As always I don't own Hetalia~ And please leave a review, I'd love to hear what you guys think! :D

"What do you mean by 'no', Honorius? I already proved that you and Rome are no match for me in the last two sieges!" A stout man with brown hair and a wavy beard snapped at one of the most powerful people of his time. The Caesar was seated in front of him the personification himself off a little ways to the right getting pecked at by a foul tempered chicken. The emperor, a young looking man with a full face and a cocky grin stared down on the Visigoth king as if he were but a mere peasant.

Honorius shrugged, "Why should I listen to a barbarian? Sure you may have land in my empire but remember I still hold the power here~" The Caesar said in a sing-song voice thoroughly enjoying watching Alaric 'squirm'. Sure it may have been a bad idea to kill his father-in-law who was pretty buddy-buddy with the barbarian but hey, this was some pretty interesting drama right here and Honorius was feeling rather bored at the moment.

"You son of a-"

"I think it would be a good idea for you to leave, Alaric." Rome finally intervened. Whether it was loyalty to his Emperor or the desire for the meeting to be over so he didn't have to deal with chickens pecking at his legs that is up to the reader. But one would think that it would be the latter of the two by how much the Roman man was shifting from foot to foot in an awkward dance.

"Fine," Alaric turned, huffing in annoyance, "Expect me back tomorrow to continue our negotiations." And with that the man left the chamber.

"A lovely character don't you think Roma?" Honorius asked.

"Whatever you say Caesar."

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to my chicken." Honorius shot back at the Ancient who sighed in irritation. It was a rough life when you shared the same name as poultry.

~Hetalia~

Alaric swatted back the tent flap to revel Germania lazily looking at the strategy that Alaric himself had scrapped the night before. Should push come to shove and he had to lay siege on The City. Again. But, this time he was determined to make it more than just a siege. The blond Ancient looked up at his musings and stared the bearded man in the eye obviously daring him to explode into a tirade. "Why are you looking at scrapped ideas?"

"Why are you trying to negotiate with someone who can't be negotiated with?"

Alaric narrowed his eyes at the blond. The last thing he needed was the Ancient's sass. "So I can get the most out of what I want without destroying too much of it." The man retorted not breaking eye contact. Germania might not be the personification of the lands his family was from but seeing as this was his territory and the one who was the personification of Alaric's homeland was too young in the his eyes to be of much help to him in his endeavors. "But that's beyond the point."

Germania's expression remained stoic, "Then what's the point?" He grumbled, not enjoying the conversation at all. He would rather be at home with his children than off fighting to take one miser's greed and give it to another one. But he figured that was how all politics worked and that he'd do best not to question it.

"I remember hearing rumors that a bird told me about another Ancient…"

"No."

The next thing Germania knew he was suddenly pinned to a wall by a dagger at his throat. Well, this was interesting. The blond never thought that he'd meet a king either brave enough or stupid enough to threaten him with just a cute little knife but he humored Alaric and stayed still. "You will listen to me, I am your king." And with that the Ancient was released. Alaric turned away and started to pace, his hands behind his back, the dagger abandoned on the table. "I believe that we need to have more reinforcements to help us break the siege should we enter another one. What do you think? It might help on the bargaining table to have a few more pieces."

The blond haired man narrowed his eyes as he waited for Alaric to get to the point. "I'm going to send for my brother-in-law to bring some reinforcements and I expect your brother to be amongst them. After all you do talk freely when you're drunk and I recall you saying that he lived in The City for- what was it- twenty-seven years? And that he's fluent in Latin as well. He could be of use for a new strategy I have." Alaric pressured, not allowing Germania to interject with how bringing his brother into this wasn't a good idea. The Ancient bit his tongue to keep himself from talking as Alaric continued. "He wouldn't mind posing as a slave for a day, would he?"

Germania tensed, yes, Scandia would mind! He felt a lead weight of guilt in his stomach. If he hadn't agreed to those drinks then he wouldn't have put his little brother in the situation. Germania wanted to be sick, but he didn't show it. He had to know one thing. "How do you expect him to know about this? He's beyond Rome's control, and out of your way. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't come."

Alaric smirked. It was a cruel, twisted smirk that curdled Germania's blood. What else had he said while intoxicated? "You are his brother. You could make sure he comes with the reinforcements, I'm sure he'd love a visit from big brother. And he has two young children doesn't he? If your suggestion that he join my army doesn't work, well, I have my ways." Germania's skin crawled. The blatant insinuation that Alaric would have his nephews harmed or killed was almost too much guilt for the Ancient to shoulder. Scandia wouldn't like it but Germania would drag his brother to the Italian peninsula if it meant that his family wouldn't be harmed.

