APH Fic Don't Want To Die
Title: Don't Want To Die
Author/Artist: Me!
Character(s) or Pairing(s): FemGermany, Prussia
Rating: T for violence and cursing.
Warnings: None I think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: To a regular human family who made their living in farming was born a little girl. A little girl who would one day be known as Germany. But before she realizes she must survive her village that so readily calls her a witch.
She is the first child born once the land had been named ‘The German Confederation’.
She entered the world with not a single sound emitting from her. Her mother had thought her to be dead until she saw the body move to take in breath and start to move around slowly.
Yet she didn’t utter a single sound. Not a single cry.
As she grew from infant to child she never cried. Often her mother would enter the room she had slept as a baby only to hide her either sleep or staring out the window at the moon and stars.
Thankfully she started to speak at the same time her older brothers had started to and her parents could breathe easily.
She had been baptized by the priest and named Louise after her grandmother.
Once she was old enough to understand her mother immediately set to work on teaching her a woman’s place in the house. The mother, the housekeeper. Keep the house clean, look after the children, be obedient and silent. Sewing, cooking, cleaning.
Louise had taken a single look at what her mother had intended to teach her, had taken a look at the fields where her father had taken her brothers, and had turned her head to the side when her mother handed her the things she needed to learn and said “No.”
Unfortunately her father was a firm believer in corporal punishment and more often than not she and her mother saw that side of him.
“Learn your place!” he would often yell as he brought down the leather strap.
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Often when she and either her mother or her siblings walked through the town Louise would stop and watch the men prepare for battle or for hunting. Her eyes would run over their swords and weapons and to anyone who knew her well would be able to see the hunger and longing in her eyes.
She wanted to join them. Not sitting away in a house but get dirty. Hunt and fight.
Whenever one of her family members would see that they would immediately grab her arm and run back home. There she would be punished rightfully.
Ten whips on the back if unclothed. Fifteen if clothed.
Something that never stopped making her father uneasy however is that she never cried.
She just took the whippings with her head held high and not a sign of tear in her eye or ripple of emotion.
One time her mother was gently washing the blood stains and wounds from her back.
“Why? Why don’t you just listen and stop all this nonsense?” she asked sadly.
Louise turned her head and looked her mother in the eye.
“Because I don’t want the real me to die.” she had said.
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Church was of course something the entire family did every Sunday. Regardless of weather or health the entire family went out to church dutifully.
Louise was about five and a handful of months when she stopped paying attention to the priest and instead started to mumble under her breath.
It was unheard of to not listen to the priest in this little town.
She was immediately brought to the father himself in question.
She did not struggle against the men bringing her. She continued to mumble under her breath and stare at the sky.
“Child. Do you deem yourself above the teachings of Him?” the priest asked pointing a finger upward.
Louise simply stared at the cross in front of the church and continued to speak under her breath.
“She is speaking in tongues!” the man at her right spat.
The priest leaned closer to her as to hear what she had been saying.
After a few moments his eyes widened and he listened closer.
Astounded he looked to her parents.
“What have you taught this girl?” he asked.
Her mother was scared. Her father angry.
“And what is she saying Father?” he asked.
The priest once again looked down at her before saying “She is reciting the holy book in Latin. How on earth did you teach her this language?”
The father could only blink in surprise. “I…I have done no such thing. Not a single member of my family can speak that language.”
Louise grumbled something that caused the priest to give her a sharp look.
“Honor thy mother and father child.” he warned. “Honor thy mother and father.”
Louise sighed and stopped talking.
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“We are going to be attacked.” Louise announced one morning at breakfast.
The father paused in bringing a piece of bread to his lips. Her brothers looked at her skeptically and her mother merely closed her eyes.
“Pardon?”
“We are going to be attacked.” she repeated.
The years had passed. The family had every sense to be skeptical of their youngest daughter. Her brothers were men and ready to leave to create their own lives. She was sixteen and ready to be married to another man as soon as one asks for her hand and her fathers permission.
However no man wanted to marry a girl who was sixteen in age however only five in appearance.
Whispers were passed around the entire town about her. She knew things before they happened. Attacks in neighboring towns and towns. Knowledge such as the language Latin shown all those years ago and skill in arts such as hunting, she sneaked out in the evening when her parents were asleep with a knife in hand towards the forests, and sometimes she traced shapes into the dirt and dust the she said resembled letters to read and write, even though neither her mother nor father knew how to.
Demon was a common whisper in the town.
Witch was another.
Scars appeared on her body and wounds coming from invisible forces. Satan was attempting to drag her back to hell was told the children. She screamed to people who were not there and occasionally talking in foreign languages. Or what she said was foreign languages.
She had been brought in front of the priest in this town and in the others. Her mother prayed for her only daughter’s freedom from hell and its claws. Her father prayed for another daughter to bring a semblance of honor back to their family and to over shadow their demon child.
And occasionally she told her parents about certain events such as the one she had just said.
“There is no reason for us to be attacked.” her father said.
“But father-”
“But nothing!” he yelled slamming his fist against the table. He pointed a finger at her. “Throw out the devil in you once and for all or so help me I will do so myself!”
“Jonathon!” her mother cried.
“No Mary Anne.” her father said obtained a crazed look in his eyes. “I will cleanse this house of the devil regardless of what it takes.”
Her mother threw herself in front of Louise who clung to the back of her mothers dress in slight fear. “If you dare lay a single hand on her in ill will Jonathon I will never forgive you!”
“A good Christian wife obeys her husband Mary Anne.” her father warned.
“A good Christian husband would not kill his child!” her mother screamed.
Her parents would’ve continued arguing if it had not been for a cry from outside.
“We are being attacked! We are being attacked!”
Giving Louise a suspicious glance her father went to the door and opened it.
Chaos reigned on the outside.
Her mother grabbed Louise and held her close to her chest.
“Get out of here! Get out of here now!” her father screamed grabbing her mother by her arm and throwing her out of the house.
Holding Louise closer still her mother ran. Out of the town was the only safety she was able to think of. If only to save her daughter.
Louise’s scarred body was often brought wandering eyes to her and so she often covered all she able to with cloths. Gloves on her hands, hats on her head, scarves, everything. It had been years since she had felt another touch on her own skin.
Including her mothers.
In the rush of the morning at the house and the commotion at breakfast and now the attack on the town she had forgotten her gloves.
Her mother grasped her hand in an effort to comfort her crying body. What her mother didn’t know was that she was not crying from fear, but from the pain that was coursing through her as the town burned around them.
The moment her mother grasped her hand a shock when through her mothers body. A sense of nationalism, faith, hope, and patriotism coursed through her.
She stopped running and looked down at her daughter. Louise looked up at her mother, her eyes showing more years then her mother could have grasped.
“Who are you?” her mother whispered oblivious to the chaos around her.
“Your daughter.” Louise said.
Her mother shook her head. “Who are you?”
That question plagued her mothers mind for years. For sixteen years she had asked her daughter this. Times when she was unconscious brought upon those mysterious aliments that no doctor could explain. Times when she predicted something no one else could have known. Times when she showed her hidden talents that no one knew who would be willing to teach a girl.
And in a flash, and only for a moment a single moment, Louise knew the answer.
She brought her mouth to her mothers ear and whispered
“I am Germany.”
An arrow entered her mother hearts from behind seconds after Louise whispered those words.
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The ground met Louise when her mother’s arms fell away from her. She immediately turned to where her mother had fallen.
“Mother!” she cried and crawling to her.
When she turned her mother onto her back open and lifeless eyes met hers.
She gave a shriek in terror and crawled away.
Her back hit something and she tilted her head backwards to see what had blocked her path.
The eyes of the enemy met hers.
She gave a gasp and tried to run away. The man grabbed her arm and brought his sword upwards before bringing down towards her.
She closed her eyes however she opened them when she heard the pain give a yell of pain.
An arrow stuck from under his helmet.
Another soldier, this time an ally, came forward and made short work of the enemy.
He turned to her and their eyes met for a moment.
The man had red eyes she realized with a start. Red eyes and white hair.
Those red eyes narrowed at her before grabbing her chin and forcing her to keep eye contact.
“It can’t be.” she heard him murmur.
“Prussia! We need you!” another called.
