AN: I've been slowly watching season 1 of Eminence in Shadow since earlier this month. While I find the setting and various characters in it very interesting, the isekai protagonist rubbed me the wrong way for some reason, making watching the anime far less enjoyable than it could have been. So I got the thought, what if Veil replaces Cid before things ramp up and Shadow Garden becomes a thing? The wrong man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world, not necessarily for the better.

Disclaimer: I do not own neither any of the Eminence in Shadows anime, manga, light novels or games, nor any of the Star Wars movies, cartoons, games, books or comics. They belong to their respective copyright owners. This story is not created with commercial aim. It is not for sale or rent.

Picking up strays

=Sith=

abandoned village,

Midgar Kingdom

Finding myself reincarnated in a fantasy world was a new one. Awakening in the body of a boy, who was a reincarnated soul as well, raised all kinds of red flags in my mind. There was no chance in the Seven Corellian Hells that I would end up here by accident after Cid fried his mind by experimenting with magic his body couldn't yet handle. There would be some mess on the horizon in serious need of clearing up; that much was a given.

On the bright side, I had a new life, which was so far free of never-ending wars. More importantly, I was free of court intrigues and other similar shenanigans for the first time in ages. I had a family, too, which was something I've always struggled not to kriff up as a Sith. A combination of desiring one of the few things that eluded my grasp in my previous life and Cid's memories allowed me to settle in quite nicely.

Having an older sister training to be a magic knight was another novel experience. While limited in some regards compared to the Force, the magic in this world was superior in others. That meant there could be many worthy opponents to face in the future.

All things considered, my new life was good. It was far better than a Dark Lord of the Sith should expect and certainly beat ending up in one of the Hells or haunting a tomb for eternity.

Naturally, there were a few downsides. I was currently thirteen, and that was unpleasant. Even before taking the Force into account, my impulse control sucked. That was why I had to come clean about certain things with my new family. That was a supremely awkward conversation with a surprising outcome.

Cid had some very odd fixation with presenting himself as a secondary character out of a game. He intentionally downplayed his capabilities while experimenting with this world's magic in ways that were downright suicidal. The boy was arrogant, though I could sympathize on that point. Mentally, he was quite a bit older than this body, and that, combined with the brain of a young teenager, was a recipe for disaster.

On the bright side, I now had the memories of quite the unpleasant death as a cautionary tale about experimenting with this world's magic without knowing what the hell I was doing. I still had the Force, and with it, I could compensate.

Besides, melding these two powers opened all kinds of doors previously closed. I knew how not to get myself killed unless I intentionally pushed far beyond my body's limits.

Another high point was Claire – my brand new sister. After sharing a bit of my experiences, disguising them as remembering a previous life due to my magical mishap, she latched upon me like a limpet. We spent endless days training and honing our skills. Claire was more proficient with the magic of this world, and I was far better with the Force. The most fascinating revelation was that my sister was Force Sensitive. She lacked the raw strength to be a powerhouse with the Force. However, Claire had enough of a connection to make the cut as a common Sith Apprentice or a Jedi Knight. For her, the local magic would forever be superior in most ways. Yet, the Force provided a priceless edge in combat. There was no substitute for combat precognition or various tricks that could be deadly power multipliers.

The only downside of my new situation was that compared to what I remembered of Cid, my proficiency with the local magic was downright average. The boy was a prodigy, possibly tailor-made or chosen to excel with this world's magic. Before he fried his mind, what I remembered him doing put him on par with the most powerful magical knights I knew of. Given a few more years to hone his skills, Cid might have become one of the world's most powerful, if not the most powerful, combat mage.

Unsurprisingly, I tried to emulate what he did seemingly without effort, and it didn't bloody work. Although I might have the raw magical potential due to sharing a body, my mind, perhaps my soul, wasn't as suited to utilize that kind of power as his.

However, I had the Force, and my connection with it was still potent. That would make up for all kinds of magical deficiencies.

=Sith=

About four months after I entered this world, the first hint of trouble materialized. My new family held a noble title.

My father was Baron Kagenou, and that came with certain responsibilities, and he constantly tried to get around. My new Mother would have none of that, which led to some hilarious arguments. The latest one was about apparent bandit activity. One out of three trade caravans coming to the nearby village at the heart of our small Barony ceased to arrive. Travelers and other caravans soon brought news of finding the missing people, or what was left of them, after someone butchered the merchants and whatever guards they had. Parts of the cargo were gone, while cheap, bulky items like food ended up torched and otherwise destroyed.

