The castle was grand and opulent with many a tall spire to stand on and look down at the city below. As music rose up to greet the dawn, as light spilled out across the world and for a single moment he could pretend it was all his kingdom.

For now he would have to settle with having them owe him a debt, as the music reached a crescendo around him, and he felt the morning light on his flesh, revelling in the new day.

Now how to start as he turned away from it looking out over his plans.

On the far tower he saluted to the man playing the violin, it had been a wonderful piece full of daring and the perfect background music. Almost enough to make him want to hire a musician solely for the sake of following him around and playing background music whenever he wanted it.

He had a war to prepare for.

It was one of many little concert halls littered throughout the palace of the Orianna kingdom, for as purveyors of art and culture how could the royal family be unable to supports several such musicians for their own cause.

That the listening rooms were as much a court in themselves, that the nobles would gather to support a musician from their own faction and sponsoring a full room was a status symbol that declared power. These things were only normal for how else could one show they were cultured if they did not listen to the right music.

His room was empty of course and not even Rose was here to hear him. The greatest of all courtesy from student to master as Epsilon played her newest song on the far side of the castle and all alike gathered to hear it. The Première Arabesque had no audience as he played it and that too was wonderful, a memory of learning the piano for the first time in an empty room all on his own as he played with abandon for the sake of playing.

A failure of a musician who could not capture an audience just like any other caught on the sidelines against her brilliance. He was the perfect mob lost in the background, caught in his own world of piano on which no one could intrude.

It came to an end as a single pair of hands clapped from the open doorway as the violinist from this morning made himself known. "I have seen many a musician dabble outside their key before, and Shiron herself has dabbled with contrasting keys. But you are perhaps the first I have met who has pushed so far away from the established fundamentals as though you wish to declare war on them all I must admit it tickles my muse to hear it so."

He preened because obviously this too was a man of culture and appreciation for the arts. "We are wandering souls putting our music into the world, so how could I be constrained by something as base as society."

The man nodded a smile on his own face. "Ah the wonderful courage to turn and face the world and say, it's not bad it's artistic and stylistic and beyond the comprehension of those uncultured buffoons. It's not that your work is worse than Shiron's, but that they just cannot understand you."

He had trained Shiron, so all such praise of her naturally praised him as well as her teacher. "If you are so enamoured with her music I'll have you know she's playing in another room, or perhaps you weren't invited."

"Merely not interested." The man watching him laughed. "She is perfect as a musician, every time she publishes the crowds go wild and I am sure today she plays a piece so great that it moves hearts. What others have strived for over the years she touches upon and achieves perfection within months."

The mans gaze darkened. "And yet I find her uninspiring for after releasing she drops each work in its entirety as though to say there can be no more music after this. Her perfection does not inspire her, so she leaves it each abandoned piece a graveyard left untouched and only brought out for the masses to see."

Harsh but oh so close to the truth for it wasn't her own music in the first place. But also how trivial for him to rebuff it. "True art is something you must suffer for I guess, you can only resent that she's better than you and put the struggle into your songs."

"Like a man who plays alone in a silent room, for no one wants to hear him. I have heard your music and come to answer oh poor lost soul." The response came without a second thought.

He'd walked into it but even then because it wasn't his dream he could just not care in the slightest. "I just have the courage to play even when competing against the best regardless of the result, unlike someone who's already put down his instrument and can only insult others."

With a grin the man pulled his violin from the table. "Then shall I improvise a piece to go along with yours, I am quite the talented composer and we could make something even out of your failures."

His violin had seven strings, which was an absurd number. When a real one normally kept itself to only four, but if he could play it meant he at least had some skill. "When you're carrying such an affront to a proper violin, check your skill and pick a simpler instrument."

He got a grin in response. "Ah I'll have you know I once tried to commission an eleven string violin to play with my friends, it was so wonderful they all cried when I walked into the room with it."

He shrugged at the terrible joke even as the other man settled the violin on his shoulder and readied himself at his piano. It was time to play an Arabesque once more, specifically the Deuxième Arabesque, Debussy's second arabesque which while it began the same was quite a different piece in the end.

And as bow went to violin the man across from him quickly realised it. "A different piece right off the bat?"

"Weren't you a fan of variations, this is my second Arabesque of course I thought you'd like it."

