Chapter 15: The First Origin
Cid woke up to the sound of knives and forks clinking against plates from the floor below. It took him a second realize where he was and that the girls must be having breakfast downstairs. It was rare for him to wake up naturally, since he normally he practised with magic for most of the night and stuck to the minimum amount of sleep (now two hours and twenty four minutes). Being on vacation he'd given himself have a little break from his routine.
Cid took a quick shower before heading down to grab breakfast. Everyone hailed him as he entered the lounge and he saw Alpha, Zeta and Eta had moved into the room with their own breakfast to eat with everyone.
He took his own order, which had been arranged the night before, and called Gamma and Eta to his side. Cid spent most of his morning explaining what he could remember about trains to them. The others had their own conversations, but he could tell they were keeping one ear on his lecture, while Gamma and Eta took copious notes.
I'll meet Rose in Lindworm, but I'll have to take the carriage back with her. A journey that might have been just two hours running is gonna be almost three days, pressed up against her in a hot-box with no-one else around. What a miserable experience.
If he introduced trains into this world he could at least avoid the problem happening again. It didn't hurt that all of the shades marvelled about how his new idea would revolutionize industry and travel while never getting anywhere close to realizing his true intentions.
"How should we begin the vacation, my lord?" Beta asked Cid after he dumped his empty dish back on the delivery cart.
"I don't know, what do you guys want to do?".
"I say we all go swimming. I'm sure we all want to check out the pools and see how 'everyone' looks in their swimsuits" Epsilon stated, putting emphasis on the word 'everyone' and simultaneously gave a little nod to the group at large.
"Y-yes I think that's a great idea" Beta agreed enthusiastically.
"I'm fine with that" Zeta added, her casual tone undercut by her vibrating tail.
"Well let's gather what we'll need and head to the elevator" Alpha said before she started moving back to her room to get changed.
After running upstairs and changing into his trunks, he shouted to the room behind him "I'm going the fast way" and jumped off the balcony and onto the terrace that overlooked the pools.
The others were not slow in following his example. Delta came first and rushed to clamp herself around him again, which was somehow both more and less comfortable than usual given their lack of clothing.
Beta and Epsilon landed at almost the same time, and they were followed by Gamma who wobbled on the landing, but managed not to slip. Thankfully by the time Alpha and Zeta made it down he'd managed to extricate himself from Delta's grasp, avoiding starting the day with a row between those two. Eta managed the jump less gracefully than her bosses, but with technically faultless form.
Cid felt his gaze being almost magnetically pulled to Epsilon in her skimpy red bikini, the front of which was held together by a tiny gold link that seemed under a persistent strain not to burst open and release it's payload. He could only marvel at every curve and contour of her body. It was a perfect ten.
A flawless unification of slime and flesh, so seamless he couldn't tell where one began and the other ended.
She was blushing and gave him a little wave, then he realized that all of the other girls were looking at him. None of them looked pleased.
Wait, they might be thinking this is a Po and Skel type situation. Do they even know Epsilon's curves are fake? I've never seen her take them off with any of them around.
He'd never actually checked that. Deciding to play it cool, he put a hand under his chin and looked over the rest of the girls in turn, so he could pretend he was assessing them purely on their fashion choices.
Alpha and Zeta wore black, though Alpha's was very simple and Zeta's somehow seemed more revealing despite being more elaborate. Beta and Eta went with white, though Beta's was frillier and Eta was wearing a thin button up fleece over her swimsuit left dangling open. Gamma had gone for a dark blue one piece and Delta was wearing a sporty orange set he was sure she'd picked entirely for ease of movement.
Looking over the girls he thought he figured out why Epsilon might hide her petite figure. These girls were stacked. It was kind of like the shortest guy in a group wearing raised heels to stand a little taller. He'd done that sometimes as Shadow with the slime-suit before joining the Midgar Academy. It was hard to be intimidating below five feet while everyone towered over you, but now he was mostly finished growing he couldn't justify it. It would be figuratively and literally the height of cringe.
