YAAAY. Quick update! Cool! Okay. I know. The timing of it is really off. Cause like Pompeii was destoryed waaay before HRE. So just... be awesome about it ;) Don't own anything! Also, I decided to put lyrics before each chapter that I think fits! YAAY

ARPK


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Though this color already faded, I want to convey to you
Even if it holds no meaning at all
If you say "dawn won't come", I'll pretend I can't hear
I wonder if, I'll be able to laugh someday

-Celluloid


Chapter 2: Pretending to be Someone New

I awoke in a swaying motion. I opened my heavy eyes to find myself to be looking at Feliciano. He was still fast asleep. I sighed. I had spent four days on this boat. I've never been around so many people that seem to love me, yet why did I feel so lonely?

I spent first two days by myself crying. I thought I would spend the rest of my life sobbing, until Lovino came and talked to me.

"I know this is very terrible, but you need to brace yourself for the new world you about to enter. You need to be strong. It's time to start a new chapter of your life." He said. I nodded slowly as he wiped my tears away.

Once I had cleaned myself up, and washed my red face off, I managed to go and introduce myself to the people on the ship. Besides my fine white dress, I had no other clothes. And honestly, it smelled like ash, which is the last thing I needed to be reminded of.

Feliciano had given me a pair of pair of pants and a shirt. It was weird being in pants.

And so, I went out and introduce myself. There were many strange faces on the ship. There was a tall looking man was black hair and glasses, a girl with wavy brown hair, and a tan looking man with dark brown hair.

"This is my little sister Pompeii!" Said Feliciano, shoving me forward. Why did he just call me Pompeii? I decided not to ask, although every time I heard the name I felt a piece of me inside had been crushed.

"Pompeii, this is Austria, Hungary, and Spain." They smiled at me politely while I stood there motionless.

Today was pretty much a blur. I helped Hungary with the cooking, and that's about all that I remember. Lovino told me to go to sleep. I laid in Lovino and Feliciano's bed by myself. I laid silently until I heard a small talk outside my door. They were starting to get noisy. It was too hard to ignored.

I silently walked over and put my ear near the door.

"Pompeii was the only to make it out alive?" I could hear my brother whisper.

"Yes, some of her people actually survived. But, other kingdoms such as Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae, did not survive." Said the hush voice of what sounds to be Austria. Some people made it out alive? How? Did maybe-

"All of them, died?" Asked Feliciano sadly.

"Yes. Did you know them?" Asked Austria.

"We never got to know really of them except for Pompeii. They weren't by blood any of our siblings." Why do they keep calling me that?

"Does she know about… you know…?" Asked the Spanish voice of Spain.

"Not that we know of." Said Lovino.

"How could she not have known? You never told her? Are you serious? Don't you think it's weird that she never noticed that she hasn't aged? Huh? That was completely cruel of you not too!" Shouted Hungary. I could hear her slam her hands on the table.

"Shh! The poor girl is sleeping! Do you how hard it is to see your city be crushed?" Asked Spain. I gripped tightly onto the night gown Hungary had lent me. I could hear a sigh from Austria.

"You guys, this is not what were are discussing. Italy and Romano can tell her on their own free time. But here's the main question. Where is she going?"

The room was silent for the moment. I was still wondering who Italy and Romano were.

"I can barely handle Rom—I mean, I don't think the boss would be happy if I took another in." Spain said nervously.

"Austria-Hungary is preparing for battle right now. We can't put her in the middle of this."

"Then where is she going?" Said Feliciano. The room, once again was silent. Was I really causing this much stress? I started to feel guilty in the pit of my stomach.

"I—" Hungary paused, in a rather thoughtful way. "I think I might… know someone who could take her in." She said quietly. The room was silent when she finally squeaked the name.

"Prussia?"

The entire room broke out into chaos.

"There is absolutely now way you can leave that poor girl in the hands of that sick freak!" Yelled Austria.

"The creepy guy with the red eyes? He's suck a freaking weirdo!" Said Lovino concerned.

"He's such a perv too!"

"All he ever does is say how awesome he is!"

"He's not even awesome!"

"He's a stuck up bast—"

"Just for a little bit you guys. And once you get past this jerkiness, he's a really nice guy!" Said Hungary.

"Mr. Prussia doesn't seem too bad." Said Feliciano slowly.

"I guess he's not such a bad guy once you get to know him." Said Spain.

"I don't think… We have any other choice. That is, if Prussia takes her." Hungary said. The room went silent.

"Then it's decided. We should be there by tomorrow morning." Said Spain.

I felt my heart stop beating. How could my brothers leave me with some crazy man? This sounded terrible. I heard foot steps coming my way, so I silently jumped back into the bed.

"Shh, she's sleeping!" Whispered Feliciano and Lovino. It was pitch dark when the closed the door. I opened my eyes just a little to see what they were doing.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Asked Lovino taking his shirt off.

"I'm sure. She'll heal over time. Just like I did."

