Chapter 6: It's all mine
Iris sighed and called out for her guests to be let in. As happy as she was to see them again it was going to be a difficult conversation.
Marco and Glen were both excellent knights and good friends, despite their differences in age, build and temperament. Glen was a large well-muscled man who was nearing forty with an unaffected confidence while Marco was shorter, more slender, and his cool indifference was much less natural.
He had the skills to back up his performance though and she was certain she could trust both of them.
"Please have a seat. I'm glad to see you both again so soon".
Both smiled while Marco responded "I didn't think there was any chance of us seeing you again before our service was up and we came home, but if you can't go on without us we get it". Marco never really changed the way he acted around her since they met at the academy, but he was careful not to overstep in public and she had never felt the desire to correct him.
Being back here with him she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at the realization of how long it had been since his fiance disappeared. Nothing had been discovered and she hadn't even considered the case in years. Marco had been upset at the time but it had been more of a political match and he never seemed bothered about it himself these days.
"What he means is that we know you wouldn't call us back from our post unless there was something urgent, so we'd like to know the details". Glen was straight to the point as usual. He seemed incapable of truly relaxing until everything he was tasked with was completed, and had tried to encourage her to take that attitude during the few months he was her commander.
"It concerns the recent attack in the capital. You no doubt saw the damage centred on Orchard street".
"Yeah, you can see that crater for miles. What the hell happened".
She gave a brief explanation of what happened, though even between her and Alexia's account there were still massive gaps in the story.
It was hard to talk about her encounter with the blond elf. She tried to comfort herself with the fact that as an elf she could have had decades on her in terms of training (it was hard to tell how old she had been under her mask, but from what she could see she was under a hundred) but Iris had attacked with everything she had, full of desperation to reach Alexia and her opponent had escaped untouched. Admitting it out loud wasn't easy but she had a responsibility to let her allies had to know what they were up against.
Describing Shadow was hard for a different reason. The elf had been powerful but ultimately on a level she could understand and fight against even if she couldn't win. Zenon had been an opponent she respected and after his transformation he would have had a fair chance against her. Shadow had humiliated the man by refusing to even fight seriously, then destroyed a massive section of the city with a single attack.
She had once seen a peasant man lose his master's horse and he had sent to catch it to avoid having to compensate for the noble's loss. When she thought about the a fight between her and Shadow the image of that hopeless chase kept unhelpfully coming to mind.
"You're saying one person did all that damage". Marco finally broke in.
"We found an artifact looking through the wreckage. It's unclear whether Shadow used it or not but our preliminary examination suggests it might be used to contain mana." She held onto a tiny hope that Shadow had used it to augment his strength but Alexia had already spoiled the idea. She hadn't seen it watching their whole fight and if it had such a powerful effect, why was it left behind.
"Given Zenon's involvement I can't trust the regular city guards. I intend to start a new order I've named the Crimson Order and I would like you two to serve as my vice-commanders".
"What exactly would we be doing?" Marco asked.
"We'll be looking into both the Cult of Diabolos and Shadow Garden. Our objective is to discover what they're planning, who's behind it and how to stop them. We'll also respond to any incidents involving either of these groups to protect the populace."
Glen spoke up then gently "I appreciate that you can't walk away from this, but you're the best fighter out of the three of us. What are you planning for when we eventually encounter this Shadow person ourselves".
Iris looked him straight in the eyes, determined not to show fear in front of her own soldiers "I've increased my training so I should be better prepared next time." Glen just kept staring at her "and I've reached out to an old friend of mine who might be able to help us as well, but even if she agrees it'll be a few weeks until she arrives. Are you going to join?"
"Like you even need to ask" Marco cheerfully replied. Glen nodded "I agree. Thank you for asking even though you would be within your rights to command us to join."
Iris felt the weight on her shoulders lessen slightly, with two great recruit and another one potentially coming soon she felt that she was at least making progress.
