If I ever get the time and creativity I'm rewriting this chapter.

A/N: This story is told in the form of a recording, in that the main characters are recounting their story into a recorder. This story has been transcribed into a written document so it can be shared as a story. As a result, there are some phrases that are spoken that don't belong to the story as a whole, and will be indicated as such:

~(Words)~ Canada/Matthew speaking

~(Words)~ America/Alfred speaking

~(Words)~ Finland/Tino speaking

~(Words)~ Belgium/Laura speaking

~(*Words or Action*)~ Sounds or Multiple People Speaking

Canada/Matthew:

I sighed, hugging Kumamira to my chest as the World Meeting progressed. Biting my lip, I checked my watch.

10:23. 37 more minutes until lunch break.

Everything was going like normal. That is to say, the two men who had raised me, England and France, were fighting again. This time, England had France in a chokehold, while the country of love was mourning the loss of his wonderful hair. Next to me, Spain kept on trying to feed Romano tomatoes, which the latter flat-out refused. On their other side, Italy was ranting on and on about the wonders of pasta to Japan, who was listening politely, in a never-ending cheer.

Opposite me, Russia was once again bullying the Baltics, asking them to "Become one with Mother Russia, da?", while Belarus was watching over her brother with an obsessive look in her eye. To their right, the Nordics all sat in a group; Norway was joking Denmark with his tie, Iceland was messing around with his puffin, and Finland looked near the point of falling asleep, while Sweden poked him every once in a while to keep him awake. Sealand—don't ask how, he always found a way in here—was bouncing in his seat.

"Ha ha!" America laughed obnoxiously from his position to my immediate left. "Get him, Iggy!"

I winced from Alfred's loud voice in my ear. Sometimes, I just have to wonder how we're even related, much less the probability of us being brothers, despite the fact of how alike we look. The universe just loved to laugh at me, I supposed.

~(Hey! I take offense to that!)~

~(Shut up, Al! This is my chapter!)~

~(Don't forget to explain everything—Ow!)~

~(I'm getting to it!)~

But anyways. Basically, everything was in total chaos.

"Everyone, SHUT UP!" A voice thundered throughout the room, making all of the Nations—except Russia, of course—jump. England instantly separated himself from France, albeit reluctantly. Those two loved to fight.

Kind of put a damper on my younger years, honestly.

Calmly, I looked to the head of the table, resting my chin on top of Kuma-whatever's furry head. Predictably, it so happened that Germany had snapped first. The blonde male stood at the table, beginning to tell the same speech he gave at every meeting, about how "We are all nations and are needed to solve the World's problems, not fight!" I ignored him.

"Who are you?" Kumacheerio asked curiously, tilting his Pitch Black polar bear eyes on me.

"I'm Canada," I replied happily, responding to our little joke. "The one who feeds you."

So, yeah. Kumajirou is my talking pet polar bear cub who's lived for a couple hundred years. And yes, this isn't your imagination. And believe it or not, I am much, much weirder.

My name is Matthew Williams, the personification of the nation of Canada. I'm over 300 years old, and I'm barely out of childhood, according to England.

Yes, I can hear you laughing. Seriously, China is over four thousand years old! And England is just over one thousand.

So… yeah. Each person in this meeting room represents a country or an influential territory. We live as long as our country survives (except Prussia. I have no idea how he's still around, and his only explanation is that he's too awesome to die. Not that anyone is complaining), and we feel whatever goes on in our lands, whether it'd be in the government or the effects of a natural disaster.

Even we don't know how we exist. My best guess is that all the energy from a country and its people has to go somewhere. Maybe that's why.

But no one really cares at this point.

Anyways. So we are all gathered in one place. Grudges and everything. Think about it.

No wonder Germany's practically crazy. I would be too, if I was the only person who actually tried to make these World Meetings productive. I had given up decades ago, since no one notices or remembers me anyways. The curse of being one of the more peaceful Nations in the room. And the one who's always forgotten.

"Hey, Matty!" America nudged me with his elbow. "Want to go to get lunch together after this is over?"

"You should really be listening to Ludwig," I whispered back, referring to Germany's human name. Despite my answer, I felt the warmth in my chest at him remembering me. It was one of the perks of having the "hero" as your brother—he never forgot me, unless it was, like, April Fool's Day or something.

Only France can make the same claim.

Tuning Germany's lecture out, I glanced outside the windows to see the light snow storm outside the Meeting House. I was hosting the world meeting today, which was why we were here in Vancouver. It was nice to not have to fly several hours to get to a meeting for once, I reflected.

"Yeah, but he's so boring!" Alfred whined, and I looked at him and sighed, letting my breath hiss out in between my teeth. My brother was using his puppy dog eyes again.

"Fine," I gave in with a groan. "As long as it isn't McDonald's." How one of the biggest superpowers in the world could give ear resistible puppy dog eyes, I'll never know.

