I DO NOT OWN EMINENCE IN SHADOW, HOWEVER I DO OWN ANY OF THE ARTS SHOWN IN THESE FICTS.
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Chapter 2 : Born from the Strongest and the Queen
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Lady Elizabeth was ecstatic, hell, she was down right happy. And moodier too, her sudden mood swings coming from the fact that she was indeed pregnant, though the bump on her belly made that obvious, her Lady had even opted to change her clothes to better fit her, it still looked like her usual dress however there was a small cloak-mantle over her shoulders, alongside a new design for her dress.
Mary had decided to read countless books on how to take care of someone that was pregnant, but that proved a waste of time as all the tips and information given were all something she was already familiar with, being alive for like millenniums and all.
But she still wanted to read them in case she missed something new or important.
She lowered the book she was reading and looked at her Lady, the belly bump had grown considerably big ever since they left Midgar.
Granted, it's already been eight months and 3 weeks since her Lady revealed she was pregnant, yeah, time went by REALLY fast.
Let it be known that vampires can lose track of time if they weren't careful, she and her Lady had been traveling non-stop, visiting from place to place finding a suitable location to recreate the Haven, as well as find any remaining vampires that wished for peace.
They didn't find any.
Well, that was to be expected since they were technically a dying race now by how little there's left of them..
After that, her Ladyship had asked to take traveling slow and gentle for the time being, she understood it well, as being pregnant probably took a toll on her.
They were currently inside one of these "trains" Fashioned by a very famous elf inventor that had darkish-violet hair, she couldn't really remember her name well but the invention of trains really made traveling easier and relaxing.
Unlike with caravans and horses, your butt would be sore all day if the seat you had were solid and not soft.
She closed the book she was reading and observed her Lady who was in the middle of the room, reading a book named 'How to be the best mom 101.' by SD-V, the book itself was amazing since she's already read it, the pen name of the author however confused her, what does Serial-Designation even mean.
Not that she minded it though, they were currently in one of the cars within the train, a special-VIP car she had bought for her and her Lady Elizabeth.
Lady Elizabeth asked her back then if it was okay for her to spend so much on things like expensive rooms and VIP spots. To which, Mary simply shrugged considering she was somewhat stacked.
Having lived for a long time and spending a good amount of time hunting unruly fellow vampires, even if it pained her to do so.
Oh, it seems Lady Elizabeth has finished reading the book.
Mary walked up to her Lady and asked her if she wanted anything, Elizabeth asked for nothing and simply went to the double decker the VIP car had and slept.
And yeah, there's that other thing too.
She slept more than usual, her Lady was already someone who slept more than the average person, her pregnancy seemed to make that worse as she would spend nearly everyday asleep.
Well.. Not that she minded it, she WAS a maid and a subordinate foremost, helping her Ladyship with everyday needs is her job.
She just wished that her Lady did not spend most of the day sleeping or slacking around, at this rate she's going to become a sloth.
Mary let out a tiresome sigh.
These past few months had been a challenge for the former vampire hunter, with her Lady being uncharacteristically devious and teaseful. Not to mention her sudden mood swings and shenanigans.
...
"Mary, look." Elizabeth suddenly opened the door to Mary's room in the apartment they were staying at, she was currently wearing a black and red lingerie that was transparent, only covering the important bits.
Mary spat out the drink she was enjoying herself with, hacking and coughing aggressively as she tried to get whatever liquid went in the wrong hole.
Stupefied, she looked at her Lady with an incredulous expression as her eyes widened.
"MY LADY, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!" She practically screamed in confusion.
Elizabeth smiled smugly, putting a hand on her chin, "Do you think my beloved would be enamored when he sees me like this? I saw from one of the books that wearing this apparently seduces men." She said almost innocently.
Mary's eyes widened in horror when she mentioned a book that detailed information like this, she thought she told her Lady not to read that book! It was obvious that her Lady would get corrupted by the current era's perverse ways of seduction, hell, her Lady seems to be even clueless about it.
"Is there something wrong with it?" Elizabeth asked.
