Shortly after the conversation about Vinland, Alfred began to stir. He couldn't fully understand what was happening around him but he knew people were talking. Mattie, who was right next to Alfred's head, was talking to someone near him. He could hear him talking about something to someone and yet his mildly ill brain couldn't differentiate the voices around him. So, with all his strength, that was building up once more, he sat up and opened his eyes.

The group that had just left to see the memory had returned and milled about conversing about who knows what. "I thought you guys left."

"We finished the memory and we decided to wait for you to wake up before we do the next," Matthew said and handed Alfred a bottle of water. "Feeling better?"

"Much, thank you," He chugged the half empty bottle.

"Do you know why the memory with the--what did you call it?--the wendigo was blocked?" Arthur asked, the conversation he was apart of with Francis and Lukas forgotten, the other two paying attention to the blue-eyed blond as well.

"Maybe because of my necklace? I don't know," Alfred said. "I just know is that before today, I had no idea that memory existed but now it does and I don't like it. Also, what did you guys see in the memory what you left?"

"We saw Vinland," Lukas answered. "It was the first time you meet her, in the forest."

"Oh! I wanted to ask-a you," Feliciano said bouncing up from his place around the room. "I know I asked Matthew but-a I wanted to ask you to-a, but can I paint the forest scene? The one we just saw?"

"Sure man! I would love that," Alfred beamed, his bright smile lighting up the room. "If there's any moment in my life you deem worthy to paint, go ahead! I've wanted to have some of my favorite moments in time on canvas but I don't have the skills like you do, feli, so you have my full consent."

"Yay!" Feliciano hugged Alfred tightly, his arms around his chest and neck from behind him, before he let go to further continue his self-conversation of the medium to use for the future projects.

"Anyway, we should continue with the memories, I don't know how much time we have left in here." With shaky legs, Alfred managed to stand up and walk to the corridor that held his childhood. The oak doors around him stayed shut and locked, even the ones they had visited before. Gold doorknobs tightly jammed into place to keep prying eyes from seeing more than they should.

A little further down the hall, past door 1-8, was the next memory. Just like the others, the numbers were engraved into the dark wood and filled in with gold. 1-12 it said and opened automatically when they reached it, but scared and hesitant, just like the people around him, Alfred stepped through.

They had expected a scene like the ones before. The tall and full trees in a forest, foliage the covered the ground for miles. But what they saw was almost completely different. A beautiful shade of light blue still coated the sky for miles and miles and tiny, miniscule patched of white clouds popped up rarely in the vastness that was the sea of blue. Heat beat down on the ground around them brutally creating tricks on the mind when they peered through the heat waves. Fake puddles of water could been seen in the distance, but those who know heat, know they are just an illusion.

"Where are we?" Yao asked very confused. "It's nothing but desolate plains for miles."

"Don't talk about my land like that," Alfred said. "And for you information, we are in Texas. Most southern broader, near the Rio Grande river to be exact."

Many of the countries looked around almost unimpressed. From what they heard about the second largest state, it was nothing like they thought. But then again, they were looking at the land in the past so it was vastly different. "But why are we here, though?"

Before them, as if they faded into the scene, Native America held the hands of her two twins. Their mother looked just like she always had, the same leather skirt and beads, animal hide bags for food and water, and her hair pulled into a braid. Except for the slight dusting of pink across her body, she looked fine. Alfred and Matthew on the other hand, not so much. They had two see through face coverings that shielded their face from the harmful sun and shoes made from the same material protected their feet from the burning ground. Their white skin was no match for the sun and turned a violent shade of red on the tops of their shoulders and all over their back.

"That looks like it hurts," Antonio commented on the painful-looking sunburn.

"I bet it does, but I don't remember the pain or the journey," Alfred says. "But I do remember where we're going."

"Where?"

"You'll see." Alfred followed the group who had made the decision to follow the mother and children.

"mama, i'm tired," Baby Matthew's voice was muffled because of the covering. "are we almost there?"

"Almost, baby," Native America smiled. "We are going to have to wait for your uncle at the river, but be careful, there might be dangerous animals in the waters."

"Yes, mama," the two boys answered in unison. Time moved faster in the memory and soon the three had reached the semi-clear cool waters of the river. Life seemed to thrive around the banks. Lush green grass and foliage blossomed for at least a mile out from the edge of the river. Aloe vera plants bloomed large and unkept around them, but it added to the beauty of the land. Like an oasis in the desert, this river saved many from dehydration and starvation.

