Chapter 12

Ken voimansa sen turvaks' tuo?
Who brings his power to its protection?

Finland had trouble holding in his excitement; it had been ages since he had been out of the country. Not that he didn't love his lands and people, but sometimes even Nations needed a change of scenery to keep things from becoming dull, and to avoid turning complacent in the matters of their state. Of course the only reason he was along at all was because Napoleon had finally abdicated and now all the Nations and their leaders were gathering in Vienna – for the first time ever – to agree on the aftereffects of the wars. Such things had never been done before. He had no trouble recalling the times when it was extremely rare for more than five Nations to meet at the same time and now most of Europe was coming together to talk.

It was unprecedented, it was exciting beyond measure.

Even vassal-states like him were invited along, but not to talk, no. Things hadn't changed that much and Finland wouldn't have known what to say anyway. But as the changes that were being discussed directly affected them, the Great Powers had figured it would be at least courteous to have them along for the talks. For Finland it was merely a formality at this point, after five years as a part of Russia's household.

Besides that, it would be his first time in Vienna. He had seen many cities all around Europe during his time but never Austria's heart, no matter how hard he and Sweden tried to capture it during the Thirty Years' War. But in the end they hadn't even got the proper chance to try, the Northern States having been too restless at the time and the two of them becoming a bit drunk off of their power. The rush had been unbelievable and made Finland kind of understand what the appeal of Empire status was.

One thing about the trip that did worry him was that he would be out of contact with his government and officials, who were still working on how to make things better. He was also forced to leave Ehrenström to his own devices with his German architect, the two of them under Uusimaa's at times lax supervision. While the Province's plans and the ferocious gleam in her eyes did worry him a bit, he remained hopeful that Helsinki, his new and shy heart still waiting to grow, would truly become the pearl of the Baltic Sea.

As long as it wasn't too feminine or something. He didn't want a repeat of Sweden's wife talks with Russia. God, the very thought made him nauseous.

His gaze flickered around the high, splendorous entrance hall of Ballhausplatz in wonder, taking in the golden coloured decorations lining the shining white walls. With half an ear he listened to the servants walking by, trying to make sense of the accented and tilted German these people spoke. Some words were wholly unfamiliar to him while those more familiar were pronounced differently.

All the people and Nations were dressed finely for the opening celebrations. Even Finland was wearing his newest and most expensive finery for the dance, the long tail of his dark double-breasted jacket fluttering regally somewhere around the back of his thighs. While having a dance for the opening seemed a bit excessive to him – it would only make the losers more sour and bitter about the whole affair – he was still curious to see what such an occasion looked like in one of the most modern courts.

"You seem excited, Финля́ндия," came an amused voice from behind him and the northern Nation glanced over his shoulder, offering Russia a wide grin.

"It's my first time in Vienna and the chance to take part in this Congress is an honour," he explained, flicking his blond hair away from his eyes, his gaze shooting curiously to a group of dark haired young men and women, some of them looking annoyed and some relieved. Their looks were so similar to each other it was obvious they were siblings. And if so many of them were coming… they would probably be divided pretty heavily.

Russia chuckled and nodded. "Да, it will be interesting. So many Nations coming together…" the Empire smiled brightly, looking around the hall, where the Austrian German was slowly being replaced by a smattering of other languages. "It's a beautiful thing, is it not?"

Finland simply nodded as they stepped into the Congress hall. It was huge, with high ceiling and huge candelabras and tall windows illuminating the room, making the intricate red decorative panel shine on the walls. He felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and a breath of air in his ear as Russia leant close, murmuring softly: "Stay close to me."

"Yes sir," Finland murmured in return, dropping back several steps and placing himself to Russia's right and a step behind, exactly where he had stood with Sweden in the past. But this time his back was straighter, his posture more relaxed and at ease with the situation as he followed his Empire across the hall, ignoring the whispers of other Nations. England, Sweden, Prussia, Denmark, Spain, Norway, Netherlands, Bohemia, Poland, Saxony, Hanover and countless others, seeming tired and battered. Some seemed fearful and some hopeful for the future as they pulled back to the edges of the room, leaving the Big Players – the ones who would be deciding their destiny – to the middle.