"Don'ta be a drama llama Feli."

Soon, they came into bed, laying on each side of me. I shut my eyes tightly and pretend to be sleeping.

"I love how she looks just like us." Said Feliciano in a hushed voice. Lovino shrugged.

"She has my eyes." Said Lovino looking at me. My eyes were closed, but I could feel their eyes looking at me.

"No she doesn't! She has mine!" Whispered back Feliciano

"How the heck would we know? You always have your god damn eyes shut anyways!"

"Shuuuutttt uppp!" Whined Feliciano. I wanted to tell them I had hazel eyes, meaning they were both green and brown, but I kept my mouth shut. I had to rest myself for tomorrow.

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I woke up the next morning, in a daze. I rolled around to see Feliciano's face inches away from mine. Of course, he was snoring in an obnoxious way. I sighed, to see Lovino getting changed.

"Morning Bro." I said as I sat up straight. It was really awkward, because was in the middle of putting his pants on.

"Go back to sleep!" He said. Not know what to do, I laid down and again and closed my eyes.

"You can now wake up again." He said. This time, he was fully dressed.

"I'm your sister, what's the big deal?"

"Because. I like privacy. Now get dressed. I laid out some of Feliciano's clothes. It will do until you get to Prussia's house."

"Okay…" I said. He left the room, leaving me to get changed. I was just about to place my shirt on when Feliciano rolled over.

"Pompeii, come here." He said. I slowly approached him.

"Why do you call me Pompeii?" I asked softly.

"Because, you are the keeper of Popmeii. It was your job to protect your city. Just like how I protect the Northern part of Italy." He said is a sleepy voice. Guess I failed that, didn't I?

"Oh…" I said awkwardly. For some reason, this seemed normal to me. I didn't know why. I could believe it. I wanted to know more about this strange thing, but I guess I would have to hold my questions till later.

"Anyways, I'm not going to get off the boat. I wanted to say goodbye." He said sitting up. I was holding my shirt over my chest. It was sort of weird.

"I want you to be safe. I'll come visit you soon. Prussia is going to be teaching you how to become a strong county. You'll find your place Rosetta, I know you will." He said kissing my forehead. I bent down and gave him an awkward-I-have-a-shirt-covering-my-chest hug.

"Baii! Say hello to—" But he was already sleeping again. I sighed, placing the fancy shirt on. I could have passed as a young boy if my hair didn't reach my back, and my chest didn't stick out so much. I combed out my messy bangs from my forehead and walked out.

"I'm… ready."

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I won't lie. I held Lovino's hand the entire walk through the busy city.

"This is Prussia. I have no idea what he's doing with you, but you may be staying here." He said. I held onto his hand tighter.

"Don't worry too much." Said Hungary, who tagged along with us. Apparently, she used to know him very well. The place we were going was just a little past the city.

I nodded. As we walked by, I saw a man selling a rose ring. I stopped for a moment and stared at it. Lovino had given me some clothes, and packed along with the dried up rose ring that still smelled like ash.

Hungary looked at me for a moment, then went over to the man. She gave him a coin, and brought the rose ring over to me.

"Here. You look lovely." Said Hungary. I felt like I was going to start crying again.

"Thank you Miss Hungary!" I said hugging her tightly. She smiled sweetly.

"Your welcome." She said happily. I now held both the hands of Lovino and Hungary.

We had been walking for a very long time until we reached the gates of a big castle. I had never seen anything so big before.

"Romano, this is it." She said at the gate of a castle. 'Romano? That must be Lovino.'. I thought to myself.

"Okay. Are you sure this going to work?" He asked. She nodded heavily.

All three of us walked in. As we walked, we were shot weird looks. I guess it's very uncommon to see a girl wearing pants? I wasn't too sure.

Soon, we reached a large room. I had never seen anything like this before.

"Please tell Gilbert that Elizabeth would like to speak with him." She said loudly. The castle guard nodding and hurried into another room.

Soon enough, an angry looking man with silver hair walked into the room.

"You! What do you want?" He asked as he walked towards us. He looked at all three of us. Hungary stood in front, her arms crossed. I stood in the back with Lovino, holding his hand still.

"How are you Prussia? I was hoping to strike a deal with you." She said in a sweet tone. I looked back and observed the man.

"You brought the Italian and a little girl, huh?"

"Listen to me. This girl just lost her entire kingdom. She didn't even know she was a keeper!" He walked past her to get a closer look at me. He had the most fierce red eyes I had ever seen.

"Ahh, would this be Pompeii? I just heard a report about that." He said while staring at me.

"Yes. No one can take her under their wing."

He then smirked.

"I see, I see, so… you came to the GREAT and POWERFUL Prussia to have him take over?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She said waving her hand.

"Well, lucky you, I'm just starting to train Saxony and Bavaria in a few days. She can join if you want. But she's going to pretend to be a little boy. Sound fimliar Hungary?" He with a grin. Hungary frowned at him angrily. I felt my face turn white. Bavaria?

