Thanks to 17uu17 and FerayEs for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 130

Western Sahara often spent a lot of time around Hout Bay, so she knew the other girl's body language fairly well. Which was why she knew that something was about to happen when the micronation lifted her head, something that she almost never did while sunbathing.

"What's wrong?" Sahara asked.

"Anika is coming," Hout Bay replied. "But there's something strange about her."

Sahara frowned. In her experience, having something be 'strange' with someone that you were supposed to know well was never a good sign. And Hout Bay knew no one better than White South Africa, especially considering Hout Bay was a micronation that formed part of the city that was closest to White's heart.

"Where is she now?" Sahara asked.

Hout Bay was silent for a moment before she jumped up. Sahara groaned before running after the blond girl. She winced when she made the transition between sunlight and dark cave. And she hated to admit that she ran into a wall or two.

Her eyes adjusted by the time she caught up to Hout Bay. White and Brazil were there, and Hout Bay was examining her nation, much to the other's bewilderment. Of course, the micronation's actions attracted the attention of the others present at the base.

"Chané, what is going on with you?" White asked.

"You tell me," Hout Bay snapped. "There's something odd about you, and I want to know what it is."

"Odd?" Brazil repeated. "In what way?"

Sahara noticed how Brazil seemed to be attached to White. He had his arms wrapped around her from behind, clinging so tightly that Sahara had to respect White's sense of balance. This alone was enough to tell Sahara that something had happened. There were two possibilities: either something had happened to Brazil that caused him to cling to White for comfort, or something had happened to White that prompted Brazil to become overprotective. And based on the other cues from his body language, it seemed to be the latter.

"I don't know," Hout Bay said. "Something just feels… strange. Like there's something else there. And why does it look like you're trying to fuse with her?"

Some of the others snickered. Sahara tried to shake her head to free herself from the mental picture. White and Brazil exchanged a look, a curious look on White's face. She turned back towards Hout Bay and chuckled nervously.

"Um, I think I might have an explanation for it," she said.

Hout Bay's head shot up, and Sahara crossed her arms. She could tell that Hout Bay was in a protective and concerned mood, and she was in no mood for nonsense of any kind. Her paranoia after Cape Town's attack also made her a bit impatient when it came to something concerning the two South Africas.

"You see, a few of us asked Vlad for a potion," White said. "A-and the potion was finished last week. And… Um, it's still experimental, so we didn't think to mention anything. But…"

"Talk faster," Hout Bay snapped.

"…I'm pregnant."

There was a heavy silence that fell over the room. Sahara felt her jaw drop and her arms lowered. Was she serious?

"Pregnant?" Hout Bay repeated. "And… it's been a week and… Fok, I did not want to think that!"

Hout Bay grabbed her hair and paced in a circle. Khoisan cleared his throat and stepped closer.

"According to you, it wouldn't be very long if it's successful," Khoisan said. "So, how do you know it is?"

"One of Egypt's gods confirmed it," Brazil growled. "While we were fighting with Requiem. So they know too."

Sahara grew cold. She understood Brazil's overprotectiveness now. Requiem could attempt to capture White in order to find out what the cause was of her pregnancy (asides from the obvious). Or they might think to experiment on the baby. They've done it with regions, so it wasn't too strange to think that they would perform experiments on a child that wasn't normally meant to exist.

"And Egypt's still alive," Macau said.

"He didn't come to us, but apparently he went after Themba and Imane's group," White said. "And he took Themba."

"Have you asked Sammy if he could help find him?" Hout Bay asked.

"Imane tried. Something's blocking him." She turned her attention towards Sahara. "By the way, Imane drank the potion too."

Sahara stared for a moment before she growled in annoyance. She fixed the pair with a firm look.

"Your timing sucks," Sahara groaned.

"Yes!" Hout Bay exclaimed. "That's my opinion too!"

"Well, to be fair, she only said that Imane drank the potion," Macau pointed out. "She didn't say that Imane is pregnant too."

"I think Vlad confirmed that she is also pregnant," White said. "Sierra and Angela also drank the potion, but they still need to be confirmed. And we've been waiting for the potion for years. It just so happens that we finally have a successful potion at the worst time."

"Talk about an understatement," Hout Bay muttered.

…

Quebec sensed the moment Canada returned. He quickly turned the stove off before he went over towards the living room, seeing Canada, Romania and Serbia. Romania looked a little shaky, which was most likely due to the magic he used to get them there. Canada lifted his head and smiled when he saw Quebec.

"Bonjour, Olivier," Canada greeted. "It's about breakfast time now, n'est-ce pas?"

Quebec nodded.

"Oui," he said. "I was frying bacon. If I knew you'd be coming, I would have started on pancakes."

Canada pouted. Serbia shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

"I'll go make some for you, Mattie," Serbia offered. "That is, if Olivier is okay with it."

"I'm fine with it," Quebec said. "As long as you make enough for everyone." He turned to Romania. "Are you going to join us, Vlad?"

"I'd love to," Romania said, "but I've got other errands to run. I'm just resting a bit."