Even though he didn't know all Nations by sight or even name, they were easy to tell apart from the rest for they very rarely had a partner with them. Women tended to assume things and most Nations found romantic relationships a hassle that should be avoided. Having such an affair with a human would feel as if being involved with a child, especially if they were one of their own people. And being romantically involved with another Nation tended to get messy with the ever-changing politics.

It was just more convenient to keep any close relationships between Nations out of the picture completely.

The doors banging shut caused silence to fall in the room as the Nations and humans alike turned to regard the sharp-eyed, light-haired man standing beside Austria at the head of the hall, looking over all those in it expressionlessly. Beside them stood a man with short, curly brown hair and intense gaze as he observed the people filling the hall.

"We, the First Emperor of Austrian Empire, Franz, and my Empire welcome you to the Vienna Congress," his voice carried across the entire hall, his French carefully pronounced so that everyone would understand him. "The main goal of this Congress will be to return the balance that was prevalent in Europe before the French Revolution and Napoleon's insanity disturbed it," the Emperor continued. "But before we talk of that, let us dance."

Austria was once again standing at the head of the room, his purple suit immaculate as he observed them all with an arrogant sort of air around him. "Welcome to Vienna on my part as well, I hope you enjoy your stay," he started regally, with a slight, polite but empty smile on his face.

The set up was the same as the previous evening when the Congress had officially been opened, with both the Nations and humans present. Today however it would be just them and Finland couldn't help but hope that there would be more business here today. Otherwise he might have as well stayed in Helsinki.

"In spite of our leaders having decided to postpone the actual Congress until November 1, I thought it prudent that at least we start some of the actual work before then. We'll however only have a quick overview of the biggest issues so as not to disturb the upcoming human talks too much," Austria's voice didn't let on whether he approved this decision or not but there were many disgruntled murmurs in the hall. Slow politics were the worst nightmare of most Nations.

"Today," Austria continued, "we'll address firstly our… colleague, who caused this whole mess," his purple eyes flickered to the side as he nodded to one of the lesser Nations – probably either a German or Austrian State – standing by the door. With a nod the lesser Nation opened it, letting in several others, all of them subtly but heavily armed and surrounding France. His normally luscious hair hung limply on his shoulders and while his suit was clean, it was also wrinkled and Finland could just make out several places where it had been hastily fixed.

Angry murmurs broke out across the hall. "What's he doing here?!" England's protest was predictably the loudest but some Germans weren't far behind in volume.

The fallen Empire didn't react to the jeers or let his thoughts show on his face but simply followed along, docile, to the chair along the long table that had been appointed for him. France was normally so full of life that this form appeared to be a mere shadow of him. But he still held himself with a sort of resigned pride that spoke not of total defeat but merely a temporary setback.

Austria gave the Island Empire a reproving look. "He has as much right to be here as you, England. It's his mess we're trying to fix and we need to make sure he won't try it again," Austria turned to the imprisoned Nation. "Isn't that right, Frankreich?"

France's smile seemed forced as he coughed out roughly. "Of course… Autriche."

Austria nodded approvingly, turning back to address the hall at large. "Now, as we've all agreed to act like civilized Nations; Prussia and I have an announcement regarding the future of the German States."

A new wave of murmurs broke out as the tens – fortunately for there was no way all three hundred would have fit comfortably in the hall – of German States glanced warily at each other. What sort of announcement could they have? Prussia didn't seem to be present even though he was certain the ghost-like Nation had been in the hall just moment's ago.

Austria shifted uncomfortably. "As you know, the Holy Roman Empire… passed… in 1806, leaving the German States without a unifying power."

Not that they had been very united back then either but the others were feeling too curious to point that out. Even France appeared curious in the middle of his guard.

