Getting the basement cleaned and organized was an arduous task. Ludwig struggled trying to determine what Gilbert needed in terms of food, rest, and home. The basement needed to be a home away from home for his brother, but it also needed to be a functional learning and feeding space. Everything needed to be easily cleaned, unbreakable, and easily accessed. Ludwig anticipated that his brother would be frequently making messes. It was of utmost importance that this space for his brother was as clean as it could be.

It took two solid days. Two long days of just moving furniture and cleaning out all the dust. Old relics of past lives were moved out and transferred to different rooms. A good chunk of the storage was just junk that Ludwig hoarded over the years. Towering stacks of dusty paperwork that he swore he'd need that all ended up rotting away. Small collections of childhood tokens. And a lot of garbage.

Gilbert was of no help during all of this. The sounds of the fish and ducks were much more interesting to him. Ludwig did not mind though. To be fair, Gilbert couldn't do much. His only notable talent at this point was staring, but even that was quickly exhausted after the first few hours. The grey corpse shortly grew bored after it realized Ludwig was focused more on the basement than on him.

The end result? A beautifully clean basement with a few amenities. A solid bed frame with clean, crisp black and white sheets was tucked in the north east corner. Next to it, a dresser hosting all of Gilbert's clothes. A modest hamper completed the small bedroom setup. The south wall hosted a table with two chairs. Was Gilbert going to actually use any of these things? Ludwig had no idea. Gilbert didn't sleep, and when he sat down, it was only on the floor, but maybe, with time this would change.

A few decorations helped the basement feel less like a cell. The Prussian flag hung proudly on the east wall, directly across from the door. Personally, Germany found his nation's flag a great source of comfort. He hoped his brother would find that comfort as well. Loose pictures of the two brothers were carefully tacked on the wall near the dresser. Ludwig wanted his brother to be able to look at them at any given time, and this was the best way to display them. Overall, ludwig was rather proud of the setup he had made.

After realizing that Prussia liked the bird, Ludwig decided to try feeding Prussia a few rodents. It went surprisingly well. He started with rats and his brother loved them. Gilbert would chase them around the basement floor, catch them, and rip the animals to shreds. Unfortunately, Prussia was messy about it. He'd leave little bones scattered everywhere and was completely unaware of the mess he made on himself. Ludwig quickly realized that he'd need to change his brother's clothes and clean the basement regularly, otherwise the putrid smell would quickly get overbearing.

Ludwig spent the remainder of the week helping Gilbert gain mobility. Honestly, it was like having a toddler. Gilbert was heavily struggling with certain tasks that required finger dexterity. Such as picking up coins. Those were too tiny for his fingers. Walking around straight was also a struggling point. Gilbert's body still twisted over itself when he walked. Even though he was much straighter now then he had been when he first woke up, his posture was still horrendous. Granted, Ludwig had noticed that his brother's posture had regressed over the years after the war, but this was ridiculous. They spent every morning going through these activities. They started with small tasks, like getting Gilbert to walk in all four directions. To stand up straight. To have control over his body. Progress was very slow. Using birds as incentives helped, but Germany had to constantly remind himself that a lot of patience was needed to help his brother.

There was also the difficulty of managing his personal life alongside his professional life. Although he still had 2 and a half weeks left of bereavement leave, there were still house chores he needed to attend to. His dogs were responsibility that he could not shirk off. Ludwig was worried that his dogs and brother might clash and someone might get hurt, so for the most part, the dogs were not allowed inside. Not until it was night and Ludwig had locked all the doors to the basement.

As the days went on, Gilbert slowly improved in performance, but regressed in appearance. The decomposition process was not stopping, and this worried Ludwig. Constant exposure to oxygen was continuing to break down the body. Liquified organs would keep seeping out of Prussia's eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. The smell of rotting flesh and a stench reminiscent of fecal matter only grew stronger. Skin was loose and parts were sagging off the bones. Hair was shedding everywhere. It was stressing Ludwig out. Prussia didn't have a proper diet yet.

It wasn't like Ludwig wasn't trying. He was. Every day he'd go to different pet stores, buy small animals for his brother to eat. And his brother did eat. He ate a lot. But he was still rotting? What was Ludwig supposed to do? Try bigger animals?

