Chapter 27: Tragedy of the Heart

The memory whirled around us, making us stumble. Feliciano was shown, standing atop Grandpa Rome's Hill, though instead of the great city of Rome sprawled out below the drop of the half-hill, half-cliff, it now rolled gently down to Holy Rome's Meadow.

"Another dream?" China asked.

"Si..."

Atop the hill was an splintered wooden pole, stained with blood. Beside it, fluttering in an unseen breeze, was the flag of the Holy Roman Empire. Feliciano stared at the tattered flag—though not nearly so tattered as Rome's had been—in shock.

"N-no... Not again!" He reached for the flag, as if to protect it somehow, when it started to disintegrate, slowly.

Feliciano shot up in bed before the flag could completely dissolve. He gasped for breath, eyes dilated in fear.

"Hey, HEY!" Luci said, sitting beside Feli.

"L-Lu...ci?"

"Yeah, it's me. You saw that dream, too?" He asked, trying to calm down his distressed 1P. Though Luci, himself, also looked slightly panicked.

"We... we have to go!" Feli whispered. "I won't let him die like I did Grandpa!"

"Listen! I'm not saying don't go, I'm just saying calm down for a minute." He glared at Feli, waiting until his breathing was under control. "What does your gut say?"

"My... my instincts are screaming at me... I... I feel twitchy and antsy, like if I don't go somewhere now, I'll lose him forever."

I shared a glace with Luciano.

"Then go." Luci said. "Don't ask Austria or Hungary. Just take the fastest horse you can, and go."

Feliciano didn't hesitate. He ran out of the room as quietly as he could and went to the stables. He struggled a bit, but a recent growth spurt allowed him to saddle the horse by himself. It was a rather pretty silver dappleback, who seemed as restless as Feli was.

"It's okay, Thunder." Feli soothed the animal, whose ears flicked towards the nation with a low nicker. "I need you to run with me. As fast as you can. We have to get there, do you understand me?" Feliciano felt silly, speaking to the horse, but the mustang snorted and pawed the ground, moving his head up and down in a motion reminiscent of a nod. "Grazie."

"He said that he knows that you need to be somewhere... He feels the same. He's honored that you chose him." America interjected.

"How...?" England sent him a baffled look.

"My bonded is a horse, dude. I can understand Thunder no problem."

In a well-practiced, fluid motion, Feliciano mounted the horse and took the reigns.

A sharp yip followed by a large dark furry form caused Thunder to pause, as Asher ran into the stables.

"A-Asher! Please, let me go! I need to get to him... Tell Fratello I'm fine, but I'll be gone for a while. I'll stay with Acel until the war is over." Feliciano pleaded.

Asher whined with a low growl, showing his distaste for the entire fiasco.

"I know you don't like it, but... I have to... Please?" Feli shifted restlessly on the saddle, as Thunder nervously pawed the ground. This was a wolf, after all. Even if Asher wasn't fully grown yet.

Finally, Asher let the two pass. "Grazie." Feli flashed the wolf a small smile, but it was weighed down with worry and concern.

"Hiya!" They took off at a run, and the nations found that they were being pulled along. China stumbled and fell, but the ground continued to move under him, as it did the rest of us. It was a bit unnerving, watching the world fly at you and phase through you.

The scene sped up even more, showing the two traveling for several days. They had to stop for food and water several times, but amazingly, the horse refused to move any slower than a gallop.

"That's not right... that horse should've exhausted himself to death at the rate he's been going." England puzzled over the scene.

"Wait, dude! What's that glow?" America asked, pointing to a faint glow surrounding the two. It looked similar to the halo that appeared around objects in heavy rainfall.

"I see, aru!" China gasped in surprise. "You're sharing some of your innate Nation Magic with him!"

"Wait, now you're talking about magic?!" South Korea huffed, and I shared an amused look with Luciano.

"Mind if I join in?" Yang asked, as he phased into being beside me. He was incorporeal, and I knew from experience that only myself and Luciano were able to see him.

Feel free. I replied mentally. Yang just nodded as he stood beside me. Though the others could neither feel nor see him, Luciano and I could. So his hand resting on my shoulder was rather comforting to me. I gave him a small grateful look. He just flushed and looked away, though he did not remove his hand.

"Magic of some form exists within the lands of every nation." China explained tiredly. "So each nation has, to an extent, some form of passive, instinctual magic. It's because we also represent the land as well as the people. How do you think we heal so fast, aru?" He shot South Korea a look. "I believe that Italy is using his magic subconsciously to not only give the horse extra energy, but to reinforce his durability and muscles so he can run without killing himself."

"It would make sense. We ran like that for nearly two weeks." I thought aloud.

"T-two weeks?!" Hungary choked.

"Oh, yeah... You two never really pestered me about where I went off to for two and a half months, so... What's the story?" I asked Hungary and Austria curiously.