"The Treaties of Paris and Chaumont already implied that Prussia and I had plans in place and today, we'll introduce you to those plans."

Surprised glances and whispers broke out across the room, only for silence to fall as one set of doors were pushed open, revealing Prussia, who was carrying a small form in his arms. Finland stood on his tiptoes almost without meaning to, cursing his shortness. It appeared to be a small boy, maybe six summers in age, wearing a small dark-coloured suit and resting his pale-haired head on Prussia's shoulder.

"Who's that, Pr-Prussia?" came an uncertain question and Finland glanced towards the speaker seeing, a wide-eyed, anxious looking teenager with brown hair standing to the side. On the lapel of his jacket was a decorative pin in the shape of a coat of arms Finland couldn't make out.

Wine-red eyes flickered for a moment towards the southern Nation before he answered. "Mein kleiner Bruder, the soon to be German Confederation."

The silence hanging in the hall was heavy, no one knowing how they should react.

Finland wasn't sure what to even think of this scheme Prussia and Austria had going. The German Confederation seemed small and weak, his light blond hair falling over his apparently feverish forehead and into his eyes as if someone had forgotten to cut it.

Austria seemed to notice that as well when he pursed his lips disapprovingly, stepping closer and pushing the strands away from the small face. For a moment he even seemed to contemplate the possibility of using grease to push it back and he probably would have done it if it hadn't drawn even more attention to the child's red, feverish forehead and he hadn't been in the middle of the Congress. And the child really did look sick, not even completely aware of what was going on around him as he clung to Prussia's clothes.

Finland felt a bit sorry for him, already carrying a heavy burden at such a young age and if the history was anything to judge by, he would fall, sooner or later – and quite possibly alone and despised. He had to wonder if it wasn't too cruel to force the heavy mantle of the late Holy Roman Empire on such a young Nation so soon.

Finland's breath left him in a rush as he stared around the hall wide-eyed and feeling quite bewildered. Despite having spent almost three months in Vienna he was sure he would never get used to the white and gold splendour of the Hofburg Imperial Palace, with it's grand halls and shining crystal chandeliers and endless number of beautiful halls and rooms.

Today he had managed to slip out of the Russian Imperial tactical meeting (which was centred around Poland, again), hoping to attend one of the many concerts held in Vienna to entertain all the guests residing in the city. Even though the actual Congress had finally started, it wasn't as if he had much to offer to the discussions – there was absolutely no question what his current and future positions were politically and nationally speaking and no one was interested in his opinions on other things anyway – so why not take advantage? He had already been offered the change to hear some truly amazing music in the opening of the Congress but he wasn't going to say no to more.

Finland enjoyed watching theatre and going to concerts but was only very rarely offered a chance to do so. King Gustav III period had been an exception as the King had actively encouraged both of his National Personifications to go to theatre or opera or concert at every chance – Finland's visits to Stockholm had always included at least one cultural visit. But this would be the first time he would have the chance to listen to one of the great Middle-European composers directly and not through the interpretation of others.

His seat was rather far back but he wasn't complaining, this concert was first and foremost for the leaders; kings, nobles, lords, counts and the like, not for the Nations. Finland didn't know why that was, maybe they assumed that they were so far removed from humanity that things like this didn't interest them?

He had no clue how such a misconception was even possible in Austria.

As the orchestra started he closed his eyes and leant back in his chair, letting the music wash over him; strong and majestic at times, then dropping down to a quiet whispering before bursting out again like an explosion. The singer's voice ringing out bright and clear, singing of Europe and its peoples, their glory. The cantata reverberated through his body, tickling his imagination and causing him to subconsciously straighten his back.

'A Glorious Moment' indeed.

It sounded just as good as in the opening night, if not even better.

Then something bumped against his chair and his eyes shot open and down at the form crouching on the floor.

"Preussi?" he whispered in disbelief. Prussia had always had some unusual tendencies but sneaking around and crawling on the floor of a concert hall seemed a tad too weird even for him.

