A/N: For the two 'typed' paragraphs later, picture the narrator voice. Just do it. It makes it endlessly more accurate.

Switzerland—a History (Part 1): Chapter 1; The Birth of Helvetia

"Big bruder, what's this book?"

Switzerland looked up, sliding the cleaning rod and cloth out of the barrel of his rifle. "Hm?"

Liechtenstein stood before him, holding a thick, leather-bound book. "I found it in the attic when I was cleaning," she coughed a bit of dust, accidentally annunciating the point, "and I was curious what it was."

The bereted man frowned, laying the gun along the side of the chair, pointing safely away from people, and reached for the book, taking it and placing it in his lap. "I… hm. Let me see…"

His calloused fingers gently caressed the front of the book, feeling the old leather bend and warp under his touch. He flipped the first page of the book open, and found an ornate picture of a pike, adorned with the standard of Bern, on a background of the Alps. He tilted his head, and closed his eyes and sighed, finally recognizing the book. "It's just an old history book, Lili…"

"Whose?"

He was silent for a moment, before stroking the top of the book reminiscently, and muttering, "Mine."

Lili immediately pulled over a small chair and sat. "Can you read it to me?"

"Shouldn't you know my history by now?"

"Ja… but I opened it, and it looked like a story book. Like the ones you used to read me when I was sick."

Switzerland scratched his head, opening the book to its first introductory page, which appeared much newer than the page behind it—it was typed. It only contained two paragraphs, and from there the story appeared hand-written and old, with an almost Roman letter-style. He took a deep breath, and commenced reading.

Before there was ever such thing as a gun, a beret, or even a pike, people had been living on where Switzerland is now. But we don't really care about them. They were old, smelly Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons who built little towns and villages in the marshes, put up on little posts in case of floods. They weren't at all interesting. No, not even up to the Bronze Age were these people interesting. Not a single one. The only advancements they made were the creation of tools, weapons, jewelry, hierarchical society, and the wheel. Nothing interesting. Things became interesting between 200 and 100 B.C., when a kind little girl named Helvetia was born.

She was born in a very big house with lots of brothers and sisters. In their big house, they all were called the Celts. She owned a little part of what we all now call Switzerland, on the Central Plateau. When she was little, her brothers and sisters and her played all sorts of games and learned all sorts of things…

The little blond girl looked up at the boy beside her, her fingers curled around his hand, and her eyes opened up at him with big sparkling forest green. "Rauracii?"

"Yes, Helvetia?"

She pulled her hair out of her face, tucking it behind the flower by her ear. She then let her hand slide along her small, childish side and down to her hip, feeling the rough, coarse brown dress and the belt with a leather sheath for her little sword. "How do we make swords?"

Her somewhat taller brother pressed his lips into a bit of a thinking face. "We smelt and smith iron until it's sharp."

She turned her round, childish head up to him. "How do we smelt iron?"

He ran his small hand through his brown hair, his emerald eyes flashing towards a flower along the forest trail they walked on briefly. "We heat it up until we can change it."

She was quiet for a moment, contemplating this, and then put her palm on the pommel of her miniature weapon. "Where do we get the iron?"

Rauracii smiled and shook his head. "We have to get it from the ground."

The girl let go of her brother's hand, putting a hand on her head, following the flow of her hair until her fingers found the long strands that went down to her shoulder blades. She then bent down, and lifted up a rock. "Can we make another sword now?"

Rauracii laughed, and tussled her hair. "Come on, let's go home, Helvetia. Let me teach you some pottery."

~! #$%^&*()_+_()*&^%$# !~

Helvetia sat up in bed in a cold sweat. She looked around her room, her eyes falling on the old, misshapen pots and bowls she made all those years ago. She swung her feet off of her straw-covered wooden frame, staring at the wall silently for a moment. She stood, and walked to her doorway, poking her head out and wandering down the hallway, her arms crossed over her bare chest. She turned into her bathing room, built on a natural spring, and slipped her long, thick undergarment off and slid herself down into the spring, sighing in relief at the warmth around her body. She dipped herself down into the water, and brought herself back up, her hair splashing out solidly. She did a slow twirl in the water, and swam over to the other edge of the spring. She leaned against it, her chest pressed gently against the cold stone, and her arms laid on the bank, as well as her chin on her arms. Her mind crawled through the slow years, missing the guiding hand of her siblings, each having gone their own way, as well as missing the horseback riding, sparring, spear-throwing, pottery, and childish games they had all participated in together. She closed her eyes briefly, letting the warmth of the water seep into her body and comfort her.

