A Complete Circle
Part of the Relic series
Written by: The_Afterhours and Soko524
Warning: Profanity and Violence
Introduction
From the beginning, none of us have ever been alone. We have always known that we were not the only ones born in this world and living in it. And though it may not seem like it, we are all the same; We are all capable of being broken. Things change and in turn they manage to alter us. Those changes can distort us, bend us until we finally fall apart. But when we do scatter we learn to pick up the pieces and put them back together again, much like a puzzle. We may not be able to find a piece's original place and sometimes we even mix other's pieces with our own but we do our best to mend ourselves. We must be careful. The curves and edges of each piece snap together to form one big picture and though we may feel complete we are truly not. Once you are able to correctly put yourself back together, you will find that life is in itself a giant puzzle. And if a puzzle is a game, well... I won.
Chapter 1
"...Ake...Wa...Up..." A distant voice spoke out to him. Prussia yawned loudly, being roused from his comfortable sleep. The warmth from his blanket disappeared as it was ripped from his body and he was greeted with a cold draft of air. "Wake up!" The voice was stern, strict and sounded angered although it clearly tried to retain its patience. "Okay, ich bin wach!" Prussia muttered as he sat up, his thoughts still muddled by his drowsiness. His crimson eyes blinked open as the scene before him came into full color. He was sitting in the living room of the house he and his younger brother, Germany, shared. 'I must've fallen asleep on the couch again...Great, here comes the lecture.' Prussia thought, expecting Germany to speak on it. But he didn't. Germany only stood in front of him looking rather upset. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Prussia yawned again. "I don't know, I guess I forg-" The albino was interrupted. "Sir, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave before I call the authorities." Prussia laughed at him, finding his tone hilarious. "Very funny little bro, trying to act all tough!" Germany's expression didn't change in the slightest, that's when the shorter began to get worried. "West...?"
The blonde had grabbed Prussia by the back of his grey hoodie and tossed him out of his house, slamming the door shut before the albino could react or stand on his feet again. "Hey! What the Hell got into you?" Prussia hopped back up and banged his fists on the door. "West!" He pushed himself away from the door in frustration and paced in front of it. His thoughts racing. 'Maybe Germany was busy today or having guests over. But he wouldn't kick me out if that was true. Perhaps he is cleaning today and doesn't want me in the way?...' He had a creeping feeling about this as he was in denial of his brother's strange behavior. "I'll go see if Specs knows what's happening." He dug into his pant's pockets, but only found a wallet, his phone, and a strange key. The key had no chain or anything attached to it. It was silver and engraved with the shape of a clockface, the hour hand was where the number '1' would be and the minute hand at the '12'. "One o' clock?", he said out loud before putting the key away for safekeeping. Next he peered inside his wallet, it looked normal enough. What caught his attention was the currency. It looked similar to a Euro but instead of having just Europe on the back side, it had the world. This was the same on all the bills, no matter the amount. And instead of saying 'Euro' the print said 'Greater World Territories'. Prussia blinked, not believing what he was reading and, in his shocked confusion he searched his pockets hastily for any change. The coins had the same print. 'Verbesserung und Weiterentwicklung zusammen' was on the back along with a rising eagle.
"This is one Hella elaborate prank." He muttered and shoved the coins into his pockets. He continued his little investigation and found an ID card. It had the same words as the currency and of course his full name, gender, nationality, ...birthdate and address? Prussia reread the text and sure enough there it was. He silently slid the card back into the wallet and put it away. The city of Berlin wasn't very far from his brother's house so he decided to go there as it was only an hour's walk. He hopped off the porch, not bothering to use the steps, and paused when he was halfway in the lawn. Gilbird was missing. 'He's...probably inside sleeping still.', he concluded and started his walk. It was still early morning so he had time on his side. The coiling, nagging feeling in his stomach returned. He couldn't shake the suspicion that there was something was terribly wrong. "I'll have to get a Taxi to princess's place, no way I'm walking the entire way." The sky was grey and cloudy, the air had a strong crisp coolness to it. He noticed the neighbors next door giving him odd looks, he sighed and pulled the hood over his head to hide his pale blond, nearly white hair. 'Great.'
