Chapter Three

"NO!" Matthew screamed. He held up his hands and scrunched his eyes closed. When he opened them, the dragon lady was gone. Matthew was on the ground still with his arms protecting his face. Tears trickled down his cheeks. He felt his cheek. There was no pain at all. He looked around at the people in the lobby. None of them noticed him. How could they not notice someone crying on the ground? Well then again, he was Canada. No one cared about Canada. Not even…

"Hey, Birdie, what are you doing on the ground?" a familiar voice called from across the room. Matthew looked up and saw a tall albino running towards him. Prussia.

"Oh, uh, h-hi, Prussia," he said as the Prussian held out his hand to the Canadian. This was one of the rare incidences where someone who was totally unrelated to Canada in any way could actually perceive Matthew. Prussia knew Matthew through maple syrup. Every holiday, Canada would make an effort to give all the countries a bottle of maple syrup. Though most countries had no idea where it had come from, a few were generous enough to say a "thank you" at the next World Conference, Prussia being one of them.

Matthew grasped onto Prussia's hand and was pulled up. "Thank you," he murmured.

"Yep! So how totally unawesome the conference was today, ja?" Prussia laughed, "I think I even saw you sleeping, kesesese."

Matthew's face turned bright red, "Y-you did?"

"Ja. Don't worry you didn't miss much. Basically, England and France got in a fight, then the awesome me joined in because I was getting bored, and then your stupid brother started trying to break up the fight saying that he was the hero or whatever, and then I guess West got fed up with us and yelled shit about 'order' and stuff." The Prussian explained whilst making elaborate gestures with his hands. The remark about America stung a little, but Matthew brushed it off. It was no secret that Prussia and America were not on the best of terms.

The Canadian smiled shyly and said, "So it was like every other meeting we've had in the last century?"

Prussia grinned, "Exactly the same. Now, are you checking in or what?"

Matthew blushed a little, remembering his disturbing daymare and frowned. What could a dragon have to do with anything? She had said something about Vikings… what did it mean? "Uh, yeah. I was just about to."

Prussia raised an eyebrow and said, "And that's why you were on the ground?"

Matthew's face flushed a dark red, "I-"

Prussia chuckled, "I was kidding! Kesesese, " he ruffled the Canadian's hair, "You're so cute sometimes, Birdie. Now let's get checked in!"

Prussia dragged a red Matthew over to the registration table. "Hey, we're checking in. We have registrations," Prussia said to the tall balding man at the counter.

The man nodded, "Welcome to the Landmark London Hotel. May I ask for your names?"

Prussia answered, "I'm Gilbert Beilshmidt and this is…" he looked over at Canada again and asked, "What's your name again?"

Canada sighed, "Matthew Williams." He knew that it was too good to be true. Granted, he hadn't ever told Gilbert his full name.

"And Matthew Williams." The Prussian finished. He sent a sideways smile at the Canadian as the man retrieved their keys.

"You are both on the fifth floor. Mr. Beilshmidt, you're 432 and Mr. Williams, you're 437. Good day, gentlemen," the man handed them their keys and went on to help the next in line.

"How awesome is this! We're on the same floor!" Prussia nudged the Canadian with his elbow. "I just hope I don't have to share a room with West like last time. That would suck!"

Matthew nodded and said, "Well, I-I have to go get my stuff from my car. I'll see you later, eh?"

"Ja. Oh yeah, and are you going to England's party on Friday?" Prussia asked.

"Wouldn't miss it," Canada smiled shyly.

"Awesome! See ya around, Birdie!" Prussia called as he ran to the elevator. Matthew waved as he made his way back to the car. He opened the trunk and took out his red suitcase. With one hand (he was holding Kumajirou in his other), he pulled out the handle and wheeled it back to the hotel. Key in hand, he went up the elevator to the fourth floor and walked to his room, 437.

Just down the hall he could hear what sounded like Germany yelling at Italy to get out of his room. Seconds later, he heard Italy crying about how he couldn't find his own room and how he needed help. Matthew smiled. Even though he had never talked to either of them, he really liked them together. Although Germany would never admit it, everyone knew that they were together. Of course, Italy told everyone how they were "bffs" and all of they're adventures, which mostly consisted of Germany rescuing Italy from the Allies back in World War Two.

Matthew grimaced at the thought. World War Two. The worst war for them all. So many memories… So much death… Despite the constant warring of nations, none of them truly hated each other. Under all the rivalries and conflicts, they were a family. Even if some of them were ignored.

Canada turned the key and opened the door of his hotel room. "Wow" he murmured. To say the room was huge would be an understatement. It wasn't even a room; it was more like a large expensive-looking apartment. The décor was modern: gray-blue walls, black carpets, stainless steel kitchen amenities (which would be great for cooking pancakes), a master bedroom with an on suite (bathroom), a second bedroom, and a large balcony. The living room had a black couch, two black chairs, and a 42-inch mounted flat screen TV. Abstract paintings hung everywhere, which made Matthew feel like he was in an art exhibit. Everything was so nice, he wondered where Arthur had gotten the money for all of this. Did all the other countries have rooms like these?

Matthew plopped down onto the couch, setting Kumajirou beside him, and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels, trying to find a good hockey match to watch, but no such luck. Instead, he settled for a show on global warming. Yes, there were probably more entertaining things to watch, but the issue really worried him. The arctic was his home, and it was melting. The TV program talked about the hole in the ozone and melting icebergs. When it showed polar bears and their fate, he turned off the TV. He sat motionless for a few minutes and then broke down in tears. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to screw everything up? Sometimes Matthew wondered if Alfred remembered when they weren't even countries yet, when they would live with the Native Families? They didn't need industry and technology to be happy. Now all Alfred cared about was video games and mass production. Granted, Matthew did admit that life with technology was easier, but at what cost? Was being able to use a microwave to warm up a cheap TV dinner really worth the Arctic melting?

Matthew shook the matter from his mind. He wasn't supposed to be thinking politically now. That was for when he was back home or at a World Conference meeting. Now was a time for relaxation. He sighed and looked at Kumajirou. "What do you want to do?" he asked.

The bear thought for a moment and then answered, "Hungry."

Matthew rolled his eyes and got up from the couch. "Fine, we can go try to find something." He picked up the bear and headed out into London.

A.N.~~ Hi! So how am I doing so far? Ahahaha I had a lot of fun writing as Prussia... Anyways thanks for reading and the next couple of chapters will be out soon :3