TheBlueAcid, thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. And what you said is quite true ;) Though really, someone's already ahead of him...

Another introduction in this one, and perhaps not quite like you'd expect. But hey, going by Hetalia Canon, I think I was accurate enough...? Not sure. I hope so.

17 December 1640

Brandenburg is doing worse again... I'm worried about her. She's lost too many people due to the war, even though we've still not fought. I.. I can't count the souls lost in this awful war, which has lasted over 20 years now.
We've not only been invaded by both sides in this gruesome, everlasting battle, we're also affected by the common -and terrible- consequences of war: famine, plague, you name it. I haven't lost too many people myself, but even I feel faint sometimes. I still wish I could fight, for that's what I was born to do, but I also want all this to be over. It would be awesome to fight, but to wish this war would last would be the most unawesome thing ever. It has caused too much suffering to everyone for that.
I wonder how Holy Rome is doing. I haven't seen him in ages, and I don't think he's doing well. His side won many battles at first, but now it's the Protestant side that dominating the battlefield. Poor Holy Rome... but what else can we do but fight? Should we just stop defending our beliefs, our rights as people, just because they wish us to?
Sorry, but I'm too awesome to not know my own worth.

Prussia just put down his journal again, sighing in defeat, when he heard a knock on his door, followed by the nervous voice of one of the servants in this palace; he recognised her voice as being one of the people who were always still nervous around him, fairly new in the Prince-Elector-Duke's service. He never bothered to tell them that he was perfectly all right to be around anymore, as they all found out after several months of service, anyway.
"M-Master Prussia?" she asked, her voice quivering in a way that told Prussia it wasn't just because of having to talk to someone she was afraid of.
Curious and worried at the same time, he told her to come in.
The young woman bowed to him politely, and he just waited to hear what she had to say. The human looked reluctant and shifted on her feet a bit, not knowing what to say for a moment. "Young Lady Brandenburg is..." she blurted out, trailing off then before rephrasing her words, apparently. Just her first four words had already made Prussia's heart skip a beat. Brandenburg... what? "S-she isn't doing very well, sir," the young servant then continued, her eyes sparking with worry for the young country, with whom she got along quite well actually. Both countries had decided it was useless to still attempt to get their leader's servants to stop adressing them like their masters (and quite honestly, Prussia didn't mind the respect and sometimes even awe so much) but they also never hesitated to make small talk with them like they did any human. Now, he listened intently to this young human, still just a girl, really, without breathing. "She got a letter containing some bad news, it seems, and she won't calm down now. Please, maybe you can help her."
She didn't need to say any more: Prussia was already on his way.