"I was told that your brother had taken ill, and you were visiting him. Something about the economy or something." Austria huffed, crossing his arms.

"Don't." I stopped Hungary before she could start. "Don't you dare say that I should've just told you. You wouldn't have let me go. You saw me as a child who had no clue how the world worked, and you wanted to protect me. You didn't let me go after him the first time... or the second time. Why should I have believed that you'd have let me go the third?" I leveled the two with a stare.

"I... You're right... We wouldn't have let you go." Hungary admitted, head bowed. I didn't reply. Instead, I turned to my brothers. I'd need their strength.

The scene slowed down, showing the two running as dusk fast approached; dark storm clouds rumbled in the distance as they quickly encroached upon the vicinity of the memory. The sounds of a battlefield grew louder and louder the closer the two got. Finally, Feliciano and Thunder crested a tall hill, stopping to catch their breath.

Feli gasped, looking down at the warzone below him. People fought and murdered each other with little care. The ground was stained red, and cries of anguish and anger filled the air, thick with the smell of blood. Feli covered his nose as tears ran down his face.

The nations didn't bother to cover their noses. War was something they'd all seen numerous times. None of them liked it, but they were somewhat desensitized to it. Luciano stood a little closer to me, tentatively reaching out to grab my hand in an offer of support. I gratefully squeezed back. Yang, also, squeezed my shoulder to let me know he was there.

You care more than you let on... I teased, but my heart wasn't in it.

"Is... this war?" Feliciano's voice shook. He'd never seen such horrible death before. He thought he'd been prepared, at least somewhat, by his time on the streets, but this... This was senseless. This was cold and dark and wrong. This made him sick, and he actually had to lean over the edge of the saddle to empty the contents of his stomach.

"Acel... I have to find him." He muttered determinedly once he'd finished retching.

"Oh, Ita..." Hungary stared at me sadly.

The nations shifted. Watching another nation react so strongly was uncomfortable, to say the least. Though most of them were admittedly older when they first saw battle personally.

Thunder, scared as he was of the unfamiliar smells and sounds surrounding him, continued to faithfully carry Feliciano in the indicated direction.

Eventually, they moved away from the main battle. At one point, Feliciano had to dismount to walk through the thicker underbrush of the forest they were now in. The trees towered high above them as night fell, drawing the looming storm ever closer. The clouds started to block out the rising moon, stretching the shadows into darkness that blanketed a clearing that Feliciano headed towards.

The sound of unintelligible voices drew Feliciano to the edge of the clearing, where he stopped to assess the situation. I turned, not wanting to see it all over again. I wanted to honor his death by not looking away, but I felt that I couldn't watch it twice.

Acel stood in the clearing, back to Feli's position. The golden-eyed nation was about to run over to him. "Ace—" A sword suddenly impaled the blonde youth, causing Feli to freeze in shock. He couldn't do more than stare in petrified shock.

That's when they heard a very familiar voice. "I'm sorry, Holy Rome. But I'm only doing what I believe is best, and if I must stain my hands with your blood, then so be it." The attacker said, removing his rapier from the young nation. A flash of lightning revealed the man to be none other than Francis Bonnefoy.

The nations stared, looking between Memory-France and our France. "F-France? How could you?" America gasped. Canada sent his papa a disappointed glare.

Spain looked half-horrified, half sympathetic. Prussia clenched his fists, and his form became very rigid. The way he tightened his jaw was also a tell that he was well and truly pissed. Germany looked between his brother and France in confusion and horror.

"W-why?" He whispered.

I walked away from Luciano and Yang and approached Prussia. I gently punched his shoulder, and gave him a half-hearted broken smile. He returned it with one of his own, and ruffled my hair. We didn't need to exchange words. We understood that the other was in pain. And we could read each other well enough.

"W-what?" France breathed. "I... I don't remember any of this..." He stared at the scene wide-eyed in shock.

I looked at him in disbelief. This man was confronted with his own deeds and still had the audacity to deny them?! But Romano caught my eye and shook his head. France wasn't lying. Did he really not remember? Perhaps that was even worse. You didn't even deign the murder of my fiancée important enough to remember?

I glanced worriedly over at Germany, who seemed to be fighting off a headache, though his eyes were suspiciously misty.

Prussia placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a tight squeeze. That'll be bruised tomorrow, between Yang and Prussia... I mentally shook my head.

Hungary had tears in her eyes as Austria held her; trying to comfort her for the loss of a child they'd both seen as family.

Russia's aura grew rather cold. He liked children, and didn't ever like seeing them hurt. Japan, on the other hand, kept an eye on me, making sure that I wasn't going to be too badly affected by this entire mess.

Francis looked down at the struggling youth, who clenched his fist. "I-Ital...ia..." He was still alive.

