Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 147

Seborga followed Monaco and Liechtenstein to an area which appeared very isolated. After making sure that no one could see them, he turned to the two nations.

"Alright, so tell me, did anyone from your group launch an attack on Vatican?" Seborga asked.

"Yes," Monaco said, her voice completely monotone. "Saudi Arabia was the one that made the suggestion. He thought that it would be a good place for you to hide, and so thought that attacking Vatican would be a strategic move."

"All of the Catholic nations approved of what they did," Liechtenstein said. "France and Spain even helped with some of the bombs, and the soldiers that sent the bombs."

Seborga filed the information away for later. He was sure that Italy and Romano would choose a fitting retaliation against these fools.

"What made them so bold all of the sudden?" Seborga asked. "You'd think that they would figure that Alvora keeps us busy enough, and that this is a good place for you to hide out. It's a bit difficult to launch an attack here."

"It's because of the ghosts," Liechtenstein said.

"Go on," Seborga urged, his eyes narrowing.

"The ghosts have attacked a few of us as well," Monaco said. "They say that Requiem is their target. They can't kill a nation, but they can torment them. If we take care of Requiem, then they'll leave us alone."

"And what makes Requiem their target?"

"Because you killed them," Liechtenstein replied.

Seborga rolled his eyes. Of course, he should have probably thought of something like that.

"Alright, and why did they come to you instead of Alvora?" Seborga asked.

"It's probably because Alvora nations are on a different level from the others," Monaco said. "Like you, or at least that's how I understand it. A ghost from an Alvora nation can kill a nation, so they can benefit from having Alvora's nations dying."

Seborga froze when he heard that. If he understood correctly, then if someone from Alvora died, then there was a chance that the ghosts would be able to get someone on their side who could not die, but who could kill a nation.

Seborga quickly undid their trances before he got out of there. He needed to share this information with his brothers, and now there was a new problem to deal with.

He quickly sought out Romano, who was checking on Vatican. Romano arched his eyebrow.

"Did you learn something?" he asked.

"Si," he said. "But it's a bit wild."

"Explain."

"Alright, so Spain's group is responsible for the attack on Angelo. The Catholic nations agreed, but Saudi Arabia is the one that came up with the idea. They figured it would be a good base for us."

"Right, I'm sure that's the real reason," Romano scoffed, rolling his eyes. "So, Saudi Arabia is the mastermind?"

"Oh, it gets worse. They were apparently visited – and tormented – by those ghosts too. But the ghosts can't kill anyone. So, they asked those other nations to help them kill us because we killed them."

"And I'm sure they needed a lot of persuading. So, that's why they decided to grow ballsy? Because the ghosts will keep haunting them if they don't kill us?"

"Pretty much. But that's not all. Apparently, because Alvora follows different rules, if one of them dies, then their ghosts can kill us too."

Romano's eyes widened.

"Feliciano and the others are fighting them now," he said. "Which means, if they kill someone… They're going to create an enemy that can't die, who only want to kill us."

"That's what I was thinking too," Seborga said.

Romano cursed.

"We need to get to Egypt right now," Romano said. "Before someone does something that's going to give us more grief."

"You are not going anywhere!"

Romano yelped as he and Seborga were grabbed by shadowy arms protruding from the walls. They both struggled, at least until someone came into view. Seborga froze as his eyes widened. It couldn't be.

"Fuck!" Romano exclaimed.

"I see you still remember me," Sicily said. "While we have your attention, fratello, we would like to know why he was considered to be worth saving, but the rest of us weren't."

Seborga swallowed thickly when Sardinia and Tuscany came into view. He didn't have to look behind him to know that some of the others were behind him. And Rose Island stood slightly behind them, glaring at Seborga.

"We already know that you can't kill us," Romano said. "So you're just wasting your time!"

"You think that death is the worst we can do to you?" Sicily asked. "You should know by now that there are things far worse than death. Didn't you learn that when we begged you to kill us? But now, it's your turn."

…

Liechtenstein and Monaco returned to the others, neither of them really knowing how they ended up so far away. A thought occurred to both of them, but neither of them was willing to voice it. They just hoped that nothing important had been said.

France looked a little tired, but he smiled when he saw Monaco. He wrapped her in a hug, and she didn't protest.

"Are you alright, ma petite?" he asked. "I know that this would be harder on you than it is on me…"

"I am alright," she said. "Don't worry about me. But, after the torture Requiem put you through… Are you sure that it was such a good idea to allow them to attack Vatican?"

"It's fine. And to be honest, I've been wondering what role Vatican played. After all, it's not like they truly believed. But when I think of the influence that the Catholic Church and Vatican had over the world… I wonder if they purposely made the church so influential? After all, look at how many nations were affected by the attack. And it was our attack, that we knew of."

