Chapter 3! Meaning that there're more stuff going on! Hey, Persona 4 started slow, right?
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"I knew it! I knew those sounds weren't coming from my imagination!"
She rolled over in her bed, the strange voices echoing in her brain. It sounded like someone was walking down a grassy road.
"You can't hide anything from me…now that I know, I can easily bring you to the light! And if not me…than he will…"
Her eyes pried itself open, looking around the room illuminated blue in the moonlight. She turned her head around to her clock and saw that it was only five thirty in the morning. Nothing too horrible for her lack of sleep. She can operate at a time like this.
Maybe I can get a few more minutes of sleep…
…
Nope, no I can't.
She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Maybe an early breakfast can keep her up for today. She got out of bed and headed out toward her kitchen, a little mad when she opened it up and realized that it was purely empty. She cursed at it for a few minutes.
"That's what you get when you don't bring food with you to a school…"
She decided that she'll go into the city to buy groceries (wherever the nearest city is), so she threw on her uniform and headed toward the door. As she opened it, she barely saw a red blur dash past her toward the staircase. Of course, running people usually means that she should be running too, so she closed the door behind her and dashed on after him. Once they were out in the morning light, she realized it was Li Xiao Chun.
What's he doing up?
She continued to dash on after him until she realized that she lost him. After a few minutes she decided that it was nothing new and went on her way toward the school. Maybe she could be the first one there and scare her brother into thinking there's something wrong with her…that's always fun.
"And who knows~?" She chirped. "I might be able to find Li Xiao Chun there!"
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Charice stretched her legs as she walked down the pathway toward her school. Before she knew it, she could've sworn that she saw Kiku pass her in a dash. She blinked in confusion before hearing broken "ve~s" and seeing Feliciano running past her. She stared in confusion at the tired Italian as he dashed away.
How long was he up…?
"HEY! NO SLACKING OFF!" A booming voice screamed from around the corner. "KEEP UP THE PACE! We still have two more laps around the school!"
"SIR YES SIR! UNDERSTOOD, SIR!"
She had no idea how her feet out wired her rational thinking, but before she knew it she was running the path around the school. Never mind the fact that the voice was probably talking to the tired Italian, all she knew at the moment was that she had to run.
"You are slacking! Keep up your pace!"
"SIR YES SIR! UNDERSTOOD, SIR! KEEPING UP THE PACE, SIR!"
"Are you in any pain?"
"SIR NO SIR!"
"I can't hear you!"
"SIR NO SIR! THERE'S NOT PAIN, SIR! I AM DOING JUST FINE, SIR! I CAN GO FOR TWO MORE LAPS, SIR!"
"Eh? Charice, is that you?"
"Haa~~~~h…?"
The footsteps behind her slowed down to a stop, causing her to stop as well. She turned her head and saw Ludwig in a rather shiny glow, wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked a little startled at staring at her, making her extremely uneasy. Then again, she's not used to glaring Germans. Who is, these days?
"I'm…fine…sir…I walk around my country…all the time…" She panted. "I just…didn't stretch, sir…I'm OK, I'm all right…"
"No, it's OK…I'm at fault here. I wasn't paying attention." He shook his head. "I thought you were Italy. He's not one for physical training…yet."
I can see that... "O…K…" She stood up. "Does that mean I still have to run?"
"Are you complaining about half a run around the school?"
"Eep! SIR NO SIR! I CAN GO ON FOR TWO LAPS, SIR! LET'S GO, SIR!"
And she was long gone.
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Never…ever…wake up early…again…ah, the pain…
Sure, she had been jogging before, but going into a full scale dash? That was too much, especially in a dress. She didn't know how long two laps were, but before she knew it she was just outside the entrance extremely exhausted. She didn't even know where Germany went. Maybe she was running faster than usual…
Before she knew it, she heard a commotion from inside the building. Wiping the sweat away from her eyes, she walked inside (too tired to run). The noise was coming from the gardens in the middle of the campus, and before she knew it she was hurrying onwards. What the hell was going on?
