A/N: I felt like writing something despite the gacha events. Meh, my Ps4 controller was out of battery and so was my phone so Genshin and F/GO would have to wait. I don't think I'll do much this chapter though. Probs just two-three sections.
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. Currently Pregnant.
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. Currently Pregnant.
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. / Kageno of Mitsugoshi, after an argument with his parents, Cid decides to go by Kageno for a while. / Herlock Sholmes. During the trial of Leon v Holfort, Cid disguised himself as the famous detective. Most importantly, all the Shades call him some variant of "darling."
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. Currently Pregnant.
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, Sword master of the far eastern kingdoms. Currently Pregnant.
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.
Aurora: Called Violet by Cid and now camps out in his soul/brain. Known as the Witch of Calamity, and the Demon Diabolos.
Other People:
Claire Kagenou: Cid's older sister and one of Leon's fiancés. Going by Nonna during her time in Alzer.
Deidre Fou Roseblade: The stereotypical haughty Ojou-Sama. One of Leon's fiancés. Going by Rogue during her time in Alzer.
Rose Oriana: Princess of Oriana. Probably the only person besides Aurora that knows Cid thinks everything is part of a game. Going by Luci in Alzer. Number 666 in The Shadow Garden.
Noelle Beltre: Beltre is a fake last name given to her after the destruction of her house. In truth, her name is Noelle Zel Lespinasse / ?
Louise Sara Rault: Currently the one and only daughter of House Rault. Also the only living child by blood following the death of her brother Leon Sara Rault. A vampire "princess" to boot. / In her previous life she was Hiro(pre-isekai Leon)'s girlfriend, Yuna. He was ready to propose but when the rumor of him being gay spread she dumped him.
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.
-P2W-
The question as to whether there had been other reincarnates in the world hadn't really been one at all. Leon, and by extension Marie who had been busy dealing with the repercussions of kicking out all of her boyfriends, knew at some point that the likelihood of running into one while he was in Alzer was high.
And in fact, there were some suspicions about Leila given how she hadn't existed in the game according to Marie, not to mention her supposed aversion to meeting all the people from the Adventurous Countries. But it wasn't until Leon and Noelle had stormed her 'date' with Loic that Leon finally figured out that there was more to Leila.
When he had been comforting Noelle over Leila's unconscious state following the removal of the slime, Leon had decided to divulge his suspicions upon Noelle's first cry of "How did things get this far?"
In that moment, Leon had chosen to speak up about his suspicions. "I think it may be possible that there is a lot more to your sister than you expected."
"What do you mean…?" Noelle, although distraught, had been willing to hear out Leon on the subject.
Leon looked over at Noelle and slowly began to explain his past. The parts that hadn't been explained to her by the other girls.
"Reincarnation…" muttered Noelle.
"It's still just a theory." Said Leon. "As much as I'd like to say the evidence is definitive, I got it mostly second hand. Plus, for all I know Leila could be like Cid and got the knowledge on how to speak Japanese from someone else."
Noelle thought long and hard about what Leon had revealed. For starters, there was the fact that Leon had once viewed her as a character at one point, but he had reassured her that he never really had the time to know her as one given her 'game' had come out after his death. She had acquiesced to the point that Leon only had good intentions and never meant to become more than friends originally. Really, someone making a new friend to save the world and maybe setting them up for success wasn't exactly something you could be angry about.
But if Noelle can forgive Leon and by extension Marie, Noelle couldn't just demean Leila's point of view either. If Leila knew of the game, supposedly more than Leon and possibly Marie as well, then there must've been a reason that Leila should go to such an extent in pushing her to Loic. To be willing to pretend to be her for an entire day. The shadow garden had imposed that upon her, sure, but the reports from everyone who saw 'Noelle' that day said that she was acting pretty happily with Loic until the time he slipped the collar on her.
Which brings us to the present.
"How long have you been my sister?" asked Noelle, tears welling up in her face in dread of the possible answer.
Leila, having just woken up and slightly deterred by Leon's monstrous (in her mind) presence, wasn't able to form a proper sentence at first. "Wh…what do you… I've always…"
"You're not just from this world, right? Like Leon and some of the others." Pressed Noelle. "So, how long have you been my sister? Since we were born? Later? Last year when you started acting weird and pushing me to… the guy that did that?"
