Argentina was fuming now. He had just been attacked by every insult America could possibly come up with against him. He was foaming at the mouth, yearning to just shoot the two, but the magical barriers negated offensive attacks from either side of the barrier.
"SAY THAT TO MY FACE, YOU SON OF A-"
Alfred obliged by getting close. Close enough to reach out for Argentina's shirt collar and bang his face savagely into the bars by pulling him in. The Latin crumpled with a bloody nose on the floor.
America fondled Argentina's pockets for magical keys. Japan stood in awe at America's sudden bright idea.
"Fuck Percy Jackson, this is a job for Dirk Pitt"
Back in the palace, Maria hummed to herself busily as she stirred pots of stew, basted the roasting pigs and chickens and checked the oven for the cakes and cookies she was making. Not exactly a formal dinner, but it didn't matter. What mattered was the real plan.
She pulled out the vial Francis had given her earlier in Guyana. He had told her it would come in handy. It would, indeed. It was a vial of Amortentia, the love potion. THE love potion par excellence. It was far more powerful than the draughts she made back home. A potion this powerful was just the thing she needed to turn things around. T
The private dinner feast for the Latin Hegemony was about to commence. It was to celebrate three things: Brazil's ascension into the inner circle of the Hegemony, the defection of several Latin American nations (and also her) into the Hegemony, and most of all, the capture of America and Japan on foreign soil, which pleased the Hegemony to find that two of their biggest enemies were already out of commission.
To her end, Maria had prepared a sumptuous feast of flavors for the guests to enjoy. She had no idea whether only Latin nations would arrive or if the Hegemony's suspected Big Three: Russia, China and Iran, would also show up. She hoped not. That was not in the plan she had.
Maria had taken the vial given to her by France and used it on all the dishes she made. That would ensure she would have a hypnotic effect on everyone attending, and she might be able to pull something out of her ass. She seriously didn't doubt for one second that Alfred and Kiku knew she wasn't actually betraying them.
"THAT STUPID BITCH PULLED A HAIL HYDRA ON US!" Alfred yelled as he and Kiku made their way through the maze of underground tunnels.
"No, it was obviously a ruse to get inside and get more intel on the Hegemony," replied Japan.
"How do you know?"
"I invented anime, and I have honed the art of the plot twist. Trust me, I know a double-agent when I see one"
"Okay, then. How do we know where to go?"
"It is as that old song of yours goes. Anyway the wind blows. We follow the path of the winds as they blow out of this place. And I believe we are almost through"
"I know she's not really betraying us, dude, but… do you think she's still mad?"
"Mad about what?"
"Everything, I mean. She must look pretty stupid teaming up with the two guys that screwed her life over."
"We don't see life like mortals do, Alfred. Whatever grudges Maria holds with us, she has learned to let them sink under the surface of her waters"
"I know, but, we didn't just come and go out of her life like Taylor Swift's latest boyfriends. We invaded her. Isn't that like rape or something?"
"It is, Alfred. They say that woman lived for three centuries in a convent, three decades in Hollywood and three years in a brothel, but if all nations felt each other's wrongs the same way humans do, we'd all have killed each other long ago. Believe me, I don't spend a day without thinking of what I did in the last war"
"And I lie awake thinking about all of my own shit, too. Vietnam, Iraq, sometimes, I just don't see the connection between myself and the nation that waged those wars"
"We nations are prone to dissociation. It is the only way for us to stay sane in this world. Besides, is it not right? We are not defined by our mistakes any more than individual humans do. Look at Germany-san. Should we define him by the Holocaust alone? Should we blindly laud him for all of his inventions and discoveries? No, I believe we should see the totality of what we have done as nations. The same goes for all of us."
"I guess sometimes, everybody just needs a second chance," admitted Alfred.
"Indeed, I remember a story about a European ship escaping the Nazis for South America. They were after their own second chance at a peaceful life, along the… erm, long petal of the sea."
Alfred chortled. "What country has such a girly nickname like that?"
"Well, this girly nation's about to save your skins, gringo" said a voice beside them. Alfred and Kiku jumped. Holding a torch in the darkness was a young cowboy, behind him stood a breathtakingly beautiful Latina girl.
"Chile! And Colombia!"