A whole crowd was in the area when she finally got there, surrounding the flag post bearing the UN symbol. Odd enough, they were more than willing to let her dig through and see what was inside. Before she knew it, she saw three people: Li Xiao, Matthew, and Carlos. Matthew was sobbing over the Cuban, a huge cut through his neck.
Carlos had been murdered…
Everyone seemed to be in a massive panic, talking to each other about who could've done this. Through that conversation she caught a strange topic going around the European nations, caught in worried whispers and in some hurried breaths. She stared at each and every one of them, confused out of her mind.
"Look at his body…it looks purely human now."
"He hasn't reincarnated yet?"
"I thought all countries that die prematurely reincarnate!"
"What's the case with him?"
What was going on? Reincarnation? Dying prematurely? Was there something in the "How-To-Be-a-Country" manual that she must've overlooked? She looked toward Li Xiao, who was whispering something in Chinese that she couldn't catch. Her motherly instincts caught in (must be from raising Rizal, she guessed), and she leaned in toward Matthew to comfort him. His sobs were even quieter than his voice, which hurt her even more.
"It's going to be OK, Matthew…come on, don't worry."
She accidentally bumped into Carlos's body, startling her. What made it even worse was that it started glowing, freaking her out even more. She threw herself back as the muttering continued before the body ceased to glow, having a strange odd paleness to it. Charice couldn't help but point and mutter at it in confusion.
"He reincarnated…that's good to hear…"
"Does that mean he's going back to Cuba?"
"I think so. Nothing seemed to be interfering with him…"
WHAT THE HELL is going on?
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She went to her class in a bit of a massive form of confusion. Matthew was in Kiku's hands, so she had nothing to worry about for the moment. She stumbled toward her seat (completely confused and tired from all that running) and collapsed onto the staircase without even caring anymore.
"That's a perfect way to start a second day of school."
"Hah?" She looked up. "Ah, Rizal…yeah. All of this is completely confusing."
"I know, I know. What's weirder was that no one was panicking too much about it..." Rizal shrugged. "Well, most of them anyway."
"That's the weird part." She sat up. "I was hearing some people in the Europe class talking to each other about Cuba and how he died prematurely or something like that? And something about reincarnation, too…"
"You heard that too? I thought they were just playing." He sighed. "Well, that's what you get when you just got out of Third World Country status a few decades ago without a super country watching you…you don't know anything."
"Well, what were they talking about? Who are we even going to ask about this, anyway?"
"We could try Yao."
"Who?"
"Wang Yao." He turned his head. "Oh, here he comes now."
Charice looked up and saw the long haired boy(?) from yesterday walk into the class in a bit of a daze. He looked up from it and saw the two other countries looking at him in confusion, startling the poor Chinese man. He quickly straightened himself.
"Is something wrong with my outfit, aru?"
"No, we just wanted to ask you a question." Rizal stated. "It's about what just happened outside the campus."
"Oh…well, Cuba is a good man, aru. Li Xiao hung out with him from time to time."
"No, it's not that. It's just that Charice and I were listening to a few conversations among the Europe class…" Rizal explained. "A lot of them were talking about reincarnation…?"
"What? You didn't know about it? I thought all countries knew that, aru."
"Well, we didn't have the luxury of someone telling us that." Charice stated. "We basically lived alone and grew up together."
"Ah, I see…well, you two should know about it in case something like this happens again." Yao sat down at his desk. "It's a long topic, so I'll tell you what you should know right now."
They leaned in.
"You see, this is what we call the bond between we nations and the people that live within our landmass boarders. We do our best to make our people happy with all of the diplomatic meetings that we continuously slug ourselves into. By making them happy, we allow them to have faith in us and the people we choose to lead us." Yao Wang leaned in. "Naturally when a diplomatic treaty or massive bankruptcy is issued, we die naturally. But when we are murdered, like…Carlos…nations call that premature death, since it is not official. Naturally, we are reincarnated through the people's love and trust in us, usually in a different body."
"But…?" Rizal turned his head. "There is a but in here, right?"
"Yes. In Cuba's case, that circle was not allowed to finish itself. He was not allowed to reincarnate."
"That's a bad thing." Charice blinked.
