Thanks to CrazyTeddyBear, EverythingMath, Dragonfire78, Miss Akiyata and Don't Insult Oliver's Cupcakes for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 29: Turning Tables
Arthur, Lukas and Vlad were sitting in their room awkwardly.
Flavio had basically forced them to wear the clothes that he had designed. They weren't exactly in the position to ignore him.
Vlad was dressed in an outfit of black silk. It was a long-sleeved shirt with frilled cuffs that clung to his skin just right. This was accompanied by a pair of black slacks. Over the shirt he wore a black jacket.
Lukas wore a dark blue loose-fitting shirt, a ribbon at the collar, which, when left undone, revealed the upper part of his chest. His pants were black, and were also loose-fitting. He still wore his cross hair pin.
Arthur wore a dress shirt of light blue silk, with a dark blue jacket over that. He also wore a pair of dark blue slacks.
They were left barefoot, the darker Nations apparently deciding that they did not deserve it.
"Well," Vlad said, "at least Romano has style. Even if it was clearly meant for the others."
The other two nodded, looking up when the door opened.
Oliver walked in, Flavio standing behind him. Oliver was holding a tray of cupcakes in front of him, to which the three prisoners paled.
"Hello, poppets," Oliver said. "Care for a cupcake?"
"No thank you," Arthur said quickly. "We're not hungry."
"Oh, come now. Don't lie to me."
"We don't want any cupcakes!"
Oliver revealed a large knife that he kept behind his back.
"Have a cupcake, before I force you to eat one," Oliver said.
They were caught off guard when Flavio grabbed Oliver's wrist.
"I don't normally mind if you do things like that," Flavio said. "But they're wearing the clothes I made. And do you have any idea how hard it is to get bloodstains out?"
Oliver just looked at Flavio with a deadpan expression.
"You and clothes…" he sighed. "Fine. No knife. How hard is it to get icing out?"
"Considerably easier than blood."
"Okay."
Oliver gave the tray to Flavio, who stared in surprise, and grabbed a cupcake. He smirked, before tackling Arthur to the bed, trying to shove the cupcake into the other's mouth.
Lukas and Vlad tried to pull him off, but then Lukas accidentally got a bite of the cupcake.
"Not exactly what I had in mind," Oliver said. "So, how is it?"
"Surprisingly, not bad," Lukas said. "For something with human parts."
Oliver cocked his head to the side.
"What are you… Goodness, no!" he giggled. "That batch doesn't have any 'human parts', as you put it. Not everything we eat contains gore. Now, I worked hard on that."
Vlad sighed, grabbing a cupcake and eating it.
"It's very sweet," Vlad remarked. "It's also better than Arthur's scones. Sorry."
Arthur frowned, accepting the cupcake that Flavio gave to him.
"What's in it?" Arthur asked, taking a bite and swallowing.
"If you must know," Oliver said, giggling slightly, "a small dose of arsenic."
Flavio smirked, kicking three buckets into the room.
"Enjoy~!" Oliver said, grabbing a cupcake and eating it himself.
They left the three Nations looking at each other nervously.
…
Asides from Australia and New Zealand, Spain was also passed out. He had finally felt the effects of the alcohol, and was sleeping it off.
Prussia was starting to slow down, and when Denmark attempted to tease him, Gilbert had explained that he wasn't wearing the sling because his arm was broken. His arm was almost severed. And he would rather stay awake longer than face the one that did that to him.
While everyone was explaining the situation to Brazil, Russia, China and India, Spain was smiling, chuckling darkly in his sleep.
…
Oliver chuckled, listening to the sound of retching coming from inside.
The buckets were being put to use.
…
When Alejandro passed a mirror, he saw, conveniently enough, that Antonio was asleep.
Well, who was he to pass up on an opportunity?
…
Russia glanced over towards Lithuania.
For some reason, Toris wasn't looking nervous around him. He also wasn't trembling.
He would keep pressure away from his torso, and he would flinch away from anyone that got too close. Feliks seemed to be keeping an eye on him.
Actually, now that he thought about it, Poland was also acting odd. He wasn't speaking as much as he usually did, and if he spoke it was quieter than his usual tones.
Of course, when he spoke softly to the little bird it was understandable.