~Hetalia~

It wasn't long after the night of that conversation that Alaric hit a little snag in his plan. He was so close to getting what he wanted when it happened. His troops were attacked by Roman legions. And it happened right when he and Honorius were about to make a deal. The king stormed out of the chamber and rushed back to his camp to assess the damage. Needless to say he was furious, especially when he found Germania among the injured. Germania lay on a cot; the entirety of his arm in bandages that already showed splotches of blood, a few bruises and minor cuts littered the Ancient's face. For the most part his wounds weren't bad. The blond's arm was grazed by a sword but other than that Germania was well enough for Alaric to send the next day to retrieve his brother so he could meet up with the reinforcements. But that didn't stop the Ancient from trying to change Alaric's mind about including his brother in his plans. "You'll leave tomorrow to make sure your brother is with the reinforcements." Alaric stated bluntly.

"You know that he's not the only one who knows Latin or the way around The City." Germania 'mused' out loud to try and get Alaric to consider not bringing his brother into his conflict.

Alaric pondered this for a moment before he responded, "No."

Figures.

Germania huffed in annoyance. But he could see Alaric's point. It had been centuries since his brother had last set foot on the peninsula. The Senators and important people wouldn't know who he was. Germania on the other hand had only recently quit being Rome's bodyguard so the important people would know his face which would be a problem seeing as the idea was to have people pose as slaves to let the rest of the army into The City. That and while Germania hated to admit it, he wasn't as insignificant as his brother. So it was no surprise to him when he found himself on the road to his brother's the next day.

~Hetalia~

It took the Germanic man a while to reach the end of his journey. Even with all of the Roman-made roads and other places that he could use to cut his travel time as much as possible it still didn't change the distance that he had to travel. A month had passed since Germania had set out and his wounds had since healed so no sign was available to give Scandia a clue to what his brother was about to ask of him. The younger blond was confused at first to see his older brother showing up unannounced. But the Scandinavian was quick to try and keep a sense of normalcy around his sons. That worked with his youngest, Sweden, but not so much on his eldest son. Denmark chose to uncharacteristically ignore his father in favor of seeing what was up. That ended when Germania took pity on his brother and sternly told his nephew that he would know what was happening later. That was enough to pacify the young Dane who then proceeded to go and torment his younger brother.

Scandia wasted no time in questioning Germania. "So, why are you here exactly? Tired of all the warm weather?"

Germania rolled his eyes, "Yes, that would be it." The sarcastic answer was met with a blank look from the younger blond. The older of the two sighed, "You've heard of Alaric?"

"The king who's got it in his thick skull he can take on a superpower?"

"That… would be him." Germania responded flatly, not appreciating the fact that his little brother interrupted him. "Well, apparently he heard a few rumors about your time as a Gladiator-"

"Shut up." The sharp words cut into Germania like a hot knife. The anger that lit his brother's eyes did a poor job in masking the nervous glance that he sent in Denmark's direction.

"He already knows about that, Scandia, he lived through it too."

Scandia shook his head, "He was traumatized, he doesn't remember much of it except for a few things, but I was able to convince him it was just a nightmare." This was met by a disapproving look from the Ancient's older brother but Germania wisely changed the topic.

"The point is, you're not only fluent in Latin and familiar with The City, but you were a slave," The word felt heavy and lead-like to Germania, like there was a barrier that was trying to prevent him from saying that. Something to make those twenty-seven years more of a fantasy and less of a reality, "so apparently, according to Alaric, you know the basics of how to act and it was so long ago that no one important would be able to recognize you."

"And?" Scandia asked, his eyes hollow as he waited for something else, something that was applied in-between the lines but never stated.

"Should something happen, your life is expendable."

The shorter blond nodded finding some sort of reassurance in those words. "You know my answer is 'no' so I take it you came to drag me there?"

"Yes, Alaric wants you to meet up with the reinforcements or he'll send his own troops after you." Came the almost robotic reply from the Germanic noticed his younger brother inhale sharply; no doubt imagining what could happen to his sons. Germania felt a twinge of hate towards Alaric, but he was powerless to do anything. With Magyar closing in from the east there wasn't much to do but side with the desperate king and get him self out of the line of fire.

"Fine, I'll go. It's already been decided for me anyway." Scandia broke the silence, his voice taut. And with that the Ancient approached his sons. Germania watched, guilt ridden, from afar as his nephews' faces fell, their mouths slightly agape as they tried to grasp the idea of being without their father. Hopefully it would only be- no. There was no 'hopefully'. It would only be a little while that they would be without their father. That much the Germanic Ancient decided right then and there. Germania would make sure that his little brother would make it back to his sons alive.

