Fate is a funny thing. It could be seen in a variety of ways depending on who you are, what your beliefs are, and where you come from. You could see it as some everchanging sale of good and evil, a depiction of a set fate for each person, or a dynamic rubberband that you pull and stretch to carve your own destiny.

I always say it as a means to an end. Destiny was never just a fixed concept, nor a controllable aspect of life, but a tool. Every living thing is given the same tool, and they can use that tool to either create or destroy their lives in any way they see fit. I used that tool to carve my life into what I wanted.

That tool can also affect other people, change their lives. Be careful when you swing, or you might just alter the course of history.

That's where I'm at now.

Claire demanded a fight. One last test of the blades to see if I had what it took to survive.

She wanted to see what not only I was capable of, but Shadow as well.

Away from the eyes of our parents…I accepted.

The warm summer air blew across the thin stretch of land between the roaring river and the forest on the Kagenou territory. Facing each other down, both Kagenou siblings raised their blades in their respective stances. The eldest sister held her blade with one hand at her side, raising her other hand towards her face, silently judging the young man who stood before her. On the other side, the young man held his blade in a similar manner, but with a different feel to it. Instead of judgment, there was confidence, and with his eyes came a type of excitement which could not be truly explained by either fact or logic.

Cid was simply happy.

"No more tricks, no more stunts. I want you to prove to me you can defend yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive!" Claire would call out to Cid, her free hand clenching into a fist as a faint red glow radiated from her eyes, the weapon in her other hand already beginning to have sparks of red magic radiate off of it.

"I know. For the longest time I've been trying to sheathe my power from you and our parents, and I was wrong to do so. You always wanted to make me better, make me stronger, and I selfishly never showed my improvement…and I'm sorry. So allow me to use this fight to make it up to you, show you what I can truly do. That way, you can leave knowing everything you did for me as we grew up mattered!" Cid would say in response, the same air of excitement being in his voice that was on his face. He would eagerly await his sister's opening move.

"I expect nothing less Cid! Now…" Her footing would shift, the blade altering its original position slightly as Claire angled herself up in a predash motion, intending to set the stage with a brutal horizontal slash, envisioning a move that would force a now confident Cid on the defensive, and allow her to push the narrative. A perfect opening in Claire's eyes…

"Defend yourself!" She yelled, flinging herself forwards towards Cid. The force behind her dash left behind a disheveled scar in the ground as she aimed to lay her blade on her brother's chest, aiming to send him flying as she usually did.

Cid wasn't going to allow himself to be flung away into the water, not this time. Raising his blade competently he would block the incoming attack while allowing himself to be shoved backwards from the force of the impact, his boots gripping against the grass and dirt as he was sent several feet away from his sister.

"Hah!" Claire would continue her attack, engaging with a series of erratic and powerful swings against Cid with both hands on the blade hilt, intending to break through his defenses and then strike him once he was left vulnerable.

The issue is, Cid refused to lower his defenses. Time and time again he allowed himself to be broken, allowed himself to expose his own self-created weaknesses, allowed himself to have supposed flaws…but a true shadowbroker had no flaws. They must be skilled fighters, always know how to get through any dangerous situation, but most importantly of all…

"I'm just getting started!" He refused to yield, his fighting spirit briefly taking Claire aback as he retaliated by tightening the grip on his sword before swinging back with a force to parry Claire's blade before performing a high-kick towards her chest.

Claire was taken by surprise for a moment, leaping back from the kick before composing herself almost instantly as she rushed back in, attempting to perform a faint on Cid before getting in close to perform a powerful offsetting attack from the right side of her target, the side which Cid was incapable of protecting.

The shadowbroker knew what Claire was doing, taking advantage of his supposed late response to any attack from the right side of his vision, a simple creation he made to lure his sister into believing he was vulnerable. With a grin creeping on his face, he would allow his sister to faint his first swing, seeing her approach from the side almost instantly. Refusing to take pointless damage, Cid responded by tripping his sister's dash before she could make it all the way to him.

Claire stumbled and fell to the ground, but not before rolling and unleashing a spellsword skill that would propel her in a certain direction, being where her sword tip was pointing. In a rather dangerous gambit she would lunge directly in front of Cid while still laying on her side, the red aura around the blade from the dash quickly becoming more and more bright as the elder sister intended to maneuver this into a more powerful, effective attack.