Once he'd given each looked over each of them he could see they were still looking at him intently, though there was much more appreciation rather than accusation in their eyes now. He was the only guy there, so it was natural he'd become the centre of attention for a little while.
Have they ever actually seen this much before. From what I've seen, the decency standards of this world are a little stricter than my old world. That could just be among the nobility though.
He heard Eta mutter "amateur" then a flash of light at the periphery of his vision pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned away from Delta to see Eta holding a disposable plastic camera while Beta was frozen still, looking in wonder at Eta. She then looked down at her own hands, which were holding a pencil and the tiny notebook she had been furiously scribbling in, then somehow stowed them both in her swimsuit between the twins.
"Eta, what did you just do?"
"I took a picture. Testing new portable camera...before we put them on sale".
"and...why did you take a picture of me by myself?"
"For academic purposes. Need to test...in various conditions. Lighting was good there." she said bashfully.
Dammit, that's totally a lie. If I end up in in some Shadow Garden calendar as Mr July then...Wait, where I am in the calendar isn't the issue.
"Eta, if that's just a test photo then you won't need to show it to anyone will you?". He went on when she shook her head "Then keep it to yourself until you're done, then destroy it. It's not a good idea to keep proof this vacation ever happened". She nodded again while Beta refocused her gaze on him, equipped her pencil and notebook, and returned to her frantic note taking.
The look of disappointment in the eyes of the others told Cid he'd just successfully dodged a company calendar spread.
Even if I want the money, there are better ways to get it.
"Delta's going in the water. Catch me boss-man" and with that Delta dive bombed into the pool and splashed everyone up to their chests.
"To think, you would dare to challenge me here". Cid whispered dramatically and dived in after her, much more gracefully than her cannonball. He could swim reasonably well, but it wasn't a speciality of his. Delta might have a chance here.
"Please stop her using magic, you two could force all the water out of the pools" Gamma added as she and the rest of the group started to make their (slower) way into the pool.
He spent more than an hour swimming after Delta through the various pools (sometimes she got out and ran from one to another and he was forced to follow her). Zeta joined in and while there was always some tension between those two, they could play together if the rules were clear (and especially if they could be on opposite teams). When the time came for them to try and catch him it took them longer than it should have to work together and box him in, but all's well that ends well.
It turned out (without magic in play) Zeta was the best swimmer of the three. He and Delta were both physically stronger, but their wilder movements generated more water resistance with every motion compared to Zeta's feline grace. Apparently when she went by ship on her scouting missions she dived into the sea to find her dinner more often than not, especially when she was a stow-away (it was more stealthy and saved cash).
Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Epsilon all alternated into the game by turns, giving him and Zeta a brief reprieve and a chance to talk with the others. Eta showed no interest at all in running around, but sat in a pink inflatable ring, sipping from a fruity drink and occasionally pushing herself off the side of the pool with her foot to continue a slow circuit around the largest pool.
As everyone, including Delta, began to lose interest in the pool-tag Gamma suggested they take a seat in one of the more secluded areas while the numbers set up another activity. She seemed a little down about something when Alpha asked "is something wrong Gamma?"
"Not really. I just thought it was a shame we couldn't have a picture to remember this vacation with. How long will it be before we're all together again?"
"Gamma, a picture like that would tie every member of Shadow Garden together. If it were discovered our identities would be compromised and the consequences would be catastrophic" Alpha commanded.
"I'd like one as well. I understand why we can't, but it's still unfortunate, isn't it?" Beta broke in.
"Well...I guess if we kept it somewhere really safe, like in Alexandria or something it might be fine". Cid offered to the group.
Alpha sighed "Why do you have to be so soft on them...it leaves me no choice but to play the villain. Fine, we can have one".
"If we're going to have one, why not more. The risk's the same either way. We should still take at least one 'now'". Epsilon reasoned, once again oddly emphasising the word 'now' while looking at him and nodding to the rest of the group.
"If we want to get everyone into the picture, we'll need to call one of the numbers back to take it" Zeta supplied.
He was met with a chorus of "NO!" when he suggested getting changed and dressing before taking the pictures. They must have all figured out what Gamma's next activity was since they were so dead set on staying in their swimsuits.
