A/N: This chapter was supposed to be a bit longer, since I wanted to end it with the arc. So it might end up being 20K words, but without a lemon. I'll do that when the arc ends though. It's been a bit since, but I feel like they're better when there's some build up for it.
No better way to de-stress from the near destruction of a country than to try and create the future citizens, amiright?
In any case let's get into it.
Oh and P.S. I rewatched the anime recently since I got tired of rewatching the same YouTube videos (I recommend Lythero btw). Did anyone notice that during the Goddess Trial the previous year's winner was someone named Venom, and then the guy who cut off Epsilon's boobs was named Executioner Venom? I thought it was a neat detail with a lot of implications.
Leon Fou [now Rapha] Barfort: Renowned adventurer and current crown prince. / previously: Hiro (pre:isekai)—Lea of Bart's Fort (The true founder of Holfort and lover to the Saintess Ann and Mary)—JOU_MOU_ (someone who used to work in Luxion's facility.)
Angelica Rapha Redgrave: Daughter of Duke Redgrave and ex-fiancé to Julius/ Previously: Ann of Bart's Fort (aka Saintess Ann and lover of Lea of Bart's fort). / Also goes by Angie to close friends and loved ones.
Olivia: Commoner from the Kagenou Barony. / previously: Mary lover and companion to Ann and Lea. When they had returned from their adventures in ancient Midgar, all three had been attacked by the founding heirs as they all wanted Ann. To save Lea and Ann from such a fate, she teleported them away, and swapped bodies with Ann. / Is also known as Livia by her close friends and loved ones.
Cid Kagenou: fiancé to several famous elves but just a regular mob you'd find anywhere / previously: Minoru Kagenou boy from Earth that would be transported to the ancient times of the current before dying at the hands of his friends due to becoming demonically possessed out of grief. / Also dons the secret identity of "Lord Shadow." Leader and founder of The Shadow Garden. / Mundane Mann, a pathetic looking sword wielder that disappeared many years ago and has returned for the Bushin festival.
Alice [Kagenou: Cid's personal elf servant, lover, and childhood friend / previously: Beatrice (this is non canon, but all of Shadow Garden had identities before joining so I made a name up for her.) / Dons the secret identity of "Alpha" or "Lady Shade." Co-leader and second founder of The Shadow Garden, first of the Seven Shades. The name "Alpha" is only used by those in Shadow Garden.
Other Shadow Garden Members: All of the seven shades have secret identities. They see their Shadow Garden names as their true names and will use that in their own thoughts. But to everyone not in Shadow Garden that sees them as their secret identities will use those names.
Beta: Natsume Kafka, renowned writer.
Gamma: Luna of Mitsugoshi, owner of said store and many others, richest Woman in the world. Xianyun, Swordmaster of the fareastern kingdoms.
Delta: Sara, certified good girl.
Epsilon: Shiron, amazing musician known internationally.
Zeta: Zetan. Previously known as Lilim, named after the therianthrope hero, Lili.
Eta: Goes by Eta Lloyd Wright, renowned Architect.
Charlie: Known previously as Carla Fou Wayne.
Yankee: Known previously as Stephanie Fou Offrey
Foxtrot: Sherry's mother.
Aurora: Called Violet by Cid, and now camps out in his soul/brain. Known as the Witch of Calamity, and the Demon Diabolos.
Disclaimer: I don't own Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs nor The Eminence in Shadow. The only Beta reader here is the elf.
-Stephanie-
There were many things I expected to face when I joined what's effectively a cult for the forces of good.
"""Rock! Paper! Scissors!"""
Playing rock paper scissors all the time to decide who talks to the boss? The boss who is equal parts terrifying as she is adorable. Lazy as she is brilliant.
Yeah, no. Didn't expect it.
"Fuck!" I shouted as I realized that I lost.
…
Again.
Carla, or rather Charlie, and Foxtrot laugh at me. I know that they've rigged this game somehow. I just am not strong enough to prove it.
Thanks to Cid, or rather Lord Shadow (still can't believe they're the same person, even if I have the giant statue and Lady Delta's numerous paintings to remind me) I didn't actually have to train as rigorously as the other members. Unfortunately, this also means that I'm nowhere near as strong as the other members, or as quick.
"Hurry on now dear." Said Foxtrot.
I sigh and roll my eyes. The girls go back to doing their paperwork and cleaning up after our boss as I walk over to her lab to wake her up, since she fell asleep there last night.
"Bufu." I chant, creating a small ice block in my hand.
I open the door slowly. Not because I want to be quiet but because there's a bunch of stuff blocking the door. Lady Eta usually keeps her laboratory nice and orderly, but ever since she got that suit of armor from Lord Shadow, she's been studying it every chance she gets.
She has work to do for the organization, but she'll finish that quickly and then go back to working on studying the armor. Lord Shadow had helped her the first couple of days, but after he left she's essentially been on her own.
"Lady Eta~" I sing in a soft voice as I press the ice block to the elf with a face that looks like (-w-) as she's lying down on the floor of her laboratory.
"Stop it…" moaned out Lady Eta.
a/n: yamateyo doesn't exactly translate well.
I very quickly jump back as a large hand made out of slime emerges from the ground, grabs a large wrench that was a few inches from where I stood, and then defenestrates it.
You can only get thrown out a window so many times before you learn better.
"Mgremgm…" Lady Eta grumbles out something I feel would summon some kind of ancient god as she stretches and gets herself ready for the day… which is to say she immediately checks on what she had been working on before she passed out.
I look behind me, cup a hand to my mouth, and shouted, "Lady Eta's up!"
"wheh…?" grumbles Eta as Charlie and Foxtrot both storm in the room, wrap her up in a bag, and then carry her to the showers. She's going to fall asleep in the bag again, but trying to bathe her when she falls asleep the first time would result in immediate defenestration… on a good day.
I look to the experiments she had been working on.
…
Okay, nothing that looks like it's going to blow up. That's good. That means I basically just have to sit here and take notes on what this stuff does while she's busy.
Let's see…
The armor is still taken apart, but the arms and legs have been rebuilt again.
…
The torso was finally taken apart and seems to be in the process of being rebuilt… the chest section is a bit iffy though. I think that's why Lady Gamma's new outfit shows off the chest so much.
…
I wonder if Sherry would like it if I wore an outfit like that…
…
The helmet is still untouched. For whatever reason we haven't been able to do a thing about it. We even had Lady Delta swing it around for a little bit. Nothing.
…
The vial and petri dishes with the white stuff in it is fine. No idea what Lady Eta is doing with it, but I don't get any of the 'biology' Shadow Wisdom stuff anyway.
…
There's no way that's Lord Shadow's… stuff… right…?
Vrrr*
"Oh shit." I said to myself as the helmet began to glow. I stand up so fast that I knock my chair over and stumble backwards. I stumble so much that I walk into something soft.
"Ara." Said Foxtrot as she welcomed me into a hug that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, "What did you do now?"
"Nothing! I was just observing!" I shouted in protest.
"Mhm…" said Charlie with her arms crossed and a condescending look on her face, "Sure…"
I move to throttle Charlie and her stupidly cute face but find that we're being held aloft by slime hands.
"Woah!" I shout as I see the now bathed—and honestly pretty hot now that she's cleaned up—Lady Eta walk at a brisk pace through the lab and inspect the helmet.
Bzzt*
"Owie…" said Lady Eta as she took back her hand from the helmet.
"Um, Lady Eta?" said Foxtrot as one of the few people Lady Eta might bother listening to, "Is there something we can help with?"
Lady Eta doesn't say anything at first, but then she tosses us out while shouting, "One of you go get Master Shadow!"
So, after dusting ourselves off, we look at each other, shrug and that start heading for Midgar.
I think Sherry is supposed to be there right about now.
Giggle*
"I still don't approve" menacingly whispers Foxtrot as she does her best to form some human looking legs rather than the sludge she usually uses to kinda snail trail everywhere.
-Cid/Minoru/Shadow/Mundane-
It's the morning of the final few matches. My plan was essentially to just show up and have fun. I mean, I guess I do have to worry about when momma and pops show up, especially since Beatrix wants to meet them, but I don't really have to worry about anything.
"What about Rose? Aren't you worried about your friend?" asked Violet.
Eh, she's probably fine. With as much conviction as she had over her choices, I don't doubt she's going to see things through.
Violet nods happily, "I suppose you're right. It's a shame that we didn't get to do your plan of finding her in the church even though we went through the trouble of stealing that piano."
Yeah…
It would've been so damn cool…
Violet consoles me by running her hand through my hair, "There, there. I'm sure we can find some other princess to mess with… I mean make friends with."
Heh. I mean It's been a while since I've hung out with Alexia. She's a little annoying but it would be nice to talk to her again.