Even if it killed him.

~Hetalia~

It had only been a week that the two brothers were on the road; they were gradually nearing the reinforcement's camp when there was a flash flood. It had rained nearly nonstop for several days and the river that they traveled near had breached its banks. That left them with the dilemma of losing precious time, food and supplies. And Scandia's armor, the younger of the two having seen no point in constantly wearing it and against his brother's protests had left it with the horses while the two went hunting.

Germania's first thought's when he heard his brother's startled yelp was that the younger had tripped up a hill again. When he reached their camp he found it to be much worse. The river water had flooded the area washing away most of their supplies. What was left was sopping wet, the horses were understandably pissed off, and Scandia was repeatedly hitting his head against a tree and cursing himself for leaving his armor at the camp. It was a rather comical scene if it was put out of context. Germania snapped at his brother to stop feeling sorry for himself and to go get firewood and build a new fire to hopefully dry important supplies, like say… the map.

The Ancient set himself to work getting the horses out of the way and onto higher ground. He then went to fish for the remaining supplies and his brother's armor. The latter of the two was lost and the map was threatening to fall apart.

~Hetalia~

Scandia paced in front of a fire, his mind overwhelmed with thoughts as he worried over his two sons. Germania had just told him the details of Alaric's plans to invade after the Visigoth king's forces were attacked. Grant it Scandia was there to fight and he really didn't have a choice after all seeing as Alaric thought that having more than one Ancient on his side would guarantee that he'd meet no resistance. A sudden voice shook him from his thoughts "You know if you keep worrying like that then you'll give yourself nightmares. Again." Scandia turned to glare at his older brother.

"I'm not worrying!" The Ancient snapped. "I'm thinking about how nice it will be to have revenge!"

"Yes you are, your temper is even more volatile when you're worried." Germania countered, knowing that he was right. "And if you keep worrying about them you'll get yourself sick. I thought you were here for revenge." The man smirked, throwing his brother's words back in his face.

"I am here for revenge!"

"Then stop acting like a mother hen."

"What are you insinuating?!"

"Nothing."

"Dammit Germania!"

The older Ancient remained expressionless but a faint light in his placid green eyes was enough to give away that he was having fun tormenting his younger brother. And Scandia was reacting just like he always did. It was a routine between the two. Little sibling squabbles kept their relationship close and helped them remember that they could still be human even if reality dictated otherwise. "You know Mathias is old enough to watch Berwald, he's eight Eiríkr-" Germania stiffened as he realized his blunder a fraction of a second too late.

"Don't call me that!" Scandia snapped. The flame that the Ancient was pacing in front of suddenly burst into a thirty-foot wall of flames before dying down just as quickly back into a tame little campfire that it once was. The light atmosphere suddenly reverted back into a tense thicket of bramble. A long silence swallowed the surrounding forest so thick that not even crickets chirped to herald in the velvet blanket of midnight. "Besides I was eight when…" Scandia trailed off, his voice distant, normally bright blue eyes taking on a haunted hue as the blond was involuntarily drawn back into his ruined childhood as memories consumed him.

Memories of his father's death.

Germania decided to uncharacteristically break the silence to pull his brother from his thoughts. But it wasn't like he cared or anything, he was a brutal warrior after all! Yeah…he totally cared. The man cleared his throat, "You know that Alaric will choose you to be among those that will infiltrate The City because-"

"Because I know what I'm doing already, yeah I know. You don't have to remind me." Scandia cut off his brother as he snapped back into reality, infuriated by the only reason he even came back to the Italian peninsula. Germania sighed and gave up trying to talk with his northern brother.

~Hetalia~

By the time the two met up with the reinforcements and had returned to the main encampment it was already August. It was an amusing sight to behold when Scandia and Alaric were introduced to each other. The latter of the two automatically making a comment about how he expected Scandia to be taller and how short the former was despite being only two inches shorter than the Scandinavian man himself. Needless to say Germania and the guards weren't happy to have to keep a constant eye on the two so they didn't go for each other's throats while their backs were turned.

One could say that the officer's meeting the night before the plan was put into action was interesting. Scandia actually figured out how his closely guarded secret of being a former Gladiator came out when he noticed one of the servants pour his brother an alcoholic drink. Somewhere between awed and horrified the Scandinavian asked the servant what he'd given his brother only to find out that it was a wine with low alcohol content. Germania had only consumed three cups of it.

~Hetalia~

At some point around dawn the chosen men gathered around the main gate that lead into the city of Rome the gate's arch stretched above the tallest soldier's head before splitting into three windows decorated by vines that gave it an organic appeal. Alaric stood at the head of the group looking satisfied by how things were turning out.