Seeing the incoming strike Cid swung to block it, figuring Claire was just trying to get closer. The previous comment about Shadowbrokers needing to know everything was a bit of a lie.

Having her initial attack blocked, Claire would use her strange position to slam herself against the ground due to gravity, and once on the ground would rapidly maneuver her body, kicking the legs out from underneath Cid before using that momentum to get to her feet, having her right hand planted against the ground briefly to get the traditional force she needed to stand up. At this point, Claire was ready to unleash her spellsword skill.

Cid let out a grunt as he felt his legs kicked out from underneath him, but he wasn't afraid. No, he was excited, invested even with this duel with someone who for a lack of a better word possibly equal to his own skill in this moment. The speed, ferocity, and mobility Claire displayed was something that Cid realized only came from someone who also held back. Maybe in a strange way, both of them were more alike than Cid initially realized…but that wasn't about to stop whatever was about to happen.

"Let this be your final lesson…fight!" Claire yelled, her sword blade glowing a bright red color as she began to rapidly swing one after the next in a passion driven blade dance that threatened to tear Cid apart if he didn't act quickly. This attack was nothing short of everything Claire had in that moment, and she intended to truly make sure Cid took this seriously for his own protection.

Cid rolled backwards and barely avoided being cut in half. Then he leaned his head back while crouching to avoid being beheaded. This was then followed by a panicked backroll, a duck of the head, and then constantly blocking incoming sword swings while being stuck crouching against the ground. Given he was attempting to avoid using his slime suit and magic, he didn't have the sheer force to get back up under this much magical pressure. The magic which, not even a week ago was jacked out of proportions thanks to Cid not thinking about those consequences in advance.

"Is that all you have Cid!?" Claire would yell, adjusting her next swing to have even more power than before she would bash the hilt of Cid's sword, causing him to let go of it as the weapon flew through the air and crashed down against the water's surface, quickly slipping out of the side of the two Kagenous.

Cid would let out an awkward cough as he would do a bit of a dash spin away from his sister, raising both of his hands defensively as he expected Claire to keep attacking him even without a sword given how she was fighting. He'd be surprised when Claire lowered her blade and began speaking.

"Go get it." She gestured her free hand towards the surface of the water.

"The sword?"

"Yes. I'm not going to accept that as your best, I know you are capable of far more. Where's the Cid from the night you rescued me? The night you and I survived an impossible battle together? Where is that Cid? Where is the Shadow?"

Cid would click his teeth, he saw now. Claire wasn't testing him, she was testing Shadow. The boy's smile turned to a grin as he would give his sister a snarky look.

"If that's what you want, then you better get ready. Cid might lose, but Shadow?" He'd cut himself off by leaping backwards into the water, disappearing beneath the surface as he left Claire alone for just a few moments.

"And where are all of those swords?" She'd mutter to herself, looking out towards the surface of the water. Now she'd wait.

[CID]
"A shadowbroker doesn't lose, no matter what. They will face down any enemy, survive any battle, perform whatever act is necessary to win." I thought to myself, my slime suit manifesting around my body once more as I would eye all of the swords laying against the bottom of the river in various states of disrepair.

Reaching my hand out, thin trails of slime would begin to lift themselves away from my body, numbering in the dozens as I would briefly recall Eta's instructions on how to manipulate large quantities of slime without overexerting your brain. It was a bit of a difficult process, but eventually after a few seconds or so I had a grip of every single sword hilt left behind underneath the river unless it was completely buried in mud and thus out of my sight.

I would then take two of the most pristine looking swords in my left and right hand respectively, gripping them tightly under the surface of the water as I would look up towards the surface, the sun gleaming down at me from just beyond the surface of the water. A perfect backdrop to a second entrance with just enough timing. I would allow my slime jacket to manifest slightly larger than normal just so it could lose a little mass while in the air, and ensured one more time I was prepared.

