Thanks to Dragonfire78, EverythingMath, Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan, madders10, Miss Akiyata, Fruitstogether and FireFox Vixen for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 56: Breaking Away

Neither Black nor White realise that they're losing.

And a piece would be taken.

…

Raj looked up with a broken expression when the door opened again. Hong Kong and Scotland, on the other hand, jumped when the door opened.

"What is it?" Kaoru demanded.

Marius said nothing, and her face looked grim. The three males felt that something was seriously wrong.

Without saying a word, she stalked forward, and Raj screamed again when another needle was plunged into his arm. After a few moments, the needle was removed, and Marius stared at the blood that was drawn, eyes narrowed.

"Wales was right," she whispered.

She allowed a drop of the blood to fall on her finger before licking said finger. Her eyes widened, and she gave Raj an odd look before turning and leaving the room.

"What was that about?" Kaoru whispered.

Kaoru and Duncan exchanged a look, before the Scotsman unceremoniously dropped Raj onto the ground.

Raj watched in pain as the other two Nations left the room, closing and locking the door behind them.

And next to the door, a certain Deathplayer kept watch.

…

"What just happened?" Arthur asked.

They saw what had happened through the mirror, and each of them was confused.

"Tell Vlad to watch the mirror," Alida ordered, and Arthur nodded, taking out her phone and texting the Romanian to save time. "If Marius is concerned with a Nation's blood quality, then there's something seriously wrong."

Suddenly, the image on the mirror became blank, and the four Nations watched in horror as they could no longer see what happened to their imprisoned ally.

"Something is seriously wrong," Alida said.

…

Mahesh had left the room, allowing Lobsang to question Yong Soo in peace. Of course, Mahesh was still curious as well, but he had a headache and Yong Soo's voice was not a friend of headaches.

Jeng Soo and Chio remained in the room as well, but Yul had left with Mahesh in order to keep an eye on the Indian.

Mahesh didn't care about the Mongolian, or the fact that he wasn't trusted. All he cared about was the headache.

When he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, he saw an image in his head.

He couldn't place the image, but it appeared to be a room. A very dark room. Two figures stood before him. He knew them as Hong Kong and Scotland.

It took him a few moments to realise that he was seeing through Raj's eyes. How that happened, he had no idea. While he couldn't feel it, he saw how Raj was tortured, and eventually he heard his counterpart's screams.

He witnessed the scene with Romania, and could feel his own confusion, but he was concerned when he also felt despair. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Hong Kong and Scotland depart, but frowned in confusion when he saw a figure that looked like him and Raj.

And then, the headache intensified.

…

The magic trio had taken the blood sample to Michael, who was analysing it. The Irishman drifted away from magic, preferring science, and he never went anywhere without something to analyse whatever he came across.

And right now, he was analysing the blood of their prisoner.

"You're right," Michael said, moving away from his microscope. "Nations' blood resembles humans'. India's blood, however, shares no common quality, and it doesn't even resemble an animal's blood. Well, there are similarities with some species. And then… I'm not sure what this is."

"Are all the other Nations like that?" Oliver asked.

"Nu," Marius said. "I've consumed Vlad's blood enough times to know that that's not the case."

"And I've had some of Lukas's blood," Sigurd said. "It's not something to do with the other world."

"And we can't get our India to compare," Michael sighed. "I'm going to need to run more tests."

"Are you going home for that?" Oliver asked.

"I have to," Michael said. "From what I can see, a mere microscope, especially one as small as this, won't be able to help me figure out what exactly is wrong."

"Then I'm guessing you're not going to pay Seamus another visit, are you?"

"This is far more interesting than torturing that ginger."

The magic trio exchanged a look. Obviously, they didn't think so.

…

As requested, Vlad had gone to the nearest mirror in order to spy on Marius.

As she watched, she couldn't help but frown in confusion. Why did they want to examine a blood sample? Was there something wrong with Raj's blood?

Vlad had a bad feeling, and she knew that she would have to inform the Southern Powers. If anyone would be able to save Raj, it would be them.

…

"This is dangerous on so many levels," Sheila whispered.

The Micro Nations were taken to the other world, and they were outside of the other Italy's house. The other Hutt River and Wy were there as well.

Lucy had curly blond hair tied into high pigtails. Her eyes were blue-green. She wore a light blue shirt with jean shorts and black sneakers.

Andrew had brown-blond hair, and his eyes were blue green as well, just like Lucy's. He wore a deep purple tee-shirt, black skinny jeans and black boots.

"If this is our part to play, then we will play it to the best of our abilities," Lucy said. "It's probably the only useful thing we'd be able to do."

"I guess that's something both sides feel," Peter said. "Hey, what is Sealand like here?"

"Don't know. Never met him."

"None of the other Micro Nations know each other, unless they're part of the same Nation," Andrew explained. "Luce and I know each other, but the others…"

"That sucks," Jimmy said. "I would have liked to know as well."

