Antonio sat on the roof of the church as he waited for the sun to set. He held the mirror that he had spoken through before and was watching the sunset, waiting. He hoped it wouldn't be too long before he could find out. He could still hear Lovino's evening sermon going on inside the church. It wouldn't be long before Lovino finished and the sun would set. Antonio softly sighed as he looked down at the mirror again. It was starting to get boring just sitting there and waiting. However, the minute to sun was down, the mirror glowed before revealing a distorted face again.
"You there Antonio…?" the voice asked. Antonio smiled a bit as he heard the voice.
"Yes. I'm here," Antonio replied in a slightly quiet but gentle voice.
"…do you really wish to know about that boy?"
"I do… It feels strange not knowing anything about it and why I'm supposed to be protecting him…"
"Alright… but once I show you I can't stop no matter how much you want it to stop."
Antonio was silent for a while before softly sighing and nodding. "I-I understand…"
"Alright…" The image disappeared from the mirror before it started to glow a bright white color. Antonio clenched his eyes shut from the sheer brightness of it before he slowly opened them again and found that he wasn't on the roof of the church anymore but inside a small house. It wasn't that big like the rest of the houses that Antonio had seen when wondering through the town.
"Why don't you learn!" a voice yelled before the echoing of a slap could he heard. This alarmed Antonio and he flew over to where it was coming from. The angel froze in place as he saw a small boy holding his red cheek. A woman was the one who had hit him and that had yelled.
"L…Lovino…." Antonio softly said as he recognized the little boy. Lovino hadn't answered the woman at all as he rubbed his cheek.
"Answer me!" the woman yelled angrily, getting ready to slap Lovino again. Antonio's eyes widened but he knew he couldn't do anything since he knew all of this was nothing but an illusion of what had happened to Lovino when he was a child.
"I HATE YOU!" Lovino screamed before running off, tears streaming down his face as he ran out of the yard.
"Get back here Lovino!" Antonio looked at where Lovino had been before with a worried look on his face. He then turned his attention to the woman who stormed back into the house. Antonio followed the woman inside.
"Mama…." A small child softly said as he, or she, crawled over to the woman. "Where Fwatellwo…?"
"He ran off Feliciano…" Antonio's eyes seemed to widen as he saw Lovino and Feliciano's mother smile down at Feliciano as if nothing had happened. She picked Feliciano up and held him. "He'll be back though."
"…o-okway….." Feliciano mumbled as he looked out the door with a saddened look on his face. The small child wanted his older brother back. Antonio figured, from the looks of it, Feliciano was no more than 2 or 3 years old at this time. He was kind of surprised at how well he could speak at this age. Antonio looked at the scene of the 'perfect' family that the mother was putting on before quickly flying away to find where Lovino had gone to.
Antonio searched through town but couldn't find Lovino anywhere. That's when he came across the church. He was a bit surprised at first but then remembered that Lovino had said that his grandfather used to run it before he passed away. Antonio went inside and saw that there was a man at the altar giving a sermon. He was tall and had messy chocolate colored hair and amber eyes. He was dressed in a cream color priest outfit instead of pure white like Lovino and Feliciano wore. A gold sash was draped over his shoulders like Lovino had. The power of the man's voice surprised Antonio but it also wasn't much of a surprised at the same time since the man looked as though he could lift the small altar over his head without much problem.
Antonio hovered there and watched as the man's voice slowly died down as the sermon finished. There was a moment of silent prayer before the session finished. The people slowly exited before the church was empty again and the man walked out to the back of the church. Antonio followed before hearing sobs coming from where the kitchen was.
"Not again…." The man softly sighed as he walked into the kitchen. Antonio blinked with confusion at the man's words before following where he saw Lovino sobbing in the corner before he was picked up. "What's wrong Lovino?"
Lovino hiccupped as he buried his face into his grandfather's shoulder, his tears soaking the outfit that the man wore. "I hate mom!" the young boy choked out. "She doesn't want me around!"
