The twin blades of the Kagenou Family had torn apart the monsters in the dark, for they stood together against evil when the world turned their back on them. The men who masked their faces and drew their blades reduced to nothing but ash and dust, leaving nothing behind.
An unforgiving crater in which the souls of the wicked came to rest, spread out in a wide radius that obliterated the forest floor. The trees that stood for hundreds of years were wiped away along with their history, the plants and animals who lived in that part of the forest for their entire lives in a blink of an eye, and to the foolish bandits who attempted to claim the lives of the Kagenous…
Vaporized.
The seven shadows would arrive at the epicenter of the battle, each one of them splitting up to survey the area while Alpha gave them instructions on what to do.
"Fan out and search everywhere!" She'd say, the rest of the shadows who followed her replying with their various personal ways before splitting off. Alpha would then turn to look at Delta.
"Shadow has to have done this for a reason, he would never unleash his true power in a situation like this. It's out of character for him."
"Delta saw boss man gift his sister with the same gift we got. Maybe she did it?"
"It's not possible, nobody but Shadow could do something like this." She would shake her head several times at Delta before gesturing at Delta to go investigate a section before Alpha stepped away, heading off to investigate her own quadrant.
"Hrgmmmm…" Delta's ears drooped as she would walk off to go check out her area.
The landscape was barren, filled with ash and dust from what was once a thriving forest. Now only dried husks of dead trees and the debris of broken carriages remained. An unforgiving blast of energy, one that did not question what or who you were. Just how close you were to it.
"I haven't found anything" -Beta
"Nothing on this side." -Gamma
"Can't find…stuff." -Eta
"There isn't anything here unfortunately." -Epsilon
"Delta hasn't found anything!"
"Nothing here either." -Alpha would turn to walk back to the rest of the shadows, folding her arms.
"Where's Zeta?" Gamma would ask, noticing that the cat therianthrope wasn't with them.
"..." Zeta was crouching down against the ground where slightly beneath the surface of the gray layer of ash was a shining gold and red medallion, a red eye being in the center.. She would stand up, brushing the ash and dust off the object before turning to look towards the others.
"Alpha, this is the missing piece of evidence we need." She would walk over towards Alpha before presenting the object to her along with the rest of the shadows, each one of them looking over with mixed expressions.
"So the cult was here! Shadow must have destroyed them in order to leave us a clue." She'd place a hand against her heart as a simple grew on her face.
"He always is one step ahead of us, isn't he?" Zeta would comment before handing it fully to Alpha.
"Indeed. We will not squander our chance. If Delta's victim managed to flee, he would have left a trail leading to a possible member of the cult, or even their base. Delta, are you ready to lead us?"
"Ah!? Delta gets to lead the shadows!?" She'd exclaim, eagerly jumping up and down several times in excitement.
"I did say you would do something when we returned, didn't I? Now go, it's time."
"Leave it to Delta! Follow me!" She'd perform a hop to turn around before doing a little happy prance forwards before dropping down onto her hands and sprinted off towards the forest.
The other shadows would share a look before all proceeding to head after Delta, all just as eager to push this next big break.
All from the kindness of Shadow.
If you told me yesterday that I would be sitting at a table next to my perfectly healthy sister, being supported by both my mother and father while all four of us sipped on tea and ate bread, I would call you a pathological liar and that you should get your head checked out.
However, it appears irony is a cruel and unusual mistress today.
Let me back up.
After I had taken Claire home yesterday, she told me to wait at the perimeter of our yard while she went to talk to our parents. I'm not sure what she said, but ten minutes later she, alongside both of our parents, would come to get me. They had completely changed their tune, and told me to head to sleep and that we would talk in the morning.
I went to bed thinking about how that entire night felt like a dream, given all of the very peculiar and downright impossible things that took place. Speaking of dreams, that night had a very odd dream involving a dark forest, a black haired fox therianthrope with red eyes, and a cellphone.
I was holding my smart phone, and was texting to her even though we were right across from each other. The texts were between myself who was named "FHS" and the therianthrope who was named "Black Knight".
FHS: Where have you been?
Black Knight: Away. I was afraid you had forgotten about me.
FHS: I never had time to think about you. Sorry.
Black Knight: Cruel. Was I just a childish thought to you?
FHS: I hope you don't take that the wrong way.
Black Knight: Please refrain from thinking that way about me.
FHS: It's difficult.
Black Knight: I'm aware.
FHS: Are you coming back home?
Black Knight: One day.
FHS: I miss you.
Black Knight: I know.
Black Knight: Goodnight
Black Knight: Shadow.
…
"So you're telling me Cid had been hiding his strength and putting on a false personality this entire time!?" My father would exclaim, shortly followed by a similar reaction coming from my mother. Luckily for me my father's shout woke me from my inner monologue, which was convenient to avoid having me look like I was spacing out. Not a good time for that.
The Kagenou's would be sitting outside in their garden at a table for four, an umbrella covering them from the early spring sun from the ball of fire in the sky just above them, casting a long shadow over them all.