"My Lady! I asked of you not to read that book, it's quite inappropriate!" Mary said, hurrying to her Lady's side covering her with a blanket.
Elizabeth looked at her with a deadpan expression, she brought a hand up and flicked Mary's forehead.
"That's quite the point Mary, I would like to please him once we meet again."
"Geh?!" Mary flinched, she wasn't one to get in the way of her Ladyship's romantic life, but seeing her Lady like this was still something she hadn't gotten used to yet.
"So, what do you think?" Elizabeth asked once more.
"Elizabeth-sama.. I do not know what else to say, I'm not the good Sire Shadow, rather.. Wouldn't you be the one to know his tastes? You did manage to ensnare him after all." Mary asked her Lady with a pondering look.
Elizabeth almost immediately froze.
"Uh, well.." Her eyes darted around, a blush creeping up to her face.
Well.. That's a strange reaction, Mary never really knew the true story of how Lady Elizabeth managed to seduce the mysterious man, considering her Ladyship herself said that there were many that already loved him way before her.
She could only send her condolences to those poor girls who were one upped by her Lady in just a month and a half.
"Elizabeth-sama.. You never did tell me how you managed to get pregnant with his child.. Nor how you managed to seduce him."
Elizabeth smiled nervously, she could almost see sweat drops from her but that would be ridiculous since vampires barely sweat. "W-Well now Mary, that's my secret to keep, i wouldn't want word of my privacy to get out-"
"My Lady, it's quite literally the two of us that's been traveling only, we haven't found a single vampire other than ourselves, not to mention, word of you being reawakened once more is not exactly public information.. And how would information about your privacy even get out when my mouth is kept shut, you know I would never gossip about such an important topic." Mary said almost instantly, returning the same deadpan expression her Lady had given her.
"So forgive me my Lady, I'd like to ask, you do know his preferences right..? How DID you get him.."
Elizabeth looked like a child caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar.
"My Lady..." Mary narrowed her eyes, ready to bring out the water spray product from Mitsugoshi's. Was it rude to Her Lady? Definitely, but was it effective? Absolutely.
Elizabeth started to look more nervous, attempting to hide herself using the blanket she was covered with.
Finally giving up, Elizabeth confessed.
"I give! I give! Just none of that accursed artifact." Said artifact was a water spray sold by Mitsugoshi for watering plants, however Mary later on found that it was quite effective in keeping her Lady from doing her uncharacteristic shenanigans such as this.
She seriously thought that pregnancy was one hell of a drug if her usually calm and collected Lady Elizabeth suddenly became more silly and teaseful.
"I.. I did confess to him, and then answered back with acceptance to me.." Elizabeth let go of the blanket, interlocking the fingertips of index fingers trying to look innocent as much as possible.
"And then..? How did you get to the point of sharing a bed with him so quickly? Didn't you say he was rather restrained to himself? I have no doubt in your love for him my Lady but I'm just making sure he DIDN'T take advantage of you in any way right..? Nor was there something unaccounted for..?"
"..." Mary looked down.
"Elizabeth-sama."
"During the confession I.. Drank that wine from our era, and well.."
"WHAT?! My Lady, you drank the 'Sleepful God' wine?!"
"I needed something to boost my confidence alright?! My heart was already beating incredibly fast back then!" She pouted. "I never really planned everything out including being pregnant, I wished to build up our relationship slowly so that we may enjoy it but, my beloved walked inside and poured himself a glass of wine, I was too intoxicated back then to even warn him about and well..."
"Wait.. So everything was out of pure unintentional pregnancy on your part?! No wait, don't tell me you took advantage of him when he was drunk instead?!" Seriously, even that was way out of character for her Lady, hell it was somewhat unsettling.
"Hey! I was intoxicated myself since I drunk more than he did, the only parts I clearly remember were using magic to put on our clothes back, I did not take advantage of his drunk state, my whole plan was to confess to him and kiss him once, not commit rape.. I'm not as desperate to commit such an atrocious act Mary. And It worked didn't it? Besides, Shadow accepted to be my beloved, so it should be fine." Elizabeth herself didn't expect the entire thing to go that fast, but hey, she's not gonna complain because she got what she wanted, even if it was unintentional on her part.
