Ah, the world meeting. A time for nations to meet with other nations to discuss international politics and catch up after hours.
Marcello remembers a time when there was another function of these meetings. When the brothers and children of the nations would play meeting-hall in another room, and care less about the thoughts of mortality. Yes, he thinks, that was a simpler time.
How long ago was that? He remembered it was long enough for some of the nations to forget they'd existed. Of course, you could still see grief in America's face, and still some regret in England's. But, you'd be hard pressed to get Germany to remember telling Sweden to "get that child under control, we're in a serious meeting here".
Marcello turned into a doorway. Eight empty chairs stood at an empty table towards the center of the room. He remembered Peter and Lars fighting over the chair at the head of the table. And Wendy was telling them to shut up, and Edwin said something about it being an art, of course, and wasn't that when he and Jason and Oscar were trying to have a serious conversation over Go Fish?
He hadn't realized he sat down in his usual chair until he saw the table out in front of him. He hadn't realized he was crying until the tears spread out on the table below him. Maybe, he supposed, he hadn't realized what was happening back then, either. After all, he should've realized not every small nation is like him. He lived the decades before his friends, and here he is decades after.
How long ago was it Edwin left them? It didn't seem much longer they were in Nevada. Who would've figured the great United States could cry like that? Wendy was next, and Oscar was inconsolable. Marcello remembered that as the last time he'd seen him, until a few decades later; but by then, Lars had already shorted out, and Peter seemed old and distant.
And here he was, the first and the last of their little group of friends. Feliciano had tried to convince him to stay home, and Lovino gave him a strangely worried look when he tagged along anyway. Maybe they knew he would just get more upset? He didn't know; nor did he care.
Marcello stood up and went to leave the room. Looking behind him, he could've sworn he heard them, saw them still. But, he continued ahead. After all, the empty chairs at the empty table won't have any meetings any time soon, will they? He'll find his brothers, and he'll go back home. Yes, that's what he'll have to settle for.