So…a lot of you chose this pathway, and well…hope you enjoy the world, eh?
/= ["Song of Storms (Super Smash Bros Remix)" by Zelda] =/
The first thing that Charice couldn't help but notice was that they were on a pirate ship. She looked over the edge and saw that there was an ocean around them, like a regular ship. And that's when she realized that she was in a pirate's outfit (hat and all!), which oddly enough wasn't that slutty. She turned around and saw that everyone else had achieved some really cool outfits as well…and they looked a hell lot better. Heck, Matthew even had the hat on his head.
Lucky bastard.
"Um…where are we?"
She turned her head and saw that Alfred was trying to figure out what was going on. What was the weirdest thing was that he wasn't in a pirate outfit whatsoever: he was in his original Academy outfit and couldn't see what was going on around him. That's when she noticed it: a strange white fog around them that she could see perfectly clear through.
"This is Arthur's world." Kiku stated. "A world created by his thoughts and memories when he fell into this plane."
"So this is what he's really thinking."
"We have to look for a sign before we make a move." Li Xiao looked around. "Otherwise, we'll be lost in this realm for a long time."
"We have to wait?" Alfred spat. "We can't just wait!"
"Hey, I don't want to wait just as much as you do. I was a former colony of England as well, you know. But we have to."
Alfred stared at Li Xiao with a cringed look on his face before he dropped the subject and continued to stare out of the ship even though he couldn't see for anything. Matthew looked out of the ship for a few minutes before he turned his head to the others that were standing around him.
"I-I see another ship!"
"There's our cue!" Charice grinned. "Let's do this!"
"Who's steering the ship?"
Everyone stared at each other as they realized that no one knew how in the world to steer a freakin' ship. Kiku was in the middle of staring at everyone when he caught a glance of his Shadow (it had to be, since it had the ninja garb) staring back at him while standing at the side of the ship. He was about to counter when he realized that the Shadow wasn't going to attack him.
"…will you help me?"
The ninja nodded as his figure transformed into a yellow light into a three-legged bird, who flew into the air and hovered next to the wheel. Kiku quickly dashed to the steering wheel and grabbed it, seeing the bird fly in the same direction as the other ship.
"Kiku, what are you doing?" Li Xiao asked.
"I'm steering the ship." He answered. "Please trust me, for I know what I'm doing."
"…OK!" Charice grinned. "Don't worry too much about it, Li Xiao! Let's see what he does!"
"This is Arthur at stake here." Li Xiao spat.
"Better than waiting for the signal, isn't it?"
Li Xiao was about to argue when he saw that the worried look on Alfred's face and knew that he couldn't argue about it. So he allowed Kiku to steer the ship and follow the other ship while the rest of them were waiting restlessly for something to happen. Charice walked toward Alfred, who was rubbing the back of his head rapidly.
"You look really worried…"
"I just saw Arthur Kirkland dead right in front of my face. I can't help BUT be." He answered. "I've…never seen a dead country before, you know."
"Well, I haven't seen dead countries either but…I've already seen one before just in the past year." Charice sighed. "Well, two if you count this, but…yeah…"
"…you lived under Arthur for only a few years, right?"
"Eh? Uh, sorta…not long at all."
"Then you don't understand any of this."
Charice didn't know what to say. It was true, she didn't have any knowledge of the outside world at all. Rizal dealt with a lot of the outside forces, so all she knew for sure was Antonio, Alfred and Arthur (albeit barely). The exact word she wanted to use was…babied.
"You're calling her babied? Seriously? I think you're the only one that's been babied!"
She cursed out her luck as they turned to see another Alfred walking toward him, surrounded by purple clouds and had the shining gold eyes. What surprised her was that he was wearing a strange gray uniform and he had talked in a strange Southern drawl, a drawl that made the actual Alfred back up in surprise.
"Another me…?" He gasped. "Charice…is that a Shadow?"
"Yours, actually." She rubbed her forehead. "But I thought only Arthur's Shadow would be here…"
"Blah, blah, blah, that's all you say! Seriously, you say that you're all knowing and that you always know what the hell is going on and what you're doing…but the truth is, you're more clueless than the poor little broad behind you! You only go by instinct! Like hell you know what's going on!"
"S-shut up! What makes you say that? I always know what's going on!"