---
Sadly not all of her recruits were so promising.
Three days later she was sitting with Marco and Glen, having just asked Sherry Barnett (the best artifact researcher she could discreetly approach) to examine the artifact when Alexia dragged Cid Kagenou into the room, apparently very much against his will. He looked just as average as he had before though he was mildly annoyed and embarrassed rather than hopeless this time.
He noticed her then and executed a sloppy bow "Y-your Highness!". The obvious fear in his voice was another reason this was a terrible idea (she expected his interrogation might complicate things between them if they ever met again) but she had promised Alexia she'd at least let him try out.
"Cid, please have a seat".
He sat beside Sherry and gave the artifact a curious glance.
"We've been looking into the people who took Alexia and have recovered some documents from the facility she was being held in".
He looked shocked "The one that was blown up?"
"The section Alexia and I were in was mostly undamaged, so we were able to recover some materials from there. We also searched other locations based on information we got from Zenon's home and have gathered a large amount of encoded documents. My sister's told me that you're able to read ancient runes so we'd like your help deciphering some of these". She gestured to the large stacks of paper on the corner of the table.
She took one off the top and passed it to Cid "Could you tell me what this says?".
"Okay" He looked down "Demon's blood, Hero's blood. I finally have it. Blood, blood, bloo…"
"Thank you" She said, irritated at this waste of time. She didn't hate the boy but she had looked into him during her last investigation and his grades and fighting skills were average at best. Ancient runes was an incredible difficult subject, more of a collection of languages that had merged and divided over hundreds of years ago among several civilisations which took years of study to master. She just couldn't imagine Cid would be any help with it.
"I don't think this is going to work out so…"
Sherry was looking down at the paper and spoke out enthusiastically "That was a really fast translation".
Alexia, sensing weakness and showing no hesitation as usual piped up "Yeah that sounds like the guy who kidnapped me. I told you he never shut up about my blood". Her smile told Iris she wasn't going to have any of her attempts to block Cid from joining.
Iris looked at Alexia seriously, ignoring the others looking at her with amusement "I had assumed that wasn't exactly literal. Apparently I was mistaken".
"Are you also a researcher?" Sherry asked
"Uh no. I just learned with a friend". Cid replied casually
"Why?" It was a strange sort of thing to do with a friend, especially at the age he must have been.
"Well… we kind of liked playing spy so…" he trailed off.
Alexia started guffawing and even Iris struggled to keep a smile off her face.
"Sorry Pu-Cid" she gasped out nearly bent double with glee "But you, as some sort of spy or se-secret agent, it's just…"
That is a rather funny thought.
Cid was clearly struggling to keep his face blank. The poor boy was probably mortified at being made the butt of a joke in front of a crowd like this.
"So…" Alexia eventually managed, straightening "can he join now".
She couldn't really refuse now and she did need someone to look through these documents while Sherry examined the artifact.
"What have you signed me up for now?" Cid asked Alexia, letting his irritation show.
"You didn't tell him".
"Well obviously not". Alexia replied "My sister's putting together a new order of knight's called the Crimson Order and I've put in a good word for you. You can thank me later".
"And why would I thank you, does this job pay well or something?"
"No I wouldn't be paying you, but I would be willing to provide a recommendation if you do good work and that could get you almost any job you want after graduation".
Alexia stepped up to Cid and whispered something in his ear. He seemed resigned "Alright, I'll join".
Iris didn't especially like being excluded from whatever her sister had said, but she seemed happy so she was willing to let it slide for now. The meeting proceeded much more calmly from there as she gave Cid a brief outline of the cult and shadow garden as well as some documents they had recovered to work through.
Eventually she dismissed everyone else but Cid and spoke to him quietly, sure Alexia would be pressing her ear to the door "Please keep an eye on my sister. She is talented but she's too eager to prove herself"
"Why let her join this thing at all then?"