The two symphonies danced around one another, matching tempos and a full love of complexity ruined by the fact that they were always off key to one another. "Never before have two such wonderful musicians played so badly as a duet. My teacher Uther must be spinning in his grave to hear something so monstrous."

He laughed back. "Well demon's are coming to Orianna and without any knights we only have one option, to play so badly they take their stuff and go home."

"Fear oh demonic hordes, for the Knights of the Cacophonous Sound come and you will all quake when you hear our passing."

"Woe to the forces of order, let them be driven before our instruments of war until they know no peace this side of the grave."

The man nodded along to their horrible tune. "For we are Vaf and." The bow was pointed towards him.

"Cid."

"The most terrifying musicians you might ever meet." They finished it in unison while laughing.

Epsilon was playing a masterpiece.

The sound was perfect in every way, a piece of beauty and exquisite taste that could only ever have been composed by a god descended amongst mortals. That all the crowd would stop speaking and sit in perfect silence that they might be graced by its magnificence as Shadow had always intended.

It was a perfect expression of his austere calm that allowed no imperfections, his unwavering confidence that accepted no defeat. The very image of an unattainable genius that all those who were listening could only marvel at what it embodied.

Still as much as she would like to curl up in a corner of the room and just listen to it, Omega knew her role here was more important. For while the crowd here were all one audience to listen, they were also two distinct groups split into a number of even smaller cliques.

And while people moved between them, and entreaties were certainly passed across in the interludes they were certainly at war with one another.

The King's faction stood locked around their monarch, and the number of entreaties handed towards him were something to behold. As though every member of his faction was quick to return to his side with well wishes about his renewed health. His daughter meanwhile was subdued, and though she reached out a number of times it was clear her heart wasn't quite in it and she was here mostly for the music.

The other faction as she walked among them were different. There was a hole which had once been filled, a centre where Perv Asshat had once reigned as he pulled the web this way and that. Yet even as he was gone they did not waver, nor did they shrink away.

Like they were still orbiting a dead man and expecting him to come back to life at any moment. That the shadow he had cast over them could not be erased even in death and none dared to step up into his shoes.

No it was because of what had lurked behind his shadow, she realised as it became clear. They were sitting in fear of the strings that had held the puppet up, and it was not that they could take the position. But that they were waiting to be given it.

She would consult with Chi once the recital was over but as she looked more the more it became clear. They were not playing for position, but listening when called, and they would have to find a way to drag out the monster hiding in the darkness.

There were multiple dressing rooms in the castle, and he'd picked one of them for the grand unveiling of his new uniform for the Black Rose, sequestered and hidden amongst all the other clothes they just had lying around.

He'd been given a ton of mannequins, and while some had already been carved open at least a few could be used for their original purpose. Decked out in the full set of Black Rose gear, the cloaks and wide brimmed hats that would make this signature organisation look distinct.

"These are your uniforms" They looked amazing if he did say so himself. And because he was always right there was nothing more to be said.

"Delta doesn't want to wear a hat." He let his gaze fall on her, a voice of dissent against his planned cool hat brigade.

"Are you sure Delta?" He let the question hang in the air with an aura of menace.

Like a puppy she gazed back into his eyes and nodded. "Delta doesn't wear hats or underwear."

He pulled one of the large straw hats free and looked at it and imagined forcing it onto Delta's head. "Yes because your ears would get in the way." And he was going to ignore the other half of that sentence. "But even if you can't wear a full hat like my one we can still get you a different kind of hat."

He turned to Rose. "What kinds of hats do they make for Therianthropes and can we get some of them here." They had been dealing with the difference for hundreds of years so of course someone had made one.

Rose paused and looked between him and Delta, then nodded. "We should have something in another room I can go and get right now." She left the room and all he had to deal with now were his minions.

"Delta still doesn't want to wear a hat."

But he knew Delta and changing her mind for her was easy enough. "Nu what kind of hat do you want to wear as part of the Black Rose."

Nu stepped forward clearly understanding his intentions. Reaching out and pulling a lightly coloured and functional hat and planting it on her head in one smooth motion as she turned to him. "Does it look okay?"

"You look very cute in that hat." He smiled in approval even as Delta fidgeted in the corner as her tail swung frantically from left to right. He ignored her and turned to Pi. "Do you also want to get a cute hat as well?"

The moment Rose returned to the room Pi was off, looking over the new hats they'd produced before pulling out a white one that wrapped around her ears and hugged her head. "Pi also has a cute hat now doesn't she."

