Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms. One was ruled by a very handsome man, born into the royal family and was blessed with many riches and beautiful women. The other was ruled by a man with large eyebrows, who fought for his power against his brothers, being the youngest of their large family. Both kingdoms were prosperous, regardless of the many battles between the two.

One beautiful summer day, in the kingdom to the north, a young prince was born. The whole kingdom celebrated, happy that the next ruler to the throne was there and that he didn't share his father's famous trait. Everyone in the kingdom was happy.

Until news reached them that their enemies, the kingdom to the east, had bore a prince only three days before their own.

When the unfortunate news reached the king of the northern territories, he was consumed by jealousy and hatred. It was the night one his son's first month, when he snuck out of his castle and into the one of his rival.

With great haste, the northern king found the child. He lit the candle next to the crib, and looked at the offspring of the revolting man.

His stomach dropped when he saw that the infant looked exactly like his own. The rage inside him pushed out the jealousy and he quickly went to work.

When the preparations for his spell were complete, he kicked over a vase full of red lilies, resulting in a loud crash. This woke the child up from its light slumber and let out a loud scream, and the blonde man hurried to the side of the child's bed farthest from the door, and began his chant.

As quickly as he began, once the chanting was complete. The markings on the floor glowed, and more light poured in when the door slammed open.

The bearded man, the ruler of the eastern kingdom, saw the intruder and what was happening and let out a shout of wrath. "Vous démon! Ce qui vous a fait à fils?"

A maniacal laugh slipped from the shorter man's lips. "Your son will not die, frog," he spat. "But, all the same, you no longer have an heir to your soiled throne." His laugh became louder and more bone chilling as the marking and the light faded, and with one last spell, he disappeared from the Frenchman's presence.

The Eastern king rushed to his child's side, the infant still crying and wiggling about. He carefully picked his precious child up, thankful for its cries. He bounced it in his arms, whispering soothing words into its fragile skin. Only when the baby went to sleep once more did the scared father look over it for what could have possibly been done.

His search was short; as all he had to do was pull up the light bed gown the child wore to see the change. He fell to his knees, holding his only family to his chest and prayed to his labor-deceased wife that all will be well. He looked at his precious child, and swore that nothing changed to him. "Mattieu…" he shook his head, and quickly corrected himself. "Non… Madeline…" He knew his Jéanne would love that name. "Madeline, mon ange…"

Nothing has changed. No one will know. He no longer had a son. Instead, he held his daughter close and begged to his late-wife and to god himself that all will be well.

Meanwhile, in the Western kingdom…

A new child was born as the frail young prince watched his little sister be born. He was excited and happy to no longer be alone in the lifeless castle. All of his seven years he was alone, as his Mutter and Vater would not let him play outside. They said he was different and fragile. His Mutter called him Ein Engel, but his Vater and Großvater called him Eine Leiche. He didn't know what that meant, but he knew it wasn't good, since his Mutter always yelled at them when they did.

His thoughts were torn from him when a shrill scream filled the room, one much too high for his mutter. His red eyed gaze turned to the bed that was surrounded by doctors. Before the frail boy could get up from his stool, his father stormed into the room and rushed to the bed. He took one look at his wife, then followed a young maid who carried a blood stained bundle. "Was ist das kind?" he demanded harshly.

The prince watched both as doctors where panicking around his mother, and as his little sister cried and screamed while the maid moved the cloth away from the wiggling baby.

For the first time in years, the albino child saw his father smile. "Ein sohn!" he exclaimed proudly. "Eine starke sohn!" He reached for the child, but before he could hold it, his name was called by one of the doctors.

The wide red eyes looked back at the doctors. They no longer panicked; they no longer worked around his mother. They stood solemnly, looking at the blood soaked labor bed without uttering another word.

Vuter walked slowly to the bedside, and looked down at his wife. His smile was wiped off his face in an instant. The prince didn't dare move, too scared of what made everyone sad. He didn't want to know why his mutter wasn't moving.

"Hat sie einen namen sagen?" the tall blonde haired man whispered.

"Ludwig," the youngest girl said, wiping a tear from her eye.

Ludwig? Wasn't that a boy's name?

Within the next few hours, the death of the queen was announced, as well as the name of the new prince, and the new heir.

No one was sure at this time if there would be any happy endings for the land of kingdoms.

Fourteen years passed, and the lands stayed much the same as before. But the young royals have changed so much.

"You blasted git! Who would have thought such an irresponsible prick came from MY loins?"

"Oh shut it, old man! I'm still young and full of life! Chill out will you?"

"Wha- Old man?"

"You heard me!"

"Madeline! Get down from there!"

"But papa, you never let me out of the castle grounds! I have to have fun sometimes.."

"But climbing trees? Mon dieu you're going to fall!"

"Don't worry papa, I'll be- AH!"

"Madeline!"

"That was close, eh?"

"Mon dieu- Get down from there this instant before you actually fall!"

"Gilbert!"

The pale haired young man turned his head from the window sill to the tall blonde man in the doorway. His hair was long and a permanent frown on his face, and his bright blue eyes seemed to pierce into Gilbert with loathing.

