Belgrade sometimes truly loved her life… But this wasn't one of those moments.
She watched the land over the Danube, the land that belonged to her brother, to Zemun*. They were separated so long that she couldn't even remember how he looked very good. He was always close, just over the river… But she was with Serbia and Zemun was currently part of Austria-Hungary.
She frowned when she thought about Austria-Hungary. Their empire was the reason why she felt unnerving, afterall.
Belgrade knew something was coming. Something big. And she was scared that maybe Serbia will be the one that will start it. She really loved and respected Serbia, and thought of her as both a friend and a sister, but she knew that she was easy to provoke. Not that Belgrade was a lot better, but… She could do something stupid. And that's exactly what they want… Austria, most of all.
She understood why. Austria-Hungary was empire who was as easy to fall to pieces as a house of cards. Just one country has to get independence and the rest will come after.
And Serbia wanted them to be independent so she could get her country of South Slavs.
"Belgrade!", Belgrade knew who that was. She didn't have to look.
"Hello, dear.", she turned around to brown haired girl.
Podgorica looked at Belgrade's tired face. She could see the black circles under her blue eyes, and her black hair- well it wasn't apsolutely horrible, but the bun was tied pretty sloppily, and if she was asked to describe Belgrade, one of the first things she would say is that Belgrade took great effort in her looks, even to the point few people accused her of vanity.
"You look horrible. Have you got any sleep tonight?"
"Not sleeping is perfectly enough for a personification. We are not humans, remember? It's okay. Afterall, I have better things to worry about. Don't tell me you don't see it."
Podgorica looked down for a second, as Belgrade continued speaking, taking out her cigarette out of her purse. "Balkans are like that. They always were. I saw so many wars I can't even remember all of them. I hoped… I hoped, after the independence from Ottoman Empire that maybe there will be a longer period of peace, but, as you know it wasn't like that. Balkan wars happened, but I knew, when they finished, it won't stop. It was calm for a tiny amount of time, like when water goes back before a big wave. And I'm scared this will be truly great wave. And it will start here. I'm scared, Podgorica. No, fucking horrified. I stopped sleeping. Stopped eating. But there is still one thing I can still do."
She turned on the heels of her shoes and started walking away.
"Where are you going?"
Belgrade turned around, with the sad smile on her face.
"To get drunk and recite Edgar Allan Poe at the painting in my room. I would invite you, but sometimes, drinking isn't a team sport."
*Zemun is currently a part of Belgrade, but was a separate city until 1934. Then again, 1941. Zemun was separated from Belgrade, becoming the part of the puppet state of Germany, Independent State of Croatia, while Belgrade was under German occupation. Zemun again becomes the part of Belgrade in 1945.