Fifteen seconds had passed since I entered that water, and that was all I needed as I would kick off the bottom of the river, leaking high in the sky as water would lift up and splash outwards around me. With the sun at my back I would raise my right hand above my head, sword in hand as connected to my back was dozens of thin slime tendrils holding the various rusting swords. At the peak of my jump, with all the right elements, it was time for the one liner:

"A shadowbroker doesn't lose!" I would call out, using my deep voice as my slime tendrils would throw the swords down towards Claire at a rapid pace, making sure to do it in different intervals to ensure she could only move in a direction which would leave her exposed for my next maneuver.

Claire would do as I thought, slashing the first incoming sword down to the ground before moving up to the right to follow an opening in the incoming swords, allowing me to place myself directly in her travel path. With the directional advantage on my side, I would swing both of my swords forwards towards her at once, closing in towards the center of her body.

Unsurprisingly, Claire would move to block my swords with her blade, managing to balance out both swords with her own. She was shifting her posture in a manner in which she could escape the engagement and get space. Putting Claire on the defensive already? My Claire, what happened to all that provado?

"There we go, that's who I wanted to fight!" She'd call out, dropping her guard and shifting to the right, causing me to move past her briefly. She was going to try to stab me in the back.

Stomping my foot, a slime pillar the size of a plank of wood would form behind me, blocking the sword stab from entering my spine as I would spin around and slash at Claire, aiming for her sword hand.

Claire would respond by releasing some kind of magical explosion from her hand, red energy lighting up the area between us as I was forced several feet away from the small field of swords stuck in the ground from my watery entrance.

"The infamous 'Shadow' isn't it? That's what you call that persona?" Claire would ask, gripping her blade with both hands now as she took up a defensive posture, narrowing her eyes at me. She had a look on her face that said both 'let's fight' but also 'what are you'. To be fair, if I was in her position and finally got a grip on this whole thing I'd be the same way.

"…the one who's protected me for all these years. Here I was thinking I was protecting you and yet…" She'd trail off, muttering something under her breath before strengthening her stance, lifting her sword slightly higher as a means to steady herself.

"I need to know how far your skill goes! Show me Cid! Show me what you're really capable of!" Geez, at some point maybe her overbearing nature was bleeding into her combat vocals. I mean I get it, she wants to make sure I can keep myself safe right? Well, constantly asking me over and over to show my true strength is sorta redundant right? Heh, then again I suppose there's a benefit for saying nothing but one-liners.

"Very well. Test me. Know that I will show you no mercy, sister of mine." No more being on the defensive, time to show Claire what it meant to fight a shadowbroker. Pressing down against the ground with one foot while lowering my body closer to the ground, I'd dash forwards in a burst of speed, a trail of black and purple energy appearing in my step. I'd be on top of Claire in a single moment, swinging both my blades in a horizontal manner towards her stomach. It was an awkward angle, but one that would force Claire to make a decision faster than she's had to up till now.

"...!" Claire would react swiftly, her blade swinging to counter both of the ones I swung. The two blades at first held strong, but after a few moments both shattered like broken glass. I would say I was surprised, but the fact that once again that red electrical energy was flowing around Claire's sword dispelled that. My guess is that energy would likely break any generic sword even if it wasn't rusting away at the bottom of the river.

The force would typically push poor old Cid away, but I'm not hindering myself in this fight. I'd quickly formed my slime sword after dropping both of the broken swords before locking blades with Claire, quickly overpowering her as she would be shoved away, pushed several feet across the ground in the process. I didn't manage to knock her over, but it kicked up dirt and caught her off guard. The look in Claire's eye gave it away, she wasn't expecting that.

"So! If I want to win, I need to get creative! Fine. Prepare yourself!" Claire had a look in her eye, one that looked malicious like she was thinking of something she really shouldn't be. Intrusive thoughts perhaps? Claire really wanted to kick this fight up a notch.

I should note, Claire was more than just some generic simple spellsword. She was well versed in a variety of combat styles and proficient in various weapons. Dark knights are generally spellswords so that's what she was most practiced in, same as me. However, picking up additional combat styles was good for a lot of reasons, and one of them was allowing someone to be adaptable in combat. For Claire, it was likely that I pushed her into a mental corner where she thinks standard sword combat wasn't going to work anymore. Personally, that was pretty exciting. I wanted to see what secrets Claire had been keeping from me every time she left home to go get tutored in the city. I heard those instructors were pretty good.

