Tea Leaves and Diamond Bracelets

Italy in Discord

Match Four: Italy in Discord:

Feliciano found himself unable to trust his older brother anymore. His nightmares started getting worse. Lovino always stood in front of him with the gun pointed at him.

"I'm so sorry," he always said. "But you are too pure for this world." Bang! Feliciano's body felt to the darkness as red took over his sight. Lovino stood over him with the gun pointed.

"I'm sorry," he seemed to say. Four more shots rang out in the darkness. The whole time, Feliciano lay there wondering why.

Brother... Why are you doing this to me? It hurts. Brother... I... I ...

"I love you."

Bang!

It didn't make sense to the younger Italian brother. Why would Lovino kill him? What did he mean being him being too pure for this this world?

"Stop looking at me like that, you idiot!" Lovino snapped. Feliciano trembled as he looked like he was going to cry.

"What?!" his brother said. Tears ran down his younger brother's face. He jumped forward and hugged Lovino.

"What the hell?!" the older brother asked. Feliciano looked up with big eyes.

"Please... don't kill me," he pleaded. "I don't want to die!" Lovino looked down at him.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked. His brother sniffled. Lovino groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I won't kill you, I promise," he said. Feliciano's lower lip quivered.

"How can I be sure that you are not lying?" he asked. "What if you think that I'm too pure for this world or whatever." Lovino froze and looked down at him.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"Am I too pure for this world?" Feliciano asked. Lovino shoved him off, trembling. The color drained from his brother's face.

"Lovino?" he asked. His older brother slowly backed out of the living room.

"Lovino? What's the matter? Lovino? Lovino?" Feliciano asked. The older Italian disappeared out of the room without a single word. His brother felt his stomach tie up in knots as he sank to his knees.

The Wasteland's poison started to spread to the younger countries. Up until now, the Italian brothers had no idea what was going on. Feliciano had a feeling that something was wrong between Ludwig and Kiku. He hadn't seen his friends in weeks. Ludwig wound up in the hospital. Kiku was still locked up in his house. Sena wouldn't let anyone talk to him. Gilbert wouldn't tell him what was really going on.

"You do not need to know what is going on," he said. "The less you know the better." That only heightened Feliciano's worry. It wasn't just the axis powers sinking into despair. The allies started to share the same troubling behavior that Ludwig and Kiku would showing. Arthur had become withdrawn just like Kiku had. Yao and Francis tried to put on a brave face. Ivan disappeared out of the room to make phone calls. Only Alfred didn't have a clue of what was going on. Nobody wanted to tell them what going on either.

That wasn't the only problem that he and his brother had.

-Feliciano-

He had other dreams that disturbed him too.

First off, he was girl living in Venice. Maybe it was Naples. This had to be the start of 1981. This girl as him came from a rich family. Her parents loved her dearly. She practically had everything. Great friends, a nice home, loving family, very attractive looks, and a nice guy that fancied her.

But, it was all a beautiful façade.

It hurt for her to smile. She felt like crying every day. Only her mother knew of her pain. She already lost a son. Her mother was determined not to lose her daughter either. She tried to get the best help that she could for her only daughter.

"How are you really feeling today?" the therapist asked. The answer was never the truth. The pretty little rich girl would always smile and crack jokes. Anything just not to talk about the pain. The therapist would ger frustrated at the end.

"Listen," she said days before the end. "I can't help you if you won't talk to me. You can't pretend you aren't sick. This sort of thing never goes away." By this point, the pretty little rich girl had gotten worse. She stopped going to school and cut off all contact with her friends. The crying and the medication wasn't helping either. She decided that there was only one way out.

These dreams further confused Feliciano than the ones where Lovino was murdering him. He was sure that he was always male all of his life. The more he thought about that, the more Feliciano found himself unsure. The Italian man rubbed his forehead.

"I don't know what's going on anymore!" he wailed.

-Lovino-

Feliciano's words stirred something deep and dark inside of Lovino. Actually, it had been there for quite sometime. He too had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Antonio kept trying to shut him out just like everyone else was.

"This should not concern you, Lovino," he said. "Don't ask me any more about what's going on. It's something bad. Really bad. Just stay out of it, please." The way the Spaniard said it was filled with fear. Usually, Lovino would get mad at him for keeping secrets and shutting him out. But this time, instinct told him to stay away. And he started to get a feeling that he could see the reason why.

For, Lovino himself started to have visions.

He couldn't see anything around him. But, it felt so warm. His whole body felt like it was underwater. But, he wasn't alone. There was another body next to him. They could hear sounds. They came across so low, so muzzled. He could hear a woman's voice.

She sounded so happy. She would sing to them, talk to them. She kept saying different names aloud.

"What should I call you?" the woman wondered aloud. She talked about what they would grow up to be. She even planned everything that they would do once she met them. But, something was not right.

His body was getting weaker while the other body got stronger. The other body grew and lived every day. His body was growing too, but the other body took everything from him. He struggled to stay alive with a strange fear gripping him. When he stopped hearing her voice, he knew that he would not last.

He was in another place. This time, he was looking down. He could see everything. He was able to put a face to the woman's voice. She sounded a little more sad than when he was in the darkness. Though the other body was still alive, it wasn't what she had hoped for. He would see that other body be born and live a comfortable and rich life in Venice. He wished that he had that life as well. But, the other body never seemed happy.

It wouldn't be long before that other body joined him in the sky.

Lovino sat on the floor with his knees to his chest, trembling.

"Damn it, Feliciano," he cursed himself. "Why did you have to bring things like that up?" What made him kill his brother? Where did he get the gun? Would he even be able to pull the trigger if it came down to it?

The poison of the Wasteland didn't end there.