Germania stood at his side conversing to him in his language to the man in an attempt to convince him not to go to North Africa after the sacking of The City. The Germanic man winced every so often when a sudden sharp pain hit him from his hangover because of the loud voices around him and the light. When it was put into perspective the sacking itself was even on shaky grounds. It all rode on the chance that the group of soldiers that Alaric's ambassadors were taking into the inner part of the city to infiltrate the patricians would succeed. It was a plan that if executed correctly would let the army slip into the former capital from the inside.

But the real question was; would it work? Especially with a rather stubborn Ancient by the name of 'Scandia' who was among the soldiers that would infiltrate the city. Oh, yes nothing could go wrong, but you see, Alaric really didn't care. I mean he really should have seeing as this plan could potentially make it or break it for his quest to sack Rome. But apparently he wascomfortable enough to allow Scandia to explain how to act around the citizens without breathing down the Ancient's neck. Which was saying something considering the two got along so well.

It wasn't long before the gates opened and the ambassadors led the 'slaves' into the wolf's den.

~Hetalia~

Scandia was not happy. He hated the whole idea of bowing to someone, it was bad enough since he was a personification but now it was even worse now that he was a slave. 'It's just one day, it's just one day.' The blond thought to himself as he was ordered around. Apparently one of the people in the family thought that it would be fun to use him as a sparring partner. And by sparring partner that meant that Scandia couldn't fight back and had to make sure that he didn't hit his opponent. Because for all intents and purposes he wasn't supposed to know how to fight according to the family. The Ancient had no idea how they could have the audacity to think that seeing as he did just come from a military camp. It was killing the Scandinavian man to just let himself get beaten. This was that midget, Alaric's fault! He probably had say on who went were and he did this to him on purpose. That bastard! Scandia would wring his neck as soon as this whole ordeal was over.

The sparring didn't last long and Scandia could slink away with his bruised pride to go and try to wait out the rest of the day. It didn't work. The Ancient was used more or less forced to do the family's bidding and the slaves that were there didn't let him get away with not doing anything. After his horrible day and a lack of food- for the kitchen was conveniently always out of food when he tried to get something to eat- the Ancient was left waiting until it would be time for him to sneak out and open the gates. Scandia just hoped that no one did anything stupid and got caught in the process. Or worse yet, that there was a spy that would rat them out and foil the only chance that the military had to get into the city. The ancient felt anxiety. He hadn't even been able to find any spare armor. How would he be able to protect himself? The blond man shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts it was best to keep focused on the task at hand.

~Hetalia~

It wasn't much later until Scandia found himself at the gates of the city waiting in anticipation for the fight that would soon come to the Ancient and his brother. He stood outside the Porta Salaria, the guards killed and laying in a heap just out of sight, the rest of the 'slaves' had all gathered in wait for the army to arrive. Dawn was fast approaching as the steady roll of footsteps alerted the 'slaves' to the army's approach. Scandia found his brother at the front lines. Vaguely the nation wondered what his brother would be doing on the front lines. He wasn't normally a short-range fighter.

The gates opened and the army surged into the city, the inhabitants of Rome, driven by curiosity, exited their homes to find the invasion right outside their front door. It wasn't like how one expected an invasion- yet. Germania approached his brother and handed over Scandia's battle-axe. "Alaric wants me to keep an eye on you."

"To make sure I don't try to desert?"

"Yes." Germania responded blandly watching as the military continued to enter the city and the understanding looks of horror that gradually found its way onto the citizens' faces as they realized what was happening to them.

The startling calm that encompassed the army was shattered and the men set about raiding The City. The houses nearest to the gate were set ablaze first. The king's army fanning out and causing mass havoc and hysteria among the Romans as they swiftly hunted down anyone who got in their way and killed them, looting as they went. However, unlike Alaric had originally hoped, they still met resistance. The king had overestimated the power that the personifications had. They still met resistance until the end of the first day. The bodies filled the street and houses, looted of their valuables, served as skeletons of the past lives that inhabited the area. Ash gently fell as the solders gathered for the night. Many of the men were content with their findings. Some of them had managed to go far enough to loot graves of Caesars. Others had broken into the Colosseum armory and stolen old weapons. But most stuck to saving their energy for destroying the rest of the city.