The man, Prussia? The country?, turned to the other man giving her the proper distraction she needed to wrench free from his grasp and run away.
“Wait! Come back kid!” she heard him yell.
Ignoring him she ran as fast as her shoes allowed her to. Memories suddenly flashed before her eyes, running through the fields barefooted and free. Powerful legs pumping as they continued to run. The long grass brushed her strong hips. Tilting her head back and laughing.
This wasn’t a memory that was hers.
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The aftermath is never pretty. For either side.
Especially the side that had suffered the most.
Bodies that had been killed in the attack had burned away along with the town. It would take ages to rebuild the entire town to strength once more.
Her father had survived. Her three brothers had survived. She had survived. Only her mother had fallen.
Her last protector.
As the woman she was expected to prepare the meal with whatever food they had with the other women. When they saw her coming towards where they were they immediately left and refused to work alongside her.
The rumors had spread that she had told her family about the attack timed for today.
She glanced around the remaining of the town. Her fathers disappointed gaze. Her brother’s anger filled eyes. The priest’s sympathy. The other women’s fear. The men’s anger.
“She’s the reason we were attacked!” the men yelled their anger getting the better of them. “She brought a curse to this town since the day she was born!”
“She’s nothing more than a demon! She has sold her soul to Satan in exchange for those powers!” the women spat.
“Please my people. Peace! Peace! She is just a simple child.” the priest cried out.
“Father open your eyes.” someone pleaded. “This girl has sixteen years yet only looks five of those years.”
“Jonathon! What say you?” someone asked her father.
Louise turned pleadingly to her father. Surely her father would have a kind word against these accusations.
Her father met her gaze. “This thing is not my daughter. I will have no daughter that has signed a contract with Satan. She has bewitched my wife these sixteen years to see that she is ‘innocent’ and my wife is no more while this thing lives. This is not a child. This is something from the depths of hell.”
“Send her back to the circles of hell!” the butcher cried waving one of his knives.
Only the priest continued to try to reason with the people.
“People! If these accusations are true then we should pity the child not demand her blood!” he cried.
“That spilled blood with cleanse the town!” a man cried.
“I am not a demon.” she said her voice rising until it was borderline hysterical. “I am neither a demon nor a witch!”
“Liar!” a woman screamed. “You have been putting your magic on us since your beginning!”
Her father. Of all people her father came forward and said “This reign of terror ends tonight.”
There was rope in his hands.
Louise eyes widened and she tried to run. She didn’t get that far before she was being pulled back. Men dragged her by her dress, her shoes, and her hair.
“I am not a witch! I am not a demon!” she screamed.
She saw the priest praying on his knees.
“Father in heaven help me!” she cried to the black sky.
Someone punched her. “Damned creature! You have no right to call upon Him!”
She ignored the man. “Please merciful Father. Help me!” she screamed.
The rope when around her neck. Someone pulled it slightly causing her to gasp. They continued to drag her on the ground until they found a suitable place to hang.
The only thing that had remained standing strong in the town from the attack. The church itself.
“Our father who art in heaven.” she started to pray. “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.”
“There is no salvation for you creature.” someone spat out gleefully.
She paid the people no mind as she continued.
“Thy will be done. Thy will be done.” she repeated, as tears started to fall down her face. “Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.”
“Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
The rope was tightened once more around her neck.
“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
The rope went up and she hoisted up onto a board held by three men carefully.
“For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.”
The men let go of the board. She fell to the ground, the rope around her neck being held by the other men.
“Amen.”
SNAP!
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She wasn’t dead. That was the first thing Louise realized.
Her neck had snapped definitely. That sound that had filled the air was proof of that. The fact that she could no longer move her body was another.
The crowd was cheering. They believed her to be dead and the source of her troubles were finally destroyed forever.
Until someone saw that her eyes were still open and her body still took in air to breath and live.
Live despite her neck having being snapped.
Screams and cries filled the air.
“What more proof do you need people!” a man yelled. “She refuses to die! Her neck snapped yet the demon in her continues to live!”
For the crime of witchcraft and demon dealings there were two punishments.
The first was a hanging which obviously failed.
The second was a burning.
“Burn the witch! Finish her off once and for all!”
Dazed and unable to move Louise couldn’t do anything to stop the men that had cut her down from the rope and were holding her in place until the people collected enough wood to be able to burn her Body. She was still in the body of a child and therefore there wasn’t that much needed for her.
The men were bringing her forward, the place ready for her and new rope was there to hold her in place as the fire burned.
“Thy will be done.” she repeated. “Thy will be done.”
She was a few feet away when she heard a voice. It wasn’t that loud however the malice in it was enough to overcome the volume of the entire crowd and being everyone there to a standstill.
“You dare harm that child any more and you will all rue the day you were born.”
People looked for the source of the voice. The crowd seemed to part within itself to reveal a man. He was dressed in the robes of a nobleman, at his side was a sword, and on his back were bows and arrows.
The most striking feature however was his facial characteristics. His hair was as white as the clouds on a sunny day. His eyes were as red as the blood spilt onto the earth.
Louise’s and the mans eyes connected for a moment. Recognition flowed through her.
This was the man that had saved her from the enemy that killed her mother.
He walked slowly to the man holding her. He glanced at her once more before his eyes drove into the man.
“Unhand her to me this moment.” he commanded. The tone in his voice left no room for argument.
“But sir…” the man began.
The red eyed man snarled. “I said give her to me!”
The man holding her immediately pushed her into the others arms. His hands and arms were surprisingly gentle as they held her and brought her close to his own body. One of his hands brushed over her snapped neck. His eyes darkened when he saw it.
“So this is how a society treats a child.” he says loud enough for everyone to hear. “At the first sign of something different you cry witch and demand blood.”
He looked up and his gaze traveled over every person there.
“You have no idea who you have just tried to kill.” he sneered.
Then he walked off holding Louise gently in his arms. His walk was quick and brisk and within moments they left the remains of the town and were on the road.
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They walked, or rather he walked and carried Louise, in silence for the better part of an hour while Louise tried to calm her speeding heart to a normal pace and gain the courage to ask questions.
“Before anything.” the man said. “You need to heal that broken neck of yours.”
Louise glared at him, which apparently seemed to both please him and send the correct message to him.
“Simple. Will it. Or rather ignore that its even broken.” he said as if simply saying that the sky was blue. “You can heal it but your stopping yourself.”
Louise rolled her eyes. And how was she supposed to will it?
“Reach for that power inside of you.” he encouraged. “You know its there. One day it’ll be an unconscious move. You’ll do it as simple as breathing. But for now you have to find it. Close your eyes.”
She obeyed and closed her eyes.
“Now go into your own mind. Find that little spark that tells you that you aren’t like anyone else you know.”
The strangeness from her. The fact that she ages so slowly. The hidden pain.
She felt a gentle clink in her body and when she opened her eyes she found that she was able to move again. She brought her hands to her neck. Amazement went through her. Her snapped neck had healed.
“Told ya.” the man said smugly. “Something you need to learn first is that I‘m never wrong kid. Someone as awesome as me can never be wrong.”
Choosing not to comment on that she looked at him and asked “Who are you?”
The man nodded. “Good question. I‘m quite a few things actually. First and foremost I‘m like you.”
Louise blinked in surprise. “Like me?”
“Mm hmm.”
“Then what are we?” she asked.
The man blinked in surprise. “You still haven’t figured it out?”
“Figured what out?” she asked irritably.
The man sighed and set her on the grassy ground. He held her in his hands as one of his hands went to the back of her dress and started to undo the buttons and the lace holding it together.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked fear coursing through her.
“Calm down. I‘m not doing what you think I‘m doing.” he said rolling his eyes. He pulled her dress from her back to the sides slightly and started to work on her stockings pulling them down.
“Th-this isn’t proper!” she said trying to push away. Pain coursed through her when she made a sudden movement.
He held her in his arms. “Don’t move like that. That’s the first time your neck snaps you shouldn’t move around unless you absolutely have to.”
“Stop undressing me.” she tried to command.
The man snorted. “Kid. Its going to be a while before I take orders from you.”
He finally finished unbuttoning and undressing her entire back body and he laid her onto the ground.
“Now focus.” he said.
“On what?” she nearly spat.
