So, only a couple of chapters left to go (and a week until school... I'm so not going to finish this before then)

MissiriKoharehn, pinkdoughnuts, vaetta, Abc, Polish reader, Krampus and awesome cookies, thanks all for the reviews! RebelWithoutaCause1998 and AwesomeBitsAndBobs, thanks for the follow and favourites!

I hope you'll all like this chapter. I incorporated a bit of European history into it that I had completely forgotten about until it suddenly popped up in my mind again... and it did so just in time, too!


17 March 1816

Well, it sure took a while before I could go to Scotland, but I'm here now. He's very hospitable, which somehow doesn't surprise me. His people have been giving me weird looks, but then, that doesn't surprise me either.
But whatever, honestly! I'm here to learn, and that's all I'll be focussing on. I don't need people to like me when I'm going to be around machines all the time, right? Well, and I will need some people to explain to me how all these things work, but I'll get them to do that much.
Now let's start the industrialisation of Prussia. I'm ready for awesomeness!

"Laddie, come on," Scotland sighed when he and Prussia walked out of the factory they'd visited and the Prussian seemed to be coughing his lungs out. Scotland himself didn't appear to have such an easy time breathing either. "You've been subjecting your lungs to the utter horror that is cigarettes for decades now-"
"Which is your fault."
"-I know. I just mean to say, aren't they used to breathing in complete junk yet?"
Prussia shook his head, trying to take a few good gulps of air before he answered. "Well, cigars and cigarettes are completely different from… this." He looked over his shoulder at the factory and grimaced. "The air is so humid, I feel like I just drowned –and trust me, I know first-hand how drowning feels, and this was pretty darn close. Not to mention the insane amount of dust and the heat and… How do those people live in there?"
This made Scotland sigh, his blue eyes twinkling with shame and sadness. "Barely, to be honest with you. It's not safe in there –once again us nations are the ones to feel just how unhealthy it is to work in a factory such as this one, but what can we do about it? I've brought it up a couple of times, but the government won't do anything about. Say they've got bigger problems to worry about. I get how Napoleon's a bigger problem, but we're rid of him now." He scoffed, and Prussia decided not to press the matter further. They walked in silence for a little while, until Scotland asked: "So? Have you picked anything up?"
"Yes," Prussia answered, chuckling softly. "That I'll need to improve many, many things before I'll even allow my people to mess with this! No way am I going to condemn them to death just to give the economy a boost."
"That's what we all said, too," Scotland replied calmly, looking at the grey sky –it wasn't even raining or going to rain, this was all smoke and poison emitted from the factories. The Scot sighed, adding softly: "And look where we ended up… Economically it's worth it, totally. But I'm not sure…" Then he shook his head and said that Prussia should just go for it; it would no doubt help his economy rise to the top layer of European nations. "There's many things that steam power can be used for," the Scot then explained as they headed to the next place they'd visit –where the steam engines themselves were constructed. "Transportation, for example."
"Absolutely," Prussia agreed, thinking of a man, Božek, from Silesia. He had built a steam-driven carriage in 1815. "I wonder how far they'll go with it…?"
"Humans are inventive creatures, that's for sure," Scotland mumbled, half to himself.

Three hours later, Prussia was staring wide-eyed at a few blueprints of steam engines. Scotland laughed as he saw the look with which Prussia stared at the drawings. "Careful there, laddie," he warned. "You don't want to drool all over it, do you?"
Prussia immediately took a step back, glaring at Scotland for that. The old kingdom only seemed to enjoy himself all the more. The Prussian then turned to the human who had handed him these blueprints. "These are really fascinating," he said politely. "Thank you for allowing me to see into your work." The man only replied that it was okay. Prussia had already turned back to inspect what was on paper, when suddenly he got an idea. "But… have you tried making these parts smaller?" he said, pointing out a few cogs. "The lighter the construction, the less energy it will take to operate it, right? And the less energy it uses up, the more economical it is… just an idea."
The human frowned at this. "Well, I've tried something similar, but it's not easy to just alter the entire design –for that's what needs to happen if you alter just one part." Prussia nodded; he could understand that. "You've got the right idea, though. I just need to figure out how to do it. Maybe you could help me with that? I could use someone with insight like yours."
Prussia's eyes began shining at this, and he eagerly said yes, turning back to the blueprints and thinking hard as he inspected every part of it.
The human laughed softly and turned to Scotland. "You've brought along a bright kid, Allistair," he said to the nation. "Last I recall you couldn't even figure out the blueprints."
Scotland grunted and looked away. "Don't remind me…" Then he looked back at Prussia, who was lost in thought, tilting his head to one side. "This comes as a surprise to me too, though. I knew he was smarter than he looks, but… Well, I guess I've been underestimating him all this time."
"I think I've found something!" Prussia then said proudly, not having noticed the exchange between the two Scotsmen. The human immediately stood beside him, and Prussia began explaining his idea. The man replied that, though the idea was a good one, it wasn't practical. When Prussia asked for a detailed explanation why not, he got one, and he tried his best to take in every word.
By the end of the day he was completely exhausted simply because of the overload of information he'd gotten. And this was only his second day in Scotland.