~Hetalia~

That made the second day interesting. Scandia and his brother had made it to the upper class part of The City and the two found themselves separated by guards. It was during this fight that Scandia was injured. The younger Ancient, thoughts muddied by adrenaline, had swung his battle-axe too high and thrown himself off balance in the process. That left him wide open for the attack from the Roman solder. The Scandinavian bit back a cry of surprise as the sword cut in a diagonal arc from his left shoulder to his right side, just below his last rib. The blond collapsed to his knees, wishing that he hadn't lost his armor in the flash flood, or that he'd taken the risk and stolen someone else's armor. But it was too late now. Stubbornly the Ancient forced himself to swing at his attacker. The blow was weaker than those previous but it still did the job of caving in the armor. It gave Scandia enough time to get to his feet and finish the fight with a killing blow to the neck, severing the man's head. The ground seemed to be spinning nonstop for the Ancient. That alone had him worried. Apparently the wound was deeper than he had thought. Scandia stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over another body before his back made contact with the wall of a house. The Ancient used his battle-axe as a support as he tried in vain to catch his breath and stop the bleeding from his injuries. Injuries that wouldn't exist had he still had armor.

Scandia didn't know at what point that he passed out from blood loss but when he next opened his eyes the Ancient found himself back in a military camp, his brother not far off arguing with a voice that the Ancient despised. Alaric. The blond forced himself to sit up and he tried to stand only for Alaric to glance in his direction, a smug look on his face. "See Germania? He can stand, that means he can fight tomorrow. Besides we're almost done looting the city, and then he can come along with us to North Africa." And with that the man left.

Germania turned on his brother, his green eyes blazing with irritation. "You just have to go and act like you're not in pain and force yourself to do things that you know that you can't do, don't you?" The taller blond looked angry. That was a bad sign for Scandia. Before the younger of the two could say anything to defend himself his brother was talking again, "I had almost convinced him that you were injured enough to be sent back to your sons and you just have to be stubborn enough to do this? What were you thinking?"

Scandia narrowed his eyes. "Well, don't do me any favors, but if you were that good at convincing him that I was too injured to fight then you could have convinced him that he didn't need me in the first place. But no, you just had to go and get yourself drunk and spill to that bastard my entire history!" The blond seethed, glaring at his older brother who looked like he wanted to hit something. Neither one of them would back down. Pride wouldn't let them. "I wouldn't be in this situation because of you and your stupid inability to hold your alcohol!"

Scandia bit his tongue as his brother finally snapped and his fist connected with Scandia's face. The younger Ancient's hand flew to his nose to try and stem the bleeding as the bitter taste of blood filled his mouth from where he had bit his tongue. Yet somehow his nose wasn't broken, apparently Germania could keep most of his anger in check when it came to his younger brother. But it still didn't stop the hurt and shock from clawing at the younger of the two. Never before had the Ancient been struck by his older brother. It was a new concept for him, one that he didn't know how to cope with so he responded the only way he knew how.

Through violence.

The air seemed to feel oppressive as shadows pulled together in a writhing mass. "I don't ever want to see you again." Scandia growled, having finally stemmed the blood. A large wolf started to take shape from the shadows but Germania was already making his way out. Scandia cursed in frustration as he forced his illusion to dissipate and leave him alone before the Ancient finally decided that he had nothing better to do and he fell asleep before guilt could take over for what he said.

~Hetalia~

Rome limped as he tried to pace in his chambers that night. Nothing had him more agitated than the fact that he was under attack and yet his Caesar did seemingly nothing. It was enough to drive the man up the wall. He stopped and stared at his chamber door. It was then that the man made his decision. He'd go to The City and try to save himself. He opened the door to be met by the wide eyes of his eldest grandson. "Romano?" Rome blinked in surprise at the sight of the little one out of bed and looking up at his grandfather with enormous amber eyes. The young nation's bottom lip was trembling and it was evident in his pale face that he'd had a nightmare. Looking behind the dark haired child he could see the smaller form of his youngest grandchild. Veneziano. The guilt that he felt was almost enough for him to consider leaving to go to The City to settle the attack. But he picked up his youngest grandson and took Romano gently by the hand and led them both back to their bedroom. He gently tucked the two of them in and waited for them to fall asleep. But Romano stayed up later than his younger brother, his eyes transfixed on Rome's injuries.

"Grandpa, are you going to go fight the bad people?" Came the innocent voice. Romano was tired enough to forget his supposed dislike for his grandfather favoring his little brother's potential over his. Romano kept his groggy amber eyes on his grandfather as he waited for a reply.

"Yes Romano, I am." The words seemed to not want to leave the Roman man's throat as he thought of leaving his grand children alone for the night. But it was for a good cause.

"And you'll be back soon?"

"Yes."

"Okay, because if you died I'd hate you forever." The Italian mumbled as he drifted back asleep. Rome smiled at his grandson. He knew that he didn't mean those words; it was just his strange way of showing care to his grandfather. And with that Rome got up and went on a journey that he'd never return home from.

