was one of the few times that Alfred could admit to himself that he was jealous of Canada. With how often it felt like their world was shrinking the more time went on and things got discovered, it was found like this that made the man giddy with the idea of discovery and jealous that it had been on his brother's land.
An ancient colony, what was looking to have been the first colony in North America, was such an amazing find! Even now he itched to go over and explore the huts that were in the ground...they reminded him of hobbit holes. America was already thinking of bringing Hawaii over to visit once she gets a bit older. It would be adorable to watch the little girl squeal in delight when she could run around. Alfred couldn't help himself, making his way over to get closer to the settlement. There was a draw to those abandoned huts that he couldn't explain, but decided to go with it, weaving through fellow archeologists with ease as he walked closer.
Alfred stopped in front of the huts, where all that stood between him and the probably not-as-nice hobbit hole was a weathered wooden door. Without thinking the man reached out to touch the door, his fingertips brushing against the rough pale wood.
Anger surged within him quickly and without warning. Despite popular belief, the American was usually a very patient man. It came as a boon as he either raised or guided the past forty-eight states that he came into contact with. The rare times he was angry, it was an icy anger that sent chills down people's spines. It made him much more calculating, said patience being the catalyst for his more malicious ideas. It's what made him aid and suffer through the Manhattan Project not even twenty years ago. He hated it.
This was different though, it was as if a fire lit up inside him and urging him to burn everything he sees down-consequences be damned. That this settlement should still be standing even after years was an injustice he should correct.
Injustice.
Bloodshed.
Betrayal.
...Betrayal?
"So what do you think of it?" A new, softer voice said beside, and just as quickly as it came, his anger left him. The grief he was already dealing with seemed to magnify itself even more for some reason. Alfred turned his head to look at one Matthew Williams, his favorite Canadian.
Alfred forced a smile on his face as he turned to face his Northern neighbor. "Mattie, I swear you're gonna give me a heart attack for sneaking up on me like that one day!" He laughed loudly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Matthew rolled his eyes at his younger brother at that. "I've been calling out your name the whole time, Alfred."
Another new face popped up right beside Matthew, frowning at Alfred with her stormy gray eyes, her strawberry blond hair tied up messily in a bun. "Yeah, ya dingus. You're gonna get in the way of these people trying to dig through the dirt." Amelia, his female counterpart to the United States, scolded him. "You just kept ignoring us and wandering off. Like a weirdo. Or a zombie." She narrowed her eyes at him as if making sure he wasn't turning into the undead.
"Shaddup ya beatnik," was Alfred's dry response as he walked away from the two to go chat up with the poor archeologist trying to do their job.
Matthew raised his brows in surprise at Alfred's response, he would usually lightly make fun of her. The Canadian could hear Amelia sputtering in indignation at the comment, muttering choice words under her breath before she took a deep breath and smiled gently at Matthew. "I can't believe you've been holding out on us with such an impressive discovery," she teased, gently bumping her arm against her northern brother. Matthew bit his lip, looking around the settlement.
"I...didn't know," he said quietly making sure that he was not looking at his sister who could read people quite easily and weed out his lies even easier. "Must have just been one of those spots. It's a pretty cool discovery though, eh?"
Whether she noticed his lies and decided not to comment or not, Canada felt relieved when she looked towards the settlement, speaking in an even tone. "Oh, it's amazing. I've always heard of Vinland but thought it was just one of those Norse myths or whatever." There was a pause. "I'm assuming the confrontation with the Indians here wasn't great."
Canada shrugged again, looking at that wooden door in front of him. He remembered accidentally breaking it down one time. "They're not Indians, first of all. Second..."
He looked out ahead of the land, and despite the fresh spring air and the green grass, it felt like cold wind had hit his face, the sound of cracking and then a splash.
"...you might be on track." He could feel those eyes on him again, refusing to meet them as he stared at where Alfred was at. His face had that same twisted, haunted expression he saw when he first approached his brother.
The same face that never left Matthew's memory since childhood. Since 1812. Sure, some things were different now, but it was still the same.
Crackling, then a splash.
There was a moment of silence before Amelia asked, "Where...where you here? When this was a colony?"
Matthew felt more anxiety crop up at the question. Hundreds of years of mixed emotions feel like they were about to spill out again. His eyes stayed locked on Alfred who still staring ahead but not looking at anything.
He tried to lighten his tone as he spoke up. "It happened so many years ago. How could I be