A/N: Chapter 2!

If you didn't catch it in the previous chapter, the Mainland is split into different sections (such as Germany, Spain, France, basically the modern country names) and each Mainland section has a language (our modern-day languages) but English is the overall language. I say English is because it's the only language I'm fluent in, thanks. If this ever gets translated, it'd be whatever it was translated into. Just 'cause I roll like that.

Disclaimer in previous chapter.

SS out~


Gilbert's scowl deepened when they reached the train station on the Island. It was nice enough-stone and wood, benches, a snack bar-but it didn't make up for the hour long ride... especially the forty-five minutes spent over the fucking ocean!

'Trains over the ocean is a dumb idea,' he thought bitterly to himself. 'One of these days a big wave is going to smash that train bridge and it's going to collapse and a hundred people are going to die!'

Thankfully it was a straight shot between the train station and Mainlander hotel. He followed his father outside and towards the large, skyscraper-like building that was made to accommodate Mainland visitors. The road? path? was made of stone bricks, so much different from the contrete and asphalt he was used to, but the building had a familiar metallic look to it, along with large glass windows, tinted a dark black to keep nosy people from peaking in.

On the left of the large hotel was a large in-ground swimming pool. It looked like it was made from beautiful, shining marble, but he couldn't tell from that distance. The pool extended out into the ocean with a glass barrier around that side to keep the seawater out of the clean, most-likely-chlorine-filled water.

Out front was a courtyard-like area, trees planted in an orchard fashion. Some trees were short and squat, others were tall and proud. The shade they provided looked beautifully cool on the hot Island, a relief for his sore eyes and burning skin.

The grass around the hotel was carefully cut, kept at exactly one-half an inch, if Gilbert had to estimate, and kept at a deep grassy green colour. It was perfect. He, along with his family, went up the blindingly-polished front steps of the hotel.

Luka Beilschmidt, their father, pushed a button that looked like it was from an intercom system. A few seconds passed before a voice said from the speaker, "Hello, welcome to Hotel Mainland, do you have a reservation?"

Gilbert frowned. He felt like they were at McfuckingDonalds. Which, by the way, sucked.

"Yes ve do, ve are ze Beilschmidt family from Mainland Germany," Luka answered the peppy woman. The albino felt sorry for the peppy-and most likely cute-woman, stuck on the Island. At least she worked in a place only Mainlanders were allowed.

"Right, I have you right here! Come right in, you can pay for your... two week reservation and get your key!" The door opened automatically and the three Beilschmidts walked in.

'Fancy," Gilbert noted, noticing the high ceilings and the large, fancy chandelier. The floor was a nice white linoleum, with slightly darker-gray patterns extending across them. The walls on the inside were wood, a beautiful mahogany type, and the chandelier was made of either gold or brass-he wasn't sure- and had what looked like hanging shimmering gems. He could barely see the pure white lights; he was glad he couldn't see it directly, or else he'd probably be momentarily blinded. From the edges of the chandelier, four chains extended to the four corners of the hotel lobby and reception, gold-or brass-adorned with hanging colourful, sparkling gems.

'That'd be so fun to break.'

He looked towards the counter where the reception lady was. He was wrong, she wasn't cute, she was drop-dead gorgeous. She had long brown hair and pale skin and a smile on her face. The albino hardly noticed the granite countertop or all the oakwood shelves behind the girl.

"Your rooms are rooms C-1 and C-3, on the third floor," she told them with a smile, handing Luka the key.

"Danke, Ms. Elizaveta."

"Oh, no need for the 'Ms'," the woman, Elizaveta, laughed. "Besides, I'm a married woman."

Gilbert scowled. Of course the most-likely-only hot person on the Island was married.

"Ah, my mistake," Luka smiled pleasantly. "Gilbert, Ludwig, come on. The elevator is this way."

Once finally settled in, Gilbert lay on his bed in the room he shared with Ludwig. Ludwig was sitting in a chair by the large window and reading a book from the bookshelf-lined wall while Gilbert just stared at the clock above the fore-mentioned bookshelf.