Leila nodded. "Oh… the entire time. It's… uhm how do I explain it?"
"Maybe you were like me," offered Leon, "Your memories just suddenly flooded in after a certain amount of time. I know I had a really bad fever as a kid that nearly killed me when I was like, 5. That's when I got most of my memories and the rest trickled in after."
Leila thought about Leon's explanation and then agreed. "Yeah, that sounds right. I had that one fever when I was… what, 4?"
"Oh yeah!" Noelle gasped, recognizing what Leila was talking about. "Mom and Dad were even worried that you were going to have Possession at one point with how bad it was."
"Right," Leila nodded. "They even prayed to the Sacred Tree for a long time so that I could be healed."
Although he didn't let it show on his face, Leon couldn't help but inwardly quirk a brow at the mention of their parents knowing of possession. Moreover, that the two had prayed to the tree rather than asking it for help directly. Luxion's theory may have been correct, but it's hard to prove with what's available now.
Noelle chuckled a bit. "I remembered feeling a bit jealous at the time with how much attention you had gotten after that."
Leila narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean? They were always doting on you."
"N-no…" said Noelle, narrowing her eyes as well, but in confusion. "They focused on you more. I remember that very clearly, hell I remember that you used to—"
"No," insisted Leila, "You are the priestess. I remember how much of their time was devoted to helping you master that, setting you up with some house's son, and—"
"No." cut in Noelle, "I remember that you used to charm our parents all the time—"
"Oh my god! That is just so not true!"
"Yes it is! I remember all the nights they spent with you and all the days they put me to work!"
"Because you're the only one with the ability to be the Priestess!"
Noelle, enraged, grabs Leila's side ponytail. "You have it too! You always had it! Hell, you were BORN with it!"
Leila, infuriated, grabs Noelle's side ponytail "What the fuck are you even talking about!? If I always had it then why didn't our parents train me with it!"
"I just fucking said! You already had it since birth! I remember having to work twice as hard for everything, but you always took their attention away with those stupid puppy dog eyes and all those other ploys of yours! They were always going on and on about leaving the real fate of the republic in your hands or whatever!"
"Then why did they never tell me I could be the priestess!? They always were cagey about it whenever I asked! I was just a little girl and they never even did that much!"
"Because they said that it'd be too much of a pain in the ass so they didn't want you to do it!"
"There's no way they'd say that!"
"They did! They told me that you had a bright future so I had to suck it up and be the priestess so you could do whatever the fuck it was to make them proud! They treated me like a spare sibling!"
"Spare!? If anyone was treated like a spare it was me! They didn't love me, they pitied me!"
"Stop with the damn sob stories! I swear to the Tree all you do is lay down your roots, act like a damn victim, and take! You took our parents' love! You took my childhood away from me and forced me to constantly pick up after you! You just take, take, take, take, take, TAKE! I guess I can thank you for one thing: You took the 'easy-pick' guy despite the fact that you thought me getting married was necessary to save the world!"
"Leave Emile out of this!"
"Because you always do! I swear you use that boy as a wallet!"
"Says the girl that joined a king's harem!"
"Leave Leon out of this!"
"Grrr!"
"GRRRR!"
Suddenly, a loud, singular *CLAP* rang throughout the room.
The two bickering siblings stopped their squabbling, looking over to Leon who had clearly made the noise.
"Man." Said Leon as he saw the two siblings immediately stop and sit back up from where they had tumbled on the ground. "I should thank Alice for teaching me that, it was effective. Luxion, make a note."
[Very well. Master only learns things from attractive women, noted.]
Leon scowled at the orb, unsure if he wanted Luxion to have his human body to punch it better, or if it was better he couldn't see the expressions.
After a few seconds Leon turns back to the girls, "Alright. So, let me summarize what each of you know."
Leon turns to Leila.
"You reincarnated as the sister of the main protagonist. You knew she was going to be the priestess and had a good life set up for her, something only confirmed by your life after you got your memories again."
Leon then turns to Noelle.
"You didn't want to become the priestess anymore than any little girl in Alzer. Your parents wanted you to be the priestess, but that was only because they didn't want to foster the burden on Leila, they actually wanted her to do something else."
Leila and Noelle both nodded at this.
Leon smiled.
He then bonked both sisters on the head.
"Ow?!"
"Leon!?"