"Oh my gods above.." Mary gripped her face with frustration.
...
Guh, that particular memory brings migraines to her.
How in the world her Lady did it, she didn't know, but she knew for a fact that it required some stupid amount of luck for it to turn it well.
Mary massaged her temples and stood up, preparing to carry on with her daily chores.
++--------------------++
Cid felt like he was missing out on something important, like REALLY important.
As if his Mob-senses are telling him he was going to be in a lot of mess.
Was this what they called "calm before the storm?"
If so, then he shall welcome it with open arms as the power who lurks in the shadows.
These past few months had been quite eventful for him too, with the whole Black Rose thing with Oriana-senpai.
Also being back to earth for a few days after he was sucked in into that Black Rose.
He wasn't going to lie, he was quite nervous when Beta had somehow managed to learn Japanese quite fast, though not so fluently.
When they returned back nothing much had changed, other than the few shenanigans his sister was doing, dear god, even THAT was a mess, he didn't think her chuuni-arm problems were that serious.
Oh, speaking of his sister.
One day she came barging into his room looking absolutely bloodlusted, she beat his ass up and nearly choked him to death, he didn't even do anything to piss her off this time around, oh the unfairness of the world.
When he asked why she did it, she said 'I don't know it myself, but I suddenly had the urge to kill you for doing something you're not ALLOWED without MY permission.'
Like hell, did he need to bring his sister to an exorcist or a psychologist? Was her eighth grader syndrome that bad?
Well, that was nine months ago his sister gradually became calmer again in time so there's that.
He was currently lazing around at a park in Midgar, having next to nothing to do.
Maybe he should do that 'traveling around the world' thingy idea he got from Elizabeth, he completely forgot about it after all, it wouldn't do to pass up such an interesting plot.
It would be like encountering someone in the middle of nowhere then 'Gah! Who is this man and where did he come from?! ' And then like 'I am Shadow, he who basks in the darkness of the shadows itself. ' and make his badass exit after saying a few lines.
An Eminence in Shadow in foreign lands.. Fucking hell that sounded good, he supposed that he did something similar when he went to Oriana-senpai's Kingdom.
But that wasn't far enough, he needed to go even further beyond!
But first, he should check up on the girls, last time he remembered they were cooking up another plot for him.
Maybe he should grab another disguise.. Maybe something like a clown and call himself Jack the ripper?
Now there's an idea he'll whitelist.
++--------------------++
Another week.. Another Monday.. Aughh..
Mary got out of her bed and started tidying up herself to look proper, she always started her mornings extremely early, dressing up herself and preparing her Lady's breakfast.
They were currently in another kingdom that was rather small compared to the likes of Midgar and Oriana, the rent in apartments they were using, just like the previous ones, were expensive and luxurious in appearance.
It wouldn't be for another few hours until her Lady woke up considering she wanted to spend most of her time sleeping, possibly dreaming once more of her beloved.
Despite Mary's insecurities and worries about her Lady's chosen lover, she was glad her Lady finally had someone to rely on and someone to love, back when The Haven was still around, her Lady kept to herself, she never had the chance for such luxury such as love because of The Haven.
She went to the kitchen and started preparing to cook themselves a meal, her Lady was someone who had recently taken a liking to the current Era's human food, previously she did eat them and enjoyed them well, but today's food was far superior compared to the old age dishes.
Like the burger for example.
But eating healthier foods would be much better for the time being for her Lady's well-being.. Not that she needed it since she was a vampire.
But rather for the young one that was growing on her Lady's belly.
Ohh, if there's anything that she's been excited about was her Lady's upcoming heir.. Or child, she wasn't sure if she should call the child an heir since her Lady didn't exactly have anything to govern anymore.
She cleaned the kitchen and prepared the ingredients.
...
A few hours later, her Lady had finally woken up and ate the food she cooked, she went on ahead to properly dress her Lady up and help her with her everyday needs as per usual, they can continue working towards their goal of recreating The Haven later on, considering they weren't exactly on a tight schedule.