He could hear Lukas shifting around his own room next door. Gilbert really wished their father had Ludwig in his own room; every room had only one bed. A queen size mind you but Gilbert did not like sharing his bed with Ludwig. They weren't five-year-olds anymore.

"Ughhh," Gilbert groaned, covering his face with a pillow. "Not even an hour here and I'm bored!" he complained.

"Zen go outside. Go svimming in ze pool or play in ze trees or somezing, just stay out of trouble," Ludwig advised, only giving Gilbert part of his attention.

"But zere is nozing to do on zis stupid Island!"

"Yes zere is, you just don't do anyzing outside of your internet blog und texting," Ludwig shot back without missing a beat.

Gilbert scowled. "Maybe I can go annoy ze Islanders vith my awesomeness," he said, mostly to himself. "Eh, zey don't deserve it."

"Bruder, zink about vat you just said," Ludwig started, glaring at his elder brother. "Zey don't deserve your presence just because zey are Islanders?"

"Vell duh," Gilbert scoffed, sitting up to look at his brother. "Zey are just Islanders. Zey-"

"Raise our food, make our boats und our clothing und ze train tracks und ze vooden supports und ze metal supports, zey mine for our minerals, zey-"

"Since ven have you been on ze Islanders' side?" Gilbert sneered at his younger brother.

"Since alvays, Bruder. You just never cared enough to listen ven I said so," Ludwig answered, not even taking his eyes from the book he was reading. "Even Vati knows my beliefs."

"Your beliefs are stupid," Gilbert muttered, standing up. "I need some fresh air. Your unawesome Islander-wannabe stench is getting to me." Before he turned to the door, he saw Ludwig roll his bright blue eyes. Gilbert scowled and grabbed the key to the hotel each visitor was given. Making sure it was safe in his pocket, the Albino not-German-I'm-Prussian Mainlander walked out the door towards the elevator.

After a minute or two of waiting, he stepped out of the elevator and noticed Elizaveta was still there, this time reading a book. Gilbert pondered going over and flirting with her, then remembered she was already married. 'I am a lot of things,' Gilbert thought, walking past her, 'But a home-wrecker is not one of them.'

He pushed the door open and breathed in the salty air. He loved going to the beach back on the Mainland, so he loved the smell of the ocean. Letting the door fall shut behind him, Gilbert made his way to the edge of the Island, moving uphill. The albino found himself on a small cliff where he could see the water was shallow at the bottom.

The Island was crescent shaped, he suddenly noticed. He had been too busy brooding on the train to notice. Across from him was a higher cliff that the ocean beat against, extending along that entire side of the Island. From the high-cliff area there was a stone bridge, which had stone supports extending into the ocean. It sloped down to meet the lower Island half. It took Gilbert a moment to realize that the side of the Island he was on was separated from the other side by a small canal, which the bridge crossed.

On the taller cliffside was a house, very close to the bridge. Close enough where Gilbert was sure he could jump from the bridge to its roof. The house was made of wood and familiar red bricks, but it looked like the only house like that. Part of the house extended down the side of the cliff and was almost level with Gilbert's eyes. The glass was clear enough for him to barely see a bed from where he was.

Next to the house on the cliff was another, this one made purely out of wood and also extended down the cliff. Gilbert decided that the windows in this house were dirty, because he couldn't see anything.

From where he was, he could just barely see what looked like a dock around the cliff. He assumed either a house or business was there.

The only other thing he could see was a sea-level stone bridge extending out into the distance. He frowned. 'Won't that get covered in high tide? Or is it already high tide?' he wondered to himself. 'Oh well.'

"Gilbert!" he heard his father call. Gilbert turned around.

"Over here, Vati!" he called back.

"I'm going to ze mining Island to check up on ze miners. Stay out of trouble."

"Ja, Vati! Vill do!" Gilbert called, his eyes following the place his father's voice came from. He was hidden by the little orchard thing.

"You better," Lukas warned, now on the bridge. "If I hear about you disturbing anybody's vork, zere vill be hell."

"Ja ja, understood."

He watched his father cross the bridge and disappear out of sight. Apparently the cliff was a hill from the other side, and his father was going down and around it.