Leon sighed. "I suppose it figures that if we're in that shitty Otome game world that stuff like miscommunication would be one of the worst problems we face."
Leon's words seemed to strike a chord in Leila.
But he wasn't done. "Look, this is just a theory that Luxion and I had, but I'm pretty sure that your parents didn't have the crests of the priestess and guardian. That's why the other houses were ever able to… well, destroy yours."
"What…?" Noelle's eyes widened in horror and shock.
Leon began to explain. "Well, since everyone's strength here depends on how much power they get from the tree and the guardian and priestess crests should get the most—even to the point that they can sometimes control the lesser crests—then there's no other way that your house could've been destroyed."
"That…" Leila furrowed her brows, "that makes sense…"
"Now, we don't know what it was your parents wanted to do. Much less what they wanted Leila to do." Explained Leon. "But whatever it was, may have gotten the crests removed from them."
"But the game said that Albergue was the one who did it! Because he was heartbroken about our mom rejected him and went out with someone else!" protested Leila.
Leon waived it away, "Yeah? The game also said that The Saintess of Holfort had loved the five heirs, but I know very well that the five heirs had been brainwashed, betrayed and exiled her husband, and also a whole other bunch of lore stuff that was left out and misconstrued. Such as the villainess, my wife Angelica Rapha Redgrave, not really being evil."
Leila had to concede that much. "Okay, but Albergue did have our mom reject him!"
"Yeah? But it was a political marriage. He was hurt for a bit but not enough to try and ruin her life. Besides, according to Louise her parents can barely keep their hands off each other, and according to Yukime, the ruler of the white tower and red-light district, he's only visited said district before he was engaged." Explained Leon.
The implication clear, Albergue's 'motive' didn't exist in real life. Or at least not the motive we thought he had.
Something Leila noticed. "Wait, so why did they actually attack our family?"
Noelle joined her sister, "Yeah. They ended up destroying our house and gave away the territory to the three towers entirely. They had to have a reason."
"Well," Leon pointed at Leila. "It might have been related to whatever it was they wanted Leila to do in the future."
Leila looked aghast. "What…?"
Leon shook his head. "We don't know all the details right now. I'd recommend asking the people who used to work for your house if you're still in contact, and I'll even ask Louise and her family, but for now, just know this." Leon took both girls hands and put them together. "You're still sisters. Neither of you should be each other's enemy. You were both hurt, yes, but it wasn't by each other."
Noelle and Leila looked at one another, their gazes unsure.
"I…" Leila tried to say something, anything, but couldn't.
Noelle pulled away.
"I'm still mad." Said Noelle. "You did a lot of messed up things to me."
"I know."
Noelle shook her head and stood up. "No, you don't."
Leila snapped her head up. "Of course I do! I just went through one of the most traumatic experiences in my life! The idea that you could have gone through that is horrible! I never wanted any of that to happen!"
Noelle walked out, not looking back once at her sister. But when she came to the door she said one thing, her voice cracking all throughout. "Then how come you've never apologized."
With that, Leila and Leon were left alone.
Leila's mouth opened, the apology forming in her mouth, but she couldn't say it.
After a few moments, Leon hands her tea. She accepts it, enjoying the distinctly Japanese taste.
"…Who is it that we've been talking to?" asked Leon, not meeting Leila's eyes as he enjoyed his own tea.
Leila sipped on hers for a bit, puzzled by the question. "What do you mean?"
Leon took a deep breath and put his cup down. "Once, I was told that I needed to stop living as though I was playing the game. That I needed to live as 'Leon.' Not as my past life, 'Hiro.' So I ask again, who have I been talking to this entire time. Because it's not Leila Zel Lespinasse."
Leila held the cup in her hands, letting it warm her hands. After a brief moment, she spoke up. "H…Hime. Hime Nishino."
"Nice to meet you." Said Leon with a smile. But then that smile faded. "Move on."
"W-what?"
"You need to stop living as Hime. I don't know what issues you had in your last life, but they seem to dictate your actions now. I should know." Leon thought of his own adventures, contingency plans, and even to Marie and her actions. "You aren't Hime anymore. You're Leila."
"…"
"Leila's loved you know. She might be arguing with Noelle right now but Noelle wouldn't be so hurt if it wasn't her own sister that she was arguing with. She also has a really nice boyfriend. Emile might not be willing to be an ATM, but he's got a good head on his shoulders and a bright and stable future. But of course," Leon looked at Hime, "That isn't everything you should marry someone for."