"She's also got a pretty nice ass." Said Violet.
"HELLO!?" I shouted in surprise, not expecting to hear that from a woman that never met Alexia.
I also opened my eyes for the first time this morning. I see a pair of blue eyes looking back at me, but it's neither of the pair I'm used to.
Minato, the slime child I could've sworn I got rid of, stares back at me.
I blink.
He blinks.
Violet. Please tell me that's you controlling it.
"…I was going to ask you…" whispered Violet.
"mmph…" grumbled my partner in everything, Alpha as she woke up later than me for once. I mean she's been breaking a lot of her usual habits now that I think about it. She says she's fine, so I'll believe her. She's pretty bad about lying to me after all.
My train of thought is interrupted by a hand poking my cheek.
I look very carefully and see Asana poking me much in the same fashion I do Alpha.
…
An Eminence in Shadow would not scream. Worst case I'll have to use an 'I AM ATOMIC'
"Cid…?" said Alpha as she got up from bed as though she was Eta, "What's going on? Your mana feels weird."
"Hey, so, weird question. But did you or Beta create the slime children again?" I asked as Alpha rubbed her eyes.
Alpha does her best to answer me, "No? It was a group effort so…"
Alpha opens her eyes fully. She sees the children. They wave. She waves.
"Cid please tell me I took a really long nap and gave birth to two beautiful children during." Said Alpha.
I felt a bit offended, "I wouldn't do that to you in your sleep!"
"Tsk."
I blinked, "Did you just click your tongue?"
"No." denied Alpha.
"She totally did." Said Violet.
I feel my face poked again. I look back to the slime children. Asana smiles at me. It's cute. I pat her on the head. Minato pulls at my sleeve. I pat his head too. Both of the children then turned back into the slime outfits they were.
Minato is my jacket, and Asana was made from Alpha's.
All is right with the world again.
Sniffle*
I turn to Alpha who's crying a little.
"Y-you could've let them stay a little longer…" said Alpha.
Ah… yeah that probably would've been a good call. I should apologize somehow.
"Sorry…" I said as I pulled Alpha into a hug, "I know it kinda sucks to see them go. Is there something I could do?"
"Leaving it up to her when you don't got a clue on what to do?" teased Violet.
Just business as always.
"I want… to make the children." Said Alpha.
I blinked and raised my hand towards the outfits. I mean I wasn't the one that sent them back, they did that on their own. So I figured I could bring them back easily enough. But then Alpha took my hand and placed it over her heart… which is to say that she made me dig into her cleavage.
"Oh. You meant like that," I said.
Alpha nodded, "Yes, like that."
Thankfully Mundane and Xianyun don't have their matches until the afternoon.
"And Claire's isn't until the night." Pointed out Violet.
Oh yeah, forgot about that. Thanks, that could have been a disaster. She's mellowed out a bit thanks to Leon but she's been a bit of a nightmare since the magical cancer backstory was made last week.
-Iris-
It's the last round of the preliminaries. As promised, I've been wearing a special edition of my outfit produced by Mitsugoshi. We managed to settle for a version that had an emblem of Mitsugoshi on my coat tails given that my hair would otherwise cover it up and wearing it on my chest seemed a bit indecent.
"It's strange to think that there's only three matches left." Mused Leon as he helped me get ready.
We're currently in the waiting room for the tournament as my match is coming up. My opponent being
Truthfully, I have a whole horde of maids trained to help me, and in fact did help me with the menial things such as my bath, hair, and preparing the outfit. But I rather enjoy how Leon fusses over my clothes. He did promise not to give me anything that would help me in the duels, so I imagine that the device he placed upon my lapel is meant to be a last resort just in case things go south.
I can't fault him for it, I know that if I had his resources, I'd use whatever I could to make sure he and Alexia would be safe. Even if they didn't want it.
"Three victories left; you mean." I corrected.
Leon smiles that boyish smile of his, laughing, "Wow! So sure of yourself, are you?"
"Oh?" I say with a calculated tilt of my chin, "and am I to assume you have your doubts?"
Leon shakes his head, "If this were a normal tournament, no. But something says that our shared concern may show up. He seems to have a thing for crashing duels."
I bark out a laugh, "Ha! Of all the tells a man could have!"
Leon joins in my laughter, and I feel myself grow red in the face at the thought that the most dangerous man in the world would just show up anytime we had an important duel like some kind of rat drawn to cheese.
-Gamma-
"Would you like another gourmet cheese, Mundane?" I asked as I plucked one off of our subordinates' trays. To my delight our disguises seem to work well as said subordinate, 279, doesn't recognize me or Cid. Perhaps I should try to disguise myself more often to see how my subordinates are operating in the stores when I or one of the other shades are not around?
But that will have to wait for later as we're currently watching Princess Iris face off against Quinton. Although it isn't advertised as a benefit to many of the participants, if you get far enough into the Bushin Festival you'll get the opportunity to watch other fights from the VIP area. Many don't take the chance, preferring to do so from somewhere closer, and otherwise finding the experience uncomfortable given how many nobles are here. However, I don't get many chances to experience the VIP treatment unless I prepared it beforehand. So, when Cid mentioned it'd be in character for us to watch at least one match as Xianyun and Mundane, I followed his lead.
As for the match itself, it's a fair fight, with Iris having to use her superior speed to make up for the difference in raw power. But thanks to her use of claymores as her preferred weapon, every swing she manages to land hits like a therianthrope would. Her skill with a blade is nothing to scoff at, but neither is Quinton's. However, as those in Shadow Garden know, speed matters more than strength will at the end of the day… not counting Delta who has both.
…Or Cid himself, who has all that and more.
"I hope you enjoy!" said 279 as she left with a trained bow.
While munching on several other cheeses already, Cid holds out his hand. Instead, I plop the cheese into his mouth. I watch in unique fascination as he squirrels it away. It's strange watching the man I love under the face of another, and equally frustrating that due to my own body technically belonging to another right now, we haven't flirted much. At least any more than our roles would allow.
"Oh my…" whispered one of the other people in the VIP seats.
To which their partner responded with, "How brazen…"
"…I want that…" whispered yet another.
"Are all women in the east so caring…?" whispered a man.
To which his companion would respond with "Maybe, but haven't you heard why the man and woman are participating in the first place? I'm not sure it's worth it."
Ah yes, the backstory here between Xianyun and Mundane being that Mundane is participating to prove himself worthy of Xianyun's hand in marriage. Something I thought was rather sweet at first, but apparently Cid had meant for us to duel at some point. Which I admit that if Beta had written a story in which the student in love with the master had surpassed her, then went on to finish a tournament with their master's techniques saying that their victory was dedicated to her…
Well, I would have this month's bestseller.
Unfortunately, it seems that unless we went to the finals, we wouldn't be able to have a match between Xianyun and Mundane. Something Cid said would be a little unfair. So, he requested that I take a dive. Maybe not this match, but next, just to drive up the stakes a little bit more.
"Miss Xianyun," called out the familiar voice of a certain black clad woman, "Is this your disciple?"
Cid and I both look to the right of us and see Princess Hertrude. She's accompanied by not only her guards from last time, but little Sherry as well.
"Mm." said Cid. Partially due to the cheeses, but also partially due to his grand plan.
"…It's nice to meet you!" said Sherry with a smile.
"…" Cid still says nothing but sticks out his hand. Sherry takes it and shakes. Cid attempts to exchange one with Hertrude as well but she takes a few seconds to respond, likely not used to touching commoner hands. However, when Hertrude does finally raise her hand Cid puts his away, with a response of, "Too slow."
I see Hertrude's eye twitch slightly at this.
Hiding a smirk I waived to my left, catching the attention of 279 once again.
"Hello, miss? My friend here seems to be a bit tired, could you perhaps bring some coffee for us to try?" I asked.
279 bows and races off in dignified fashion, returning within a minute.
"Coffee?" asked Hertrude, "And no need to pay?"
"Those in the VIP area receive things for free," I explained as I took off the glasses to clean. Placing them back as I continued, "Although even if they didn't, due to Mundane and I being sponsored by Mitsugoshi we would be able to spot you."
"Sponsored?" asked Sherry as she receives a cup, cutely sticks her tongue in, and balks at the taste. "So bitter…"
Cid takes a cup himself, then places some sugar and milk in, "You can change the flavor with these, here, like this."
Sherry follows Cid's instructions and finds herself pleasantly surprised. "Oh wow! Rudy, you need to try this!"
"Hmm…" Princess Hertrude hums a bit before moving Sherry onto her lap, something Sherry seems to be used to given how she allows herself to be picked up like a plush toy without any fuss, then takes the cup. "…Not bad."
