Disclaimer: No matter how long we go on hiatus, we'll never own Hetalia.
Warnings for chapter 7: Language
Taiwan's POV:
"Tai?" Russia strode into the clearing, looking for me. I watched as he froze, settling his eyes on his long-time friend.
"Latvia."
"Hey, Russia." His voice had a confident air about it, unlike the boy he had known before the battle had started. That's not like him… I thought, worried. Russia seemed to notice as well. He glanced at me, communicating through his expression: Move, and do it quickly.
"Aw, Russia. Guess that means I don't get to play with you." He grabbed my wrist with one gloved hand, sighing as though settling for his second favorite food for dinner.
"I guess she'll have to do." He grinned maniacally and turned to look at me.
"That's a big mistake, da…?" Russia said cheerily, though I was able to sense the tension lying under his words. He brought his pipe down, but the smaller nation was already out of the way and moving.
"Let go!" I yelled, biting down on his arm.
"That won't work on me anymore, sweetheart." Latvia taunted, moving quickly through the trees despite my weight. With my free arm, I twisted to grab my staff only to find it was missing. Shit, I must have dropped it… My thoughts were interrupted as my feet found themselves on the ground once again. Surprised, I fell to my knees.
"Taiwan. How pleasant of you to drop by." I looked up instantly, locking my brown eyes with my brother's red.
China's POV:
I was chained to a tree. No, scratch that. Chains didn't even begin to describe the thick, apparently unbreakable, steel rope binding me to the stiff tree trunk. Not to mention the extra wire around my wrists that I couldn't seem to snap. Where the hell had they gotten this equipment?
"Good morning, China." America said cheerily as he passed. That was funny. I was on a completely different side of the war. I was a captive and practically welded to a tree, and they still treated me as though I was their old friend.
I stopped Britain as he started by me.
"So are you going to kill me? Because if you're looking for a ransom, you're asking the wrong side." I tried to keep my voice even as I spoke. He chuckled.
"Not quite." He replied as he walked away.
"Morons." I muttered under my breath. Either they were extremely indecisive, or extremely stupid. Probably both. I shook my head, once again turning my attention to the metal cord. This stuff just would not break, no matter how hard I pulled or twisted.
"Having fun with those?" Britain asked, returning to the tree where I was being held. I growled and looked up, but didn't reply. He filled the silence for me.
"So, I've come up with a plan and I thought it'd only be fair to include you, since, well. You'd be the guinea pig." He explained. I only glared in response.
"So." He turned to address the other Allies, back facing me. "I've noticed that China's eyes seem to change when she is distracted or in deep thought. I'd like to try working off of that."
"You wanna do what now?" America asked, ever oblivious. Britain sighed.
"I'm going to hypnotize her." He replied slowly.
"You're doing what to me?" I asked, voice cracking as I tried to focus on his words.
"I'm going to -"
"DON'T SAY IT AGAIN!" I screamed, panic overtaking me. I struggled even harder against the metal bonds. "HELL NO!" Britain slapped a hand over my jaw.
"Any questions?" He asked, struggling to hold my jaw shut.
After some time had passed, Peter finally stood. Prussia edged towards him, a bit nervous. "You alright?"
"I'm fine." There was a hardened tone to Sealand's voice that made the Prussian step back. The younger boy walked forward with measured steps to pick up the two pistols from where he had dropped them, only sparing a single glance at Germany's corpse.
"Let's go." Prussia and Finland followed after the boy, exchanging glances that showed how wary they were of what he would do. After a few moments, Prussia fell back to trail after the others, risking several stares back to where they had come from. He didn't show any emotion past the stray flashes of sorrow in his eyes.
Time Skip
The trio arrived at the Allied camp a short while later. Finland immediately joined Sweden and Iceland, explaining in hushed tones what had happened. With his eyes, Sweden invited his son into their group, but he was ignored.
Otherwise, their arrival was unnoticed. Estonia, Hungary, and Austria spoke around a fire regarding some sort of rescue plan. Meanwhile, America, Britain, and Russia were circled around a tree, speaking to each other. Prussia could only assume they had a captive, but where were France and China?
