Hanging Beneath a Starless Sky [Belgium]

[Italia Veneziano]

With a quiet sigh, Feliciano turned a tired gaze around the sparse landscape. Two days ago, he had managed to get out of the Manor. The entire property might have been fenced in, barring everyone to the numerous acres of land, but he didn't mind. ...Well, he did mind, but all that he had been planning to do was see the sky and get at least a little fresh air into his lungs. Plus, even if it hadn't been blockaded, Feliciano wouldn't dare leave without his brother, friends, and every single other nation trapped in this hellhole. All he wanted was to see the sky for a few minutes.

The Italian just hadn't expected to run into monsters. Nor had he wanted to get lost running from them.

Two days of sitting out, exposed to the elements. Two days of no food. Two days of no sleep. Two days enough paranoia to wind up anyone three times over. Two days of regretting this decision and wishing he was back inside. But finally he'd gone long enough to realize that the monsters weren't after him anymore. The Italian was alone.

Forcing himself into a standing position, muscles protesting the movement after staying locked in place for so long, Feliciano looked around his "safe haven". It was dark, with many dead trees littering the area with the cloying feeling of a horror film hanging over his head. With a quiet sigh, he rested a hand on the side of the tree and turned his gaze to the sky. At the very least, he got that sight he'd been so desperately searching for. Tired amusement colored amber eyes as he stared into midnight darkness--for the cloud cover was so powerful that not even the light of the moon could shine through. There was nothing to see. Nothing to help shake away the heavy hang of this Manor.

It actually reminded him of some nights sitting outside during stormy nights in Roma, long after Lovino would crawl into bed. Taking a step away from the tree trunk and ducking beneath one of the low-hanging nooses, his gaze stayed firmly locked heavenward. Despite the overall stillness, there was a supercharged air to the Manor, as if a storm was perpetually brewing around them. Perhaps that was why it was always so nerve-wracking here. Not only the threat of death, but just the constant tension charging the air.

At least it was less intense outside, with the ability to see further than a few meters before him. He used a gentle grip upon the closest noose to help keep his balance, and turned amber eyes down to glance below the hill. The brunette wondered whether he was the only one who had managed to make it outside.

[Deleted]

All was hushed in the world for a moment. Yet Belgium’s mind was in turmoil. She could not explain what had just happened, how she had got there or where “there” was. All she knew was that she had just stared death straight in the eyes and, somehow, unbelievably survived. It was hard to grasp exactly what had happened in the muddled thoughts in her head, but Belgium was sure of something. They could die in this place. And just that made the blonde feel like she was to faint or vomit... maybe both, at this rate.

Slowly, she pulled herself to her feet, desperately trying to fight against her trembling legs that were tempted to pull her back down from the shock of it all. A shaky breath escaped her lips as Belgium reached down and picked up her weapon and the strange sheet of paper that had suddenly appeared next to it. The next thing she knew, she was walking. Away from the barn, away from the horrors she had just faced. Almost as if she had no control of her feet, the blonde woman went off in a dazed like state.

Belgium almost had no recollection of even walking up the hill. After glancing at the paper in her hands with tired, dull eyes, she had worked out it was some kind of strange map. And apparently wherever she had suddenly ended up was called “Hangman’s Hill.” She shuddered simply at the name of it. Everything in this Manor was corrupt, tainted with a horrible eeriness that seemed to hang over it like the plague. She couldn’t wait to get home.

Emma raised her head, yet her empty, lifeless eyes didn’t take in the ebony, starless sky. They saw right past, gazing into the silent as they tried to search for a glimmer of freedom and she tried to block the memories of what had just happened. It had really shaken her up badly, and that was an understatement. Never before had she been left feeling so hollow. Like she was nothing more than a fragile shell that was about to break at any given second. The last fragments of sanity would probably soon slip right out of her grasp.

Her gaze lowered and focused on a figure ahead of her. It took a moment for Belgium to process what she had seen, but there was no mistaking a curl that seemed oh so familiar. Tiredly, her eyes blinked, as though finally adjusting to the fact they were taking in their surroundings. For a minute or so, they remained transfixed on the figure. Belgium recognised him... yet couldn’t place who it was. She must be losing her mind. How could she forget who it was with such a distinctive curl--

“Romano.”

