It was soon to foil: I became a harem protagonist

by CallingTheNest

Shadow Broker? Mob Character? I tried my hardest, yet it was all grabbed and thrown out the window! I failed, and a harem is all I'm left with. Where did I go wrong?

9. The Truth

Claire walked from one corner of a room to another. In her mind there were a few things that were bothering her. Of course, the main one was Cid. What did he do this time? Well, today's her birthday, and he has yet to say "Happy Birthday", or something across those lines. It just turned 12:01, so there's only one reasonable answer to this…

"He must've forgotten…"

He'll pay for that later. She's certain. He didn't even leave the mansion, she thinks. But no, that's not what's bothering her. What's bothering her is Hitomi Shitori. You know, the purple haired girl that she hasn't seen in a year? That suddenly showed up and has been living with them because apparently her Kingdom is going through something? Yeah that girl.

She's nice… Maybe. Claire doesn't care if she's nice or whatnot. What has Claire bothered is that…

"She's possessed…"

Hitomi Shitori, Cid's dance partner, Miki Kagenou's student, is possessed. How could Claire be able to tell, though? Well, the moment Cid decided to run for it, both Claire and Hitomi chased after him. Since Hitomi's dress was loose, the wind brought it down and lo-and-behold, black pots on her arms. Hitomi had a slip on, so it covered the important parts of the female body, but the dark spots were blatantly obvious. And actions after that, in the two months they've lived together have shown those dark spots more and more. Luckily, that weird doctor was not showing himself and will not any time soon… she hopes.

What is she, Claire, going to do about it? Absolutely nothing. But, this does raise a question in her head.

"I had it too, and one night it just… ceased to exist."

She slept with Cid that night (like any other) and she woke up without blackspots. She didn't care, then, because she didn't understand the "how". How did it happen? How did they disappear? Why did they even appear and why did they disappear? She never put much thought into it because she determined that Cid's love (him hugging her in his sleep) cured her! How true is that? She doesn't know, but she's happy to live with that delusion.

All she knows, though, is that it healed when she was with Cid. So, let's say, hypothetically, that Cid actually healed her somehow. Well not him, but just being near him, or something like that. Claire's not mean enough to not help someone (maybe), so she might as well try to help Hitomi with her possession (perchance), for her (Hitomi) to live a long and prosperous life (maybe).

But she doesn't know how she got healed. All she knows is that Cid hugged her.

[Author: It's not canon, ik, dw.]

"Does that mean that I have to let Cid hug her?"

Yeah that's not happening. I mean, Cid barely hugs Claire as it is to begin with. Imagine him hugging Hitom…i…

"He dances willingly with her…"

You see, Miki Kagenou has a lot of students. She's a dance teacher—or it's better to say, used to be. But she still has the students. When she's not in the mansion, she's visiting houses where they're asking for her help. Sometimes, she takes either Cid or her to those other places.

It's never outside of the Midgar Kingdom, but when Claire asks Miki about how things went, she always says how Cid willingly danced with those that didn't have a partner… but when Miki tries to teach in the Mansion, Cid is avoiding dancing with her…

"I always scold him for it… I think he needs a beating…"

Claire's pace from corner to corner became quicker.

"Every time Hitomi-san comes, he dances with her without a care in the world…"

Does it piss her off? Obviously it does. It means a few things, after all. If Hitomi were to ever find out that her (Claire) hugging Cid (and vice-versa) healed her… Hitomi will try to do the same! Claire can't do that—can't allow that… because she has a feeling that Cid would do it voluntarily.

She can't allow that! Cid himself choosing to dance with someone else, it's fine. Cid being asked by another person to hug them in their sleep? That's just looking for trouble between said person and Claire herself.

She'll have to keep Hitomi away from Cid by all means necessary. Whatever it takes, it'll be done… and by that, any other girl that tries to get close to Cid.

She stopped moving and walked out of the room. As she closed the door, a maid approached her. She had long silver hair, and was taller than Claire, even! What was odd to Claire about the maid though, this is the first time that she sees her!

"Happy Birthday, Claire-sama. What's the reason for you being up so early?"

She spoke and smiled kindly. Claire could swear that her eyes were switching color.

"I was just thinking about some stuff… um…"

The maid nodded and waited for Claire to finish whatever she was going to say…

"Are you new here?"

"Oh! Yes. My name is Kaida. I was hired a week ago and just today I started working, as a matter of fact… it's a pleasure to meet you, Claire-sama."

Kaida wore a maid outfit like any other, albeit a bit tight for her… compared to other maids.

"Oh, is that so? Um… how did you know it was my birthday, then?"

Not that Kaida would say it, but when she spoke with the Shades, gaining information that might be relevant or important for her to know, Claire's birthday was one of them. More information that she was given was the barrier [artifact] in the basement, Hitomi, Daric's profession, and things as such.

"I spoke with Cid-sama the day I was hired. Miki-sama and Cid-sama explained to me things that I had to manage and such. Cid-sama rambled on and on about you and even told me that today was your birthday."

And that's an absolute lie, of course. It's not like Cid would've forgotten, but he has no reason for literally anyone else to know about Claire's birthday.

"Cid told this new maid about my birthday…"

Claire though, ate it all up. Her hands covered her face as steam puffed from her ears.

"He hasn't forgotten!"

Today, Claire turned thirteen. Her birthday is only a couple months after Cid's. She's getting closer to turning fifteen, and then going to the Dark Knight Academy.

"Is that true, Kaida-san?!"

"As true as it could be, Claire-sama."

"Where is Cid, then?!"

"In his bedroom sleeping, Claire-sama."

Claire blinked. Right. She wasn't in his room tonight—she just forgot to go there. So it would make sense that he's in his room, sleeping. Recently, according to Cid himself, he hasn't been able to leave the mansion much to go on his nightly walks. Cid has been limited. WIth Ricky and now Miki trying to both teach daily/nightly.

"Yeah, you're right. I mean, where else would he be?"

"Mhm."

"Thank you for your birthday wishes, Kaida-san. I have a sibling to go to now."

Kaida only smiled kindly at Claire as she skedaddled her way out of the corridor. Kaida didn't follow, as Claire went directly towards Cid's bedroom. Kaida herself merely turned around and walked towards another room.

Claire's thoughts had been purified. She has a goal in mind… two, actually. Keep Hitomi from ever knowing how hugging Cid healed her, and keeping Cid away from her.

As Claire walked, she reached Cid's bedroom doors.

"Ah, Claire! Happy Birthday!"

Claire turned to her side as she grabbed the doorknob. There stood a man with brown hair, dark brown eyes. He wore a white buttoned up shirt, with a red coat over it.

"Thank you, Ricky-sensei."

Ricky the Warrior. Large and wide… almost like Eduard from the tournament. His eyes had this shine to them, a light that Claire herself couldn't determine. Almost as he was thinking of something continuously…

"Why are you awake, Claire? It's pretty late."

"I had some things to think about, and couldn't sleep properly."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Then you better go to sleep. For someone as young as you, sleeping is beneficial."

"Yeah…"

Nothing was said between the two as Claire looked at Ricky and vice-versa.

"Why are you awake, Ricky-sensei?"

"I'm a guard of this Mansion during the night after teaching the three of you."

"Ah…"

Ever since he arrived at the mansion, he has been both a teacher and a guard. At a certain time in the night (around eight) he begins teaching, and two hours later, he stops and begins working as a guard around the mansion… but…

"I don't think it's needed, Ricky-sensei. I mean, we have an artifact for that very reason."

"True, but one can never be too safe, can I?"

"I guess not."

"The Artifact was a nuisance to get through, being honest, but still do-able. What's stopping others from getting through?"

"It's… not easy."

"Yeah, it's not, but it's still do-able. That's why I guard, you see…"

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"But speaking of. The door to where the Artifact is located is always closed. Any reason as to why?"

"Baldy told Cid and I that Artifacts don't need to be meddled with. Once it's set up, any reason for interacting with it is non-existent."

"Big words. But yeah, he's right. There's no reason for anyone nor anything to be touching that artifact…"

Ricky went pensive as Claire nodded to his words. Ricky ran her words through his head, and tried to figure something out. Whatever that could be.

"Say. You wouldn't happen to know where the keys for that room are?"

"What? No, of course not, Ricky-sensei. Baldy has them hidden… Why would they matter anyways? The artifact is functioning just fine. There's no reason to go in there."

"You're right, but you see… Artifacts have a tendency of failing over time. After a certain period of time they just stop functioning—they have to be recalibrated. I just happen to know how to do so, so I think it's safe to say that I can have the keys."

"U…huh…"

Ricky nodded as Claire looked at him confused.

"Ricky-sensei. Do you have a family?"

"Hm? Where did that come from?"

"Curiosity…"

"Well no. Not anymore. My parents died a couple years ago."

"Oh, my condolences."

"It's all good."

"And you don't have a wife… nor kids?"

"No. And I don't plan to, anytime soon. I need to be stronger…"

"What for?"

"To protect them."

Claire could relate to those words. She wants to protect Cid more than anything. From social problems. From danger in the streets, or if he ever gets a job, she wants to protect where he works… she wants to protect him.

