Last chapter was long wasn't it. I don't get to see the word count on the chapters till I upload them to so its always a bit of a surprise to see how long they are. Anyway I hope you enjoy this one too.
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Gilbert was beginning to believe that high school was a bad idea for him. So far he had attended one full day and pretty much missed the rest of the week. And it was also only just the first week of school. To top it all off he was now going to miss another week due to being suspended. At least he wasn't too concerned with falling behind.
When school let out after his fight with Jake his friends once again made their way over to his house and he told them about his trip with Matthew to the world conference and they all exclaimed how much they wished they could go with him. Gilbert made promises to bring back souvenirs for them and maybe see if he could wrangle pictures of him with some of the nations from Matthew.
Matthew was kept busy that weekend, arranging for Gilbert to travel with him and calling Alfred to discuss letting the world know about their states/provinces. During one of these conversations Matthew could swear he heard a few loud voices in the background, one of which he though sounded a lot like The South. The brother's eventually agreed that it was for the best, leaving matthew shaking his head. He and Alfred never were able to figure out why Alfred's states seemed to get representations more than Matthew's. Now with Gilbert though, Matthew began to wonder again. They weren't all really states so to speak. Sure there was Florida, Alaska, and Hawaii. Then there was the rest of them. The South was the personification of the southern states that tried to break away during the Civil War. The Northwest Territory, or Territory Northwest of the Ohio River, was made up of several states also, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, She had been nicknamed Ohio after Ohio had become the first state made from the territory. California and Louisiana were something of odd balls, despite each being named for only one state they represented more. California was the entire West coast while Louisiana was every bit of land bought during the Louisiana Purchase, which was most of the plains states. To be fair Alfred really only represented the original thirteen colonies, but because of some weird way that nations worked themselves out Alfred became a blanket over the others. The states acted as a buffer for internal problems while Alfred sheltered them from international affairs.
Matthew thought about Alfred's history and how each state came to be and realized why he didn't have the same sort of issue with his provinces as Alfred did. Sure he had expanded since he was first colonized by Europeans but he had never had his land broken up and divided, ruled by other nations. Each province of Canada was unique but they had always stayed under the same rule.
"It's like the Italies."
Matthew never shared his conclusion on the states with his brother. It was better for Gilbert if no one else figured that out. But it did make him wonder about Quebec and their failed attempt to separate. Matthew made a note to make sure to go and make sure there wasn't a little Quebec running around up there once the conference was there.
Matthew and Gilbert were taking a taxi from the airport to their hotel near the conference center where the nations usually stayed when they had to come to these things. Matthew had handed Gilbert a hat and pair of sunglasses while they were on the plane here and told him he needed to wear them whenever there was a chance they may run into another nation, at least until he could be introduced as New Prussia. Alfred and Matthew had decided that they would make the announcement at the end of the first day's meeting, that way there was less chance things could go wrong.
They got out of the cab and Matthew paid the fair before heading into the hotel and checking in. Gilbert hung back as Matthew went to the front desk and looked around. Matthew had told him that there were going to be others 'like' him at this conference. He wondered if he would be able to recognize them.
About then a loud group came into the lobby made up of seven people. They were shouting at each other and arguing about something. Gilbert looked over at them and took them in. the first he noticed was a girl about his age with pale blonde hair, like white sand, she wore a hat, but it didn't cover the hair spilling down her back. She also was wearing dark sunglasses and a heavy coat. She stood quietly next to a slightly smaller boy with black hair and darkly tanned skin, his eyes were a bright blue almost like sapphires. He seemed to have a lot of energy and was arguing with an older girl with black curly hair held back at the temple by a tropical flower, her eyes were also blue, but her tan wasn't as dark. Trying to calm the two was another boy, about the same age as the older girl, he had blonde hair that fell past his shoulders and was tied back with a leather cord. With his blue eyes he almost looked familiar to Gilbert but the tan he sported made him dismiss the familiarity. Off to the side stood a pair that were glaring harshly at each other, they seemed about the same age as the older two he had noticed earlier. The boy of this pair was wearing a hat and dark glasses so he turned his attention to the girl he was glaring at. She had soft brown hair that fell in ringlets across her shoulders and bright blue eyes like the others so far. The last person of the group was standing off by herself and talking animatedly into her cell phone. She had sunny blonde hair and again those same bright blue eyes, set into a slightly tanned face this time, hidden slightly by a pair of sun glasses that were just barely perched on her nose. It was the girl on the phone that walked up to the customer service desk and flashed a credit card for the person standing there, not missing a beat in her phone call. Gilbert really hoped these weren't the states, but he had a terrible feeling that's exactly who they were. Before he could think about it more Matthew came over to him and they went to the elevator and up to their room.
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After the last couple of chapters this one seems unnervingly short. It just is giving background info and it seemed wrong to add more of the story into this chapter than I have so, please review. They make me really happy.