"…I know. He's too good for me, honestly."
Leon flicked Leila on the forehead.
"Hey!? What's the big idea!" shouted Leila.
"Well, even though that statement might be true—"
"Oi!"
"That's up for him to decide isn't it? And if it is, shouldn't you try to be better?" explained Leon. He then stood up. "For your sake, for his, and especially for your sister's, I hope you try and walk away from this as a better person."
"And if I don't?" Leila shot back, more out of habit than anything else.
Leon grinned, his eyes seemingly glowing with mana. To Leila, he appeared to be a monster baring its fangs. Nay, a demon.
"I took on the entirety of house Barielle's knightage alone. Imagine what I could do if I have help from my Lost Item and all my friends." Leon explained to Leila's horror.
Luxion willed himself to appear, and Leila immediately recognized him from the first game.
"You have the cash shop item!?" she shouted.
"I do. And I have a lot of things and abilities that I forged on my own too. If you don't want to find out what that mean, then…" Leon chuckled, sending shivers down Leila's spine. "Well, let's just say that you're lucky you're Noelle's sister. Else, you'd have had a real bad ending."
With that Leon left.
Emile shortly came back in, accompanied by some robots who'd help Leila take off the collar.
Leila was left with a mess of emotions, but if there was one thing she could possibly focus on, it was this. Leon's a monster, and the cash shops were real.
She had to wonder if she could find her own then. After all there was one she remembered using to breeze through all the walkthroughs. It cost a bit, but not as much as the first game's, so even when she was broke after leaving her family and ex-fiancé behind, she was able to buy it.
It was… ideal, for her to go and find it at one point.
-Shadow-
You know, after getting a good view of the three towers while Nu was carrying around, I realized something.
"Excuse me."
The reason that Louise is probably having so much trouble with taking back the small areas of the Lespinasse territory is because of what it became.
"Pardon me."
Alzer was often called the Lawless City for a reason.
"My bad."
"Wow. That's the 5th one. Do you think they even notice all their wallets, stolen and otherwise, even go missing?" asked Violet.
I shrugged my shoulders, which for whatever reason felt heavier than normal for a bit. Almost like I've been wearing a cape, which is weird because that's more of a hero design thing, so I wouldn't do that.
"Is this what you meant when you said you'd treat me to a meal?" asked Serge.
I nodded. "Yeah, I mean I have plenty already, but it tastes a lot better when it's paid by someone else."
Serge grinned. "Ha, my man!"
Serge reached for a high five, I met it out of politeness.
As we continued our walk to some place in the middle of the black and white tower areas, I noticed something. Or really I noticed a few things. One, the five idiots were out and about earning money one way or another. I did my best not to meet their eyes as we passed by them.
Brad had been doing magic tricks in public.
"I don't really see the appeal of those. Most of his Pidgeon and bunny tricks can be pulled off with a simple warp gate."
Greg was running around shirtless with some buff guys in the black district. Something about wanting to become like a juggernaut?
"Eugh. If you ask me he just looked sweaty and gross. I like your body type more, he looked like if you gave him a paper cut all his blood would flow out, or that he hasn't drunk water in days."
Chris was working with the palanquin people, although they were carrying around some religious stuff. Statues of the first priestess I think, who actually did have twin tails funnily enough. As well as her guardian, and something called 'the researcher' or whatever.
"I keep telling you those were statues of Lea, the 2nd Lieutenant, and Lea's other wife."
Ignoring Violet trying to make up stories of the past that make no sense given that we already know of Lea's entire life, just to mess with me-
"Hey!" Violet turns to the air behind me, "Why are you laughing!? And get off already it's my turn again! …What do you mean never!?"
Jilk had been buying and reselling some pottery. Some of it looked important, but from what Serge and I could tell a lot of it was also fake.
That brought us to the restaurant that Serge had wanted to go to. A hole in the wall yakiniku restaurant.
And who else would be the chef other than Julius?
"Ah, Kagenou!" said Julius with a smile, "Welcome in! Did you happen to make a new friend?"
"Julius…" I greeted back as I took a seat, "I never expected for you to get a job."