"I just don't eat fast food, you know!" America huffed, offended, while pulling out a burger from who-knows-where and starting to eat it noisily.

I facepalmed.

Americans.

And as Germany began his debriefing about the situation in the Middle East and ISIS's rise (according to America, they are just as bad as that communist bastard. if he's comparing them to Russia, you know Alfred doesn't like someone), I found myself blinking away sleep. I have been up late last night paperwork, ugh and terrorist groups halfway across the world didn't seem that important at the moment.

I had just dozed off into a dream involving blueberry Eggo waffles and water balloons (long story), when, suddenly, the scene changed.

I was in a military uniform, an automatic rifle in hand. My muscles ached from overexertion, and I could feel a half-healed wound throbbing painfully in my chest. But I paid it no heed. I couldn't risk stopping.

The air and sky were clogged with smoke, the sunlight that manage to filter through vintage red. I struggled not to cough with each labored breath that I took. It was at least 37 degrees Celsius outside, and sweat slickened in my hands, making it harder to hold my gun.

Washington, D.C. was burning. Half destroyed buildings were up in flames and debris littered the street, making it difficult to run like I was trying to. My feet slapped the street as I ran, trying not to shiver at the sight.

"Hurry!" I cried to the last two remaining men from my regiment. The two Canadian soldiers were following me, eyes wide with fear, but moving with a confidence that came with years of training. I felt a swell of pride, looking at them. These were my people. They had fought so well and I felt so terrible for having failed them. We are almost there!

Turning my head to face back ahead again, I heard guns going off not too far away. And there were a lot of them, too, like an entire squad had decided to shoot machine guns at the same time. Which they probably had. I knew then that I had made it to the right place and felt a sickening relief rush through me, though I winced slightly at the assault on my ears.

I reached the end of the street if you could even call it that and immediately took a left towards the sound. My Two Soldiers obediently followed, and then we entered a clearing. The rush of relief left through me again. We had made it.

Well, not really, actually. There was just less debris there.

Anyways, a perimeter of soldiers had been set up around the area, holding machine guns, grenades, and, heck, some even sported rocket launchers and flamethrowers! As my men and I raised towards the scene, the soldier closest to me sprinted forwards greeting us with a relieved look.

"General Williams!" He called out, barring a distinct American New Yorker accent. "You're alive!"

"Barely," I gasped. "It's just me, Tulock, and Barner now. The rest didn't make it out. Where's my brother?"

"We had him leave several days ago," the man responded. "Well, made him is the better term. He refused to leave us, so we sedated him and shipped him off."

I nodded, glad to hear the news. It was too dangerous to stay here any longer. The American Soldier seemed to think the same.

"Hurry!" The soldier waved to us inside the perimeter. I noted the men were protecting an iron gate, which was showing some signs of the wear and tear of war. I couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow at the sorry sight. Nodding, I followed the American Soldier to the gate. I then finally looked inside, and sighed.

Inside the gates, behind what must have once been a beautifully tended Garden, stood the ruins of the White House.

Right as we passed through the gate, the guns erupted it into fire once again. I turned around, and suddenly I was very glad that I had made it inside when I did.

Trudging through the demolished, burning buildings was a giant. A Titan, to be exact. It was a 10-meter class, taking the form of a man but having lost his sanity long ago. This one had a bloated belly, inhumanly thin arms, and anime large eyes. It wore no clothes but had no genitals, and had a cheshire cat grin. The soldiers opened fire on it, but I knew that the bullets would do little to nothing against it, only serving to annoy and slow it down.

"Shit," I growled, turning back to the White House. "It followed us. Won't be long until it's reinforcements arrive, if the Marley have anything to say about it."

"We'll be able to hold them off for a little while," the American replied. "At least long enough for you to get out of here."

"And what about you?" One of my soldiers asked. "Where will you go?"

"We've already decided," the American soldier replied, leading us to the right side of the White House.

"You're staying." I realized what these men we're going to do.

We turned over to the side of the White House and I noticed a small plane, the kind that doesn't need much room to lift off, stationed there.

"Yeah," the soldier replied. "All of us here are single—we sent off anyone with family a long time ago—and most of us have nothing else left to fight for. This place is all we have left to protect."

We finally stopped at the foot of the plane. The door opened, obviously for me, but I didn't focus on that just yet. These men were going to be signing their death warrants with these beasts around and their backup coming soon. But there was nothing I could do about that. My respect for my brother and his country rose. No wonder he had become a superpower so quickly. With people like this, it would be hard not to.

"Mattie…."

I let out a long sigh at the New York man, wishing against all odds that I could have saved him or his comrades. But I shoved that feeling down, and saluted.

"I will make sure that you are remembered," I said. The American smiled weakly, and saluted back.