"She's already involved since her kidnapping started the whole investigation. Besides she'd just look into things on her own if I left her out"
Cid nodded in sympathetic understanding.
She held out a silver coloured ticket to Cid "I'm not sure whether you two are still 'going out' but there's an event next week and a ticket was already set aside for you. If you want to you and Alexia can go together".
Cid took the ticket and looked down at it "I'm not sure I'm…" He seemed to see something on the ticket and shot to attention "I mean yes, I'd love to go with her".
He headed out of the door and she looked down at her own ticket which read:
Mitsugoshi grand opening
Celebrate the opening of our new headquarters which once opened will officially be largest store in the capital. Designed to meet the fashion, artistic, culinary and appliance needs for the most refined customers.
Please keep your tickets until the end of the event for a free prize draw.
Ticket No: 7
He probably decided as soon as he saw the free prize giveaway. I hope Alexia knows what she's doing with him.
---
Cid woke up tired, but still happier than he could ever remember feeling.
The revelations over the last few weeks that he was really fighting in the shadows for the fate of the world with a demon cult was good. The fact that Iris and the government had asked him to look over all the information they were collecting with the ability to withhold whatever he wanted was even better. He had already held back information about that Mitsugoshi place Alpha was working at, since they apparently weren't part of the merchants guild (who apparently funded the cult) and were beginning to usurp a lot of their revenue. Alpha probably chose to work there on principle since it seemed to be one of the few businesses not associated with the cult in any way.
Another amazing development, equal to both of these things had occurred more recently which accounted for his lack of sleep. The cult being real also meant his luck stat must be near the max, and so he'd done what everyone does when they realize they have unnaturally good luck. He checked to see if it worked on the gambling system in this world.
It worked on the gambling system in this world.
His first attempt had been ill-conceived. He'd gone in anonymously using the cash Alexia had given him over the last few months as his opening stake and won big but the casino hadn't wanted to let him keep his payout so he was accused of cheating and nearly all of his winnings were confiscated. After this he had disguised himself the next night and pretended to be the third son of duke Aldston, who'd never been to the capital before. They hadn't wanted to accuse such a well connected person so they smiled as he walked away from the robbery.
He cleaned out almost every casino and gambling den he could find, sucking up their money like some sort of industrial strength vacuum. It had actually reminded him that he should add vacuum cleaners to the list of things Eta should make.
After several days of late nights he had netted a nice four billion Zeni in coins and other valuable most of which was stashed in his new high rise apartment. The view looking out onto the central square just beside the royal palace had a really eminence VIP looking down on the clueless masses vibe and he'd been able to decorate the place appropriately as well. It was hard to leave his treasure behind but he had hidden it behind a well locked door in the most well policed part of the city, so it would probably be fine.
He moved into the kitchen of his side character house, mildly disappointed he hadn't had a single night in his new place. Despite his now immense wealth he couldn't explain where he got any of it as Cid Kagenou, so he was still on a tight budget while in disguise. It would be weird if he didn't spend the money Alexia had given him on something, so he could probably splurge a little.
He made himself a quick breakfast and saw a silvery bracelet decorated with small diamonds lying on the table. He must have won it last night and forgotten to leave it with the rest of his hoard. He pocketed it quickly, mentally shaking his head at his carelessness as the door slammed open and Claire walked in, eyes narrowed with hands of hips.
"Hey Sis" Cid responded casually. He didn't know what he'd done but from experience he knew to play it cool in these situations.
"Hey Sis" It was apparently the wrong thing to say "Don't you have anything else to say to me?."
"Uhh" Cid stalled. Having nothing else, bribery was his best bet. He grabbed the bracelet in his pocket and held it out to her "Surprise?"
All at once the rage disappeared and was replaced by a wide smile. She tried it on admiringly "I knew it Cid. I knew you'd never forget my birthday".
Oh Shit. Thank you S-rank luck.
