Chapter 9: Becoming nuclear is only a step towards my goal
Cid POV:
"You're Shadow, right?"
Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck...
To say that I was stressed out right now would be an understatement. Amelia Hikari was standing right before me in my Shadow disguise. I don't have any idea of how long she's already standing there but I hope she only came on time.
I can't let her possibly find out that I'm a shadowbroker. I swore to myself that I won't ever tell anyone my dreams after my experience in my old world. Amelia is especially on the list of people who musn't find out at all cost.
If she ever finds out, there's no way that I won't be immdiately interrogated by her, Claire, my parents, her parents, her brother and so on. That just sounds like a major pain. I'm also no fool. I know that Amelia is trying to find some good qualities about me so that she can convince her parents that I'm a suited partner.
So if it comes out that I actually have some skill, I can kiss my peaceful and exciting days as a shadowbroker goodbye.
Let's just hope that she didn't see my transformation.
Amelia was still standing right before me, not speaking a single word after her initial question. She tries to stand straight and strong but even a kid can see that Amelia is not okay at all.
"So what if I am? Do you have any business with me?"
Amelia looks a bit shocked at my tone. It's not like the first time I've showed myself to her in this form but certaintly the first time when she's so close to finding out my real identity.
"You're Shadow, right? We have met before. But that doesn't matter. Have you seen Cid Kagenou somewhere around? I swear that I've heard his voice nearby and then I saw the knights responsible for interrogating him and then-"
Blah, blah, blah. So much talking but no action.
"Silence-"
"Silence."
Eh?
My mighty word of an Eminence in Shadow was abruptly stolen by the elf next to me. Beta had a very strong look of hate and envy on her face. She looked at Amelia like her gaze could shoot out laser beams and would kill her if there wasn't something stopping her.
Just like the saying goes: If looks could kill, then Amelia would be super, mega, ultra dead by now.
"State your business immediately or get eliminated."
Beta still holds the commanding tone over Amelia and I can see that Amelia is slightly shaking in her boots now. I only have the timid and, waking up in the middle of the night, Beta in my head which is completely destroyed by her act in front of me.
I wonder how Amelia reacts to this. She's still a named character after all. And I know for a fact that she's not one to bow down easily.
Amelia snaps out of her feared trance and looks at the both of us. She's frowning very hard and has her gaze directly on me for on reason. She looks like a person with very bad eyesight trying to see something in a five meter radius.
"Have you seen Cid Kagenou somewhere? He's only a little taller than me, has black hair and black eyes and looks very average."
Wait, she doesn't know that it's me standing right in front of her? That's wonderful! Man, I really panicked over nothing there.
Despite wobbling around like a drunk person, she's still worried for my mob self. Or maybe she wants to annoy me again? Who knows, but I don't really care about that at the moment.
"He's not here. We will go now, we have wasted enough time here. But it's nice to see you again, my little duchess."
"Little duchess? What do you mean by that-"
With a swift movement, I let my slime from my bodysuit cover the alley so that she can't see anything for a moment. In the meantime, Beta and I jump upwards and escape from the scene without leaving any trace behind that we were ever there.
Now that I think about it, if someone saw Amelia it this right moment, surrounded by so many corpses of Dark Knights of the Knight Order, then she's in some deep problem. But I trust her to analyse the situation quickly enough and just go away from the scene.
"He called her "my little duchess". Grrr, how jealous I am! It should have been me, not her! It's not fair!"
Hm? Beta, what are you mumbling about?
During the time where we're jumping from one roof to another, I can hear Beta saying something under her breath but I'm not able to hear clearly what she's mumbling about. She also has that same look on her face when she saw Amelia in that alley.
Not really a beautiful sight to behold, to be honest. Though, everyone has their own ugly sides and I'm sure that Beta isn't always like that so no need to be disillusioned by that.
"Lord Shadow, I will now go back to Lady Alpha and support her in this mission."
"Hm."
And just like that, we part our ways by Beta jumping in a different direction than mine. Normally, I would be a little sad to be left out from the fun that the girls are having but I have another problem to solve.
Hmmm. Now that I have Alexia's boot in my hands, I can surely locate her now, right? Oh boy, I can't wait to show up as an Eminence in Shadow before a named character and show off a little bit!
Amelia POV:
Dammit! I let him escape again!
This wasn't my first time meeting this so called 'Shadow' face to face. I can feel immense power and authority behind every action he does. Even more so than the king himself. He's a force that musn't be underestimated by anyone.
