Chapter 9: Tournament Preparations
"And why exactly should I agree to this?" Epsilon asked innocently
As Alpha had expected Epsilon was dragging her heels, clearly enjoying her newfound power. By the terms of the Black Concord she needed six of seven possible votes to pass her proposal. Beta and Gamma hadn't made any objection (besides mild regret they couldn't undertake her role), considering what she was doing right now Eta had no right to refuse and Delta didn't seem to understand that Alpha was obligated to allow her a free decision. Alpha didn't feel the need to correct her about it.
That left either Epsilon on Zeta for the final required vote, and with Zeta leaving Epsilon to control her vote while she was absent Epsilon became the end of the road. Waiting for Zeta to return from whatever she was doing would take too long and had no certainty of success. Zeta wasn't difficult to work with professionally but on a personal level Alpha found her the hardest to predict of her fellow shades.
"Because someone needs to represent Shadow Garden's interests directly in this field, and I've been given the opportunity to do that".
Epsilon narrowed her eyes as she pretended to look over her perfect nails and think it over. Obviously finding no flaws she turned back and continued the conversation "I agree completely on that point, but I simply don't think you're the best choice for it. You've got to manage the whole organisation as well, so surely using someone else would be a better user of personnel".
That was objectively true. If she let Epsilon make a game of this she'd spend the whole day stonewalling. The youngest shadow had never quite broken the habit of playing with her food "What do you want Epsilon?".
Epsilon put a finger under her lip and put on a cutely thoughtful expression as if she hadn't decided almost as soon as the subject was explained. To her credit the only way to see through the act was to have a personal knowledge of the other girl, an outside observer would have no way of knowing it wasn't genuine.
"I'd like to able to make my own approach. If it's included in the same vote you'll have both my and Zeta's backing".
That wasn't the worst thing in the world but… "I can't get you in the way I'm going, and if what were voting for changes I can't guarantee the approvals I already have". Beta would be out for a near certainty but if she had all the others her objection would be overruled.
Epsilon giggled "Oh you can leave planning the approach me, I just need it pre-approved. Let me know if you need any help getting the votes we'll need". She gave Alpha a brief hug and this time she actually couldn't tell whether it was sincere or mocking.
Alpha walked away feeling distinctly displeased with what was ostensibly a draw.
---
Cid landed back into Mitsugoshi and waited for the staff to take him to Gamma. The girl who escorted him was the same brown haired, brown eyed girl who had taken him to Alpha last time. He thought her name was…
"Nu, how long have you served Shadow Garden?".
She seemed nervous, he supposed he had been short with her the last time they spoke "Sixteen months Lord Shadow." That was pretty soon after they all split up, though since she had her own name and not just a number he supposed that was expected.
"What did you do before joining our organisation?"
She blushed slightly and looked down "I went to school at the Royal Academy. I never really did much of anything".
"Yeah it can get kinda boring" Cid agreed. "I mean it's fine when you've got something to look forward to but just on it's own it would be pretty tedious".
Cid stepped into Gamma's office and waited while the runner Nu dispatched went to get Gamma from her meeting. When she stepped in she managed to make it all the way from the door to her chair without falling over despite still wearing heels. Cid tried not to be impressed by this.
Maybe it's a training thing?
"My lord how can I help you today?" Gamma asked in a friendly tone. Cid reached for a blank piece of paper and wrote down the list of items he'd need for his plan. He handed it to Gamma and said "I need you to deliver these items immediately to wherever Eta does experiments here. I also assume there's a training room I can use with someone".
"Well-yes but, do you wish me to join you?" she asked hopefully.
That wouldn't work, not only would Gamma's 'fighting style' be too different from Rose's (anyone else's) to be useful but he'd be constantly shown up by the master of falling over and hurting yourself. "Uh-No, I will need someone to help me prepare but it would be best if someone else joined me, is Delta still here?" She'd be great for this, her speed and ferocity were second to none.
"Unfortunately, she's out hunting and I don't think she'll be back until tonight". Gamma replied, crestfallen "I can recommend Nu, she serves as both my both my personal assistant and bodyguard".
"That is acceptable" Cid replied. "I'll be in Eta's lab for a while, come to the training room in 45 minutes Nu".
Cid fucked around for the next 45 minutes making up new mixtures of powdered sugar, food colouring and cocoa powder to perfect his fake blood. It had been almost eighteen years since he had first seen the recipe and so some trial and error experimentation was required to get it just right.
