"Where were you, Cid?!"
It's been just a couple hours since I was with Alpha. I stayed with her for a few hours, explaining to her how magic functions and how best she should wield it. I went explaining how this "curse" affected beings and how to neutralize it… and while she understood, she couldn't really do it on her own. I made myself have "Magic Overload" that very night, and see if she could neutralize it… it didn't work.
I gave her food and shelter in the ghost town, and told her that I had to return. Whilst she wanted to come back with me, having to explain to Nee-san and our parents why a random blond-haired elf with blue eyes that's roughly the same age as me, who I happen to bring in the middle of the night, from outside, where I'm not supposed to be, is coming to live with us is just not very good, in my opinion.
I told her that she was to stay, but I'd give her frequent visits, bringing her knowledge, food, and clothes (stolen from Nee-san) for her to make use of. She hesitantly agreed, I mean she just overcame a "Curse", and while she had control of her magic, she's still but a kid in the middle of a ghost town. She's determined, sure, but she's still around my age.
With that said, I returned to my room as quietly as I could, and Nee-san was nowhere to be seen! Well, because she stood behind as I entered, and I didn't even notice. How could she escape my radar?!
I was tackled and then immediately chained up. According to Nee-san, with the purpose of not disappearing from her sight, as 'Love doesn't escape my grasp!' according to her own words. My hands and legs were chained into separate directions, leaving me wide open to Nee-san, who took advantage of this and sat on my stomach, her eyes glaring dangerously at my own. Her hands lovingly caressed my neck, giving me a soothing massage that left me without air.
"I felt you leave the bed as I slept! I waited, patiently, thinking you went to the bathroom..! Yet you appear five hours later…!"
It's not the first time this has happened, nor will it be the last.
"How many times will you do this to me?! Your lovely sister! Your lovely Nee-san!"
Her eyes grew frantic, as her breathing became erratic. Her eyes glistened; a malevolent look deep within her eyes. But I wouldn't say 'malevolent' evil, although by definition it's almost what it means. Nah, those eyes are not malevolent, they're more like 'crazy'.
"Nee-san!" I tried to scream out, but my vocal cords were being cut short by her loving hands around my neck. Her fingers loosened up, "I went on a stroll to take a breather and I got lost!"
She grinned maniacally as her face got closer to my own, "If you're ever going on another stroll again, I'll be going with you."
My sister these last couple of years has gotten better at tracking me down, but I can't explain why! How does she know how to track me? I make sure to hide my presence at all times, and minimize the amount of magic that radiates off my body, to leave less evidence of where I've been! And while I've been successful, especially on voyages and such… it's a bit of a nuisance when I'm trying to hunt slimes and bandits near the mansion.
I've had to go so far that I even appeared somewhere called "Lawless City" and "Oriana Kingdom"! In Oriana I fought some strong bandits, while in Lawless City was where I fought some strong looking dudes and tried my magic for healing for the first time, and I immediately figured out how to use magic to manipulate the body into healing! I used my magic on a therianthrope; a fox. She had white hair and was like… a tail? Yeah, the person had a single tail, not that I cared though as I was there for the money. The magic… learning how to heal. Really useful—side-tracked. There's a tracker called Nee-san sitting on my stomach, I can't be happy.
"B-But Nee-san~"
"No but's! I've made my decision! And that's final!"
I have to meet up with Alpha and continue with my hunt for both: Slimes and bandits! I can't have Nee-san come with me! Not only will it be annoying, but she'd get in the way!
I'll have to figure out a way to distract her or something, so that nightmare scenario doesn't become a reality! Wait, before I do so…
"Nee-san… what are those black spots that Kaa-sama mentioned earlier?"
She froze up; she tensed up. I could see it, the hesitation.
"Is… that what they call possession?"
Suddenly she let go of my neck, and looked down to my chest, droplets of water landing on my shirt, as tears fell from her eyes. She nodded.
So "Magic Overload" is known as possession, I see.
"So… now that you've shown signs of possession, what happens?"
She hesitantly answered, "The church would get a hold of me. They'd kill me, saying that they're exorcizing demons, when in reality they're just murdering the sick… and the people applause and praise the church, for 'keeping peace'..."
Hm… "A cure hasn't been found…?"
"No… The Church, if they even have a cure, they're hiding it, I guess. Demon Possession is dangerous… Cid…" You're right about that. It is dangerous. I should heal her, but I don't want her to know that I know how to, because then she'll be all over my ass, more than she is now.
"Your secret is safe with me, Nee-san." and smile, getting her to look at me once more, "I'm sure you'll figure out a way… because you're Nee-san, the strongest person I know."
Tears fell like a waterfall, as she hugged onto my neck. I would've hugged back but I'm still tied up. Her head buried into the crook of my neck, and she pulled my head as close as possible to her.
"Thank you for believing in me Cid… I know I'll pull through, for you."
"Eh?"
"When I figure out how to deal with… Demon possession, we'll talk with our parents to wed us off."
"Ha?"
"And we'll study together! Live together! And battle against evil together—" It seems she's fine now. Her head looked to the sky as she continued mumbling about a life together, which is weird, considering we are siblings, but, I'll allow it just this once.
"Seems like you feel better, Nee-san?"
She smiled as she looked down at me, "I'll do everything in my power to protect you, Cid."
That came out of nowhere, but I respect the hustle, sadly enough I'll be the one protecting her, I'm pretty sure. But, I'll let her be happy. I flashed her a smile, before I tried to move my hands—couldn't.
"Neh, Nee-san. How about you let me go and we head to sleep?"
She looked at me, before she nodded and broke off all the chains. How much did they cost? Why would she just destroy them? Suddenly, she looked at me, a confused look in her expression, "What?"
"Why were you carrying a chest full of golden coins?"
"Oh."
I lied, saying I found it while walking. Her believing me is another story. She used me as a body pillow, and I had no way to escape… not that I was going to, but… please let me breathe…
"Shadow! Do you sense it?!"
"Yes, let's go into action."
A caravan.
