Thanks to EverythingMath, Dragonfire78, Miss Akiyata and Don't Insult Oliver's Cupcakes for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 43: Awake

So, White finally found a way to rescue a Pawn.

And as a Pawn is saved, a Bishop suffers.

…

Nicolai had immediately moved Dimitri over to the bed, where the other passed out soon enough. Once he was sure that his counterpart was comfortable, he immediately went to find some of the other Nations. They needed to be alerted.

…

Feliks was covered by a layer of sweat, the heat in his stomach making it especially uncomfortable for him. He had swallowed too many of the metal marbles, and the heat was pressing against the walls of his stomach. Since it had been a while since he ate anything, so his stomach shrank a little, causing even more discomfort for him.

"There, all gone," Felic said, and Feliks glared weakly. "Now, onto the next game."

Feliks paled when Felic held up a taser, and with the metal in his stomach, this could prove devastating.

…

"Dammit," Alistair muttered, hanging up the phone. "Jamaica refuses to answer."

"Then I guess we should go and have a little chat with him," Arthur said, glaring up at her older brother with her arms folded.

"That's just what I was thinking. Well then, sis, are you ready to go?"

…

"You're leaving?" Matthew asked, staring wide-eyed at Matt.

Matt sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"It's just for a little while," Matt said. "I'm not sure what South Africa wants us for, but we can't ignore her. As it is, each of the Nations that decided to help the Nations of your world is here under her orders. So we can't ignore any order that comes from her."

"But… No one's forgotten me since you came. I'm afraid that…"

Matt stared at him for a while before he sighed.

"I'll come back soon enough," he assured. "In the meantime, you can stay around Anika. She doesn't seem to forget you."

"And you can stay around me as well, mon cher," Francis said, surprising both Canadians with her sudden appearance. She threw her arms around Matthew's shoulders, startling said Canadian. "I know I might not have been the best papa to you, but perhaps I can do a better job as a maman."

Matt stared at this in surprise, before he sighed.

"I know I might regret this, but I'm counting on you to look after him," Matt said.

Francis beamed in happiness.

"But if I found out you treated him as though he doesn't exist, I'll show you everything my France taught me," Matt continued.

This caused Francis's eyes to widen, and she nodded her head in understanding. Matt smirked in satisfaction.

…

Francois watched the scene through the mirror. She supposed that she should tell Italy about certain Nations being absent, but she couldn't resist this opportunity. She placed her hand on the glass of the mirror, and was pleased when she saw the ripples surrounding her hand.

She saw Francis shuddered, but soon enough it was passed off as Matt being intimidating.

"Mon cher ami," Francois said, her voice like ice, "petit Canada can't channel the right amount of threat. I am far more dangerous than him, and my methods are a lot… crueller. That chill is not from Canada, but from me. And I will make sure that every shard of ice is delivered in all the right places. My plans might have been delayed, but I will continue as planned."

…

Jamaica looked down at his phone, sighing. He, along with the rest of the Caribbean Islands, decided to stay out of things and simply relax on the beaches. With the rest of the world otherwise occupied, they decided they would rather enjoy the peace without larger Nations breathing down their necks.

They were on one of Haiti's beaches. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but they were satisfied with it. If the other Nations decided to involve them, they would have trouble trying to track them down.

Which is what they seemed to be trying to do by calling Jamaica. And which is why he was ignoring his phone.

"I have no intention of getting involved," Jamaica muttered, leaning back on the towel, closing his eyes and enjoying the sun.

He opened his eyes when a shadow loomed over him, blocking the sun. He jumped when he saw who the shadow belonged to, however.

"You haven't been answering my calls," Scotland said in a menacing tone. "Which is really rude of you, seeing as we need your help."

"I don't want to get involved," Jamaica said. "We islands aren't strong enough."

"And yet the African islands decided to help," an unfamiliar female voice said.

Jamaica turned his attention to the woman that stepped out from behind Scotland. He couldn't recall ever seeing her at the meetings, yet those green eyes looked oddly familiar…

"Who are you?" Jamaica asked.

The woman looked uncomfortable, and Scotland seemed to be trying to hold in his laughter.

"You've missed a lot," Scotland said. "Meet England."

Jamaica lurched into a sitting position, eyes wide. The woman, identified as 'England', avoided his gaze, her cheeks gaining a dusting of pink.

"How?" Jamaica asked.

"Long story," England sighed. "But this is not why we need your help. You're the best there is when it comes to dream magic."

"Wales is also good, but he would be better if he hadn't sacrificed so much of it. I'm sure if you gave him a little bit of yours…"

"Will is unconscious," Scotland interrupted. "He was tortured, and then those Deathplayers arrived and made it worse."

Jamaica stiffened, having been attacked by the Deathplayers as well.

"What's so important that you need my help?" Jamaica asked at last.

"Poland is trapped in sleep paralysis," England said.

Jamaica's eyes widened, and after a moment, he sighed.

"Then I'm the only one that can help," Jamaica said, resigned to his fate.