Prussia had been walking for about 15 minutes now and was checking his phone to help pass the time. He noticed he had a deal of missed calls from unfamiliar numbers and seemingly random text messages. The messages looked normal enough, except for the fact that he had no idea who any of these people were. It got even weirder when he read some that were from a co-worker of some sort. He brushed the feeling off and looked through the pictures instead, but he was met with a problem. There was only a single picture and it was only a black space. He checked the date and time it was taken. "December the 13, 2014?" He stopped walking as few cars on the road sped past him. The air seemed to grow colder when he looked at current day's date. "December 14, 2014. But...It was the middle of November last time I checked." Nothing was making sense now, not like it had before. Germany's behavior, the currency, the phone...It was all too strange. He didn't feel like walking anymore, only wanting time to sit and think for awhile. He turned around and looked at the road, seeing a car approaching. He raised both arms to signal to the car and flag it down. Hopefully someone could give him a ride. The red truck eventually slowed down and the driver rolled down the window. "Hallo! Wo gehst du hin?", the man asked. "Berlin." Prussia replied with relief. "Berlin? Es ist nicht zu weit weg von hier. Ich gebe Ihnen eine Fahrt.", the man offered, unlocking the passenger door. "Danke!"
"Sprechen Sie Englisch?", the man asked as Prussia got in the car. "Yes, I do." Prussia said and buckled his seatbelt, still holding the phone firmly in his hands. The man had an honest face, with dark blond hair and brown speckled grey eyes. "What's your name? Mine's Joshua."
He smiled, trying to make an interesting conversation while he drove them to their destination. "My name is...Gilbert." Prussia said finally, hesitating momentarily before answering the other's question. Joshua had a accent. "Are you American?", he asked, but then gave it more thought and realized he might had come off as rude. "Yeah! I moved here to Weimar then to Berlin in search of work. You know how things are getting in the U.S. And it's not getting any better." Gilbert gave him an odd look. Last time he heard America was actually improving, with unemployment rates lowering even. "How so?", he asked with curiosity. His question was answered sure enough. "I don't know. How about the rule of no one being able to even leave their own cities or homes after sundown? Or the riots and shady government conspiracies. I even had to pay someone to get me out of the country. Now I move around from city to city looking for work. I send the money back home to the States for my family." Prussia was silent, trying to understand the information he was presented with. It was too strange for him. 'What happened...?' His gaze fell to his hands, looking down at the phone. 'I have to remember..' But he couldn't remember anything and it startled him. It was almost as if everything from the previous day and before was completely wiped from his mind. 'What's wrong with me..?!' His vision faded to black.
"Prussia." A familiar voice spoke to him in a calm tone, it sounded close. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. In front of him he saw Austria. They were both standing in some sort of hallway, the only light were candles along the walls, by the looks of it, sometime had passed after sunset. "You aren't with the others... Do you need anything?" The brunette asked with patience. Prussia opened his mouth to speak, but his words spoke themselves. He had no control over them or anything else. "Fact of the matter I do. I would like to speak with you, in private please." A strange sensation washed over his body. Austria nodded in understanding, turning his back to him. "Follow me, please." They both began to walk, the shorter leading the albino to an unknown destination. Austria wore a white coat with blue and golden trim, with white pants and black boots. Even in the dim lighting of the corridor Prussia easily recognized his outfit. 'That's what he wore during the 7 Years' War...His old uniform.' He thought. The walk didn't last long, Austria took him to a room somewhere upstairs. Austria locked the door after Prussia entered. "Now. I don't think anyone will hear or bother us here. Nor the servants, they won't come until late morning." The Austrian assured, pushing up his glasses. Prussia struggled to move, not even being able to lift his arm or move his fingers. He found it weirder that he couldn't even feel, instead only pins and needles. Almost as if he was but a puppet being manipulated by some unseen puppeteer. "You shouldn't come with me tomorrow." He said, not like he had any choice.
