Mathias jumped to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs. Just above him was a shining figure clothed in gold, white, and touches of red. Their wingspan blotted out the sun at one point upon their descent.
Lovino sighed in annoyance, the sound a little strange coming from the mouth of such a prestigious looking creature. He landed gracefully and approached Mathias daintily, carefully maneuvering his wings above the dirt-covered ground.
Mathias could barely wait and he launched himself in the direction of Lovino, throwing his arms around the winged man exuberantly. "Lovino! You're back!"
"I'm back," Lovino replied gruffly, only pretending to hesitate to wrap his own arms around Mathias. "I told you it wouldn't be that long."
Mathias twitched and retracted h is arms, running them over Lovino's shoulders and biceps. "Vino... you said not that long, I didn't think it would be... six months..."
"Six months?" Lovino blinked at the blond. "It wasn't six months."
Mathias laughed bitterly and moved his hands to lightly grasp Lovino's forearms. Lovino furrowed his brows slightly and Mathias said, "Lovino, I counted every day, every week, every month. It has been six months and four days since you left."
"I..." Lovino didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and he looked about him to solidify Mathias's claim. Instead of the warm colors of spring, of May, the trees were littered with darkly colored leaves. There was a blanket of fallen leaves covering the earth.
Mathias gently rubbed Lovino's cheek at the lost look on the avian's face. Eventually Lovino turned to face the man, grasping his face between his hands and staring into Mathias's eyes. Mathias started slightly at the sudden movement.
"Mathias, I swear to you, I was unaware of the length of time that had stretched. I knew it had been longer than anticipated, but..."
"I understand..." Mathias sighed and leaned into Lovino's touch. "I don't like it, but I get it. I know that time seems different over there... and I know about your responsibilities. This is forbidden and all, right?" Mathias smiled weakly. "Me being a human."
Lovino visibly winced and took a step back, leaving Mathias leaning into thin air. "Yes, this is technically forbidden... but, we have discussed that wonderful topic too many times, let us speak of something else."
Mathias's eyes brightened, if only somewhat, at Lovino's rare but beautiful optimism. "Your wish is my command, oh mighty angel."
Lovino groaned, rolling his eyes to the sky in amusement. "I told you, I am not an angel. I may have wings but there is so much baggage with the term."
"Oh, I know." Mathias winked at the avian cheekily. He started pulling Lovino towards his home by his wrist and Lovino allowed himself to be carted in that direction. "But to me, you're as angelic as they come."
Lovino felt his ears start to turn red and he looked away, smiling slightly at the sound of Mathias's tinkling laughter. This may be forbidden, but he was the happiest he had been in a long time, and Lovino was not going to easily give this up.
Lovino was frozen with anger and humiliation, balling his fists. His feathers moved with his emotions and he did nothing to halt the furious movement of his wings.
"Lovi-" Feliciano cried out, reaching out with his slender hand. He couldn't reach through the bars that kept everyone out of the court except for Lovino, a few guards, and the Supreme Ruler. Nobody knew the name of the Supreme Ruler (or his co-rulers) and he was known only as Rome. Even to his family, he was known only as Rome. Lovino's namesake, coincidentally.
"Romano Italy Lovino. You have broken one of our strongest laws without reproach. This is a heinous crime and you will pay for your actions with, as the law dictates..." Rome started firmly but he stopped and was unable to finish the sentence.
Lovino hated his title. He hated his title, his life- no, he did not hate his life. If it were not for his crash landing in the ravine and breaking his hallow-boned wing he would have never met Mathias.
He was very glad he met Mathias.
"I..." Rome trailed off. With a wave of his hand the bars that Lovino's family, friends, enemies, the entire village of Europa watched through solidified and opaqued until they were a solid wall. Lovino knew that they were now soundproof as well.
"Romano, I..." Rome looked at a loss for words. "I do not understand. You have always been... coarse, but I never would have thought you would stoop to such a level."
"Stop." Lovino took a breath and stared his grandfather in the eye. "Stop right there. With my crime you should not be using my title but as my grandfather you should have never done so anyway. My name is Lovino, my title Romano. Italy, the family name, one of the only family names, I got from you, Rome Italy. My grandfather, who's name I have never known.
"My title is nothing. And you speak so lowly of the humans, continuing the false witches tales and keeping hawks out for safety. I do not know all of the humans, but it is not so black and white as I was taught! There is more than just evil among the humans!"
"I see," Rome said gravely, his worry-filled eyes hardening. "You are naive, Lovino, to both forsake your title and to embrace the humans so fully. They will harm you. I have warned the flock of this many times, yet you still throw away my law. For this you will be ultimately punished. For you have not only disgraced the flock, but you have disgraced the family name. You are no longer part of Europa and you are to be no longer called Romano Italy."
