Thanks to madders10, Mantyke30, AlexFalk, EverythingMath, xionmember14, Miss Akiyata, cherryfeather101 and an anon for reviewing.

In this chapter, the potential Reds are revealed, and there are a few hints as to who the next possible Red can be.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 61: Identifying the Pieces

Once they realise which pieces are in danger, they'll start making plans.

But they don't realise that by trying to protect a single piece, others would be placed in danger.

…

Everyone stared at Fletcher, too shocked to do anything. Fletcher, meanwhile, kept staring at them with the same serial-killer smile on his face.

It was disconcerting, to say the least.

The Deathplayer that looked like New Zealand walked over towards Fletcher. It whispered something into his ear which caused his smile to drop, forcing him to growl. But it wasn't long before the smile appeared once again.

"Kiwi," Jett said, taking a tentative step forwards, "what did they do to you?"

"Don't call me that!" Fletcher snapped, and Jett took a step back again. Fletcher giggled. "You should hear your heartbeats. They're wild. They're just waiting for me to rip them out."

Everyone stared at him in horror.

"New Zealand," Arthur said. "Please, you need to snap out of it."

"No!" Fletcher said.

In the next instant, he gave a screech, like the sound of a bird of prey, and launched himself towards the Nations.

Jett moved forwards, and barely managed to tackle Fletcher to the ground. But that didn't last long, as Fletcher suddenly moved so that he was on the Australian's back, arms around his neck and squeezing him.

"No!" Matthew called out.

A throat was cleared, and Fletcher looked back towards the Deathplayers, loosening his grip on the Australian's neck, and Jett took a few grateful gulps of breath.

"As much as we would enjoy seeing you kill him," the Australia Deathplayer said, "we still need him for the game. But if you would like to go on a little killing spree, I'm sure we can find a nice little village for you."

Fletcher smirked, before he rejoined the Deathplayers.

"Leave him alone!" Anika called out.

The South Africa Deathplayer chuckled, wrapping an arm around Fletcher's shoulders.

"He's no longer White," she said. "He is now stained with Red. Two down, fourteen to go. Buh-bye."

In an instant, the Deathplayers disappeared, and Fletcher along with them, leaving the Nations to stare in horror at the place where their friend used to be.

Where he became a monster.

…

Alida and Bruce had watched the scene through the mirror, with Bruce keeping his phone against his ear.

The two were horrified, and that was putting it mildly.

"I had no idea they could…" Alida whispered.

"Why did they target him?!" Bruce demanded. "Jimmy…"

"Is Greenland still on the line?" Alida asked.

"Yeah. You want to speak to her?"

She nodded, and Bruce gave his phone to her.

"Greenland, I want you to bring New Zealand to my place as soon as you can," she said. "The Deathplayers are planning something, and I don't want anyone to be vulnerable without ample protection."

"Understood," Eva said. "And should I bring Mathias with me?"

"Yes. This affects his world more than ours."

…

When Marius returned, she was a little annoyed to see that she had received a text from Russia. Although her annoyance diminished once she saw what the message entailed.

Of course she would help to hurt Bulgaria. Even before it was revealed that he was a traitor, the Romanian enjoyed inflicting pain on Nicolai. Physically and mentally. It's reached the point where he was utterly terrified of her.

But she felt that normal torture needn't be used in this case. He deserved something… extra. A mental torture unlike anything he had ever suffered before.

She glanced towards the mirror and had an idea.

But in order to do that, she would need a little help from her friends.

…

Ricardo went to check on Mahesh, and was surprised to see him on his feet, even if he was leaning against the wall for support.

Mahesh looked up at Ricardo, and that was the only warning the Brazilian received before the Indian's knees buckled, sending him to the ground. Ricardo reacted fast enough, preventing Mahesh from completely falling to the ground, and it was a good thing, since Mahesh immediately winced in pain.

"Why are you up?" Ricardo asked, moving to better support his friend.

"I was visited by a Deathplayer," Mahesh said, surprising Ricardo. "He looked like me. He said I'm no longer a Nation, and in my current state…"

"What is it?"

"The only ones that can kill me right now are the Deathplayers and Raj," Mahesh said. "It's so easy for them to get in here. And Raj… I keep seeing him doing things he wouldn't do. He told me he was a vegan, but he was murdering his own people and then consuming their flesh."

Ricardo stared at his friend in horror. It was understandable now why he was trying to leave the room. He didn't want to be alone, not while he was so vulnerable.

"You're going to toss me aside, aren't you?" Mahesh suddenly asked, surprising Ricardo.

"Why would we do that?" he asked.

"I'm not a Nation anymore. I'm weak and I'm useless. There's no use for me anymore."

Ricardo was silent for a moment as he helped the Indian towards a couch.

"You were still counted among the North when we started this," Ricardo said. "By allying yourself with us, you gave us hope. You became a Southern Nation because you stood against the Asians and the Europeans. We're not them. We don't value you because of whatever power you had, but because you supported us. When the Northern Nations tried to break us down, you were the one that built us up again. Do you remember the first time we met?"

Mahesh looked at him blankly, and Ricardo decided to elaborate.

