Germany

Westalis

Sylvia Sherwood is a very capable woman. She is one of the leaders in WISE and is also the secretary of Westalis representative in Ostania.

As a Handler for all the out-going agents, she kept many secrets of her members, so that she can coerce them to work. She knows that her agents are overworked, especially her top spy, so sometimes, blackmail was a necessity.

As the secretary, she knew of some major government secrets that were discussed during meetings. This position allows her to know what are the politicians planning and whether to send an agent for any mission.

As the meeting droned about the same topic again, Sylvia looked at her partner, who was diligently making notes for things he can never voice out.

Her partner, Ludwig Beilschmidt, was a man who took his work seriously. He was known to be a person who can do anything and everything, the perfect officer that every president adored.

... not quite, because Ludwig is capable of changing ill opinions to adoration.

Ludwig without the supernatural is actually a very brash, straightforward person. He believes that only through hard work can you overcome any crisis. He prefers to be in power, and he loves his golden retrievers very much.

He owns three, by the way.

Of course, over the years, especially after meeting the Italians, he had begun to loosen up a bit more. He learnt that he likes to make handcrafted clocks, brew his own beer and keep his closed ones safe. He is pretty domestic when he is at home. He has to be the responsible one whenever his Ostanian brother stays over.

Ostanian brother. Is it his half, you ask?

Nah. They are blood brothers, and that is where the supernatural comes in.

Ludwig has another identity, and it is what makes him special. There are only 197 of his kind, including him. That is why he is the state secret and has a hidden entourage whenever he goes around.

He is Westalia, the country.

If Ludwig is down, that means the country, too, is having problems. Be it economy or war–he has to partake in them all under orders from the higher-ups. Unfortunately, while the anthropomorphic country has his own will, it proves to be a challenge to defy orders. Crudely speaking, he is a pushover, just not the normal kind.

"Is there anything else to add, Ms Sherwood?"

Sylvia shook her head. "Everything has been addressed, sir."

"Great. Then we'll have the Ostanian side to share their case–"

Sylvia looked across the table, to where the Ostanian representative had his feet on the table. His arms were crossed behind his head, and he was grinning with an I-don't-care expression. She could hear his younger brother sigh.

After the meeting, when they all left that stifling room, Ostania leapt onto his bulkier younger brother without warning. The latter grunted, but made no attempts to yank him off.

"West!"

"Bruder, will you get off me?"

"And walk back with those geezers? Hello no. Do you know how boring they are? They talk, scheme more, and talk even more. Then they'll see me, take a pause, then crack a bad joke. Maybe  they might even tell me to go buy them coffee or something. Worst of all, I can't say 'no, can I serve you tea instead'."

There was a pause.

Even though it was mentioned in a light, joking manner, they all knew that there was nothing false about his statement. It was the cold hard truth of their kind. They belong to the land. Their names will change with the land. Their personalities are made by the stereotypes of their people. They are never truly personal, but they have their own relationships with others, ones that normal people will not understand.

Their fate lies on their people. So if their government says "go to war", they have to. If their people decide to stop being a nation or a country, they will either change their name, have a new brother, or slowly die. They can advise, they can argue, but ultimately, they have to do as they say.

"I'd rather spend time with you now," Ostania lamented. "If this was the old times, we would have been going home together like when you're a kid." He reminisced, his eyes looking far away, back to the thoughts when the plains were still green and the sun shone warmly. Now, the plains were gone, taken over by rows of tall buildings and gravel.

Sylvia felt as if she was intruding in a private moment. Even though they were not human, at that very moment, they felt like one.

No country-binding lives, no government dictating them–just two beings who belonged in one family.

She smiled, melancholic.

"I'll meet you at the headquarters, Ludwig," she said and quickly bade Ostania goodbye before following the Westalian politician out.

It was just another day of Sylvia Sherwood.