“The ground. The movement coming from the ground. The heartbeat from it. People. History. Everything.” he said.
Louise rolled her eyes but attempted to do as he said.
“I don’t feel anything.” she said.
“Think back to when you did something weird or strange for you. When you discovered a skill you knew perfectly without someone teaching you. Knowledge that seems to just come into your head. Whatever.” he said.
Knowing Latin ever since she was a child.
Louise fumbled on the ground slightly.
Knowing how to hunt with no training but her dreams to guide her.
She dug her fingers into the dirt.
Those fights. Those battles. The scars left on her body that never faded. Those nights filled with fevers and shakes. Wishing slightly for it all to end.
She heard something very faintly.
Waking up in the middle of the night with a sense of peace and happiness that didn’t belong to her. Knowing that she, everyone, was going to make it another day.
A heartbeat.
Louise opened her eyes; she didn’t even realize she had closed them.
She had suddenly felt countless people. Their hopes and their dreams. Their languages and cultures. Their happiness at a successful crop. Their sadness at poor weather. Weddings. Funerals. Births. Coming into age.
Happiness, sadness, anger, fear, rejection, loneliness, fulfillment, lust, love, pride, hope, desire, jealousy, peace, calm.
She looked at the man again. He smiled at her.
“What are we?” she whispered.
He placed a hand at her head and stroked her hair back slightly.
“We are personifications of countries little one. I am the personification of the country of Prussia. And you are my little sister.”
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The newly named Prussia picked her up once more, redid her buttons and lace to hold the dress together, and started to walk again.
“I can walk myself you know.” she said.
Prussia looked amused. “Really? Let me see.” he said setting her on the ground.
Louise stood to her feet only to fall down onto her stomach. She looked confused for a moment before trying again with the same result.
“The first time we die is the hardest.” Prussia said picking her up once more. “It takes more time for everything to come back into order and strength again. But it gets easier with time.”
She leaned her head against Prussia’s chest. “You said I‘m your little sister. What do you mean?”
“In country terms you’re my little sister.” he explained. “I am also adopting you as my little sister. Not just as Prussia but as Gilbert.”
“Gilbert?”
“It’s my human name. Every personification was once human before accepting their roles as personifications. We keep our human names for certain things. Speaking of which what’s your name?”
“Louise.”
“Cute. Anyway like I said my name is Gilbert.”
“Where are we going Herr Gilbert?”
“No Herr. Either just Gilbert, Prussia, or bruder.” he scolded her lightly. “And we‘re going home.”
“Home?”
“Mm hmm. Your new home.”
“And where is home?”
Gilbert thought for a moment before saying. “Personification are vital to the country. It allows one person to know what the entire country is feeling and what the best way is. That way we stay close and often live with our leaders.” he grinned here. “You are going to live; I already do of course, in the same castle as the King Frederick the Second.”
Louise’s eyes widened. “You are not serious.”
“Oh but I am.”
“I cannot live in the same area as a king I am a peasant!”
“You’re a personification.” he corrected.
“That doesn’t mean I can live with a king!”
“Actually it does. He is king of your land as well so that means you have to.”
At her dark look he bounced her in his arms slightly. “Don’t get so sad on me! You have no idea what doors are being opened for you right this minute. You’re going to get chances that most people only dream of! You’ll learn everything you need to know by some of the best people in the country. How to read and write. How to fight properly. All your whims will be served. Everything.”
Louise fell silent and looked to the horizon. “I want my mother.” she whispered.
Prussia held her tighter and looked sympathetic at her.
“Listen Louise. From now on we are each others family. We are immortal. We live forever. Humans have a point in time when they die and we have to say goodbye.”
“My mother is already dead.” she said.
Prussia flinched. “Okay then. But that’s still something you needed to know either way. What about the rest of your family?”
Louise thought back for a moment. To her brothers hateful glares. Her father who brought the rope to hang her with. Anger coursed through.
She looked up at Prussia for a moment silently. “You said you’re my brother right?”
Prussia nodded.
Louise grabbed his shirt in her hands and held onto him tighter. She snuggled closer to his body. In response his arms tightened around her.
“It no longer matters about them. Like you said. You’re my family now.”
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“Block! Defend! Strike! Left! Right! Remember your footing! Careful! Block! Straighten up!” Prussia commanded. “Eyes front! Side! Never look away from your opponents attacks! Always be ready! And rest.”
Louise gratefully brought down her sword and rolled her arm a few times.
“You’re getting better.” Prussia said. “Much better. And fast too.”
“I‘m a quick learner.” she said.
“Must be because of your great teacher.” Prussia boasted.
Louise made an expression as if thinking about something. “No I think it’s because I‘m a fast learner.”
“Brat.”
She smirked at Prussia and followed him inside the castle she now calls home.
It has been five years since she was first brought here. Five years filled with filling her head with knowledge of fighting, history, mathematics, science, languages, geography, sword fighting, horseback riding, hand-to-hand combat, proper manners in certain peoples company, and of course reading and writing.
And even though five years had passed her appearance has not changed still. The only sign of change was the length of her hair which was once shoulder length now reached the middle of her back.
Prussia curled a finger through her hair which was in a ponytail. “You really should think about cutting it. It can get in the way when you’re fighting.”
Louise grabbed it protectively. “I‘ll cut it when I‘m good and ready to. And even then not that short.”
Prussia rolled his eyes before handing her over to her tutor. “Go and learn some more random shit.”
That was something that had been hard to get used to. His constant cursing. Now her own vocabulary was filled with words a girl should never even hear let alone speak.
She once let loose all the words she knew when she had accidentally broken her arm from falling off a horse that she had been riding.
Prussia had fallen off his own horse in surprise at how much she knew and then clapped in delight.
“You see? The awesomeness is rubbing off onto you!”
Louise smirked to herself then composed herself to listen to her tutor as he continued to drill mathematical equations into her mind. She obediently wrote down the way to do it before solving the problems he gave her.
Some of her tutors were hesitant in teaching her. Only because she was a girl, in their eyes an ordinary girl who would be married off and therefore wouldn’t need to know this information.
She smirked to herself once more. Oh if only they knew who she really was.
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Something that she hasn’t been able to stop doing since the day she came here was crawl into the same bed as Prussia was in at night and sleep with him.
He had been hesitant in letting her sleep with him, the man had complete experience on how to fight but none on how to take care of a child. But soon he also came to enjoy those nights and the company.
He would often tell her stories of when he was a child and had been named instead of Prussia the Teutonic Knights. He would talk about other countries that he knew including a girl named Hungary “Bitch thought she was a guy for a better part of her childhood. Don’t even want to get into that.” A man named Austria “Heh. Little aristocrat wasn’t so high and mighty when the awesome me knocked him down a few pegs.” a man named England “That guy needs to do something about those eyebrows of his. He‘ll scare everyone off with them one day.” France “Fucking pervert. Don’t believe anything that he says!” Spain “Pretty cool guy.”
He often tells Louise that she’ll take her place next to those nations as well as one of the most powerful one.
“Because when you’re raised by me there is no way in hell you aren’t becoming one of the strongest and the best!”
He would occasionally read to her a story if she asked until she fell asleep. Those nights were her favorites. The stories were fairytales, altered of course however Prussia saw fit, which sometimes made the story even better than the original. Or at least it made her laugh more.
The two continued to train and learn from one another. Louise learned everything she needed to know as a personification from Prussia and Prussia learned to be an older brother from her.
Once the King, Frederick the Second, was passing by Prussia’s room and peered in on the two of them. The sight in the room caused a smile to go on his face.
Prussia and Louise were both asleep. Louise was curled up against Prussia’s chest and Prussia had an arm around her protectively.
Frederick covered the two of them with a blanket and left the room smiling.
‘That boy was born to be a fighter.’ he thought. ‘But apparently he was also born to be an older brother.’
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Louise sighed. For the first time in a while she wasn’t able to concentrate on her studies. Her mind kept wandering to a place she would rather remained untouched forever.
To the town of her birth and her blood father and brothers.
She no longer needed them. She had a better brother than any of them in Prussia. And she had a father in the King Frederick. That one surprised her greatly, finding a father in her ruler.
