Thanks to FerayEs for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 124

Portugal's right foot was acting like a toddler on a sugar rush as he listened to Wales give his report. He sighed when Wales was finished and forced his foot to calm down and behave.

"All things considered, things went well," Portugal sighed. "That spell he used on you… You said you've never seen it before?"

"Never. Then again, I think I have my fair share of spells that I don't think Ireland would know. But that spell to nullify my magic is worrisome."

"Agreed. With something like that, they could easily dispose of our strongest fighters in a confrontation. Do you think any of their other magic users would be able to do this?"

"It's possible, as long as they are able to learn it. But I don't think that they would use it if they feel sadistic enough. They would probably use this if they wanted to capture someone or if they feel desperate enough."

"Right. And how is Scotland handling everything?"

"Still processing everything, which makes him pretty irritable. He's also acting a bit like a mother hen towards his shires. They figured out that he's here, and are flocking around him. My own counties are happy to see me too, but I told them to give me some space to make a call. I think they're still waiting outside the door."

Portugal smiled at the mental image the idea provided.

"That might distract him for a bit," Portugal said. "Northern Ireland concerns me. Vlad has a theory that once they use the trigger phrase, it really starts messing with their minds. I don't know much about Taiwan and Latvia and any others that are with Antonio and the others, but I noticed Andorra having trouble with his focus, and I think he's also suffering from nightmares."

"I see," Wales sighed. "I'll keep my eye on him, if Al lets me. He's also bugging me a bit about my relationship with Jeng."

"So in other words, he's acting like a brother. Vlad also mentioned that Antonio had a brief conversation with him."

"Does that mean you had words with Francis?"

"I know that he wouldn't hurt Antonio. Besides, I think the reason why it doesn't really bother me is because I predicted their relationship a long time ago. Our brothers didn't have that luxury. This came out of nowhere in their eyes."

"I hear what you're saying. I guess at this point I would just have to observe my brothers and see how they're faring. I'll call if something comes up."

"Obrigado. And be careful. If there's one thing that worries me about your family, it's that you tend to not be forgiving, and you can be dangerous in your attempt to correct what you believe is a wrong. Ireland's bound to be angry that you escaped, and he would most likely be humiliated by the way in which it was done."

"You're probably right. I'll keep an eye on things."

Portugal disconnected the call and sighed, burying his fingers in his hair. It could have been worse. Ireland had already killed one of his brothers, and as Wales had explained, he had been more than willing to torture the second, while the third brother had been subjected to brainwashing in the past. Wales also mentioned that Ireland had some respect for him; enough to not want to hurt him, but not enough to allow him to walk away. He wanted to imprison Wales somewhere his magic wouldn't be able to save him. And their entire interaction was when Ireland was being spontaneous, and in more or less a cheerful mood. Portugal didn't want to think how he would be if he was angry and had some time to plan things out. Scotland would especially be in the line of fire, but what would Ireland do to Wales?

With any luck, Ireland wouldn't be able to figure out where they were. The British counties and the Yugoslavians had been safe in Canada thus far. He could only hope that it stayed that way.

"Alright, I'll tell them," Hong Kong said. "Take care."

He pocketed his phone before he started to ponder who he could relay the information to. The leaders of their group would be an obvious choice, except a leader of their group was a hard thing to define. The obvious options would be the remaining G20 members, since they were the ones that originally took charge.

Of course, a few alterations had to be made. China was still suffering from the injuries he sustained from the nuclear weapons, and it would be irresponsible of Hong Kong to stress him with something like this now. France had only just arrived, but he also needed some time to recover. Spain, despite not being part of the G20, also seemed to assume a leadership role, most likely due to his status as a former empire (and having some of his former colonies there also seemed to help), but there was the matter of him being in constant contact with Alvora. And even if that wasn't the case, he would most likely be too busy with France to really take charge. Saudi Arabia also wasn't the same after Mecca was attacked, and Hong Kong would much rather let him have his space.

That mostly left Russia and Turkey, and if Hong Kong had to be honest, he didn't feel entirely reassured by those two options. Both of them were a bit too controlling for Hong Kong's taste, and the wrong kind of controlling. He actually wished that Germany or England were still around. If China was unavailable, then Hong Kong could convey the message to England instead, or even better, Hong Kong wouldn't need to be the middle man. And if Germany was still around, he would certainly have been the one that took charge, and everyone would have been fine with it.

He thought a bit about it, and decided that it might have been a better idea to convey this news to Turkey. He didn't get as annoyed about Alvora as Russia. So, Hong Kong set out to find Turkey.

His raucous laughter made him easy to find. He was inside one of the tents, and when Hong Kong pulled away the flap of the tent, he saw Turkey with most of the Middle Eastern nations. They all turned to face him, but he didn't allow it to bother him. His gaze focused on Turkey.

"Australia called," he announced. "Scotland and Northern Ireland know, so the British Isles no longer have a truce. Northern Ireland is a sleeper, and Ireland was more than happy to threaten Scotland with torture."

"Shit," Turkey swore, his mirth disappearing. "So, what now?"

