Prologue: Party Members

One taxing and weirdly bright, due to the expelled magic in the air, procedure later. Cid's calculations were validated as instead of a black decaying mound of flesh, a recognizable humanoid now lay on the table. A blonde, elven girl… who was also very naked.

Thankfully for Leon's sanity, he was too mentally exhausted from the procedure and follow-up medical analysis to care about the nudity. He was carefully trying to attach an IV drip to the unconscious elf.

"Congratulations, Master," the AI's terminal chirped and beeped as it scanned the elf. "Specimen Alpha has managed a full recovery."

Leon sighed both in exhaustion and relief. "Any complications?"

"There is physical deterioration matching malnutrition and dehydration but nothing irrecoverable. Zero detected lasting physical mutations compared to known baselines from the elven island. Of note, Master, her physiological measurements place her as your age."

"Huh, interesting," by now, Leon had managed to find a blanket and draped it over the elven girl for her modesty. "If I didn't know any better, you wouldn't know she was possessed at all."

"There is one factor that deviates from known norms. Her detectable magical levels seem to be already larger than contemporary adult elves."

"And that won't cause her to relapse again?" Leon shuddered at the thought of having to do this procedure every so often.

"Negative. Now that her magical pathways have been corrected, her body can currently handle its large capacity. There might be danger as she matures but her physiology should adapt accordingly."

"That's a relief. Hopefully treating Claire should be easier since hers isn't as bad-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Master," Cid cut in. "But specimen Alpha is gaining consciousness."

True to Cid's warning, the elven girl softly moaned as she slowly opened her eyes. She groggily took in her surroundings until her blue eyes spotted Leon.

"Uh… hi?" Leon gracefully greeted her.

The elven girl slowly sat-up, causing the blanket to fall off her upper half. For Leon's sanity, her surprisingly long blonde hair managed to fall in front of her, barely giving her some decency. Her hands seemed to have caught her attention as she examined her arms, and eventually felt her face.

"But how…?" Her young voice trembled. "My body was almost completely rotten, and it… turned back…?!" She quickly turned her head back to Leon.

"A resilient mind to still be aware even as afflicted as she was." commented Cid, which only Leon could hear through the suit's earpiece.

"Yeah, so basically, we cured you so… congrats?" Leon winced at how he sounded. He didn't prepare for any post-operation explanations!

"We…?" the elven girl tilted her head.

"Oh. Uh. Sorry I meant 'I'. I cured you."

Cid had gone back to stealth mode, and technically, it was Leon who performed the procedure.

"I… I don't know how I can even express my gratitude!" It was eerie at how she looked spellbound at him. "I'll devote my entire life to repaying you!"

"Woah there," things were moving way too fast for Leon. "I wasn't expecting payment you know?" Also he couldn't say she was basically a trial for an untested medical experiment that happened to succeed on their first try. "You're free to go and have a bright future ahead of you."

The elven girl shook her head. "I have no home to go back to. Please! You don't know how much this means! I'll even be your slave…"

Her body suddenly swayed and started to fall backwards until Leon caught her.

"What happened?!" Leon was concerned a side-effect was showing.

"Not to worry, Master. It seems has just exhausted herself from her fervor. She just needs to rest."

"Thank goodness…" Leon fixed the blanket to cover her properly. "I have to go back before anyone finds out I'm missing. Can you keep an eye on her?"

"I will," a panel opened from the computer and another drone flew towards the elven girl. "This terminal will monitor specimen Alpha and keep you updated. If she regains consciousness before your return, she can be sedated."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Leon took one last look at the elf before leaving. "And I hope I get to sleep in today."

Claire woke him up at sunrise for training.

An exhausted Leon managed to sneak out once more back to his hideout. Sneaking out twice in a row risked getting caught, but the recently cured female elf required immediate attention. Thankfully, she had not woken-up the whole day.

"How's she doing?"

"No immediate concerns with specimen Alpha," reported Cid.

The AI and Leon were in the lab looking at the medical data. Most of it gibberish to Leon, but nothing seemed to stand out. Of course, that still left the issue of what exactly to do with the elven girl herself. She was currently in another empty room for privacy reasons.

"So good news, the cure was successful," Leon paused as the weight of their accomplishment. "The bad news, the cure was successful!"

