Okay, quick notes:

Steampunk-ish AU

Multiple pairings later, they will be pretty obvious and you will see them coming a mile away. If you don't agree with a pairing, then keep in mind that couples are not the center focus of this story, so no worries ^^

Yes, some characters will be OOC. But there are reasons for that *coughBACKSTORIEScough* so everything will be clear in time. And I will try to make sure that every character's basic qualities are the same.

All credit goes to Hidekaz Himaruya (日丸屋秀和)


Alfred led a very sheltered life.

He grew up in a good neighborhood on the outskirts of town. This meant he had a decently sized house with a big yard. There were flowers growing up a walkway out front; and in the summer, an inflatable pool could be seen in the back yard.

His days were spent riding around on his mountain bike, going to see his friends, or going to catch a movie. Sometimes, he would even sneak into the 'adult' sections of restaurants and drink with the people there. It was okay though, there was no alcohol.

If he was feeling particularly rebellious, he would sneak a girl home through his bedroom window. Once his older brother, Matthew, caught him and it was chaos for about ten minutes, but the girl was eventually sent walking home, even though it was eleven at night. It's okay though, there were no criminals.

It was weird to be raised by an older brother. It was highly uncommon for something so unorthodox to occur. But, seeing as his parents mysteriously disappeared when he was five, they had had no choice. And usually the government, led by the new dictator (long may he rule), would take care of orphans by putting them in shelters; but for some strange reason, an exception was made for Alfred and Matthew. What is stranger is that Alfred had never known he had a brother before his parents went missing, but he dismissed it as a fault in his memory.

This was perfectly fine with the both of them. Matthew made sure that Alfred grew up the way every young man should. He had never missed a day of school in his life, competent in mathematics, interested in science, and excelled in reading. He often wished that there was more science offered at his school, but there was hardly anything at all. That was okay though, it was not needed.

Everything anyone could possibly need was given to them by the government. For example, every home came with a radio. Since there would be no other way to receive important announcements, it was only fair that the government gave radios. Repairs for bicycles were always kept very cheap, water was always available from the tap, and the grocery stores were never short on reasonably priced food. School was free, college was free, life was perfect.

This is what Alfred grew up thinking.

Alfred grew up thinking that there was one continent on the face of the Earth. There was the continent of America, the Northern and Southern parts. The biggest debate of the decade was whether Central America deserved to be called its own region. Maps depicted this one big land mass and nothing else.

There were no history classes.

No one questioned the government, no one questioned anything.

Everyone was happy.

Alfred grew up happy. He was happy. He had everything he could ever want. A brother who loved him, girls lining up at his door, good grades, good looks, and college next summer. Until next he started school again, he was free to do as he wished with life.

At the moment, he desired to be sitting at the table waiting for Matthew to give him pancakes. There was nothing quite like pancakes as a late supper on a Saturday night.

"Mattie!" Alfred whined, with his cheek against the table.

Matthew turned around and brandished the spatula at him, saying, "Whining for me to hurry won't make me go any faster."

Once his back was turned again, Alfred mocked him silently.

"Don't mock me," Matthew said as he flipped a perfectly golden pancake over.

"You can't even see me!"

"That doesn't mean anything, I know you," he replied, heaping the golden circles onto a plate, and then turning to put them on the table.

Matthew was still wearing his pajamas, and so was Alfred.

Somehow plain clothes like that did not suit him, in Alfred's opinion. They were just lacking something that made Matthew... Matthew.

Despite his brother's easygoing and gentle appearance, Alfred knew all too well that he was not at all as he appeared. Secretly, his brother was incredibly strong, fast, and smart. Matthew seemed to know things that no one else did, then always told Alfred to keep it a secret.

Alfred got really curious once when he was about ten and went through Matthew's closet. He had never seen clothes like those before. Black pants made of some sort of thick but smooth material, and it was covered in pockets and buckles; a purple shirt made of coarse and sturdy fabric, and had words sewed onto the back that he could not read; and a vest that was covered in straps and seemed to be made from the same material as the pants. The strangest things were a pair of boots. They looked like normal boots, but with screws coming out the sides of the soles, and they were extremely heavy. Alfred had hauled the boots out to ask his brother what they were and where he got them (he wanted some!) but Matthew had turned pale and told Alfred to never tell anyone.

As a child, Alfred concluded that Matthew must be a super hero.

And the super hero was now sitting across from him, ready to eat pancakes on a darkening Saturday night.

"So, what are you going to do tomorrow?" Matthew asked casually.

Alfred shrugged, "I was thinking of going out with that girl again... Can you pass the syrup?"

Matthew handed the bottle to him and asked, "Would that be the girl I caught you with?"