"Great. Stripping me of my titles matters not. I hated being an Italy, and I hated being Romano. Down with the human, with... with a friend, I finally felt wanted," Lovino spat.
"Lovino. You do not understand. By breaking this law you do not have to suffer by being cast out of the flock and sent to live with the humans. That would be redundant, after all." Rome's eyes were chilled as that of a general. Lovino had not seen these for some time, and never directed at him. "No, Lovino. The punishment for this is death."
His blood turned cold. Lovino was not a particularly positive person but for the first time in his life, he had a reason to live.
And that reason was in a different prison for questioning about Lovino himself. Lovino was most likely not going to see him again before Lovino was... executed.
"I..." Lovino gulped in air, his throat closing up. "What of... Mathias?"
"Mathias?" Rome said distastefully. "Is that the name of the human you were cavorting with? Well, I suppose he'll be killed to, he knows too much about our kind."
"No!" Lovino exploded, his vision turning black for a split second. "Mathias can't be killed, he doesn't deserve it!"
"That is your own fault, Lovino. You knew that there would be consequences for dealing with a human," Rome reminded him.
"Mathias didn't do anything! He saved my life, you should be rewarding him! He has a family, a job, a life that he loves, you can't take that away! You can't take-" Lovino choked, the next sentence coming out in a whisper, "the best thing that's ever happened to me... away..."
Rome's wings rose and spanned out behind him. His large wingspan had never seemed so intimidating. "We can take away whatever we wish to take away, especially the life of a human."
Lovino fell to his hands and knees, vision blurring as he stared, terrified, at the ground. Rome approached his trembling figure and leaned in close.
"You made the bed. Now lie in it."
Mathias wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but he was certain about one thing: these creatures had the coolest looking wings he had ever seen. They asked a few questions about what he knew about them, which was to say, a lot, but he did what he did best: play dumb. They gave up asking him after he answered "I mean, you guys are just angels, right?" one too many times.
The prison cell was nicer than a few he had been in before, too. It had mostly clean floors and everything was cold and sharply cut. He felt he was in a strange version of a cave, because he knew caves and this was not it.
He leaned against the stone (what he thought was stone) wall and waited. While he waited, however, he thought about Lovino. He liked thinking about Lovino.
Mathias hummed to himself and wondered what Lovino would do if he were here with him, in the prison. He would probably storm around and pout cutely about getting let out. Perhaps he would mention how awful the conditions of the cell was.
"Human. Stand," the commanding voice of one of the creatures sounded. Mathias rolled his eyes. These things were so pretentious.
"It's Mathias, thanks," he said for the fourth time in ten minutes. Despite this, he stood, and only complained a little (in the most annoying, obnoxiously loud voice he could manage) when they strapped him into a thing and carted him away to a different area.
There were other avians around him at some points and they all stared and whispered. He would have saluted the dozens of observers but his arms were restrained. All he could do was make faces, which received a funny enough response that he was satisfied.
"Human," a rather large avian said lowly. "You are the reason for Romano Italy Lovino's infringement, correct?"
Mathias channeled his inner 'Lukas' and waited patiently for the gag to be taken off his mouth (to his surprise, it didn't hurt in the least, unlike duct tape). "Well, that depends, doesn't it, sir? Mainly on what the infringement was. If the infringement--that's fun word, I should use it more--was on being happy for the first time, then yes. If the infringement was having fun and smiling more often, then I would say yes again. However, there are many cases I would have to say no. Such as, inflicting pain on others, destroying happiness, perhaps even ruining lives? No, he did not make an... infringement. But those laws aren't laws to be broken here, anyway, from what I understand of what is happening right now."
There was a beat of silence before Mathias grinned cheekily and said, "Correct?" in the same tone the imposing avian before him had used. He also thanked Lukas's many (many) lessons on speaking eloquently and using certain loopholes to his advantage. The lawyer's lessons had never been more valuable.
Eventually the avian before him sighed and leaned back. "I do not believe you understand the gravity of the situation, human--"
"Mathias," he muttered. The avian ignored him and continued.
"Because you are not going to be able to see Romano Italy again."
"I... what? Excuse me?" Mathias snapped. "You're going to ban him from seeing me? That's rich and unfair, thanks. Also, what the hell are you doing calling him Romano Italy? He hates his titles."
"I am the Supreme Ruler Rome. I have already decided both of your fates, you should not be feeling so confident."
Mathias curled his lip. "You're Rome? That explains a lot."
