/= [DAY 4] =/
Rizal had no idea what he was doing there. The rehearsal meant that people who acted were supposed to be there. Of course, it meant that he could walk away whenever he wanted to. He was here only because he was bored and wanted to watch someone else suck. He was most certainly not here because he wanted to hear Ludwig sing. Oh no, that was most certainly not here because of that.
It's because Ivan's here, and they were meeting afterward.
Yeah, totally that.
He sat in the back, near the light booths, as he watched Francis discuss the story about the musical and the other actors slowly falling asleep by the sheer history of it all. Rizal happened to have a script handy (which he totally did NOT steal from Antonio) and a working lamp, so he was able to read the entire thing during the lecture. Going past the millions of music notes that he obviously couldn't read (and that Charice CLEARLY stated that she could not read), the story seemed to be about redemption and love. Ludwig was supposedly playing the character that chased Roderich's character because he violated parole or something like that, and the chase goes on for twenty years.
HaH, iF oNlY hE cHaSeD yOu LiKe ThAt FoR sO lOnG…
Look, you bastard. You're either threatening my life or making fun of me. You can't choose both and not at the same time.
Rizal rubbed his shoulder and the glyph, silencing the voice. He couldn't help but seriously wonder what his life would be like if he didn't have a sol to keep the voice down. God knows what would happen. Not like he was wrong, per say. There was another plot going on about two girls fawning over one guy, and he chooses the one he met a few seconds ago over the one that had known him for so long. Granted, he was French and therefore reasonable in making that choice, but…still, he couldn't help but wonder if he was in the exact same situation.
NO.
Bad thoughts.
Other than that, the singing was rather good for the show to have some warrant for people to go ahead and watch it. Roderich was rather good sounding as the old guy whose being chased by the devout Catholic (though Ludwig's Protestant…huh), Elizabeta seemed beautiful playing the mother of Feliciano, and on closer inspection the father-daughter (son?) relationship between Roderich and Feliciano is oddly believable. Maybe it's because he was the father…right? He wasn't even sure anymore.
Never mind. Everyone else was perfect. Arthur sounded pretty convincing as the poor little one left behind with his pining voice asking for love from…a Canadian, which is partially French and hence the theory still applies. And Matthew…oh dear god, Matthew. When people actually remembered him, his singing drove people to tears. Maybe that's why he always talks in whispers. Judging by the way that Charice is strangling him right now, the theory applies.
Rizal was getting bored. No one was doing anything interesting past the usual stuff, so he decided to go ahead and leave early. He quietly left the room and closed the door behind him, before heading out for a walk around the backyard that the school apparently had. Other than some obvious tomato plants that were near the building, he couldn't tell what any of the plants were. Maybe that was a good thing.
"Oh, Rizal!"
He turned his head and saw Erika walking toward him, a script in one hand and wearing a rather boyish outfit for a fourteen-year-old girl. Rizal turned around completely as she joined him for the stroll down the park pathways.
"No rehearsal for you today?"
"Kiku said that they only needed the guys today, so most of the girls headed out." Erika answered. "I saw you out here alone, so I thought I would give you company."
"Oh…thanks." He couldn't help but blush. No one actually did that for him. Except for Charice, but that's natural from siblings. "And Francis?"
"I'm not sure. I think Kiku dismissed him, but I was already out the door."
"Well then. I guess that means it's just the two of us here in this park."
"Yes it is."
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
…
"So what's your role in the show?"
"I'm just a background person. They'll call on me if they need me." She answered simply. "But we have so many people on the cast that I'm probably not going to be called."
"I…I'm with you on that." Rizal did a quick headcount. "Lively cast, aren't they?"
"I'm surprised that so few girls actually made the main cast. I wonder why that is?"
"Probably because Francis did the damn casting."
"Did you say something?"
"No, of course not." Rizal answered with a quick huff. "I-I was just wondering it myself."
"Oh."
Another awkward silence descended on the both of them, leaving the Filipino to wonder if he should actually say something. After a few minutes, he remembered that he hadn't eaten anything for quite some time. He looked down at his stomach in confusion while he heard the girl next to him chuckle.
"Have you eaten anything yet?"