"Yeah, I did that." I'd admit, reaching to take a sip of my tea. Truthfully I wasn't sure how things to this point like I said before, and frankly I still don't. Then again, my inability to wrap my head around this is probably why things were going so well right now.
"Oh goodness Cid, why!?" My mother would say. Like I said her expression was about the same as my father, except a bit more angry than confused. She probably knew I had some inherit skill, but refused to use it.
"I don't like the responsibility that comes with being a noble. If it was up to me, I would rather be some no-named peasant somewhere. It's not that I'm ungrateful for my family or my life, it's just that it's a lot of responsibility to have. I rather Claire be the heir than me."
"That's the reason you did all this? You didn't want the responsibilities?" My father would ask, prompting me to give him a simple nod.
"If that was it, then I wish you came to us sooner. These responsibilities do naturally fall to you as the son of the house, but if you were this concerned about being the heir then…I suppose it's not impossible for us to give that right to Claire if that's what you want."
"As long as Claire agrees!" My mother would chime in, shooting a glare at my father before looking over at Claire who had been very quiet ever since we started.
"It's alright mom, as long as it makes Cid happy, then I'm happy with it. Besides, I'm in debt to him after he saved my life."
"Speaking of that, Cid, could you explain again to us what happened last night?" My mother would ask, prompting me to explain my alibi for the seventh time. This 'story' was half-true, which I forced Claire to remember on our walk home. I have this feeling though she didn't remember all of this because she wouldn't respond to any of the questions my parents ask the first time I explained it.
"Ok, to recap. I was going for a long walk in the forest after our argument, and during that walk it got dark and by the time I started to head home I found Claire wandering around looking very ill. I didn't know what dragged Claire out of the house, but I knew it wasn't good. So, I led Claire out to a therianthrope friend I met a few years ago."
"This friend, you said she lives in the woods?" My father would ask.
"Yes, she's one of those therianthrope who like to stick to their roots. After leading Claire there my friend would pour a mixture of elixirs and medicines upon her which not only cured Claire but enhanced her strength. After that, I tried to walk Claire home on my own."
"And this is the part where you were attacked?" My mother would chime in, which I would nod in response.
"We were attacked by a group of named bandits who had a bounty on them. I would show my true strength in order to defend Claire, and although I could have taken them all given enough time, my strength was starting to go out so Claire waking up was a miracle. At that point, we fought side by side until we forced them to retreat."
"You should mention the explosion Cid." Claire would say with a hand gesture.
"Right. The following explosion was due to Claire using one of her spellsword attacks. It had a shockwave effect, and happened to rupture a nearby sulfur deposit which caused a massive explosion. Luckily we weren't anywhere near it, but it did cause a large area of damage." I would finish my re-explanation, taking a slightly stressed sip of my tea right after.
"It's unfortunate what happened to the forest, but I'm glad nothing happened to you two."
"Yeah. I am too."
After I'd responded to my father, it fell quiet for a bit. We didn't say anything to each other for what felt like several minutes. I didn't know what to feel at this moment. Fear? Anxiety? Annoyance? Relief? It was hard to find the correct word for this but I know what I did feel was stress.
Stressed because I wanted to be talking, not sitting here in silence. It's much easier to navigate a social conversation when people are speaking than sit in absolute silence. Luckily it didn't last much longer thanks to my father speaking up.
"Cid. I know we haven't seen eye to eye with you because of how you felt, but after what you did for Claire yesterday I believe we both owe you an apology. We should have tried to speak to you differently, and tried to see things from your perspectives instead of demanding that you perfectly replicate the qualities of your sister."
"What your mother said. I always knew deep down that there is a kind, respectful, and powerful man within you. All he needed was a push to come out."
"Yeah, I'm sorry as well. It was selfish of me to keep these thoughts to myself and not try to explain things back then. At the time I couldn't see myself ever explaining my beliefs to you two, so I thought it would be better to keep it to myself and have you shoulder that burden knowing your son wanted nothing to do with royalty and all that."
I'd take a breath before continuing, a wave of relief invading my exhale as my body began to shiver. To me, a person who once before was able to live this kind of lifestyle now caved to admitting his own faults to his second parents. What a turn of events this has been.
"I'll try to be better. Not just to make you two happy, but Claire as well. Honestly, it hurt me the most when I distanced myself from Claire after the way she treated me. Hopefully now we don't have to go through something like that ever again."
"I agree. Claire?" My father would ask, looking over towards Claire.
Claire would happily nod in my father's direction before looking towards me.
"Thank you for saving me Cid. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now, and being right beside you is where I want to be after all!" She'd then clap her hands together.
"We should invite your therianthrope friend over sometime! What's her name?"
Oh. Well this is going to be awkward.
The Eminence of Shadow has many abilities some would consider to be unnatural, but one of the main skills is being able to fabricate unbelievable stories and lies that anyone could believe. Luckily for me that persona of mine hadn't completely perished just because circumstances didn't swing my way and my emotions betrayed me.