"It was this huge meeting all the Nations were forced to attend," Ricardo said. "I think it was late eighteenth, early nineteenth century. I was still under Portugal's control. I was punished for speaking to Alida, after she became a Dutch colony. I had so many bruises, and I was crying. I went looking for Allie, since she was also punished for it, when I found you. And do you remember what you said to me?"

Mahesh shook his head.

"You told me to dry my eyes, unless I want whoever did that to me to have his victory over me. For every tear that falls, I'm crumbling down my own walls. But by drying my eyes, I'm standing tall, and I'm building up my walls, and the day will come when I can no longer be broken."

Mahesh stared at him in surprise, before smiling softly.

"And you remembered that after all these years?" he whispered.

"Of course," Ricardo said. "You were the first older Nation that showed any kindness to me. And you reminded me of something Alida used to say while under Portugal. 'What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We're not dead yet, so that must mean that we're stronger'."

Mahesh chuckled at that.

"Thank you," Mahesh said.

"It's no problem," Ricardo said. "We're friends, after all."

…

Sigurd sighed, listening to Tobias making plans to attack Gabriel.

She agreed, of course. Gabriel needed discipline. She just didn't know why the Dane wanted to tell her everything he wanted to do.

There was a knock on the door, and Tobias stopped, staring at it in suspicion.

Sigurd, on the other hand, smiled brightly and skipped over towards the door, opening it to reveal Marius.

"Mari!" Sigurd said, throwing her arms around the Romanian's neck. She then whispered into Marius's ear. "Save me, before I die from boredom."

"I think I can do that," Marius whispered back. "I have a little something to do. But I need you and Oliver to help me."

Sigurd pulled back, beaming at her Romanian friend.

"Of course," Sigurd said. "Let's go find Ollie."

The Norwegian didn't even care that she left a fuming Dane behind.

…

Vlad slowly walked towards the kitchen, staying close to the wall.

Marius drank too much, and while she didn't pass out, she wasn't far from it. She needed to get something in her stomach, if only to chase away the inevitable unconsciousness.

She leaned against the wall as a wave of dizziness rolled over her.

She knew that Marius was probably laughing and enjoying the show. She would have asked someone nearby to help her, but there was something else going on in another part of the mansion that had most of the other Nations distracted.

…

"How could this have happened?" Arthur whispered, having fallen to her knees, her eyes wide.

Each of the members of the former British Empire was in shock. They couldn't believe that something like that had happened to one of their own.

"They said 'two down'," Anika said. "What did they mean?"

Arthur stared at her, before her eyes widened in realisation.

"You may wish to speak to your counterpart," Arthur said. "We need to find out if they managed to save Raj, or at least know what's going on with him."

…

The Southern Powers were all gathered in the room where Mahesh was staying in. Mahesh was lying on the couch, while the others were scattered around the room.

"We need to figure out who's next," Bruce said. "After what happened to Jimmy…"

"I agree," Mahesh said. "Trust me. Whatever is done to our counterparts, it has an effect on us. And believe me, it's not fun."

"Do you have any idea what exactly they did?" Alida asked.

"I could feel Raj's despair. They broke him down, or at least allowed him to be broken down. And then they gave him a dagger to stab himself with. But I don't think it was an ordinary dagger."

"It wasn't," Ricardo said. "In one of my visions, I saw a dagger. I could feel evil coming from it, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I was a little distracted by everything else."

"Did you see Raj and Fletcher in the visions?" Alida asked.

"Since the first."

"Is it possible that the other Nations you saw are the next targets?"

"Yeah."

"So," Bruce said, "who else did you see?"

"The three of us," Ricardo said. "I also saw Canada, Bulgaria, Moldova, England, France, Romania, Norway, Prussia, Spain, Poland and Lithuania."

"Enough Nations to fill a chess board," Alida muttered. "We need to make sure they're each protected."

"Yes," Mahesh said. "I wouldn't wish this fate upon my worst enemy. But you also can't alert the North to your vulnerability."

"Agreed," Ricardo said. "We need to get someone to protect each of them."

"The two Bulgarias are together," Alida said. "Then they also have the other Russia with them. And the other Romania is supposed to be with them as well."

"The other Norway is with Iceland," Mahesh said. "Then the other Finland and Sweden are with them."

"What about the Nations from our world?" Bruce asked.

"They seem to be targeting those from the other world," Ricardo said. "Anything that happens to us is because of what happens to them."

"So protecting them is our first priority," Alida said.

"We should ask Ferdinand about it," Ricardo said. "He seems to be well aware of what is happening."

"Good idea," Mahesh said. "And we should ask Tibet to assist as well."

"Is anyone else a little suspicious about the Nations we're supposed to be trusting with this?" Bruce asked.

…

Anika was watching through the mirror, and she could feel a cold hand twisting itself around her heart.

She was one of the possible targets. And of course, the fact that there was a Deathplayer that looked like her should have been enough of a clue.

Deathplayers assume the form of the ones they were playing with, and they tended to play until their toys had died.

…

Oliver was outside, simply enjoying the fresh air.

