Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 17

Henri cocked his head. He knew that Bella and Lars had found those three again. He was amazed that they had managed to reach the other side of the city. Things had changed again, and he could stop this farce.

For now, they were only standing there, watching him. Dylan had pulled another book closer and was trying to find more information. Henri knew that he wouldn't be able to find the most important piece of information, since no one other than Nemthys's followers knew that, and they were cursed to never reveal that information if there was even the slightest chance that the person that heard this information could escape.

Henri knew that Bella had told Mathias that information. The one thing that could have helped the three in their quest, but there was no way for them to get this information. This was what Henri and his siblings excelled in: despair.

Of course, they didn't do it purely out of malice. The three siblings fed on the despair of their victims, augmenting their magic. Everyone had their own method of augmenting their power. And if it could help them in their tasks for the master, then it was even better.

Without meaning to, Henri started to chuckle. All eyes turned to him, and he repressed the chuckle, though he still maintained a grin.

"What's so funny?" Alistair asked.

"You're too late," Henri said. "Mathias is already dead, and Lukas has already found his corpse. Bella left it as a little gift for him."

"No…" Emil whispered.

"You're lying," Berwald growled, stalking closer as though he could intimidate Henri.

"Why don't you ask Patty or Artie?" Henri asked, looking towards Alistair. "You use the same magic to keep in touch with each other that my siblings and I use. Either one of them can tell you that what I'm saying is the truth."

Alistair narrowed his eyes, before widening them again.

"He's right!" Alistair exclaimed. "And his brother and sister are there too!"

"What?!" Dylan exclaimed, standing from his seat. "We need to…"

"Do you think that you would be able to reach them in time?" Henri asked. "They're all the way on the other side of the city. No matter how fast you run, you won't be able to reach them before Patrick is dead and the other three are gone."

Alistair stormed closer to Henri and grabbed him by the shirt. Henri merely grinned.

"You can use your magic to go there!" Alistair growled. "You're going to take us there."

"Why?" Henri asked. "Why should I help you in any way?"

"Because if anything happens to my brothers, I will kill you."

Henri couldn't help it. He started laughing at the threat.

"I've been beheaded, shot, immolated, drowned, buried alive, and all sorts of other things in an effort to kill me," Henri said. "Do you think that your threat has any power over me?"

Alistair gritted his teeth and threw Henri aside. Henri simply laughed at his reaction.

"Berwald, I'd like you to go with me," Alistair said. "I told Patrick to keep them busy. Dill, you and Emil should keep an eye on this guy. Use your magic if you suspect him doing anything."

Henri grinned as he watched Berwald and Alistair running out. Emil and Dylan looked at him, their unease clear on their faces. Emil worried his lip as he turned towards Henri.

"I want to know something," Emil said.

"And why should I tell you anything?" Henri asked.

"Because it's something personal. You look to be around my age. How did you get mixed up in all of this?"

"You are aware of the fact that it was a different time, right? It was normal to be a parent by the time you're fourteen. Saying I look to be around your age means very little."

"You're dodging his real question," Dylan pointed out. "How did you get involved in all of this?"

Henri stared at the two of them. He had no reason to answer them, but he knew that they weren't going to let the matter drop. They were trying to understand the reasoning behind Nemthys's followers.

"I was offered immortality and power, and I accepted," Henri said. "Does that satisfy you?"

"No, actually," Dylan said. "If that was all, then you wouldn't be feeling ashamed."

"Ashamed?!" Henri exclaimed. "What makes you think I…" His eyes widened as he realised something, and he narrowed them again. "You're an empath."

"But I'm not wrong, am I? There is shame buried beneath your power. Almost as though you did something you were ashamed of in order to get it."

Henri thought back to the events of seven hundred years ago. He, and Bella, and Lars, fighting for scraps. There were three other people with them. Two sisters and a brother. One of them had the misfortune of being the next in the cycle. They were offered the chance to escape from their life of eating scraps, with power beyond their wildest dreams, and life eternal. All they had to do was betray one of their friends, and they used the other two to achieve that goal. He'd never thought that he would see hatred in those gentle eyes, but that's what happened. The other two were also never the same again. They broke them.

The memories trickled away, and Henri glared at Dylan.

"What did you do?" he snarled.

"What are you talking about?" Dylan asked. "I didn't…"

Henri had had enough. He destroyed the rope – because he could do that all this time, and had been waiting for the right moment – and stood. Emil and Dylan let out alarmed cries, and Henri wasted no time in using his magic to knock them back in opposite directions. He heard a crash from the direction Emil had been knocked to, but he didn't care about Emil now. He only focused on Dylan.

Dylan had slammed against one of the shelves. He groaned as he lay atop pieces of wood and parchment. The librarian would probably be upset about the damage to their precious books. Henri grabbed him by the head and pulled him up. Dylan whimpered in pain.

He was in too much pain to use magic.

"I hate people like you," Henri hissed, before he turned his wrists.

