A throbbing pain caused Romulus to clutch his chest as he panted. His brows furrowed in a pained expression, he waved away the hands trying to help.

" No, no. I'm fine. Just the old pacemaker acting up."

No one in the room was convinced but none dared to say otherwise. His amber eyes, so much like his favorite grandson's, crinkled as he forced a smile and continued the Family meeting. Romulus could only be thankful that his dear grandchildren weren't in the room.

His weathered hand still resting over his left chest, Romulus' breath came out in labored puffs as he spoke," All the Family is present as my witnesses. I hereby name my heir to be Feliciano Vargas. You will respect the will of your don and he will be stated as head of this family. You will declare your loyalty to him upon my death. This is my will." He took a deep breath upon the last word and felt his chest tremble as the pain finally grew too much to bear. With a low guttural moan, he collapsed onto the floor and became motionless like the dead.

The room erupted into chaos as the hive lost their commanding, kingly queen.

" Our condolences for the family."

It was a bleak, dreary summer day when the funeral was held. Feliciano and Lovino sat in the front row dressed in black despite the heat as they listened to the drones of the priest. Lovino's eyes were swollen with unshed tears and his face was emotionlessly hard but even the strong Lovino couldn't stop his hands from trembling with emotion. Antonio was forced to watch with a pained expression, unable to comfort Lovino, from a back row as Lovino refused to invite him to the front row as part of the Family. Feliciano couldn't stop crying, nothing was held back as his eyes continued to overflood with salty tears and his intermittent sniffling punctuated nonno's Last Mass.

Now they were truly the last Vargases.

Their strong and proud family who Nonno claimed came from the bloodlines of Mars, the Roman god of war, was reduced to these two brothers.

Mass finally concluded with Benediction and everyone rose to pay their respects to a giant of a man. Trudging up to the front to stand next to the casket, Lovino and Feliciano fixed a smile on their faces as they shook hands with unnamed people and unknown faces, accepting their condolences and words of comfort. When it came to members of their own Family, they first bowed to Feliciano in respect before shaking Lovino's hand. Lovino felt a slight tingling relief that he hadn't been named as heir. Despite his pride, he never once believed he'd be able to fill his nonno's boots. But once he felt that relief it was soon replaced by guilt and pity for his tired looking brother who had yet to come to terms with their nonno's death. Feliciano simply accepted the remarks of sworn loyalty with a sad smile as if he'd been comforted for a lost toy rather than trusted with the lives of the Family. It was too soon. Much too soon for Feliciano to be forced to handle this.

Finally all the mourners stepped outside and it was time for Feliciano and Lovino to pay their respects. The stood together in front of the open casket, hands tightly clenched to one another as they glanced down at the man who had raised them. The man who had singlehandedly brought light to their lives after their parents' tragic, dark deaths. Speaking first in a gentle whisper, Lovino elbowed his brother," Felici, you go first." Nodding, Feliciano let go of his brother's hand and stepped forward, leaning down to kiss his nonno's cold forehead in an act of farewell," Arrivederci, nonno. I love you." He stepped away for his brother to step forth. Lovino paused, tears finally starting to fall as he bent down, and kissed his mentor and father figure's forehead," Arrivederci, nonno. I wish… I wish we had more time. I love you too."

The rest of the service was done with little fanfare and eventually Romulus was no more, buried 6 ft under with a simply carved gravestone.

Alfher wouldn't have believed it had he not been there in the shadows watching the entire funeral procession. His jaw clenched as he held back his overwhelming despair and pain and his blue eyes quietly followed the casket to its final resting place.

There were so many things left unsaid. It was dreadfully painful.

He hadn't been invited to Mass and the funeral service but he felt he should be the last one to say goodbye to his long lost friend. So there he was, waiting in the shadow of a hazelnut tree until he knew everyone had left. By now Helios had carried the sun past the horizon and Artemis began her ascent. As the shadows grew longer, Alfher finally took courage and stepped forth. He felt the newly overturned dirt dirty his shoes but he didn't even notice as he gazed down at the tombstone. His hands shaking, he knelt, the soil leaving brown marks on his black pants, and he reached out a hand to touch the cold marble. Alfher rubbed his hand slowly across the top of the dark stone and he heaved his chest as tears finally started to escape his once cold eyes. His breath was shaky as he spoke,"…. You could have said something, old friend. You could have told me that you were sick. I would have put everything behind us. Damnit it Romulus, you weren't suppose to die first!" His voice broke as a low, wailing groan emitted and he sobbed hard against the cold stone, all that was left of the one he had shared his whole life with.

He was furious. He was upset. He was in despair. This is so much more painful than losing Angelica, he thought in a moment of clarity. By this thought, he realized that he had never truly hated Romulus, no matter how furious he might have been, he never truly meant to take revenge. God, how he hated his inability to convey his feelings. It had cost him his friend and that (he realized now) was too dear of a price to pay.

His entire body shaking, Alfher rose to his feet and he sensed someone approach him. Gilbert, with mild eyes, laid a gentle hand on his father's shoulder," Vati? It's time to go."

Numbed, Alfher nodded his head and bent down once more to brush his fingers against the engraved words and kissed the cold marble in an act of farewell.

' Romulus Julius Caesare Vargas. Beloved Nonno and Family head. Alea iacta est (the die has been cast)'

As he rose and was gently guided by his eldest child in the dark, Alfher only wished he had brought Rainflowers to leave at the gravesite.

'No matter,' he supposed darkly, ' I will grow Wormwood in my home instead.'

Gilbert was shocked to see his father in such a state. He was too young to remember the bond that they had shared and it came as quite a nasty surprise to see his father shake to the core by the death of his former friend. But what disturbed him more was the gravestone engraving, Romulus' last impression,' the die has been cast'. Did this mean that the old Roman knew something? Did he somehow know something bigger would be caused by his death? Was his death a willing one?

Gilbert shook his head as his snowy white hair fell into his face. There were too many questions still unanswered. His eyes gleaming, he determined that to answer these questions he would need to dive back into the incident that caused it all more than 20 years ago.

Rainflower- I love you back, I must atone for my sins, I will never forget you

Wormwood-Absence, bitter sorrow

hahahahahahaha... yeah, I suck xD. Please Review!~