After they finished things at the apartment, she and her Lady went outside for their usual walks outside, an umbrella already set for her Lady so she wouldn't be hit by sunlight during broad daylight.
Another few hours into their strut, Elizabeth suddenly stopped walking.
Mary also stopped walking as well, and looked at her Lady who looked like she'd been shocked by something.
"Elizabeth-sama..?"
Elizabeth looked at her sheepishly with a pained look. "Oh dear.. Would this be a bad time to tell you that I think the little one is coming..?" she jested with a nervous expression.
Oh, oh fuck.
OH FUCK.
"Then we must get back immediately, My Lady! I shall prepare the necessary needs and help in delivering the child!" Mary swooped up Elizabeth and carried her back to their apartment with vampiric speed.
Elizabeth was currently wearing a pained expression on her face as she held onto her bump, when they arrived, Mary gently settled her down on the bed and started preparing all the necessities for delivering a child.
It would have been REALLY nice if they had someone else to help with this, because doing this all alone by herself was not going to be easy.
She quickly grabbed a towel and wet it down to safely handle the child.
Elizabeth was gripping onto the wooden sides of the bed as she held her stomach.
"Elizabeth-sama, will you be fine?!" She said in a panicked voice, she held out her left hand for her Lady to hold while the other hand the towel.
Elizabeth took hold of the hand and gave her a reassuring smile while her other eye was closed shut from enduring the pain. "W-Worry not, I've read t-that this was a part of being a mother, besides.. I can't be called the Blood Queen if I lost to a little pain..!"
"Elizabeth-sama.."
"Go on..! I will be able to handle the pain without worry-"
++--------------------++
"Uuurk?! Why is it so painful?!" Elizabeth cried as she pushed out.
"O-OW-OW-OW-OWW ELIZABETH-SAMA MY HAND YOU'RE CRUSHING IT! I CANNOT DELIVER THE BABY WITH ONE HAND PLEASE LET GO ELIZABETH-SAMA!"
"Pain..!" Elizabeth continued to crush Mary's left hand unknowingly.
Mary and Elizabeth painted for breath, the latter more worn out as she was currently numb, looking haggard, Mary stood up from her position.
She was also tired and gasping for breath, but not as bad as Elizabeth, but she was too distracted by something to continue doing so.
In her arms, was a beautiful gift of the world, a healthy crying baby girl that shared her mother's hair. She didn't fail to notice the pointed ears as well, albeit shorter compared to her mother's.
There was some warm feeling that Mary felt when she saw the baby, she could feel her every instinct telling her to 'protect no matter the cost' the baby she was currently holding.
This.. This really is the baby of her Lady, the very young mistress she's likely to serve and care for once the little one grows up..
She supposed she'll have to thank Shadow somehow, even if the young mistress in her arms was somewhat of an accident – She didn't mean it in an offensive way – the baby was rather adorable despite being newly born.
Ohhh... she was excited, she could only wait for the young mistress to grow up enough to be able to call her 'Aunt Mary.'
Her heart was already melting at the thought.
Seeing that her Lady seemed to have finally recovered her breath enough, she called out to her despite being extremely tired.
"M-My Lady.." Elizabeth willed herself to sit up and lean back on the bed's railing, still looking completely haggard and tired. Mary walked next to her Lady's side and gently gave the young one to her daughter.
Elizabeth took her with shaking arms, before cradling the baby. At that moment, something warm fluttered in her chest, a new feeling that Elizabeth was once again, unfamiliar with.
Her gaze softened as she cradled the baby, "Shh..." She attempted to comfort it from its crying as much as she could. The more she held onto her newborn daughter, the more the feeling in her chest fluttered.
"She's.. Beautiful." Elizabeth cooed softly, she didn't know what this feeling was, but it was definitely warmer than when she had spent her time with Shadow.
It was as if she wanted nothing more than to hug this child in her arms and keep her away from the world's harmful environment. It's like she would do anything for this child.
Was this what it felt like to be a mother..?
"Mary.." She softly called out Mary.