"They managed to get away, but are with Alvora. Scotland's still a bit sceptical, but he knows they're the lesser of two evils."

"I see. Thanks for telling me."

"Why did Australia call you?" Iraq asked.

"I think it's because I'm a former British colony, and Australia probably thought I'd want to know," Hong Kong said. "I also got along with Northern Ireland since we're close in age, and since Taiwan is also a sleeper…"

"He must have decided to call you because you would have the most reason to want to know," UAE said.

"So then kid, how do you feel?" Turkey asked.

"I'm just glad that they got out, and that they're not with Requiem," Hong Kong said. "And considering Alvora gave us France and Norway, I'm willing to believe that Scotland and Northern Ireland wouldn't be forced to stay there if they didn't want to."

"There's something at least."

Ireland grumbled as he left Bulgaria's room. He'd woken up a minute ago, and he quickly found out that his brothers were no longer on the Isles. He'd used his magic to teleport to Bulgaria's room, where he had been spending quite some time, and it was the only place he saw other than Britain for some time. And Bulgaria wasn't there.

He listened carefully, hearing the others in the living room. He followed the sound of the voices and found Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hungary and Belarus easily enough. He leaned against the doorframe and waited.

"I've been trying to track them down, but Canada's a big place," Belarus sighed. "And it's a lot harder to focus on nations in such a large place."

Ireland cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. Bulgaria leapt to his feet, eyes wide as he stared at Ireland.

"Pat, you're here!" Bulgaria said. "How… What happened to your face?"

"Scotland," Ireland spat. "He and North know. And they got away from me."

"You're losing your touch," Belarus remarked with a smirk. "Or did Wales help them?"

"I wasn't concentrating on the right person. And while I was busy with Wales, Scotland summoned one of his creatures and asked it to attack me. And because I lost my focus, the magic I was using to pin Scotland wore off."

"You're losing your touch," Hungary affirmed.

"So, you don't have to play nice anymore?" Bulgaria asked.

Ireland snorted.

"I have no desire to," Ireland said. "I'll definitely have to repay Scotland for this little escape. So, what were you talking about?"

"Bosnia's getting worse," Slovenia said. "His mind is unravelling. We need to get a hold of Herzegovina. She's literally the only thing he can think of. It might be because they share a country."

"Thanks to you, we suspect she's somewhere in Canada," Belarus said. "The only problem is we don't know where. My magic isn't strong enough to track someone so precisely."

Ireland smirked.

"I think I can help you with that," he said. "I can sense North, and I know they took him to Canada. With a little focus, I can pinpoint his exact location."

Bulgaria had been walking towards him and wrapped his arms around Ireland's waist. When Ireland said he could pinpoint Northern Ireland's exact location, Bulgaria squeezed his waist.

"Can you be sure that they'd be at the same base?" Hungary asked.

"Only one way to find out," Slovenia said. "So, who's going to stay behind and babysit Bosnia? Ireland would obviously need to go, but who's staying?"

Eritrea lay in the bed next to Libya, lying on his side and head propped up. He used his free hand to play with Libya's hair, hoping to convey to Libya in some way that he wasn't alone, that Eritrea was there to offer any support for him. And he would comfort him when he needed it.

He shuddered before hissing in pain. Asmara was under attack. The ache had been present for an hour. The way Alvora had attacked them at the beginning made it difficult to ignore the rest of the pain. And having his capital attacked was being especially problematic.

But it was getting worse. He gritted his teeth, and after a few seconds he realised why it was so painful. Asmara had fallen.

Eritrea rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. It would take a while before he could properly recover, and during this time he was in a particularly vulnerable position. If someone tried to kill him, they had a high chance of success. Which meant that for the foreseeable future he would have to lay low.

It wasn't too bad for him. He wanted to stay with Libya anyway, and Libya would require some time to recover.

He just wanted to know what Alvora was going to his country now. It wouldn't be very smart if they just attacked the capital and left it like that. If it was up to Eritrea, it would be better to completely annex or partition or dissolve the country. And it would have been better if they could get hold of the nation in the process.

Perhaps they should have made sure to grab the Alvora nations instead during that African Union meeting. Things could have been different then. They might have had fewer problems to deal with.

A whimper from Libya tore his attention back. He sat up and leaned on his side, watching over his lover. He was twitching and whimpering, a frown on his face. Eritrea reached over to stroke his hair, but whipped his hand back when Libya flinched.

"I'm sorry," Libya whispered.

"What are you sorry about, my love?" Eritrea muttered.

Libya didn't answer, and Eritrea had to conclude that he was trapped in a nightmare. In some way it was reassuring. Libya wasn't too deep in unconsciousness now. He was closer to waking now.

"It's only a dream," Eritrea said, planting a kiss on Libya's forehead. "Don't be afraid, my love."

The twitches became more violent, and Eritrea wondered if he would be able to wake Libya. Was he close enough to consciousness? And was it possible to wake him without hurting him?

He reached out to try to poke Libya's cheek where it wasn't too bruised when Libya released a high-pitched keening sound.