I convinced my parents that Delta's name was Sarah since it was the first name that popped into my mind, and that she was an orphan that lived by herself. My parents, being the kind people that they were offered to have Sarah adopted into our family as both a sibling of ours and a stay at home doctor given her medical abilities, which were good enough to cure possession-like symptoms.
To weasel my way out of that I had to explain that it wasn't likely Sarah would accept for any reason including potential funding or housing, and that she preferred to live in the forest. I had to imply that she would consider it most likely to keep my parents from going out there themselves to find her, because I fear that knowing my mother they actually would give enough time.
As for afterwards? Me and Claire would go to sit near the entrance of our house with our books. Given the revelation that I didn't hate my sister and that my sister wanted to find more common ground with me, doing something meaningless but proactive like reading with her seems like the most logical thing to do. Plus, it gave us time to talk about what happened more with each other given Claire still had a lot of questions for me.
"So how did you go about meeting Sarah?"
"I met her out much farther away from our territory than the forest actually. You see, one night I was having some trouble and ended up walking around outside mindlessly. I kept walking so far I ended up near the border of the Velgata Empire."
"The Velgata Empire? Cid you do know how far away that is right?"
"Oh I know. You see at the time I was infusing my legs with magical energy so I would run faster like in a fight right? Well, I often did it in the forest for endurance training and this time I just didn't know when to stop."
"Oh. Well, I guess I could see that happening by accident. So where did you find her exactly?"
"Dying. She had been attacked by something and on the verge of death in the snow. I managed to drag her back to somewhere safe before patching her up. After that I told her to go home, but she insisted on coming back with me. I offered one of the rooms in our house but she insisted on staying in the woods. You know how therianthropes are."
Yet not another complete lie. Delta was actually dying, and I did save her. The issue was if Claire was aware of how the "Follow The Strongest" rule works with them. Then again, it wasn't likely given Claire's disregard for reading a majority of the books in our house due to them being located in my study.
"I see. Was she always that good at healing wounds?"
"I guess so. I never taught her myself so it was likely something she carried over from her past. Why do you ask?"
"Well, not many therianthropes or beastkin if you will are versed in medical treatments. It's a golden egg out of an entire pen and you just so happened to run across one."
"Hey hey, don't compare her to me just being lucky. She's a person as well."
"Of course not, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying how you just so happened to find someone so special."
This caused me to blush a bit, thinking back to how I met Delta and the rest of the shadows. To them, I was probably their hero or god because of what I did. In reality I only did it because I couldn't stand to watch them suffer like that.
Speaking of that, I need to teach Alpha how to cleanse possession after this.
"So…Cid?"
"Yeah. What is it?"
"What I did…I know if you don't want to say it that's fine but, I know you did something to me last night. Not in a bad way but I know it was something. You don't just wake up and obliterate an entire forest area like that."
"What do you mean? You used a spellsword tactic and hit a sulfur deposit."
"Cid there are no sulfur deposits on our territory. Geologists made sure of that when our parent's parents got the land. You and I both know I did that by use of force."
"Well, maybe you're just stronger than you know."
"If I could have done that before, I would have."
"Maybe it was just sleeping deep inside you, waiting to come out when you thought I was in danger. Remember I only used my true power when you were dying. Trade off?"
Claire was huff before looking away, a smile creeping onto her face. I could tell she wasn't believing what I was saying, but because there was nothing else to go on she didn't have a choice in the matter.
"I suppose so…guess we're more linked to one another when we both thought huh?"
"Probably."
"..."
"So, how much do you like Sarah?"
"HUH!?"
The following conversation was a mess of arguments about how I didn't like Delta in a romantic way. I didn't do a great job at defending myself.
I went to bed that night with a clear conscience, not only because I had cleared everything up with my parents, but also my sister as well. Of course I had dug two holes after filling one for say, but I was ok with that. Those two holes were a lot smaller than the one I just filled, and along with filling that hole I also fixed a hole in my heart. The one that could only form when you gut yourself and disappoint the people around you.
Before sleeping I'd take a little time to rest on my balcony, leaning against the railing as I looked out across the moon-covered front yard and beyond.
"It's a beautiful night tonight…don't you think? Shadow?" I'd say quietly to myself, speaking to my alternative persona like a separate person once more as now, I felt like it was possible that I could split myself apart from the darkness which he lived in.
Cid Kagenou, the boy who lived in the light.
Shadow, the eminence that lived in the dark.
With a nod, I'd turn around and head back inside to sleep, knowing full well tonight I would sleep peacefully under the moonlight. Even with all of the troubles that still rested on my shoulders, the weight release of ditching one of the heaviest ones was overwhelming and relieving.
Unfortunately for me, I would soon come to find out the same could not be said for my sister.
That following day, we would find that she had been kidnapped.
A/N: I forgot these existed. Suffering minor burnout so chapters will get a bit shorter. 10K words in one chapter is a lot of work.