Notes: Fem!Prussia, human names used, and I can see swearing, mentions of drug use, abuse, and possibly smut in future chapters . . . but we'll see, so M for safety.

Matthew was never comfortable in Hell. Not that he was ever supposed to be, being an angel, but he could honestly say he hated Hell.

Hell appeared as a plane that expanded forever in every direction. The "ground" in Hell looked like some sort of thick, darkened glass that held up over a lake of fire. Doors were always on either side of oneself, and new ones appeared every few seconds.

There was so much to hate in Hell, whether it be the crushing darkness, the unbearable heat and, somehow, unbearable cold, the vertigo one felt whenever they looked in any direction, or even the demon escorting him.

Despite all there was to hate, if Matthew was really honest with himself, the thing that he hated the most about Hell was the screams of tortured souls that could not be ignored or silenced.

Not that any of these other things weren't uncomfortable. Matthew was sweating and shivering at the same time, trying not to fall over whenever he blinked, and the demon escorting him was quite an ugly little thing. It was also uncomfortable, being in the presence in an angel.

Matthew knew he was taking too much time to do his job, but couldn't quite bring himself to care much more than he already did. Mercy couldn't be given to just any tortured soul . . .

He closed his eyes, simultaneously trying to calm his nauseous stomach and casting out his senses past the doors on either side of him. His senses caught that the demon relaxed a bit as he did this.

Past the doors, the tortured souls had no place in Heaven or Earth. Except . . . Matthew's eyes snapped open and he heard the demon's neck crack as its head turned quickly to look at him.

Even with his eyes open, he could still feel the brush of the same soul. It was easily the best feeling he had ever experienced. Right behind this door . . .

Matthew paid no mind when the demon accompanying him made protests. He slammed the unassuming ebony door open.

If it was possible, his heart would have shattered. The noises of a tortured soul became infinitely louder, driving itself right into Matthew's chest.

While souls were normally bright, this one hurt to look at. Matthew couldn't stop, though. It wasn't as if his eyes could be hurt.

Somewhere, the demon was talking, but Matthew couldn't hear. He was kneeling next to the soul, trying to relieve its pain with his naturally cold hands. Though he could not know what pain it was in, what its personal hell was like, he felt the need to take its pain away.

The soul quieted, recognizing that something was near that wanted to help it. It seemed to be listening to Matthew's soothing whispers of comfort. Not that Matthew could prove any of this, though, as souls could not communicate with angels outside of Heaven.

"You're stunning. How did you ever end up in hell? I can't even fathom . . . well, no matter. My name's Matthew. I'm going to send you back soon, okay? I'll come find you, but it's up to you to recognize me," he finished, hands resting on what would be the sides of the soul's face.

From around his neck, Matthew brought a crystal cross. He placed it into the soul's chest, right where the heart would be, and had to close his eyes as the light grew unbearably bright.

When he opened them again, he was back in Heaven. The sun was shining, as always, reflecting off of the white and gold, but he felt no warmth coming from it. Instead, a quiet emptiness numbed him, and he didn't like it. Could it be because of the soul?

He had heard of this kind of thing from Francis. What were they called? Soul mates? It sounded right, the name for two souls, two halves of a whole, the kind of love most humans only dreamed of. And now, judging from the feeling, it sounded like Matthew had found it, and it scared him quite a bit.

Before he had enough time to sort out his thoughts, Matthew's brother, Alfred, ran up to him. "Yo, bro! I just . . . hey, what's up with you? It looks like you've seen a . . . a ghost! Aah! What did it do to you, Mattie? Tell me!"

Matthew couldn't help but curse his brother. Why did he have to be so stupid, yet so perceptive? He almost wished that right now he was invisible, like he was normally. "No, Alfred, I didn't see a ghost. I just got back from Hell."

"Oh. Then why do you seem different?"

"Different how?"

"Like . . . changed. Hollower and . . . blank? It's kinda hard to explain, dude. I think you need a vacay or somethin'," Alfred said, brushing him off.

"Maybe I do. Do you know how someone gets a transfer to Earth?"

"Earth? For a vacation? No, dude, I meant somewhere nice. Maybe Eden, or something."

"Alfred, please," Matthew sighed.

"I dunno, bro. Hey, Arthur!" he yelled, waving to a blonde angel passing by.

Said angel made his way over to the two with an annoyed expression on his face. "What is it, git?"

For an angel, Arthur sure did have a dirty mouth. "Arthur, do you know how to go to Earth? Matthew wants to visit."

"Matthew? Oh. Why would you want to go to Earth?" Arthur asked.

Matthew shrugged. "Can you just tell me how to do it?" he asked.

Arthur took a few seconds to think. Matthew was normally very patient, but he was quickly getting annoyed at how long this was taking. He was well aware of the time difference between Heaven, Hell, and Earth, and minutes in Heaven could be days or even weeks on Earth.

"Go to the transfer desk. I think you can request Earth if you have enough Grace to do it. Just don't stay too long, I guess," Arthur mumbles, then turned away from Matthew to talk to Alfred.

Matthew nodded unnecessarily and left, hearing a few seconds later, from across the way, Alfred's loud voice saying, "OH MY GOSH WHERE DID HE GO HE WAS RIGHT HERE A SECOND AGO ARTHUR ARTHUR MATTHEW'S GONE HE'S A GHOST ARTHUUUUUUR!"

An equally loud voice answered him. "SHUT UP YOU YANK!"

Matthew had to try three times to get the transfer desk angel's attention. When she did notice him, he had to repeat himself three times before she realized what he was asking for. "Earth? Without a vessel? It's dangerous, you realize. The atmosphere is poisonous to angels."

"I know. I'll only be a little while. Six months at most," Matthew said quietly. That, he knew, could easily become a lie. If he found his soul, he wasn't ever going to leave.

"That's fine. More than a year there, though, and you won't be able come back. Another six months, and you're gone," she warned.

Matthew could think about the consequences later. "I'll be back before then," he promised.

The angel nodded. "All right, then. You will be provided with a guide, a credit card with enough on it for you to live comfortably, and proper identification, charts, and knowledge. Now, where would you like to be transferred?"

"Earth."

"Where, exactly, on Earth?" the angel asked patiently.

"Oh. Right. Do you have a map?"

The angel handed him a large, color-coded map of all of Earth. His eyes landed on a large mass of land, colored violet, in North America. Canada. "Ca-na-da," he tried the word out on his tongue. Yes, he liked the sound of it. "Canada. Ottawa. Please."

She nodded, made a few notes in the book in front of her, then looked him in the eyes and snapped her fingers.

A/N So I shall be trying this new story out! The chapters will probably switch between POVs, and this is, in fact, my first multichapter anything, so please tell me if you notice any errors. Yes, this is going to be a PruCan fanfic with some side pairings such as GerIta. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: (O_O) I don't own anything! (O_O)