Fluff/slice of life chapter.
"How are you feeling?"
"Umm… I think, good?…"
Cid was helping small Violet to walk properly. Apparently, unlike big Violet, the small one kinda forgot how to move properly… Or rather, she never had to, considering that most of the time she was being carried, or pushed, or more of that stuff… Uh, Todd, are you sure there's nothing bad near the grave? Sure? Alright.
Right, so, helping small Violet… By the way, how does he actually call her? Violet is already taken, Aurora? Could be possible, but everyone else calls big Violet that… Hmm, he will think of that later.
"Umm, mister, are you sure it's alright?…"
"Of course it's alright!"
Believe it or not, Cid still had some moral grounds left! And torturing children was certainly something that a good Eminence would never do! So, yeah, there is stuff that he gets disgusted with, like now or back when Sherry's… uh, who was he to her, again… Well, when that guy revealed he killed her mother and inserted himself as the most important person in her life! Yeah!
Oh, yeah, small Violet. He promised to take her out on a walk, and it's about time to do so. His academy problems were solved with free attendance document, the only person who knew about that was now dead, and small Violet's soul (or what was left of it; Hams complained that it was basically a mere fragment of the whole) was successfully inserted into her new body, which she already tried out with eating some kind of burger that was stored in Soul Space (damn, his Beasts sure are Greed…).
Where does he exit, though… Like, it's not as if he could just waltz out of dungeon with a little girl in tow, right? Well, technically he could, but…
Eh, let's go the easy way.
"Now, hold tight."
"Um?…"
Man, she's so adorable.
"Welcome to Mitsugoshi!" he raised his hands.
"Yay," she raised her hands, too.
"Ahem, so this place is a store and a branch of my organization, if you follow me… Right, there's one person I want you to meet with. I think you would be very happy to know each other!"
"Uhm… sure."
He-he, he can feel the excitement from mere thought of them meeting!…
Right, where is she?… Oh, there!
"Um, mister, what are these symbols?"
"Which…? Oh, these."
The four-star eye symbol. To be honest, he kinda forgot about it. Like, he knows it's used as his symbol in Shadow Garden, but he himself has never wore it… Where did they even get it from?
"Well, let's just say that I am not the last person by importance in this organization… Yeah, I just told you that it's my organization, anyway; for some reason they thought this symbol perfectly represents me, and now it kinda stuck."
"Humu, I see…"
"Uh-huh, now let's go!"
Corridors. Corridors. Corridors. Even more corridors. Did Eta really decide to just make a bunch of corridors and only then planned the actual rooms?
Eh, nevermind, they are at the place already.
"Hey, Violet, are you busy?" he knocked at the door.
"Just a bit, my knight; I will come out in a minute."
Hmm? Oh, right, she was probably changing from her agent form… It was him who practically charged into the academy.
Well, waiting, is it.
Small Violet only looked at him in curiosity. After some time she turned her attention to the door and made the most serious face she could muster. Hams screamed something about cuteness energy and the need to store it… More power to him, he guesses?
Oh, he hears the footsteps!
"So sorry, my gallant Knight, it was just so sudden that I had-" Violet stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed the small copy standing behind Cid.
"Hello again, my lovely Violet, allow me to introduce you to each other. Aurora, this is Aurora. And Aurora, this is Aurora. Say hello!"
Oh, they god blue screened. Just as he expected, he-he!
"Allow me to get this straight…" big Violet slowly raised her hand, "you found another part of me that was sealed right in this town, then you found out about existence of my another consciousness and decided it would be a good idea to create another body for her?"
"Hmm… Yup, everything is correct!"
"…You were completely right! Say, little me, what do you think about this one?" Violet slowly showed Tuna burger to her small copy.
"Hmm…" the small copy's nose twitched, "It smells so good…"
"I know, right? Here, take it," with a big smile on her face Violet gently shoved the burger into small, delicate hands of small Violet.
"M-m-m!" as expected, the girl liked it.
Small Violet munched onto the burger in happiness, parts of food stuck in the corners of her lips.
Cid watched it with a strange feeling of warmth in his heart. They were currently sitting at one of Mitsugoshi's public tables and having a big lunch. Of course, the sole purpose of it was to give little Violet a sense of a happy life around other people. Some children even ran past them, and the girl blinked at them with a smile. Speaking of it…
He turned back to big Violet. Seeing his attention, she leaned in.