Sherry's cowlick bounces up and down as she nods excitedly, "Right? And I can feel my languidness just disappear with every sip! We should try buying some before we leave."
At Sherry's comment, Cid lightly nudges my leg with his own, not looking at me or even opening his mouth yet managing to say a thousand things at once.
I see, this must be why I'm going to lose on purpose next match. Because I'm going to be busy as Luna rather than Xianyun. Xianyun's purpose was to create an opportunity for us to connect to the one nation we had been closed to before!
Sasuga Shadow-Sama!
"If you desire," I offer with a small smile befitting my current appearance, "I could introduce you to Lady Luna of Mitsugoshi."
"Oh? Could you?" said Princess Hertrude with some intrigue.
I nod, "Yes. As I mentioned earlier Mitsugoshi is sponsoring Mundane and I."
"What does said sponsorship entail? I'm afraid the version I am used to wouldn't apply in this instance." Said Princess Hertrude.
"We get free stuff in exchange for advertismenets." Explained Cid as he showed off his scarf which had the Mitsugoshi emblem on the end. While I showed off how it appeared on my legs and bottom of my shoes.
"Wait, how does it help Mitsugoshi if you have it on the bottom of your shoes?" questioned Sherry.
I smirk, "I suppose you haven't seen my last match?"
Sherry and Hertrude shook their heads.
I beckoned for Cid to help me demonstrate. He shrugged, and then laid down on the ground. I stood over him, and then raised my leg.
"…I suppose that's one way to get customers…" said Hertrude with a dark chuckle. Wiping a tear out of her eye while I helped Cid back up, she continued, "Well, I suppose I'll have to accept your offer. I can only see good things coming if Mitsugoshi were to interact with our kingdom more."
At this I can't help but raise a brow. As I know that I had attempted to set up stores in Fanoss at one point.
"Truly? They haven't contacted Fanoss?" I asked.
Princess Hertrude shook her head, "No, unfortunately not. I'm sure it would do wonders for our country to have such a center of economic flow, but they seemed to have ignored all of our letters offering some prime real estate."
Strange… Mitsugoshi hasn't received any such letters.
"Hm." Said Cid, catching all of our attention, "Out of curiosity who is in charge of receiving and sending correspondence?"
"That would be the head of our guard. Vandel Him Zenden. Nothing could possibly harm him, nor get past him after all." Boasted Hertrude.
But at this Cid chuckled.
"Are you laughing at me?" asked Hertrude indignantly.
Cid merely stood up and motioned held my hand to force me to follow. But as we left Cid left them with a few parting words of Shadow Wisdom.
"Princess Hertrude, Sherry Him Zenden. As my master gave her own warning to you, so to shall I." said Cid with such authority in his voice that it sounded close to Lord Shadow rather than Mundane Mann, "What's seen in the shadows is often misconstrued in the mind of a child. Do not use your memories alone to create all your decisions."
With that we left and prepared for our own matches.
-Leon-
As the four of us walk to the dock, Claire pouts at me. Livia and Angie just leave me to fend for myself.
"What?" I ask with a small chuckle.
"I thought you'd be at least a little nervous to meet my parents," grumbled Claire, "But I guess a Baron and Baroness are nothing compared to the big wigs you usually meet."
Ah, yeah. That's totally correct. Hell, one of my lovers is a Queen herself so I kinda don't feel intimidated by meeting Lord and Lady Kagenou again. Honestly, I don't think I'd be nervous to meet Livia's parents either. But they apparently approved of me since our first meeting, so I don't think I'd need to worry at all even if I didn't have my own status to back me up.
With a huff Claire crosses her arms and looks away, hitting me with her hair. I never stopped to think about it, but I think Claire has the longest hair out of all of my lovers. Most of them have their hair end around their shoulders or back, but Claire's goes all the way to her thighs when she wears it down. However, ever since that summer at the resort Claire noticed that I liked seeing her with it done up, and occasionally puts it into the ponytail for me…
God I sound like a scumbag saying that.
[Retreating into your own mind like a coward master?]
"What? No." I said a little too quickly. "I was just thinking about how to explain what's going on with Cid."
Livia and Angie both look at me questioningly.
"Oh? I thought that you gave Claire a really good explanation of what was going on the other day." Said Angie.
I scratch the back of my head, "I mean… I'm not exactly a doctor though."
Claire looks at me in a way that I think only Cid has seen before, at least from what he's told me. It's probably part of the reason that he's been avoiding us. The only way we've known he's fine is because Natsume told us when she brought Alexia back home after a girls' night out that turned violent.
"What." Said Claire.
I held up my hands in surrender, "I needed to say something to calm you down!" Claire put her hand on her twin swords. As she slowly unsheathed them, I panicked and started to speak very quickly, "It's not like I just made it all up! It was based on how I know healing magic and status effects work!"
"Explain." Demanded Claire.
Angie, who is so cool that sometimes I feel like I'm the wife, got Claire to stop, "Claire. I know that you're a little angry but perhaps this can wait until we talk with your parents. That way Leon won't have to repeat himself."
Claire nods reluctantly and sheathes her swords, but narrows her eyes at me, stating, "You're not getting away. I take the safety of my family very seriously."
Wow, so cool. I might swoon.
[Scum.]
"I didn't do anything!" I yelled to Luxion, causing Livia to giggle.
(Ah, the two with Claire's DNA are approaching.)
At this the four of us straighten up.
We're not wearing anything particularly impressive, but it's not like we switched to our school uniforms either. We actually changed into our adventuring gear. Claire wanted us to dress in full armor to show off, but Angie pointed out that we might scare her parents that way. Claire doubled down when she thought of that, but Angie and Livia said no.
A/N: I spent a couple of minutes looking for reference and trying to describe it myself. Maybe when I get the LN's but for now just look up the Mobuseka manga. Volume 8 where they go to the elf village, it's those outfits. Claire's wearing what she did during the tournament.
I saw the Kagenou parents walk up to us, accompanied by some employees from Mitsugoshi. But knowing what I do, I can't help but wonder if those employees are actually members of Mitsugoshi alone, or if they belong to the Shadow Garden as well.
Since I imagine Cid got his skittish nature from his father, at least based on how he described his dad, I decided to start the conversation.
"Lord Kagenou, Lady Kagenou! It's been a while, hasn't it?" I said with a smile, sticking out my hand in greetings. After all if bow they may feel the need to do so lower, and that doesn't seem nice.
The two smile in response at my greeting and shake my hand.
"It truly has, hasn't it?" said Lady Kagenou.
"Too long my boy, too long!" said Lord Kagenou. "Please, none of that lord and Lady stuff, it makes me feel much older than I am! Haha! Feel free to call us Pops and Momma like our own kids, after all you're marrying into the family!"
I can tell based on how he's currently trying to brown nose that he's exactly like how Cid and Claire described him.
"How about Mr. and Mrs. Kagenou? I feel I should treat you both with some respect after all." I said, feeling a little gross. I don't think Mr. Kagenou is a bad guy, per se, just very much a noble of his kingdom and station. And considering I'm the crown prince of a nation they sit on the border of, he's very much inclined to get on my good side.
However, we're here to discuss something else.
"Baron Kagenou," said Angie in her formal tone of voice forcing him and Mrs. Kagenou to straighten up stiffly, "I'd hate to bring down the mood, but we did call you here to talk about our friend and your son. Shall we head to the Partner to discuss this privately?"
"Oh? So soon? I thought Claire's match was coming up." Said Mr. Kagenou.
…You learned your son had a deadly disease and a prince wants to talk to you about it, and your first concern is a tournament match your daughter has…
Livia puts a hand on my shoulder, likely sensing my annoyance.
"Baldy" scoffed Claire, "My match isn't until tonight at 6:00. It's barely 12:00. The afternoon fights don't even start until 2:00. Didn't you compete in the Bushin festival before?"
Said man's bald head shines in the light of the midday as he contemplates his daughter's words… Actually, that's really bright, ow.
"Hey, maybe we should get moving out of this sun, yeah? It's pretty hot out today after all." I suggest.
"Of course," said Mrs. Kagenou as she looked(? It's hard to tell with how her eyes are closed) around, "Er, is Cid not here? I know he's good at hiding but I feel like he would've said something by now."
Angie answers as she guides the married couple to my ship, "Oh, we sent for him. I believe he said something about how Alice wasn't feeling well and to give him a bit before he showed up."
Right, Alice apparently ate some bad food from a stall and had been throwing up. Nearly forgot.
"In the meantime, I don't suppose you two are a fan of tea?" I asked as we walked.
Mrs. Kagenou nodded with a smile, "I wouldn't say not to some about now. I heard that tea time is a time honored tradition in Holfort, should I put my hopes up?"
"Oh! You definitely should! Leon's really good at making tea," Claire beamed as she walked in between her parents, before she paused to say, "Though I guess he probably should be considering its his only hobby."