They nodded. "When we heard of your capture, we thought we might be able to help you escape through these tunnels, but we'd never guessed you'd escape on your own and make it almost halfway out!" said Colombia.
"Truly resourceful, and it makes hatching our next plan a hell of a lot easier" said Chile.
"What plan?"
Maria nodded at Paulo as he strutted around, making sure everyone was relaxed. It turned out the Hegemony would not visit, but that Brazil would send Alfred and Kiku over via some magical means, eliminating the possibility of intercepting whatever mundane vehicles they might use as an alternative means of transportation. Maria was to sing some songs of her choice to entertain the Latin Hegemony, which so far consisted of Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, the Guyanas (so she was an inside agent) and their human armies.
Maria was shocked to find out that the Hegemony planned to break the veil with humans and assert themselves as godlike beings to be worshipped and obeyed by the humans. Apparently, they would not be content with conquering the earth, they would also grow powerful with worship and belief. It was ingenious, really, the more she thought about it: Many beings who might come to the aid of the Allies, demigods, wizards, fae-kind, would be crippled as people became more and more authoritarian and secular. No longer believing in magic, in fairies, in God.
She shuddered at what divine retribution awaited the Hegemony for these plans. She had no illusions that they would fall. Maybe not by the hands of the Allies, but by anyone whom the Lord saw fit to act as the sword of justice. She decided to begin her song. If she knew anything about Alfred, she knew he would need something to launch his crazy ideas: A distraction.
She began.
Where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods?
Where's my streetwise Hercules, to fight the rising odds?
"Didn't they use that song as a distraction in that Shrek movie?" asked Bolivia to Brazil.
Crap, they're onto us, but she kept singing.
I need a hero!
I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light!
He's gotta be fast and he's gotta be…
The crowd, at least, loved it. Maria stared at the goblet of wine (cliché, I know) where she dumped all of the rest of the potion and hoped it would reach Brazil. She would then Charmspeak him into letting her go, and maybe throw them into fighting each other as a bonus. Her charmspeak was nowhere near as powerful as say, a well-practiced Aphroditean demigoddess, but with the right potions and charms, she could amplify this power of gaslightery to her advantage.
She decided to give Brazil one of his favorite numbers, a FIFA World Cup theme song. She sang "Waka Waka", substituting this time for Africa for This time for Brasilia! It worked as she intended. Brazil was now eyeing the goblet. She started mumbling her way through the rap verse in Swahili (which for the love of God she could never get right). She looked at the goblet, and to her dismay, Venezuela had seized it and switched it with another goblet just as Brazil reached for it. She shot a nasty sneer at Maria as she let the contents spill on the floor, rosy smoke swirling into the air in counter-clockwise spirals.
This is for all the times I should've won Miss Universe instead of you! she seemed to say.
Murmurs began to spread as the Amortentia was identified by those nearby. All eyes were on Maria all at once, but to her relief (or dismay) their eyes weren't saying so you were trying to bewitch us! Instead, they seemed to say: Damn, gurl, you wanted to fuck Paulo that bad, hon?
Then, all hell broke loose. The windows shattered all around the pavilion as America, Japan, Chile and Colombia crashed in and attacked the stunned Latin Hegemony and their armies. Suddenly, she knew what to do.
It began as a sweet held note in her voice, which then quivered into a rich aria of alien melody. Then, she motioned the orchestra to carry the tune. Suddenly, rock music blared in the background, yet the operetta continued.
She would give this fight a worthy background tune: Diva Dance.
Chile parried with Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela's bolts of nature magic collided in midair. Japan took on Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia all at once, America charged towards Maria, intent on saving her from Brazil, Paulo angrily confronted Alfred and they began to brawl.
Maria's singing seemed to hypnotize the humans present. The armies stood transfixed, unsure who to attack. Even some of the weaker nations present were swayed by the combination of magically-doped food and Maria's siren song. Maria did not stand still as she sang. She cartwheeled, kicked and karate-chopped her way through enemies, as if meaning to be both the Diva and the Fifth Elemental at the same time.
Alfred and Paulo brutally swung at each other, both driven by passionate fury. Japan, Chile and Colombia were holding their own, but if they did not end this soon, they would eventually be overwhelmed. She had to think of a way to tip the scales to Alfred's advantage. This headstrong son of Portugal must be brought to his knees.
Portugal's son… she thought…