Thanks to Icefrost12, Mx Akiyata and madders10 for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 82: Nightmarish Aftermath

Marius and Oliver were making their way towards Sigurd's bed when they were affected by another wave of pain.

They didn't scream this time, too exhausted to do so. But the two of them collapsed right next to the bed.

So close, and yet so far away.

…

Farai tentatively knocked on the door. He counted in his head until the door was eventually opened.

He looked into the wide green eyes of Theresa. She looked worried and shaken.

"How's Anika?" he asked. "I thought I heard her scream."

"She's passed out," she said. "Thankfully, it doesn't look like she's turning into a Red."

"At least that's some good news. Um, Sammy and I need your help."

"With what?"

"You know what happened to Jana earlier today?"

He turned to show her his back, and he heard a horrified gasp.

"The same thing happened to the two of us."

…

Alistair and Will were panting, trying to recover from the pain. They didn't register the American that looked as though he was about to have a nervous breakdown. At least, not until he punched the wall with a scream.

"What's up with you?" Alistair asked, holding the side of his head.

"What kind of hero am I?" Alfred asked. "I couldn't even save Artie."

The two British Nations registered what the American was saying and looked around, noticing that their sister was gone.

"What happened?" Will demanded.

"I was coming to check on you guys, specifically Artie," the American started explaining. "I… I froze when I saw her unconscious, and someone was holding her. Someone that looked like what Artie looked like before, only…"

"A Deathplayer," Alistair said. "We're going to need to check on the extremely annoying and twisted England. See if Artie's been turned into a Red yet."

"And see if everyone else is alright," Will added.

"And as for you," Alistair said, looking at Alfred, who flinched, "go to the kitchen and make yourself a cup of tea or something. You look like you need it."

"I need something stronger," Alfred admitted shakily. "But… yeah, I guess tea would be good. I'm just going to check on Mattie first. "I'm not going to fail as his hero."

…

Yared was repeatedly hitting his head against the wall.

He had received a call from Rebecca to tell him that something was happening to Alida. She was screaming in agony, and that was saying something since she hardly ever responded to pain. The same could be said about Ricardo, Bruce and the four Northern Nations in their midst.

"Could you stop that?" Goran asked. "You're giving me a headache."

"We're running out of time," the Ethiopian said, not stopping his actions. "I'm willing to bet that another Red has joined their ranks."

"Well, Ireland's checking on the situation. What with his brother's counterpart being a potential Red and all."

"We're nowhere close to creating that chip, and our enemies are growing stronger."

"We don't know that for a fact yet."

Yared finally stopped in order to give the Slovene a deadpan look.

"Ireland said it felt like magic was being used," Yared said. "Powerful magic. Something that not even his brother could do, and England is one of the strongest users of magic. And try to deny that you wouldn't try to use that chaos to your advantage."

And the Ethiopian resumed repeatedly colliding his head with the wall.

Goran sighed.

"You may be right," he said. "We need to do something fast."

…

Theresa had sought out Yao, and now the Chinese Nation was trying to patch up two wounds that wouldn't stop bleeding long enough for him to do so.

"Did Anika have one of these as well?" Yao asked.

"Yeah," Farai said, wincing a little. "She had one on her ankle. It's one of the reasons why she always wears that anklet. She's enchanted it so that wounds could never reappear there. I guess she always had a feeling."

Yao sighed.

"I wonder if she really sees me as a friend," Yao admitted.

"What?" Sammy asked. "How can you doubt it?"

"Well, she and Mei used to be good friends during the Cold War. Both of them were anti-communist. When Anika was ordered by her boss to become friendlier with me, she and Mei had a strained relationship. And in BRICS… I think she misses that female company."

"That still doesn't explain why she wouldn't consider you as a friend," Farai said.

"Then there's also the fact that she hardly ever calls me by my human name," Yao sighed. "Always 'China'. Even when I insisted she calls me Yao. She'd always smile and call me China again."

The two Africans exchanged a glance before chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Yao asked.