Between everything else he had forgotten Claire's birthday was coming up and he still painfully remembered the last time he didn't get her anything. His ears had rung all night from the screaming and he'd had to agree to weekly visits to the village market with her before she stopped kicking him under the table at every meal.
Now that I think about it, where was my luck then.
Claire's hug, made awkward since he was still in his chair halted this train of thought. She looked down at her wrist again and kissed his cheek before she began speaking "I'm going to go show my friends, it's beautiful. We'll have dinner tonight though. I'll see you later."
Cid nodded, silently mourning what would have been an enjoyable training day away from the school turning into cooking for and having dinner with Claire. The gift also accounted for all the money Alexia gave him so he was once again in poverty as Cid, but at least Claire had really liked her gift.
She left the apartment and closed the door almost skipping away. Cid returned to his now cold meal and realized there was no way microwave it warm again.
How the hell did I forget microwaves this long.
---
Alexia looked over Cid and had to concede he'd actually managed to make himself presentable for the event. He wore a dark grey waist coat under a black dinner jacket, and had actually attempted to unscramble the mess that was his hair.
Deciding to be charitable she told him "You actually look nice".
"Thanks, you do too." He thought a moment "What do you mean actually?"
She was of course radiant in a dark red dress that brought out her eyes and contrasted sharply with her silver hair. She got it specially for this event, though definitely not specifically for him.
She didn't want to start a fight so she just shrugged as their carriage stopped to let them out. Cid held our arm and she pressed it to her side as they exited the carriage and entered the massive double doors into the department store.
It seemed huge, almost as large as the royal palace though laid out much differently. They passed stores with mannequins in well tailored clothes, instruments, children's toys, books, and one store full of what looked like large disks precariously balanced on a table and others she couldn't really describe as they were herded past to the central area of the mall, apparently there was going to be an opening speech before the stores were properly opened. She was careful not to look shocked and her puppy apparently had the same idea since he kept a straight face to look cool.
They eventually (and it was eventually given the size of the place) reached the centre. It looked like a courtyard and felt like one with natural light streaming in from above, centring on a raised platform in front of a large fountain with stairs leading to floors above at either end.
She was just greeting a couple of school friends while silently wishing she'd brought more comfortable shoes when a woman stepped out onto the platform and made her way to the podium. She'd expected the owner of this place to be fairly old but the elf woman appeared to be a young, tall, dark-haired woman in a black dress she considered slightly too revealing to be tasteful.
"Welcome everyone. I'm Luna Reist, the president of the Mitsugoshi trading company. I'd like to thank you all for attending our grand re-opening. Many of you were customers of our previous location and with your support and patronage we've been able to build this…"
She continued on talking about how hard they worked to build all of this and the new innovations they had made peppered with the usual merchant butt-kissing of the nobility. Alexia eventually stopped paying attention and tried to map out the space and see who she recognised in the crowd. Cid had, of course, made a complete ass out of himself by staring slack-jawed at the company president. She brought her heel down on his foot, not as hard as she could have but enough for him to turn his attention back to who it should be focused on.
Eventually the speech concluded and she pulled at Cid to investigate the various stores. It seemed strangely deserted as they walked to the first clothing store she could find. The space was built for thousands and there were less than five hundred people there today for the exclusive opening.
She spent thirty minutes in there trying on dresses before settling on three. She went to another two clothing stores while Cid whined about how there was no point in him being there since he wasn't going to get anything. She bought him a tie to shut him up.
They passed what looked like a kid's play area (getting kids to like coming here so they'd bug their parents to come back and keeping them out of their way while they shopped was genius) and they saw another elf leading the children through some sort of learning activity. It seemed like the goal was to make something that could keep an egg safe while it was dropped from the top of one of the kid's castle. She was amused watching several attempts work and fail while Cid spoiled the mood a bit by staring at the very pretty brown haired elf in a lab coat that was leading the exercise.