Monaco shrugged. To be honest, her chest ached and there was something scratching at her throat, but now that France mentioned it, she wondered if it could have been worse.

"…Are you sure that everything is alright?" France asked. "You seem as though something is bothering you."

"I'll be fine," Monaco said. "You've been taking care of Spain's regions. Do you need some help with them?"

France's face brightened.

"I'm sure that Antonio would be happy to hear you're willing to help," France said. "Oui. We should probably go hear if there's anything that we can do to help."

Monaco followed after France, wondering again about what happened earlier. It concerned her that she lost a bit of time, and that Liechtenstein seemed to be affected as well. But it couldn't have been that there was someone from Requiem that came by. And she and Liechtenstein… they weren't sleepers.

Right?

…

"And it's done," Wales said. He turned towards North Korea. "Are you alright?"

North Korea stared at the corpse of his brother. It was hard to believe that this was all over. But South Korea would never be able to harm him, or anyone else, ever again. He wiped his hands clean and nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll be okay. It's just… I can't believe, after everything that happened between us… He wasn't even aware of his death. It feels almost… as though I cheated."

"I think it's better that he wasn't awake for all that," Wales said. "Something tells me that you wouldn't have been able to handle it. And I hate the thought that you might have been turned into a monster because of it."

North Korea was silent. He knew what Wales meant. If he had his brother at his mercy, what were the odds that he would have resisted the temptation to make his brother suffer for all the suffering that North had been through because of him? What would have stopped him?

"You're probably right," North Korea said. "Come on, we should join the others."

The two turned to the door and froze. Standing at the door was someone they never thought they'd see again.

"Japan," North Korea whispered.

North remembered the reports of ghostly visitors, and how they pretty much tortured the nations they encountered. Were the two of them about to be put through some sort of trial or tribulation? Because it would be annoying with a battle going on and a Requiem nation able to step in at any time.

Japan stared at South Korea's corpse for a while before he lifted his head. He smiled briefly before disappearing.

"What was that about?" Wales asked.

North Korea was silent for a moment, before he turned back towards South Korea's corpse.

"I think… It's because South killed Japan," he said. "Maybe his spirit can find peace?"

"Or Japan came to carry South's spirit to his eternal fate," Wales suggested, shuddering. "Come on."

North stared at South. Something about this bothered him.

"I think… We can't just leave him on the floor," North Korea said.

Wales sighed and shook his head, a fond smile on his face.

"This is one of the reasons why I love you," Wales said. "But you're right. I don't think I would have been able to leave Ireland like this."

"At least Ireland likes you," North Korea pointed out. "He has no interest in torturing or killing you."

"He might not want to kill me, but after our last encounter, I think he wants to unleash some frustrations." Wales chuckled and shook his head. "Why did we have to end up with messed up family dynamics?"

"The curse of nations. That's one of the reasons why we're doing this, after all. So that nations would no longer need to fight with their family members."

"Of course, there are some dysfunctional families that won't settle for peace easily."

…

"You know, I kind of expected Alvora to send some sort of retaliation," Peru said. "Just not a giant wolf!"

"Well, stranger things have happened," Argentina said.

The South Americans had abandoned their attack on the Amazon Rainforest in order to hunt down the wolf that was causing havoc in Venezuela. Mexico and Venezuela were taking point, and the others were following in their own planes. Argentina had just stopped to pick up Peru.

"According to San Marino and Ireland, there's a chance that the wolf could be Fenrir," Mexico's voice said over the speaker. "This thing only cares about destruction, so we need to get rid of it as soon as possible."

"Got it!" Chile said. "How the hell did they get access to something like this, anyway?"

"Who knows?" Mexico sighed. "We haven't played all of our cards yet, so it makes sense that they still have a few tricks up their sleeves too."

"By the way, Rosa, how are you feeling?" Argentina asked. "Is Alvora responsible for the attack on your country too?"

Mexico was silent on the other end. Argentina and Peru exchanged nervous looks.

"I don't think it's Alvora," Mexico said at last. "And the pain isn't the same as normal bombs. It feels like my lungs are eating themselves. I've checked in to hear the preliminary reports. Based on the descriptions, I think it's safe to say it's a nuclear strike."

Argentina's grip tightened. She would have to send her own humans to help with the investigation. Hopefully they weren't too useless to find the identity of the nation that launched the strike.

Of course, there were a few options. Not every nation had nuclear weapons, after all. They would simply need to employ process of elimination in order to get the target. And Requiem had the power to return the favour.

"If you think you need to sit out, you need to do so," Chile said. "Luis, the same for you. If either of you feels that the damage to your country is getting too much, withdraw."

