❝a little bit of a heaven, but a little bit of hell❞
Title: It's Reformation Day, Too
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: -300
Characters: France ; Spain ; Belgium ; HRE ; Austria ; Hungary ; Lithuania ; Estonia ; Latvia ; Poland ; Romano ; Veneziano (mentions of other European nations)
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 020 prompt, "Day of the Dead/Halloween." Today is All Saints' Day. But it's Reformation Day, too.
It's Reformation Day, Too
They go through the motions, the same as always. The service at the church is flawless, because the Latin is flawless, and the priest is flawless, and the lighting coming through the stained-glass window is flawless. As they get up off the pews and dust off their new clothes, France’s face curves into an ironic smile, and Spain laughs softly, sadly. Belgium glances at the spot on the bench where her brother sat, the previous year, and the Holy Roman Empire glances nervously over his shoulder, as though expecting his brother and cousins to come walking in late at any moment. Austria leads Hungary along, pretending that he doesn’t miss Switzerland’s presence at his side. The Baltic brothers and Poland shuffle their feet, seeming to take comfort only in their camaraderie. The Italian brothers are the last out of the church; Romano scowls, and Veneziano looks close to tears.
They mill around outside, out of sorts, until finally Spain says, “I didn’t expect to miss them, this much.”
Belgium sighs and tucks her hair behind her ears. “I thought you were angry,” she murmurs tartly.
“Oh, anger’s more often than not a mask for loneliness,” France replies. They nod; he, of course, would know.
Veneziano heaves a weary sigh; the HRE moves as though to comfort him, and then thinks better of it.
“We don’t need them,” Austria says, stiffly. “They’re the ones who chose to break our unity, to be rebels.”
“We don’t need them,” Hungary agrees softly, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t want them.”
The Catholic nations of Europe look one another in the eye and see only the shadows of those who aren’t there.
“Dammit,” Romano says, punching his hand into the wall. “Those bastards! Why aren’t they here?”
“Because,” Spain answers, bitterly. “it’s not just All Saints’ Day; it’s Reformation Day, too.”
---
Footnotes:
* The Reformation was a series of schisms within the Catholic Church in the 16th Century that resulted in the creation of the new Protestant branches of Christianity, such as Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Calvinism, and Anabaptism. The Reformation led to a series of wars throughout Europe, as Catholicism clashed with Protestantism.
* All Saints' Day (in the Catholic Church officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November in Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost inEastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown.
* Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.
* Europe was divided by religion after the Reformation; this map shows these divisions.
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: -300
Characters: France ; Spain ; Belgium ; HRE ; Austria ; Hungary ; Lithuania ; Estonia ; Latvia ; Poland ; Romano ; Veneziano (mentions of other European nations)
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 020 prompt, "Day of the Dead/Halloween." Today is All Saints' Day. But it's Reformation Day, too.
It's Reformation Day, Too
They go through the motions, the same as always. The service at the church is flawless, because the Latin is flawless, and the priest is flawless, and the lighting coming through the stained-glass window is flawless. As they get up off the pews and dust off their new clothes, France’s face curves into an ironic smile, and Spain laughs softly, sadly. Belgium glances at the spot on the bench where her brother sat, the previous year, and the Holy Roman Empire glances nervously over his shoulder, as though expecting his brother and cousins to come walking in late at any moment. Austria leads Hungary along, pretending that he doesn’t miss Switzerland’s presence at his side. The Baltic brothers and Poland shuffle their feet, seeming to take comfort only in their camaraderie. The Italian brothers are the last out of the church; Romano scowls, and Veneziano looks close to tears.
They mill around outside, out of sorts, until finally Spain says, “I didn’t expect to miss them, this much.”
Belgium sighs and tucks her hair behind her ears. “I thought you were angry,” she murmurs tartly.
“Oh, anger’s more often than not a mask for loneliness,” France replies. They nod; he, of course, would know.
Veneziano heaves a weary sigh; the HRE moves as though to comfort him, and then thinks better of it.
“We don’t need them,” Austria says, stiffly. “They’re the ones who chose to break our unity, to be rebels.”
“We don’t need them,” Hungary agrees softly, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t want them.”
The Catholic nations of Europe look one another in the eye and see only the shadows of those who aren’t there.
“Dammit,” Romano says, punching his hand into the wall. “Those bastards! Why aren’t they here?”
“Because,” Spain answers, bitterly. “it’s not just All Saints’ Day; it’s Reformation Day, too.”
---
Footnotes:
* The Reformation was a series of schisms within the Catholic Church in the 16th Century that resulted in the creation of the new Protestant branches of Christianity, such as Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Calvinism, and Anabaptism. The Reformation led to a series of wars throughout Europe, as Catholicism clashed with Protestantism.
* All Saints' Day (in the Catholic Church officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November in Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost inEastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown.
* Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31 in remembrance of the Reformation, particularly by Lutheran and some Reformed church communities. It is a civic holiday in Slovenia (since the Reformation contributed to its cultural development profoundly, although Slovenians are mainly Roman Catholics) and in the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. It is also a national holiday in Chile since 2008.
* Europe was divided by religion after the Reformation; this map shows these divisions.