It's been six days after talking with Nee-san, and she of course didn't believe my story of how I "found" the coins just walking around. What did she do to them? Nothing, surprisingly enough. I'll heal Nee-san, that's for sure, not sure on when, though.
I was currently with Alpha, and both her and I felt Magic Overload, or a possessed. It was running through a set path; following a dirt path made for illegal trafficking of items and artifacts. There weren't many people in the caravan. There were two leading two horses, and there were three in the back.
The wooden caravan has been through some stuff, small chunks of wood missing in certain areas, but as long as the wheels are on, it's all that matters.
"What do we do, Shadow?"
They're weak, even compared to Alpha. I bet that they were only able to grab her in her blob form because she had no control, and no seemingly (to what she told me) no thoughts as a blob… all she remembers is before she became one.
I turned to my side, and I saw Alpha. She in a matter of hours managed to control the slime properly. So well, in fact, that even I was impressed. She wore an ebony bodysuit, and had a mask to hide her identity.
"We'll take action."
She nodded seriously, before she disappeared from my sight.
I looked at the Caravan. Time to make my move.
"Is that a possessed one I feel?"
I've learned how to manipulate my vocal cords to such a point that I can manipulate how my voice sounds. Be it deeper, higher… and as I did when "rescuing" Alpha, make my voice sound all around.
Another trick I've incorporated is: Manipulating slime… but not as a weapon nor clothing, but changing the color of the slime. The slime were quite dark, invisible in the night sky, but it's bland, and that won't do. I managed to manipulate the slime to such a way that I changed its colors, now having bits of purple in the inside of my cloak, and yellow stripes through places where the slime was open. Alpha is still learning how to do so.
The caravan came to a halt, and the men looked at each other, confused, before one of them spoke.
"Who's there?"
Suddenly, Alpha striked. One of the men in the back was cut in half in a matter of seconds—light blue magic lit up the night sky. The men at that guy's side quickly turned and drew out their weapons, Alpha stood unfazed, covered in blood. She tilted her blade towards the other two, who immediately rushed towards her.
She jumped above, and took a step back, before her blade was manipulated to a tentacle too, and it went forward. The attacks cut through the slime, but it regenerated quickly, so it was a battle going nowhere.
"Someone is attacking our back! A young blond elf!" The two men in front screamed as they let go of the horses lead and pulled their blades. Alpha noticed and pulled her slime back, before turning 180 degrees to her right, blocking a strike from the people in front.
Should I intervene?
Her slime manifested once more, this time from her shoes, it expanded upwards. It took the shape of a spear, but its main function was to block an attack from the men she was fighting earlier. They were quickly surrounding her, and I could feel her getting nervous.
Time to intervene.
"That's enough."
My sudden voice was heard, before purple blades manifested in front of each of the men's necks—in one swift move, their heads were chopped off. Alpha stood in the middle panting, as I slowly walked towards her.
Fatigue was getting to me a bit. It's still hard to use magic like that. The amount of compression and precision you need to do such a thing is really outstanding. But, as the Leader of Shadow Garden, and as Alpha's current teacher, I can't let this weakness get the best of me. No. I'll work my ass seven times as hard just to overcome this limit…!
"Thank you, Shadow."
"Sorry for taking my time. I wanted to see how you'd do."
She nodded, seemingly fine that I just decided to test her like that.
"It's fine. This just means that I have to grow stronger."
"It'll take time. I have been giving it my all for years."
She nodded, before she approached the caravan. She used her slime to create a sledgehammer, and with that she broke off the wheels before using said hammer to destroy the caravan itself, revealing a cage surrounded by blankets once more.
The person with Magic Overload is currently inside this cage. Alpha with one swift motion took off the sheet and revealed another blob. She, Alpha, turned to me, and looked directly into my eyes.
I nodded as I approached the cage and forced it open, before I placed my hand on the blob.
History repeated itself.
A silver-haired girl appeared before me, an elf. Her hair reached her shoulders. She too, seemingly being around my age. This is going to happen a lot, isn't it?
The girl was unconscious. "Let's take her back to your place." I said, and Alpha immediately nodded with no hesitation. I grabbed the unconscious elf and we went.
After a few minutes, I laid her down on a cushion made of slime (it's really that useful) and waited.
I spent this time talking with Alpha and what she should've done to improve in that fight. I can't really blame her, though, she's a novice. It's been literally five days. For how little time she has had to develop, I'd say she's doing more than fine.
"Hm… mu…"
Oop, the elf woke up. Turning back to her, she was yawning, stretching and all things alike… Before she realized.
Her eyes widened—light blue eyes. She looked at her hands, before she placed them on her face, in disbelief. Shedding a few tears, she mumbled to herself… Not even I could hear what she was muttering.
"It seems you've noticed."
I spoke, my slime not covering my being anymore. I stood there next to Alpha, as we watched the silver-haired girl look up to us. I saw her eyes, as more tears fell down.
"Alpha. I'm going to leave this to you."
Telling Alpha was more than enough, and having to deal with another elf was just a headache… as I turned, Alpha grabbed my sleeve, and shook her head.
"No, Shadow. I'd rather for you to stay, after all, you're going to be the leader of our Organization, no?"
So she plans to get this elf? Sigh, fine. Alpha, I'll stay. I nodded, as I sat on a chair made by my slime. I patiently waited, as Alpha kneeled down to the seated elf.
"How do you feel?"
The elf looked up, blue eyes staring into blue eyes. Alpha's hand reached out and caressed the silver-haired one's chin soothingly.
"I-uh-..."
"I understand, take your time."
The elf shuddered and took a few breathers. I tried my hardest to not fall asleep as these two began to converse.
"I… thought that I was possessed?"
"Tell me, what happened? What were you told?" The girl took a breather and looked down.
"Knights from the Oriana Kingdom came to our village with force… And I don't remember much… but I was possessed…"
Alpha sat down next to the elf, who's emotions were taking the best of her. Something that I took notice of, though. Her magic moved with her emotions—no that's wrong. Her magic responded to her emotions… which is a waste. If you're not controlled; if you're not calm and collected, it can all get lost. It's energy and magic which you're not controlling thus… reducing your chances of victory. Not that any matters here, since there's no fight, but something that I have to be wary of.