"What's the matter, Master? This is a resounding accomplishment over the inadequacy of the New-Humans."

"This changes everything! We basically copied what the protagonist of the otome game should only be able to do once she gets her cheat Saint Powers!" While in-game it was just a job change and unlocking new skills, in this world it would be equivalent to having legendary powers. Powers that allowed the founding of a nation and created a whole religion around it. "And do you know what one of the endings are when the protagonist shows off her saint powers carelessly? A bad ending where she dies!"

"Elaborate, Master."

"It's one of the checkpoints of the game. If you weren't able to build enough affection points to unlock any of the capture targets' route, you don't get any protection from a noble house. And without any protection, the fixed event where the protagonist cures a 'possessed' in public, causes her to be taken in by the church instead. But then she gets assassinated anyway and dies!"

"A concerning outcome, but one that is not likely to occur for you, Master. The 'cure' we developed is vastly different from the supposed all-purpose healing capabilities of the legendary Saintess. And as you are not female, you are unlikely to be taken by the church as the Saintess."

"If it were only that," groused Leon. "They eventually revealed in the golden ending that the protagonist was always being targeted by assassination attempts. Someone really didn't like that Hortfolt could suddenly heal the possessed."

"Did they say who it was?"

"It was only revealed in the end so I think they were just trying to set-up a sequel hook for the game. And well, I died so I don't know if they ever followed that up."

"While hard to prove the validity of that information, there would be merit in withholding the knowledge of the cure for safety reasons. At least until we have enough firepower for your protection, Master."

"Aww, you really do care about me, Cid."

"Finding another individual with Old-human DNA to resurrect the old government would be a difficult endeavor if my registered captain is killed. It would require going into lockdown again."

"Sounds almost tsundere of you."

"Trying to project human traits that you find attractive to an inanimate object, Master? Gross."

Leon chucked a paperweight at the drone which easily dodged it.

"Banter aside, Master. If we are to keep the cure confidential, that still leaves the matter of specimen Alpha. She knows about the cure and also how you look." An oversight since they were more focused on the experiment. "Simply releasing her somewhere else would still be a security risk if she starts spreading claims of being cured."

"Anyway we can erase her memory to prevent her from spreading it?"

"Lobotomy, or simply eliminating her."

"Geez, a bit extreme there." Leon slouched back in his chair. "I really wasn't expecting to be suddenly responsible for a kid at this age."

"Didn't you claim to be over twenty years old?" Cid received a whine in response. "If I can make a suggestion, Master."

"Shoot."

"This could be a solution to your dilemma. While the current demi-humans are feral, they used to be employed by the Old-Human government as assets during the war. If she is still adamant in serving you, why not employ her for the task we haven't been able to accomplish? Such as intelligence gathering outside the barony."

Leon closed his eyes as he considered the matter. "That does sound better than having her as a slave," even though slavery in this world was more akin to 'indentured servitude', the term still left a creepy sensation for Leon. "And this 'Forest of Ladies' thing is becoming too hard to handle without some help."

"Not to worry, Master. If the 'Forest of Ladies' begins to have a direct threat to your survival, they shall be elevated to 'Diablos'-level immediately."

"'Diablos'?" repeated Leon.

"Part of the system employed by the Old-Humans in the old war. Originally an informal ranking system used by the soldiers and civilian news due the demonic-looking weapons employed by the New-Humans. Then officially adopted as the war went on."

"'Diablos' huh? Almost sounds like a cult." Leon chuckled but then suddenly turned pensive.

"Master?" Cid asked after a few minutes had passed in silence.

"I got it," Leon got up from his seat and walked out of the laboratory room towards the one containing his 'conspiracy board'. "We should have a cover."

"Cover?" repeated Cid.

"Yup. Both for us… and the 'Forest of Ladies'." Leon grabbed a piece of paper and marker. "So that if our investigations alert anyone, we can claim we're investigating something else. Something so outrageous sounding that they'll never connect it with the 'Forest of Ladies', leaving their guard down. This way, no one will take us seriously and we stay under the radar."

"An intriguing concept of information security. And what will you call this facade, Master?"

Leon placed the marker down and posted his creation above the conspiracy board. "We'll call it… 'The Cult of Diablos'! And to make it over-the-top, they're trying to resurrect the demon lord 'Diablos'. Of course our job is trying to prevent the resurrection."

