So, I... I'm sorry about this chapter.

Zeawesomepasta, thanks for the favourite and follow! TheBlueAcid and Abc, thanks for the reviews! And, Abc, don't worry, I didn't think you were rude at all! You should see me with things I can get passionate about. Like subtitles/translations in general. "You stupid ***! Where did you study English, you imbecile? 'Eagle' is not translated as 'havik' (hawk)!" (funny enough, it's usually animals and numbers which they get wrong)
...stuff like that XD So this was nothing, really.

Now for this one, as I said, I am sincerely sorry...


14 July 1703

Another day on the battlefield. The war about who should succeed the Spanish throne has lasted pretty long now. I still have to get used to fighting alongside Austria instead of against him. But you know what? Here on the battlefield, I'm considered one of Holy Rome's troops. I have mixed feelings about that one; sure, I always wanted to be acknowledged as a member of the family, since I've always been the odd one out here, but I'm so awesome, I should just be my own entity in this war, don't you think?
That's because Brandenburg is part of the Empire; the others are constantly talking about having 'Prussia' on their side, that 'Prussia' has proved to be a valuable ally. That's right, give me praise, all of you! But do not forget about my awesome wife, who has taken out more enemies in this war than I can count. Brandenburg is usually not on the frontline itself, but she's an amazing shot, so we keep her somewhere hidden for as long as we can so that, from that point, she can shoot enemy soldiers. Why do the others forget about her being here as well? As much as I enjoy the praise and recognition, Brandenburg isn't me, she's her own person and her own country!
We're still Brandenburg-Prussia, after all.

And about that -today I don't want to worry about war. Because today is mine and Brand's 80-year-anniversary of our Personal Union. Worth a party, I suppose. An awesome party!

"I can't believe it's been 80 years," Brandenburg mumbled, half to herself, as she and Prussia sat outside that afternoon. With how peaceful their surroundings now were, it was hard to imagine that they were sitting on the banks of the Rhine river, and just days ago they had fought in this area. This part of the riverbank had been left untouched, which is why they had decided to go here. With the soft grass, the strong sunlight and the shadows cast on the ground, they could almost believe the war had ended for a day just so they could enjoy themselves for once.
"It'll be even more unbelievable 20 years from now," Prussia chuckled. "Married for a century... I wonder how many people can say that, even if they're countries?"
"Poland and Lithuania, I suppose," the girl answered, letting herself flop onto the cool grass on her back and sighing deeply. "Or... they're close enough to marriage anyway."
With a warm smile, Prussia looked down at her. "I didn't say we were the only ones," he told her, sticking his tongue out at her playfully for a moment. "Silly. But there aren't many Personal Unions that have lasted this long for sure."
Brandenburg only hummed, and Prussia kept staring at her for a little while longer as he listened to the soft rustling of leaves, the river lapping at the riverbank and the rocks that lay in it. This was truly the best way to spend today. Never mind the awesome party he had described in his journal that morning, just being alone with Brandenburg was a lot better. And besides, they'd spent time with their family that morning already. Netherlands and Austria had both been there to congratulate them first thing in the morning, Hanover and Holy Rome came in a little later after patrolling. The two other allies of the Grand Alliance that were here now, Scotland and England, had even remembered. Scotland, whom Prussia had figured out had a rather sociable personality and seemed to have taken a liking to the two younger countries during their time together in the Grand Alliance, had ruffled Prussia's white hair the moment he saw him, with the biggest smirk ever on his face. To Brandenburg he had been more gentlemanly; a mere dip of his head and a soft congratulations as well. Though still smirking. England had just looked at them for a moment, which was special in its own right, because he had a tendency to ignore the two countries altogether. Prussia just sent a prayer of thanks to the heavens after that, that their two other allies, the Duchy of Savoy and the Kingdom of Portugal, weren't there as well.
So yeah, after having gone through that before noon, they were both happy to be alone now, just the two of them.