True to Prussia’s words she had maids to help her. She wore some of the best clothes and she never went hungry. Knowledge of all sorts was now available to her at her fingertips. It was indeed a better life. She could not ask for a better one.
So why was she aching to see the family that was ready to kill her?
She sighed once more and attempted to turn back to her notes. Geography. And a certain town that she once knew.
She growled and hopped off her chair and desk to find Prussia.
There was somewhere she needed to go.
“Are you insane?” Prussia demanded.
Louise bit back a response and instead choose to wait a moment for Prussia to finish.
“You actually want to go back to the place where you first died?” Prussia asked incredulously. “You want to go back to the people that were ready to burn you?”
“I don’t want to go back there. I just want to see how everything is.” Louise said. An idea popped into her head that Prussia would enjoy.
“Not to mention how much I could screw with them with what I know have.” she said smiling.
He smiled for a moment before it fell.
Louise watched him pace around the room murmuring to himself silently.
Finally he stopped and looked at her. He then held up one finger.
“One week. That’s all I‘m giving you. One week. Go there. Get your fill and come back.”
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Within a few days she was ready. She had her sword, her bows and arrows, a map, a compass, parchment and ink, a small bag of gold coins, some food, a carrier bird to send messages to her brother, and a water canteen. She was wearing a shirt and pants with boots, most of her clothing at her insistence were modeled after Prussia’s. They were comfortable. Easy to fight in. And they still somehow showed that she was a part of the upper class.
She was ready. She was ready to go back to where it all started.
To where she started.
Prussia was seeing her off. He walked her to the edge of the forest that was a shortcut to get to her destination.
“Remember. One week.” he warned her.
Louise nodded and reached up to hug him. He held her tightly before letting go. She walked confidently into the woods and onto the path.
It was a two days journey to get to the town. Therefore four days in total that was just simple walking and three days to examine how the town came. More than enough time.
She stopped to hunt for more food, to catch up on sleep. Light naps as Prussia had told her and still be constantly aware of her environment and the possible dangers.
She met a group of men once who believed she was a simple target.
When she had finished with them the only thing she did was warn them to leave her be and tell others to leave her.
Finally after two days trek on the third day as the sun rose and the people in the town woke to a new day she entered the town of her birth.
Louise took a deep breath and walked into the town.
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They obviously remembered her she noted as she walked through the square. The familiar sets of eyes on her and the whispers. She smirked. Once upon a time everything bothered her. No more.
She walked past everyone and occasionally made eye contact with them. None of them kept the contact and quickly looked away. The only ones who looked at her in surprise and confusion were the children born in the last five years. Everyone else looked at her with fear.
She walked slowly. Each foot crossing the other with each step just as her brother. She savored the near taste able scent of fear filling the air rapidly.
Perhaps she has been living too long with Prussia after all. She gave a short laugh at that thought.
She finally reached the house she wished. Although it was no longer in the same place as before her instincts told her this is the one she was seeking.
She confidently raised her hand and knocked on the door.
She waited patiently, the eyes of nearly the entire village upon her.
Finally the door opened to reveal a woman. She looked surprised at the sight of a small child dressed as a boy would be.
“Is Jonathon home?” Louise asked, the tone of her voice making her seem older than she sounded.
The woman nodded and entered the house, not before giving her another confused look. Louise heard her call out to Jonathon.
Finally he appeared. When he saw her his eyes widened and he gasped. He tried to close to the door however Louise was faster and used her small stature to quickly enter the house before he closed the door.
“What do you think you are doing in my house?” he hissed.
Louise looked at him levelly. “To talk. I want to talk to you once more before I never see you again.”
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Louise made herself comfortable on the chairs. Jonathon hesitantly took the one opposite hers.
“I see you got remarried.” Louise said nodding to the woman cooking at the fire.
Jonathon nodded slowly. “Six months after Mary Anne died.”
Louise sneered. “Only six months? You must not have cared for her.”
Jonathon cracked his knuckles but otherwise didn’t move except his eyes narrowed at her.
“What do you want?” Jonathon asked.
“Answers mostly.” Louise replied easily.
“What are your questions?”
“Well first of don’t try to talk like your upper class. You’re nothing but a farmer.”
“Excuse me?”
“I believe you heard me. Unless you are starting to get deaf with your old age.”
Jonathon stood up and drew to his entire height. Louise simply stared at him before laughing lightly.
“Are you trying to frighten me?” she asked between laughing.
“I will not have some little girl talking to me as if I am below her. You are my daughter-” he started to say.
“I believe you disowned me five years ago when you gave the rope that which was used to hang me with.” Louise interjected.
Jonathon fell silent.
“I was your child.” Louise said. “I was your only daughter. Yet you were so ready to ‘beat the devil out of me’ you were ready to hand the rope that would be used to hang me in front of the church. You were gathering more wood for the fire to burn me than any other man. You a man I am supposed to call father.”
“I am your father.” he said.
“No your not.” Louise said. “The earth is my mother. The King of the land if my father. The country of Prussia is my brother. Not you who claims to be my father and then so readily hands my life over. Not those boys you call sons. I am more than you will ever be in your life.”
“You’re nothing more than a little witch.” Jonathon spat.
Louise laughed. “Still using that one? It’s getting some what old. I know now what I am and it is no witch.”
“Then what are you?”
Before she could speak a cry filled the room. The woman immediately left the room and was soothing a child in the other room before bringing her to where Louise and Jonathon were.
“A girl?”
“Yes. And a better one than you.”
Louise laughed again before taking a closer look at the child. The child sensed her and gazed at her. Louise stared at her for another moment before turning away. She had thought perhaps another personification. No however. This child was a normal human being.
Louise flipped her hair that she had put into a braid over her shoulder. “Know this. Actually I would rather if the entire village heard this.”
Louise walked out of the little hut and encouraged everyone to gather closer to her. Jonathon was in front. As soon as she was sure that everyone was able to hear her she began.
“Five years ago all of you had tried to see me killed. First you hanged me. When that did not work you decided to burn me to death. If it had not been for a man you would have done it. And I would still not have died.”
“Everyone here called me witch and demon. That I sold my soul to Satan and was going to his circles of hell. I no longer remember exactly what you said. It does not matter anymore.”
“That man that saved my life. He is now my brother in nearly every which way possible. Maybe even blood, I‘m not entirely sure. He showed me who I really was and helped me embrace it.”
She paused for a moment to gaze at each and every person, a thrill going through her.
Choosing to stop there she started to walk out of the town. She had said her part; it was up to them if they wanted to know.
“Who are you then?” and it seemed that they wished to know.
Louise smiled but continued walking, fully aware of everyone else following her. She waited until she had left the town border and back onto the road before turning back.
Who she was, was something that took time to accept. She at first refused to believe in it entirely. However watching her brother live and be free in this way was appealing to her and she wished for it.
Now she had it.
Her people. Their pain her pain. Their happiness her happiness.
Louise began to run from the town. She had gotten what she wanted. There was no more need.
Except one more thing.
She looked over her shoulder and yelled out as loud as she was able to. Not only to the town but to the entire world.
“I am Germany!”
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“West. West~~~. West! Come on West wake up!”
Louise jolted awake. Her brother’s face was centimeters away from hers.
“Prussia.” she said. “What is it?”
Prussia straightened and cocked an eyebrow at her. “It’s not like you to fall asleep at your desk. Still sitting up and everything.”
She had fallen asleep on her desk. She had taken a moment to rest her eyes. She had placed her elbow at the armrest and her head in her hand. Somehow she had fallen asleep like that.
Louise stood up and stretched her arms and attempted to massage the kink in her neck from staying in that position.
The year is 2010. That little town is nothing more than a distant memory in her mind. Barely there in the conscious mind and no longer of any importance.
“Anyway I just wanted to tell that I finished making dinner.” Prussia said leaving her office. “Come on before it gets cold.”
Louise smiled and shook her head. Her brother has changed in these passing years. Drastically. Yet he seemed at ease with it and accepted the change.
Louise caught up with him and from behind hugged him. He returned the hug as best as he could and looked at her amused.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked.
Germany shook her head and hugged him tighter.
“I love you bruder.” she said. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Germany didn’t answer but let go and started towards the kitchen once more. She grabbed his hand and pulled him.
“Come on. We don’t want the food you made to get cold.” she said.