The rain had died out a long time ago, but she couldn't help but think that there was something unnatural about the rainstorm. It was almost like the Superstorm that had hit Europe in the seventeenth century.

"Ollie!" Sigurd's voice called out, and Oliver turned her head.

She smiled when she saw her two friends approaching, and when she saw the spark in the Romanian's eyes, she knew that the other had a plan.

"Ooh," Oliver said, as soon as the other two were close enough, "what are we going to do?"

"We're going to punish Bulgaria," Marius said. "In as cruel a way as I could think of."

"Sounds fun. So, what's the plan?"

Marius explained her plan to the other two, and they both giggled in excitement.

"It's going to be tricky," Oliver said, "but tricky is fun."

"I wonder if we could do the same to other Nations," Sigurd said.

"Let's focus on Bulgaria first, and we'll see how it goes," Marius said. "As it is, we'll need to get out of here. This location isn't ideal for the spell that we need to use."

"Where are we going then?" Oliver asked.

"To my place," Marius said. "I even had a tunnel built under my house that connects me to Bulgaria's."

The other two chuckled darkly, imagining what would happen.

…

Nicolai shuddered. For some reason, he had a strange feeling that something bad was going to happen.

…

"I see," Andrei said, speaking into the phone. "I understand fully. Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to him."

He hung up, and went to find Alexandru.

South Africa had called him, telling him that there was a possibility that his counterpart was in danger. And there was no way that he would allow that to happen.

…

Viktor stared at the screen of his phone, before he put it away.

"Romania said to go to his home," he said.

"So, he has a plan?" Irina asked.

"It would seem so. Come. We shouldn't keep him waiting, if that's the case."

…

"We're back," Seamus announced, carrying a crate full of bottles.

Patrick followed him in, and that was around the time when Arthur and Alistair reached them.

"Great," Patrick said. "You can help us…"

Alistair reached into the crate Patrick was carrying, taking out two bottles. He gave one of them to Arthur, and opened the other one.

"You could have waited," Seamus said.

"Talk to France," Alistair said, and he and Arthur disappeared back where they came from.

The two Irish bothers exchanged a look, and they could both feel the immense terror.

Something had happened, and it was enough for Arthur and Alistair to search for comfort in the bottle.

They then saw Jett and Anika coming along, but before they could ask, they also took two bottles and disappeared.

The two exchanged another glance.

Something had definitely happened.

…

Luciano glared at the three Nations in pure anger.

Marius had told her that they intended to leave for her home, where they would help Russia with punishing Bulgaria. Luciano didn't want to let them go, since the magic trio were still very useful to her.

"And why should I allow that?" she asked.

"Because we're going to punish a traitor," Marius said calmly. "Also, while we're there, I'm going to see if I have anything in my library to undo this."

To prove her point, she gestured to their bodies, and Luciano grumbled, acknowledging that she would really like to be male again.

"Alright," she said. "On the condition that you turn us into men again."

"Of course," all three of them said.

…

'Humans are so predictable.'

Allen watched as the humans that had been patrolling the border noticed the unconscious Argentinian, and as expected, they went over to investigate.

Allen smirked, using the opportunity to sneak past the Canadians.

He had another Canadian to deal with first.

…

Gupta nodded her head, frowning.

Sadiq had warned her about what his counterpart had said, and she would make sure to keep her eye out for anything that could happen.

Of course, her main concern at the moment was the sound of screaming that they had all heard. She couldn't help but feel that danger was closer than expected.

…

"Oh yeah," Marius said, as the three of them walked through Luciano's front door, on their way to Marius's castle, "I took the chance to sample Vlad's blood as well. Somehow, it became sweeter."

"I wonder how Lukas tastes now," Sigurd said, frowning thoughtfully.

"We'll just have to try ourselves sometime," Oliver said.

…

Alida stared at the map, sighing in frustration.

She was hoping to have another Superstorm, but with everything that had happened, she was distracted, and the storm died down.

Oh well. They had more important things to worry about than the North. They'll get there eventually.

…

The South African trio were in a foul mood, and that was obvious for anyone to see.

Since the three looked an awful lot alike, the Deathplayer that assumed Anika's form might as well have assumed Jana and Theresa's forms as well. None of those three were in the habit of wearing dresses, especially ones that were so revealing.

In short, they did not like the Deathplayer's choice in attire, and they especially didn't like the male Nations' reactions upon seeing the Deathplayer in that dress.

Arthur, on the other hand, was a little put out by the fact that there was a Deathplayer that resembled her male version, and it only served to sadden her. She actually started to miss her old body.

And Jett was horrified when he saw the Deathplayer that looked like him and Fletcher. If Fletcher was affected by the Deathplayers, did that mean he was next?

…

Ferdinand smiled, giving the brush one final stroke.

It was a painting that revealed each of the pieces. Six of the White pieces were wrapped in a protective embrace by their Black counterparts, while the other eight pieces were crossing swords with their Black counterparts. Then two Black pieces were on their knees, with their Red counterparts looming over them.

And at the top were shadowy figures, and if one looked closely, they would see strings descending towards the White pieces, while the Red were already connected to the strings.