"We're stalling now," Jack said. "We need to get in there."

The others nodded in agreement, making their way to the mansion as stealthily as possible.

…

Ricardo was standing just outside of the edge of Luciano's property. He saw the Micro Nations creeping closer.

"Please let them succeed," he whispered to himself.

…

Rosa was having the time of her life.

Never before had she seen Alfred so terrified. His screams made her laugh harder. Since she couldn't torture Alfred with her spicy food, she had to make due with something else.

And this was the best alternative ever.

"Hey, gringo," Rosa said, and Alfred tore his wide, terrified eyes away from the screen. "I was wondering if you would like to join me for el Dia de los Muertos."

She only laughed harder when Alfred screamed, hiding under Matt's coffee table.

…

Raj watched as the Deathplayer stalked closer.

"What do you want?" Raj asked.

"My offer still stands," the Deathplayer said.

He brought out the dagger.

"I won't kill myself," Raj said.

"You won't. This is just a tool that assumed the form of a dagger. Once it touches your heart, you will have the means to escape this place, and all your wounds would be healed."

Raj pursed his lips, looking at the dagger. If what the Deathplayer said was true, he would be able to free himself and return to his friends.

…But did he want to go back to the others? Why hadn't they made an effort to save him yet? And would they only want to save him because he was the counterpart of one of the strongest Nations of this world, and they wouldn't want to have his land under the enemies' control?

Words whispered in England's voice echoed in his mind, and he could feel his fingers twitch. He realised that he wanted to take the dagger.

Even if the Deathplayer was lying, would it matter? Who would care about Raj?

…

Alistair looked at the new painting that was completed by Ferdinand. It depicted Raj, surrounded by a ring of flames, a dagger grasped in his hand. The look in the missing Nation's eyes was absolutely devastating.

He was broken.

When Ferdinand had started twitching, they knew that he would need to create a new painting, and that something else was happening.

Frankly, it was disturbing.

And when Alistair saw that the new painting would also look like Raj, he knew that they needed to move fast.

…

Roderich groaned when he came to. His hands were no longer bound, and he was all alone.

He sighed, looking at his fingers. The digits were broken, and he wouldn't even be able to tend to his own injuries. He knew that his only choice would be to call for help.

Of course, Elizaveta was his first choice, but now the problem remained: How was he going to dial?

…

Bruce was pacing back and forth. He was worried about his two Micro Nations, but the fact that he didn't feel any strange pangs of pain yet assured him that they were still unharmed.

He looked at the large map again. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.

"Let's hope it's just me being paranoid," he muttered.

…

Xiao was very pleased with himself.

He had told Malaysia that the magic trio was working on synchronising the pain between the two worlds' Nations, particularly the South.

He lied.

Although, he might suggest it to them. The main thing to focus on was distracting the South.

If they thought that they might be tortured through their counterparts, they would believe that their counterparts were in danger. And they would be so focused on protecting their counterparts that they didn't realise what was happening.

At least, until it was too late.

As Xiao walked back to the living room, he saw Kyo coming closer.

He smirked, nodding his head, and the two passed each other, a similar smirk on Kyo's face.

All according to plan.

…

Matthew kept his gaze down, his face blood red.

He should have known that Francis would always get his way, whether male or female.

Arthur was a little annoyed when she found out why Francis wanted to find the mirror in the first place, and Alida was confused and slightly amused. But all three women were curious.

And none of them would shut up about how cute Matthew would look as a woman.

"Hey, how would my Canada look?" Alida suddenly asked.

They adjusted the view of the mirror to reveal Matt's female form.

"It's an improvement," Francis said. "Do you think we can make that a reality?"

Matthew sighed. It would seem that he would need to warn his counterpart.

…

Matthew had no idea that warning Matt would be unnecessary.

He was watching through the mirror, and he was not amused.

"If any of you decide to turn me into a woman," he muttered darkly, "France is the first person I'm going after, followed by England. I don't care who cast the spell. You two would be my targets."

He neglected to mention Alida. Nothing changed the fact that he was still afraid of her.

…

Yao sighed.

He had managed to get Macau to agree to the arrangement. But now, he had to get Mongolia and Tibet.

Kan had offered to speak to Choden, leaving Chuluun to Yao. And that would not be easy.

He and the Mongolian didn't exactly have the best history.

But it had to be done. Anything to have this nightmare end.

And it would be a good distraction. He continued to grow worried for his friend.

…

Some of the Nations had gone to sleep, others had decided to stay awake, at least for a little longer.

Toris couldn't sleep because she had to babysit Feliks who was on a sugar high. The Pol was hard to deal with on a regular basis, and now with the added sugar, it was even more of a nightmare for the Lithuanian.

Others were still a little scared of going to sleep, the fear of their counterparts enough to discourage them. Others didn't want to sleep unless they had a plan of action.

