A/N: 1st official chapter, because it was done and I felt like putting it up. :3 In this chapter, I introduce most of the characters that will appear in this story.

-I excluded the Asian nations from this story because I'm horrible at writing their characters. (All of them. No joke.) I still haven't quite figured out how to write them. Nothing against Asia, I promise! I'm half Asian myself! I'm just not good at keeping them in character, is all.

-BTW, the girl in the Prologue was Elizabeta, if you didn't figure it out. :)


Chapter One—Gilbert
Four years later…

Gilbert loved the way Eliza's hair smelled right after she showered. Actually, scratch that. He loved everything about Eliza, whether she'd just showered or not.

The brown haired, green eyed young woman was leaning against Gilbert's bare chest as the two cuddled on Gilbert's bed. Their curfew had passed thirty minutes ago, but they didn't care. Just so long as they got to be together, they would do anything.

"I love you," she whispered, rolling over and placing a gentle kiss on Gilbert's lips.

He grabbed her hips and kissed her back. "I love you more."

"I love you most," Elizabeta giggled, leaning her cheek against the young man's pale chest. "I'm glad we don't have any classes tomorrow. That means I can spend all day with you."

"I'm so excited, babe," Gilbert agreed, laying back. "We can do whatever you want."

Elizabeta giggled. "I have an idea," she said seductively, beginning to kiss her way up Gilbert's neck. The albino groaned softly and gripped her hips tighter, only to be hit in the face by a very fluffy pillow. He looked over to see his little brother's ice blue eyes glaring at him. The boy's blonde hair was hanging freely as he hung over the side of his bed to look at his older brother.

"Do you mind, arschloch?" he growled. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Oh, sorry, bruder," Gilbert retorted sarcastically. "So the next time you have Feli up there, I'll just tell him to stop kissing you as well, because I'll be trying to sleep."

Ludwig's face flushed red and he pulled himself back up onto his bed. "W-we don't do that!" he hissed, and Gilbert heard him covering himself up with his blanket. The older boy snorted and wrapped his arms around the girl once more.

"Don't be so hard on him, Gil," she teased, tapping Gilbert's nose. "He's still in his awkward teenage years."

"S-shut up!" they heard the muffled cry come from above them. Elizabeta chuckled and stood up, flattening her skirt.

"I'd better head back to my room, then," she sighed, leaning over to give Gilbert a goodnight kiss. "If Arcadius catches me in here he won't be happy."

Leaving it at that, Eliza left the room and closed the door quietly behind her. Gilbert let out a loud groan as he fell backwards and into the soft pillows he had stacked around the headboard of his bed. Above him, he heard Ludwig come out for air and the older began talking.

"So, Lud," he started, putting his hands behind his head. "How is Feli?"

He could tell the younger was blushing again. "H-he's fine… why?"

"Eh, I dunno, you guys are just spending a lot more time together than usual is all," Gilbert said teasingly. He knew exactly how to push his little brothers' buttons. "Do you like him?"

"Since when do you care about my personal life?" Ludwig snapped, avoiding the question. Ah, so he did like Feli,Gilbert mused

"Since just now, actually," the albino admitted, turning over. "Do I have to read your mind?"

He heard a small gasp. "You promised you'd never use your powers on me," Ludwig said quietly.

"Well, if I have to…"

"Gilbert, don't!" the younger cried. "It's none of your business who I like, okay? So just stay out of my head, understand?"

The albino raised his eyebrows. "Ja, ja, okay. I'll stay out of your head, I swear."

"Gute," Ludwig sighed as he relaxed. "Now turn off the light and go to sleep."

Gilbert reached over to his bedside table and turned off the lamp, rolling over onto his back after. Closing his eyes, the eighteen year old sighed happily as he remembered that he had no classes tomorrow, and that he could sleep to his heart's content.

But sleep didn't come easily to him. It never did.