Gilbert stopped paying attention then and walked lazily over to the bridge. It was a bit scary looking-thin with low stone rails that you're more likely to trip over than hold on to. But of course, nothing was too scary for the albino Ger-ah, excuse me, Prussian Mainlander.

With a grin, he started crossing the bridge. There was a house near the water again, on the left side of the bridge. If he was more confident in the stone rails, he'd try to jump on the wooden roof.

'I was right!' he mentally cheered, noting how the path on the other side sloped down and around the cliff-hill-whatever-thing. There were more homes lining the sides of the single path, some out of the way and others right along it.

Each house, minus the one brick house and the stone house with the dock that definitely looked like a fishery, looked pretty much the same. Wooden houses-more like shacks, to be honest- with stone bases to keep the wood out of the water. There were no two-story houses.

He noticed a small wooden building with yet another train bridge heading off in a different direction, but paid it no mind. It wasn't important to the albino.

Stretching his arms above his head, he walked through the small Island village. There were children running around, some playing and others going from house to house and handing relatively-young women wood, meat, or vegetables of some type. All the doors were open and smoke drifted lazily out. Gilbert concluded that the villagers only had woodstoves. So primitive.

Some people were sitting together on the grass, just talking. Others were headed in one direction or another. He noticed a... boy? with long dark-brown hair climbing in a large unkept tree.

Of course, he paid them no mind, not meeting any of their eyes. He could feel their curious gazes on his back as he walked past them, a smirk playing on his lips.

'Yes, bask in my awesome presence, it's the only time you unawesome Islanders will-' his thought cut off abruptly as he suddenly collided with something. He didn't fall, but the person he ran into sure did.

The startled Albino looked down and saw a pale blonde man, with shoulder-length slightly-wavy hair and one long, unruly curl dangling in front of his face. If his hair was more golden, Gilbert might have mistaken this Islander for Francis at first glance.

"Vatch vere you are going, Islander," he said with a scowl. The boy looked up at him and Gilbert was a bit surprised to see violet eyes. The only other violet-eyed person he knew was Ivan from school.

"Oh, s-sorry!" the boy apologized quickly, his voice extremely soft, as he gathered together whatever he had been carrying. Gilbert noticed with slight disgust that it was fish, freshly dead. Islanders are so disgusting...

"Yea, vatever, I don't care," Gilbert stated, shaking his head. "Now get out of my-"

"Matthew!" another voice called, taking Gilbert off guard. Mainly because this person had an accent reminiscent of a Mainlander from Mainland England. He looked over and saw a short, pale man, no older than the boy on the ground, with unruly blonde hair and monstrous eyebrows hurrying over to help his fallen friend. Gilbert could see the worry in his grassy-green eyes. They were pretty eyes, Gilbert had to admit... but not as pretty as this Matthew's eyes. Or unique. "Are you alright, Matthew?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Arthur, thank you," Matthew replied quietly, moving out of Gilbert's way to meet his friend. "I have to go wash the fish off again... I'm sorry, Arthur."

"It's okay, mate," Arthur replied, sending Gilbert a dirty look. Gilbert sneered back at the stupid... Islander? Gilbert couldn't tell. He was on friendly terms with an established Islander but he himself sounded like a Mainlander. The albino was so confused.

Either way, he was sympathizing for a dirty Islander.

"Arthur," Matthew started quietly, grabbing his friend's arm. Gilbert realized Arthur had started to move towards him, apparently having something to say to Gilbert's face. The young man, Arthur, looked at Matthew, who glanced to the left. Arthur followed his line of sight, and curiously Gilbert looked in that direction as well.

There were Mainland guards. Gilbert hadn't noticed them before, but there were three men dressed in Mainland soldier's garb watching the confrontation. One had a second hand on his gun, looking like he was about to aim.

Gilbert had a feeling it wasn't going to be aimed at himself.

"Arthur, come on, let's get back to work," Matthew said quietly, tugging on his friend's shirt towards the house they supposedly came from. Arthur shot another dirty look at Gilbert, though he went with his worried friend willingly.

He watched the duo until they were out of sight before glancing back over at the soldiers. They, too, were watching the duo.

-To Be Continued-