He nodded in appreciation. "Yes now you also look cute in your cute hat don't you. Hear let me pat you on the head as proof of it." She darted in and snuggled up to his hand even as Rose watched on at their antics.

In the corner Delta stood, her tail swinging frantically left and right as she struggled to restrain herself. "Delta is also cute too you know."

He turned to look at her, letting confusion appear on his face. "But are you wearing a cool hat? I don't think you can be as cute as Pi and Nu if you won't wear a cool hat."

Delta struggled in her spot for a moment before she lunged, grasping a broad brimmed hat just like his own and ripping holes in it open for her ears. A moment later she slammed it down on her head and turned to him. "Delta also has a cute hat like yours doesn't she."

He reached out a hand and calmly patted her on the head. "Yes you do it really is a cute hat for a cute girl." She grinned happily in place as he patted her head.

Plan cool hat brigade was back in action it seemed.

The first thing that the Black Rose needed was simple. They were loyal to the king and had been watching over the Royal Family since time immemorial so of course he had planted a member hidden within the castle grounds reporting to him at all times. It also gave him a knights helmet for the hat theme so everything was good.

Technically he could have pulled all six members he needed from there. A stage trick where the people realised they had been hidden right under everyone's noses the whole time, and only now were they ready to showcase their true power.

But the knights themselves would know it was fake. He would be relying on turning them into form like a drill instructor rather than a mysterious backer that left the idea boring in his mind as a failure for if he had no other options. Only slightly better than saying perhaps one day you will meet the other members.

He would pick only one as he eyed the men training lightly on the field. The sons of nobles yes but due to Orianna's culture not their strongest and most driven, nor there most prestigious. A gathering for failed nobles who had no hope to inherit and not talent to stand on their own. They bored him.

A man who would use power to throw himself at the maids, a man who would boast of it idly and ruin his plots. None of them were worthy of his power so he moved on.

To those who could not stand to be seen with the others. Someone even further beneath notice until he found what he might be searching for. "How you have fallen in these trying times." He was a knight yes, but one who should have retired due to age still clinging on in a profession that clearly hated him.

The swish of a sword swinging once more stopped even as the figure refused to turn to face him. Hunched shoulders falling in defeat as he held his sword in place. "It is a bitter path to try and defend this country, you will not find any honour here."

"Yes the people say that it's true, that the spirit of the knights who fought back against the demons has long died and none can be found in this country anymore." He rested calmly watching the man struggle with the words. "But still you train even though it is futile does not that drive live on in your heart?"

"Perhaps it once did. Age takes everything from you, and even this practice is difficult for me now. To fight truly hasn't been something I was capable of for a long time. If you had come ten, twenty years earlier I would have been delighted but now all I can do is watch from the sidelines." Resignation laced through the tone, and he nodded along to it.

"It is true that the flesh of men is weak." He let his extra arms spill through the limits of his cloak, their rattling presence announcing him as he stood to his full height. "But as long as the will is strong that can be fixed." A hand crossed the divide power flowing through it as he infused a portion of his power into the man, the years falling away as he fixed what could be fixed in seconds. "And now you are ten, or perhaps twenty years younger so perhaps you can hear my offer."

His new knight looked down at his own body, staring at it even as he swung his sword once again. The movements faster and more precise even as he struggled with the new quantity of magic flowing through his body. "How?"

"It is a power I pulled from the abyss, dragged from the minds of the demons I've slain. If you will walk with us as the eleventh member of the Black Rose then even more secrets can be revealed to you." He placed an arm on each of the mans shoulders. "You have said they look down on you for your weakness, and yet now you stand triumphant ready to prove them wrong. Show them that there is still will amidst the knights of Orianna, that they were wrong to look down on you."

The man nodded, and he had his sixth member. "Come then Sir Panza."

Orianna was a country with a poor military. An almost inconsequential one with the open promise that if it came down to things they would come out poorly should it come to force.

The ever more potent promise that force would be unnecessary in the first place. That all things could be resolved with words, money and the right connections. If political power was the name of the game and one wanted to have a finger in every pot then the diplomatic corps was as extensive as one would expect.

A series of palaces each one gifted to another nation that on this neutral grounds, or as neutral as any other country could be expected to be deals could be made. Friendship and secrets were bought and sold, and spies passed notes to allies and to enemies alike in a grand game. He was not yet even a player, but they expected him to be and a piece within the halls was almost expected of him.

