Title: Sympathy for the Bridegroom (Sequel to Sympathy for the Devil)
Pairing:England/S. Italy (Romano)
Genre: Romance and Supernatural, Action&Adventure, Drama&Comedy
Rating: T/M
Warnings: Adult language, suggestive content, (fantasy) violence, use/mention of alcohol/drugs, some minor religious undertone

Prologue

"Aiya!" hissed Yao as he slapped Lovino upside the head with his palm. The Italian hissed in surprise as he narrowed his eyes at the Chinese dragon. When the raven haired daemon didn't flinch under his glare, Lovino reluctantly sat straight in his seat, which happened to be to the right of Arthur's throne within the meeting hall at the round table. They had given him a new chair at the table ever since they had announced their engagement, and although it was nowhere as regal as Arthur's, it was definitely much more elegantly carved than those of the Four Lords, the Scribe, and the Demon Princes. Unfortunately, he happened to be seated between Arthur and Yao Wang, who was supposed to be tutoring him about the Underworld alongside Kiku, who stood diligently behind Arthur like the butler he was. "No slouching!" Yao snapped, glowering pointedly at Lovino. "Members of the royal family do not slouch! Sit with back to chair with your back straight! Shoulders back, chest out!"

"What the hell does it matter?!" Lovino shrieked with great vexation present in visage. His cheeks glowed an enraged scarlet as his body tensed—ready to pounce on Yao and attack him for being way too picky—with a hint of embarrassment. Dammit, he thought to himself, I really don't need to be reminded that I'm marrying into a batshit crazy family! It's none of his business anyway! Refocusing himself, he added, "I'm only around you bastards!" This he directed to everyone present in the meeting hall. Gilbert and Mathias gave their friend a cheeky wave while Francis ignored him and instead concentrated his attention on hunting down any possibilities of split ends in his gorgeous hair, pondering if it was time for a trim. Ivan merely smiled innocuously at him, and although the vampire count appeared to mean no great bodily harm to Lovino, the smile only sent shudders down his spine. In the meanwhile, Arthur's brothers and cousins and his future brothers/cousins-in-law only snickered mischievously at Lovino's current circumstances—except for Owain, who was napping through the entire ordeal.

"Can you take this more seriously?" Yao retorted, narrowing his eyes at the consort to-be and his king's fiancé. "Everyone is expecting a noble consort, so behave yourself properly!"

Lovino scoffed but made no comment. Really, in the pits of his stomach, he knew himself that deep down inside he was extremely nervous and apprehensive. He did not want to be rejected by Arthur's people, especially if it made eternal life more difficult. Much to Yao's disapproval once again, he dropped his hazel gaze to his lap and fiddled with the hem of his shirt under the cover of the round table. He froze when Arthur's hand discreetly reached for his, but once his lover's hand had grasped his own, he relaxed at the cold touch, allowing it to cool his skin.

"So what did you wankers want to discuss?" Arthur asked nonchalantly and collectedly as though he wasn't in fact flirting with his future consort and Italian lover while in the middle of a meeting. "I would assume that you called us here for a reason. It does not concern liquor being served at the reception, does it? Gilbert, Mathias, we will have kegs of beer there, so you do not have to worry. They will also serve wine and champagne for you, Frog—French, if you so please."

"Actually, it's not the awesome me who has an awesome report, and, besides, if I wanted to talk about some awesome Bier,then I would have tracked you down myself," Gilbert protested, raising his hands to show that he had no tricks hiding in his sleeves. He shrugged casually and remarked, "I think it was Alistair who called us out."

Arthur averted his eyes from Gilbert to make contact with his oldest brother. He didn't bother to waste time to address the redhead with any formalities and simply waited for the oldest prince to explain himself. Likewise, his oldest brother thought the same way and didn't hesitate at all to speak, making his announcement short, straight-forward, and to the point.

"One of the prisoners escaped from Hell during a work inspection."

Arthur arched an eyebrow to display to the Prince of Wrath that he certainly had the King's attention.

"I think it's him again."

"Ah..." A sound of recognition loosened itself from Arthur's throat, and although he did not appear to be in the slightest bit worried, Lovino noticed the darkening of his emeralds. "Knowing him, he wouldn't try anything—at least not yet. Should we wait until he tries to start something?"

"What if it will be too late?" Yao countered.

"Don't be such a paranoid bugger," Arthur snapped. "It's not like we won't know where he is, and at any rate, he's alone, isn't he?"

"Wait," Lovino spoke up, drawing all of the attention to him. He recoiled briefly from the shock and managed to spit out after a moment's stammer, "W-What are we talking about? Who are we talking about?"

Alistair gave a half-hearted smile and replied, "Just a fool who's always trying to give wee Artie here a bit of trouble."

"Lili, you have to be careful!" nagged a young man with short, choppy blond hair stuffed under a white beret as he marched down the streets of Rome hand-in-hand with his sister dressed in a forest green jacket with two white crosses at the sleeves to signal his involvement with the Church. He grimaced as he felt another supernatural presence watching them even though it was most likely the stares he was attracting. While his minty green eyes glared at nothing in particular, he spoke angrily in German, chastising a blonde girl with a similar hairstyle as that of his (though her blonde locks were adorned with a silk ribbon), "How many times have we gone over this? If you ever sense another presence or if you ever interact with a supernatural being—ghost or vampire or whatever—you must keep me informed!" His fingers twitched impatiently with great aggravation, and the urge to grasp one of his handguns and fire a silver bullet into a werewolf's flesh a couple of times was all too overwhelming. "If you don't help me, I can't protect you, Lili! You know I cannot see ghosts!"