"Sh…. Grandpa Julius is here…." Antonio watched the scene, feeling a little heartbroken that Lovino was crying so much. A small, helpless child just wanting attention. Was this why Lovino seemed so reserved in things? Antonio then looked at the man who defined himself as Julius and smiled a bit. Julius seemed nice and seemed to know exactly what he needed.
"I hate h-her!" Lovino choked out as he looked up at his grandfather, tears still streaming down her face. "She only… c-car-res a-about F-Felichiano…." Lovino's words were starting to get blurred from him crying so much. Julius kissed his grandchild's forehead before grabbing a slightly damp rag and wiping Lovino's face since his nose was starting to run.
"It's alright Lovino. You can stay here for today. I'll make you some pasta and then we can get Gelato, okay?" Julius smiled brightly at Lovino who nodded slightly in reply before he rubbed at his red, swollen eyes as he was set down at the table. "Stay here and I'll get started." Lovino nodded again as he curled up in the chair and softly sighed.
Poor Lovino… Antonio thought as he watched the scene play out before his eyes. I don't know what I would've done if I were in his situation...
Antonio blinked and, the next thing he knew, he was hovering in a small park where Lovino was not much older than before and crying in a small tree house that was there. Antonio looked up at it before his eyes widened as he saw a familiar figure leaving it.
"N-No…. I…. It can't… be…." he softly said in disbelief as he watched the figure vanish from sight. Antonio rubbed his eyes before looking again and sighing, hoping he was only seeing things. Antonio shook his head and softly sighed before seeing the sun slowly starting to set. He flew up to the tree house and peered inside, seeing that Lovino was asleep. "…guess he's tired…" Antonio gently smiled before sitting on top of the tree house and looking out.
The angel smiled a bit as he saw the sky being painted a variety of colors as the sun slowly set. Antonio smiled, thinking that it was a peaceful scene before looking down and seeing Lovino walking off. He blinked in confusion, wondering when Lovino had woken up before following after him. Antonio continued to follow after Lovino before blinking. He looked up and his eyes widened as he saw that the front door of Lovino's house was hanging open, the hinge barely staying intact at the top of it. As he peered inside, there was no light to allow for him to see what was going on clearly, especially since the sun had already set.
Antonio looked down at Lovino and saw the Italian shaking before darting inside. Antonio was a bit confused by this before he heard an agonizing scream from inside, knowing that it came from Lovino. Antonio quickly flew inside before he covered his mouth as he felt himself wanting to throw up at the sight that he saw before him. Mangled bodies of Lovino's parents. Lovino's mother was sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood while his father was up against the wall where a trail of blood started from high up on the wall and spreading downwards to where the body now rested. Both of the parents' eyes were gouged out and both had many scratches all over their bodies. Blood was still slightly seeping from the eye sockets and head.
Antonio felt himself wanting to gag when he suddenly started wondering what had happened to Feliciano. Surely whoever did this wouldn't try hurting a small child as well, would they? Panic started to fill Antonio when he finally saw Lovino holding his baby brother against him in tears. As the angel looked over, horror struck his eyes and stabbed his heart as he saw the small child bleeding from his head. Luckily, however, Feliciano was still intact unlike their parents. Antonio didn't want to think about this but had no choice since he was the one who asked to see such things. Before Antonio knew it, Lovino had run out of the house with his brother in his arms.
Antonio started following before stopping and looking back at the horrid sight. Glass from vases and cups were scattered across the floor, and the water from the vases were slowly starting to intertwine with the almost dry blood that was spread on the floor. Picture frames were cracked and barely still hanging on the wall. Antonio covered his mouth again before flying out of the house to go after Lovino. Tears fell from the angel's eyes as he searched for Lovino. Seeing such a sight was so disgusting and horrifying that he couldn't take it. Antonio landed before leaning up against a wall, panting. He couldn't stand anymore or fly anymore and just fell to his knees.
Why…? he asked himself as his face became paler than it had been before. Why would someone want to…? Antonio shook his head before getting back up and flying off. He wanted to make sure that Lovino and Feliciano were alright. At this moment, everything was too real for him to think that it was just a mere illusion. The smell of the blood and water mixing together was too real for him to actually think it was as well.