He had initially learned this to make his opponents think 'Guess that guy's dead, let's get back to work' but then get up and break them in half while they were still in shock. A real eminence in shadow wouldn't need it but in a world without magic he'd had to use cheap tricks to defeat multiple foes. It did also have mob potential but he'd never had to fake a significant injury like this before now.
He brought a bucket and a few of the container packs he had prepared to the training room and met Nu inside, already in her slime suit looking concernedly at his bucket.
I should probably explain this. Even if I am the boss I probably look like a weirdo just carrying a bucket of blood around.
Cid gave a brief overview of his academy tournament predicament and concluded "So I've decided on a third option, get so brutally beaten by Rose that the referee steps in and stops the fight". It was brilliant. Claire might still complain but she wouldn't kill him if he didn't technically give up.
Nu looked confused "But my lord, why not simply fake an injury or some similar ploy?"
You poor sweet summer child "Wouldn't work. She'd see through that in a second and give me a real injury for the trouble". He had a lot of experience trying to slack off with Claire.
"Couldn't you just… say no to her? You're the most powerful dark knight in the world" Nu reasoned.
It seemed some Shadow Wisdom was in order "Shadow is the most powerful dark knight in the world. Cid Kagenou is a middling boy who has to do exactly what his older sister wants him to. Keep this in mind for you own role". He reached into his pocket for a coin and flipped it before continuing "you are two faces of a coin and one cannot exist without the other". Damn that sounded deep.
Nu bowed "Of course you are correct, should we begin now?"
Nu began attempting to strike him while he deflected instantly to replicate the feeling of a direct hit, then tried to channel his inner paper bag in a hurricane as he flew around the room, spraying blood everywhere. The first time Nu actually thought she had hit him and rushed over to apologise as he stood up and prepared for the next attack. Gamma came in just as he was adding the final touch to the 48 th form 'Trash mob kite slam'
Seeing him lying bloody on the floor and Nu preparing to strike again she attempted to draw her own weapon and step in front of him but promptly tripped as she moved into position, inspiring the 49 th pratfall form in Cid's mind as he watched.
Sadly it was getting late, so he'd just have to hope that the ref would be satisfied with just 48 injuries. "Well I better get going. I've kinda got a date soon, does this place have a shower I can use?"
Nu and Gamma flushed and just then Cid realized exactly what they must be thinking.
Why is he asking that, we're an all female organisation. Does he really want to go into our bathroom?
Still it was getting late and there shouldn't be too many people around. It wasn't like he wanted to go in while anyone else was there, it shouldn't be that unreasonable.
"Of course, please follow me" Gamma declared loudly and set off
"Oh and I need some casual, kinda cheap clothes. Could you get me some" he threw out to Nu as he set off behind Gamma.
The bathroom was behind a spacious office (he guessed it was Alpha's given that it was empty and not the office he'd met Gamma in earlier) and like everything in Mitsugoshi it was top of the line. The shower was big enough that he could hold his sword out from the centre and not touch the sides and the bath looked more like a hot tub with space for at least half a dozen people.
Heated floors and towel railing, full length mirror, amazing water pressure. Gamma really does always provide a VIP experience.
It was a shame he couldn't enjoy this all the time (especially when his underlings did) but it was just one of the many sacrifices that made him the ultimate eminence in shadow.
After changing he stepped out and saw Gamma and Nu waiting for him "If you have a date, why did you want cheap clothing my lord?" Gamma asked "Is there some woman you're trying to put off again?"
"No, Alexia just said to wear something like this for what she has planned. She wants to meet up near the Collum street tram station so were probably not going anywhere nice".
Of course she'd lure him in with a nice trip to Mitsugoshi and then hit him with the cheap stuff once he'd agreed to fake date her again. Classic Alexia.
Nu and Gamma looked uneasy "My lord, there have been some incidents there. In the weeks since the Zenon incident fools pretending to be Shadow Garden have begun killing civilians and knights that cross their path in that area. We've been investigating but haven't been able to capture the culprits yet".
Cid thought this over, an idea quickly forming in his head "Nu, you should follow after me in secret, just in case".
Alexia had been way nicer to him recently and a possible reason for that was forming in his mind.
Watching him 'kill' Zenon might have awakened her murderous desires and she then used Shadow Garden as a patsy to divert suspicion, her aggression lulling as she found this new release. It wasn't really likely but there was a greater than 0% chance she was going to try and kill him tonight. After all pretending to be nice and luring him to a dangerous part of town was exactly what he would do if he was trying to kill someone in her position. Nu would just have to figure out some way of stopping her without blowing his cover if that happened.
He was just heading for the window again when Gamma asked "Why use that entrance my lord, wouldn't it be easier to use one of the secret passages?"