It took a couple of minutes to decide where to take the photo, but Gamma and Epsilon eventually decided on the terrace they'd leapt to earlier, so the pools, the beach, and the sea would be in the background. Eta insisted they take three since the development process was still being refined (so there was a chance any one might fail to develop properly) and while Cid was always the centrepiece of the shot, he was by turn flanked by Alpha and Zeta, Beta and Gamma and Eta and Epsilon for each shot. Delta just sort of crouched like she was ready to pounce at the photographer by his legs in every shot.
By the time they got back to the pool Gamma's activity had been set-up. It was a scavenger hunt for coins the numbers had hidden in the pools and the surrounding area. Cid's enthusiasm for the game diminished greatly when he realized they were all silver 1,000 Zeni pieces (even if he got them all it probably would have only been 200,000 Zeni), and the depression this fact caused him severely impacted his performance, as he came in behind Alpha, Zeta, Beta and...Gamma. She stuck exclusively to finding coins in the pools and it seemed she could compete in physical activities if you took the possibility of tripping out of the equation.
Once their totals had been amassed they sat at a patio table for lunch while they discussed what to do next. Gamma, Eta and Beta were having their own conversation, in which Beta was insisting the hotel should have it's own photograph-development facility, while Gamma and Eta reasoned that the necessary chemicals (and resultant smell) were not ideal for the aesthetic of the resort.
"I say we go do something a little more relaxing and check out the shopping district Gamma's set up". Epsilon declared while trying to sort her hair back into it's usual style.
UGGHH Not again.
"I could use some new things for my trip to Lindworm, that'd be great" Beta added (unhelpfully).
"Aww, Delta wants to go hunting"
"Oh come on, we've been running around all morning, you owe me something easy. Besides I saw your sock drawer and half of them are full of holes".
"Those aren't mine, those are boss-man's old ones" Delta shouted proudly, like a lawyer pointing to the evidence that proved their client's innocence. The declaration brought Gamma's conversation to a sudden stop and focused the entire table's cold stares onto her "H-he said I could have them". The death glares shifted to him.
"I never really said she could have them, exactly. I just stopped trying to take them away."
"And why did you choose to allow this?" Alpha asked him in a voice colder than snow.
"Well, whenever I did try to stop her she just went after my newer clothes. Besides it's pretty normal for dogs to raid their owners laundry baskets, so I didn't think it was that strange". His old Labrador John had been the same way as a puppy. As his truest ally in those days, he couldn't hold the small annoyance against him and he'd gotten kind of nostalgic when Delta reminded him of it.
Alpha sighed deeply "This is why I say you spoil these girls, you know she isn't actually a dog, right?"
Cid nodded and she turned to Delta.
"Why did you start stealing his clothes?"
Delta started twiddling her fingers nervously under Alpha's stern gaze "Um...Delta missed boss-man when he wasn't around, and having his stuff makes Delta feel better?"
Alpha sighed again, but her expression softened as she continued on diplomatically "We'll need to discuss this habit of yours later Delta. Could you use any more clothes?" Delta's ears perked up and her tail began wagging happily, Alpha quickly realized her mistake "New clothes for you to wear?".
Delta's enthusiasm waned "Delta supposes so".
"Well then I think it's a good idea to go with Epsilon and the others, it'll be more fun that way than going on your own".
"Just let her...pick whatever she wants...that's what I do. Saves my brain cells...for important information" Eta added. She was agreeing to go but Epsilon's side-eyed glance showed she wasn't entirely happy with the statement.
"Do we need any of the numbers to sell things to us?" Beta asked
"Why would we need that, it's our store. We can just take whatever we want" Epsilon added. Cid once again got that rushing 'they grow up so fast' feeling of admiration as he saw this shameless mooching of Gamma's money.
Wait, son of a bitch, that's my money.
Gamma spoke cautiously while Cid grappled with his conflicted feelings. "I suppose the money would be coming from us anyway. It would be somewhat redundant to pay for our own goods".
"Epsilon, don't loot Gamma's store" Alpha commented dryly.