Author/Artist: Me!
Character(s) or Pairing(s): FemGermany, Prussia
Rating: T for violence and cursing.
Warnings: None I think.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: To a regular human family who made their living in farming was born a little girl. A little girl who would one day be known as Germany. But before she realizes she must survive her village that so readily calls her a witch.
She is the first child born once the land had been named ‘The German Confederation’.
She entered the world with not a single sound emitting from her. Her mother had thought her to be dead until she saw the body move to take in breath and start to move around slowly.
Yet she didn’t utter a single sound. Not a single cry.
As she grew from infant to child she never cried. Often her mother would enter the room she had slept as a baby only to hide her either sleep or staring out the window at the moon and stars.
Thankfully she started to speak at the same time her older brothers had started to and her parents could breathe easily.
She had been baptized by the priest and named Louise after her grandmother.
Once she was old enough to understand her mother immediately set to work on teaching her a woman’s place in the house. The mother, the housekeeper. Keep the house clean, look after the children, be obedient and silent. Sewing, cooking, cleaning.
Louise had taken a single look at what her mother had intended to teach her, had taken a look at the fields where her father had taken her brothers, and had turned her head to the side when her mother handed her the things she needed to learn and said “No.”
Unfortunately her father was a firm believer in corporal punishment and more often than not she and her mother saw that side of him.
“Learn your place!” he would often yell as he brought down the leather strap.
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Often when she and either her mother or her siblings walked through the town Louise would stop and watch the men prepare for battle or for hunting. Her eyes would run over their swords and weapons and to anyone who knew her well would be able to see the hunger and longing in her eyes.
She wanted to join them. Not sitting away in a house but get dirty. Hunt and fight.
Whenever one of her family members would see that they would immediately grab her arm and run back home. There she would be punished rightfully.
Ten whips on the back if unclothed. Fifteen if clothed.
Something that never stopped making her father uneasy however is that she never cried.
She just took the whippings with her head held high and not a sign of tear in her eye or ripple of emotion.
One time her mother was gently washing the blood stains and wounds from her back.
“Why? Why don’t you just listen and stop all this nonsense?” she asked sadly.
Louise turned her head and looked her mother in the eye.
“Because I don’t want the real me to die.” she had said.
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Church was of course something the entire family did every Sunday. Regardless of weather or health the entire family went out to church dutifully.
Louise was about five and a handful of months when she stopped paying attention to the priest and instead started to mumble under her breath.
It was unheard of to not listen to the priest in this little town.
She was immediately brought to the father himself in question.
She did not struggle against the men bringing her. She continued to mumble under her breath and stare at the sky.
“Child. Do you deem yourself above the teachings of Him?” the priest asked pointing a finger upward.
Louise simply stared at the cross in front of the church and continued to speak under her breath.
“She is speaking in tongues!” the man at her right spat.
The priest leaned closer to her as to hear what she had been saying.
After a few moments his eyes widened and he listened closer.
Astounded he looked to her parents.
“What have you taught this girl?” he asked.
Her mother was scared. Her father angry.
“And what is she saying Father?” he asked.
The priest once again looked down at her before saying “She is reciting the holy book in Latin. How on earth did you teach her this language?”
The father could only blink in surprise. “I…I have done no such thing. Not a single member of my family can speak that language.”
Louise grumbled something that caused the priest to give her a sharp look.
“Honor thy mother and father child.” he warned. “Honor thy mother and father.”
Louise sighed and stopped talking.
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“We are going to be attacked.” Louise announced one morning at breakfast.
The father paused in bringing a piece of bread to his lips. Her brothers looked at her skeptically and her mother merely closed her eyes.
“Pardon?”
“We are going to be attacked.” she repeated.
The years had passed. The family had every sense to be skeptical of their youngest daughter. Her brothers were men and ready to leave to create their own lives. She was sixteen and ready to be married to another man as soon as one asks for her hand and her fathers permission.
However no man wanted to marry a girl who was sixteen in age however only five in appearance.
Whispers were passed around the entire town about her. She knew things before they happened. Attacks in neighboring towns and towns. Knowledge such as the language Latin shown all those years ago and skill in arts such as hunting, she sneaked out in the evening when her parents were asleep with a knife in hand towards the forests, and sometimes she traced shapes into the dirt and dust the she said resembled letters to read and write, even though neither her mother nor father knew how to.
Demon was a common whisper in the town.
Witch was another.
Scars appeared on her body and wounds coming from invisible forces. Satan was attempting to drag her back to hell was told the children. She screamed to people who were not there and occasionally talking in foreign languages. Or what she said was foreign languages.
She had been brought in front of the priest in this town and in the others. Her mother prayed for her only daughter’s freedom from hell and its claws. Her father prayed for another daughter to bring a semblance of honor back to their family and to over shadow their demon child.
And occasionally she told her parents about certain events such as the one she had just said.
“There is no reason for us to be attacked.” her father said.
“But father-”
“But nothing!” he yelled slamming his fist against the table. He pointed a finger at her. “Throw out the devil in you once and for all or so help me I will do so myself!”
“Jonathon!” her mother cried.
“No Mary Anne.” her father said obtained a crazed look in his eyes. “I will cleanse this house of the devil regardless of what it takes.”
Her mother threw herself in front of Louise who clung to the back of her mothers dress in slight fear. “If you dare lay a single hand on her in ill will Jonathon I will never forgive you!”
“A good Christian wife obeys her husband Mary Anne.” her father warned.
“A good Christian husband would not kill his child!” her mother screamed.
Her parents would’ve continued arguing if it had not been for a cry from outside.
“We are being attacked! We are being attacked!”
Giving Louise a suspicious glance her father went to the door and opened it.
Chaos reigned on the outside.
Her mother grabbed Louise and held her close to her chest.
“Get out of here! Get out of here now!” her father screamed grabbing her mother by her arm and throwing her out of the house.
Holding Louise closer still her mother ran. Out of the town was the only safety she was able to think of. If only to save her daughter.
Louise’s scarred body was often brought wandering eyes to her and so she often covered all she able to with cloths. Gloves on her hands, hats on her head, scarves, everything. It had been years since she had felt another touch on her own skin.
Including her mothers.
In the rush of the morning at the house and the commotion at breakfast and now the attack on the town she had forgotten her gloves.
Her mother grasped her hand in an effort to comfort her crying body. What her mother didn’t know was that she was not crying from fear, but from the pain that was coursing through her as the town burned around them.
The moment her mother grasped her hand a shock when through her mothers body. A sense of nationalism, faith, hope, and patriotism coursed through her.
She stopped running and looked down at her daughter. Louise looked up at her mother, her eyes showing more years then her mother could have grasped.
“Who are you?” her mother whispered oblivious to the chaos around her.
“Your daughter.” Louise said.
Her mother shook her head. “Who are you?”
That question plagued her mothers mind for years. For sixteen years she had asked her daughter this. Times when she was unconscious brought upon those mysterious aliments that no doctor could explain. Times when she predicted something no one else could have known. Times when she showed her hidden talents that no one knew who would be willing to teach a girl.
And in a flash, and only for a moment a single moment, Louise knew the answer.
She brought her mouth to her mothers ear and whispered
“I am Germany.”
An arrow entered her mother hearts from behind seconds after Louise whispered those words.
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The ground met Louise when her mother’s arms fell away from her. She immediately turned to where her mother had fallen.
“Mother!” she cried and crawling to her.
When she turned her mother onto her back open and lifeless eyes met hers.
She gave a shriek in terror and crawled away.
Her back hit something and she tilted her head backwards to see what had blocked her path.
The eyes of the enemy met hers.
She gave a gasp and tried to run away. The man grabbed her arm and brought his sword upwards before bringing down towards her.
She closed her eyes however she opened them when she heard the pain give a yell of pain.
An arrow stuck from under his helmet.
Another soldier, this time an ally, came forward and made short work of the enemy.
He turned to her and their eyes met for a moment.
The man had red eyes she realized with a start. Red eyes and white hair.
Those red eyes narrowed at her before grabbing her chin and forcing her to keep eye contact.
“It can’t be.” she heard him murmur.
“Prussia! We need you!” another called.
The man, Prussia? The country?, turned to the other man giving her the proper distraction she needed to wrench free from his grasp and run away.