Looking at Brandenburg warmed his heart. She had really matured since they'd married 80 years ago. They both had. Prussia was estimated to be in his late teens now, 16 or 17 years old, and some people were already refering to Brandenburg as a young woman rather than a girl. She looked a lot better now that she had trained for battle and gotten stronger -healthier most of all, though she was looking a bit pale since the war had started.
All that training together with the army as well as with Brand had given Prussia a pretty solid build by now. He looked as strong as any soldier, more so than some, though he was still shorter than most.
Suddenly Brandenburg cracked open one bright blue eye, and she smirked a few seconds later. "Time for you to retreat further into the shadows, Prussia," she told him softly.
He looked away for a moment, staring at the white skin on his hands and arms. It wasn't exactly white anymore. "I suppose you're right," he mumbled with a sigh, though his smile hadn't left his face quite yet. "I don't want to go into battle looking like a lobster, now do I?"
Brandenburg had already gotten to her feet and was dragging him along with her. "My little albino cousin," she joked. "I really have to take care of you all the time, don't I?"
Prussia laughed. "If you want to. I think I can manage myself pretty well, but all right."
Once they were deeper into the trees, Brandenburg suddenly pushed Prussia with his back against a tree and kissed him. Prussia just went along, wrapping his arms around her. As he let his hands slide down her back slightly, he thought it was weird to imagine that they had really been married for longer than most humans lived. Yet at the same time, he thought it was even weirder that there had been a time when he had hated the idea of having to marry Brandenburg. And though it was still two decades away, the 100-year mark seemed closer than ever for just a moment, and he was looking forward to it already.


Little more than a year later, the two countries and their allies faced another battle. They were near Blindheim, in Bavaria, and were going to fight said country and France there.
Leading the battle were England and one of his people, the Duke of Malborough, and Savoy with his prince.
Prussia stood beside Austria, much to his dismay, but having Brandenburg on his other side made it right againt. Hesse was a little way behind them, telling Holy Rome to stay put. The empire hadn't fought in a battle for as long as the war had lasted, and looking at how frail and sickly he looked, Prussia didn't want him to.
England was quietly discussing something with his older brother, then turned away and got onto his horse. He rode to halt in front of the assembly of nations, and looked at each of them. "Savoy and I have made plans, and they are as follows: Prince Eugene and Savoy's troops will take the west side of the battlefield and face of with Bavaria, mine will go to the east and fight France. Scotland, naturally, is with me. Hesse, Netherlands, you're coming with me as well. Austria, Prussia and Brandenburg, you shall join Savoy in the west."
Brandenburg and Austria exchanged a glance at this, which Prussia caught. They both seemed unhappy having to fight Bavaria, whom they were both close to. Brandenburg hadn't gotten along well with her little sister for almost as long as she and Prussia had been married, but she still cared for the younger girl. Austria was most likely thinking of the previous incarnation of Bavaria now, who had been his older sister. Prussia had heard many stories of Austria being raised by that girl as much as he had been by Holy Rome and Germania. That close bond between the Austrian and Bavaria had lived on longer than the country's incarnation herself had.
But Bavaria was their enemy in this battle, and they both realised that very well, Prussia knew. He didn't have to worry about either of them holding back.
Prussia watched as England gave a brisk nod to Savoy, who had joined the English and German forces mere hours ago, then rode away, followed by his brother, Hesse and the Dutch Republic. Prussia turned to look at Holy Rome for a moment, who just nodded to him and smiled. "I'll stay here," he told his younger brother. "Don't worry. I'll be waiting for you right here."
"I hope you'll keep your word on that one," Prussia answered with a smirk. "You'd better prepare lunch for everyone, too; we'll be back by noon, I promise." Prussia was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to keep that promise, but he kept smirking nonetheless. The albino kingdom then turned to Brandenburg. "You'll be careful out there?"
"If you will," she answered with a confident smile.
Then the countries joined their armies and rode into battle.