Secret passages, One of the?
"Gamma, how many secret passages do we have?".
"Seven, four hidden amongst the various store-fronts and three in the employee only areas. Eta accounted for all of your lessons when designing these headquarters. I had assumed she would have told you all about it".
It was probably in some report he hadn't read. If he saw "Blueprints for store" in his messages he probably would have skipped it.
"Okay, well… I really should get going" Cid replied reluctantly
Well...Alexia could wait a few minutes
---
Cid showed up fifteen minutes late, slightly out of breath but at least dressed to blend in through the lower area of the city and his sword sheathed at the hip.
"You're late"
"Sorry, got held up with something" he didn't seem unhappy so whatever held him up must not have been that bad.
"So why are we here?" he asked.
She didn't want to say it in such a public area so signalled for him to follow her, after a minute she whispered "You've heard about the slashers, the ones that are apparently from Shadow Garden".
"Yeeaah" Cid replied, now clearly nervous.
"Well were here to catch them, if we can prove ourselves then Iris can't stop us from becoming official members of the crimson order".
Cid relaxed and muttered something she couldn't hear.
"Should have known it was her stupid sister issues"
"What did you say?"
"I said do you need me to tell you this is a terrible idea, or do you already know it is?"
"Lets say I already know it is, that way we can skip your whining and bitching about it while we search". Cid put his hands in his pockets "and try to look like your nervous about being here, it was dangerous before the slashers and if we look too confident they'll see the trap".
"Why shouldn't I just go tell Iris right now?"
"And leave your girlfriend all alone in such a dangerous place, what would everybody think? Besides, you owe me for our last date"
"What did I do?"
"You spent the whole time on your elf fe-fixation"
"I was just surprised there were so many" he replied indignantly. It wasn't convincing at all.
"And then there's how you were when Beatrix arrived?"
"That's because she looks so much like Allison. I haven't even tried to talk with her once outside work, unlike everyone else"
That was true. Beatrix was unsurprisingly popular with the students when her record of winning every Bushin festival she had ever entered (totalling seven) and her title as 'goddess of war' became common knowledge. She'd proven even more popular with the boys due to her...fashion choices. It had calmed down since Iris sent her shopping to get more school appropriate clothes and apparently she and Allison had made a day of it at Mitsugoshi.
"I don't get really get why guys would try to hit on her, I mean she's completely out of their league and more than a hundred years old! Wouldn't that bother you?"
Cid smiled "Yeah Po actually tried that and I don't think she even registered he existed, probably the best he could have hoped for. As for the other thing, she's hot. That's really all that matters to most guys".
"And the fact that she's older than their great-grandmothers wouldn't concern them".
"No. I mean if I lived to be a hundred and still looked like this" Cid gestured up and down at himself "I'd still be having fun however I wanted. I mean isn't the whole point of eternal youth that you don't have to give anything up".
He was such a child "You really need to grow up sometime".
He then had the nerve to actually flip her off "Yeah, whatever". Trying to be nicer or not she couldn't let this stand. She moved over to give him a swift kick in the balls when a voice called out.
"We are Shadow Garden"
The call came from behind as two men followed after them. She grabbed Cid's hand and pulled him around the corner to see another black cloaked figure approaching. They were trapped.
"We are Shadow Garden".
Cid pinched his nose and sighed "No, no you're not".
"We are Shadow Garden".
"Seriously, Shadow Garden is all girls. Do you maybe want to get someone else to do this and try again"
They were drawing their swords as they advanced and Alexia drew hers in kind "We are Shadow Garden".
Cid was apparently overcome with second hand embarrassment "Can you guys even say anything else. This has got to be the worst frame job I've ever seen in my life, that I've ever even heard of".
He was starting to bother her as much as the ambushers "Cid for fucks sakes just draw your sword and start fighting. That isn't important right now".
Cid drew his sword and turned his back to her as she faced off against the two from behind. If Cid could just hold off the third one she could knock one or both of these guys down and then help him out. "I'll accept that as long as we're agreed this obviously isn't Shadow Garden"
"Fine, fine". He got offended over the stupidest things. Even if this was a bad setup that insulted their intelligence (and it most likely was) bickering about in when they were in so much danger showed his priorities were completely messed up.
She started fighting defensively, unsure of the strength of her opponents and not ready to expose her own. There attacks were all competent with a decent amount of force behind them but it felt more like fighting a puppet than a real opponent, as if her enemies didn't care about her or themselves and were only trying to get through some tiresome chore.