"So… how do we call her?" he whispered.
"M-m-m?"
"We can't just call both of you Aurora or Violet, right? There ought to be some distinction…"
"Violet is a flower, not only a color, right?" the mature woman whispered back.
"Yep, it is… Oh, I have an idea…"
He coughed to get small girl's attention.
"So, is there anything in particular you want to be called?"
"Hmm?" she cutely cocked her head.
"I mean, do you want to get a new name or…"
"New. I wanna have new name and new life."
"Then, from now on, your new name shall be… Lilac."
"Lilac?…" the newly named repeated after him, "It sounds good… But somewhat similar to, um, Violet?" she turned to her big copy.
"I mean, technically we came from the same source…" Violet twisted her hair, "So that would be a good way to give us a connection, but still have some distinction, right?"
"Hmm…" cute furrowed brows, "Alright!"
And came back to munching on burgers. That's the third one, by the way.
Yep, everything is going well. Surely there's no princesses that would interrupt his peaceful time-
"Greetings, Cid. I see you decided to have a rest after your trip."
A certain crimson-haired crimson-eyed Midgar princess (the heir one) walked up to his table with a smile on her face.
"Yep, princess Iris, I think I sent my papers into the academy. And in case they didn't come, I have my own in the bag," is it a lie if he really has documents?
"My, Cid, I already said we can go with just first name…" nonetheless, she smiled, "And no need for papers. Better yet, how about you-"
"Hello, Ciddy," oh, speak of the devil.
A certain silver-haired crimson-eyed Midgar princess (not the heir one) came up from behind and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Say, would you be so kind as to explain who these two are?"
"Oh, hey, Alexia," he greeted her, "The elder one is Violet," Aurora waved her hand with a smile, "the younger one is Lilac," the girl didn't react to her new name and drank the cold tea.
"I see… and how are you connected to them?" Alexia pressed further, both into the matter and onto his shoulders.
"Please, stop, it hurts," she immediately ceased her attempts to assert dominance, "and the truth is…" he waved his hand for princesses to lean closer.
Alexia immediately complied, while Iris thought for a moment and just sat down.
"So…" he went onto whispering, "You would be wiser not to speak about the past with them."
"It's that bad?" Iris frowned, placing her chin onto her hands.
"Claire fought over them with some guys in Lawless City…"
"Slave traders?" Alexia interjected, "I mean, yeah, it is bad, that's the Lawless City we are talking about, after all, but there are tons of people-"
"No, she said these guys were in some kind of, uh, cloaks and robes? And something about Cult, I guess?" he feigned thinking… and true to his expectations, both girls tensed up.
"Cult…" Alexia worriedly held his hand, "Cid, do not try to engage with this Cult. Never."
"Are they really that bad?" he 'innocently' tilted his head.
"We can't speak of it in public, even if whispering," Iris shook her head, "Please, if you really wish to know about it, visit me or Alexia at some point."
"if you say so…" he 'relented'.
He-he, all according to his plan! Absolutely non-suspicious mob-like friend of main heroines who guides them towards the end and then…! Hmm, he didn't think that far yet. Gotta revision his plan.
Oh, but Lilac surely held good. He expected her to break down at any moment after millennia of suffering, but it seems like either are all Aurora's parts are pretty resilient, or being close to the mature version of herself made her calm down. That's good, actually, he doesn't want Lilac to suddenly get flashbacks.
"Um, brother," he suddenly heard her talking to him (he had to reanimate poor Hams after he suffered a heart attack from cuteness, "I am sorry if I am interrupting you, but who are these pretty ladies you are talking to?"
Stop it with the smug, Alexia, she's just being polite!
"This crimson-haired one is Iris Midgar, heir princess of this country," he decided to introduce the elder one first, yes.
"Aunty Iris?" Lilac cocked her head.
"Hmm, yes, little Lilac, I am Iris," princess smiled and reached out her hand to pat Lilac's head.
"Aunty Iris, are you sure we aren't connected? We both have plant names."
"That's…" Iris stopped for a moment, "No, that's just a coincidence…" after a moment, though, she added, "But you still can call me Aunty, little one."
"M-m-m, alright, I will!"
"Ahem," he coughed to take her attention, "and the silver-haired one is another princess of Midgar, Alexia Midgar. Yep, also a sister to Iris."