A tear slipped out of her glazed eyes as she ran forward, instantly dropping both crossbow and map to the ground without a second thought. Her trembling arms reached out and wrapped around "Romano" in a desperate hug, as though she was clawing at any last chance of contact she could. The familiar presence was all she needed right now. Pulling herself into the figure, she clung onto him in a shaking embrace and lowered her head, burying it into his shoulder as the tears began to pour, flooding down her face in a torrent of sorrow and fear.

“Romano,” she sobbed, her words muffled by his costume and the tears. “Please don’t push me away. I know you hate being hugged but... but... please.” Her shoulders shrugged up and down as a small hiccup came from her, as though she could hardly breathe and was drowning in her own tears. What came next was said so faintly, so distorted by her voice breaking that it was hardly a whisper. “I’m frightened.”

[Italia Veneziano]

His stare soon caught sight of someone else lingering out on the grounds. It was too dark to tell who it was just yet, from this distance, but the small size as well as the stillness of the figure belied any thought of the other person being a hostile. It was only that realization that kept his hand from creeping into his shirt and drawing his pistol from its holster. Despite the lack of threat, though, Feliciano did not speak, simply watched. Where he was standing, it would be easier for him to be recognized rather than him straining his sight trying to figure out the identity of the other. And he was not going to make the first move, in case the other did decide to be hostile. Better to stand and watch, and wait--

It almost caught Feliciano by surprise, leaping at him like that. Especially considering that it dropped its only weapon--a old-style crossbow he hadn't seen in use in at least a century. He had just freed his Beretta 92fs and was drawing the hammer back when Belgium burst through the darkness and threw herself around him, sobbing. Freezing in shock at the unexpected revelation, all he could do was stumble back a step to keep his balance and not send them both tumbling to the ground.

"M-Miss Bel-- The quiet, shocked whisper cut itself off the moment he heard his brother's name escape her lips in a trembling sob. In fact, that name alone was more than enough to jolt him into silence, wide amber eyes staring down at the blonde head buried into his shoulder. Had...Belgium just mistaken him for his elder brother? This woman, who knew his brother probably even more than he did, who had spent more time with him than anyone other than Spain, had mistaken himself for a boy she had practically raised from childhood? ...This was a very surreal moment, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

After a few moments of silence, he simply sighed, lifting his arms and hugging the woman back. He was sure she could feel the handgun pressed against her shoulder, but he couldn't put it away with Belgium wrapped around him like this. Nor would he dare drop it like she had dropped her own weapon. He didn't trust this place enough to do so. Who knows what might try sneaking up on them under the cover of this everlasting twilight? "...Mi dispiace, Miss Belgium," he whispered, keeping sharp amber eyes staring straight ahead, sweeping the land around them. "But...I am not Lovi, you're mistaken."

Even though a part of him wanted to play the fool and pretend to be his brother, to help the poor blonde, he couldn't bring himself to. ...It was too upsetting, first of all. He hadn't seen his brother since the world went to hell in a handbasket, so pretending to be him would just make him worry more and more about his brother than he already was and ultimately lead to tears on his own part. Plus, it would only hurt Belgium, in the end. Best to reveal her mistake now, instead of playing along with it until she felt the fool.

[Deleted]

She did not register the feeling of a gun pressed against her back. She hardly even realised that the voice who spoke to her was not the same as Lovino’s. The blonde woman was too absorbed in the gesture of affection at that moment. It was comforting just to be able to cling onto someone... When was the last time she’d been with somebody? Belgium could hardly remember. The last nation she’d seen was Norway, but he was too closed off to help her like this. It had been so cold and lonely before; but now “Lovino” was there! Right there! And he was simply hugging her, but that simple sign of affection was all the Belgian needed in that moment to feel a little bit safer. Just a bit; enough to escape the horrors of this place, even if it only was for a moment.