When he got to her room, he found Brandenburg sitting on her bed, crying, muttering something to another servant who was trying to talk to her. She didn't seem to notice Prussia yet, as she sat with her back to him, and with a sigh, he got onto the bed behind her, wrapping his arms around her. She stiffened in surprise for just a moment, then turned around and hugged him back. He sat in silence with her for a moment, allowing her to cry against his shoulder as he gently stroked her through her hair for a bit. When she quieted down, he just softly asked what was going on.
She looked at a crumpled letter beside her for a heartbeat, which Prussia had noticed a minute or so before, but hadn't bothered to look at it until she was ready to tell him about it. Then the young country took in a shaky breath and leaned in closer to Prussia, whispering sadly, "Wurtemberg has died..."
Wurtemberg was one of their many family members, about a century older than both of them. Neither of them had ever had much contact with him, but he was family nonetheless. Prussia sighed in defeat, feeling a twinge of grief at this news as well, though right now he was focused on Brandenburg more than the news of his cousin's death. "What happened?" he couldn't help asking, however, hoping she could tell him who had killed Wurtemberg -because someone had. That was the only way he could've died.
But it wasn't. Brandenburg shuddered in his arms, trembling as though the were crouched in the snow that lay outside. "He lost too many people according to the letter," she told him softly, sounding horrified and scared. "Which is true -I heard rumours of how bad his situation was a while ago. Remember?"
Prussia nodded silently. They'd had a conversation on that a year or so ago. But back then neither of them thought it was this bad.
"He got cut by something," Brandenburg went on, reciting the contents of the letter in her own words. "In the arm, it said. And it wouldn't stop bleeding..." She shuddered again, and finished sadly, "That's because he'd lost so many people, I guess. First chance his body got to lose blood, he bled out..."
Prussia suppressed a shiver at the idea. He knew that, even for a country, being cut in an artery was a pretty bad thing. But where a human could easily bleed out in such a situation, a country would survive. Their bodies had some sort of survival mechanism that prevented them from bleeding to death if it was not war-related, a demographical cause or a wound directly inflicted by another so-called immortal. There was no other explanation in this case than loss of people being the primary cause of death.
"Wurtemberg will be missed," he sighed, still holding Brandenburg. "We won't be there for his funeral, not in time, I'm sure. But I promise you, Brand, I'll take you to his grave first chance I get. Clearly you need a chance to say good-bye."
To his surprise, the girl shook her head. "That's not so much the problem, though I do appreciate it," she said, her voice a bit steadier again as she moved away from Prussia and stared up at him with round, fearful blue eyes. "If he died from loss of people," she whispered, sounding terrified for a heartbeat, "who can guarantee I won't? Oh, Prussia, I don't want to die... not like that... not at all."
"You won't," Prussia promised her with a forced but honest smile. "Not while you have the Awesome Me to defend you!"
"Prussia, even you can't possibly prevent a massacre of my people like that, or hunger and disease ripping them from this world."
He just grinned now. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do," he told her confidently. "I know my own limits better than anyone, just know that. And my awesomeness is enough to keep both of us alive, no matter what happens. All right?"
But Brandenburg still looked scared, and she shook her head, not believing him. Teary-eyed again, she sighed. "I'm going to miss Wurtemberg," she mumbled, blinking a few tears away. "Prussia, if you know your own limits, then please make sure you won't be pushing them. I don't want to risk losing you, too."
Right, then. If he wanted to calm her down completely, he had to shut her up, because he could tell that she was only scaring herself further by voicing her fears. But words wouldn't shut her up -he'd tried that already, after all. He nibbled on the inside of his lip for a moment, considering his next options. It might not be the most pleasant thing to do, but it would shut her up. And besides, in the 2 decades they'd been married and living together, he'd noticed Brandenburg was a bit more fond of him than he was of her -he might've been oblivious of his own feelings towards Hungary for a while, but he wasn't an idiot. Quite the contrary. And right now he was pretty sure this method would work, and Brandenburg wouldn't nearly mind it as much as he did.
So he just leaned forward a bit and kissed her.
It was quite simple reasoning behind it, really. She couldn't talk if her mouth was otherwise occupied, she probably wouldn't think for a few seconds straight until her mind could process what was going on exactly, and when she was able to think again, Wurtemberg's death or the off chance that this war would kill her definitely wouldn't be on top of the list right now.
I'm such a genius, I'm awesome! he told himself when he felt her relax after a heartbeat or two. But then, much to his astonishment, he felt himself relaxing as well, and another 'awesome-thought' popped up in his head, as he called them now, one he'd never thought was even possible to exist. Wow... talking about awesome...
Confused and embarassed, he pulled away rather abruptly, and he hoped Brandenburg didn't notice his sudden awkwardness. Way to ruin his moment of awesomeness.
But she seemed to confused herself to notice, much to his relief. Through narrowed -but not discontented- eyes, she looked up at him. "What was that all about?" she asked softly.
Deciding to take advantage of this chance to get her mind off all the bad news completely, he just smiled gently and suggested they should go out for a walk or riding into the nearby forest on horseback, just to get some fresh air; she hadn't been feeling well enough to get out much lately. The recent journey to Konigsberg had taken its toll on her current frail state of health for a week already. But he could tell she was in need of fresh air now. She nodded, saying she'd like to do the latter -going into the forest.

