Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 167

"What the hell happened here?" Tajikistan asked.

Uzbekistan shook his head, his eyes wide. They had opened a door, only to find a scene of gore. It took them a while to recognise the remains as Philippines, who they knew was a member of Requiem. This raised a few questions.

"We need to find Pakistan," Kazakhstan said. "If they're willing to do this to one of their members…"

"If this was Requiem," Kyrgyzstan said. "The alternative was that this was Alvora. And if they did something like this…"

"Let's just go," Turkmenistan said. "We're not going to get any answers here. And this is making me sick."

Uzbekistan didn't need to be told twice. He slammed the door shut, fighting his own nausea. He couldn't imagine who could have done something like that, but whoever it was, he didn't want to run into them. He didn't know if it was Requiem or Alvora, but whoever it was, there was something seriously wrong with them.

…

North Korea realised that he made a grave mistake almost immediately. First of all, Wales wasn't there. Secondly, when he turned around, there was no longer a door. In fact, he couldn't see a door anywhere in this room.

He heard someone laughing again, before the sound of Wales's scream echoed around the room. North Korea gritted his teeth before he looked around again, eyes scanning every shadow.

"Show yourself!" North Korea demanded.

He felt a chill go down his spine and he whirled around. There, standing behind him, was a pale figure that vaguely looked like Wales with glowing red eyes. North Korea instinctively took a step back.

"You are a foolish one," the creature said. "So desperate to protect while your hands are soaked with red."

As though to prove its point, the creature shifted to another form. North Korea's eyes narrowed when he was looking upon the visage of his southern counterpart.

"It was quite brutal," 'South Korea' said. "He ultimately didn't even have a chance to protect himself. You could have shown him mercy. You could have given him a more honourable death."

Several places on North Korea's skin started to itch, and he gritted his teeth. His body was remembering all the torture that South Korea had inflicted upon him.

"You'll have to excuse me if I don't think my monster of a brother deserved any mercy or honour," North Korea said. "And I'm pretty sure Will would say the exact same thing about his brother."

The creature scowled, all amusement gone, and it was North Korea's turn to smirk. Of course, Wales's brother happened to be the creature's master, and the subtle threat wasn't lost on it.

"My master demands that I take you to him," the creature said. "But before that, I will make you regret the day that you were born."

…

Ireland smirked as he saw North Korea's face in the mirror. Nepal had texted him, asking him if he could capture North Korea and/or Israel. It would seem that the bánánach was also personally interested in dealing with North Korea.

He wondered what Nepal wanted to do with North Korea, but he realised that he would have to deal with the Asian as soon as the bánánach brought North Korea to him. There was a chance that Alvora would be able to retrieve any new prisoners Requiem could capture, and they would need to eliminate the risk. He had a few places where he could take him, though they weren't as secure as this place.

He wondered how Wales would react if Ireland managed to capture his lover. Perhaps Wales would be more willing to cooperate then. With that in mind, Ireland turned his attention back to the mirror, and the scene shifted to Wales.

Wales was using a spell to prevent them from going around in circles, similar to Ariadne's thread. He and his group hadn't covered too much ground yet, so Ireland didn't think that it was necessary to raise the alarm yet. But he supposed he could send a few of the aos sí to intercept Wales and his group.

He still didn't want to hurt Wales, but he knew that he would need to get Wales out of the way for Requiem's sake. So he would have to deal with his favourite brother.

…

"Dammit!" Scotland exclaimed, pounding the wall next to the door. "Bloody idiot! Will is going to kill me!"

The rooms hadn't shifted, but North Korea still disappeared. That alerted Scotland of the fact that there was someone, or something, directly involved with his disappearance. And if that was the case, then he could be anywhere. He could even be on another plane of existence.

Wales would definitely kill him for this.

"What are we going to do now?" Prussia asked. "Can you find him?"

"I don't know," Scotland said. "Come on. Let's all go into the next room before we're separated again, and then I'll try to find a way to track him down."

The last few nations darted into the next room, and the ones that came in last told the others what had occurred. Scotland went towards the centre of the room and plopped down.

"This isn't going to be easy," Scotland said, as he removed a piece of chalk from his pocket. "I'm going to see if I can cast a tracking spell, but I don't have enough tools."

"What kind of tools would you need?" Spain asked.

"Something that belongs to North Korea."

The Alvora nations looked at each other, before systematically shaking their heads. Scotland sighed, before he started to draw a circle on the floor.

"I suppose the only one who would reasonably have something of North Korea's is Will," Scotland said. "This is just going to make things a lot harder."

"Hang on, I just thought of something," Indonesia said. "Couldn't we use this spell to find Miguel, or the others that got separated from us?"

