Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 1: Albtraum
Ludwig held the rifle close to his chest as his hands trembled in the cold December wind. His piercing blue eyes never wavered as he stared directly at the bullet riddled wall of a burnt out barn in front of him. Sighing, he turned to his left and stared at the seven other uniformed men standing beside him waiting for their orders. However, Ludwig already knew the orders. It was always the same, day in and day out; the only difference was that they'll always move from place to place.
"Alright gentlemen," a voice boomed behind them. Ludwig shivered and closed his eyes; he had always hated that voice. "Today we've rounded up about five filthy Juden in the area, and your job is to exterminate them." Pausing for dramatic effect he continued, "Remember gentlemen, it is your duty to cleanse the world of these inferior people; it is your duty to your fellow German, now wait here while we bring them in."
Ludwig opened his eyes and shuddered. He hates this part of the job, because he knows, that before pulling the trigger he would look into their eyes and see a mixture of fear, sadness, and confusion, but perhaps the one emotion that he saw the most was complete and utter surrender, where they had lost the will to live and all he stared into were dull lifeless eyes. He hates it, and he knows he can't continue doing this. Sometimes he wonders in his head how long can he keep this up, how long can he continue to stare into those eyes everytime before he pulls the trigger.
Resigning himself to his fate, he turns again to his left only find himself all alone. "This can't be right," he muttered, "Where are the other men? There were seven others, where are they?" Panic was starting to rise in his voice as his throat began to constrict. Panicked, he turned around only to stare into the cold steel eyes of his boss who only smirked at him, "What's the matter Beilschmidt?" he asked mockingly.
Ludwig's eyes widened as he stuttered out, "Sir, there must be a mistake, where are the other men?"
His boss just laughed, "What other men? This one's all you Beilschmidt. In fact I think your assignments have arrived."
"What?" Ludwig cried in confusion and turned around only to see a family of five huddled together for warmth in front of the wall. Ludwig stared in shock, as the father tried to comfort his crying daughter right beside him.
"What's going to happen to us?" whispered the little girl wearing a worn down red jacket as he stared into his father's eyes. His father just smiled and wiped away a tear from her eye and calmingly said, "Nothing, my dear, do not worry. We will be reunited again in paradise." The father tried to muster a weak smile as he clutched his daughter. "Nothing will happen to you my dear I promise."
Ludwig swallowed and stared at those eyes, at the daughter, whose eyes filled with fear, at the father whose eyes were filled with sadness. Ludwig shifted his gaze to the mother as she held tight to her baby and saw the same dull lifeless eyes, the same eyes devoid of life. He shifted his gaze one last time to the little boy, he was wearing a blue jacket with blue pants, however what was different about this child was his reddish-brown hair and eyes that glared defiantly at Ludwig.
Ludwig stared in confusion, he has seen all sorts of emotions from the many eyes he has stared at, but this was the first time he saw this type of look. This glare, this sheer look of determination and defiance.
"What's the matter Beilschmidt, aren't you going to kill them?" His boss implored from behind him.
Broken from his reverie he lifted his rifle and aimed it at the family huddled by the wall. Moving his fingers slowly to the trigger, a voice rang out, "Why are you doing this?" Ludwig stared and then realized the source of the voice was the little boy with a blue jacket and blue pants.
Taken aback by the question Ludwig froze, no one has ever yelled at him right before he was about to shoot them. "Well, what the hell's the matter Beilschmidt, why aren't you shooting them?" his boss' voice cut like a serrated knife across Ludwig's core.
Ludwig stared at the boy with fiery brown eyes before he spoke again, anger emanating from his voice, "I'm asking you, why are you doing this? What have we done wrong? What has my sister done wrong? She's kind and sweet and generous, she has done nothing wrong. So I'll ask you again, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"
"Why are you listening to this snivelling brat, kill them already!" his boss yelled back. Ludwig remained planted on the spot, rifle still for the family in front of him.
"What the hell are you waiting for Beilschmidt. I SAID SHOOT. SHOOT THEM NOW."
Ludwig froze, eyes wide open, petrified, and for a moment time stood still. Then letting out an inhuman cry, Ludwig raised his rifle and….
"AAAHHH!" Ludwig woke with a start. Panting heavily, all he could do was stare at the motionless ceiling fan above him.
"It was just a dream" he sighed, "just another stupid dream." He laid there motionless for a few minutes before swivelling his head to the nightstand beside him. He stared at the alarm clock, 7:45 am.
Fighting his desire to sleep, Ludwig got up and walked over to the mirror by the bedroom door. Staring at his reflection, the familiar facial features stared back at him, the blue eyes, and his sleek blond hair, now combed back neatly and as always the same serious scowl.
"It's always the same dream. It's always the same family, and it's always that same kid." Pausing for a moment he asked himself, "What's wrong with me." Never expecting an answer, he turned around and surveyed his room.
One glance at Ludwig's room and you can instantly tell that Ludwig was a stickler for neatness, orderliness, and efficiency. In fact, everything in his room was arranged in an orderly manner. His book were all alphabetically arranged and neatly ordered in his bookshelf. His clothing were all neatly folded and meticulously arranged for every occasion he could imagine. Everything was in its right place, neat and orderly.
