Chapter 8: Crimson Order
The following Monday afternoon Alexia and Cid were tramping across campus headed to the science building.
"I can't believe you're forcing me to miss class," Cid whined. "As a member of the royal family shouldn't you not be contributing to my delinquency?"
"Oh, knock it off. You have permission to miss your afternoon classes. And I'm sure a lazy bum like you isn't actually upset about it."
"No, what I'm upset about is skipping class and not getting to take it easy. Sort of defeats the whole purpose."
"My sister called a meeting and it's a matter of importance for the entire country. You should feel honored to be allowed to attend. Don't you want to do something for king and country?"
"Nope, not really."
Alexia scowled at him.
"What?"
She came to a stop and rounded on him. "How did you get a five-pound box of Mitsugoshi's highest quality chocolate?!"
Pooch sighed and rolled his eyes. "Are you still upset about that?"
"It doesn't make any sense! Iris and I got complimentary boxes, but they were tiny and of the standard brand. The box they gave you had to be worth at least a hundred thousand zeni! Why would they give you something so much better than what my sister and I got? Why?!"
"I already told you, I filled out a survey."
"They gave you five pounds of high-end chocolate for answering a few questions?"
He shrugged. "My time's valuable."
Alexia felt unbelievably frustrated and annoyed. Less with Cid than with Mitsugoshi and the world in general.
"Have you eaten all of it? I can picture you just lying in bed all day scarfing down sweets."
"Nah, I don't like chocolate that much. I actually gave some to Skel and Po. They were begging me, and it was the only way to get them to stop."
"Well, that's kind of shameless but understandable, I guess. I mean they're probably too poor to ever afford to get it themselves. It was probably their one and only chance to have such high-grade sweets."
"They didn't want to eat it themselves, they figured if they gave it to some girls, they'd land girlfriends."
"Huh, that might be expecting too much for those two. But," she gave Cid a warm smile. "Any girl would like to get chocolate from a boy. It might even make her see him in a much better light and make her more forgiving of his many flaws."
"I guess."
Alexia stood there a moment and continued to smile at him.
"There something on my face?"
"Ugh, never mind," she started walking again. "Did it work out for scarecrow and fatty? Did they at least get some warm thank yous?"
"Actually, they both ended up in the infirmary."
"Huh?"
XXX
The meeting was held in the Vice-Principal's office. There was a small table between a pair of sofas. On one sat Alexia and her sister Iris. Across from them Vice Principal Ruslan Barnett and his adopted daughter Sherry. Sherry was in a school uniform with a few minor features different from Alexia's. That was because unlike Alexia (and Cid) she was attending Midgar Academy through its research course rather than the combatant course of study. Only about one eighth of the student body was there for research and scientific education. They were not required to take any combat electives and tended to have very little interaction with the majority who were focused on becoming knights or spell swordsmen.
There were two more people present standing behind the princesses. One was a lion of a man with red hair, a trim beard, and a scar splitting his face. He towered over everyone else in the room and radiated solemn dignity. This was Glenn Markson, a knight of great skill and reputation.
And standing beside him was Cid, about a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter. He radiated boredom and wore a blank expression.
Iris sipped some tea and then began the meeting.
"I've come here today to ask you, our country's foremost expert to investigate a magical artifact that we recently recovered from a crime scene."
The pink haired girl sitting across from her began to fidget. "Ah, I'm just a student. I'm sure there are others much more qualified."
Iris shook her head. "Everyone considers you to be a prodigy. Sherry Barnett, you are acknowledged as the top researcher in your field. No one could do it better than you."
"But I-"
The vice principal smiled and turned to her. "Sherry, this is a wonderful opportunity for you. I am always telling you to have more faith in yourself."
"Assistant Principal…"
"You can call me dad in public you know."
Her entire face turned a bright red and she really started to fidget.
"Sherry, it's time you entered the world of professional research. I'm sure Princess Iris wouldn't be here if it weren't a matter of vital importance."
"But I'm really not…"
Her father placed a gentle hand over hers. "Have more confidence in yourself. I am sure you can do this."
Sherry hesitated, but finally nodded. "All right, I'll do it."
"Good," Iris handed her the artifact, a red gem at the end of a chain.
Sherry brought it up to her eye to study it. "There's an ancient alphabet carved into this, and the inscription seems to be encoded."
"This item was taken from a facility that belonged to a religious organization that calls itself the Cult of Diablos. They appeared to be doing some type of research into ancient civilizations and magic rites." Iris grimaced. "Unfortunately, this is all we have. We recovered documents that we believe also related to this research. But they were destroyed in a recent fire."