"What exactly did your counterparts do to you?" Russia asked, surprising everyone in the room. "I can see Prussia's arm is broken…"
"Not broken," Prussia muttered. "Nearly severed."
That surprised Russia. That was… harsh.
"A few cuts on my stomach and back," Toris sighed.
"We've already healed Poland's injuries," Scotland said. "He had a torn oesophagus due to being forced to swallow a lot of glass."
Feliks sighed.
"Cigarette burns inside my mouth," France sighed, "as well as my neck."
"England was burned," Ireland said, "Norway had skin peeled off and a dagger that went straight through his wrists, Romania became a victim of vampirism, ironically enough, and Spain was forced to relive the Inquisition."
Russia blinked. Their counterparts did that?
"What reason did they have to do it?" China asked.
"It's fun for them," Toris spat, surprising Russia. He never heard Lithuania speak like that.
"And they do that whenever you sleep?" India asked.
"Ja," Prussia sighed. "Can't they take a break?"
"Considering how rarely we sleep," Matt said, "it's not going to happen soon. Although, I think I heard something about our Prussia sleeping semi-regularly. We were forced to live life always on our guard, always alert."
"And because of that we have a little too much energy to spare," Nikolai muttered.
"Then you can help us keep an eye on them," Alistair said. "And maybe figure out how to wake them up when they're like that."
"Well," Gilbert said, eyes on Antonio, "I think you'll be able to get a practice round."
…
Vlad groaned weakly, lifting himself into a more comfortable position. He, Arthur and Lukas had been hunched over in front of the buckets for some time now.
"You'd think that you wouldn't be affected by this, Arthur," Vlad said.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked, sitting up.
"You should be used to eating toxic food."
"Oh, shut it!"
Lukas lifted himself as well.
"Is there any way to contact the others?" Lukas asked. "We need to tell them that we're okay, more or less, and give the other South Africa a message to hurry it up."
"The creepy Italy has my phone," Vlad said.
Arthur and Lukas searched their own pockets, finding that their phones were missing as well.
"They're effective," Arthur said, "I'll give them that."
Lukas sighed, running his hand through his hair. He froze when his fingers brushed against his cross-pin.
"I think I have a way to get in contact with the others," he said.
The others looked at him oddly, but before he could elaborate, all three had to use the buckets again.
…
When Alejandro arrived in Antonio's dream, his eyes widened.
He didn't plan this. This wasn't his doing.
The sky was dark, and he found himself in some sort of arena. It was also cold. This was something that he could think of. Did he subconsciously create this world?
"Hola, amigo," a familiar voice, a voice that sounded exactly like his own, hissed.
He spun around, coming face-to-face with Antonio. The other Spaniard wore the same clothes he wore, that of a conquistador, and a battle axe was in his hand. His green eyes also resembled Alejandro's in a way: cold, calculating, cruel, and merciless.
"What has gotten into you?" Alejandro asked.
Antonio smirked.
"I used to be a conquistador," Antonio said. "A former empire. My armadas were famous. Oh, and in my spare time, I occasionally take on the role of matador."
"And what the hell is that?"
"Have you ever seen a bull fight?"
"What, a fight between bulls? It might be entertaining."
Antonio chuckled, a cold sound.
"Olé," he said.
Alejandro's eyes widened when he saw that there were a lot of angry bulls surrounding him, what appeared to be steam snorted from their snouts, horns down, and staring at him.
"Uh oh."
…
Everyone's eyes fell on Spain when he let out a dark chuckle.
"Why do I get the idea that his plan worked?" Gilbert asked.
"That could be good," Matthew said.
"What plan?" Matt asked.
"Getting Spain drunk before he goes to sleep," Francis said.
"Why?" Camille asked.
"Because he becomes scary when he's drunk," Alistair said.
"Da," Ivan said. "I remembered when Austria gave all the Nations therapy. He told me that Spain is even more unstable than me. Don't know how I feel about that, though."
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
They were broken from their trance when Finland's phone started to ring. He widened his eyes when he saw who it was.
"What's wrong?" Sweden asked.
Tino didn't answer him, but he answered the phone.
"Lukas, are you alright?" he asked.
Everyone's attentions snapped to the Fin.
"Okay, I'll put it on speaker."
He took the phone away from his ear and pressed a button.
