Chapter 23: Holy Roman Empire

The memory started with the twins being pulled away from one another. Feliciano was being held back by a man with a shadowed face and Lovino was being held by a similarly unidentifiable man.

"Why're their faces shadowed?" France asked, confused.

"Because I don't remember what they looked like. They weren't anybody I knew, and to be honest, I couldn't bother myself to recall their features. All I cared about was that my twin brother was being taken away from me." I answered.

"Nooo! Fratello! Lemme go!" Feliciano cried, desperately reaching for his brother.

"Felice!" Lovino cried out, tears running down his face as he reached out with equal desperation. He kicked and thrashed, trying to break the adult's hold on him, but to no avail.

"VINO!" The memory faded away with the terrible cry.

"Asher had been hiding in the woods, if you were wondering. Fratello made sure he wasn't dragged into that mess. We didn't want to risk the only family we had left." I stated softly.

As it returned, Feliciano was shown in front of Austria's house. "This is your new home." Roderich said, looking over at the downcast Feliciano. He hadn't said a word, and his eyes were all puffy.

"Do you by chance serve pasta here?" He asked, but was quickly spoken over by Roderich.

"No we don't."

"That was rude." America huffed.

"Why did you ask me that question first?" Austria asked.

"Well... It's sort of my comfort food. It was the first time I'd been away from my brother... we did everything together, and the longest we'd been apart before this was a couple days when I was too sick to go outside." I confessed. "I wanted something familiar in such a terrifying new situation."

"I'm sorry." Austria said after a moment of silence. I looked up at him in surprise. He didn't usually apologize. "I hadn't known the full situation. I thought Rome had spoiled you, and was trying to break you of any spoiled tendencies."

"I understand. It's okay. It's in the past, Viva." I smiled, accidentally slipping into a verbal tic I hadn't used in decades. Luckily, nobody commented on it.

The scene blurred briefly to show Feliciano meeting Elizabeta, getting acquainted with the house, and finally going to bed.

He lay there; looking far too small for the bed he was in. His tiny maid outfit was hanging on the other side of the room, ready for the next day. Feliciano curled up on his side into a little ball, and shook. It took the nations a moment to realize he was crying. His muffled sobs broke their hearts. "Fratello... Where are you? I feel so alone, and I'm scared! Even after Momma died... at least you were there... Where are you?" His thoughts brought tears to Hungary's eyes.

"Oh, Ita!" She wrapped me in a hug, crying softly. The scene faded to darkness once more.

We were treated to a small montage of Feliciano going throughout his cleaning duties, and several times he stopped to listen to Roderich play the piano. It slowed a bit, showing Roderich and Elizabeta leaving the house, leaving Feli alone.

Feliciano sat at the piano, staring at the keys. "I wonder... it was invented in my country, right?" He tilted his head slightly, before placing his fingers on the keys.

A very beautiful, rolling melody started to play, filling the empty silence with soul and sound. Feliciano closed his eyes, a soft smile on his face. In fact, the nations noticed, it was the first smile they'd seen from him since he was separated from his brother.

A sudden twitch from his left wrist caused him to hit the wrong key. His eyes opened as he stopped playing. "What was that?" He stared at his left hand, clenching and unclenching it. "That felt... odd."

Romano shot me a concerned look. "You, too?"

"It is hereditary. It's no wonder I have it, too." I sighed, and only Spain seemed to know what we were talking about. "Mine is just very mild."

"What are you talking about?" Germany asked, concerned.

Feliciano's arm suddenly spazzed out, almost like a localized seizure, twisting and thrashing for a moment before it stopped.

"What was that?!" China zeroed in on me in concern.

"Erm... well..." I looked around for a distraction before I hid behind my brother. "Fratello will explain!" I hurriedly said.

"OI! Why're you dumping this shit on me?!" He demanded, before I stared up at him with my puppy-dog eyes. "Oh, no... Don't use those! That's cheating!" I added in some tears, gently pushing my lower lip out to make it even more adorable. "Aw, c-come on, Felice! I..." He paused, staring into my eyes. I knew I had him. "Fine." He sighed, as I cheered. "Fucking cheating, that's what that is."

"Chorea." Romano said, staring at the other Nations. "We apparently both have it. Mildly, mind you, but that's why we were so clumsy as kids. We're on medication for it, now, and the Tomato-Bastard helped me with mine when I was younger, but we've still got it."

"Chorea? What's that?" Germany looked so confused.

"It's a neurological disease... It causes uncontrollable twitching and spasms. It actually explains a lot." China explained. "You said it was mild?"

"Si. Mine is much more mild than fratello's. Sometimes he can't even walk, though those episodes are few and far between." I spoke up. "Apparently Spain taught him some kind of dance to help as a therapy, though, and it worked!" I grinned. "Mine's usually just finger twitches or wrist flicks or missed steps. It basically just makes me really clumsy. It doesn't happen often, though. But we're both on medication for it now, so we're good." I smiled, doing my best to reassure the room.