Gilbert almost sighed at the sight of the man. "Was ist los, Großvater?" he said as he stood.

"You are going to escort your brother to the eastern kingdom. It is about time he starts courting the princess there."

"I'm the eldest, I'm the true heir.. I am the one who should be courting this princess." Gilbert thought, but he bit his tongue, and nodded in agreement, albeit hesitantly. His grandfather left the room just as quickly as he came in, leaving the albino alone once again.

As soon as the door closed, Gilbert picked up a glass candle holder and threw it at the door shattering it into countless pieces. "What if I had plans, you ass!" he shouted, his face becoming flushed at the shouting as the blood rushed to his cheeks. Of course he didn't have plans, but that is not the point. What if he planned on sneaking out tonight and getting cozy with the village whores? He did that from time to time, and the village woman loved him for it.

Gilbert sighed, turning his gaze back outside his window. He saw his bruder with one of the trainers, getting his small body transformed with the muscles of a true man. He was losing his childhood far too quickly. The kid was only 16 for crying out loud! He should be playing with the south-western prince, their closest allies and Ludwig's best friend, and enjoying life. Not getting run through a near impossible optical course and being a novice forced to duel swords against hired experts. Sure, Gilbert went through nearly the same thing, but due to his condition, they focused more on the swordplay, agility and flexibility and education, instead of sculpting him into the raw form of muscles and testosterone, being educated in war planning and military tactics rather than the language arts, mathematics and sciences.

The albino sighed, standing up from his seat on the window ledge and began putting on his outdoor clothes. It was a beautiful day, sun shining brightly and blue skies clear, thus he was forced to wear his long sleeved, light clothing, a white loose dress shirt and tight beige pants, fitting his legs perfectly and leaving no room for imagination. He pulled on his knee length black boots over the pants and the thick leather gloves over his hands. He was about to grab his hat, a black and red tinhorn, but decided against it, knowing he'd only be outside for a couple minutes.

He made his way through the castle, smiling at the maids that gave him longing glances. Oh yes, he knew he was sexy. And he could easily say all the young maids of the castle were not virgins. Kesesesesese.

He saw the open archway to the back courtyard and covered his eyes with his hand before walking out into the sun. He cringed still, the bright light hurting his sensitive eyes. After a couple moments, he put his hand down, flinching once again, but ignored the burning in his eyes and bit back the tears.

He followed the sounds of grunts and shouts of 'harsh encouragement' around the corner of one of the towers that now lay vacant. He sighed with relief when he walked into the shadows of the high walls, being able to comfortably look for his bruder.

It didn't take much to find him, and he walked over to the large obstacle course in which the tall 16 year old was now half way through, struggling up the 6 meter high wall. The old man shouted at the boy, calling him weak and a bug not fit to be the next king.

Nice guy, huh?

Gilbert silently stood just behind the old man, watching his bruder. His short blonde hair, which has been as of late been brushed back into a perfect slicked back look, was now coming apart with sweat and the light wind blowing through the court yard. He watched as the boy's hands slipped from the top of the wall and fell onto his back, letting out a strangled shout. This got him another… heartening shout.

"He's gotten farther than I ever had." Gilbert muttered into the old man's ear, who jumped and whirled around.

"Ah, Prinz Gilbert!" he said with excitement, clearly false and forced. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be inside?"

The albino just shrugged. "I'm here to talk to my bruder…" he narrowed his eyes at the man, who took a nervous step back. "Is that a problem?"

"N-Nein!" he stuttered. "Th-the boy needs a break-"

"Nein," another step back. "I will take care of his training for now. One more run through and then I'll take him in to work on his swordplay. No objections, I trust?"

The man nodded with understanding. He bowed his head and made his way back into the castle. Gilbert looked over at his brother, who just lay in the dirt. Smiling to himself, the elder prince made his way over to the blonde.

Gilbert leaned over his brother, seeing those bright blue eyes widen in shock. "Hallo," he greeted, extending his gloved hand out. "Hattest du einen schönen schlaf?"

Ludwig beamed, showing his rare childish smile. He grabbed his brother's hand and allowed himself he be pulled up. "Hallo, bruder!" the shorter boy chimed. His eyes widened as is a match was lit in his head. His smile faded and his eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Bruder, shouldn't you be inside? It's really bright out!"

Gilbert laughed at his brother's concern. He ruffled his smaller brother's hair, giving him a wide grin. "Don't worry, I'm too awesome to get horribly burnt." He said proudly. Ludwig just laughed at his arrogance, brushing the dirt off his clothes.

"So what are you doing out here?" He asked, looking at the pale young man with a curious expression.

"Well," Slapping his hand on Ludwig's back, his grin shifted slightly, going from confident to menacing in such a small of his muscles. The blonde couldn't help but shiver when those familiar red eyes looked down at him. "I was thinking on taking over your sword training for the day…"

Ludwig paled, knowing full well how good his brother was and how merciless he acted.

