Anonymous Review Replies:
the Krayon: It's so lovely to see you again! By the way, your artwork is absolutely stunning~ I'm really glad that you are reading this story! Thanks so much for following me to this little story and reviewing! I'm really happy that you like it.
Tea Cup: Ahh~ It's you again! Of course Prussia likes Hungary! Teehee~ *wallows in happy butterflies and rainbows* France's tension...oh that poor man, seeing his friend suddenly change like that, it must be somewhat unnerving. Thank you for the review!
Jodhaa Salik: No worries, your English is fine! I'm so glad that you like reading my story so far! Thanks a bunch for reading and reviewing! And ahh, I wish I could understand that last bit you wrote in your review...I'm guessing it's in Indian...?
"Look who it is!"
Hungary looked up at the sound of the familiar loud voice. She and her military men were crowded before the heavy guarded door of the Prussian military fort. She saw a gloved hand waving at her from the top of the impenetrable walls.
"If it isn't Little Miss Hungary, finally coming to see her old friend!" Prussia's voice fell from the top and rained down on Hungary. She swallowed down her pride and antagonism toward Prussia and forced on a cheery smile.
"Forget the melodrama and open the doors, Prussia!" Hungary bellowed. Prussia chuckled before pulling the doors open, allowing Hungary access to his military fort. The inside almost seemed larger than the outside world, bustling with order and warfare. Hungary was swallowed into the giant Prussian beast of combat.
Prussia ran down the stairs of the fortification towers, his face lit with excitement. He nearly tripped over the steps and Hungary couldn't help but smile in spite of herself. Why was he always boasting about being a fearless, ruthless man when he was such a child?
"Hungary! Hungary! Hungary!" Prussia laughed when he finally approached her. A wide grin made his thin face almost seem innocent. He stumbled just as he reached her, nearly falling onto all fours. It did not faze him one bit. "What took you so long?"
"I didn't come from anywhere close to this place; you know that!" Hungary said indignantly.
"That wasn't what I meant," Prussia said, shaking his head. "I meant, what took you so long to finally write to me, much less come and see me?"
"Do you really think I have all the time in the world?" Hungary said, forcing her voice to be less accusatory and more amicable. Just looking into his dark red eyes made her want to slit his heart. These were the same pair of eyes that laughed when they tore down Austria.
"True. You're always stuck serving Austria," Prussia lamented. But then his grin grew wider. "But not anymore. You're free, aren't you? You will be."
"Free?" Hungary repeated confusedly.
"Oh wait! You lot are probably tired, aren't you?" Prussia suddenly exclaimed to Hungary's men. "Here—I can take care of your horses. We've got extra barracks and I'm sure there's still food somewhere—"
Hungary watched in slight surprise as Prussia rushed around the military fort, arranging for her men to be taken care of. She had always imagined Prussia to have changed into a cold, snarling dictator, but here he was, acting as if he never actually grew up.
"Do you have enough room and supplies for that?" Hungary asked Prussia. "You already have so many men here."
"I'm fine. We're fine," Prussia said quickly. He nodded genuinely at Hungary. "I'm serious! A couple companies have been transferred to a different fort, so it's a lot emptier than it was before."
"Emptier…?" Hungary echoed, glancing around her. This place was far from deserted.
"Ja," Prussia said, tying the horses in the stall. "What about you, though? I haven't any specific place for girls, in all honesty. Maybe with the nurses."
"I'm fine," Hungary said quickly. Her eyes darted around outside the stalls. Where on earth could Austria be in this enormous military fort? It could take days just to look through everything.
"When was the last time we saw each other?" Prussia asked as they left the stall. He led her into his headquarters that spoke of many stories of being used for all nighters. The simple oak desk was completely covered with maps and papers blackened with Prussia's cramped handwriting. "I don't mean meeting and actually talking like normal people. The last time I even laid eyes on you was ages ago."
"You stopped visiting Austria's house," Hungary pointed out. Her eyes scoured the desk in search of anything useful. Unfortunately, her fluency in German was lacking and she couldn't tell if she was trying to read an important secret war plan or just a to-do list.
"You stopped wanting me to come," Prussia said, blinking confusedly at her. He beckoned for her to take a seat by the fireplace as he straightened out his desk.
"Why'd you think that?" Hungary asked carefully. In her defense, she had never told nor intended to tell Prussia that she didn't want to see him anymore. She just no longer cared whether or not he came.
"Wasn't it obvious?" Prussia said, frowning. "You weren't the same person you used to be."
"I'm still Hungary," Hungary said indignantly.