"And we will protect the house of our fathers to our dying breath," he replied.

"Matthew!"

My eyes snapped open and I gasped, suddenly in control of my body again. The meeting was over, most of the nations having already left. America was standing over me, eyes full of concern.

~(Wait! Dude, you never told us about that last part! Deep, man.)~

~(Mine was worse.)~

~(Will you two just be quiet! And please don't join sides with Alfred, Tino!)~

"You okay, dude?" My brother asked me. "You fell asleep and started mumbling to yourself. Something about Titans or whatever."

"It's nothing," I said, maybe a bit too quickly. I grabbed Kumajeep into my arms and stood up. "Just a nightmare. I-I'm going to get something to eat!"

And with that, I bumbled out of the meeting room, leaving a very confused Alfred behind, and dashed out into the hallway, barely keeping myself composed. My breath came and panicked gasps. That nightmare, whatever in the world it was, still had my heart beating too fast to stay with America, especially with the demolition of his capital still so fresh in my mind. Nevermind how my imagination could come up with such a nightmarish scenario.

"Who are you?" Kumaface asked. For once, I ignored him.

I rushed down several flights of stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Finally, I entered the second floor lobby, where I turned into a hallway, took the first door on the left, and entered the employer's lounge—which was thankfully empty, due to it being a Sunday.

Suddenly, I was very grateful I was hosting the world meeting. This was where I worked on a daily basis; I knew this building like the back of my hand. I let out a long sigh, letting Kumaflipper crawl out of my lap—most likely to forage for food. I think all of my co-workers leave out a bowl of food for him at this point.

I put my head into my hands. "What a nightmare," I muttered. "But it was only a dream. Why am I so worked up?" I shook myself. "Maybe some tea will help calm me down."

My mind made up, I stood up once again and headed to the cabinet to grab a tea bag. As I went through the familiar motions of making the beverage, I found myself immediately starting to calm down, my heartbeat returning to a semi-normal pace.

Making tea was an ingrained habit from my days with England. It was the only food he can make without poisoning the consumer, and I picked it up from him. Now it was more of a common thing to do when I was stressed.

After several minutes, I heard some people coming down the hall, their footsteps echoing into my little sanctuary. Voices also made their way through the door and into my ears, and I couldn't help but stop and listen, despite the fact that I knew I was eavesdropping.

"Stop it, Berwald! I'm fine!"

I blinked, surprised to hear Finland's voice. He must be with Sweden. The two were always together, as they were very close friends. Sure enough, the heavily accented voice of Sweden filtered through, in a soothing yet worried tone.

"T'no…"

"I'm fine!"

Despite myself, I snorted. No matter what he said, Tino certainly didn't sound fine. His voice had what was most likely an involuntary stutter to it, and he sounded panicked. In fact, he sounded just like how I had felt just a couple minutes earlier.

"Pl'se, jus' c'lm d'wn"

Sweden's voice filtered in once again. A short pause followed for Finland finally burst:

"Just leave. Me. Alone!"

I started. Even though I didn't know Finland very well, it was popular knowledge among our community that he was usually very calm. He never shouted like that. For something to rile him up so bad that he shouted at Sweden, his closest friend… I just didn't want to know what had happened.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Tino rushed in, white as a sheet and shaking, into the room. His eyes passed right over me, as usual, and he quickly shut the door behind him, sliding down against it until he was sitting on the floor, putting his hands into his face and sighing loudly.

I felt very awkward. Tino obviously hadn't seen me in plain sight as he had stormed in. But, well I was right here…

"Um, hi," was the introduction I decided on.

Finland jumped almost a full foot into the air, yelping. Suddenly, his eyes focused on me, and he turned whiter, if that was even possible.

"When did you get here!?" He exclaimed, placing one hand on his heart.

"I've been here the whole time," I shrugged. "You just didn't notice me. A lot of people don't."

"Oh well," Finland scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "Sorry about storming in like that. Did I disturb you?"

"It's fine," I replied, turning back to my tea, which was now boiling in the kettle. "I'm making tea and have enough for two. Want some?"

" What kind?"

"Herbal. Don't ask exactly what, I didn't look."

Finland shrugged and sat down in the chair I had just been using as I poured two cups, taking his silence as a yes. I sat down next to Tino, who gladly took the hot drink from my hand. The 22 year-old (appearance-wise) set it down the cool, then collapsed into his arms.

"If I may ask," I began, not wanting the pry but curiosity taking the better of me. "what happened? Last I checked, you and Sweden were on really good terms."

Finland groaned. "Oh, I'm going to have to apologize to him for that," he sighed. "I really didn't mean to snap like that. I just, ah," he blushed slightly." Fell asleep during the meeting."

"Don't worry," I replied. "Greece sleeps through these things all the time."