"My parents threw me out towards the soldiers, claiming that I had been possessed… before some… person injected me with blood… and… I blacked out…"
So her own parents betrayed her and threw her as a disposable? And this Church at it again.
"I woke up, and was chained up… tied up, with magic restraining cuffs, and I felt… my magic grow out of control… I was injected with more blood… then I turned into… the blob…"
Alpha hugged the girl. So they were injecting blood. Is that what's causing the Magic Overload? But if I'm not wrong, it's magic causing the Magic Overload… I mean it's called that—I call it that for a reason. Is there something about that blood which manipulates the body and the particles of magic within?
"You don't need to worry anymore, at least for your own safety." Alpha said, as she held the girl close. "Shadow and I have a goal, and that is to save as many people as we can from Demon possession and from the cult's hands."
The silver-haired elf blinked, "C-Cult?"
"Yes. There's a Cult behind it all. Cult of Diablos… They're the ones who are taking the possessed and killing them, experimenting on them, whilst trying to revive the Demon, Diablos itself."
Now that I think about it, Alpha's Overload was all around her body, but once I neutralized it, the previous damaging particles of magic retreated into her blood vessel. Meaning that the magic from those particles was so strong it dominated every other particle from her body, thus causing Magic Overload once it multiplied enough.
That's dangerous… thinking about it, it's sorta how cancer works… which is despicable. That's what Kaa-sama went through, but hers was weak, it seems, and that's what Nee-san is going through…
So if that's the case, blood having magic—can it be manipulated? It seems that magic runs through it just fine, so what about manipulating blood from once or someone else's body… theoretically, imbuing a portion of magic into it would let me manipulate it, no?
"Shadow."
Though maybe manipulating my blood is easy because it's soaked in my magic power… some else's might be bothersome unless I imbue portions of my magic, as I said earlier…
"Shadow."
I got lost in theorizing again. Alpha was staring right at me.
"She is to join our ranks, with the desire to bring peace to the world as well."
Alpha convinced her so quickly. Props to you, I bet you have an ability for commercials and such!
"Very well, then." I stood up. When I get home and Nee-san inevitably tries to stab me, I'll practice with my blood then.
"Tell me, do you truly wish to walk this path; we're neither righteous nor are we evil. We'll do what we set out to do, which is to end the Cult, and that'll be done by any means necessary."
She looked before a wave of power erupted, my slime covered me. I have to put on a show. The room was covered in sparks of magic; it's controlled. If I let my whole magic erupt, it'll destroy this ghost town, then sum, and then a bit more.
"Tell me, Beta. Do you wish to join us?"
I stretched my hand towards her, and she shakily reached out for it.
"Yes! Shadow!"
Loving the energy.
"With that, you're the second seat in Shadow Garden. The organization we're working on, currently, with the mission to save those abandoned by its people and hunted by the church."
Alpha said as the now named Beta stood up.
Wait a minute. Beta said something about 'Magic restraining cuffs', no? That's a thing? I won't interrupt this moment, as Alpha and Beta are currently talking, but now that has me curious… because if I can reduce my magic feel and feel even more miniscule particles of magic, my capacity could grow… In theory.
"Shadow has been the one teaching me since he first saved me. I currently am nowhere near his level in terms of skills, magic, or anything in general."
"So he's… the leader of the organization I'm now part of?"
"We're all the members, currently. But the church has hundreds if not thousands of possessed ones hidden… and there's more to come, since it runs in the blood."
"How could he figure out these details…?"
"I do not know that myself, but I've noticed that he's well-versed in everything I throw at him. There's nothing that he's not superior compared to me at."
"Say, Beta." She froze up before she turned to me, a confused look in her features.
"Y-Yes, Shadow?"
"When you were in the cuffs, how did it feel?"
"U-um…" Is that a weird question? I feel like that's a weird question. "It was hard to feel my magic… it felt… nonexistent. The chains…"
"Disrupted the magic flow, thus making it harder for you to feel your magic traverse through your body…" I muttered. "Not allowing you to manipulate them to overpower those who captured you…"
"Y-Yes!" She turned to Alpha, "Is he always like that?"
"Shadow's magic is surpassed by no-one, to my knowledge. He's always trying to expand his knowledge, and to most conveniently use it without wasting it."
"He came to the conclusion before I could even finish my sentence…"
"He tends to do that."
So these cuffs make it harder to feel the magic? That's exactly what I want—no scratch that, what I need! There's so much to do, and it can be so beneficial for, what I now call, "Magical Weapons"... that's a lame name, I know, but that's temporary.
If I can get my hands on those cuffs, it'll help a lot with the condensing of gas, liquid, and forming solids, thus allowing me to work with magic outside my body as well! It's too beneficial for me to pass on.
"—raised me, before using the momentum to throw me backwards… I didn't even have a chance to land properly."
"Oh!"
They were still talking. I silently left the shack, and went towards where we found Beta at. If I could find those chains… it'd be straight up awesome. Inside the cage? Nothing. Around the cage, inside the caravan itself? Nothing. Where did the horses go? I don't know, but they're not here anymore, I can say that much.
"Darn it, they're not here."
Welp, I'll find them sooner or later. Rather sooner, than later, but they'll be found, that's the end goal.
"Shadow!"
I turned, Alpha running as fast as she could with Beta on her shoulders.
"What's up, Alpha?"
"You suddenly left, and I was curious where to. Thought you had found another possessed…"
"Nah. I was checking to see if the magic restraining cuffs were here. If they were, I'd be able to run some experiments…"
Beta shuddered, sorry, wasn't my intention. Alpha placed her down. "Sorry, let me clarify. Trying to figure out exactly how they do that. If there's some sort of magic capable of doing such, having that in our arsenal could be convenient when dealing with beings of pure power yet no talent."
That's a point, another being that it'd like to see how the cuffs would minimize how I feel magic.
"Lo-Lord Shadow…" I raised an eyebrow, 'Lord' Shadow? It has a nice ring to it. I nodded, Beta continued, "How do you… write your magic?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you.. Write how it works? Your theories… your experiments?"