She heard a scuffling sound behind her and took a quick peek behind her check if Cid had been hurt. His feet were on the wall, pushing off and rolling around the attacker behind her, now leaving her surrounded by all three. She almost thought he was going to leave her behind as the man advanced on her apparently thinking the same, but Cid struck a glancing blow from behind that sent a great gout of blood up from his black-clad shoulder.
As Cid drew him away she realized it was a clever plan, she'd be free to use her more wide reaching moves if he was safely out of the way. Their schoolwork primarily focused on one-on-one fighting during their first-year and moved onto more group tactics in the second and third years when the students had better awareness and control of themselves, so neither she or Cid would be particularly good at fighting together.
Reassured by the distant clash of steel on steel she targeted the weaker of her two opponents with a great horizontal slash that took his arm off and cut deeply into his side, marking a great gash in the brick wall beside him as it continued past him. While she was prying her sword out (and trying not to notice how disgusting real battle was) her final opponent scored a stinging cut on her cheek as she twisted away, her blood dripping onto the pavement.
She went on the offensive, trying to come from above and below and each side in an unpredictable pattern, resetting to her starting position between every practised set of attacks. She was beginning to tire when she finally managed to knock the black blade out his hands and was just about to deliver the killing stroke when something latched onto her knees and pulled her down.
How is he still moving. How the hell is he even still alive.
Her second opponent had recovered enough to wrap his last arm around her legs to pull her down and the first was standing over her, driving his blade into her side.
She screamed. Loudly. She'd been hurt in training before, cuts and bruises and once even a broken leg but nothing like this.
She wasn't getting out. She'd exhausted her magical energy and she was pinned down, an armed enemy in front of her. Not wanting to concede without a fight she wrapped her free hand around the neck of the man holding her down and pressed down as hard as she could, fear and pain and anger driving her until she heard the snap. At least she got one.
The man standing in front of her shuddered then fell over, barely avoiding falling on top of her. She managed to make it partway to her knees which was just enough to see the hole where his eye had been a moment earlier. She turned her head, he had been facing the way Cid had gone so she was expecting to see him or a guard but instead saw another black clad figure.
"Princess Alexia" he chuckled mirthlessly "You seem to keep finding trouble".
"Shadow". She relaxed. Dangerous as he was he just saved her and spared her and Iris last time. There was no reason to assume his goals had changed.
He reached down and pulled the blade from her side without warning. She hissed in pain as he put a hand to her side and healed the wound in an instant. She wasn't surprised she felt better than she had before the fight, even the emotional exhaustion she should have felt from almost dying seemed to have burned away by the violet light.
"Where's Cid?"
"Do you mean the black haired boy?" she nodded.
"Is he okay?"
"He's alive, if that's your concern" he responded casually as he started to move away.
"Wait" she commanded. He turned to her with fury in his eyes "Please?" she offered to calm him down. Even if he didn't want her dead provoking him was a terrible idea.
"I need to know why you're fighting, what is it that you intend to do?"
"Do not interfere. The less you know the better things will be".
"That doesn't tell me anything. Do you have to be so cryptic and mysterious all the time?"
"Why princess, that's half the fun" he was openly mocking her now. The idea he had disguised his unrivalled strength and massive organisation just for his own amusement was laughable and they both knew it.
"This battle does not concern you. Keep to your own side of the world. You rule in the light while I hunt in the shadows" and with that he vanished.
She set off after Cid, despite shadow's words she still needed to check he was okay. She turned the corner and discovered him leaning against a wall, breathing steadily with his eyes closed. There was a little blood on the back of his head but that was all.
She shook him awake "Hu..huh Alexia, where are we?" he seemed to come to himself "Where's the not-Shadow-Garden guys". She couldn't help but smile to hear him put it like that, it was the best way he could have said he was fine.
"They're dead" she was pleased with how calmly she said it given it was the first time she had taken a life on the battlefield. "What happened to you?"
"I was fighting that guy in black and I was winning" Alexia raised an eyebrow "I really was, but then I got hit on the back of the head and passed out. I thought there was maybe a fourth guy that came late".
"No, that was probably Shadow".
Cid looked around, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive man "Shadow was here?"
"Yes, he killed the rest of the attackers. Although given that your guy seems to have disappeared he probably took that one alive".
"Did he say anything?".
"Nothing much. Come on, I'll heal what I can for that head wound and we'll just go report back to Iris".
"Okay" He rose slowly "Can I say I told you so now?"
"What do you mean puppy, the slashers have been dealt with and I even met with Shadow. If anything this night went better than I expected".