The other boy rolled his eyes and replied, "I told you, I broke up with her a long time ago."

"You should take your love life more seriously."

Alfred shot his brother a look from over his glasses. "Oh please, as if you haven't messed around with a girl or two before."

His brother's piece of pancake slipped off his fork as he jumped slightly. "No, Al, I can honestly say that I haven't."

Alfred was about to retaliate when he realized that he had never seen his brother bring a girl home, ever. Is that because of me? Raising a little brother must be hard, could that be a reason for his lack of a love life?

Alfred set his fork down awkwardly. "Uhh Matthew, can I ask you something?"

The use of his full name made him even more nervous, usually Alfred would call him 'Mattie'. He knew this day would come eventually, he just did not think it would happen so soon...

Matthew set his fork down as well. "Of course, Al. What is it."

Alfred suddenly looked shy and he played with the hem of his white cotton shirt. "Umm... Isitbecauseofmethatyoudon'thavealife?" he asked quickly.

The older brother looked surprised, that was not the question he had been anticipating. "N- No, it's nothing like that, Alfred," he paused to swallow hard, "Actually... There is something I need to tell you, about that."

Alfred looked up at his brother nervously. "Hey, if you need some time at night to go out and do stuff, I'll be fine here, I promise. I know you always worry because Mom and Dad disappeared, but the world is a much safer place now, so it's okay."

Matthew listened to the speech silently. There's no way I can tell him now... And it was true. Alfred has such faith in the order of things. He had faith in the schools, in the government, in dictatorships, and in Matthew. There was far too much faith to destroy for Matthew to tell him the truth. The truth will not set you free on this land mass.

He smiled all the same at his brother's earnest attempt to make him happy and said, "Thank you."

Alfred grinned and resumed eating.

Matthew sighed internally and decided things could be worse. He could be on the run from the government and worrying about Alfred every second, but instead, he just had to worry about his brother's reaction to a much less important matter.

"Hey, Mattie," Alfred said.

Matthew came back down to Earth. "Huh? What?"

"You're staring out the window again." Alfred gave him a curious look. "You're acting a bit off this morning, are you okay?"

He nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine... Hey, what do you want for your birthday?"

Alfred was caught off-guard by the random change of topic, but answered all the same, "I don't really know... Maybe just go see a movie."

Matthew nodded and took a bite of his pancake. He was about to ask if that was all when he noticed a strange look cross Alfred's face.

"Al?" he asked in concern.

His brother's fork was hovering by his open mouth, but his eyes were transfixed on the window.

"What are you look-" he cut himself off as he glanced out the window.

No... No, that's impossible...

He stood up and ran for the door, throwing it open and watching the flaming chunk of metal fall from the sky. Matthew searched for the insignia through the angry haze of flames. He found what he was searching for and his heart nearly stopped.

No.

It was not until Alfred joined him at the door that he realized that the flaming mass was going to crash in their yard.

Without a word, he grabbed his younger brother's wrist and ran into the basement, turned the light off, and closed the door.

"M-Mattie, what's going on?" Alfred asked fearfully.

Matthew stayed calm and held a finger up, signaling to give him a minute. He took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly.

Suddenly the entire house shuddered and they heard creaking coming from the walls around.

"Alfred, stay down here!" Matthew called to him as he ran back up the stairs.

And just like that, all the noise stopped and Alfred worriedly waited for the return of his brother. He had never seen a plane before, and something falling out of the sky was a complete mystery to him. Things like that just did not happen here. Alfred concluded that he must be dreaming.

He continued sitting patiently for a few more minutes, and when his brother never came back down, he grew concerned again.

He warily stood up and made his way up the stairs. He opened the door and peered around the corner anxiously. Seeing nothing, he slowly went to the front door and looked out the glass.

The giant pile of metal was smoldering silently on the front lawn and Matthew seemed to be struggling with something near it. It was too dark to make anything out, the fire was the only way to see anything at all.

Alfred open the door and ran over to get his brother away from the hot flames. The heat of it was scorching even from the door, he could not imagine how much worse it was closer.

"Stop! What are you doing?! We need to call the Peacekeepers!" He shouted.

"No Peacekeepers! There are people in here!" Matthew yelled back.

Alfred cringed as he realized that what he had been struggling with was an arm. Matthew dropped the limb in question and started feeling along what seemed to be a railing.

"If there are people in there, then what are you doing?!" Alfred ran over to the body, expecting it to be on fire, and someone to be writhing in agony, but he was surprised to find that the flames could not seem to get a hold on the person's clothing. And the person was looking calmly at him with calculating blue eyes. He was sitting cross-legged, with a foot jiggling impatiently, occasionally batting a flame away with his gloved hands.