There was a snap, and Dylan went limp. Henri dropped him to the ground. He turned towards the direction in which Emil had fallen, and not seeing movement, he turned away. He honestly didn't care. He needed to go and see if his siblings needed his help.

Vlad struggled against the bonds. Lukas struggled as well, though Arthur was frozen. He kept looking between Patrick and their attackers, as though wondering what the others would do to him. Which might be the case, now that Vlad thought about it.

Lars used his magic to attack Patrick. Patrick dodged to the side. Vlad winced at the sound of Arthur crying out next to his ear. They were too close to yell out like that. Lars then tried another spell, and Patrick used his own magic to block. Vlad looked over towards Lukas when the other cursed.

"I can't use my magic," Lukas whispered.

"What?" Arthur whispered back. He was silent for a moment. "I can't use it either!"

"Of course not," Bella said, loudly alerting them that they could hear. "After escaping from Raj and the others, did you think we'd ignore the possibility that you could escape with magic? Especially primal magic?"

Vlad's stomach dropped. That thing that saved them when dealing with Raj and the others wouldn't be able to save them this time, and they couldn't use a pitchfork to stab one of them. Vlad didn't know how they could escape from this, unless Patrick was somehow able to help.

Speaking of which, Lars attacked Patrick again, and this time he managed to strike Patrick in the chest. Patrick fell backwards, groaning in pain. Lars moved towards Patrick.

"Stay away from him!" Arthur shouted.

Lars stopped next to Arthur and smacked him against his head. Vlad cried out in outrage at the action as Lars continued on his way to Patrick.

"You don't get to make demands now," Bella said, strolling closer. "We're the ones in control."

"Why?" Arthur demanded as Lars continued to walk towards Patrick, who had pushed himself up. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because they need us to go with them willingly," Lukas said. "And you're going to…"

He was cut off when Patrick started screaming. Arthur whipped his head around, and Vlad was torn to see the broken look on his face. He cried out a no, but their two attackers didn't care, and were having far too much fun with whatever they were doing.

"Stop it!" Arthur shouted.

Patrick was lifted into the air with what could only be magic, and he screamed as his body twitched. Vlad could feel Arthur desperately trying to break free to save his brother, but they couldn't. The three of them were locked in an embrace.

"You know, there's a way for you to stop this," Bella said, smiling sweetly as she stroked Arthur's cheek. He flinched at her touch. "Just agree to go with us, and this will all be over."

Arthur closed his eyes, his breathing picking up speed. He flinched when Patrick screamed again. Lukas struggled, but Vlad remained there and stared at Arthur. It ached to see the pain on Arthur's face. On the one hand, he couldn't bear to hear his brother being tortured. On the other, he couldn't submit, since submitting would be just as bad.

"Arthur!" Patrick shouted. "Don't you dare… aaahhhh! Don't you dare give in!"

"How long do you think he can continue to say that?" Bella asked. "It's only a matter of time before he begs you to agree, just to let the pain stop."

"I can't," Arthur whispered. He was trembling, and Vlad could see tears on his eyelashes.

Patrick screamed again, and Arthur sobbed. Vlad didn't know Patrick well, so he didn't particularly care about him, but he cared about Arthur, and Arthur was in pain.

"Come on," Bella cooed. "You don't want another brother to die."

Arthur's eyes snapped open as he turned to Bella.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh, Dylan probably didn't have the time to inform you," Bella said. "And since Alistair had already left, he couldn't be there to do anything either. Henri snapped Dylan's neck."

Arthur trembled, and Vlad could feel his anger, fear, and sorrow.

"Y-you're lying," Arthur hissed.

"If you really think that, then try to reach out to him with that link you share," Bella said. "You'll find nothing but silence."

Arthur's trembling became worse, and the broken look on his face told Vlad that Bella was telling the truth, or perhaps Dylan was just unconscious.

The sound that Arthur made when Patrick screamed again broke Vlad's heart.

Lukas also looked torn, and he was probably thinking the same thing that Vlad was thinking: that he was willing to surrender in order to stop the pain Arthur was feeling. Vlad looked down at the magic that bound them. He was still new at it, but he still tried to reach out to his magic. All he got was a twinge of pain as Lars and Bella's magic stopped him.

Bella suddenly shrieked as she was flung back. Lars's head whipped around, just in time for his sister to collide with him. His lapse in focus caused Patrick to fall to the floor, and Vlad, Arthur and Lukas were freed. The three pulled away from each other, looking for their rescuer. Vlad saw a familiar face standing on the other side of the hallway.

"You?" Vlad asked.

"I'm sorry," Gupta said as he walked closer. "I had a bad feeling, so I followed you at a distance. Now you understand why I told you to stay away from settlements, especially cities."

"You!" Bella shrieked. "You filthy traitor!"

Traitor? Why would she call him a traitor, unless…?

Vlad's head whipped back to look at Gupta, and he looked pained for a moment, before his expression smoothed.