"Anyways, I must continue with my duties."

"Ah, yeah. Good night, Ricky-sensei."

"Night, Claire."

And with that, he walked past her.

The artifact is hidden in the basement and is locked with multiple security measures. No one could easily break them. It'd take a good amount of power to get through those chains and doors… that's why no-one was ever worried about the artifact itself being meddled with.

She finally opened the door, and there was Cid, sleeping on the left part of his bed.

She sat on his bed and looked around. His room had turned more to hers than anything else. He didn't mind as much recently, as he has grown accustomed to it. There were drawings of both of them all around his room… oh, and a piano for whatever reason.

Claire's room had turned to a storage room. Most stuff that could be of possible use in the future was thrown to her room, as she didn't sleep in it anymore. And because she was sleeping in Cid's bedroom every night, their parents bought a bigger bed for the two of them to sleep comfortably.

Of course, the moment that Claire tried to sleep, she was hugging Cid as tight as possible. So much space in the bed, yet they were both in the middle of it… Not Cid's intention, since he was in the left part… Claire just brought him to the middle.

To say the least, keeping Hitomi away from Cid didn't work.

Someone else hugged Cid from the front.

---

"He still hasn't woken up!"

"You beat him every day while practicing! Maybe Cid-kun was tired!"

"That doesn't explain as to why you were sleeping on the same bed as him!"

"I thought it'd be nice to sleep with him!"

"On my birthday?!"

"You're his sister! Why're you sleeping on the same bed as him?!"

"It's normal for siblings to sleep with each other from time-to-time!"

"You said it best! From "time-to-time", not every day!"

Claire and Hitomi had woken up at the same time, as Cid still "slept.". He was awake, but was waiting for the two of them to leave the bed before he himself decided to go down to eat the breakfast.

"You're not excused at all!"

"I never wanted an excuse anyways! I just wanted to sleep with Cid-kun!"

"This isn't the first time you've done this! How did you get in bed anyways?! When I entered the room, you were nowhere close!"

"I was right next to him."

"Not! He was on a corner of the bed before I pulled him to the middle!"

"I… I was under the bed, okay?"

"Are you some sort of stalker?"

"That doesn't matter, Claire-san! When I woke up, I was healed of possession!"

"You were what now?!"

In Claire's mind, this could only mean one thing.

"Cid hugged her?!"

"Oh, right… I didn't tell you I was possessed, did I?"

"That doesn't matter! Tell me, did you hug Cid as you slept?!"

"I always do!"

"This bitch…"

Claire has concluded: Cid definitely hugged Hitomi.

"...I see."

"That's a weird question to ask, especially once I confess that I was possessed…"

"Meh, I was possessed too, and sleeping with Cid just made it disappear for whatever reason."

"Oh is that so? So I have to sleep with him more often to feel even better, then!"

"What? No. Enough is enough!"

"What? You can, but I can't? Don't you think that's a bit selfish?"

"I don't care if it's selfish. The only one allowed to sleep with Cid is me."

"Nope~ I'll be sleeping with him too, daily, just like you!"

"Like hell you will!"

"...I'm trying to sleep here."

"Good morning Cid!"

"Good morning Cid-kun!"

The moment he decided to say something is the moment his life was forfeited.

"You've been sleeping for an hour longer than we have, Cid-kun!"

"Today's my birthday! I expected you to wake up sooner and throw me some sort of surprise birthday party!"

"You're asking—the two of you are asking a bit too much of me. I'm a busy guy…"

"Busy… Cid-kun, it's your sister's birthday."

"What Hitomi-san said…"

"I'm being tagged teamed…"

"Oh, right. Onee-chan's birthday."

"He forgot."

Claire ignored that feeling of betrayal and merely looked as Cid sat on the bed and then got out of it, towards his piano. He raised the lid of the piano and pulled two small boxes. They were both black with a white ribbon on top. Claire merely watched as Cid walked over to her and gave her one of the boxes.

"Here, Nee-san, this is yours."

She grabbed that of Cid's hands immediately. No second questions. No thought whatsoever. She grabbed it as if it were to disappear the moment she didn't… which knowing Cid, it's totally reasonable.

She opened it and what she saw was a bracelet. Nothing really out of the ordinary, you see. It was a simple pearl bracelet. Each pearl had a slightly different tone of color. The most minimal amount of difference, but just enough for it to be distinguishable. The main color was purple though.

There was every pearl and then there was one tiny difference. There was a "C" in-between two pearls. It could be for "Claire", or "Cid". Claire herself didn't know. She looked at Cid with teary eyes as he opened the other box. The same bracelet, albeit with red pearls rather than purple.

"Epsilon chose purple because it fits my magic color… and chose red because it fits Nee-san's eyes."

"He chose red because of my eyes..! The purple because… I don't know."

Cid knew why these colors were chosen, and Claire could only give a rough idea about it.

"W-What if blue is his favorite color?! Red and blue make purple, no?!"

On Cid's bracelet, there was also a "C". This was enough for Claire who put on her bracelet before she pounced on him and brought him to a hug.

"Oh thank you Cid! It's beautiful!"

"Yer wercom, nesan…" Cid's voice muffled as he was in between you know what.

"Hey! I want a hug too!"

Hitomi jumped behind Cid and hugged him from, well, behind. He was now in-between the two with no chance to escape.

---

"On this side! We have, Princess Iris!"

It's been two years since the last Bushin Festival. Princess Iris destroyed most of her opponents with ease! She's currently seventeen. She stood there in the middle of the arena. It was clear as day: She had grown way stronger compared to the last time I saw her fight.

Right next to me; to my right was Nee-san. Currently age fourteen… in two months she turns fifteen. I, on the other hand, am of age thirteen. These past two years much hasn't happened. With the limited amount of time, I've been out-and-about, looking for information about the Vlarc Kingdom. It's been mostly asking—

"We've been able to see that Princess Iris has trained a lot! This just proves it!"

Hitomi-san, who's currently to my left. She has seen how Nee-san and I practice and has joined in on practices at times. She has been taking classes with Ricky-sensei, Nee-san and I. And it's safe to say, she's been learning a lot faster than I have…! Ricky-sensei is a good teacher. But yeah, these last two years have been blatantly obvious: He's causing Magic Overload in himself, but not the same way I would. No. It's like I've mentioned prior. It feels forced. He can't control it, but it affects him just enough—it doesn't grow out of control.

Anyways. Kaa-sama, Oto-san, Hitomi-san, Nee-san and I were all watching this year's Bushin Festival. According to most posters, "Iris Midgar's Final year", and if going by the last Bushin Festival, she's going to get married if she doesn't win this year, right?

"And, on this side we have Eduard Suchiro!"

Mel Figuer was defeated and thus, didn't head to the finals. Who won against Mel? Iris Midgar. She destroyed anything and anyone in front of her. Compared to the newspapers of the previous Bushin Festival, Midgar was defeated by Eduard, so this is her chance for vengeance.

Most fights were mediocre at best. Same as the previous Bushin Festival, who would've known? No-one really stood out. I could remember some names, of course. There was Iris herself, Grease, Mel, Eduard, and Weez.

Weez? Who's that?

Compared to the last Bushin Festival, the amount of participants doubled. Last time there were merely 16 competitors. This time there were 32, thus more competitions and more names for one to remember. Weez just happened to be a Bushin Festival winner himself, but he was eliminated by none other than Iris Midgar. It feels like she has had the toughest competition as of yet. Almost as if it was planned to be that way.

"Are both fighters ready?!"

The crowd erupted once more. The excitement over the roof. Just like it was last year.

And once again, the elf was up on top of the VIP section, although this time her attention wasn't on the arena. She was more focused on her surroundings compared to everything else. Whatever she was looking for, I wish her the best.

Both Iris Midgar and Eduard nodded.

"Go!"

Swords were unsheathed, but none dared to move. Eduard was in bulky armor compared to Iris Midgar. They stood there, none dared to move—merely watched. Both waited for the other to do something, to see if there was an opening.

Nothing happened. The crowd quieted down. They waited for something to happen.

Iris Midgar closed her eyes, and in a flash, she disappeared.

Eduard too, disappeared.

The battle had officially begun. The blades began clashing against one another. Sparks flew, dust hid them from sight.

Iris Midgar had improved a lot. I repeat.

Her motion while it followed the Royal Bushin method and wasted energy, it still did wonders.

Iris thrusted her blade with speed and power behind it.

Eduard blocked with his wide sword, but had trouble once they clashed.

He might have years of experience, but once something changes, the best thing to do is adapt. Iris Midgar's strength—he knew how strong she was. Was being the keyword here. Now she's stronger.

Since she poured more strength to each of her hits, unless he adapts by either controlling his body better, pouring more magic, or minimizing the impact, he'll lose.

He was not getting a strike in, as Iris Midgar was not letting him.

He was blocking successfully, but that's only because his blade allowed him to. The width of the blade being hard for Iris Midgar to get through. But a slip-up is all she needs.

Eduard is aware of this, just as much as Iris Midgar is, I bet.

Eduard took a step-back and began trying to regain control.