This was precisely the kind of issue the Kingdom's Dark Knights were supposed to deal with. You know, the kind of knights my sister and I were training to become. Claire was set up to leave for the academy in the capital after her next birthday, and I would be following suit in a couple of years. While I was an old man in a youngster's body, there was much to learn about this world and its magic. The capital and schools there were my best bet, so it was going back to school for me.

However, that was for the future. First, we had bandits to deal with.

That should have been a task left to Father and his retainers. In theory, anyway.

In practice, Father was a bloody coward who was no good in combat. Mother's magic was much stronger, and even if she had never properly trained to be a warrior, she was by far the more dangerous of the two. The thought of either of them running around the countryside chasing bandits was unacceptable. The same went for the small guard and the old trainer who taught Claire and me how to utilize our magic and use a sword. We needed these people at home, protecting it and our family.

That still left us all with the little issue that it was the Baron's job to deal with the bandits.

"Sister, I think it is time for us to put to good use what we've learned," I whispered to Claire while our parents shouted at each other.

It should be noted that unless we fucked up by the numbers, like after Cid fried his mind, they didn't shout at us, much less dared raise a hand upon either of us. However, part of it might have been the little fact that Claire first, and now I, were the most powerful mages in the family. Even as children, and when Cid was pretending to be the most average kid in the world, we could still reinforce our bodies far beyond the ken of normal humans.

As mere teenagers, we could push our bodies far beyond what most super-soldiers I knew of in reality or fiction. That by itself put us head and shoulders above even the best of our retainers and available trainers.

Claire perked up at my words. She looked at our parents with familiar exasperation and nodded. The maids looking after us shared a look of commiseration as we made ourselves scarce, leaving before the argument escalated and potentially concluded with angry make-up sex.

We went past the armory to gear up, then hit the kitchens to stock up on provisions, and then absconded before anyone tried to stop us, not that our family's staff could do it if they tried.

A few hours of running at inhuman speeds over the road the last caravan was supposed to come by led us to its remains. Butchered oxen and horses, broken carts, people with their throats sliced wide-open.

Claire faltered at the sight and smell of a few days-old butchery. As far as I knew, this was her first time experiencing something like this. To be fair, the smell of blood and loosened bowels wasn't something you just got accustomed to. I've had access to environmentally sealed armor for a long while, mitigating such issues. That was no longer the case; apparently, my young body had a weaker constitution.

"It gets better, sister," I told pale-faced Claire.

"Does it really?"

"If you wage through enough rivers of blood. It comes with the territory of being a warrior or soldier."

Claire grimaced before nodding firmly. "It's a burden that I will carry with honor," she declared.

Ah, that. Dealing with Claire's crush on honor was a work in progress. I would be damned if I let my sister get herself killed over misplaced notions of honor.

"The people who did this have no honor, Claire. They won't fight fairly," I warned my sister.

My misspent 'youth' running around as a bounty hunter when not dealing with Sith shenanigans came in useful. It helped that whoever was behind the attack couldn't properly conceal their tracks. An experienced tracker would have found their trail easily. This was either a trap or the bandits didn't fear reprisals. To be fair, Father's reputation as a coward was infamous in the region. It was one of the reasons why duty and honor weighed upon my sister so much. Despite my nature, due to my youth and being a second child, I could do only so much for Claire.

We followed the trail far slower than our flight to find the lost caravan. It was late in the evening when we finally located our quarry in an abandoned village deep in the forest. I could recall why people left. The place was worse to wear, with many of the buildings in disrepair or outright collapsing. Otherwise, the village was intact, and it showed no signs of having been attacked in the past.

However, there were a couple of fresh corpses strung up from the top of a nearby ruined building. Likely merchants who the bandits interrogated for information. It was either that or a recreational spot of torture.

Claire stiffened again, seeing more corpses. The clear sights of torture couldn't possibly help. She was angry, too – her emotions blazed through our fledgling Force Bond.

"Sister, remain focused. You are not ready yet to safely use your anger in combat. It will make you careless," I hissed at Claire.

My voice broke through her rising anger, and she nodded stiffly.

"Use the Force. Let it expand your perceptions. If you need to, close your eyes and focus. Stretch your will through the Force and sense for everyone alive in the area," I whispered while doing the same thing.

Eight people and something that simply felt wrong. This might be more complicated than anticipated.