Ludwig was stressing over this particular issue on a Friday evening. He had spent the morning deep cleaning the basement, since a few carcasses had built up and the smell had gotten unbearable. Prussia had gotten into a habit of piling bodies in corners. They worked on walking and dexterity, taking a break so Ludwig could read his brother's journals to Gilbert, and then resumed the mobility lessons. Around noon, Ludwig fed his brother. Watching the feeding fest was too gruesome for Ludwig, so when it was time for Prussia to eat, he'd close the door and take some time to himself. Usually it entailed walking his dogs and getting the mail. The afternoon was more or less the same thing. Around 6 pm, Ludwig would leave Prussia alone for the night. He'd normally lock the basement doors around 7 and let the dogs in. This last task he had not yet attended to.

Instead, Ludwig was swishing a glass of wine, trying to come up with solutions to his diet problem. It was around 6:45 in the evening when his phone started softly buzzing. He peered at it curiously, Francis' caller id popped up on the screen. Ludwig debated it. Did he want to talk to someone right now?

"...Hello?"

"Oh wow, you answered. I've been calling for the last 2 hours."

"Oh, sorry. Guess I hadn't noticed. Can I help you, Francis?"

"I was calling to check up on you. It's been 4 days since I last saw you. And I know that doesn't really seem like a long time, but I know that grief is a pain, and I was thinking you could use some company."

"Honestly Francis, I'm fine."

"Can't say I believe you Ludwig"

"Seriously…"

Francis clicked his tongue "You have dinner yet?"

"...not really."

"Let me come over and cook for you."

Ludwig paused to think about it. Honestly, he didn't want Francis coming over. He didn't want anyone coming over, but Francis was being insistent. Dinner wouldn't hurt, right? France's cooking was always good. There was also that promise Ludwig had stupidly made.

Germany sighed in defeat. "Yeah you can come over. But just you please. I don't think I can handle a lot of company right now."

"Yeah that's fine. It's just me anyway right now. I'll be over in 15 minutes."

"15 minutes!" Holy shit that was really fast. "Wha - Francis!"

"I'll see you then." Francis sung over the phone

"Francis wai-"

The phone line clicked.

Fuck! Ludwig had 15 minutes to make his house smell like it wasn't a rotting morgue. He started rushing around like a chicken without its head, trying to light cinnamon candles and hide the piles of animal bones that had collected in his trash bin.

The knock on the door caused Ludwig to jump while he was tying the bag of trash. Shit. He's here.

"Uh…The door is unlocked!" Ludwig called, shoving the bag into the corner behind the trash can. He rushed to wash his hands and prayed to god that Francis didn't look too hard at the bin.

The door cracked open and Ludwig hurried to meet his brother's friend. The french man's arms were full of a basket with a lovely array of seasonal vegetables. The colors looked abnormally bright in comparison to the rest of the house. Francis took one look at Germany and shook his head. "You look terrible."

Ludwig tensed up, everything that could go wrong flashing through his head. His mouth gaped like a fish, trying to respond. Had Francis smelt the rotting odor? Did he come to visit because he knew something was off? Did Ludwig have blood on him?

Francis set down the basket of food by the door and approached Ludwig. Ludwigs eyes darted nervously over the movement. Gently, the softer hands of the older man rested on Ludwigs shoulders. "Hey" France soothed "Don't be so tense"

Ludwig took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and dropping his shoulders. "Is it that bad?"

Francis gave a small nod, while receding his hand. "Mhm"

Okay, well….maybe Francis couldn't smell anything. There was a small pause before the other man breathed in, "It's freezing here. Do you want me to turn the heat on?"

Was it really freezing? Ludwig felt fine. "Uh yeah…. It's in the hallway by the library."

Ludwig nervously watched Francis walk over to the thermostat in the hall. Uneasiness was gradually settling into his stomach, worrying that Francis might stick his nose in a place it didn't need to be. Instead the man just stared at the little box, puzzled.

"Is everything all right?" Ludwig called out, biting back ridiculous notions of fear.

Francis, still looking at the wall confused, called out "I…I think…your thermostat is broken."

"What?" The pit got heavier. He headed over to meet Francis

Francis pointed to the number once Ludwig was standing next to him. "The thermostat says it's 25 celcius, but your house feels like it's in the 0s." Francis turned to Ludwig, perplexed, "Aren't you cold."

"Not really…" Ludwigs feet shifted.

Francis huffed out an air of disbelief. "Well… I suppose you'll need to call a technician of sorts to get this fixed. I can't say I know how to troubleshoot these things. In the meantime, can I borrow a jacket? Or a blanket of sorts?"

"Yeah. I'll go get one" Ludwig was quick to fetch a warm jacket from the coat closet. "Here you are. I'm sorry it's so cold."

"Thank you. And it's fine" Francis waved "I'll just deal with it. Now, the reason i'm here."