Hell, I was even intimitated by his subordinate by her tone of her voice. It was so terrifying that I almost fell to my knees and nearly collapsed on the spot.
And what the hell did Shadow mean by "my little duchess"? He obviously knows that I'm the daughter of a duke and duchess as we've met each other the first time when we're kids. At that time, he guided me outside from the cave and gave me the direction to go home.
But a man at his caliber is surely in the possession of valuable information of every single important person in the kingdom. It wouldn't suprise me if that also extended to the other kingdoms and empires.
Though, enough about Shadow and his organization for now.
I have undoubtly heard Cid's voice around here. It wasn't very loud and the screams of the knights and the commotion of everything around me made it hard so that I can 100% locate the source of the voice.
Talking about the knights, I've heard that Cid was interrogated by the Knight Order for five days straight. I was already suffering from severe lack of sleep because of all that stress, but that piece of information broke something in me. After hearing that, I bashed the dorm room of my brother where I was hiding at and left to make these knights feel my wrath.
My mother taught me a thing or two to know about the capital before I decide to live there. And one important information was, that the "interrogation" is mostly just an excuse to torture somebody so much that they'll confess their crime, even though they were innocent.
Just after rampaging in the dorm room, my brother came in a hurry to give essential news. Of course he was a bit agitated and angry at the state of his room but later said to be that Cid confessed to his kidnapping of Princess Alexia.
That means they tortured him for so long that he did a fake confession again, so that they would let him go.
After hearing that and connecting some of the puzzle pieces together, my rage and wrath only increased two times by every second that I thought about it. Not wanting to waste any time, I began my knight hunt for tonight, confident that I'd still be able to overpower most of them with just three hours of sleep the last five days.
And when I just saw some knights in the distance standing before an alley, I just couldn't help myself and go towards them.
But when I arrived at the scene to go crazy on the knights, I only found dead bodies and two figures standing at the end of the alley. One was Shadow and the other one was a masked female elf with a stunning body that could rival mine.
Even though she wore a mask, I could feel the cold and hateful gaze on my entire body. It honestly gave me goosebumps and after my attempt to ask for Cid, she threatened me to not waste any time or I will get eliminated. In that moment, I felt like a pray standing right before it's hunter.
But they both just left, only giving me the fact that Cid isn't there. Shortly after that, both of them disappeared into the night.
In that hectic, I didn't seem to percieve and feel my surroundings as I only smell and see that huge black cloud coming from the ground as if someone made a huge fire in the city.
While it's concerning that such a huge cloud of black smoke is coming out somewhere near me, I really can't lose my sight on my goal. Finding Cid is still my first priority after all and I still haven't got a clue where he could be.
I did check in his dorm at first, though. But the dorm master just ogled my body and didn't actually listen to what I was saying. Hitting him on top of his head was the last thing I remembered doing before going out and searching further in town for any traces of Cid or knights.
Though, now that I think about it, I'm currently standing between some corpses of the Knight Order. Not to mention that I have a bounty on my head because I beat some of them up.
Yeah, if someone saw me right now, I'd be definitely screwed. Let's get out of here.
Running away as fast as possible from the crime scene, I silently pray that nobody saw me getting out of that alley full of dead bodies.
But whatever, mission: "Save Cid and elope together" takes priority over everything else at the moment!
With newfound resolve and satisfaction after seeing the corpses of the corrupt knights, I continue my search for my (boy-)friend.
I can do this! Just wait for me, Cid Kagenou!
She didn't know that she would be searching in vain.
In another place, deep underground:
The seemingly lifeless body of Princess Alexia Midgar was seen to by lying on her stretcher. She herself doesn't know how much time has passed since her kidnapping but could only guess by the time of her "meals" that were forced into her.
After a while, she stopped resisting and just ate the goddamn thing without struggling. Not that it would have made a difference anyway and probably helped with the anger issues the guy had with the creature next to her.
Speaking of the creature, sometimes it was staring at her for a long time as if trying to figure out what her real motive was. But in reality, she was just a kidnapped damsel in distress whose blood was taken from her in a strictly time intervall.
Alexia is sure that she has lost at least three to four litres of her blood to this mad scientist. She still doesn't know what he has in plan with this much of her blood anyway. He only rambles about "Reviving the demon back to life" and "Completing my research" the whole time.
She only tries to amuse him by giving him some responses to his nonsense rambling, but she's sure that she'll soon be found by her sister Iris. Her sister is still the strongest Dark Knight in the kingdom after all.