He was walking down a dark, damp road in the middle of the night. There were houses on all sides of him, but none of them would be able to hear them and he was sure of it. There was a tall figure at the end of the street slowly moving towards him. The figure came into sight and revealed his face. It was Reiner; Gilbert and Ludwig's father. Gilbert put two fingers to his temple. He was ready for this. No more hiding.

Behind him, someone's voice yelled at him to stop. It was Ludwig, but Gilbert ignored him. He was too blind with rage towards his father to stop now. Reiner had left them, and there was no fixing it. To his left, Gilbert heard Eliza screaming at him not to do this. He glanced at her, finding her restrained by one of Reiner's henchmen.

"Don't do this, Gilbert," she cried, struggling to get free. "You won't win. Arthur said you wouldn't."

Suddenly, Arthur was beside her. How hadn't Gilbert noticed him before? The short blonde was also being held by a bigger and stronger mutant, his left wing hanging limply at his side, clearly broken. Gilbert narrowed his eyes at him, trying to see if what Elizabeta had said was correct. Arthur nodded solemnly. Shaking his head, Gilbert continued on.

"NO!" Eliza yelled as Gilbert lunged, trying to gain control of Reiner's mind with his own. But the man was too strong; he had developed a strong resistance to mind tricks, apparently. Reiner held up his hand and grabbed Gilbert out of the air, holding his wrist in a bone-crunching grip. The albino cried out but bared his teeth. Reiner let a ghost of a smile ripple across his lips before he touched a finger to Gilbert's forehead, and the dream went black.


Gilbert shot up from his bed, sweating and panting. Why did this always happen? He was positive he'd never see his father again, so why did he keep having dreams with him in them? This was the most vivid one yet… Checking his clock, the albino saw that it was 9:30, and he groaned. He hadn't wanted to wake up so early!

Deciding to just get up anyway, Gilbert swung his legs over the side of his bed and looked around for something to wear. Surprisingly, his and his brother's room was perfectly clean, save for a few wrappers that had been thrown on the floor the night before. The albino pulled out a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans and changed into them before walking out of his room and to the kitchen. Ludwig was already up; the kid got up at 5:45 every morning, and without an alarm clock, too! He had a mental alarm clock, and it confused Gilbert.

Sure enough, his little brother was nowhere to be found. Alfred was awake, though, and cooking a plate full of bacon. There was something else cooking, too, Gilbert could smell it. They were waffles, and the teen immediately wanted some. Arthur was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea and eating a scone, reading some book that Gilbert didn't care enough about to see what it was called. Feliciano was sitting across from the older boy, bouncing happily in his seat as he waited for Alfred to bring him breakfast. Gilbert slid into the chair beside the Italian.

"Good morning, Gilbert!" Feliciano greeted, smiling brightly at the albino.

"Morning," he grunted, grabbing a napkin from the middle of the table. "Where's Lud?"

"Ludwig?" Alfred butted in, turning his head. Gilbert nodded. "Ludwig's outside, as usual. Said something about wanting to get some more training in before… you know, I didn't actually catch the last part. I was in the middle of something when he told me."

Gilbert nodded and glanced in Arthur's direction. He caught the teen's green eyes staring at him before they were quickly averted and Gilbert looked away as well.

I want to talk to you about something after breakfast, Arthur, Gilbert said silently, projecting the thought into Arthur's head.

Alright, was what the other teen replied.

After breakfast, Gilbert walked out of the kitchen and to the library, where hardly anyone but Arthur and Matthew ever went. Gilbert could hear the Brit following him almost silently, and the albino sat down on the leather couch, gesturing for the younger to do the same.

"Tell me, Arthur," Gilbert began, smiling. "Have you had any new predictions recently?"

Arthur averted his eyes.

"Answer me, or I'll have to read you mind," the slightly older boy warned, raising his eyebrows. Arthur glared at him but nodded. "Ja, and… you know what? Fuck it. Are you the one who sent me that dream last night?"

