CHAPTER 2
Matthew's POV
My brother. My older brother. Soon he will be my younger brother. I will continue to age while he rots in the ground. It is the physics of life.
I'm Matthew. Someone who no one notices. But since my brother, Alfred, died everyone has begun to notice me. Maybe it is because we look the same. We may look the same, but we have completely opposite personalities. I am the calmer one. I was. There is only one of us now. Most of the time I believe that Alfred is still there waiting for something. I think he still wants to be the hero, even in death.
Six months after Alfred's death, someone else close to me died. Gilbert Beilschmidt. He was the love of my life. And now he is with Alfred. Probably having a war with each other. Some nights when I am looking out for the continental USA I can feel someone there. With a similar personality to Alfred. But most of the time I am dreaming. Alfred is dead and America is split into Canadian and Italian territories. The majority of the time Feliciano and Romano don't come here. They think that Alfred will haunt them. So it is mainly Jett and I. Jett only stays to keep the defence forces training.
Jett is amazing. I know why that Alfred loved him. He was with me when Artie came over to look in the garden shed. He was with me to help defend my lands when Ivan tried to steal Alaska from me. Alfred knew what he was doing when he left Jett the Defence Corps. Jett stood his ground. I saw Alfred helping Jett. I never told him though. It is a secret that I am willing to keep.
Kuma says that Alfred hasn't found peace. I don't think that he has either. Kuma also says that Gilbert and Alfred are working together. Most likely working together to annoy Ivan. They both have a lot against Ivan. Gilbert lost everything. Land, hope, people, life. Alfred lost people and money, but gained land. Shame that they both had to lose so much for someone to win.
I have talked about everyone else but myself. As I said at his funeral, I will never get over his death. He always protected me. Even though he was protecting me by making me invisible, I loved him for it. Gilbert took his words seriously and made sure no one noticed me until his death. And the nights when Gilbert was too sick to protect me, Ludwig was the one to protect the both of us. Then on July 25th, Gilbert didn't wake up.
I tried everything to help him. CPR, using Gilbird, kissing him, everything. He wouldn't wake up. I had lost nearly everyone that I loved. I had lost my brother and my boyfriend because of something that my brother did. You don't know what you have until you lose it. My dad's, in some ways, Francis and Arthur have been helping me. They have lost so many friends. They have seen empires rise and falls. That is how they know how to deal with death.
They are teaching me that while there is life for us until humanity forgets about us. Most people will never know what is around the corner. Francis once said about both Gilbert and Arthur, "How are they dead if they live in your mind?" Arthur said, "Death changes you." Both of them are true. Gilbert and Alfred may be dead in flesh, but they are alive in the fact I remember both of them.
I will tell you about the Battle of Alaska, the last time I saw Alfred.
Ivan decided that no one else should own America but himself. Feliciano, Romano, Jett and I weren't going to have it. Well, to be honest, Ludwig was also there because he didn't want Feliciano to get hurt. So between the five of us we had over 100,000 men. We weren't giving up easily. We prayed to Alfred to help us in the battle. Little did we know he would help us.
Ivan had his men shipped over to Alaska. That is when he crossed the line. He claimed that as Alaska was bought by the Russians, so he had the first claim to the state. Jett, being Jett, came to my defence by saying that Alfred left the northern states to me and as Alaska was in the north, I had the claim to it. Romano backed me up by punching Ivan in the face. I don't know what got into that feisty Italian. Normally he would be too scared of Ivan. Then I hit Ivan in the nuts with a hockey puck. Small miracles.
Ludwig went straight for St Petersburg. Not only did he attack a massive landmark, but he got the cooperation of Toris Raivis, and Eduard and Feliks Ćukasiewicz. Feliciano jumped straight into his arms when Ludwig got into my territory. This was one party that Ivan wasn't going to be invited to.
Ludwig was able to help with the Intel. Ludwig and Ivan were friends for a brief minute so he knew all the ins and outs of the Russian Army. He told us that the army had three bullets per soldier. He also told us that they were once again working in manufacturing nuclear weaponry. Everything that we needed to know about Ivan we learnt from Ludwig.
From what I remembered, Alfred stored his nuclear weapons in New Mexico. Feliciano was surprised that he had nukes in his territory. Jett was also able to score some from Arthur. When we asked how he got them he said, "Well, when you let Artie do nuke testing in the outback you get some as a payment." So all together we had about 12 nukes. The amount was almost double what Ivan had. As a warning we dropped one in the middle of nowhere, Russia. Ivan was pissed. That's when he decided to split us up.
He sent a few ships towards Australia. He sent Calvary through the Baltic States and Poland. He sent bomber planes over Italy. He didn't need to send anything to Germany because Ivan knew that Ludwig would divert his troops to Italy leaving his place defenceless. We fell into his trap. The others got scared and went to protect their homes first,
Jett threatened Ivan with his wildlife. Koala bears aren't cute and cuddly. Ivan learnt that the hard way. Jett got back to the Alaskan Front first. This is when I saw Alfred in him. Jett was in battle mode from the first wave. When there were no more waves, he went into their trenches. Something that only Alfred would do. But it worked. He single handily stopped the Russians coming and claiming Alaska. I owed him after that.
The day that Arthur visited we were discussing about making Alaska an Australian territory. He claimed that it was always going to be mine. He also claimed that Alfred left it to me. I rebutted by saying Alfred left him the defence corps and that would help defend Alaska. We came to an agreement that Alaska will be Jett's the same way that the defence corps was Jett's, in name. I felt that Alfred was happy with decision. I could also feel Alfred in Jett.
After that battle, Ivan left us alone. I felt sorry for him. For so many years people have hated him. These years he has been playing on the image that people made of him. I know that Alfred has forgiven him for his past mistakes.
I know that you have forgotten who I am. I am the hero's brother. I am Matthew Williams. Defender of the Us and owner of Kuma. Forget me if you must, but never forget my brother Alfred
