Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 144

Prussia kicked the wall. He didn't know what made him angrier: the fact that Requiem interrupted Lithuania's funeral, or the fact that Portugal asked him not to go. It wasn't fair! But he knew that he couldn't argue with Portugal about it. He still felt a little sick after the revival, and he knew that if he got hurt again, there would be hell to pay.

"D-does this happen often?" Estonia asked.

"Like, we usually don't get that much of a warning," Poland said. "Like, we were kind of expecting them to go there, but the timing sucks!"

"I guess there's not much else we can do," White sighed. "They might be a while. If you'd like, we can continue with the ceremony."

"But it wouldn't be the same," Prussia groaned. "Toris… he would have liked it if all of his friends could be here."

"And the others would have liked to send him off," Angela sighed. "Garcia is upset that he couldn't come at all."

Prussia nodded, looking towards the group. He frowned when he saw something unusual.

Brazil was pale, and the way his mouth was twisted made Prussia think that he was about to be sick. It was only Brazil that seemed to be like this, and Prussia wondered if there was something wrong.

"You okay, Rob?" Prussia asked.

All eyes turned to Brazil. The South American smiled weakly.

"I'm fine," Brazil said. "I just feel a bit cold, that's all."

White frowned. She placed her hand on Brazil's cheek before her eyes widened in alarm.

"You're burning up!" she exclaimed.

Brazil looked as though he was about to protest, but before he could, he started to violently cough. Prussia narrowed his eyes as he listened intently to the sound. It was a dry cough, and Prussia knew that he'd heard this particular type of cough before. Out of concern, he grabbed his phone – a replacement for the one he'd lost after he was captured by Requiem – and searched for any news relevant to Brazil.

His curse was louder than Brazil's coughing, and caused everyone to turn to him.

"Those Requiem assholes!" he screamed. "That's it! I don't care what Miguel says! I'm going to destroy them!"

"Calm down," Canada said. "What did they do now?"

Prussia didn't answer immediately, instead turning his focus on Brazil. The younger nation's coughing had turned into wheezing, and he'd grown even paler, despite the red splotches on his cheeks.

"…It's the Amazon Rainforest," Prussia spat. "It's…"

"It's on fire," Brazil gasped. "I just… I just realised it. And the… fire… It's caused by… bombs."

"What?!" White shrieked.

Some of the nations made their way to Prussia, looking at the news on his phone. The others either pulled out their own phones or tried to help Brazil in some way. White just stood there, and Prussia could see her trembling. He knew that it wasn't the cold that made her tremble like that. It was pure rage that was barely contained. He watched her warily. He expected more of an explosion.

Then again, based on her trembling, the explosion might still be on its way.

White took a deep breath before turning to Norway. The European shifted under the severity of her gaze.

"Norway, could I have a word with you outside?" she asked.

Norway hesitated, before nodding his head. Prussia watched the two go outside, and he looked towards Canada. He was worried too. After all, it wasn't normal for any of the nations from the southern hemisphere to want to go out in the Canadian cold.

And now came the question: should he follow them?

…

Rwanda had pulled Senegal to safety, and the two of them were hidden from the Requiem nations and their guns. Senegal looked to be in pain, and Rwanda had a horrifying thought: were those bullets the ones that Requiem modified to successfully and permanently kill nations?

"Are you okay?" Rwanda asked.

It was a stupid question, she knew, but she didn't know what else to say at this point. She supposed that what she really wanted to know was whether or not these bullets would be permanently fatal.

"It hurts," Senegal said. "I… I've never felt this kind of pain before. I… These bullets…"

Rwanda felt a cold punch to the gut. She looked around, her eyes falling on the one nation she suspected could help.

"Wales!" she shouted. "Please help!"

Wales looked over towards her, before looking back towards the battle that was growing. He pursed his lips before rushing over towards Rwanda and Senegal. He winced when he saw Senegal's condition.

"He's already lost a lot of blood," Wales said. His hand hovered over one of the wounds and winced. "These are nation killers."

Rwanda felt the horror grow.

"Can you save him?" she asked.

Wales's hands were already glowing as they hovered over Senegal's body. Wales pursed his lips.

"I'll try," Wales said. "But I'm worried about the blood he lost."

Rwanda looked down when she felt a cold hand grab hers. Senegal smiled at her.

"I'm sorry… for annoying you," he said.

"N-no," Rwanda protested. "I'm sorry for not understanding your feelings. I'm such an idiot."

"No, I should have… told you. I was an… idiot."

She didn't like seeing Senegal's face growing paler. His eyes were fluttering. He was struggling to keep them open. His breaths were wet, and she knew that one of the bullets had punctured his lung.

"You have to save him!" she begged Wales. "What good is having magic if you can't use it to help people?"