"I wasn't going to!" Epsilon said and held her hands up in mock surrender.
"Do you remember how many times you went over budget on infiltration missions buying designer fashion and jewellery? Because I do".
Epsilon let out a little huff of agitation "You try infiltrating the nobility dressed like Asherella before the fairy-grandmother shows up, why don't you?"
"You've read my children's books?" Beta looked like Christmas had come early.
"Well, yeah. They're pretty popular right now so I'm expected to know all about them, I guess because we're both elves. If it was up to me I'd probably have just stuck to the thrillers and romance".
"Oh I have a new romance story I'm working on right now. It's about this boy who has to pretend to be in love with this nasty silver haired princess to investigate something while he's really in love with this understated elven journalist…"
Beta gave a plot synopsis for her new (and thankfully original) book to the rest of the table while lunch was being served. She told them them everything she had so far, up to a plot twist where the two lovers are about to declare their feelings for each other when another princess (this one very stupid and very blond) burst in and derailed everything. Once they were finished with lunch they split up to get changed. Cid pulled Gamma aside to make an excuse to avoid the shopping trip (he'd been shopping with enough girls recently to know he didn't much care for the exercise).
He disappeared to the roof for a few minutes to avoid any awkward 'you should totally come with us' conversations and then started running around the hotel looking for secret passages once he knew the coast was clear. He could have just asked Gamma where they all were, but he'd learned from Mitsugoshi that it was more satisfying if you found them yourself.
After finding an escape tunnel in the supply closet under the first floor stairs and a slide hidden behind a bookcase on the third floor that opened onto a first floor conference room, he went back his room to play some piano for a few minutes before the shades got back. As he stepped in he felt Alpha's presence on his balcony and shifted directions slightly to see what she was doing. The (obsessively) neat stack of completed paperwork he passed told him she hadn't just got back.
She was just standing their, hair swaying with the wind as she looked out across the sea. She'd framed herself very well to look like she was in the middle of some profoundly deep contemplation.
He stepped up beside her and leaned against the railing before he spoke "Why aren't you shopping with the rest of the girls?"
"I've expanded my wardrobe fairly recently, so getting more for myself would just be wasteful. Besides, I'm not especially fashionable. In there Epsilon and Gamma will manage the rest of them much better than I would. Why didn't you go? I'm certain everyone would want...a man's perspective"
"Between Alexia, Claire and Rose, I don't think I couldn't take another round of 'do I look good in this?'. If Mitsugoshi wasn't making me so much money I think I'd have burned it to the ground by now."
Alpha laughed softly which gave Cid time to consider how much of a joke that actually was. It would be more accurate to say he would deploy a small scale nuclear strike on it.
"So did Beatrix tell you she's quitting the Crimson Order?" Cid asked.
"Yes, she's planning on applying for a teaching position at the academy, so we'll all be calling her instructor Beatrix soon".
"That'll be nice. I might actually learn something in my fencing lessons" It would only be a little something but that was still an improvement on the norm "How are things going with you two?"
"Very well. She's been trying to see to the gaps in my education, so I'm prepared for the future" she gave him a wry smile "She does let me handle most of the studying by myself, but it's difficult to remember exactly how much I'm supposed to know. It's not too bad though, and I do genuinely enjoy the time I spend with her outside of lessons, like when we went to see the academy tournament together".
After a short pause she continued. "I should apologise for how I acted when you came to warn me she was coming. It was wrong of me to lose my temper with you like that".
"It's no big deal. I was pretty shocked though, I don't think I've seen you that angry before outside of a real battle". He gave her a chance to speak up but she stayed silent (again)"If you do want to tell me about it, you can if you want" This had been bugging him ever since Beatrix showed up. He supposed both he and Alpha had mysterious pasts he wanted to unravel.
"Are you that curious?" she asked teasingly.
"Yes. I like being the one making mysteries, not being stuck in the dark. Tell you what, if you tell me about it, I'll tell you a secret about me, something only one other person knows?"
