Welcome! I got the idea from this a loong time ago (freshmen year, wow) while watching one of the Chronicles of Narnia and... I decided to go for it. Might be around 20 chapters (maybe a little more... hopefully not much more)

Original Upload: 09/2014
Story Revised/Re-Uploaded: 02/2018

I in no way own Hetalia or its characters.

Prologue: Made of Ice and Fire

The sun had just begun its slow decent below the vast mountain range. Bright rays slipping through the sharp peaks, painting the sky with warm colors.

"So this is a dragon's horde…" a weak voice murmured in astonishment.

His companion, however, silently scanned the trove before them: millions of gold-made objects stretched high into the sky. The last waves of sunlight flashed across the treasures, creating the illusion of them dancing as if made of fire.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Dull, deep green eyes met sharp, icy blue ones.

"You know I would not have come here had I no intention, Lukas" the taller sighed, "There is nothing more for me. It is my only option."

"Your life will become harder though, not easier" the shorter reminded, voice monotone.

"I do not care. I am destined to forever die and wish to fight my fate" the green-eyed blond argued. He began his descent down the rocky outcrop.

Lukas droned, "There is still hope for you, you know, Art-"

"No there is not!" Arthur snapped, eyes flashing in the dim dusk light. "No one will ever love me! I refuse to feel the agony of my death over and over again, Lukas!"

Silence fell over the two as Arthur glowered at Lukas, chest heaving as heated breaths dissipated into the cooling air. Lukas just stared back, face stoic and eyes looking almost bored.

"You're making a mistake, Arthu-"

"I am not" he spat, turning his back on the shorter blond, "You are destined to live forever without feeling anything in your heart of ice." Arthur snarled, grabbing at his shirt above the left half of his chest; above his burning heart.

"I am to have this pain in my heart for the rest of eternity. Not even love can save me. True, pure love does not exist." His blazing green eyes locked once more with his friends.

"I am going to fight this curse with another" he growled, stalking forward once again.

Lukas let out a sigh, as if tired. "Very well…" he murmured, climbing down beside Arthur. "All I can do is wish you luck then, my friend… I promise to do my part to help you. This curse shall be hard to break, however, due to the form you will take."

"I care not" Arthur grumbled, almost childishly. He then blinked, eyes growing clear and trusting; "I know that if the time ever comes, you will be able to break it."

Crouching down, Arthur began to collect the enchanted gold treasure that had belonged to a dragon long ago. Lukas stood over him, watching with no power to stop.

He cursed his icy, unfeeling heart. 'It's just something he has to do' he reminded himself, slowly turning away from his only friend.

"One day" he murmured, glancing over his shoulder. "This will all end, my friend… And we can finally live happily, truly." He bowed his head as gold dust began to swirl around Arthur. "I wish you luck and safety, Art."

"You too, Luke."

Arthur's voice began to bend and crack, becoming a deep, feral growl.

Walking away Lukas whispered: "I promise to help protect you, my dear friend, so long as I, too, am cursed." His voice did not crack, as his heart felt nothing as he left behind his one and only friend to the painful transformation that gripped him.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Their lives were never meant to take the severe turn it did.

Eight months ago, both Arthur and Lukas were students of a powerful sorceress. Both had a strong presence of magic within them, and once they reached the age of 18 they were finally accepted to hone and further strengthen their powers.

Five months ago, both agreed that the sorceress was going far too slow in her lessons and they became hungry for more advanced spells.

Three weeks later, the friends snuck into their teacher's library under the cover of night and stole a tome with attack and alteration spells.

That same night they headed deep into the woods and practiced a few of the more interesting looking spells.

And, later that very same night, the two boys managed to set a single tree on fire. And then that fire spread to another tree. Then another. And another, until the whole forest was ablaze.

Terrified, they had fled back to the student hut and hid the tome underneath a loose floorboard in their room. With fearful eyes they struggled to fall asleep in their beds, praying and desperately hoping their teacher would not find out.

Their wishes were ignored.

The next morning, they woke to find the cold eyes of the sorceress staring them down with the stolen tome dangling in her right hand.

"You want to learn magic that badly?" She asked, eyes darkening. "Do you have any idea what you two have caused? You burned down a whole forest. Killed many animals, destroyed plants, and ruined a witch's hut!

"You two need to be punished" she growled.

"In all due respects, teacher, we did nothing" Arthur had cut in, "We were in our rooms all night studying the animation spells you taught us." As if it would help their argument, Lukas whispered one of the spells, causing a nearby table to start crawling around like a drunk lion.

The Sorceress just laughed, "First you steal, then you destroy, and finally you lie to me. If you boys do not wish to own up to your mistakes, then I have no choice but to punish you!"

Then, she had cursed them. The next thing Lukas remembers was waking up surrounded by blackened trees, hearing a dreadful scream of pain.

When Lukas looked towards the noise, he had found Arthur writhing in pain, clawing and ripping at the fabric above his left breast, letting out raw, agonizing cries.

Yet Lukas felt no grief; he felt no burning desire to help his friend or lessen his burden. He felt nothing. He could not even feel the fear of feeling nothing. He knew it was buzzing around in his brain, but he felt nothing. It was as if his emotions had been frozen.

"It burns" Arthur had whimpered, seeking comfort in his friend. His green eyes were dilated, dark, and running with tears.

Lukas began to piece together what had happened as his friend slowly recovered from the attack; the sorceress had cursed their hearts. One to be made of ice, forever uncaring, and the other to be attacked by fire, forever punished. His mind desperately thought back to the spell, recalling only bits and pieces of it – like how "true love" was supposed to save them.

As the months wore on, and Lukas got used to his emotionless heart, Arthur's condition got worse and worse. Every attack was a little longer, a little hotter, a little more painful. It was slowly killing him inside. He couldn't handle the torture, which led them to today.

He decided he would rather become a cruel, aggressive, mindless, lonely dragon than search with his friend for the 'love' that would break the spell.

Now it was up to Lukas.

For those rereading: I removed the Norwegian because of what's discussed in future chapters!

Constructive Criticism Welcome! Thank you for reading

~Cheetay