Gah!
[Hah.]
I glare at Luxion out of the corner of my eye and he disappears from sight immediately, the little shit.
Sigh*
Whatever, I'll just do my best to entertain the couple for now.
-Cid-
You know, I don't think I could count the number of times I was hugged by both of my parents with one hand. Because I don't think I've gotten more than a pat on the head when I was younger.
"Minoru…" said Violet sadly.
Meh, it's more convenient for me that they ignored me all the time. I mean, I barely even had maids visit my room after I was old enough to change myself. That's what let me sneak out at night all the time.
And hey! Look at it this way, if they didn't ignore me all the time, I wouldn't have met Alpha and started Shadow Garden. So, it's all for the best that I have extremely neglectful parents.
Violet crossed her arms, and I feel as though she's looking me dead in the eyes as she said these next few words, "Big words for someone that's hugging them back pretty hard."
I'm just playing a role. Honestly, I think they both stink—especially pops—and would like to end this hug pretty soon.
"Fufu~ wow, you really do sound like a teenager in the middle of a rebellious phase. Fufufu" giggled Violet.
…Shut up.
As Violet began to laugh hysterically in my mind Claire got my parents to separate from me…
Only to hug me herself. I look to Alpha for help, only to see her snacking on something. She waves at me. I look to Gamma next, as she joined me considering the fact we were watching Iris' match together, only to see her talking to Beatrix who also had joined us considering she was worried about my affliction.
Now the reason that everyone is hugging me in the first place is because of how Leon had theorized my version of magical overload worked.
According to him, my habit of zoning out (read: planning my super awesome shadow broker moves) comes from me needing to constantly channel my mana. This is also why I kinda just let Alpha do whatever to me, because I need to focus almost everything on recovering. And on top of that, it's also the reason why I can't go any further than I have when it comes to my potential as a dark knight.
I'll admit, having magic cancer be the answer to everything seems a bit of a cop out, but it's been pretty complicated lately, so it works for now. Plus it's all a lie that I'm going to explain away by being Lord Shadow at some point… like, I don't know when, but maybe after the resolution of a story to help set up the next one.
"Would you still be Lord Shadow then? Or would you throw him away?" asked Violet, before stopping and with a serious tone of voice asked, "Would you throw away The Shadow Garden, and their battle with The Cult?"
…
…
…
"Cid?" asked Alpha
"Huh?"
"Are you okay man?" asked Leon, getting closer to me and trying to see if I have anything wrong.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
(Scans don't show he was using mana.)
"I mean, I just zone out sometimes. It's not always that serious."
Claire walks up to me but doesn't touch me, "Hey… uh, I didn't hug you too hard, did I? I'm sorry, it's just how I show affection. You know?"
"I'm fine, you do it all the time. It's part of the reason I'm so good at healing myself."
Claire flinches a bit at this.
Momma walks up to me, and opens her eyes for one of the few times ever since I've known her.
"Cid… I know we've been largely hands off when it comes to raising you. But you know you can talk to us, right?" said Momma.
"Of course, but I'm fine. Besides I have my fiancés."
Momma flinches at this. But she continues, "I… I know that. They're all great. I love how ever since you found her Alice has been there for you. But… there were those years before the academy."
Alpha and Gamma look away.
"They needed to set up their business. It was for me."
"I.. I know. But I just… I just want you to know that if you want, you can come back home at any point." Said the woman.
Alpha and Gamma look back over here. I see Leon get up to get more tea, Angelica joins him by picking up the tray of cups, and Olivia starts doing the stretchy thing she does with her hand whenever she gets ready to heal a lot.
"What are you saying?"
Baldy steps up next, "Well I mean, maybe it'd be safer if you came back home. It's not like you ever really had a future as a dark knight. And this Mitsugoshi business is probably too stressful of an environment considering all the stuff running a business entails."
"I'm sorry?"
The woman with closed eyes tries to get close to me, "No we're sorry. We should've noticed so much sooner."
"Wait. No. I'm fine. Seriously, I'm fine."
"You don't sound fine, son." Said Baldy.
"And how the fuck would you know that."
I hear all the women in the room gasp, but I can't bring myself to care.
"You're my son! Of course I'd kn-"
"I'm the son you never paid any attention to."
"Cid! That is no way to speak to-"
"Why should I care? You never did!"
The woman with closed eyes doesn't look away.
"Why does it take learning about me being sick for you to look at me?!"
"We doted on you when Claire and Alice left didn't we!" shouted the woman.
"Because everyone expected you to! As soon as no one was watching I was able to sneak out all the time! Leon paid more attention to me and I was only able to speak to him every couple of months through letters!"
"Now that's not true!" shouted Baldy.
"Yeah?! How about you name one time you did anything for me!"
"I was the one who taught you how to use a sword boy!"
"I gave birth to you!"
"Did you now!? So I have to thank you for doing the absolute bare minimum and nothing else!"
Baldy slams his hands on the table and stands up, "THAT'S IT! YOU ARE COMING HOME WITH US! CLEARLY YOU WERE NOT SUITED FOR LIFE AT THE ACADEMY IF THIS IS WHAT YOU ENDED UP LIKE!"
"THE FUCK I AM! I'M AN ADULT! I CAN MAKE MY OWN CHOICES!"
The woman with closed eyes tries to hold Baldy, "W-wait let's calm down a bit."
Baldy shoves her off and grabs me by collar, "An adult would not talk like that to his own parents!"
"Yeah? Then how come I don't know my grandma and grandpa for either side of my family!"
Baldy raises his hand in anger.
"I think you should stop."
But before he can swing it it's caught by Beatrix. Claire manages to pry Baldy's hand off of me and the woman with closed eyes drags Baldy a few feet away from me.
I see Leon and Angelica rush back in. Apparently they did get tea.
"H-hey…" weakly cries out Olivia, Saintess Staff in hand, "maybe we should all drink some tea and calm down again."
"I think maybe I should just leave. Thanks for trying to help Leon but-"
"Where are you going?" asked the woman with closed eyes.
"Oh so now you care?"
"Don't turn this on us, you were the one who snuck out!" shouted Baldy.
"Whatever, Baldy."
Baldy stood back up and Beatrix started to unsheathe her sword, however the oblivious fuck didn't notice and kept going like the world would just bend to his actions, "I will not tolerate such talk from my own child. As my son-"
"I'm not your son."
…
…
…
"What?" said Baldy.
"You heard me."
The woman with closed eyes gets mad and opens her mouth to say something stupid, "Cid. Kagenou."
"Isn't my name anymore. You're not my parents. You're not my family. You don't get to decide anything for me. As far as you should be concerned, Cid Kagenou died today."
The room fills with silence.
No one says anything, but all for different reasons.
Angelica and Olivia look shocked and concerned, like they just witness some get stabbed.
Claire looks like she was just stabbed herself.
Baldy's jaw dropped open, and his face has gone pale.
The woman's eyes have opened again, but they're starting to fill with tears.
Alpha and Gamma have walked over to me, concerned, angry, and a mix of other emotions. But I can tell they're on my side.
Beatrix stand between me and the adults.
Leon, good old Leon. He reaches out to me. He touches my shoulder and asked, "D-do you need to take a moment outside?"
"I'M FINE!"
-Alpha-
As Cid… or I suppose I should stick to Lord Shadow for now.
As Lord Shadow shouts with magic coursing along his voice, much like how it does when he releases his unique spell, the Partner shakes, several pieces of glass, including a window break.
As for Lord Shadow himself…
I've never seen him like this.
I never, ever, had wanted to see him like this.
His face is flush, red with anger, and… I don't know if he noticed. I don't know if this is an act. I really don't.
But…
His face has tears streaming down it.
Cid—Lord Shadow, has always been really good at putting up an act. So I have to hope this is one.
…
But if it's not, then of course I will be there for him.
"Shit, Cid!" shouted Leon.
I look away from Lord Shadow's face and see that something he would normally never let happen occurs. His slime suit is melting. Wait so why is everyone…
OH!
They think that's his body!
Cid notices as well, and then begins to fix the suit. However, I think that we should honor his wish of wanting to leave at this point.
Thinking quickly, I turn and shout "Auntie, help me carry him home!"
Beatrix doesn't even hesitate to grab Lord Shadow, hoist him over her shoulder, and begin to sprint.
I turned to Leon and his fiancés. "Thank you for trying to help. I know that he appreciates it as well. But I think that maybe we should leave things as they are for now."
Gamma turns to the two 'adults' and speaks with a tone of voice I didn't know she had, "I expected better from the people that gave birth to the man I love."