"What's that?!" Claire hissed, clearly sensing what I did.

"Something we need to be careful with," I whispered back. "We'll be moving as a team, covering each other's back. This will be our first real battle, sister. I will not see either of us hurt because we go in like a pair of arrogant fools."

Claire nodded quickly. I could feel her determination to excel, to prove herself. She was also curious to see what I could really do with the Force.

"We'll circle around and strike away from the odd signature. I want us to cut down the bandits before dealing with whatever that thing is. Without it, I would be happy to take a few prisoners for interrogation. However, we will be taking no chances tonight, sister. Strike to kill," I ordered.

Claire should have taken point as the older sibling and the one more experienced with the local magic. All things considered, she was greener than fresh grass and far from ready to lead a raid, even if we should greatly outmatch the opposition.

We skulked around the forest, using the Force to help our stealth approach. While I could cloak myself from sight, Claire was far from proficient with such techniques. Her mindset of a knight in training made learning and mastering such "deceptive" magics harder than they should be. So, I intentionally matched Claire's concealment. Otherwise, if things went wrong, she would be the primary target of the enemy, and that was unacceptable.

=Sith=

Anticipation built up within Claire's heart, which beat rapidly as if trying to explode from her chest. Her brother moved through the forest with practiced precision, as if he had stalked men all his life. Well, considering the previous life he remembered, that was the case, wasn't it. He guided them with signs he taught her and nudged them through the mental bond their new magic nurtured. They stalked from shadow to shadow, using large trees for cover. Her brother had to point to fallen branches of other nearly invisible obstacles to avoid so they could maintain their silent approach.

This stalking game was immensely frustrating, yet Claire had to grudgingly admit it was also exhilarating. This wasn't how a Dark Knight facing a worthy opponent should act. However, they were not about to engage honorable knights, were they?

The siblings reached the edge of the forest. Claire's little brother met her gaze, and his eyes bled into molten metal as he drew in more of the odd magic they shared. He drew his blade in a single smooth motion and looked expectantly at her. Claire did the same, taking care to make sure her sword left its sheath silently. Her little brother pointed at the closest two bandits, who were talking near a fire, where they were cooking some kind of game.

Cid made a chopping motion while sending a singular message through their bond. "Now."

Claire didn't think. She left her training guide and exploded into motion. Magic flooded her body, reinforcing it and seeping into her weapon. She was already moving, crossing the distance to her target in the blink of an eye. Her hands executed a cut she had practiced countless times since the first day she held a sword in her hands. Her brother was at her side, flourishing his weapon after clearly decapitating his target. Claire blinked at her own victim, who collapsed with his head sliced in half. A piece of bloody skull slid into the fire, hissing something awful.

Cid's reassuring presence suddenly engulfed Claire, pushing aside the shock of her first kill.

"Follow my lead, sister. You did well," relief and pride exploded in Claire's chest at these sincere words and the emotions that accompanied them. Determination and magic pushed away any doubts she had.

Cid's arm flickered in impossibly fast movement. Something flashed through the air faster than the eye could see. Claire blinked, and her gaze instinctively followed the motion. Only the magic enhancing her body allowed her to get a glimpse of a darkened blade that slammed into the throat of a bandit, whose mouth was open to scream a warning. A loud crack sounded anyway when the projectile tore its way through flesh and bone, decapitating the man in a shower of blood and embedding itself into a solid stone wall.

The explosive violence shook Claire, flooding her with adrenaline. Cid moved with a hiss of displaced air, and she followed, seeking the magical signature she could perceive through the Force.

This was no battle but a slaughter. Only the last two bandits managed to draw their weapons, and even then, they died without even seeing who attacked them. Everything was over within moments, leaving Claire to ponder how easy it was to extinguish three lives. She shook her head, pushing these morbid thoughts aside. The odd signature was still here and needed to be dealt with.

Surprisingly, it was not a powerful mage or someone wielding a cursed weapon. The siblings faced some kind of crate covered by a grayish, worn-out tarp. Whatever was inside was clearly agitated, shaking the container.

"Is that some kind of monster?" Claire asked aloud.

Her brother waved a hand, and she sensed his magic ripple. He grabbed the tarp and pushed it aside, revealing a metal cage. Claire blinked a few times while her mind tried to process what she saw. That was the ugliest thing she had ever seen! Even worse than the pieces of butchered bandits she left in her wake!

