WHAHHHHH! I am SO sorry that this took so long! I had a lot of bad things happen -sadface- and it really wasn't pretty. But enough 'bout that. That's all in the past now! I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Meh, Like a year T_T. Crap. But I do want to finish this story! There's a lot to put down! I may start writing in a notebook while I'm at campus in order to actually update. So here, the second chapter :)

Okay, so I didn't like how chapter one was AT ALL! So I decided to merge the two chapters and call the "first chapter" a "prologue". So my second chapter just became my first chapter . What? . So full of fail.

Prologue: Reality

Fables are for the weak. Reality is for the strong. Damn, I wish I followed my own advice….

"And don't forget that you're still my little brother!" Gilbert kicked at the powdered snow on the ground ashe yelled. However, Ludwig just narrowed his eyes at the Prussian and stood his ground while speaking ina direct and low tone. "You follow my orders," and stepped onto the train bound for Germany before adding:"brüder" as a last insult towards the other nation. With that satisfaction, Ludwig easily left East Prussia to settle things back in Berlin.

"What a brat," Gilbert mumbled, now facing his generals. With his red eyes ablaze, his generals cringed in his presence."You heard him! Now go! There's no time to waste!" And there was no need for Gilbert to repeat himself as they all practicallyscattered in various directions. It was always dangerous to cross paths with Gilbert when he was in a mood. Disobedienceand/or failure were terms that were simply unaccepted; especially when Gilbert was in a mood. It kept anyone and everyoneaway from Gilbert, whether he was in a good mood or not, people stayed away from the reject nation. However, the Prussian was completely fine with that. The more alone he was the better. He wasn't even human: he's nothing like them. Being a nationmeant being alone forever. Gilbert had seen many people grown old and die but they had all simply blocked all of the commonlogic that Gilbert was not human out of their tiny little brains. Only the leader of the nation is exempt from the mystical powersthat shield any knowledge of the nations.

Even with this power, Gilbert still liked to wander off on his own to be even more alone. He almost always found himself wanderinginto nearby woodlands where he could write in his journal. It was times like these where Gilbert needed to write in his used to be filled with writings filled with glorious days and awesome-isms; not anymore. Now it's just filled with theories, revenge,and sadness; nothing compared to the awesome journals of Prussia's past. Happiness only seemed to visit Gilbert when he wasalone: when he could just relax under a tree and dream about the past.

This is where Gilbert found himself at the moment. He wasn't sure how exactly he wound up in the middle of the woods but he hada good idea of how he got here. "They really work hard for me." Being a good military power always brought a smile to the Prussian. It reminded him of Old Fritz and how his generals would follow him to the ends of the earth. "I'm so great, no wonder I'm—"His eyesdropped and his memories faded with the mental image of his little brother. His brother was not the child that Gilbert once raised."It's all their faults that he's like this. Those bastards," a growl crept from his throat and even the trees shook with fear.

"They will pay."

Chapter One: What's in a leader?

"Hitler. I despise that name." Gilbert wrote those next words into his was number two behind only that of only the allied powers on his list of ,Gilbert was alone in the woods, angry and away from the rest of the world. However, it wasgetting late and Gilbert decided that he should get back to the estate where he could at least enjoy a hot bath on this shitty night.

That didn't stop him from releasing his frustrations out as he walked however: "Hmpf! He calls himself a German leader when he himself is nothing but an Austrian brat! I can't believe my brother is so quick to trust that…that…..THAT DAMNED FOOL!" Out of rage, the Prussian decided to punch an old oak tree, successfully hurting himself in the process. "Fick!" Gilbert cursed and rubbed his injured hand until it healed itself a couple of moments later. "This is all their faults! To pay them for the war…. Don't they see what they've done! Gott! And now we have a fucking Austrian for a leader!" The Prussian continued to fume like this for hours as he walked back to his estate.

When Gilbert finally got there, not even a good glass of beer and a cute stuffed panda seemed appealing to Gilbert that night. This was because the date is August 19, 1934, and an Austrian reject has now become Fürhrer of Germany. "That man is a threat to all of us," Gilbert muttered under his breath as he sat down to take off his boots.

"Entschuldigen sie bitte?" A male voice questioned from behind Gilbert.

Still deep in thought with the threat of an Austrian Fürhrer, the voice startled Gilbert and caused him to throw one of his best glares in the voice's direction.