~Hetalia~

Scandia awoke the next morning to a splitting headache. Actually, scratch that. His head felt ready to explode. It took a moment for the Scandinavian to finally figure out why he was in pain. He sighed. Today was going to be a long day. He couldn't wait for it to be over. The blond forced himself to get up only to nearly trip over something that was by his bed. Armor. Deciding not to question it the Ancient put it on, brushing off the feeling that he knew who the armor belonged to. It was slightly too big for him but other than that it was manageable. He walked out of the tent that he was in to find his brother waiting for him. Scandia glared at the taller blond before realizing that he didn't have his armor on yet. Ignoring that fact the Ancient turned his back on his brother, not caring as he fell into step beside him or the fact that they were both heading farther into the city to pillage.

The silence soon started to get to Scandia and he snapped at his brother, "If you're fighting today then where's your armor?"

"You're wearing it," Germania replied nonchalantly ignoring his brother's cry of protest that he wasn't going to accept any help from him. "I figured that you'd want the roles reversed so you could get your revenge and I could be injured for a change."

Scandia hesitated.

"Or are you not a vengeful person?" Germania pushed having noticed his brother hesitate.

"I don't give a damn if you die."

~Hetalia~

The two brothers were at each other's throats for the rest of the day. It was around noon when they finally seemed to start working together on something. That something was finding out if a rumor about Rome being in The City was true or not. That led them to the far end of The City to a forum deserted of people. And true to the rumor Rome was sitting upon a bench waiting for them. "So how should we end this? I wasn't expecting the both of you to be here."

Germania just glared at Rome, daring him to continue. Waiting for him to make the first move. But it was Scandia who struck first. The Germanic man guessed that he shouldn't have been surprised. Rome countered, obviously taking note with how the armor was slightly too big for Scandia and how he moved carefully. He was about to strike the younger Ancient when Germania intervened, hitting Rome in the face with the pommel of his sword. The Roman man stumbled backwards howling in pain. Scandia sent a swift glare at his older brother before deciding that the armor was too heavy for him and removing it. The younger blond sent a spiteful look at Germania before he took advantage of Rome's weakness and attempted to strike him. The dark haired nation retaliated by blocking Scandia, just barely, and sweeping his legs out from under him.

The younger Ancient was sent sprawling on his back, winded, his head connecting with concrete. Scandia's vision swam as he tried to get up only for a sword to go through his arm. This elicited a scream from the Ancient and he desperately tried to pull the sword from his arm, not caring about the fact that he was cutting his hand in the process. His grip was failing as more of his blood coated the blade as Rome cruelly twisted his sword, scraping the bone of Scandia's upper arm. Weakly the Ancient tried to grope for his battle-axe only to find that it was nowhere within his reach. But then again his vision was getting hazier by the minute. After what seemed like hours the blade was removed from his arm and Scandia was left to lie, stunned, on the clashing of metal seemed to be distant to him. It seemed like his brother really couldn't let him fight his own battles.

~Hetalia~

Germania could only watch Rome torment his little brother for a few moments before he couldn't help himself and he intervened. The two rivals fought for a while, well into dusk they carried on with the fight neither one showing signs of backing down. After a few moments Scandia had managed to find his feet and the Ancient was soon back in the fight after using magic to cauterize his wound. But while they didn't show signs of backing down they did show exhaustion. Rome's strikes were getting weaker and Germania was starting to get serious injuries. Scandia was no better.

But the world held its breath when Germania, wary from the fighting, put the last of his energy in a single attack. An attack that came at the same time that Rome thrust his sword out in a stab. An attack that involved Germania leaving his torso unguarded as he shoved his own sword in a gap in Rome's armor and fatally wounded him. The Roman man's attack also found its mark in Germania's abdomen and through his spine. And Scandia wasn't too far behind striking Rome in the back of his neck. The combined force from the two blonds was enough to kill Rome instantly. However Germania was not so lucky.

The blond man tried to pull back as his legs gave out sending Rome's corpse in the direction of a shocked Scandia who stumbled out of the way as he watched the scene horrified. Germania crumpled into a heap on the ground his breathing slow. Labored. Numbered. Scandia didn't know what to do as he felt panic take over his thoughts. That was his big brother that was dying! Why couldn't he move? What was keeping him from using magic to heal him? Wait. Scandia's eyes widened with the realization that he didn't know how to heal a wound like that. It had taken him several tries to fix his broken arm when he was a Gladiator but he didn't know how to heal something this bad. After what seemed like hours the Ancient finally approached his brother, trying to swallow past a knot in his throat. The still dusk air was doing nothing to help the situation. Not a sound. Not a sound besides his brother's strained breathing as his lifeblood soaked into the concrete. Colors blurred together as the blond blinked away tears. He knelt by his brother, feeling guilt ridden. He shouldn't have taken Germania's armor. He shouldn't have acted the way he did. He shouldn't have wished death upon his brother. The Ancient was startled from his thoughts when his brother spoke, "Bro-ertje. Just listen to me… one last time," A weak cough interrupted Germania as blood ran down the sides of his face from his mouth. "I want you… to kill me-"