It kind of ruins our dynamic of the Eminence in Shadow and his closest confidant if we're both keeping secrets from each other. About important stuff. Unimportant things that might make her think I'm cringe are a totally different case.
While Alpha was considering he realised that actually Baron Kagenou and his wife, his own actual parents, the king, the emperor and a few members of their staff's would also know about his adoption. He would just have to say he meant 'in shadow garden' if Alpha called him on it.
"I…" she started "don't really like talking about it, rather obviously, and it's all in the past. I don't think there's any point".
Damn. Guess I lost this time.
"But, if I'm still this angry about it, and I find it difficult to talk about it with anyone, even with you, then it must still have some power over me. I don't like the thought of that" she continued.
Yes.
The slight edge in Alpha's voice disappeared as she started to speak in a tone as calm as still water.
"My childhood was...unremarkable. My parents were very strict and demanded a great deal of effort in my lessons, but I loved that they cared so much, and seeing their pride whenever I accomplished something made me feel like it was all worth it. Even though most of my time was spent studying, or practicing swordsmanship and magic, or being told when and how to speak on formal occasions, I was somehow mostly happy with my life."
"Then, like everyone else in Shadow Garden, I started to notice black bruises all over my body. Little ones at first, and I initially thought they were just normal bumps and scrapes, but they never went away and in just a day or two I noticed more of them, and that the ones I already had were expanding."
"I was somewhat...dumbstruck by it. I kept thinking back to this time I'd snuck out to explore the forest. There was this little bog and I was cutting it close to make it back home unnoticed, so rather than go around the safe way I tried to climb across this log that spanned it. It snapped and I fell in, I didn't break anything but I remember it being very painful. I crawled out and cried for a few minutes before limping home. I wasn't well received when I finally made it back."
"Everything was fine, then a second later I was in pain and covered in filth. When I realized I was possessed it felt like my whole life fell into that bog. I never told my parents, I knew how important it was to them that I was...immaculate. Since I kept it to myself I think I must have understood them a little bit, even at that stage".
"I pretended to be sick and holed up in my room for a couple of days, just acting like I was tired and weak and kept having to run to the bathroom, hiding myself under the covers as much as I could. I kept holding onto the hope that my illness wasn't what I knew it was. That I wasn't going to rot away to nothing or be put down by the church. Then when I woke up on the third day of my isolation I was in so much pain I didn't care what my parents would do anymore, so I tried to call out for help, to confess myself, but my voice didn't work. I tried to write down a message, but I couldn't make the letters go straight".
She let out a humourless chuckle. "That's exactly what I thought at the time, what that means is I couldn't figure out how to write words properly anymore. That might have been the scariest part of the whole thing, until that point anyway, that I could feel my mind wearing away and there was nothing I could do about it".
"There was a mirror in my room and when I saw myself, I would have thought a monster got in, if it wasn't exactly where I was supposed to be. I understood someone else might think the same thing and attack me in the halls, so I knocked the door as loudly as I could to get attention and crawled back into bed, and waited for help to come. Eventually my mother came and it went exactly as you'd expect. Screaming, crying, my father being sent for and having the same reaction, it's what anyone would do in that situation. What came next was the interesting part".
"My parents couldn't have it. Possession runs in the blood and they couldn't have one of the accursed so closely associated to their lineage. They waited a week, while I rotted into something ever more ugly, stupid and wracked with pain until some human traders passed through. They were smugglers my father bought things from to save money on import taxes, and he told them I was some sort of rare, mutant creature they found in the forest. I think the smugglers were planning to put me on display in a carnival or something of that sort, my memories of that time aren't entirely clear".
Alpha's voice continued in that perfectly calm, almost dead voice, but Cid felt his grip on the railing tighten without really meaning to do it.
"So they brought me across the border into Midgar and I ended up in Baron Kagenou's domain for a while. Then you found me and made me back into a person. My parents told everyone I ran away, but I think one of the staff must have discovered I was possessed and sent a message to the church. However they found out, a team was sent to take me in and found nothing but my parents and a few poorly faked bits of evidence for my escape. The inquisitors thought…" she laughed again, this time sincerely "they thought my parents sent me into hiding for my protection. They arrested them, interrogated them for hours and finally executed them on charges of heresy".