"I've seen some fucked up things in my time," Cid murmured darkly. He relaxed a bit and waved his hand, guiding the Force to clear the blood off his sword before sheathing it. He walked towards the cage with a frown marring his face. "This looks like a failed experiment of some kind."

"It's demonic possession, brother," Claire finally found her voice. This surely couldn't be anything else.

Cid's frown deepened. He glanced between Claire and the possessed wretch.

"Look at us through the Force. I know that you can barely perceive our regular magic, Claire. It looks wrong and twisted in it, doesn't it?" Cid inquired.

Claire happily did as bit. It certainly beat thinking about the men she killed or all the deaths she saw that night.

"It's wrong, but that's all I can say," Claire admitted. What little she could perceive of the magic in the possessed was wild and unhinged, gone terribly wrong for obvious reasons. "We should put it out of its misery; it would be a mercy," mumbled.

There was enough death that night. Claire wasn't looking forward to seeing, much less dishing more, even if it might be for the best.

At that point, three more magical signatures approached. If Claire hadn't observed the possessed through the Force, she would have missed them.

"What the fuck happened out here!?" A large man demanded. "Hey, did you fucks kill my men!?" he exclaimed.

Cid waved a hand and the Force surged, happy to obey. The three intruders froze in place.

"We get a prisoner to interrogate," Cid announced. I need only one of you to talk," he added. "Make up your minds before I do it for you," her brother promised, and he ignored the people he had just frozen in place.

Cid went closer to the cage, critically examining the possessed.

"Sister, keep an eye on those three. I want to try a few things," Cid hummed to himself, shoving a hand through the bar.

The possessed wretch gurgled and recoiled, trying to move away and failing miserably. Cid pressed his gloved hand upon its side and concentrated. The Force surged around him, taking Claire's breath. It was beautiful and terrible to behold her brother in all his glory. His magic was dark and vicious yet endearingly protective of Claire.

Magic sizzled, manifesting all over the possessed's mangled skin. The wretch wailed in pain as its bulk shook under the strain of whatever Cid was doing. The wails just cut off as if sliced with a blade. The shaking ceased, but not the magic. I. If anything, it rose to a crescendo, forming crackling crimson lightning all over the possessed.

At that moment, Claire wanted to grab and pull her brother back to safety. However, she knew enough of magic not to interrupt. Whatever was happening could blow up in their faces if she intervened.

"Damn it, Cid, did you learn nothing?!" Claire hissed quietly. She wouldn't let her brother hear the end of this if they made it out intact!

"You do not have my permission to die!" Cid ordered in a cold voice heavy with unyielding authority. He somehow seized the magic manifesting around the possessed and pulled at it, fighting it for some reason.

The creature's form rippled like some profane liquid, not a giant sack of rotting flesh and bones. Cid's other hand snapped up and gestured toward the three still-frozen bandits. Claire cursed herself for forgetting their existence while she worried for her fool of a brother! She perceived tendrils of energy linking Cid with the bandits, and then everything felt wrong, unnaturally so. The Force rippled and shook even more. Claire beheld how Cid tore the very life out of the bandit's bodies, drawing it within himself. To her perception, he glowed with power before sending it into the rippling form of the possessed. His clawed fingers pulled, dragging crimson, malevolent magic away from the wretch. The more he dragged the magic out, the worse the possessed shook.

In the end, Claire could feel it in her bones. Magic twisted, wrenched, broke. A torrent of raw, angry power erupted from the possessed, and Cid guided it away from them. Sizzling forks of tainted magic slammed into the forest, shattering trees into kindling and tearing deep gouges into the soil. Briefly, steam and smoke obscured Claire's vision before a wave of magic pushed it away.

"I didn't see this one coming," Cid murmured in a contemplative tone.

"What did you do this time, brother!?" Claire growled and marched towards Cid. Before she could think, her hand snapped off its own volition, and she slapped the back of his head hard.

"Fuck, Clare, that was uncalled for!" Cid snapped at her.

A pained moan paused Claire's angry rant before she could get it going. She looked at the cage, expecting to see another horror. Instead, a slim girl was curled on the floor, covered by amazingly long blonde hair.

"It's a girl?" Claire asked dumbly.

"Apparently," Cid agreed. "We're keeping her."

"It's a girl, not a cat or dog!" Clare felt compelled to point out.

"Our parents didn't let us have pets. She's a girl, not a pet, so we can keep her," Cid continued.

"She's… a stray girl? What the hell, Cid!? We can't keep a person!"

"Whyever not? We just saved her."