"No…" he whined. "Don't… I'm sorry… P-please… Don't…"

Eritrea's blood pressured increased, he was sure of it. He had a feeling he knew what Libya's nightmare was about. The begging he was doing… It was clearly a result of the torture he had suffered through. He hated that even after escaping, Libya was still plagued by the suffering he had been forced to go through. Actually, if he had been unconscious when the two gods found him, then he wouldn't even know that he was free.

"Please," Libya continued, his voice growing louder. "I know you're mad at me. But please, don't hurt Nahom!"

Eritrea felt his body temperature go skydiving. Libya… He was dreaming about Eritrea being hurt? Did they threaten him? If only Eritrea could somehow convey that he was fine. He opened his mouth to attempt that very thing, but that became impossible.

He gasped when he felt something like a noose wrapping around his throat, but when he reached up to grab it, he ended up clawing at his own skin. He felt the thing tighten as he was pulled backwards, away from Libya.eh

"We told you," a familiar voice hissed. "Your time will come."

Iceland groaned as he swallowed the two pills. He supposed that it wasn't advisable for anyone to drink so many painkillers in one day, but his headache just wouldn't go away. He completely and utterly blamed Denmark for this. Denmark had been the one to mess with his mind. To make him a puppet.

He buried his head in his hands with his eyes closed, but opened them and looked up when he sensed someone sitting next to him. Andorra smiled at him and pulled his earbuds out.

"Headache?" the other teen asked.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Iceland snapped.

"Because I sometimes get them too. You're not the only one whose mind Requiem messed with."

Iceland looked Andorra up and down. Now that he thought about it, someone might have mentioned that he wasn't the only one with that problem in the building. His annoyance abated slightly as he leaned back in his seat.

"How do you deal with this?" Iceland asked.

"Music," Andorra replied. "The headaches are best dealt with music you'd expect on Austria's playlist. As for the voices… Well, I have to say that I'm getting acquainted with the metal genre. It's pretty potent."

"I can give you some recommendations, if you'd like. So, what about losing concentration? I'd rather not ask someone to repeat themselves. It's already bad enough."

"I don't have that problem that much, but I added a few songs to the playlists that I normally wouldn't want to listen to. There is, among other things, a ten-minute version of The wheels on the bus."

"…Why would you do that to yourself?"

Andorra shrugged.

"I tend to lose focus for only one or two minutes at a time," Andorra said. "But something that tends to annoy me can pull me out easily enough. I also edited them a bit to increase their pitch."

Iceland smirked.

"So in other words, you annoy yourself?" Iceland asked.

"Pretty much," Andorra said. "Anything that makes you immediately want to cover your ears is a good idea."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Canada sighed. He'd spent the entire day negotiating with Denmark's government, or at least what was left of it. Due to what happened with Norway and Sweden, it was agreed that Denmark would be partitioned between the other two Scandinavians. The entire royal family also had to go into exile. It was tedious work, and the humans didn't want to cooperate, but in the end they had no choice.

He stretched his arms, wincing when something in his spine popped. He'd been sitting too long. He needed to move around. And perhaps he could go back to Serbia, who was busy with Switzerland's government. After Switzerland died, Serbia had gone over towards Bern to handle everything. This ensured that they would be able to do with Switzerland's territories what they wanted, and Requiem wouldn't easily be able to take it back.

He was on his way outside when he felt someone tug on his shirt. He swivelled his head around and looked down. A girl stood behind him, and after a moment he realised that she was a micronation.

"You're a nation, right?" she asked. Canada nodded. "You're… one of Requiem's enemies, right?" Another nod. "Please… Take me with you! I-if they find me…"

Canada turned around so he was properly facing her and knelt down to be on her level.

"What's your name?" Canada asked.

"Elleore," she replied.

"Well Elleore, if you want to come with me, I don't see why not. I can take you to Christiana, if you'd like. He's safe with us too."

"Christiana's with you?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah." He frowned. "He told us a bit about what Requiem does to you. And we'll make sure that they're not going to go anywhere near you."

She hugged him, and Canada returned the hug. He was glad that she came to him before someone from Requiem could hurt her.

As part of my work, I have to look at videos and make sure they're age-appropriate. I despise having to do anything with grades 1-3, since those types of songs are a bit, well… Having The wheels on the bus and Head and shoulders and the melody of B-I-N-G-O stuck in your head for an entire week is not fun. Especially if they're stuck at the same time, and they're not the only ones! So, yeah, something that can easily annoy you. I've reached the point where every time I have to do one of these videos, I immediately look up a metal song to just drown it out. And I would much rather have Nightwish stuck in my head than a song describing shapes, colours, animal sounds, etc. On the plus side, I'm having fun going down the metal rabbit hole on YouTube. It's been a while since I went looking for music.

Also, interesting fact: studies show that metal music can actually make you calmer. It creates a sort of catharsis factor, and is a good way to get rid of anger and aggression in a healthy manner. It's also good music to study to. Of course, the results will vary depending on a person's tastes and personality. I'm someone who can easily fall asleep listening to metal, while I easily lose focus when listening to the traditional 'music for work/study', and even feel my aggression levels spiking. I also work better with metal music, and go into that trance where you're completely immersed in your work.