Ludwig courtly nodded and the two of them went to the kitchen, Ludwig gathered the basket of food at the door and peered inside. Curiosity urged him to sift through the food. Alongside the vegetables were a few loaves of bread that Germany recognized. Some pistolets. It smelled really good compared to the stench that has been plaguing Ludwig's nostrils for the last week. France noticed Ludwig peering through.

"Ah yeah. Feli is really really worried about you. You should consider answering his calls He wants to see you but he and Romano are having a really rough time. Oddly enough, Lovino is taking it harder than Feli is, so Feli is taking care of his brother. The bread is from both of them. There should also be some stew in there. That's from Antonio. He sends his best wishes. He's too swamped with politics right now to visit."

Ludwig felt a bit of his anxiety melt away from the kind heartedness of his friends. It was touching how much these nations cared for him. It made Ludwig's goals even more important. He was sure that everyone would be happy to see Gilbert again and it would help ease all of this pain everyone was feeling. He had to keep his mouth shut for now though, since things were not ready.

The heavy basket made a small thud on the counter. "You really didn't need to do all this Francis."

"Nonsense." Francis waved his hand, " It was an excuse to see everyone, check up on them. Make sure they're okay. Everyone is still upset" Francis sighed as he learned against the counter of the kitchen. "Which is fine. It will take a while."

There was a small pause before Francis asked, "do you…by chance know when the headstone will be up? I keep visiting every time I'm in Germany, but it's not there. I know I'm impatient but….it'd be nice to see, you know."

Germany swallowed and shook his head. "I…I didn't actually make any of the funeral plans or cemetery arrangements. Italy did. All I did was blindly sign papers. I don't remember much during that week."

Francis nodded in understanding. "I can't blame you…" There was some small silence as France stared blankly at a wall, deep in thought.

The sudden clap of Francis' hands echoed throughout the kitchen. "Well! Dinner won't make itself, so we best get started."

Making dinner with France was actually….kinda fun. It wasn't stressful like making dinner with Italy or quiet like making dinner with Japan. It was lively. France put on some music and kept insisting that they drink wine throughout the night. Ludwig was good at keeping his liquor but by the time Francis had pulled out dessert, not only was he stuffed with food, but he was stuffed with alcoholl. He forgot about everything else in the world that night, and realized exactly why his brother enjoyed France's company so much. France even commented, tipsy of course, "you're just like your brother! When you don't have a stick up your ass that is!" This was of course, followed by a roar of laughter.

It was painfully obvious throughout the night that Francis had turned to alcohol as a form of counseling. If Germany himself wasn't borderline drunk, then he would have encouraged Francis to see a therapist. But the answer would have been the same, tipsy or not. "I'm fine."

When the clock finally rolled around to 12 am, Francis took a cab home. Ludwig bid him a sloppy farewell before drunkenly closing the door. He immediately went to bed, completely forgetting all about his brother, the unlocked doors, and his three dogs who were still outside.

"Oh fuck off!" Ludwig groaned at the loud barking and growling that was ringing throughout the large house. He rolled over in his bed and squinted at the clock. 2:42 in the fucking morning. The barking was not stopping. Ludwig blindly grabbed a pillow and stuffed it over his ears to drown out the sound. He was too fucking tired for this…

Wait…

Ludwig shot up in his bed, suddenly alarmed. He never let the dogs in. How did they get in? What were they barking at?

Fuck.

Ludwig scrambled out of the bed in a panic and hurried out his room. He followed the barking of his dogs, which were only getting more and more aggressive. It sounded like the dogs were trying to fight something. When ludwig got to livingroom, he felt like an idiot when he saw the door was wide fucking open, blasts of cold air disturbing the room. The door must not have actually been properly closed. He quickly closed the door, the wind beating against the wood outside. Well that answered one question. Now for the dogs.

A piercing yelp cut the air. Fuck fuck fuck. That was not good. The panic in Ludwig started to grow larger. There was only one place in the house they could be.

He hurried to the basement door and immediately froze at the top of the stairs when he saw that not one, but both doors were wide open. At the end of the long dark stairway was a gaping black hole. Sounds of whimpering and scratching echoed out from the emptiness. Germany stood there, heart pounding in his chest. A dog ran out from the basement, crying with it's tail between its legs. Germany watched his doberman scamper off, terror keeping him from moving forward. Beyond the door, the squelching of muscle mass and the breaking of bones cracked the air. He swallowed back the pit stuck in his throat.

Germany slowly creaked down the dark stairway, the sounds of ripping muscles getting louder the closer he got to the doorway. At this point, he could only hope that whatever was behind the door was still alive. Ludwigs fingers fumbled with the switch when he got to the bottom before he finally got the light turned on. He wished he hadn't.

