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Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers: Hetalia. It rightfully belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz. I merely own the AU plot and setting. Additionally, I'm not an expert on teaching and blindness, and all information stems from observation and speculation. Please do not reference.
Enjoy!
Nihilism
"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
—Corinthians 5:7
Eventually, Francis and Arthur had enough of pubs and alcohol, and they left. But they were in a dangerous situation. Arthur was drunk, and Francis couldn't drive, even though he was much less intoxicated than Arthur. One unwilling to leave the other alone to defend for himself, they decided to stick together, and walk, to Francis' flat, which was only two blocks from the pub. Throughout the short journey of 10 minutes, Arthur was fighting against Francis, shouting to the sky about how stupid Francis' flat was going to be, and how stupid Francis was, and how stupid he was to be too drunk to drive home. He was still unwilling to leave Francis alone, however.
The short walk through cool, night air did Arthur some good though. Once they arrived to Francis' flat and Francis was feeling his way through his pockets for his keys, Arthur no longer shouted curses to his companion's very existence. The alcohol was slowly wearing off, and Arthur was returning back to his senses, even though his cheeks glowed bright red.
Francis found his keys and unlocked the door. As courtesy, he allowed Arthur to walk in first; however, Arthur just glared at Francis and shoved him into the room first. Arthur followed close behind Francis and groped through the darkness for the light switch.
The lights flickered on. Arthur gasped. The ceiling of the flat was the most beautiful ceiling he had seen in an apartment building or in any home in general. Heavenly scenes lined the ceiling with tape, each drawn individually in with marker or coloured pencils on laminated pages. Wherever he turned, he saw the sky filled with God, archangels, Jesus and disciples. The most famous scenes stuck out to him, and Arthur, even though he was unfamiliar with the Bible as a whole, was able to pick out passages he had heard from others. He had seen many of these sorts of images before, on the Internet, and he could recognise it like it was on his face. But something struck him as strange. Wherever he turned, he couldn't find the famed and iconic image of the creation of Adam.
Turning and tipping his head back, Arthur asked, "Where's Adam?"
"Oh, you're looking at my ceiling?"
"Yeah. It's beautiful."
"Do you know what it is?"
"The Sistine Chapel."
"Right." Francis tipped his head back, tapping his stick against the floor. "I love the Sistine Chapel."
"Did you draw everything yourself?"
"I did. A long, long time ago. During high school, two friends and I went on an international trip with my uncle to Rome. And every day, we went to the Sistine Chapel, and the three of us adored all of the drawings, and we vowed to recreate each drawing with our own style in order to tape to our ceiling." Francis straightened his head again, tilting from side to side to stretch the neck back out. "The other two finished, but I'm not."
"Oh…"
"But don't worry! I'm still trying to finish it up; I just need to draw the creation of Adam now. I was thrown back a few, but I can finish eventually. Just like Michelangelo, who went blind when he was painting the ceiling after paint dripped into his eyes."
"But…" Arthur hesitated, hating himself. A part of him wanted to tell Francis the truth; Michelangelo never went blind painting the Sistine Chapel. That was only a little fable people made up to show how much of genius he was. But he stopped himself, and said something else. "But you won't get to see the final product."
"I know. I can't even see the original anymore either." Francis started walking forward, his stick tapping against carpet. "But I dream that one morning, I will wake up, and when I open my eyes, the first thing I'll see would be the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, right over my bed."
He stopped, holding his cane with both hands. "One day, I did. I opened my eyes, and I saw the Sistine Chapel—my drawings of it. I climbed out of bed, and walked, and walked, and walked. All I could see was the ceiling. And as I walked, the ceiling rose, further and further away, but I could still see all the paintings as if they were at my nose." Again, Francis tilted his head back, facing the ceiling. "Then I stopped." A thin finger rose up to point at Francis' emulation of the temptation and expulsion of Adam and Eve. "And there, right there, I saw the creation of Adam. The last piece. My favourite piece. It looked just like how I remembered it, and it was still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. So then I lied down on the stone ground, my arms out, and stared up at that ceiling, right at that spot." Francis let his finger fall back to his side. "I could see it again, and I was in heaven. I closed my eyes… I was so happy."
Arthur gulped and closed his eyes.
"But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was darkness."