Wales gave her a flat look, but she didn't care. Just a few days ago, Senegal had admitted that he was in love with her, after she snapped at him for hovering around her so much. And since then, they've been pretty awkward around each other. The thought of him dying before they could have a conversation over what happened scared her more than she thought it would have.

"Agathe…" Senegal rasped. "I don't know if he'd be able to help me in time. Just… let go. I'm just a nuisance, anyway."

"No, you're not!" she snapped, her words coming back to haunt her. "You are going to survive this, no matter what! And if anyone's to blame, it's me for being an oblivious idiot!"

Wales looked uncomfortable, but Rwanda paid him no mind. She also didn't notice as one of the bullets came out of Senegal as the wound closed up. Wales put the item aside before he started to work on the second bullet.

"You're not an idiot," Senegal said. "You're cunning and compassionate. You enjoy crossword puzzles. You have this dimple when you smile, but only on one side. And you hate that you feel so helpless when you see all the bad things around you."

Rwanda's heart lurched. She didn't think that Senegal would be so observant.

"…As much as I hate to interrupt you while you're having this much-needed conversation," Wales said, "I need Senegal to stop talking. I'm going to work on the bullet that pierced his lung, and I would prefer it if his breathing was as normal as possible for that part."

She startled when Wales said that, and mutely nodded. She watched as Wales put his hand on one of the bullet wounds, the one that was clearly in his chest. Senegal lurched, his face twisting in pain. Her eyes strayed to the two bullets that Wales had already extracted. This didn't happen with any of the other two.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Is he alright?"

"The other two bullets managed to avoid hitting anything," Wales explained. "But this one is lodged inside his lung, and it shattered a rib. I need to extract this slowly if I want to keep him from bleeding to death, and that would be painful. I'm trying to heal along the way, but it's still going to hurt." He glanced up and behind him when they heard a pained scream. "Rwanda, I'm going to need to ask you to keep the fighting away from us. It's going to be dangerous if I'm interrupted now."

Rwanda nodded, getting into a low crouch to make movement easier. But she needed to know one thing.

"Will he survive?" Rwanda asked.

"…Maybe," Wales said. "The blood he lost is still a problem. I'm not Vlad. I can't replenish blood."

"Who's Vlad?"

"Romania."

Rwanda scanned the battling nations, searching especially for the new arrivals. She spotted Romania, but it wasn't good. He was busy battling with Egypt, and it looked as though they were using magic against each other.

"He's fighting Egypt right now," Rwanda said.

"Then he can't help," Wales said. "I'll try to keep him alive, but he might go into shock, and he might end up unconscious. I'm actually impressed that he hasn't passed out yet."

She looked down towards Senegal, feeling a blush growing when she realised that he was watching her. She swallowed thickly. She couldn't say that she loved him back, but she didn't want to lose him.

…

Norway followed White outside, but the moment they stepped outside the small cabin they were using as a gathering point, he knew that something was seriously wrong. The South and Central Americans, Caribbeans, Oceanians, South Asians and Africans were not fond of cold. That was a known fact among the nations. And White didn't seem to be fazed by the cold at all. Even Norway felt himself snuggling deeper into his coat, and he was no stranger to cold.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I need to know what the most fearsome creatures in Norse mythology are," White explained. "Specifically, anything that would reach doomsday proportions."

"Why do you want to know something like that?"

"Humour me, please."

Norway thought for a moment. There were two creatures that immediately came to mind.

"I'd say Fenrir and Jormungandr are the two most likely candidates," Norway said.

"Could you tell me a bit more about them?" White asked.

"First, tell me why you want to know about this."

White gave a wry smile.

"Because lately, I have an interest in mythology," she said. "And I'll admit, my knowledge of European mythology is a bit lacking."

Norway still felt that there was something wrong, but he decided that it couldn't cause any harm to tell her.

"Fenrir is a great and powerful wolf," Norway said. "To prevent him from causing havoc across the Nine Realms, the gods tricked him and bound him in a powerful chain. It's said that when Ragnarök comes, Fenrir will break free from his bonds and have his revenge over the gods."

White nodded her head, showing that she followed.

"Jormungandr is the Midgard Serpent," Norway continued.

"Midgard is the mortal realm, right?" White asked.

"That's correct. The snake was thrown into the sea surrounding Midgard, but grew so large that it could wrap itself around Midgard and grasp its own tail."

"Like an ouroboros."

"I'm impressed by the knowledge you have. Anyway, Jormungandr is said to emerge during Ragnarök and will poison the ocean and sky. Jormungandr and Thor are fated to slay each other."

"So, giant wolf and giant snake, each one going to cause destruction during the apocalypse, according to your mythology. Does that sum it up okay?"

"Ja, I suppose it does."

White nodded and smiled, before she turned around and walked away. She only went a few metres before she stopped. Norway was curious to see what she was doing, but when he saw what happened, he reeled back, eyes wide in horror.

