Thanks to Mx Akiyata, yeet333, cherryfeather101, madders10 and Mantyke30 for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 87: Sleepover
Miguel continued to stroke Roberto's hair, waiting for the Brazilian to wake up. He wanted to know what he had seen, and he wanted to know how he could help him recover from whatever horror he had been exposed to.
Angela, Kan and Theresa were hovering nearby, and each of them had a plate of food in front of them. The others had all gone to the dining room for dinner, leaving the five Portuguese-speaking Nations behind. The others were in shouting distance, and they just had to hope that the Deathplayers wouldn't take the opportunity presented to them.
"What do you think he saw?" Angela asked. The Angolan was worrying her lower lip, looking at her former coloniser.
"Something that scared him," Miguel said. "His visions act as a window to another world. And whatever he saw through the window terrified him."
"How can you know that?" Kan asked.
"I've seen what he's like after a vision that's horrible, and a vision that horrifies him. There's a difference. A reaction like this is most likely a combination of the two."
"How can you tell the difference between something that's horrible and that horrifies him?" Theresa asked.
"He classifies a horrible vision as seeing death. A horrifying vision is when he sees someone he cares about getting hurt, or worse. When it's a horrible vision, he becomes pale and he shakes afterwards. When he's having a horrifying vision he usually starts to cry and he's shaking during the vision. This time it was both. The vision itself was horrible and it scared him."
"You're not really making sense," Kan said.
"Alright, let me rephrase that. A horrible vision is something that anyone would deem horrible. A horrifying vision affects him personally. So he saw something truly horrible happening to someone that he cared about."
"I wouldn't say it's someone," Theresa said. "I think this applies to many, given the reaction."
"You're right," Miguel sighed. "Is there a way to get in contact with the other Brazil? Maybe he knows what Roberto saw."
"I could ask Chio," Kan said.
"You do that then," Miguel said. "We need to know what Roberto saw, and what we can do to stop it from coming true."
…
Ricardo was lying down in a bed, a bottle of painkillers next to him. He was stuck with a horrible headache.
Whatever Roberto had seen, it had crossed over the barrier between the two worlds, and it was bad enough to affect Ricardo as well.
He wondered if he could see what his counterpart saw, but that would have to wait until his headache had faded. There was no way he would be able to see anything in his current state.
"Are you…?"
"Shh!" he hushed the Angolan that came to check up on him. "Not so loud."
There was silence for a moment.
"I'll take that as a 'no' then," she muttered, walking away.
…
The other Nations were at the dining room table, discussing current events, and also raising a subject that caused a ripple of unease for everyone.
Sleeping arrangements.
"We can't allow the future Reds to be alone," Ludwig said. "And as we recently saw, having one or two people sharing a room with them isn't going to keep the Deathplayers away."
"It's bad enough that everyone's babysitting us when we're awake," Jett said. "Now when we're asleep."
"Would you rather have the Deathplayers win?" Elizabeta asked.
Jett huffed, but didn't answer.
"How about we have a sleepover?" Mei asked. "Girls can go to one of the living rooms, boys to another. Then we'll have more people in one room."
"That might work," Ludwig said. "And we can have people on guard duty."
"Aw, that's no fun," Feliciano whined.
"Um, I have a question," Kiku said, her face red.
"Ja, what is it?" Ludwig asked.
"Those of us that were turned into women… where should we go?"
Ludwig looked a little taken aback, but there was a red tint on her own cheeks.
"With the girls, of course," Feliciano said. "We're girls now, so there's nothing wrong with it. And I don't think we can go with the boys."
"I agree with Feliciano," Lovino huffed. "I didn't like my fratello sleeping with other guys, and I'm sure as hell not letting my sorella sleep with the bastards here."
"Si," Marcello said. "Somehow, that idea just seems… wrong."
"Alright, fine," Ludwig said. "We're with the women then."
Some of the Nations snickered at the embarrassed German, Japanese and Egyptians. While the Italian wasn't bothered at all.
…
Kyo's eyes widened. She had continued to keep an eye on everything that was happening on the other side. It was hard not to, considering she couldn't look into a mirror without seeing Kiku.
But hearing that she would be seeing a sleepover with girls…
If she was still male, she would have been in heaven. Not that the female part of her had a problem with it.
…
"This is going to be hell," Natalya muttered.
"Oh come on," Katyusha said, throwing her arm around the other's shoulder. "It'll be fun."
