Chapter 25: Tainted Heart

We were all left in awe… We know Shadow is strong but… to this extent...? And to think that his archnemesis and my worst nightmare, Necromancer, was able to actually match him… I gritted my teeth as I watched the battle helplessly. The other Shadow Garden members had the same thoughts. We are currently witnessing a battle between gods.

BOOOOOMMMM

A huge explosion illuminated the night as the power of two gods clashed. We felt the shockwave merely seconds later, a few of us was thrown away by the impact. The huge explosion left a huge mushroom cloud as a reminder of it happening.

"Lady Alpha…" Gamma called me as she crawled back up with bleeding nose.

"What is it?" I turned to ask before finally seeing an unbelievable sight. The sight of our lord Shadow heavily injured but still grinning like a maniac. He stood there unbothered by the many wounds that covered his body. He soon lost his smile and addressed us.

"Shadow Garden. Let us retreat."

"Very well. Let's go back to our Mitsugoshi base."

"FATHEEERRR! Please! Don't leave meee!" Screamed an innocent girl desperately while crying out as she held the cold hand of her foster father which was found near his office, which makes them assume he was killed in his own office, which was now destroyed as a result of two titans clashing.

"I heard her mother was killed in the same manner." Glen remarked to Iris who watched the poor girl with pity.

"Then can we assume that either Shadow or Necromancer was responsible for her mother's death as well? After all, they both started their battle there. I'm actually more inclined to believe that the serial killer Necromancer is the one responsible though." Remarked Iris.

"But really. That battle. You felt it, didn't you, Princess?"

"Yes… I did." Iris answered as she clenched her fist in frustration.

"What monsters… Have we found Cid Kagenou and Claude Normann?" Iris asked.

"!"

"No. We haven't, your highness. The knights are still searching the school grounds."

Unbeknownst to them, the crying girl actually heard their conversation and desperation begins to bloom in her heart as she ran away from the medical tent.

"Sherry! Where are you going!? Sherry!" Shouted Iris. But the princess' calls are unheard by her as she ran towards the school building.

Please… I've lost so much already… Don't die… My first friends….!

Sherry walked to the now ruined hallways which is littered with corpses and debris. She desperately searched for any sign of life, for the sight of the nonchalant black haired boy and a kind blond haired boy. Eventually she heard a clanging sound, the sound of a metal staff falling on the floor… and a pained groan… which came from a familiar source.

"Claude!" Sherry called out as she entered a classroom and found Claude sitting on the floor with his back leaning on the wall, his body filled with wounds, more wounds than Shadow suffered, and drenched in blood. But that's not what shocked her. What shocked her is what he's wearing…. And what he held in his hand, a skull mask.

"Claude…?" Sherry muttered in disbelief.

"Sherry…? Is that you?"

"What are you… doing…? Wearing that….?"

"Heh. I suppose you caught me, huh." Claude said while smiling for the first time since the whole crisis began, though not his usual kind smile, more of an uneasy smile.

…

"Claude…"

"Yes?"

"Are you… Necromancer?"

"…. As you can see…. Yes."

…

"Claude…."

"Yes?"

"Are you… still my friend?"

"….."

"Claude…."

"Yes…?"

"Did you….kill…. my father?" Sherry asked. Tears began flowing down her cheeks again.

"….." Claude didn't answer.

"Did you kill my father…?" Sherry asked again. Her voice started brimming with rage.

"…." Claude still didn't answer.

"ANSWER ME!" Shouted Sherry with bloodshot eyes and an expression of pure rage as she held Claude's throat in her tiny hands. After a brief pause, Claude answered her question with another question.

"Sherry…. Did you remember the battle between me and Shadow?"

"What does that have anything to do with…?"

"What weapon did I wield?"

She doesn't answer, though she vaguely recalled the terrible sight of the Necromancer wielding a dark greenish metal staff while raining down destruction and commanding monsters against Shadow, who fought with a black sword and with superior strength, speed and skills. The metal staff lying on the floor beside him is further proof of his claim.

"And… Your father's wounds…"

"!" Gears begin clicking in her head.

"I'm sorry. Sherry. I'm… Cough…"

"Claude…."

"Yes…?"

