Thanks to fangirlscream, animefangal, Platinum, EverythingMath, Don't Insult Oliver's Cupcakes, Miss Akiyata, Dragonfire78, Insane-Lane, Skye Eagle and BloodLily16 for reviewing.
This chapter is kind of the opposite of the previous chapter, where it begins on a light note and takes a dark turn.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 39: Dragon in Danger
White cannot expect their latest move to go without retaliation.
And Black will definitely retaliate.
…
Francesco jumped when there was a knock on the door.
"Fratello, open up!" a panicky voice said.
"Flavio?" Francesco asked, going towards the door. "What's going on?"
"Veneziano is freaking out. I have never seen him this mad before."
"Why? What happened?"
Francesco had already started removing the barricade.
"The Nations on the other side cast some sort of spell. Our fratello is now a sorella."
Francesco's eye widened, and he worked faster. If that was true, then he couldn't even begin to imagine what Luciano would do in his angered state.
…
Feliciano was examining her new body, much to Lovino's annoyance, but the grumpy Italian could say nothing. For one thing, he had no idea how to tell off his now sister. He had always been nicer to women, and could not afford to be rude to one.
"Hey Germany," Italy said, "don't I look pretty?"
"Please, don't ask me that," Germany said.
"Why are you asking that potato bastard?" Romano huffed.
"Okay fratello," Italy said. "Do you think I look pretty?"
Lovino sputtered.
"Don't ask me that!" Lovino said. "A fratello should not think about his sorella as 'pretty'."
"I think you look pretty," Marcello said.
"What did I just say, idiota?!"
"Romano, you're starting to look like a tomato."
"Shut up, Spain!"
…
Luciano growled, watching the reflection with the others.
"Is there no way to undo this?" she asked.
"Not that we're aware of," Marius said.
"Well then," Felic said, "get aware."
A ringing phone could be heard, and Luciano froze, her eyes widening. She slowly took the phone out, and seemed to pale when she looked at the screen.
"I am not letting that African hear my voice like this," Luciano said.
After a while the ringing stopped, but before she could sigh in relief, a text came through.
'I already know that you're a woman,' the text read.
Luciano could feel her blood boil.
"I hate her!"
…
Ricardo was massaging his temples, the visions he was forced to see overwhelming his senses.
The rest of the South Americans were there, Argentina trying to get him to relax after the unsettling visions.
His phone vibrated, and he read the text. Then, to the others' surprise, he burst into laughter.
"What is it?" Peru demanded.
"That was from South Africa," Ricardo explained. "Apparently, our allies on the other side cast a spell to torture our enemies."
"What kind of torture?" Argentina asked. "I mean, the Northerners should be used to it all."
"They turned Italy into a woman."
…
Mahesh, along with his empire, was acting extremely out of character.
They were rolling on the floor as they laughed.
They had seen the Italy in the other world be turned into a woman, and Alida had texted him to confirm that the Italy in their world was also a woman now.
And they found this entire situation too funny.
…
The others watched as Italy was cursing South Africa in Italian. It was normal, so they didn't even bother.
"If we can't undo it," Marius said, "then we'll have to convince the one that cast it in the first place to undo it for us."
"I hope Connor doesn't mind if we torture his counterpart," Oliver said, giggling.
"Which approach are we going to take?" Felic asked. "Through dreams, or are we going to pull him through?"
"Too bad we can't go there ourselves," Sigurd said, placing her hand on the glass.
Her hand started moving through the glass, and she pulled it back, startled. Through the mirror, they could see Lukas shudder.
The Norwegian looked back, and the others were watching in astonishment. Even Luciano had stopped her cursing to stare.
And slowly, smirks appeared on each of them.
…
Roberto groaned, opening his eyes. His head felt as though it were about to split open, and his vision swam.
"You're awake," a voice said, and he hissed, the sound causing pain.
"Not so loud," he told whoever was speaking.
A few moments later, he saw two hands in front of his face, holding something. His vision was too blurred to make out what it was.
