So Lovino's been saved. Let's go save the others~! Yay!
/= "Ghost Blood" by Pandora Hearts =/
"So…there's a murderer on the loose?"
"Yeah. They use supernatural means to do so, which means that we can reverse the situation when we have the means." Arthur stated.
"…so you're the cause of it?"
"Of course not, bloody git!"
Charice just rolled her eyes as the three of them continued to wander around the misty forest, finally finding the place that seemed to shape up everything: a small city filled with pueblos. It was an ancient looking Madrid…his capital city, covered with fog and trees…how odd.
"OK…I'm confused." She blinked. "What world did we actually fall into?"
"That's what confused me as well. This is obviously Antonio's world, but we came in here for Gilbert…" Arthur turned his head around. "Maybe Gilbert's Shadow is hiding behind Antonio?"
"OK, can you tell what the hell is going on?"
"Oh, sorry Lovi-chan." She clung onto him. "When Gilbert was dead, he created this world. And when Antonio followed him, he created this part of the world as well."
"Wait…Gilbert made all this?"
"No…Antonio did." She blinked and turned her head around. "Though I thought that when we fell in, this would be Gilbert's place…"
"Um…I got your answer."
He looked up and pointed at a sign at the entrance of Madrid, screaming the words "LEVEL 1: HAVE FUN~!" in big bold letters. Well, that confirmed the fact that Gilbert's Shadow was using him. Nonetheless, as Arthur was explaining everything to him, Charice wandered into the city and looked around. Despite the fact that she and Antonio were on good terms, she had never been to Madrid before. Hence, she had no idea where the hell she was.
So Gilbert's Shadow is forcing us to go through all of this before we can get to him? She folded her arms. Great, now we have to literally play up like a video game...
She turned her head around as she wandered the stone streets, unable to see anything past the mist that was around her. It was then that she realized something: Lovino had his outfit change when his Persona was granted upon him. Now he donned something similar to Richard in Tales of Graces. It sucks that only Kiku knew of that game…
"Charice? Is that you?"
"Eh?" Speak of the devil. "Hey, Kiku! You're here too!"
"Everyone's here, but we separated trying to find Antonio." He answered. "Have you seen him around?"
"No, not really." She grinned. "But we did find Lovino. He's over there."
"Oh…that's good to hear." He bowed to the both of them. "I see that you're all right, Lovino. How are you handling all this?"
"I'm barely getting the jest of this freakin' place. So this entire place is made from Antonio? Why?"
"We don't know that yet…the only thing we know is that when this place is created, we have the ability to revive the dead." Kiku answered. "Other than that, we don't know anything."
"Revive the dead?" Lovino folded his arms. "Who told you that?"
"Li Xiao." He said bluntly. "And that was after they revived me as well."
"Wait wait wait…you were a victim of this guy as well?"
"Me and Arthur both. The same process saved the both of us, and we think that Gilbert will be saved as well."
"…I could care less about Gilbert, but it's that damn bastard Antonio who jumped in without even thinking. I want to drag him out of here before I wring his neck."
"Oh! It's Lovino, brother!"
"Eh? HEY! You're alive!"
They turned their heads around and saw Alfred running toward the group with a wave of his rather gloved hand, a light image of Matthew running on after him. A light tap echoed from behind her, and she didn't have to turn her head to see that Li Xiao was behind her as well.
"So you were able to get Lovino. That's good." He stated. "Were you able to get Antonio?"
"Not in the least." She answered. "You guys have any luck?"
"No…there's no sign of him here, so we have no idea where to even begin looking." Li Xiao sighed.
"Heck, we even tried looking for tomato plants or something like that! Nothing!" Alfred spat. "This tracking thing is getting hard."
"Well, what's a video game without harder levels?" Kiku smiled. "All you have to do is think like a gamer."
"So…" Charice blinked. "Cheat code?"
"Well, I don't know what 'cheat codes' are, but I think I can give you that."
Arthur nodded as he summoned his Persona, the scanner Persona appearing behind him and quickly rolling around the area. After a few minutes, they saw Arthur's eyebrows twitch and his head looked up, catching their interest. He began to rub his temples as Hermes vanished.
"There was a presence heading deeper into the city…the middle square." He stated as he continued to rub his temples. "It seemed worried…scared of something…"
"Anything specific?" Lovino spat.
"No…just that it's definitely not a Shadow…"
"That's our best lead then." Charice grabbed her poleaxe. "Who's up for some Spaniard hunting?"
/= "Prisoners of Fate" by Chrono Cross=/
Nonetheless, after a few long minutes of Shadow slaying, they were finally able to get to the center of the city. The fog was getting thicker and thicker, but Lovino and Charice were still quickly able to catch the familiar mess of hair and the school uniform that loosely hung on his frame.
"Antonio!" She screamed. "Hey! Are you OK?"
He didn't say anything, only slowly turning to them with a confused look on his face. It was then that she learned why: there was another Antonio in the premise. This time, he wore the usual khaki uniform that he always seems to like wearing, the glowing yellow eyes the only indication that it wasn't just a reflection.
Oh…shit. She panicked.
"You guys…" He turned back to the Shadow. "W-what is that? A reflection? A mirror is over there?"
"Um…no, not really…" Lovino spat.
["Come on…you know damn well how to listen to people. Open your ears for a change."]
"Eh?" Antonio was actually smiling this time. Smiling! Was he not getting what was going on? "Ahahaha! What makes you think you know how I listen to people?"
["Cause how else do I know your darkest secrets? How else do I know about the regret that you feel for the last hundred years of conquest, making people miserable out of their minds? You're the good Catholic, and of course a good Catholic feels nothing but pain, doesn't he?"]
THAT got Antonio's attention, and Charice labeled that as a bad thing: anything that can wipe Spain's smile off his face should really be shut up and sealed off to a rather quiet premise of the UNIVERSE.
["Like they always say…never judge a book by its cover, and never assume that people aren't listening. The ones with the biggest smiles hold the most scars, you know. Besides, I knew damn well what I was doing when I took over the world by force, tortured thousands of 'savages' just for the sake of gaining power. I suppressed everything that I was and was going to be for the sake of being powerful, but in the end, all I had left was regret."]
"…you…"
["But as always, I came up with a plan beforehand. Just walk in with a smile on my face, pretend that I can't tell left from right and that I couldn't give a shit if I knew what the hell it was! That way I can be dismissed for my actions as being a total idiot, and perhaps I can live with my guilt. Too bad it backfired on me…for in the end, I forgot the means of why a person should smile…"]
"…you're wrong."
["Oh please, you know damn well what I mean! You're just running away, pretending that you had no idea what you were doing just to save your hide! How do I know this? Well, because I'm you…and you're me."]
"…no…no you have this all wrong…"
Charice held her breath as she started spazzing like mad. The others were too busy being shocked at what the Shadow had just revealed to all of them.
"No no no no no no no no no no don't say it don't say it for heaven's sake don't say it it's not going to help you don't say it don't say it don't say it-"
"YOU ARE NOT ME!"
"GOD DAMMIT ARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!"
Nonetheless, the Shadow began to grow in momentum, feeding off of Antonio's pain and guilt. He collapsed to the floor as everyone else ran in front of him, watching as the figure turned into a huge demon with a red cape and a huge devil's axe, laughing at all of them.
"One of these days, I swear to God, I will stop them from saying that damn statement…CURSE the mini-bosses to hell…"
/=+=/
Ahahaha…read and review. For after this, we finally get to Gilbert…maybe?