"Oh, bonjour! You must be Alfred," the man said with a casual smile, as if he was not in the middle of a still-burning crash site.

"Uhh, y-yeah?" Alfred halted momentarily from the confusion.

"Found it!" Matthew called from a few yards away. There was a click and then the man leapt out of the alcove where he had been sitting.

He brushed himself off, then gathered his wavy blond hair up to examine the ends. "Ahh, they are singed."

Matthew rolled his eyes, "Is that really all you're worried about?"

"Mais bien sur, mon cher!" he said with a flourish of his hair.

"Don't call me that." Matthew's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Fine, fine." He waved it off, then asked, "Have you happened to see- There he is."

From a different alcove, another man fell out onto the grass, panting hard. He seemed to be clutching a smaller mass to him.

Alfred just took everything in. The completely unharmed man that emerged from the fire, the fact that he seemed to be speaking some other language, and the fact that no one was concerned about the man who collapsed on the lawn.

"Are you okay?" the blond called over.

Still unable to speak, the man on the grass just gave a thumbs up and a weak smile, releasing the bundle that he was carrying.

The bundle was apparently a third man who was also panting.

"Oh good, he found Lovino."

Alfred just stared dumbly at everything. "Who... What..." He could not even properly finish his question.

The blond man slapped his forehead and said, "Oh how rude of me! Tres desole, I'm Francis Bonnefoy, that is Antonio Fernández Carriedo, and the small one is Lovino Vargas." He gestured airily to each in turn. "And you are?"

After a moment, he found his manners. "I'm-"

"He's my brother," Matthew said sharply, "That's all you need to know."

Francis gave Matthew an appraising look before returning his attention to Alfred. "So this is your infamous little brother."

"Yes. And he and I will be going back inside. I'd suggest you signal Arthur, good luck." He made to grab Alfred's wrist and drag him back inside, but he was stopped when Francis stepped in front of him in one long stride.

"Mais mon cher, tu me manques... Il a été un long temps, n'est-ce pas?"

Matthew snorted. "If you think a few sappy words are going to win me over, then you have another thing coming."

Francis effectively closed any space that there had previously been between them. He placed one gloved hand on Matthew's hip and the other under his chin, forcing the two pairs of blue eyes to meet. Matthew dropped Alfred's hand and tensed at the other man's touch.

"I missed you, my dear. It has been much too long."

For one horrible moment, Alfred thought the two were going to kiss, but Francis simply placed his forehead against Matthew's and the taller man closed his eyes, seeming to melt into the shorter one. "I know why you had to leave, but don't you think it's time you come back home? Look at that boy, Mathieu, he is practically a man now."

Matthew glanced briefly at Alfred and he saw tears in his older brother's eyes. Then he pulled Francis into a passionate embrace, burying his head into the taller man's shoulder. Francis wrapped both his arms around him and stroked his wavy hair soothingly as he cried.

"Don't mind them," A voice from behind Alfred said, "Their relationship is complicated."

Alfred turned to look at the owner of such a light-hearted voice, surprised to see that the man who collapsed earlier was clearly just fine now. He was standing with the shorter man seemingly asleep on his back.

He could think of nothing else to say other than, "Who are you guys?"

Antonio chuckled. "Well, I believe that is up for your brother to tell you, it isn't really my place to tell you who he is. But Francis, Lovino, and I are aviators. We are the Bretagne crew."

Alfred looked as confused as ever. "Aviator?"

Antonio outright laughed, "What? I know you've never seen an airship, but you know what a plane is, doncha?"

"A plain? Like, a meadow? Are you messing with me?"

The other man stopped abruptly. "Don't even tell me they don't have airplanes anymore."

"They haven't had airplanes here for about ten years," Matthew informed him, pulling away from Francis and wiping his face.

"Realmente?" Antonio adjusted the figure draped across his back.

Matthew just nodded, then asked, "Where's Gilbert? And Ludwig and Feliciano?"

Francis suddenly looked a little sheepish. "I told you that I wouldn't even let Gilbert on my ship anymore if that's what it would take... Gilbert joined his brother, and Feliciano obviously went with him."

Alfred was steadily feeling more and more out of the loop. He wanted to know who these people are, where they came from, how they knew Matthew, what language Francis and Antonio were speaking, what a plane was, and what this giant burning thing on his lawn was.

Seeming to ignore everything Francis told him, Matthew just said, "Sorry about your ship... Is Arthur nearby?"

Francis shook his head, "Arthur joined the mermaids..."

Antonio rolled his eyes and said, "Hopefully Ludwig will be coming for us soon." They both looked up at the sky as though they were expecting something.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted by sirens wailing in the distance.