The avian, Rome, once again ignored him. "I digress. You, human, and Romano Italy, are not going to see the next sunrise."
There was a pregnant pause.
"You're going to kill us?" Mathias exploded. He saw red. "Just because one of your oh-so-special winged humans became b... became friends with a human? What the hell is wrong with you? This is not the Little Mermaid, this is reality!"
"You are right for once, this is reality. And the reality is that you two are going to be put to death for both of your actions," Rome said gravely.
"What! I-" Mathias was cut off when Rome gestured and a guard slammed their wing into his stomach. He yelled in surprise and pain, but after the initial yells he simply pressed his lips together and glared, not wanting to be less than prime condition for whatever may await him.
Mathias was forced to turn around and was shoved forwards. He stumbled out of the large room and caught sight of Lovino, who was being lead somewhere else.
"Lovino!" Mathais cried out, straining against the avians' tight grips. His muscles tensed and he elbowed one avian in the gut, giving him the opportunity to break free of the other avian's hold and bolt to Lovino, who had turned at the sound of his name and was gaping at him.
"Mathias?" Lovino managed.
"Vino-" Mathias reached for him and frantically brushed his hands over Lovino's shoulders, his arms, his wings, before someone (or something) slammed into him and forced him to the wall, pressing him against it harshly.
"Mathias!" Lovino shifted and pushed against the hands that held him captive. "Stop, don't hurt him! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Lo-" Mathias felt something crush against his windpipe and he choked. "-vin-" Something hard smashed into the back of his knees and he collapsed to the floor. His hands were re-shackled, much tighter than before, and he started getting dragged away.
He twisted hysterically and yelped in pain at a particularly harsh shove. Lovino cried out in response. "Mathias, I never meant for this to happen, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault, I-"
"Lovino!" Mathias said rapidly. "I don't regret- I would do it all over again!"
As he was dragged out the hallway with finality, Lovino swore he heard an "I will stand by you!" hanging in the air. Unfortunately, he didn't get to muse about it and was forced into the interrogation room.
Neither the captives nor the captors noticed the frozen, wide-eyed avian with brown feathered wings standing in the corner, their clipboard clenched tightly in their hands.
"Romano Italy?" A voice sounded from outside of his cell and Lovino scowled.
"I no longer respond to those... wretched titles," Lovino said simply, staring at the stone walls.
"Okay... Lovino, I wasn't sure if you would let me call you by your name."
"Why not? We've known each other long enough; I consider you my... er... my friend, by now," Lovino was proud to say he only stumbled over the word a bit, and he knew it was from the lessons Mathias had dubbed 'destroying denial'.
"Oh! I am... glad, but now is not really the time."
Lovino made an affirmative noise in the back of his throat and said no more. The two delved into a heavy silence, the air thick with things unsaid and their rapid moving thoughts. Eventually Lovino looked up at his companion, his eyes landing on their wings. Before he would have felt envy, but all he felt was deep-rooted sadness.
Their wings were wide and strong, coated in beautiful brown feathers of varying shades that were lined with white. They were perfect for hunting, gorgeous to a fault, and oh-so unassuming until they spread them intimidatingly. It was good for the general population that they seldom spread them intimidatingly.
"Why are you here?" Lovino finally asked, shattering the silence.
They shifted their wings awkwardly and avoided Lovino's searching gaze.
"Antonio." Lovino stated. The man looked at him, his mouth parting in surprise. Lovino rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you're acting like I'm glass."
"You don't like using my name," Antonio said, pressing his lips together and narrowing his eyes infinitesimally.
"I didn't like using your name since it has been drilled into my head to use titles. After... well, now I prefer names. It's more... human."
"We aren't human," Antonio reminded him.
Lovino bristled and turned to glare at the wall. "Do you think I don't know that?" he spat. "It's because I'm not human I am in here, jailed for speaking with someone not of our species."
Antonio moved his eyes from Lovino's figure to the two guards standing a dozen feet away. He looked the other direction and saw two more guards in similar positions. He blinked and worried his lip.
Lovino watched this with confused curiosity. Antonio tended to be an open book, so his random stares and expressions were puzzling. "Antonio, why are you here?" he asked again.
Antonio leveled his gaze with Lovino's and smiled. It was close-lipped and smaller than his usual beams. Lovino simply stared at him blankly. If he didn't know Antonio better, he would say that smile looked a little sad.
Antonio let out a controlled breath of air and stepped away from Lovino. "I... am very sorry for what I am about to do."
"What?" Lovino startled. Antonio ignored him and walked away with a quick stride, approaching the guards. Before Lovino could blink Antonio had opened one of his large wings and smashed it into the face of one of the guards, missing their flesh with his talon by a mere hand width.