Iris Midgar stopped attacking, and the moment he lowered his guard—just the most minimum of force that he had on his blade, disappearing. She struck. There was no opening, but the strength he had while defending was not there anymore, so take advantage of it.

She hit his blade, the very center of it. Such a powerful attack that sent Eduard gliding backwards. He had stuck his feet on the ground with such strength—they dug into the ground after her hit.

It was safe to say, Iris Midgar had the advantage here… but I feel like Eduard could get an advantage if he uses his build right. "Build"? What are you talking about, Cid Kagenou? What's a build? Well, the lovely voice inside of my head, what I mean with "Build" is: his physic and armor. It's heavy; he's heavy.

Even if she uses more magic, if he strikes, it'll do damage. And, with the help of magic, he can be faster. But, he needs to act. There's no opening against a lighter, faster opponent. Tank it—...

"Why are you holding my arm, Hitomi-san?"

"SHE'S DOING WHAT?!"

"I was in awe of the match and just felt a need to hold on to you to feel safe!"

"Safe? Safe of what? As if there was any danger—"

"Shhh! Just enjoy the fight!"

As if I could with Nee-san glaring at you over my head.

Iris Midgar began attacking once more. There was no purpose behind the attacks; she's tiring herself out.

Each strike to each of Eduard's sides was blocked. But this just meant that Eduard himself didn't have time to attack.

Iris poured more magic to an attack; entirely on Eduard's left. Her right foot was stretched out. Before her blade hit Eduards, she placed all her weight on her right foot and spun counterclockwise. The blade never hit Eduards left… she did a full 360, hitting his right.

She took a step back as Eduard quickly tried to attack back, to no success. Iris' sword cut through the armor, then through his chest through the side, almost reaching his ribcage. A deep cut.

He tried to control himself; control the flow of blood and cure himself with magic… but I must say that requires a good amount of precision. For someone like him it'd be hard… but he managed.

It healed a bit. Just enough to stop the flow of blood and thus him still being able to fight. His armor had a huge cut in the side, but if he can stand, he'll manage, I'm certain.

And he did. He readied his blade once more, as did Iris. She didn't flinch once.

They clashed blades once more, but this time Eduard went on the offensive. How could I tell? His feet were set in a specific way; one front, one to the back and a bit to the side. Using his natural strength to clash the blade, with the help of momentum, of course.

Iris had to take the same position to not be overpowered, but Eduard's strength is superior. For her to beat him, she has to pour all her magic…

Not really, of course. It'd be more convenient to just let the blade sent you flying for you to recover, or for you to use the most minimum amount of magic to slide with the blade, allowing you to get closer to him, or even just tanking or dodging the hit… but she doesn't know how to do such a thing… if any of the fight's I've seen of her are anything to go by.

And power-up she did. She used a good amount of magic to match Eduard's strength, and in response, Eduard began pouring his magic too. And the moment he did, Iris took a step back and let go of her magic. Since Eduard was pouring so much strength; so much magic, it sent him flying the direction he was attacking too.

This allowed Iris to get another free hit on his back.

But he quickly recovered and swung once more, Iris blocking once more.

So far, from what I can tell, Iris is playing with his build. His tank. But that's because he's not utilizing it right! Look. I fight with slime which has killer defenses, honestly, and it allows me to move fluently yet has a lot of protection. But, I bet you, that if I ever wear armor like his, I'd utilize it ten times better! How can you do so? Listen here and listen well: Speed doesn't determine who wins or loses, but it's a factor.

If I can't control the momentum behind a swing, I already lost. So, in that case.

To hold something stronger than you: Pour the magic to your feet, and stop the swing mid-swing. With enough strength, you'd do it with ease. Armor-wise, reinforce it with magic. Magic allows you to do anything and while iron (I assume that's the material that Eduard's using) is not the best with conducting magic, it'll do the job to defend yourself. These people have no critical thinking skills, I swear.

But, this time he did something other than try to overpower.

He took a step forward, dropped the blade and reached out for Iris. Grabbed a hold of her hands which were both holding her sword. He pulled her close and kicked her in the stomach with enough strength to gain distance between the two.

He grabbed his blade and rushed once more but it took just a short period of time for Iris to recover. Just when he swung, she dodged with ease and he didn't try to stop his own attack. His whole body went with it.

Not enough strength.

Iris, of course, took this to her advantage and just finished him. Stabbed him in the guts, and with force not seen prior, dropped him to the ground, crossing her blade across his neck,

"And there we have it! Iris Midgar wins this year's Bushin Festival!"

The crowd went wild. The Princess of their Kingdom had won, so it makes sense. Nee-san, Hitomi-san and I were here to see every match. We came every couple of days just to see the matches… and compared to the last Bushin Festival, as I've said prior, Iris Midgar has improved a lot, I mean Alpha could beat her but my point is that she has grown quite a bit.

Oh, and speaking of. To say they've (they: Shadow Garden) have grown stronger is nothing. They've grown at an alarming rate, even. I'm quite proud, if I do say so myself. But I haven't seen them much. They've been busy with "something", whatever that may be. Anyways.

Iris Midgar bowed down to Eduard and began walking away… before she stopped and raised her fist. The crowd erupted as cheers rang through the arena. People stood up and were even throwing flowers to the crowd, which is a cliche…

"What did you think of the match, Cid-kun?!"

"They were too fast for my eyes. Hard to digest such talent levels."

"What? Cid. Hitomi-san has been practicing with us for way less time and she has grown stronger way faster."

"What does that have to do with anything, Claire-san?"

"What does that have to do with anything, Nee-san?"

"I'm just saying that she's gonna out-grow you if you don't put your mind to it."

"This topic of conversation has nothing to do with the match we just witnessed."

"Yeah, what she said, Nee-san."

"Are you two teaming up against me?"

"What?"

"What?"

"..."

"But Iris Midgar-sama won the match! That by itself is impressive!"

"Oh totally. I remember seeing the last Festival's fight. Noah Alvarez against Iris Midgar-sama… she wasn't as skilled as she is now. She did some serious training… the previous fights and this one have been proof of that."

"..."

"You went to the previous one?"

"Didn't Kaa-sama tell you?"

"She did, Hitomi-san. Stop trying to have a conversation with Cid now, thank you."

"What? It's a genuine question!"

"Doesn't feel that way to me."

"Doesn't feel that way to me."

"Hmph! Rude!"

"Are you copying me, Nee-san?"

"Coincidences happen, Cid."

"You two said the same things at the same time."

"I know right, that's weird."

"Must be the love-bond."

"The what now?"

"The what now?"

"..."

"Cid-kun and I just did the same thing… and it's the second time today! It must be the love-bond!"

"..."

"..."

"Don't stay quiet now, Cid-kun!"

"Kaa-sama?"

"Yeah, Cid?"

Why is she giggling all to herself? Is she enjoying the bickering once more?

"I don't know, you've just been quiet."

"Can you let go of Cid's arm?"

"I'm sorry, Claire-san. They're glued together!"

"I'm going to rip your arm off."

"You see, Cid, it's been a good amount of fun just seeing you three fight each other."

"I agree with you, honey."

Nee-san, Hitomi, Nee-san, Kaa-sama, then Oto-san spoke. In that order.

"I don't know what's humorous about this."

"Quite a lot of things, actually."

We stayed here until most of the crowd left, then we had the chance to leave. The Goddess of War didn't do much, merely stared as everyone left.

I felt her eyes on me, be it for a second.

---

Iris Midgar. The Bushin Festival winner. She walked with elegance through the corridors. She had done it, after all. She had free'd herself from the shackles that held her hostage. Not that she'd say it outloud of course… her father already did that for her. But she's free.

There's an evident guilt, of course. Now her sister has to deal with it. Her actions, both in this Bushin Festival and… her actions in the Bushin Festival once more.

Here's the deal: Iris Midgar freeing herself from the shackles that are political marriage, (Be it whoever had won this year's Bushin Festival, Zenon or Xander) gave more trouble to Alexia. Now she has to deal with these shackles, and her father doesn't seem to want to give her the same deal he gave to Iris…

And Alexia is thirteen. She participated in this year's Bushin Festival. Iris can do nothing but cringe. She couldn't lose to Alexia, as much as she wanted to. Their styles are different. Iris goes with the Royal Bushin method. Alexia herself is… bland. Sounds mean to say, especially on Iris' head, but it's the truth. Alexia herself doesn't seem to like it, and Iris tried to brighten her mood… but all it did was make Alexia run out after her defeat, crying.

Iris took a breather. Now's not the time to think about that. She'll deal with that when time is due.

After all, she has something to deal with.

She walked up to the doors she had walked to in prior years. She opened the doors.

"Ah, Iris. A beautiful match, I must say."

Her father was the first one to greet her. He was seated on his throne like he always was. There was a small smile on his face. But, next to him was a man. A man Iris has seen prior. He had short pink hair that reached his ears with light blue eyes. He had a white button-up shirt, and a blue coat with white strings at the ends. Light blue pants with brown shoes… this is…

"Xander-kun."

"Iris-san! That was an incredible match, I must say!"