"Oh really now? Do you know who I am?"
"You're…you're my Shadow."
"Ah, Alfred…I'm so much more than that…I'm Jackson Jones, my friend!" He grinned. "And I have so much to tell you…"
"Alfred, don't listen to him!" Matthew stated. "He's trying to mess with you!"
"You're just messing with yourself! And you call yourself a country…when the truth is, you're just a mix of nations…a little of this, a little of that, a mix of a few people here and there…" Jackson spun his shotgun in his hand. "The truth is, you have no identity. What you are now is just a cover for you to fit in, but think about it…is there anything TRULY American about you…?"
Alfred started rubbing his forehead in confusion as Charice stood back trying to wonder what he was saying. Since when did Shadows have minds like this, separate from the bearer? Wasn't Jackson Alfred or something else? And didn't the Shadows try to protect the bearer, not try to mock them? Trying to find out the science of it was hurting her.
"…are you mocking me, Jackson…? I don't know who the hell you are! We've never met!"
"Indeed we haven't. But I know everything about you, Alfred F. Jones." He grinned. "I'm your twin brother."
"…" Charice turned her head. "…you're Canada?"
"I-I'm right here, Charice!"
"…you're Puerto Rico?"
"You couldn't be any farther from the truth, my darlin'…but you don't have to worry about it any longer. For I am the true America, and I came back to claim what I had lost."
Charice watched in horror as Jackson grabbed Alfred's collar when she finally noticed that there were sounds of something crawling up the side of the ship. She backed up in confusion as she saw Yao Wang jump over the railing and charge toward Alfred. His eyes were glowing gold like a Shadow.
"Nuh-uh, aru! I'm the REAL America!"
"…Yao Wang...?" Li Xiao gasped. "What's going on…?"
"Guys, watch out!" Kiku called, jumping from the steering wheel. "They're completely swarming the ship!"
"WHAT'S swarming the ship?"
Charice didn't have to get an answer: she watched in horror as every single other nation that she had ever seen in the school (and even nations she couldn't identify) swarm themselves on the ship and try to grab a hold of Alfred, claiming to be the true America. She grabbed her Persona and tried to fight them off, to no avail. Suddenly, the whole swarm shot upwards to the sky and turned into a horrible chimera creature of a failure. Matthew screamed.
"…is anything easier these days…?"
/= ["His World (Super Smash Bros Remix)" by Sonic the Hedgehog] =/
"We are the true America…what he really is…" The chimera spread open his arms. "We are all America…can't we all get along?"
"STOP ATTACKING US and I'll think about it!"
"Kiku, can you steer the ship with this thing on it?"
"I'll try my best. Please be careful!"
Charice summoned Maguimba as Cu Chulainn tried to slash through the leg. She saw as the slash cut it off, but it quickly regenerated into another leg which kicked Matthew right into the ship's wall. Li Xiao came in but was quickly subdued as well. They were dodging all the attacks while the chimera was still reigning on invincibility.
"Nothing's working on this guy!" Charice panicked. "Anyone have any good ideas?"
"Alfred's in there…we have to get to him…"
"We'll find out a way, Matthew." Li Xiao lifted his hand. "For now, we continue."
"Why are you trying to attack something you don't even know? It's completely pointless!" The Shadow chimera laughed. "Accept your fate! You're one with me now!"
Kiku wondered how he could help, trying his best to steady the ship as the Shadow kept swaying it back and forth. Before he knew it, he saw Yatagarasu fly around the Shadow's head before he hovered in front of Kiku's head. His beak opened as if to say something.
"Why are you trying to attack something you don't even know?"
He's just repeating what the Shadow said… Kiku blinked. Unless…
"Why are you trying to attack something you don't even know?"
He got it.
"Charice! Li Xiao! Matthew! We have to figure out who he is!"
"All right, fine! He's Jackson Jones, brother of America!" Charice screamed back. "Nothing's happening!"
"No, I mean what nation he represented!" Kiku said. "We have to find out what nation he is!"
What nation Jackson represented…?
She dodged another attack as their minds raced around the answers that could be a number of any answer. Was he a nation that they hadn't discovered yet? Was he a nation that was dissolved? It could be possible that he was the former America before Arthur discovered him…but he was too white for it. Not to mention that he was too Western for it.
