So now Spain's mad! How is the Shadow going to handle this? Well…
/=+=/
Rizal had to facepalm as the Spaniard was sent flying across the yard. There was no way the man that had taken over him and his sister for so long should be this horrible in battle against one of his colonies. Ivan and Gilbert were too busy trying to fend off the millions of bullets to care.
"Are you even trying?"
"I am trying, Rizal! I wouldn't lack in skills when I'm trying to save mi amor~"
"Don't…call me that!"
With that, Antonio was thrown across the area and Rizal had to facepalm even more. At least by the look on Ivan's face, he was most definitely catching on to the rather lacking ability coming from Antonio. He rolled his eyes and motioned Ivan to charge forward.
"What are you going to do, Rizal?"
"…I'm going to make sure that Antonio gets the freaking picture."
"…don't be too strict on him. This is his other half."
"Whatever works for him."
Rizal turned around and headed toward a charging Antonio as he ran forward and continued his charge on Lovino's Shadow, only avoiding major injury when Gilbert threw his third blade into the gun, causing it to explode. The Shadow Lovino did not look pleased at all. In fact, he threw his other gun on the ground and let it fuse into the pavement, turning into a gigantic tank monster thing that was armed to the top with gun barrels. Gilbert was not pleased.
"Um…this is totally unawesome!" He pointed at it. "What the hell can we do with this?"
"We can't do anything, da?" Ivan smiled. "All we can do is stall. The only one who can truly defeat him is Antonio."
"Anto-?"
The Spaniard was thrown out of the way again, smacking headfirst into the ground. Rizal only sighed and rolled his eyes, summoning Alexander and turning him into a tank as well, and soon an entire shoot out commenced. Poor Gilbert and Ivan were stuck trying to use their Personas to shoot all the guns down. Antonio started to move up, ready to attack again.
"Your attack isn't going to work, you know."
He turned to Rizal.
"All the guns are aimed at every weak point that I have. You go out there and you're going to get completely murdered without throwing up a fight."
"What are you saying?" Antonio was getting mad. "Are you saying that I can't do anything to save Lovino?"
"Oh, so now you're finally grasping the severity of this situation? Here I thought you were a complete slacker who couldn't figure out what the hell is going on!"
"Don't you lecture to me, Rizal! I know full well what is going on with my Lovi!"
"Then why the hell were you half-assing out there?"
He froze.
"Oh, I know you, Antonio. I know how you fight. I know when you're throwing everything you got at a target. You're not even trying with Lovino over there. What, are you afraid that you're going to leave a scratch on someone that you love dearly?"
"No!"
"Well, wake up! Empires strike against colonies to keep them in order! He's a colony going awry! Smack him in the face, get him back into shape!"
"I will not lay a hand on Lovino! Even if he is a colony of mine, I would never hurt him!"
"So let me get this straight: you won't hurt him because he's your precious colony? What the hell were me and my sister then, huh? What the hell were we?"
Antonio was taken aback as Gilbert was shot down. Ivan looked at the both of them as he ran to Gilbert.
"Calm yourself, you two. You both know who's the only one who can calm down Lovino's Shadow and stop all of these problems."
The two of them paused for a minute as Ivan went to tend Gilbert's wounds without touching him (the last time he did that, he coughed blood). Antonio stared at him for a few minutes before looking back to a raging Lovino. He realized that he was crying, and he was looking at Antonio.
"Geez, I can't believe that I have to do this…"
"What do I have to do…? What can I do to save Lovino?"
"Do you even know what the problem is? Do you even know why Lovino has so much rage inside him? Or are you just as dense as the rest of us?"
"…no…no, I don't…"
"You don't see it. You seriously have no idea what's wrong with Lovino? Antonio, if you don't know what it is now, then we'll never get him down!"
A shot rang out, and Rizal was knocked down. Antonio turned his head and saw Rizal hold onto his shot leg and a bright sword in the other hand. He turned around and looked back at Lovino, realizing that he was mouthing something underneath his breath. He squinted and tried to read it.
"…non sono…una…medaglia d'argento." I am not…a silver medal? "Why is Lovino thinking…that he's…so useless?"
"Keep going, Antonio! Figure it out yourself and then you'll see what to do!"
His head started to reel around, trying to figure out what Rizal was talking about. Suddenly, his head looked up and tried his best to understand: he had showered Lovino with all the love in the world, all that he could have. But what did the other nations do to him…?
"…they…ignored him…? They ignored my Lovino…?"
It was then that he saw it, a bright light glowing in Lovino's chest and in the middle of the tank. He stared at it as the others continued to shoot at it, and Rizal knew that he had gotten it.
"Now you know what to do."
"…what should I do?"
"…take Ragnarok." He lifted his blade to him. "And aim."
"A-at Lovino?"
"Using this blade is the only way to get rid of the Shadow constricting the body. None of us are powerful enough to get through the confines…you're the only one who can do it."
"…all right." He took the blade. "I won't disappoint Lovino."
He went back a few minutes before he charged forward, lunging forward and feeling the wings of the phoenix grabbing him and lunging him forward. Meanwhile, he could hear Rizal joining the others in massive gunfire and he knew that he was safe.