"Thanks," Lukas's voice could be heard.
"Norge!" Denmark called. "Are you alright?"
"I'm alive, if that's what you're wondering. Just a little sick."
"Sick?"
Matt sighed.
"Did Oliver by any chance give you one of his cupcakes?" Matt asked.
"How did you know?"
"Experience."
"So," Matthew said, "he's poisoned?"
"We all are," Arthur's voice could be heard. "The bloody git put arsenic in the cupcakes."
"Could be worse," Matt said.
"Tell that to my stomach," Vlad said.
"Big brother!" Alexandru called, hearing the familiar voice.
"Alex? What…? How? When? Why didn't you two tell me?"
"A lot has happened," Arthur said.
"Anyway," Lukas said, "we don't have much time. They could be back any minute."
"Is Anika there?" Arthur asked.
"Ja," Anika said.
"Good. Tell your counterpart to hurry up."
"What have they done to you?" Alistair demanded.
"Other than the cupcakes, the wounds we sustained are from our travel through the mirror. And the other Romano took it upon himself to give us new clothes."
All of the Nations from the other world groaned.
"The fruit loop," Matt said.
"He's always trying to force his fashion taste on others," Eva said.
"As long as you don't mess up his outfits," Gabriel said, "he won't do anything to hurt you."
"But remember this," Matt said. "Our France partly raised both Italies."
"…We'll keep that in mind," Lukas said.
"Someone's coming," Vlad said. "Bye."
And like that, the communication was lost.
"I don't think they know about Norway's hairpin," Tino said, putting the phone away.
"What makes you say that?" Matthias asked.
"He was calling us through that." Seeing the others' reactions, he sighed. "It's a communication device. But he can only call one of us with that."
"That's good to know, then," Eva said.
…
Alejandro had managed to kill a few of the bulls using his own axe that he dreamt up, and every time they would turn to smoke.
He was wary when they all suddenly turned to smoke, and Antonio walked forward.
"I think it's time to settle this, si?" Antonio said.
Alejandro snarled, raising his axe.
He never turned down a challenge.
…
Flavio opened the door, smirking at the sickened Nations. They were pale now, extremely so.
He finally got to see how the clothes looked on them, and he frowned.
They were more suited for the versions of his world, and it was clear. They didn't exactly suit the Nations hunched over in front of him.
He yanked the one closest to him to his feet, which happened to be Vlad. He appraised the other, and scowled.
"You're coming with me," he said, pulling the other out the door, locking it behind him.
He ignored the other's sputters of protest, yanking him through the hallways. They passed by Seborga, who just chuckled in amusement.
…
Alejandro's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't expecting Antonio to fight so violently. Almost brutally.
He had seriously underestimated his counterpart. Turns out, Antonio was well acquainted with the art of battle. It almost terrified him.
Alejandro noticed a gleam in Antonio's eyes that he had seen in his own world many times. Antonio was enjoying this.
And Alejandro wasn't.
He had grown used to being the one in charge. The one that inflicted pain on his counterpart. The reason that Antonio was afraid to fall asleep.
But now Antonio was the one holding all of the cards. Antonio was the one that made his counterpart fear for his life.
In a way, he was kind of impressed.
…
Francis decided that he would also take a nap to teach his counterpart a little lesson.
He just hoped that he actually managed to do it.
…
William groaned, opening his eyes. He could vaguely remember being attacked by strange creatures, but then…
He sneezed, and noticed that he was lying on a bed in Canada's guest room. The room was still dusty, and he sighed. He had to undo that spell on Matthew. It was unfair to him. No one deserved this unwanted isolation.
He needed to find the others, and he had to inform his brothers about the spell on the Canadian. The ones that cast it were strong, and they needed all the help they could get in order to undo what has been done.
…
Matthew beamed.
He was glad that no one had forgotten him yet. In fact, they actually helped him during the attack, and as he later found out, the phoenix helped relieve the pain.
There was still a lingering pain around his heart. But it wasn't bad enough that he could no longer breathe. And the Nordics experienced the same kind of pain, only a little toned down.
He saw Anika go into his kitchen, and he frowned. They had already eaten lunch, so what could she want in the kitchen?
…
Francois had been checking on the mirrors every now and again, trying to determine what his own counterpart was doing.