"But he's Greece. He's always like that."

I snickered, and Tino managed to small chuckle at the joke, some color returning to his cheeks. That was good. The guy was practically looking like a ghost.

"But then," Finland continued, managing to take a small sip of the still scalding tea. I copied the motion. "Everything changed. It was a nightmare, but it felt more like a vision. Scared the hell out of me."

I had enough sense not to push any further. I was still shaken up by my own nightmare.

I started at the thought. Tino and I both happened to fall asleep at the same time and both of us had a terrifying nightmare that scared the crap out of us.

Could there be a connection?

"You're Canada, right?" Finland inquired, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yep," I replied happily. No one ever remembered my name after I told them, much less before. "But you can call me Matthew."

"Yes." A nostalgic look appeared on his face. "I remember. You're America's brother."

I nodded, opening my mouth to ask about the similarity in our dreams, but the door abruptly smashed open, effectively cutting me off before I even began.

"Dude!" America burst into the room, waving a folder in the air. "Why did you leave in such a hurry?! Took me forever to find you. You left your paperwork on your desk, you know!"

I blushed, realizing what my brother was saying was true, and Finland nodded formally to the American, politely introducing his presence to the superpower.

"Hello, America," he greeted. Alfred blinked, looking at Tino as if he had just noticed him sitting there.

"Oh, hey Tino!" He welcomed with a grin, closing the door behind him. "You know what's wrong with Berwald? I haven't seen him so worried since World War II!"

"Oh no," Tino sighed, leaning back and running a hand through his pale blonde hair. "I'll have to apologize for snapping at him. I really didn't mean to."

Alfred snorted, dropping my folder in my lap. "You're going to have to do a lot more than that, man. If looks could kill, Spain, Prussia, Denmark, Iceland, and I would all be dead!"

Tino banged his head on the table a couple of times before standing up.

"Well, I better go before Berwald really does kill someone," he explained, excusing himself. "And knowing Denmark, it'll probably be him. It was nice seeing you—Matthew, right?"

"Mm, okay," Alfred shrugged as I nodded, too happy that feelings had remembered me to reply. "You better hurry; Denmark was going after Sweden last I saw. Got any Cokes, Mattie?"

"In the fridge."

"Bye," Tino called, opening up the door. At the same moment, America opened the fridge.

Things happened very slowly from that point onwards, and I would remember them for the rest of my existence.

"Hey, are you supposed to have a black hole in here?" Alfred asked, so nonchalantly that I thought he was just joking. I didn't have time to reply, though, before a hurricane level wind abruptly sprung up in the room, spilling my tea all over my paperwork.

Then America fell into my refrigerator.

Well, almost. He was still gripping onto the side. Just barely.

"America!" Tino and I called at the same time in alarm, racing towards the superpower. I ran to the fridge and gasped when I saw what was inside.

The inside of my refrigerator was gone, a black void sucking up everything around it replacing it. My hair whipped around my head, getting into my eyes. Distantly, I heard Kumamira crash into something.

It was nearly impossible to wrap my mind around the absurdity of it.

Then Alfred, superhuman strength and all, lost his grip.

What I did next I did on complete instinct, and what happened afterwards would change our lives forever.

I lashed forwards, grabbing America's wrists and was pulled in as well, unable to find a good foothold in time. Tino lunged after me as I fell, and he gripped my ankles tightly. However, Finland, even with his own impressive strength, couldn't hold on for long, and soon fell in with us. The light from the break room disappeared, and soon I was surrounded in a pitch black, swirling vortex.

I don't remember most of my time in the void. It was a very difficult experience to get my head around, and it still is. For one thing, it was extremely chaotic. At one point, I remember a part of my pants ripping and Tino screaming as he was separated from us, out of sight within moments. Then, America pulled my smaller frame into his slightly larger one, wrapping me in a bone-crushing hug.

Then the void disappeared, replaced with blue skies and the chirping of birds. Wind whistled next to my ear. I looked down, trying to figure out what in the world had just happened, and found myself screaming.

We were free falling. America was crying out as well, saying something frantically over the wind, but I couldn't tell what it was over my panic.

Had I been in any other situation, the scenery below me would have been very beautiful. I was falling into a forest, it's spring green leaves lighting up the ground.

But I gave no more thought to the scenery than I did to the wind as America and I crashed through the canopy, leaves and branches whipped past my face, leaving light cuts wherever they struck.

Suddenly, Alfred shifted his hold on me to one arm, the other lashing out to grab something that I couldn't see from my position. Abruptly, we began to skid to a stop, before dangling around 20 meters above the forest floor.

But we weren't done yet. We were now falling in a careening arc, going faster and faster by the moment. I blinked, and looked to where we were falling, and found myself thinking:

Why is that tree getting bigger?

Then something struck the back of my head and everything went black.