Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 151

"You've got to be kidding!" White exclaimed, her hands buried in her hair.

Romania had gone to the nations that were waiting in Canada, and the news he'd brought them was not good. They were all in a state of shock as they tried to absorb the fact that their leader had been captured by the enemy. Brazil's face hardened and he fixed his gaze on Romania.

"We need to get him back as soon as possible," he said. "Look at what they did to Tiago! What do you think they're going to do to Miguel?"

São Tomé shifted nervously, but his face was hard as well. Haiti wrapped his arm around São Tomé and turned to Romania.

"I agree," Haiti said. "We need to get him back as soon as possible. At least we have one advantage. Given how sadistic they are, they would want to draw out Miguel's pain as long as possible."

Romania growled in the back of his throat, but he had to agree with Haiti's observation.

"We have a possible lead," he said. "Xhosa's ghost came and…"

"What?" White interrupted, her eyes widening.

"Da, I know it's strange, but it's what Imane said. He gave us coordinates. We hope that, given the source, it might be Themba, and Miguel might also be there."

"Then we're going immediately," White insisted. "If Themba's there…"

"You're not going," Brazil said firmly.

"He's my brother! I've left him there long enough! Who knows what they've been doing to him?"

"It's too dangerous in your condition."

"It's not too risky yet, and besides, they won't be able to even touch me."

"She has a point," Romania interrupted. "But they can touch you as long as they mean you no harm. So they can restrain you."

"And they can capture you," Brazil added. "I'm not risking that."

The two of them glared at each other for several seconds, both of them battling in the name of their protective instincts. Romania cleared his throat.

"If Themba is there, then Anika is the best person to go along," he said. "As two representatives of the same country, they would be able to track each other."

"And she managed to summon two of the most prominent doomsday characters of Norse mythology and tamed them," Norway said. "I have a feeling that she would be able to handle whatever they throw at her."

"If that's how it's going to be, then I'm going too," Brazil snapped.

"You can't," White said. "The Amazon is still burning."

"Obviously we need to talk about that too," Romania sighed. "I'm going to go back to my place to get a tonic. A few of us need to heal. And in general, I think we would all appreciate an energy boost. Any other volunteers?"

"As much as I would like to offer my support," Norway said, "since I'm not an official member, and technically supposed to be part of Russia's group, and seeing as they're still not sure about how they feel about you…"

"It's fine," Romania said, waving him off. "I wasn't expecting you to come along. But I do have one request." He also stared at Estonia and Latvia to make sure that they understood the message. "None of you are to tell anyone about Portugal being captured, understood? Not even Spain."

"W-we understand," Estonia said, staring wide-eyed at Romania.

"I'll be coming along," Haiti said. "You could use some extra magical help."

"And we're coming too," Prussia said, indicating him and Poland. "We'd really like to knock Requiem down. And we owe so much to Miguel."

One by one, almost all of the nations said that they wanted to help. This was the first lead they'd had in a while, and so they were willing to help their friend, and if their leader was there as well, then it was all the more reason for them to go.

…

Walking in the Sahara Desert in the afternoon was not how Pakistan imagined spending the day, but with Egypt and Belarus too tired to transport the entire group the short distance to the Washroom, it was necessary. But asides from the heat, Pakistan couldn't find it in himself to complain. It gave him a lot of time to think.

He had been surprised to run into Afghanistan at Egypt's house, and he was heartbroken to learn that she had fully joined Alvora. She begged him to leave Requiem, but he couldn't do that. He still had much to do, and among that was for her sake.

Seeing her had also reminded him that it had been a while since he checked the state of affairs in any of the other countries. He would probably need to do that as soon as he was in an airconditioned building.

Still, what struck him was the way she looked at him. As though he betrayed her. But all he wanted was to help her, along with the rest of their family. Why couldn't she see that? Alright, he would admit that he wasn't always comfortable with the things that Requiem would do, but if anyone looked back at the entirety of history, what Requiem was doing wasn't too odd or even cruel. In fact, just thinking about some of the things that happened in history, and what might happen if certain groups gained too much power, then it was easy to accept that what Requiem was doing was a necessary evil. All would be better when everyone was under Requiem's control.

"Are you alright?"

He was startled at the question, as well as the gentle hand placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Palestine, looking at him with worried eyes.

"I'm fine," he assured. "I'm just a bit… distracted. I had a chat with Afghanistan and… Let's just say, we don't see eye to eye."

"I noticed that she was with Alvora," she said. "But the others aren't. What do you think they could have said that convinced her to join with Israel and his allies?"