Xander. The prince of the Vlarc Kingdom, Son of Ecno and Lucy; the current rules of the Vlarc Kingdom. Someone who's power could be rivaled, but it'd take the best of the best for one to do such a thing. Here, Xander stood before Iris. A smile plastered on his face.

"T-Thank you, Xander-kun… if I may.. Why are you here?"

"Hm? Is it wrong to visit an allied country?"

"Last I was aware of, the alliance hadn't been done yet due to numerous reasons."

"We're going to be allied anyways, plus I didn't want to miss your match. It was a great watch!"

"Is that the case?"

"Yeah, I'm working with Klaus-dono on the papers as of currently."

Iris looked at Klaus who merely nodded.

"He's correct. Since we had a promise, you are bound to this no longer–"

"Ah…" Iris noticed. Alexia's the one who's going to be bound to this, and she will have no way to free herself of this. "I'm sorry, Alexia."

"—but for convenience purposes, Alexia will be the one next for it. She'll have two options. Xander, or Zenon. Whoever is of her preference. If those are not enough, the same rules that applied to you, will apply to her. Those rules being that whoever wins the Bushin Festival becomes a candidate… not the one that if she wins, she doesn't have to do it anymore."

"You're going to use Alexia since I broke free, then?"

"Iris-san, don't think about it that way. Think of the better of the Kingdom. Vlarc has a lot to offer, and with Alexia-san being the missing piece for this alliance, your Kingdom will be in even better hands."

"We've talked about this before, Iris."

That they had. It doesn't mean she feels as if it's right. Quite the opposite. Zenon has already talked with Alexia prior, and that by itself is weird. I mean the dude is twenty six and talking with a thirteen year old? Then this guy, Xander, is twenty five trying to do the same thing.

"Weirdos…"

"It still doesn't feel right."

"I don't really mind that you think that way, but whatever helps improve the Kingdom will be done. That's my duty as King."

"Iris-san."

Xander got her attention by grabbing her hands and looking at her straight in the eyes.

"You do care about the Kingdom, do you not? You care about its people, its citizens, right? If you do, you must understand why this is beneficial for you."

"I understand the benefits very well, Xander-kun. Trust me. But, there's also the fact that you guys don't win anything. There's nothing to win from your side, because of what King Klaus has told me, you guys are offering wealth, resources, men, and many more just to get one of us married to you…? Unless you're deprived, there's no reason for that."

Iris pulled back her hands and placed them behind her, looking straight into Xander's eyes.

"..."

Xander stood quiet, thinking of what they'd actually win.

"Vlarc is not very well known, Iris-san. I bet that most people in this Kingdom aren't aware that we exist. I assure you, that we win a lot. People would be interested in our Kingdom thanks to the goods we bring, thus gaining us more income overall."

That's a reasonable answer in Iris' eyes. That makes sense after all, in Iris' eyes.

"Alright, but I do have to ask. Is it fine for you to be here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Wasn't Soe-san kidnapped in your Kingdom?"

"Yeah. We haven't been able to find any trace of her, after all. It's been two years and a bit… no information has been found about her. We've already accepted the worst possible outcome…"

"...my condolences… wasn't she a possible partner of yours?"

"Yes. That's why it's worrying. We spent a good amount of time together…"

Iris pitied him. I mean, someone he was close to got kidnapped. But… while his words said something, and his facial expressions did too… something felt off. Iris really couldn't pinpoint it. Not that it mattered.

"I'm sorry for bringing back bad memories…"

"I'd rather keep the memories fresh in my head. Someone as important as Soe should never be forgotten."

"How have Ecno and Lucy been with the Soe situation?" King Klaus asked. He should be worried, after all. If everything goes right, they're going to be allies… and Klaus has previously stated that he trusts Ecno, which is more of a reason for him to be worried about their situation.

"Oto-san and Oka-san have been fine. While heartbroken at first, especially at our inability to find any trace of Soe, with the help of professionals, they've gotten a bit better. Soe's parents on the other hand are still around searching to see if they find her."

"And has the Kingdom calmed down?"

"Yes. We were able to neutralize those trying to overpower us. It took a bit, since there were quite a lot, but it's been done."

"I heard that people weren't allowed to leave the Kingdom in the midst of the chaos?" Iris spoke up.

"We couldn't let them. If they left, it'd give a bad reputation to our Kingdom. That's also why this alliance is beneficial."

"Yet we were informed…"

"We can't keep an eye out for everyone. Especially in such a dire situation."

"Are the people fine, at least?"

"It has improved compared to what it was the first few months after Soe's disappearance."

"That's good."

Nothing was said between the three of them, before King Klaus spoke.

"Anyways. Xander and I have things to do. A party will be thrown for you tomorrow, Iris. I'll have someone work with that."

"Alright."

"You can leave, if you want."

Iris merely nodded and walked out of the room through the same doors she had entered. Not sparing a second glance to neither Xander nor her father.

She's free, but all the burden she carried over the last couple of years was passed down towards her sister, Alexia, who was not prepared for such a thing. If Iris can do something, she'll do it. She knows she will, if she ever has the chance to.

---

"I didn't know you could do that."

"It's a hobby."

I said as I climbed up a tree like a squirrel. I mean, obviously not fast, with a lot of miss ups here and there, and almost falling a multitude of times… then falling a couple of times… but still climbing.

"How high am I?"

"...barely three feet."

Making myself look like a mob character is hard especially when I know I can climb this tree in a matter of milli-seconds. I can just evaporate the tree. I could destroy everything around me, but since I want to have fun, I need my life to be hard.

"Damn, I thought I was doing better…"

"You are, Cid-kun! Continue, you can try getting higher! If you fall I'll catch you!"

Hitomi-san's here with me. She and I (alongside Nee-san) try to do new things and different things, daily. We're always looking for ways to entertain ourselves, and today is by me falling of the same tree a multitude of times.

Though, Nee-san's not around today. Apparently Ricky-sensei wanted to check something… something around her power and her growing stronger by the day and what it'd take to limit her and what not. What for? Don't know, don't care.

"What? No. If I fall, don't catch me."

"Huh? I need to catch you, Cid-kun! I can't let my darling be injured like this!"

"Your what now?"

"My darling."

"You're bold, you know that, right?"

"Yes."

"Nee-san would kill you."

"She can try."

She just loves playing with death itself.

"Woah!"

I once more "fell" to the ground and she did in fact catch me.

"Thanks for the save, Hitomi-san."

"Of course!"

How did she grab me? In the princess carry position. So… yeah.

"You can drop me now, if you want."

"If I want?"

I fucked up.

"I don't want to, then."

Screw my life.

---

"Her power has grown controlled. With my teachings, her power has grown slowly, but surely. If she's to be captured, chains are a must, because it'd take both Grease and I actual effort to neutralize her without killing her. The artifact inside the mansion is hard to get by itself. It took three hours for me to be able to go through it."

Ricky stood in the center of a properly light room this time. He wore his usual uniform and was surrounded by a bunch of soldiers. A plan of sorts was set in motion.

"To get to the artifact itself is quite easy. There's a lot of security towards it, but the trust I've managed to build from the Kagenou's allows me to get in there with ease. The main issue now: We think it's Shadow, but we still don't know who were the ones that caused the destruction of so many bases, and while the amount has decreased a decent amount, it's mostly because we've reduced the amount of bases. This uncertainty is something that we have to be wary of, since we don't know who, how, or why has caused this, and no investigation has given us any information…"

Since nothing was known about whoever was the one that caused the destruction, they've been wary. Every action they took has been careful and calculated. They've created a lot of decoy bases just in case… and they've worked.

"That's why we have this." Ricky pulled from a pocket of the artifact Fern had given them. "This will teleport us directly towards where Fern or Fenrir-sama have marked it to. It's slow, according to Fern, but it works. It can only teleport one person at a time, and the activation of it requires a good amount of magic, so this will be used only in the case we figure out Shadow's identity or his goal."

He placed the artifact back in his pocket.

"And it'll be either Jean, Grease, Esteve or myself that are going to use this. All you others are going to try to stall whoever is the one that intrudes this place. Be it Shadow or whoever it is that's attacking."

Everyone around him nodded to his words.

"Now, as to why Claire herself is important… and Hitomi as well. They've been healed of possession. Hitomi arrived at the mansion with possession, that's evident. Quite noticeable as well. Whatever was that healed her, or whoever, it happened near here. Why? I have no clue, and neither do any of you, I bet."

No-one shook their heads, because it was obvious. No-one even knew how to determine what was Demon Possession unless told or it became blatantly obvious.

"Then, are we doing our job?"

"Claire turns fifteen soon. We have around two months to properly plan the kidnapping to leave as little traces as possible."

Everyone nodded. This time, Grease stood up from his chair and spoke up, Ricky took a step back.

"The main where we keep the possessed is where we'll take Claire Kagenou and Hitomi Shitori. It has lasted the longest and has the most possessed where the doctor, Noir, could work best at. But…"

There's a map behind him. All bases located. Some scratched off or marked with an X. Bases that had been destroyed, and the ones left unmark were the ones still running. You saw more X's than anything else, really. The map was wide, too. A lot could be seen from it. Forests, rivers, lakes, and pieces of the Midgar Capital as well.