Matthew paled and turned to Alfred. "Al, do you trust me?" he asked urgently.

"Of course," Alfred began without hesitation, "But-"

"Okay, then listen, we need to flag someone down. Go into my closet and bring out all the weird-looking clothes. The boots too. I think you found them all when you were a kid. Go, quickly! I'll explain later, I promise!" He gestured impatiently to the house and Alfred went in and started scrambling around to find everything as fast as he could.

Matthew turned to Francis. "I am coming with you."

Francis looked like a great burden had been lifted off of his shoulders, and he picked Matthew up and spun him around.

"Oh, Mathieu, you have no idea how much I missed you. I figured that I would never see you again, but I still told Gilbert to leave! Are you really going to come with us?"

Once Matthew had both his feet on the ground again, he straightened himself out and nodded. "Yes, but on one... Two conditions."

Some of the happiness seemed to melt off Francis' face, but he still looked gleeful all the same. "What are these conditions?"

Matthew held up one finger. "One, I am your friend, and your friend only," he held up a second finger, "Al comes with me and stays with me. I decide where he goes, what he does, and who he swears his allegiance to."

The two blue-eyed men sized each other up for a moment, but Francis realized that there was little room for compromise in this bargain.

"How about we talk later and you vouch for the kid."

He mulled it over for a moment. "Fine."

Alfred came back out carrying the black boots, black pants, purple shirt, and black vest.

"Here," he said breathlessly, handing everything over to his brother.

"Thanks, Al. Sorry for the chaos, I'll explain everything later."

Alfred nodded then asked, "What's with those boots? They're as heavy as bricks!"

"Iron soles," Francis explained, bending his knee so he could tap the bottom.

Alfred gave Francis, then Matthew a questioning look. Francis chuckled and Matthew rolled his eyes as he watched his friend, so Alfred let it go.

To his horror, Matthew started to strip in the middle of the lawn. Taking everything off but his boxers, and putting the strange array of clothing on, as if all the buckles and straps were second nature. Francis smoothed the back of his vest out once he pulled it on. "They still fit you perfectly," he said, as if slightly surprised.

The sirens in the distance seemed to be getting steadily louder and they all knew help would be coming shortly if they did not do something. Alfred got the feeling that this is something that the government should not be called for.

Suddenly the moon was obscured by a larger version of the smoldering hunk of metal on the lawn, and everyone looked up in surprise.

"Parfait," Francis whispered.

While everyone's gaze was still drawn upward, Matthew grabbed Alfred's shoulders and made him face him.

"Listen to me, I'm sorry, but I can't give you a choice in this. I am leaving here and you are coming with me. You are going to come with us for a week, and after that, you can decide whether you want to join us or be relocated. There's no time for explanations, that airship is going to land soon and you are going to get on. Do you understand?"

Alfred just nodded dumbly as he watched the plane from above come skidding to a halt down on the street.

A man with red hair and golden eyes appeared on a railing and gestured wildly for them to come over. Matthew and Antonio started running toward him and were helped over the railing.

Francis placed a hand on Alfred's shoulder. "Mon ami, you are in for the ride of a life time."

Then he too ran toward the enthusiastic redhead, with Alfred not far behind. Matthew pulled them both over the railing and then they took off and Alfred clung to the railing for dear life as the airship lurched, and they took off.

The ground below flew away from them, and Alfred could not find a way to stand without releasing the railing. The very sight of the ground rushing away made him feel sick and light-headed. They flew up above great puffy clouds, getting a little damp in the process, but eventually they leveled out.

The first thing Alfred noticed was that no one else had to hold onto the railing, even during ascent, and now they were all trying not to laugh at him.

"Don't worry," Matthew assured him, "You'll get your airlegs eventually."

"The key word being eventually," Francis added unhelpfully.

Matthew shot him a disparaging look and he continued, "You should get some sleep, and we'll sort through everything in the morning."

"But you promised me you would explain everything!" Alfred protested.

Matthew sighed and ran a hand through his windswept hair. "Look, you might get sick from the altitude. It's bad for your body. If you don't get enough sleep, you will get a fever. I'll still be here in the morning, I assure you."

Alfred opened his mouth to protest again, but he already felt sick as it was. So he just nodded and gratefully accepted Matthew's arm when he offered it.

As he finally laid down in a soft bed, he wondered only vaguely how Matthew knew his way around this unfamiliar ship, before he drifted off into a turbulent sleep.


Hello ^^

I've never written anything like this before, so any feedback you have will be greatly appreciated =]

On another note, I've succumbed to random bouts of writer's block lately, so updates for this may be irregular, don't worry, even if it has been a few weeks, this fic will not be abandoned ^^