Julius winced. "Ah, well, Marie kind of kicked us all out. This was the only thing I could do." Julius then smiled widely, "But I'm actually really enjoying my time here! I'm planning on saving up my check to buy a gift to be in her good graces, so if you'd order something it'd really help out."
"Well, I was hoping to have some of the boss' stuff, but hey why not try something new." Said Serge as he sat next to me. "Can you make the chicken and beef ones?"
"Those are my specialty." Julius' eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement.
I had to say, Julius did a pretty good job. I gave him some advice and said to just give the money to Marie instead of buying a gift. I don't know her that well, but I do know why she was angry with her boytoys.
"So." Said Serge in between bites. "What's your deal. I know you said you fought in the battle between Fanoss and Holfort, but I don't think you said anything else."
Huh, I guess this is as good enough a time to talk about who I am.
Who am I?
"I'm a student of the Dark Knight academy." I explained. "Got lucky enough to join an adventurer, er-my future brother-in-law, on his adventure where he got some lost items and I got some money. I'm engaged to my childhood friends… that's about it."
"Wait, 'friends' as in plural?" asked Serge, some of the meat almost slipping off his mouth as he tried to take it off the stakes.
I nodded, "Yeah. They were demi-humans in caravans. I managed to help rescue them and things just kinda went from there." I smiled as I took a swig of some beer. It tasted bitter. "I love them."
Serge chuckled, "Well, hey, ain't my place to get in the middle of that. What's that about a lost item though?"
"Oh, right, well my brother-in-law had needed to escape an arranged marriage with an old bitty that was going to send him to war so she could collect the pension. So to protect himself, and his little brother who would've suffered the same fate if he died or disappeared, he went on an adventure looking for enough treasure to pay off the fees and buy his freedom."
"Woah, respect."
"Mm. I met him in the middle, as he had crash landed on our territory. Some pirates shot him down. These same pirates had kidnapped my sister so he and this village girl he met when he crashed saved her. From there me, one of my childhood friends, and my sister joined him on the adventure."
"Nice. He struck it big huh."
"Yup, was granted the rank of Baron for his achievements…"
From there I went on to describe things up to the school being destroyed. Obviously I didn't mention any names or anything like the Shadow Garden or even Mitsugoshi.
I ended up walking to the Rault estate with Serge.
"Kagenou." Greeted Louise a sad look on her face. "I don't suppose you heard, did you?"
"Wait, you know her?" asked Serge.
I nodded, "She's been helping my sister out." I turned back to Louise, who didn't seem to notice nor care to notice Serge. "What's wrong?"
"Well, do you remember that Jean fellow…"
-Leon-
["Master. I don't understand."]
I turned to Luxion who was in his human body. He was wearing a nice suit, as were most of us.
After all we were at Noelle's funeral.
…Noelle the dog that is. My Noelle is just fine… well she's a crying mess next to Jean. As Hertrauda and Carla try to comfort them in this trying time, Luxion, Cid, and I are doing our best to dig a hole to plant a tree sapling imbued with Elle's ashes. The plot is in a nice spot of a park that Jean used to take Elle to all the time, and I made sure to ask Luxion to assign a robot here just to make sure nothing will disturb the resting ground.
["As you recall, during the last moments of the dog's—"]
"Elle." Corrected Cid.
["Elle."] Luxion corrected himself. ["During Elle's last moments she had lost all of her senses. She was on her way out, yet in her last moments when Jean had appeared, she recognized him. She had been able to lift her head and lick his hands and face."]
"It's called love, Luxion." I answered with a slight smile.
Luxion looked like he might roll his eyes but didn't given the circumstances. ["That doesn't even make grammatical sense, let alone practical. What do you mean that Elle had been able to recover from her near catatonic state by the power of love."]
"Love causes a lot of things you wouldn't expect to happen." Said Cid.
I nodded. "I mean, just think in your case."
Luxion narrowed his eyes. ["What are you on about?"]
"Why do you just let Cleare do whatever she wants despite the fact that you don't like most of what she does?" I asked.
["It's simply more efficient to let her do as she pleases. She was also created for separate things than I. Not to mention that if I were to try and split myself up much more than I do already my functions would weaken considerably. The best I can do is create cameras to relay messages."] said Luxion, protesting a bit too much.
"Why'd you let her create an 'inferior' human body?" asked Cid, stopping Luxion in his tracks.
