An Empire…

Part 7- Eburones

He sat opposite the woman in front of some large statue in some temple thing… of some sort, he wasn't all that sure. All he knew was after the woman had stopped crying long enough to pull herself together to get them both travelling by horse to the strange temple they were now at, she had broke down into tears again.

"You're Mother… Eburones… She- she was like… my little sister…" Greece started, hiccupping sobs away. "We grew up together…"

Flash-Back-Please!

"Eburones!" Greece yelled, a little girl with short choppy dark hair running towards a smaller girl with long beautiful flowing hair.

"Greece…" The girl smiled lightly, but continued looking towards the piece of land that stood strongly among the waves.

"What are you looking at?" Greece questioned peering over Eburones shoulder. "It better not be a guy… especially that idiot Rome or Germania's going to start a war- I swear!"

"I'm looking at the bridge…" She explained smiling in a way that could only mean her mind was off daydreaming.

"Why the bridge?" Greece questioned, running in front of Eburones, the girl in question blinked and looked over Greece, the darker girl was covered in cuts and bruises, her lips bleeding lightly as she smiled.

"Greece!" She yelled, voice filled with worry as she grabbed the taller girl's wrist and pulled her with her, back to their camp site. "How'd you get all these cuts?"

"Well, that idiot Rome made some annoying remarks and was yelling about becoming a Nation taller and stronger than me, so I put him in his place!" She cheered. "And! I caught you a present!"

"You… caught me a present…?" Eburones questioned, one eyebrow lifting in question, as Greece changed their grip so she was the one who had a hold of Eburones wrist and was pulling her to follow instead.

Greece kept jogging in silence, letting Eburones keep up, stopping every now and then to let the girl get her breath back, Eburones wasn't as strong as her, nor as athletic, she was a serene and loving individual, which was why Greece had to protect her… and she hoped her gift would help out… though this gift seemed to really hate Greece!

Greece pulled Eburones into a clearing where Greece's latest boss was keeping a white stallion in place, the stallions hair long and silver; eyes a silvery blue looked over at Eburones and she breathed deeply… there was a horn of its head… the creature was beautiful.

"Her names Selena!" Greece explained, pulling Eburones closer. "We named her after the Goddess of the Moon!"

"What… is she…?" Eburones questioned eyes wide.

"Well we found her roaming India, and well India called them unicorns and said that they're dangerous creatures, but they watch over and look after those who are pure and innocent!" Greece explained, and jumped around slightly only to grimace and stop. "It doesn't like me too much though!"

"She's beautiful…" Eburones whispered her eyes going wide as she held her hand out to the gorgeous creature. Selena stared at her for the longest of seconds before nuzzling her hand. "Thank you…" She heard the smaller girl cry out. "Thank you!"

Still-In-The-Flash-Back-Peeps!

"You're leaving…" Greece muttered, the girl who was once smaller than her now equal height, equal strength… equal EVERYTHING!

Eburones nodded and looked to the side, she wore her brothers green cloak, the normal amber broach that her brother used to pin it together in place, snug over her heart as though protecting her, behind her stood Selena and she shone as brightly as the moon that was in the sky. Her people had already started crossing the bridge.

"Germania… already gave me his blessings… no matter how forced they were…" She explained.

"But… why?" Greece muttered… why did Eburones see the need to leave? Why?

"I… have dreams…" Eburones starts, her eyes lighting up, matching the beauty of her stallion. "In the dreams… there's a man."

"A man?" Greece repeated hollowly.

"Well, not a man, a Nation. He's tall, he has hair like the burning sky through sunset, and eyes as green as the greenest of forests, his flesh is pale- paler than brother even!" She laughs lightly. "And he has the strangest eyebrows I've ever seen!"

"You're leaving… because of a man from your dream?"

"Not just the man…" She shakes her head lightly. "There's a boy, a child. He's the sweetest thing you'll ever see. He has hair as fair as mine, but is as messy as a bird nest; he has such pale skin that I'm afraid that the sun will burn him for simply looking at him; he was playing with Selena.

"And then he looked over at me. He has his green eyes… though they were far more vibrant! And he has that mans eyebrows; he smiles a heart wrenching smile and called for me… he called… me his Mother."

She looked over at Greece, her eyes strong; she realised there was nothing left she could do for Eburones… like she was sure Germania realised. So she did the one thing she could.

"If anything ever goes wrong, ANYTHING, come to me and I'll help! Even if it's something silly like your child's going through a rebellious stage… Ok?"

She offered her help.

And-I-Think-I'll-End-The-Flash-Backs-Now!

"You're Mother… she smiled at me and said I could name you… that that could the first thing I could help her with…" Greece grinned over at Albion even with the tears falling down her face.

"It's nice to finally meet you Albion."

And-Another-Skippy-Bit!

Cymru was exhausted by the time he got to Éire and his Mother's land. His land was almost completely taken over, but his people were still fighting back- they weren't going to give up even if the Roman Empire had taken over, they would rebel time and time again!

"Cymru…" He heard a sigh say his name and looked up to see Éire looking down at him, tears streaming down his face. "How the bloody hell did Albion put up with thousands invading his land, it hurts with you simply walking ashore."

