to/=+=/

The next day had the poor Filipino having to hunt down his sister yet again. There were rumors going around that she had been chasing down Italy again, and by the sound of screaming down the hallways…

"UWAAAAAAAAAAA! SOMEONE HELP MEEEEEEEEE!"

Yep, those were true.

He quietly stuck his arm out, feeling a huge gust of wind before a light tap on his forearm. Rizal stepped forward and saw that Feliciano had just breaked fast enough to not go hurtling into his arm. He had to admit that was quite a feat.

"H-hide me…"

"Just hide behind me."

"T-thank you…"

Feliciano quietly trotted behind him and clung onto his jacket, seeing that Rizal had just pulled out a book and had started reading it. Five seconds, a huge burst of air shot down the hallway, knocking down everything that was in its way. Nothing happened for a few seconds before the Filipino closed his book.

"You're safe now."

"T-thank you…"

The Italian quietly ran in the opposite direction, leaving Rizal to head further down the hallway while reading the book. Five more seconds afterward, the huge burst of air shot down in the opposite direction, forcing Rizal to fix his hair for a few seconds before continuing down the school.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Oh geez…"

/=+=/

"Oi, duck bastard. I'm talking to you right now."

Rizal looked up in confusion and saw Lovino standing over him, his arms folded and looking rather peeved. He closed the book he was holding and turned completely at him as the Italian dropped next to him.

"You need something?"

"I need answers."

"For what?"

"For my question."

"You didn't ask a question."

"You do know what I'm going to ask, bastard."

"It's either about yesterday or no, I don't have a clue."

"It is about yesterday. What the fuck was that?"

"You mean the Shadows?" Rizal turned to Lovino all the way. "I thought Ivan told you all this."

"He told me jack shit."

"Well, so much for relying on him to talk." He sighed. "How about Gilbert?"

"He knew just about as much as I do."

"Hm…and he started before you too…oh well." Rizal folded his legs. "The other place that we were in trying to save you, we call it the negative dimension, where one person can shape it through their emotions. The stuff that you saw before, anything with golden eyes and was completely purple trying to kill you is known as a Shadow."

"Shadow of what?"

"The evils of humanity. And you know about them, right?"

"I know them all too well."

"Yeah. If a Shadow bites you, it temporarily shows you what kind of evil it represents. Any human would go insane from seeing it. Fortunately, they stay in that other world, whatever that place is. If I were to venture a guess, it's a dimension where good and evil have a physical form."

"Wait, what the heck is good then?"

"The ones we used. Were you able to see anything back in that realm?"

"I only remember that you were on top of a fucking mech."

"That is the embodiment of goodness that I have inside my soul. No one really knows what it's called, but I tend to call it a sol. Ivan and Gilbert also have that, and I think you and Antonio have it."

"Have what?"

"The truce between good and evil."

"Say what now?"

"Each person has a sol and a shadow in that other world. One is in conflict with the other due to the outpost of what society has inflicted on them. When they are finally able to coexist, a glyph forms on the body that symbolizes the pact. I have one on my shoulder, and if I'm right…"

"What are you- GET OFF ME!"

Lovino felt extremely violated as Rizal started pulling up sleeves trying to find whatever the hell it is. He was about to scream the r-word when Rizal finally found it: two tattoo-looking things that were on the shins of his legs.

"The fuck is that?"

"The pact between the sol and a shadow. It basically means on the off chance you go back to the negative dimension-"

"Fuck no."

"-on the off chance…then you could defend yourself and see the exit out."

"Well, that's good news."

"Yeah…and that way your boyfriend Antonio doesn't have to jump headfirst after you."

"HE IS NOT MY FUCKING BOYFRIEND!"

"Geez, Charice was right…you are really obvious."

"You jerk."

"You're a jerk too. But at least you're alive."

"Oh, hey, I just remembered something. Antonio wanted me to ask you this."

"Ask me what?" He was a little glad that he god Lovino to ask him instead of confronting him. He didn't want to see the Spaniard today.

"What the heck is up with that blade of yours? The one Antonio used to stab me in the shin."

"Oh, that. I'm not really sure. We only have one sol, so…"

"You're not telling me the entire truth, aren't you."

Rizal turned away, leaving Lovino to mumble about forcing the truth out of him. After a few minutes, the Italian turned his head and was about to shout out the truth when another burst of air shot past him. Rizal turned his head to see that no one was sitting next to him, and there was a scream moving away from him.

"Good Christ…"

/=+=/

"Ah, Rizal. I was looking for you."

He turned around to see Ivan standing there, smiling and holding a deck of cards in his hand. Behind him was a rather scared Irunya, wondering if she was going to have to access her sol again. He knew that she really wasn't fine with using it, especially since it made no sense to her…

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm planning on gathering the union together to make sure all of them are in the know."

"Right."

The union. He was clearly about the Soviet Union. He heard rumors that all of them had found their own sols during the Communist rule, but Ivan never really touched in on it. Instead, he quietly followed the Russian and Ukrainian to an empty room where everyone else was waiting. Natalya was sharpening her blades while the Baltic Trio was fidgeting around.

"This is everyone." Ivan nodded. "Perhaps you all know why you're all here."

"The Shadows are back…" Toris sighed.

"What? Does that mean we have to fight again?" Raivis shivered. "Nooo…I don't want to see another evil being anymore!"

"No one does." Rizal waved his hand. "Ivan, I think we're fine with who we got."