At the end of that week, after having spent more time learning with the man Scotland had brought him to, Prussia decided it was also a good idea getting some first-hand experience on how it is to work with these new steam-powered machines.
It was awful.
After just three hours, he felt as tired as he would be after a whole day of training. There was just so much that he had to pay attention to: the speed with which the machine worked, the movements of the workers around him, the quality of the textile that was being produced at high speed. He also had to be careful not to get his hands chopped off, or have his clothes caught in the machine which could seriously injure a person as well, and it had taken a while before he'd found a good way to breathe in this humid poisonous dump.
It was hard work, and he was dripping with sweat because of the heat. At least I can have a bath at the end of this day, he told himself as he glanced around at the people who worked here day in, day out. They didn't have such luxuries, not like he did anyway, and he felt a pang of guilt as he realised this.
There must be a way to improve this, he thought as he looked at the people working and the machines and felt his own sore body near the end of the day. Surely if we make improvements to the machines, it will improve quality of life here as well?
The most horrifying thing to see was the little children working there. Some of them were no older than 5 years. He supposed there was nothing to be done about that, and honestly, he'd managed hard labour pretty well when he was a kid. He'd done dangerous, potentially deadly things when he was their age. It's what you get for growing up in an Order of Knights.

"So?" Scotland asked when Prussia came stumbling back into his home late that evening. The Scot was calmly reading a newspaper with a cigarette between his lips, and just his relaxed demeanour pissed Prussia off. I've been working my but off today for the sake of knowledge, he wanted to say, and you're just sitting here, jerk. But then, Scotland had his own job to attend to, and Prussia knew he'd been busy all day, too. He'd taken a day off on the day that Prussia came and when he'd shown him around town, but he hadn't been able to afford another easy day.
Prussia just sighed deeply and flopped down beside the old country. "It's horrible in there," he replied. "There is a Hell on Earth, let's just keep it at that. Now give me that," he added with a grunt, snatching the Scot's cigarette from him and taking a few deep breaths from it himself. "Oh, I've missed this… Poison that doesn't make me feel light-headed and queasy." Scotland just chuckled and shook his head, then knocked Prussia on the head firmly but carefully and took his cigarette back.
"You've missed dinner, as you must've realised," he said to the albino then. "Of course, I left your share in the cupboard. It's cold now, though."
"Oh, that won't be a problem," Prussia replied, getting back to his feet and heading to the kitchen. "I love food in every shape, form and temperature. I'm just grateful that you left some."
"Sure I did. What kind of host would I be if I didn't, laddie?"
An Austrian, Prussia almost replied, smirking at the memories of when he'd gone to Vienna and had to go without breakfast because he'd overslept. It was funny now. And still frustrating, too.
"But have you learned something useful?" the Scot asked after a little while, when Prussia was still eating. Prussia just nodded and answered quickly that seeing how the machines work up close from different perspectives like this really did help a lot in understanding how to make improvements to them. Scotland just laughed. "You've come here to learn how they work in the first place, remember?" he reminded the younger kingdom as he laughed. "A week into this, and you're already thinking of how to do it even better!"
Prussia only shrugged. "What can I say? I'm just awesome like that."