The Bavarians clearly hadn't expected an attack first thing in the morning, which left the Grand Alliance with the much-needed element of surprise. The French and Bavarian troops seemed to consist of many more men than the combined army of the Grand Alliance. For a moment, Prussia worried about this. But the moment he felt the impact of his blade on a man's armour, he forgot any worries and focused on the battle instead. Pure adrenaline coursed through his veins as he fought. From the corners of his eyes, he caught glimpses of Brandenburg, in specially crafted armour and with one of the few guns their army had in her hands. Seeing her like that filled Prussia with more determination to win this battle than ever before, and he felt like he had never fought harder.
Still, as the hours passed, the battle raged on, and Prussia grew exhausted. Before noon, he had already retreated once to hide somewhere, so that he could rest and regain some energy before plunging into battle again. "At least I know for sure," he choked out to himself as he sat somewhere to catch his breath. "I'll sleep like a goddamn baby tonight. An awesome, victorious baby. By God..." He tried to get up, but his tired legs wouldn't hold him, and he flopped back down immediately. So he decided to stay there a little longer.
Eventually, he came out of his hiding place just enough to be able to inspect the battle from a safe distance. He couldn't tell whether things were going well or not; there were bodies everywhere, and sometimes it was even hard to tell which of those were still alive, and which weren't. The country flinched at the sound of gunshots, and he quickly hid again, pulse racing. Guns were amazing inventions for warfare, but the deafening sound they made could still scare him right out of his skin. This wasn't what he was used to. For centuries, he had listened to the clang of metal on metal, the air being pierced by soaring arrows, the voices of men. These guns were just too loud. Wars were so much louder now than before. Everything about war was different from before.
He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and got to his feet again, sword in hand. His people were suffering out there. He had to fight by their side until the very end, even if the battle would last until dawn the next day.


As he fought once again, Prussia kept an eye out for Brandenburg. She appeared to have left the battlefield for a little while as well, for he couldn't find her no matter how often he looked. After what seemed like an eternity, he spotted her again; she had switched to swordfighting now, her gun tied to her back. Though he wasn't happy about his wife getting that much closer to the real danger of battles, Prussia understood. If she even had bullets left, there didn't seem to be any place left for her to fight from a distance like that. Though she seemed to be handling herself well in combat, Prussia wanted nothing more than to go over to her and fight on her side now. But everytime he tried, he would be attacked again, and eventually he had lost sight of Brandenburg again.
After a while, Prussia noticed that his troops were beginning to fall back. The Bavarians and French were driving them back over the Nebel, the river they'd had to cross to get here. The Prussian could feel in his limbs that he had lost many people here already. He felt weak and tired, in a completely different way from his general exhaustion after fighting for so long.
It seemed like an eternity before the battle ceased. Prussia's troops had been driven back far by the Bavarians, but they weren't defeated yet. The country felt both devastated and proud as he looked at the men he had left. Some of them were panicking, but Prussia's Prince and the Duke of Savoy seemed to be doing a good job at restoring their faith again.
Savoy came up to Prussia after a few minutes. "You look dead on your feet," the duchy commented as he inspected his comrade, grimacing. "Is it just the exhaustion, or the people you've lost?"
Prussia closed his eyes for a moment, and the world seemed to sway under his feet as he did that. But he couldn't determine what caused him to feel so bad right now. With a sigh, he looked at Savoy. "Can't tell."
The duchy looked at him for a moment longer, then nodded. "Well, be sure to get some rest now that you still can. We'll launch a second attack soon."
Prussia nodded feebly, trying to find a way not to feel so dizzy and unbalanced. Before he gave Savoy a chance to leave, he looked up at the other country again. "How's Brand doing?"
Something flashed in Savoy's eyes then, and with anxiety slipping into his voice, he answered: "I haven't seen her here yet, to be honest. I assumed she was with you. That's usually where one can find her." When he saw the startled look Prussia gave him, he smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, Prussia. There are hundreds of men here, after all."
"And one woman," Prussia protested, his heart beating painfully. "She would be easy to spot among all these men." Without saying anything more, Prussia went to the first horse he could find and jumped onto it quickly, then rode it back to what had been a battlefield just minutes ago.