Eventually, Antonio found Feliciano and Lovino in a small doctor's office. Feliciano's head had been wrapped in bandages to stop the bleeding as much as possible, but it seemed as though it was only helping a bit since Antonio could see the blood starting to seep through the bandages. He could also see that Feliciano was attached to a blood IV and an IV drip. If that wasn't enough to make someone want to cry, seeing the older brother sitting on a chair near the bed and holding his little brother's hand crying would probably do it. Antonio felt his heart clench as he went inside, hearing murmured voices from the other room which only made Antonio curious. He looked at the brothers before flying into the other room to hear what was going on.
"You're not serious, are you?" a nurse asked in a soft yet concerned whisper. Antonio looked over at her and saw that she was talking to the doctor that was standing there. His sad, almost tear filled, brown eyes looking at her. He had straight, short red hair and a doctor's white jacket on that was now covered in blood stains, most likely from helping Feliciano.
"I am…" the doctor replied, the tone in his voice not something that anyone would want to hear. "If the bleeding doesn't stop soon then Feliciano will die…" Antonio's eyes widened once again at hearing this. Feliciano was just a small child and he could die? Antonio didn't want to believe what he was hearing.
Antonio fell against the wall before sliding to the ground, holding his head. This was too much for him to handle. He wanted to know so badly before but now that he knew he didn't want to know anymore. Right now Antonio could rather forget it, but he knew he couldn't. He knew, now, why Lovino wanted to forget. It was just too horrible of a past that someone would want to know. Antonio buried his face in his knees, wanting to block out all the noise when the voice of a happy child laughing could be heard. Antonio blinked out the tears that had fallen out of his eyes before looking up to the sight of inside of the church.
The angel blinked a few more times to see if he had been seeing things right before shakily standing up, feeling weak from crying and using energy to keep himself from puking. He walked towards where he was hearing the noise and opened the door to find Feliciano happily playing in the fallen leaves in the garden. Feliciano looked older than he had before and was completely better, making Antonio realize after a while that this was a different part of the past. Feliciano looked to be older, probably around 5 or 6 at this time.
"Ve~ Fratello~! You should come play with me!" Feliciano chimed happily as his head popped out of the pile of leaves he had just jumped into. Lovino followed Feliciano's gaze over to where Lovino was and saw that the older Italian was dressed in a small cream colored priest outfit with a matching hat. The outfit also had a red ribbon on it that traced from the shoulders to the end of the sleeves.
"You know we're supposed to be raking Feliciano…" Lovino commented in almost a monotonous way. In his small hands was an almost adult size rake, though it was slightly shorter. Feliciano pouted.
"But I don't want to! It's so boring!"
"Grandpa asked us too…" Lovino went back to raking as Feliciano crawled out of the leaves and walked over to his brother.
"What happened to you Fratello? I remember that you used to be so much fun a few years ago." Lovino's raking stopped as he slightly looked at his brother before he returned to what he was doing, saying nothing at all. Feliciano pouted again as he fixed his cream colored hat before he grabbed the other rake and started helping his brother. Feliciano was wearing the same outfit as his brother, though his was a bit shorter.
Feliciano probably doesn't remember… Antonio thought as he watched the two doing their chore. Though… why would he? He was so young when that happened… Antonio looked at Lovino with a saddened look on his face. The life filled, chocolate honey eyes he had seen when Lovino was younger was now gone and were no filled with almost no life at all. Even when he had first met Lovino, the life in his eyes was there too. Was it because he had forgotten about what had happened that day?
Antonio really couldn't know the answer to this question but that was the only one that he could think of that could be possible. Not many people would be able to recover from such an experience if it was seen at such a young age. Antonio looked down before looking back up and following the two brothers back inside. The booming voice of Julius could be heard from the other doors. Antonio could tell that the sermon just started from what he could tell.