He glanced over the shrinking girl cowering in his shadows as her green eyes watered with tears. Still, they did not fall in spite of the subtle pout on her lips. She knew well at mind and heart that her brother was strict, and this did not at all come as a surprise to her at all even though a part of her was slightly indignant. "Big Bruder," she retorted softly, "he was only a child."

"Child or not, a ghost is a ghost!" the older of the two snapped severely and harshly. "It could have harmed you somehow. Poltergeists have nasty tricks to play, after all! What if you had been hurt? Listen, Lili, they do not belong here on Earth." He was reminded of the rumours about which the Vatican had told him on his last debriefing. It seemed that a particularly dangerous soul had escaped from Hell and was now roaming the surface of Earth. A scowl of disgust and repulsion stretched across lips as he thought, The damned should just stay where the hell they belong—in Hell. Just leave us alone!

Honestly, he wanted nothing to do with Heaven or Hell; all he wanted was to remain a neutral party in the affairs of the universe and to let these affairs run their course. It had nothing to do with him at all, and it actually mattered very little to him. Nevertheless, the only work he could seem to obtain and execute efficiently was "mercenary" work for the Vatican. They paid very well to hire exorcists and exterminators, and that was all he needed to make sure that Lili lived a comfortable life. Unfortunately, he had failed to realise then that these otherworldly creatures would become attached to an innocent, naïve soul such as that of Lili's. He could buy her pretty dresses and feed her delicious food—all as long as they were reasonably price, that is—that she wanted, yet she never seemed to want anything. Rather, it appeared that she disapproved of his occupation, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was good at his job, and his job paid the bills well. He had mouths to feed, after all.

"Dio mio!" one of the locals exclaimed, their shrill cry piercing through the air. The pair of siblings directed their attention momentarily to the source of the panic, where they found a forming crowd. Someone was calling for an ambulance while others were simply observing the scene. The young man merely clicked his tongue in disdain. He hated getting involved with other people and impatiently tugged on his little sister's hand to lead her away from the scene. However, Lili had other ideas and instead led him towards it instead.

Just as they elbowed their way to the front of the crowd, Lili immediately gasped with horror, a tremble running up and down her spine, as she clutched desperately at her brother's hand with tears in her green eyes. She buried her face into her brother's forest green coat as her body paled. "B-Bruder," she whispered weakly in a pleading voice, and he knew exactly what she was asking him to do. He brought out his phone and dialled the emergency number even though he knew it did little good at this point. There was no way anyone would survive that kind of impact, but as a human being, he couldn't leave the body of a boy no more than a college student lying in the middle of road in his own pool of blood. His coppery hair was stained a darker tinge, and his fair skin was now caked with drying liquid crimson.

A few feet away from him was a little kitten with soft brown hair, meowing desperately for the boy to hear her cries, but he would not respond. He could not respond. She didn't stop, and neither Vash nor Lili knew if it was because she would not or could not stop.

Lovino threw his blazer haphazardly onto Arthur's ancient Victorian sofa, which they had moved into the Tower, before collapsing onto the furniture as well. He groaned as he stretched, moaning, "My back... Damn that dragon bastard—correcting my posture in the past five hours!"

Arthur merely chuckled as he fingered through the various shelves of his library, moving closer to his collection of plays among the numerous novels and innumerable spellbooks, tomes, and grimoires. He plucked a rather thick book from the shelf and smiled bitterly to himself—unbeknownst to Lovino—as he cast a quick glance at the title of the Shakespearean play, Hamlet. He shuffled towards the centre of the room with one of his copies of the play in his hand, where they had placed the Victorian sofa, to join his lover and knelt one of his knees on the cushions as he leaned closer, resting his forehead atop Lovino's. He relished the surging heat as his lover flushed with embarrassment, tilting his head to the side so to avert his eyes from Arthur's. Predicting this move, Arthur pressed the palm of his right hand into the cushion, preventing Lovino's possible escape, and readjusted Lovino's head by the chin with his left hand. Warm hazelnuts stared into crystal emeralds with tender affection as the two of them leaned closer into the other, closing the distance between them. Their lips ghosted against one another before tiny footsteps thundered from the spiralling staircase, working up the steps one by one, which ultimately made the two lovers break apart and scurry to separate ends of the Victorian sofa as a tiny voice boomed outside the door of Arthur's Tower, "Romano! Phone call! It's important!"

Just as soon as Alfred's announcement came to a close, Lovino's mobile rang from the pocket of his trousers. He cursed under his breath and scrambled to fish out his phone. One of his eyebrows raised—entirely baffled and puzzled—as his eyes fell upon the unknown number. He glanced at Arthur, who was pouting at one of the walls childishly, and decided to heed Alfred's notification and answer the call instead. After accepting the call with a flick of his thumb, Lovino brought the smartphone to his ear and stated firmly, albeit annoyed, "Sì, chi parla?"

"È questo Signor Lovino Vargas?" inquired a feminine voice from the other end of the line. "This is l'Ospedale San Carlo calling to inform you of a matter concerning your brother, Signor Feliciano Vargas. Please listen to me carefully.

"Your brother has been in an accident."

A/N: There were some readers who wanted a continuation of Sympathy for the Devil, and I did admittedly want to explore that universe a little more. There's a new plot that revolves around different struggles and problems that Lovino and Arthur have to face. Additionally, this story engages more of Arthur's past, but I'm hoping there will be more insight to his future with Lovino. Anyway... Yay? Or nay?