"I'll make it fast. I'm sorry. Please... believe me. If there was another way... But this is for the best." Francis stated coldly.

"Ti... amo, Italia." Before Feliciano could so much as twitch, Francis stabbed Acel in the heart, killing him. His final breath was deafening, and even the sky started to cry upon the scene. The rain fell in thick sheets, causing the blood to pool around the boy.

I couldn't help my flinch. To hear his last words... again. It was nearly too much. "Felice." Luciano made me focus on our Link. "Listen to me. I'm here. Yang's here. You're not there... it's okay..."

Ying. Listen. I've gotcha, okay? Yang sent me a gentle smirk. I'm here. I've gotcha.

Grazie... I smiled softly at Yang's words. He only said that when I needed it. I supposed 'I've gotcha' was way of telling me he was there for me. Like how Fratello and I used 've' and 'chigi'.

Francis stood there a moment before walking away, leaving the area completely deserted. The sound of rain deafened the nations as Feliciano numbly stumbled over to the fallen nation. He didn't even notice the rain or the cold, though his breath was visible. "Acel?" He asked, his voice thick and heavy with emotion. "A-Acel?" He kneeled down next to him, Acel's warm blood seeping into Feliciano's clothing. He shook his shoulder, trying to wake him up. France flinched badly at the scene.

"No... Please... y-you promised." He started shaking as he turned him over. Acel's eyes stared blankly at the heavens, his face streaked with tears and rain. "ACEL!!!" Feliciano screamed, cradling the body. He rocked back and forth, screaming in such a despairing voice that several nations flinched. Those who didn't flinch (and some who did) glared death at a shaking France.

France, for his part, looked out of it, like he wasn't all there. He also had a pained look on his face.

The scene could've lasted for years or seconds. "Acel! I heard Francis over here, so I've—" Gilbert ran out of the forest, and into the clearing. He stopped when he saw the scene before him. "N-no... Nein..." His sword clattered to the ground as he stumbled forward.

"N-nein... What...?" Gilbert whispered, watching the heartbreaking scene unfold. His own tears fell thickly from darkened eyes that looked closer to black than red.

"It was France." Feliciano choked out with enough venom to make France flinch. Gilbert jolted, like he'd been slapped.

"W-what? But... no... he wouldn't?!"

"He did! I saw him... the whole thing..." Feli snarled through his tears.

"How... how could this be? I... I thought we were friends... so why would he go out of his way to murder mein brother?" He clenched his eyes shut as he grasped his hair in his hands, falling to his knees. "This doesn't make any sense!"

Gilbert, a man of great optimism and unparalleled confidence, cried. He sobbed, too lost in his grief to even register that the rain that was slowly becoming hail. Feliciano moved a little closer to Gilbert, offering him some small form of comfort. Neither said a word to the other as they shared their pain. Neither man cared for the battle warring just over yonder, because they'd already paid a very heavy price. Too heavy a price.

Eventually, their sobs quieted and the tears stopped. Prussia looked up at the shivering child before him, coated in the blood of his deceased fiancée, and soaked to the bone. The hail continued to fall, a bit bigger than when it had first started.

"You're going to catch your death out here, Ita." Gilbert took off his jacket, draping it over Feliciano's shoulders before he scooped him up. Feli refused to let go of Acel, so Gilbert was forced to carry both of them.

He found his way back to the horse, who still waited loyally for their return. "You're a good horse, aren't you? Being raised around nations has made you very intelligent." Gilbert smiled hollowly. "Do you feel up to carrying us?"

Thunder pawed the ground as his namesake roared a bit too close for the viewer's comfort. "Then let's go." He mounted the horse, directing them off into the night. He spared a moment to stare in the direction of the battle, a fierce glare on his face. "You'd better have a damned good reason for this, or I'll never forgive you, France." Gilbert growled as the memory finally ended.

A/N: Hello everybody! So he's dead. I've finally killed Acel! And I really hope you cried (I tried really hard to describe the scene well enough to evoke your emotions). I know a LOT of you were looking forward to seeing France get yelled at, here, but that'll come next chapter. I don't do character bashing unless it's truly called for. If I can find a logical explanation for something, then I'll use it. So France does have his reasons, but the reason he hasn't ever apologized or groveled on his knees for forgiveness is because the trauma of such a thing caused him to forget that night. He had no idea who killed Holy Rome, let alone that it was himself.

So there you have it. :) Chapter 27. ^^

I've also now found a full-time job~! ^_~ Unfortunately, this means that the updates may slow down a bit. So I feel that I may have spoiled you all by updating nearly every day for several weeks. I'll try my best to keep the pace I've got now, (I mean seriously! I think I've tripled the word count of the story in a fraction of the time it took to write the beginning/Childhood ARCs!!) but I make no promises.

Words: 1,880/2,684

Pages: 4/6

Posted: 01/03/2019

Edited: 03/11/2019