Human Names:
Scotland: Allistor Kirkland
Ireland: Adler Kirkland
Wales: Aeron Kirkland
They're a little weird, I looked up fanon names but then like 3 were A names and I decided I wanted to do all A names so I had to scroll through Irish and Welish names for a bit to find some I liked. Also heres some backstory!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Winter turned to spring and it brought storms and nightmares to her tower...
It had been months since Alice had woken up to no one. The snow had cleared away, bringing greener grass and soft breezes. It was quite peaceful but also lonely. Her tower yard, that's what she called the small outside area between the tower and the shield, was starting to bloom. The lone tree was full of leaves and there were wildflowers every few steps. There was rain every once in a while, recently the storms had gotten worse.
Alice had a new routine. Everyday that the weather was nice she would climb out of her window to the outside. She had made the window bigger and made sure all of the glass was gone after she cut herself a second time. She had also found that several of the books on her shelves were blank. The princess often brought one of the empty books and a quill out with her.
The dragon was always out there, too. The first couple times he would watch her the whole time, making Alice tense even though she was sure he wouldn't hurt her. After that he eventually stopped paying any attention to her, only glanced back to her to see if she was still there. Even if he didn't look at her all Alice knew that he knew she was there.
The princess would sit against the lone tree and draw sketches of the dragon. Alice was definitely not a amazing artist, but the rough sketches were good enough for her. She would write down little things she noticed. How his tail always twitched. How sad he looked.
Alice had noticed his expression recently. He appeared to be a golden statue, rarely moving anymore other to look toward her. She walked around to see his face.
His head was resting on his front feet almost like a lone dog rather than a fearsome dragon. His eyes glanced down at her but quickly looked away, back to the sky. His eyes were the same shade as the sky, she hadn't noticed that before.
There was no smoke from his breath, she had thought that dragons breathed fire but perhaps not all of them did. He payed little attention to her, almost like he was scared to look at her.
A fat water droplet fell on her head, she jumped and realized she had zoned out staring at the dragon. Another fell on her arm. Alice wiped away the water looked back to dragon. He made no movement to return inside, only curling up tighter. She doubted that would be enough to withstand the coming storm. The princess glanced at the dark sky, minutes ago it had been blue. Alice decided it was best to leave the dragon alone and return to her tower. She took one last glance, and left.
By the time she had reached her window she was already covered in spotty water droplets. The rain was starting to pick up. She was changing into a dry dress when the first clash of thunder startled her. Alice looked back toward her window, it was starting to pour now, lightning flashed in the distance. She pulled on her dress and got closer to the window, leaning on the windowsill.
This was the hardest rain she had seen since her time in the tower, rain beat against the glass, struggling to break in. While it was cold and wet outside, the tower kept her warm and dry. Alice played with one of her pigtails, rain always left her uneasy, it reminded her of the night she was traded.
It was pouring down rain outside the castle she had grown up in. The thunder echoed in the large empty halls and the lightning flashed in the windows, lighting a whole room. The whole castle seemed to shake at each raindrop.
Alice walked silently, the halls were bare, no one was out in this weather. The princess reached her father's study. The large wooden door stood taller than her. Intricate designs centuries older than her were carved into the dark wood. She could remember years of sitting outside the door. Desperate for attention. Desperate for love. Desperate for a father.
She wasn't as naive as she was before, after eighteen years of being ignored. Fathers payed attention to you. They loved you and played with you and they didn't shut you out. They didn't forget about you.
That man was not a father. Not to her anyway.
He was a father to his empire. He loved that empire, creating it from the dirt and the blood of others. He thrived in the art of war not love. He left for months, exploring far away lands and fighting for more. But all empires fell eventually.
He lost more wars than he won. He lost land and money and people. He had shut himself away. Shutting out the world, trying to save his empire from its own doom. The princess had always been shut out so it was no different to her really.
She spent her meals alone, he had long ago stopped paying for a nanny. Not that Alice even like those nannies, they were only her friend for money, they wasn't real. Alice would spend her days reading or wandering the castle that she already knew so well. She sometimes would return to the study door, wishing just a little that it would open for her.
Today was her eighteenth birthday, but he hadn't actually cared about her last seventeen birthdays.
Alice stared at the door, remembering when she would spend her days tracing the carvings. She tried the brass handle and to her utter shock it opened. Usually it was locked to the outside. The princess opened it slowly, only wide enough for her to see inside.
She could see two people facing away from her. One of them she recognized as her father, the other was a woman. She had long platinum blonde hair that fell to her thighs and a purple dress that didn't have a straight end, it just sort of faded away at her feet.