"She never told you?" Farai asked. "It's kind of South African slang to call someone you consider a friend or buddy 'china'."

"What?"

"She's not calling you by your country name," Sammy explained. "She's playing with the South African double meaning. She's calling you friend. When she's drunk and talking about her friends, she always uses the word 'chinas' to talk about them. But she does call you by your human name on occasion, right?"

"Yeah…"

"She's being affectionate towards you," Farai said. "But don't tell her that you know. If she kept quiet about it, then she must consider it an inside joke or something. So don't worry about it. I've heard her talk about you guys as her chinas anyway. So relax about it."

Yao gave a small smile, reassured in his relationship with a friend, and resumed trying to stitch up a spiteful wound.

…

And Pakistan had to email Germany to inform the others about the fact that he was the latest one to be attacked.

…

Michael sighed, lifting his brother so that he was lying on the bed next to Sigurd.

He was concerned because both Oliver and Marius had returned to their male forms. From what he had heard, it meant that their counterparts had been turned into Reds.

He was concerned about that pain. He could vaguely recognise it as a telekinetic pulse, having performed a few experiments with it before. What concerned him was how strong it was and how far of a range it had. If only he could determine the point of origin…

He also wondered if that pulse was what the Deathplayers used to control the Reds. If it was, then they would need to find a way to intercept it. But he was rusty when it came to magic…

He was rusty, but he knew someone that would be better regarding it.

So he left the room, vowing to check on his brother later.

…

Diego helped Ricardo onto the couch. The other had been busy with a vision when the pain came, interrupting the vision and causing the Brazilian to pass out.

Diego would have assumed that it was a result of what they were doing, had he not heard other Nations screaming as well. He knew that there was something else going on.

And when Alida arrived with bloodshot eyes and wild hair, he knew that he was right in his assumption.

"Did he manage to learn anything?" Alida asked.

"I don't know," the Peruvian admitted. "He was busy telling me a legend when this happened."

She nodded.

"We'll have to ask him when he wakes up," Alida said. "I'm going to drink some Disprin. And then I'm going to ask our Northern friend a little question."

"Um, which one?" he asked.

"The one that's bedridden."

…

Tolys was panting slightly, not breaking eye contact with his counterpart, who was watching him intently.

"I want to hear you scream again," Toris remarked, cocking his head to the side.

"Then why don't you do something about it?" Tolys spat.

"I can't. Not yet. I need to wait for the other Whites to become Red. We're halfway there."

Tolys remained silent, though he could feel the horror set in.

Halfway there.

…

"Dammit," Patrick said. "They got Artie."

"I know," Seamus said. "I feel so useless."

"How do you think we feel?" Will asked. "We were in the same room. In the same bed, for crying out loud!"

"When I see those Deathplayers…" Alistair grumbled.

The door opened, and they turned to see a panting Nation.

"Oh, thank goodness," he said. "I was looking everywhere for you."

"Michael?" Seamus asked, recognising his counterpart. He was tense and looked as though he was ready for a fight. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sure you realise that it was a telekinetic pulse," Michael said. "If I could feel it, I'm assuming you could as well."

"Get to the point."

"Your Japan asked us to help create something that would interfere with the Deathplayers' control of the Reds. If they are using magic such as the pulse that we felt, then it's safe to assume that science alone can't stop it. We're going to need to employ magic as well. And unfortunately, I haven't really practiced magic in a few centuries, which is where you come in."

"I hate to break it to you," Patrick said. "But our magic isn't what it used to be. We used nearly all of it to help Artie way back when. We can only do simple spells. Really powerful spells only come along when we're really desperate."

Michael looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Have you ever done a magical transference?" he asked.

The brothers exchanged a glance, and Michael nodded in a sort of confirmation.

"You use it to enhance the magic of another," Michael said. "It can also be used to replenish depleted magic. My guess is you used magic that was too strong and you were never able to recover from it, correct?"

"Get to the point," Alistair said.

