Thanks to Dragonfire78, BloodyLily16 and Miss Akiyata for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 10: Foggy Faces

It is comical that the pawns have no idea which piece is the king.

For in their eyes, it is just another pawn.

…

Somehow, he had managed it.

He had gotten the other Nordics to leave for Sweden's house instead. He just had to mention that England and Romania were coming, and the other four made their way for the exit.

Apparently, they believe that weird things start to happen whenever the magic trio came together. Lukas had no idea where they got that idea. Except, perhaps, the time they had shrunk the other Nordics…

Norway's thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on the door. He knew that England and Romania would be arriving through magical portal, so as to save time. And there was only one other person that he was expecting.

He opened the door to a girl that looked like she could be the same age as Emil. She had long, pale blond hair tied back in a braid. She wore a white fur coat with a black miniskirt, white leggings and black boots. Her eyes were a pale blue, and piercing nonetheless. She clutched several thick books, and she looked at Norway with a cold look.

"Thanks for coming, Greenland," Norway said. "Please, come in. the others would probably be here shortly."

…

Sigurd's eyes widened.

That was Greenland?!

She looked a lot prettier than their Greenland. And, in spite of the cold look she gave Lukas, appeared to be a lot nicer that their Greenland. And what were those books for?

Oh well. They had to get to Poland's place as soon as possible, so that they could cast the spell that would hopefully affect all of them.

He was curious to see what Lukas would dream of.

…

Kumajiro was startled awake.

He wasn't sure what it was, only that his master was still fast asleep.

He heard a bump, and he knew that it could not be the Nation that he was using as a pillow. He tried to define a scent, but there was nothing.

He then saw something looming over Matthew, but before he could do anything other than blink, it was gone.

Being unable to smell the intruder, he was wary. There was a possibility that the other being was still there.

He lay awake for a little while, ignoring when his master started to whimper.

…

"You have got to be kidding me," Romania said, his face and voice void of any emotion.

"Yeah," Lithuania sighed. "He does that."

They were both looking at Poland, who had decided to wear a pink blouse with puffy sleeves and a ribbon that tied at the front. He also wore a black skirt, pink leggings and black Mary Janes. He even tied his hair into two pigtails. And of course, both were tied with a pink ribbon.

Poland pouted.

"Like, what's the problem?" he asked.

"We're going to Norway's house," Romania said. "For an important meeting. And you're dressed like that?"

"Like, why not? It could get under Felic's skin."

The two brunets paused, and Feliks smirked.

"He let slip that he could totally see me through the mirror, even if I'm like not in front of the mirror," Poland explained. "And, like, if he's my opposite, then he'd totally hate cross dressing. And to see me, his reflection, wearing this…"

"It would drive him crazy," Toris said, laughing.

"Wow," Romania said. "That's actually crafty, clever… Who are you and what did you do to the real Poland?"

Feliks frowned.

"I can, like, totally have my moments. Come on, are we going or not?"

Romania shook his head before he opened the portal. To be honest, he wanted to be there if Felic saw what Feliks was wearing.

…

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Tolys groaned. Felic had gone to check what his counterpart was doing, and now he was screaming his head off.

He went towards the bathroom where Felic was watching his counterpart, and Tolys almost cracked a smile when he saw exactly what the matter was.

"I am going to kill him!" Felic exclaimed. "How can he wear something like that? I mean, for crying out loud, he's wearing a skirt!"

"Add that to the list of reasons to hate him," Lithuania sighed. "Now come on. The others will be arriving soon."

Poland paused, his face blank, before an evil smile slowly made its way on his face.

"Then let's go greet them," he said.

…

"England, your beds are unawesome."

England scowled at the Prussian.

The truth was, he wasn't expecting so many people at his house at the same time. His siblings had separate rooms, but the bad friends trio were forced to sleep in the same bed.

And it wasn't a particularly large bed.

"Well, deal with it," Scotland said. "We have enough to worry about without you complaining about your bed."

They all turned their attentions to Spain when a crack was heard. Apparently, he had a few kinks to work out. France was the same. And Prussia was just stiff.

"If this is some form of punishment," France said. "Then please. Tell us what we did wrong."

England inwardly smirked. He may or may not have purposely given them the most uncomfortable guest room. In fact, the bed used to be used by a few of his former colonies when they were still children, and he simply could not get rid of it. So the bed had gotten uncomfortable over time.

"Whatever," Ireland said. "Could we please just get out of here? The sooner we identify the mystery Nation, the better."

England nodded his head, agreeing with his brother. They really had to solve the mystery. Before it was too late. And something told him that there was a very real possibility that it might become too late.

…

Moldova hummed happily, on his way to his big brother's home. He wanted to tell Vlad about his new friend, and he wanted to show him what he would look like if he actually had money.

He was a little disappointed, however, when he noticed that Romania was not at home.

And he had no idea where he might be.

…

"Thanks for your trouble, Greenland," England said.

"No problem," she said. "It's good to know that the information I'd gathered would actually be useful. I think."