"Was this the warehouse fire in the north end?" The vice principal asked.
"That's right."
"There's a rumor that it was arson."
"The rumor's accurate I'm afraid. The warehouse was under guard. Despite that, someone was able to set it ablaze with enough accelerant that the entire building was engulfed before a water brigade could even be formed." Iris frowned. "That's not something that can be done within a few minutes or without a lot of activity. The implication is that one or more of the knights who were guarding the warehouse were complicit in destroying the evidence."
"You're accusing the knight order of corruption. Your highness, that is a most serious accusation. Many noble houses hold high positions within the order. What you're suggesting could have serious repercussions on the entire kingdom."
"My father feels the same way. Thus, for the time being, no accusations will be made. But we will continue to gather evidence. In the meantime, it's quite possible that the cult may make another attempt to either steal or destroy the artifact. So, I'll need to keep it under guard at all times. I've formed my own independent fighting force, the Crimson Order. They'll be the ones to provide security for the artifact."
"Is that really necessary?"
"I'm afraid it is. We don't know much about this cult, but along with the warehouse fire they were also responsible for the kidnapping of my sister. Until we know more about their intentions and resources caution is necessary."
"Very well, I'll agree to allow two guards on campus at one time. More than that might cause a disruption."
"Thank you for your understanding, vice principle." Iris turned the large man standing behind her. "Glenn you'll be in charge of security."
He nodded. "You can rely on me."
"And Cid and I will help with the other investigation," Alexia piped up.
"Huh?" Cid asked in a bewildered tone.
Iris did not look pleased. "Alexia, I'm glad you and Cid want to volunteer to join the Crimson Order, but you're both still students. You can't join a military order until you graduate. And Cid," Iris turned to him. "Please don't take this the wrong way, I appreciate your selflessness, but the Crimson Order is going to be an elite fighting force. You'll need to work very hard on improving your swordsmanship if you still want to join once you do graduate."
"Wait, join what now?" Cid sounded more confused and slightly panicked.
Alexia spoke over him. "Can you really afford to turn down help? You're shorthanded, you've only recruited eight members. This investigation is important, and I'm the perfect one to lead it. After all, I'm the only one to have met him."
"It's dangerous."
Alexia gave her a confident smile and got to her feet. "I'll be careful, and I'll have Cid backing me up just in case."
"Okay," Cid began. "I get the feeling-"
Alexia grabbed his elbow and began force marching him towards the door. "We need to get back to class, so I'll talk to you later."
"I haven't agreed to letting you help!" Iris called.
"Sure, sis, love you!" Alexia shoved Cid out the door and shut it behind them.
XXX
They were outside by the time Cid was able to shake her loose.
"Okay, what was all that about me joining the Crimson Order? It's news to me."
"You don't need to worry about it, Pooch. I'll even fill out the paperwork for you."
"Huh?"
"My sister needs my help, so of course you'll be assisting me."
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "No. No way. No chance. I'm just a lowly student and whatever's going on here is way more trouble than it's worth."
"What?" Alexia gasped and put her hands to her trembling lips. She looked on the verge of tears. "Are you really going to abandon your beloved girlfriend when she needs a big strong man to protect her?"
"Knock it off, there's no audience here."
She laughed. "Fine, but I'm serious about you helping me. Consider it a royal command."
"Absolutely not! We're both students. You can't order me to do something dangerous. There's no way I'm helping you with this."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah! Really!"
She opened her purse and tossed him a gold coin. "You sure?"
He snagged it out of the air but didn't put it in a pocket. "Hey, this isn't me getting you some water or pretending to tolerate you. You can't buy me off."
She tossed him another coin. "That so?"
"Yeah, that's so." He once more caught it without putting it away.
"So, there's nothing I can do to convince you?" A third coin was tossed.
A third coin was caught and held. "Absolutely nothing."
Alexia took out her purse, pulled open the draw strings, and turned it over dumping its contents on the grass in front of her.
He sneered. "You really do think I'll do anything for money, don't you?"
"Yes, I do."
He was already on his hands and knees scooping up the coins. "You're damn right!"
She laughed. "This is why I like you, Poochie. I can always get you to do whatever I want."
"Uh, huh. By the way, when did you start wearing G-strings?"
"Hey!" Alexia kicked him in the face.
When his nose stopped bleeding, she told him when and where to meet her to begin their mission.