Downfall
The Roman Empire was considered the most powerful Nation in Europe of the day, but he suddenly declined. It was no quick death, but a slow and painful exit from power he once held. Rebellions from the Germanics, his governors declaring independence… yet it was from an old friend called Germania who had ended his painful fall.
China, tossed in the turmoil of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, was the single superpower of the Orient. Far away from barbaric Europe, even he felt something odd as he looked at the nightly sky with a court astrologer.
"Astrologer, what is this strange phenomenon Heaven is telling us?" China asked.
"Milord, it would seem that a star has exploded, meaning the death of a king," the astrologer deduced.
"Does it bode ill to us?" China asked.
"No no, that star is fairly distant, so it must be attributing the act to be that of a foreign king," the astrologer said, "there is no need to fret, my lord."
"A foreign king… could it be that barbarian from the West who likes my silk…" China mused, "What was his name… Rome?"
The fallen king was indeed Rome, and slain under Germania's cold steel blade. To the victor goes the spoils, and he found them in Rome's grandson…young Feliciano.
Germania could only stare at the young Nation, the biological heir to Rome and his empire. Looking close, he saw similarities in their relaxed character. However, he seemed completely oblivious to the threat that was Germania and his cold stare.
"Hello, remember me?" Germania spoke.
"Yes, you're Uncle Germania," Feliciano said, "but… where is Grandpa Rome?"
"Rome… he… he's gone," Germania replied.
"Uh… when will he be back?" Feliciano asked.
"Nein, Rome is never coming back," Germania said, "he's most likely partying with the gods he had denied."
"But Grandpa Rome told me that we are not like the People," Feliciano said, "we are Nations, and don't suffer the same deaths as the People would."
"Even after burning down Carthage, Rome still doesn't understand the mortality of us Nations," Germania remarked, "Feliciano, it is dangerous out there. You will be living with me from now on."
"But…" Feliciano said, "what about my brother…"
"He's not of my concern," Germania said, "I only wanted the rich plains of the North."
Germania reached out to take the young Italian, and did so without any resistance on part of the Italian.
"The child is too innocent… either that or too trusting," Germania thought, "I could've killed him, but… I made a promise…"
"Germania… if you take my life… at least fulfil the final request so as I may be in peace…" Rome pleaded, "Protect Feliciano and Lovino. Keep them safe. Swear upon your heathen god that you will protect them!"
"I hated that guy, and yet I so faithfully follow his orders… to his grave, I still obeyed them…" Germania thought.
As the Roman Empire collapsed, some of the remnants quickly took action to salvage what was left. An example would be the creation of the Eastern Roman Empire based in Byzantium, who would be called the Second Rome.
Aegyptus was no stranger to Graecia, two friends who knew each other throughout the ages. Alexander's conquest of Egypt was their first meeting, and the two grew with knowing each other's cultures. Later would they be united under Roman rule, and they met again in the city of Rome.
Besides the two, the young Heracles and Gupta were playing with each other as their mothers talked business.
"Graecia, what have you called me for?" Aegyptus asked.
"You had heard the news, I believe," Graecia said, "Rome is dead, and for good."
"Who murdered him?" Aegyptus asked.
"Germania," Graecia said calmly, "things will be chaotic in the Empire with the barbarians running amok, so I will be leaving with Heracles to Constantinople first thing tomorrow."
"And you called me out here for…" Aegyptus wondered.
"We are practically sisters, so I thought that I should let you and little Gupta join us," Graecia said, "our boys love each other's company too."
"So you are annexing us," Aegyptus remarked, "and what of Rome's grandkids, his actual heirs."
"If I can, I wanted to bring them along, but I think my forces only have a volatile foothold over Sicily so far."
"So you are planning to capture Lovino," Aegyptus spoke, "the child is not profitable, and he does not respect his elders."
"I can always use him as a springboard to conquer Feliciano," Graecia said, "and in the future, call me Byzantine or Eastern Roman. That will be my name henceforth."
Meanwhile, the nomadic tribes who once plagued the Roman Empire took ample opportunity and ravaged to loot what was left of the Roman Empire. Among these Nations were Huns, who terrorised Rome.
In a Roman town burning to the ground, the Huns began to raid anything they found to be of value. Leading the raiders, it was the very embodiment of the Huns… simply called as Magyar. Trailing behind him, it was a young Daniel, who would later be known as Elizaveta… the Republic of Hungary.
"Magyar, that was a good raid," Daniel exclaimed, "We really massacred those Romans!"
"You get too excited, little one," Magyar coldly replied.
The Hungarian ancestor walked up to a sealed chest and pried it open with his spear. The chest forced open and revealed the gold and treasures within. Some of the Hun soldiers began to snatch pieces from the chest.
"Take them as you please, they are our effort in this fight," Magyar proclaimed, "and little one, the Fall of Rome serves as a great lesson to be learnt."