“Wait! Come back kid!” she heard him yell.
Ignoring him she ran as fast as her shoes allowed her to. Memories suddenly flashed before her eyes, running through the fields barefooted and free. Powerful legs pumping as they continued to run. The long grass brushed her strong hips. Tilting her head back and laughing.
This wasn’t a memory that was hers.
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The aftermath is never pretty. For either side.
Especially the side that had suffered the most.
Bodies that had been killed in the attack had burned away along with the town. It would take ages to rebuild the entire town to strength once more.
Her father had survived. Her three brothers had survived. She had survived. Only her mother had fallen.
Her last protector.
As the woman she was expected to prepare the meal with whatever food they had with the other women. When they saw her coming towards where they were they immediately left and refused to work alongside her.
The rumors had spread that she had told her family about the attack timed for today.
She glanced around the remaining of the town. Her fathers disappointed gaze. Her brother’s anger filled eyes. The priest’s sympathy. The other women’s fear. The men’s anger.
“She’s the reason we were attacked!” the men yelled their anger getting the better of them. “She brought a curse to this town since the day she was born!”
“She’s nothing more than a demon! She has sold her soul to Satan in exchange for those powers!” the women spat.
“Please my people. Peace! Peace! She is just a simple child.” the priest cried out.
“Father open your eyes.” someone pleaded. “This girl has sixteen years yet only looks five of those years.”
“Jonathon! What say you?” someone asked her father.
Louise turned pleadingly to her father. Surely her father would have a kind word against these accusations.
Her father met her gaze. “This thing is not my daughter. I will have no daughter that has signed a contract with Satan. She has bewitched my wife these sixteen years to see that she is ‘innocent’ and my wife is no more while this thing lives. This is not a child. This is something from the depths of hell.”
“Send her back to the circles of hell!” the butcher cried waving one of his knives.
Only the priest continued to try to reason with the people.
“People! If these accusations are true then we should pity the child not demand her blood!” he cried.
“That spilled blood with cleanse the town!” a man cried.
“I am not a demon.” she said her voice rising until it was borderline hysterical. “I am neither a demon nor a witch!”
“Liar!” a woman screamed. “You have been putting your magic on us since your beginning!”
Her father. Of all people her father came forward and said “This reign of terror ends tonight.”
There was rope in his hands.
Louise eyes widened and she tried to run. She didn’t get that far before she was being pulled back. Men dragged her by her dress, her shoes, and her hair.
“I am not a witch! I am not a demon!” she screamed.
She saw the priest praying on his knees.
“Father in heaven help me!” she cried to the black sky.
Someone punched her. “Damned creature! You have no right to call upon Him!”
She ignored the man. “Please merciful Father. Help me!” she screamed.
The rope when around her neck. Someone pulled it slightly causing her to gasp. They continued to drag her on the ground until they found a suitable place to hang.
The only thing that had remained standing strong in the town from the attack. The church itself.
“Our father who art in heaven.” she started to pray. “Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come.”
“There is no salvation for you creature.” someone spat out gleefully.
She paid the people no mind as she continued.
“Thy will be done. Thy will be done.” she repeated, as tears started to fall down her face. “Thy will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.”
“Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
The rope was tightened once more around her neck.
“And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
The rope went up and she hoisted up onto a board held by three men carefully.
“For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.”
The men let go of the board. She fell to the ground, the rope around her neck being held by the other men.
“Amen.”
SNAP!
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She wasn’t dead. That was the first thing Louise realized.
Her neck had snapped definitely. That sound that had filled the air was proof of that. The fact that she could no longer move her body was another.
The crowd was cheering. They believed her to be dead and the source of her troubles were finally destroyed forever.
Until someone saw that her eyes were still open and her body still took in air to breath and live.
Live despite her neck having being snapped.
Screams and cries filled the air.
“What more proof do you need people!” a man yelled. “She refuses to die! Her neck snapped yet the demon in her continues to live!”
For the crime of witchcraft and demon dealings there were two punishments.
The first was a hanging which obviously failed.
The second was a burning.
“Burn the witch! Finish her off once and for all!”
Dazed and unable to move Louise couldn’t do anything to stop the men that had cut her down from the rope and were holding her in place until the people collected enough wood to be able to burn her Body. She was still in the body of a child and therefore there wasn’t that much needed for her.
The men were bringing her forward, the place ready for her and new rope was there to hold her in place as the fire burned.
“Thy will be done.” she repeated. “Thy will be done.”
She was a few feet away when she heard a voice. It wasn’t that loud however the malice in it was enough to overcome the volume of the entire crowd and being everyone there to a standstill.
“You dare harm that child any more and you will all rue the day you were born.”
People looked for the source of the voice. The crowd seemed to part within itself to reveal a man. He was dressed in the robes of a nobleman, at his side was a sword, and on his back were bows and arrows.
The most striking feature however was his facial characteristics. His hair was as white as the clouds on a sunny day. His eyes were as red as the blood spilt onto the earth.
Louise’s and the mans eyes connected for a moment. Recognition flowed through her.
This was the man that had saved her from the enemy that killed her mother.
He walked slowly to the man holding her. He glanced at her once more before his eyes drove into the man.
“Unhand her to me this moment.” he commanded. The tone in his voice left no room for argument.
“But sir…” the man began.
The red eyed man snarled. “I said give her to me!”
The man holding her immediately pushed her into the others arms. His hands and arms were surprisingly gentle as they held her and brought her close to his own body. One of his hands brushed over her snapped neck. His eyes darkened when he saw it.
“So this is how a society treats a child.” he says loud enough for everyone to hear. “At the first sign of something different you cry witch and demand blood.”
He looked up and his gaze traveled over every person there.
“You have no idea who you have just tried to kill.” he sneered.
Then he walked off holding Louise gently in his arms. His walk was quick and brisk and within moments they left the remains of the town and were on the road.
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They walked, or rather he walked and carried Louise, in silence for the better part of an hour while Louise tried to calm her speeding heart to a normal pace and gain the courage to ask questions.
“Before anything.” the man said. “You need to heal that broken neck of yours.”
Louise glared at him, which apparently seemed to both please him and send the correct message to him.
“Simple. Will it. Or rather ignore that its even broken.” he said as if simply saying that the sky was blue. “You can heal it but your stopping yourself.”
Louise rolled her eyes. And how was she supposed to will it?
“Reach for that power inside of you.” he encouraged. “You know its there. One day it’ll be an unconscious move. You’ll do it as simple as breathing. But for now you have to find it. Close your eyes.”
She obeyed and closed her eyes.
“Now go into your own mind. Find that little spark that tells you that you aren’t like anyone else you know.”
The strangeness from her. The fact that she ages so slowly. The hidden pain.
She felt a gentle clink in her body and when she opened her eyes she found that she was able to move again. She brought her hands to her neck. Amazement went through her. Her snapped neck had healed.
“Told ya.” the man said smugly. “Something you need to learn first is that I‘m never wrong kid. Someone as awesome as me can never be wrong.”
Choosing not to comment on that she looked at him and asked “Who are you?”
The man nodded. “Good question. I‘m quite a few things actually. First and foremost I‘m like you.”
Louise blinked in surprise. “Like me?”
“Mm hmm.”
“Then what are we?” she asked.
The man blinked in surprise. “You still haven’t figured it out?”
“Figured what out?” she asked irritably.
The man sighed and set her on the grassy ground. He held her in his hands as one of his hands went to the back of her dress and started to undo the buttons and the lace holding it together.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked fear coursing through her.
“Calm down. I‘m not doing what you think I‘m doing.” he said rolling his eyes. He pulled her dress from her back to the sides slightly and started to work on her stockings pulling them down.
“Th-this isn’t proper!” she said trying to push away. Pain coursed through her when she made a sudden movement.
He held her in his arms. “Don’t move like that. That’s the first time your neck snaps you shouldn’t move around unless you absolutely have to.”
“Stop undressing me.” she tried to command.
The man snorted. “Kid. Its going to be a while before I take orders from you.”
He finally finished unbuttoning and undressing her entire back body and he laid her onto the ground.
“Now focus.” he said.
“On what?” she nearly spat.