I smiled a bit, "He's got you there. You always talked about how you hated us 'meat sacs' or whatever it was."
["I don't know what you mean. I have always talked about restoring the glory of Old Humanity, I just figured the human body would be good to have for when I would no doubt need to monitor your children."] said Luxion.
"You did it because it made her happy." I said. "You love her."
["I am an AI. I do not have feelings."] tried Luxion.
"Hikaru." Said Cid.
Luxion stayed silent.
"You know, if I were to develop an AI, I'd want them to be able to learn and grow. After all how can you help humanity well if you have none? And given how much you've seen examples of love, you must've learned to love." I said.
Luxion took a good look at my face, as though he was trying to remember something. He then looked at the hole. ["I believe we're done now."]
I patted him on the shoulder and then called everyone else over.
There wasn't really much of a funeral to be had, after all Noelle and Jean were too much of a wreck to say anything for Elle. I helped cover the tree, set up the bot, and then went to the Einhorn with Cid and Luxion. I figure that it's probably a lot safer on there right now and with Serge having returned Louise said that I should stay away for a couple of days.
Claire and Deirdre sent me a message through Hikaru saying that they were going to take everyone to the ship once they were done grieving for the day. So, right now it's really just me and Cid.
Neither of us really said anything, just taking in the sight of the moon. If I remember correctly, Luxion said something about a lunar eclipse coming up soon. That should be nice I guess.
"Hey…" eventually said Cid. "Have you ever lost someone?"
I thought about it. "Not really. as Hiro I never really had any pets, and in this life I never really had any kind of loss yet. Lea did, but I didn't really get the memories of all that. Why? Elle's death shake you up a bit?"
Cid didn't meet my gaze, just staring at the moon and fiddling with his bracelet. "…Something like that."
I nodded. Neither of us were really close to Elle, but we did spend several days with her. So having her die, even if we knew it was probably soon, likely affected him. Not to mention all the other stuff we've been through. We've killed before, or at least I have, but having a friend die is completely different.
"…It's sobering, when you have something to lose." I said. "Right?"
"Right."
"I mean both of us are going to be dad's soon."
"…Even though I know that's true, I can't help but feel like that isn't… true? Like I can't believe it despite scanning Alice and Luna's bellies myself."
I slap Cid on the back, "Boy don't I know it. I don't think it's really going to hit me until I can hold the little ankle biters myself."
"Ankle biters? How old were you again?"
"According to Marie and Louise, Hiro died at age 27."
"Yeesh."
"Yeah… Can I be frank with you?"
"Well sure, but why the name change?" snarked Cid.
I couldn't help but laugh in disgust. "Damn, working on the dad jokes already?"
Cid smirked, "I remember how adorable the girls were when they were little. I had a lot of fun teasing them back then, so I imagine when we have some kids it'd be just as fun to tease them." Cid then scratched his cheek. "Although sometimes I felt a little bad with how easily the girls believed me sometimes."
I snickered, just imagining a little Cid and Alice getting up to no good, the others shortly following after. Of course it'd be completely Cid's fault.
I thought to my own future. I closed my eyes and began sharing with Cid. "I've been think about what my own kids would look like, y'know?"
"Yeah?"
"A little boy with my hair and Angie's eyes, or the reverse. Heck maybe she will have a daughter that looks just like her. Either way I could imagine them being a bit of a precocious child, likely prideful and wanting to make the both of us proud. Mostly Angie though, I can just imagine me and our kids fighting over her attention."
Cid smiles, amused if nothing else.
"I definitely feel like Livia would have a boy first. Although if she had a daughter she'd probably the most adorable little thing ever. But a little boy from me and Livia would probably be who Julius was supposed to be. A prince in all but name. Either way, if they hopefully, take after their mother they'd be the type to be accompanied by small animals everywhere."
"I… I feel like you're forgetting some stuff about Livia." Pointed out Cid.
"A child has no down sides to their parents." I said, knowing exactly what aspects Cid was trying to warn me about. I should try and curb the yandere aspects of them a bit if I can help it. Maybe have Luxion or his own AI monitor them. "…But I'll keep an eye out."
Cid nodded. I motioned for him to go. For once, he seemed embarrassed.
"Well… I imagine a kid with Alice being pretty clingy." Said Cid.
"Really? No the one with Luna or Natsume?"