That was...dark. Like what do you even say to that.
"That's...appropriate" he offered.
"It is, isn't it, but for some reason I'm still not satisfied. They died a horrible death, and they were disgraced for hiding me and breaking the treaty between Car'veil and the church, but I think I'm still as angry as I would be if they got away with it. I don't know why".
Goddammit, why do I do this to myself.
He'd asked her to tell him this story, and while a ballerina figurine would have envied her unshakable poise, he'd known her long enough to know he couldn't leave it there.
"I'm not really an expert in this sort of thing, but maybe you needed to settle things with them yourself, or maybe you never really accepted what happened?" It was mostly just based on slogan's he'd seen on pamphlets at school and a couple of TV psychiatrists.
"What does that mean? Of course I accept it happened, I lived through it didn't I?" While not angry, there was a hint of agitation in her voice again.
Okay, that seems to have touched a nerve. For this sort of thing I'm pretty sure that means I'm on the right track.
"Well, even if you accepted what happened, do you accept why it happened?"
"Yes, because my parents were a selfish, self-absorbed La-Ru"
There were a couple of options from here. He envisioned them lying written out on a table with Beta standing close behind him. He threw the knife.
"I mean the whole thing, not just the part with your parents. What did you think at the time?"
"I didn't know why it happened to me, wait, maybe because I was one of the heroes descendents"
"You only found that out when you met me a month later. What did you think before that?"
"I thought...I thought that… what the church said was true. I thought that I was cursed, and that there was something wrong about me".
Getting closer, getting closer.
"But there wasn't. You're as close to perfect as anyone I've ever met and something went wrong anyway. You were unlucky". Sometimes he wished she wasn't as sharp as she was, it made pretending he knew everything a real pain sometimes.
She flushed, flicking her hair back in agitation "Ultimately, it was because I was one of the heroes descendents!"
Bingo
"So was Beatrix, your mother, and maybe your father too. Almost everyone in Shadow Garden has close relatives who didn't get the curse. Even if it was decided the day you were born, it would still really just be bad luck that day playing out eleven years later".
It took her a long time to figure out what to say to that "That's rather hard to accept, that my life was almost destroyed entirely because of one unfortunate turn I could do nothing to avoid. Rather frightening actually." She paused and he left her to her thoughts. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence.
"Did you mean what you said? About me being perfect, I mean".
Oh thank god, a chance to change the topic. I've been sitting on this lore drop for a while and it's coming in clutch right now.
"Do you know what your name means Alpha?" Alpha gave a small shake of her head.
"It's a letter from an old language. All of the names given to Shadow Garden members come from it, excluding Victoria's. Yours is the first character, but it has another meaning as well. It came to mean the strongest in a group or the commander, something like what Delta would call a pack-leader. I didn't know it when I gave it to you, but the name suits you. There's a reason you're at the top of Shadow Garden, and that I mostly just leave you do whatever you whatever you want as the second-in-command. It's because there's nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it".
"Nothing I can't do?". Alpha barely whispered the words but he could make them out clearly. She'd been moving closer to him for a little while and now his eyes were just a couple of inches from her sky blue ones. If she were anyone else he'd probably tell them to mind his personal space.
Alpha jumped away as if she'd been slapped when the door to the lounge burst open and the rest of Shadow Garden stepped into the room, laden with bags of new clothes and other Mitsugoshi products.
Beta set her haul down and pulled the sliding glass door open to talk with them. "We finally made it back. It's a shame you didn't come Lord Shadow. I'm certain we would have all benefited from your wisdom".
Fat chance of that.
"I had other things I needed to do".
"Well, we're just going to relax for a while before dinner, unless either of you have any requests. After that we're going to see a movie at the cineyma. It's an adaptation of my book 'A Holiday Ballad'"
Cid strained not to remind her it was his (Charles Dickens) story.
Sorry buddy, it's for a good cause. We really are stopping a demon cult.
"That's great. Could you please give us a moment Beta?" Alpha asked coolly.