"Yes. When a nation is not allowed to reincarnate, the whole nation goes into a panic. Usually it turns into a national revolt or a crash into their economy, but…" China stated. "In other words, if one part of the section is down, the whole nation cannot exist."
"Wow…to think that we have such a huge impact toward them." Charice looked up to Rizal. "I always thought we were just national gauges that our boss uses to figure out their next move!"
"That is one of our jobs." China stated. "But if you two don't mind, please don't mention this to Li Xiao Chun, all right? They were…close."
"We can do that."
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Everyone was quiet during the class time, even though most of them never talked to the Cuban. Charice couldn't help but feel extremely bad, since she only spoke to the interesting man once. He and Matthew seemed to be really good friends. What is he thinking this time…?
I'll find him during lunch time. She thought. He definitely needs comforting at a time like this…
Before she knew it, the bell ran and lunch time began. Charice looked at everyone's startled faces as they hesitantly wandered out of the room, obviously iffy about the safety of this school ever since what just happened. She decided that she might as well go out and find Matthew now. She started down the stairs.
"How did you do it?"
She turned her head and saw that Li Xiao Chun was still there, sitting in his chair as if he was in a deep thought. But he was obviously talking to her about something.
"…how did I do what? Make Carlos glow like that?" She shrugged. "I don't know. He just…glowed."
"That's strange…the both of us were supposed to be the only one who can do that."
"Hm?"
"Nothing…just thinking out loud."
Charice stood staring at him for a few minutes before they heard worried rumbling echoing from outside the room. They turned their heads and saw a panicked young man outside the room. He looked like Canada, only he sounded louder and more annoying. I'm guessing that's America…
"Guys…hey guys!" He leaned in. "Have you seen my brother around?"
"Who, Matthew?" She blinked. "I saw him this morning!"
"Yeah, but after that…he just vanished!" America panicked. "No one in the school has seen him!"
Charice darted her head toward Li Xiao Chun, who had a semi-blank look on his face that seemed to be shock. Before he knew it, he nodded calmly and turned away, signaling that Charice should talk to him this time. He was up to something…something huge…
"We'll be on the lookout for him, America." She stated.
"Thanks guys…god, I'm really getting worried…"
He quickly got out of there, leaving Charice alone. She began to walk toward the door, thinking if the same guy who got Carlos got Matthew. Are they aiming for two to one…? That isn't good! But where would he hide him…?
She turned her head slowly and saw that Li Xiao Chun had headed toward the nearest television set. He took a deep breath before placing his hand on it, and what did she get? His hand had literally gotten through it! She couldn't help but scream, starling him and pulling his hand out. It shot out as if it was water.
"W-w-w-w-what was THAT?" She blinked. "Wait…you know where Canada is, don't you!"
"…I have an idea." He answered, still confused. "But I'm the only one who can go there…"
She stared at him with a blank look on his face before finally getting fed up with him. She stomped toward the TV set, glared at him for a few seconds, and slammed her hand on the screen. Nothing happened for a few minutes before she saw the TV set glow and her whole arm sank inside. She yelped and pulled it out, seeing the semi-startled look on Li Xiao's face.
"I'm the only one, my dignity. I can get in there too." She turned toward the TV. "I'm going with. I have to save Matthew."
"…you don't even know what's on the other side, Charice." Li Xiao looked mad. "And you're just going to throw yourself in like this?"
"Sorry if it seems Mary Sue that way. But I have faith in the Lord above." She pointed to the sky and winked. "He'll guide us to him, I just know it!"
"If you insist…but you might not like what's on the other side."
"I'll go in once, just for Matthew…" She turned his head to him. "But on the other hand, you should tell me how exactly you know these things."
"Well, I can't bargain out of this can I?" He sighed. "I'll go first. Follow me."
She watched as Li Xiao slowly climbed into the set as if he was getting into a box, vanishing into the static of the TV set. She turned her head to the door to make sure that there were witnesses, said a quick prayer, and then threw herself headfirst into the TV.
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Yeah, I didn't really plan this chapter out that much. I did the next one, though! So don't worry about the crappiness of this one :D