"Yes Elizabeth-sama..?" Mary responded almost robotically, being not all there as her thoughts wandered to the words 'Aunt Mary.'
"Is.. Is this what it feels.. Like to be a mother..?" Elizabeth knew it was stupid to ask her friend that when she wasn't even a mother, however she was too dazed to even care, everything in the world was so warm for her right now.
Mary looked at her Lady who's gaze still hasn't left her newborn daughter with a surprised and curious expression, momentarily gathering herself together. Mary smiled at her Lady's question and answered joyfully.
"While I may not be one, your expression is the same as most mothers that I've seen who had just given birth, they're usually told to cherish it as it's the happiest moment of your life." Mary answered, almost sweetly.
Ah, is that so..?
If so then.. She'll absolutely cherish every moment of it.
Mary was also having the same thoughts, her heart warmed when she saw the young mistress. Oh she's definitely protecting her with all of her life.
Elizabeth continued to look at her daughter in a daze, almost trying to picture the very image of her newborn daughter into her very memories.
A Dhampir, a child of her own, the product of her love and Shadow's despite how unintentional it was, the daughter of her dreams was here now, in her very arms..
Her very own darling.. Daughter.. Uhh..?
she almost forgot.
A name.. Her daughter needed a name..
Ah, she knew one that was perfect.
"Remilya.." Elizabeth spoke up, prompting Mary to shake herself out of her own stupor, she looked at her Lady with an eyebrow raised.
"I'll name her Remilya." Elizabeth, being the happiest she ever was, smiled at her daughter sweetly, gently hugging the baby that had finally stopped crying.
++--------------------++
Alpha was writing down Shadow Garden's reports at the Mitsugoshi next to Gamma, Nu was organizing the papers on a table across to them when she suddenly let out an unexpected bloodlust, accidentally breaking the pen she was using into pieces. "Huh?" She was shocked when her hand suddenly broke it.
"Eh?"
"..Alpha-sama..?" Both Nu and Gamma called out to her.
"Is there something wrong?" Gamma asked, pausing her own work.
"N-No.. It's nothing.." She looked at her hand with a confused expression.
"Perhaps you need a rest?"
"No, it's not that.. I just felt a random urge to kill every red haired female that I could sense in the vicinity.." Alpha said incredulously, she didn't even realize that her mouth had spoken before her mind.
"Huh.. What a coincidence, I suddenly felt like something important was taken from us.." Gamma agreed from her desk.
Alpha shook her head and continued back to her work, she didn't have time for silly random things when she still had a job to do.
But... Why was there this unshakable feeling of pure anger and jealousy..?
++--------------------++
Alexia was currently drinking coffee next to Claire, they were busy investigating about the Cult of Diablos when both girls suddenly felt a pang of urge to murder a certain Mob.
"Ow! Ow ow ow! it burns!"
The coffee cup Alexia had been holding was briefly obliterated, causing her to frantically Pat herself down.
Claire on the other hand ignored her, grasping for her sword, trying to fight off the sudden urge to find Cid and murderize him for some reason.
++--------------------++
Consequently, multiple women across the world that had fallen for our dear protagonist suddenly felt a random urge to either kill any red-haired female they found or talk to a certain mob.
Except a certain dog beastkin.
++--------------------++
Rose was training with No.664 and No.665 when she suddenly felt something wrong, it distracted her enough to be nearly hit by a blade that came from No.665
Rose dodged it in the end, but had landed roughly on the ground
"No.666! Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes! Sorry, something suddenly felt wrong." Rose reassured while observing herself.
'What was that ..?'
++--------------------++
Cid couldn't explain why but he suddenly felt like he was in danger, not like just a 'danger' kind of thing but like a 'danger-danger' kind of feeling.
He was currently donning on his Shadow persona, jumping around the first and doing his usual bandit huntings.
He ignored the feeling of probable inevitable danger that was coming for him – Oh boy, more chances to roleplay as Shadow – which he was currently not sure where it had come from, senses can be a fickle and weird thing.
He usually ignored them considering HIM being in danger was something he'd say hello to, however.. Something was off today.