"What do you mean? We agreed I am to go fight too, I already gathered men and horses.." Austria's sentence trail off, becoming lost deep in his thoughts. "You don't mean..-" His brows furrowed. "I lied. I only said that so the soldiers could have a moral boost or at least feel safe. We're going alone." Prussia finally said, looking away and keeping his gaze low. Austria sighed softly, only barely audible to the other's ears. "You have to let me help you, you can't just go fight by yourself. We have to stick together." Prussia looked up at him walking closer, taking his hands in his. "That's why I'm doing this. We won't be safe at all if we keep running. What is needed is a strong attack, hit first. How long do you think you can keep Italy and Holy Rome safe? How much longer until they realize the danger they're in?"
Austria looked down, shaking his head slowly and pulled away from him. "I know you mean well, but risking yourself for them?" He sounded disappointed. "You won't have to worry anymore after this. I'll fight. It's the only way." Prussia spoke confidently but stopped when the brunette raised his hand to silence him. Austria chuckled half-heartedly, in spite of himself. "Go to war to gain peace? It's funny when you think about it. Fight to end the fighting." He said, a distant look in his violet orbs. "Go if you must, it's useless to try and stop you. You're a stubborn fool you know that?" He smiled and looked up at him. "But."
"When will this all stop, Gilbert...Gilbert, I-"
"-Bert...Gil...Gilbert?" A gentle hand shook him awake. "Huh?" Color and picture returned to his vision. He looked around desperately, panting heavily. His blood ran cold and beads of sweat rolled down his cool skin. "Are you alright? You blacked out for a moment there." Joshua asked with concern. Gilbert blinked. The truck was on the side of the road, other cars sped past indifferent to them. He waved him away, almost as if the gesture could scare away his own frightful thoughts, "No...I'm alright just...a bit light headed." He explained bluntly, not sure if that was the answer he was only telling to himself. The blond didn't seem too convinced. "I can take you to see a doctor. The town of Berlin is only a few minutes away." Gilbert paused. Town? Berlin, as the capital of Germany itself was far from just a town. When the offer was given to him, again, he refused. "I said I'm fine. I just didn't get enough sleep." He excused. 'Must've been one good nap if I woke up with no clue what's going on.' The albino thought bitterly. Joshua still looked a bit unsure but after a small sigh they back on the road again. 'Okay...Relax. It was just a weird dream, not like it's something new..' Gilbert thought to himself, trying to calm his nerves, still shaken from not only the dream but his own brother's rejection. But he couldn't help but think about it. Maybe looking out the window would help in at least distracting him from his worries. Normally, a drive to Berlin was uneventful, well it would have been at least had the scenery had been more comforting. The lush thick green forests and quiet farms were gone and had been replaced with windy and desolate wasteland.
Gilbert remained by the window, in awe of just how different everything looked. He wanted to think nothing of it but the fact that this was the correct road and not some alternate route they had happened to have taken was still forcibly hammered into his mind. The sky had darkened considerably as if it could open up any moment and a downpour would come upon the barren land without any warning. The quiet engine buzzed on and dim lighting inside the truck along with the mostly smooth road threatened to lull Gilbert to sleep. He fought against it, snapping his head up and shifting his position to remain awake. He rubbed his eyes, groaning softly to himself. He sat there speechless, discomfort growing in him the more he looked outside. He knew deforestation was a problem but this was just ridiculous. "Something bothering you?" Joshua spoke up, glancing at him then returning his attentions to the road. The albino shook his head and looked down at his hands. He gulped. "Actually there is.." He said softly. It was the only way, just sitting there and doing nothing wasn't going to get him anywhere, much less closer to the answers he so desperately needed. Though he risked sounding like a complete idiot in the process. His pride wasn't going to get the best of him this time. He let out a heavy sigh. 'Here goes nothing..'
First chapter! How exciting, my second fanfiction! This first chapter ended up being a bit more shorter than I had expected but hey, I'll make it up in the next one. I have quite a bit planned for this story... Not sure when I'll upload the next chapter but I promise it will be up before the end of the month! Please review and follow! It is greatly appreciated and motivates me to speed up my work. Another story is coming up in the meantime, something all you Germany and Prussia feels lovers put there will enjoy!