"What lesson?" Daniel asked.
"We must not suffer the curse of power, and know what could very well end us," Magyar spoke.
As he explained, Magyar took a stick from the ground and began drawing on it. He began with a stick figure of a man, followed by that of another man. He continued to draw out a banner behind the two figures.
"Magyar… I don't really understand…" Daniel pointed out.
"I didn't explain yet, now soon I shall," Magyar said, drawing out a sword held by the second man and pointing at the first man, "now what do you see?"
"The second man is attacking the first man," Daniel said.
"Those two are close allies of each other, and this action is called backstabbing," Magyar explained, "backstabbing refers to an act of betrayal to your allies."
"But won't that be dishonourable?" Daniel asked.
"In a battle, anything is honourable. All that matters is victory," Magyar elaborated, "and allies no matter what are still allied, which means they can switch over to a new ally as they please."
"Magyar, you taught me so much," Daniel said, "I won't fall for this trick!"
Elsewhere in the British Isles, the Nation of Britannia walked up to Hadrian's Wall. It was there where Rome had contained her other children. Following behind her, it was young Arthur, who would be known as England at a future time.
"Mummy, where are we going again?" Arthur asked.
"Arthur, I told you that we will be seeing your brothers," Britannia said, "it had been long since we last met them."
Suddenly, a stone flew past and hit Arthur's face. Standing on top of the wall, it was young Scotland and the young Ireland brothers laughing at Arthur.
"What did you bastards do that for?" Arthur exclaimed.
"Artie, unlike you who was pampered by Rome and Mum, I met these two guys and establish a Nation together," Scotland proclaimed, "We even named it Dal Riata."
"In short, you are lower than us as you are no Nation yet," South Ireland mocked him.
"Glad to see you living it out all these years and still strong," Britannia said, "Uallas, I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you, Mum," Scotland said, "Since Rome had died, you two have to hold out as well. Artie, you can work for us in my house."
"Shut up!" Arthur declared, "I will be the greatest empire known to the world, and all of you and Wales will bow down to me!"
"Ha ha, you amuse us, my brother," Scotland laughed.
In the icy fields of the North, three young Nations sat by a fire. Young Matthias, Berwald and Olaf (Denmark, Sweden and Norway respectively) were resting by the fire with their mother-figure called Sámi. Soon, the Nation of Scandia returned to his "family".
"Oi, Vatti is back!" Matthias exclaimed, tapping on his friends.
"Welcum' Vater…" Berwald responded.
"Matt, you seem as energetic as ever," Scandia said.
"So Vatti, you got any stories of your sagas to share with us," Matthias asked.
"A story eh… it may noy be my tale, but it's worth learning," Scandia spoke.
Scandia quickly cleared his throat and spoke his story.
"Once upon a time, there was a kingdom rich and powerful. They were at its prime of civilisation, but its people grew complacent and arrogant with this. It was from the gods who granted them their power, and yet the rulers of the kingdom soon rejected the gods and burnt the temples…"
"They're fools, aren't they afraid of divine judgment!" Matthias exclaimed.
"Shut up, and let Vater finish his story," Olaf said.
"… But the priests were loyal to the gods and begged for aid. The gods of course granted it, with the king of gods impregnating the virgin daughter of the highest and most loyal of priests. However, the evil king soon knew and ordered the priests' deaths…"
"Won't that be for naught?" Matthias asked.
"Vater… conti'nu'…" Berwald spoke.
"… But the priests were smart people; they sent the daughter away the night before and replaced her with another pregnant lady willing to offer for the gods. The hero was then allowed to be birthed and grow up, all to fulfil his destiny…"
"Scandia, can you move on to the point of the story?" Sámi said.
"Arg… the hero grows up and a fine warrior he turned out, even becoming a bodyguard of the vile king and his children. One day… he received word from a winged servant of the gods to murder the evil rulers."
"Win'd serv'ts…" Berwald wondered, "…arn't ye talk'in 'bout Ch'isti'n 'ngels?"
"Yes yes, now what was I? Oh yes, the king and his family had grown old and very complacent too, thinking they were god-like and unbeatable. The hero took the chance and massacred the entire palace that same night. The thunders roar and seas swallow the kingdom, cheering for the victory they received and taking back what was theirs. The End!"
"Vater, that was no happy ending," Olaf remarked.
"What are you talking about, Olaf!" Matthias exclaimed, "That was a great story; now tell us about the Kraken!"
"A tale I spun up from Rome's demise… Germania, why did you do this?" Scandia thought upon.
In the Near East, the young Nation of Armenia went out over to the Persian Empire and spoke to the then superpower. Persia towered Armenia as he sat on his throne, and glared down at the meek Armenian girl.
"To what pleasure do I, the Persian Empire, owe this meeting to?" Persia asked.
"Persia, you would like to know that the Roman Empire has fallen… and for good," Armenia said.