"Kuruk, Kwahu, come here before you go to the waters," Native America knelt down next to a fairly large aloe vera and broke off one of the larger stems. From the end of the plant stems, a thick yellowish-clear liquid oozed out and onto Makawee's hand slowly. "I need to put this on you."

"Is that aloe vera?" China asked looking further at the succulent.

"Mhm, they grow naturally in my southwestern and western states," Alfred said trying to gain the attention of a memory field rabbit. "We use it for sunburns and other injuries."

"What is it?" Baby Alfred ran up to his mother, mask forgotten and his brother close behind.

"I need to heal your bruns, turn around," She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a knife. Carefully, cut off the top layer of the plant to reveal the yellowish-clear gel inside. With three fingers, she lifted a good amount of the gel and applied it to their backs. It was cool and shockingly cold against the toddler's hot skin. "It's cold, I know, but it will heal your skin."

"I'm the one who told you that," On the other side of the river stood a man dressed in colorful beads, mostly red and white with dashes of blue and yellow. He looked important. He looked like royalty with the brightly colored accessories and gold jewelry that donned his bright caramel skin, which made many of the men who couldn't tan easily jealous. But those who shared similar skin tones, such as Antonio, Lovino, Feliciano, wondered if they could achieve such a radiant color. "And you're not even properly applying it. Let me do it."

He jumped over the river with ease and walked to the mother and her sons. Just like Native America had done, he grabbed a stem from the plant, peeled off the top layer to expose the yellowish gel, and rubbed it into the bright red skin of little Matthew. "You have to use your palm and press into the skin to have it fully grab onto the wound."

"Yes, brother," She sighed and followed the motion onto the other twin child.

Many still didn't know who he was, they simply didn't know who he was or where his land was, but they knew his people were very advanced. The craftsman ship and delicately placed beads on the blue cloth and necklaces around his neck could've rivaled those made in modern times. He spoke with such eloquence, he could've been scholared at an Ivy league school, but yet, he wasn't.

"Amerika?" Ivan caught Alfred's attention. "Who is that?"

"Oh, sorry, that is our uncle, Central America," Alfred explained. "His land is from the middle of present day Mexico to the southern border of Panama. His sons and daughters are our cousins, especially Emanuel, Mexico, but they're all younger than us so we feel more like older brothers than actual cousins."

"What happened to him?" Gilbert asked.

"Spain." Matthew spoke with malice. The both of them didn't like what Spain had done to their uncle, they were still too young to fully understand what had happened. But now that they're older, anger and resentment bubbled up. And yet, they still hadn't confronted Spain on what they had done. "We don't forgive Spain for what he had done to our uncle, he killed him and pried our cousins from their lands, but we're not mad at Antonio. They're different people."

"Lo siento, Alfred, Matthew," Antonio apologized for his country. "I didn't want to use violence against him, my boss forced me and I had no choice."

"It's alright, we get it, but it still hurts ya'know?" Alfred patted Antonio's back, trying to give him some kind of compassion. "But it's not me who you should be apologizing to, it's everyone who had him as a father and had South America as a mother because you didn't stop there."

Alfred turned away from the spaniard to the group of four who began their way to Central America's land. Their trip wasn't as long as it was to get to the Rio Grande river, but the days speed by just as fast. Coyote howls were heard off in the distance during the nights and loud cicadas rumbled during the day where they sat on the mesquite trees. The night sky was brighter on the other side of the river. As clear as a picture did they see the glowing bands of the milky-way galaxy above their heads. It looked like a goddess's gown, draped against the dark blue as if it were a bed. Her radiance smiled at them brightly and carefully lit the world around them just enough so that they can make their way safely.

"I'm painting this when I get back," Feliciano stared up at the sky, mouth agape and eyes wide, trying to soak up as much as he could. "I never knew that the galaxy could look even more beautiful than it did."

"This must be why our people made her a goddess all those centuries ago," Matthias said in awe. "They could see her in all her glory."

