Part 1: Gaining Independence

Chapter 1: Magda

Ten seconds. That was how long it took from the entrance to the large wooden door with golden handles. Ten seconds was all I got to prepare myself. Not that it was such of a surprise, I had been waiting for this moment since it all began seven years ago. Yet, not even thousands of years could prepare me for it. My brothers had helped me the best they could, at least Ludwig. Gilbert offered as much support as he was capable of. They had both been so kind to give me some piece of advice.

Ludwig had told her to walk with determined steps, like I knew where I was going. Also to hold my head up straight and speak in such manner that others couldn't help than to obey me. Gilbert, on the other hand had told me to act like I'm better than everybody else. I didn't dare to point out that he hadn't been to any world meetings for the past hundred years. Since it had been so long since the last time I saw him, I didn't feel like break the little trust I had gained by moving out of Ludwig's house.

It had been a surprise to say the least, to find him standing outside my door just a few hours after I had received my invitation. The war had separated my family, in more than one way. Ludwig had been with the Allies and Gilbert with the Axis and they had fought each other more than I like to believe.
It was a relief when Ludwig told me to stay out of their quarrel and don't pick sides. Although, it was no secret who was my favourite. No matter how much Gilbert amused me with his peculiar plans to gain world dominance, Ludwig would always be my favourite brother. I hadn't told anyone about it, but gaining my independence, although much wanted, it had been very difficult to leave him alone in that house. I could still remember the sad expression on his face when I left.

Five months had passed since I moved out and a lot had changed since then. The war had ended and I had been acclaimed a real country, and now I was standing here, outside the door that would determine my future as a country.
America had said that it would be the beginning of a new era. An era with no wars and world peace. It wasn't unusual of him to think too big. It had been quite funny listening to him talking about his great part in the war and how he would be the hero. I hoped that the allies would remember me. It would make it easier to fit in if I knew somebody other than my brother.

There was a red carpet on the floor, leading the way to the door. It looked even bigger up close and I felt the anxiety growing in the pit of my stomach. I wished I had taken Ludwig's offer to walk in with him, but I reminded myself that it was the price I had to pay for my independence. I couldn't rely on my brother anymore.

With a shaky hand I turned the handle and walked in. I was prepared for the questions that would most definitely come, the bickering between the Allies and Axis but nothing came. No questions and no bickering. Then I realised, the room was empty. No one was there. Was I in the right room? Yes I was, I had checked it several times and this was most certainly the room for the meeting.
Perhaps it was a cruel joke by someone. Hadn't Ludwig told me how many times England liked to make Sealand believe that he was invited to the world meetings?

"Who are you?" someone said behind me. The voice was low, almost like a whisper and it made it even scarier. I turned around and came face to face with a young man. He had blue eyes, blond hair and he wore glasses. I could also see a pair of goggles on the top of his head. He seemed very familiar, yet his quiet demeanour told me that he wasn't the one I thought. I couldn't recall meeting him before and couldn't put a name to his face.

Then I remembered that he had asked me a question.
"My name's Magda", I answered.
"That was a strange name on a country", he said quietly and I had to lean a bit closer to him in order to hear him properly.
"That's my human name", I explained. "I'm more known as Breuchen". I could see a hint of recognition in his eyes. So he did know who I was but I couldn't remember his?
"You used to live with Germany", he stated. I nodded and a few seconds of silence passed before I broke it.
"And you are?" I asked.
"I'm Canada", he answered.

"That's why I recognised you", I said and he looked at me like he couldn't determine whether I was real or not.
"You're America's brother", I added and his gaze fell to the floor.
"That's me, America's brother", he said with a sad tone. I didn't know if I should apologise or not. He seemed to be hurt by my words but I didn't know why. So instead I decided to change the subject.

"Where are everybody else?" I asked and looked around the room.
"They will come", he answered. "You're just an hour early". An hour? How could that be? I had calculated when I had to leave in order to be in time. I looked down at my watch and to my horror I realised that it had stopped entirely. I was lucky to even be there at all.
As I was examining my watch, Canada tip toed back to his seat.

Only now did I notice how large the room was. There was tables placed in a circle and there was only one opening to the middle. Nametags and flags had been placed in front of every seat. It took a while before I found my seat. To my relief I was seated between Sweden and Spain. Although, Sweden had remained neutral through the war, he and Germany had a strong friendship and did often business together before the war.
Spain had been on the Axis side but had never been in the middle of the conflict, he only helped out Italy and Romano to protect their lands from the Allies.

I sat down and looked around the room. Looking at all the flags and trying to remember if I had met them before or not. After a while I got bored so I looked over at Canada who sat on the other side of the room. He was scribbling something down on a paper and didn't look like he wanted to have a conversation at the moment. So, for the next forty minutes I followed Canada's example and drew trees and flowers on my paper, which I suspected should be used to write down something important.

England was the first one to arrive. His blond hair looked even bushier than usual and the dark rings under his green eyes revealed the lack of sleep he had been having. The eyebrows looked as weird as I remembered, and the memory of when the first time I met him and had made fun of his eyebrows still lingered in my mind.
He looked around the room. When his eyes landed on Canada he looked surprised.

"So you finally decided to show up in time for once", he said to Canada.
"I'm…" Canada began.
"So I assume that you have agreed on the terms?" England continued. Poor Canada tried to say something but England kept talk about a document.
"He's not America!" I shouted and England stops abruptly. Evidently, he hadn't noticed my presence until now.
"Who are you?" he asked. "Are you a spy?" he added quickly. I sighed. Couldn't he just read the nametag?
"She's Breuchen", Canada explained quietly. England looked a bit confused but then I saw that he could place my face.
"Germany's sister", he said. "Heard that you would join us". Then he went to his seat and joined our quiet fun of scribbling.