Where those with power could change the course of a nation with but a single word, and yet he had no interest in those people. For the fact was he had no levers to make them play the game and they would stand out of place amidst his band of misfits. So instead it was not the competent but the incompetent that he had sought out and found for a buffoon cannot help making a fool of himself.

And every fool in such a game had a minder, a servant who knew the game better than their master pulling the strings in truth. And also, the servants had cooler hats than the nobles, a distinctive black and white the blended in as part of the group but would stand out amidst the Knights of the Black Rose.

He appeared a flicker of magic lighting the room. "They do not give you the credit you deserve, and yet you still handle yourself so well. You are the true power behind the scenes here are you not?"

She composed herself almost instantly, the shock and fear seething through the magic she had settling down as she turned to him. "I am but a humble servant doing her duty to the best of her ability. But nevertheless in politeness may I know why you have come, I assume there is a deal you wish to make."

"For long has my order wandered far afield from the centre, protecting the country apart from the politics that writhes beneath the surface. But going forward we will need to play the game inside of it as well, a piece that can see how the underbelly moves even as we strike for the kill. In the case I am searching for an eleventh member to join our ranks and with your cunning and wits you make the perfect candidate." A simple letter in his extended hand if only she would take it.

She tilted her head even as her magic honed itself with her focus. "A recruitment offer may I understand that the ten of you will be assembling once more? I would have thought the king would have wanted you to put your trust in his own adjutant for such a thing rather than looking for another?"

"He did." An easy enough admittance even as he hadn't spoken to Rose's father. "And yet they are fools who only know how to look at what's placed in front of them without ever considering what lies beneath it. If left with no other choice I will use them, I can compensate for their weaknesses if I must and yet to bring a talented individual with the competence to make something of themselves is a better choice if you are willing to take it."

Hesitance but that was to be expected. And beneath it there was a calculating feel as she weighed her options glancing between him and the door to escape. "As someone who lacks combat ability won't I need a method to stay safe in such a situation?"

Which meant that she was at least seriously considering it. He concentrated magic into a single drop of slime, fixing the power into place as the droplet formed. "A droplet of my blood, it will grant you magic enough to be far beyond any normal knight. All of our members take power in this way for we seek to stand beyond humanity and it is the first step on your path to immortality like us."

She took the letter, so he had a seventh member in hand. And despite her hesitance she drank the drop of blood, and the form of power easily interwove itself into her flesh. "Come then Lady Elaine."

Death itself towering over the masses as his stride carried him through the city itself. And the crowd parted before him fear overriding everything else as he let himself drink in the atmosphere as bands fell silent at his passing and hushed whispers followed in his wake.

As the crowd milled away from him in their fear a single figure stood out. Pushing through the crowd in his footsteps, even as they hurried to keep pace while doing their best to hide from his own eyes.

But he was all seeing so how could anyone dare hide from him?

He had his tail and now where to lead them. For he could see the crowd moving around him in all directions and it wouldn't do to recruit someone too publicly. The alleyways it was and as he made his way to one the very epitome of carelessness as he ignored his new follower.

The man followed him into the darkness after but a moment, chasing after him now that they were out of sight. He had waited at the corner and the moment his tail reached it an arm pulled him into the air to meet Azrael's blank face. "You have decided to follow me have you."

Magic control far beyond what he'd expected, enough that if not for his physical weakness he would have considered him a powerful knight. Courage enough to follow him into the dark, he could work with this.

"You truly have managed to become a demon under your own power haven't you." The voice was more clinical than he'd expected, sure of itself even once caught. "You can control that form as easily as any other human can their own body."

"Only a fool takes after power he remains unable to control. Why does it interest you my transformation?" He let the question hang in the air even as he felt the man marshal his words.

The body in his grasp relaxed as though it were only a normal conversation. "It does even if the church would call me a heretic and label me a traitor I would know more. I have long abandoned being a Doctor of Theology and so even if the words come from a demon I am willing to hear them." The plea was earnest and in light of it he could probably rely on him to betray him for the sake of a better offer one day.

But then that was true of all the Order of the Black Rose, so it didn't matter.

"If you wish you can make a pact with me and gain such power in exchange for a service." He let a single drop of power come loose in front of the man, a promise and a pact.