Gilbert was crouched over a body of golden fluff, fur and body parts strewn around in a bloody mess. His hands and arms were drenched in blood. The head of Ludwig's hovawart had been almost ripped off the body, barely hanging on with a flap of tattered skin. Prussia's hands were currently inside the dog's stomach, ripping out organs and being quick to shovel them in his mouth. It sounded like someone slurping spaghetti, with everything echoing off the walls.

Ludwig had to squeeze his eyes shut and turn away. His brows knitted together trying desperately to ignore the sound of his dog being brutally eaten by his brother. How…how could he let this happen to Berlitz? Tears were threatening to come out as he came to the realization that one of his dogs just died.

He couldn't keep them closed for long. Blackie was missing. Did his brother get to that dog too? Ludwig scanned the dimly lit room with blurred vision. In the southwest corner was his German Shepherd, cowering, his soft whimpering barely audible over Prussia tearing apart Berlitz.

Oh thank god. He was still alive.

Germany was cautiously slow to enter the basement. He did not want to disturb his brother for fear of him attacking the other dog. He inched along the walls before he got to Blackie. The german shepard was fucking terrified. It was hard to see anything in the dim light, but it looked like Gilbert had gotten the dog across the face. Germany sucked in air. He had been an idiot for not checking the doors and for forgetting his dogs outside. He would need to make sure this wouldn't happen again.

He carefully scooped his dog into his arms. Luckily the dog was in so much shock, it didn't mind. With a bit more careful inching, Ludwig was able to slip past his brother. It was a mistake to look back into the basement before closing the door. Prussia had ripped the dog apart even more, and was pushing apart the eyes and jaw of Berlitz. Vomit threatened it's way into Germany's throat. He quickly turned off the light and closed the door, locking it, and then double and triple checking to make sure it was locked.

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

Ludwig felt tears roll down his cheeks while he carried his other dog up the stairs and closed the second basement door. He was such an idiot! His carelessness caused one of his dogs to die. And like shit, he couldn't even be mad at his brother for it. Ludwig set down Blackie, who was quick to scamper off into a different room. Fuck….what…what should he do?

It was too early for this. Just go to bed and deal with it in the morning, yeah? That sounded like a much better idea than staying up having to deal with this mess. Ludwig's feet blindly went back to his room, shock numbing him as he went back into bed. Sleep was restless for the remainder of night.

Over the course of the night, ludwigs two dogs gathered their way into his bedroom. Under normal circumstances, this was not allowed. They had a designated place for sleeping during the night, but Ludwig was 1. too tired to care and 2. too worried to let them sleep anywhere else. The dogs curled up at the base of the bed. When Ludwig finally decided to get up, sometime around 10 am, he had a splitting headache and an upset stomach.

First thing first, He needed to see just exactly what Gilbert had done to the dogs. Ludwig was careful to approach Blackie on the floor, taking his head in his hand. The dog slightly flinched but Ludwig held its head firm to see what the damage was.

Ludwig sucked in air. He needed to take his dog to the vet. Now. Gilbert had managed to grab ahold of the dog's ear and rip it clean off it's head. Ludwig hadn't noticed last night because it had been too dark. The dog's eye was also fucked. The skin around the eye had been gashed, and was now swollen. It was obvious that the dog had tried to attack Gilbert, but was smart enough to retreat when Gilbert fought back.

Luwig let go of his german shepherd and moved over to his other dog. Aster was fine. That was a relief. But just to be sure, Ludwig was going to take them both to the vet. The other dog….well, nothing could be done about it.

He was quick to get the dogs in the car, completely bypassing breakfast, and drove immediately to his vet's office. When the receptionist saw the German Shepherd come through the door, she gasped "holy shit" under her breath before rushing to the dog.

The German Shepherd winced away from the receptionist's hands when she crouched down to take a look. "What happened?!"

"Dog fight." Germany has been practicing the lie on the way there.

"Seriously? This is bad?"

Germany nodded. "I heard him fighting last night and tried to break it up. It was too dark to see anything. I thought he was fine but when I woke up this morning, well…" Ludwig gestured to his dog.

The receptionist nodded, then asked about the other dog. Ludwig said that Aster may have gotten into a fight but he didn't know. He wanted to get them both taken care of just in cost was of no issue. A doctor was quick to attend to the emergency. Paperwork was started and when Ludwig had paid and signed the last form, he collapsed in one of the front office chairs from exhaustion. The slight hangover combined with the paperwork, not eating, and his emotions had caused one clusterfuck of a headache.