In the years after that, the industrialisation of Prussia only continued. It was Prussia himself, among a number of his people, who were considering working with trains to transport goods between the different parts of his territories. Some parts of his land were separated from the rest, and the Prussian land had grown a lot over the past century. It seemed like just the thing they needed.
But then, they would have to build through other countries' territories as well, and each time the goods would pass a border more taxes would have to be paid over them. It was one of the many reasons that Prussia thought a total unification of the German countries couldn't come soon enough. Hell, he would want it even if he had to marry each and every one of them like he'd been forced to marry Brandenburg long ago already. Of course that wouldn't happen, but to him at least, that was a clear sign that he needed a unified Germany to happen, the sooner the better. He remembered all too well the famous writer Goethe's words: "Deutschland? Aber wo liegt das?" Germany? But where is that? It wasn't anywhere on the map, he'd said, and he was right. I want to change that, I want to change that so badly…
But when the 40s came, especially the latter half of the decade, the German disunity was the least of his troubles.
Because Europe was struck with a famine like few Prussia had seen so far. A potato blight rotted nearly all the potato crops throughout Europe. The two countries who were worst off, from what Prussia had heard, were Ireland and Scotland.
But since the introduction of potatoes as a staple food by Fritz (he was sometimes called 'the Potato King' because of it) the people of Prussia had become quite dependent on this particular food source.

After a year had passed, Prussia could already feel the demographic changes this famine brought in his own body; his population had grown over the past year, he knew that. But it had grown less than it normally did. There had been more deaths and birth rates had dropped significantly. Württemberg didn't have it so easy, either, and Belgium's situation (Southern Netherlands's new name after the girl had claimed independence in 1830) was on par with Prussia's.
Two years into the famine, the German Confederation had decided to come together in Berlin to discuss it, though no one was hopeful and foolish enough to think they could solve the problems.
Prussia hated the stares he got from his siblings and cousins; he'd gotten quite thin after two years of this. He still ate on a nearly daily basis, though most of the time it wasn't even enough to serve as a single proper meal over an entire day. And then there were times that he would feel particularly sorry for one or two families in his neighbourhood, and he would bring them what little food he had.
But that didn't mean he wanted these looks of pity.
The first to be asked about just how dire the situation was, was Württemberg. "We have about half the usual harvest of potatoes," the younger nation explained to his family. "The amount of rye and wheat have also dropped. People have died from hunger, and there have been less births over the past years, too. The demographic changes –for me at least- haven't been too bad yet, but it certainly doesn't feel nice."
The others nodded, mumbling among themselves that they were facing the same situation, though maybe not as bad as Württemberg had it. Then they turned to Prussia, almost reluctantly it seemed, and asked him the same question. Prussia sighed, breathing out a puff of smoke –he was smoking a lot more than usual lately. "We've got about half the usual amount of potatoes, rye and wheat, and the increase in my population has halved compared to the increase last year, too."
"Half of potato, rye and wheat together, or…?" Bayern began, eyes flashing with worry for her cousin.
"Each."
The others exchanged a worried glance now, but said nothing. A heavy silence fell in the room, broken only when Hanover said guiltily: "I'm sorry… I don't really have food to spare myself. I wish I could help your people, I really do, but…"
Prussia just shook his head. "That's okay, I get it." He was silent for a moment, only listening to the others as they talked and taking deep breaths from his cigarette. When he felt it was a good moment to bring it up, he stated: "I think this is just more proof that we need to learn to work together."
The entire family fell silent at this, staring at him. Saxony sighed. "Prussia, is this really the best moment…?"
"Of course it is," the Prussian insisted, looking at Saxony directly now. "If ever there was a time to work together outside of wars, it's during a famine like this one! If we all worked together and shared what resources we have, I'm sure we would be better off."
"You would be better off," Saxony retorted accusingly, narrowing his brown eyes at his brother. "Look, I get that you want to help your people, but this isn't the way to go about it. If you get what you want and we all share our food resources, plenty of us will end up with less than we already have."
"And plenty more would have more than they do now," Prussia protested, though he knew that wasn't entirely true. Not everyone in the family had it as bad as he did. He could tell from their eyes that many others agreed with Saxony, and he sighed. But he wouldn't give up. "Even if we didn't share our resources," he tried to explain, "if only the taxes for transporting good across borders were lowered or gone altogether, it would be easier to get food and other goods from one part of one's land to another. It would be easier to divide what we have amongst our own people."
"Again, this mostly applies to you," Saxony told him calmly, not even looking at Prussia anymore. Again, some others nodded and mumbled their agreement with the Saxon.
Prussia just scoffed now and gave up. They wouldn't listen to him now, anyway. "Whatever…" Angry, he grabbed another cigarette from his pocket and lit that, almost immediately being told off by his family for it.
"Can you please stop smoking already?" Bayern grunted, grimacing as Prussia blew smoke in her direction. "This is… what? Your third cigarette already? It reeks. Just stop."
"No."
"Prussia, she's right," Austria then sighed, frowning. "You're not the only smoker in this family, I know that for a fact. But they are at least considerate enough not to do so all the time when we're talking about a serious matter –something you especially should perceive as such." When the Prussian still shook his head, Austria only seemed to get angry. "Why is it so hard to be polite for once, you-?!"
"Because it helps me ignore the fact that I'm hungry!" Prussia retorted, getting even angrier himself now, too. Immediately it became so quiet in the room that Prussia could hear himself breathe, and he looked away again, embarrassed that he'd admitted this now. If he didn't want any pity, this wasn't the way to go about it.
Brunswick sighed softly and nodded after a little while. "It's true," she said carefully in Prussia's defence. "Smoking suppresses hunger. It may not be healthy for humans, but it holds no consequences for us, so why not just let him?"
"Actually," Hesse put in, "have you considered that he –a nation- is breathing poison right into our faces? It is no problem for us if we smoke ourselves, but it might not be the same if other nations basically force us to breathe this in." Once again, the majority of the family saw sense in this observation, and nodded all too gladly.
Prussia met their gazes, then sighed and put out his cigarette with an angry huff, not saying a word to them. Bayern seemed to feel guilty now as she looked at Prussia, and she offered carefully: "Hey, if you're really not feeling well… Err… I can give you something to eat once we're done. I mean, I don't have enough to help you on a national scale, but I've got plenty to help just you out for today, you know…"
I don't even want people to help me, not like this. She was doing this entirely out of pity, he could tell, and he really didn't want any of that. But at the mere thought of having a proper meal, the Prussian's stomach loudly answered for him, and he felt his blood rise to his face. Where normally some of his cousins would have laughed at this, everyone was now very quiet. Embarrassed, Prussia stared down at the table and mumbled a soft thanks.
"The same goes for you of course, Württemberg."
"Thank you, Bayern, that would be nice."