"I might go easy on you," a quiet sigh of relief came from the boy, but the paleness returned once the older prince continued. "Only if you finish the obstacle course before me."

"What?"

"You heard me."

And so, the two brothers line up at the start of the course. The finished up their stretches and got themselves ready while a maid, who they called over, raised her hand up. "Ready?" the two nodded. "Set?" They shifted their ready muscles, prepared to dart out when her hand went down. She waited, before shooting her hand down. "Start!"

Like a set of arrows, the two ran out through the course. Gilbert, his legs longer and his body lighter, was already two steps ahead when they got to the first challenge. He put his hands onto the aged wood and pulled himself over the hurdle. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother stop at the hurdle and slowly climb up. Gilbert just grinned, landing on the ground and continuing, ducking under the next arch. Ludwig growled under his breath when he landed on the ground to see his brother going over the next hurdle.

He looked just in time to watch his brother's technique. Instead of stopping and using strength to pull himself over, he used his momentum from running to pull himself over. The blonde took note of this, ducking under the hurdle and copied the way his brother did it, succeeding his way over at the first attempt.

Gilbert got to the dirt patch with barbed wire only a foot above the ground. He growled, remembering how much he hated this part because of his lack of muscles. He dropped to the ground anyway, and pushed his way through, his shirt getting caught and cut on the wire. Ludwig was close behind him, now.

By the time the two were out from under the wire, the younger teen was ahead of his brother. He scrambled to his feet and ran towards the next obstacle, which made him stop.

Gilbert slowly got to his feet, swearing under his breath. He saw his brother stopped ahead of him and smirked. He began running again.

Ludwig jumped back when he saw his brother run into the wall. Well, not run into. A step before he got to it, he raised his leg to step onto the wall, using both the momentum from running and the grip on his boots to get higher up the wall than if he simply jumped. He reached up while in the air and just barely managed to grab the ledge. He let out a short shout when his foot slipped off the wall, causing his body to call limply against the wall, pulling at his weak arms.

Ludwig couldn't help but watch his brother in admiration. The albino was always told he was weak, and that he would be worthless in the battle field because of his lack of physical strength that came alongside his condition. The blonde always known his brother as stubborn but submissive; at least in regards to their grandfather's harsh words. He would always excel when the sun wasn't shining down on his body, being renowned as being one of the smartest in the kingdom and the fastest with the sword in which he trained in the large rooms of the castle. But here he was, proving their elders wrong and pulling himself up the wall. Ludwig's heart swelled with pride.

"Oi! Stop starring, West!" the loud voice thrust him out of his thoughts. "Do what I did, and I'll help you the rest of the way."

Ludwig blinked, but nodded. He backed up, and ran towards the wall, mimicking his brother's actions.

He was only a couple inches from the top when a thick leather glove grabbed his wrist. With his brother's assistance, both princes perched in the top of the wall.

Gilbert smiled at the overjoyed expression on his little brother's face as he looked around. "Listen to me, West." The teen's attention was turned to the albino, whose heart was beating against his chest and his arms aching. "There's one thing those old farts never teach us through physical training, and they think to tell us until it's too late."

"What is it, east?"

Gilbert paused, looking over towards the village not far from their castle. "During battle, we aren't just fighting for the people back home, or for the people of our land." He looked down at his hands, which he was sure would be bothering him later after the sharp corners of the wall dug into his skin. "During battle, we aren't fighting for the survival of ourselves. We fight for the guys next to us. Our fellow soldiers." The blonde looked at him with wonder. "You gotta remember, out of the battle field, Jadem Das Seine. But when fighting, remember Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit."

Silence enveloped them, the light sun shining upon them while they sat upon the wall. Ludwig watched his bruder, his face sad and seemingly lost. If he didn't know his bruder any better, he would think the silverette would begin to cry.

Gilbert looked down the other side of the wall and pushed away his sadness, forcing a smile onto his face. "There's more of this course to go, West." By the time the words sunk in, the other had jumped from the wall and ran through the rest of the course. Shouting after his bruder, he followed suit.

Unbeknownst to them, during their whole race, narrowed light blue eyes watched them, a piercing hatred into the oblivious albino.

Translations:

"Vous démon! Ce qui vous a fait à fils?" – You demon! What did you do to my son?

mon ange – My Angel

Mutter, Vater, Großvater – Mother, Father, Grandfather

Ein Engel, Eine Leiche – An Angel, A Corpse

"Was ist das kind?" – What is the child?

"Eine starke sohn!"- A strong son!

"Hat sie einen namen sagen?" – Did she sat a name? (I think)

Mon dieu – My god

"Was ist los, Großvater?" – What is it, grandfather?

"N-Nein!" – N-No!

"Hallo, Hattest du einen schönen schlaf?" – Hello, did you sleep well?

Jadem Das Seine – To Each his own. (This was the Motto of Prussia.)

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit. – Unity and Justice and Freedom (From the German National Anthem)

Please do correct any of the german/french used if it's wrong. I will not lie, I do use Google Translate.

Also, Alfred and Arthur do have a point in this story, not just in the begining.