They were all in Norway's living room, the books she was carrying on the table. Each was labelled: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Micronations.

"Which Nation do you need to identify?" Greenland asked, waving her hands towards the books on the table.

"If we knew that, we wouldn't need to identify them," Scotland growled.

"Wait," Romania said, fishing through his pockets. Eventually, he found a folded piece of paper and unfolded it. "Check this one first. 'Canada'."

"Why Canada?" Prussia asked.

"Something on the news," Romania said.

Greenland picked up the book titled 'North America'. She flicked a few pages before showing the Europeans a page with a picture of a Nation that looked remarkably like America.

France and Poland gasped.

"That's him!" France said.

"Canada," Greenland said. "Twin brother of America. Partly forest, partly ice. Second largest landmass. Thirty-seventh most populated. Formerly known as Vinland by the Norse Vikings." Norway was startled at this. "Formerly a French colony before being ceded to England." France and England shared a glance. "Became independent after asking nicely. How he managed that is beyond me."

"Are you sure it's him?" England asked, looking at France and Poland.

"Oui," France said. "I'm sure of it."

"Like, so am I," Poland said. "He looks a lot like America."

"They're complete opposites, though," Greenland said. "As you all know, America is loud and obnoxious. Hard to miss him. Canada, on the other hand, is quiet and polite. He's easily overlooked. Even by Nations that are meant to be close to him. Like his former colonisers." She fixed France and England with a patronising glare, and they shifted uncomfortably.

"Do you know if he's at home?" Norway asked.

"Most likely. He'll probably be feeling the effects of several of his animals being butchered close to his personal home."

The others looked at her in surprise, except Romania.

"What?!"

…

"Canada?" Poland repeated.

"Do you think Mattie knows about this too?" Oliver asked.

"No idea," France said. "Did she really just say that the other Canada is quiet and polite?"

"Yep," Norway said. "And looks like your counterparts are bad parents."

"Should we ask Canada if he's been seeing his counterpart?" Spain asked, looking at Poland.

"First, we need to cast the spell," Romania said. "I didn't go through all that trouble just to have you forget, and it ends up being all for nothing."

"Romania's right," Poland said. "Besides, I don't think we should ask Canada. It might just be asking for trouble. And he has been more violent than usual lately."

"Think his counterpart could be the reason why?" Lithuania asked.

"Not sure. But, if we need to, we can observe the confrontation through the mirror. That way, we can get answers without the risk of being beat up by one of the strongest and most violent countries."

The others winced.

"Agreed."

…

Matthew awoke, breathing heavily. Something was wrong. Something was wrong in Canada.

He felt an ache in his chest when he tried to sit up, and he paused, gasping for breath. Eventually, he reached for the remote, turning on the Canadian news. He needed to find out what was going on in his land.

"Things are looking bad for us all," the anchor-man said. "Between midnight and sunrise, a mass murder struck Toronto. Reports claim that over a thousand people had been killed. It is possible that there was more than one…"

Matthew stopped listening, eyes wide in horror. So many of his people died during the night. And not because of a war, or a disaster, but because of murder. Could it be possible that whoever was responsible for the animals was responsible for the murders in Toronto?

Regardless, Matthew ran for the bathroom, dry-heaving into the toilet, until eventually it became blood. When it was finished, he broke down in tears.

No Nation wanted to know about something like this.

…

Matt instinctively knew that something was wrong.

He was covered in bruises, and there might have been a few potentially broken bones, but Allen was in more or less the same state.

But this had nothing to do with injuries. It was something deep within his bones. It felt similar to whenever something was wrong with his land.

His eyes widened, and he dashed towards the bathroom mirror, where he saw Matthew slumped on the floor of his own bathroom, crying about something or another.

But Matt knew that it was something truly serious. There were specks of blood around Matthew's mouth, and he was breathing heavily.

Placing his hand on the mirror, he applied pressure to the glass, feeling himself slip through. A few moments later, he was in Matthew's bathroom.

Matthew jumped in surprise and turned around, eyes wide. He relaxed slightly when he saw who it was. Matt was startled when Matthew launched himself into his arms, sobbing on his shoulder. However, he eventually wrapped his arms around the smaller Canadian, offering the comfort that he apparently needed.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"My people," Matthew sobbed. "A thousand of them were killed in Toronto."

Matt stiffened. While the Nations of his world didn't particularly care about their people, unless of course other Nations were involved, the Nations of Matthew's world were closely connected with their people. And they could feel when something like that happened. And it hurt them.

And for something like that to happen in one specific location, it truly caused them pain.

"Come on," Matt whispered. "I'll go make you a cup of tea."

Matthew's tears stopped, and he looked at Matt oddly.

"What?" Matt responded, knowing what the look was for. "I may not be able to cook, but I know how to make a decent cup of tea. And hot chocolate. And coffee."

Matthew didn't reply, but he allowed Matt to lead him to the kitchen.

…

England searched through his contacts list, finally finding what he was searching for. He pressed the 'call' button, and placed the phone against his ear.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, and then finally he was connected to voicemail.

