Chapter 101: The Book of the Dead
Hmm…. One sheep… Two sheeps… Three sheeps… Four sheeps… Five sheeps… Six sheeps…
"Eta! Eta! Wake up! Lady Alpha is summoning you! We're having an emergency Seven Shades meeting and you need to attend!" I heard Epsilon's voice as she knocks on my door.
Hmm… It's getting noisy out there. Don't they know I need my short naps in between my busy schedules?
Don't they know I need to dream…?
"Eta!"
"Coming…" I lazily stood up from the desk I fell asleep in, leaving the precious tome behind, and opened the door.
"Eta! Lady Alpha is summoning you!" Stop being so noisy you harpy. I can hear you just fine from here.
"Kay… I'll be prepared in a jiffy…" I said as I was about to shut the door again but was stopped by her hand.
"No, you won't! Chi! Omega! Help her wash and get dressed properly!" Tch. She saw right through me. And here I thought I could at least get a few more minutes of nap.
""Yes, ma'am!"" Said the two elves as they move to take me to the bathroom. No… not the bathroom! The shower will wake me up and… I won't be able to dream…!
In my sleepiness I was helpless to resist as the two elves bathed and dressed me before bringing me to Alexandria's meeting room where the Seven Shades usually gathered for a meeting.
Turns out all of us are here, even Zeta who's rarely around. How rare is it for the seven to be in one place like this.
"Ah. Eta. It's good that you're finally here. We can finally start the meeting." Alpha said as she called for all of us to sit on our designated seats.
I bet they are having another trouble with the Necromancer and wanted my assistance again. The tome they found in the underground labyrinth beneath Midgar capital was a great source of arcane knowledge… knowledge that even Lord Shadow does not possess. I admit that due to studying the tome, I've neglected my other duties in the Research and Development department. Last time I was able to convince them to let me keep the tome after I taught them some spells I learned from it. And now they want more spells no doubt. How greedy. I wish I could just read the book and sleep forever.
"Today's first agenda is Don Jon's death and its impact on Mitsugoshi. Gamma. Take over." Alpha said as she sat down and allowed Gamma to continue.
"Thank you, Lady Alpha. As you know, Lord Shadow, under the guise of John Smith, has killed Don Jon and destroyed his tower. I'm certain he used the disguise and even robbed our banks in order to hide the connection between Mitsugoshi and Shadow Garden from Don Jon." Well, good for you isn't it, Gamma? You've been complaining about that guy for a long time now. Now that he's gone, your business should run smoothly and my research budget won't be cut anymore.
"After Lord Shadow, disguised as John Smith, thwarted Don Jon's plan to threaten the merchants who entered the Mitsugoshi Affiliate Program, we have successfully launched it. Former MCA merchants who were scammed by Don Jon's Ponzer Plan have also joined the Mitsugoshi Affiliate Program. Now our reputation is at an all time high." Good, Gamma. Good. More money for my research.
"How did Don Jon find out about the Affiliate Programs and the merchants who joined in the first place? I thought you said that was a secret. Did one of them leak it to Don Jon?" Beta asked.
"I don't know. But I'm sure Lord Shadow has taken care of it as well!" Gamma replied without a care about the details as long as the result is good. I also don't care.
"What about the Snow Fox Corporation? Shouldn't they suffer massive damage after collaborating with Don Jon's schemes?" Epsilon asked.
"Unfortunately that's not the case. They bribed some corrupt nobles, including ones from the Thirteen Night Blades, who loved their alcohol products so much, so they are able to get away with it by saying they were threatened by Don Jon. They also didn't compensate the people who lost their money to the Ponzer Plan by saying they were robbed by John Smith as well." Zeta answered. It's about things I'm not really interested in so I ignored them.
"Hmph! It's infuriating! At least the worst is already over thanks to Lord Shadow and we now possess larger capital than before. Now we won't lose to that fox!" Gamma exclaimed, a little too loudly for my ears.
"Should Delta go hunt the fox?" Delta asked, as simple minded as usual.
"No, Delta. We'll deal with Yukime later. For now we have more pressing matters." Alpha said, reining the dog back like she usually did.
"Indeed. From what I heard, Necromancer has taken control of the Lawless City." Beta said something about Necromancer. That piqued my interest a little bit.
"What changes did you see during your investigation of the Lawless City, Zeta?" Alpha asked.
"Nothing much. Even with the city losing hundreds of its population in a single night, the city still ran as it usually did." Zeta answered. How resilient, the citizens of Lawless City are. I wonder if we could take over the Lawless City one day so I can use some of the residents as human experimental subjects.
"The biggest difference would be that the chain of command no longer originates from the Don Jon Tower but from… somewhere else entirely, which I assume is where Necromancer's base is." Zeta continued.
"Have you found Necromancer's base in Everick?" Alpha asked something I wanna know as well. Please say that you've found it so we can raid it… so I can hoard his knowledge for myself.