"Would you like something to drink then? Coffee, tea, water?"

"Some water would be nice, mersi."

Quebec nodded, before he headed towards the kitchen. He looked behind him when he sensed someone following him, and found Serbia. The nation smiled, but now that Quebec was looking closely, he could see that the European appeared tired.

"I'm surprised that you offered to make the pancakes," Quebec remarked while fetching a glass. "Mathieu would have sulked a bit because I'm not making them before he would have decided to make them himself."

"Well, I think Matthew needs a treat," Serbia said. "He'll need some comfort while arranging a funeral for Toris."

Quebec flinched. Of course, the news reached them. And it saddened him that it seemed as though Canada would become the cemetery for Alvora.

"Any idea when the funeral will be?" Quebec asked.

"I think it's the day after tomorrow," Serbia replied. "Gilbert and Feliks are not in a good place right now. Matthew said that Gilbert actually considered following after Toris. Denmark's weapon was in their reach."

"And Feliks lost his boyfriend and his best friend in a short amount of time. How are they coping?"

Serbia shook his head.

"I think the only way for them to cope at the moment is to focus their energy on fighting Requiem. It might not be the healthiest option, but as long as we can keep an eye on them and prevent them from turning full vigilante and destroying other nations in the process, then I suppose that it could work."

Quebec sighed, before he went to take the glass of water to Romania. He and Canada were chatting, and Quebec felt a pang when he realised that it was the funeral. Romania smiled when he saw Quebec and the water.

"Thanks," Romania said as he took the water, before downing it in three seconds.

"I'm going to be busy today and tomorrow," Canada said. "I hope you don't mind maintaining the fort just a little bit longer."

"I understand," Quebec replied. "And as long as Scotland and Northern Ireland behave themselves, I don't think I'll have any problems."

Scotland was still a bit angry at the deception and at Ireland for everything that happened, and Northern Ireland was still in a state of denial. He had not handled it well when he woke up to learn that his brother had brainwashed him to become a living puppet, and that said brother was responsible for the death of another brother, and that there was an entire war going on while he had been blissfully unaware. He did calm down a bit when he learned that the micronations were with Australia.

"I think we should call Evelyn to help," Canada said.

Quebec smiled. Just as he was often asked to handle France, Nova Scotia was the one that handled Scotland. Of course, the other Canadians tended to avoid Nova Scotia when she was in a bad mood. She was probably the most eager to start a fight, and only Canada could calm her down when she was like that.

"We'll see if Scotland gives problems," Quebec said.

They turned towards the hallway, where someone paused. Wales smiled when he noticed all of them. Quebec realised that Wales was dressed to go out, but the clothes he was wearing weren't really suited for Quebec's weather.

"Hey Will," Canada greeted. "You're going to Egypt now, right?"

Wales nodded.

"If he decides to go to his house, it might help to have a magic user around," Wales explained. "And someone that has contact with a pantheon of his own. He'd be able to sense us in his home, and it's only a matter of time before he gets annoyed enough to come to us."

"It's a dangerous game you're playing, but we understand why you're playing it," Romania said. "Anyway, I'll be leaving now. Need a lift?"

Wales quirked an eyebrow.

"I think I should be the one asking you that," Wales remarked. "How much magic have you been using recently?"

Romania looked as though he was seriously doing the mental calculations.

"Most of my spells involved teleportation," Romania said. "And doing a pregnancy check. Twice. I need to do two more. The hardest was opening Virgílio's mouth after it was cursed closed."

"What's that about a pregnancy check?" Quebec asked.

"Anika and Imane are pregnant. I had to use my magic to confirm since it's too soon for human means to show anything."

Quebec was glad that he hadn't taken the glass back from Romania yet. Because if he had, then he would have had to clean up the shards, because he knew that he would have dropped the glass in shock.

"Q-quoi?" Quebec stammered. "When… How is that possible?"

"They asked me for a potion, and it just so happens that a successful potion was finally made," Romania said. "Angela and Sierra drank the potion too."

Quebec shook his head in a daze. He sat down, feeling as though his knees were about to give in. This wasn't natural in any way, at least for nations. He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I know how you feel," Wales said. "Ireland and I went out drinking when we heard this. Together. That was a truce."

Quebec noticed the shadows in Wales's eyes, but he didn't comment on it. He knew that Wales was just lamenting the fact that he and his brother would now have to be enemies. There was no truce left between them.

"Would you like me to take over breakfast?" Canada asked.

"Non, it's okay," Quebec said. "I'm just… surprised. I mean… Okay, I can kind of see Anika wanting to be a mom, but Imane, Sierra and Angela? I mean… C'est trop bizarre!"

"Wait until you here how we got confirmation the potion worked," Romania growled. "Well, at least it managed to distract Requiem. Considering South Korea went along with Jeng in the group… It wouldn't have been pretty."

No, it wouldn't. But that also meant that Requiem knew about them. And suddenly Quebec wasn't so happy that Canada was there, because his nation didn't approve when Quebec drank wine. And he needed a few glasses right now.