In front of White were two gigantic beings. One of them was a wolf, and the other was a serpent. Norway knew that they were Fenrir and Jormungandr. White reached out a hand, and a part of him wanted to yell at her not to get close, while another couldn't help but be fascinated by what she was doing.

"Anika has the power to make mythology real. And she can make them obey her."

Norway jumped at the voice, and he spun around to see Prussia watching the scene as well.

"What do you mean?" Norway asked.

"She can turn even fiction into reality," Prussia said. "It's actually a pretty terrifying ability, if you think about it. She already used some of them in our battles against Requiem. But I guess she's really mad now."

"…You knew what she was going to do, didn't you?"

Prussia shrugged.

"The moment she asked you, I knew," he said. "And personally, I don't blame her. I can understand what she's going through. Better than most other nations."

Norway remembered what the nature of the relationship between Lithuania and Prussia was, and he knew what Prussia meant. And he knew why Prussia didn't interfere when he heard what White's request was.

"You know that revenge isn't the answer, right?" Norway asked.

"This is about more than just revenge," Prussia said. "Requiem is a danger to everyone. We need to get rid of them, by any means necessary. And if the use of extreme means is necessary, then so be it."

"And what about the rest of the world?"

"Just for the record, we are being careful. Anika has pretty good control over the creatures she summons. And we make sure that no one outside our group is involved unless they want to be. The African nations, for example, were the ones that wanted to get rid of Requiem in Africa, and we make sure, as much as possible, that none of them are collateral damage."

Norway stared at Prussia. There was something he was itching to know, and he wondered if Prussia would answer him honestly.

"I noticed that you're pretty knowledgeable about things other nations aren't," Norway said. "Like Requiem. And we know that they experimented on innocents."

"You want to know if we did the same thing too," Prussia said. "You know, if we did, I wouldn't tell you."

They were silent for a moment. Eventually, Prussia sighed.

"We used ourselves," Prussia said. "Whenever we had a thought or a theory, we saw who would volunteer. And sometimes we used the humans' politics to our advantage. My dissolution being an example. We already knew from Feliks that it was possible to keep a nation living, even though their country is no more, or completely irrelevant."

"And why should I believe you with this?" Norway asked.

"Believe me or don't. That's your decision."

"And how did White know how to do something like this?"

"Khoisan told her. He's a prophet, among other things. He's also really, really old, so we don't involve him unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Older than China?"

"Ja."

"…Impressive."

Norway still watched White and the two monsters. He wouldn't admit how disturbing it was to see Fenrir, the ferocious wolf, wagging its tail, or the giant serpent bumping its head against White as it begged for her attention.

"She does have a way with them," Norway remarked.

Norway remembered that White was also one of the pregnant nations. He'd never thought of her as the motherly type, and she seemed to be pretty harsh at times, but seeing her interact with two destructive beasts, he could see that she was actually a good candidate for motherhood. The way she interacted with them was gentle but not timid, and even from behind, Norway could tell that she had an air about her that did not permit disobedience. And right now, she was angry because her lover – the father of her child – was suffering.

The two beasts disappeared, and White turned back to them, appearing somewhat satisfied. She blinked when she saw Prussia.

"Gilbert?" she questioned. "What are you doing out here. Is… Is Roberto okay, or did something else happen?"

"I've been out here the whole time," Prussia said. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Of course I do."

And that was what really scared Norway.

…

North Korea gritted his teeth as he parried South's blows. He'd managed to lead the two of them towards another room. It was a bit cramped, but there was a smaller chance that anyone would get in the way, whether it was to help, hinder, or just a matter of getting in the way.

South Korea must have thought so as well, based on the lack of mocking, and the aggression he added to his strikes. North Korea also realised that the decades of isolation were counting against him. While they worked independently from their governments and countries, there was still an effect these two had on him. And if he compared his humans against South Korea's, then there was a clear difference.

And that wasn't even considering the destruction of his capital at the beginning of all of this.

"Aw, are you getting tired?" South Korea teased. "Maybe you shouldn't have let your country become a dictatorship. You would have been stronger then."

"Shut up!" North Korea snarled, lunging towards South Korea with every intention of stabbing him.

South Korea stepped to the side, allowing the sword to pass him without touching him. North's eyes widened when South smirked, but he couldn't stop his momentum. South Korea kneed him in the chest. North gasped before South elbowed him in the spine.

North fell to the ground. He didn't even have a chance to take a breath before South was on top of him, pinning him down by pressing his knee against North's spine. North grunted, desperate not to scream in pain.

"You should have been more careful," South said. "You should have known that the day would come when the two of us would have a battle. And you made yourself weak."

North growled. He tried to push himself up, but the pain brought on by South's knee stopped him.

He bit back a scream when he felt something pierce his shoulder. South Korea giggled.

"Let's see if I can make you scream," South said.