It had been nearly a month, and Arthur hadn't heard a peep of going back home from Alfred. By now he had reluctantly dismissed the whole event as a strange dream, and went back to saving up what little money he received from his job in the hopes that he'd have enough to eventually fly back home and renew his now-expired passport.

They didn't get to go to another country; instead they were stuck in Washington with Francis and his family, something that they all deeply regretted. They all agreed to take two months off just to relax, especially since Alfred still wasn't in prime condition to do any shows. Arthur managed to find a job looking after peoples' gardens in the city, which paid very little.

Alfred trudged through the door, yawning lightly. All three sent a nasty glare to him.

Lately, Alfred seemed to be dealing with…distressing mood swings. Most days he was his normal self. Making silly jokes, helping out around the house, teasing everyone in a playful manner. On occasion though, it seemed like he switched bodies with some nasty and spiteful person. He was almost borderline abusive, though that was only toward Arthur.

Francis seemed to be his normal self, but tended to strike up conversation with Arthur more than Alfred nowadays, which was both odd but reasonable considering the way Alfred had been acting.

Arthur gritted his teeth, hoping Alfred was feeling normal or especially friendly today.

No such luck. Alfred glared at him and sat down at the table where Arthur was having some tea and a late supper.

"I hope you're not gonna eat all that. You're getting fat." He stated coldly.

Arthur frowned and put a spoonful of his leftovers back on the plate. The demeaning comments were starting to get to him, and just that morning he found himself letting out a few choked sobs when he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Not even gonna talk to me? Christ, you're lucky I even wanna be your friend considering that you don't wanna say a word to me." He chided, looking bored with him.

After a few moments of tensed silence, Alfred suddenly stood up and darted past Arthur to the laundry room, where the back door was at.

That was another 'distressing' thing everyone had noticed about him. He randomly left and came back a few minutes later, completely calm and smiling, acting like he hadn't done anything wrong.

Today hadn't proved to be any different, and Alfred came back fifteen minutes later with a grin on his face.

"Heya Artie! I brought a mini-pizza for you!" He exclaimed, walking over to the couch where Arthur had moved to. Arthur frowned and took the pizza, glaring at it.

Alfred sat next to him and hungrily devoured his within ten minutes. Arthur ate two pieces of his and then put it in the fridge, before returning to his place next to Alfred.

Francis took this opportunity to wrap his arm around the Brit's shoulders, earning an annoyed roll of the eyes from Arthur and a glare from Alfred. Francis seemed to be cozying up to Arthur more and more, and other times he was all over Alfred's twin.

Alfred and Francis were no longer on speaking terms. According to Arthur and Matthew, Alfred had started the whole thing by throwing insults around. Alfred insisted it was the other way around, but either way, they both heavily disliked each other now.

Everything Francis did grated on Alfred's nerves. He flirted with both his brother and best friend, his accent was annoying, and worst of all, he touched Arthur entirely too much. Matthew didn't seem to mind it, but Arthur was agitated by the fact that he was too touchy and soon slapped Francis' arm off of him.

Overall, by the fifth day they were together, they were all sick of each other.

If there was one word to describe how Arthur had been lately (and if he didn't wish to offend), it would be 'clingy'. Always wanting to be with him, wrapping his arms around him when they slept in the same bed, walking in on him while he was showering like it was no big deal…Arthur wasn't exactly the friendliest person to him for some reason for the first week they were in Washington, but this past week he had warmed up to him again. It was a little suffocating.

But on occasions like this, it wasn't necessarily bad.

Before Alfred and Arthur, stood…well, Alfred. Alfred held onto Arthur's arm, staring at the imitation him.

The fake Alfred frowned and looked like he was deep in thought, before lifting up his hoodie.

The skin was scarred, just like Alfred's. Put side by side, one would not be able to tell the difference between the two.

Suddenly, a bright blue marking appeared on his side. It started below his waistline and extended up to his chest, elaborate and impossible to replicate. It started to pulsate, throbbing and glowing slightly. The form started to fall away, and soon a black creature was left in its place.

Alfred gasped and clung tighter to Arthur, who did the same in return. Arthur looked even more confused than him, and was shaking slightly.

The black figure started to shift again. This caused Alfred to scream once he realized there were now two Arthurs in the room, and he backed up into the wall, bringing the real Arthur with him.

"Well…that certainly didn't last long." It snarled, the spitting image of Arthur. "And it took forever to track you…once I did find you, that other guy wouldn't let me anywhere near you."

Alfred closed his eyes. Where was he before? He took a shower, Arthur walked in and started brushing his teeth, they headed to bed…and he fell asleep.

This had to be a dream. He tried to force himself awake, but to no avail.