"Not the same Hungary," Prussia said bluntly. "Ever since Austria took you in, you grew out your hair and changed your style of clothes—heck, you even started to talk differently. It was like you had a complete personality change."
"So I dressed and talked differently. That doesn't completely define who I am," Hungary protested.
"That's only part of it," Prussia continued, rolling up the map on his desk. "It's like you completely forgot who you were before. When I tried talking to you about the times you were off in war, beating up Austria, hunting, riding horses like a nomad, you kept shushing me and denying that ever happened. As if you didn't even want to be that Hungary."
Hungary pursed her lips. It was true that whenever Prussia tried to strike up a conversation about the past when she was in Austria's house, she always quieted him down and pretended it never happened. Why would she want to remember? She was a proper lady now, one that Austria loved. That was the kind of girl she wanted to be, not the kind that could easily be mistaken as a boy by both looks and nature.
"I didn't want to anger Austria by mentioning it," Hungary suddenly heard her own voice saying. She frowned slightly at her own words. "Reminding him about the times I beat him up wouldn't bring fond memories, now would it?"
Prussia smiled wryly before gathering his papers into an orderly pile. His smile faded a little later as he reminisced. "It's just—it seemed like you were completely denying that I was your friend, you know? That we never had a past together."
I was, Hungary thought unrepentantly. She only nodded solemnly at Prussia, biting her tongue.
"But now you're here," Prussia said fervently. "You're here and mein Gott, how much things have changed!"
"The way you talk makes it sounds like we lived two completely separate lifetimes," Hungary pointed out amusedly. She appeared relaxed and collected, but inside she refused to let her guard down. She was here to free Austria, not prance down memory lane. "But we need to get to serious matters here, if you don't mind."
"Of course. Of course. I was going to say that," Prussia said hurriedly. He finally sat down behind his desk, still slightly mussed from the many papers and notes piled on top of it. "About the war. In your letter—" He slipped the old folded letter from his breast pocket and flattened it carefully on the wood. "—you said that you wanted to…form a passive pact with me?" He raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Yes," Hungary lied, gripping her knees tightly. Luckily for her, the desk blocked it from Prussia's view. "I can provide supplies and any aid for you."
Prussia cocked his head curiously at her. "In other words, an alliance? You want to beat up Austria with me?" His eyes brightened excitedly at the idea, and Hungary had to force down any urge to pounce on Prussia and throttle him right then and there.
"I can't provide soldiers, though," she said calmly. "I have to keep them around for internal affairs, but as for horses or food or whatever it is you are lacking—" A heart, perhaps? "—I can help."
"But you won't join the battlefield?" Prussia said good-naturedly. "Pity, I would have loved to see you fight."
You will sooner or later, mark my words, Hungary thought dangerously. She let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. "What is it with you and my tomboy side?"
"It's who you are," Prussia said genuinely. "The way you were when I first met you."
"Well, like any other female," Hungary said ironically, "I've become acquainted with femininity."
"I've noticed," Prussia said grudgingly. "Austria is the epitome of femininity." He eyed Hungary carefully. "Why don't you ever fight back?"
"What do you mean?" asked Hungary warily.
"You can't possibly tell me that you enjoy being under Austria's rule," Prussia exclaimed. "Your freedom was taken away! How can you stand that?"
Hungary hesitated. How was she supposed to answer that in a way so that she would not be suspected of plotting a trick? But that wasn't the only problem; she didn't know how to even answer that herself. It was true that her power over her own people was limited, but it wasn't absolutely horrid like how Prussia thought. She fell in love with Austria, and that was worth it.
"I have my people to think about," Hungary said tactfully. "It doesn't matter what choices I make; I need to do what will benefit my people the most."
Prussia leaned back in his chair skeptically. Hungary sat very still, wondering if Prussia could still read her thoughts through her eyes like before. For safe measures, she tore her eyes away from him, busying herself by lacing her boots.
There was a light knocking on the door. Prussia stood from his seat immediately and wrenched it open. A messenger stood by the doorway, silently handing Prussia a small letter. Prussia glanced perplexedly at it before his lips twitched into a humored smile.
"When did this come in?" he asked the messenger.
"Just now," the messenger murmured. Prussia beckoned the boy to leave before closing the door. He quickly ripped open the letter.
"What is it?" Hungary asked curiously as Prussia's face softened as he read the letter.
"Just a letter from my little brother back home," Prussia said, grinning, before folding the letter several times and placing it in the pocket inside his navy coat.