Germany pulled his phone out to call Italy. It was obvious he could not have the dogs in his house anymore. It wasn't safe for them.

The phone rang once. Twice, three times. "Come on Feli….pick up…" 4 times.

"Ludwig?"

"Yeah it's me."

"Ludwig! Oh god. I'm glad you finally called back. You've been ignoring me for the last week."

Ludwig grimaced. He forgot about that. "I'm sorry. Just been really…I've been having a time."

"That's what Francis said the other day. He came by to visit and check up on us. Did you get my bread?"

"Yes. I did. Look-"

"Oh that's good. I know it's not much. I feel bad I can't come over right now. Romano is just….well, we're both just so…stuck."

"Feli please-"

"But we can try. I mean you are always welcome to come visit. I know we could use the company. We've been having people in and ou-"

"Feliciano!"

The Italian immediately shut up, and Ludwig took a shaky breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Look, my dogs got into a fight last night. I don't know what they found, but one of them…" Ludwig felt the words catch in his throat, "One of them ended up getting killed. Until I can find out what's in the neighborhood, I don't think I feel safe with them at my house. Can you take care of them, please?"

There was a bit of silence on the other line. It was obvious that Italy was in shock about the news. It wasn't the first time Italy had to dog sit, but the circumstances behind it this time were alarming. Ludwig waited for the Italian to answer.

"Am I picking them up at your house?"

"I'm at the vet right now. Do you think you can pick them up there? I know it's a bit of a drive but I'm not sure I want to take them back to my house. They might get into trouble again."

"Mm… yeah that's fine. It's going to take me a while to get there though. You want me to leave now?"

"Please."

"Alright. Are you going to be at the vet's when I arrive?"

Ludwig checked the clock, it was almost noon. "Probably not. I'll let them know you can pick them up. I'd like to stay but I have so much I need to do and not to mention…the mess."

Italy sucked air before hesitantly responding. "Ludwig… I know you've been having a rough time. If you want, you can just come over, and I can just clean up at your house."

"No it's fine!" whoops, a little too aggressive.

"Are… are you sure? It's not a problem"

"Yeah, just the dogs please."

Italy signed over the other line. "Alright. That's fine. I'll text you when I get the dogs."

"Thank you."

"Mhm… Oh and Ludwig"

"Hm?"

"Please take it easy. Or at least come over. Or something. We miss you."

Ludwig thickly nodded, "I'll let you know."

"Ti amo Ludwig"

"Ich liebe dich auch"

The line clicked as Ludwig hung up, slouching into the chair. Ludwig did miss Feli but he just…couldn't afford to drag Italy into this. Especially when Ludwig didn't know if Prussia was safe to be around with other people.

He approached the receptionist again, and talked about the dogs being picked up. They were reluctant at first but when Ludwig explained it would be Feli, they gave the okay. A few more forms were filled out, but with the dogs out of the way, he won't have to worry about this incident repeating. It was a moment of relief for Ludwig when he finally got the last page signed. He bid goodbye to his one dog that still was a coherent animal, and went home, not looking forward to the mess he'd have to take care of now.

"Prussia?"

Ludwig slowly creaked open the basement door, flicked on the light, and cautiously stuck his head inside. In the center of the room was a red stained floor with patches of golden fur stuck to the ground from the dried out blood. A large crimson smear spanned from the center of the basement to the southeast corner. Ludwigs eyes followed the bloodstain, and he bit his cheek, sucking in air, when he saw what was left of his dog.

Gilbert had definitely eaten it. There was a mangled mess of picked bones in the corner. Some were completely disconnected from each other. Some were still in identifiable pieces. There were bits of flesh still stuck to the corpse, but it was few and far between. Small chunks of the dog littered the floor in the direction of blood. The smell of iron and rot was very strong. Ludwigs eyes glazed over to where his brother was on the opposite side of the room.

Gilbert was standing over by the dresser, just staring at the wall of pictures. His boots were drenched in dried blood, with pieces of dog stuck to the black leather. Deep crimson stained the blue pants, golden pieces of fluff stuck in various places. One of Prussia's blood covered hands had a small chunk of flesh missing.

"Gilbert?" Ludwig called out again, this time stepping into the basement.

Prussia's head slightly cocked to the side when he heard his name. Slowly, he turned around. From across the room, Ludwig could see that Prussia's blood crusted mouth was gapping like a fish. Struggling with something. Ludwig leaned in, trying to listen.

A low rasp, like nails on a chalkboard….barely uttered and almost incoherent.

"….bru….bru…th…..rrrrrrr."