We both leave right after. I hold Gamma's hand for support that Lord Shadow can only offer in due time. Though I hope he knows that whatever decision he has made towards his family I will back without hesitation. Whatever that may entail.
But for now, everything has left me overwhelmed.
And I feel the need to throw up again.
-Leon-
After cleaning up the room, letting the Kagenou's take some rooms on my ship, and helping Claire cry herself to sleep, I decided I needed a drink.
So, I deployed a tactical Livia substitution and made my way to the canteen area of the ship and pull myself up to a stool.
[I wouldn't recommend doing that.]
"Why not?" I asked as the robot in charge of the bar gave me a menu to choose from.
[Because we have another visitor.]
As I look for something strong that will just knock me out for the rest of the day, I ask "Yeah? Who?"
[Princess Rose of Oriana.]
…*Sigh*
I give the menu back to the robot, despite feeling like I need an even bigger and stronger drink now.
"She at the docks?" I asked as I exited the room and grabbed my sword from a robot that brought it to me.
[No. She managed to leap to the top of the ship.]
…
[Something wrong master?]
"I'm just thinking this is going to be one of those days. And that my life has been completely chock full of 'those days'." I say with a plastered-on smile, "Are any of the girls awake and aware?"
(Deirdre and Clarice are out at Mitsugoshi currently. They went to destress as Deirdre is still a little frazzled from her match and wanted to eat some ice cream. However, I think right now they're trying to see if Cid is alright. The Mitsugoshi employees won't tell them anything though.)
I nod at this.
"What about Iris?" I asked.
[I figured that it'd be best to not bring this information to her yet. As it may cause an international incident if things go wrong.]
I narrow my eyes, "Wouldn't it cause an international event if I get involved?"
[That's never stopped you before.]
…I decided to keep walking.
"What about Angie? She's asleep, but I don't want to go back on my promise of keeping the girls informed." I said.
[I'll make sure to wake her now. But for what it's worth, I do not believe Princess Rose of Oriana means anyone here any harm.]
I nod again.
Eventually I reach the top of the ship and am greeted by the afternoon sky. Honestly, I'm a bit surprised that Rose would've made her way here at this point in time, but I guess that for her, no time would've been ideal for a meeting.
"Rose." I greeted, "What brings you here?"
Rose smiles sadly, "I apologize for interrupting what must be time you were spending with loved ones, but I need to ask for a favor. From one ruler of a nation to another."
Oh… I wonder what it means that I'd rather deal with this than the stuff Cid was going through.
I open the door behind me and gesture for Rose to follow. With a determined look befitting of a future ruler of a nation, Rose walks in. I can only imagine what kind of talk we're going to have one on one. Surely it'd have to deal with the future of our nations, especially considering what Rose has been going through this month. No matter the case, since I decided to become the crown prince it's my responsibility to have these kind of talks.
[Master, Mistress Angelica has been woken up and sent to the board room.]
Oh thank god.
-Angelica-
The delicacies of interpersonal relationships is something I've never been trained in. Honestly, it's not something I think I could be trained in; although I'd argue that somehow Livia and my Leon were trained in the art of making friends given how easy it comes for them.
What's more, witnessing family drama is something I've never done before. Even worse, it was drama of a family for a friend. I'm not particularly close to Cid myself, I just know him as my Leon and Livia's old friend.
Which is to say that a sentiment that both my Leon and I share right now is that we're both glad to be dealing with this talk about the future of the world at large instead of whatever Cid has going on right now.
I'll just hope he manages to work through things and back Leon up if he decides to help.
For now, let's talk to Rose.
"Rose." I state to catch her attention before continuing, "You said that you needed our help?"
Rose nods, putting down the tea that Leon served out of habit.
"Yes… I apologize for having to bring you into this, but when it comes to the safety of my nation, I'll do anything." Declared Rose in such a way that I can't help but smile at it.
If only we had more leaders like her. I'm sure the world would be as Lea and Anne imagined it.
"As our friend, we'd be glad to at least hear you out at first." I said.
Rose nodded.
"Well, I suppose this may be a bit much," said Rose, "But I've learned that my father's entire cabinet is full of corruption. This isn't just my 'fiancé' Doem. Every single member has played a role in drugging my father and likely further corruption while I have been away. There's lots of work to be done, but I know this. We need to cure my father and get rid of Doem."
A good start as any. But to think the entirety of a cabinet is full of corruption… Father told me that for as much as our country fails, it at least has the benefit that most of our high nobility are smart enough to not be too greedy. The only faction we have to look out for is that of the Framptons and older nobility.
Leon adopts a complicated look.
"Rose…" said Leon cautiously, "Do you know of the substance that your father has been drugged with?"
Rose shook her head. So Leon looked to Lux-kun and his wife Cleare to explain.
(The substance that has been used to control your father is a rather nasty sort. I'm afraid that even if we do cure your father of the drug's effect, he wouldn't have much more than a year to live.)
Rose nodded, "Yes. I suspected as much. In fact, my first idea was simply to kill my father to spare him of the pain. But after getting to know you all I know that there is much I have to learn about running a kingdom, and I can only learn that from him. I'll admit that he was never a particularly good king, and that might be due to Oriana's current corruption, but no one knows better the ins and outs of the kingdom."
"I see." I said in contemplation, "I suppose that's as good as a start as any."
"Iris and I already made sure that the King has to show up for some of the matches as well." Pointed out Leon. "We'll have plenty of opportunities to do this."
Rose shakes her head, "No. We only have one. And we need it to be perfect."
"Oh? Do you already have an idea in mind?" I asked.
"Yes. Doem had threatened that he'd make my father kill another dignitary during the finals if I didn't show back up to marry him. Which means that during the finals both Doem and my father will be present." Stated Rose.
Leon catches on quickly, "So we'll have to strike before then. They'll likely be suspecting it, but the fact is they have to show up at least during the semi-finals and finals. That means we have to do this during the semi-finals before they're ready for you."
All three of us smile at this. From there we went on to talk about the finer details for about an hour. Namely the places that Rose could hide, when she could come during the semi-finals, and what she could do to prepare in the meantime.
"Okay." Said Rose as she exhaled a sigh of relief, "Thank you. I feel as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders."
"Of course. Now, I think the midday matches start in about 30 minutes, so we're going to go to the VIP area to watch. Is there anything you need before we go?" asked Leon.
Rose thought for a moment, then began to poke her fingers together shyly. But I know that I don't have to be worried about what she's going to say next.
"Er… could… could you arrange a meeting between Cid, Alice, and I?" asked Rose shyly. "I'd like to speak to them both one last time just in case things don't work out."
…On second thought, maybe I should've been a little worried.
-Minoru/Shadow/Mundane-
Man…
That was one of my best performances yet! Sucks that Violet went to sleep halfway through though… I think.
She probably thought it was real or something and felt awkward.
But like I've said countless times, that relationship I have with those two is exactly what I needed for my goals, so I needed to keep distance between both of us. I call that last maneuver- the side character's super duper hidden technique: teenage resentment!
"You cannot be fucking serious."
Violet! You're back already?
Nothing answers back to me.
I guess she was just sleep talking.
In any case it's a few minutes before my match so I have to get my body doubles ready. I did manage to send a letter to Eta at one point so she gave me a few tips on how she made her slime clones, and Epsilon gave me some tips on how to make the things look life like, especially the fleshy bits.
So, I made one for me, and one for Gamma. Thankfully I've been near Gamma quite a bit and been having sex with her whenever we got home, so I have plenty of information on how her body looks like. I then equip the slime double with dress she usually wears as Luna. Next, I should create my double. I can do most of it pretty well, but I need help when it comes to the face.
I walk over to the bathroom and knock on the door. "Alpha… are you feeling any better?"
She's been throwing up a lot lately. Like I think it's because of that weird food she's been eating, like pickles with peanut butter. And when she's not eating tons of weird stuff she just eats loads of normal food. Like I think I saw her eat through about 20 tuna king burgers. Which I can do, but that's because I have a super-fast metabolism thanks to my constant training—physical and magical.
"I'm… I've been better… but I'll be alright…!" called out Alpha.
I feel a little bad honestly, so I offer "Hey, do you want me to heal you?"
A moment of silence follows.
Only for Beatrix to break it, "I forgot that was an option."
"Me too." Said Alpha before she walked out and opened her arms, "Please, heal me."
I take out some mana and do my best to focus on Alpha's stomach and throat.
Weird, do elves have two stomachs?
Anyway, I do my best to control the hormones that seem to be upsetting Alpha and making her nauseous.
"That feels better…" said Alpha with a sigh of relief, "I can't believe I didn't think to ask for this earlier."
I smiled, "Hey, anytime. Besides I need your help too."
Alpha perks up at this and I gesture behind me to the slime doubles. At about the same time, Gamma walks back in, having left earlier to get Alpha some new clothes since she dirtied her earlier ones.