Instinctively, her hold on the other nation seemed to tighten as she nuzzled her head into his shoulder again. Who would have thought that a European power would be reduced to tears so easily? Yet, here she stood, desperately clinging on in fear the other nation would disappear if she let go as the tears never ceased to fall from her eyes. Belgium was exhausted, which was causing her emotions to go all over the place. But the silence and the Italian’s warmth in that cold night were comforting. Soothing. Her breathing began to slow down; less erratic than before; and she let out the faintest sniff from the folds of his costume.

"...Mi dispiace, Miss Belgium, but... I am not Lovi, you're mistaken."

Emma stiffened in his hold. Her breath was caught in her throat as her eyes blinked in surprise. Had she really made a... mistake? Although it was hardly noticeable in the darkness of the starless night, the colour drained from the woman’s face as she pulled away from the man quickly, her eyes wide and expression stunned from embarrassment. And then, she simply stared at him, pupil’s dilated as though his words had struck fear into her very core.

He wasn't Romano. It was his brother, Veneziano. The silence between the two nations suddenly did not feel so comfortable at all. In fact, it was awkward. Swallowing back a lump that was forming in her throat, the blonde woman quickly reached down to grab her crossbow and face the other nation again.

“I am so sorry, Italy,” Belgium muttered quietly, this time lowering her eyes in shame. How could she have made such a stupid mistake?! “I thought for a moment-- Dieu, je suis une idiote.”

With a shake of her head, the woman rubbed her eyes to dry them with her already torn and tattered sleeve. God, she must have looked a complete mess at that moment; with red eyes and a tear-stained face, along with her hair in a complete mess and her costume practically in tatters... Maybe it was a good thing it was so dark. At least that would hopefully prevent her becoming more embarrassed.

“Italy, I am so sorry. Really.” She turned back to face the man, a small shrug of her shoulders and a tiny forced smile greeting him. “I guess I was just so desperate to find someone I started seeing things...”

Or maybe this place really was causing her to loose her mind. For some reason, that didn't sound so surprising now.

With a sigh, she repeated those exact thoughts to the other without a moments hesitation. “Or maybe I’m just going mad. Maybe we all are.”

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SPOILER: Click to show

*cough* Ahem, please casually ignore the fact it took me... months to reply. orz Reed I am so sorry!!! ;; *hugs*

[Italia Veneziano]

He didn't try to keep his grip on the blonde woman as she pulled away--in fact it was almost with relief that he let his arms fall back to his side and he slid back a step as well. That stare the Belgian pinned on him, though, had him flinching a little. While there was embarrassment coloring her expression, the fear in that green-eyed gaze made him shrink back. She was looking at him as if expecting to see the Italian turn into a monster and lash out.

The tension in the air quadrupled, and Feliciano began to shrink in on himself a little. Shoulders hunched in, and he tightened his grip on the Beretta in his hand. After a few seconds, though, the silence was broken. "I am so sorry, Italy," Belgium said, and Feliciano winced again. "V-Ve, call me Veneziano, Miss Belgium, per favore," he whispered, biting his lower lip. Italy was the title he shared with his brother, and to be perfectly honest he hated the fact he was called Italy but his brother was Romano--after all, Lovi did have the capital, Lovi was the older one. If either of them should be called Italy, it was his big brother. Or at least only call them Italy when they were together. It was a pet peeve of Lovino's for sure, but Feliciano wasn't fond of it, either. "And you don't need to apologize, va bene? It's...not a big deal."

With a shrug, he turned his gaze away, back to the turbulent sky. "Ve, none of us are crazy--a-at least I don't think so. So, please, amica, don't think like that. It's dark, and Lovi and I look alike--anyone would make that mistake from a distance, like you did. Plus, you were upset." The Italian felt a small, falsely reassuring smile tug at the corners of his lips, even though he wasn't fully facing the woman any longer. "You would've figured it out sooner once you'd calmed down, it's fine, ve."

Despite his initial upset, and the lingering feeling of hurt at being stared at with such betrayed fear despite having not odne a thing, it was fine. It was a simple mistake, and when there were no threats against them, it wasn't even a big mistake. So why did she have to be so upset, and make him upset by association?