After the meeting, both Bayern and Bavaria gave some bread they had brought along for lunch to Württemberg and Prussia, and the latter thanked them both and put half of it in a small bag he had in his pocket –or intended to at least. Bavaria noticed before he could do so. "Prussia, don't even think about it," he said with a glare in the older kingdom's direction. Prussia froze, staring at him in surprise and asking what was wrong with keeping some to the side as of yet. "Because Bayern and I did not share our food with you just so that you can give it away to your people. You're going to sit down here, take it easy or whatever the hell you want to do, but I want to see you eat that, got it?"
"You're already underweight," Bayern added, pushing the stunned Prussian back onto his chair with a stern gaze. "You need it, and don't you deny that. Facts are facts."
Württemberg was holding back his laughter as he looked at Prussia, who still didn't seem to comprehend all this; after all, he was being told of by his younger cousins as though they were… well, almost like they were his parents, really. "Don't worry, Prussia, I feel the same way as you do," he said then. "It just feels unfair to our people to have something to eat while they're starving," the teenager then explained to Bavaria and Bayern. "But… we both do need it. After all," he added, looking at Prussia again, "how do you plan on being awesome when you're half starved? We don't help our people by not taking care of ourselves."
Prussia just sighed and decided to tell them the one thing that was bothering him most: "There's one family in the neighbourhood where I live," he began softly. "Their mother got sick because of the famine and didn't survive. Every day I have to see their father work hard while he has no energy himself anymore, the eldest son just got sick as well and… do you know how horrible it is to be able to count the ribs of a 4-year-old? More of them would've died by now if I didn't help them out every now and then. When Karla –that's the mother of the family- was sick, I actually went without food for three days straight to help them out, and it still wasn't enough."
All three of the younger nations were silent for a moment, staring at him, and Prussia stared back until it became too awkward. Bavaria was the first to speak again. "You know," he said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "sometimes you're such a nice guy. Then sometimes you're the world's greatest jerk."
At this, Prussia laughed too, and so did Bayern and Württemberg.