He felt enraged when he saw Matt, and Camille was also there.
Seeing how Canada seemed to hover around his own counterpart, he had an idea. But that would have to wait.
Francis was asleep.
…
Vlad didn't know what he was doing. And he didn't know how to feel about this.
Flavio had ordered him to strip, to which the Romanian tried to protest, but a single flash of the other's eyes told him not to argue. When he was done, he saw what the other had in mind. His eyes widened when he saw the tape measure.
He found out the hard way that Flavio's hands were quite cold, and his skin erupted in goose bumps. And Flavio made sure that every single part of his body was measured.
"What is the meaning of this?" Vlad eventually asked.
"The clothes don't fit you," Flavio said.
"What? Of course they…"
"Not exactly. They were made through estimate of size, and they fit our Romania's hair, skin and eye colour, as well as personality. They don't fit you."
"Why exactly do you care?"
"No one lets me dress them up. You're prisoners. You don't have a choice. If only they would let me do something with their clothes! Instead they always look like they just rolled out of bed, or the garbage can. And they always smell like rotting corpses, just because they don't wash their clothes."
Vlad sighed, allowing the other to continue with what he had in mind. He didn't argue when the other brought fabrics up to his face, assessing how it would look on him.
He probably should warn Lukas and Arthur about this.
…
Francois could immediately tell that something was very wrong.
For one thing, Francis was glaring at him, not a trace of fear in his eyes. He held a rapier in his hands, the weapon looking like it belonged in his grip.
"Do you honestly think that you can fight me?" Francois sneered.
To his annoyance, Francis smirked.
"I have a lot of experience on the battlefield," Francis said. "I have participated in 168 major European battles, out of which I won 109 times, lost 49 and drew 10. In my world, I am the European with the most military success."
Francois wouldn't admit it, but that information was a little unsettling. Especially since he only participated in about 34 battles himself.
…He did not like to get involved like that, and he liked to nip the potential conflict in the bud before he had a problem on his hands.
Francis, apparently, didn't have that problem.
"And what brought this on?" Francois asked, drawing his own sword.
"You hurt the ones that look to you for protection," Francis said. "The ones that look to you for guidance."
"They should know who to respect."
"It doesn't work like that. Who else did you hurt?"
"Asides from the Italy brothers, every Nation that was ever under my control. Madagascar, Seychelles, Costa Rica, Camille…"
Francis flinched, and Francois smirked.
"I saw her," Francois said. "You can be sure that she will be severely punished when the time comes."
"I won't allow you to harm her!" Francis snarled.
"You'll need to stop me first."
…
Antonio smirked when he managed to force Alejandro on his back. Their axes were locked, but Alejandro was losing.
"The only reason you're winning is because I'm tired from the bulls," Alejandro snapped. "This isn't fair!"
"What do you know about fighting fair?" Antonio snapped. "You made sure that I couldn't escape from the torture you inflicted on me. You could still run."
Alejandro growled, baring his teeth.
"It's over," Antonio said.
…
Anika returned to the room, carrying a tray filled with steaming cups in her hands.
She placed it on the table, and the scent of coffee assaulted their senses.
"There's not enough for all of us," Denmark joked.
"This is for Prussia, Lithuania and Poland," South Africa said.
"Are you trying to keep us awake?" Toris asked.
"Ja. I figured this will do the trick."
Gilbert took a cup and sipped it. His eyes instantly widened.
"What the…?"
"I made moerkoffie, and decided to make railway coffee at the last moment. If the caffeine doesn't keep you awake, then the sugar will."
"How much sugar did you add?" Toris asked, taking a sip of his own.
"Matthew, I hope you don't mind that I used your condensed milk."
"No problem," Matthew said. "As long as you don't use my maple syrup without permission."
"I'll keep that in mind. If anyone else wants something warm to drink…"
"Alright," Seamus said.
…
Alejandro groaned, deciding to drag himself to an unused room.
He was exhausted after the punishment that he had received from Antonio, and needed to sleep it off.
He passed Francois, who looked like he was in the same predicament.
After rest, enquire about their history from the three prisoners.
I don't know if other countries do this, but a few South Africans (like my dad) pour condensed milk in their coffee as a milk and sugar replacement. It's usually with an espresso. This is called 'railway coffee'.