Strange turn of events, huh? But then again, who really knows Antonio?
/~+~/
Antonio's Shadow was really going on with them. Gilbert could barely dodge any of his attacks, and damaging him was a different story. Whenever he would slash into his skin, Rizal would scream in pain and the wounds would instantly heal. It was utterly horrible, as if no matter how they try to get the Shadow down, Rizal would be the one who suffers…
"This is going to be tricky, da?"
"No crap! And how come you're not worried about him? All we're doing is bashing Rizal's head in!"
"I would be, but I'm not. He told me he can handle himself and that we shouldn't worry."
"You are crazy…"
Before they knew it, Rizal started screaming in counter. Gilbert looked up as his wrists made the chains explode and slash through the Shadow with a simple swing of his yo-yo. Ivan could only chuckle as Rizal flipped over their heads and turned back to his normal form, landing on the ground without so much as any effort.
"…what the hell…?"
"Hm? What's wrong with you?" Rizal stood up.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST DO?"
"Finishing what Ivan should've been doing."
"Ne~~~It was Gilbert's fault."
"Fine, I'll give you that."
"Hey! Don't blame me about this!"
The three of them looked up as the Shadow started to fumble around and tried his best to stand up to attack. At his shoulder was a glowing wound, and Ragnarok started to throb in Rizal's hand. He looked to Ivan and nodded, confusing the albino.
"W-what the hell is going on?"
"We can destroy the Shadow now." He answered. "Gilbert, you know Antonio well, right?"
"Hell yeah I do. I'm his freaking best friend."
"Then you'll need this."
Rizal tossed him the sword, freaking him out and barely missing the handle. Gilbert looked down at it, feeling a strange aura erupting, and noticing that yes, this did feel a little weird to say the least. He looked up.
"What…is this?"
"That's my Persona…my real one." Rizal looked up. "That blade goes right into that wound over there. Stab it, and the Shadow will disintegrate into its human form."
"H-how the hell do I do that? This is totally unawesome!"
"It'll tell you."
"It'll what?"
"Me and Ivan are going to cover you, and that's when you move, got it?"
"U-uh…yeah, yeah yeah yeah! I'm awesome! I totally know what's going on!"
Great…
Rizal and Ivan quickly lunged forward, forcing Gilbert to swing like crazy after them. The two of them slashed away the arms heading toward Gilbert as strange words began to enter his head. He closed his eyes, letting the sword do its bidding on him.
"Liebe Seele, die angekettet durch Verwirrung ist ..."
I knew that Antonio was one to like a lot of colonies, but how in the world did it turn him into this?
"Die Wolken werden gelöscht und der Weg wird gepflastert."
Maybe I should've seen it coming. With his Catholic blood, no wonder he started suffering from the pain...
"Am Ende frei von Angst und Zweifel zu gehen."
But it doesn't matter now...I can save him...I CAN save him!
"Jetzt gehen!"
The blade pierced through the wound, and he could hear the Shadow scream in response and squirm to regain composure. Suddenly he heard the monster scream back in response, and Gilbert was thrown back into the wall. Rizal and Ivan turned back to him as he regained his composure.
"WHAT THE UNAWESOME HELL? Was I supposed to stab him differently or something?"
"….no…" Rizal took the sword back. "It was supposed to work…"
"You know what that means, da?" Ivan chuckled. "That means that someone else is the key to his deepest fears."
"Say what?"
"Rizal?"
"What makes you think I'm the one that he's panicking about?" Rizal stared at the Russian. "You know how much he treated me and my sister like pure shit."
"Maybe that's the secret?"
"…you are horrible." Rizal sighed. "Shit…"
"Don't tell me you're not going to try to save him!" Gilbert screamed at him. "I don't know what the fuck he did to you back then, but all that's changed. He's no longer the kingdom that ran you over all these years! So stop angsting about it and save him!"
"…" He flipped the sword up. "I did say that if we found him first, we get him…cover me."
"Finally…"
Gilbert and Ivan ran forward and slashed through the tentacles as Rizal dashed through the darkness. What pissed him off was how slow he was running toward him. He had seen his speed before in this Shadow's lair; this was only a fraction of his speed. This is human speed!
Meanwhile, Rizal was dodging all of the attacks of the Shadow. They were all twice as strong than usual, seeing that the craters were completely deep and could be able to trip in. Not surprised at all, of course. Rizal jumped back and started climbing up his arm toward the shining hole in his arm.
"Mahal na kaluluwa na ay chained sa pamamagitan ng pagkalito..."
Why in the world am I trying to save him…?
"Ang mga ulap ay clear at path ang ay aspaltado."
He ruined my life…he destroyed her life…so how…?
"Maglakad sa dulo libreng ng takot at pagdududa."
How can she forgive him?
"Ngayon pumunta!"
Before the world, he stabbed the blade deep into the wound. The screams echoed throughout the hall as the body started to shine and then dissolve into nothing but shining white lights.