"Unfortunately, no. His Reaper Squad enter and exit through teleportation circles that I am unable to use. Even capturing some of them and forcing them to use it for me or to tell me how to use it doesn't work because the moment they were about to crack under my torture, they turned into zombies." Zeta answered. Unfortunate.
"It's unfortunate. But at least we're making some progress. I've leaked the information that Gilfried, the captain of Everick's Knight Order branch is part of the Reaper Squad and Lord Normann has started his investigation on that front, which is why he is absent from the capital, letting his son Claude take care of the kingdom's governmental affairs together with the princesses." Alpha said some stuff I don't care about.
"Considering Gilfried is the leader of the Seven Wraiths like you are the leader of the Seven Shades, Lady Alpha, I doubt he would be turned to zombie that easily. We must make sure he gets captured!" Beta said.
"It won't be that easy. During my encounter with him, I'd say he's stronger than Beatrix and he did say that even he would be turned into a zombie when captured. Still, we should nonetheless try." Alpha said. I recall she and Beta were in the capital when Lord Shadow fought Necromancer. I'm envious. I want to see their fight up close too. Also, this Gilfried guy sounds strong but no one questioned whether Alpha could beat him or not because it is not a question at all. Even I can read the mood.
"Then we need someone to aid Lord Normann for when the time comes!" Beta exclaimed.
"Epsilon. I trust you can handle that."
"Yes, Lady Alpha! Ever since my identity was discovered by Mordred, I was unable to resume my work as Silon the Pianist so I can do that." Epsilon answered.
"Speaking of Mordred, has he made a move? What news from Oriana?" Alpha asked whilst turning to Zeta.
"I haven't heard much of Mordred besides news that he purchased a new weapon from Necromancer. As for Oriana… well it's in the process of entering civil war, much like Midgar is currently doing." Zeta answered.
"Last time I was there, the Perv faction has joined forces with Marquis Grantz's faction opposing the king's faction." Epsilon remarked about stuff I don't really care.
"It sounds like the king's faction is being set up to lose so that Perv Asshat can take over the kingdom. But it is not that simple, is it?" Alpha said.
"Yes. The king has been attracting Spellswords of Oriana to his cause through warmongering speeches. The Spellswords, already fed up with how they are treated over the years, willingly joined his cause. I suspect this is another move to defang Oriana kingdom, replacing their military with that of the Cult's in order to put the whole kingdom under their control." Zeta continued.
"So they think turning Oriana into a kingdom of art that looks down on Spellswords isn't enough to defang the kingdom? Or is this their aim all along?" Epsilon asked.
"Who knows. All in all, it's a sinister but effective plan." Zeta remarked.
"What of No.666?" Alpha asked. 666 is the blonde princess if I recall correctly.
"We haven't informed her of the kingdom's development out of fear that she would act recklessly." Beta answered.
"For now let's keep it that way. We will inform her when things get under control." Alpha said and everyone agreed. Not that it matter much to me.
"Beta. I trust you to infiltrate and lead our forces in Oriana Kingdom. Your mission is the same as Epsilon's when she was sent there. If things get tough, we'll send Delta as reinforcements." Alpha ordered.
"Yes, ma'am. I shall take over Epsilon's work there."
"So Delta will hunt the king of Oriana soon?" Asked the dog.
"Not for now, Delta. We need to confirm whether Necromancer's mind control can be undone or not before we resort to that." Alpha answered.
"What about Perv Asshat? What happens to him after he was mind controlled by Alucard?" Epsilon asked.
"It seems that Mordred is keeping him around because we killed some other high ranking First Children there. But I imagine that incident jeopardises his position in the Cult, including his attempts to join the Rounds." Zeta answered.
"At least some damage was done to them." Epsilon remarked. She has always spoken positive things about this Alucard guy after she obtained shape shifting powers from him. I wish she would let me experiment on her body because I'm curious of how that worked. It's much more interesting than the Mist Form and Blood Magic that other vampires wielded.
But still, all this talk of politics is making me sleepy. Maybe I can just take a short nape here.
"You seem sleepy, Eta." Alpha asked, addressing me.
"Of course I am…" I replied while yawning.
"Haaah… Very well. Let's move to the topic of the tome that you have in your possession." It's about the tome again!
"The tome is an important source of knowledge… I have already demonstrated its merits when I taught you guys the mind shield spell!" I said, defending my possession of the precious tome.
"I know. What I want to ask is whether you've found a spell to break mind control or not."
"I can't find such a spell… but the tome did say that the weakness of mind control spells is the willpower of the victim. If the victim's willpower is strong, they can resist the mind control or even break them…" I answered, which seems to satisfy Alpha for now.
"I can confirm that. I broke through Alucard's mind control when my possession was cured by him because I felt I can fight back when my magic control is restored." Epsilon remarked on her experience with the mind control. Interesting.
"Hmm… Then I suppose it all depends on the king's willpower. Perhaps we need to arrange 666 to meet her father, see if she can help him break his mind control." Alpha remarked.