"Can't," Haiti sighed. He removed a small doll from his pocket. "I already tried to see if I could find Miguel. He's a prisoner here, so they're going to make sure that tracking spells won't work."

"And before you ask, the reason why I didn't think it necessary to cast a spell for the others is because they had Will and Romania with them," Scotland said. "Not to mention, they were just separated when the rooms were changing. North Korea, on the other hand, was lured away. He said something about hearing Will before he ran off."

"And that means that North Korea is the one in most danger," France said. "Is there anything we could do to help?"

"Well, if someone could tell me North Korea's human name, that would be great."

…

Turkey managed to kick Nigeria away. The African nation yelped, before sliding to the floor. Turkey had to regain his breath for a moment before he looked up at his opponent, wincing when he saw the blood on the wall. Nigeria had collided with a corner, and his head made impact with said corner. He was out cold.

Satisfied that Nigeria wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, Turkey looked around for the others. Iran was still fighting Sudan, and while Iran looked tired, Sudan looked as though he was having way too much fun to be comfortable.

Panama and Myanmar, on the other hand, were nowhere in sight.

Turkey threw Iran and Sudan one more look before he went to look in the direction that he thought he saw Panama last. He turned the corner and stopped cold in his tracks. He managed to find them.

He couldn't quite understand what he was seeing. Both of them lay dead, and the more he stared at them, the more he realised that he couldn't sense anything else from them. They were empty shells. They were permanently dead. Panama had his throat slit and his heart ripped out, while Myanmar had suffered the same fate, sans the slit throat.

Turkey pursed his lips. He didn't know if either of them had killed the other, but he was sure that there must have been a third party. But it would have been someone from Requiem, and they managed to do so without attracting attention. They also didn't provide aid to their allies.

He turned his attention back to Sudan, and he stalked over towards the battle. Iran managed to spot him over Sudan's shoulder before the latter managed to deliver a devastating left hook. Turkey noticed that their weapons had been long abandoned. Iran stumbled back, and Sudan was readying another punch. Turkey managed to grab him, trapping his arms at his sides.

"What?" Sudan exclaimed, before he started to struggle. "Let me go!"

Iran looked relieved that he didn't have to deal with the insane nation any longer. Turkey clenched his jaw before he started to drag Sudan to the corner, ignoring the jabs and the kicks. He grunted when he planted Sudan in place.

"I just want to know something," Turkey said. "Who would have done something like this?"

Sudan stopped struggling, and Turkey heard his sharp intake of breath.

"W-what happened here?" Sudan asked.

"That's what I want to know," Turkey said. "Who in your organisation would be willing to rip someone's heart out, especially since you have those bullets?"

Sudan snorted.

"It would be easier to ask who would not be willing to do something like this," Sudan said. "And what makes you think that it's one of my allies?"

"Because no one on our side has a grudge against Panama," Turkey said. "So, unless mind control was involved, it has to be someone on your side. Now, who would do this?"

Sudan didn't answer. Turkey wondered if he could get away with torturing him when Sudan finally decided to say something.

"Neither of them has blood on his hands," Sudan said.

"Huh?" Turkey asked. "What does that have to do with this?"

"It means that neither one killed the other. There was a third person here. And unless it was something else, it had to be someone willing to kill their own allies. And it was done swiftly and with calculation. I… I hate to admit it, but it looks like it was someone on my side. Someone who's a traitor."

"Any idea who it might be?"

Sudan tensed, but said nothing. Turkey sighed, wondering what he could do with Sudan now. Technically, he knew that he was there to kill Requiem's members, but Sudan wasn't truly a member. He was just someone brainwashed to become a part of their group. He had no choice in the matter. He was like Algeria.

Turkey clenched his jaw when he thought about her. He knew her as a proud, strong woman. What had Requiem done to reduce her to that state?

He realised that the only way to really help Sudan was to kill him, but somehow it felt wrong right now. And the ghosts wanted Requiem dead, but would they consider Sudan to be a member of Requiem or a fellow victim? What would they do to him? What were they doing to Algeria?

He looked around when he heard a Farsi swear that he was pretty sure he hadn't heard for at least two centuries. Iran was staring at the scene as well, his face becoming a swirl of green and white.

"Who the hell did this?" he demanded.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Turkey said, before he turned his attention back to Sudan, who was trying to pull away. "I need you to take us to the control room."

This caused Sudan to really start struggling, and Turkey had to tighten his grip again, though he could feel that it would be harder to hold on this time. He was tired after the fight with Nigeria, and Sudan had already slipped through his grip a little.

"Tell me, what do you remember of your time in the Washroom?" Turkey asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sudan snarled, delivering a very painful elbow jab.