Ten minutes later, the room started to fill with people. The Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania came together. They all looked very frightened but relaxed once they saw that there was just three others there.
The Nordics, also came together. Sweden just nodded his head as a greeting to me and I wondered if he remembered me.

Spain was one of the last to arrive. His brown hair and green eyes stood out among the blond and blue eyed Nordics around him. I wondered if they had put the Allies and Axis separately between neutral states just to avoid conflict.

Much to my surprise, Ludwig, or Germany was the last one to arrive and he just looked at me quickly before he went to his seat. Not even a hello.

"Alright, let's get this meeting going", America exclaimed and went into the middle of the circle. I could hear people sighing. When he stood in front of me I could see how alike he and Canada looked, yet they were so different. I decided that I preferred Canada's quiet personality rather than America's outgoing.
"First order of business", he began.
"Why is it always you holding the meetings?" someone asked. I turned to see to who the voice belonged to. I had only heard stories about him. How he used to be a part of the Allies but his constant arguments with England turned him to ally with Russia. His famous blond wavy hair and blue eyes, like so many others in the room, yet his choice of clothing made him stand out. I was conflicted, he was very attractive, but he had a reputation to be a flirt and very self-centred. I turned to where England was sitting and he looked angry, even a bit offended, as if it was he who he had interrupted.

"Because I'm the hero", America stated as if it was the most obvious thing ever. France looked like he was ready to say something else when Russia cleared his throat. All eyes turned to him and almost everyone's eyes were filled with hatred. It was filling the room, drifting through the air like a disease. I hated myself for felling pity for him. I shouldn't. He was the reason that the war began, if he hadn't been out to force his sister, Ukraine back to his house, they wouldn't be in that mess.
However, Russia didn't seem to care what others thought of him. His violet eyes looked so calm and kind that I began wonder why someone who looks so nice could do something so terrible to his own family. Not everyone loathed him though, on his right side sat Belarus. If there was someone in the room I actually feared it was Belarus. She looked like she was ready to kill whoever dared to go against her brother. It was no secret that she was in love with him and wanted to marry him. Ludwig had told me one night, how inappropriate he thought it was and that Russia should never encourage such behaviour. I had to agree, it would be like I had a crush on Ludwig or Gilbert, and either would be too weird to even think about.

"Why won't we choose a neutral country to hold the meeting?" he suggested. Everyone continued to stare at him in awe. Did he really say that? I would have thought that he would demand that he was going to hold the meeting. The room started to fill with chatter.

"What do you think about it?" Spain asked me and I was so surprised by his question that when I tried to answer nothing but strange words left my mouth. Spain chuckled.
"So you don't want to hold the meeting, I take it?" he asked. I just shook my head. I couldn't even imagine how much of a fool I would make of myself if I had to go up and speak in front of everyone.
"I have never seen you before", he stated and I understood the under lying question.
"I'm Breuchen, used to be a part of Germany", I told him almost robotic.
"You're the enemy then", he said with a teasing tone. I rolled my eyes. Was he really that stupid to joke about the war when the relationship between the Allies and Axis is so fragile?

After another minutes of discussion between seated neighbours, America stood up again.
"I think that Canada should be the president of the meetings", he said. I looked at Canada, but was surprised when others seemed to have problem locate him. Once they did, Canada looked very uncomfortable.
"That's not fair, he's your brother", China shouted and quite many nodded in agreement.
"Who do you suggest then?" America asked.
"Switzerland", someone said before China could answer him. All eyes turned to Switzerland who just shook his head. After another few turned down suggestions, France stood up and cleared his throat.
"Monaco", he just said and sat down again. People began discussing but no one seemed to be against the idea. Then they turned to Monaco who seemed surprised to even be suggested.
"I suppose I can do it", she said.
"Then it's decided", America announced and went over to Monaco. He held out his arm for her to take and he escorted her to the middle of the circle. When he went back to his seat, everybody looked at Monaco with curious eyes.

"First order of business", she read from a paper. "The Nordics suggest that all matters about the peace agreement should be held in a small group with only the involved". It took a few seconds before everyone got the question and then the discussions began. In the end the majority agreed that The Allies and Axis had to settle it between just them.
The rest of the meeting went on like that, Monaco told them about suggestions from either one country or more and then they would discuss it and then vote. It seemed very simple and there was just a heated discussion between China and Japan, but other than that it went fine.

After the meeting I went to speak to Ludwig. I might be an independent country now but he was still my brother and I wanted to talk to him about my first day.
"Brother", I said. He looked at me. Not with the warm and kind look he usually did, he looked emotionless.
"Is it an important matter?" he asked and I was taken aback by how stern he sounded. Like he barely knew me at all. I looked down at my shoes and could feel the tears burning behind my eyes.
"No, I suppose we can take it another time", I said and was ready to leave. Then he put a hand on my right shoulder and I could feel his gaze on me.
"We will talk", he said. "But not now", he added. I nodded and tried to understand. I really did.
"I have to discuss something with England", he said and with that he left me standing alone. It wasn't like I hadn't seen this side of him before. During the war, he had barely smiled. But he had always made sure that he would be happy around me, to not show how much the war affected him. This felt different. It seemed like he was ashamed of me, like he didn't want to show everyone that he still talked to the sister who had left his house.

It was with a sad mood I went home from that meeting that day and I dreaded for the next day. I thought that gaining my independence would open up the world to me. Right then it felt like it was the end of the world. I was alone, truly alone. What had I done? I thought as I went to bed that night.