"Entschuldigen sie bitte?" The voice repeated, unwavering from the nation's glare. The voice belonged to a younger servant of the estate; his name was Strom. He was only twenty-four, handsome with light brown hair and deep chestnut colored eyes, clean-cut with an athletic build. But Strom had been born into the service of a nation, bred for the sole purpose of serving Gilbert just as Strom's whole family has done for generations.

Seeing that it was just Strom, Gilbert ceased his glare immediately. "Es ist nichts. Obwohl ich werde ein Bad nehmen."

"Ich werde bereiten Ihr Bad." With that, the male servant left the main entry in order to prepare his master's bath.

Gilbert left his muddy boots for another servant to clean, and worked his way up the stairs. It was hard for him to look up at the walls to see portraits of his own former leaders; especially of the paintings of Old Fritz. Even on a normal day, Gilbert would feel the tightness in his chest swell if he caught himself gazing at his most beloved leader. Now that Hitler is his new leader, Gilbert can't even bring himself to look at Old Fritz. He was still a mere child compared to Old Fritz. If Gilbert dared look at him now, the Prussian feared that the portrait would come to life before showing Old Fritz's disappointment in the nation before disappearing from the picture frame altogether, never to return.

As Gilbert continued to walk up the staircase and down the hall, he kept his eyes on the floor. When he came to the portrait of Old Fritz and Hans together, he stopped and gently brushed the frame with his fingertips while keeping his eyes on the carpet. This was secretly Gilbert's favorite portrait of the famed leader. Even though Gilbert didn't look up at the frame, he has gazed at it enough to have every detail etched into his memory. Old Fritz seemed to have everything going for him at the time.

He was young, rich, and most importantly: he was in love. Gilbert wished he could've seen his leader before they killed Hans. Instead, that was the first time Gilbert was allowed to meet Old Fritz. It was when King Frederick William, Old Fritz's father, Gilbert's current leader at the time, decided that his son would make a horrible king for Prussia and in order to make a mockery of the future king, King Frederick William had Old Fritz and Gilbert watch as Hans was decapitated. In hopes that the nation would talk to the Holy Roman Empire in order to sway the leadership of Prussia to the King's other son, the old king left Gilbert to see Old Fritz suffering from the loss of his best friend and lover. Little did the old king know; the very son he had hoped to humiliate became one of Prussia's greatest leaders. Old Fritz had fought to become worthy of the throne; he fought to become stronger, more knowledgeable, wiser; he fought for Prussia, for Gilbert. It was Old Fritz's determination that made Gilbert into the man, and nation, that he was today.

As Strom was fetching fresh towels while the bathtub was filling up, he worried about his master. Even though Strom knew that Gilbert wasn't human, he still felt compassion for his owner. Gilbert may be a nation, but perhaps he's the most human of them all. Throughout Strom's childhood, his family constantly had to remind him what Gilbert was and was not, as well as the fact that Strom was only to be a servant to the nation.

Rarely, he had seen Gilbert's rage. And never, has he seen the nation's true power. But Strom could see it in the nation's eyes; the sadness, the pain, the glory, the happiness, the love, the despair…he could see all of the human emotions behind those crimson eyes. The elders didn't seem to understand. Yes Gilbert is a nation, but nations are made up by the people and for the people. Prussia was all of the Prussians wrapped up into one. When the people hurt, Prussia hurt; when the people cheered, Prussia cheered. Gilbert was connected to all of them in ways that simple minds couldn't comprehend.

Coming up from the above staircase, the lowly servant found the grand nation gazing at /that/ painting again. Strom noted that regret and sadness filled the crimson hues. Hiding all emotion from his thoughts and voice, the servant bowed before announcing his presence. "Your bath is ready sir."

Again, Gilbert was caught off guard and jumped, taking his hand off of the portrait and wiping away at his tears. "Danke Strom," Gilbert laughed to cover-up his surprised demeanor, and made haste towards his bathroom.

Strom stayed with his head lowered until the nation passed him and entered the main quarters before righting himself. He couldn't help himself to not let his own tears glide down his cheeks. His country was hurting, and there was nothing he could do. He was after all, just a servant of the house.

What did y'all think? I had originally planned on developing Strom a lot more in this chapter, but I think I'll be doing that for chapter two. I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, especially its length and development, but hey... a year of no update...I had to post something. But please review! Danke! And can you guys read this format alright?