Looking at his toes, Arthur nodded again.

"Do you think it's actually going to happen?"

Another nod.

"What should we do to stop it?"

The look in Arthur's eyes could only have meant one thing; they couldn't. Gilbert looked at his feet, letting out a long sigh.

"I guess you're right," the albino grumbled, burying his face in his hands. "I might as well die saving the world rather than dying of some other un-awesome reason."

Arthur smiled slightly, a rare occasion.

"Then I guess West has the right idea," Gilbert continued, calling Ludwig by his childhood nickname the older had for him. "We should probably start training harder than usual."

The Brit nodded and stood up, stretching, before walking out of the library. Gilbert watched the slightly younger boy's receding back curiously. The blonde had always been intriguing to the albino—not in a romantic way, of course. He simply wanted to know what had happened to him in his past that had caused him to stop talking, but Arcadius had forbidden him from reading Arthur's mind for that particular information. And all the other mutants, for that matter.

Standing up, Gilbert followed Arthur down the hall and back into the kitchen. Alfred was still there, talking to Feliciano. Lovino had shown up at some point, too, as well as Francis and Antonio. The only people missing were Ludwig, Elizabeta and Matthew. Although, Gilbert knew where Ludwig was and he guessed that Eliza was putting on makeup and fussing over what to wear. Matthew, well, everyone knew that he loved to sleep in, even later than Gilbert. They all swore he was part sloth, because Alfred claimed that his brother usually fell asleep even before him and still slept late. That's when Arcadius burst into the room, a wide smile on his face.

"Good morning, bambini!" he said loudly, causing Lovino to groan in annoyance. Gilbert didn't understand why the younger teen was always so pissy. "What's new?"

Gilbert made fast eye contact with Arthur, and Arthur nodded slightly. The albino looked back at Arcadius, and the Italian smiled at him. His grin faltered when he saw the teen's expression, though.

"What's the matter, Gilbert?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Arthur had a vision."

Everyone stared at Arthur, who averted his eyes to the floor.

"He showed it to me last night, and what I saw was me facing off with Reiner. And… and I die in the end…" Gilbert trailed off at the end.

He was met with silence until Arcadius clapped his hands together.

"Well, we'd better get training then! Everyone, change into proper training clothing and head to your respective training sights," he instructed. "I'll be walking around to help you if you need it, but you should know how to get yourselves started by now."

Gilbert ran up the wood stairs and to his room, passing by Elizabeta's door on the way. He stopped short and decided to tell her the change in plans. Pushing open the door, Gilbert called out his girlfriend's name. He found her in a black undershirt and underwear, holding up two dresses in front of her. She turned to look at her boyfriend, holding out the two hangers for him to see.

"Which do you like better, Gil?" she asked. "Blue with a brown belt and flats, or yellow with a white belt and white sandals?"

"Eliza—"

"I'm gonna go with yellow—"

"Elizabeta, we're training today," Gilbert interrupted. "So change into your training clothes."

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because Arthur had a vision where… where I'm facing off with Reiner and I die at the end," he explained. "So Arcadius wants us to train more so we can try to trick Arthur's prediction."

Elizabeta pursed her lips and it was impossible for Gilbert to know what she was thinking right then. She placed the dresses on her bed and pulled out a green tank-top and black running shorts, putting them both on before slipping into her sneakers.

"I'm not using my powers," she declared, glaring at her toes as she tied the laces. "I only do hand-to-hand."

"Ja, I know," the other teen said, smiling as he kissed his girlfriend on the forehead. "Meet you outside."

Then he rushed off to his room to get changed, trying his best not to think about what would happen if Arthur's vision did come true.


I love me some PruHun. :D

Not sure when the next one will be ready. I'm horrible at updating, just to warn you. I refuse to set an update date, because I will most certainly miss it. :/

Reviews/faves/alerts are appreciated! Flames will be ignored!

Thanks!