A Broken Alliance

2

~1st of June, 1875

The carriage slowed down and stopped in front of the royal gates of the Empire.
Austria-Hungary stepped out, where they almost immediately got greeted by Berlin, who wore an elegant black tuxedo.
"Herzlich Willkommen, Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary! Oh and guten Tag to you too, Vienna~"
Vienna, who was stood next to her country, scoffed.
"Alright alright now! May you show us to the meeting room, Berlin?" A-H interrupted.
The capital of the German Empire put back his formal side and nodded, signalling for them to follow.

It was pretty disappointing for the Austro-Hungarian to see no sign of natural plants, only seeing meticulously painted walls as they walked further inside. Bland, beige, monotone. Sure, there were golden patterns everywhere as well, but it just didn't have the same beauty as having flowers. They didn't even have a garden.

Why did they expect more from the Germans, honestly? All they care about is perfection and order. Of course its going to be made "flawless".

Finally, after twisting and turning in numerous hallways, which seemed more like a maze than a palace, they reached a dark towering oak door that reached at least 3 meters. Must everything here want to intimidate one? The answer is apparently yes.

The host city stepped forward and knocked on the door, waiting for a response from inside, and then opened the door.
Natural soft light spilled through the gap, whilst a soft rosy aroma wafted alongside it.

All three of them had to blink a couple times before adjusting to the new lighting.

What A-H saw now wasn't even comparable to whatever that was in the other parts of the castle. The meeting room was lavish, flowers adorned the walls everywhere you looked and slight golden shimmer covered the whole room. A large circular table made of expensive wood stood in the dead centre of the room, engulfed in an abundance of even more flowers of all shapes and sizes, and with them, the welcoming scent of natural roses. The roof wasn't even really a roof, being more of a glass dome, where the sun illuminated the room.  There were three chairs as well, and in the centre one, sat a countryhuman with icy blue eyes.

He looked up, and A-H could've sworn that his eyes had been warm red for just a slight moment there. Besides, weren't they red-? He wore the standard dark blue German military uniform and his helmet, that had long white fur jutting out from the top, sat idly on the table beside him.

The German glanced up at the Monarchy with no particular emotion, which threw A-H a bit off.  "Guten Tag, Österreich-Ungarn." (Good day, Austria-Hungary)
"Guten Tag, Kaiserreich," (Good day, Empire) A-H replied back, as one was expected to.
"Would you like a seat?" The German offered, pointing at the seat right to him.
A-H nodded and took a seat, folding their hands together on their lap.
"Kösz" (thanks)

There was silence between them, but it wasn't awkward at all. No, the Monarchy even felt safe and at peace somehow. Somehow, in a foreign place and a country that is for now a stranger. Somehow, A-H felt like that even though the Empire seemed cold now, that he wasn't really like that. That being said, it did make the Austrian feel a bit dejected when they couldn't catch the eyes of the German again. 

GE cleared his throaty trying to start a conversation, "So, do you have a shorter version of your name maybe-? It's pretty long."
A-H could here the slight awkward shyness in his voice, a bit odd, since there was no reason to be shy around them, considering the fact that GE was much more powerful. They were in no way more powerful nor intimidating. 
"You may call me A-H or Aushun," the Monarchy replied. They had many other names, but they are mostly used in more formal cases. "What about you?"
The German seemed taken aback by the question judging by the way his eyes widened a bit. 
"Well," he halted to think, " you can call me GE or Ger if you want to," he responded.

Neither knew what to say next, so the two sat again in the comforting silence, waiting until the third and last member would come, who to be honest, A-H basically forgot. They didn't really like the Russian all too much, due to the recent growing conflicts between the two. Maybe this is really a chance for bettering relations. 

Finally, knock on the door signalised that they had finally come, and Berlin (A-H just remembered the existence of both capitals) opened the door to a Russian, who wore the standard dark Russian royal uniform with blue sash and glimmering epaulette. 

The Austro-Hungarian just now realised the fact that they were the only one with white uniform, sticking out from the other two. 

(I will refer to RE as "Tsardom", just to differentiate from GE, but I am aware that Russia was an Empire at that point!)

"You are quite on time, Russia," the German remarked in wonder, glancing at the clock.
The Tsardom sauntered over to the only free chair and sat down. Moscow, her capital, trailed behind.
"Of course I am! I would never be late to a meeting with the German Empire, right Москва?" (Moscow)
The capital in question just nodded. 

Pausing a bit, the German Empire put his hands together.
"Now that all of us are gathered, let's start what we are here for. As both of you know, to stabilise the power in this region, it is beneficial to form alliance with each other, so this will be an attempt at just that, and I sincerely hope you two cooperate."

The Tsardom examined the Monarchy from across the table with interest, which A-H didn't notice. GE however, stared at the Russian with discontent. 

"So what will be the terms of this alliance?" A-H questioned.
The German took out a piece of paper with german written on it and passed it along to them. 
"Not many, it's main point for now is to get to an agreement over your rivalry in the Balkans."

RE narrowed her eyes, "So what are you getting out of this? I know you always twist things so that they benefit you."

The German smirked, "Oh of course, as you very well know, you two are the only remaining great powers on this continent except of the British, and you can't let France have nice things. He already has the British, and that is already bad enough."

Snickering, the Russian said, "Just like your mother, aren't you? He was the biggest France hater."

These small points of questioning continued on, surprisingly, without many hindrances. The only slightly sour point was when they tried to put aside their differences in the Balkans, since neither the Russian nor the Austro-Hungarian wanted to give up influence and control in the area. But in the end, after a few hours, they all had agreed on the points of the alliance, dubbing it the "Dreikaiserbund", or the "Treaty of the Three Emperors". 

As it was nearing night, GE suggested that A-H and RE could stay the night, leaving in the morning. 

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~1192 words