"Hi Finland," the Kingdom gave an unrepentant grin, seeming wholly unconcerned with his current situation. "Fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing?" Finland asked blankly.

"Conducting an awesome rescue operation to save my little brother from Austria's lame concert," Prussia declared proudly and a bit too loudly, causing the nearby nobles to shush him disapprovingly. Prussia stuck his tongue out at them the moment their backs were turned and Finland stifled a snort of laughter. Prussia could be such a child sometimes.

"That's nice," he murmured with a chuckle, relaxing back into his seat. "Don't mind me."

But the Kingdom was already observing him with a calculating expression. "Actually… you could help me out."

Alarm bells were going off in Finland's head immediately. While he wasn't outright friends with Prussia, the two of them were rather well-acquainted and he knew the other well enough to tell this would be a supremely bad idea. "Oh no no, I'm sure you can rescue your brother just fine without my input," he hastened to whisper in order to avoid annoyed stares from the surrounding humans.

His protests were ignored as Prussia slung his arm over Finland's shoulder, pulling him closer. "Now, my awesome accomplice, you're going to distract Austria while I do the actual saving –"

"You do know you're about fifty times more noticeable than I am, right?"

A particularly passionate violin accompanied Prussia's stunned silence as he stared at Finland looking flabbergasted before recovering from the vassal Nation's bout of sarcasm.

"Okay, the new plan's this–"

He sat curled up in his seat, his winter coat wrapped tightly around him even inside the fully packed hall. His forehead was damp from sweat but he kept shivering from the cold that seemed to permeate his body. He just wanted to sleep but Österreich had insisted he come to the… concert. It was okay he guessed but when the music became loud and intense he wanted to hide and cover his ears but Österreich wouldn't let him and the older Nation would look down at him disapprovingly if he moved too much so he tried to stay still.

His head was hurting again and he tried not to think. That helped sometimes. Other times it just made his head hurt more and somehow he felt really scared at the same time.

Then he would get these… flashes was probably the best word for it; a sudden smell of smoke in his nose, the taste of iron in his mouth or a girl he didn't know smiling at him. If he asked about them, Österreich would look pained and refuse to answer and Preußen would say he didn't want to talk about 'un-awesome things like that'. So he slowly stopped asking.

Sometimes, in the flashes, he would see one of his myriad of brothers fighting or just talking or even dying. He was never quite sure who was who, there were so many of them that matching a name to a face was hard. He wasn't even certain of his own name; he wasn't the German Confederation yet and Preußen got offended if someone called him the Confederation of the Rhine, which didn't feel right anyway even if it was currently more correct. Probably.

German Confederation didn't feel right either. But maybe it would when it became his name officially.

The music rose again and he tried to surreptitiously cover his ears by ducking his head lower. Maybe Österreich wouldn't notice.

"Well well well, why am I not surprised I found you here, Zimperlichen?"

His head shot up at his older brother's voice, who was lounging on the chair next to Austria, looking smug and talking way too loudly for a concert. Humans were looking at him badly.

Austria's face drew down into a scowl. "Prussia, hold your tongue and let me enjoy the music."

"Sorry, can't do that, it would be total un-awesome of me to fail my older brotherly duties to Westen here," Prussia offered him a grin and a wink. He looked up at his brother, confused as Prussia continued goading Austria, drawing more and more disapproving looks.

"Just because some of us are cultured –!"

"Bah, pretentious bullshit –"

"Psst, kid," someone was tugging at his trouser leg and he peered down, meeting the wry violet eyes of a young man hiding partly beneath his chair.

He didn't recognise the man and the boy pointed uncertainly at himself and the man nodded, glancing at where Prussia and Austria were barely managing to keep their argument low enough so as not to disturb the orchestra, before motioning for the boy to lean down.

"You're looking a bit tired, what do you say if we slip out while your guardian's distracted?"

The man's grin was mischievous and for a second the boy saw blood splattered on his dirty cheeks and smelled smoke and he shivered. The man didn't seem to notice but simply held out his hand, still smiling. After a moment's hesitation the boy took the hand and followed the blond man under the chairs.