"Oh wow," marveled Gamma as she placed the clothes on a nearby table, "They look so life like! As expected of you…"
Gamma pauses.
Oh right, my earlier outburst said I wouldn't go under the name Cid Kagenou anymore. And with Beatrix here, I can't just break character and let them start calling me Lord Shadow… well they can if they want, but I won't start it, doesn't seem cool to just reveal it myself for no reason.
But since we're together I just smile and suggest, "How about 'darling'?"
Alpha and Gamma's ears wiggle in happiness at this. Cute.
"Well, darling~," croons Alpha as she walks next to me, "how about we put the finishing touches?"
I nodded and take both Alpha and Gamma's hands, raising them towards the replicas and added a few finishing touches to the replicas.
"I guess that's my cue?" asked Violet. I felt her leave from me to the replicas, which kinda felt like a warm jacket on my body was taken off. Then I see the replica's eyes briefly flash with a purple color before beginning to move.
"Woah…" said Cid (Violet)… V!Cid, marveling at his ability to move around.
"This is a little more difficult than I thought…" said V!Luna as she tried to walk in her high heels.
Beatrix walked up to us as we watched Violet move the bodies around, "Pardon, but what was controlling these body doubles again?"
Oh right…
Uh random bullshit go!
"My… familiar! Like Luxion, y'know?" I said with full confidence, after thinking of the first thing that came to mind on the topic of something that could control multiple things at once. "Her name's Violet. She lives in the bracelet I found on an adventure."
Beatrix seems to accept this, which makes me wonder if this is a thing she's encountered in the past, especially since she's over a century old if I recall. I should ask her to tell me some stories sometime.
V! Cid then came up to me, "So what's the plan boss?"
"You and replica Luna will go with Alice to the VIP area. Hopefully there you can pay attention to the matches and just generally cement us as part of the higher crowd. Maybe listen in on anything that could give us new business ideas." I said before leaning in, "But most importantly, make sure that you watch Claire's match. After everything today she'd probably go back to her clingy nature if we didn't do at least that much."
V! Cid and V! Luna saluted this and start to walk outside. Well, V! Luna tries at first. But I think maybe the heels Gamma wears are just hard to walk in even without her natural clumsiness.
"Just carry her, everyone knows Luna and I are together." I said. So, V! Cid starts to bridal carry V! Luna. Alice bows to me and follows them out.
"Since Alice is going, I will be going as well. I was invited anyway. Besides I'm worried about how sick she's been recently." Said Beatrix as she follows after.
As soon as they're out of ear shot, I turn to Gamma, "Okay, let's get ready."
-Gamma-
Of all the people to face…
I hear the announcer announce the match up briefly "AND NOW ANNEROSE VERSUS XIANUN! FIGHT!"
I guess losing to someone declared an actual sword master is the least insulting.
"I look forward to facing off against the woman who trained that strange man." Said Annerose as she began to get ready, "A shame that you're not at your prime."
I only put away my glasses and take out my own sword. It's much smaller than my usual one, but it's of the same build. A single edge blade, a katana.
I take my own stance, one meant for guarding. I still have my clumsy legs but as long as I don't move I'll be fine. It's how I've gotten through each match so far. I think that Annerose should be fast enough to go through my defenses… well at least she'd look like she could.
She shows this by immediately charging towards me, only for me to block the strike. She smiles as though she expected this and keeps up her assault and aims for my legs.
It's pathetically slow compared to what I've seen Alpha accomplish, but it's exactly the speed Xianyun would struggle blocking. So, I carefully make it look like I can barely block, causing Annerose to hit my blade once more. The force from this strike forces me to stagger backwards.
Take the hint, Annerose.
"So this is why you're retired." Remarks Annerose quietly, I don't think in any other circumstances someone could have heard her, but I did and find myself slightly annoyed. Even if I'm clumsy that doesn't mean I'm weak!
"Swish" I state as I swing my sword from the bottom up, causing a large part of the arena to fly up and nearly hit Annerose. Luckily my little tantrum doesn't do much to her, as she cuts through the flying terrain.
She does shake her hands after. I suppose it would hurt most people's hands doing that. I send another swish through the air, and Annerose rolls to dodge it before using her momentum to jump and thrust her sword where I was. I try to spin around to hit her while she's open but trip over my legs and have to roll on the ground dodging her swipes.
After 30 seconds I get tired of this and attempt to sweep her legs, but due to my clumsiness in my legs I just end up kicking up a bunch of dirt. This does get Annerose to back off, and give me the opportunity to stand back up.
As soon as I do, Annerose charges in once more, and does her best to keep swiping and not stop at all. I can block all of her strikes perfectly, but my legs still need to find their footing whenever I find myself pushed back by the sheer force of her strikes. Eventually I trip over my legs.
And Annerose doesn't miss this opportunity.
"Ow!" I yelled in pain after Annerose hit me on the head. I think in any other case Annerose would've cut it in half. But in my case, all it does is hurt a little bit.
Annerose seems to get out of whatever mood she was in and starts apologizing, "Ohmigosh I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hit you on the head like that! I just got so into it and-"
I hold up a hand and lie down, "Ugh. It's fine. I concede."
"What?" said Annerose.
I take in a deep breath and yell, "I CONDEDE!"
The announcer hears this and yells "ANNEROSE WINS!"
Annerose is polite enough to help me up, and I'm greeted by Mundane smiling at me from the warrior's entrance. And in the crowd, I see Hertrude and Sherry.
I better hurry back to Mitsugoshi, we have a meeting scheduled for tonight.
-Mundane/Minoru/Shadow-
You know? I did was feeling like fighting a dumbass today.
"EX-CROWN PRINCE JULIUS OF HOLFORT VS. MUNDANE MANN!"
"I've seen some of your matches." Declared Julius as though anyone could hear him from his place way across the stadium, "I have to say I'm impressed. But I'm afraid that if speed is all you have to offer then you won't be going any further."
"Is that so?" I said, using magic to carry my voice, since that's the only way my low tone would carry over, "And what sets you apart from the rest?"
Julius chuckles as he assumes his stance, "Because like you, I am also fighting for the woman I love."
Julius looks briefly to the crowd where I see Marie holding some slips used to be on people with Green and Purple. Oh and that little Elf boy I think Yumeria is related to. Speaking of, where has Yumeria been again? I know we haven't sent her to Leon yet.
Oh well I can figure it out later.
I ready myself. Although I don't think I need to. See, Julius is as about as strong as he is dumb. And damn is he a dumbass. Which means that he's actually about as strong as Deirdre was when she hit me with a debilitate and enhanced herself with a heat riser spell.
As a result, as soon as I took out my sword, Julius stood still.
I don't know exactly what was going on earlier with Deirdre, but from what Leon briefly told me she saw visions of what I could do. Like cutting off her limbs and head. Which Julius must be seeing now.
He dodges to the left, leaving his arms open.
He tucks in his arm, which would easily let me cut his side.
He stands so that his side is facing me, but that would let me cut off his leg.
He moves his sword to cover his leg, which leave his head open.
He stand still.
But then, he takes in a deep breath. And instead of screaming in despair and horror like Deirdre was, he roars with determination.
"I WON'T FALL HERE!" shouts Julius to the heavens. Which is only fitting considering that just like with his armor during would—according to Leon—Julius is bathed in blue fire that takes the shape of angel wings.
I have to admit, that's sick as fuck.
Just for that, I'll kick your ass in a way that looks dignified unlike everyone else.
-Violet-
Oh wow… that's actually a little impressive.
"Amazing…" remarked Princess Iris.
"It's all thanks to my Leon's training." Bragged Mary's reincarnation.
Then a man who reminded me of the Baldy and other 11 creeps that held me hostage chimes in, "Truly? His highness Leon is the person behind Julius' strength."
I tap Olivier's reincarnation on the shoulder with Minoru's body, and ask with a whisper, "Who is that again?"
Alpha whispers back, "Doem Ketsuhat. Rose Oriana's fiancé."
"But he's so old." I whisper as Minoru.
"I know it's pretty gross." Said Mary's reincarnation, as she's sitting right next to Olivier's reincarnation.
I'm also pretty sure that the old creep in question can hear us, given how his eye twitches, but he doesn't let it show.
"Ah, I can see a few confused glances." Said Doem, "I'm Doem Ketsuhat. Royal Chancellor of Oriana. You must be Lady Luna of Mitsugoshi and her husband to be Cid Kagenou."
I focus on Luna's body, sort of feeling as though I'm switching from speaking through one sock puppet to another as I do.
"Yes, that would be correct. Apologies, but I would like to focus on the warrior I had chosen to sponsor." I said with Sarasa's Reincarnation's replica… Hm. Now that's a mouthful.