"I memorize everything until I achieve my goal. Then, those experiments and theories are left in the back of my head until they're useful for other stuff… which currently…"
What am I more focused on currently? The cuffs. Why? Back of the head, "Magic Weapons" could be useful for it. Even further in, particles of magic. Even if the "Magic weapons" don't work as intended, having to feel my magic through worse circumstances allows me to further expand my reserves and the power behind them.
"I think it'd be more useful to write it all down, that way you can have the most important stuff first and foremost." Alpha said. After all, I never explained to her what goes behind my head, so it's only reasonable that she thinks that.
"I agree, Lord Shadow!" It just rolls off the tongue so well~ "I-I may not be the best at it, but if you want… I can write your theories and save them for future purposes…"
That's not a bad idea.
Yeah that's not a bad idea.
"Sure. That's reasonable. That way, when I'm not there, you can try to understand my thought process behind things and even implement it yourself."
"Yes!"
It'd be better than whatever magic books there are currently on the shelfs. All they talked about was on how to pour magic into an attack, and how to defend… and they somehow wrote hundreds of pages based on that alone. I wish I could go to my old world and get books of biology, physics and such. Whilst my knowledge is fine just now, I feel like there's more I could do if I just further understood the "why" of things, and if there's a way to change them.
With that, a second member joined Shadow Garden, excluding me, of course.
Alpha and Beta. What's next in the Greek Alphabet?
History is repeating itself! I tell you!
I've taken Beta out to this hunt with me. I can feel her hesitance—she doesn't want to kill, and I just know it.
I coincidentally found another person with Overload and I contacted Alpha and Beta. Alpha immediately wanted to come with me, but I told her to stay put, because I wanted to see how Beta would do… but she still came. I feel her presence, a few feet behind us… and I'm fine with it.
She was saved seven days ago, and while she didn't grow at the speed of Alpha, she grew quickly too, and was quick to understand almost everything I threw at her.
She wrote (IN THREE DAYS—scratch that, three nights—nah, three hours every night. Nine hours!) a book on most of my magic theories, except ones relating to Magic Overload. They suffered through it, and it's not something that I want them to go through again. Which sucks, because most of my magic came from Overload, but I really want them to live without much harm… counter intuitive especially with this organization we have, but still.
There was a caravan too, again. But this time it had more people.
"The corpses of Lyn, Abdull, Rain, Cassian and Arne were all found, and the possessed that we captured was nowhere to be found."
"Do you think the possessed itself caused that?"
"No way man, according to the church, possessed have no thoughts after being turned into a demon… someone must've intervened and grabbed the possessed for themselves."
The Church is mentioned again. I sometimes feel like this tale of mine is not a lie, heh.
This caravan was more packed, but it's a good place for Beta to start. There were fourteen people, and they were all below Beta in terms of power, but their sheer numbers were enough to become a hassle. Beta would need to use a strategy called:
Throw rocks and hide your hand.
What I mean is: Use her surroundings to her advantage. Use the night and darkness along with the slime suit to murder those who seem strongest, and when she feels to have an advantage, go for the rest.
It's why I love slime. It's so silent and threatening… it's perfect for missions like this one.
"Are you ready, Beta?" I whispered… but I still wanted to sound cool.
"Yes, Lord Shadow…" She whispered too. Ever since she began calling me 'Lord Shadow', Alpha started doing so as well, and I'm not one to complain, nor will I because it sounds really cool.
I told her what to do previously. All she has to do is act on it.
Beta vanished behind some trees—this was the same route we found her at. Same set path, just a bit deeper into the path… because explaining to a nervous elf how she is going to attack a group of fourteen people by herself is not really easy to do.
Welp, I see Beta in position, her breathing regulated, her magic neutral. I nodded at her from my seated position, and she nodded back.
Slime appeared behind her and quickly rushed towards one of the men. It opened his stomach, a hole noticeable. Another sprung; tentacles. They were quickly flying towards the enemy—why is Beta throwing up?
"What is this?!"
Compared to my own tentacles, they were smaller and the amount of magic they had was close to none, but it was useful for the attack. Problem is that Beta… is throwing up.
"Is this slime?! Where does it come from?!"
They're tracking her down. They used the slime that had yet to retract—it froze mid-air—to locate Beta. They followed it. Beta cleaned her mouth as her eyes glistened. She nervously retracted the slime and used it to manifest an ax. A double edged ax, one tip for cutting, the other for dismantling. It was ebony, just like her and Alphas armor.
"Who is that?! She has a weapon! Be careful!"
They pulled out swords and… guns? Those exist here? Oh but they look like one of those one bullets, then you have to pour in the gunpowder, then put the bullet in, push it further inwards before you can use it again…
A battle cry was heard, as eleven of the fourteen men rushed towards where Beta stood. She panicked and turned her eyes at me. I want to help her, but she needs to know what she's going to do if she's willing to walk this path.
Man, I sound so badass. Wish someone would hear me right now.
She used her slime to go through the ground and stabbed the men from below in their feet, holding them in place, while she used her ax to block incoming bullets. I could feel her heart quickening, and her magic growing erratic; not Magic Overload, but she was panicking.
So much in fact that…
"Got you!"
Someone had gotten behind her, sword raised, ready to strike down Beta. She might've held some of the men in place with the slime, but some still went around. It was a one versus eleven. Had she used her advantage of darkness better, she would've easily dominated, but she hesitated; panicked.
She tried to turn around, but… this is my time to appear.
"Your hesitance in battle will lead to your downfall. Do not falter when faced with opponents that are after your life."
I appeared, blocking the strike that would've ended her life right then and there. I pivoted my right foot, no ounce of magic and with my left kicked the stomach of the attacker. He quickly recovered, but this was done deed.
"But you've done well. To progress, one must face hardships… go against one's own will. That's an improvement."
I used my slime sword to block the attack again, before I imbued him with magic—causing Magic Overload on him… but to such a point that he just exploded, drenching me in blood.
