Chapter Twenty Six
Matthew had just settled down for the night when he thought it might be a good idea to call Alfred and Arthur. He pulled his phone from his pocket and turned it on, blinding himself in the process. He squinted with a groan and dialled the American.
"Hello? Mattie?" Alfred asked sounding groggy. "It's like 3 in the morning before you ask me if I'm drunk." He slurred tiredly.
Canada laughed. "That would have been my first question." He said with a smile. "We found the crystal. Well, we didn't find it, I was kinda just handed it."
"That's great!" Alfred said suddenly sounding wide awake. "You're back already then?"
"No, we don't know how to use it." The blond explained. "I'm in no rush to figure it out."
"What do you mean by that?" The American demanded.
"Well, I like it here. I miss my land and people, but I don't really have a desire to go back." Matthew said looking out the window seeing a passing terra. "Besides it's only been like what? Half a month there?"
"Yeah, but," Alfred trailed off. He sighed. "You need to come back."
"I will, eventually." Matthew promised.
"Like, why do you want to stay so bad? Did you get married and have kids when I wasn't looking?" America asked sounding almost serious.
"Yeah, I have six kids, five boys and a girl. All in a year." Canada said sarcastically. He heard Alfred laugh on the other end.
"Damn bro." He said through his laughs. "You've been having fun."
"But in all seriousness, I will come home. Just not for a while." Matthew said. "We don't know if this crystal is a onetime thing or if it will work more than once. We're not taking chances."
"Alright. In the meantime, the old man and I will keep trying to find a fix as well." Alfred said. "He's called Romania and Norway, but neither of them were any help. England refuses to call Scotland, so I might tomorrow."
"Okay." Canada said with a yawn. "Talk to you later Alfie."
"Night Mattie, be safe." Alfred said and hung up. Matthew looked at his phone for a second realizing how close it was to dying. He knew he had his solar charger in his bag, but it was too far for the lazy Canadian. He was surprised that his phone had lasted over a year in the Atmos on the same charge. He didn't really use it much though, accept to take the occasional photo, text Prussia or call America.
Canada curled up back against the window. He fell asleep quickly.
-❄"Sometimes I want to disappear."❄-
Almost two and a half years had passed and Canada was still happy to be in the Atmos. Not that he really had a choice though, they still hadn't figured out how to use the crystal and England and America hadn't found anything either. The Storm Hawks hadn't really tried too much in the past year, they were unable to find any information on it and the Terra Vapos people didn't know either.
Matthew had watched the teens grow quite a bit over the past couple of years. Aerrow had hit quite a growth spurt and was about a foot taller than Finn now. The blond teen wasn't too happy about that, but he didn't let it get to him too much. Finn had become very good with words, he had grown into his silver tongue. Junko and Stork hadn't changed too much. Piper had changed quite a bit. She had a lot more awkward questions to ask and Canada tried his best to explain. She had a little bit more trouble being the only female on the Condor.
The Storm Hawks were currently lazing around just coming off another supply run. Canada was sitting cross-legged reading a book in the hanger. He had just finished a few cosmetic repairs on his skimmer and didn't feel like moving from the quiet and empty hanger. Instead he sat on a crate to read.
"Hey, Mattie?" Aerrow asked catching his attention walking into the hanger. Canada looked up from the book his nose was in. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Matthew set his book down. "Sure, what's up?" He asked expecting an awkward question.
"Do you think Finn is right?" The Sky Knight asked running a hand through his hair. "Do you think we should be killing our enemies?"
"Don't compromise your morals because someone else has a different opinion." The nation said shaking his head.
Aerrow sat on a box across from him. "I'm getting tired of this. Fighting Dark Ace all the time is getting annoying. Maybe killing him will end the war?"
"Killing a single person won't end a whole war. Especially one that has been going on for generations, it's going to take a lot of work." Matthew said with a frown. "People's hatred of one side or another is deep rooted and it will take time for them to come around."
"Do you think it'll ever end?" The red head asked eyes wary. "I never want to stop helping people, but it's getting hard."
"Yes, somethings gotta give eventually." Canada said. "Resources could run out or people could just forget about it."
"Forget?" Aerrow asked raising an eyebrow.
The nation nodded. "You never know." He said. "We had wars that went on for years, but eventually everything just stopped. They're still going on technically because there was no treaty signed."
"Example?" The Sky Knight asked cracking a small smile. It seemed outrageous to him.
"Japan and Russia. World War II ended in 1945, but no treaty was signed between them. So it is still going on over seventy years later." Matthew said with a shrug. "Or I'm technically at war with Denmark in a way. There's this little unclaimed island in the ocean that our people visit every once and a while. We leave a flag and whisky they take our flag and leave their own with a bottle of schnapps. We go back and the cycle repeats."
"Wow." Aerrow said in between laughs. Matthew was happy he could lighten the mood a little. "That's ridiculous!"
"Yeah I know, but it's funny." The blond smiled. "Either way, do what you think is right. Everything will work out eventually."
"Yeah, I sure hope so." Aerrow said with a sigh. "When are you going to make pancakes again? I want some with chipped chocolate."
"I still can't believe you guys call them chipped chocolate and not chocolate chips." Canada said shaking his head. "It just sounds bad."
"Chipped chocolate sounds better." The sky knight rolled his eyes.
"Maybe I'll make some for supper. That's in an hour or two." Matthew said. He was really craving kraft dinner though. Aerrow smiled excitedly bouncing slightly on his box.
"I'm always hungry." The red head said rubbing his stomach.
"You know, you're at that age where your body..." Matthew started with a smirk.
"Nope, not happening." Aerrow said jumping off the crate and grabbing Matthews's book before running off. Canada chased after him yelling random puberty facts. "Why do you know this stuff?" The sky knight asked over his shoulder as he ran.
"I had to deal with it for like fifty years!" Matthew yelled gaining a little bit of ground on the teen. He was using his longer legs to his advantage. Aerrow ran down a hall before realizing it was a dead end. "Give my book back and we'll have no problems."
"Fine." The sky knight sighed handing the book back. "When are you going to start making food? I'm starving." He whinned clearly trying to annoy the Canadian.
"In like an hour." Matthew said looking at his non-existent watch. "Maybe two."
The pair started to walk back towards the bridge and as soon as they entered a distress call came in. Aerrow sighed as Stork answered it. The other Storm Hawks came rushing in from all over the Condor.
"It's the Rex guardians." Stork said. "We're in the area. About ten minutes away."
"Right, set a course." Aerrow commanded. "Any other information?"
"Not much, Snipe and Ravess are there, no word on exactly how many Cyclonians or if Dark Ace is there." Stork said explaining what he heard. "We'll be there in less than five minutes now."
"My skimmer is still down." Junko said.
"You can borrow my Storkmobile." The merk said over his shoulder. "You better not get a scratch or I'll release a tickle spider in your room."
"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." Junko said nervously. "I'll man a cannon."
"Okay, suit yourself." Stork shrugged flying the Condor closer to Terra Rex. Canada could see a few skimmers in the distance.
"Let's get to it then!" Aerrow said starting down to the hanger.