"Are you…. still my….?" Sherry desperately asked him again as she began crying and sobbing uncontrollably. Claude hugged her as she began crying and wailing in his chest.

"Sherry… Are you still willing to be my friend… even though you know who I am?"

Sherry looked at him in the eye while her tears kept flowing as she nodded.

"Sherry… Do you have any idea who I am?"

Sherry paused for a second before shaking her head. Claude gritted his teeth as if in pain.

"I am the Necromancer! Ruler of Death! And Master… of your fates…! I am… a murderer. A monster. I've slain countless innocents in my pursuit of power. I've joined an evil organization in order to survive the cold cruel world and to… to keep their evil… at bay… away from… my loved ones."

Sherry listened to his confession but offered no response. He continued.

"I've ruined countless lives, Sherry… I'm a horrible person. Would you still be willing to…"

"Yes!" Sherry answered with determination in her tear filled eyes.

"Really…?"

"And I wanna help! Please…."

"Sherry. What I do isn't for the faint of heart."

"Claude…"

"Yes?"

Sherry clutches on his blood stained robes tightly as she stared at him in eyes, no longer with a sad or determined look, it was a look of pure hatred, the same one she wore when she held Claude's throat.

"I want to… I must…."

"What do you want?"

"….. Kill Shadow. My parent's murderer."

"…. It's not going to be easy."

"I know."

"He's very extremely strong, as you just witnessed."

"I know."

"And you may have to leave your old life behind."

"It's okay. I have no more life there to begin with."

"And you may not see Cid again."

A reminder of her other friend… and crush… cuts into her heart deeply as she cried again. But she continued with determination.

"That's… okay… If he were to stay away from me… Perhaps that would be best."

"…. Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you ABSOLUTELY sure, Sherry? Once you go down the dark path… you won't be able to step into the light again."

"That's fine… As long as my parents are avenged…. And as long as Cid is safe…. That's all that matters." Answered Sherry with a hollow look in her eyes.

…..

"Very well, Sherry. I shall train you… and you shall join my group. And… I'm sorry…. For everything." Claude said as he hugged her again.

I'm a horrible person indeed. A very horrible person. I'm sorry Sherry. But I'm going to corrupt you into the greatest villainess ever. Thought Claude.

"A girl named Sherry Barnett. Keep a close eye on her."

Shadow ordered us to search for a girl named Sherry Barnett with a look of concern that I've never seen in his eyes before he went to sleep. That was last night. We've searched everywhere and found no trace of her. The Crimson Order lost track of her last night when she suddenly decided to run away from the medical camp where her foster father's body was kept into the direction of the school building. They are also searching for her still.

The poor girl suffered a lot from her foster father's manipulations from what I heard from Shadow. And she is being targeted by Necromancer too. I gritted my teeth in frustration as I waited for news from Zeta's side. She came back and found nothing. It was as if the girl has vanished from the face of the earth.

"DAMMIT!" I drove a fist through my desk in frustration. This innocent girl, who I believe must've been very important to Shadow if he personally ordered us to save her, much to my envy, is most likely already in Necromancer's hands.

"I see. It's a shame." Is all that Shadow has to say when I reported our failure to him. Once again we've proven our uselessness to him. He rarely gave us missions and mostly didn't rely on us. This one time that he actually relied on us after he was exhausted after his battle against Necromancer… We failed him.

"I'm so sorry… Shadow. If you wish, I shall atone for this failure with my life." I said as I bowed down to him and created a knife out of slime, ready to slit my own throat.

"No. No. Don't worry about it, Alpha! It's fine!" He kindly said with his usual smile. We don't deserve him.

Author's Note:

This chapter is so angsty, right? This is a chapter that I've been wanting to write for a long time ever since I decided what to do with Sherry's story. If it's Sherry, it has to be angst. And even Alpha joined in the angst. I wrote this chapter while listening to "A Tear Ran Down Someone's Cheek" from TEiS OST, which is the song that plays in the Sherry's farewell scene in episode 9 of the anime. This chapter is my plans for Sherry that I've teased previously and oh I have plans for when she finally encounter Shadow. I hope I can convey the emotions properly from my writing. Let me know what you think in the reviews.