"Now show me, Beta. How will you walk this path if you can't go against what's holding you back?"
I turned and held her shoulder. I poured a controlled amount of magic, calming her. She has been holding off the men long enough, but I want to see something from her! I want to see her strike down the enemy in front of her! Not of rage, but out of understanding and will! To fulfill what she deems right!
"You're right… Lord Shadow…"
A small gust of power, "It's just…"
She's indecisive I assume.
"Beta. Find a reason to fight. We talked about this before."
Alpha appeared as she took down the remaining men I left for Beta. Geez, you're no fun. The slime in Beta's hands disappeared as she slumped down.
"It's… hard to kill…"
"Forgive her, Lord Shadow. She is not used to killing, and taking lives is not one of her strong suits. While incredibly talented in writing, and decent magic control and quite skilled with swords, she hesitates to go for the final strike."
I see.
"It's fine. Not everyone grows at the same pace, not everyone is willing to do the same yet. But do understand, if you hesitate in the midst of battle once more when no-one is around, you'll—"
"—be dead." Beta herself finished, I nodded as I placed a hand on her shoulder and spun her around, hugging her.
"I have a lot of faith in you, Beta. Just as much as Alpha. How do you expect to grow, if you hold yourself back?"
She hugged me back and cried. I turned to Alpha, and using magic, I made my words only reach her ears. Manipulating the particles from mid-air as my words rang through! Incredibly cool, but it's not noticeable… it's just hearable.
What I told her was "Check the possessed one", and she did so immediately.
My eyes stared at Alpha as she rummaged through what was in the caravan. The cage was in the middle, and she, to make her life easier, broke the walls surrounding the caravan, and broke the wheels..
She also let go of the horses… I could trade them for money, no?
Anyways the cage was in the middle of the caravan, and she took off the sheet. Another blob.
I let go of Beta and walked over towards Alpha, but Beta still held me close to her, not letting me escape her grasp. I'm fine with it, after all not everyone is at that level yet.
I approached the blob, and Alpha stood to my side, as my right hand, and Beta held onto my cloak. I extended my hand and placed it on the blob itself, and once again, it turned to another elf. Dark blue hair that reached the girls waist. Eyes? Couldn't see 'em, she was unconscious.
"Are all the possessed elfs?" Alpha tilted her head when asking that. She grabbed the elf and placed her on the ground, using slime to create a cushion for the elf to rest in. That's a genuine good question, but the answer is no, since Nee-san and Kaa-sama also have Magic Overload.
"No, this must be either a pure coincidence, or something manipulated by the Cult."
She nodded, not questioning what I just said. Bravo, Alpha.
"Now, let's go back—" I wanted to say, but the elf started moving. Man, we should've done a grand reveal like we did with Beta, but alright. "—Hm?"
It's the same movements! Are we in a simulation? Why is it the same as Beta? Looked at her hands, felt her face, tears fell as she began mumbling stuff and hugged herself. Now how do I get her attention in a cool way?
"It seems you have awakened."
The girl immediately looked in my direction, her eyes filled with wariness and disbelief.
"No need to be on high alert. We are here to help you."
Her eyes turned towards Alpha and Beta, who stood to my sides.
"We are Shadow Garden. Our goal is to defeat those who're trying to revive the reason why you were possessed in the first place."
Her eyes turned to mine, as I was still in my Shadow persona.
"The Cult of Diablos is behind it all, and we need your help to be able to destroy them."
The more people there are, the better the chances I can play my Shadowbroker role and be the Eminence in Shadow! That's the whole plan, after all. After Beta, I came to that conclusion. So, adding more people to our organization is better in the long run.
Her eyes looked up at me.
"The Cult of Diablos is the one who's trying to execute or experiment in the possessed, for them to find a vessel that could handle the power of Diablos itself."
Alpha added more lore. That's a crazy story!
"And we plan on stopping it; stopping them. We're going to stretch far and wide through the world, but only us three is too limited. We need personnel to be able to achieve what seems impossible."
Alpha kneeled down next to the other elf, "Are you willing to join us?"
Breather, shudder, then sigh. History repeating itself.
"While I was possessed…"
A bit of backstory? I'm all for it!
"Some… men in fancy clothing came to where my parents and I were, and asked 'Is she the possessed one?', to which my parents nodded…"
Another betrayal, I wonder if it was the same with Alpha?
"My parents sold me for ten gold coins…. Hundred thousand Zenin…"
Yeah the currency here is weird. One gold coin is ten thousand Zenin, which is wild!
"The church grabbed me and put me in this… caravan, and tied me up in chains. After a while, I lost consciousness…"
It's safe to assume that when one turns to a blob, they lose all consciousness. They don't know what's happening—they have no memory. All they knew beforehand was that they turned into the blob, but no recollection of what happened when they were a blob. It's the same with Alpha and Beta, after all.
Her eyes turned to mine. "We-were you the one that…"
"He's the one that removed the curse ravaging through your body—nullifying it, entirely, thus giving you a new chance." Alpha, you're so badass.
She looked at Alpha, my time to shine. "We are to do the same with everyone we find. Grant salvation to those who are possessed, and bring them new-found freedom for them to enjoy."
Beta timidly nodded beside me, as Alpha stood up once more, pulling the elf with her.
"We ask again… Do you wish to join us?"
She looked around at us three. She looked at Beta, then at Alpha, before looking directly at me…
"The innocent won't be hurt?"
"We intend to save this world and its citizens." Alpha said without a shred of hesitance. Yeah I agree with that. I mean I've only hunted bandits thus far, and I only do so because they stole goods from good people!
"...then I'll join your ranks…!" She said as she bowed down.
"Perfect, then." I turned around, "Your name is now Gamma. Welcome to Shadow Garden, we lurk in the shadows to hunt down the shadows…"
"Gamma… Shadow Garden…" she muttered.
"Now, let's go to our temporary voice of operatio—" Wait, she mentioned cuffs earlier, I coughed, "Go ahead to our base of operations. I'll do some investigating around here first and foremost, to ensure that no-one has seen us."
That's a lie, but, ei, they don't need to know that.