"Magical transference works better if the magical signature is similar between the two participants. And since my brothers and I are alternate versions of you, well…"

"Our magical signatures would be similar, if not identical," Seamus finished.

Michael nodded, approaching his counterpart. He held out his hands, palms forward, where green light gathered. Seamus looked at the hands for a moment before he raised his own hands and placed them against his counterpart's.

The two Irishmen were surrounded in the same green light and when it faded Michael slumped forward slightly before Seamus caught him.

"Are you okay?" Seamus asked.

"Yeah," Michael said. "I forgot how draining it could be."

"What about your magic?" Seamus asked.

"It will replenish in a bit. Go on. See if yours improved."

Seamus nodded before he pointed towards the window. He made a pulling motion and the glass shards flew inwards, hovering in the air. Seamus waved his hand around for a while, the glass following the motion, before he pushed back again and the glass returned to the window, leaving no trace of what had just happened.

"I'll say that's a definite 'yes'," Will said.

"I'll talk to my brothers about it," Michael said. "And then you'll help us, right?"

"If it's going to bring Artie back," Alistair said, "then you bet it."

…

Felic looked shaken, and Francois, Alejandro and Gilen picked up on it.

"What is it?" Francois asked, taking a swig of wine before Alejandro took the bottle from her and did the same.

"It was…" Felic whispered.

They looked up when the door opened to reveal a tired South African.

"I'm assuming you felt it too?" she asked.

Felic swallowed nervously.

"It was almost identical," he said. "The pain we just felt is almost exactly like the pain I felt when Feliks became a Red."

"I see," Alida sighed. She then looked towards the Spaniard and Frenchwoman. "You know that we can't get drunk, right?"

"One can only hope," Alejandro said, taking a swig as though trying to prove her point.

Alida only shook her head before she turned to leave the room.

"I don't think your counterpart was taken," Felic said, causing Alida to stop. "If she was, you'd be unconscious by now. But I would still recommend checking on her."

She nodded her head before she continued to leave.

"I think that applies to us as well, ja?" Gilen said.

"Tak," Felic said. "Trust me, you don't want your counterpart to be taken."

"You seem worried about the blond," Francois stated.

"I don't know why, but ever since he was taken, I feel… empty. As though something's missing."

"As Gilbert would say," Gilen said, "that must be an unawesome feeling."

…

Miguel stroked the hair of the Brazilian before placing a kiss on his forehead, like he used to do when Roberto was still just a colony.

They had both felt the pain, but he knew that it was worse for Roberto because of the stress he already had to deal with. The sudden onslaught of pain was too much for him to handle.

Miguel ignored the sweat coating his former colony's head as he took him into his arms, singing a quiet lullaby in Portuguese. He was worried about him, and he hoped that he would be able to protect the precious Nation in his arms.

It was only in times such as these that he felt the old parental concerns.

…

Lars held Jett as the younger cried into his chest.

He had gone to check on the other and had found the Australian terrified and in tears. It was rare to see the usually fearless and reckless Nation like this, and Lars didn't like it.

He also wanted to check on Anika, but Jett needed his immediate attention. It was probably the first time that the Dutchman and the Australian connected like that, and it made Lars feel worse than ever before.

He knew that he had been somewhat negligent towards some of his colonies and others borderline abusive. He had been so focused on the money he could make from them that he didn't even think of them as Nation personifications. Perhaps that was why he wasn't really successful with his colonies.

He hated to admit it, but he was too similar to his counterpart. He had asked James about it, and James had told him that Abel's only colony had been Alida, and he had neglected her, to the point where she was permanently scarred by emotional emptiness. Even abuse had been a better option to them than complete neglect. He had asked about the counterparts of his other former colonies, only to hear that they weren't even considered Dutch. The closest was Indonesia, who was raised by Belgium.

Lars vowed that when this was all over, he would reconnect with all of his old colonies. Even the ones where his presence was only brief. He needed to reconnect with them.

And he wanted to save the ones that were in immediate danger.

…

Alfred watched as the two Canadians hugged each other, clinging together and panting as they both recovered from the pain.