"Once I take it I'll become like you? A monster made of twisted flesh consigned from the sight of the goddess and with my soul going to hell I take it." From the words it would seem he would say no, yet the mans gaze never wavered from the drop of blood.

He answered with gravitas to spare. "Drink it and you will forever be immersed in my power, you will give up your humanity and the followers of the goddess will curse your name wherever you go. This is a pact you will never be able to escape." Mostly because he wouldn't be enforcing any of the terms.

The man nodded his head and drank without a second thought, the power rushing through him even as he used his own magic to give a handful of physical effects to make the man stronger.

"Dr Faustus at your service, and what a light price it was for my soul was headed there anyway. But as they say you go to heaven for the climate and hell for the company, and I know I'll be in good company when I finally reach it."

A doctor so he could provide him with an officious looking cap, and everything would be fine. It was a good fit in his mind.

The man hadn't even met the Order of the Black Rose yet, but oh well they were all using each other anyway. If he'd made a mistake he could always cut him down later. A solid declaration of you dare use my power for evil flowing as easily as the promise of power had.

But still the eighth member had arrived.

He felt her before he saw her. The distant tremble of magical dissonance that heralded the curse beginning to manifest was like music to his ears. A familiar and inviting sound that pulled him in as he felt his steps carry him towards her.

Yet it was different, the key slightly off and therein lay a thrill. He could still change it, still had the chance to offer a pact they couldn't refuse and yet it was also a chance to see something new and play off it into the night.

She had the stance of a warrior, the furtive glances throughout every movement of a spy. Ever watching for the enemy at the doors and always prepared to kill them with but a moments notice carved into her stance. Even so not a drop of magic leaked out of her form, pulled into the very depths as she fought the changes wrought on her flesh.

Most importantly she had a cool hat. The outline of a wide brimmed pirate cap that spoke to him and said this girl was the perfect fit for his newfound organisation.

"A storm is coming as fire prepares to spill from the sky." He rested lightly against the wall not even bothering to look in her direction, even as he left two sets of arms visible outside his cloak.

"It is true then that Ragnarok comes once more, and demons will spill forth into the world again. The country will soon be shrouded in darkness." She mused back without hesitation. "I had thought that the last of your order were wiped out long ago and yet I hear there are still ten of you left."

He was keeping this one for sure. "I promised I would return in their hour of greatest need, so not even death can be allowed to stop me. It has been a long time since we fought together last, and yet I would ask if you would fight alongside us once more as the eleventh member of the Order of the Black Rose."

She turned her head to the sky and presumably to the moon although he couldn't see it through his mask. "My power is not what it once was, and I spend much of my time controlling myself. The rest I need to hunt vampires and there is no way I can manage to fight your war for you."

A mutation he hadn't met, talk of being a vampire hunter. She was a vampire herself that much was clear, and he wondered what powers they actually had in truth and not just in myth. With a flash he let his hand crash down on her shoulder a surge of magic running through it. "Does that fix your thirst milady."

Her magic swirled outwards, stagnant but still freer than before. Seconds passed as she spread it out to every edge of her flesh, pulsing it out with a control almost able to match his own. "You didn't know that trick when we last met." There was no condemnation in her words. "Like this I can fight as a knight true, but I will not be the terror of the night I was back then."

"It is just blood and not lives and you will find I have more than enough." One of his scythes came loose and pierced one of his extra arms, even as a pulse of magic into it stimulated the slime within to begin producing blood cells wholesale. It was just another facet of his own healing magic and with a flex of his own power it held in the air in front of her. "Drink for my own form is not harmed by losing such a small amount."

She hesitated staring at it even as her hand went to her mouth, and her magic pulled against a force that never came. The memory of a thirst laid bare against the lack of it in the present. "Last time I left you all to die in your fear, are you sure you will be fine offering me my power back when I will leave again one day."

He let himself step away down the cobblestone road as he lifted his head even as his mask blocked the view of the stars. "Then you would still be an ally of humanity would you not? As long as you have not fallen into the abyss itself I will not regret helping you once again milady."

From the very beginning she was more stable than the possessed. Yet she had pulled all of her mana in and suppressed it wanting to be more like humanity no matter the cost. He didn't think she would become a monster just because he'd fixed her problem for her. But there was one final push that he had available. "I will trust in the goodwill you showed us back then that you fought alongside us at all, it is better to reach out a hand and have it turned aside then refuse and regret it."