"Understood, Lord Shadow." Alpha bowed down before she turned to Gamma, "Follow us." Alpha started walking, Beta and Gamma in tow.
I didn't need to turn around to know that they weren't present anymore. They were quickly walking through the woods, disappearing into the night. That'll do. Now, the search for cuffs.
I turned to the caravan once more, and began my search.
Compared to the previous raids I've done where I found Alpha and Beta, this had barely anything. No paintings, no coins, no jewelry. It seems like the main intention was to transfer Gamma from point A, to point B.
Inside the cage there were some chains… broken, though. They had a weird feel to them, as if trying to pull stuff into them.
I grabbed them… And I felt it, although only by a bit. Felt my magic become harder to control—it's motion inside my body being cut off… but it was only a bit… I could still feel the motion, and thus…
The Magical purple sword appeared before me, floating mid-air.
It was harder to sustain, as I was touching the chains that were restraining my magic and cutting my magic flow, but it's do-able.
"If I could just fix them…" I muttered. Being completely honest too. If I fix these chains, my understanding of magic and how to control it, even when the magic is harder to feel—being able to manipulate it through an obstacle, and condensing the magic further, would bring more power.
It's like atoms crashing in a way... Remember when I said that as a human, there's no way for me to survive a nuclear explosion? Well there's science behind it; there's science behind a nuclear explosion.
Atoms are made up of three subatomic particles: Protons, Neutrons and Electrons. Electrons roam around the nucleus, which is composed of protons and neutrons. Protons are positively charged, electrons are negatively charged, and neutrons have no charge at all. The amount of each of these can change the property of an atom.
It's a lot more complicated, because even the most minimal of changes can completely change how something works inside the atom—it could be radioactive, it could be stable, or a combination of both.
With that in mind, there are some nuclei which emit radiation, and upon doing so, they decay. There's three to my knowledge: Alpha decay, Beta decay, and spontaneous fission (funny how two of them are in my organization.) Alpha and Beta decay are not really what I'm interested in currently; that doesn't cause an explosion. I'm looking for Spontaneous fission… this is when the nucleus of an atom, the protons and neutrons split into two, and the neutrons are ejected.
But this doesn't cause a nuclear explosion. While they're a cause, they're not the cause. In my science class and genuine interest and investigations back in my old world, it was noted that Uranium-235 split into two when a nucleus hit the uranium, it split into two, and thus causing a chain reaction. The amount of energy it produced was outstanding, and so quick that it became a mass weapon of destruction.
It's not really that the neutron "split" the Uranium, but more like the Uranium tried to absorb the neutron, come unstable and immediately split, causing decay.
There's so much more to it, and if I ever find a way to create a nuclear explosion, I'll need to go further into the depths of understanding how a nuclear explosion happens—wait.
Hm?
I dropped the chains and spawned a flame in my hand.
If I were to condense all my magic to a single point… Could I cause a fusion chain reaction?
My power erupted—a brilliant glow of purple appeared all around me, surrounding me. Small bolts of lightning created a barrier of sorts, and the magic itself was stable, yet so potent. My veins flashed purple—no they turned purple. Slashes of magic, energy roamed all around my body.
I reeled it back in, but not with the intention of storing it in the depths of my magic reserves, no.
I want to condense it to a point smaller than an atom.
The flashes of purple vanished, I closed my eyes, and raised a finger.
It's so condensed, that even Alpha would have trouble trying to feel it.
"Test…"
With those words, everything turned black. Not even the moonlight could reach where I currently stood.
"Atomic…"
And release.
It all went fast—a white light blinded my surroundings.
All sound is lost.
The magic penetrated everything. Trees were chopped and vanished. A pattern of light stretched through the night sky. Purple and dark blue was all that could be seen in the night sky as the power continued growing.
I could see as everything vanished. Inside this cylinder of power, I could walk around, roam freely. Looking up at the sky, the cylinder reached even the clouds, which weren't there. Things were ceasing to exist, vanishing as my magic traversed through the forest.
The caravan? Destroyed.
The chains? Destroyed… I messed up.
Everything surrounding me, and seemed like fourteen feet around me, just vanished.
It died down after a few minutes, and I reeled back the magic into my body.
There wasn't a hole in the ground because I managed to set a limit to the reach of the attack. "That was so cool!"
A dream come true. Being atomic myself? That's sick! Does this mean that even more condensed magic would be more powerful? I mean that's been my go-to when studying magic. More condensed the particles of magic are = more power per particle. Of course it may come with the nasty side-effect of Magic Overload… but meh, personally more pros than cons.
"Lord Shadow!"
Alpha? I turned and saw Alpha running towards me at full speed. There's no radiation, right? There's nothing that could harm her, right? I looked at the air around me. All there were particles of magic, nothing more. That's good. That's good.
She hurriedly ran towards where I was, as I too started walking towards where she was.
"Are you alright Lord Shadow?!"
I nodded.
"What was that light? Was it an attack?! Were you attacked?!"
"Don't worry, Alpha. I'm fine. I just found out how magic could be more beneficial."
She looked at me, bewildered, "Did… did you do that, Lord Shadow?"
"It was a mere test of what I want to accomplish, but yes." After all, I have a feeling that I can make it stronger.
"...such power…"
Yes Alpha! There's so much more to reach! So much more to do! I'm going to force myself to such extreme levels, that what I just did is going to be me merely on my base form! At least, that's the intention.
"That's enough testing for today. If there were enemies hidden behind trees, waiting for an opening, they're currently meeting with the Goddess, Beatrix."
I continued with my lie that I had said previously. She nodded as I began walking towards our base. After all… then I have to get home. I'm cooked. I could already feel the bloodlust from all the way over here.
"Did you see that, Cid?! Were you near it?! Are you injured?! Also it's the thirteenth time you've escaped even when I am awake! How do you do that?!"
Nee-san saw the show—or at least the Atomic attack. I arrived around ten minutes after I met with Alpha, but I acted as if I was sleeping on the couch. Upon closing my eyes on the couch, I felt a terrifying presence. Nee-san was resting next to me on the couch, but her eyes were wide open.