Once there, as his eyes fell on a now familiar slope, he realised there was another thing he could do to help his wife now, for she was getting down again. This would be a gamble -it might work to cheer her up, and it might have a similar effect it had on him so many years ago. Deciding to go through with it before he could change his mind, he turned to her.
"Let's leave the horses here for a moment," he told her. "There's something up there that I need to show you."
Curious, she just got off her horse and went after Prussia, up the slope, to the large tree and flat stone that lay on top of it. He watched her in silence for a moment, saw her not comprehending what he wanted to do, and he walked over to the rock and brushed snow and moss from it much like Poland had done so long ago. He watched her eyes widen when she realised where they were standing, and with a wry smile he went to stand beside her again. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand. "See that?" he said softly. "That's my grave, Brand. I died once. You know I did. But I came back." He felt her fingers tighten around his, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I came back, was given another life, and so will Wurtemberg. Just as any country who will ever die. We'll never truly be gone, you know. We'll always come back."
Brandenburg didn't respond. Instead, she stared for a little while in silence, then noticed something under the oak, and walked over to it, letting go of Prussia's hand. He watched her crouch down in the snow, fumble in it for a moment, then pull something out. His heart skipped a beat as he saw two small snowdrop flowers in her hand. With those, she silently stood beside the grave of his former incarnation, then gently laid the flowers on top of the stone before joining her husband again.
He shook his head for a moment, not understanding. "What was that for?" he just choked out, staring at the little flowers. "What's that necessary for?"
The girl stared up at him, blinking. "Don't you think you deserve flowers on your grave?" she just asked softly, grabbing his hand again, and this time, he was the one getting choked up. Though he wouldn't show it. He would never show it. "If you were to die now, Prussia," she continued, "I would bring flowers to your grave every day. I would make sure your sword was buried with you, and your quill. I would make sure you always had paper and ink to continue writing your journal with. I would never let your grave be left untended and abandoned in the woods like this, and I know you would do the same for me. So why should her grave be in this sorry state? Yours?"
Prussia was silent for a moment longer, still staring, baffled by the gesture. He'd never thought about it before, really. But now that he saw the flowers, he had to admit, he did like it. So he just turned to Brandenburg and smiled warmly at her, thanking her softly. Before they headed down the slope to their horses again, he glanced back at the grave one more time. His words seemed to have helped Brandenburg for real: Wurtemberg would be back, and so would anyone who would perish in this war. He was sure of it.

"Where have the two of you been?!" Brandenburg-Prussia's leader bellowed when the two came back later that afternoon. Both countries were shocked at his anger, not understanding where that came from. He looked completely stressed out, not knowing whether to let the two teenagers be or to give them the punishment of their lives. "I've told you both many times, today the Tsardom of Russia and his Tsar would arrive here!"
Brandenburg and Prussia looked at each other for a moment, startled. With the events of that morning, they had both completely forgotten about it. Well, and Prussia would rather forget about Russia's existence altogether. He was a little good for nothing nitwit, in Prussia's eyes, and the world would be much better of without such a failure walking around on it. He just huffed, earning a correctional stare from his Duke, but he didn't really care. He just really didn't want to have to entertain the most useless person in Europe. 'Sending support for the Protestants', like he even could! The little bastard couldn't even beat Prussia in a proper round of arm wrestling, how in the world was he supposed to be support for the Protestant troops in this godawful war?
But when he muttered something about it when he and Brandenburg were sent off to Brandenburg's room first -their leader wanted her to change back into a dress first, as per usual- she just gave him a soft slap on the arm. "Be nice to him," she told Prussia, narrowing her eyes at her husband. "He's just here to pass through to western Europe, you know that. Tomorrow he'll be on his way again, and I don't need you to ruin that boy's time here completely." She was silent for a moment, looking at one of the paintings on the wall, a portret of John Sigismund, before turning back to look at Prussia. "You don't have to make enemies everywhere you go."
"I'm not making enemies everywhere," Prussia just protested, stung.
Brandenburg laughed. "Of course you're not! Prussia, just think, will you? You insulted Austria the moment you met him, did the same with Bavaria, Hessen, France and Spain. I remember your story of meeting Wales -what did you call him, again? 'A walking pile of dirt and straw', something like that? I know you've been bullying Russia whenever you got the chance -that's not how you work on your international relations."
Prussia just huffed, and leaned against the wall outside her room as she went in to change. "Whatever," he muttered, insulted by the truth behind her words. "Just cal when you need me to tie those stupid string-y things again."