"Drink," the person said, thankfully a little quieter.
Realising what the person was holding, he took the pill and the water, and carefully swallowed them. As soon as the glass was taken from him, he lay back on the soft pillow, and once again it grew dark.
…
"Let's go," Tolys said, moving forward.
"No," Luciano said. "There are too many other Nations there. Too many Nations that could interfere. We'll wait until they're asleep."
"And what are we supposed to do until then?" Alejandro asked.
"Sharpen our blades."
Once again, they all smirked.
…
Feliks kept pounding on the lid of the coffin, but nothing came of it.
He didn't want to know what Felic had planned next, and hoped that he could wake up soon, or that someone would come and help him.
And after this was all over, he swore to himself that he would never sleep again.
…
"Is he still asleep?" Portugal asked as soon as he entered Brazil's room and saw his former colony still asleep.
"He was awake long enough to drink an aspirin," Valeria said, her nose in a book.
"At least he woke up," Miguel said, sighing. "And I think I need one of those aspirins."
"Why?"
"My brother."
"What did Spain do?"
"Well, my brother is now a sister."
The Portuguese man blinked as the Columbian ran out of the room in a flash. He could even feel a small breeze as she passed.
…
"What's that?" Marius asked Oliver, looking at the pendant the other had in her hand.
"I made one for each of my brothers a long time ago," Oliver explained, looking at the dragon pendant. "It allows me to track them down. I noticed that there are quite a lot of Nations gathered with Artie. We wouldn't want to attract any attention to ourselves before we could get what we want."
"Good point. So, that will track Wales down?"
"That's right. And we wouldn't want to wake anyone while we're there, now do we?"
…
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and many of the other Nations questioned why they were there. At least, until the Nations from the other world started showing them a few scars.
The simple fact that those scars could easily enough be inflicted on them, should they be unable to keep the Northern Nations from winning, made them stay to fight.
…
Natalya sighed. It was already late, and many Nations had already gone to sleep. But she would not.
She would stalk the halls, and for once it wasn't because she was stalking Russia. No, there was someone else.
The visions that she had received were nonsensical to her. But she could tell that there would be great danger. And it was all triggered by a dragon bound by chains, blood surrounding the dragon. At first she thought that it referred to the magical creature, until she saw the individual flags of each of the Kirkland brothers.
And she froze when she saw Wales's flag. A dragon.
There was no guarantee that he would be the one in danger, but she had her suspicions. Especially after the whole affair with the Nations being turned into women. The odds of things being left alone are not in their favour, and considering the fact that there were no more screams from the sleep-imprisoned Pol during the day only made her more suspicious.
The other side was planning something, and it would only lead to more destruction.
So until she was sure the danger had passed, she would stalk Wales, without letting the rest of the world know what she was doing.
…
"Do you understand what to do?" Luciano asked.
"Ja," Lutz said. "Have fun. I think."
"Oh, it will be fun," Luciano said, smirking.
"Connor," Oliver said, looking at her Welsh brother, "if things don't work out over there, do you want us to bring dear William over?"
"I wouldn't mind," the Welshman said.
"Now let's go," Marius said. "They should all be asleep by now."
…
Vash looked around him. He wasn't sure where this was, but it was cold. It almost seemed like the Alps, but different.
"Hallo," a voice, sickeningly sweet, said.
He whipped around, and if it wasn't for the strange colour combination, the person would look like…
"Liechtenstein?" Vash asked.
The girl giggled, sitting on a rocky perch.
"Correct," the girl said. "My name is Elise Vogel. I refused to take on the Zwingli name."
"Not at all like Lili then," Vash muttered.
"Lili? Is that the name of my counterpart? You know, I couldn't decide on whether I wanted to hurt her, or you. Basch needs to pay for his betrayal. Since he's allied himself with your side of the mirror, it's only right to assume that the two of you are friends now."
"We're acquaintances. And I'll admit that he doesn't annoy me like the other Nations."
She giggled, and with those cold, silver eyes, it sounded… wrong.