Pakistan shrugged. It could have been anything. He'd asked her about it, but Afghanistan refused to answer, just saying that she disagreed with his decision. He didn't even know what Alvora promised to their potential recruits. It could have been something similar to what had convinced him to join Requiem.

But he knew that it was important to be on Requiem's side. They were powerful, and they did not share Alvora's hesitance. They were more brutal when it came to what they wanted, and how they would get it. Being with them was far safer than being against them.

Afghanistan would see that. And if she didn't come to that conclusion on her own, then the Washroom would be able to persuade her. He might not have felt comfortable with the process, but it was standard. One had to use programming to deprogram someone. He didn't know what Alvora had told her, but she would be freed from their lies.

The same had to be said about the other nations in their family. He knew that they were just afraid, and that they didn't quite understand. He didn't think they were lied to, not entirely. If he could just get them and explain to them, then he was sure that he would be able to convince them that Requiem was the side to be on.

He especially knew that Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan needed to be brought into their fold. He was aware of the fact that they were outcasts, even if the others weren't aware of it. He could see the way their eyes would shift when certain topics of conversation would come up, and he could see their discomfort when everyone became particularly excited about these topics. He saw their fake smiles that were meant to hide their fear. And he wanted to free them from that fear.

They just needed to retrieve them.

Pakistan knew that they would have to wait. Alvora was the biggest threat. Afghanistan needed to be freed first. And then he could think about the rest.

…

Morocco was tapping her foot anxiously, waiting for Romania to return. She knew that he went to get the others that would want to launch a rescue, and he also mentioned something about a tonic. However, she was getting impatient.

She was also frustrated because they were still in Egypt's house. They weren't even near the place where they needed to be. They'd compared the coordinates given to them to their current location. Apparently, they needed to go somewhere in the Sahara Desert, far from any civilisation.

She looked over when a light began to shine in the room. The light pulsed and grew, until several of their friends came into view. She frowned when she failed to see Romania, but took note that White was there. If anyone would support her in getting Black back, then it was her.

"Where's Vlad?" Morocco asked, walking over to White.

"He went back home to get a tonic," White said. "Is it true? Did you really see Xhosa?"

"He said his name is Sipho, if that helps."

White smiled, but it was a sad sort of smile.

"We had some trouble," she said. "But he was a good brother. He enjoyed telling stories, and gave me a love for literature."

"He seemed nice enough," Morocco said. "And he looks a lot like Themba."

Morocco's expression fell, her blood chilling slightly. She wanted to see Black. She wanted to hold him in her arms. She wanted him to hold her in his arms. She wanted to see his face when she announced that they would be having a baby.

And if it turned out that Requiem had done anything to hurt him, then she would find out which nations were involved and make them pay. She already needed to collect compensation for them taking Black in the first place.

They turned again when a light shone again, and soon enough Romania came into view. Morocco thought he looked better than he had before, and figured that he might have gotten the tonic. There was a bag in his hand, and she wondered if he'd brought tonic along for the rest of them.

"Everyone ready?" Romania asked. "I brought some tonic. It would revitalise everyone and heal wounds. Especially for those that were engaged in the earlier battle."

Morocco allowed the others to get a bottle first. She hadn't really been involved in the battle, and was only held back by Myanmar. And as she thought about him, she remembered his reactions during their conversation.

The look on Myanmar's face scared her, and the fact that he didn't seem to remember his friend was horrifying. The conditioning they'd given him must have seriously altered his memories. And if that was true for Myanmar, what did they do to Algeria?

Seeing her sister again made Morocco regret not being able to rescue her. She had seen the hatred burning in Algeria's eyes, and had heard the way she spoke to Tunisia. This was nothing like the Algeria from before. In the past, no matter what happened between their countries, the siblings had always been there to support each other, regardless of how involved they were with whatever was going on in their countries.

Morocco wondered what Xhosa had done to Algeria. He touched her and then she fell to her knees. He'd done the same thing with Myanmar. Did Xhosa do something that could help?

Somehow, she would rescue her sister. She would get Algeria away from Requiem's influence, and if it turned out that Algeria could never be freed from Requiem's influence, then… Then the only thing that Morocco could do was end Algeria's life. If killing Algeria was the only mercy that Morocco could offer, then she would gladly do it.

She glanced towards Tunisia, who went to get a tonic from Romania. She knew that Tunisia wouldn't entirely be happy about the direction Morocco's thoughts were taking, despite what Algeria had done to him, and how she treated him now. Tunisia was always the one with the gentlest heart, and after the trauma he'd gone through since the start of the war, it only became more apparent. And she knew that it would only get worse. She only hoped that if she had to take the worst possible route, Tunisia would not be there.

