A/N: hey people!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Prussia was tapping his fingers on the table as he glared at the people sitting across from it.

"Why the hell?" he hissed. "Did you decide to visit me?"

Austria smiled slightly and said "I simply wished to visit my little brother. Is that so hard to believe?"

Prussia snorted. "Fuck you and your bullshit. What's your real reason?"

Hungary rolled her eyes. "You have no manners Gilbert. As always."

Gritting his teeth Prussia spat out "The moment manners helps me on the battlefield I'll look into learning them. Now why the hell are you actually here?"

Austria smiled. "A little bird told us that there is a new nation living in this house. We simply wished to see the young child."

"There is no new nation." Prussia lied. "Your little birdy must have gotten confused. If you're looking for new nations go to Spain or one of the others. I heard they are getting more and more colonies."

Hungary smiled as she leaned forward. "You've always been a good liar Prussia however I've known you since we were children."

"You mean since you thought you were a guy and your dick would grow in?" Prussia sneered.

"The point remains." Hungary continued ignoring Prussia's sentence. "That I know you better than anyone else. And I especially know when you are lying." She leaned back into her chair and after sipping from her cup she glanced around the room.

"The point remains." Austria said. "That there is a new nation and you insist on hiding him. What is wrong little brother? Are you afraid that we will steal him away from you?"

Prussia tilted his head back and laughed. "Please. As if you had anything to offer a new nation."

Before Austria could retort Hungary interrupted and said "Austria? Where is Feliciano?"

A quick glance around the room showed that the personification of North Italy that Austria and Hungary had brought with them was no longer in the room.

"He must be exploring around the castle." Austria said. "We'll get him before we leave."

Ludwig was sitting at the base of a tree in the gardens with one of his dogs lying on its side on his leg. He absentmindly petted it as he stared at the cloudless sky.

"What in the world am I going to do?" he whispered.

He heard the sounds of footsteps to his side and held back a sigh. Most likely it was one of the servants who would bug him to return to the castle and his studies.

He turned his head towards the footsteps and started slightly at the person who had stopped in front of him.

It was a boy, not yet a teenager however no longer a child, with brown eyes and red brown hair with a single strand curled to the side. He had clasped his hands behind him as he stared down at Ludwig.

"Hello." Ludwig said politely. "Is there some way I can help you?"

Without saying a word that boy came to his side, fell to his knees, and immediately embraced Ludwig tightly.

Ludwig sputtered slightly as he tried to pull away. "Sir! Please don't do that!"

When the boy pulled away Ludwig saw a small gathering of tears in his eyes. He brought a hand to his eyes and wiped them away.

"I'm sorry." he said with an Italian accent. "You just…look like someone I knew."

"Oh." Ludwig said, not knowing what else to add. "Who are you?"

The boy smiled lightly as he sat beside Ludwig and said "My human name is Feliciano and I am the personification of Northern Italy. Your highness." he added the last part almost as an afterthought.

"A personification? Like Gilbert?" Ludwig asked.

Feliciano hesitated for a moment before nodding his head. "Like him. However he is a bit stronger than I am at the moment. Right now my country is under the control of another. But my brother and I will be independent one day. I guarantee it."

A moment passed in silence.

"You said you are Italy." Ludwig said. "I have read a few books about your country. It is very beautiful."

Feliciano smiles brightly. "Thank you. Can I ask you a personal question?"

Ludwig hesitated before nodding.

Feliciano reached out and gently touched the small crown on Ludwig's head. "You wear the crown and the clothes of royalty. Everything that you wear right now shows that you are a prince. The one who is the heir and will inherit the throne one day."

Ludwig nodded wondering where Feliciano was going.

Feliciano leaned in. "So why is it that I can hear you soul saying that you aren't human? That you're like me?"

Ludwig felt the blood drain from his body. "You…you can tell?"

Feliciano tilted his head to the side. "It's not easy to tell, I can because I know how to and where to look for certain things."