He didn't realise. Turkey swore under his breath as he realised that he was dealing with someone that didn't remember his time in an indoctrination facility. This made the entire situation much more difficult to deal with, and it would make it almost impossible to convince Sudan to help them.

"They kidnapped you," Iran said. "And then they locked you up, and they completely broke your mind and rebuilt you so that you could be loyal to them. Can't you remember any of this?"

Sudan only growled, and the struggling increased in intensity. Turkey wasn't sure if it was possible for him to tighten his grip any further.

"You lie," Sudan hissed.

"Don't bother, Iran," Turkey sighed. "I don't think we'd be able to get through to him. We should just deal with him now."

"Let me go!"

Iran retrieved his weapon, a sinister-looking pesh-kabz, and walked closer. Turkey was seriously impressed with Sudan's stamina as he struggled even harder. Turkey had already lost all feeling in his arms, and the kicks were starting to lose their potency because Turkey was getting used to the pain.

"You'll pay for this!" Sudan shouted. "Mark my words, you'll pay!"

Iran looked at Turkey for a brief moment before he stabbed Sudan in the chest. The African nation screamed in pain, and his struggles only made the blood spill faster from his chest. Turkey's jaw was starting to ache from gritting his teeth so hard all the time. Iran pursed his lips, before he slit Sudan's throat. The struggles became feeble, and within a few seconds, Sudan was limp. Turkey released him and he fell to the floor.

"Should we finish this?" Iran asked. "I feel almost sorry for him."

"Me too," Turkey admitted, "but we can't really let someone from Requiem survive, if we can help it. And this might be the best thing we can do for him." Turkey looked up, where Nigeria's limp form should have been. "Uh oh."

"What?" Iran asked, following Turkey's gaze. He seemed to pale when he realised what Turkey realised. "W-where'd he go?"

Turkey looked around, seeing no trace of Nigeria. He looked down again at Sudan and cursed.

"We better find him," Turkey said. "After we put Sudan out of his misery."

…

Nigeria had regained consciousness at some point, and he'd noticed Sudan being held back by Turkey. It had been his intention to help his ally, but then Turkey mentioned the Washroom. And then Nigeria started to have visual and auditory hallucinations.

He realised that it would be best to get out of there before they attempted to kill him too, especially since he wasn't in the right state of mind. He was also feeling dizzy and nauseous, and he suspected that he was suffering from a concussion.

He gingerly touched the back of his head and winced. When he retrieved his hand, there was some blood on his fingers. He needed to find a safe place to hide, since he wouldn't be able to fight now. Spots danced across his vision and he leaned against the wall for support.

Nigeria froze when he heard the sound of footsteps, and he had a feeling that it wouldn't be any of his allies. He realised that he was outnumbered, and in his current state, he would be easily outmatched. His eyes darted around, searching for a door. While there were doors – cells – he couldn't enter any of them. They were locked, and he didn't have a key.

He heard a gasp, and he bit back the curse he wanted to let slip. He turned around, and to his chagrin, he saw Ukraine – the one that gasped – Mongolia, and Russia, who looked as though his birthday came early as he retrieved his infamous pipe.

"Privet, Nigeria," Russia said. "Tell me, have you seen that little sister of mine? Maybe I can make sure not to hurt you too much."

Nigeria could think of only one thing: He should have stayed in his room.

…

North Korea grunted as he was thrown against the wall, feeling like a rag doll that an anxious dog got a hold of. He glared at the creature, hating the fact that it had become some sort of unholy cross between South and Wales. Somehow, the creature seemed to think that combining the features of the person he loved the most with the person he hated the most was funny.

"Where's your bravado now?" the creature demanded.

"Oh, it's still there," North Korea said as he pushed himself to his feet, wincing when he realised that he'd broken a few ribs. "Didn't think something like you had a nerve that I can strike."

The creature grimaced, which was mostly just a show of sharp fangs.

"There are still many things of you that I can strike," the creature said, before it appeared right in front of North and wrapped its hand around his throat. North Korea winced when he felt sharp claws piercing the skin of his neck. "And then I'll give you to my master. What I do to you is nothing compared to what my master would do to you."

North Korea gritted his teeth. He would not be intimidated by this creature. No matter what.

…

Norway checked his watch, not for the first time that night. To put it bluntly, he was bored. He felt a bit more energised after the magic he used, and a part of him felt that he could join the others, but he also realised that he had no idea where exactly they were, and it could take a long time to find them. During that time, he would be vulnerable.

He sighed, before the hairs at the back of his neck stood up. He pushed himself to his feet and spun around, only to find himself looking at several Requiem nations, including one of the leaders.

"Hello, Norway," Romano said.

Pretty much the only thing I could find on the bánánach is that they are spectral beings found on battlefields, so I played around a bit. And technically, the fortress became a battlefield.