For now, she could just be grateful that her brother was willing to come along to help her get her love back. Her soulmate.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Romania asked, looking around at the group. One by one, they nodded their heads. "Then let's get going."

Morocco felt the familiar tug of a teleportation spell. She closed her eyes, waiting for the effect to fade. When she opened them, she found herself in the middle of the desert, standing in front of a large building.

"I don't think we have time for stealth," Romania explained. "We storm the place. No one goes off on their own. Just be careful."

"Themba's here," White said, her face darkening. "I can feel it."

Morocco felt her throat tighten. She was so close…

"Just be careful of Egypt's gods," Haiti said. "I asked the loa to help, and they're going to collect their payment later. There should be one loa for each of you, lingering nearby in order to help whoever they chose. I just ask that you repay them if it becomes necessary for them to help you."

"You'll have to help us with that," Romania said. "But we'd appreciate the help."

"Well, they're willing to make an exception for Imane, Anika, Angela and Sierra. Apparently they are also curious about your… conditions."

"Must be nice to get preferential treatment," Mozambique sighed. "I'm almost considering trying for a baby myself."

"With whom?" Colombia snapped, eyes flashing.

"Let's not waste any more time," Romania snapped. "We need to get in."

…

Greenland yawned, stretching to work out the kinks. She was staring at the monitors, but there was nothing much going on, especially with two rooms being unable to show on the monitors. Stupid ghosts.

She glanced at one of the monitors and felt her heart stop. She saw a group of nations on the monitor, just outside the main entrance. But upon examining their faces, she knew that they weren't her allies, returned after the battle.

Alvora.

She hissed a curse when she saw them blow the door open, feeling panicked when she saw the sheer number of nations. The others hadn't returned from the battle yet, and there weren't many nations at their base. She quickly raised the alarm, knowing that it might not be enough.

She quickly checked to make sure that the prisoners' rooms were secured. This base had the advantage of being able to increase the security of the rooms, making it impossible to enter them. They had to be unlocked from that room.

Just before she could lock the door to ensure that they wouldn't be able to unlock the prisoners' rooms, Faroe Islands burst in, looking panicked.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Alvora's here," Greenland hissed. "They just broke open the front door."

Faroe swore.

"What are we going to do now?" he asked. "The others aren't here yet. And Somalia and the others are at risk."

"Get them to a saferoom," Greenland said. "We're outnumbered, so engaging them is not a good idea. But… Bastet is with Mauritania. Perhaps you can get the gods' help. Or even just her."

"And what are you going to do?"

Greenland glanced towards all the computers and winced.

"I need to make backups," she said. "If the worst possibility happens, then we need to be prepared."

"So, you're going to hole yourself up in here?"

She looked up, seeing the hurt look on Faroe's face. She sighed.

"I can't risk warning the others on the intercoms," she said. "Alvora will jump on the opportunity. Hopefully, the others would understand the urgency and…"

As if on cue, the other nations actually ran to the control room. Greenland sighed. Well, at least there was one less step to take.

"What's happening?" Philippines asked.

"Alvora's here," Greenland explained, "and Egypt and the others aren't. And they heavily outnumber us. It's also not safe for you guys." She specifically looked at the African nations when she said that. "I think we all need to get to a saferoom or something. But someone needs to ask Bastet if she'd be willing to help."

"I'll go," Philippines said, glancing at the screen. "And I see that Malaysia is here too, along with Timor and Indonesia."

"Safety first, revenge another day," Eritrea said.

"Bastet is with Mauritania," Greenland said, rifling through her drawers until she found a card. She handed it to Philippines. "I locked all the prisoner rooms. Other than the override here, this is the only way in. Don't lose it. We don't want to give Alvora a master key."

Philippines glanced towards the monitors again and sighed.

"I'll try to avoid them," she said with great reluctance. "I'm then going to hole myself up in Singapore's room."

"Just be careful," Greenland said. "As for the rest of you… Unfortunately, this room isn't big enough for all of us."

"We know where to go," Somalia said. "Is it just the prisoner rooms that are locked?"

"The saferooms aren't supposed to be locked here, in case of a breach. They can only lock from inside."

"Thanks," Libya said. "Let's hope things don't end badly."

…

Black jolted. He could sense something, and when he realised what it was, a wave of despair washed over him.

He could sense White, which meant that she was here. Did they capture her, or did she come along to rescue him, and whoever else might have been there? Was Morocco along? And what would Egypt and the others do to them?

No matter what the case, he knew that they were in danger.