Ludwig opened his cabinet and quickly grabbed his green Wehrmacht uniform and his green khakis and quickly dressed himself. At the same time he quickly adjusted the Knight's Cross on his collar. After hastily inspecting his uniform he straightened himself out and walked out of his bedroom.
He didn't make it very far before being tackled to the ground by his obnoxious brother.
"Ack, what is the meaning of this Gilbert!" Ludwig cried.
"What, can't I bond with my most favourite brother of all time?" Gilbert grinned.
Ludwig scowled.
After one glance at Gilbert and Ludwig it was hard to see the resemblance between the two brothers. Ludwig can be seen as the paragon of a perfect man; tall, broad, muscular, and healthy. He was neat, orderly and a stickler for the rules, some say to a fault. His brother Gilbert could not have been more different, he was a tad shorter and less muscular than his brother; however, the most striking features Gilbert possessed is his deep red eyes and his messy, asymmetrical silvery hair. As well unlike his brother, he always loved to pick fights, pull pranks and can honestly come across as an arrogant brat with a world-sized ego. But deep down inside he always had a caring attitude to the people he liked and is fiercely protective of his brother.
Ludwig sighed, "I'm your only brother. Now please be kind as to get off of me."
Gilbert complied, and quickly stood up. Ludwig glared at his brother before standing up, "And where were you last night?"
"kesesese" Gilbert laughed, "Why? Ya miss me bro."
"Ugh, just answer the question." said Ludwig while rubbing his temples, "And besides isn't it too early for you to be bothering me?"
"Relax bro; I was just out drinking with some people at my work." Ludwig frowned. "What? Can't I go drinking with my friends without being interrogated?"
"Interrogated?" Ludwig asked.
"Hey I can use big words too ya know. I'm not stupid."
"I'm just messing with you." Ludwig smiled. "But seriously why did you go drinking last night?"
"Well if you must know, we were celebrating because I got a transfer to be a guard at some POW camp outside of Berlin."
"Oh, well congratulations, I guess, do you know when you're leaving?" Ludwig stated cautiously. Though he has never seen these camps firsthand, he's heard enough stories to be wary of them. And if he was honest with himself, he knew he didn't feel comfortable with Gilbert working there; but orders were orders, and he kept his mouth shut.
"Uh yeah, I'm leaving tomorrow." Ludwig frowned. "Which is why, I wanted to bond with my little bro before I leave." Gilbert said, with a slight grin on his face.
"And what kind of bonding do you have in mind exactly?" Ludwig asked.
"Oh, I don't know." Gilbert paused. "How about I take the car for a spin."
"WHAT! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Ludwig yelled.
"What? Why not?" Gilbert asked.
"Because you crashed the car the last time we went driving, remember." Ludwig remarked, annoyance written on his face.
"I didn't "crash" the car West." said Gilbert. "I was just testing it to see if it was safe to drive."
"I don't think crashing a car into a telephone pole counts as a safety test." Ludwig said seriously.
"Ok fine, what about driving my bro to work." Gilbert suggested.
"NO!" Ludwig replied sharply.
"Let me rephrase that…driving my bro to work safely." Gilbert added
"and…"
"Fine…and I'll drive under the speed limit." Gilbert added exasperatedly.
"I need to think about it. After all, aren't you hung-over from last night?" Ludwig paused.
"Hah, the awesome me never gets hung-over." Gilbert proudly declared with a silly grin plastered on his face.
"I don't know." Ludwig stated apprehensively, the memory of their precious Volkswagen plowing into the telephone pole still fresh in his mind.
"Oh come on West, don't you want to bond with me?" Gilbert whined.
"Ok, fine let's go." Ludwig knew when to surrender, even if it wasn't exactly the best idea, it was still better than being bothered by his older brother.
"Great, let me grab the keys."
"Here we are bro." Gilbert said as he parked outside Ludwig's office.
Ludwig admitted, Gilbert's driving has become safer since that accident.
"Hey West, you had that dream again didn't you?" Gilbert questioned.
Ludwig froze, his brother has always known about his recurring nightmares, but he always tried to hide it. After all, he never wanted to trouble him with his personal problems.
"Look, I know you don't want to talk about it and all, but you know I'm here to listen to you." Gilbert paused. "And besides, if you can't talk to me, who else are you going to talk to? I mean, we're the only ones looking out for each other in this crazy world." Gilbert smiled. "You gotta trust me sometimes man."
"Ja, I know, just don't worry about me Gil. I've got things under control." Ludwig said with a weak smile.
Gilbert knew he was lying but he didn't want to force the issue. "Alright then bro, I'll see you at the train station at 4 right?"
"Ja, I'll be there." Ludwig remarked as he exited the car
"Alright then I'll see you around." Gilbert stated as he waved his hand.
"Just make sure the car is in one piece okay?"
"No promises bro." Gilbert smirked.
And with that Gilbert sped away. Ludwig chuckled lightly, despite being the younger of the two; one can argue he was always the more mature one.
Putting those thoughts on the back of his head, Ludwig turned and faced the monolithic building, and began walking up its steps.