"There's a tunnel that connects that base to a multitude of others. It's a labyrinth, so it can't be tracked with ease. We are to hide in one of those bases before going to the main base. Mainly for safety reasons…"

The map didn't show any tunnels, but Grease himself touched the map and started doing what seemed like random lines in random directions—which they were.

"Jean and Esteve, along with another group spent around four months building these tunnels. Some leave to a dead-end, others do not. There's a map that Esteve currently has a hold of… that dumbass."

"Anyways. That's all said, and it's all clear, is it not?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright. Prepare yourself. I'm going to start preparing myself as well. I'll need to have the two of them separated from Cid Kagenou. I think it'll be easy, since Cid Kagenou doesn't seem interested in my classes very much… but it works in our favor. Then it's just a matter of knocking them out and dragging them over without Daric Kagenou and Miki Kagenou noticing."

Ricky sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'll notify you all when things are ready, and the next day, action will be taken. Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded once more.

"Alright then. When the barrier is down, immediately head towards the living room. There, Hitomi and Claire will be located."

Ricky left the place and began walking back towards the Kagenou mansion. He had a class to teach soon, after all."

---

"—and one cannot move and attack at the same time. You can try, but a motion like that one is not do-able."

And he's right. Trying to attack while moving is pretty much impossible. Sure, you can swing mid step, but you'll always come to a stop, and if you don't, it's a flimsy attack at best. No technique nor power behind it.

"That's why, in most cases, when in the middle of a fight, opponents tend to stop moving entirely."

And he's right once again. It's pretty obvious if you actually match or even are in a fight. The only moments one is moving is when they're trying to either confuse the enemy, dodge or get closer to the attacker.

"Is that understood?"

Looking to my left, Hitomi-san nodded. Looking to my right, Nee-san nodded. I nodded right after, but tried to make myself look as disinterested as possible.

"Alright then. Today's going to be a short class for you, Cid."

I blinked.

"H-Huh?"

"This is for more advanced students… in this case, Claire and Hitomi."

Hitomi has been for less time compared to Nee-san and I and is considered to be above me. Which she totally is compared to the mob character that is Cid Kagenou, but I still find it outstanding!

"Sure!"

I stood up, ignoring the glare both Hitomi-san and Nee-san gave me and walked out of the room.

What crazy plan do I have for tonight? Going out with the Shades? Meeting up with Kaida? Who's currently a maid in the house? Funnily enough, no-one. Why? Gamma wanted to show something to everyone and wanted to keep it hidden from me… but it's supposed to be Beta. She said she'd come later, so who knows.

But I repeat: What crazy plan do I have? None. All I intend to do is focus all my energy into magic. Since finding and fighting the "Chaos Demon of Midgar", I've taken my research a bit more seriously. Throw all that Artifact and whatever nonsense away. I need further understanding of magic.

I walked to my room and sat on the bed. I'm back to my old technique of memorizing everything. Since I don't have as much time as I used to, and neither Beta nor Epsilon are near me, I've just memorized everything.

I've been able to improve the silver-haired man's skills with ease. It's literally just magic outside one's body. The difficult part was hiding my body; making it invisible… but I managed with ease. How? Get your reading glasses.

The only reason one even sees things it's because light is reflecting off it. I can say with pure confidence that if there was no light, we wouldn't be able to see. The light bouncing off objects and reaching our eyes thus allowing us to see the object. It happens so fast that we can't even try to avoid it… but here's the thing: magic.

I've been able to control the flow of my vocal cords. Something you can't even see… same with the air, and even magic itself. What's the thing reflecting the light, then? Photons. I don't know if they exist in this world, but with all my testing, all I can say is… I think so. One can't just remove Photons. That's pretty much impossible… What you can do is freeze them and re-emit them… it comes with a whole bunch of other consequences, but for what I did, this base did wonders.

Freezing them is a whole bunch of stuff. It's a nuisance targeting the photons themselves, but it's do-able. What does this have to do with anything? Unless there's an easier way to do this…I make so photons don't reflect the light once it hits me… They just consume the light. What this does is not show what it's supposed to show; in this case me.

Let's use…

I grabbed a pillow. There's light particles hitting it every damn milli-second… but if I were to freeze the photons… pouring my magic directly towards them and neutralizing them… the pillow physically is still there, but you can't see it.

It's a bit of a nuisance to control, since you have to do it for the whole pillow, and in this case my body… but it's easy once you get the hang of it. There has to be an easier way, but this does wonders. I mean, I refuse to believe that someone that fought that maniacally really thought of something this deep… maybe it's just magic taking effect. Maybe it's something he was born with..? I still have much to learn.

"Huh?"

The barrier is down. It just got removed? Almost as if it was deactivated with pure intention.

I looked around. A lot of life-force could be felt. A lot of movement—so minimal, hard to distinguish… but it's happening. What for though? I mean, is there really a reason for all of this? Looking out the window towards the sky… it's still nine in the night. Why are there so many people around the mansion?

I continued staring out the window…

Men. Hundreds, easily, were walking in towards the mansion. They were soldiers, I could tell. And trained ones too. Why were they here, then?

I continued watching, and just tried to feel their presence inside the mansion. Hitomi-san and Nee-san were in the living room together with Ricky-sensei, from what I could sense…

So why?

Hitomi-san and Nee-san are moving…

Oh they're being kidnapped! I should've seen this coming! I haven't seen something like this play out before, it's a first!... I should be more worried, shouldn't I?

I continued watching as the men took Hitomi-san and Nee-san away from the mansion. I watched the direction they headed and I was certain that if they looked at the window where I was currently located… they would've seen my eyes glowing.

---

"Kaa-sama! Oto-san! What happened?!"

"Claire was kidnapped…"

Oto-san said as he looked at the surroundings.

"The Artifact was removed and then the kidnapping came. Not a single sign of struggle… whoever did this knew what they were doing… experts…."

They looked at the surroundings. There was nothing. Not a single sign of struggle, as there was no sign of a fight or anything of the sorts.

"Wasn't Ricky-kun supposed to be with them at this time in the hour?"

"..."

"Baldy…"

Kaa-sama seems to have come to some sort of conclusion.

"...we gave him , Ricky…. the keys to the artifact, didn't we?"

Oto-san nodded.

"...why would he kidnap Claire? Hitomi?"

Kaa-sama fell to her knees as tears began falling down her eyes. Oto-san knelt down with her and hugged her.

I watched in silence. So, if what I understand is correct… Ricky-sensei kidnapped Nee-san and Hitomi-san… and I don't feel his presence near here anymore, so he must've left with the group. So yeah, she must be right.

I walked up the stairs and towards my room once more.

"Lord Shadow."

Beta had arrived. I turned around, she seemed to be in a panic.

"D-Do you want us to stop them before they go into their hideout?! They have both Claire-sama and Hitomi-san!"

I shook my head. Why? Because I want to make this as epic as possible, of course. I want to save them, of course, but I also want them to see me save them as "Shadow", in a badass way.

"No. Don't. There's a reason I let them, to begin with."

Beta gulped audibly, but didn't dare to question me. She merely nodded, before she rolled a map over my bed. I looked over it. A lot of bases were marked.

"This map was stolen around three weeks ago from a base. It doesn't say much, but it shows bases. The Cult has been keeping track of the bases we've destroyed and because of our actions built decoys… which have done wonders."

I see. So she's going to say something about one of these bases being the one where they're taking Nee-san and Hitomi-san, I assume. Beta pointed at one of the many bases, one that had a circle around it.

"This is one of the few bases which neither Epsilon and Zeta investigated. It's either there where they're taking Claire-sama, or…" her finger dragged towards another circled base, "this base here."

"And the reason they want my sister…"

"They suspect that she might be a hero's descendant."

"..."

Beta always knew how to thicken the plot. I really admire her for this, if I am being honest.

I looked over the map and scrutinized it. There really was nothing to scrutinize, I'm just trying to make myself look cool here. I shook my head.

"No… neither of those bases…"

I walked back to the window and threw a throwing knife back without looking. After I did so, I crossed my arms and said…

"There."

"There… There's…?"

"That's where my sister is."

"B-But… there's nothing…"

I turned around just as Beta's eyes widened. Her eyes filled with disbelief and she stared at the map in haste. Her eyes frantically turned from one point to another. She pulled another map of sorts, before her eyes widened more.

"How did you know, Lord Shadow?!"

"We must hurry, Beta."

I began walking back and past her. She hastily grabbed everything back and walked behind me.

"Where's Alpha at?"

"She's currently keeping watch of the group, if I'm not mistaken. Same with the others."

I nodded.

"Let's go towards them. We have to save my sister… and Hitomi-san."

"Yes! Lord Shadow!"

---

Grease walked down a tunnel, Ricky and Esteve in tow. For him, it's safe to say that this went better than he had expected. There were practically no issues. It's been a couple hours; the tunnels did wonders… maybe. No-one of their group was attacked. Not even the decoys that ran to different bases and through different tunnels. They reached the base where they were supposed to, with ease.