"As you've figured out, I wasn't really Alfred." Arthur looked wide- eyed, feeling like a complete idiot for believing him. "However, I'm going to make you an offer. Normally I'd wait until the solstice or equinox to do this, but my power is draining fast. Do as I say now and you'll receive something special during the autumn equinox." It said, before taking a few steps closer.

Alfred opened his eyes and took a deep breath, choosing to stay silent and wait out what he thought was a dream.

Arthur frowned and shook his head. "You lied to me before, why should I believe you now."

It smirked. "What you have to do is simple. Whisper your most precious memory into my ear, and I'll show you what's in it for you."

Arthur hesitated and sighed. "Fine. Only because I want to get this all over quickly." He leaned over and cupped his hands over his ear, feeling odd whispering to himself.

It took a minute or two for him to tell It the whole thing. He pulled away and scowled, waiting impatiently.

"Interesting memory. And here is what I have for you." It said plainly, holding out its hand. It's skin seemed to take on a healthier glow though, and even his eyes were a bit more vibrant.

A small gift box appeared in It's hand. It was green with a dark brown bow, and It handed it to Arthur.

Arthur hesitated once again before taking the box. He was about to open it when Alfred blurted out, "Wait! It's probably anthrax or something!" Arthur frowned and considered that it might be something dangerous, but opened it anyways.

A decently sized, heart shaped emerald now laid in his hands. It was truly beautiful, and both Alfred and Arthur gave a little gasp. It was cut beautifully, and sparkled better than any gem either had ever seen, and had an amazingly vibrant color. The emerald was warm to the touch as well, and if Arthur wrapped his hand around it, it also throbbed faintly. Arthur ran his fingers over the surface, truly enamored with the precious stone. However, he couldn't help but feel strangely empty…

"It's beautiful, isn't it? And it'll easily fetch several thousand dollars." It said suddenly, smiling.

Arthur nearly choked on his own spit. "S-Several thousand dollars?"

"You heard correctly. And there's much more than that in store if you just stick around for another month." It said with a chuckle, before turning It's gaze to Alfred. "Would you like one as well? Just whisper your most precious memory in my ear."

Alfred took one more glance at the emerald and nodded eagerly. At least if it wasn't a dream, he'd get something valuable, right?

He took a moment to think it over, before leaning over to the man and whispering his memory into It's ear.

It smiled. "Truly fantastic and dangerous! And here is your gift for sharing that with me." In It's hand appeared a blue box with white ribbon.

Alfred tore the ribbon apart and greedily grabbed the stone. "It's sapphire." It said with a grin.

Alfred looked over it carefully. It was heart shaped, like Arthur's, and was just as beautifully designed. Despite its beauty, Alfred couldn't help but feel a bit empty as well.

"You'll both get far more than this later on. We'll meet again on the autumn equinox. Your two memories have refreshed me and will keep me going until then. Do whatever you want with the stones. Sell them, keep them, bury them, give them away…I don't particularly care." It said nonchalantly.

Neither said a word for a few moments, but Alfred soon spoke up. "Give us more of this next time and I'll come back every damn day!" He grinned and carefully put his back in his box, and tied the ribbon up again. Arthur did the same and slipped it into Alfred's hoodie pocket, before wrapping his arms around Alfred again.

"Also! If you've been wondering why blondie here," It said as it gestured to Alfred, "is being such an ass, well, you can blame that on the other shape-shifter. He's been trying to get you to hate me, but I drove him outta town. Here's something that will tell you whether or not something or someone's a shape-shifter." It produced two necklaces with what looked like mini versions of their gems on them, and tossed them to the boys.

"They'll glow when there's a shape-shifter within a hundred miles. The brighter they glow, the closer they are." It said with a smirk. Alfred was about to complain about the 'girly' design, but was interrupted by It. "I'll see you both during the autumn equinox."

Suddenly, Alfred and Arthur both awoke. Alfred was in a cold sweat, and Arthur sat up. He threw the covers off and gazed around, before his eyes settled on two gift boxes sitting on the edge of Alfred's bed.

Alfred slowly sat up, and his eyes fell on the boxes near his feet.

"It wasn't a dream!" They both gasped out, leaping for their boxes.

Inside were the gems, just as beautiful as before. They looked at each other in amazement, not quite believing it.

A/N: So you're probably wondering why this was updated early. Well, the answer is: I won't be updating this anymore (or at least taking a hiatus), due to lack of interest on this, and the fact that I planned this out poorly. My goal was actually 30 reviews by chapter 8, but since I only got 2 reviews on the last chapter, I know I messed up something. More than likely I'll be reusing some ideas from this into a future fic, and if not, I'll probably rewrite this some day. I hope you will enjoy my future fics though!