Inspired by a Greek story about twins, one was mortal (Castor) and one was immortal (Pollux). They now stand in the sky to guide sailors safely home.
"We came into the world like brother and brother; And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another." - William Shakespeare
A young blonde haired boy with emerald green eyes crept through the forest, hiding from the wild animal that could, at any second...
"Ha! Got you, Arthur!"
Arthur immediately fell to the dead winter grass from the sudden weight of his twin, "Dylan, could you get off me?' Dylan quickly go off Arthur's back and helped him to his feet. "Really, Dylan, we need to be quiet. Mother isn't here to look after us, and you could die at any moment."
Dylan rolled his eyes at Arthur's face, identical to his own. Since their mother had disappeared, Arthur had been worried that one of her many enemies might come after them and kill Dylan out of vengeance. Just because their mother was a nation, didn't mean that all of her children were. Dylan was human, while Arthur was not. But they were still twins.
"Come on, Artie, we're still young, we have to live now or not!" Dylan pulled Arthur towards a very tall tree and started to climb it,
"Dylan, I'd feel better if you didn't climb that."
Sighing, Dylan obeyed his brother, dropped down and landed back on the ground. He was about to say something when an arrow shot out of the forest, whizzing past his ear. Arthur sensed danger, grabbed his brother's hand and ran out of the forest, and into a field. "What was that?" Dylan questioned.
Arthur shrugged. Then another arrow shot out of the trees and hit Dylan, piercing his heart. Dylan fell back without a sound, not breathing. "Dylan!" Arthur shrieked, falling to his knees and cradling his twin, he looked back at the forest and saw the smiling face of a blonde haired, blue eyed man fleeing the scene. "No matter what, I will kill you for this!" Arthur screamed at the man.
Looking back at his twin, Arthur wrapped his arms around his still body; and lay down on the dead grass and hugged him closely. He stayed there for hours, not moving. Cold, white snow began to fall, covering his and Dylan's bodies, but still, Arthur stayed. He felt his body getting as cold as Dylan's, his heart slowing to a crawl, Arthur smiled, at this rate; he soon would be able to join his twin.
Suddenly, Arthur began to feel warm as a bright light covered him, replacing the rapidly melting snow. Pulling his brother's body closer to him, Arthur looked through the light, this wasn't right; he could still feel his heart, however slow it was, beating away in his chest. He couldn't have died.
A beautiful woman with white wings came out of the light. She pulled them both close to her and shielded them from the elements with her wings, as the blizzard died down, Arthur found the courage to speak.
"Why did you do that? Don't you see that I wanted to join my brother?"
The woman smiled and ruffled his hair, she spoke in a voice like calm running water. "I know you wish to see your brother again, but my superior saw the love you two care for each other and wanted me to ask you something."
"What is it?'
The woman smiled. "There is a way to bring your brother back." She stroked Dylan's hair and continued. "You are immortal, but your brother was mortal. Yet without him, you can't bear to live. Your spirit is dying. So I can use some of your immortality to make your brother immortal, and some of your brother's spirit to give you back your strength. But be warned..."
The woman paused for a second, seemingly hesitant to tell the answer to such a small child. "The process is very painful, I will have to take your heart out and kill you. Then i will tear your heart in two and give half of it to your brother and half of it back to you. Then I will take your twin's spirit and split it in two, and give half to your and half back to him. This will make you both half human. Do you agree to this?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Arthur nodded and lay back on the frozen ground. The angel simply slipped her hand into his chest and pulled Arthur's still beating heart out of his body. Arthur's body went still. The angel then put her hands on opposite side of the heart and tore it perfectly in two, then put one half of the heart back into Arthur, removed the arrow from Dylan and put the other half into him. They didn't wake up. The process was not yet complete.
The angel raised her blooded hands to the heavens and a light blue light came falling from the sky, landing in her waiting arms. It was Dylan's spirit. Now, most people think that the soul and the spirit are the same thing. They aren't. The soul is the life that the body contains, while the spirit works hand-in-hand with the heart to keep the soul alive. The angel tore Dylan's spirit in two and placed the halves into the brothers' bodies.
Instantly, Arthur and Dylan's bodies jumped and they started breathing, Arthur woke up first and shook Dylan awake. Dylan opened his eyes and jumped onto his brother, hugging him. Arthur carefully returned the hug. Dylan then started jabbering about what it had felt like to be dead and questioning why he was alive. Arthur repeated what the angel had told him and Dylan thanked the angel.
But the angel wasn't done yet. "I know that you both are happy to be alive, but another word of warning. You two are connected, and if one of you were to die, then the other will as well, you need each other to survive. You are each other's strength and weakness. Which is why I am raising you to your mother and elder brothers' levels. you are no longer just a mortal and an immortal, you are now nations." The brothers grinned at each other. The angel placed one hand on Arthur's head and the other on Dylan's. "Arthur, you are now England. Dylan, you are now Wales."
And with that, the angel rose back to heaven, leaving the two new nations to figure out that they had another talent. "Wow, I can't believe Arthur did that!" Dylan thought.
"Hey, I can hear you in my head!"
"So can I!"
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"I know who killed you, shall we make our revenge?" Arthur thought to Dylan.
Dylan gave an evil smile. "Yes."
What happened next, I would rather not tell, but I will say that on that day, everyone on the British Isles learnt to not hurt one twin without getting the other angry.
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Centuries later, Arthur and Dylan, now England and Wales, grew slightly apart, but they never forgot the sacrifice Arthur gave to Dylan, nor that they shared a heart and and spirit.
And, who knows, maybe one day, in the twenty-first century, they will be able to retell their incredible story to the other nations of the world, including their brothers. The story of how the brotherly love between twins gave them both life.
"Body and spirit are twins: God only knows which is which." - Algernon Charles Swinburne