"Querida alma que está encadenado por la confusión ..."
I know I have done so much wrong…but it was all for him.
"Las nubes se borrará y el camino será pavimentado."
The world was going to come after you…and I knew that I…I had to at least make you stronger…
"Caminar hasta el extremo libre del temor y la duda."
So why can't you see that?
"Ahora!"
He started screaming, charging the blade right through the Shadow's chest. All of the tanks disappeared; that was allowing Rizal and the others to charge the rest of Lovino's Shadow and slash through them like hot knives. But it wasn't going to end there, for soon a huge wave of Shadows reached around them.
"Jesus!" Gilbert started swinging around. "How bad is Lovino, anyway?"
"What do I do, Rizal?" Antonio called.
"Just keep going! Don't let go of the blade! I can't believe I have to do this…" He turned to Ivan. "Ivan! Do it!"
"But you're right next to me!"
"It doesn't matter where I am! Everyone's going to die here if we don't get rid of all of them!"
Ivan nodded (albeit hesitantly) before he took a deep breath, holding his hands together.
"очистка"
Gilbert looked up and saw the bright light blinding everyone in the room and forcing the blade deeper into Lovino's chest. The Shadows were immediately vaporized and soon the light faded away with the rest of the mind demons.
/~+~/
It pained him every time he had to leave Lovino behind. It pained him knowing that Lovino was going to have to learn how to take care of himself when he was away. But he knew what he was doing. As the ship pulled away from harbor, he knew what he was doing: he was going to become stronger. And though them, he was going to let Lovino get stronger. That was the plan.
I have to get stronger…so that I can be on par with the British Empire…and that bastard England. He thought. Yeah, I can stick it to him that way…all while teaching Lovino how to be just like me…a strong nation…one who can protect himself…and maybe even me one day.
He looked up and thought about it. Could Lovino really turn into an empire with his brother? Could he really bring himself to allow him to take over his land if the time came for it? He couldn't help but smile at that thought: maybe it would allow him to live with Lovino…
"Sir, where are we heading?"
"To our next colony." He answered.
"Where, sir?"
"…the Philippines."
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"You…"
"You were going to be a strong nation, one day. Whether it was you alone or with your brother…the nation would stand strong."
"That's why…that's why you went around and became so strong…"
"I had a goal set in mind, and with that goal I strove to conquer the world. Though after that, I forgot that every goal has their consequences…"
"Is that why you let me go when I said I was going to be independent…?"
"You were already a strong man…I knew that you were ready to take on the challenge. You can't be under my wing forever, no matter how long I wanted it."
"…what…?"
"Let us talk some other time…we have a place to return to."
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/~+~/
Antonio withdrew the blade, seeing it vanish in midair and seeing Lovino on his knees in front of him, holding his chest as if he felt that it was going to explode. He wanted nothing more than to lean forward and hug him, to tell him that it was all going to be OK. But before he did that, he felt Ivan's hand hold onto his shoulder.
"You're going to have to hide now, da?"
"W-what are you-?"
Before he knew it, he was being flung so that he was hiding behind Ivan's back. Gilbert questioned that for a minute before seeing that Lovino's glowing chest separated from him, floating away from him before turning into a familiar shape. Lovino turned to it and saw a smile on the figure's face.
"…Antonio…?"
["Look at how much you've grown."]
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm a freaking wreck! I haven't grown at all!"
["No? Wasn't it so long ago that I was able to hold you in my arms and tell you that it's going to be all right?"]
"Don't you already do that…bastard?"
["You're crying."]
"No I'm not!"
["Don't worry. Boss is here to wipe the tears away."]
"Antonio…"
["I'm so proud of you, Lovino. Never forget that."]
He kissed Lovino on both his legs (making the real Antonio rather jealous and Lovino as red faced as ever) before transforming into a yellow phoenix, the fires vanishing and turning into wind. Lovino stood up and reached his hands out, seeing the bird land into his hands before sinking into his body, embedding his legs with bright green glyphs. He turned his head around and saw the real Antonio staring back at him, smiling and holding his hands out.
"He may not be the real one…but he wasn't lying."
"…you bastard."
He charged forward and jumped into Antonio's arms, making Gilbert shed a small tear. It was then that he realized something weird in the room. There were no Shadows, of course, but…where the hell did Rizal go? Ivan seemed to catch on rather early, and his eyes had turned toward a strange sight.
"Oh…"
"Hey…where's Rizal?" Antonio looked up.
"What, that duck egg bastard's here?" Lovino looked around. "I don't see him."
"Hey…" Gilbert blinked. "Isn't that his sun pin?"
Everyone turned their heads and saw it lying down on the ground exactly where he was last time. Gilbert was about to say something when he saw him walk toward it in the Shadows, holding his side and picking it up like it was no big deal. Lovino had to laugh.
"Geez, look at you without the pin. You look uglier without it."
"Ha ha. Laugh all you want. We just saved your ass." Rizal pinned it back into place. "Now let's just get out of here."