Feliciano, while we'd been talking, had decided to ignore his spasms and try to play again.

"I used music as my therapy. The piano helped me exercise my muscles and hide the spasms better." I said, as the memory finally faded once more.

The next scene showed Feliciano with a pail of water, struggling to carry it back up the hill to the house. "Why is it so heavy?" He panted, setting it down to readjust his grip. "I miss being a teenager. I could've carried this no problem! And I can't even rant with... fratello..." the pain in his mental voice was palpable "because the link won't work... we're too far away... At least, I hope that's all it is."

As Feliciano went to pick up the water pail, another small hand grabbed the handle. I froze; it'd been so long since I'd seen that face. A small boy with messy blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes smiled at Feliciano. "Oh, Italy! What're you doing here?" His voice was soft, and his accent was a mix of German and Italian.

"Oh, Holy Rome. I work here, now." Feliciano explained.

I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was... right there. I subconsciously reached towards him, my hand phasing through his face. My heart ached terribly. He's right there... I'd forgotten. How his voice at that age was so smooth and gentle, the way his eyes sparkled in the sunlight, the dazzling shine of his smile and how it lit up his entire face. I'd forgotten how his hair, just a few shades lighter than Germany's, seemed to be made of sunlight. I'd forgotten just how utterly adorable he was when he was flustered, and how he blushed whenever my hand got too close to his. I'd forgotten...

But he's right there... I could just reach out, and everything would be fine.

"Holy... Rome..." I stared. "Acel..." I was entirely unaware of the people around me, who stopped what they were doing when they realized that I was in my own little world. I couldn't hear their muffled voices as they tried to ask me what was wrong. I didn't realize I'd started to cry. The only think I knew was the little boy standing right in front of me. Even Yang remained quiet so I could have my brief moment.

"Ita." Prussia's hand on my shoulder jolted me back to reality. "It's okay." He gently pulled me into a hug, as the memories overwhelmed me, and I was reminded of the truth. He's dead. I sobbed. I curled into Prussia's arms and sobbed terrible, full-throated, gut-wrenching sobs.

I vaguely recall hearing Hungary's soft crying as Austria held her, but the others just stared, completely at a loss for what was going on. After a few minutes of Prussia's gentle hand rubbing my back and running through my hair (avoiding my curl, of course), I finally calmed down.

"I-I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Prussia said, looking wistfully at the memory youth who was helping Feliciano carry the pail up the hill. "It's okay to hurt."

"Bruder?" Germany asked. "Who is that?" Prussia flinched lightly, turning to face the blonde.

"Er... There's not an easy way to explain this..." The albino started. "That's... your twin brother."

The nations froze. Nobody had known that Germany had a twin. "W-what?!" Germany looked like he wanted to laugh. "If this is a joke..."

"It isn't. That's Acel Beilschmidt, your older twin brother." Prussia said, face serious. "When he died, you lost all your memories. I assume it was due to the trauma of losing him."

Germany looked shocked. He wasn't sure how to process the information presented to him. Not only had he had a twin brother, but he was dead! And that was why he'd lost his memories?! "Is that why you keep an old push broom in the closet?"

"Ja... It was important to him."

"Mon cher..." France went to comfort Prussia, but he stepped away from his friend, a look of betrayal flashed through his eyes.

"Not right now, France." Prussia said, though I could tell he was scared. "Not right now."

France shared a bewildered look with Spain, who was just as lost. Prussia had never told Spain just how Holy Rome had died. I couldn't blame him. It could tear apart the trio for good.

"Let's just continue the memories. I'm sure things will come up later. If it isn't explained by the end of this entire fiasco, then I'll explain." I promised the room, as the scene faded out.

I found myself a little overwhelmed by seeing him again, but it was nice. The last memory I had of him wasn't a good one, and I wanted so badly to see his living face once more. It looked like I'd gotten my wish... Just not in the way I'd expected.

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE everybody~! To kick off the new year, and say farewell to the old, I've, amazingly enough, written another TWO chapters! This one's dedicated to the last day of 2018, a year full of tears, hardships, and perseverance for me. I've matured a lot over the last year, and to celebrate this year ending on much better terms than it began, I'm finally bringing Holy Rome in on it. ^^

So for those of you who're curious, the human name I chose for him, Acel, has two meanings depending on if you go by the easier to find French one or the one I choose to go by. It's an Old German name meaning 'noble', which I felt fit him. Thusly, my version of HRE is called Acel.

His 2P's human name is Veryl, which means 'loyal; masculine'. It is also Old German, with some French roots. ^^ It took me forever to find these names, so I do hope you don't hate them.

I wish each and every one of you a happy 2019, and here's to hoping that my updates stay consistent and happily plentiful (and that I can go back to college at some point this year).

Words: 1,738/1,785

Pages: 4

Uploaded: 12/31/2018

Edited: 03/09/2019