2 February 1847

God, it feels good to go to bed with a full stomach for once. I wonder how much longer this famine can go on, but surely it cannot be much longer?
Anyway, I've still been working on learning more about modern technology. The industrialisation is going pretty well, despite the famine.
Dammit, I'm worried about Scotland and Ireland. They're doing so much worse than me, and I feel like shit already. I mean, Bayern was right, I'm quite thin now. If Ireland is like me and prefers to let his people eat first –and I'm certain he's like that, surely every nation is?- I can only imagine him being like a walking skeleton by now. The poor man…

Well, enough about the famine. If this isn't enough to convince everyone that we need to unite, I'll find something else to convince them. I just hope it can happen without thousands of deaths this time.


As the years passed, Prussia was able to make his family see some sense. Well, most of them anyway. They began to see something in the idea of a unified Germany, just like Prussia did. And then there were those who disagreed. Saxony was against Prussia in this, just as he had been against Prussia in many things for a century already. Hanover didn't like the idea too much, either, as he just didn't see the need. Not half a century had passed since Holy Rome's death, he said, and Prussia was already trying to be the next Holy Roman Empire or something. Prussia had tried to tell him that it wouldn't be like the Holy Roman Empire, not the way he envisioned it, but that didn't help one bit in trying to convince his brother. Austria didn't like it either; he went around claiming that Prussia was only trying to grab power, that he didn't care about how his family felt about his decisions and that he was doing this only for his own personal gain. Prussia would have to deal with him no doubt, and every time the two cousins saw each other, the tension between them was only rising.
Something happened in 1848 that got Prussia excited beyond belief; Hungary rebelled against Austria. Initially she stayed by his side and didn't seem to agree with her people, but their influence over her soon got the upper hand, and Prussia heard the two lovers started fighting more and more the moment the uprising turned into a true war for independence. Prussia more than once sent Hungary messages that he would support her to the fullest if she were to personally join her people, even though the Prussian army had nothing to do with it. Hungary wrote back to him that he should stay out of it, and her writing came across as offended and angry, until he read a post scriptum: 'Also, I know you're still not over the effects of the famine, so please just take your time to recover before offering to help others. Dammit, I don't want you to starve to death, buddy. Take care of yourself, Gil.' He kept that letter hidden inside a book, safe from dust and anything else that might damage it. The last sentences were too precious.
When Hungary's war for independence was over, lost, and the Hungarians were ruled over more strictly than ever before, Prussia felt a spark of hope that maybe it had destroyed their relationship at last. It had certainly put a strain on it.
It wasn't until the early 50s that the Potato Famine came to an end. It was by then that Prussia heard about other nations and how they had fared in the famine: he himself had lost over 40,000 people due to it, Belgium had lost about the same amount. France was the third worst off on the mainland, having lost nearly 10,000 people. Scotland had lost many more and it would take a long time for him to recover.
It was basically a miracle that Ireland had survived in the first place.

The unification as Prussia had envisioned it slowly came to be. In the 30s he had already managed to establish the Zollverein, a customs union, which already reduced the taxes paid when crossing a border within the German Confederation. Austria had never been part of it and he would never be as far as Prussia was concerned. Still it wasn't quite what the Prussian wanted yet.
In 1848, a year known not only for the ongoing famine in Europe but also for the many 'revolutions', King Frederick William IV had been forced to make up the first-ever constitution for the German territories. In the same year the Frankfurt Parliament was set up and it was actually Frederick William IV, much to Prussia's anger and annoyance, who stopped the creation of a unified Germany.
By the start of the 60s, things were really starting to look up for Prussia, when a new king was crowned.

King Wilhelm I appointed Otto von Bismarck to be Minister President of Prussia and also Foreign Minister in 1862, and Prussia quite liked the man after a certain conversation with him.
"Germany will come into existence," the human stated, "and it shall be without Austria in it. Believe me, Prussia, I have several ideas on how to get rid of this Austrian pest. You shall rule over Germany and you alone."
Prussia liked the idea, of course, but he knew a few people who wouldn't like it quite as much. About 30 of them, to be precise. "But Germany will be unified," he said carefully. "All states will work together as one."
Something flashed in Bismarck's eyes at this, but he nodded. "Of course they will. But every strong group needs a leader, and you're the perfect candidate for that role, is what I mean."
I can live with that, Prussia thought happily. Finally things were looking up for him, and he couldn't be happier. His dreams were closer to coming true than ever before, though it would take a lot of work yet to realise his plans. But with Bismarck and Frederick William IV, he was certain he could do it for real this time.
The human then got to his feet and held his hand out to Prussia. The kingdom followed his example and shook his hand politely. "I look forward to reading your reports on our surrounding nations," Bismarck told him, referring to the reports that Prussia was to write on all the nations he knew about their personalities, his personal relationship with them, anything that might be useful for the Foreign Minister to know. He was going to have some sleepless nights yet, but it would be worth it. It had to be. "Well then," the human went on. "I take it you're as busy as me, so let's both go our own way for now. I'll see you soon, Prussia."
Prussia laughed softly. "Well, nowadays I have more tasks to do than ever before –not just with the new form of government and all that, but also…" He sighed. "I completely forgot to go out for groceries yesterday, and my kitchen is empty right now. Awesome, isn't it?"
Bismarck chuckled and shook his head in amusement. "I do not understand you, though; so many people would give anything to live like royalty, and you decided to give that life up and live the life of a middleclass man –one with unbreakable ties to the government, though."
Prussia shrugged and said that it was always good to try something new –in this case something he hadn't tried in a couple of centuries. Then he went off.