Dashing backwards, Claire would strike the hilt of her sword against the side of a tree, breaking off some of the bark as chunks of it were ejected into the air around her. Claire would then slash the tree with her sword, slicing through the vulnerability as it began to collapse down towards me. Fantasy wood #161293Whatever was pretty strong given people still used wooden weapons here, so the fact Claire sliced it down with a single swing? I'm starting to think what I did to her a few nights ago might have been extremely overkill.

I wasn't intimidated by the falling tree, quickly sprinting past it as I would soon be on top of Claire once again. My speed was far greater than hers, so the tree hadn't even collapsed onto the ground by the time I reached her. I would promptly swing my blade against Claire's, slashing and lashing out rapidly, the slime blade bashing against the solid metal one.

Claire's defenses didn't break easily, handling the many blows which I was delivering with somewhat of an easy manner. Even still, she wasn't able to keep it up forever, and her guard was going to break. When it did, Claire would stumble backwards, her sword flying out of her hand and into a nearby tree blade first, wedging itself against the bark.

Backing her into a corner, I was shocked to feel a punch hit my neck as Claire had moved in with her hands. First to my neck, then to my stomach, then finally a kick to the side of my head. The slime suit wasn't designed yet for physical combat like this, only slashes and stabs from weapons and arrows. The physical impacts hit at the full force as they were supposed to, and a part of me fears my facial reactions told everything Claire needed to know.

I would quickly roll to the right after being kicked in the side of the head, a light amount of blood leaving right around my right ear from a cut opened by Claire's boot. Staying on the ground momentarily, I felt my blood begin to boil from the pain. Then I felt it, I involuntarily triggered the beastkin spell. I knew it would happen eventually, but I considered the fact I would never be hit physically, like with a bottle or hands as a good trade off. Well, not much I could do about it now.

"Fine." Deconstructing my slime sword back into normal slime, I would have the black and purple slime manifest itself around both of my hands to create beast-like claws from my knuckles to just beyond the tips of my fingers. They had a metallic shine to them, and moved seemingly with the wielders own hands flawlessly. The design had been a gift to Delta, but now I needed to work this beastkin spell out of my system so I could wield my sword again.

"Huh?" I could hear Claire sound confused just before I got off the ground, slashing at her with my right hand as I delivered a powerful slash that connected with Claire, sending her backwards across the ground and this time knocking her off their feet. Unfortunately for me Claire turned with the impact, rolling across the ground before leaping and grabbing their sword out from the side of the tree before sliding on her feet to a halt. She had light gashes across both of her arms, as she had crossed both of them to absorb the hit.

"What are those!?" Claire would ask, sounding surprised by the sudden appearance of a Seven Shadows weapon. Pressing one of her hands against the gashes, the red energy began to seal the wounds so that they wouldn't be left over in this moment of respite given her distance from me.

I would chuckle in response, the altered beastkin eyes that came with the spell probably giving away the problem. Either way, it was time to keep up the pressure.

"Allow me to demonstrate." I couldn't use my sword right now, my coordination wouldn't allow it. Instead I would morph the claws into a heavy broadsword nearly twice the size as I was. Gamma had always perplexed me with her inability to wield things elegantly, so by overcompensating with large mass, she could correct that , and stabbing the giant weapon into a tree and lifting it into the air was still funny after I did it the first time with Gamma by accident, Now I'm doing the same thing with Claire, and it's not an accident.

"Woah!" She'd roll to the right, going for a dive first as she would narrowly avoid being crushed. Once she was out of harm's way, Claire would be quick to begin closing the distance on me. The fact her feet had the red electrical energy flowing from them alerted me that I didn't have much time left.

Having the slime deform itself instead of trying to rip the broadsword out from the tree, I would quickly manifest a compound bow. Beta's bow was unlike those of this world because of the compound nature of it, making it naturally superior to every other bow in nearly every way. I never had a thing for bows specifically back in my old world, but I knew enough to create one here with the slime. The trick was the arrows, so expending slime had to be done at close range for it to retain its shape. Either that, or bring arrows…but that wasn't practical for shadowbrokers. My main issue was the fact there was no way I would hit any of these shots due to my coordination still being damaged, but it was reduced enough thanks to the constant magical flow in my body right now. It was just enough to handle the compound bow.

