Chowing down on hot pancakes revived Alfred and the two from their exhaustion. Canada heard all they told him about the attack on Wawanakwa and the North Wind's Keep.
"Yeah, I know old Mr. Boreas." Canada placed more pancakes on his brother's plate. "I can't believe they managed to hide Pa and Uncle Tony under my very nose!"
"The whole magical and hidden world has been shaken lately. It's no surprise everyone's caught off guard," said Japan.
"So, the demigods are gonna help? If so, I might as well chip in my aid. I can lead us to their lair, scout around, undetected. You know I'm good at not getting noticed much"
"It's gonna be dangerous, bro."
"Not if we do it together. My magic will cover both of us"
Maria stiffened. "Er, Piper advised us not to act until the demigods send reinforcements. We're powerful and all, but Kiku and I are half a world away from our sources of power, and these are gods we're facing."
"We won't fight, Alfred and I will just scout."
"Let's consider that plan for a while,"
The phone rang and Canada put it on video. It was Belgium.
"Thank God you're all safe. I need you to listen carefully: Did you guys feel as if the Hegemony was always one step ahead of you and your quest?"
"Now that you say it, we did feel a bit predicted," said Alfred.
"I had hoped it hadn't come to this, but I have a strong feeling we have a mole in our ranks"
"No shit. Who's sussy?"
Belgium gulped. "I-Israel…"
"Are you sure?" asked Japan. "I don't know Miss Israel well, but she's always struck me as morally ambiguous. She's very like Merlin of the Seven Deadly Sins. You never really know what side she's on or if she's using others as pawns, but ultimately I think she's on our side"
"I studied some video feeds, and I saw her snooping around, stealing data, and generally going all over the place unsupervised."
"But she doesn't have much of a motive to turn on us… does she?"
"Lord knows, but one thing's for sure. Europe did horrible things to her people, and it might just be that China managed to pry open a few wounds"
Belgium took a deep breath. "Anyway, how's things on your end?"
"We found out where England and Spain are," said Maria. "They're being held captive, to be sacrificed to awaken the Giants"
"Good Lord…"
"Which is why we need to scout ahead in Quebec," said Canada. "Al and I will be in and out in a jiffy!"
Canada and America ran off, leaving Maria and Kiku to contemplate the wisdom of splitting up.
Later on, Maria received another call. Answering it, she took a deep breath when she saw the face on the other side of the face call.
"Maria. It is good to see you well," spoke Esther.
Maria turned desperately to Kiku, who did not understand the gravity of the situation, being at the opposite side of the room.
What should I do?! This bitch might be spying on us this very moment!
"Where's Alfred?"
Maria winced. It did seem like she was prying for information. She led Israel on. "Oh, he went to get milk just now"
Israel raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Just make sure he won't go to Quebec anytime soon. Wait for me and the others. I've contacted d'Angelo and know of the plans the demigods have to invade. Together, we might just be able to stop this war before it starts."
How did Israel know about Quebec? But before she could think, a kunai slammed into the phone, stabbing it and blowing it up.
"What the hell?!"
Kiku stared at her. "We can't risk a leak. I see logic in the idea of Israel being a spy."
Israel winced as the small explosion ended the call. What on Earth happpened? No time to think about it, she thought. She had to make sure all the pieces were in place. She reached into her bag, pulling out two strange implements.
"Urim and Thummim, prized tools of the forefathers, heed my question: Where is Alfred Jones?"
She saw the tools move, and the answer was not good.
"Shit…"
It was worse than she thought.