"Exactly. I'm showing them the new guys~"

"Say what now?"

Five minutes later, Antonio jumped into the room while pushing Lovino at the same time. Somehow Gilbert tumbled down with him, leaving three bodies on the floor. Even Rizal noticed that the Baltic Trio was facepalming.

"They have a sol too?" Eduard asked.

"Apparently." Natalya answered. "Not the best ones, but…"

"HEY! Don't tempt me!" Gilbert tore through the crowd. "My…whatever…is totally awesome!"

"You don't even know the name of it."

"Yeah, I do! It's Fritz, man!"

"…Fritz?"

"Old Man Fritz, I mean, you saw him, right? Beard and everything?" Gilbert grinned. "It's Fritz!"

"…no…a nation's sol is not a human being's sou- oh, never mind." Natalya turned away. "You're too dumb to figure it out."

"I am not-!"

Rizal watched quietly as the newcomers argued with the pros. Well, to be honest, Gilbert arguing with Natalya for no reason. He thought he was scared of that woman. Maybe it was because of his sol or something. Or maybe because it didn't register in his head yet.

"So these are the ones you were talking about?" Lovino pushed off the Spaniard.

"Yeah. These are the guys who've been fighting the Shadows long before any of us." Rizal pointed at all of them. "They were fighting with Ivan back in the day…whatever time that was."

"I think it was around the time Gilbert lived with us~" Ivan laughed.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? DURING THAT CRAP HOUR?" He glared at him. "No wonder you were too fucking powerful!"

"Hehehehehe…you're so funny, Kaliningrad~"

"Oh shit…"

Rizal sighed as a whole fight tore up, and he instead turned to the ones who were paying attention, namely Eduard and Irunya. They were too busy wondering if they could return back to their ordinary lives instead of having to go back into Shadow slaying. They were always the peaceful ones…

"OK, so what me and Ivan wanted to say was this." He cleared his throat. "We're planning on hardcoring these guys in Shadow slaying. If you guys want to join us to make sure they don't screw their job up, then that's fine. Otherwise, you can just leave them to us."

"We have faith in the two of you, Rizal." Irunya smiled. "You won't let them fall to the Shadows."

"Even though you know who he is?"

"I have faith, Eduard."

Rizal knew what they were talking about, but it was then that the fighting had stopped and Ivan had just cleared his throat in order for the others to listen up. Of course, everyone had faith in the new guys to battle Shadows (seriously? They did? Even Rizal couldn't believe it). Maybe Gilbert was just that persuasive.

"So everyone's agreeing with the plan?" Ivan clapped his hands. "Natalya?"

"I want to fight alongside you."

"You have to be the leader of the containment unit on this plane." He instructed her. "You're the strongest fighter in this room, Natalya. If any Shadows pass our guard, you have to lead the others in the attack."

"…I understand, brother."

"Good." Ivan smiled. "So it's been settled then."

"I wish you guys could help us get used to our sol…" Antonio laughed. "But I guess no one wants to fight."

"We don't. Besides, our sol is pretty weak." Toris stated. "It depends on national strength, and we're talking about former kingdoms and G8 nations."

"I guess so." Antonio grinned. "We won't let you down."

"…che." Lovino sighed. "I'd rather never go back down there again."

"You'll still have to face the Shadows." Natalya stated. "They'll be around no matter how hard you deny it."

"Shit."

"The evil nature of the humans will always be around. And as long as you have a sol, you'll see it." Rizal nodded. "It's hard to live around them afterwards."

"Oh, that's just great."

Rizal shrugged, watching the crew of old and new argue amongst themselves as he stared outside the window of the room that he was in, seeing the sky fill up with clouds before the sun became completely covered with a slight cover of spring rain.

The Shadows are starting to attack the nations instead of humans… He closed his eyes. This is only the beginning, isn't it.

YeS, oNlY tHe BeGiNnInG.

/=+=/

Like I said earlier, Charice and Rizal have different influences on the nations in terms of the beings that they summon in order to fight off the Shadows, which in both worlds are the representations of human evils. So what are the differences apart from names?

The Persona is what Charice releases from a nation. A Persona is basically the representation of the dark secrets, consisting of many questions answered by the one who is the source of the questions. For example, in Lovino's case, his question is "do I really need to exist?" When his question was answered, "yes, you need to", his Persona is then shaped to show that he wants to protect himself, set on speed and long-distance attacks = "Sandalphon", an angel who attacks from afar. Personas are based off of emotions, which is the clash of good and evil inside a human soul, and because of that they look more natural. The human-looking Personas have all of their secrets revealed and answered. The animal/monster looking ones still have questions to be asked. In a sense, a Persona's appearance can change over time, especially with a nation's lifespan.

The Sol is what Rizal releases from a nation. Unlike a Persona, which is a part of the human side, the sol is the representation of the nation's good side (I mean, all the goodness). Like the Shadow, the Sol is pure light, but unfortunately, light and darkness cannot stand alone or else they will sin for their "benefit". Pure light will not know the darkness in any actions, and when light and darkness collide, emotions are born. In Lovino's case, his will is "I must get rid of those who are evil, so I can be a nation once more". Of course, it means that a Shadow and a sol have to stay in a body or else the soul inside is corrupted. Because of their simplicity, sols are more machine-like in their appearance, and rarely change what they look like.

In a sense, the sol is stronger than the persona, but that's just my logic. Which most people who only read Charice's story will never know. How weird.