Chapter 2: A Mint Colored Dress
The morning was rather woeful for Holy Rome. Turmoil was like a cloud clinging to the atmosphere around him, making the stifling hours within the classroom even more terrible than it already was. The teacher was a nice woman by the name of Byzantium. It took the class of eight several attempts to even get remotely close to it. The olive skinned teacher simply smiled, little dimples blossoming on her cheeks. She brushed the chocolate brown hair from where it grew into her eyes and informed them that they could simply call her Mrs. Santium, as it was the easiest pronunciation for the young nations' mouths. A few of the students within the azure walls were just learning the languages of their countries, and had yet to become familiar with the internationally used English.
Holy Rome tried to focus elsewhere than the mint colored dress that was a mere inch away from him. Instead he trailed his eyes along the walls of his classroom. The pale cyan stretched across the walls like a long piece of fabric, wrapping around wires leading into the classroom and looping under the marker boards before stopping at the chestnut door. The class was sitting on a brown rug that was far more comfortable than the wooden floors that creaked when someone put too much weight on it. A blond boy with the brightest sapphire eyes exclaimed someone could fall to the basement, causing his twin brother to respond that it wasn't true. Mrs. Santium lined the walls with pretty pictures of the alphabet and colors and numbers alongside huge scaled maps of the entire world. At one point during the 'meet and greet' section, the teacher eagerly pointed out the territory that was her, remarking on stories of how things used to be. She plots her finger right on a rather scrawny looking country that was claimed mostly by the Mediterranean Sea. She explained that the country was known as Greece, and that was her son whom she loved dearly. Holy Rome liked her. It reminded him of a much more calm and subtle form of his brother. With her ivory dress and a positive glow about her, the young nation wondered if she happened to be an angel. That was until he felt his hand being nudged. His body seized up as he turns to look at the face of the girl so strategically placed beside him.
Her cheeks were rounded and dusty a rosy color that made it appear as though as she was blushing. Her long eyelashes patted her skin each time she batted her beautiful molten brown eyes. Her eyebrows were knitted together in confusion, and her eyes were a vat of sadness, confusion, and concern. She cupped Holy Rome's hand in her small, pale ones, cradling it like it was a lost child. The Empire shudders, goose bumps rising along his skin. He did not want to speak to the girl he had practically abandoned. But the girl thought differently. Her mind was a loose merry-go-round, spinning so rapidly she could hardly keep up with her own thought process. Luckily for Holy Rome, Mrs. Santium decided to pass the rest of the hour before lunch by introducing each other one by one, interrupting the young girl before she could say a word.
"Since we are going to be a family here, we need to get to know our family better." She smiled, her dimples echoing it, "So who would like to introduce themselves and tell me one thing about themselves?"
The blond boys hand shot up instantly, waving it around so furiously it could've fell off. Mrs. Santium intentionally missed his hand for a few minutes before he instantly said, "Pick meeee."
She chuckled quietly, inviting the boy to stand before everyone at the front of the classroom.
"I'm America and I'm the hero!" He jeered, raising his fist up as a smile plastered its way onto his face.
Mrs. Santium claps her hands respectively as the boy took his seat. The twin took his brother's place, nervously swaying back and forth on the balls of his feet as though as he could avoid the event all together. He murmured something along the identifiable lines of 'Canada and I like' before scurrying back to his seat marked purposely with blue tape. The duo was nurtured greatly by an older sibling that was also reluctant at their separation. They were treated well never the less, and revealed in the fact that they are loved so dearly. The next student was a girl with a particular gaze that fazed all the children within the room aside from the teacher. In a bored, monotone voice she announced she was Belarus, and that she enjoys spending time with her older brother. Belarus was one of the older children within the class, which displeased her greatly. The lower classmen were separated from the upper, meaning she was apart from her dear brother for half the day. This inner turmoil however will be kept a secret for a time being. A little boy with ebony hair stiffly stands in front of the eight pairs of eyes, looking everywhere but them. He curtly answered that he was Japan where the sun rises, and he did not have anything to tell us about him. Japan was more of a closed off child, which causes his older brother to purse his lips in frustration and shake his head. With hardly a friend aside from his abundance of siblings, Japan was most defiantly the loner of the classroom. A boy who had similar characteristics to the previous country, like the sharp nose and the deep set eyes was Korea. Korea explained without a moment's hesitation that he invented everything in the world, shocking most of the children into believing the fib. Mrs. Santium crosses her arms, but does not smother the child's imagination.
The next child, dressed in rather large boys clothes steps up. Holy Rome remembered vaguely the brother that defended the girl so protectively during the time they spent together. It surprised him a little that he was now wearing boy's clothes instead of the matching dress with his sister. The boy's name clicked in his head as he said it, a fraction of Italy dubbed Romano with a love for tomatoes and siestas. Romano's eyes narrowed as the despicable return of the Holy Roman Empire. He knew there was nothing to trust about the battle hungry nation, and he had been proven right the very day he had abandoned his sister.