"Your empire is falling, King." The woman said in a soft but sick voice. Her pale spider like hands moved with a ghostly manner.
"I do not need anything from you, witch." Her father hissed. A witch? Why was her father messing around with a witch? They were dangerous and couldn't be trusted, he couldn't be that stupid.
"Not even if I can save your empire?" She purred, her hand rested on her father's chair. Alice knew his answer already.
"What do you mean, witch?" She leaned down to his ear.
"I can save you and your empire, but you must trade something in return." The witch whispered, yet just loud enough for the princess to hear.
Alice clinched the doorknob tighter, this was risky, but she knew he would trade anything for his empire, especially now. She stood up again, taking a stroll around the study. Books were neatly in their places on the shelf, the only messy thing was the desk her father was sitting at.
"Today is your daughter's birthday, isn't it?" She asked causally, brushing her fingers across the spines of books.
"Maybe." He said, he didn't even know.
"And what happened to the rest of your family? You have no queen and no sons." She hummed.
"The queen died giving birth to Alice, but you know what happened to my sons." He answered. So he did know her name after all.
She knew the story of her mother. People said that she brought the life out of her father. They said she had been beautiful and caring yet could handle a fight and knew how to run her kingdom. They said Alice was just like her, but she'd never know if that was true or just an empty complement. She knew they blamed her for killing her. When her father did notice her existence he would shout and scream. He'd say it was her fault. It was her fault, Alice wouldn't pretend that wasn't true.
Alice had three older brothers. Allistor was the oldest, he would've been twenty-five this year, if he had lived that long. When Allistor had been fourteen there had been some accident, a week after that he was announced dead. She had only been seven at the time, she never was able to hear the whole story. By now barely anyone risked mentioning him.
Her next oldest brother was named Adler, he was four years older than her and would've been twenty-two. The story was that Alder had fallen ill, the same sickness that had a part in her mother's death. Two years after Allistor, Adler died at thirteen.
Her last brother, Aeron, was only a year older than her. They were a little closer than the others, Allistor had teased them all and Adler had followed along. After the deaths of their other siblings Alice and Aeron became closer, usually they were each other's only company. One night, a year after Adler's death, when she was ten and Aeron was eleven, someone broke into the castle. They had intended to find her father, but instead they reached Aeron first. They killed her last brother, leaving her alone.
"Ah, yes. The oldest one gave you the North, the middle one gave you the East, and the youngest one gave you the South. How could I have forgotten?" Alice felt her stomach drop. No. She heard her wrong, he couldn't have.
But he did. He traded his sons for his empire.
Had he traded her mother, too? Alice didn't want to believe it. She wanted to run back to her room and forget but something made her stay.
"Are they all dead?" He asked, Alice looked at him in surprise, did he care if they were?
"The older one is, he didn't listen well and I had to show some discipline for the others. The other two are my servants, the younger one is close to insanity, but as long as he can pour tea I could care less, hm?" She smiled like this was a game,"I would like to complete the set."
Alice watched the scene neither looked to her but she could see half their faces. She silently begged her father to care, he couldn't. The princess could feel tears threatening to fall.
"What is your trade?" He asked.
"She will be entertainment, I have no need for more servants. She shall be sleeping in an eternal state. She will be guarded by an impenetrable field and a fearsome dragon. She shall only wake of a true love's kiss, something you have not given. If someone should seek her, they must pass the field and defeat the dragon. Only then would they have the chance to see if they are her true love. If you agree to this trade I will get your daughter and you will get your empire." The witch said, her cold purple eyes flickered to Alice. She knew she was there, she knew the whole time.
The princess started to run, leaving the study and the door, just hearing the words,"She's yours." But there was no escape.
Alice woke up to another thunder clash. Recently she had been able to sleep some, but it always ending up in nightmares. Lightning lit up the room. She had fallen asleep on the floor under the windowsill. She had ended up crying at some point, hugging herself tightly.
It was still dark and the rain was still beating against the wall she was leaning against. It was probably around two or three in the morning. Thunder shook the tower and lightning would light up the world around it. Alice became as small as she could, silently crying.
She wished for the rain to stop. She wished Adler and Aeron weren't that witch's servants. She wished her mother and Allistor weren't dead. She wished her father hadn't traded his whole family for a empire. She wished he had loved them. She wished she hadn't been traded away like property. She wished she wasn't trapped in a tower with a dragon. She wished she wasn't alone in this storm.
Guys this was almost 2000 words! That's longer than the first two combined. Okay anyway, please follow, favorite, and review!