"You chose to sponsor Prince Julius?" questioned Doem.
I shook Sarasa's head, "No. Mundane Mann. I sympathized with his cause and was moved by his strength."
"Ah, I suppose it was a rather romantic notion." Said Doem with a chuckle, "But if romance was all it took to win then I might as well participate too. Why, were it not for the small fight we're having I'd be flirting with my fiancé as we watched the match together."
Ew. Rouge's reincarnation is barely 19. You're what, 30? Gross.
I don't le that show on either face though, and simply return to watching the match. Minoru is giving Julian's reincarnation a bit of a run around. Constantly dodging all of his attacks, meeting each strike with his own, and causing Julius to not gain any ground, despite the fact they're moving from their positions.
I'd wager that most people wouldn't be able to track how their arms are even moving if it weren't for the fire on Julian's reincarnation's arms.
"For someone trained by the prince who could fell a monster army with a single armor, Julius doesn't seem very strong." Remarked Doem, causing Mary's reincarnation to pout and get ready to defend Lea's reincarnation's teachings.
However, Iris shook her head and responded first, "It's not that Julius is weak. It's that Mundane is strong. Extremely so."
We look back to the match.
It looks as though Julian's reincarnation finally managed to hit a blow, only for the image to fade and Minoru to appear behind him, kicking him away. Julina's reincarnation stabs his sword into the ground and swings on it to channel the momentum into a big swing.
But Minoru parries the strike, and ends the match with a single powerful blow that sends Julian's reincarnation into the ground so roughly that it creates cracks all over the arena.
For what it's worth, Julian's reincarnation does try to stand back up, but has to admit defeat when Minoru levels a sword at his throat.
"Well," remarked Mary's reincarnation, "I might not like him, but I can acknowledge at least that Julius lasted a lot longer than Deirdre did against Mundane."
Oh right, the girl that was strong enough to detect how much danger she was in against Minoru. I hope she's alright, she's a pretty decent friend.
Olivier's reincarnation stands up, so I take the cue to join her.
"Oh? Leaving already? I had hoped to have a discussion on a potential store for Oriana." Said Doem.
Using Sarasa's body I replied, "Apologies, but I'm afraid that Fanoss has already made an appointment for that today, you'll have to wait for another day."
With that we left. As far as things go, it's been pretty easy to control this body. I mean, I'm one bad injury away from melting, but otherwise I'm fine. Thankfully Claire doesn't have any matches until later, should she still feel like attending given how she was crying earlier.
But that's Minoru's problem, really.
-Minoru/Shadow/Mundane-
After walking past Marie complaining about how she only managed to break even on her bets thanks to Kyle betting on me, I made my way to my dorms alongside Alpha. Beatrix offered to stay for a bit, but we requested privacy. I expected the day to end pretty peacefully, just need to get some dinner, watch Claire's fight, then start the semi-finals tomorrow and the finals next week.
I think the gap in between dates was to make sure the finals were as exciting as possible. It'd suck if people just lost due to too many injuries on the day everyone really looks forward to.
Well, not like any of that matters right now. I decided to make a quick run out of the kingdom to pick up some stuff I could use for upset stomachs. I don't know what's going on with Alpha but I don't think she's ever gotten sick before.
"Aw~ It's so cute seeing you so upset." Cooed Violet.
I'm not upset. Just a little worried. I mean she's been throwing up a lot for the past two weeks.
"Didn't you say she was eating weird things?" noted Violet.
Yeah. Either that or lots of stuff.
"Strange. That doesn't sound like her." Said Violet.
Right? Plus she's been waking up super late too. She never does that! Even if she spent the entire night trying to have my children.
…
…
There's some connection I can make here…
"Cid." Called out a voice just in time to distract me.
I look over and see a woman underneath a cloak. Oh, it's her.
"I suppose I shouldn't say your name out loud right now?" I teased.
Rose laughs behind her hand, "Nor I you, correct?"
Ah, she must've heard about what happened from someone. I laugh too, and welcome Rose into my office in Mitsugoshi. Some girls brought us drinks and snacks, so I kinda felt more like I invited a friend over to play than anything serious.
"So, what should I call you?" asked Rose after eating some snacks.
I lean back in my chair, thinking about it for a second, "I don't really have a name in mind right now. 'hey you' or 'dude' or 'friend' would work for now, I guess."
Rose nods, then takes off her cloak and looks me dead in the eyes with a smile. "How about 'Lord Shadow'?"
"Please don't kill her. She's too nice." Begged Violet for some reason.
Huh? Why would I? I think she's cool.
I turned to Rose, "Figured it out did you?"
Rose shook her head, "No, I was told."
Ah one of the girls must have done so.
But before I can question it, Rose speaks up with some words I've always wanted to hear, "Shadow… can I… join in on your Shadow Broker Games?"
I scanned Rose's face. Searching for any hint of a lie or a 'just kidding' or a 'you really believed that' or a-
"I'd ask if you're okay, but I know you'd lie to me." Said Violet, running her hand through my hair.
In any case. I don't see any lie in Rose's eyes.
Right.
She's always been too honest of a person to lie like that. She might get bored of playing at some point, or maybe her princess duties will get in the way, but for now, I see no reason to turn her down.
"Sure!" I say with a small smile.
"Don't lie, you're beaming." Teased Violet.
I take Rose's hand and lead her to where the girls are. On the way we even ran into Yumeria who was sweeping the garden with a cat on top of her head for some reason. I had her join us since we never really told her what to do other than work for us for a salary.
"Hey Alpha, Gamma, I have a new member I want to introduce you guys to!" I called out into our shared bedroom.
Alpha who was lying down on Gamma's lap sits up and sees Rose.
"…Her?" she asked.
I nod, "Yup she asked if she can join and since she's cool I figured why not. You mind helping me fill out the paperwork and stuff?"
Alpha nods before lying back down on Gamma's thighs.
"In a bit, I still feel a bit nauseous." Said Alpha.
"Oh, right. I brought some stuff to make medicine. You said Eta's assistants were here right?" I said.
Alpha nodded and pointed to the door. I was going to take Rose with me, but since Yumeria was right behind me I had to wait for her to move.
I guess Yumeria's motherly instincts activated because she walked over to Alpha and started to fuss over her.
"Oh my, are you alright Miss Alpha?" asked Yumeria as she felt Alpha's forehead, "You don't seem to have a fever or anything."
Alpha smiles, pets the cat on Yumeria's head, and replies, "I've just felt a bit sick in the mornings lately. Plus after the events of today I felt a little stressed."
Yumeria adopts a complicated look before asking a few more questions, "How long has this been happening?"
"…Since this month?" replied Alpha a little confused.
"Wait," I said, "You've felt sick this entire month? Why didn't you say anything?"
"I… I didn't want to bother you…" said Alpha a little dejected.
Yumeria looks at me, then Alpha, then me again.
She then tugs at my sleeve and asks me to lean down. When I do Yumeria whispers to me, "Um… do you and Miss Alpha… have you… have you been trying for a baby?"
"Well yeah," I answered, "Why…"
…
…
"Didn't you say you felt two stomachs in her earlier?" mentioned Violet.
I nod slowly and walk over to Alpha.
"Darling?" asked Alpha.
I place my hand over her womb. And I scan using mana like I do whenever I look for injuries or abnormalities.
And…
It's faint.
Honestly I can barely feel it.
But there's…
There's something.
I can't quite call it an actual stomach, but it's functioning like one.
There's no heart exactly.
This can't be anymore than 5 weeks old.
But it's there.
"Darling?" called out Alpha.
I grab her shoulders and state with what time I have left, "I want you to know that I will support you as best I can. Deadbeat dads aren't cool. But for now, I shall react appropriately to the information I just received."
-Alpha-
In any other case, if Shadow were to fall in front of me, I'd dive to catch him. Luckily Princess Rose and future member 666 was there to catch him as I processed the revelation.
Gamma helped me sit up as I began to scan my own body, channeling some of her own magic to help me in my search. Both our hands tremble as we see what Shadow must've.
I look up to see Yumeria and Rose's elated faces. I begin to cry, and Gamma hugs me gently but firmly.
I'm pregnant.
There's so many things I want to say but I'm so overcome with emotion that I can't. So perhaps I'll join Shadow in his nap, I don't think any high stress environment would be good for me right now.
-Iris-
With a smile on his face my fiancé congratulates his friend 'Kageno' of Mitsugoshi.
"Dude! That's amazing!" shouted Leon as he took Kageno into a headlock and noogied him. "HAHA! I'm surprised it took this long!"
"I'm surprised you're not making your own announcement," snarked Kageno.