She was getting hungry by then anyway and suggested they get a snack. Cid suggested a chocolate store and started eating the complimentary bar he was offered before she could stop him. It didn't look particularly appealing but Cid insisted it was good so she tried it. She swiftly got them a whole box and they shared it at a small table looking out over a balcony to the floor below.
"So what do you think of the place?" Cid asked. His tone was weirdly smug almost more fitting for the owner than an ordinary student.
"I have to admit I'm impressed. The variety and quality are all excellent. I'm also impressed you've been so calm through this. Being from the country I thought you might find this place overwhelming."
"It's not that special" he responded coolly
He was obviously lying "You really care about looking cool, don't you?".
"Of course. It's something I consider very important after all.". Alexia sighed as she realized he was completely serious.
They set off again and walked into a book store where an upcoming author was apparently doing a signing of their hit children's book "Harold Porter and the sage's stone". She was hard pressed to blame Cid when he started staring at this one considering how shamelessly she was sticking out her exposed chest. She disliked this one even more than the others because she acted all shy and humble which was obviously an act. Alexia couldn't understand why the female half of the room couldn't see through it.
"Hey Rose, are you a fan of Natsume's books?" She hoped the answer was no, but once she met the student council president as they were leaving it felt right to ask.
"Oh yes. She'd a master of so many different styles it's really incredible. Most author's just stick to one or two but her last book was a gothic horror called 'Alucard' and before the drama she wrote before that 'Hubris and Discrimination' is probably my favourite book".
"Wow." Alexia deadpanned "It's almost as if they were all written by different people". If they really were written by different people and the cow signing autographs right now had just ripped them off that would explain a lot of her personality. Alexia made a mental note to see check into that.
"Well I shouldn't keep you. It's nice to see you're doing well Alexia. It's nice to see you too Cid. It looks like you were right, everything did work in the end". Rose headed off to get her book signed.
"I didn't know you knew Rose". She and the class president generally moved in different circles mostly due to their age difference, but she couldn't imagine how Cid knew her.
"We met when you got taken. I think she wanted to make sure no-one started anything with me" Cid explained.
They went back downstairs towards the fountain, as Cid explaining the black disks she had seen were something called records and was showing off that he knew something she didn't when they heard singing over soft piano music.
Does this store just exclusively hire beautiful young elves. How do you even recruit for that specifically, they're less than a percent of Midgars population.
Despite herself Alexia ended up joining Cid and the rest of the crowd staring at the musician. She seemed younger than the others they'd seen with long teal hair and lively amethyst eyes. Her black dress lined in silver covered her from head to heel but even so Alexia could tell her figure was exactly what any girl would pick if she had the choice.
The music held her attention as much as the woman performing, as an almost unnatural calm fell over her as she listened. As she came to a close the crowd stood motionless for a few seconds before a standing ovation swept through them.
Deciding there was probably going to be even more girls for Cid to gawp at she decided to bite the bullet and pulled him aside "Could you not eye up every pretty girl you see, you're supposed to be my date."
"We're still doing that?" Cid asked. Her expression clearly stated the answer was yes "Why?"
"Well… Zenon's not exactly the only candidate I want to hold off and I've gotten used to having you around. So I'd like to keep our relationship the same if you don't mind?"
Her first instinct was to try and force him into it but that would just be pathetic. Recent events had forced her to take a closer look at herself and she hadn't liked everything she saw there, so was trying to be a little nicer, especially with Cid.
"It's not exactly a hardship is it. Getting free stuff, going to exclusive events and making useful connections".
"Can I think about it?"
It was the best she was going to get so she agreed and walked over to Iris who'd also been part of the crowd "Wasn't she incredible. I've heard these records and record players have her music on them and can be played at home somehow."
"Yes, Lady Sylon has agreed to have all of her music published by our company. I can show you to the store right now if you like". Luna was making her way over to them and Cid started to walk towards her as if entranced.