By the time he reached the edge of the field of corpses scattered across the plains, he started calling out for Brandenburg. He didn't care if there were Bavarians around still, he just had to find Brandenburg. And if she wasn't anywhere here, then he knew she was back with their troops, safe and sound.
"Brand!" he called at the top of his voice. "Brand!"
His heart skipped a beat when, eventually, a familiar voice answered. "I-I'm here...!" Brandenburg sounded as if she was in pain, her voice hoarse.
Prussia immediately jumped off his horse and ran over to her; Brandenburg had propped herself up against a rock, hands clenched tightly around the left side of her waist. Blood was seeping through her fingers.
Prussia crashed onto his knees beside her, and hugged her the moment he could. She trembled lightly in his arms, and didn't hug him back. Instead, she kept her hands on her waist, exactly where they had been when Prussia first saw her there. The albino let go of her again and gently pulled her hands away so that he could inspect the wound. A deep cut in her side, left by a bullet by the looks of it.
"I'm sorry..." Brandenburg choked out.
Prussia interrupted her. "No matter," he said in a rushed voice. "That'll heal. I-I understand it hurts, but it'll heal."
"Prussia-"
"All right? You'll be just fine in a few minutes, and then I'll take you back to where the others are," he told her, ignoring her feeble protests. "You won't have to participate in the second attack like this, don't worry. Holy Rome can look after you while I'm away." He kept on saying things like that, not even keeping track of his words himself anymore, until Brandenburg raised her voice a little.
"I didn't realise..." she choked out, shifting to sit in a more comfortable position. When she spoke again, her voice was softer again, and her words sent ice into Prussia's veins. "I didn't realise it was Bavaria..." At these words, Prussia's heart seemed to stop, and he felt frozen where he sat as Brandenburg explained what had happened softly. "I shot Bavaria in the leg," the injured country said. "I didn't realise it was her... She fell and shot back at me without even looking. S-she got away then... I hope she's all right..."
As Prussia listened, his mind was blank. His brain couldn't process Brandenburg's words until a few seconds after they had been spoken. Everything revolving around his thoughts seemed to go in slowmotion now. He looked back down at Brandenburg's wound, and swallowed hard to get rid of the lump in his throat, choking him. "You'll be okay, Brand," he said. "Really. We'll just have to stop the bleeding now, and you'll be fine." But as he spoke, his mind told him that her clothes were soaked with thick red liquid, and the same substance had already formed a pool around her where she sat.
She was slowly bleeding out right under his nose.
Feeling numb for a moment, the Prussian wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her onto his lap, letting her lean against his shoulder. Brandenburg relaxed like that, her lips twisting into a smile. Her lips, which were already growing pale with bloodloss. "I'm so sorry that I broke my promise," she whispered to him, and he just hushed her and held her closer for a moment, kissing her head gently, telling her it was okay. She couldn't have done anything about it. It had just... happened.
She looked up at him with dull eyes, but somewhere in their blue depths, warmth and love still shone brightly. "I have kept another promise I made, though," she breathed, her voice more strained than before already. "But even though I know we promised 'till death do us part', Prussia... would you... would you mind if I... stick around a little longer than that?"
His throat and eyes burning with held-back tears, Prussia shook his head. "No," he choked out. "No, of course not. P-please do." He sniveled for a moment and gritted his teeth. "Don't leave me... please don't..."
"I won't," Brandenburg answered softly, determination in her voice as she spoke. "I'll be there when you need me... I'll never leave you." She leaned in closer to him weakly and kissed his cheek. "I promise."
She then fell back into his arms, and though Prussia could feel life in her body yet, he knew there wasn't much time left. Panicking as he realised this, he started to blurt out everything he still wanted to say to her. "Thank you so much for everything Brand," he said to her, nearly choking on the words and the many emotions behind them. "I don't know where I would be now without you. I owe so much to you, Brand, thank you so much."
She just smiled as he spoke. When he fell silent just long enough for her to talk, she whispered in a barely audible voice, "I love you, Prussia."
"I love you too," he answered rapidly, hugging her closer. "I love you so much, Brand. You're by far the best thing in my life. The most important person in the world to me. I love you, I always will."
Somewhere during the time he'd spoken, he'd heard her breaths fade into silence, and she lay heavily against his chest, unmoving. And when Prussia realised that Brandenburg, his dear, sweet Brandenburg was dead, his stomach twisted and unbearable agony exploded in his chest, as though his heart was ripped from his body.
And then he felt nothing anymore. All the pain he had felt in that moment, all the exhaustion in his tired limbs, all the emotions reeling in his mind and heart. They were gone just as quickly as they had come. And then he just sat there, in silence, his mind blank and his body completely numb, as he held Brandenburg's motionless body in his arms.