"Simplistic and childish sounding. As expected from you, Master."

"Heh, thanks," Leon missed the backhandedness. "Also, saying out loud that I'm against the 'Forest of Ladies' makes me sound like a woman-hater."

Which Leon was not. Honestly.

"What about your cover, Master? An enemy as grand as this 'Cult of Diablos' requires an equivalent sounding foe." Cid sounded very into the theatrics of their plan.

"Right," Leon went back into his thoughtful mode. "Well we can't be fighting this group, both fictional and real, out in the open. It'll have to be in the shadows," basically what he was already doing now. Except maybe adding a bit of help in the future. "I'll have to change my look. The sci-fi elements aren't going to work for this. Can this switch into something more appropriate for this world?"

"How about something like this, Master?" Cid projected an image into the air.

"Perfect," Leon fiddled with the controls in his suit.

The nanomachines shifted as the angular looking sci-fi armor was replaced with a long dark cloak with a hood. Purple underlining and some golden accents broke up the darkness. The old visor was replaced with a domino mask. It technically covered less of his face but felt more thematic with his new appearance.

"I definitely look like a part of a shadowy organization," Leon was pleased with his disguise. "Now, for this disguise I need to become someone else. Something else. I need to become-"

"Batman!"

Leon stared in disbelief at Cid.

"What? No. Why would I even…? I'll use-"

"The Hood!"

"That just sounds lame!"

"Really? It seemed you were referencing it, Master."

"What reference?! You know what, no more interruptions. I'll just use 'Shadow'. No discussions."

"As plain and boring as it sounds, it does invoke an enigmatic image. I shall follow suit."

"Turning your terminal to black with gold highlights is pointless if no one can see you."

The AI completely ignored his remark. "Do you have a name for the organization you will be a part of?"

"Hmmm… Well, we're a small organization against the 'Forest of Ladies'. How about: 'Shadow Garden'?"

Cid stared at his Master before uttering one word. "Lame."

Just to spite the AI, Leon kept the name.

It took a bit but Leon had finished writing down the 'cult plan', or at least enough details so that he could keep his story straight in front of the elven girl. She was just a child anyway so it wasn't like he needed a thoroughly researched backstory to fool her. The set-up was at least detailed enough: wait in a dark part of the room until she woke up, then dramatically step out when she wakes up. An entrance to enhance his mysterious persona.

Leon carefully opened the door to the room the sleeping patient was in… and immediately locked eyes with the very awake elf. Inner-Leon was already screaming in panic. Thankfully, outer-Leon calmly went inside and stood at the end of her bed. He knew plans rarely survived the first few steps but he hadn't even started yet! At least he wasn't in costume yet.

"You're the person that cured me," observed the elven girl.

Unlike before, she wore a make-shift hospital gown that Leon had scrounged. Which meant it was basically a glorified sheet with sleeves, but at least she was decent. Even with the raggedy attire, she still bore the famous elven beauty that made her kind appealing to nobles. Almost hard to believe she was a rotting pile of flesh a day before.

"Ah, right. I did say that…" Leon stepped into the room and decided to just stand at her bedside. "Surprised you remembered."

"Yes. And I will keep my word. My life is yours."

Her gaze was rather intense in Leon's opinion, matched by her words. At least it would make recruiting her to his plan easier. This would have been a great time to start his script. However…

"But if I can make one request first?" Her golden locks spilling forward as she bowed her head. "I know about my previous captors, and their plans. Please tell the lord of the land; it's very important! "

The female elf's mental fortitude, in Leon's opinion, was miraculously impressive. If she was telling the truth, then not only was she still mentally stable despite her severe degree of infection, she was aware enough to eavesdrop on her captors. Not to mention the length of time she had been unconscious while Cid studied her.

"The main goal of the group that had me wasn't to deliver the treasures they had with them. They're main delivery was me." She raised her head again. "I know it's hard to believe they would want a 'possessed' but I swear on my life that it's true!"

Leon, in honesty, only had half a mind paying attention to the elf's words. The other half was trying to find the best time to insert his script. Unfortunately, this didn't seem like a good one. Maybe if he continued the conversation. How to go about it though?