And others were a little preoccupied with other things, such as the fact that there were two Nations from the other world on their side, one of which was obviously insane.

Sleep would not come easy.

…

Hans was scaling the outside walls of the mansion, looking inside whenever he would pass a window.

He was glad that the Micro Nations tended to be completely overlooked by the Nations, allowing them to sneak around unnoticed. And at the moment, that would be what was necessary.

He looked into another window and almost immediately withdrew. He slowly peeked again.

Nations might overlook Micro Nations, but other Micro Nations didn't.

And he just saw the other Seborga.

Luckily, Seborga was asleep, leaning against a blond that looked suspiciously like Romano. He breathed a sigh of relief, before he noticed that the room seemed to be barricaded. He frowned, and he couldn't help but wonder what would cause them to barricade themselves from their own allies.

…

Marcello and Lovino were once again curled up in the same bed. Feliciano smiled when she saw her fratelli.

She was still a little enraged by their injuries, especially Lovino's. Looking at them, she vowed to herself that she would not back down when she was confronted with Luciano again. She would avenge her brothers, no matter what.

People underestimated the Italy brothers. They forgot that they had the mafia. And they would need something special to survive handling the mafia.

…

Some of the South Americans were asked to watch the American-Canadian border, just in case.

Florencia grew concerned when she noticed that America was prowling the border, but breathed a sigh of relief when she lost sight of him, knowing that he would next be in Diego's range of vision.

Argentina frowned, thinking that America wouldn't leave things alone. He would be enraged, and since the South Americans were on his side of the border… If any of them were discovered, America wouldn't hesitate to attack them.

Thinking about Ecuador, she shuddered at the thought. Emilio still hadn't recovered from the emotional trauma.

Say what you will. America was not just violent, he was cruel. And he knew how to perform mental tortures better than most Europeans.

…

Ludwig looked over towards Basch, who was definitely looking nervous. The German never thought she would see such a look on Switzerland of all people.

Frankly, it was disturbing.

Gilbert, of course, had gone to sleep. It didn't surprise Ludwig in the least, and Vash himself looked as though he wanted to nod off.

Ludwig sighed, looking down at her body. It would still take some getting used to. She would need to ask Gilbert about it.

…

Amin had told the others about what Xiao had said, and everyone was immediately on guard.

Lien found herself sticking closely to Hien. Both Vietnamese women knew that they would need to be dependant of each other.

Kiku, of course, was even more nervous, since there was no denying that Kyo would want to go after her.

She had already escaped the other Japanese twice, and knew that she most likely wouldn't be lucky a third time.

…

Kyo was staring at the mirror. There was no reflection, and from what they had managed to deduce, it meant that her counterpart was in their world.

All that it meant was that Kyo wouldn't be able to see when Kiku was asleep. She had neglected her counterpart twice now, and it was high time that they finally met.

She smirked, thinking about all the things she would do to Kiku. It would be extremely entertaining, and it would be a great stress relief.

Of course, Raj would also be a good way to relieve the lingering stress.

…

Alida listened to what Vlad had said and sighed. It was of concern that something was wrong with Raj's blood. She would need to speak to Mahesh about it.

"Alright then," she sighed. "Could I ask you to keep an eye on what your counterparts are doing? You can ask Anika to speak to me when you find something of importance."

"Of course," Arthur said. "We want Raj back as much as you do."

She nodded her head and walked out of the room, in search of a mirror. She would return to her own world for now. She would need to do her job as leader of the Southern Powers.

…

Fletcher collapsed onto his bed, before his face twisted in slight pain.

The effects of having his parliament building bombed still hurt him, and he would need to take it easy to allow himself to heal.

He still couldn't understand why it happened, and he couldn't understand how or why Roberto, Anika and Jett had the same thing happen to them at the same time. It was freaky.

He yawned, and decided that it could wait until the next morning. For now, he just wanted to sleep.

…

The first piece is just about in our grasp.

We might want to turn our attention to the next.

Which one?

The one that none of them have realised.

He has none to break him down.

Then we would do that personally.

…

Raj stared at the dagger, contemplating what would happen. Finally, he reached out with shaky fingers to grasp the weapon.

The Deathplayer cocked his head to the side, and Raj couldn't help but note the satisfied air that the other seemed to radiate.

He looked down at the dagger, noting that the blade felt warm. Not hot, but warm, almost welcoming, like another person's hand holding his own.

He swallowed nervously, raising the weapon. He couldn't handle the torture they inflicted on him anymore. Physically and mentally, he was completely exhausted.

His hands moved towards his body, and he felt pain like never before, as though his entire body was on fire.

And all he could see was the colour red.

The parts with Raj are the only ones that I could actually properly think of. I had a bit of a problem regarding the other scenes, which is why they are short and with very little happening. But don't worry. Next chapter will have something special.