Grease went to inform Noir about the healed ones beforehand, but now he's going to do a bit of interrogating himself. He has to know if they even knew they were possessed; he had to know if they even knew how they were healed.

After a small talk about what to do now with others, he decided to go where they were. He knew exactly where they were. Walking on a straight line towards one of the most secure rooms there was inside the base.

Two guards stood in front of one door. They were heavily armored and ready for anything that was bound to happen.

"The daughter of Baron Kagenou, and Hitomi Shitori."

"In here." The guards made way for the three high-rankings. One of the guards pulled out a small key and opened the door.

Upon entering, there was no light source. There was no way for fresh-air to enter other than the door the three of them had walked through. And best for Grease and co… there's no escape.

In the furthest wall; the wall that was opposite of the door, were a multitude of chains holding onto people. There were the two students of Ricky. Hitomi and Claire, tied up with magic restraining cuffs. Both looking down.

Ricky of course felt a bit bad, but missions must be accomplished, and he's going to accomplish his mission.

"Claire Kagenou, Hitomi Shitori."

This caught their attention. Their heads turned up and looked at the ones that addressed them. Their eyes widened in surprise looking at the three men in front of them…

"Ricky-sensei…" Hitomi muttered. Claire didn't say anything. She just looked at the two other men. One which she could not recognize.

"You're Viscount Grease… The one that got totally humiliated by Princess Iris."

Grease didn't even do anything but merely look at Claire.

"Seems you're full of energy, aren't you?"

"Compared to how you were the moment you were defeated, totally."

"Tournament rules are nothing but a nuisance. In an actual fight, I would've won with ease."

"I bet that's what they all say."

"Shut it."

"Couldn't get past the first round this year… and Ricky-sensei is here with you. Must've been a planned kidnapping."

"You're right."

Grease merely walked forward and knelt down to eye level of both Claire and Hitomi.

"Hitomi Shitori… tell me. Was it hard for you to control magic at some point? Did you have black spots? Any pain or discomfort?"

"..." Hitomi stood quiet, still in disbelief with Ricky's appearance. She shook her head, "Yes… years before I arrived at the Kagenou household, actually…"

"Did you kidnap us to play doctor? What a bunch of lameasses."

Grease glared at Claire but didn't say anything back.

"Then, how has it been recently? Those symptoms—those conditions of yours?"

"They disappeared one night. Almost as if they were never there."

"Is that the same for you, Claire?"

Claire, of course, didn't want to say anything "truthful". After all, how both Hitomi and her healed was through hugging Cid. Maybe Cid can heal possession somehow? Who knows.

"Yes. One night I went to sleep, and the other morning, there was no sign of those symptoms anymore."

"Is there any reason for this? Do you know how these symptoms disappeared?"

The two of them shook their heads.

"Did it heal on its own?"

Ricky asked. He knew that Hitomi was possessed the moment she arrived. He was very aware. But, it is like they say: One night she went to sleep, and how he saw her the other morning was without possession. The only noticeable thing that happened was that she slept in Cid's bedroom, but there was really nothing else. And it's not like Cid healed her. Of course not. Cid could never.

"One night while I slept it just disappeared…"

"And did you do anything, Hitomi? Be it before or during the night, that you can remember?"

"I took classes, ate, showered, then slept."

"Nothing else? Anything particular in what you ate? Or how you slept?"

"Nothing… I just ate buns with meat and slept in Cid-kun's bedroom."

"...this bitch."

"You— huh?"

"Yeah. That's all… I ate buns and meat, then slept in with Cid-kun."

Grease blinked once, before blinking twice.

"How did you heal, Claire?"

"I don't know… I just woke up healed."

"...Cid is your younger brother, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"You didn't sleep in the same bed as him, right?"

"No."

She lied with pure ease; imitated Cid with pure ease.

"..."

Grease said nothing, before Ricky spoke.

"Cid has no redeeming qualities. If you're thinking that Cid would've been able to do something—stop. He couldn't have healed her; he couldn't have healed either of the two. The amount of magic he possesses is so minimal, it's funny."

"This bitch…"

Neither Claire nor Hitomi take kindly to Ricky's comments. Especially when they talked about Cid.

"...It can't be just a coincidence."

"I've been teaching them for years. You have to trust me here, Grease. There's absolutely no way Cid could've done something…"

"..."

Grease stood up and sighed.

"I'll trust you here, Ricky… But I think it's best for us to still keep an eye on Cid—"

The moment Cid's name was said, a fist landed against his nose. His whole nose went to the left as it began bleeding uncontrollably. His eyes drifted from the ground immediately to the one who attacked. He looked. Claire had freed her own hands and struck Grease.

"If-If you dare lay a finger on that boy—If you dare look at him with some eyes I do not like. I'm not just going to kill you. I'm not just going to kill your family. I'm going to hunt every single last living BEING THAT'S CLOSELY RELATED TO YOU— guh!"

She broke through a couple things: She broke through magic restraining chains and through chains reinforced with magic. Both with the same intention… to keep the one held prisoner. And it didn't work. Claire broke through them. She has a broken wrist; two, in fact… just breaking out then hitting Grease caused more than enough damage. The pain she withstood made her unable to see for a brief period of time.

A fist had hit her in the stomach during that brief period of time. Grease himself pulled a small bottle and grabbed a pill, before swallowing it with haste. Ricky was the one that punched her in the stomach just enough to drop her to the ground.

"...she broke both of her wrists… she must really care for that Cid kid."

Esteve said as he pulled Grease back so he healed properly… although it was unneeded, since the pill he had swallowed had already healed him with ease.

"This brat."

Grease spat to the ground his blood as he watched Claire hold onto her guts. Esteve grabbed another pair of chains and then some more and placed them on her arms just to make sure she can't break through them.

" …I didn't know she was this aggressive."

"She's worse with her younger brother."

They looked at Claire and Hitomi, as Hitomi looked at Claire, worried.

"...I somehow feel like I've saved the lad."

Grease coughed before he shook his head.

"For Fenrir-sama's wishes, you two are compatible. That much I can say."

"C-Compatible?"

"Compatible. He's in possession with a part of Diablos right arm-"

"You're saying too much, Grease."

"Right…"

Silence ensued as Grease and Claire glared at each other, before a knock could be heard in the door. They all turned to look at it.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have an issue!"

The guards were still there as the door swung open, but there were three other people. All sweating bullets. Something had happened, and it was severe.

"What's the issue?"

"There are intruders!"

This caught all their attention.

"A small number compared to ours, but it's a massacre! We need your help! All three of you!"

It must be the Shadow figure Fenrir talked about.

"Where's Noir?"

"He ran away after we managed to stall them, but we lost a lot of our men!"

Grease pulled out the artifact.

"Let's go. We must take care of these intruders!"

Now thinking about it… it can't be the Shadow figure. Shadow is one person, no…? It was never specified. There's no way for them to tell… but they'll figure it out… but if what Fern said is correct, none of them could beat this Shadow figure, then, best they can do is stall them…

---

Grease, together with Esteve and Ricky ran down the halls. They could see corpses of soldiers. Most have lost limbs or were even cut in half. Grease held his sword in one hand, the artifact in another. If they were to find the identity of Shadow, one had to escape… and Grease would rather it being him.

"So many soldiers…!"

Esteve gasped. The halls were covered in blood. These soldiers; these guards weren't weak by any means. They were either Royal Guards or Dark Knights; some of the strongest to ever be. For there to be so many dead, it could only mean that whoever had intruded this base knew what they were doing. They had the power to back it up too.

"How is this possible?"

Ricky asked, calmly. He of course is nervous, but one still has to wonder. For this level of massacre; for this level of destruction, especially on their men.

"Jean…"

One of the corpses was the doctor. Cut in half. They finally saw the perpetrators. Seven figures; young. They were all clad in darkness from shoulders to toe. They wore a mask, hiding most of their facial features. All but the mouth. Seven figures that turned their head to the six people that had appeared before them. Grease, Ricky, Esteve and the three guards that notified them about the attack.

"Son of a bitch."

Esteve muttered as he unsheathed his blade.

A therianthrope turned to them; her entire body turning and twisting to face them.

"You guys wouldn't happen to be "Shadow", would you?"

Grease asked as the therianthrope girl's claws appeared before her—no. They were already there, but they… sharpened? Unknownst to the guards and the three men, the therianthrope girl covered her claws with slime, which limited the damage she'd receive whilst still being sharp and injuring/killing her enemies.

"These people… they're dangerous…"

"No, we're not."

A blond elf spoke as she walked in front of the therianthrope girl. She placed a hand on the therianthrope's head and seemed to put force into it. As if trying to tell the therianthrope to either calm down or back down.

The therianthrope merely took a step back but her eyes didn't drift from the six men.

"Then, who are you?"

A smile appeared on the blond elf's features. She swung her blade, and the blood splat all over the ground before her.

"We are Shadow Garden."

"...Shadow Garden?"

It could very well be a coincidence. It could very well not be. They're named after the figure that Fenrir and Fern told them to be wary of; to look out for.

"And you are?"

Grease needed to get the information at least. He was ready to activate the artifact, and while Fern had told them it'd be slow since transferring matter is not easy, he needs to disappear as soon as possible…

"I'm Alpha."