Cid shook his head, "Nah, if it weren't for all the Mitsugoshi stuff we had to take care of I can imagine that Alice would be glued to my hip. Any kid between us wouldn't have that obstacle. Although if we had a son first I imagine they'd probably trail after her more than me."
I laughed, imagining a little elf boy trialing after Alice like a duckling and a girl doing the same for Cid.
"But a kid with Luna… hm, I feel like they'd be spoiled rotten by her either way. I might have to be the one to be the bad guy in that case. Luna just loves spoiling the people she loves, and gift giving is her biggest love language."
"I can just imagine them turning out like Deirdre if they're a girl then."
"Oh my god, I can hear the laugh already." Said Cid as he held his head in his hands. Likely hearing a kid going 'desu-wa' and 'ohohoho'.
"You know, given how clumsy Luna can be I can imagine them going desuwawawawawa" I said. Cid immediately snorted at the thought and started to wheeze with laughter.
I joined him in laughter shortly after.
[Master, the others seem to be approaching the Einhorn. Should I inform Mistress Claire, Deirdre, and Noelle that you don't plan on going to bed for a bit?]
I shook my head. "Nah I'll be there soon." I turned to Cid. "Hey, one last thing."
"What's up?" said Cid, noticing my voice turn a bit serious.
I stuck out my hand to him, "Let's make a promise between the two of us."
"What kind?"
"If either of us do something really stupid and hurt the people we care about, the other will drag the other back kicking and screaming to apologize."
Cid took my hand. "Deal."
.
.
.
A/N: …okay so this chapter is shorter by about 4 thousand words. So like, I didn't lie by my standards at least. But yeah this chapter was just supposed to be here to not leave you guys blue balled from the last before we begin the next stuff.
Now let's answer the comments. You guys had a lot this time, I was a bit surprised. Especially because I posted in the middle of the week. I might start just queueing chapters honestly. I feel bad for posting at midnight on a Wednesday.
SB
MWKillKenny84: They were also doting on Olivia. She's a member of the family at this point.
Yeah Cordelia is pretty laser focused. Probably because she couldn't help Angelica during the academy days.
Cordelia set herself up there.
I was half tempted to write Cleare with kids. That sounded super funny. I do imagine she'd be a bit of a succubus when it comes to doing stuff with Luxion.
Lazy king being Roland? I imagine that Mylene would've had some pretty boring vanilla stuff in their bedroom to make Julius and Erica (vanilla's my favorite flavor, but Milf isn't Roland's).
Leon's too charismatic for his own good.
Lmao.
Cocky but can back it up is one of the best traits of Leon.
Rendfire: Thanks for the long comments, and all the research you did for me. I can't imagine that was a small amount of work, given how much I had to look for Leila and Noelle's perspective on their past for this chapter.
Knowing how the mana is carried by demonic essence I imagine that Cid's tricked out body may be the key to the future of both old and new humanity given that the root cause of the conflict is the dna altercations. If we get more eminence in shadow volumes I'd definitely love to cross them over for the last arc of Mobuseka.
I do think that the lack of mana in space is also something Cid would work on, or just be built different for. I do like the anime version of "I'M ATOMIC" where he does the giant solar system sized blast. But considering how I plan on having the climax of the John Smith arc go, I should be able to work around it even with keeping things to Mobuseka's rules.
That is a good suggestion for the Diabolos Cult. I had somewhat thought about having Aurora's demon body simply being Arcadia, but that sounds more interesting. Especially since Arcadia doesn't seem to care for any of the new humans except Mia.
I had to have the two clumsy elves interact at least once. And yeah, I do plan on having Yumeria join Leon's harem. I didn't realize the accidental family dynamics though, that's funny.
Well you see, if Luxion is shorter than Leon he can duck behind him during any dangerous situation.
Marie's more of a background character that had a good chunk of her moments skipped over, but yeah she's a scrappy little gremlin.
So I won't spoil too much of Noelle as 2nd Lieteneant. But yeah, it's not supposed to match up perfectly. See, as shown by Aurora's sections, she can't remember Leon or anyone else as anything other than reincarnations or simply 'that man' and other pronouns. Aurora isn't complete, and can't really make new memories if Cid doesn't also make them. So her past is fuzzy, making it so everyone from the past is just the version of them she remembered.