Feliciano and Lovino made their way to their rooms and closed the doors. Antonio looked at the closed doors before going in to listen to the sermon since he needed a bit of relief to take his mind off of the things he had seen. The angel sat on the window sill where he normally sat when he listened to Lovino's sermons and closed his eyes. The power of Julius's voice and the way that the words were being spoke set Antonio at ease a bit.
Antonio slightly smiled as he realized where Lovino had gotten his speaking from, making his heart swell a bit at the thought. A blush appeared on his once pale cheeks before he shook his head. Antonio took a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes as he looked down at Julius. The sound of his voice, the tone of the voice, and the slight gestures that were used once in a while were making Antonio slowly start to feel better. As his head started to slightly fuzz, making everything blurred, he was snapped out of it by heavy sobbing. The angel's head jerked a bit as his focus came back and he looked down, seeing a coffin in the church. Emerald eyes, eventually, fell upon Feliciano and Lovino kneeling in front of the black, shiny case with streams of tears falling down their cheeks.
Antonio felt his heart clench a bit as his eyes went back to the coffin. He could see something written on it but couldn't read it from his position. Something told him that he shouldn't look, but he was too curious not to look. He gently flew down before stopping and floating backwards a bit as he covered his mouth, his eyes, for the fifth time, widening at what he had read.
'Julius Vargas' was what was written on the top of the coffin. Antonio shook his head as he read the age on it. '65.' That seemed too young for a grandfather to be dying at. As the case was slightly lifted, Antonio could see Julius's body inside but he felt sick again when he saw the body. The eye sockets were stretched and slightly cut but there were no eyes present. Antonio covered his mouth yet again as he felt himself wanting to puke. Whoever did this to Julius must've really hated the family or something.
W-What is going on! Antonio exclaimed in thought as he looked away from the coffin as he saw inside of it more, seeing the stomach wound of the man inside and his organs taken out. So much had happened in Lovino's and Feliciano's life yet Feliciano could still be happy and cheerful as though nothing had happened. Did the younger Italian just not remember or was he trying not to remember like Lovino?
All of this was just making Antonio even more confused than before but it was making him feel sick compared to anything. Antonio had never seen anything like this in his entire life. As an angel, someone would think that he would be but he wasn't. Antonio slid down the wall of the church again and buried his face into his hands, not wanting to see anymore. The next thing that Antonio knew, he felt a gentle breeze pass through his chocolate colored hair.
Once again Antonio lifted his head up and found that he was sitting back on the roof of the church like he had before everything started, which was of great relief to him after seeing everything that had happened.
"Are you alright Antonio…?" the voice came back. Antonio blinked a few times before looking back down at the compact mirror in his hand and the distorted image was there once again.
"I-I'm…." Antonio began to say before falling silent. He wasn't fine, which was what he had wanted to say. After seeing those images and them still being imprinted freshly in his head, he couldn't be fine.
"…I see… Antonio…"
"T-Tell me…." Antonio interrupted as he shook his head to regain his composure. "D-Did I really see… him…?" There was a long, lingering silence that sat between the two before the voice sighed.
"Yes… that was him…" he replied. Antonio looked down, softly sighing.
"I… I was afraid of that…"
"That's why you were sent Antonio… To protect that boy from him…"
"Y-You mean-!"
"Yes… he's planning on coming back and revealing himself to that boy again…"
"B-But…!"
"Antonio… you know what his type does in certain situations…"
"Yes… I know…" Antonio softly replied, hating to admit that he would know such a thing as that. "I understand… thank you…" the image slowly disappeared from the mirror before Antonio placed it away. He looked towards the night sky with the twinkling stars in the sky. The angel slightly smiled as he saw them there but still didn't know what to do anymore. Sure, the sky was relaxing to look at after everything, but he still didn't want to think about it.
How could he…? He thought sadly as he looked back down. He… why did he have to kill their family like that…?
Antonio shook his head before curling up on the roof and falling asleep. He needed time to clear his mind and just forget at the moment. He would just worry about it in the morning when it actually mattered. With those thoughts being placed to rest, Antonio slowly drifted off to sleep.