still in the process. One of the loopholes pretty much applies to Kugelmugel, who is considered to have lost his status in 2015 when the founder died, but the Republic is administered by Vienna's government and used as a tourist attraction, so Kugelmugel gets to live a little longer. But with Austria dead, things are a bit uncertain for Kugel.
Behind the Name has a nice random name generator. If you don't specify the type of name you're after, you can end up with some crazy stuff.