"So then," Elise said, "shall we play?"
…
"What the bloody hell?" Arthur asked, looking down at himself.
He didn't even care where he was. He only cared about the fact that he was once again a man. The spell didn't wear off that quickly.
"Interesting," a familiar, but at the same time not, voice said, making Arthur look around. "It would seem you return to your true gender in your dream. Oliver would be pleased to hear that."
"Who are you?" Arthur asked.
He was startled when a pair of blue eyes appeared in front of him, accompanied by a face that was supposed to be framed by brown hair but was instead framed by dirty blond hair.
"Take a wild guess," the other said, smirking.
"You're the Wales from the other world," Arthur said, taking a step back.
"That's right. Connor Kirkland. Pleased to meet you."
"Why are you here in my dream?"
"My little brother – um, sister – is a little upset over the fact that he is now a she. It's quite fortuitous that they managed to find out who the culprit is."
Arthur's eyes widened. William!
"And I'm assuming you're here to keep me occupied," Arthur said, seething with rage.
"Pretty much. So, shall we play?"
…
Oliver giggled softly, holding the pendant up high. It glowed, and the nine Nations followed the signal, watching as it got brighter.
"What would happen if we ran into anyone?" Sigurd whispered.
"It's simple," Luciano whispered. "We silence them, before they can alert anyone else. We don't want the little dragon to get away."
"And dragon hunting is already tricky business," Oliver sighed.
…
Natalya frowned. She heard whispered voices from ahead, and had gone to investigate. What she found confirmed her suspicions.
But when she saw exactly how many of the enemies there were, she had to rethink her plan. Not even she could take on nine opponents.
She may require the help of a few women that were equally, if not more, vicious than her.
…
"You have got to be kidding me," Vlad deadpanned, looking at the woman in front of him.
Reka giggled, skipping until she was standing in front of him.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, her voice too sweet for his taste.
"Da, there's something wrong," Vlad said. "What are you doing here? And I can't believe I'm saying this, but where's Marius?"
"Mari has other things to worry about," she said, shrugging. "Besides, I never got to play with you, like he said I could." She put her hand on his chest, and Vlad took a nervous step back. "So now, it's my turn to play."
"Not going to happen, Hungarian dog!"
Reka retracted her hand, looking tearful, before the gaze turned cold.
"Dog?" she hissed. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're Hungarian. You're scum. And you have the same face as her."
Reka smirked.
"I'm guessing you two have some unresolved sexual tension. Want me to help you?"
"Hell no!"
…
Elizaveta, Anika, Rosa (Mexico), Anna and Sofia (Argentina) were in one of the living rooms, playing poker. Omar and Eva were sitting nearby, watching with fascination.
None of the women were in the mood to go to bed yet. Anika especially, since Omar wouldn't leave her alone, and she didn't exactly look forward to having someone watch her as she slept.
The door opened, and they gave a brief glance before returning to their game. It was only Belarus.
"I need your help," she said, causing the others to look up in surprise.
"Those are words I never expected you to say," Hungary said.
"Yes, well, we need to save a certain Welshman before it causes a chain reaction that will doom us all."
The others stared at her in confusion, and Belarus locked eyes with South Africa. They seemed to be speaking non-verbally, and the message seemed to reach the blonde.
"What kind of trouble is he in?" Anika asked.
"I just saw a black-haired version of Poland."
Omar's eyes widened, and so did Eva's.
"Let's go," Eva whispered.
…
"Wakey, wakey."
William opened his eyes, looking blearily at the shadowy figures standing over him. But when he saw blue eyes that were meant to be green, he was suddenly wide awake, and he prepared to scream.
A hand was placed over his mouth, and he glanced at the smirking French woman.
"It's William, correct?" Oliver said.
"If the hand is removed," Luciano said, "will you scream?"
Will swallowed nervously and shook his head. The Italian gave Francois a look, and the French woman removed her hand.
"We're here to have a little chat about what you did to us," Felic said.