Beta nodded and shrank back before closing the door, sensing the displeasure beneath Alpha's courteous tone.
"Have you seen a movie before?"
"No. this will be my first time." she grabbed his arm just as he was about to head back inside. "So tell me, what's your secret. The one only one person other knows".
"Oh, I was adopted" He'd been so invested in her story he forgot his own part of the deal. He mentally kicked himself over dropping the reveal so carelessly without the proper dramatic framing.
"How is that possible? You and Claire have a fairly strong family resemblance."
He gave her a quick run down of what he'd been able to discover (excepting his biological father's semi-chuuni delusion that he was descended from magic god, if she though he was trying to brag about that he'd look so lame) and his plan to investigate it after the Bushin festival with Epsilon.
"Do you want me to have someone else investigate this immediately. If your busy I can arrange for…"
"No! I need to investigate this myself. It's a family matter". He absolutely could not let anyone steal his mysterious origin arc out from under him.
"I understand, I'll leave this matter to your discretion and join Nu in her silence. It seems we all owe thanks to Baron Kagenou, his cowardice let us avoid the rather unfortunate incident of you marrying Claire" she joked.
"Well, it's more like I owe him" Cid remarked, then Alpha's eyes widened slightly "I mean, I guess it would have been more difficult to move around and meet up with you guys, but you'd have been fine".
"Naturally, I just misspoke. We should get going now, we've held up the others for long enough as it is."
What a dark, tragic backstory. Betrayed by those closest to you and put through abysmal conditions until saved and trained by a mysterious mentor. How luc...
Something about that thought was so repulsive to him he cut it off before it could complete, pushed it forcefully from his mind and stepped back into the lounge.
He was soon distracted as he realized his game of 'do I look good in this?' had only been shortened and had a venue change, it had not been entirely cancelled.
---
The movie, Alpha decided, was an enjoyable and well made piece of entertainment. That said, what was happening to her immediate right was grating on her ability to enjoy the feature.
It had started innocently enough, Zeta (who she was sure was acting in Epsilon's interest) had hesitated in the doorway, blocking everyone behind Epsilon and Shadow from taking their places and allowing her to snag the spot to his right. Alpha deliberately took the place to his left while everyone else settled for seats further away.
Things had been going fine until Cid had whispered that the cinema would be popular as a date spot (which had seemed curious to her given the general impetus not to talk and the constant draw of focus away from the person beside you). Epsilon asked for a demonstration of what he meant at which point Cid gave a very fake yawn, moving his arms over his head and settling one of them around Epsilon's shoulders as it descended.
Epsilon had giggled, whispered "smoothly done, master" and leaned across her chair to rest her head on his chest. "I get what you mean now. Couples are going to love this". He'd seemed nonplussed at that, but didn't make any attempt to shift her off himself. To Alpha's growing frustration, they hadn't moved from the position for the last half hour.
A few hours ago she wouldn't have cared if Epsilon sat on his lap (significantly, anyway), but she'd made a shocking discovery about Shadow in their last conversation that reframed her entire understanding of the conflict.
He had no idea that every girl in this room was in love with him.
He'd always acted that way, but she'd always assumed that he, like her, hid his feelings on the matter from the rest of the group to prevent conflict. When he said only he should be grateful to Baron Kagenou for preventing his marriage to Claire, he'd confirmed that wasn't the case.
It didn't seem possible, but she supposed he must have some weakness. It was as if the universe demanded he have some flaw to make him mortal, and his was an inability to determine the feelings of the opposite sex. It was hardly anything compared to his boundless intellect and unbelievable power, but it was the only time she'd ever been completely sure he was mistaken.
That meant he could realize at any time and make a snap decision, and she wasn't even sure she would be considered. Unlike Epsilon, who would probably mount him on the stage of a packed stadium if it meant she could have him, Alpha had to show restraint as the leader.
That's not entirely fair. You've never liked making a public spectacle of your emotions, leader or not.
Knowing that didn't mean she was pleased with the situation. A better, (more private) chance would come in a few weeks when she took the place Beatrix had opened up for her. She just had to be patient.