The women had brought mattresses, pillows and blankets to one of the living rooms. Apparently, the men had done the same in another living room.
Standing off to the side were Kiku, Ludwig, Gupta and Omar, looking uneasy as they saw the women preparing the room. None of them seemed particularly happy with the current arrangement.
Anika wandered over, a teasing smile on her face.
"You look a little uncomfortable," she said.
"Ja," Ludwig said. "This is…"
"New territory," Kiku added.
"It's just a Christmas bed," Anika said. "Shouldn't be a problem."
"What does this have to do with Christmas?"
"It's a custom in my country. Originally for Christmas, but it has extended to other things as well. Basically, all the mattresses will be packed together and we'll all be sleeping next to each other."
"…Wait, is this your idea?" Gupta asked.
"Ja. Sometimes we female Nations would have a sleepover like this whenever we had meetings. Makes it easier than searching for a hotel room."
"So," Ludwig said, "everyone will be sleeping with everyone?"
Anika laughed at their faces.
"Your bodies might be female," Anika said, "but your minds are still male. And I'm not sure how you're reacting. This is either messing with your conservative natures or making your inner perverts very happy."
"I really hate those Deathplayers," Gupta muttered.
"Maybe we should reconsider our female bodies?" Kiku muttered.
They looked towards Eva, whose phone started to ring. She glared at it for a moment before answering. She looked over towards Kiku before approaching the Japanese.
"It's your counterpart," she said with a hint of disgust.
Kiku frowned before taking the phone.
"Hello?" she said.
"Whatever you do, stay with those women!" Kyo said from the other side.
"What? But…"
"But nothing! Female Nations are hot, but you can't afford to be a pervert here because they'll most likely kill you. I'm begging you, please stay there. Do me this favour, and I'll do you one in return."
Kiku stared blankly in front of her before sighing, handing the phone back to Eva.
"It would seem that Kyo is rather perverted," she said.
"If that's the case," Anika said, turning to regard the women that had paused to listen to the situation, "how about we give them a little show?"
Several of the women smirked, and Ludwig groaned.
"We're in for a long night, aren't we?" she asked.
…
Lutz was keeping an eye on the events of the other world as well, and her face was red when she heard what was going on.
But on the other hand, she was not moving. This would be entertainment in its finest form.
…
The men had to stay in two different living rooms, since they outnumbered the women by far. Matt and Jett would be staying in one room while Roberto and Alexandru would be in another.
Miguel watched as they prepared the beds and sighed, looking down at the still-unconscious Brazilian. It worried him that the other had had a vision that caused such a reaction, and even more that he hadn't woken up yet.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Lovino looking at him with a scowl, but his eyes were worried.
"You okay, bastard?" Lovino asked.
"It's not me you should be asking," Miguel said, looking down at his former colony.
"You'll need to let him rest to recover from whatever it is he saw," Lovino said. "And personally, I think he needs it."
"But what if he's still seeing it?" Miguel asked. "What if this nightmare of his is still ongoing?"
"There's nothing you can do for him right now," Lovino said. "So let him sleep and wake up on his own. And you should get some sleep too."
Miguel chuckled.
"It's still too early for me to get some sleep," he pointed out.
"It's never too early. Besides, aren't you one of the magic Nations? We'll need that in case of an emergency, and if you're too tired because you kept worrying about him, I'm going to kick your ass."
Miguel chuckled, but what Lovino said caught his attention. He could use his magic to get Roberto out of that. While he could usually only access the realm of spirits, it could prove useful in this case.
…
Roberto swallowed nervously, looking at the figures in front of him. Their appearances were familiar, though the colour schemes were way off. They weren't Nations from either world, nor were they Deathplayers.
The one that resembled him had tanned skin and black hair. His eyes were hazel. He wore a red long-sleeved shirt with loose red pants. He also had red armour on his right shoulder, and his boots appeared to be made of the same armour.
The one that resembled Raj had long black hair tied in a braid and amber eyes. He wore the same thing as the one that looked like him, except his shoulder armour was on the left shoulder.
The one that looked like Jett had golden blond hair and green eyes. He wore a red shirt with a red jacket and red pants with red combat boots. He also had red fingerless gloves.
The one that resembled Fletcher wore the same outfit as Jett's lookalike, and he had black hair with green eyes.
The Alexandru-lookalike had blond hair and violet eyes, and he wore what appeared to be a robe in red.
The Dimitri-lookalike wore the same as Alexandru's lookalike, and he had green eyes with blond hair.