/~+~/
The words that she used to describe Spain scared him to the very core. The very first time that he was curious about her was when she first walked into Jose Rizal's house, saying that she needed shelter from him. He was only a little boy, but just by looking at the beatings and scars on her body, he could feel a chill going down his spine. After she had seen her room, he had to sneak in after her.
"…Philia?"
"Ah-!" She turned her head. "Oh…I didn't notice you."
"I just walked in, that's all." He answered. "Who are you hiding from…?"
"You never heard of him?"
"…I woke up a few months ago, when he found me." He answered again.
"But you look like you're a few years old!"
"I'm only a few months old…" He was confused.
"Oh…oh my! I see…so you're like me!" She clapped. "Thank goodness…here I thought I was alone in this world…"
"What do you mean?"
"You are like me: immortal and part of this land." She leaned to his level. "You know how I'm the Philippines? This country that you stand on?"
"Yes. Rizal tells me this all the time; he's trying to save it…you."
"Well, you are the Philippines as well!" She chuckled. "You are my younger brother!"
"…I am the Philippines…" He looked down and thought for a while. Sometimes he would have a massive growth spurt whenever there was a successful rebellion. "I am the Philippines…"
"This may take time to let this sink into your mind…that's all right…I'm not going to blame you." She smiled. "I won't let you come with me when I leave. You're free to stay with Rizal when I do."
"…who are you hiding from…? You didn't answer me."
"He's…he's a demon…he's been harsh to all of our people…killed them if they rebelled." She turned her head. "His eyes glow when he's happy…this sickening smile added on…"
The only thing that her description was making was that of a man as pale as a sickly old sage with the days adding up to his demise, eyes shining with gold and the smile that was filled with blood. He had to be a cannibal of some sorts…a demon cannibal…which meant that he must also be able to deceive and seduce. No one could escape…
"Your arm is…?"
"Oh…this…" She held her left arm. "This is what he did to me when I rebelled against him…the only time I could…"
What kind of sick man would harm a girl that barely looked eight years old with a weapon that could cut that deep? He could see the twitching fingers that were on the failing left arm and felt fresh fear run through his veins. What in the world could possibly do something like this to her? And did he like it? For all he knew, he was licking the blood off the blade.
It was an image that he had kept in his mind, and it would stay there ever since.
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"You…you're scared of me…?"
"I was a little boy being told a scary ghost story about a man that she feared…of course I would be scared…"
"And now…?"
"…I won't lie and say that I hadn't completely let it go. However, that still doesn't mean that I can fully trust you."
"…I'm not expecting you to…you'll never trust me…"
"…probably not…but that doesn't mean I hate you."
"Fear leads to hatred. I know, I know…but to hear those words from you…I thank you…"
"Don't get mushy. Now hurry up and stand. Your best friend is worried for you just outside."
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/~+~/
The lights faded, revealing that Antonio and a bright light had been left of the Shadow. Gilbert and Ivan watched as Rizal landed in front of them, feet lightly gracing the tiles, before walking forward and maintaining a rather wary distance between the both of them.
"Antonio."
"…Rizal…" The Spaniard looked away. "You are…still here?"
"We're here to save Lovino. You just happened to fall in after him." He answered. "Something we have to get along the way."
"Heh…I was expecting that kind of cruelty from you…I expect nothing less from the man I suppressed…"
Rizal could only nod as Gilbert ran to his friend's side, slowly rising him to his feet and revealing that the battle had left him with plenty of scars all over his body. The Prussian froze as he pulled the sleeve down on his wrist, revealing strange scars of their own…across the wrist…
"You're cutting, man? That's so unawesome!"
"…it was an old habit…a long time ago." Antonio gently pulled his hand back. "I stopped, really."
["Well, you better have! Or else I would really be mad, you bastard!"]
They all turned their heads to see that the orb of light had started to take a form, aging from a girl in a dress to that of a man wearing an outfit similar to Antonio's. His eyes opened up to reveal green irises staring back into the Spaniard, and he didn't look happy.
"…Lovi-chan…?"
["Damn right, you pedo freak! What else could it be? Or have you lost so much blood that your brain cells stopped working?"]
"…I'm sorry…it's just that after my kingdom had to condense, I finally realized…the pain I caused. There was no other way-"
["There will ALWAYS be another way."] He had grabbed his collar. ["Do you hear me? There will always be another way."]
"…thank you, Lovino."
The image couldn't help but smile at that as he kissed his cheek, turning into a brightly colored bird with feathers as bright as the morning sunrise. Antonio smiled as the bird flew into his body, healing all of the scars that had appeared with it. He turned to the others and saw a rather confused Gilbert.
"…what the hell just happened?"
"Wish I knew~" Antonio laughed. "You know, Ivan?"
"You opened yourself~" He answered. "But let's not explain now. We have someone else to save."
"…Lovino, right." He nodded. "We have to…we have to save him."
"We're doing so right now." Rizal was already ahead. "Now if we can all stop talking, we can move ahead."
/=+=/
Antonio = Phoenix, the Immortal Bird