She took a step forward and pointed her blade at the six men, who raised their guards.

"Our main and only purpose…"

Grease gulped. The effect of the pill he had taken prior was making his magic go hog wild; uncontrolled.

"Is the destruction of the Cult of Diablos…"

Grease's eyes widened.

There's a reason why people think that Diablos is a myth. The Church is in control of it all. They're the ones controlling everything. They've known since the beginning. They manipulated the story, whilst not fabricated, not entirely the truth… but it did the job. People think that Diablos and the heroes are a myth, when they're nothing but reality…

"How do you know of that—... How do you know of our group?"

Ricky asked instead of Grease. Ricky was just as curious as Grease was.

"How? It doesn't matter. We're aware of everything. The Diablos itself, its curse, the heroes, the descendants… and the possessed."

All but the three guards' eyes widened. This was top-secret information. If this were to leak… most people wouldn't take it seriously, but this… "Alpha" spoke about it as a fact… they must have proof.

These people are strong—scratch that. These kids are strong. They have information and power which no-one their age should have. Grease has not found the Shadow figure, so he's not leaving… but he can't have them knowing about this information. He needs to destroy them…

"Hn!" He rushed forward with the intention to strike "Alpha". He needs to move. He needs to inform Fern about the girls and the information they hold.

"...pitiful."

She was not where he had swung. Neither were. They had all disappeared from Grease's eyes. His own eyes widened as he turned around. The guards that were with him, Ricky and Esteve, killed by the two therianthropes.

"Grease…"

Grease knew the layout like no other. This is where he spent most of his time.

–Cut in the cheek as he tried to block an attack.

Ricky and Esteve were injured already. Much of a battle had not been fought.

Grease saw Alpha and immediately swung her way, while Ricky and Esteve took a step back. Alpha blocked with ease, but he was attacked at his side. He still held to the Artifact which glowed a bright blue. Much of defending or attacking could be done from his part.

"Ugh!" Grease was cut in the chest. An "✓" appeared on his chest as blood ran out of it… but it healed fast. She did it again, it healed, she did it again, it healed, she did it again, it healed…

"That's for keeping track of all the possessed ones."

They must've seen the numerous files they had about the possessed. After all, it's the only thing she could mean.

Grease took a step back, as did Ricky and Esteve. They could not defend themselves from the seven before them.

"What are you three waiting for? I thought you were higher in the food chain."

That didn't come from the Alpha girl. No, it came from the therianthrope with cat ears. She glared at the three of them.

"We're on the spot…"

Grease poured all his magic to his blade and swung it through the air. Alpha readied herself to block it, but it wasn't needed. The sword struck the ground, and the moment it did… it collapsed. His state of magic caused enough of a distraction; the crater it created, the smoke from the rubble, and the confusion from the sudden outburst of magic.

Alpha swung her blade with enough magic that the smoke dispersed. She looked around and saw no-one, or anything. She couldn't identify where they went, but she could only assume…

"They escaped…"

Alpha wasn't the one who said that, but it was the cyan-haired elf.

Alpha's gaze remained on the crater that had formed. She wondered…

"I think they had an artifact with them…"

She wasn't sure, but that light wasn't normal. That much she could tell.

"This leads to the lower facility, does it not?"

A silver haired elf asked. Alpha nodded.

"Should we go after them?"

A dark blue elf asked. She wasn't the most skilled in fighting, but for her Lord, she'll do anything.

"No need. This leads exactly to where he is as of now."

"Actually?"

"Were you doubting our Lord?"

"I-It's just impressive! How could he have known?"

"...I'll admit I was worried, because I thought he had gone through a different route and gotten confused. But he must've seen something—he must've known something."

"...he continues to impress us."

"That's my Lord."

They all looked at the crater; at the hole that was done with admiration.

---

"Yahooo!"

I swung through the air like this hero from the comic novels I used to read back in the day. Not that I wanted to be like him, but now that I have the power… why not try? Webs made out of pure power manifested and stuck to the roof of these never ending halls.

I know where Nee-san and Hitomi-san are, at least. They're a bit deeper into the halls. But I'm just swinging and slashing anything that dares move. To say the least, a lot of people have moved. This place has had the most bandits out of any other base we'd raided before—not bandits, "Cult Members", I have to keep my play in mind.

"Hm?"

I looked towards a random wall as I stopped swinging and landed on the ground. No wait. I wasn't looking at the wall, I was looking a bit above it. Three life-forces were falling down from inside the wall… somehow.

The moment they landed, they blew up the wall. Three men—wait I recognize one of them—wait I recognize two of them. Viscount Grease from the Bushin Festival and Ricky-sensei! Why are they here?

"Cough* Cough* Are the two of you alright?"

"Could be better…"

"Idiots! There's someone here also clad in darkness!"

Oop. By pure accident I caught their attention… Viscount Grease has Magic Overload forcibly induced… like Ricky-sensei when I first met him and then once every year. Why would that be?

"It's only one of them."

"Did they know we were coming this way?"

No, this was pure coincidence… but feel free to believe that. It makes my character look way cooler.

"We have to leave soon. Before they go after us. Let's end this… person."

Why would they attack me? What have I done? Wait, are they bandits too and just acted as important people to hide their crimes! Unforgivable! That's my job! You're stealing my moment!

Why are Viscount Grease's eyes glowing red? That's my thing too! Goddamn them! Stealing what's supposed to be my thing! Unforgivable.

"What's the hold-up? Aren't you going to attack me?"

And they jumped me. I dodged with elegance, I think. Their swings were slow. Even if they tried to attack me strategically—it being: Someone from the middle and two from the side. Such slow attacks could be avoided with ease.

I took a-hold of the blond man's attack [Author: I don't remember describing Esteve's hair color but just in case] and pulled with strength towards me. He flew towards me as I let go of the blade. He was on my left, he flew to my right, and his sword struck against the wall, getting stuck there.

I materialized my slime blade and blocked Ricky-sensei's attack with ease before I kicked him forcefully back.

"...seems like even here we're overpowered."

"As a matter of fact. Yes, you're right. Now tell me, what is your goal?"

"...you wouldn't happen to be Shadow, would you?"

"Hoh. You're well informed. Yes. I am Shadow, he who lurks in the Shadows to hunt down the Shadows…"

Viscount Grease's eyes widened upon my words. Was it that cool? Like, I've used it all the time, it sounds badass!

"...are you up against my group... against them?"

Why are you so scared? What are you scared of, even? Is it me? Am I terrifying? I hope I am!

I tilted my whole body to the left as I grabbed the blond man's attack once more.

"Against them? Them who?" It's a genuine question, after all. Them? He's referring to someone or a group of people. I threw the blond man towards Viscount Grease and watched as Ricky-sensei pulled a small bottle of pills. Is he sick?

"Don't act dumb on me!"

Viscount Grease, I have no clue who you're talking about. If you would be so kind as to please let me know so I can have more material for the lore, it'd be helpful, thank you… But it seems I genuinely infuriated him. He has quite a good amount of magic, but it's not well used. I mean, I can say with a hundred percent certainty that Alpha could beat the three of them… maybe she'd have a bit of difficulty with the three at the same time but still.

"Is that "Alpha" girl with you? Is Shadow Garden with you?"

"..." I nodded as my blade pointed towards them.

"Then you know what I'm talking about!"

He also pulled a small bottle with pills. As did the blond man… they can't all be sick, right?

"...Fenrir-sama told us to hold you off or at least know your identity or purpose. If you're with Alpha girl… your purpose is to destroy us; to destroy the Cult of Diablos…"

Hold up?

I chuckled, cooly. "Cult of Diablos? As in the myths? I think you've gone senile." I mean there's absolutely no way it's real. Like, zero chance. Like, literally impossible.

"Don't you dare mock me!"

He slashed at me with fury. I dodged with ease.

"You know our purpose! The revival of the Diablos! The Beads! Show us your identity at least…! If we're going to die here!"

…You're… have you gone senile. There's no way that it's real… right?

"So we were right. That's the intention? Reconfirm to me: Why kidnapped the possessed?"

I'll play around… But there's just no way, right?

"Yes! That's the intention! The reason we've kidnapped so many possessed ones is because they possess the blood of the Heroes that were cursed with the blood of Diablos! Since the blood is so potent, it goes through the blood and continues down to descendants!"

There's ABSOLUTELY NO WAY!

"...how real is this?"

"Shadow, I know you find it hard currently to believe us… but it's the truth. The utmost truth."

Behind Viscount Grease there's this glow… It's the same one that the Chaos Demon of Midgar had.

"...you're not telling me a tale?"

"No!" The blond one said. They were still wary, but I… what I made up is… real? "Look man. I know you're strong… but you have to back off. The Cult of Diablos is something you don't want to mess with… Friends and family of mine have tried, and they've paid the consequences. I tell you, these are people you don't want to mess with."

"...I won't mess with them… they'll grow wary of me."

…it's fucking real. The Cult of Diablos… is real? So everything the girls have told me… Everything they've found. From maps, to documents, to details of the higher-ups… it's all real. Why didn't I see it sooner? Why couldn't I tell? I couldn't believe it until people desperate enough told me? They're scared for their lives… they know they'll meet their end.

