Prologue

Gilbert Beilschmidt should have probably expected that something strange would happen to him when he stepped foot on that train. It always started when people took that first step on a train, or left home that the odd adventures happened. However, there was one thing that Gilbert could admit: he wasn't on an adventure; he was just looking for a pass time while he ditched school.

Gilbert hated school – it was probably the one thing that he hated over everything else, and Gilbert hated quite a few things that weren't classified as 'awesome'. This hatred for learning the normal way was what caused him to only show up to class when exams were nearing.

Everything associated with school was boring anyway. Classes were dull; teachers were brainless adults who didn't know how to have fun, and the other pupil's were just plain tedious. The entire school's population (excluding Gilbert himself,) were losers to Gilbert. They didn't have an interesting back story, nor had they ever done anything that stood outside of society's standards.

Sometimes, Gilbert thought venomously as he passed money to the ticket man at the train station, living in East Germany was just so normal. And normal was boring.

The idea of seeing the world was a much-loved dream of Gilbert's. As he was passed a train ticket, Gilbert quickly wandered off to the train he'd be boarding, giving a curt nod to the ticket salesman. School could wait, he decided.

Running a hand through his hair, Gilbert decided that he would take a week to relax and unwind in Berlin. He'd always wanted to go to Berlin, having never been to the capital before, and as he plugged his headphones into his ears, he could barely contain his own excitement. Taking a novel out of his bag – he had a secret love for reading that he'd never admit to – Gilbert settled into his seat by the window.

He almost didn't notice the woman who glared at him as she made her way towards her seat – almost. She had long brown hair that had a flower in and she wore a green dress. Gilbert wondered why she was glaring at him, having never seen her before in his life.

She looked around three or four years his senior, so Gilbert knew that they'd never met through school. He'd remember her face, after all. As she walked past him, the woman continued to glare at Gilbert in disdain. The albino almost wanted to ask what he'd done to displease her, but otherwise told himself that he didn't care, and that her answer would just be 'un-awesome' and petty.

Instead, Gilbert focused back on his book, enjoying how suitable it seemed for the train ride.

...

When the train stationed in Berlin hours later, Gilbert let out a relieved sigh. While he found that train rides were enjoyable enough, he'd soon grown bored of sitting in one place. Making sure to remember to take bring his suitcase and backpack with him, Gilbert departed from the train with expert speed. It felt nice to stand on his two feet after such a long train ride.

Outside the train station the weather was sunny. It was definitely a difference to the rain in the city Gilbert had just come from. Already, Gilbert had an idea that he would love Berlin.

The streets of Berlin were busy compared to back east he soon learned, though they were much more homely. They seemed warmer, and it wasn't because it was sunnier in Berlin, but because it felt as if Gilbert had been here before.

Walking suddenly felt more difficult, and so Gilbert sat down on one of the nearby benches. Placing his suitcase between his legs, he tapped on the handle as he thought up ideas of how he would spend the week.

He'd have to find a hotel to stay in, Gilbert quickly realised. A hotel that didn't take up all the money he'd saved, Gilbert noted, as he sat back on his bench. The sun was bleeding out on the horizon, a perfect sunset, and quickly, Gilbert took out his phone to take a quick picture of the colours on his phone.

Looking down at his phone, Gilbert realised he needed to charge his phone, and quickly. Dismissing this problem, Gilbert decided that he just wanted to spend a bit more time wandering around the capital.

He was still walking when he heard a shout from behind him. Turning his head abruptly, Gilbert stopped his walk to watch the person who had shouted run up to him. Frozen for a moment, Gilbert had to warn himself that he could be in danger, and that if push came to shove, a fight might be compulsory.

"Hey you," Gilbert heard the man shout again as he ran closer and closer towards him. The man was around the same height as him, wearing what looked like military clothes. "Yeah, you," the man added when he noticed Gilbert looking at him.

The man stopped around five metres away from Gilbert, grinning up at him. It was dark, and thus hard to make out the details of the other's face, but Gilbert definitely knew that the man was grinning. And that like Gilbert, he too was an albino.

"You're an albino as well?" The man asked, even though he could obviously see that Gilbert's hair was white. Confused, all Gilbert could do was nod numbly at the question. The stranger continued to speak, "do you know how rare it is to see Albino's around? I've only ever met one other in my life, and boy was he an ass. Anyways the names east, it's nice to meet you."

The stranger struck his hand out to Gilbert, who shook it in a confused daze. Was everyone who lived in Berlin so strange? And why did the stranger's voice sound so familiar?

"I'm Gilbert." He stuttered in response, before jerking his hand back in surprise. The stranger did just that as well. With his eyes, Gilbert desperately searched the stranger's face to understand just who he was. The stranger did exactly that, his red eyes widening in shock. Even more confused, Gilbert took a step back. The answer came to him almost immediately after he'd stepped backwards, the answer as to where he'd heard the voice before.

It was as if he'd talked to himself, because it was his own.

Additional Notes:

Well... that went well... I quite like this idea of having both countries and human counterparts in the same story. This is going to focus around Gilbert and Prussia obviously, as they're the main characters. The countries have their country names, and the human counterparts have the human names. Ex: Prussia – country, Gilbert – human counterpart. And oh, just to say, the countries have slightly different personalities to their counterparts.

That was probably obvious, but I just wanted to clarify it for anyone who didn't understand. The next chapter should be up soon, so bug me endlessly if it's not up within a week or two. I guess that's all there is to it so far, so I'll see you guy's next chapter,

Ciao, Mint~