She was about to pull him back when Luna tripped on nothing and began to fall while Cid leapt forward to hold her up.
"Thank you L-Lord Cid". She muttered shyly. Being held up like this by a student probably wasn't part of her ideal business opening.
Luna joined their little group and they had just started walk towards the entrance when a voice called out for Cid.
She couldn't even be bothered to be irritated as another beautiful elf appeared. This one was blond with bright blue eyes that lit up as she looked at Cid, dressed in a long grey skirt and a black sweater decorated in vine patterns. Alexia tensed as she wrapped Cid in a familiar hug.
"Oh it's been ages" she exclaimed, taking a step back and looking him up and down appreciatively "You're taller than me now" she said in mock scolding.
"Hey.. Allison. I guess I am."
Ha. He had to check her name-tag because he forgot her name.
Feeling slightly better about this development she straightened and introduced herself as his date, which she didn't seem to mind.
"Cid I've got to get someone to fill out a survey for the opening, could you please, please help me with it?".
Alexia was about to refuse on his behalf when Luna spoke up "Yes, that's an excellent idea Allison. There are some products aimed specifically towards woman it wouldn't be appropriate to shop for with Cid present, perhaps we could meet back here in an hour and a half."
"Great. I'll definitely have him back on time president" and with that Allison grabbed Cid and began pulling him away. He stupidly offered no resistance as he faded into the distance.
---
It's mine, it's all mine. Cid thought as Alpha led him through the off-limits areas where they passed staff rooms and storage areas on their way to the meeting room. The money he'd won over the last few nights was chump change compared to the value of this place, and since it belonged to Shadow Garden, it ultimately belonged to him.
"So everyone's here?"
"Yes. Even Zeta's made time in her busy schedule to attend." Alpha seemed to consider something "She's been on contact duty with you for the last three days, haven't you seen her? I assumed the first thing she'd do is go straight to you."
"Nah. Guess there probably wasn't a good time for it".
"Curious. Considering the situation it would be strange if we all disappeared at the same time, so we'll be taking turns. Epsilon and Beta will report first with Gamma and Eta following. Zeta, Delta and I won't be missed so we'll stay for the whole meeting".
As they approached the doors he could see Epsilon waiting for them, her false curves looking incredibly natural. If he hadn't known what to look for even he might have been fooled.
"Zeta Beta and Delta are waiting for you inside. Could I have a moment alone with lord Shadow?"
"Of course, just don't take to long. The schedule will be tight as it is"
Alpha let go of Cid's arm and headed through the doors.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to congratulate you on your last victory against the cult. I'm sure you must have worked incredibly hard to develop such a glorious power".
He had and it was kinda nice to hear someone noticed "You've improved as well. I remember when you wouldn't even sing for any of the others" he gestured to the door "now you're performing for massive crowds" seems like I missed some major character development.
"Oh that was easy. The trick was to pretend you're still there and everyone else isn't. I always feel like I do my best work if you're watching"
That made a strange kind of sense since Epsilon had been part of Cid's inspiration for his side character persona. She wasn't bad in any area but didn't excel at anything either and she'd been one of the more reserved girls in their group during the early days. It was clear shyness was a flaw she'd left behind a long time ago.
"You put on an excellent show Epsilon". Even if you are just ripping off other composers.
She started twisting a strand of hair around her finger "Thank you my lord. I'm glad you enjoyed it"
"You can call me Cid when it's just the two of us". He was pleased with the mix of Lord Shadow, my lord, master and boss-man with the rest of the group because it sounded dope, but he wanted to make it clear he considered them friends outside of work.
Apparently he was right to suggest this since Epsilon looked inordinately pleased to hear that "Well.. we should probably head inside now" she replied, moving to open the door for him.
Cid had attended several meetings like these before the group broke up but this was the first time he would be taking it seriously. Having a basic understanding of what was going on could only make his performance here better so he felt confident stepping into the room.