"Not really. Just had a hard day." He answered. "But I guess we can go ahead and eat. How about tomatoes?"
"Tomatoes?"
"DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE GOING AFTER MY TOMATOES, DAMMIT!"
"Oh geez."
Rizal shook his head and turned his head to see a really peeved Lovino staring at him as he folded his arms and stood between them and the tomato plants he and Antonio were growing. Erika was confused on what was going on, but Rizal waved it off and told her not to worry about it.
"Now why would we want something like that?"
"Because you wanted tomatoes."
"Lovino, I'm Rizal. You know I hate anything European Spanish. We're talking about American tomatoes."
"Riiiiight…"
"You want me to get an American tomato just to prove my point?" He grinned. "What are you doing out of rehearsals, anyway?"
"They didn't need me, duh!"
"You're just saying that to get out of the dress."
"WE'RE NOT USING COSTUMES TODAY!"
"Riiiight…"
"You evil ass."
They were about to continue on their little tirade when they felt the ground shake from beneath them. Rizal and Lovino stared at each other in shock when they finally realized what was going on. Erika started screaming, and they turned their heads to realize that Shadows were charging toward them.
"Oh geez, are you serious?" Lovino spat. "We have to deal with them here now?"
"If you don't want to, you can leave this to me." Rizal looked at Erika. "Stay with Lovino."
Erika stared at him in confusion as the Filipino charged forward, slashing through all of them with nothing but a yo-yo and his legs. Lovino couldn't help but wonder why he preferred to kick a lot of the time if he was such a yo-yo nut.
"Whoa!" He kicked a Shadow out of the way. "Too close for comfort."
"Lovino, what are these things?"
"Um…bad things." He answered, kicking a few more out of the way. "Look, I have no details about this either, so-!"
"Watch out!"
Erika quickly grabbed Lovino's arm as another Shadow charged toward them. Suddenly, a huge ball of light started glowing from the both of them. Rizal noticed the light and turned around, realizing that something was going on.
"Don't activate your sols here!" He called. "Or else-!"
He paused, noticing that it was coming from Erika. Immediately, there was a green rabbit-being that erupted from her forehead that created another barrier throwing the Shadows at bay. Five seconds later, Rizal was kicking all of them out of the way. Finally, all of the Shadows vanished from the area, leaving the three of them alone. Rizal turned to Erika.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." She answered. "What…what were those things?"
"Those were Shadows." Rizal sighed. "All you need to know is that they like taking human victims and that whatever you just did keeps them away."
"T-that thing that came out of my forehead?"
"Yeah…" Lovino stared at her. "Hey, I see the glyph on her forehead!"
"That's her sol…the whole barrier thing must be a representation of her connection with Switzerland…"
"Rizal…" Erika turned around in confusion. "Why did those things stop chasing after us?"
"Well…there's a chance that we got rid of all the Shadows." Rizal paused. "Unless…"
Rizal lifted up his finger in confusion before charging deep into the woods, forcing the other two to follow him. He was moving way too fast, almost as if he was looking for something specific, until they noticed a huge purple hole in the ground. Lovino tensed.
"What the hell is that?"
"It means that the Shadows already got a victim." Rizal sighed. "You two can go ahead and get the others. I'm going ahead."
"What-?"
Rizal quickly jumped into the portal.
/=+=/
Lovino = Quezacotl, the Thunder Bird
Erika = Carbuncle, the Diamond Shield
A Natural is an individual who didn't have to face their Shadow in order to obtain their sols or Personas. This is somewhat of a throw-back to Persona 3, where the main cast of characters could achieve their Personas naturally, and their opponents had their Personas forced out of them (Triggers?). Because of their nature, Naturals don't really have Shadows or are extremely weak. Naturals are usually pure-hearted and hold no malice, and could activate whenever they want.
A Trigger is an individual who had to face their Shadow or had them activated by a Natural's presence, or "triggering" them. This is a throw-back to Persona 4, where the main character was a Natural and all of the supporting cast were "triggered" by him to have their Persona available to them. Normal people are usually Triggers. Due to the balanced light and darkness in a Trigger, it isn't really recommended that Triggers summon their sols in the positive realm (where we are) or else…well, that's for another chapter :D