"Hey you guys…" A quiet voice said. Prussia spun around. Who was that…? Canadia…? Candia…?
"It's me, Canada." The albino nodded in understanding, a bit ashamed he had to be reminded of the nation's name. Sealand started off to speak with his brother.
"Say, Canada…"
"Hm?"
"Where's France? And China?" A strange look crossed the Canadian's face.
"W-Well, France turned dark. We ran out of medicine and – and he volunteered." Prussia sighed.
"I see… And China? The same?"
"China… She's actually – " Sealand's yell interrupted them, a sudden outburst after he saw who exactly was tied to the tree.
"SHUT UP!"
Sealand's POV:
I fired the gun in my hand, ignorant of the steady click, click of the empty magazine.
"Good job, idiot. Your weapon's empty." I stared at China, who was tied to the tree, and suddenly words came to my lips. "Shut up! This is your fault too!" The woman scoffed.
"What's my fault? That your uncle's dead?" She gestured to my parents to show how she'd heard. My hands started shaking of their own accord. "You're barking up the wrong tree. I've been here for three days." A smile lit her face, her eyes seeming even redder than before.
"But I'm sure I missed a great show. Did Germany shoot him? Slit his throat? Did Denmark beg for mercy? Do fill me in." I could not longer hear the older nation over the blood pounding in my ears.
"Stop it." I said the words quietly, as menacingly as I could. The three Allies stepped away from my imminent anger, but China didn't stop smiling.
"Would killing me make you feel like an actual nation? It really doesn't matter. Go ahead and do it."
"Stop it." I repeated, louder. She immediately retorted, "Why should I?" Infuriated, I brought the butt of the gun around, slamming it into her cheek. It made a loud crack as it made contact. I'd broken her jaw, but she continued. "You can't, can you?" A tiny bit of blood dripped from between her lips.
"You're just like the rest. Spineless. Terrified. Weak." I drew a knife, finally ready to swing it into the country's chest. I'd had enough.
Taiwan's POV:
I awoke in the Axis camp, my brother sitting next to me. Where was everyone else? I could hardly remember the previous night. A yawn came from Japan, accompanied by a quiet word.
"Finally." He lifted a mirror to my face and my heart broke as I looked into it.
"Welcome to the team, imouto." He said, cutting the bonds holding my wrists together. I stared at my blood-eyed reflection in the mirror, wanting desperately to cry. Wait… My eyes were red, but I wasn't evil, was I…?
My mind searched for an explanation, quickly finding one. The Italies must still have the medicine… If I could sell an evil act for long enough, I could steal it back from them. Hopefully.
"It's about time." I said, forcing as much darkness into my smile as I could. Spain walked into camp at that point, Italy and Romano trailing after him.
"Ah, Tai. I see you've finally joined us. Shame about your eyes though. Brown is such a pretty color for you." Italy spoke quickly, his voice still terrifyingly natural. He held my chin with two fingers to inspect my eyes. I replied easily.
"Brown is such a terrible color. I like red more… What do you think, brother?" I mentally winced. What was I doing, disagreeing with Italy? I relaxed slightly as Japan nodded.
"Hai, I think it fits your complexion nicely."
"I'll say." Spain said cheerily, starting towards us. Japan straightened, glaring at the Spaniard. The two Italies followed suit, standing between the two of us.
"Don't even think about it." The two redheads said in unison. Seemed as though they didn't trust him…
"Ah, Spain, at it again I see." France laughed, stepping into the camp with a body slung over his shoulder. He dropped it carelessly, drawing a gasp from Italy.
"Germany?" Some sense of the Italian's old voice returned as he spoke. "Those bastards…" Romano held an arm in front of his brother, holding him back.
"It was Sealand and Prussia – but mostly the former." France clarified.
"How would you know…?" Italy asked slowly, glaring at the blond. Tears were forming in the corners of his eyes.
"I watched."
A gunshot rang out and France crumpled to the ground, dead. I barely held myself back as blood pooled around him.
"And you didn't help." Italy growled, his persona completely dark once again. I only allowed one tear to slip down my cheek, unnoticed by all the nations around me.