She teetered on her legs looking at it and then spoke. "Your body has become even more inhuman than I am, humanity will not accept you back so easily."

Perhaps that was true if they were to ever examine him too closely. But his friends already knew he had changed himself, and they were still his friends so who cared what anyone else thought. "Perhaps many of them will not, but those who mind will not matter, and those who matter will never mind it. I will go forth for the latter and grant them salvation in this trying time, what will you do."

"We have work to do it seems." She drank the blood. And he had a ninth member.

The presence of a demon standing amidst the hallowed halls, but then would they consider him a demon or a supplicant. He was of course neither but having a priest type character to show the corruption inherent within the church appealed to him. They had moral convictions he could press, lent authenticity to his order as it had a chaplain and should even have their very own cool hat such as a mitre if they knew what was good for them.

If there was none that was fine too. It was a chance he would allow and move on if it failed. Although at least one member had found the courage and was now approaching him. "Do you perhaps doubt your path, if you wish to confess I will gladly hear it."

He turned to feel the light spiling forth from the windows even if he could not see it. "Perhaps it is your goddess that I have chosen to doubt, and I am merely here to prove her light does not burn me."

The priest smiled at his words a light air to his voice as he accepted them. "A common choice for many choose to doubt her wisdom for surely a truly divine goddess would be able to create a kinder world for her children. But the very fact that you can doubt her proves you are human for a true monster cannot do such a thing, and knowing you are human of course her light will not burn you."

He'd attracted a dramatic priest at least. "Do you doubt your goddess as well then priest?"

"Father Fusk." The man grinned at his question. "And I am a priest who would guide her flock towards righteousness, and so every day I must tell the masses that I understand her word with confidence, and every night I must pray to acknowledge my own faults for I do not. Like this we are all liars, so of course I doubt strongly and often whether I truly understand the place she has set aside for me and whether I deserve to walk her path. But doubt brings questions that I might better know my place in life, and questions allow me to know whether I truly walk the path of the righteous."

"It is not the path many of your priests seem to follow." He gestured to those who had fled from the main hall in fear of his presence. "So many seem to be of the belief that merely standing in our presence will lead them to damnation."

"Of course, and the goddess will accept and forgive them for those failures. It does no good to punish them when more can be done by praising bravery." The priest hadn't hesitated at all.

He laughed because he'd truly picked the best option out of the whole flock. "Then I suppose my troops are brave enough to stand even against the darkest night cast by Demon King Mordred who would pull forth demons to devastate the world."

He pulled the letter from his cloak and presented it. "If the church would like to see if they can judge us, and if you are brave enough to attend. I would invite you to look upon our works as an outsider. For I have confidence that our goal at least is worthy, and I do not fear her condemnation if I fail." I mean he also didn't believe in Beatrix and was more of a reincarnation kind of guy, but Fusk didn't need to know that.

But Fusk didn't falter and took it easily in his hand. "As a shepherd it is those who are lost who need me most and I will be glad to attend."

Ten members into the fold.

The night spread around him and for his last visit he ditched the garb of Azrael for the night itself as Shadow stepped out of his mind and onto the stage. For even if the streets were different and the sounds had changed the night would always be his home.

He followed the trail knowing what was at the end, a familiar face just waiting to play the game again and join in the fun he'd set up. The door would have been fine because they were friends, but it wouldn't have fit either of their aesthetics and that was the most important thing.

He dropped in from the rafters a flare of magic announcing his presence and waltzed right in without a care in the world.

Gaunt had his sword out even as he entered the right room, a questioning look on the old man's face. "It seems I need to learn to cover my tracks somewhat better. A small shack was not my idea of a fateful battle of destiny."

"The decor could certainly use some work if I wanted to kill you." He let his own sword rest at ease at his side, still ready should Gaunt lunge but not waiting for a battle to begin. "But I have come with a proposition for you, a deal of sorts if you're interested."

The old man looked at him deeply for a moment as he contemplated things. But as he made to speak he was instead wracked by coughs blood spilling from his mouth.

He waited because dying while coughing your lungs out wasn't nearly dramatic enough for either of them, and by the time Gaunt was done he had a good guess to it. "You tried to drink in some of the Mist Dragon's power at Midgar didn't you? A shame a dragon's magic is poisonous for the unprepared."

