Chapter 3

Night had fallen in a downtown city somewhere in Ohio. Matthew was trudging along the sidewalk, hungry, alone, and miserable. He couldn't get a room at a motel, because he didn't have any money, and he couldn't be given shelter from anyone, because-you guessed it-no one noticed him.

"Surely," Matthew thought. "This couldn't get any worse."

However, just as he was thinking this, he felt two rough hands cover his mouth and pull him into a dark alley. He came face to face with two big, strong, scary thugs.

"Give us your money!" one of the thugs whispered fiercely.

"I-I don't have any! I swear!" Matthew squeaked.

"The little runt's trying to trick us!" the second thug sneered to the first.

"Hey."

Matthew and the thugs turned their heads at the source of the anonymous voice. Farther back in the alley stood the dark silhouette of a woman.

"Let the kid go," said the silhouette as it walked towards the thugs.

"Stay out of this, lady!" said the first thug.

But he suddenly let out a yelp of pain as the silhouette kicked him in the jaw with a swift move of her leg. With the skill of a ninja, she punched and kicked the second thug several times in the stomach.

"This chick is nuts!" the first thug exclaimed. "Let's get out of here!"

And the thugs retreated out of the alley.

The young woman stepped closer to Matthew so he could see her more clearly. She was slender, but she had a built body. Her raven colored hair was a pixie cut and dark eyeliner framed her steel blue eyes. She was wearing a black leather jacket, ripped blue jeans, black combat boots, and couple earrings on each ear.

"You okay, kid?" she asked as she helped Matthew to his feet.

"Y-Yes," Matthew stuttered. "Thank you for that."

"You should be more careful," said the woman. "There are lots of people like that around this area. You're not from here, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Matthew replied shyly. "This is my first time here." He didn't want the woman to think of him as crazy if he told her that a magical coin transported him here.

"Looks to me like either you're visiting someone here and you're just out for a night jog," said the woman. "or you're a runaway."

Matthew sighed. "Yeah, it's the latter."

His stomach gave a loud growl, and his face flushed with embarrassment.

"You hungry?" asked the woman. "You can come over to my place and rest there for a bit."

Matthew's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Usually I don't do that kind of thing, but you look like you can use it."

"Thanks a bunch!" said Matthew gratefully.

The two of them started walking down the street.

"The name's Jade by the way," said the woman.

"I'm Matthew."

A couple minutes passed by, and they came to a set of apartments.

"Here we are, home sweet home," said Jade, opening the last door on the first floor.

When Matthew stepped inside, he immediately assumed that Jade was a gothic rocker. There was a black couch in front of the TV, and the walls were covered with posters of bands like Three Days Grace, My Chemical Romance, and Evanescence.

"I've got some leftover take-out. You okay with that?" said Jade, opening the fridge.

"Well, it's not pancakes," thought Matthew. "But it'll do."

After the two had finished eating, Matthew was looking through his backpack for his toothbrush. Jade happened to glance at a picture of Alfred, Arthur, and Francis that Matthew had brought.

"Is this the family you ran away from?"

Looking at the picture made Matthew's heart feel heavy. "...Yeah."

"So why'd you leave?"

"The three of them always fight," Matthew explained. "And I just needed to get away from it all. Also, hardly anyone back home notices me or they mistake me for my brother. I figured there was no point in me staying if I was just gonna keep feeling…"

"Invisible?" Jade finished. "I know what it's like. I hardly got noticed by my own family. To live in a place where no one cares about you, it bites." After a brief pause, she said, "Well, I'm pretty tired. I'm gonna head to bed." She headed toward the bedroom. "Goodnight, kid."

"Goodnight," Matthew replied, laying himself down on the couch and turning off the lamp.

Back in New York, after they had read Matthew's note, Alfred, Arthur, and Francis called the police to set out and find him. The next day came, and the police came back with nothing. France had come over to check on Alfred; he had been up all night, crying and worrying about Matthew.

Neither country had said a word for a long time until Alfred said, "I'm going to go look for him."

"Alfred-"

"He's my brother," said Alfred. "I can't just sit and wait for him to come. I'm going out to find him."

Francis jumped up. "Well, if you're going, then I'm coming with you! Sure he's your brother, but he's also my maple leaf!"

After a brief pause, Alfred said, "Okay, you can come. So where should we look first?"