For what it's worth I believe that he'll still answer to Cid, but I guess there's other things he's worried about right now. Though I'd argue the way he chose his temporary name with the reasoning of "It's me without 'u'" is a bit too juvenile for an expecting father. But that's his prerogative, and he'll likely do a good job as a parent otherwise.
Or at least he'll be able to figure it out.
As for me, the semi finals start soon, and I'll be facing off with Mundane Mann. I'll admit that as the only other person sponsored by Mitsugoshi, I imagine he'd be rather strong.
"It's too bad that your opponent didn't drop out too," remarked Clarice from beside me. "that way you'd just be facing Claire at the finals right now."
I chuckle, "Well, if you ask Claire, she'd likely tell you she's really upset she wouldn't be able to fight Annerose Nichtensen."
"Considering what she did to the other guy I don't blame him for dropping out," snarked Clarice. "Dude almost lost his family jewels with that last kick."
I scratch the back of my head as I recall the incident. I recall how Leon, Kageno, and every other male in the vicinity winced at the occurrence. It was well deserved though, given how her opponent made a remark about her brother that crossed the line. I don't even want to think about what the man said in an attempt to enrage Claire.
"Good luck out there Iris." Said dear Olivia with a smile that made me want to take her home with me.
"We'll be awaiting your success from the VIP room." Said Angelica.
I nod, "With any luck, you won't be waiting long."
Leon lets go of Kageno long enough to walk over to me and give me one last good luck kiss. Normally I'd be too embarrassed to accept it in front of everyone, but I can't help but feel like I need it right about now.
"Even though I'm not going to be out there supporting you," said Leon in a quiet voice only I could hear, "Know that I'm fighting with you every step of the way, okay?"
I smile determinedly with my love's declaration.
"Thank you…" I whisper with a smile, "I know that with your love I'll be unbeatable."
And hopefully Rose waits until my match is over to do her thing.
.
.
.
.
A/N: Okay ending here. I figure there's way too much going on that ending the arc in the same update would be too much. I did say I wanted to maybe do a 20K chapter on QQ to carry this through, but I felt like I should've ended this chapter sooner. Also, yeah. Alpha's preggers.
Like I said at the beginning of writing this chapter, I rewatched some of the anime and noticed a couple of things. For instance, I'm pretty sure that it wasn't the finals in which Mundane faces Iris. But the semi-finals. Which is why Claire also ended up the default winner.
Next chapter will be the big arc ending fight. Expect a lot of changes.
Also, I'll say this in response to comments, but a lot of you seemed to also forget the events of this arc. But Rose first tries to kill Doem/Perv. She decides to kill her father during the festival.
And why did Rose seek out Leon this time? Because she knows that he's been watching Shadow Garden and is contact with Cid. So he's the best to seek out for both her goals with her country now that she's been given a stronger sense of self, and to find Cid right after. Before she assumed that her dad and his cabinet were fine, if a bit greedy. It's during the confrontation that she realizes they're just evil, forcing her to want to kill Doem/Perv.
Oh and as for Cid's parents, they kinda… suck from what I can tell. Like they're super hands off. Hell, even in the manga the one time we see them again is in the spin-off when they ask the kids to come back and help them clean their house. But that's it. Cid's mom did seem to somewhat dote on him when he was younger. But I have a lot of room to work with the two.
So no, they're not exactly bad. Just… not there enough.
Now let's answer the comments.-
Guest (1): Built like a pillow means that she's built to take to bed and cuddle with. Also, that there's stuff to grab. Personally I head canon that she'd be a little chubby if she bothered to regularly feed herself.
Guest (2): thank you! That means a lot. Honestly, I'm surprised that only one other person has thought to cross them over, most people do it with Gundam series. Which are cool, but also kinda imply a lot of stuff that doesn't fit in Mobuseka, like at all.
For instance, the one with Getter Rays (or whatever it was) was a favorite of mine, sucks it stopped updating when it got to the Climax.
SB-
Otritzi: It was explained as that though? Or maybe I don't understand what you meant.
MWKillKenny84: I mean if you heard the king of a nation call someone a Perv and/or Asshat would you be able to keep a straight face?
QQ-
VATSTeen: A proper reveal between Leon and Shadow would probably come somewhere near the end, if only because how much of the story's appeal comes from them being able to clash and help each other every now and again.
I'll make a list for you sometime in between chapters. I don't think there's all that many though. I'll probably write one next chapter, just to celebrate the end of an arc.
Someone ani: Cid is the epitome of "yes, and" in improv. He'll do his best to make something work and somehow it always will.
Yeah Violet's reactions are meant to be a bit like a person watching a movie and telling the characters that can't listen stuff. In this case Cid can't listen because he won't hear what he doesn't want to.
So I gave more hints, but it will be revealed next chapter properly. And the chapter after because Cid will have a mini arc… again.
I have a lot to work through with him. Like a lot.
My luck when it comes to these coincidences makes me feel like I'm just truly embodying the nature of EiS, lol.
Sorry to delay the big fight, but again the pacing was starting to feel off. But it will take up all of next chapter, honestly because of that the next chapter might end up being pretty small.
Zackman2k12: thanks for reading and commenting, it really encourages me to keep going!
Ao3-
Wolfpaladin: Violet's getting really concerned about Cid, lol. She was in canon too, wanting to protect him from Nelson and Olivier's clone.
Hopefully I gave you some of the vibes you expect to see that arc, and also showed you how that arc is just going to be so much worse.
It wasn't DID… technically. But you are right about Beta.
I mean, it's one of the main draws of the fic, I can't just have them find out yet.
Yeah, Iris being the exact same would be just wrong since I included her in Leon's harem. But she isn't going to be the Queen… although that is a good suggestion to how Alexia could better join Cid's harem. I'll keep it in mind since I'm already changing things.
Shadowy_Mann: I actually haven't read Vol6 myself, just know a couple of things about Jack the Ripper. So that was new information. Does explain why a lot of people bashed her though.
Lmao, yeah he really does increase it little by little for something that's so dangerous.
I feel like so many of you forget that Violet is both a fraction, and two, on a bracelet. Like I have other plans but there's an easy route for me to take too.
Soulbowl109: I loved Violet's teasing and somewhat childish nature. It mirrored Cid's enough that I thought I needed to have her more. Plus, Cid's kinda hard to write on his own after a while, so I wanted someone else to react to his inner thoughts.
I never hated Iris, just felt bad for her.
Glad I could make you laugh, it was my favorite scene to write that chapter.
Man, I kinda want to write a character like that now. Dibs.
Those vibes were on purpose. It's only going to get worse. Then you'll think it gets better, but then it gets worse again. I found a way to explore Cid that no one has and I'm going to run with it.
Oh but You seemed to misunderstand, it wasn't Cid talking to Rose.
The Oriana Kingdom arc is probably going to need to crossover with something if not get… like speedrun skipped somehow. I originally meant to crossover Oriana with Alzer, but the that would remove almost all of either Alzer or Rose's story relevance. So honestly I'm probably going to have to make stuff up there… On an unrelated note, I don't think I got rid of the forest of ladies yet…
Oh but that Alexia thing? That's from canon. Like the quote about them being equal and stuff was from the actual game and manga.
Anisomeone: I think it's because she thought that she could only do so much alive, but could serve as a matyr in her death. But perv's strength probably had some to do with it.
I feel like I should give a count down for that arc at this point, lmao.
BOY4_GOW:
One- oh yeah totally.
Two and Three- Some changes. Oriana feels so distant right now though.
Four- lol
Five-This arc originally had Leon try to shoot Cid because he did find him out. But I wanted to go on for longer so I delayed it.
Six: Nothing official says that, but you should listen to the Japanese dub and how they all say "Cid." It's pretty close.
Seven: If I heard that I would've kicked Alexia in the back of the head and ran, lol.
Eight: He figured out that Mundane wasn't alive. Iris has been informed, but they don't know it's specifically Shadow.
Nine: You'll see next chapter.
Deathfang1920: thanks!
Totntobt: Oriana's intimidating me a little bit at this point. But good suggestion.
:D
After this arc we'll go to the second invasion of fanoss. But some of those butteflies will show up in the chapter after next.
Dynamic_Kaleidoscope_sensei: Glad to hear from you again, you always give really good feedback.
Yeah, that's what her purpose was essentially.
Nice to hear, I thought it was fun to write, but did delay things a bit more since writing the original-ish stuff is harder than writing the fully original things.
Like I said before, she didn't try to kill her dad earlier. She tried to kill Doem/Perv. But your suggestion did give me some ideas on how to handle this chapter and next, so thanks.
Similarly, yeah it was supposed to be a suggestion, not a statement of fact. So thanks again for pointing that out.
The payoff is supposed to come in the form of Hertrude, hence why it seems like there was nothing here.
The festival should end next chapter.