"I think we better go before Olivier starts questioning reality," Wales remarked. "So, do you want me to help you out?"

Romania thought about it for a moment before he nodded.

"Angela is with Garcia now," he said. "And we don't have a lot of opportunities to search a Requiem base."

Quebec's head snapped up.

"Wait, what?" he asked.

"Denmark and Switzerland confirmed that there are other Washrooms," Canada explained. "Garcia was taken to one underwater. His Blood Vow keeps him there, but no one from Requiem is there. The place seems to be designed to drive people insane through isolation."

"And they just leave the place like that?"

"They apparently bring groceries," Romania said. "According to those files, Garcia was never a target. Peru cares too much for him. The plan was, if they couldn't convince him, they would hide him away somewhere."

"He's lucky," Canada said. "Angela is keeping him company, but if they find her, she's in trouble."

"As long as she's not pregnant. Not even gods can harm them if they are. And apparently a god of war being blown away is a sight to behold."

Quebec buried his head in his hands. Perhaps he should wait for Canada to leave before going for the wine.

…

Eritrea opened his eyes, his throat feeling sore. He was confused for a moment before he remembered what happened to him. He sat up in alarm, panicking when he felt a weight press down on his chest before a familiar voice groaned. He looked to the side and saw Libya, who was opening his eyes as well.

"Hamza!" Eritrea exclaimed. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

Libya's eyes widened before he tackled Eritrea in a hug.

"Nahom…" Libya cried. "I should be asking you that. I'm so sorry."

"What are you sorry about?" Eritrea asked. "You're the one that was tortured."

"But you were attacked by them," Libya spat, reaching out to brush his fingers against Eritrea's throat. The latter flinched. "They threatened to go after you too."

Eritrea remembered the whisper he heard. He wrapped his arms tighter around Libya.

"There has to be a way to stop them," Eritrea growled.

"I'm open to suggestions," Libya muttered.

The two remained silent for a moment, simply absorbing each other's warmth. The moment was ruined when Eritrea's stomach growled. Libya chuckled.

"I think, before we think about exorcising the dead, we focus on getting some breakfast first," Libya said. "Sound good to…?"

He was interrupted by his own stomach growling. Eritrea chuckled.

"I think the decision's been made for us," he said. "Come on. And hopefully Egypt will have a better idea of how to deal with our visitors."

…

Singapore groaned when she opened her eyes. Her entire body was sore, and she didn't know how that happened. But the thing that made this entire situation worse was the fact that she had to see Philippines grinning down at her the moment her eyes opened.

"Hello, Aminah," Philippines said. "Learned your lesson?"

Singapore didn't respond. If she told the truth, she would just be punished again. If she said anything that Philippines wanted to hear, she felt as though she had to take a shower. And brush her teeth. And wash her mouth out with soap.

"Well, since you weren't a good girl, you're going to be in the Washroom," Philippines continued. "I'll see how you're doing at the end of the week. Buh-bye."

Singapore watched as Philippines left through the door. The moment the door closed, an annoying droning began that was both high-pitched and low-pitched. Singapore grimaced, before she pushed herself up.

'Any idea what's going on, Zamboanga?'

They're trying to brainwash you. Of course, with me inside your mind, that's not going to happen.

It was a mutual deal, really. Singapore allowed Zamboanga to remain inside her where she could use Singapore as a means to get close to Philippines and the rest of Requiem, and Zamboanga would protect Singapore's body and mind against anything that Requiem might do to her.

Zamboanga had also made it clear that the dead were angry at the living, and that almost all of the nations, whether they were members of Requiem or not, would be targeted. The main reason why Zamboanga decided to make a deal with Singapore was because of their mutual hatred for Philippines.

And Singapore couldn't say that she didn't benefit from their arrangement. While Philippines and Jamaica thought that she was enduring horrible nightmares, Zamboanga helped her to go to a safe place within her mind.

'Why am I sore?'

Jamaica made sure to make the nightmares physically painful for you. The pain you're feeling is the effect of the nightmares before I approached you.

Singapore nodded. She had a ghost inside her head. She was willing to accept a lot of things at this point.

'So, now what?'

You can try to rest without Jamaica's magic influencing you. You'll need to regain your strength.

Singapore nodded as the droning seemed to fade into a distant memory. She made herself comfortable on the mattress and closed her eyes. She didn't know how exactly Zamboanga planned to use her, but she couldn't find it in herself to care too much. Compared to what Philippines planned to eventually do to her, she supposed that being used by Zamboanga was the better option.

…

Spain went back to his tent, claiming to have a headache. And it wasn't too much of a lie, considering he had England of all people inside his head. An England that he hadn't seen since their imperial days. The England he'd encountered many times on the sea.

What had happened?

I hope you enjoy your nap. Because tonight, we are going to get to work.

Spain bit his lip. He knew that he had no choice but to go along with what England wanted. Not doing so would only end up in France being hurt. And Spain had just gotten him back. He would not lose him again.