…

The other Caribbean Nations watched as the trio departed.

"Looks like we're going to have to go to another island," Cuba sighed.

…

Feliks panted in pain, still twitching every now and again. Felic chuckled in amusement.

"What shall we do next?" Felic taunted.

…

Nicolai had alerted Vlad, and the Romanian immediately made her way to her best friend's room.

"The Deathplayers are at it again," Vlad sighed. "What do they want?"

"I have no idea," Nicolai said. "I'll ask South Africa if I could stay behind and help."

Vlad looked at him in confusion, and Nicolai sighed.

"The one from my world," he explained. "She wants to see all of us."

"Any idea why?" Vlad asked.

"Not a clue. Probably something about the War. And she probably wants the rest of the South to know who's on their side. Or she wants to…"

Nicolai sighed, and Vlad understood.

They both understood that Nicolai couldn't put up much of a fight. He was the punching bag for most of Europe. Many of them used him to sharpen their blades. He had sought protection from South Africa, and so far, she had not disappointed him. He had no reason to think that she would hurt him, but it was an old fear of him. He subconsciously worried that someone would hurt him, torture him, but he wouldn't avoid her just because he feared she would do something that she had never done to him before.

"Should Andrei go with you?" Vlad asked.

"She said that it doesn't matter whether or not he comes along," Nicolai said. "Surprisingly, she has a soft spot for kids."

"Same with ours. Why do you think Lesotho is still around?"

…

Feliks sputtered, Felic maintaining his grip on the back of the other's neck. He kept dunking the other's head underwater, a classic torture technique, but to make things worse, the water was boiling hot. Feliks's face was red, the skin being burned by the water.

"This isn't as fun as I thought it would be," Felic mused. "I guess we should try something else."

Feliks whimpered, as Felic dragged him along.

…

Jamaica sighed, looking at the writhing Pol lying on the bed. Feliks's face had become red, and it almost appeared to be scalded.

"How long has he been like this?" Jamaica asked.

"About a day or two," Scotland sighed. "Do you think you can wake him?"

"It's going to be tricky, but it should be possible. But I only ask that no one interrupts. If I lose my concentration when I'm doing such delicate work… Poland may never wake up again. Or breathe, for that matter."

The message was clear. Poland could die if something went wrong.

They jumped when Feliks suddenly screamed. There was silence for a while as the three stared at Poland.

"I'll try to expect and ignore it," Jamaica sighed. "Should I ask why Poland is also a woman?"

"No," England sighed, face red.

…

Anika hit the target, and Tino took her place.

Basch had joined the trigger-happy trio, and was looking nervously at the three. As one that felt more comfortable around knives, he didn't really like being around guns. Too noisy.

But the trio were exceptional marksmen, and the goal is to see who would miss the mark first. Whoever misses would be the loser of their little game.

What concerned Basch was the fact that all three of them managed to hit the mark spot on. Right in the centre. They didn't waver at all.

Basch looked up when he heard two sets of footsteps approaching. He was surprised to see the two Canadas arrive. He jumped when Tino shot, and sighed in exasperation.

"Little nervous around guns?" Matt teased.

"You're an up-close-and-personal type of fighter too, so don't even start," Basch spat.

The three marksmen heard the voices of the new arrivals and turned to regard the two Canadians. Only Anika gained a smirk.

"About time you showed up, Matthew," Anika said, smirking. "I actually considered inviting you before now. Glad you found this place on your own."

The other two looked at her in confusion, and Matthew cocked his head in confusion as well.

"I was just going to ask you if you knew anything about Alida's plans," Matthew said.

Anika's smirk widened, before she gave her rifle to Matthew. Matthew looked at it in shock, before seeing the challenging look in her eyes. He sighed, raising the rifle…

…And to Basch's horror, hit the mark spot on.

Matt's eyebrows also rose, and the two from the other world exchanged a glance. Vash and Tino also exchanged looks, the gears in their heads turning.

"If I remember correctly, you're also a good shot," Anika said. "One of your snipers had the highest kills in World War One, correct?"

Matthew blushed, and scratched his head nervously.

"Really?" Vash asked, intrigued. "Well then, I guess we'll have to fetch another gun. Basch, do you mind?"

Basch's eyes widened, and he sighed.

"Fine," he said. "Just so you know, as someone that enjoys knives, the idea of anyone being able to shoot that well is… disturbing."

"In our world, no one has the patience to attack from such a distance," Matt explained. "Killing and torturing is a game. And those that can shoot and kill from a distance aren't in it for the fun. And if you aren't doing it for fun, then there is something wrong with you. Those that use guns like to do it at almost point-blank range. Killing at a distance is unusual."

"I see," Anika said. "The idea of someone with the ability to kill from a distance unnerves you."

"Someone that doesn't want to hear their victim scream for mercy is unusual, and even considered incredibly insane. It makes Nations in our world extremely nervous."

"In that case," Anika said, smirk widening, "I believe it's your turn, Vash."