Beating up some kidnappers shouldn't be a problem for her at all. The real problem would be locating her in this.... wherever she was.
But today was a different day compared to the other. Alexia, this time, was really certain about this location being underground as she heard rumbling and heavy objects, like buildings, falling over. Her companion beside her also looked up to all the noise from above.
While it was impossible to tell what the creature was thinking at any moment, Alexia was sure that they had both the same thought process. 'This is our chance to escape if we play the cards right.'
"It's hard to sleep with all this noise, huh? But I'd rather stay awake. I don't want to miss out on the fun."
The creature only turned to the side, looking at her with at her with a curious expression. Alexia herself doesn't know what she just spouted but it just felt right at that moment. Maybe all that rambling from the mad scientist got to her and corrupted her mind?
Hopefully not.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
Speak of the devil. He is here with another box full of mysterious things in his hands.
"It's them... They're coming! It's over! Total slaughter! Everybody dies! Dammit!"
She doesn't know what he means by "Them" but just guesses it's the Knight Order, lead by her sister. Then it's very understandable to panic like that, if the strongest person in the kingdom is after you after kidnapping the literal princess and sibling.
But the mad scientist only passed her and went to her companion of five days and put down the box. Getting a good look at it, she saw it's tubes and syringes with the color of her blood. Alexia quickly concludes that her blood was used in that way but would only find out shortly later what the effects are.
"The Knight Order doesn't kill unless they need to."
"Dammit! Dammit! I don't give a damn about the Knights! I'll kill them all! I'll kill them all!"
What? He isn't scared about his inevitable fate that awaits him if he gets caught? I don't know if he's that brave or that stupid? Probably the latter.
After fiddling around with his equipment, he takes out a big syringe, almost as big as his upper body.
"I made a p-p-prototype. N-now even this defect can make itself useful. Go on, show them!"
He rammed the big syringe into the shoulder of the creature infront of him. There wasn't exactly an indicator to that, but Alexia couldn't help herself and have a bad feeling about this.
"I wouldn't do that. I have a bad feeling about this-"
"Give them a taste of Diablos! Magnificent!"
Her last effort to stop him was completely ignored by his crazy obsession about the Demon Diablos in the fairy tales. He pumped all of that blood into the creature and for the first time, Alexia saw it's left eye open.
But instead being the same black color like the one on the right side, this one was completely red like a certain red moon from the stories that were told to her when she misbehaved. Even with all the magic restraints being chained on Alexia's body, she could feel the immense magical energy rush and increase next to her.
The magical amount wasn't the only thing that grew rapidly. It's body grew into a stupid size and become so big that the mad scientist was killed in one step by it's nail. The ceiling above her didn't exist anymore as it was broken down by the body of it.
Uwah, just like pizza sauce.
"I tried to warn you."
Now, Alexia was the only one left in it's near proximity. She knew that one uncontrolled move on the creature's side could cost her life in an instant. And when she saw it raising it's hand to punch something, Alexia didn't really know how to react.
She was still chained up, after all.
Alright... what now?
But instead of her immediate death at hand, the only things that broke were the cell bars and the chains on her hands and ankles. Alexia herself didn't get a single scratch from it's enormous and sharp fingernail but was freed instead.
"You helped me?"
Alexia could believe her eyes. But it's single moment of a sane mind was apparently taken away in a second as it roared loudly and began to break out from this underground by destroying the ceiling even more.
Not wanting to be smashed by boulders falling on her just after her shortlived freedom, Alexia made no waste in getting out of her position as fast as possible.
Miraculously, Alexia made it out and only recieved some light injuries. Around her were the dead bodies of knights being crushed by mutiple boulders, most likely being suprised by the sudden destruction and taken along with it.
Just next to a corpse, she found a ring with many keys on it. She most likely guessed that these were the keys to the magical restraints on her arms and legs.
"I have the devil's own luck, if I do say so myself."
Looking upwards to the big hole that was left behind by the now rampaging creature, Alexia could only suspect that it's going to destroy big parts of the city if not dealt properly. It did break out free from it's small place easily, though. So damaging parts of the capital shouldn't be a big problem for it.
It also prevented her from using the same escape route as the monster before. While Alexia certaintly would have made that high jump after some attempts, she was currently exhausted and drained from any mana that she left in her body.
And her magical pool wasn't that huge. So she has to find another way out and hoping that someone of the Knight Order will find her first.
"Or maybe I don't."