But as he waited for her to get ready, much to his dismay, he saw a familiar, platinum-blond boy appearing around the corner of this corridor. Russia recognised him the same moment he recognised Russia, and walked over to him happily. "Hello there, Prussia!" he greeted the white-haired teenager with a bright smile. Prussia shuddered: there was always a hint of malice behind that eerie smile of his, and he had no idea what brought it about. He just didn't feel comfortable near Russia, which was one of the reasons he had taken to bullying the other country -so that he would just stay out of his way.
Russia just never seemed to understand, though. "I hope you're doing well despite the war, hm?" the boy asked him with a blood-chilling chuckle. He was probably trying to be nice, Prussia thought, but the Prussian's deep dislike for him didn't allow the teenager to feel any sympathy for this country.
"Yeah," he just muttered, looking away. "'M doing just great, thanks."
"And Brandenburg? I heard she's lost nearly half her people due to the war."
How can you still smile while saying that, bastard? Prussia just thought as he glanced at Russia from the corner of his eye, and his stomach twisted in disgust. He really, really hated Russia. "She's doing okay," he just answered. "What'd you expect? She's my wife, she's as awesome as I am. You'll have to slay the last person within her lands for her to not be doing well."
Russia chuckled again. "Noted!"
Prussia just glared at him for a heartbeat, which Russia thankfully didn't see; he had his eyes closed for just a moment, smiling contently.
Then, almost to deliberately let Russia know that Prussia had lied about Brandenburg's condition, her voice came from inside her room, sounding a little dazed. "Prussia? I could use your help by now."
He sighed, telling Russia to wait outside for him, and went inside. Brandenburg was leaning on her desk with both hands, breathing slowly and deeply. "I'm feeling a bit dizzy..." she just informed Prussia, who walked up behind her and started tying her dress closed as he had promised he would. "Was that Russia you were talking to?" she asked then, wincing for just a moment as Prussia pulled her dress a little too tight at the mention of the country's name. He softly apologised, then continued working more gently again. Brandenburg just huffed. "I'm not very fond of him, either, but you have no reason to treat him like garbage like that. You'll get in trouble for it one day."
"Like he can pose a threat to me," Prussia just said, barking out a short laugh at the ridiculous idea. "He's a little stupid weakling, and I'm the most awesomely strong soldier this planet has ever known."
"You do realise he's gained a lot of land and power since you first declared him weak and useless?" was Brandenburg's flat answer. She straightened herself when Prussia was done, stretching her back a bit. But she stumbled as she did, and Prussia was just able to catch her.
"Are you really sure you're not going to rest a bit again?" he just asked, getting worried once again. "You know I'm awesome enough to represent us both."
"If you do that," Brandenburg just huffed, steadying herself, "you'll make Russia hate me, too. No thanks, I'm well enough."
Prussia inspected her as she walked towards her bedroom door, stumbling again once before she reached it. "Suit yourself," he just snorted, to soft for her to hear. But then he shook his head and ran up to her, holding her by the arm to help keep her on her feet as they walked out.

Russia smiled again when he saw Brandenburg emerge from her room, and the girl made a small, polite bow to him. "Welcome to Konigsberg, Russia," she greeted him with a smile.
He greeted her in return, then looked at the way she and Prussia stood there together, smiling genuinely warm for a moment, one smile that didn't send shivers down Prussia's spine. "It must be nice to have friends like that," he commented. "I'm glad the two of you get along so well; I'm sure you make for a strong union."
"We do," Brandenburg answered with another polite dip of her head. "Thank you, Russia."
The Russian just sighed softly, hardly audible. "I wish I had friends like that," he mumbled to himself under his breath, almost too soft to hear.
Prussia scowled at this. Don't try to make me feel bad for you, he wanted to tell the other country, because it's not going to work, little shit. He could sense Brandenburg's discomfort as though it were his own, though he couldn't tell whether it was all because of Russia being there with them, or if it was that she honestly didn't feel well. Well, he knew she wasn't feeling well, but he didn't know if that was the cause of her discomfort, more like it.
His own was definitely caused by Russia, though, no doubt about that.