"And how do you know these things?" Ludwig asked.

Feliciano grinned. "My grandfather Rome taught me and my brother a lot of neat tricks."

"Rome being?"

"The Roman Empire."

The two boys stared at one another in silence.

"You're joking right?" Ludwig asked. "The Roman Empire taught you? The Roman Empire fell hundreds of years ago and you look just a bit older than me."

Feliciano continued to smile. "I'm a lot older than I look. I've been around since before grandpa Rome had fallen."

Ludwig swallowed the lump in his throat. "Alright. You can tell that I am a personification. What else can you tell about me?"

Feliciano tilted his head to the side. "It's a bit difficult to understand you. Your connection to your land is getting stronger but at the same time it's getting weaker." Feliciano's eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't want to be one, do you?"

Ludwig shook his head. "I was born to be a prince and heir to the throne. Not to become a personification of land I don't even know which."

"So you were born naturally." Feliciano said. "From a man and a woman. That's interesting. Not many personifications are born like that."

"I feel special." Ludwig said dryly.

Feliciano laughed slightly before he placed his hand over Ludwig's, much to the blonde haired boy blushing embarrassment.

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Feliciano suggested.

Frederick didn't look up from the map as he heard the door open.

"I was wondering what you were doing." Prussia said coming to his king's side. He glanced at the map. "What are you doing anyway?"

"Trying to figure out which lands belong to Ludwig." Frederick said.

"You think that will do you any good?" Prussia asked.

Frederick didn't answer as he continued to scan the paper occasionally making marks in certain areas.

"Frederick." Prussia said quietly. "Maybe it's best that you don't know."

"I wish to know." Frederick said curtly.

"And what will you do when you know?" Prussia asked.

Frederick didn't answer.

"Look the fact remains." Prussia said. "You can't do anything if you know or not. It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me." Frederick said. "Prussia. He is my son."

"Is he?" Prussia asked gently.

Frederick whirled towards Prussia. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"I mean, that he is no longer human. Becoming less and less of one each day." Prussia said. "You need to face the facts. Ludwig…he is no longer your son."

"So that's why you don't want to accept this." Feliciano said. "You want to remain a human so you can continue to be the king's son."

Ludwig didn't look up from his lap as he nodded. "We just started to talk, for the first time in years. And now something like this arrives and throws everything good into chaos. Not to mention the fact that I am going to die if I do not go to the capital of my land and 'make the connection' and when you include the fact that I have no idea who I am let alone know where my capital is I do not have a fair chance of seeing the next year."

Feliciano bit his lip. "While I can't help you with your father, the capital thing I can help you with."

Ludwig glanced at him. "How?"

Feliciano placed his hands over his own chest and closed his eyes. "Even if we are miles away. Even if we are nearly dead. Even if, such as yourself, we are unnamed. Our capital is merely the land that resides as our hearts. It is the land that draws us when we are in pain and we need it be reborn once more."

He opened his eyes and stared at Ludwig. "No matter what our capital is, the heart remains in the land. As long as these bodies of ours walk the earth that heart will continue to beat its soothing and wonderful rhythm."

"Then what do I do?" Ludwig asked.

Feliciano stood and tugged Ludwig to his feet. "There are a lot of great things to being a personification your highness. One of which is that we are forever tied to the land that makes our heart and should something happen we are always able to return to it within moments."

He leaned close to Ludwig's face. "I want you to close your eyes and listen to your heartbeat. Not the heart in your chest but the one you can feel within the land. Within the people and their beliefs. Within your own soul. Reach for it with your mind and surrender yourself to that longing that you have, and I know you have it deep inside of you, to be completely connected with it."

Ludwig closed his eyes. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could hear the steady beating of a rapidly stronger heart. As time passed it continued to beat harder and faster.

He took a deep breath and reached for it.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.

Questions? Comments? Leave them in a review.

Until next time.

This is Phoenix-Fire Power over and out.