…

Feliks was once again strapped to a table. He screamed as Felic hammered another nail into his arm. He had already hammered several nails in his right arm, and was busy with the left arm. The nails were applied haphazardly, with no care given to applying them to the right pressure points, causing even more damage.

"Stop it!" Feliks shouted. "Please stop!"

"Not going to happen," Felic said. "If you had any idea what's going on in my world, you'd understand why I would want to unwind a little."

"This isn't unwinding! Please, just let me go!"

"Nie," Felic said, yanking one of the nails out.

And then, much to Feliks's horror, Felic brought a screw into Felic's line of sight.

…

Jamaica ignored the screams, passing it off as background noise. He had to do it in order to get the spell right. One wrong move, and…

He sighed, noting with relief that Poland had started to glow in a soft green light. So far, so good.

…

Toris flinched whenever she heard Feliks's screams. Her best friend was in pain, and she could do nothing to help.

She wanted to repay the other Poland for what he was doing to Feliks, but she knew that she didn't have the courage to do it. If she could relive her days as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it would already be a huge help. But the first step in being able to repay Felic is to repay Tolys first.

And for that, Toris would need a lot of courage.

…

Feliks screamed. The screw was even more painful than the nails, since the nails didn't twist into his flesh in order to get them in.

"Stop this!" Feliks screeched, his voice hoarse from all of the screaming.

"Nie," Felic said. "This is my game. I make the rules."

Feliks could see it clearly now. The other had lost his mind. And Feliks was the one that suffered for it.

Felic paused when Feliks was surrounded by a soft green light. Feliks didn't really pay it any mind, since he was in too much pain. But Felic did, and his face twisted in a snarl.

"No one is interrupting my game," he growled, the taser once again in his hand.

And Feliks once again felt an agony worse than the nails in his arms.

…

Toris jumped when she heard a shrieking sound, but this time it didn't come from Feliks. She turned to her bed, seeing the phoenix crying out.

And through that, Toris had an idea.

…

Jamaica kept chanting the words under his breath, tears rolling down his cheeks. The spell was painful, and these screams weren't a result of what he was doing.

But it was still painful to know that his target was in pain, and his spell was the only thing that could save him. But the spell wasn't fast enough, so he couldn't help Poland with his pain.

He was trying so hard to concentrate, that he didn't notice the door to the room open behind him.

…

It took a while, but Toris had managed to convince Alistair and Arthur to let her in. She hoped that Feniksa was able to help.

Through Arthur and Alistair, she learned that Jamaica was trying to free Feliks. But apparently, the little phoenix decided that he wasn't doing a good enough job.

Toris was just wondering how to go about this when the phoenix did something completely unexpected.

It started to fly.

Well, more like struggle in mid-air, but it was a start. The bird slowly made its way to Feliks's bed, and when it was close enough, it stopped its desperate attempts to stay airborne and landed on the bed. The bird hopped over until it was resting atop Feliks's chest, and the bird started to glow, the red light mixing with the green light surrounding Feliks.

That was when Jamaica seemed to notice what was going on, and his face twisted in horror.

"Don't stop," Arthur said, startling Toris. "Continue with the spell."

Jamaica nodded his head, and continued with his muttering.

…

Felic drew the taser away from Feliks, the blonde's entire body still spasming. Felic had a huge grin on his face, but the grin disappeared when he noticed a red light. Something that looked like fire, with a bird in the centre of it all.

"Not again," he muttered.

…

Feliks's eyes snapped open, and he immediately turned to his side, curling into a ball, holding his stomach.

He whimpered in pain, and for a long while, that pain was all he knew. He didn't notice the four Nations in his room, looking at him in concern. He didn't notice the little bird rubbing itself comfortingly against his face. He didn't notice that he had closed his eyes as tears rolled down his face.

And he didn't notice that he had been turned into a she.

…

"Will he be okay?" Toris asked.

"I hope so," Arthur sighed. "There's no telling what his counterpart did to him while he was trapped in there."

"I can think of a few possibilities," Jamaica said, noticing the nails in Poland's arms. "We're going to need to remove them. Tell me, are there any other problems related to your dreams?"

"Yes," Alistair said. "Our own dreams have been turned into battlefields and/or torture chambers. Almost everyone here is affected by it."

Jamaica stared at him in silence before he sighed.

"I'm going to need America's help with this," he said. "I can't believe I'm actually saying that out loud."

…

Alida was watching her counterpart through the mirror. She was impressed with her marksmanship, and also found that it would certainly be useful against the North, as well as the Deathplayers.

She had given those on the other side a deadline to arrive, and that deadline was over in an hour.

As she watched the four Nations take turns shooting the targets, the gears in her head kept turning. She could certainly use them in her plan, and she started to wonder what the other Nations from the other world could do.

For now though, they did an excellent job in keeping the Northern Nations busy. The storms kept raging, and the people grew restless.

When the Northern Powers decided to tap into the power of their land and people, they'd find that their strength had been chipped away.

And there would be nothing to stop the South.