"It truly is breathtaking," Arthur agreed, hoping that one day he could see her again when they return. Sadly they couldn't. The pollution clouded the skies at all times of the day and her majesty, the galaxy, would be hidden behind the curtain they created. Those who had small gaps of fresh unaltered air would try to see her once more when they finish, travel to the middle if dense forests, climb the highest mountain they can, sail to the middle of a sea, just to catch another glimpse of the mother of all.

"I vote for a trip to the middle of the pacific to see her," Alfred raised his hand high above them and watched as everyone did too, shouting their ideas and telling the group of the supplies they would willingly bring on the trip. But all too soon did she leave and bring the cloudy warm day. It was then they realized they had reached their destination. A city came into view on the other side of a hill, houses and buildings placed in specific spots to create a grid structure providing the city with infrastructure the European countries didn't have when their cities were built.

Women walked around the city in beautifully crafted clothing and children ran around playing with friends. Water streams flowed through the city following closely to the road that created paths to each home and building. It was a civilization so advanced many thought it was just like a modern city, and it was. They had a currency and a very educated society, laws and a government, a military that stood post every other building as well as roam the streets to keep order.

"I'll take you to my home, there you can rest and enjoy a meal," Central America smiled and lead the three, and the invisible group of seventeen, through the city to what looked like the district where the nobility lived. The houses grew in size, as well as the property, till they came to the most northeastern land of the city. Houses were spread far apart and rolling hills separated the houses providing privacy dividing the land, with the help of a wall to section off the land. "My wife has just given birth to my youngest child, her name is Xoco."

"How lovely," Makawee smiled and followed her elder brother to his home. She noticed the difference in volume the closer they reached his house, lots of yells and shouts and laughter made their presence known when they came upon the large property. Older sons tended to the animals that grazed the far reaches of the property, the older daughters gathered food from the farms in the back of the home, and small children played in the open grass that had yet to be something useful.

"papa!" A little girl smiled and ran up to her father. "mama is mad at you."

"She is? I wonder why," He asked and motioned for his sister and her sons to follow into the carefully crafted stone house.

"Yaotl!" A woman yelled, her powerful voice echoed in the house and startled everyone there. "You are in trouble mister!"

"My sun, why are you angry?" Central America put down his daughter and walked up to his wife who had the newborn baby in her arms. She too had warm caramel skin and long black hair, braided with colored ribbons and tied up in her hair to stay out of the way.

"You left with no word of where you were! I was worried sick, the king was looking for you, something about foreigners near the Incan's territory," She slapped his arm. "I thought they had taken you, you were gone for days."

"I would never abandon you or my children," He said and placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "I left because I had to retrieve my sister and her two sons."

At the doorway stood Native America, Matthew clung to her legs and Alfred had his arms around her neck, both shy and frightened of the new people they met. It wasn't that they were scared of meeting new people, it was because they weren't the people in his mother's land. They were familiar, the people up north, they felt like family. Each of the tribes and each of the chiefs knew their mother and the twins knew that they wouldn't harm them. But the two didn't know these people. They didn't know the woman in front of them, they didn't know the children that ran around outside or the girls working on dinner in the kitchen. And it scared them.

"Oh, hello," The lady looked to Makawee. "I'm Atlatonin, I am the Aztec empire."

"Makawee, I am North America," Makawee smiled. "These are my sons, Kuruk." She placed a hand on Matthew's head. "And this is Kwahu." She looked to Alfred in her arms.

"Hello," Atlatonin smiled and waved to the twins. The scene faded from view and paused moments in time faded in and out of view from the group. Pictures of Alfred and Matthew getting used to the company of their cousins and uncle and aunt, moments where Alfred won a foot race but lost in a archery competition. Matthew running around playing hide and seek with his older cousin El Salvador looking for the others. The children splashing in the river nearest to their home.

"This was the first, and only time, we met our aunt and uncle," Alfred explained as more of the memories flashed in and out before fading back into the room where it all began. "He was a good man and fought to protect his family when he fell, I heard about him going against the conquistadors when I was living with Arthur and I felt bad that I couldn't even help my cousins."

Silence gathered in the great hall.

"Were nearing my early colonization," Alfred sighed. "I need a break."

A/n

The child's name, Xoco, means youngest daughter. The Aztec empire's name, Atlatonin, is a name based off of the Aztec mother-goddess. Central America's name, Yaotl, means soldier, warrior, or defender. If you do not like the names I have used, or feel offended by them, please contact me and I will change it.

Thank you for reading,

Kitty