Shadow gripped his Slime sword and easily cleaved through a crowd of bandits that were amassing some gold – YAHOO! GREAT FIND! – His short found joy was immediately extinguished by the fact there was a nagging feeling he couldn't put his finger to.
Something new.
A feeling of discomfort, it didn't really bother him that much but it was there, the more the day passed the more the discomfort grew. He wasn't new to the feeling of discomfort considering the fact he did train nonstop in his previous life, almost stopping at nothing just for the sake of magic.
But now that he had magic, his goal was still not complete. Whenever there's a peak, there is always a higher peak to climb.
Almost nothing could pose a threat to him nowadays(probably), and feelings such as these were rare to come by.
Of course that doesn't mean he's emotionless, he still cares about people one way or another.
But this feeling of discomfort was something else, it's not just discomfort that's actually downright bothering him now, there's also a pang of regret.
What would he be regretful about..?
Shadow- Cid gripped his sword tighter unconsciously, and cleaved through a huge part of the terrain with one swing, his magic growing slightly erratic with each passing second.
He frowned, brainstorming every possible reason that could be the cause of his current discomfort. He sped past multiple trees leaving a trail of violet light and killing all 'Bandits' that were in his way.
He landed gracefully on his foot and continued to ponder, putting a hand on his chin while he brainstormed. He didn't even turn his attention when someone slowly walked in front of him, blocking his path to the cave that the 'bandits' were gathering around
"So you're Shadow huh.. I am Kilable Foder, a candidate for Third Awakened!" The newly named opponent(Who was ignored) proclaimed. "If I kill you here, they might give me a chance of getting into the rounds of the nights- Huh?" Shadow walked past him without even acknowledging his existence, this angered the man and dashed forward, swinging his sword at Shadow.
Shadow, who was still thinking deeply, blocked his sword swing without acknowledging him once more.
"I see, you managed to block my attack! The rumors about you were not so unfounded then!" He swung his sword coated in magic continuously, Shadow merely blocked all of them with ease, still pondering.
"I'll admit, you're powerful but I'm- HEY! At least acknowledge me! What the hell are you even doing!?" Kilable, finally snapping at Shadow's refusal of taking him seriously.
Shadow continued to ignore him while walking forward.
"Grrr...! Let's see if you can ignore this then!" He took out a small jar filled with Diablo beads and ate a couple of them before throwing them on the ground, his magic started to become unstable and darker as he grew in size.
"BEHOLD! The power of a candidate for the knights of the round!" Just like Zenon, his appearance was changed, almost demonified.
Shadow on the other hand didn't even stop walking deeper into the cave, his hand still on his chin.
" RAAAAAAAH !" The Third Awakened dashed forward, swinging an array of his magic towards Shadow.
Smoke and dust exploded from where Shadow originally was, Kilable observed where Shadow was and saw that he was gone, he then started to laugh. And almost immediately stopped when he saw Shadow walking across the cave without a single scratch.
A tick grew on the Third awakened and screamed "STOP IGNORING ME DAMN IT!"
He charged forward once more, putting every ounce of his magic on his swing.
Shadow, who finally noticed something bugging him, simply disappeared in a blitz of speed.
"Huh?" Was what Kilable could only mutter before he was sliced into hundreds of pieces.
Unknown to Shadow, he was currently releasing more strength than he usually would.
' Hmm, maybe it's that one time I couldn't act out one of my checklists on my bucket list? '
Nah bro, he can just do that one later on, that was definitely not the source of his current discomfort.
But this one was starting to feel like an unscratchable itch under your skin. It's like he was missing out on something important.
"It seems that the shadows are restless tonight." He brushed it off with his usual cringe liners.
It was uncharacteristic of him, but he really felt worried, like he should be somewhere.
Somewhere to be present, rather than being in some random cave filled with dead 'bandits'
'I wonder what it is..?' He thought before teabagging an idiot that tried to blow up himself alongside the gold- HIS gold, after he was cornered by him.
Once again, he scratched an itchy spot below the back of his neck, the same faint bite mark which still hasn't disappeared, even with his passive ability to heal.