"You really are too arrogant to not even kill an enemy when they show weakness in front of you. Youthful confidence will be your downfall if you're not careful." The old man grinned at him across the room. "With your sword at someone's throat you should take the plunge lest you regret it later."

He let the power flow into his voice. "You're not a bigger threat to me than the Order of the Black Rose. Gaunt you've lost Fenrir and Surtr and even now Mordred runs so how can you hope to be a threat to me?"

The man frowned as his gaze turned calculating. "You're planning to betray Azrael?"

"We have both seen into the abyss, and lust for power that we cannot set aside. I want to rule Gaunt and not play second fiddle to an ancient evil who thinks himself above me. And as he has offered me an eleventh seat for Shadow Garden to sit in on the order as a sign of our mutual agreement, I want to use it to drag down his power base and make it my own."

Gaunt rested back into his seat, even as more blood flowed as he coughed up his innards. "A pawn in your game to ruin myself only for your benefit, yet aren't you as much my enemy as he is?"

"Of course I am." He steepled his fingers and gazed back. "I know whichever wins I will be standing on the wreckage ready to take everything. Any damage you do will only help me and even if you win I'll laugh and come to take everything from you. But can you afford to refuse me Gaunt? You have nothing not even your health and I'm offering you a chance. The information you gain here, and the chance to sell it to Mordred is something you can use to rebuild and cement your own place in the world. Can you give that up merely to spite me?"

Lutheran breathed in raising himself up. "I have a price. For I can hardly cause much chaos in my current condition now can I? If you can fix the damage your dragon has done to my body I will take the seat you have offered me."

What a small price to pay. For they were friends and he would have done it for free that Gaunt could make a proper ruckus for the final battle. "A small price to pay indeed hold out your hand." With a simple touch he healed the wounds and cleansed the poisons.

Lutheran stretched his newly healed body, ironing out the kinks for a moment. "It truly is a remarkable method you created, so what do I need to hide? Obviously the eye of avarice will give me away."

"It won't." Because Azrael was in the room with him and already knew he was a traitor. "Shadow Garden captured technology similar to it from the Sanctum and has already begun reverse engineering it, you merely have a prototype." You could give any excuse you wanted if you only had to fool yourself.

"I see." Gaunt at least believed it might be true. The two of them continued to talk, for how Gaunt could best use his knowledge of Shadow Garden and the Order of the Black Rose and their alliance to make havoc among their numbers.

Eleven just as he wanted, ready and waiting to start a war.

AN: A chapter out while its still Friday and only one week on, I too am as surprised as the rest of you. Anyway this felt like a good place to stop this chapter to have the start of next chapter be the Order of the Black Rose meeting as a group.

And Cid only recruited two Knights of the Round into it.

I have got some original members amongst it, but that was going to have to happen anyway and I regret nothing, I had some actual fun building them all and making the names for all of them. If you do look too closely into those there is knowledge hidden within them, but like not too much.

Well I was inviting in the order of the black rose and that's what most of this chapter was intended to be.

And because a number has asked and lots of people are opening it multiple times. I present. The guide to peoples main affiliation at the start of this arc.

Shadow Garden: Epsilon, Chi and Omega - Zeta, Eta, Victoria and Iris

Black Rose (Core Shadow Garden 4): Cid, Delta, Nu and Pi
Black Rose (Fake 5): Beatrix, Mary (Vampire hunting vampire) [Sir Sancho Panza (Knight), Lady Elaine (Diplomat), Dr Faustus Foster (Doctor)] these three are made for this story
Black Rose (Known Cult of Diabolos 2): Lutheran/Gaunt, Father Fust/Petos

Cult of Diabolos: Mordred, Freya, Vafthrudnir (Advisory role only), Mordreds First Children (So far not shown.)

I promise to try and keep characters on screen to a coherent number, I really do.

Anisomeone: Eta is the sympathetic one in her scene with Cid, and my personal reading of that scene is he is dead in the wrong. But I also believe you have to hit flaws before there can be character development.

It happened in the same chapter where Aurora said Cid wasn't paying enough attention to how they feel about things for a reason. There will not be anything as far as lemons, but Cid is expected to have a better relationship with Eta than he has now by the end of the arc.

Like Eta's big insistence on going which Alpha doesn't understand is because Cid said he wanted the body of an immortal, and Eta is following his orders to go and collect it.

borregodillon9: Well I got it out faster so you no longer have to.