Some time later, he couldn't tell how long he'd sat there with Brandenburg, he heard noises in the distance. Absent-mindedly he turned to look over his shoulder, and saw his troops marching this way again, ready for the second attack. Without thinking, he picked Brandenburg's body up and carried her away to some place safe, somewhere he could find her again later without having to worry about anyone even coming near her now. His chest felt empty as he laid her down, as if his own heart wasn't just as still as Brandenburg's now was, but gone altogether.
He looked at her for a moment, silent, then knelt down beside her and kissed her cheek, which was already growing cold. "I'll be back, love," he whispered to her. "I have to go now, but I'll be back." Then he stood up, and gazed at the army marching over the plains for their second attack. That was his army to command -his alone now- and he had to fight alongside them. He had to protect his people, and he had to fight for them... for Brandenburg.
Feeling numb but his legs steady, he walked over to join his men, with only a single thought on his mind now: I have a duty to fulfill.


Evening had fallen in the area around Blindheim, and battle had finally ceased in this part of the area. But neither Prussia nor Brandenburg had returned along with their troops, and the humans leading this campaign had sent out a search party for them. It was the one thing the Holy Roman Empire had been able to join his family in, and he rode a horse beside Austria now as they scanned the battlefield for their allies.
"Maybe they got themselves captured," Austria mumbled, half to himself, as they looked around for any sign of the two countries. "Especially for Prussia, that wouldn't be the first time."
"They're fine as long as they're together," Holy Rome replied. "That's the one thing we know for certain." He then spotted something white a little further off, and he nudged Austria. "You think that's him?"
The Austrian squinted, then shrugged. "Could be. It's worth the try, anyway." He then turned his horse around in that direction, followed closesly by Holy Rome. "It's him," Austria confirmed when they got closer. But then, suddenly, he brought his horse to a halt, sitting rigid on the animal's back. Curious, Holy Rome rode up beside him.
"What's the matter?" he asked softly, looking at the other country. But Austria didn't respond, just slowly shook his head, mouthing 'no' as he stared at Prussia with a horrified gaze. Stomach twisting with dread already, Holy Rome turned and followed his gaze. His heart seemed to stop briefly at what he saw.
Prussia sat on the ground, Brandenburg laying on his lap, and the albino kingdom softly stroked her cheek as his lips moved, apparently whispering things to her too soft for Holy Rome to hear from this distance. Brandenburg's skin was paler than Prussia's, her once pink lips white now, with a sickly blue hue to them, her eyes only half closed and staring at the sky without seeing.
Anyone could see within a heartbeat that she was dead, and had been for some time now.
"How did this...?" Holy Rome choked out, in shock for a moment.
Austria seemed to have gotten over most of his initial shock now, though, and carefully got off his horse. Holy Rome watched as his archduchy tentatively approached Prussia, called his cousin's name softly. Prussia didn't react. The Austrian then carefully reached out to Prussia and placed his hand on his shoulder. He still didn't even look up. Taking a deep breath, Austria said softly: "Hey, Prussia..." Then he seemed lost for words already, and he was silent for a moment before continuing. "We need to go back, all right? We-" He paused for a moment and gently grabbed Prussia's hand, stopping his continuous stroking of Brandenburg's cheek, and pulled his hand away carefully. "We'll take her with us, I promise. But we really need to go back now. You can't stay here all night, Prussia." He looked over his shoulder at Holy Rome for a moment, and the empire nodded with a heavy heart.
Holy Rome got closer now, too, careful as to not startle Prussia, or... anything, really. His little brother seemed to be in complete shock, hardly responding to anything. As gently as possible, Holy Rome took Brandenburg's body from Prussia's lap and lifted her. She was so light in his arms, he hardly noticed he was carrying her.
At this, Prussia looked up, staring at Holy Rome with an intense red gaze that made the empire flinch. He couldn't bear to see all that pain, all that misery in his little brother's eyes. So he turned away. Instead he looked at Austria, who still had one hand on Prussia's shoulder, and held his cousin's hand with the other. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Holy Rome said softly, "Can you take him with you on your horse, please?" Suppressing a shudder, he added, "I'll take Brandenburg."
Austria nodded silently, then pulled Prussia to his feet gently. He handled the albino as though he were made of glass just now, and to Holy Rome, the young kingdom looked just as breakable right now. But at least he didn't struggle as Austria brought him to his horse and helped him climb up, but he also didn't say a word, which was beginning to unnerve Holy Rome.
Austria didn't climb up behind Prussia quite yet, and instead helped Holy Rome get Brandenburg's body onto the empire's horse with him. Then he nodded to Prussia's sword, covered in dried-up blood, which lay in the grass beside where its owner had sat. "Shall I take that one?" he asked softly, and Holy Rome could only nod. Holding Brandenburg's cold body like this, his grief for the girl was already choking him. He had known her long and well, and he couldn't believe she was gone now, just like that. Frankly, he had always believed that he would be the next person in their family to be buried. He had hoped never to have to attend another funeral of a family member again.
When Austria had gotten the sword and joined Prussia, who was still silent and staring ahead with a blank stare, the countries rode back to their camp in complete silence.