"You grow used to it," Cymru smiled weakly up at him. Éire had grown taller like he had thought; the teen had grown to look only a few years older, but that was a feat for Nations as their selves. "The more that walk across your land, the easier it gets, it's the murders and deaths that don't get any easier."

"I can imagine," the teen sighed and started walking down the cliff. "But, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be helping your people?"

"I am! But I've come to give you a warning!" Cymru glared, taking offence in the mere suggestion that he wasn't trying to keep his people safe.

"If it's about names, save your breathe," Éire said standing in front of Cymru now. "I already know."

"Oh brilliant, what a wasted trip then…" Cymru shook his head, hoping to shake the dizziness that was slowly taking over.

"Cymru go back to your land." Éire looked off to the side. "I won't help anyone unless my land is in danger of attack."

"I wasn't asking for your help!" Cymru glared at his older brother, the teen not nearly as jolly or glowing as he was before.

Cymru walked off back to his boat, where the people who helped him travel over were already starting to pack for them to leave again… really what a wasted trip!

"My Ma killed herself…" He hears Éire's voice carry over to him; Cymru stops to look back at his crying brother. "Said she couldn't live without Celt… Said it was all Albion's fault…"

Cymru turned back, water splashing against his feet, he stood strong and as tall he could as his and Éire's eyes met- green on green.

"Do you believe that Éire?"

And from the way Éire turned away Cymru had his answer, and he turned his back on his oldest sibling. He was going to save Albion, his younger brother even if he had to do it all alone!

Wales-Is-Indeed-The-Nicest-Of-The-UK-Siblings-It's-A-Fact-We-All-Have-To-Accept…Not-Saying-He-Can't-Be-Scary-Because-He's-Probably-Secretly-The-Strongest-Of-Them-All!

It had been a month since Greece had told Albion her story. It had been a week since Rome came back to visit: cheerful about the progress of taking over his brother's land (which had earned the man to be kicked in the shin).

Albion had taken a liking to Greece, the woman had started taking him to the statue time and time again, telling him different stories, sometimes about his Mother and he'd eagerly devour the information she gave him, sometimes about her Gods and some of the outrageous things they had done over the years; sometimes she would show him the stars and they would find the pictures among them.

That night however Greece sent him away from her and Rome. Albion agreed, when he heard the desperate tone in her voice.

He left as dictated. But even from so far away he could still hear Greece's roar of disapproval; hear the strike of a hand against flesh… and then the fighting.

The next morning both entered the room, both bloodied, both bruised, both still standing strong even though Albion was sure both should've fallen to the ground already.

Rome approached Albion, the boy wanted to bolt, but one look of the Nations expression told him doing so, would result in him and Greece being hurt much more than what she and Rome were already feeling.

So when he felt the first plait fall to the ground as Rome cut his hair short, he bit his lip to stop any sounds escape as his tears fell silently down his face. The living were more important than dead… he kept telling his self. He, Greece and their people were more important that Boudicca… no matter how much it hurt…

And-A-Shortish-Chapter-Ends!

A/N: and another chapter is completed!

Historical notes of history!

-Well, Eburones is one of the provinces of Lesser Germania, the reason for Germania's sister being Albion's Mother? Simple! A lot of people consider England and Germany cousins (you know from the Anglo-Saxon invasion and such) so I thought why not make them literal cousins by making England's Mother and Germany's Dad (I see Germania as his parent) siblings. By the way I used one of Lesser Germania's provinces as her name, but she does present Lesser Germania it just sounded mean to call her that, so she got given that name while her brother was given the name Germania (this is a long point!)

-Another thing here, Lesser Germania actually wasn't just Germania's tribes there was also Celtic tribes and tribes from Gaul that had settled there… just feel like telling you, because that's my excuse for Eburones dreams about Papa Celt, some of her people are Celtic so of course they'd know Celt… (Shifty eyes)

-Unicorns beyond popular belief actually originated in India, and some Greek person said they saw one on a visit there and the story carried on and on, eventually ending over in England where it will eventually become Scotland's coat of arms, which in turn is added to the UK's coat of arms!

-Greece name Albion? Why yes, apparently the name Albion was coined from the Greeks for what is nowadays England, before Rome decided to invade the place, it fits nicely into the story doesn't it?

-Can you see the tension that's slowly building between the UK siblings? I hope so, because then I'm doing my job right (this is my job?)

-The statue mentioned at the beginning is indeed the statue of Zeus at Olympia (that wasn't too far from where St. Andrew was crucified, so you know Greece thought she'd take them there, because she feels as though 1- she can't lie in front of the statue and 2- it's much more calming for her to think properly). The statue will be mentioned again next chapter!

-Aw, I feel like I'm being so mean to you Albion… especially as you're my country AND my favourite character… am I sadistic or something? I blame history! Also… do you think I should change the story to M for the violence and not so nice suggestions, or have I got the right rating, because I haven't really gone into extreme details about the stuff?

Anyways as always thank you for your lovely reviews, I have a few more days at College then half term, so I should start updating more frequently again (assays were due in throughout the whole of this week, which is why there were no updates at all last week)!