Not too many years passed before the unification seemed to get closer with the week. By the time the year 1864 came around, Bismarck was named Chancellor of Prussia, and when Denmark tried to take the land of Schleswig, Prussia went to war against the older kingdom. Austria was his ally in this war, for Bismarck had made it so. The war took little more than half a year to fight, and Prussia and Austria won, dividing the land they'd taken from Denmark between the two of them.
In 1866 it became clear to Prussia why Bismarck had wanted Austria to be their ally in the Danish-Prussian war: things were a bit rough in Schleswig and Bismarck only too gladly pinned the blame on Austria, using this as justification to take Holstein, the part of the territories given to Austria at the end of the war against Denmark.
By then, Prussia had recovered completely from the famine, though his population wasn't quite back to what it used to be. Politically everything went almost perfect in his large kingdom. He was the most industrialised in his enormous family.
Prussia was a force to be reckoned with like he had been when Old Fritz had commanded his army and led him to glory.
Needless to say, when Austria declared war on Prussia, he didn't feel a twinge of fear, only excitement. It had been too long since his last war against Austria, he'd actually begun to miss it.
Soon after, Prussia met with his numerous allies; the German territory had been divided into those who supported Prussia and those who supported Austria, and it was not at all how Prussia wanted it. He'd have to do something about Austria and show that sissy's allies that he was the one they should follow. He was the Legendary Black Eagle. He was the Awesome Prussia. They would all be so much better off listening to them; he only wanted them to truly work together, and Austria had always, always failed to bring about such a miracle. If Prussia couldn't do it, no one could. He had to try, and for that he needed to kick some Austrian ass again.
Austria fought with Bavaria, Saxony –those at least Prussia had expected to fight on Austria's side- but also Hanover, Hesse, Württemberg, Nassau, Baden and many more. Prussia's allies consisted of Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Waldeck and others, amongst which Italy.