"You… you have some guts…"

"Why did it take you so long to find us?"

Ricky-sensei—... Ricky the Cult member asked.

"Long? It never took long. I knew beforehand—scratch that, I knew all along. But there are times where waiting is better… and this was the perfect time to strike. Any last words?"

"I said this earlier… but since we're about to meet our end… could… could you at least show us your identity?"

I smirked and reached for the top of my cloak and pulled it back… but they could see nothing. Shadows (Shadows: slime) covered every aspect that could be identified. The only thing they could see was my two red eyes.

"This is my identity."

I am not Cid Kagenou; that's my mob character. I am Shadow. And especially now since I know someone did what I wanted to do before me—the Cult of Diablos did everything in the shadows before I could… they're going to pay.

"Fucking hell! Jump him!"

The bottles they were holding; the pills that were inside them all were swallowed. I put my hood back on and waited to see what happened. Remember when I said that it's stupid if they took some sort of pill that caused Magic Overload for a certain period of time? Well lo-and-behold…

"Hnnn!"

They were growing stronger both physically and metaphorically. Their bodies grew to those body-builders you could see back in my old world—completely huge, with veins that popped out. They even seem to train their legs, which is something that people tend to forget to do… or just not do.

I could swear their skin and bones shattered but healed in a matter of seconds. Literally what Kaida taught me to do—and safe to say, convenient as it could be. But now I'm not certain that Alpha could beat them. I mean, sure, technique-wise she could win with ease but there are three of them in a confined place. Hard to do so here.

—The glow of a stick in the ground intrigues me.

A huge fist came to where I was.

"THIS IS THE POWER OF THOSE IN THE CULT! YOU THINK YOU AND YOUR TEAM OF BRATS IS ENOUGH TO BEAT THEM?!"

A giant leg swung to where I had dodged. I half-step just to take a step back. A sword was thrown which I deflected before taking another step to avoid another fist.

Their strength grew by quite a bit, but they don't know how to use it properly.

Viscount Grease (if he could even be called that anymore) grabbed his blade and thrusted my direction. I clashed the tip of my blade against his, causing him confusion.

"Using power that's not yours is quite disappointing."

"THIS IS THE POWER OF DIABLOS…!"

Ricky swung his huge fist my direction, and I merely manifested a shield of magic. It clashed against his fist and protected me. I still have a huge arsenal, don't forget. I'm always limiting myself… but now that I know that the cult is real… I can show off, right?

A fist from the blond one flew past me, before he himself tried to grab me. I jumped, leaving the blade clash I had with Grease and Grease's weapon penetrated the blond man's chest. He pulled it out, and the blond man healed with ease… but they weren't working efficiently.

But they were fast. Not… really overly fast, but still, quite good. But, their use of magic was lame at best.

"YOU'RE DODGING..! BUT YOU SAW WHEN THE SWORD PIERCED ESTEVE! WE CAN'T BE HARMED!"

Oh very easily. If I were to send my magic inside one of you, it'd overpower whatever magic you're using and just stop it from functioning… but I can't ruin my fun like that, can I? Also his name is Esteve. See you, "blond man" title. Fun while it lasted.

I jumped and twisted my whole body in the air, avoiding anything and everything. Landing, I struck with my blade one of the three men. Ricky, to be more exact.

I twisted my blade from inside and pulled it out. No harm done.

"This is true power!"

Ricky said as he swung his huge fist once more.

This has grown stale.

"Nuclear…"

Compressed my magic in the tip of the blade…

"Swing…"

And did a horizontal slash to the three of them. All of them were damaged—that's an understatement. They were Gojo'ed. (Whatever that means, I read it once in my old world and someone said it meant "cut in half" but how true is that? I don't know.)

"...how…"

"True power? That's no true power; not even close."

"...you know… about true power…"

Your current self is proof of that.

"...this world… is filled with darkness… are you sure… you want to deal with it…?"

"I will not "deal with it"... they'll deal with me."

Grease chuckled.

"Please…then… save my daug…h…ter…"

Grease chuckled once more. His eyes went to his necklace… before he passed away.

I looked at the necklace and grabbed it. There was him and some kid with silver hair just like him… I thought it came from age but nevermind, it's just an artistic choice by Goddess Beatrix.

So I can assume that's his daughter? Where would she be? Fucking Cult.

Anyways. Let me go save my sister... and Hitomi-san.

Something glowed brightly behind me.

---

Author:

---

Yeah I think it was about time. I really don't know what to feel, but I think I did good, so yeah. Anyways I have a lot to say, and a lot to answer, so let me get straight to it.

First of all long chapter, and it was supposed to come out like three days ago, but issues occured and my brain went empty a couple of times... but hey here we are. Better late than never. Once more I must thank you all for the support. Let me get straight to answering.

Aniisomeone: The main intention is to have the Seven Shades (Prolly Kaida and Victoria too) for his Shadow self and an unwanted one for his mob self. How will that work out? I'm the author and I don't have an idea... but rest assured. They'll be the main ones.

Fathira: At some point, I will. But right now I'll be sticking to FF. If something happens (what exactly, I don't know) then I'll either switch to AO3 or put the story in both pages... but I'm still new to this so I'm still testing the waters here properly.

Shir0R4ven: I know you didn't ask a question, but the main canon is still there, but things aren't going to be the same. That's all I have to say.

ASB11: I don't see it that way, personally. Thanks to her a lot of improvements to Shadow Garden itself have happened ... but that's just me. You're completely right in some aspects; but I feel like she's still loyal to Shadow, it's just not shown much in the LN nor Anime. Also, don't worry, English isn't my first language either. It's my second one, so there's a lot of mistakes; a lot of typos and such in my writing that I've noticed while re-reading my story. Feel free to ask... and if you want to, I have a twitter where reaching me is more accessible ( CallingTheNest). I'm always here for ya.

Shadow Expert: Yeah, I tend to forget. I've noticed that I've forgotten a lot of details during the story and it's right after I publish a chapter that I'm like "Damn, wait.". That's something I read from the Wiki and even "A mob's way out of polygamy" (Great read btw. Shout out to Fanfictraveler)... but I just overlooked it.

Guest117: Thank you! Not a question once more, but I really appreaciate the fact that you enjoy what I wrote. I have no clue on what I'm doing or if I'm doing it properly so reading your comments (All reviews overall help no matter what, ofc) really boosts my motivation to continue. But yeah, I'll be doing that. It'll be like Obsession in Shadow's, almost. Of course it's not going to be exactly the same, but it'll be similar in that matter.

Guest: "Proofreading. Ever heard of it?" Actually no, I hadn't. I legit had to look it up. But, yah.

FateTertium: It's the beauty of Fanfictions. They're "Fan", "Fictions". They don't have to follow the same character behaviors, emotions, actions. They're your will as the author of the fanfiction. Breaking from the canon is normal, some like it, some don't. I personally don't really, but I'm never against it. It's one's story, and if they enjoy the direction is headed, who is one to judge? You're completely right and I couldn't agree more with your comment. Anyways, she'll be most likely stay in a similar written way, because it helps with Alexia's development in the actual story, and I'm aiming towards getting her ass-whooped no matter what (Love Episodes 19 n 20 from the anime)... But I repeat: I couldn't agree more with you.

Sebas609: You reminded me of some stuff before I actually started writting so what I was going to write for this chapter got scrapped; not in a bad way, it actually benefited a lot, so I thank you for it... even if you didn't notice lol.

The-odd-Weeb-out: Yeah I completely agree. I guess I dislike... spoiled characters? I don't know if that's the right word but it feels right. Anyways. I only plan on using POV's on Cid (Shadow) and Alpha. But thank you. I write the characters based on how I feel they'd react (Except Shadow cus mf would prolly think everything is a play in some stage) so you saying that you think I've done a good job bringing their traits really gives me a boost.

Anyways. If any questions, I've had a twitter I don't use so feel free. CallingTheNest. I don't check my Private Messaging here, and I have the notis for my gmail muted so unless I just decide to check, hard I'll notice. Also if there's... any mistake, feel free to let me know.

Added: University is starting for me. There's no decent schedule of mine set for this story as of yet. I'm aware of that. It's updated when it's finished, and that works, but it's just meh. So I'll try to update every fifteen days, starting today. That way I have time for the University, my job and this story (and other hobbies). So, expect an update to the story around August 29. Around 4 a.m. UTC time, 12:00 EST/AST. It'll be a way where I have time for my irl stuff and this story as a whole. Updates may come sooner than the 15 days mark, but the days will stay the same.

What I mean with that is: If the update is supposed to drop on the 29, the next update is supposed to drop in the 13. But, let's say I drop it on the 26... the next update should still drop on the 13.

Addedx2: I'm actively editing the story due to mistakes or misiniformation and such. It has been an hour since the story updated and I continue editing mistakes and such, or adding information.

But that's all there is to it. Again, if you want to find me through Twitter: CallingTheNest. There's nothing published and I don't think of publishing anything, but if you want to reach out to me, feel free to do so.

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed.

CTN out~!