Oh-ho, he can see the familiar fires in little Lilac's eyes! Seems like someone is planning something mischievous!
"Aunty Alexia!"
"Wha-" Alexia in question almost fell down while trying to sit on a chair.
Yes, Lilac, avenge his nerves!
"E-E-Excuse me…" a tic mark appeared on Alexia's temple, "Unlike my elder sister, I am still in my teenage years, and therefore it's too early to call me Aunty."
"Um? No, you look the same age, so you are Aunty!"
He can see the arrow piercing younger princess' heart!
"No-o-o, she's five years older than me. In fact, I am the same age as Ciddy! Right?" she turned to him, "Ri-i-ight?"
"Hmm…" he leaned back on his chair and feigned thinking as he sipped his cold tea.
"Now don't you dare to back down!" she reached out for his neck.
"Hmm…" Lilac made a thinking gesture, "But that's impossible!"
"Why?!"
"Because Cid looks younger than you! He's also cuter!"
"Pfffft-!" Cid in question spewed his drink in shock.
"W-Wha-?!" Alexia experienced a blue screen, too.
"Give up, Alexia," Iris chuckled, "Clearly, you have lost the contest of youth."
"What?! No! Impossible! Someone as beautiful as me…!"
'Seems like it worked,' he winked to Lilac.
Yep, everything he did was to cause some stir in both the princesses and Lilac herself to help them all forget about their troubles for a moment. Isn't he the best boyfriend, saviour, and… uh, he doesn't know who he is to Iris, but that doesn't matter. In short, he can pat himself on the back!
He-he, good job, Cid-!
"What do you mean you can't accept these coins?"
"It is as I said, miss," the clerk explained, clearly wary of the customer, "We do not know the origin of these… 'platinum' coins, and therefore cannot accept them."
"Ugh, fine! How about gold ones!"
"These ones… Could work, however we do not know their true value compared to Zeni, and appraisal would take some time…"
"Come on, I just wanna get some drinks and foodies!"
Cid peeked in curiosity and saw… Well, a very strange sight.
A short girl in a comically oversized hat stood in front of a stall and tried to buy something. Her clothes were… a mess, to say the least: blue shirt with red necktie, one silver boot, one red boot… No, wait, the silver boot is actually silver boot, like, metal! And the other one is actually flesh-like! The hell?! And her left hand looks like a pink slime! And right is brown like a tree!
Hold up, are these butterfly wings on her back?! He didn't see at first because she kept them folded, but once she turned around he was able to imprint the sight into his memory!
Something clearly suspicious is going on here…
"Goddamnit…" the suspicious customer in question visibly deflated.
"Excuse me," he interjected, "I will pay for her."
"You…" clerk's eyes widened. Yep, recognized him, "Sure, that would be 600 Zeni."
'Oh, right, a discount.'
"Really?! Oh, you're a saviour!" girl jumped up, "I will give you these Zee-nees back… Maybe. Later. Trust!"
"M-m-m, just come sit with us," he pointed at the table.
As they came closer, both princesses were clearly on the edge. Yeah, this girl's appearance was something else…
"Welp, now that it's settled, maybe we will get to know each other?" he decided to speak first once they sat down.
"Oh, right!" she placed her drink back (when did she even get to take it?) and showed that she's all ready to digest information.
"Well, my name is Cid Kagenou, son of Kagenou family," this girl didn't have any reaction, "these two are Violet and Lilac, they are here to visit," this girl didn't have any reaction, "and these two are Alexia Midgar and Iris Midgar, both are princesses of Midgar Kingdom, with Iris being the heir."
This girl didn't have any reaction.
"Oh, cool! That leaves me!"
She stood up and struck a strange pose, covering her right eye with right hand and reaching out her left hand to the horizon.
"My name is Deviantt, the demon of love and justice!… In training, I think. Uh, it's fine, I have a lot of time to train! Next month for sure!"
Deviantt then squinted and looked at him in suspicion.
"Hmm… I can tell… You've killed a lot!" she pointed an accusatory finger at him… before frowning and retracting her hand, "But you've not killed enough!"
She then smiled all of sudden.
"Oh, but it's fine! You're cool, so I will let you call me just 'Devi', he-he! Only you, though! All other please refer to me as 'Deviantt'! And don't you dare to omit the extra letter!"
'Yep, that girl is nuts.'