"No!" Scandia pleaded, "No, I wont!" His stóri bróðir was the last family that he had. Besides he had killed his father… and his mother... he wasn't going to kill his brother as well. He wouldn't do the same to his brother. The blond was well aware that it was getting harder and harder to keep his emotions controlled as he watched Germania die slowly.

"Just do it…" Came the weak demand. Unable to find himself heartless enough to deny his brother his last wish the Ancient shakily took out his dagger and prepared to slit Germania's throat. He didn't want to do this. Every muscle screamed for Scandia not to. The Ancient didn't even realize that tears were falling down his face as he struggled with himself.

~Hetalia~

Germania narrowed his eyes slightly. The green light in them was slowly fading. Why hadn't his brother killed him yet? It didn't take that long for magic to stop a person's heart and he figured that would be the best way to go. There'd be no pain and it would be easier on Scandia to use magic over a weapon. That was probably it. His brother was trying to use a weapon to kill him and not magic. The older Ancient forced his vision to focus to see his little brother trembling, wide-eyed, as he struggled to put any pressure on a dagger that lay flat on Germania's windpipe. Truthfully the blond was surprised that his brother was even trying to follow through with his last wish. Germania didn't think Scandia would have the ability to go through with it. Apparently he was wrong. It was then that the Germanic man decided to take pity on his younger brother. "Magic." Germania managed to choke out as he desperately fought away death. He didn't care how stupid that sounded, it got the message across and Germania felt the dagger removed from his throat. He vaguely noticed a white light on his chest as lethal magic went straight to his heart.

Germania closed his eyes and exhaled for the last time.

~Hetalia~

Scandia felt his brother's heart stop and knew it was over. His brother was dead and he had killed him. The Ancient recoiled in disgust with himself. He'd killed his brother. He'd killed his brother using magic. But the reason that he had to kill his only brother was because of Alaric. Scandia narrowed his eyes and he tried to get up only to stumble back a few steps before collapsing from exhaustion and blood loss.

Scandia awoke sometime around dawn. The Scandinavian man struggled to his feet his battle-axe in hand with the thought that he would return to bury his brother later. He used the weapon to keep his balance as he made his way slowly back to the camp and to kill the man responsible. But he didn't find Alaric or his army at the camp so he continued onwards to the sea. He found ships there being loaded with soldiers and equipment. Infuriated by the fact that the king had already moved on to greener pastures the Ancient decided that if he couldn't talk to the king, he'd make him realize that he couldn't go through with his plans. Besides he was the reason for his brother's death. Scandia used his magic for the last time as he started his vengeful rampage. He changed the weather patterns creating a storm that would be memorable as the storm to stop the king. The force of the storm ripped through the land with Scandia's intent to kill. The storm hit the sea and the king's ships were destroyed. Destroyed by the sea and her anger or the fire from lightening that struck the ships. Little heartbeats of fire extinguished as rain pelted down with the force of icy daggers. Scandia watched from afar as he watched his ally turned enemy's forces burned. He turned, drawing fire up through the earth as he zeroed in on Alaric, prepared to kill him. To take his vengeance. He found the Visigoth king in the camp. He wasted no time attacking Alaric. Scandia turned the fire around him into the pure essence of sickness itself. He'd make Alaric suffer. The king sunk to his knees his eyes wide with fear as the thing slithered towards him. The tar of sickness dripping from its frame as the creature was absorbed into the king's body. Alaric writhed on the ground as his body tried to fight off the sickness that took on the form of a fever before he fell still.

~Hetalia~

Alaric's funeral was not long after the incident. The King's grave was under a river, its course diverted for the time being so slaves could dig out a suitable tomb. The Visigoth's treasures were buried with him and the slaves who dug the tomb were killed and buried with him. The river was put back on its course and it was done.