"Not really, considering the bloodline of the possessed," Leon blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Bloodline?" Her blue eyes widened in shock. "The possession is not random? There's a reason for it? Please tell me!"

"Easy, easy," Leon tried to calm her down. It wouldn't do for her to tire herself into unconsciousness again. "Give me a bit to find a good place to start."

There was some more gaming knowledge he had marked down in case he needed it, but it seemed he was going to pull out this card already. Leon really wished he had more time to prepare for this. Trying to plan and outwit even a child was starting to get difficult with how little rest he had since attempting the cure.

"Do you know about the story of the Three Heroes?"

"The fairy-tale?" the elf tilted her head in confusion as to why they were suddenly talking about children's stories. "The one where a demon threatened to destroy the world but was defeated by heroes from each of the races? Heroes representing humans, elves and beastkin?"

"Correct. But the story that's not told is that when the Three Heroes fought the demon the first time, they lost. They escaped with their lives but were cursed. Their magic ate at their bodies, gnawing at their lives as their limbs turned dark. They were the first possessed. For a while, hope seemed lost."

He paused to let the words sink in before continuing.

"But the goddess sent her emissary, the Saintess, to aid the fallen heroes. Through her gift, she cured the Heroes of their possession, and together, eventually defeated the demon."

"The legendary Saintess of Holtfort?!" The female elf was even more shocked.

"The very same," confirmed Leon

"But if the Saintess cured the Heroes, why does the 'possession' still exist?"

"She could heal their illness, but the curse goes deeper. While cured, the curse would be passed down to the Heroes' descendants as well. Since 'possession' is not contagious, you can say that 'possession' is proof of being a Hero's descendant."

"The bloodline of the possessed…" The elven girl repeated his previous words. She looked down at her hands as if staring at the blood in their veins. "If this is true then why are we hunted? Why doesn't anyone know this history?" She closed her hands into fists.

"Because someone rewrote history to make it so. Erasing the truth about the Heroes' lineage and the treatment to the cure. Worse, painting the 'possessed' as sinners and persecuting them."

It wasn't a complete answer but that was the end of what Leon knew. The female elf continued to stare at her fists, while silence stretched on after Leon's tale. It seemed, if there was a time to execute his plan, it would be now while the female elf was still reeling from the revelations.

"The ones who kidnapped you? I know who they were working for," the elf finally looked up to meet his gaze. She remained silent but Leon had her attention. "The Cult of Diablos. My enemies and the reason for many other crimes in Holfort. Banditry, smuggling, corruption, these are just some of their evils, but their true goal is worse."

This was it. Leon's make or break for the masquerade.

"The revival of the Demon Diablos."

A small gasp came from the female elf as her hands covered her mouth in shock.

It seemed like it was a success! Leon was internally crying that his plan was going well.

"If successful, the cult can use it to destroy the world. Worse, the cult never operates in the open, using different organizations to move for them while they stay in the dark. I employ the same tactic and stand up to them in the shadows."

"Who-who are you?" the elven girl could barely stammer out.

Leon smirked and took a step back. He started laughing as he activated his slime suit. The everyday 'clothes' he wore started shifting until it transformed into his new disguise. Even with no wind, his coat still billowed dramatically. For now, his hood was down and the mask was gone, leaving his face still visible.

"You may call me, Shadow," Leon bowed dramatically before continuing. "Preventing the revival of the demon is no easy feat. But if no one does, the world will cease to exist. Won't you join us?"

The female elf stared at him, almost unmoving. When another bout of silence passed, Leon was starting to worry his invitation failed. He was about to open his mouth again when the elven girl suddenly moved.

To his surprise, the elven girl got off the bed to stand in front of him. "I understand. Like me, many others are left to die because they don't know the truth. That cannot continue," she got down on one knee and bowed her head. "I stand by my promise, my life is yours. We will bring upon the true sinners their punishment of death."

A bit extreme and intense again, but Leon was just relieved his plan worked!

"Then from today you'll be known as Alpha, the first of the saved." Not part of his initial script, but it just seemed right to say. It did sound cool though.

The elven girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and stood up straight. "Thank you, Master!"

That still sounded weird, especially coming from a young girl. Cid got a pass as an AI.

"Just 'Shadow' is fine," persuaded Leon.

"Yes, Master Shadow!"

