'ᴛʜᴇ ɢʟᴏʙᴀʟ ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴀʟ' || ʜᴇᴛᴀʟɪᴀ

7

"Alright," Matthew said, "the next one is about Italy."

He scanned down the page, and was surprised to see another name underlined and in bold, and he frowned slightly. He wasn't sure if was a double entry or not, if those were even a thing, so he began to quickly skim-read the pages to check.

"Is everything alright?" Francis asked the silent Canadian. "Do you want me to read it?"

"Oh, no, it's fine." Matthew replied meekly. It was definitely a double entry; they were linked infinitely. "This is actually one from both Italy and Romano."

"Both of us?" Italy repeated, glancing towards his brother. "What do you think it's about, fratello?"

"If you stopped talking and listened, you'd find out, Veneziano." Romano sighed.

Silence filled the room once more, and all eyes were on Matthew, desperately asking him to continue and intrigued as to what they'd hear. It was a double-page spread, so Canada had a feeling he'd be there for a while, but he didn't mind. So long as his thoughts didn't wander to the wrong places and send him down the incorrect paths for a fifth time, he'd be OK. That's what he repeated to himself. It'll be OK.

"Italy, 29th August, 79AD. It has taken four days to reach the site of the city from Venice. I travelled as quickly as I could (and on three different horses) after I felt the eruption."

"Oh... I understand now..." Italy muttered quietly. Romano stayed perfectly mute, for once.

"Looking across what was once a beautiful city, I cannot describe the dreariness, darkness and despair before me. There is ash everywhere. A scary black that has consumed the land."

Matthew knew what he was reading about was the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. He'd never heard either of the Italians in the room talk about it or their experience, so he found it interesting that there was an entry about it, especially from all those centuries ago. And then he realised how young they must've been all that time before; several human years younger than he was now, perhaps.

"I have ventured to the forum, and everywhere I look I can see statues - statues of the city's inhabitants, cast in ash and fear. Maybe the gods were angry with us. If so, I hope they are now satisfied, having murdered the innocent. For once, I believe, I am not truly scared of them..."

"Pfft," Lovino choked, looking to his brother, "really? That's news to me."

"It was never really the same after that day..." Feliciano commented dully. "It don't think I ever went back to respecting the gods with the same conviction after Pompeii was destroyed like that..."

"So, you both believed in the Roman Gods before you were Catholic?" Matthew questioned. He'd never really considered how a change in the country's religion affected its personification. He suddenly felt bad for England.

"Well, Veneziano did." Romano stated. He leant back in his seat, seemingly uninterested in the subject, and he sighed. "I was likely a heathen in our grandfather's eyes. I don't think I ever worshipped one of the ancient gods once. Probably why he didn't like me that much."

"He loved you, fratello, more than he could ever wish to say... You just... Never took the time to notice." Feliciano responded sadly. He had spoken with their beloved grandfather several times about the issue. "You seem to do that a lot, being ignorant to the caring and love that others show you..."

Both Feliciano and Lovino glanced towards Antonio, the older brother doing so only subconsciously, and the trio were locked together for a short moment. Spain, however, looked away within seconds, the chain breaking and the bond cracked irreparably, hearts sinking to their owners' feet in a pool of guilt, regret and sweet sorrow.