Holy Rome had yet to find out the so called girl was not so feminine after all.
Romano invited his sister to join him, and the Empire was quick to advert his eyes. Her little voice rang out across the room, piercing Holy Rome's heart like sword. She was called Italy and she enjoyed pasta and paintings. Romano then pulled his sister to set beside him, giving little relief to the flustered country on the back row of the room. He wanted to learn about the other countries of the world, but it was becoming difficult do the fact that she was in the room, practically mocking him in the face like it was proclaiming 'you cannot escape from the past you did once face'. With his breath again getting snagged in his throat, Holy Rome shakingly walked to the front of the classroom, being the last student to introduce himself. His few moments of silence were answered by encouraging words from Mrs. Santium, urging him that there was nothing to fear. They were all family within the folds of azure walls.
Trying to collect as much breath as possible for the few words he was about to speak, Holy Rome wondered vaguely if he would pass out from breathing so rapidly.
"I am the Holy Roman Empire and I…" His eyes connect with Italy's, blue contracting amber that made Holy Rome's stomach churn violently. "Abandoned Italy!"
In a flurry of black like that day two autumns ago, Holy Rome bolts from the classroom at breakneck speed, desperately in search for a bathroom. Luckily, one was stationed nearby. The door clattered shut behind him, unable to stifle the sounds of him retching. Mrs. Santium dutifully followed him, occasionally knocking on the door to make sure he was alright. It wasn't long before the teacher had to dismiss the little ones for lunch. Quickly informing the empire that she would return, she goes back to the classroom. She hurries and wraps up the section, telling the students that she enjoyed walks in the Autumn Grounds each morning. She told them more fine details of her son, Greece, and little America inquired his whereabouts. As the bells rang, Mrs. Santium explained that he was ill and could not attend school. She promptly released the children, explaining that no matter what they were not allowed to leave the Autumn Grounds. One country however stayed behind.
It was the little country with the mint colored dress and cheery voice that pronounced Italy with pride.
Mrs. Santium called Prussia, receiving his voice mail the first three times before an actual voice. She explained the situation to the brother with Italy standing nearby. Prussia's responses were kept simple with Okays and uh-huh. Once the teacher finished her story, Prussia said he would come a get his brother the moment he let out for lunch.
A pale faced nation snuck out of the bathroom before Mrs. Santium could return, quickly retreating to the Autumn Grounds before he could be stopped by any school personal. Holy Rome allowed his feet to carry him away from the gut clenching fear he felt gnawing at him, hissing out the truth in such a bitter way that the Empire's eyes stung with tears. Tripping on a hidden root covered by the beautiful tie dye of autumn, he laid sprawled out on the ground for a moment. He was so close to the water's edge that the mirror surface reflected his face ashened by a recent retching and the full realization of what he had done to poor Italy through the course of the two years he ignored her. Holy Rome cries bitterly, his tears dripping and shattering the perfect unity of the water's surface. For many months, Holy Rome denied all feelings for the young nation; but like a cruel twist of karma, they have come back in full undeniable force. Tearfully, the young country retrieves his phone, clicking through the pictures until right before his eyes was the photo he had taken that morning. Could he be happy like his brother? Or would there just be more pain and suffering along the road? With no one to answer his questions, Holy Rome curls up next to the water and allowed his weariness to overtake him.
Aside from his past, something else began to haunt Holy Rome in his sleep. He imagined a young boy treading along the icy pond of the Barren Ground, skating as best as he could without an actual pair. Holy Rome nearly screamed with the cracks as they echoed throughout the night, and the ice shattered around the boy, drawling him into the chilly mouth of the water. He thought for a moment that the black clothes were his; that the blond hair and blue eyes were his; that the boy was him, slipping into the depths of the pond to never be seen again.
Prussia's adventure was a fun and rather scary one. He responded to the young countries teacher as fast as he could, but the moment he entered the building she exclaimed Holy Rome was no longer there. Prussia trudged through all the buildings acquired by the World Academy before tackling the vast expansion of the Autumn Grounds. In certain areas the wood was dense, making it even more pressing that he searched thoroughly in order to locate his missing sibling. His mind was racing with all the possibilities, all of which were bad, of what could've happened to Holy Rome. His heart could rest soundly when he say the little boy asleep amongst the various colored leaves, clutching his phone in a death grip. Trotting over to him, he kneels next to Holy Rome.
Shadowing him behind a tree plagued by autumn's beauty was a small nation, whose mint dress could not be hidden behind it.
Historically speaking, I'm not trying to be accurate. I'm using the characters I want when I want them lol. There is some reason behind the madness~
-Soul Spirit-