He was unable to save Arthur, but he would be there to save Matthew. He promised himself that.

But seeing the two Canadians like that, he wondered if Matthew would even consider turning to him for help. Why would Matthew, when Matt was right there?

But Alfred was nothing if not stubborn. He would stick by Matthew's side, even if Matt tried to push him away. He would not allow the bad guys to win and take Matthew away for their sinister plans.

…

"Sometimes I envy the Italians," Ludwig sighed.

She had gone to check on Feliciano and her brothers, only to find that the three of them were sound asleep, as though they didn't even hear the screams at all. And judging by the way they were sleeping, they didn't experience whatever it was that the ones that had been screaming had experienced.

Yes, sometimes the German envied Italians.

…

"I really hate them," Gupta huffed.

"Tell me about it," Heracles said, rubbing his ear.

He and Sadiq had been right next to Gupta when she had started screaming, and as a woman, the Egyptian's voice was a lot shriller than it was as a man.

…

After the screaming session, Omar had retreated to one of the bathrooms, where she proceeded to cough up the blood into the sink.

She knew that her vocal chords had been damaged beyond repair because whenever she tried to use them, she would have a coughing fit, and if it was really bad, blood would come out.

And after the amount of screaming she was forced to do, there was a lot of blood.

…

Nicolai held onto the crying Moldovan, the other one hovering nearby, unsure about what to do.

It had taken them a while to realise that Vlad was gone, and Alexandru's fear had gotten the better of him, causing him to burst into tears and leading the Bulgarian to try to comfort him.

Of course, Nicolai was afraid as well, especially considering the pain he had felt was almost similar to the pain he experienced when Dimitri was taken. And with Vlad missing…

He needed to learn more about what was going on.

…

"Regrettable," Kiku sighed.

She had gone to see whether she could talk to Oliver and Marius about what had happened, but the two seemed to be unconscious, along with their Norwegian friend.

She couldn't explain it, but she had the feeling that the three of them would know better than anyone else about what had just transpired, but they would need to wait for them to wake up.

But the fact that Oliver and Marius had reverted to their male forms told the Japanese enough.

…

"We now have three Pawns with the magic touch."

"Not to mention our Rook and Knight."

"This could prove to be advantageous to us, wouldn't you say?"

"Especially now that they are coherent enough to properly use their magic."

"We still have three Pawns, and then we can focus on the other five."

"Though if I am not mistaken, there isn't much work left with them."

"Soon, all White will be Red, and we can move onto taking care of Black."

This entire chapter was written during loadshedding. Thank goodness I charged the battery beforehand, huh?

And yeah, South Africans tend to refer to friends or buddies as 'chinas'. I actually forgot about it because it's become so common for me to hear the reference. But when I realised that it wasn't something common outside of South Africa, I had to do a scene where Yao realised it. I know that the Polandball comics with South Africa use 'chinas' to refer to South Africa's friends.

Disprin is what South Africans refer to as 'Aspirin'. It's a brand name, but you never refer to Aspirin, always Disprin (reminded of that after getting hurt last weekend and one of the people I was with offered me Disprin).

And if anyone's curious about me getting hurt: I was camping with my hostel. It wasn't camping in tents, but kind of like American summer camps where a bunch of us stayed in a small building (wasn't a cabin). Anyway, it was a 'leadership camp' and an opportunity for the seniors to bond (here, seniors in university means anyone that isn't a first year). Anyway, first night on the obstacle course (yes, at night), there was this fireman's slide and I landed a little funny on my ankle. But I've sprained my ankles so many times that I recover rather fast, and the next day I was up and running. Only to have another injury during teamwork exercises. Yeah, while swinging on a rope, my hands slipped and I landed flat on my back. The ground is hard, by the way. It was at least a meter's fall onto my back. Also, the weekend was cold, so it didn't help my back at all.

And the poll winner was Ve, We Totally Fooled You. I'm working on creating a backlog, and in a few weeks I'll start posting.