"Cascade over the moonlight!" Pulling back the string, a slime arrow would manifest to the nock before I began firing a series of six arrows at Claire as she closed her distance. The first three missed while the four graced her cheek. The fifth arrow was deflected by Claire's sword while the sixth and final arrow hit her in the chest. However it did very little to slow Claire down as she would swing at me at full force.

Narrowing my eyes I would turn away from Claire, several thin but tough slime walls caught Claire's sword halfway through the swing, locking it in place. In that same moment I would have my right hand touch my shoulder, the long rod of a scythe manifesting into my hand. Tuned to play, Epsilon's scythe was both an instrument and a weapon, a tool of elegance and death. Strumming Claire the four cords of the Moonlight Sonatas 1st movement, I would deform the slime wall before lashing out forwards towards Claire with the scythe.

"Nrgh!" She'd pull her sword out just in time, blocking the scythe with her sword before being pushed back once more. Claire would take a defensive position briefly, seemingly running out of breath due to the amount of spells she had been casting. Maybe this was pushing Claire to their limit?

"Growing tired sister? I haven't even reached my peak!"

"I'll admit it, I underestimated you Cid…but don't think just because I'm tired that I'll quit! My fight isn't over yet, and you haven't shown me your best! Come on!" Her words betrayed her body, but this seemed like something Claire was dead set on.

"Very well. As you wish!" Reaching my right hand out, I'd manifest a peculiar object. It was a large throwing star with three triangular blades at the outsides with a boomerang like design. Oddly enough Zeta was the one who asked for these, and although their creation was tricky and that I had to ask Eta for help, they came to be…the issue is I've never used them before. So, I'd throw it at Claire and see what would happen.

Claire had a lot of time to dodge that, which they did by shifting to the right before having their entire body begin to emanate a red outline aura. I have to assume she is either about to unleash another sword attack, or she is going to perform the atomic move. I needed to stop her.

I would perform a hasty dash up towards Claire, deforming both the returning throwing star and the scythe,I would instead form my slime sword and Alpha's slime sword at the same time, moving both to hit Claire as a means to lock down her charging attack.

"Sorry Cid…but I'm not holding back!" She yelled, her eyes flashing their red color before Claire began violently swinging in rapid succession at me for the second time. This speed was faster than Claire had done before, and was almost fast enough to out pace me, even with both swords out. The barrage lasted for over five seconds, and that was enough time for me to slip up, Alpha's sword being knocked out of my hand into the river as I would roll backward a few feet away to get some distance. It's time I ended this before Claire nuked our territory, that look in her eyes was giving it away. Also the fact her eyes were glowing.

"Heh. You have impressed me for your persistence. Know that I, Shadow, will not disappoint you. Sadly, it's time to end this game." Raising my sword above my head, purple electrical energy formed around it. I would stare directly at Claire, my neutral expression turning a grin as I'd slash the blade to my right, a trail of purple electrical energy coming off of it before flipping the blade around in a reverse grip before stabbing it into the ground, causing three zigzag lines to more towards and past Claire, purple light coming from the cracks.

"The Eminence in Shadow does not lose!" As I said this, the terrain between both of us began to rumble as shortly after my line three waves of purple energy shot out towards Claire from the zigzag cracks, the wave having energy powerful enough to shake the ground. Claire could only watch as the speed of the wave outpaced her own, and in a moment's notice an explosion erupted upon impact with her, causing a large cloud of purple and black smoke to form.

[Narration]

Silence would fall upon the now self made battlefield, several broken and fallen trees surrounding the two Kagenous as the breeze slowly pushed the explosion cloud away. Once dissipated, a standing Claire would stare down Shadow, her red eyes flickering with energy as she'd raise her blade at him, clutching her chest which had blast marks staining it along with most of her clothes having been torn to shreds.

"You…will be fine." Claire would say, looking Shadow dead in the eyes before stumbling backwards, and soon after collapsing to the ground as her blade fell to her side. The moment it did, the hilt left Claire's hand, and because of that the magical energy flow stopped. With no more energy sustaining the blade's durability, its sword blade broke into a million pieces right after.