"I'll explain later," he said. "For now, we need to get away."

Fortunately, Lars and Bella were a bit distracted, and so Patrick had the perfect opportunity to hit them in the back with a spell. The two went flying forward, and Vlad turned to see Patrick standing there, his eyes blazing and knees shaky, but otherwise unharmed.

"Let's go!" Gupta exclaimed.

"But what about our stuff?" Lukas asked.

"Leave it! There's no time!"

"But the compass, the map…"

"Fine, but only get the most essential. Leave everything else."

Gupta sent a spell in Bella and Lars's direction. Vlad didn't look, since he was a bit distracted. They grabbed one satchel, in which they put the compass, the map and the money, and to Vlad's surprise, the music box.

"I-I thought we're only…" Vlad started.

"This is a reminder of your home," Arthur said. "We're not leaving without it."

Vlad's mouth twitched, but before he could thank them – since he knew that arguing would be a waste of time – Gupta and Patrick called out for them to hurry. The three ran out of the room.

"I think this will be easier…" Gupta muttered.

"What are you…?" Patrick started, before a bright light interrupted him. When the light faded, they were no longer inside the inn. "Where are we?"

"The outskirts of the city."

"Great. I'll need to let Alistair know, and…" Patrick's eyes clouded over, before he shook his head. He rounded on Gupta. "Now, who are you?"

"His name is Gupta," Arthur said. "We ran into him and his companions in the desert. Where are they?"

"They stayed behind," Gupta replied. "My instincts told me that I needed to follow you, and they understood."

"She called you a traitor," Vlad said. "Does that mean…?"

Gupta closed his eyes and nodded.

"I told you that I'm the last of my clan," Gupta said. "I just never specified when that became the case. Nemthys's followers slaughtered my kin, but kept me alive and forced me to serve him. That all happened a thousand years ago. But three hundred years ago… First, I'd like to know what you know about the jewels."

"Not enough," Arthur said. "So, you can tell us more."

"I'm sorry to say that I can't. Each of us has a curse placed upon us to prevent us from telling too much. Nemthys is very protective of the true nature of the jewels, especially since they were not his own design."

"What do you mean?" Patrick asked.

"The jewels… They are a natural force. Nemthys just saw their potential and took advantage of them before the other gods could discover them. Eventually, they assumed that Nemthys created the jewels, and they are the key to his power. The last part isn't far from the truth, but it's not the whole truth."

"We know there is a cycle involved," Arthur said. "That the jewels escape from Nemthys, and people like us need to seek them out. They need to recharge or something."

Gupta bit his lip. He was silent for a few seconds before he nodded.

"Nemthys siphons the jewels' power," Gupta explained. "And they need to recharge. And they do that by being around you. You've found one of them. I suppose that one of you suffers negative effects from that particular jewel."

Lukas and Arthur turned to Vlad, who froze. So then, the reason why he felt sick around that jewel was because it was absorbing his power. Patrick glared at Gupta.

"Does that mean that the jewels could end up killing them?" Patrick demanded.

"No," Gupta replied. "Not on their own. If Nemthys uses the jewels with them, then yes, it will kill them. Which is why they need to get to Mount Alasbu to seal Nemthys away as soon as possible."

"Wait a moment," Arthur said. "The jewels recharging… That's why they want us along too. It's not just to find the jewels. It's for what happens after finding the jewels."

"And the part of us being willing…" Lukas said. "That's part of it too, isn't it? A requirement to make things work."

"Your 'willingness' is a loose way of saying it," Gupta said. "They will try to coerce you – I'm sure you experienced that – but even if you are reluctant, as soon as you say you will go with them, a contract has been formed and they can take you."

Vlad's blood ran cold. He remembered back a few weeks ago, to the first night when he was alone with Raj.

"I… I told Raj that I would go with him," Vlad whimpered. "Does that mean…?"

"Did you attack him and try to escape?" Gupta asked. Vlad nodded, thinking back to the day he met Arthur and Lukas. "By attacking him, you broke the contract, and Raj has no power over you." He grinned. "I'm going to guess that Nemthys wasn't too pleased about that."

"What does Nemthys do to punish his followers for failing him?" Patrick asked.

Gupta's face darkened.

"One thing you should know about many of the followers," Gupta said. "Many of them became followers in moments of weakness, when they made a harsh decision. Raj, for example, killed his fiancée when he learned that she was suffering from a sickness that would give her a slow and painful death. Only afterwards did he learn that it was possible to undo the sickness. Bella and her brothers betrayed their friends. One of them was a previous incarnation for the Ocean Soul, and they tortured the other two – her brother and sister – until she surrendered. Nemthys uses the guilt against his followers. He weaponizes it. He makes them experience it from all angles. He locks them in an illusion for as long as he deems fit."

"That's why Henri got mad at Dylan," Arthur said. "Because Dylan wouldn't betray us. And then he…"

"…It is best for you to leave. Before they try to coerce you with the four that remain."