That evening, the atmosphere was heavy and grim in the tent the Allied countries used together -their leaders had placed them together like that so that they would get used to each other more, hoping that would strengthen their alliance. Holy Rome was grateful for it now: he had an excuse to stay close to Prussia and keep an eye on the grieving young kingdom, who still hadn't spoken since Holy Rome and Austria had found him. He hadn't really done anything. Hesse had tried to get him to eat a little, as his last meal had been over 24 hours ago by then and he must be famished after the battle, Netherlands had tried to talk to him, and everyone else had tried similar things, but to no avail. Holy Rome himself had sat beside them as he'd taken his little brother to Brandenburg, who lay in a seperate, smaller tent for now. There, Prussia had just held her cold hands in silence, letting a few tears slip but not actually crying. Holy Rome doubted he had actually cried already before they'd found him, and he hoped he would let out the emotions he undoubtedly felt right now sometime soon. That seemed like the best thing right now.
The empire flinched when the two countries who hadn't been back from the battlefield yet returned; Scotland, though he looked shaken after the horrible battle, tried to smile as he walked in. "That was a well-deserved victory, lads!" he called to his allies, sounding a little too cheery to everyone else now, who just stared at him in shock and, some, with a silent warning in their eyes. The Scot seemed to realise without those that something was off, though, and he was silent for a moment, staring at the others in confusion. Beside him, his little brother England just sighed. He seemed annoyed by his brother just then.
"What happened?" he just asked softly, emerald green eyes dull with exhaustion after the battle.
It was Hesse who answered. "Brandenburg is dead."
Both British countries' eyes widened in shock when they heard this. "Gods, no..." Scotland choked out, and he looked sorry for his attempt at cheerfulness when he came in. England just sighed and shook his head, saying it was a pity, that she was too young -by their standards- to have died already, then went out again. Scotland tentatively approached Holy Rome.
"How's the little lad coping?" he asked in a whisper, nodding to Prussia, who sat on the ground in a corner of the tent, knees pulled up and chin resting on them, eyes half-closed.
Holy Rome shook his head and let out a defeated sigh. "He's not," he answered just as quietly. "He... I'm worried about him," he admitted then, and not thinking, he blurted out everything. How Prussia hadn't spoken yet, refused to eat or rest, pretty much ignored everyone around him.
The Scot looked at the young kingdom with pity in his pale blue eyes. "It must be tough on him," he mumbled. "I don't know either of them that well, but they seemed really close." Holy Rome nodded and said that, yes, they were. "Well..." Scotland continued, a flash of grief in his eyes. "I, er... I know a thing or two about losing people you're close to. So, well... if you need help with the lad, just... you know."
Holy Rome nodded and thanked him softly.
Then something of a smile formed on the older country's face. "Well, at least he has Austria," he commented carefully, looking at how the Austrian sat beside Prussia; he'd joined his cousin a little while before Scotland and England had returned, and miraculously, Prussia was somewhat leaning against him now, as if he enjoyed the silent, gentle company. Well... appreciated it at least.
But Holy Rome wasn't quite as relieved as he saw this. He just let out a long sigh. "Yes, that's one of the things I'm worried about," he replied. "Knowing Prussia, he should've attacked Austria by now. Insulted him at the very least, and most likely he would've taunted him by now as well. He hates Austria." The he blinked slowly, watching his little brother for a brief moment. "But, strangely, Austria seems to be the only one he allows near him now."
"Grief can do the strangest things to a person," Scotland just commented. Then he turned around and walked away, after saying a soft goodbye. He sat down further away to talk with Hesse then.