"First of all," Luciano said, "we want you to turn us back."
"I can't," Will said.
He wasn't calm, as he usually was. He was afraid. He was perfectly aware of what these Nations could do when they were playing. He didn't want to experience their anger.
"What do you mean, you 'can't'?" Marius asked.
"I don't know how," Will said. "The spells always wore off after a few days."
"That is unfortunate," Luciano said, and Will noticed that the other had started twirling a knife around her fingers. "Then I guess we'll have to get to the other reason for our visit."
"Wha…?"
He jumped when he heard several other Nations scream, and he looked at the door.
"Don't worry," Sigurd said, playing with a knife as well. "The others are just dreaming."
"We called the rest of the North," Luciano explained. "They were quite eager to play."
Will's eyes widened. That meant that the others were being tortured in their dreams. Unable to wake.
Unable to help him.
"It shouldn't attract too much attention if you also screamed," Oliver said, holding a kitchen knife.
That was when Will really became afraid.
…
"Are you really going to try it, Alejandro?" Antonio mocked. "After last time?"
Once again, he found himself in a bullfighting arena.
"Lo siento," a female voice said, and Antonio could see someone approaching from the other side of the arena, "but Papi can't make it. So you'll have to play with me."
His eyes widened when he recognised the person, or at least when he recognised who she was supposed to be.
"Mexico?"
…
"Here," Belarus said.
"Are you sure?" Hungary asked. "I mean, there's no guarantee that he's in trou…"
She was interrupted by a scream, followed by the sound of female laughter.
"I guess that proves it," Rosa said, trying to open the door. "Those putas locked it. Smart."
"Step aside," Anika said, taking out a pocket knife.
"You know how to pick locks?" Anna asked.
"If you have any idea what my crime rate looks like, you'll understand how I know how to do this."
"Is there anything else you know how to do?" Rosa asked
"I'm a hell of a shot."
"Focus," Elizaveta said, although now she also kept an eye on the African Nation.
They heard Wales scream again, and they kept silent so that South Africa could hear what she was doing.
…
Will cried out when another cut was made along his chest. The women had removed his shirt, and started cutting into his skin. Tolys and Gilen restrained his wrists, preventing his struggles. Luciano, Sigurd, Marius and Oliver were using their knives to cut into his skin, and Alejandro had ripped a part of the sheets and tied it around one of his ankles, accompanied by a small piece of wood she was carrying, and kept twisting the sheet/wood combination, tightening it around his ankle with every twist. The circulation had already been cut off.
Felic was in the corner, doing something with a candle and a bowl she filled with marbles. Every now and again, Francois would scratch his skin with her sharp nails, leaving grooves where her fingers had been.
"Please, stop!" Will shouted.
"No," Luciano said. "You haven't been punished enough yet."
She removed her knife, and to the Welshman's horror, started to lick the blood off.
"I think I can make some delicious sauce with this," Luciano said.
Oliver also licked her knife and giggled.
"He'd make an excellent cupcake," she said, cutting into his abdomen this time.
He screamed. The last cut felt deeper than the ones on his chest.
He felt something strange, and looked down. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Oliver's fingers going into his skin, blood surrounding the fingers. He yelped when he felt nails scrape against something that should not be accessed.
Oliver then removed her fingers, licking them one by one.
"He will indeed be delicious," Oliver said.
"Let me taste," Marius said, digging her fingers into Will's abdomen as well, causing the Welshman to hiss in pain. She removed her blood-stained fingers and started licking them as well. "You're right. It's exquisite."
Will sobbed, tears already pricking his vision. He did not like where they were going with this.
To everyone's surprise, the door opened, and eight women were standing there. Wales locked eyes with them, and he could see their horror turn into anger.
"Leave him alone!" Anika shouted.
"Not until we're finished," Luciano said.
"Well then," Natalya said, removing her own knives, "I guess we'll have to force you to finish, won't we?"
Sorry if Belarus seems OOC, but under the circumstances, I think it's unavoidable.