"Pardon me—little brother?" Hungary said, flabbergasted. When was Prussia ever responsible enough to take care of another person? "Is he a human?"
"No, he's one of us," Prussia said animatedly. "I don't know his name yet, and he actually doesn't know his either. I think he must be a new nation. I just call him West."
"Where did you find him…?" asked Hungary faintly.
"In the west, hence his name," Prussia said simply. "You should meet him someday! He's got so much potential—you'll like him for sure. I know you will."
Hungary couldn't help but crack a smile at Prussia's eagerness. When was the last time he was happy for any other reason besides hurting Austria?
"What did he write?" Hungary inquired.
"That he is safe and sound back home, and he's keeping up with his studies and training, and that he misses me," Prussia summarized. "Goodness…it's been too long since I've seen him, it seems. You know, fighting Austria and completely obliterating his ass is fun, but I want to go back home sometimes."
Hungary could only stare incredulously at Prussia. Who was this West that he could influence even Prussia to drop his shield and armor and be disillusioned from war, at least to an extent?
There was distant shouting outside of the headquarters. Prussia narrowed his eyes before gritting his teeth and pulling on his gloves. Hungary remained seated in her place, watching Prussia suspiciously. Surely he was going to do something to convince Hungary that it was all an act.
"I've got to deal with some issues concerning the war right now," Prussia said quickly, kicking open the door. "I'll be back." Without another word he disappeared through the door, the door slamming behind him.
Hungary wasted no time. She pushed herself out of her armchair and dashed for Prussia's desk. She spread the many papers across the table, trying to decipher which could be useful for the Austrian war effort. She only knew very basic German, so the documents were a mystery to her, only providing paltry clues that still didn't make sense even if she could read them.
She groaned and unfurled the map that Prussia had put back earlier. The map of Europe was completely inked with old battle tactics and snippets of German sentences that still did not make sense. Hungary was at a loss of ideas on what to do, so she hastily scrawled a sketch of the European map on the back of scrap paper with a stubby pen, trying to catch the main idea of the battle plans on paper. She had no idea whether they were already used or plans for the future, but she clumsily drew it anyway.
As soon as she awkwardly rolled the map back up and stowed it away in its usual corner, she attacked the desk again. She waved the paper with the map in the air, urging it to dry more quickly as she dug through the papers. Would Prussia notice if one of them was missing? No doubt he would.
In an act of desperation, she could only scrawl random sentences on the same paper. She couldn't understand them, but whatever they said could be extremely important. She wasn't going to lose any chances.
She wrenched the desk drawers open in search for any sort of key. Supposing that Austria was kept in the same military fort as they were in right now, no doubt that he was trapped in a dungeon that needed a key. She peeked inside and groaned with disappointment. All that was inside were many sheathed daggers. She fingered her own blade kept discreetly in her boot before slamming that drawer shut and attacking another. The next one was filled with many letters addressed to Prussia, sent by the same person: West.
Hungary heard distant voices approaching the room steadily. She gasped before kicking the drawer closed and hastily returning to her chair. She patted her pocket protectively, the pocket that held the notes she had written. She swore to herself that she would cure her German illiteracy sooner than later.
"—a whole company of them," she heard Prussia say to someone else. "We can't get to them, so they can only come to us. We're the fort with the most supplies after all."
The door swung open and Prussia returned. He muttered his goodbyes to one of his officers before sliding back into his headquarters and shutting the door. He turned toward Hungary, who was sitting primly at her chair like an obedient porcelain doll.
"You couldn't have been sitting here the whole time, have you?" Prussia asked doubtfully. As he walked back to his desk, Hungary heard a slight clink of metal. She spotted a small rink of keys around Prussia's belt. Of course.
Hungary glanced up at Prussia with wide, confused green eyes. "What else is there to do?"
Prussia furrowed his eyebrows before sighing and shaking his head.
"Damn," he muttered. "Austria really broke you, didn't he?"
Hungary kept her calm composure, but inside she bristled with indignation.
Austria can't break me!
But she kept her vexation barred behind her teeth.
Germany wasn't exactly the country Germany until after the Franco-Prussian war, which occurred in the eighteen hundreds whereas this story is during the seventeen hundreds. However, I sort of made it so that while Prussia adopted West a lot earlier than the country was actually formed, and when the German nations were unified after the Prussian victory of the Franco-Prussian war, he bestowed the title of the new country to West.
Sort of funny how when Prussia is with Austria, he is like the Devil incarnate, while when he is with Hungary...
For all of you who know me from other stories...I'm learning how to play 'Hello Hurricane' on the guitar~ C: