"It's all real…everything is real…"

Cid Kagenou still felt surreal, after finding out yesterday that everything he made up…no, everything he thought he made up…was real.

Real…real…real…

Cid had trained for countless scenarios. He had trained to drown dramatically like a mob. To be killed tragically like a well-intentioned mob. To run in terror from the villain like a mob. But he never trained for a scenario like this…

"Doesn't this mean…I've become an actual Power in the Shadows?! No…" Cid forced himself to slow down with deep, calming breaths and replay every memory he had. The memories he had ever since he had saved Alpha.

"So, all along, I was already a Power in the Shadows…?"

That revelation hit him with the force of a thousand 'I Am Atomic' attacks.

"WHAAAAAAAAT?! How did I not notice?! How dumb can I be?!" Cid howled to himself, thrashing and rolling all over his bed in the empty school dorms in classic anime-style. Because, for all his lack of awareness, he was aware that he might actually possibly be an anime character.

[Insert SpongeBob Narrator: Ten Minutes Later…]

Cid flopped down onto his bed, sighing and panting from his tantrum.

"Amazing…I've always been confident of what I wanted to do and how to get there…but learning that I just wasted so many years of my life working for something I already was…for the first time, I'm at an utter loss. What should I do from here…?"

Then, his eyes widened. Why? Because like every Main Character, they get a 'Eureka!' brainwave just when they say "What should I do from here…?"

"So, the Cult of Diablos is real, huh?" Cid's eyes narrowed sharply, and even though he wasn't aware of it, his eyes had turned blood-red from his near-limitless pool of magic power flaring up from barely suppressed rage.

It was the Cult who had kidnapped Claire, his sister. It was the Cult who had experimented on his girls: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Nu…and they had tried to do the same to Alexia. They had tried to harm Sherry and Rose. They were the ones who left Aurora with nothing but loneliness and a scornful reputation throughout the ages.

Cid's face twisted into a grin that he reserved only in his Shadow persona for the likes of the bastards he was most enraged with; like the knights who tortured him. Lutheran Barnett. And Perv Asshat. All this time, Cid had been living out his fantasies, being blissfully unaware of everything that was going on. Blissfully thinking that everything was fake. Except, now that it was all real…

"Looks like I won't be holding back any longer." Cid's uniform was soon covered by a swirling mass of jet-black slime that materialized into his trademark black robes.

The first thing that Cid did was to visit the library. He seriously needed to brush up on his ancient language reading and writing skills. Fortunately, Cid was smart enough when he was passionate and committed enough, and if learning ancient language was going to help him solidify his role as the Power in the Shadows, why not?!

The next thing he did involved entering Shadow Garden's HQ…wait…WHERE WAS THE HQ?!

Ahem…never mind. Cid managed to bump into Nu and ask her about HQ's whereabouts. Under the guise of a question.

"Let me ask you a question, Nu."

"Y-y-yes, Shadow-sama!"

"…"

"…"

"…do you know where Shadow Garden's HQ is located?"

"…Huh?"

In any case, Nu managed to give the full address to Shadow. Now, on with his plan…

Alpha was doing what she did on a usual sunny Tuesday afternoon…managing Shadow Garden's operations by doing paperwork in her office. The rest of the Seven Shadows were under strict orders not to disturb her when the 'Do Not Disturb' Sign was hung on her door, under pain of death. And her Master was never around. So when she sensed the presence of an intruder, she did what any sensible Shadow Garden member would do.

Turn around in a split second and decapitate them.

Only, her sword was caught between two fingers.

"Superb reflexes. You've really outdone my expectations."

"S-s-shadow-sama!" Alpha blushed and made to bow, but was quickly caught by Cid.

"No need for formalities. Anyway, Alpha, I'm here because I need you to do something."

Alpha straightened and fixed her usual calm, stoic face towards Shadow.

"I need you…to take a break."

"…Huh?"

Hehe, I love catching them off guard with statements like that. They're really cute! Cid thought to himself.

"I mean it. Take a break. You've been working too much. If you keep up like this, you will burn out."

"I…I appreciate it, Shadow-sama, but…"

"Leave your reports to me. I will go through them. I can't have one of my closest followers doing all the work for me now, can I?"

Cid gave what he thought was a winsome smile to her. Damn it, I can't smile properly!

But nevertheless, it seemed to have worked. Alpha's eyes practically shone as she stared at Shadow, transfixed, until she gave a watery smile.

"Okay. As you command."

As she prepared to take her leave, Cid, who had taken his place down at her desk, left her with one more message: "By the way, Alpha…when no one else is around, you can call me Cid."

Another small gasp escaped Alpha's lips, before she smiled again. "Alright…Cid."

Five Minutes Later…

"He touched me…He actually touched me…" Alpha's mind was in a frenzy, replaying the memories of how he had laid hands on her when he was stopping her from kneeling.

"I felt his hands on me…" Alpha's face was flushed crimson. At the back of her mind, she was anxious that she might overheat from the thought.

"A-alpha-sama, are you alright?" Beta asked, concerned.

"This isn't like you." Gamma chimed in.