Shadow would pull down their hood, quickly running over to Claire in order to help them up. He wouldn't say anything to the eldest Kagenou sibling, but he didn't intend to leave her in such an injured state. He would return both of them to the mansion beyond the treetops, and then leave Cid to his devices. Shadow had proven his point, he didn't need to be here anymore.

[Cid]

I should have expected our parents to have heard all that, and sure enough the moment we arrived back to the house both me and Claire were being scolded for our fight. Apparently it had caused such a commotion that a neighboring territory had sent a messenger warning our parents that there could be some kind of insurgency brewing in the woods. To say the least, we both got grounded that day. I'm being grounded longer than Claire, but that's only because she needs to leave soon.

We can still move around the house, but we're not to leave it. At the very least that allowed me to sit and read some of the few remaining books I hadn't managed to finish, but I worried that if I was grounded for more than a weeks' time I would burn through all of them.

That's where I am now, sitting in my study reading a few books as I listen to Claire packing up and preparing to leave. By now both of our wounds had healed thanks to one of the maids who was once some kind of religious healer, thank gosh mom knows how to hire people. I suspected my reading would be mostly undisturbed until later, but to my surprise someone would knock at the door.

"Cid? Do you have a minute?" I heard Claire's voice ask on the other side. Putting a bookmark into the incredibly interesting (it's not interesting) book I was reading, I'd place it onto my desk before replying that she could come in.

"Are you feeling any better than yesterday?" She'd ask me. Claire wasn't wearing her usual attire, but instead some fancy feminine outfit with a breeze hat and everything. Not sure why she has to go and do that, but who am I to judge what girls can and can't wear? I won't be doing much better in the next couple years if things keep up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You?" It's only fair that I return to the gesture. Plus I wasn't sure what else to say to her.

"I'm doing great, actually! I'm sorry I have to leave you so soon though, you know I would stay if I could."

"I have no doubt, though to be frank I think a little distance would do us both some good. Besides, I'll see you again in a few years. We're going to be attending the same school after all, right?"

"Of course, of course, I know that. It's just…well, I'll miss you." Those words touched something deep within my heart. Not in any romantic way, but the fact that Claire managed to admit her sisterly feelings for me without using her typical vocabulary felt special.

"Hey, I'll miss you too Claire. Don't worry so much about me though ok? I promise, I can very easily take care of myself."

"Hehe, I certainly know that now don't I? Speaking of that, when do you plan on telling mom and dad about that? I'm sure they'd like to see you do all of that fancy combat stuff with your slime weaponry first hand!"

"Ehh, never. I'm ok showing them I got the bare minimum needed to be a good spellsword, but I would like to keep it at that. I don't want to disappoint them, but I don't want to show off either. My power is my own to disclose, and I'd like to keep it that way. You should too."

"Hmm? Why me?"

"Remember the bandits? You blew up a quarter of an acre."

"Ah, haha…oops. Yeah don't worry, I've already figured out what to do to avoid having that happening again. I promise, you'll have a school to attend once you get old enough!" She'd raise one of her hands up at me to promote her sincerity. However with her half embarrassed half nervous expression, I greatly worry about the survivability of my future academics.

I said goodbye to Claire later that day. Since we had already bid our farewells earlier, we only waved to one another with a final 'goodbye' for good measure. After that I would end up returning to my study, finishing my book, and retiring for the night.

I had suspected that Claire left me something in my room or dropped a note somewhere for me to remember her, but to my surprise I found nothing that night. No notes, no knives under my pillow to protect myself from kidnappers. Nothing. To know that Claire actually trusted me to keep myself safe now felt…good. It was a strange feeling to describe, but things truly were moving towards the better for old Cid Kagenou. Heh, what a stupid and odd statement.

Before I climbed into bed though I would find myself standing near the balcony of my room, looking up towards the moonlit night with the window wide open. With the cold night breeze blowing against my face and my thoughts clear of worry or doubt, I was tempted to dawn my cloak and slime, hit the forest, and run with my shadows. It was fairly tempting though, but on the off chance my parents find out I'm done, I'm going to be screwed tenfold. At the moment, it simply isn't a risk that neither Shadow or Cid should take. Plus, the shadows were all likely busy anyways.