"That so…" Persia said.
"I wish to seek an alliance with you," Armenia said.
"You little fox," Persia said, "You should've joined me years ago."
On the European Mainland, Gaul was speaking with the chieftains of the Franks. The young Francis, who would succeed her as France, only saw a glance at the strange men as they left Gaul to her own devices.
"Maman, who were those people just now?" asked Francis.
"They are the Franks," Gaul explained, "but more importantly, now is the best time to free us from vile Roman rule."
"You mean like that time with the Gallic Empire," Francis said.
"No no, this time will not have Rome and we will be a Nation at last," Gaul said.
Suddenly, Gaul knelt down and groaned in pain.
"I can feel my time is up soon…" Gaul noted.
She turned and saw Francis holding her up.
"Mamam, are you okay?" asked Francis.
"Oui," she replied, "and Francis, listen to the Franks. They will be your boss in due time."
Germania knew that Nations would die out the moment Carthage fell to Rome, and took his precautions since. The Germanic ancestor gave birth to dozens of offspring, and trained each of them in warfare. Some of them even grew to become tribes of their own, reducing the stress Germania suffered from the scuffles between the Germanic tribes.
Germania had left Feliciano to his devices for the time being, and went to survey his offspring alone. Saxony was training his swordplay while in the Teutoberg Forest, the site where he fought Rome and won… where Fate began to abandon Rome to his death.
"Well done, Saxony," Germania applauded, "you had trained well."
"Thank you Vater, I really wish to conquer the lands beyond," Saxony said, "maybe starting with Britannia. Sorry, if I have to hurt your sister."
"I see, may Gott be with you," Germania replied, "and Britannia should be able hold you off if she's still strong as before. But being under Rome weakened her; she does not deserve to live out longer than she should."
The forest leaves rustled again, and another Germanic offspring walked out. He wore a black cloak over him and a hat, looking at his progenitor with equally cold blue eyes.
"German Nation, my keepsake…" Germania spoke, "look at your bruders as they made plans for conquest. Have you?"
"Vater, I wish to acquire a new name for myself," the German Nation said, "I wanted to be as grand as Rome… so I want to be the Holy Roman Empire."
"Naming yourself after that Roman bastard!" Germania thought, "But… it could do good for him…"
"Vater, so he is now the Holy Roman Empire…" Saxony asked.
"That so, it is good to dream of being as grand as Rome," Germania said, "however, you must be wise and learn from his fate under my blade."
"Worry not Vater, I will be the new Roman Empire, one grander than him!" Holy Roman Empire proclaimed, "I shall be das Reich!"
Rome's demise struck a chord in international politics then and the other Nations made plans to their futures in the brave world.
Original Characters Info
Magyar/Hun: Ancestor of Hungary. He belongs to a nomadic tribe in Central Asia, who travelled to Europe and terrorised the Roman Empire. This earned them the name of Hun from the Romans. He was said to have vanished with the disintegration of the Hunnic Empire upon Attila's death.
Britannia: Mother of England, Scotland, and Wales. Sister of Germania. She was once an independent Nation before being conquered by Rome. Like her children, she possesses knowledge on the arcane and taught her children about it. She would perish during the Saxons' invasion of Britannia.
Graecia/Byzantium: Mother of Greece. She used to be fought over by the city-states, namely Athens and Sparta. Eventually, she would be absorbed by Rome and married to him. Their cultures would fuse with each other to some extent, and she continued his legacy by naming herself the "Eastern Roman Empire" or the Byzantine Empire. She died finally with the Fall of Byzantium.
Gaul/Francia: Mother of France. She was once a barbarian warrior practising druidic arts, which she taught to Britannia. She was conquered by Rome and forced to give up her faith. However, she would form the Gallic Empire to rebel against Rome. After his death, Gaul made plans to become the Frankish Realm. She died with the break-up of the Frankish Realm after Charlemagne's death.
Aegyptus: Mother of Egypt. She was one of the earliest civilisations around, but declined after being conquered by Graecia and subsequently by Rome. After the Fall of Rome, she cohabited with Byzantium before perishing in the Muslim conquest of Egypt.
Scandia: Foster father to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Brother of Germania. He is known to Rome as an island north of Britannia, but that was only a story made up by him. Scandia was infamous for making up stories, some were facts but mostly made fictional. When his charges were baptised into Christianity, Scandia left and became a bodyguard for the Kievan Rus. He would die during the Mongol conquests in the Rus.
Sámi: Helps Scandia to take care of the Nordics. However, she was not motivated to be a true Nation of her own, which saved her from destruction. She lives till modern times, being the Sámi community in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Persian Empire: Grandfather of Iran. One of the oldest civilisations and a conqueror, he managed to create the Persian Empire with his bosses' help. His top enemies included Athens, Graecia and Rome. He died when the Muslims conquered and converted Persia.