~Hetalia~

Romano and Veneziano both attended their grandfather's funeral. Tears in their eyes. He had broken his promise. Romano was furious, why didn't his grandfather come back? He was supposed to be invincible. The little one's bottom lip trembled as he refused to shed a tear. He was doing well with that little feat until he heard Veneziano burst into tears and start bawling. Their grandfather had been found in the same vicinity as that traitor Germania. People were able to put two and two together and they decided that it had been a killing blow to Rome's heart that had killed him. But apparently the bastard didn't stop there and he had to break Rome's neck as well. 'Luckily Grandpa Rome took that bastard with him' Romano thought to himself. Germania's body had been disposed of in the woods for the animals and that was enough closure for the little Italian. Honorius had taken a while to arrive at the funeral, the Caesar had originally thought that the messenger was talking about his chicken, Roma, and he had been mourning her death until he was told that it was the city that had fallen and the personification had been killed.

Rome had fallen. And the world was on the brink of entering a new age.

~Hetalia~

A month had passed and Scandia finally made it back to his home. It was slow for him. The Ancient was disoriented by his brother's death and the disappearance of his corpse to the point that Scandia had gotten himself lost as his navigational skills failed him for the first time in his life. But Scandia figured there was a first for everything. He didn't even so much as look at his sons for a few days after he had gotten back to his home. He'd become distant, even more so than he had been when he had escaped The City after his years as a Gladiator. The blond snapped at his sons and spent most of his time drinking to forget. It was during that time that the Scandinavian man decided that he would never use magic again.

And this is the end of HR: Roman Conquest I hoped y'all enjoyed it the wolftalia comic version is out if anyone wants to read it. It might be the same story however it's not going to happen exactly the same way as this story. There's going to be dream sequences in the comic and other scenes. :3

Story stuff:

Why Germania asked Scandia to kill him: Scandia was also involved in the fight to kill Rome, Germania knew he was going to die anyway and he wanted to speed up the process and if anyone found him they had two things. A) A person that killed Rome so Scandia wasn't convicted for Rome's death. B) No reason to guess that anyone else was involved. And finally; C) Because I'm the authoress of this here fanfic I what I say goes!

Scandia's Name: Scandia's human name is Eiríkr (Meaning: Forever Ruler) Ívarrson (His father's name: Ívarr + son) ain't I clever? :D But he prefers to be called Erik for reasons that will be shown in the comic version.

The reason that the magic Scandia used to kill Germania was white: You could go deep into color theory with this one but I'm going to keep it simple. White is the color of death in some cultures and it is unexpected for white to be associated with death in ours so that symbolizes that Germania's death was unexpected in Scandia's eyes. (And I just wanted to mess with y'all's heads and I like the color white for death over black)

TOD for Germania: Anyone ever notice that it was in the evening when Germania dies? That is symbolizing death and it makes for an epic backdrop for a fighting scene. Logic doesn't apply O_O I don't care if they couldn't fight for that long it looks cool in my mind. Don't judge.

Translations:

stóri bróðir- big brother (Apparently Old Norse was most like Icelandic)

broertje- little brother (The language that Germania spoke doesn't have much about it in written terms, however it apparently was the most like Dutch)

Historical:

Rome was sacked on August 24 410 CE by the Visigoth king Alaric the first, however this was not the first time nor last time The City (as it was called) was raided. Brennus (a chieftain of the Senones) also attacked Rome in 387 CE (CE= Common Era) he an interesting dude, he may or may not have been paid twice to sack Rome (but his army was kinda totally kicked out of Rome and flattened so…)

*Clears throat* But on with the history lesson

Roma did actually exist (The chicken, we all know that the country existed) and was a chicken owned by Honorius. (Who lived only ~13 years after the sack of Rome, he died from Edema of the lungs… poor guy) But the story goes that when he was told that 'Roma' had fallen he thought it was the chicken and not the country. And yes he did kill his father-in-law who was pretty buddy-buddy with the barbarians.

And yes Alaric's troops were attacked right before he came to an agreement with Honorius on the subject of Rome. There had also been two sieges before then and Alaric did have plans to go to North Africa. However those plans didn't come true as he was struck down by a fever and his ships were bashed by a storm. He is buried underneath a river. Alaric's people eventually settled in the Iberian peninsula.

Magyar closing in from the east was a big deal. Pretty much with out this dude the sack of Rome may never have happened (in my opinion, there were other factors) as Alaric and his people were pushed out of their land (Modern day Romania, that's why he believed his land's personification to be too young, Romania is still a child in my head-cannon) and they had no where to go. Enter stage left: Rome.

The Porta Salaria (Salarian Gate) was the gate that Alaric led his troops through in the famous 410 raid. It remained standing until ~1921 when it was demolished and a plaza was built on top of it. But the gate was part of the Aurelian walls (Built by the Emperor of the same name in the 3rd century) And Alaric's whole plan to use 'slaves' to unlock the gates actually existed. He gave his youngest members to upper class people and then the 'slaves' came and unlocked the gate from the inside. Pretty slick move if you ask me.