Western…old America…
Didn't he have a civil war a long time ago?
"I-I got it!" Matthew stood in front of the chimera. "You're the Confederate States of America!"
"You say something, runt?"
"Y-yes…" He cleared his throat and glared. "You're the Confederate States of America!"
The Chimera, shocked by those words, staggered back and revealed a strange hole in the middle of his chest. They were too low to reach it, meaning that Kiku had to handle it. He jumped onto the railing as he held Yatagarasu in his hand. He pointed at the cut.
"Agilao!"
A fire shot out from his chest, breaking up all of the Shadows into clouds and levitated Alfred to the ground. Charice quickly ran to his side and grabbed him as he quickly regained consciousness and held his head in confusion as Jackson landed a few feet away from him.
/= ["moon" by Umineko no Naku Koro Ni] =/
"…the Confederate States…? From my civil war…?" Alfred lifted his head. "My boss told me that there wasn't anything created from that! He didn't tell me you existed!"
"Well…that's a flaw on his part, isn't it?"
"Why didn't you try to find me…? Tell me you exist…?"
"We were at war, brother…like it would make any difference." Jackson grinned. "Byegones are byegones. I'm no longer in existence…except as your past."
"…I'm sorry that I never met you…"
"I'm sorry that we never had a good chat. Maybe that would've saved half our lives." He sighed. "But the fact that you and your boss pardoned every single person on my land without a second thought…that's a compassion that no country had back then."
"…maybe." He looked up. "Does anyone else know you existed?"
"…one."
Before she knew it, Charice's hand started glowing and the Justice Arcana flew out of her arm. It started to glow and envelop the ship, and then they were at a conference hall. Jackson was slamming his hands at a country's desk, his chair facing away from him.
"So you're not going to recognize me?"
"There's just too much risk in doing so."
"T-that voice…!"
"You're a young nation, Jackson…spun out of a nation that is young as well. How will recognizing you save you?"
"Don't make me threaten you, Arthur! You may be close to Alfred…but I'm America as well! Don't you trust me as well?"
"…no."
"…Arthur…"
"He tried to protect you from me then…that much I can realize now." Jackson said as the images faded from sight. "Maybe he still trusts you after you destroyed his life."
"…I have to thank him for that…perhaps we can go together?"
"Ready whenever you are."
Jackson started glowing as he hovered in the air, turning into an angel with long, black hair and yellow wings spreading behind him. It sank into Alfred's body as he smiled, his outfit turning into that of a pirate image as well. As he turned to the others, he heard Charice snicker.
"Oh my god…it's Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Only without the strange beard."
"And the drinking problem."
"OK, I get it!" Alfred turned his head around. "Hey…the fog is gone."
"Fog?" Kiku looked around as he climbed up the stairs. "I was actually going to ask you what you meant by that…"
"I have an assumption!" Charice lifted her hand up in the air. "The fog is the façade that a person makes when they hide something from the world! When someone actually wants to see the secret that they were hiding, they dig through the fog until they find the secret!"
"That's a good assumption…" Li Xiao thought. "The fact that he had no warning about the other world didn't prepare him for this, meaning that Alfred couldn't see through anything."
"So now that I have this Persona thingy that you were talking about…does that mean I can go through this world?"
"Let's hope so." Kiku looked up from his wheel. "There's land up ahead."
/=+=/
Yatagarasu is the famous mythical bird that in Shinto myth was supposed to be sent from heaven to guide Emperor Jimmu on his journey to the region known today is Yamato. Shinto documents seem to have contradicting statements for this bird, but they all agree that it has three legs and looks like a raven. [Kiku Honda - Sun]
Dominion is the second level of angels in heaven. Their jobs are to watch over nations and regulate the duties of lesser angels. This is a perfect Persona for Alfred because as Americans we tend to butt into duties in the thought that we are protecting other nations…right? [Alfred F. Jones - Justice]
Historically, the Confederacy's best hope for winning the Civil War was international intervention from both England and France. However, they were under pressure from intervening because the Union threatened to declare war on them if they recognized the country. The Confederates tried to force them into acceptance by blocking cotton to England, but they had Egypt and India to save them. In the end, not one country recognized the Confederacy.
And to all the AlCha shippers out there that I have made depressed (yes, I call it AlCha), you guys want a One-Shot?