Freeing herself from her shackles, she finds some equipment from the deceased knights. But a normal iron sword is all she needs right now. Alexia doesn't exactly know in what kind of situation she's currently in but it doesn't hurt to have some weapon so that she can defend herself should anything happen.
"Well, I suppose it could be worse."
Wandering around aimlessly, Alexia soon found herself lost in the sewers in the underground. The water was streaming and the smell would have absolutely killed her nose, normally. But after a whole week full of blood and horrible food, she didn't even notice the horrible smell around her.
The sword in her hand was already worn out and damaged by the destruction from the creature. Her shoes were also buried alongside with the knights in the rubble. Her appearance has seen better days, but Alexia's only goal for now is finding a safe spot to rest.
But as she was turning around the corner...
"I can't have you running out of this, you know?"
There was Zenon Griffey standing right before her with his trademark smirk on his face.
"You!? What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to save you."
Alexia has heard many stories about a knight in shining armor saving the princess or damsel in distress when she's in danger. But never in her life would she have wanted Zenon to take that role in her life. Hell, even Poochie was a better choice than him.
And just like before, Alexia's intuition had it's alarm bells ringing loudly in her head as if trying to warn her from the incoming danger.
"I'm so glad to see you save and sound. I worried endlessly after hearing that you disappeared. Your sister will also be happy to hear that you've been found. There's a carriage waiting outside. I will escort you to the castle with it."
If it isn't a horde of red flags being shoved into my face with his way to calm me down.
"Well, aren't you well prepared? How did you know where to find me?"
"I sensed your magic of course. Although we were suprised to see a monster burst forth. The knights have led the monster away, and I took this chance to rush in here."
"Is that so."
After hearing enough, Alexia resolved herself to confront Zenon with her real thoughts about the whole situation.
"Instructor Zenon. The thing is, my magic was sealed until a few moments ago. Even if you picked up the traces of my magic, it wouldn't have been so easy to pinpoint my location so quickly. Such a swift rescue is above even your capabilities. It's almost as if you already knew where I was."
The burning question on her tongue couldn't be held back as she asked him with a theory that would make look like a fool if proven wrong.
"Did you really come here to save me?"
"..."
He didn't respond immediately to her question but instead, hid his mouth with his hand. Zenon stood still for a good minute without saying something and just looked like he was contemplating something important.
"Instructor Zenon? Is something the matter?"
"...Oh, it's nothing. I'm just astonished at how much of a pain in the ass you are, princess. You didn't need to make this harder than it had to be."
Revealing his face showed Alexia his true colors. He was smiling and grinning more than the madman of a scientist from before.
"You suspected right, this facility is mine! I'm the one who funded that man's work! And now you're coming with me, Alexia!"
Her face, which looked slightly suprised at the apearance of Zenon in front of her, turned quickly into an angry one after hearing and seeing his reveal about his involment. All that frustration, pain, kidnapping just for the amusement of one man? She couldn't help herself and let her emotions control her face for a moment.
But just as fast as it came, it was gone and replaced with a cocky smile on Alexia's side.
"What a relief. I always thought you must be not right in the head. It looks like I was right."
"It doesn't matter. As long as I have your blood."
"Is blood all anybody can talk about? Are you researching vampires, or what?"
"You don't need to concern yourself with that. With your blood and his research, I'll be guranteed the twelve seat in the Rounds. I can say goodbye to that ridiculous post as sword instructor."
Alexia doesn't really get, just like the times before, what he's talking about. Maybe he's also gone mad from something and only talks nonsense now?
"Rounds? What is that, a group of lunatics?"
I mean, if Zenon wants to join them so badly, they could only be full of mad people and lunatics.
"The twelve highest ranking knights in the Order, Knights of the Rounds. It comes with money and fame that doesn't even compare to what I have now. They have been made aware of my skills already. I only need results now. With your blood, the last condition will be fulfilled. Actually, Iris would have made a more fitting offering. But I'll just have to settle with you."
Not even a second has passed since he spoke his true thoughts out loud and he was already attacked by an outraged Alexia. While she did try to give as much power into this strike as possible, Zenon just blocked it with his sword easily as if it didn't concern him in the slightest.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you hate being compared to your sister."
She didn't listen to him at the slightest. The only thing in her mind right now was the death of the man standing before her by her own hands. Consequences and such weren't worth mentioning in her mind.
"Die!"
She continued with her attack even after being tired and drained out of her magical energy. Her sword strikes felt much weaker than usual because of that, but even then she didn't stop attacking until she sees his head drop on the ground.
