A/N at bottom
Holy Roman Empire
The last few years for Matthew had been hell. He had been taken away from Francis and forced to live with Arthur. Then Alfred left Arthur, and Matthew had to deal with that situation, but that's not what this story is about.
Finally, Matthew had the chance to go visit Francis. He hadn't been to Paris in years, so they had a lot to catch up on.
The first few days had been wonderful. Francis had been under a lot of stress recently (what with the pesky French Revolution), so this vacation was well deserved.
Staying in his childhood room felt weird to Matthew, but the word "weird" couldn't even describe the events that transpired late one night.
It had been the day Matthew arrived. He was tired from traveling, and Francis was on the verge of sleep when he arrived. After a brief dinner, they went off to their separate rooms and fell asleep.
...
"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"
Well, there went sleep.
Matthew quickly sat up. What was going on? Is Francis OK? Is it a burglar? Demons? Matthew wouldn't describe himself as a fighter, and he stood no chance against any of these options. He should pretend like everything was fine and go back to sleep.
"PLEASE! I'M SORRY!"
Godamnit.
He stood up, took a breathe, and crept towards Francis' room, trying not to audibly cry. This was it. It's over. They'll both die here. He opened the door and came face to face with...
A child.
Well, not really a child, but for lack of a better word.
He had piercing blue eyes, blond hair, and wore a black cloak and hat.
Matthew glanced at Francis, who as it turns out wasn't dead, just having a nightmare.
"Who are you?" Matthew whispered, baffled at why this boy was hiding in his brothers room.
"You can see me?"
Oh.
Oh.
Well, no going back now.
"I-uh-... yeah... who are you?"
"You're Matthew, right?"
"I'm sorry, have we met before?"
"Hmm... I suppose it would have been a while ago..."
Seeing he wouldn't get a solid answer, Matthew took a different approach.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm just here to give Francis here some nightmares."
"You can do that?"
"Sure, why not?"
"But why?"
"... it doesn't matter."
Who was this kid?
"Come on, lets go to the kitchen. I don't want to wake him up. You can explain everything there."
"...fine."
The pair walked to the kitchen. Matthew considered grabbing a knife in case something went wrong, but he realized that it probably wouldn't matter. He wouldn't stand a chance. He took a seat at the kitchen table, and the mystery man sat across from him.
"Now, if you won't tell me your name, then at least tell me where you came from."
"You wouldn't know it."
"Try me."
"... Holy Rome."
"You're bullshitting me. That's not even a place anymore."
He looked almost... sad. Matthew wanted to apologize, but the kid had to be lying.
"Never mind, forget where you're from. How do you know Francis?"
"Maybe I should leave."
"No, tell me."
"It's fine, I probably shouldn't be here anyway."
"You have to tell me something."
"Fine... he killed me."
"You're joking."
"I wish I was."
"But why would he do that?"
"Ask him. He's the one that did it."
Matthew couldn't picture Francis killing a child. Not in cold blood like this guy was describing.
"So you came back here to scare him?"
"Pathetic, right? I rule Europe for a thousand years only to be reduced to this because of him and I broke my promise and there's nothing I can do about it-"
"Please calm down."
"You're right. I'm not going to solve anything sitting around here."
"Well... sure."
"I have to keep my promise!"
"... promise? What did you promise!"
"I can't let her down like that!"
"Who's 'her'? What did you promise her?"
"Goodbye Matthew! Off I go!"
"Where are you going?"
"To win back the love of my life! She's waiting for me!"
"Wait... what? Where is she waiting? You're not going to do anything weird, are you? And who are you? You still won't tell me your name!"
"Shh, you'll wake up Francis. Don't worry about me. I won't go seeking revenge."
"Revenge? What are you talking about?"
"I said don't worry!"
"Wow, that's reassuring."
"Now, goodbye! And keep your eyes open! You may be seeing me around soon."
"Good luck then. I'll... wait, see you around? What do you mean?"
The foreign-sounding stranger gave a half smile and marched out of the room.
Matthew crept to look at Francis, who was miraculously still asleep and no longer screaming.
Why did he always attract the weirdest people?
He walked back to his own room and sat on his bed, hoping for sleep, but he still replayed the conversation in his head.
"You may be seeing me around soon."
Whatever that was supposed to mean...
A/N
And that's the chapter! As always, criticisms are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!