Shortly, she climbed out, walking by her undergarment as she went back out. She could grab it later. She was entirely shameless, largely for the reason that she was anything but shapeless. She curved nicely after her development, though she was still young. Her bones were large and her arms, stomach, and legs thick to say the least, but with bone and muscle, not with fat, and she was not unattractive. She wandered out of her wooden house onto a long board above the marsh, and that was her path. She followed it, covering her nudity silently until she sat on a smoothened rock on a lakefront, leaning back and gazing up at the starry sky. She sat and thought back to when she lived in the big house with all of her brothers and sisters, having long since dispersed. She curled her finger through her wet hair, and then let it drop back down upon her skin. Her hand ran down her side, and rested lightly on her hip. She sighed, and her eyes wandered down to the water before her. Those forest green eyes of hers skimmed lightly over the water, following the traceable sparkling of each individual star. She smiled to herself. At least she wasn't totally alone.

Meanwhile, two men sat face to face across a mat in a large wooden house. One of them was a battle-hardened Helvetian chief, the other a young-looking Germanic northerner, with flashing blue eyes and ear-length blond hair, a sharp nose, naturally smug lips, and a lanky, though muscular, build. "What would Helvetia get from this 'migration'?"

"Freedom. Space. A powerful Germanic ally, namely me."

The chief crossed his arms. "And why should we trust this 'powerful Germanic ally'? Never before has any Germanic people offered us a hand in friendship. We are Celts. If it is for the purpose of conquest of our lands, you will find that we are not as easily conquered as the gender of Helvetia would suggest."

"I mean you and your people no harm. Just a travelling partner."

"Can you promise protection from that upstart… oh, what was his name… Rome?"

"Oh, indeed. Though, he is no longer an upstart, I am afraid."

"Hmph. Helvetia is older and more seasoned."

"Perhaps… but he is cunning. Smart and strong."

"So is Helvetia," He paused for a moment, and spoke again, "Regardless, you have convinced me. Convincing Helvetia… that will be a more difficult venture."

"One I am willing to undertake. Take me to her."

Helvetia spun at the sound of footsteps behind her, lifting a large stone in one hand, and preparing to bring it down. Her wrist was caught by a slender hand, its rough yet gentle fingers wrapping around to prevent her escape. Her deep green eyes were suddenly gazing straight into stormy ocean blue ones with as much energy as the object their color suggested. She blinked, taken aback for a moment, then wrenched her hand away. He drew his blond hair back from his eyes, and turned his head back. "You were right, she is incredibly strong."

One of her four chiefs, Divico, one of the only ordinary humans who knew of her existence, stepped out from behind the man. "I apologize, Helvetia… he insisted."

"Who is 'he'?"

"Allow me. My name is Cimbri. I am a friend… so, it would be… well-taken if you were to remove the blade from between my legs."

She blushed slightly, and lowered her other hand, saving the Germanic young man's jewels and placing the thin knife back into her hair to keep it out of her face. "So, what do you want?"

She put her hands on her hips, not really caring that she was completely exposed to this newcomer. His eyes slid down her, then back up to her face quickly. "Ah, yes. Please, sit. It will take a bit of explaining."

Switzerland shut the book, placing it on the small ornate table beside the chair. "That's enough for now. It's time for dinner."

"Oh, but big bruder, you hardly read any at all!"

Switzerland looked at her with a straight face. "We will continue after dinner, then."

Lili sighed, placing her hands in her lap. "Alright."

Vash stood first, and offered his hand to his younger sister, who took it, and they walked towards the dining room. Lili giggled on their way, "Cimbri reminds me of Prussia, though."

Vash stopped for a moment, blinked, and then walked to the table, pulling out a chair for Liechtenstein, and then went to the kitchen to retrieve the food. "You… may find out why."

He actually smirked a little as he dished the food onto the plates, but made sure that his face was back to normal as he put her plate in front of her, and the one for himself. He poured them both a small glass of a smooth white wine, of course made very close by, and they said a quick grace before eating.

"Big bruder? I'm just curious," The girl took a sip of the second glass beside the wine—water of course—at the look that her brother had given her for speaking without doing so, before speaking again, "What does Helvetia have to do with your history… specifically?"

The older boy across the small table blushed slightly, and sipped his water. "You'll find out in a few chapters."

Okay, that was the very beginning. This will probably turn into a multi-chapter little thing... and then probably have sequels... etcetera... I APOLOGIZE SO MUCH FOR NOT UPLOADING IN LIKE A MILLION YEARS. OTL. GOMEN NASAI. PARDON. I was busy across the Atlantic ocean in 7 other countries! (Not at once.) But now I'm back and ready to upload some brand new stuff! (Hopefully finish some old stuff too.) Toodles~.