Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or Hetalia. They belong to Hima. I also do not own a majority of the story's plot. That belongs to Pearry Reginald Teo.
- Prologue -
The year was 1454 in the lands of Gorgatume, when a mighty force of Hells Dark followers swept across the lands, claiming new territory and burning entire villages to build upon their ashes. Those who resisted giving their allegiance to the lands new ruler or proclaiming themselves as the Devil's fresh servant, were to be sacrificed to the Dark Lord himself at the stake.
Innocent lives were stolen in the night and the Heavenly Light within the lands began to grow dim as the Dark Lords power and strength started to grow. Kingdoms fell along with their armies who stood no chance against the Dark Lords army of black-hearted men. Men who thought to have only Light within their heart began to stumble and soon they too fell into the trenches of obscurity.
Mankind's hope of crawling free from the shadows started to grow thin and the Heavenly Father of Light watched his children turn amongst themselves and rebuke the light from entering their hearts.
The God of Light knew that he could no more stand and idly watch his followers fall and Hells army grow more powerful, he needed a warrior to gather an army and force the Darkness back into the trenches of earth where they escaped from. Then God himself hand picked a mighty prince and warrior to become his Holy Servant and lead his handcrafted army of Light and justice.
The name of the fierce warrior was Ivan Braginski, Prince of Serbidon, The zealous Prince obeyed the Heavenly Fathers request and was gifted with hair as white as the clouds crafted in the skies, a sign that a man was highly favored by God and chosen to do his bidding on earth. Prince Ivan left his kingdom and throne in the gentle hands of his beloved fiancee. To ensure her safety, the Prince ordered three of his most trustworthy knights to watch over her in his absence. The lovers said their heartrending farewells and embraced a finale time before the Prince rode off with his, and Gods shining army behind his trail.
The land that was covered in darkness was smeared in blood of those who fought for both sides. The two sides clashed for months as their numbers dwindled greatly from loss of life and capability to carry on. Hundreds of Dark followers fell at the hand of Prince Ivan, who swam in the traitors' blood and gleamed with every scream that cried at the tip of his blooded sword. He was a marvelous swords man and skilled general. His followers fought bravely by him and watched the blessed headed Prince charge with brute force through cowering masses of Hells soldiers. On the battlefield his men gave him a new name, 'Sneg Drakon', which meant Snow Dragon in their native tongue. To Hells Dark army he became 'Kan Canavar', which meant Blood Brute in their language.
God watched the blessed Prince and how the Prince became obsessed with the sight, taste, and feel of other mens blood. It troubled him as the God sat atop his Heavenly white throne and observed his warrior in the gruesome battle. Even though the fevered Prince fought in the name of the Heavenly Father and for the good of the land and its people, the God of Light saw darkness start to extend in the blessed Princes heart without him even realizing it. When God visited the Prince in a dream after a day of battling, he requested for his blessed human to not forget who had given him the strength that he fought with and to whom he was using it for. The human apologized to his Holy God and kneeled before him, proclaiming that he every life he took only made more room for the light to grace. The God accepted his declaration and told the human Prince that the war of the Light and Darkness were finally coming to an end.
Back at Princes kingdom of Serbidon, a group of unfaithful men of the royal court took advantage of their Princes absence to carry out their unholy schemes. All those who knew Prince Ivan were aware of his new strength that was given to him by God. Their chance of murdering the Prince while he was still at human level had vanished, so they devised a new plan to take down the blessed man. Taking the fierce man on was nothing but a death wish. They needed him at his weakest composure in order to make him crumble.
When news that the war of Light and Darkness had atlas ended and the Heavenly Favored Prince and his army were returning home victoriously, the unfaithful men of court set their plan in motion. On the night that Prince Ivan was said to be returning to the castle, the courts men dressed themselves in black and covered their heads like Holy priest. The five hooded courts men walked upon the doors to the Prayer Room where the Princes beloved was at prayer inside. As they approached the doors they were stopped, by the three knights Prince Ivan directed to watch over his love.
In the disguise that they were Holy men and wanted to enter the room to praise their Lord for bringing their Prince home safely, the Knights foolishly turned their backs to the five men to unlock the doors. With their backs turned, the five men of court pulled daggers from their sleeves and stabbed the three knights in their backs.
The leader of the unfaithful men shoved the heavy wooden doors open and set his sights on the woman who was knelt down in prayer before a stone cross. Hearing nothing of what was happened in the hall, she continued her prayer to the God and thanked him for bringing her true love back to her and soon her embrace. The hooded men stalked upon her silently until in range when they grabbed her by surprise and lifted her from her knees. Two stood by the door in guard of anyone walking by, while two men seized her arms and covered her mouth. The fifth hooded man approached her as she watched him slowly pull his long dagger from his sleeve. Her eyes widened in fear when he pointed it to her neck and then rapidly ripping the necklace that Ivan had given her as his proposal gift. It was a golden chain with the blue sapphire gem that matched her eyes.
The Prince's lover watched the dark man pull the long dagger back once more but in a striking position. Her screams were muffled by the hand that covered her mouth just for that moment as the knife went slicing into her pure heart. The woman fell lifelessly to the cold ground where just moment ago she was kneeling and praying to the Lord. The hooded men grinned smugly as they waited for the next part of their plan to resume.
The blessed and victorious Prince proudly rode atop his white horse with his strong army marching behind. His army erupted in cheers when they crossed over a hill and saw their home in view. The closer they got more men cheered and rejoiced, all men except for the blessed white haired Prince. He longed for so many nights to see his glorious kingdom once again and have his people reunited, but something didn't rest well within his heart. Even though he won a war and the respect of the God, the Prince still felt he had lost something great.
Once his horse's huffs hit the streets of his town, he slapped the reins on his horse and dashed past the cheering crowds and ignored the flowers thrown over him from above. All that was going through his mind was for him to get to his castle as fast as possible. Something was wrong and he didn't need a sign from the Heavenly Father to alert him of this. He could feel it in his heart and it rattled him as a horrid spoke of something far too cruel for him to accept. He could only beg that he wasn't too late for what he didn't dare assume.
The halls were silent until he slammed the tall glorious doors open into the great hall. He roared orders at his servants and guardsmen to search the castle and find his true beloved. The Prince paced down the halls loudly, still in his golden army covered in the blood of both his enemies and comrades. When he turned a corner he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his three loyal knights, dead, on the ground in front of the room of Prayer. He didn't bother checking their health and immediately entered the room that was known to be nothing of grace and Holy Light, but no more was it of such holy names.
The warrior slowed in his steps as his eyes stared down at a petite body that laid in a pool of blood at the foot of a stone cross. His mind was empty as his heart thumped loudly in his ears at the horrific sight. All he did was slowly shake his head as he took another wary step forward towards the woman enclosed in her very own crimson blood. Finally the Princes feet began to move again and he went dashing towards the woman and collapsed onto his knees before her. His jaw locked and his eyes glazed over when he delicately reached out for the woman's small form and pulled her into his arms and turned her over. He let out a shaky gasp when her comatose facial features faced his eyes. His wretched violet eyes traced their way to her heart and he paled at the sight of the ghastly hole that was sliced through her chest and pierced into her innocent heart.
The brave and powerful warrior started to tremble furiously with his dear beloved in his arms. How could someone dare commit such a horrendous act on someone so compassionate and gentle? What kind of coward of a man murders an innocent and soft woman because they were afraid of confronting him themselves! ?
The snow haired Prince clung his dear beloved close to his chest and glared up at the large stone cross just above where he was kneeled. She must have been in prayer when it happened. How could someone kill another in the room of the Heavenly Father and right under his nose? Surely God must have seen the act take place, and yet he did nothing to prevent it from happening. The Princes nostrils flared at the cruel thought of the God who he had once fought so valiantly and loyally for-and for what?
To be wrongly betrayed by having his finance be murdered while away fighting for what he thought was worth parting from her for? Was this how he was to be repaid for his devoted actions and sacrifice?
The hooded courts men reentered the room just as silently as they did before on the woman whom they had murdered earlier that day. Their Prince was in too much of a vulnerable state that to pass such an opportunity would be a shame. This time there were only four dark hooded men and one of those men took a step passed the others and pulled out his long dagger. The man lifted his sword high into the air, then brining it down swiftly to sever the Prince's head right off his royal golden shoulders.
There was a loud clank and the mourning Prince spun his head around to find that one of his loyal knights had survived and was tiredly using his sword to block another from meeting into his head. The warrior gently set his departed beloved onto the ground then rose tall and removed his mighty sword from its case at its hip and charged forward, blind in rage. The knight was weak and badly injured from his wounds he received earlier, but he continued to fight as long as his Prince was there at his side to fight along with.
All four of the hooded courts men were dead, their demolished bodies were sprawled onto the stone floors as their sinful blood leaked from every inch of their body. The Prince had taken out his rage on them and made sure to leave no man left to where he could be identified if glanced at. Limbs were torn and scattered about in a way that reminded the snow-haired Prince of his days on the battlefield.
The loyal Knight dropped his sword and collapsed onto the floor in utter exhaustion. The Prince turned and knelt aside him, promising that he would heal him and make him as resilient and impressive to match his great courage.
The blessed Prince stood and marched to the center of the Holy Room, standing in puddles of the blood from his dear love and of sinners. He glared at the cross gravely as his grip tightened harshly on the handle of his battle weapon. He knew the Heavenly Father of Light had seen what he'd just done. He knew that he took the lives of other men in a Holy room and not on the battlefield where war was meant to be fought. He was positive that his Lord was not pleased with his quick actions and sudden urge to kill and obsessively spill blood that he loved to coat himself in.
The human Prince, who had been blessed by the hand of the God of Light and all things Pure, brought his sword up and directed it at the cross as if challenging the stone monument.
"I have killed for the Heavenly Father of Light this I swear! The hands that fought for him will now be turned against him!" The Prince screamed at the cross and felt how the ground beneath him began to tremble. He didn't care what the Lord of Light would cast upon him. He prayed and fought for a God that gave nothing in return for his sacrifice!
His violet eyes turned red and he bared his teeth viciously at the cross, knowing that the Lord was more than likely standing there before him, invisible to the human eye.
"YA UPREK VSE PREDANNONST YA IMET NEKODGA BYLO S SVET!" The Prince roared, rebuking the God of Light from his heart and soul and accepting darkness and hate instead.
One by one the candles in the room went out and the Prince brought up his sword; ready to fight whatever was to send for him from his once devoted God.
Then something happened.
Instead of being attacked from an opposing opponent like he had thought, the Prince collapsed from intense pain happening from within him. He screamed out in despicable pain as his insides started to boil and his skin burn. Everything went red as he glared up at the cross before him. The stone monument started to crack and split all the way up until the cross was tethered in two but still stood tall. Signalizing of a split alliance between man and God.
Some legends say that once beloved Prince was cast with the curse of immortality as punishment for his defiance. To live with his tortured soul for eternity. Never to pass and find his true love again in the afterlife and forever live with the reflection of her death forever on his mind. Another curse that God had given him was that he had to drink the blood of men to satiate the burn he feels in his insides. It was a punishment that the Father of Light had specially crafted for him for the way that the warrior Prince would obsessively spill blood and bask in its crimson glory as though it aroused him.
The Kingdom of Serbidon was swallowed by a horrible blizzard soon after and by the end of the punishing winter season people thought spring would alas come and save them from the cold, but it never did. Spring became an extended winter, as did summer then autumn. The land of Serbidon was cursed into a never-ending winter. Never again did the people ever see the Light from the Lord grace their lands or their once resilient Prince Ivan, whom seemed to have vanished within his own obscure castle along with everyone else.
AN: What am I getting myself into with this one... Well at least I'm on summer break and will have time to write A LOT more. Cheers! Review and tell me what you think so far. Any guesses on who the woman may have been?