As if the day wasn't bad enough yet, Savoy came back into the tent right at that moment, his face ashen grey and his expression one of pure horror. "B-bad news from the enemy front," he informed his allies softly.
Netherlands looked up at that, giving him a confused stare. "Surely bad news for them is good news for us?" he inquired.
But Savoy shook his head slowly, letting his shoulders hang in defeat. "No, not this. The positive part of this news, for us at least, is that after today's loss, the Bavarian army has decided to retreat from the war altogether." He swallowed hard before continuing. "The bad news is that today's loss included Bavaria herself. S-she was found dead earlier this evening, killed on the battlefield." He stared at the Germanic countries there with round eyes. "I'm so sorry... for your loss..." He trailed off, stood there in silence for a moment, then decided it was best to walk away and leave the family alone for a bit. Well, alone with Scotland, but the old country was at least keeping his distance now, and seemed to consider leaving after this as well.
Holy Rome then heard some sniveling beside him, and he looked at Austria and Prussia again. Austria was hugging Prussia now, who didn't even try to pull away. The albino seemed to realise that his cousin was merely doing this because he needed comfort himself now, too. And then, suddenly, Prussia moved again, much to Holy Rome's surprise. What he did was the biggest surprise of all, though; Prussia just gently laid his hand on Austria's shoulder, giving his cousin a very soft, comforting pat on the back.
Holy Rome smiled at this, then turned away, his smile fading again quickly, and he gritted his teeth. Tears burnt in his eyes, and he just let them fall in silence now. Brandenburg and Bavaria. Hopefully the two sisters could reconcile in Heaven. It would be such a shame if they couldn't rest peacefully together, after spending so many decades, centuries, as such close sisters.
He was such a failure. What right did he have to call himself the Holy Roman Empire, if he couldn't even keep his territories safe and united? Because he was such a failure, such a poor leader to his family, Brandenburg and Bavaria had died in battle against each other, as enemies. They shouldn't have been enemies at all. Even less so should they have died at all.
Tears trailing down his face, he got to his feet and looked around at his family, who all looked tired and miserable now. "Let me make one thing very clear," he choked out, voice quivering. "No one is to ever speak of today as a victory. Today was a loss for all of us." He then took a deep breath, and finished. "May Brandenburg and Bavaria both find peace now. They have lived through enough wars... they deserve peace more than anything." Hesse, Scotland and Netherlands nodded at this, and mumbled softly in agreement. Holy Rome then glanced over his shoulder at Austria and Prussia again. Austria had calmed himself down again, but still sat pressed against Prussia's side, head resting on the albino's shoulder and holding his younger cousin's hand, his eyes closed. Prussia, on the other hand, looked up at Holy Rome now. He stared straight at him, looking him in the eyes with an intense, burning red gaze. Countless emotions lay in his eyes, but grief and pain weren't among them anymore now. The empire couldn't tell what they were instead, but as he met Prussia's gaze, he knew one thing for certain...

Just now, for a heartbeat, he had for some reason been terrified of his little brother.


...
This is the first time I actually let a major character die. I've played around with this idea in Rising and Trouble, but decided not to. Good decision. Darn it, I was just starting to really get attached to Brandenburg. I had just about finished a definitive character design -that's my sign of attachment to a character.

Does it help a bit if I say I cried while writing this? (Given, the super-duper-sad music probably helped, but...)

I am so, so sorry. Just know that I did not do this without reason. Those will be made clear later on.

Well... at least there's little Fritz to look forward to? He'll be born pretty soon in this story. Next chapter or the one after it.

Thanks for reading!