---
Alexia didn't have to wait long to find out what happened to their third assailant. He was found early in the morning with the words 'Path of the fool' carved into his mutilated body. Iris was upset at the general panic this had caused (on top of her fury that she'd gone out to confront the killers with only Cid for backup) but having been nearly killed by the asshole less than twelve hours ago, she was just glad he was no longer unaccounted for.
This would be her last day off before the academy tournament started and she decided not to skip her training with Rose Orianna. She knew she needed to improve even before last night and to do that she had to face challenging opponents and Rose had been looking for someone to practice with who wasn't participating in the tournament. Alexia had thought about entering but realized she'd just be knocked out in the finals or semi-finals and get all depressed, so it was more productive to train and maybe enter next year.
She met Rose at the dojo and the two chatted briefly while they got ready for practice, Alexia even told her about the slashers while Rose made small talk about her classes and student council work.
They had been working for a few minutes with Alexia primarily on offence while Rose defended when Cid passed by and decided to watch for a couple of minutes. Given how worn out he looked she guessed he just finished a training session with Claire.
She'd just managed to finally knock Rose down when Cid decided to interject "Hey, when Alexia uses that move again you might want to try turning your back-foot a little further out to keep your balance".
It was hard to tell if the flush on Rose's cheeks was exertion or Cid's attempt to correct her in a sword style he had never practised "I can assure you, this is the exact form of Rising Wind I was taught by my instructors".
"Sure, maybe try it anyway though. I gotta go, see you later".
"I'd actually try it. I know he can be a little...strange sometimes but he has his moments".
Rose looked slightly dejected "Alexia, I'm his first opponent in the tournament. I don't want to doubt him but why would he help me improve my sword technique when he's already considered a...long-shot in our bout?".
What a polite way of saying you're going to decimate him.
"I don't know. He's kind of hard to figure out but it couldn't hurt to try?"
They went through the same sequence again only this time Rose just wobbled at the end rather than completely losing her balance.
"It worked" she said, clearly stunned.
"Like I said, he has his moments".
Rose looked at her thoughtfully "I've heard that many people don't approve of your relationship with him. If you don't mind my asking, what is it that drew you to him?"
Hell if she knew. Maybe that he was always honest with her and they both had kind of a mean/sarcastic streak. That wouldn't do to say though. She had very little idea about Rose Orianna's true personality, learning more about her had been one of the reason's she had arranged this session.
Maybe now would be a good time to test her.
"Oh well..." she deliberately looked away and started fiddling with her hair "Since it's just us princesses, I'll tell you. We're only dating for appearances. The truth is I'm...interested in someone else, someone even more unsuitable than Cid. I hope I can trust you to keep this between us".
It was the perfect trap. Either Rose would keep her secret and Alexia would know she was trustworthy or she'd blab and tell everyone about some secret lover of her's that didn't exist and make a fool of herself. Every way this could go would be to her advantage.
"Oh that's so romantic" Rose breathed out "And Cid's such a kind man to help you".
"Well...it's good for him too. I can get him into nice places and dating me really helped him stand out at school. I swear most people didn't know he existed until three months ago."
Including me.
Rose assumed a fighting stance and asked "Are you ready to start again? I'll go on the attack this time to test your defence".
---
Cid was shaking with a mixture of nerves and excitement Claire could remember only too well from her first time competing in front of the whole academy. She'd only got to the quarter-finals but that had been an excellent showing from a first year with no great family expectations. She was sure Cid would do just as well or even better today.
"Just kill her. That's all you have to do, just kill her."
"I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to do that".
He can be such a killjoy sometimes.
"It's an expression. I just mean get angry, focus, go right through her".
Cid still looked nervous so she tried changing her approach, putting her hands on his shoulders to look into his eyes and speaking softly to try and steady him "You can do this. You just have to visualize what you want and work step by step to make it a reality, okay".
He visibly calmed "Your right. Thanks Claire".
His two 'friends' (though why he hung out with those idiots was beyond her) approached to wish him luck while she stepped away.
"Hey Cid, bad luck on your first draw huh?" the tall one said
"Yeah I guess"
"Well, everyone knows how strong Rose is, I'm sure no-one will look down on you if you lose after the first few hits" the bald one said.
It was the wrong thing to say. She picked them up by the scruff of their necks, hissed that "He isn't losing to anyone" and tossed them out of the arena entryway onto the dirt outside. It had rained recently so the ground was soft and they probably wouldn't break anything.
Shame.
She turned back to Cid to try and undo the damage but he had already been called into the arena and she'd have to run to reach the seat Nina was holding for her in time. Looking at him walking calmly forward she was certain he could handle whatever came his way.
She smiled at the thought as she set off for the stands.