“The ground. The movement coming from the ground. The heartbeat from it. People. History. Everything.” he said.
Louise rolled her eyes but attempted to do as he said.
“I don’t feel anything.” she said.
“Think back to when you did something weird or strange for you. When you discovered a skill you knew perfectly without someone teaching you. Knowledge that seems to just come into your head. Whatever.” he said.
Knowing Latin ever since she was a child.
Louise fumbled on the ground slightly.
Knowing how to hunt with no training but her dreams to guide her.
She dug her fingers into the dirt.
Those fights. Those battles. The scars left on her body that never faded. Those nights filled with fevers and shakes. Wishing slightly for it all to end.
She heard something very faintly.
Waking up in the middle of the night with a sense of peace and happiness that didn’t belong to her. Knowing that she, everyone, was going to make it another day.
A heartbeat.
Louise opened her eyes; she didn’t even realize she had closed them.
She had suddenly felt countless people. Their hopes and their dreams. Their languages and cultures. Their happiness at a successful crop. Their sadness at poor weather. Weddings. Funerals. Births. Coming into age.
Happiness, sadness, anger, fear, rejection, loneliness, fulfillment, lust, love, pride, hope, desire, jealousy, peace, calm.
She looked at the man again. He smiled at her.
“What are we?” she whispered.
He placed a hand at her head and stroked her hair back slightly.
“We are personifications of countries little one. I am the personification of the country of Prussia. And you are my little sister.”
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The newly named Prussia picked her up once more, redid her buttons and lace to hold the dress together, and started to walk again.
“I can walk myself you know.” she said.
Prussia looked amused. “Really? Let me see.” he said setting her on the ground.
Louise stood to her feet only to fall down onto her stomach. She looked confused for a moment before trying again with the same result.
“The first time we die is the hardest.” Prussia said picking her up once more. “It takes more time for everything to come back into order and strength again. But it gets easier with time.”
She leaned her head against Prussia’s chest. “You said I‘m your little sister. What do you mean?”
“In country terms you’re my little sister.” he explained. “I am also adopting you as my little sister. Not just as Prussia but as Gilbert.”
“Gilbert?”
“It’s my human name. Every personification was once human before accepting their roles as personifications. We keep our human names for certain things. Speaking of which what’s your name?”
“Louise.”
“Cute. Anyway like I said my name is Gilbert.”
“Where are we going Herr Gilbert?”
“No Herr. Either just Gilbert, Prussia, or bruder.” he scolded her lightly. “And we‘re going home.”
“Home?”
“Mm hmm. Your new home.”
“And where is home?”
Gilbert thought for a moment before saying. “Personification are vital to the country. It allows one person to know what the entire country is feeling and what the best way is. That way we stay close and often live with our leaders.” he grinned here. “You are going to live; I already do of course, in the same castle as the King Frederick the Second.”
Louise’s eyes widened. “You are not serious.”
“Oh but I am.”
“I cannot live in the same area as a king I am a peasant!”
“You’re a personification.” he corrected.
“That doesn’t mean I can live with a king!”
“Actually it does. He is king of your land as well so that means you have to.”
At her dark look he bounced her in his arms slightly. “Don’t get so sad on me! You have no idea what doors are being opened for you right this minute. You’re going to get chances that most people only dream of! You’ll learn everything you need to know by some of the best people in the country. How to read and write. How to fight properly. All your whims will be served. Everything.”
Louise fell silent and looked to the horizon. “I want my mother.” she whispered.
Prussia held her tighter and looked sympathetic at her.
“Listen Louise. From now on we are each others family. We are immortal. We live forever. Humans have a point in time when they die and we have to say goodbye.”
“My mother is already dead.” she said.
Prussia flinched. “Okay then. But that’s still something you needed to know either way. What about the rest of your family?”
Louise thought back for a moment. To her brothers hateful glares. Her father who brought the rope to hang her with. Anger coursed through.
She looked up at Prussia for a moment silently. “You said you’re my brother right?”
Prussia nodded.
Louise grabbed his shirt in her hands and held onto him tighter. She snuggled closer to his body. In response his arms tightened around her.
“It no longer matters about them. Like you said. You’re my family now.”
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“Block! Defend! Strike! Left! Right! Remember your footing! Careful! Block! Straighten up!” Prussia commanded. “Eyes front! Side! Never look away from your opponents attacks! Always be ready! And rest.”
Louise gratefully brought down her sword and rolled her arm a few times.
“You’re getting better.” Prussia said. “Much better. And fast too.”
“I‘m a quick learner.” she said.
“Must be because of your great teacher.” Prussia boasted.
Louise made an expression as if thinking about something. “No I think it’s because I‘m a fast learner.”
“Brat.”
She smirked at Prussia and followed him inside the castle she now calls home.
It has been five years since she was first brought here. Five years filled with filling her head with knowledge of fighting, history, mathematics, science, languages, geography, sword fighting, horseback riding, hand-to-hand combat, proper manners in certain peoples company, and of course reading and writing.
And even though five years had passed her appearance has not changed still. The only sign of change was the length of her hair which was once shoulder length now reached the middle of her back.
Prussia curled a finger through her hair which was in a ponytail. “You really should think about cutting it. It can get in the way when you’re fighting.”
Louise grabbed it protectively. “I‘ll cut it when I‘m good and ready to. And even then not that short.”
Prussia rolled his eyes before handing her over to her tutor. “Go and learn some more random shit.”
That was something that had been hard to get used to. His constant cursing. Now her own vocabulary was filled with words a girl should never even hear let alone speak.
She once let loose all the words she knew when she had accidentally broken her arm from falling off a horse that she had been riding.
Prussia had fallen off his own horse in surprise at how much she knew and then clapped in delight.
“You see? The awesomeness is rubbing off onto you!”
Louise smirked to herself then composed herself to listen to her tutor as he continued to drill mathematical equations into her mind. She obediently wrote down the way to do it before solving the problems he gave her.
Some of her tutors were hesitant in teaching her. Only because she was a girl, in their eyes an ordinary girl who would be married off and therefore wouldn’t need to know this information.
She smirked to herself once more. Oh if only they knew who she really was.
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Something that she hasn’t been able to stop doing since the day she came here was crawl into the same bed as Prussia was in at night and sleep with him.
He had been hesitant in letting her sleep with him, the man had complete experience on how to fight but none on how to take care of a child. But soon he also came to enjoy those nights and the company.
He would often tell her stories of when he was a child and had been named instead of Prussia the Teutonic Knights. He would talk about other countries that he knew including a girl named Hungary “Bitch thought she was a guy for a better part of her childhood. Don’t even want to get into that.” A man named Austria “Heh. Little aristocrat wasn’t so high and mighty when the awesome me knocked him down a few pegs.” a man named England “That guy needs to do something about those eyebrows of his. He‘ll scare everyone off with them one day.” France “Fucking pervert. Don’t believe anything that he says!” Spain “Pretty cool guy.”
He often tells Louise that she’ll take her place next to those nations as well as one of the most powerful one.
“Because when you’re raised by me there is no way in hell you aren’t becoming one of the strongest and the best!”
He would occasionally read to her a story if she asked until she fell asleep. Those nights were her favorites. The stories were fairytales, altered of course however Prussia saw fit, which sometimes made the story even better than the original. Or at least it made her laugh more.
The two continued to train and learn from one another. Louise learned everything she needed to know as a personification from Prussia and Prussia learned to be an older brother from her.
Once the King, Frederick the Second, was passing by Prussia’s room and peered in on the two of them. The sight in the room caused a smile to go on his face.
Prussia and Louise were both asleep. Louise was curled up against Prussia’s chest and Prussia had an arm around her protectively.
Frederick covered the two of them with a blanket and left the room smiling.
‘That boy was born to be a fighter.’ he thought. ‘But apparently he was also born to be an older brother.’
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Louise sighed. For the first time in a while she wasn’t able to concentrate on her studies. Her mind kept wandering to a place she would rather remained untouched forever.
To the town of her birth and her blood father and brothers.
She no longer needed them. She had a better brother than any of them in Prussia. And she had a father in the King Frederick. That one surprised her greatly, finding a father in her ruler.
True to Prussia’s words she had maids to help her. She wore some of the best clothes and she never went hungry. Knowledge of all sorts was now available to her at her fingertips. It was indeed a better life. She could not ask for a better one.