The amount of fancy looking shoes and carefully embroidered dress hems was staggering and he had to stay careful so as not to trample them to the floor. The man didn't seem to have any problem navigating the two of them through the mess and soon he was pulling them up to stand at the edge of the hall. They were a lot further away from the orchestra but the playing was so intense it didn't really help with the pain in his ears.

The man gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and pulled him a bit closer. "C'mon," he murmured softly, starting to walk towards the doors at the back of the hall and the boy felt relieved at the thought of getting out.

There the man pulled him to sit on a spindly side-chair-divan thing next to an ornate mirror. He curled up gratefully, closing his eyes with a sigh, enjoying the feel of the firm wall behind his back. Somehow he felt uneasy even if the man had been nice.

"How're you holding up?" the man asked, crouching down to his level, peering up into his feverish eyes.

"Okay…" he muttered in answer, "Why did you –?"

A rueful smile. "Prussia asked, he figured you wouldn't enjoy the concert."

The boy felt it necessary to protest because he did think the music was good. "It wasn't bad –"

"I meant you look a bit peaky, like you're about to fall over," the man hastened to explain, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not claiming you don't like Beethoven."

The man's violet eyes were sincere and the boy's gaze dropped to his knees uncertainly, trying to think of something to say. He hadn't spent much time with anyone besides his brother and – uncle? cousin? another brother? he really didn't know how to classify Austria in his confusing family dynamics – so suddenly talking with a stranger was… discomfiting.

The man's German was good, with barely any discernable accent although his o's and u's came out a bit funnily. He had heard them like that somewhere before though… "Are you… one of my brothers?" he asked uncertainly.

The man blinked in surprise. "Me? Heavens no, I'm one of Russia's vassals, Finland."

He tried to think about that. He didn't remember the man but he did remember being told to be careful around Russia, to watch his words.

"But your German's very good," he pointed out to Finland, his fingers twitching nervously in his lap. This couldn't turn into a dangerous discussion right?

Finland shrugged, "Out of necessity really, for trading and whatnot. And I studied a few years in Leipzig University."

That's where he had heard them before; Saxony's u's and o's had always sounded a bit funny to him, like he was making the sounds at the front of his mouth. "When?" he asked instead, to keep the conversation going.

Finland tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hmm… must have been sometime in the early 15th century, I never really kept track. But it was a really new university back then, Saxony was really proud of it and wouldn't stop bragging until I went to check it out. "

He stared at the man in mixed awe and disbelief. He still had trouble believing that Nations could live for hundreds of years and look barely old enough to shave. Not that Finland looked that young, if he was a human he would have guessed the older Nation to be about 17 or 18 summers at most and that was plenty old enough to shave, at least according to Prussia.

"Oi Finland!" a cheerful call had both of them looking towards the double doors of the concert hall. Prussia was grinning broadly as he ambled over to them, ruffling fondly his younger brother's hair. "Thanks for the help, I'll take this rascal somewhere more quiet."

Finland grinned and straightened up from his crouch. "It was no trouble, the kid's very well-behaved," he glanced back at the boy and grinned, "See you around, Saksa."

As Prussia led him down the hallway, he looked over his shoulder at the older Nation as the other headed back into the concert hall. Finland seemed like an unusual Nation.

A/N:
Chapter title: a line from the Finnish translation of Die Wacht am Rhein (Eng. The Guard on the Rhine), originally by Max Schneckenburger, translated to Finnish by Alpo Noponen.
The Congress of Vienna took place from September 1814 to June 1815. The Final Act of the Congress was signed on June 9.
Mein kleiner Bruder (Ger.): My dear brother
Zimperlichen (Ger.): Prissy, in this case used as a nickname for Austria.
Finland has had far-reaching historical ties with German people; trading, as mentioned in this chapter, as well as studying in German universities.
Saksa (Fin.): Germany