The Matthew-lookalike wore a red shirt with red pants and red boots, and he also had a red cape draped over his shoulders. His black hair was tied in a low ponytail, and he had violet eyes without glasses.
The Anika-lookalike wore a red corset dress with a low neckline. Her hair was blond and her eyes were blue, and her skin was deathly pale.
The eight others wore the same red shirts with pants and boots. They each also had red gloves. The one that looked like Arthur had red hair and green eyes. The one that resembled Francis had black hair and grey eyes. The one that looked like Antonio had auburn hair with green eyes. The one that looked like Vlad had black hair tied in a ponytail with golden eyes. The one that looked like Lukas had white hair and brown eyes. The one that resembled Feliks had blond hair and blue eyes. And the one that looked like Toris had dark brown hair with lavender eyes.
Roberto had seen these figures emerge from the chess pieces that had destroyed the others. The dark red pieces. These were the end results of when three that had become four became three, two and one.
These were what the Deathplayers final play would look like.
…
Ludwig, Kiku, Gupta and Omar stood to the side, wearing oversized shirts and faces red. Feliciano was laughing, playing some sort of game with some of the other women.
"Someone kill me," Ludwig muttered.
"You know they're doing this on purpose?" Gupta asked.
"Hai," Kiku said. "Who would have thought that the women could be this… evil when they wanted to?"
"Anika was right," Gupta sighed. "We still have the minds of men. And those minds are put in an awkward position."
Omar grabbed her counterpart's sleeve and pointed towards Feliciano, as though saying that she didn't seem to have a problem with the situation.
"Feliciano is Italian," Ludwig sighed. "And besides, Hungary told me that Austria didn't realise that Feliciano was a boy until he hit puberty. Up until that point he was treated as a girl and dressed as a girl."
Omar snickered at that information.
Gupta swayed for a moment, before grabbing onto Omar's shoulder. The other three were immediately concerned.
"What's wrong?" Ludwig asked.
"Port Said is under attack," Gupta explained. "I'll be fine. I just need to… lie down for a bit."
Omar frowned, before looking around. She pointed to one of the couches, and Ludwig nodded. They guided Gupta to the couch, and some of the other women noticed that something had happened.
"What's wrong?" Michelle asked, looking worriedly towards the Egyptian.
"Port Said is under attack," Kiku explained. "Should we get you something else, Egypt-san?"
"No, I'll be alright," Gupta said. "I just need some rest."
Michelle nodded in understanding, having had an attack recently as well. She turned to the other women and smiled sadly, before returning to her previous group.
The women ended their game, instead deciding that it would be better to sleep at the moment.
"So," Ludwig said, "who's going to have first watch?"
"Depends on how many there should be on watch," Elizabeta said. "And for how long we should keep watch."
"How about two at a time?" Ludwig asked. "And the watch could be two hours at a time."
"Alright then. I'll take first watch. Who's with me?"
"I suppose I will join you," Bella said, looking towards Anika.
"Then I guess I'll…" Anika started.
"Nein," Ludwig said. "You're marked as one of the Reds. There's no way you'll be keeping watch. We don't want to take any chances."
Anika sulked, not happy with the reminder.
They continued to arrange who would keep watch and when. Afterwards, those that wanted to sleep went to bed, while those that wanted to stay up a little longer did so.
…
Luciano watched the scene occasionally, but wasn't as interested as Kyo or Lutz. She was amazed by how Feliciano seemed to feel so comfortable among the women, and even being a woman. Now that she thought about it, Feliciano's brothers were also comfortable among the women. Unlike…
Luciano sighed. Francesco was still rather afraid of women, and couldn't even be in the same room as her for too long. Luciano was actually a little hurt by that. Between her two brothers, the Micro Nation was the one that annoyed her the least, and he could be decent company. But now…
Luciano wouldn't admit that she missed spending time with her younger brother. All because she was a woman now.
That's probably the part that she hated the most.
Luciano shook her head before leaving the mirror's side. She knew how desperate things had gotten on the other side, and figured that she would be called soon enough to help, as they agreed.
But she would probably need to speak to a certain Nation first.
…
Francesco saw as Luciano walked away, and he sighed. He missed spending time with Luciano, but he just couldn't get over his nervousness around women. He thought that it would be different after his brother had been turned into his sister, but that was not the case. He couldn't even be in the same room as Luciano for long.
He had tried to ask Marcello for help, but advice could only get you so far. And Luciano might not be the best to practice on.
He swallowed nervously, before making a decision. He wanted to conquer his fear, if only so that he could spend some time with Luciano again. His older brother – now sister – that would always protect him.
And there was only one way that he could think of to do that.
…
Miguel was about to use his magic to get Roberto out of whatever nightmare he was having when the Brazilian opened his eyes.
Miguel's own eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, since several other Nations had already gone to sleep. Instead, he helped the Brazilian sit up and sat down next to him, throwing his arm around his shoulders and rubbing soothing circles on the other's arm.
"Filho, are you alright?" Miguel asked.
Roberto swallowed before slowly shaking his head, not even looking at the Portuguese male.
"What did you see?" Miguel asked.
"They plan to kill everyone," Roberto whispered. "With the Reds, they're going to make sure that we wouldn't be able to return to who we once were, and they'll… The Deathplayers are planning to merge with us as well. There'd be no way for us to snap out of it. No way for us to fight it. And then…" Roberto took a shaky breath, before he turned to look at Miguel. "They're going to make us kill you."
Miguel looked sadly towards his former colony, before wrapping him in a hug, pulling him closer. He rubbed Roberto's back as the other started to cry, and he sighed.
"We'll find a way to stop this," Miguel said. "I won't let you be taken."
Miguel felt Roberto grasp onto his shirt, and he worriedly glanced towards the other.
"They showed me that a knight piece will kill you," Roberto whispered. "That means it's either me or Raj, and I have a feeling that it's not going to be him. I don't want to. I don't want any of it. Por favor, não me faça. I don't want it."
Miguel said nothing. He just held tighter to his former colony. He was slightly happy to hear that Roberto didn't want to hurt him, but he also knew that the other feared that it was inevitable.
And that scared Miguel as well.
Okay, so when I looked up 'Christmas bed' on google, in order to get my facts straight, the only relative information I could find was a blog describing it as a South African tradition. Like, okay then. And here I thought it was widely known. At the very least the name should be a South African term. Basically, a Christmas bed is kind of what they did in HetaOni when there weren't enough beds for everyone. You put a bunch of mattresses together, share blankets, and everyone sleeps next to everyone. And if not mattresses, then you have a few layers of blankets as substitute. It's common over here to do it at sleepovers, especially if you don't have enough furniture to accommodate everyone. And with sleepovers everyone usually brings their own pillow and blanket. It's especially popular on cold nights where everyone shares blankets and body heat.
As for Ludwig, Kiku, Gupta and Omar: while they've gotten used to being women, seeing the female Nations like this is new territory to them, and their minds are still male. It's simply because people tend to act differently depending on the genders of different people surrounding them. I mean, some conversations you can have with women that you can't have with men, and vice versa. It's a subconscious thing. But the majority of the women have gotten used to seeing them as women, so they're not on their guard as they would be if they were still men. And for those Nations, they're seeing the women differently, and they're either withdrawn or secretly perverted (actually, I think it's a combination in Kiku and Ludwig's cases). And while Omar had grown used to seeing Anika, Jana and Theresa in pyjamas due to keeping a constant vigil, the other women are a different story. And keep in mind that they're also seeing the women in pyjamas for the first time without there being some sort of problem. And Feliciano isn't bothered at all, not seeing a problem at all. And a chance to show Lutz and Kyo's perverted sides.
And with Francesco – I actually like the Micro Nations, especially Seborga, and I feel they don't get enough screen time. And Francesco, in my opinion, is adorable with his nervousness regarding women. So he'll be getting some attention as well.
And ever heard of double-sided luck? As in, something bad happens at a pretty convenient time? For example, I sprained my ankle really bad a few days before athletics would begin and everyone had to try out for everything (sports and I are not good friends), and unless you suffered from some sort of injury or medical condition, you had no excuse. The latest is my tailbone deciding to hurt like hell, possibly from a fall I had a few weeks ago and it only flared up now. I had to return to my hometown a day earlier than planned. And it was convenient, because in my university's town there are violent protests happening, so much so that the university sent messages to the students telling them not to go to certain roads, since they will throw rocks, and apparently they've even torn the railings from one of the bridges. Yeah, convenient timing for my tailbone to be in pain.
And speaking of the tailbone: This chapter is a little late because I couldn't finish writing it during the week due to me being unable to sit or even lie on my back (I have a netbook which is small enough to rest on my chest/stomach as I write). And the quality of the last thousand words or so is also a little down because of the sheer amount of painkillers I had to ingest the last few days. So sorry about that.