Lovino, shocked, could do nothing but stare.
Antonio, using the surprise of the second guard to his advantage, brought their face down to his knee. He leaned down and pressed on both of their brachial veins on their wings, maneuvering his fingers in a way only a trained soldier could. Lovino watched, dumbfounded, as Antonio stalked past his cell again, the two guards out cold, and proceeded to down to other two, who were ready this time, but were ultimately unable to defend themselves against the strongest avian Europa had.
Lovino had known about Antonio's war background. He knew that Antonio was trained, that he was stronger than most, and that he was in actuality more deadly than anyone knew. And yet, with Antonio's common sunshine-y personality, Lovino had never thought twice about it. Now, looking at Antonio's serious green eyes, Lovino swallowed uncomfortably.
Antonio tugged at the lock. "Do you know where the keys are?"
Lovino coughed slightly. "No, I don't."
"Hmm." Antonio merely examined the lock for another second or two before carefully positioning his talon and bringing it down harshly. The metal crunched harshly and Antonio wiggled it until it released, the bars swinging open.
Lovino gaped at him. Antonio held his hand out in offering, the serious expression barely wavering. "We're going to need your speed to get Mathias out."
"Out?" Lovino said in a daze, taking Antonio's hand and following the spanish avian. "We're getting out?"
"I... yes, Lovino, we're getting him out, what did you think I was doing?" Antonio's carefully put together composure cracked slightly and his former demeanor shined through. "I cannot stand our awful justice system."
Antonio lead him down another hallway and jerked him into a room, slamming him against the wall and peeking out the doorway. Lovino yelped in surprise, twisting away from Antonio's grip. "What the hell?"
"There's a secret entrance!" Antonio smiled exuberantly, his normal personality returning. Lovino let out a silent breath of relief. He didn't know how much longer he could have handled soldier-Antonio.
"Where-?" Lovino broke off as Antonio moved a table out of the way and opened a trapdoor, beaming at Lovino. "Of course." Antonio disappeared down the trapdoor and Lovino followed, grumbling quietly under his breath.
"It's a maze down here! They made us memorize it in training, though, so I know where Mathias is being kept!" Antonio said in an upbeat tone. He walked with confident strides, unwavering in the tight confines, unlike Lovino, who felt like the walls were closing in on him.
"Here." Antonio hefted himself up and lightly pushed the trapdoor open, peering out with narrow eyes. A few seconds later he pulled himself through the trapdoor and out of sight. His head appeared in the window of light, a grin plastered on his face. "C'mon!"
Lovino furrowed his eyebrows and tried to spread his wings far enough to gain some air. There was no room, however, and he scraped a few feathers off in the process. He hissed in annoyance.
"I'll help you up, here!" Antonio leaned both of his arms through the opening and Lovino, irritated, grabbed onto his wrists and allowed himself to be brought up through the trapdoor. After he was through, missing a few more of his orange feathers in the process, Antonio shut the trapdoor and moved a bookshelf in front of it.
Antonio brushed his hands off and cocked his head to the side in thought for a few moments before he walked over to a window that was blurred. "This is Mathias's room," he pointed.
Lovino searched for a clasp. "Where does it open?"
"Here," Antonio said, pushing a latch and lifting the window out of the sill. He grunted in effort and placed it on the ground heavily, and Lovino stepped on the thick glass and squeezed his narrow shoulders as far into the windowsill as he could without dislocating his wings. His head was barely in the room, and he blinked at the all-stone room. There wasn't even hay for a bed.
He caught sight of a curled shape in the corner and paled. Mathias's breaths were hitched and he seemed to be shivering. "Mathias!" he hissed through his teeth. There was no reaction. Lovino huffed a breath of annoyance.
"Antonio, give me a rock or something!" Lovino turned his hand upright and felt a cold object press into his palm. He brought his hand to his face and stared.
"It was all I could find!" Antonio's muffled voice sounded defensive and Lovino snorted. He reached his arm out of the windowsill and chucked the candlestick and Mathias's head. Lovino's aim was spot-on and Mathias jerked, blinking his eyes blearily.
Lovino waited not-so-patiently as Mathias slowly woke, rubbing at his eyes and hair and temples. Mathias's eyes met Lovino's and he froze. Lovino brought his finger to his lips and shimmied back through the windowsill, plopping onto the ground and waiting.
A grunt sounded and Mathias heaved himself up and tried to push himself through the opening. "This is... tight."