So why was she aching to see the family that was ready to kill her?
She sighed once more and attempted to turn back to her notes. Geography. And a certain town that she once knew.
She growled and hopped off her chair and desk to find Prussia.
There was somewhere she needed to go.
“Are you insane?” Prussia demanded.
Louise bit back a response and instead choose to wait a moment for Prussia to finish.
“You actually want to go back to the place where you first died?” Prussia asked incredulously. “You want to go back to the people that were ready to burn you?”
“I don’t want to go back there. I just want to see how everything is.” Louise said. An idea popped into her head that Prussia would enjoy.
“Not to mention how much I could screw with them with what I know have.” she said smiling.
He smiled for a moment before it fell.
Louise watched him pace around the room murmuring to himself silently.
Finally he stopped and looked at her. He then held up one finger.
“One week. That’s all I‘m giving you. One week. Go there. Get your fill and come back.”
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Within a few days she was ready. She had her sword, her bows and arrows, a map, a compass, parchment and ink, a small bag of gold coins, some food, a carrier bird to send messages to her brother, and a water canteen. She was wearing a shirt and pants with boots, most of her clothing at her insistence were modeled after Prussia’s. They were comfortable. Easy to fight in. And they still somehow showed that she was a part of the upper class.
She was ready. She was ready to go back to where it all started.
To where she started.
Prussia was seeing her off. He walked her to the edge of the forest that was a shortcut to get to her destination.
“Remember. One week.” he warned her.
Louise nodded and reached up to hug him. He held her tightly before letting go. She walked confidently into the woods and onto the path.
It was a two days journey to get to the town. Therefore four days in total that was just simple walking and three days to examine how the town came. More than enough time.
She stopped to hunt for more food, to catch up on sleep. Light naps as Prussia had told her and still be constantly aware of her environment and the possible dangers.
She met a group of men once who believed she was a simple target.
When she had finished with them the only thing she did was warn them to leave her be and tell others to leave her.
Finally after two days trek on the third day as the sun rose and the people in the town woke to a new day she entered the town of her birth.
Louise took a deep breath and walked into the town.
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They obviously remembered her she noted as she walked through the square. The familiar sets of eyes on her and the whispers. She smirked. Once upon a time everything bothered her. No more.
She walked past everyone and occasionally made eye contact with them. None of them kept the contact and quickly looked away. The only ones who looked at her in surprise and confusion were the children born in the last five years. Everyone else looked at her with fear.
She walked slowly. Each foot crossing the other with each step just as her brother. She savored the near taste able scent of fear filling the air rapidly.
Perhaps she has been living too long with Prussia after all. She gave a short laugh at that thought.
She finally reached the house she wished. Although it was no longer in the same place as before her instincts told her this is the one she was seeking.
She confidently raised her hand and knocked on the door.
She waited patiently, the eyes of nearly the entire village upon her.
Finally the door opened to reveal a woman. She looked surprised at the sight of a small child dressed as a boy would be.
“Is Jonathon home?” Louise asked, the tone of her voice making her seem older than she sounded.
The woman nodded and entered the house, not before giving her another confused look. Louise heard her call out to Jonathon.
Finally he appeared. When he saw her his eyes widened and he gasped. He tried to close to the door however Louise was faster and used her small stature to quickly enter the house before he closed the door.
“What do you think you are doing in my house?” he hissed.
Louise looked at him levelly. “To talk. I want to talk to you once more before I never see you again.”
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Louise made herself comfortable on the chairs. Jonathon hesitantly took the one opposite hers.
“I see you got remarried.” Louise said nodding to the woman cooking at the fire.
Jonathon nodded slowly. “Six months after Mary Anne died.”
Louise sneered. “Only six months? You must not have cared for her.”
Jonathon cracked his knuckles but otherwise didn’t move except his eyes narrowed at her.
“What do you want?” Jonathon asked.
“Answers mostly.” Louise replied easily.
“What are your questions?”
“Well first of don’t try to talk like your upper class. You’re nothing but a farmer.”
“Excuse me?”
“I believe you heard me. Unless you are starting to get deaf with your old age.”
Jonathon stood up and drew to his entire height. Louise simply stared at him before laughing lightly.
“Are you trying to frighten me?” she asked between laughing.
“I will not have some little girl talking to me as if I am below her. You are my daughter-” he started to say.
“I believe you disowned me five years ago when you gave the rope that which was used to hang me with.” Louise interjected.
Jonathon fell silent.
“I was your child.” Louise said. “I was your only daughter. Yet you were so ready to ‘beat the devil out of me’ you were ready to hand the rope that would be used to hang me in front of the church. You were gathering more wood for the fire to burn me than any other man. You a man I am supposed to call father.”
“I am your father.” he said.
“No your not.” Louise said. “The earth is my mother. The King of the land if my father. The country of Prussia is my brother. Not you who claims to be my father and then so readily hands my life over. Not those boys you call sons. I am more than you will ever be in your life.”
“You’re nothing more than a little witch.” Jonathon spat.
Louise laughed. “Still using that one? It’s getting some what old. I know now what I am and it is no witch.”
“Then what are you?”
Before she could speak a cry filled the room. The woman immediately left the room and was soothing a child in the other room before bringing her to where Louise and Jonathon were.
“A girl?”
“Yes. And a better one than you.”
Louise laughed again before taking a closer look at the child. The child sensed her and gazed at her. Louise stared at her for another moment before turning away. She had thought perhaps another personification. No however. This child was a normal human being.
Louise flipped her hair that she had put into a braid over her shoulder. “Know this. Actually I would rather if the entire village heard this.”
Louise walked out of the little hut and encouraged everyone to gather closer to her. Jonathon was in front. As soon as she was sure that everyone was able to hear her she began.
“Five years ago all of you had tried to see me killed. First you hanged me. When that did not work you decided to burn me to death. If it had not been for a man you would have done it. And I would still not have died.”
“Everyone here called me witch and demon. That I sold my soul to Satan and was going to his circles of hell. I no longer remember exactly what you said. It does not matter anymore.”
“That man that saved my life. He is now my brother in nearly every which way possible. Maybe even blood, I‘m not entirely sure. He showed me who I really was and helped me embrace it.”
She paused for a moment to gaze at each and every person, a thrill going through her.
Choosing to stop there she started to walk out of the town. She had said her part; it was up to them if they wanted to know.
“Who are you then?” and it seemed that they wished to know.
Louise smiled but continued walking, fully aware of everyone else following her. She waited until she had left the town border and back onto the road before turning back.
Who she was, was something that took time to accept. She at first refused to believe in it entirely. However watching her brother live and be free in this way was appealing to her and she wished for it.
Now she had it.
Her people. Their pain her pain. Their happiness her happiness.
Louise began to run from the town. She had gotten what she wanted. There was no more need.
Except one more thing.
She looked over her shoulder and yelled out as loud as she was able to. Not only to the town but to the entire world.
“I am Germany!”
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“West. West~~~. West! Come on West wake up!”
Louise jolted awake. Her brother’s face was centimeters away from hers.
“Prussia.” she said. “What is it?”
Prussia straightened and cocked an eyebrow at her. “It’s not like you to fall asleep at your desk. Still sitting up and everything.”
She had fallen asleep on her desk. She had taken a moment to rest her eyes. She had placed her elbow at the armrest and her head in her hand. Somehow she had fallen asleep like that.
Louise stood up and stretched her arms and attempted to massage the kink in her neck from staying in that position.
The year is 2010. That little town is nothing more than a distant memory in her mind. Barely there in the conscious mind and no longer of any importance.
“Anyway I just wanted to tell that I finished making dinner.” Prussia said leaving her office. “Come on before it gets cold.”
Louise smiled and shook her head. Her brother has changed in these passing years. Drastically. Yet he seemed at ease with it and accepted the change.
Louise caught up with him and from behind hugged him. He returned the hug as best as he could and looked at her amused.
“Is there something wrong?” he asked.
Germany shook her head and hugged him tighter.
“I love you bruder.” she said. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Germany didn’t answer but let go and started towards the kitchen once more. She grabbed his hand and pulled him.
“Come on. We don’t want the food you made to get cold.” she said.