Sooner than expected. Oh well. I don't think anyone's complaining.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Prologue

The young nation was running through the rain. His new rulers…

He hated being under the control of other nations, but what choice did he have? He was far too small to do anything about it. He was forced to be the toy of whatever empire he fell under. His people were forced to suffer. And he was forced to suffer as well.

He tripped, crying out as he landed. His body was covered in bruises, all because the one ruling him preferred to remind him of the fact that he was an underling.

Why did nations have to do that to each other?

He paused at that. Why did nations have to hurt each other? Most of the time, they were following the orders of the humans. But humans' lives were so fleeting. They didn't have to live with each other for however long the nations had to live. The nations were the ones that carried the scars.

But… why? Why did they have to do that?

He looked down at his hands. If he was an empire, he wouldn't treat the nations under him the same way he was treated.

That was it! If he became an empire…

Just as he thought it, his mood fell. If he did become an empire, then it would be because of the humans that ruled him. And his people would proceed to do unspeakable things to the people of any nations under his control.

But… That didn't mean that he would have to participate in any of that. It didn't mean that he would have to do to the nation what had been done to him. He would be different! After all, they still had humanity. And they would have to live with each other for a long time.

The previous empire had taught him many things. It shouldn't be too hard to accomplish his goals. Though it might take a while to do so. Change didn't happen overnight.

And he couldn't do it alone. Many of the things that he had been taught required allies that could be trusted. But with the fickle minds of humans, that was hard to come by. He would need to find a way for nations to operate independently of their people. And he would need to find nations that would be of similar mind.

They could change the world. Although, like humans, nations were resistant to change. He would need to be smart about his allies, and they would have to bide their time until it was right. Until they've gained enough power.

He would need to start searching as soon as possible. But he would have to be discreet about it. And he needed to make sure that he managed to survive long enough for his goals to be accomplished.

…

Sitting in a villa overlooking the sea, two brothers were watching the waves. The younger brother hummed, before he turned to his brother.

"I think the time's come," the younger said.

"What time?" the elder asked.

"The time we've been waiting for. The time to restore the Empire."

The elder blinked, before he smirked lazily.

"And what makes you think so?" the elder asked.

"Can't you feel it?" the younger asked.

The elder paused, and his smirk widened.

"You're right," he said. "Then I guess it's time to alert the others. The sooner we can get to work, the better. And the sooner we get as much territory as possible, the better. We're just going to have to deal with the biggest nuisances."

So, this fic is similar to Ve, We Totally Fooled You in a lot of ways, with one particularly big difference: A plot twist that I was disappointed I thought of after two years, and that would have changed the game. That being said, I tried not to make this an exact duplicate of VWTFY. One or two aspects are the same, but overall it's different.