"I-i-it's n-n-nothing…" Alpha said, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Audible deep breaths. Beta and Gamma looked at one another quizzically, before looking back at Alpha. They reached the same conclusion.

"Alpha-sama looks like she's in love. Doesn't that mean…"

Beta and Gamma gasped loudly in unison.

"ALPHA-SAMA! WHAT DID YOU DO WITH SHADOW-SAMA?!"

"NO FAIR!"

Meanwhile, Cid somehow managed to resolve every single last piece of paperwork on Alpha's desk. Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned back against the chair.

"So tired…Have no idea how Alpha manages to keep doing this everyday…Hope she's resting well."

The next thing Cid did was to approach Alexia. She had no idea that he was Shadow, nor did she have any intention of joining Shadow Garden. But his mob senses were telling him that she would be important to the story, and his Eminence in Shadow senses were telling him that she would be a valuable ally.

"This is surprising. You've never approached me like this ever since you rejected my advances. What's up? You broke and want some money?"

"Nah. Just wanted to check on you. But if you don't want to I can leave anytime." Cid made a motion to turn around and walk away.

"Wait!" Alexia cursed herself. Damn it, what was it about him that made her so weak-willed before him?

"What…did you want to catch up on?"

Cid sighed inwardly. After realizing that the Cult of Diablos was real, and that Shadow Garden was a real NGO superpower, he paid far more attention to what was going on around him. It had been a massive headache to him to learn that most of the females he had some sort of relationship with were head-over-heels in love with him. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon to Alexia, Rose Oriana and Sherry Barnett. And now, he was receiving visual confirmation that Alexia definitely was in love with him.

It wasn't that he was against the idea of pursuing romantic relationships with them. In the past, he'd focused solely on his goal on being the Eminence in Shadow, swearing off romance as a hindrance. But now that he already was, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't considering starting a harem. Hmm, that could be his next goal. The Harem King. But that goal seemed too far off to be pursued realistically, and Cid honestly wanted to keep his freedom to play the role of the Eminence in Shadow for longer before he got monopolized by girls.

And in any case, the Cult of Diablos was still out there. As long as they were around, his girls were in danger. And Cid absolutely would not let that stand.

"How your swordmanship coming along?"

"It's…better. I'm improving, I guess."

"We can train sometime if you want."

"Fine by me."

A long silence followed. Followed by…

"What do you think of Shadow Garden?"

"Huh?"

"They're the organization that everyone in the city has been talking about. How they're outlaws in the country. What do you think about them, honestly?"

Alexia narrowed her eyes at him.

"And what do you think?"

"Hmm…" Cid looked bored and indifferent as he gazed up into the sky.

"Personally, I think that if they were truly bad guys, then the kingdom would have fallen a long time ago."

"What do you mean?"

"You were there at the Goddess Trials, weren't you? Shadow managed to defeat Aurora, the Witch of Calamity who destroyed the world, and yet with all that power, both the Midgar and Oriana kingdoms have been relatively unharmed. And so what if they're outlaws? They've been far more effective at fighting the Cult than the Crimson Order of Knights haven't they?"

Alexia opened her mouth to refute Cid's subtle insult at the Crimson Order of Knights, but soon closed it. He was right.

"You think they can be trusted?"

"…they're an independent organization, so they will definitely be against working with the kingdom. They don't want to be tied down by the kingdom's laws and regulations. But if you are thinking of working with them independently…"

Alexia gasped, staring at Cid. He was still staring nonchalantly at the cloudless sky, but it didn't lessen Alexia's shock. How did he know that she was thinking about approaching Shadow Garden for help on her own?

Smiling, Cid waved and bid farewell, leaving Alexia to her own swirling and roiling emotions.

Meanwhile...

"Phew! I was worried that Shadow-sama was going to court Alexia Midgar again, but it turns out I was worried for nothing!" Beta said, heaving a huge sigh of relief.

"Actually, Princess Alexia isn't that bad once you get to know her. She actually truly loves Shadow-sama, I can respect her for that. Still nothing compared to a silver-haired, blue-eyed elf with a mole under her left lip!"

Beta haruumphed smugly until she froze.

"Hang on...was Shadow-sama...inviting her to Shadow Garden?!"

"Oh no...why did it have to be her? Why is Shadow-sama doing this? Is it because he loves her and trusts her more than us? What do I do?"

"You were listening?"

Beta gasped, to see Cid standing behind her.

"Shadow-sama...I-I-I'm terribly sorry for listening! It's just..." Beta trailed off as she felt a warm hand on her head.

"Don't worry." Cid caressed her silver tresses. They were surprisingly soft and comfortable.

"I put that option to Alexia because she might be a valuable ally. However, you're a valuable member of Shadow Garden, Beta. If she ever joins, I'm counting on you to show her the ropes."

Beta gasped, her eyes filling up with tears of joy. As Cid removed her hand, she lifted her head to look at him, and was surprised to see that he was smiling.

He had never smiled at her before, so gently.

Beta felt like her nose might explode. Thankfully, instead, she bowed deeply.

"Understood, Shadow-sama! I'll do my utmost!"

My, my. If I'd known that Beta was going to be this adorable, I'd have done this to her a long time ago.