"You should fit, without wings," Antonio commented. Mathias huffed and forced himself further. He grunted again and managed to squeeze his way through it, tumbling to the ground below. Antonio had had the foresight to move the glass of the window or Mathias would have cracked his head on it.
"Ohhhh..." Mathias moaned. "That was not fun." Lovino almost rolled his eyes when he realized that Mathias was not wearing a shirt and had scraped up his shoulders, arms, his entire torso while trying to get through the gap. It was worst on his shoulders and elbows.
"What the hell? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Lovino dropped to his knees and brushed his fingers over a few of the scrapes.
Mathias shrugged helplessly. "They scratched my back up and I didn't want cloth on it."
"They... what?" Lovino said slowly.
"It's not bad," Mathias denied, propping himself up until he was sitting without help. "They just wanted to see what it was like att- scratching a back not impaired by wings."
Lovino leaned around Mathias and stared, eyes darkening. It wasn't too bad, as Mathias said, but there were long talon marks down his back and across his spine. Many were across his shoulder blades.
"Lovino, we should get out," Antonio said, opening a different door that was three feet tall and hidden behind a fake plant. Lovino ignored the anger boiling in his stomach and the want to disembowel the avians that scratched up Mathias and made for the door, Mathias on his heels.
The three of them crawled through another tunnel (which did not help Lovino's growing anxiety) until there was a dip in the crawl and suddenly, Lovino was blinded. Antonio had jumped out of the gap and opened his wings, riding on air.
He followed the spanish avian and tumbled into open air, free falling for a few seconds before opening his own wings and beating them rapidly. Lovino came up to the opening and leveled his gaze with Mathias, who was staring wide-eyed at the two avians.
"Are you going to carry him?" Antonio asked him loudly, talking over the wind. Lovino paused, then nodded. He wasn't particularly strong but he did not want to see Antonio carrying Mathias. Besides, Antonio would not be able to get close enough to the hole without losing more than a few feathers.
Mathias slowly edged himself out of the opening and Lovino carefully opened his arms, grabbing Mathias and pulling him the rest of the way out. Before they departed completely from the tunnel Lovino adjusted his grip to make both of them more comfortable and to maximize his control.
Lovino grunted and dropped a few wing lengths when he initially flew into open air, and Mathias squeaked and latched his arms around Lovino's neck. Lovino could feel his strength slowly sapping away, so he jerked with his head to signal to Antonio where he was going, then pushed himself in that direction. Eventually he streamlined, flying headfirst towards the forest.
He heard a yell and turned his head, paling at the sight of an array of guards. Antonio noticed them too and motioned for Lovino to continue. Lovino didn't think twice about it, turning back around to focus on staying constant, until Mathias tensed in his grip.
Lovino glanced behind him again and slowed in shock, dropping them another few wing lengths. Antonio was fighting the guards single-handedly, and he was quite obviously losing. However, he was managing to keep the guards from getting away towards Lovino and Mathias.
"Go, he's trying to save us, let him," Mathias whispered into his ear. Lovino shot him a betrayed look but faltered when he saw the pain reflected in the man's own eyes. Wordlessly, Lovino re-positioned himself and started up his momentum.
He glanced behind him once more to see his friend falter and fall, plummeting to the earth. A few guards went after him while the others looked around for Lovino and Mathias.
Lovino flew low into a ravine, the same ravine he had broken his wings in before, and searched for Mathias's home. The avians had not caught them at Mathias's house, so they did not know he lived there, and Lovino could not think of another place to go.
When he blinked against the wind, a few tears slipped out of his eyes.
He came upon Mathias's home and tumbled to a halt, collapsing to his hands and knees. It had been a while since he had exerted himself that much, and the old breaks in his wings were aching.
"Here," Mathias murmured, standing up and propping Lovino up with his arm. They both stumbled over their feet and supported each other all the way inside. When they were in the safety of the house Mathias slammed the door shut and faceplanted into his couch. Lovino just sank to the floor.
"I'm sorry," Mathias's muffled voice sounded from the cushions. He turned his head and met Lovino's eyes. Lovino liked Mathias's eyes. They were a beautiful blue color, the color of the sky in the north, and it was what originally captivated Lovino.
"It's..." Lovino couldn't quite say it was okay, because it really wasn't, without knowing what had happened or was going to happen to Antonio. "It's..."
"I get it. I am sorry, though." Mathias hummed to himself, searching Lovino's face. "I love you."
Lovino blinked. It was the first time either one of them had said those three fateful words, and Lovino was pleasantly surprised that he had little hesitation in saying, "I love you too," right back, paired with a small smile.
Mathias's face worked into a wide smile, and they sat there, in the aftermath of everything, in silence.