When the trio of countries reached the main hall where the their leaders were, the Prince-Elector turned to Brandenburg, worry flashing in his eyes rather than anger now. "Brandenburg, I just heard about what happened this morning. Are you feeling well again?"
Brandenburg seemed as determined to lie about it as Prussia was, for she nodded. "I was merely grieving for my cousin, sir," she answered softly, sadness edging her voice again. "I have overcome the worst of my shock about his passing now."
"A cousin died?" Russia inquired, sounding genuinely shocked now, staring wide-eyed at Brandenburg-Prussia with his purple-ish blue eyes. "Who?"
"Wurtemberg," Prussia just answered flatly, not looking at Russia. "The loss of people became too much for him."
Russia made a soft, pitying sound, then mumbled solemnly, "My condolences. Having loved ones must be a blessing, but to have them ripped away must be the worst curse imaginable."
"It is," Brandenburg sighed, also not looking at the Russian as she spoke. "But we won't have to grieve long." She glanced at Prussia then, blue eyes shimmering with warmth and gratitude. "He'll be back soon."
"I suppose so!" Russia answered, a smile back on his face. "That's the good thing about being countries, isn't it? We always know our loved ones will be back -unless they were deliberately killed to be conquered, of course. Or if they had lost enough status in the world not to need a seperate personification -that's a killer if I ever saw one. But I take it Wurtemberg's case is neither of those? That's good."
"Now, Brandenburg," the Prince-Elector then said, turning back to his country once more. "The Duchess has summoned you; if you would please see her as soon as possible. It's nothing bad," he added when he saw fear flicker in the girl's eyes, "but it is urgent."
Brandenburg immediately nodded, unhooked her arm from Prussia's, but got onto her toes before turning away and gave Prussia a quick -but not exactly as quickly as she usually did to tease him with- kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for today," she whispered quickly before leaving.
Prussia felt an unexpected rush of warmth at this combined with the usual awkwardness. But that warmth faded into an icy cold very quickly when he turned to see Russia stare at him with a huge smile.
"That was sweet," he just commented with his trademark chuckle.
The Prince-Elector just cleared his throat loudly and caught Prussia's attention with that again. "Right. Now, Prussia, if you would show our young guest his room for the night, please."
Who do you think I am? Prussia wanted to protest. A blasted servant? But he restrained himself. I'll be awesome and do as I'm told, he told himself, forcing himself to be calm as he gestured to Russia to follow him.