Before Francis could answer, there suddenly was a knock on the door. Alfred ran to open it, hopeful that it would be either Matthew or the police. It was neither, but it was the next best thing: it was Kumajirou.

"Francis! It's Mattie's bear!"

"Kumajirou!" Francis ran up to the bear. "You were with Mattieu a couple days ago, right?"

Kumajirou nodded.

"What happened? Where is he?"

"I don't know," squeaked Kumajirou. "He touched this and disappeared." He held up a patch of earth that he had dug up. Laid upon it was a silver coin with blue lining and a golden star in the middle.

Alfred and Francis looked at the object.

"Maybe it's magic!" Alfred assumed.

"Well, none of us know much about magic," said Francis.

"No," said Alfred. "But we know someone who does!"

"Arthur!"

Arthur jumped as Alfred, Francis, and Kumajirou burst into his basement. The three of them looked confused for a second. Arthur was wearing a black cloak, and he was standing on a pentagram on the floor, holding a spellbook.

"What are you doing?" asked Alfred.

"For God's sake! How many times do I have to tell you gits to knock?!" Arthur exclaimed angrily.

"This is important!" said Francis. "Matthieu's polar bear said that he was with Matthew when they found this coin. He says it made Matthew disappeared!"

"What?" Arthur looked at the coin laid upon the patch of earth the little bear was holding. "He disappeared when he found this? Or maybe….he was teleported…." Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb turned on in his brain. "This must be a portkey!"

"A what?" the two other nations asked.

"It's an enchanted object that can transport anyone to a specific location."

Alfred and Francis still looked confused.

Arthur sighed. "Read some 'Harry Potter', you two."

"So you're saying that this coin can teleport us to the place where Matthew went?" asked Alfred, his hopes rising.

"Yes."

"Well then, what are waiting for?! Let's go get him!"

"I should come with you," said Arthur. "as I am an expert on the magic arts."

Francis frowned.

"C'mon, Francis," Alfred told him. "He knows how to work the portkey, and the more people we have, the better."

After a brief pause, Francis finally sighed. "Fine. But you're not coming dressed like that," he told Arthur.

Later, the polar bear lead the three nations to the field where Matthew was last seen. They all looked at the pin.

"Are you sure about this, Arthur?" asked Francis.

"Of course I do," Arthur replied. "We all touch it on the count of three."

…

"One….two….three!"

They simultaneously touched the coin and there was a blinding light around them. Alfred suddenly felt his feet leave the ground and he started spinning around in a circle like a fast merry-go-round. He felt Kumajirou clinging to the back of his shirt, and along with the screaming of the wind, he could hear Francis screaming beside him.

"Let go, lads!" Arthur yelled.

"What?!"

"LET GO!"

Alfred let go of the coin and felt himself falling.

He landed on the ground with a thud. He picked himself up and looked around. The grass was long and there was a nearby pond with long reeds along the edge. There were a couple of houses around the area. But he couldn't see Arthur and Francis.

"Arthur? Francis? Where'd you guys go?"

There was a rustle from the reeds as Francis stood up. "No need to shout; I'm right here." He looked around. "Where's Arthur?"

Suddenly, there came the sound of splashing from the pond and a pair of arms thrashing above the surface. Without a moment's hesitation, Francis grabbed one of the arms and dragged Arthur, who was coughing and gasping for air, onto the bank.

"Arthur!" Alfred came running to the pond. "Dude, are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me!" said Arthur when he was able to catch his breath. "Where's the coin?!"

"Here it is," said Kumajirou calmly, pointing at the tall grass where it was lying.

"We should try not to lose it again," said Francis, taking a piece of ribbon out of his pocket. He pulled the ribbon through the coin and tied it around Kumajirou's neck. ("Oh, you look so cute!")

"So, where are we?" asked Alfred.

"I don't know," said Arthur. "I assume we're still your country. But other than that, I don't know where the bloody hell we are."

There was a car coming down the road. Alfred stood on the side and waved his arms. Fortunately, the driver slowed down and stopped in front of them.

"Excuse me, sir," said Alfred. "Which state are we in?"

The driver looked at him, confused. "Are you dumb or something? This is Ohio." And he drove away.

All three countries were stunned. Matthew got transported all the way here? He could be anywhere in this state. Where would they start?