England huffed, putting the phone aside.

"No answer," England said.

"Are you even sure he's awake yet?" Greenland asked, a smirk on her face. "After all, it's still really early at his place."

The Europeans paused, having forgotten about the time difference. Greenland's smirk widened.

"Wait another hour or two," Greenland said. "Shouldn't be too bad. Now, could you please tell me what's going on? Because I think I missed something."

"You'll like totally think we're crazy," Poland said.

"Try me."

They attempted to explain, but with Greenland's face looking as blank as it did, they had no idea whether she believed them, or whether she thought they were completely out of their minds.

Meanwhile, Prussia went towards one of the books. Specifically, the European book.

There was silence as they allowed her to absorb the information. Finally, she sighed.

"And you really expect me to believe something like that?" she asked.

"Like, told you that you wouldn't believe it," Poland said.

"I'm going to need more proof that something supernatural is going on," Greenland said.

"There's something else," Lithuania said, turning to Romania.

Vlad squirmed under the gaze, and then sighed, loosening his collar and revealing the bruises on his neck.

"This happened yesterday," Romania said. "I was attacked by something that I couldn't see. And then afterwards…" He lifted his sleeve, revealing the scar. "This happened while I was asleep. Somehow, my counterpart found his way into my dreams, and managed to do this."

They could tell that he was hiding something, but they didn't press for more.

"Dreams?" Norway repeated. "That doesn't sound good."

Greenland pursed her lips, frowning slightly.

"I'll check my sources to see if I can find something," she said. "Although, it seems a little out there, but I'll try my best to get information."

…

Matthew cradled the cup of tea his counterpart offered him. He had taken a few sips, and he had to admit, it wasn't too bad. A little on the strong side, but right now, he needed it.

"So," Matt said, sipping from his own cup of coffee, "what were you saying about the people in Toronto?"

"A thousand of them were killed," Matthew said. "It all happened overnight. And I slept through it all. My people were murdered and I slept through it. Just like I slept through the animals being slaughtered."

There were tears streaming down his face. It was the guilt that affected him most of all. He was supposed to know what was happening to everything in his lands, and he had no idea that it was happening. That his people were killed, seemingly without a purpose. Unless one of the other Nations decided to launch a pre-emptive strike. Unless they wanted to start a war. But he couldn't think of anyone that even remembered him, let alone had a reason to start a war.

It just didn't make any sense.

"I know what would get you out of your glum mood," Matt said. "A game of hockey. That is, if you're up for it."

Matthew nodded. The truth was, he really wanted to get his mind off things.

That was when he heard someone at his door.

…

She never left America. Her boss wanted her to do a few things there, so she stayed after the meeting.

And then she heard what had been happening in Canada. So, with a rental car, she had driven through the night. Thanks to the difference in time zones, she could hold on. She managed to hear about the new development in Canada, and she grew worried.

She knew that most Nations tended to overlook Canada. And she knew that, when in a certain mood, she would purposely ignore him. That was what happened when one was purposely ignored for several decades. And it didn't help that when she was born, she was unwanted. It took more than a century and a half for any of the older countries to want to claim her land as part of their own. To raise her, and help her grow.

Eventually, she was handed over to another Nation, one that she didn't like. She moved further inland, but he would not leave her alone. There were two wars that broke out. The first lasted a little over three months, and the second lasted for almost three years. She had to surrender, if only to save her women and children. She and her people still resented England for the war. And, while she didn't hate them, she still remembered in perfect clarity which Nations were on which side. She still kept contact with some of the Nations that supported her. And she even managed to befriend those that were on England's side.

Canada was one of them.

One of the things about that war that made her laugh, though, was the fact that Ireland was on her side. He was a part of the United Kingdom, but he didn't help his brother. But she made a friend with him, much to the chagrin of England. The two of them started the nasty tradition of messing with England at the Commonwealth meetings.

She smiled fondly. South Africa didn't hate Canada for his participation. She didn't hate anyone that was a part of the British Empire asides from England. In fact, India was one of her best friends. She had a soft spot for Canada. The first boss she ever liked, the first that the other Nations liked, was an honorary Canadian citizen. He was among the first things that people around the world thought of when 'South Africa' was mentioned. The connection was deep, and she could not forget it. She never forgot anything, and that meant that she could hold onto a grudge for a long time.

She finally arrived at Canada's house. She took out her keys, searching for the one that opened the Canadian's door. She, Australia, Canada and New Zealand had given each other spare keys to their homes. She also had a spare key to Brazil and India's homes, and they had a key to hers.

And so, she placed the correct key into the lock, and entered the house. She went for the kitchen, having a feeling that he would be there. But she didn't expect to see someone that looked like him to be there with him. And it wasn't America. She would have dismissed it as him being another look-alike, if not for one thing.

The curl.

No one had exactly the same curls. That was unique to each Nation. Not even Nations that resembled each other had the same curl. She could only come to one conclusion: This was another Canada.

And so, she did the only thing she could.

She fainted.