"Yes I saw it, Nee-san! You can stop shaking me now!"
"Not until you answer everything!"
Even though I make sure that she's asleep or for me to escape even when she's awake, she still figures out that I've been leaving the house—she figured out that I wasn't sleeping on the couch, but that I was genuinely outside. How?
"I just replaced myself with a pillow and walked out for a bit! Please! I'd like to breathe!"
"Why would you go to the couch again and not join me in bed?!"
"Because you were sleeping peacefully!"
"Liar!"
She can read through me as if I was a book.
"Nee-san! I'm not lying!"
She shook my entire being.
After a peaceful twenty minutes, she stopped and just laid on top of me, a frown clear on her features. "Cid… What are you doing? Why aren't you telling me?"
Is she becoming suspicious?
"Nee-san, I just go on genuine strolls… I go walking. Watching the night sky—the moon shine beautifully as the wind blows my hair…"
"You should become a writer…" She muttered as she rubbed her head in my chest. "Are you being honest with me?"
"As honest as I can be, Nee-san."
I lied as easily as I breathe.
"I trust you, Cid…"
"I trust you too, Nee-san."
She closed her eyes as her arms went around me, hugging me as she laid on top of me, possessively.
"...if you go out on another walk, when you come back, lay with me. That's all I'll ask from you."
"Yes, Nee-san."
She nodded, her breathing regulating.
I too closed my eyes, and my breathing regulated.
Nee-san cares for my safety. I appreciate it. I'll care for her too. If only she wasn't so hell-bent that we're meant to be together. She keeps calling it "fate", even though at times she treats me as a dog. I refuse to marry her…
I'm going to sleep.
"Nuh-uh!"
"What?! You can totally form a sledgehammer, yet even bigger if wielded properly!"
"I mean it's not impossible, but don't you think it'll be more of a nuisance compared to everything else?"
"Nuh-uh! If you kill the person before they can move, it'll be way easier! Right Bossman?!"
It's been four months since we saved Gamma. In that timespan, I've made it my goal to spend as much time as I could with the girls, and Nee-san… especially Nee-san. To calm her down, I've been spending more time training with her.
In these four months, we also saved another possessed, but this one wasn't turned to a blob just yet. It was a therianthrope, a wolf girl. I went with Alpha, Beta and Gamma, but Alpha was the one who healed the doggo. Took her a bit of trial and error, but she could neutralize overload. I had to teach her as she did it. She almost fainted a couple times, too. It seems that it's not as easy as I make it out to be, thus the reason why they were even possessed to begin with.
"Whilst what you say is true, if you limit your movements due to carrying something, it could turn out dangerous, it is as Beta says, it'd be a nuisance."
She was named Delta. She's been with us for three months. Apparently her dad began hunting her down the moment he was notified that Delta was possessed. Seeing her fight, she has a good amount of energy and skills, she doesn't tire easily… but in comparison to that of the other girls, she doesn't use her head much. No, quite the opposite. I bet it's empty in there. While there's times she can prove otherwise, it's hard to understand if she's being serious when it comes to some of her arguments.
"But-But! If I kill them first, doesn't that mean that it'd be less of an issue, no?!"
"What if they react fast enough? There's no telling how strong the enemy is."
She's strong. Not stronger than Alpha, but still quite strong compared to Beta and Gamma.
"Lord Shadow, what about Credit? How could it increase if a loan is borrowed? How can we earn income if what they give back is the same amount?"
Both Beta and Gamma were writing things in their notebooks about economics.
"Through interest. Banks have to get something, somehow. Interests allow you to do so. Though, if it's too high of a number, not many people are interested in asking for loans, or even working with that bank, for said matter."
Gamma has proven to be the smartest in terms of economics. While both Gamma and Beta are equal in terms of intelligence, but Gamma had a land-slide over Beta when it came to economics. She has been learning stuff left and right, even going out of her way and asking me for books on the topic.
Bad thing is that she also requested my hard earned money that I stole from bandits! How much? All of it. I said and I quote, "If you manage to find the treasures where I live, it is yours to keep." Alpha and Beta joined her in the search, and found my goodies and stole it all from me! I was out hunting slimes when it happened! I was notified by Nee-san that three young girls covered in black went directly to my treasure and stole it all…! They didn't touch anything else, just broke down a plank on the floor where I hid everything and stole everything from there. I was so proud yet so devastated! I had no choice but to allow her to keep it, and so I did. I went crazy for a day, wondering how I was going to get all my money back, but there's a never-ending supply of bandits, so I don't mind.
There's something that's worrying me, though. Beta.
According to Alpha, she has had trouble sleeping. Waking up in the middle of the night, screaming, crying or thrashing around. If I could tell her a bedtime story…
"—hunting with bossman is more fun!"
"True, but he has important things to attend to."
"Can't I just live with bossman?"
"You'd be a nuisance."
"Bossman!" Delta whined. "Alpha-sama is being mean!"
"I'm not, I'm just being honest."
Delta growled at Alpha, but Alpha just glared at the young therianthrope, who suddenly cowered in fear.
Apparently, two months after Delta was rescued, she challenged Alpha to a fight for the right to be at my side. Delta had her ass handed to her, and promised to never disobey Alpha unless it came directly from my mouth, but she did say she would fight for that again in the future.
"Hm…"
"Lord Shadow went pensive again."
"He must be thinking of something important, don't bother him."
Both Beta and Gamma muttered to each other.
Not really thinking about anything of importance. In the post we found Delta in, there were multiple chains tying her up. It blocked her magic. She had like seven pairs of chains, three on her arms, two on her legs, and the other two were near in case Delta broke free.
I grabbed those chains and I've been using them ever since.
With those chains I've been trying to understand how they work. They felt somewhat… weird. I've been able to figure out how they disrupt the magic; inserting their own magic. But it's a set amount towards a set path, blocking all particles. To be able to allow your magic particles to pass through, you'd need them smaller, and whilst easy to do, you don't feel the change unless you're actually paying attention to your magic at that time.
"Bossman!"