"Bosssssss!" A whiney feminine voice belonging to Delta would say behind me. To be honest I'm not even surprised that Delta would lose her temper, or uh, patience and come to check on me manually. I'd turn around, and sure enough there she is sprawled out on the bed in a stretching motion before sitting up to look at me."Delta has been sitting here for ten minutes, are you ignoring me!?"

"No, I knew you were there. I'm just enjoying the view." Total lie, I have no idea Delta had become so good at sneaking around. In fact, how did she manage to get inside my bedroom without me noticing? Both of the windows were locked other than the one I was at! Oh well, I can't imagine it matters too much unless this somehow gets my parents involved.

"I assume you were worried about me?""Of course! When you didn't show up at the usual time I assumed something terrible had happened! With all of those explosions going on a few days ago I thought someone bad might have gotten to you while you were sleeping!" Delta exclaimed, her tail swishing back and forth in a slow and nervous manner."I…see." I thought I had put it into the shadows heads that I was perfectly capable of surviving anything and being nigh invincible. Either I was doing a bad job of coming off as an invincible shadowbroker or their feelings ran deeper than just loyalty. If it was the ladder, then I should start making plans for that…

"You were that concerned about me? I didn't know I appeared to be such a weakling Delta. As the leader of the shadows, it's my duty to be the strongest." I would walk backwards away from the window before sitting down on the side of the bed, looking back at Delta.

"Wha? Oh no, that's not what Delta meant! I was saying that I was worried you were being held up by someone, and I figured you needed to be freed up or…or…" She was struggling to find the words, stammering and walking over her own vocalizations. It went on for a few awkward seconds before finally her face turned red and she buried her face into her open palms.

"It's alright Delta, I understand. Just relax, I'm fine. Was Alpha ok with you leaving? I can't imagine how she would feel if you just up and vanished."

"Uh…about that…" Delta would proceed to poke her fingers together after lowering them away from her face. Guess some things never change.

"Delta, you can't just abandon your post. What if Alpha needed you right now for a mission? How would she know where to find you?"

"I thought the boss man needed help, and you're the boss!"

"Is that so? Delta, look. I know you aren't one to just abandon your post on a whim. Please, what's bothering you?" This much was true. Delta wasn't the brightest, but she followed Alpha's orders as much as she followed mine. She was loyal, and wouldn't just break off her leash unless something very bad happened to me or Alpha. Something else had to be going on, and since I haven't been too active with the shadows these last couple days maybe Delta can tell me flat out.

"Do you remember the talk we had in the woods that night boss?"

"Of course. I told you a lot of things I shouldn't have, but you listened to me regardless."

"I worry about you boss. You are strong, you're stronger than anyone I've ever known, but everyone has a weakness. Even you…" Delta would move closer to me, shifting her way across the bed before sitting beside me, tapping the side of my head.

"Not all weaknesses need to be on the outside. A good hunter knows where their prey is most vulnerable, and you boss man? You hurt the most up there. Delta understands what it's like to feel that way. It's not easy being the boss, deceiving and lying for the greater good…doing what other people won't. You walk a new path boss, and that's ok! Don't be afraid to show and tell how you feel, and never worry about being alone! Delta and the rest of the shadows will always be here…" She stopped herself from continuing, choosing to trail off once more as if she was reluctant to admit something. At the moment though, I was thinking more of what she was saying about my mental state than something with the shadows.

It took me a while to respond, processing what Delta had just said to me. That kind of thought couldn't have been quick, and it's very likely Delta had taken all these months in order to compile those couple sentences with every brain cell she had. It…plucked my heart strings to know she cared about me that deeply, especially when at first I had very selfish intentions when I first rescued her as a member of the shadows. Her affection and care feels undeserved, and tainted by my mere existence. I saved her but that doesn't mean she deserved to have her freedom stripped away for me. I didn't give her any kind of chance.

All of the shadows, I fed them a lie that became a truth, and a goal that once stood as a means for me to not be alone anymore in my own quest for power and position in this world. I am the most fortunate person, and I am also the most unqualified to experience that.