Italy Veneziano came running up to Prussia when he saw the albino, in his usual enthusiasm, and tackled him in a hug. "Hi Prussia!" he greeted him happily. "It's been a while. You look good!" He poked him in the cheek then, playfully so, and chuckled. "Good to see you've got a healthy layer of meat back on your bones, too; I heard how bad you had it, with the famine. Ve… It's good that all that is in the past, isn't it?"
Prussia was a bit overwhelmed by him as usual, by nodded and smiled. He liked Veneziano a lot, and his enthusiasm about everything was actually rather cute. But God he could be fearsome when he wanted to… in the past at least. Prussia didn't know if that was still the case. He hoped it was.
The Romano walked up to them as well, pushing his younger brother aside and looking up at Prussia with an annoyed brownish-green gaze. He was silent for a while, then huffed. "I hate all you potato-bastards," he grumbled out of the blue, surprising Prussia. "You all grow impossibly tall. Just turn around for one minute and they've outgrown you by far. Bastard."
This made Prussia laugh. He didn't want to tell Romano right now, but Veneziano was taller than him, too. "Good to see you again, too, Romano," he answered when he'd stopped laughing, but by then the Italian was already even angrier at him. "You must've missed the blast of complete Awesomeness that's me, haven't you?"
"Not really. Damn northern protestant buff snowflake-y demon potato-bastard."
Veneziano stared at his brother wide-eyed, then gently pushed him away and told him to go and talk to someone else, then turned back to Prussia, flustered. But the albino was just staring at Romano, not sure if he was supposed to feel offended. Probably so, but the words he'd said had made no sense at all. "I'm so sorry for that," the Italian stammered, glancing at his brother again before carefully meeting Prussia's gaze when the younger kingdom looked back at him. "He doesn't really like northerners of any kind because they're taller than him, he's still touchy about religion sometimes and he hates potatoes and most Germans really and-"
"That's all fine," Prussia said dismissively, looking over his shoulder at Romano, narrowing his eyes. Then he huffed and added in a mutter: "He could've left the albinism out of it, though."
"Yes, well… that's fratello for you." Veneziano then cracked a smile again. "He called you buff, though. That's a compliment!"
Prussia sighed. "Is it?" Then he shook his head and just went to the others. He called them all to gather around so that he could discuss their tactics and motives with them, and his allies came to stand around him within seconds. "First of all, let me thank you all for standing with me as we teach this meddling Austrian a lesson once and for all," the Prussian said to them. "We all have the same goals, and therefore it is only natural that we should cooperate."
"No need to thank us," Brunswick then said, grinning. "I love your ideas of a Germany without Austria in it."
"Absolutely," Waldeck agreed with her, nodding seriously. "I don't dislike Austria, but if we let him create Germany, that would mean we have an empire of Germans, Bohemians, Hungarians, Italians… anything he can get his hands on. And then how would we be Germany? The only way to ensure that we truly become Germany together is to kick him out. Simple as that."
Brunswick giggled then, her green eyes twinkling with joy. "And maybe Switzerland, but hey, that guy doesn't want to get involved anyway. And Liechtenstein just follows everything that 'big brother Swiss' says. Girl doesn't have a spine, I tell you."
Mecklenburg joined in now, too, looking at Prussia as he spoke. "Now you, on the other hand," he began with a smirk, "you've got more guts than anyone I've ever seen before. I like that. Let the others complain about you, they just don't appreciate your strength at all –they fear it. They fear you and your power. Not me, I can promise you."
Suddenly Brunswick threw her arms up in the air and started cheering. "All hail the Black Eagle! Saviour of the Germans!" And then the others joined in, except Italy of course. They just stared at the others in surprise, and Romano started muttering about those 'damn potato-heads' again.
Prussia could only stare as well, shocked by all this. This wasn't what he had intended… but did it really matter? They loved him. They loved his ideas. That was all he had ever wanted, all he needed. People who believe in me and want to work with me… He'd thought the day would never come. They were cheering, and they were cheering for him. He actually felt choked up with sheer happiness, but he tried not to show it. He masked it with a grin, his usual cocky attitude. "That's right!" he told them once they'd stopped cheering. "Follow me and we'll achieve greatness together. Work with me now, and you'll be rewarded! Fight beside me now and we'll establish a true Germany!"
And they cheered again. Prussia loved it, and listened with pride. This is what I worked for, what I fought for all my life.
He had always believed in the strength of the Holy Roman Empire, not just because of his love for his late brother, but because he truly loved the idea of so many nations working together as one, sharing their strength, sharing their fortune and misfortune, standing together as they faced troubles and then celebrating together once they'd conquered those. Was it not the most beautiful idea in the world? Was it not the true definition of peace?

Prussia's army had many advantages over Austria's; for one, he could mobilise his army in about half the time that Austria needed due to his railways, of which he had five in his borders and Austria had only a single one. That, and Austria's army was considerably smaller than Prussia's. Prussia's army had modern firearms that Austria did not have possession or knowledge of. Austria was still suffering under the economic effects of Hungary's War for Independence as well as Italy's, which had come not too long after Hungary's.
All in all, Austria simply didn't stand a chance. It was the simple and honest truth, and Prussia entered the first battle with confidence.

He would create Germany, and Austria would not be part of it.


While in the modern world it would not work, back in these days, I actually see sense in Prussia and the other states' reasoning for throwing out Austria. It really doesn't work to establish a new country but have people of completely different ethnic backgrounds living in it. Well, as I said, we're not used to anything else these days and I don't believe we should be used to different, I love the cultural diversity in the modern world, but back then things were just different.

Anyway, the Seven Weeks' War will be in the next chapter, along with some stuff that Prussia isn't going to be happy about (let's see how many of you can guess this one -I don't think it's too hard, really) and then, in two or three chapters... guess who'll be born!
(Also, there's another 'prepare your hearts' coming up at the end of this, I'm very sorry.)

Ehehehe... on that bombshell... (don't kill me for all the angst!)

Thanks for reading, all!