These last couple of months, thanks to the chains, I've been able to grow stronger, and even managed to test "Blood Magic". Not really hard to control, but using samples of blood: I used my own, and was quite easy to manage since it was drenched in my magic, but I tried using some regular old bandits, and I found it really hard to manipulate. It means I just have to try harder.
Using my "Magical Weapons" became even easier. The transition from gas, to liquid, to solid became even faster and manipulating it even mid air became a bit easier. I need more chains, though, or stronger restraining ones, that way I can go even further into my research.
"Bossman! Bossman!"
I turned my head to look at Delta, whose tail was wagging from left to right, from right to left, so on and so on.
"Are we going hunting tonight?!"
I shook my head, "Unless there are more possessed that need our service, or we find others that feel suspicious… that are working for the Cult."
The "Cult" I made up.
"Aw~" Your whining doesn't work on me, Delta! As a previous pet owner, I've grown accustomed to this! "Can we go hunting another night, then?!"
She asked, "Sure. But, again, only bandits, when we feel a possessed, or suspected members of the cult." She nodded, as her tail wagged even faster from side to side. Adorable.
"Any more questions which you all desire an answer to, my dear Shades?"
That's the name I gave them. 'Shades', while I am Shadow. I think it fits pretty nicely. Gamma shakily raised her hand, and I nodded without skipping a heartbeat.
I stayed there for a while and gave them what I call "Shadow Wisdom". Whenever they asked a question, I was the first one to answer, giving them what they sought for… I hope so. I studied a lot of things back then, just seeing if there's a way for me to grow stronger… But not only for strength, but to become a shadow broker.
So I stayed here for a while.
I was always with them at night, so it makes sense that they were tired after a bit of me being there. Normally I leave when they're ready to go to bed, but I stayed, waiting to see if what Alpha told me is true.
Alpha stayed awake, not falling asleep unless I were to do the same. I told her to sleep a multitude of times, but she shook her head and didn't, saying "I want to see Lord Shadow" at work. And while I appreciate it, I just want to tell a bedtime story to Beta.
I sat on Alpha's bed. She sat next to me and laid her head on my shoulder, and as soon as she did, I patted her head. Her ears wiggled, almost as if she was happy. After a while, her heartbeat became neutral, her breathing regulated. She had fallen asleep.
She's cute, and growing stronger by the day. Alpha's technique has grown quite polished in the last months. I'm currently studying a new fighting style which is mostly implemented by the Midgar Kingdom, but its movements, while cool, waste quite a bit of energy.
It's all on how you handle what you possess. If you misuse even the tiniest amounts of energy, it could lead to your downfall in a matter or seconds. While I've never been through a "downfall", I think it is obvious enough to point out.
Suddenly, Beta's magic began to shake—it wobbled. It was not growing unstable, but her emotions were taking the best of her.
I stood up and laid Alpha in the bed, as she slept. I walked towards the sleeping Beta. She was shaking. I poured my magic into her, and this got her to wake up.
"L-Lord Shadow!" she muttered, her eyes timidly staring at me as I poured magic into her.
I had done the same with Alpha, Gamma and Delta. My controlled magic allowed them to have a better feel for it too, and thus allowed them to grow further on their own. I had already done so with Beta as well, but now I was doing it to control her magic and emotions.
I finished, and she stared at me, timidly. "Tell me, Beta. Do you want wisdom for what is causing you problems?"
She looked at me, before nodding.
"Alright, then…"
I waited for Lord Shadow to speak. I've heard his Wisdom, we all have. Alpha-sama calls him a deity, as his knowledge and prowess (to our knowledge) is exceeded by no-one. His knowledge on everything around him, how it functions, and how he can better use what he possesses to his advantage has led us these few months.
I know that Alpha-sama told him about my troubles killing… not something I'm really proud of, after all, if I intend to walk this path… it's something that I must learn to do; grow accustomed to it. Yet after so long, I haven't been able to. Giving me nightmares—night terrors. I felt as if… those who I killed were haunting me.
According to Alpha-sama, Lord Shadow has never had that problem… she has asked him prior. He's… an enigma to me. Such a powerful being, yet such a benevolent being too. His kindness knew no limits, nor did his power…
Lord Shadow opened his mouth…
"There was once a man and a woman…"
He started telling me a fairy tale I have never heard previously.
I… don't know how to respond, as he continued talking. I wanted to say something…
Not that I would… but… this is not what I expected.
As I listened, I couldn't help being absorbed… all he told me about. This fairy tale—this mere tale… I couldn't go against Lord Shadow, as he spoke. I was so absorbed, I didn't notice how much time had passed, how close I was, nor did I notice that he pretty much lulled me to sleep… I laid in the bed, as he caressed my head… Soothing my worries… tonight… maybe I'll be able to fall asleep, peacefully…
I, Cid Kagenou, was currently in my room, being used as a body pillow by my sister. I returned, according to Nee-san, three minutes late compared to yesterday. There's no clock in this world that can tell her information like that one (at least that you can carry), so she must've been counting mentally. Nee-san is a weird being, I tell you.
I think tonight I'll deal with her possession.
I hugged her, and my hand rested on her back. Slowly, as to not wake her up, I began working. I neutralized her magic, and noticed that hers too, like that of Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta reeled back to her blood vessel. Quite the nuisance. Mine is all around my body, not only in my blood vessel.
Now, while not dormant, its activity level has completely reduced, almost not even moving. I think that's more than enough.
I was going to continue, but I decided not to and change this to the next chapter. It'll be mostly magic. Obsession in Shadows does a great job expanding magic and how it works, and I'd like to do something similar.
Magic in The Eminence in Shadow is vague, and I'll have Cid try to explain it as much as he can through his understanding of the world while trying to combine science into it.
Artifacts are an interesting thing, but there are not really any explanations on what they are. All you know is that it does what it's meant to do. I'll try to expand on Artifacts next chapter, and if possible, make understanding how they're crafted, better.
Also, compared to most fanfics, I'm taking my time here. I want to develop Cid and the relationship he's building for the future. The sooner I build them, the better... it's my style, I guess.
CTN out~!