But once on his way with the Russian happily skipping after him, he only got more uncomfortable with the second. And his discomfort had just about reached its maximum when Russia said flatly, "I hate you, you know?" He sounded unfazed by anything despite his words, which was the eeriest thing Prussia had ever heard. He had expected to hear the hate, to feel it if anyone ever declared their hatred to him. Instead it felt like Russia was just calmly informing him of a fact, as though he were telling him that it was going to rain later that day. "You've hurt me many times," Russia went on with the same eerie calm. "You nationally, you personally. But you know what? I don't really mind." He chuckled again, sounding happy. "Because I know you're an idiot. The country whose people initiated a battle on a frozen lake! It's no wonder you fell through, really."
"I wasn't there, remember?" Prussia just muttered, trying not to react to Russia's words too much, though he could feel himself going tense. Calm down. Don't let him get to you; you're awesome. Yeah, you're hell'a fucking awesome. And he's not. You're awesome, he's not. And besides, the battle Russia was refering to was fought between Russia and the Teutonic Order long ago. And that wasn't Prussia anymore.
"No, but you represent your people," Russia countered. "And you must be pretty stupid, if that's what you represent. I know you're not lead by the Teutonic Knights anymore, but who cares about details? I don't."
"I do," Prussia answered, gritting his teeth.
"But anyway, I-"
Prussia didn't let him finish speaking; he punched Russia hard in the shoulder to bring him off balance, then kicked him in the chest to have him skidding over the floor. The Russian whimpered when he slid head first against a wall, grunting in pain as he tried to sit up again. But Prussia was faster than him: he stepped on the boy's chest with one foot, pushing him back down. When Russia tried to shake him off, he merely put more of his weight into it, very near to making one of the country's ribs crack under his foot, and Russia lay still immediately. "I hate you, too," Prussia just sneered. "But let's face it, my hate for you is a bigger threat to you, Russia, than your hate is for me."
Russia only gritted his teeth in anger, but Prussia grinned at this feeble display of defiance, and put just a little more weight onto his chest. Immediately, Russia whimpered again and tried to relax. But he still glared up at Prussia. "One day I'll squash you like a bug," he muttered.
"Is that a threat?" Prussia just asked, grinning.
"No. It's a promise."
"Whatever," Prussia sighed, stepping off Russia again and pulling him up roughly. "Just remember, right now, you're the little bug, and I'm the one trampling you. Literally." Then he kicked open a door, pushed Russia inside and gave him a kick in the back afterward, making him stumble into the room. "Well, here you can rest your head and lick your wounds. Later, Russia."
Then he quickly turned around and left, before the Russian could recover and go after him. He didn't want to beat him up again.
But it remained silent behind him, and he realised Russia wasn't even trying to take revenge for this total humiliation.
Prussia didn't quite know what it was, but something about Russia brought out the worst in him. He didn't even feel sorry -that was probably the worst thing about it. The only good thing, he thought, was that he at least knew he should be sorry about it.

Then Brandenburg appeared around the corner of the corridor and collided with him pretty hard. She giggled as they both regained their balance, then got onto her toes again and kissed him a second time. But now on the lips.
Pulling away almost immediately, feeling his face grow hot and his heart beating awkwardly loud, Prussia spluttered, "W-what was that all about?!"
Brandenburg just smirked, still holding him and not seeming to let go anytime soon. "You didn't give me an answer to that exact same question this morning," she told him. "Why should I answer your question now?" And with that, she promptly kissed him again.
This time he didn't try to stop her, and decided to just let the sensation wash over him. This was the first time he'd been kissed like that, and to be quite honest, it was a rather awesome sensation.
He waited for her to pull away now, and when she did, he just asked, confused, "So, eh... what was it the Duchess wanted to speak to you about?"
She just giggled mischievously and turned around. "None of your business."

17 December 1640 -P.S.

Hm. Okay, maybe I should give this marriage to Brandenburg a try. She won't curse me for it anymore at this point, for sure. Hell, she's the one starting it.
I think I don't mind being married to her anymore, either...

Yeah, Brandenburg is definitely more fond of him than the other way around. But I think that one was clear from the get-go, wasn't it?

Anyway, for the historical facts: I made Wurtemberg die because I read somewhere that that region lost 3/4 of its people in the Thirty Years' War. Brandenburg-Prussia, mainly Brandenburg though, lost roughly half. Horrible to think about, so many people dying in a single war... It's not the first time, and certainly not the last, as all unfortunately know, but it's so horrible that people are capable of slaughtering one another like that over something like religion.

*sigh* honestly, humanity, sometimes...!

And then the thing between Prussia and Russia; I had to introduce him here as well sometime. He's a little late to the show already (only, like, a few centuries or something -_-') and I just couldn't put it off any longer, otherwise the story would totally lose its flow instead of having a little dent in said flow like it does now. And if I didn't adress the hatred between them, the sequel would make no sense at all!
And the Hetalia Canon in it: there were one or two episodes stating that Prussia, along with others, used to bully Russia a lot when he was little. Then he grew into one of the strongest nations on earth and kicked everyone's asses for it.
My theory is that the bullying is what made Russia hate Prussia so much and what made him do all the things he did to him when he was East Germany. And of course, when Prussia realised the 'little bug' grew into such a strong, buffed-up killer bee like Russia, he got scared to death by him. Shit happens, Prussia... that why you shouldn't bully people. They come back to bite you.

Anyway, that's it for this week again! I hope you liked it!