Of course, the fact that the two nations under attack were in the same aircraft didn't escape anyone's notice. Argentina worried her lip, longing to be with Mexico.

"I'll be fine," Venezuela said. "I can feel the wolf running around, but so far it's nothing more than a mild itch. But I'll keep an eye on Rosa."

"I can take care of myself, thanks," Mexico said. "No need to worry about me."

"Luis," Argentina said, "take care of Rosa. Rosa, do what he says."

"Understood," Venezuela said. "Anyway, the wolf is on its way to Anaco. It's going to cause a lot of damage there."

"We're on our way," Argentina said, adjusting their course.

She hoped that Mexico would be alright. A sudden nuclear strike was not something that one could just ignore.

…

The group at the funeral stood there in silence. They were still waiting for their allies, but the more time that passed, the more they feared that things were spiralling to the worst possibility. They also had another concern on their minds.

"I think we should go ahead with the funeral," Canada said. "It just feels so… I don't know. I just think we need to go ahead and lay Toris to rest."

"Like, can we?" Poland asked. "I don't think any of us are really present enough to do that."

"We'll have to be," Prussia said. "We have no idea what's going on at the battle. No idea how long it's going to last… We should carry on with the funeral. And then, those that think they can help, should. We're not going to achieve anything if we just sit here. And… What if there's another capture or death or… something?"

Canada flinched. It was clear to everyone that Prussia was referring to Serbia's current state. They discussed it among themselves for a moment, before Prussia took the lead. He'd studied the proceedings of Lithuania's pagan funerals, and except for the burial, tried to recreate it as faithfully as possible. Once that was done, they had to decide who the six pallbearers would be. Since Brazil was still trembling in pain, he was out.

Canada, Prussia, Poland, Malaysia, Norway and Iceland had the duty of carrying the coffin out of the house they were occupying and towards the land that Canada had prepared. Canada used his control over the land to lower the coffin into the ground. Everyone was silent.

"So, does anyone have anything to say to Toris one last time?" Canada asked.

"Ja," Prussia said, stepping forward. "Toris… I know that we had a rough start. I was a stupid kid who thought he had a purpose in life, and that it was to convert you to my way of thinking. But that's not true. I didn't have a purpose, but you gave me one. My purpose had been to make you laugh. My purpose was to hold you when the world was crashing on top of you. And my purpose had been to love you. That is still my purpose. And I'm happy that you had decided to make doing all those things for me your purpose too. Or at least you pretended to, but that's alright. When I lost you, I thought that I lost my purpose too. But I think… My purpose now is to fight for the world that you wanted." Prussia smiled, tears streaming down his face. "Liebe, I'm going to make this world an awesome place, even if it kills me. And if it does, I hope that you'd be there waiting for me."

"As long as you don't kill yourself," Poland sighed, before he stepped forward. "Toris, like, you were the best friend that I could have asked for. You helped keep me in line, especially when my impulses were quicker than my brain. I know I've taken that for granted these last few years, but… I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

After everyone delivered their eulogies, Canada filled the grave. When everyone turned to head back, Prussia remained.

"You okay, Gil?" Canada asked.

"Ja," Prussia said. "I'm… I'm glad we managed to do this, but I know Toris would be upset that the rest of his friends couldn't be here. I just… I need a moment."

Canada smiled sadly and nodded.

"Take all the time you need," Canada said. "I'll make some hot chocolate. We'll give some time for grieving, and then we can talk about the others."

Prussia nodded, and when he was completely alone he fell to his knees. He was trying to make sense of his emotions. He was glad that they had at least given Lithuania a proper funeral, and that they hadn't rushed through it. He was also disappointed that the others weren't there, and worried about them. But more than everything, he was angry at Requiem for everything they've done, and what they were doing at that moment.

And naturally, there was the loss of the one person that could always manage to keep his emotions under control. Prussia had no idea how he could carry on without Lithuania, only that he somehow had to do so.

…

Lithuania was staring at Prussia. They could ensure that no one saw them unless they wanted to, but right now he was conflicted. He wanted to go to Prussia and comfort him, but he didn't know what effect seeing him would have on Prussia.

"It's painful, isn't it?" Finland asked. "To be so close but not allowed to touch."

"At least you managed to speak to Feliks one more time," Lithuania pointed out.

"Only to deliver a message, and I'm not even sure he really got it. He was pretty out of it when I spoke to him." Finland looked towards the east. "Come on. We need to make sure that no one dies. There's no telling what they would do."

Lithuania stared at Prussia for a while longer before he turned away. They did all they could to prevent the spirits from interfering with the living, but they were two against a legion. And no matter what, they didn't want any of their allies involved.