Something to work on, he supposed. Moonlight started pouring into the room when Leon realized he forgot to mention one more thing.

"From now on, we are Shadow Garden. We lurk in the darkness and hunt down the shadows."

"Shadow Garden," Alpha repeated, a small smile on her lips. "That's a nice name."

Just like that, Alpha became his favorite subordinate. Who then swayed and almost fell backwards until Leon caught her.

"You're still recovering," Leon slowly led her back onto the bed. "Rest for now. Our work begins later."

"Yes, Master Shadow…" her voice trailed off in the end until she fell asleep once more.

"Amazing performance, Master. You somehow fabricated a believable enough story that Specimen Alpha accepted."

Cid's tone was flat but Leon could swear it sounded almost condescending. Or was that just him being paranoid?

With the deception- recruitment complete, they were once again in the 'intelligence room'. The one with the conspiracy corkboard. Technically Cid's terminal stayed here and Leon returned after checking on the newly dubbed Alpha. Leon made a mental note to ask if the female elf had an actual name. He got caught up in the moment and just went with bestowing her that title. She didn't seem to mind it at least.

"Well, they say the best lies have a bit of truth. And technically the only thing I really lied about was that there was a literal Demon Diablos."

Even then he could say he was just talking about a possible weapon with that label. Also he told two very separate and distinct stories to the girl. If they happened to have similar elements that one might mistake for connections, that wasn't his fault.

"Even the story about the heroes and the possessed? I find no information about that in any of the information we have gathered."

Cid had digitized whatever documents his drones could find inside the barony. Which include materials brought from the Capital by… their unpleasant visitors.

"I mean yeah you wouldn't. That's the whole point of rewriting history. No one would know about the real one."

"Then how do you know about it, Master?" Cid's terminal floated in front of him. "More 'game-knowledge' you claim to have?"

"Really? Still think I'm crazy?"

"I do not believe you are crazy. You have been tested," Leon could only roll his eyes at the AI. "But your claim about reincarnation and this world as an 'otome-game' has yet to be sufficiently verified. Nor is there an actual method to verify your claims."

"I knew about you didn't I? And a lot about the old-humans."

"Yet you also claim a lot of things that shouldn't be in the game as well. I also noticed that you never answered who was the one responsible for rewriting the history."

Annoyingly, the ball of AI had a point. There was only so much lore that Leon was willing to read to power through the otome-game he was playing. There were some details he was bound to have glossed over. Of course, he wasn't going to admit it to Cid. If he knew he was going to be reincarnated to this world then he would have paid attention more.

"Does it matter? That's for the Main Character and her Love Interests to worry about. Not some background character like me. Got more important stuff to deal with now."

Like his main task of acquiring more programmable matter. Leon mentally sighed as he realized he was bound to have to invest some of it into his 'Shadow Garden'. Just never enough to do everything he wanted. He just reminded himself that it was bound to pay off. Some day. In the future. Hopefully.

"Project Shadow Garden is a go but-" Leon went to the terminal and started typing. "Need some time back home to stop anyone from getting suspicious." He spotted the time on the monitor. "Crap, it's already early in the morning and I still need some sleep."

Leon printed the note he had typed up and instructed Cid to leave it by Alpha's beside. Just a message that he needed to be away for a few days and he would be back. The AI was still going to remain hidden to monitor her, but it was more than capable of attending to the girls' needs. Food could be left by the door and any restricted area was easily locked away.

As he left, Leon prayed would be able to sleep-in today.

Turns out he was lucky. Claire was unavailable to train that day. Though, Leon could have done without the red rice he had to eat during the celebration. Of all things, why would the Otome game add that specific Japanese culture in a European society?!

A/N: Creating the convoluted reasons that made Leon create Shadow Garden and Cult of Diablos was hilariously fun. The recruitment scene of Alpha though, was a pain to write. Toyed with skipping it but it would always bug me how Leon, a more morally upright character than canon-Cid, managed to convince Alpha to join without blatantly lying like a sociopath. This was probably the best that could be done.

There were 3 drafts for the recruitment scene and a 3 paragraphs for justification of the current one, but decided not to add them to the author's note. Maybe if someone ever gets bothered enough to necessitate a discussion. Hopefully the rest of the plot is smoother sailing now.