Familial Affairs

Remember me

Greece was cleaning the house one day, years had passed since he'd run away. France walked over, "so, you must be Greece, right? Dad says you're dangerous, but I've never seen you do anything wrong."
"Well, if I wanted to be, then I very easily could be." He continued mopping.
"No, you don't seem like you could be. Even if you were forced to. So, I was told that you kill your mom, I know that's not true." The blonde managed to catch Greece's attention.
"You do?" He stopped mopping for a moment.
"Yeah. He killed my mom, I watched. He doesn't know that though. I think he only treats you badly because he feels guilty every time he sees you. Because he knows that you've seen the worst in him."
Greece scoffed, "that's a nice thought."
"Romano says that he remembers a time when you lived with Turkey. Why's that?"
Greece glanced down at a ring that he had received from Turkey. It rested comfortably on his thumb, "we did, for a little bit. The first time Rome had burned me I tried to run away to become part of the Ottoman Empire, but I failed. Rome found us." He took the ring off and walked outside with France, "he just let Rome take us away! I told him what Rome was doing! He knew everything! And yet, here I am now.." He tossed the ring as far as he could.
"Listen, don't blame him. It was Rome's fault. Rome killed our moms, Rome tortured you, Rome turned our brothers against you, Rome lied." He smiled softly at Greece, "Rome won't be alive forever."
"You're right. I gotta get back to cleaning, Rome'd kill me if he found out I wasn't cleaning." He took his mop and walked back to where he was cleaning, his mood improved knowing that he wasn't alone.

Greece stared at the ring. He put it down and took a little sculpture of a cat. More memories flashed through his head.

Greece was chained m outside. Romano walked by with a plate of food, he handed it over to Greece, "France said you're not that bad. I want to believe him, but I wanted to hear it from you. What happened to our mother?"
Greece glanced up, "she was murdered by Rome. He had me clean up the mess." He took the food and took a bite.
"Rome said you're a liar." He sat down in front of Greece.
"Ain't that nice." He stared at his little brother. He thought of when Romano was a baby and how he never saw anyone other than him.
Romano got up and left, "he was right, you're just a liar, and that's all you can be."
Greece stood up, "you try getting your ass beat every day! See how you are afterwards!" He glared at him, regretting not letting him die as a baby. He sat back down to eat his food.
A few hours later, Rome walked over, "I've hired some servants. Come with me." He unchained him and stared hatefully at Greece.
"Yes sir.."
He followed him through a town. A child on the street bumped into him though, knocking him to the ground. Rome turned around, "well, you just gonna let him get away with that?"
Greece took a few steps past the child, but he paused. He turned back and took the kid by his arm and tossed him into the ground. The child's arm was broken and he had a concussion. Rome smiled at what Greece was capable of, "come on Greece, we have to go." He continued walking. Eventually they stopped at a colosseum, "it's time you became useful!"
     "What?" Greece stared up at Rome, unsure if he was being serious. He was taken to an arena.
     "You're going to be participating in the life or death gladiator fights. If you survive everything then you might even get to fight the lions." He locked him in and left.
     "Wait! Dad! Why? What have I done wrong?" He tried calling out to him, but it was too late. Rome had left. Greece sat down, defeated. He saw a small wooden block and began nervously chipping away at it.
     His name was called on stage. He walked out and was handed a spear. Greece stared at it and then looked out into the crowd. He saw his brothers and Rome. France looked scared, but everyone else was cheering.
     He heard the announcer call out someone else. He looked up, terrified of who would be his undoing. The man that stepped out was recognizably one of the best gladiators Greece had ever heard of. He held a ball and chain, a well known weapon that normally meant certain doom for those he fought.
     Greece watched as the man charged and ducked the first blow of his opponent. He managed to find a way behind him and jabbed his spear into the back of the man's knee. Greece took his weapon while he was twisting in agony. Greece swung the weapon down on the man's head, killing him instantly. He looked up at where Rome sat with his brothers. They were all genuinely surprised that he had been successful.
     Greece heard the announcer call out another vicious gladiator. Greece had yet again been successful. He didn't like this, but he knew that if he didn't fight back he'd be killed. He wanted to live for his mother's sake. She would have been proud to find out that he had survived his father's wrath.
     The announcer then stated something about lions. Greece stared back at the crowd. Rome was staring at him hatefully. He listened as the lions were released from their cages. There were two females and one male. They were all rather fat and slowly wandered out of their cages. Greece cautiously walked up to one of them. He didn't want to hurt them, they didn't have morals unlike humans. He knew that all carnivores would only kill if they were being threatened. He dropped his weapon and extended a hand. The large cat gently rubbed it's face against his hand. He smiled as he pet her. The other two rubbed their faces against him as well. He laughed as one of them licked him. They weren't killers, just large cats that craved affection like all felines. He caught a glimpse of his father, who looked outraged that he was petting them. Greece smirked at him, he had beaten him at something. He knew that Rome could never face off against a lion, much less three.
     Rome jumped up and got on the arena. He took a spear, "you should kill them so you can go home."
     "No, I could never kill a cat."
     "Is this all a game to you? Just kill them!" He tossed the spear over to Greece.
     Greece stared at the spear then glared at his father, "I said no. I won't hurt them."
     Rome was outraged, "why? What is it that makes you put their lives over yours?"
     "You know that what you're doing is wrong, they don't." He continued petting them.
     Rome tried to take the spear, but one on the lions started growling at him, causing him to step back. Greece took the spear and faced his father, "what do you have against me? I was happy at Turkey's, I was happy with mom, I was happy once! Why did you ruin that for me? What have I done wrong?" He heard the lions start to growl behind him.
      "I didn't think you could be." He lifted his hands up, "I... You knew what I could do, you knew that your mom's death wasn't an accident, you feared me.."
     "Yeah, I know, but so does France. I did fear you, as any child would have. But now, how could I fear someone who's low enough to try to have his son killed, but be too much of a coward to do it himself?" Greece gripped the spear tightly as the lions pounced on Rome, he waited until Rome was screaming in pain before walking over, "I can make them stop if you want me to, but to be honest, I want to see you suffer." He took the spear and stabbed it down Rome's throat. He stared blankly at him, void of all emotion. He slowly began to laugh, for he had finally escaped Rome's wrath. He had avenged his mother.
     He felt a hand on his shoulder, it was France, "Greece, are you ok?" He sounded terrified.
     "I did it! I couldn't be happier!" He stared blankly at France, "why?"
     "You just killed our dad, while vengeance might feel nice now, the weight of what you've done's gonna catch up to you. It always does."
     "I'll be fine, don't worry."