"I agree. The bond between father and daughter should be strong enough to resist Necromancer's vile magic!" Beta said something which is probably influenced by fairy tales that Lord Shadow told her. How optimistic.
"Any other useful spells you've learned from it?" Alpha asked again. How greedy.
"Yes. I've learned some curses but… I need test subjects. Also found the spell to reanimate the dead but… I also need some fresh corpses and…"
"Denied. The fresh corpse I mean. We will not stoop so low as to defile the dead like our enemy. For the curses though… I want you to make a list of the curses you've found and we shall see if we can provide you with prisoners to experiment with." Alpha ordered.
"Kaaay~!" Shame about the fresh corpses. From the texts I translated, the reanimation process depends greatly on magic circuits and I'd love to study that method. The tome also mentioned the possibility of souls being utilized though it has not gone that far yet. The existence of souls… how fascinating. I suppose the tome is not called the Book of the Dead for nothing.
At least I'll get to test the interesting curses. I wonder if I can find one strong enough to put Lord Shadow to sleep so I can pry open his brain?
"Now let's move on to the topic of the Thirteen Night Blades. Charlotte did her best to thwart their plans but this can't go on. We need to make our move-" I tuned down Alpha's words mid sentence in order to take a nap and dream once again.
Hmm…. One sheep… Two sheeps… Three sheeps… Four sheeps… Five sheeps… Six sheeps… Into the slaughterhouse…
The dreadful meeting is finally over. I returned to my room and can now go back to reading the Book of the Dead… and swim in its vast oceans of knowledge. The knowledge on this book alone is so revolutionary, just like Lord Shadow's Shadow Wisdom. If just one book has so much unknown knowledge, what of others in Necromancer's possession?
I look forward to raiding Necromancer's base so we can steal his knowledge. Or maybe we can capture his apprentice, the Acolyte. I'd like to speak with that person… or pry open their brain and forcefully extract their knowledge if I have to. That's probably faster and much easier as long as said person isn't as resilient as Lord Shadow, which is impossible.
Now… let's see… where did I left off? Oh right!
"Die Stadt ohne Name. Sie ist eine versteckte Stadt, wo man viel Wissen finden kann. So viel ist das Wissen, dass man seinem Geist verlieren kann. Wenn Sie diese Stadt besuchen möchten, sollen Sie selbst bereiten, weil Sie diese Stadt nicht verlassen können und möchten."
Ohhh… How interesting… The Book of the Dead…. Necronomicon…. How interesting you are. I will not give you up for anything… Even if I have to fight all of the Seven Shades… And perhaps Lord Shadow too…
Author's Note:
A chapter with Eta POV! The book is getting more and more… shady, don't you think? We shall see how that goes. And I chose German as the language in the book because it's a cool language.
Translation for the text: "The Nameless City. It is a hidden city where you can find a lot of knowledge. So much is the knowledge that one can lose one's mind. If you want to visit this city, you should prepare yourself for you cannot and do not want to leave this city."
TheAbyssWatcher: Darn, I called it. I just had the feeling that Tetsuya's killing would trigger the coming of monsters in the original world from the 1st chapter. Nice going, man.
Answer: Actually it isn't. The monsters invading Earth is the result of a natural phenomenon (which is explained by Professor Mordred in the anime season 2 episode 12) that happens even in canon even where there is no ritual occurring. But people sure as hell are gonna think he's responsible.
A-Yellow-Liz: Thank you for the chapter! Claude's name did get revealed lol, quite sooner than I expected.
And, I've got a cool little theory to share! I kind of got inspired by a theory I read on the main sub too.
What if tetsuya's rituals worked, and it granted all of his wishes? I propose rituals caused him to reincarnated, and also caused minoru to be reincarnated as cid because he had a strong desire for minoru to be alive again and to have a rival.
I think makes a bit of sense, cid got born 2 years after claude despite dying earlier after all. This also explains the shadowbroker 'coincidences' - perhaps his magic was subconciously working in the background and causing cid to become a real eminence in shadow. It also explains why they converge, both knowing the other's organization name before even meeting in the new world.
Answer: Actually no, at least I didn't plan it that way. It's all a coincidence. He's born 2 years earlier because of his different method of reincarnation that I haven't revealed so far and because time is chaotic between worlds.
Tetsuya's rituals doesn't work, but that won't stop people from thinking it did.
HundredMasks: damn, not even entering and he already has a cult! as a villain should, now I'm just waiting for what his reaction to them will be! Also, How Nishimura will react to the Occult Killer's return! that should be very interesting, can't wait for more!
Answer: I also can't wait to write his reunion with Nishitani.
Wholesome07: Lol, he's bs leaving behind words came true or is it?
Answer: It's all an accident.
GG725: Once she meets the Seven Shades she's going to give them the "truth" between Shadow and Necromancer and that they were "best friends". After Shadow was killed in "battle", Necromancer went mad and went to the dark side.
Answer: Perhaps she will… if she have the chance to do so.