Tldr: Violet's a GILF with a lot of memories that overlap.
When it comes to the vibes, it's one of those things that you'd need to be strong enough to recognize. If you recall the scene with Iris in canon and Deirdre in this fic where they thought they were getting their limbs chopped off by mundane, it's similar. The members of Shadow Garden, especially named numbers and above, give off a sense of 'you might die' for anyone strong enough to really understand the danger they're in. At this point, Leon can detect a shadow garden member based on that alone.
I can't remember if it was only you that said that about Pierre. I might write that in at one point actually. It sounds funny.
That might work. But Leon's going to be busy with some volume 6 stuff during the blood moon. And volume 7 stuff during the John smith arc. I do like it though… I'll have to think about it some more.
Demon777: I don't remember what happened to Cordelia in the end of canon, but I remember one OneShot having her be in a threeway thing with Angie and him so I figured why not.
Ao3
Wolfpaladin: Yumeria probably doesn't recognize her, with all the accessories and the overall personality and appearance changes I couldn't blame her.
Lmao yeah. Cordelia rigged the game against herself.
To be honest, it's more so I can add more girls if I wanted to. I actually have plans for Hertrauda to end up with someone else already, it's just not set up yet. Next chapter maybe.
Yumeria and Cordelia are the only ones I've considered. I think Beatrix is cute with Cid based on the master of garden stuff, and the 'Alpha's entire family line' jokes are too good to pass up. So good suggestions, I'll consider them, but yeah I don't really plan on doing much other than Yumeria and Cordelia… maybe Merce. Maybe.
Lmao the vibe check.
Hope you liked the conversation in this chapter.
Eh, if he did get too mad and lose himself, Lord Shadow would've stepped in probably.
Serge is still a thing. Leila's better, but she's not perfect.
Raymond49090: I actually recall in universe having the shades and Cid calling Leon a dumbass in Coop. Also I think one commentor said he was a giant red flag then.
Much of the problem with Leila is that in canon, people warned her about Loic but she ignored it because she wasn't the one to find out. Even when Marie told her, Leila just doubled down.
You're free to feel however about it, but I wouldn't feel good about someone who'd set up her own sister with someone that everyone who met the guy said was sketchy.
Totntotbt: That would be hilarious actually. Although with his appearance he does look a bit too old for the academy.
The Livia/Angie and Angie/Livia thing is from the manga extra "A difference in interpretation." Basically, it's who ever is the 'male' which I guess would mean top. Funnily, Gil (angie's brother) ships Angie/Livia and when he asks one of his servants what they ship, the servant (not really understanding honestly) answers Livia/Angie and Gilbert sentences him to execution. Funnier, is that after that execution is stopped it's revealed that Vincent (Angie's dad) ships Livia/Angie but decides to keep it to himself for the sake of the family.
Sherry's harem may join Cid's not sure though.
Yeah, haven't given Marie many times to shine since I cut out a lot of the times where she did.
Hope you liked the talk between sisters here.
I didn't realize a running thing was me humanizing the villains. I did that on accident. Huh.
But you know what is also human? Being scared and traumatized. She's going to be better than canon, I can promise that. But Leila needs to hit rock bottom first, that's the kind of person she is. It should happen within the next arc to allow the growth for the Earth Arc.
Your ideas for Akane and Leila's interactions had me sold on it. Not sure I'll do all the persona stuff, but I definitely consider the role the family trauma has considering how much of this series is dedicated to being able to move on. You also do flesh out Akane more than the manga had for me, so that's an added benefit.
Responding to BOY4_GOW's addition to this chain, I will say that Akane will be a lot stronger. But I will admit the "Stop getting kidnapped so much" is a favorite line of mine.
But back to you totntotbtotbtbttbbtotbtobtobt or whatever it is since I don't copy and paste it; that approach of Leila being clouded by only what she knows just like with Noelle but now doing her best to move past it would be excellent character growth.
BOY4_GOW:
1. Yup. The debate was based on the volume 8 and 9 manga extras, they were hilarious.
2. Yeah the sacred tree stuff is honestly one of the highlights of the Alzer arc. It's a shame it's not mentioned too much.
3. It was something I had a lot of fun writing, glad it paid off.
4. Yeah. Not for a bit though.
5. Not just Nu. Any strong shadow garden member.
6. Oh yeah, I actually look forward to it.