"Well you show her how to be a keeper? In all seriousness?" Asked Hungary.

"Yeah, yeah. Only because you thought I was awesome of too, I guess." He said with a small smile. Hungary and Lovino rolled their eyes.

"Promise you'll protect her then?" Asked Lovino.

"Yes, but you must remember~ SHE'S UNDER MY RULE!" The two sighed. This was a big move, but they were ready.

"Okay. But I want access to visit her with my brother whenever I want! She is my sister!" Lovino said, speaking up.

"Fine, fine. I don't have a problem with that. In that case, be off, leave the girl."

The nodded. I gave one last final hug to Hungary, and a kiss from Lovino.

The room was silent when the walked out. The guards all left, leaving and the silver haired man and I alone in the large room.

"Come forward." He said pointing a finger towards me. I took a gulp, and took a step forward.

"Well, if I train you, you must act like a man!"

"I'm a chick." I said flatly.

"That's besides the point! First off, you should cut off your hair!" He said pulling a dagger from his pocket.

"No! Stop!" I shouted before his top reached my silky waves. I pulled a ribbon from my pocket and pulled my hair up in high pony tail.

"Better?" I asked.

"I guess you could pass as a guy." He said narrowing his eyes at me. I lowered my eyebrows at him.

"We're going to need to pin up your chest. I don't want people think of you as a weakling." He then came around and pulled the small curl. I had just about had it with this guy until my felt my whole face heat up.

"Stop it!"

"Just like your brothers, that is your weak spot, eh? Good to know." He then went back to to walk around me.

I shut my eyes and sighed. Is this what it's really come to?

"You'll be training with two other boys. My brother and I are in charge of couching you. I have a room for you upstairs. NO ONE MUST KNOW YOU'RE A GIRL!" He yelled frantically.

"Si…" I said sadly.

"First off, you need to learn fluent German! Obviously a lot of people speak Italian, like myself, but you must learn German." I sighed. Greeeaaaaaattt.

"Ay ay." I said saluting sarcastically.

"You'll be sharing a room with Bavaria." He said. Every time I heard the name, I felt a plunge of guilt. Why him? Why did if have to be him? Out of all the people, why did I have to meet up with this fool again?

"I have to share a room with a boy?" I asked bitterly.

"You must learn to act like him. This can be a test. He can't know you're a girl."

"You expect me to share a room with a boy… and not tell him a girl? Are you serious?" I asked.

"It's a training thing, darling. Now! I shall have a guard show you to your new room! If you need anything let one of them know, okay?" He said walking out of the room.

I followed one of the Prussian guards up the tall sets of stairs, till I finally reached the top floor.

"This is your room." He said opening the door. I nodded and thanked him. He soon left me alone in this room. The room was built up from a tower, giving you a wide view of Prussia.

I ran to the window and opened the glass, letting the fresh breeze pour in. The wind was a lot strong then I thought, blowing the roses and the ribbon from my hair back onto the floor of my room. I wasn't a little boy anymore, I was just Rosetta. It was a great feeling. I rested my hands on the sill of the window and stuck my head out, shutting my eyes. I wanted to pretend I was back home, but I knew it was too cold for it to be Italy.

I opened my eyes to see the rolling grasslands, and the bright blue sky. The puffy white clouds spread across the sky, blocking the sunlight. You could see the town from here. If you look south, you could see a river, and a forest. But mostly, it was just large grassy hills. It looked wonderful. I would do anything to just run through them. To be free. Yet I feel like a prisoner here. The wind now pulled at my hair, making the wind suck me from my room.

I sighed. I thought of how the Gardener would have loved it here. I sighed, and put my hands to my face.

I tried really hard to cry, but I couldn't help it when a tears splashed out. I took a deep breath, and looked towards the window again. I felt like my tears had just been stolen to the wind, and used as rain.

I looked down at the very bottom, following one the tears as hard as I could with me eyes. I saw three boys walking in. They all had blond hair and were very tall. As I looked down, I saw one boy look up right at me. My eyes grew large, and I ran behind the wall, where he couldn't see me. I was pretty high up, but it was hard not to see his periling eyes. The green ones made contact with my hazel ones. I watched as they grew large. I swiftly jumped down and closed the windows, making sure I was unseen.

Quickly. I put my hair back up in a pony tail, and found a cloth to wrap my chest in. I sighed, when I looked in the mirror. I could really pass as real boy if I tried hard enough. I had a very femine face, but so does my brother, and last time I check, they were guys. I couldn't fail Prussia. For some reason, my heart started to beat a ultra fast light. I needed to calm down. I closed my eyes for a moment.

Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself.

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; A ; Pompy! It's okay!

Thanks for reading! I love listening to the music from Joe Hisaishi while reading this. It just makes it super epic! Seriously! The Castle in the Sky theme is perfect for this! YAAY! Thanks for reading! Review if you can! xoxo

ARPK