"...what am I even doing?"

"Huh? Boss?" Her ears perked up as I said those words. Accidental, but it was too late now.

"I'm a selfish person Delta. I want things to wrap around my finger. I want the world to revolve around me and me alone. I don't want my own little bubble to pop. I just want to live in this world and be someone, but not where it is built on a foundation of corpses and tears. I want a happy life, Delta…I want a life with you in it, but I have taken the path where I can't have it. The Cult of Diablos, heh, I can't believe they actually exist…" I felt an emotionally charged tear form in the corner of my eye, and I would quickly act upon it by rubbing it away with my sleeve. I wouldn't cry, not here. Not when I had just found a piece of happiness.

"..." Delta would struggle to find her words again, digging around her mind to find something that would stick. The fact there was also a full half minute of silence really displayed the amount of effort Delta was putting into her next set of words.

"Cid?" I felt my eyes dart to Delta. Why did she just use my real name?

"Delta knows. The shadows know. We've…always known. Boss, you brought us back to life selfishly or not when no one cared to try. You did things in your own interests, but never in an evil way. You brought us together, so of course we would always welcome you. It didn't matter whether what you said was a lie or not, we choose to believe it because we're happy following you. Delta…doesn't want to go back either, because you're the boss. My boss… " She'd let her words simmer with me for a few moments, letting them sink in before wrapping both of her hands around me in a hug.

"So it's ok boss man, I won't leave you behind. My life is with you, because nobody is stronger than you! Delta doesn't want another boss. You are the boss..." Delta would shift her body closer to mine, making sure to stay close to me with her arms wrapped around me on the side of the bed. Her tail movement picked up in speed against the bedsheets while I could feel her body heat because of how close she was. I don't know who taught Delta to talk like this, but they did a very good job of it…

That night, I finally felt the water dams break because ever since I came to this world I had never done the thing I started to do: I cried.

Dusk.

I stood atop the roof of my mansion, looking out across my territory once more. The last time I had taken this position I had snapped at my mother and her maid, the thought still vividly in my mind. Positioned in the exact same manor, the exact same gaze, and the same feeling as before. Incomplete, nervous, and unsure of what was to come.

I haven't been able to get over what Delta said to be a few nights ago. The fact she said it at all caused my heart to skip a beat and charge my eyes for tears, lest I hold them back.

"To think, the shadows knew from the beginning…" I couldn't comprehend the idea of them staying with me despite knowing what I said was a lie. It just didn't stick with me, it made no sense. You save their life and force them to stay with you? That's not right, it's messed up. Even if they were all ok with it, that doesn't make it morally right!

"I know I came into this world with that stupid mindset…" I had intended to turn this world into my oyster, wreck everything in my path in pursuit of the greatest power and what not, and rule it all from the shadows. Now I can't help but see that as nothing more than a lucid dream a highschooler would have in math class. I'm IN that world, I'm living that life I never had before, and I'm prepared to throw it all away for a dream that would bring me right back to the same misery and pain I was in before. I have a chance to escape it all, and I'm refusing to take it all because I want to live in some fantasy world more so than the one I'm already in!

I felt the wind grow colder as the sun began to move closer to the horizon, the time I had spent on the roof climbing to nearly an hour. I need to go back inside soon…

"Delta…what do you see me as?" I asked no one in particular, looking out towards the clouds rolling across the sky as an orange glow from the sun began to cast over me. I was mentally preparing myself to turn around to head back inside when I heard a voice respond to my question.

"The boss!" Delta's voice would respond, prompting me to turn around immediately.

What I saw was…not just Delta. The seven shadows were all in various positions atop the roof looking in my direction while wearing civilian clothing. They all appeared to have somber faces on, all of them looking like they had something they wanted to tell me.

There's…no way this is them-no. No Delta wouldn't have say those things to me and than-

"Alpha? Is something the matter?" I would mentally silence myself with my own physical words, not wanting to give my mind even a slim chance of letting those thoughts get inside my head. I had to believe in Delta and what she said, this is likely just another mission.

"Yes, Shadow. We're leaving."

A/N: I dread writing Alexis (oopsies four month hiatus)