"Nice moves. It's better than usual. No wonder, seeing how I was the one who trained you. But you won't best me with such a shobby sword."
Backing off to collect herself again, Alexia noticed that none of her attacks have made any significant impact on him. He parried or blocked all of them with ease and was smiling and talking through all of it.
"A good fighter doesn't blame her tools, right?"
"Yes, the good one wouldn't. But you will never be more than a Fencer Ordinaire."
Feeling some of her magic being regenerated, she put more output in her sword than before.
I know well enough, that I won't be able to defeat a genius in a proper fight. Amelia Hikari, Zenon Griffey and my sister were the best examples of that. But that's exactly why I haven't been just flailing my sword around aimlessly.
"Then watch and I'll show you how "ordinary" I really am!"
Remembering all of the previous tournaments, missions inside the kingdom and all the times when she went along with her sister and watched her swordstyle, Alexia realized that she had accidentally picked up some of her sisters moves.
But that was enough to give Zenon one cut in his face and him stumbling back for a brief moment.
"A flashy move you copied from your sister. I had no idea you were keeping something like that from me."
Touching his small wound on his face, he licked off the blood from his fingers and smiled manically.
"I see, I'll be taking this more seriously."
Taken aback from the sudden mood change, Alexia took a reflexive step back to save herself from whatever his going on in his mind right now. But she knows that fear only makes the opponent appear more stronger to you so she lifted her sword back up and took on a stance to attack.
"I'll show it to you as many times as you want."
"In that case... Let me show you the skill of a future Knight of the Rounds."
Lifting his own sword, Zenon prepared himself to slash down vertically at Alexia. It was so fast that she only could block the attack. His slash was so strong that the ground beneath her crumbled and her temporary sword, which was filled out with the maximum of her magic, snapped in half like a single spaghetto.
She didn't realize the situation completely and stood still for some seconds, processing what just happened. But that moment didn't last for long as she was punched in her face by Zenon shortly afterwards.
Feeling the recoil of it, she was sent flying into the water with a bloody mouth to support.
"You will never be like your sister. Without talent, all your effort amounts to is a shallow imitation. You're coming with me, Alexia."
Fortunately, she currently kneeling in the sewer water right now which hid the tears that were falling down her cheek. But some would argue that they still wouldn't want to be pushed into the water of the sewers, understandably.
"You should also know that your little friend will be executed in some days because of your disappearance."
What...?
"You seem suprised but that's only logical, you know? Cid Kagenou. Son of a poor baron on the countryside, is the perfect fodder that we prepared just for you. And his little friend Amelia Hikari hurt some knights of mine so it's only fair that we do the same to her once we find her, right?"
"You... You.... involved these two for no reason than for your own fun?!"
"Now don't be so angry about that. Cid Kagenou himself confessed to his crimes of kidnapping you after five days of "interrogation", if you know what I mean. Unfortunately, we haven't found the girl, yet. But that's only a matter of time and then it's a whole lot of fun for me and the others."
That feeling of complete hopelessness, the utter despair of being unable to change your own fate and hearing and feeling the reality of her hard worked effort being in vain infront of a brilliant talent.
"You know, you probably shouldn't eat that much ice cream. What would you do if you gain weight and couldn't properly train anymore?"
That unnecessary remark from the side was the last thing she wanted to hear right now. Couldn't her Poochie be more mindful about topics like this? Maybe she'll have to train him more properly next time.
"I see that you don't want your little reward for today and are satisfied by just accompanying me with some shopping. How nice of you, Poochie! Didn't think you had that in you!"
"What is that supposed to mean?! I still want to get paid for all my services so don't just go deciding if you're going to pay or not. Or else I'll protest for more money."
"Don't be such a drama queen. Just hold on these bags for a little longer."
"But that's what you said three hours ago! And you just keep adding more stuff on it!"
Ignoring him for her own amusement, she made her way to the next store after being reminded that he doesn't hold back on his opinion in front of anyone. And that's what she likes the most about him.
"I will say it again, please break up with Cid Kagenou."
Alexia was enjoying her afternoon tea in peace as an annoying person suddenly popped up from her side and gave her a ridiculous request. She couldn't obviously break up with him now as they still have a deal between each other.
"Pardon? I certaintly won't break up with my boyfriend-"
"I know that you're paying him so he stays around with you. That's not love, that compensated dating with no love in between. Or maybe it's a one sided feeling?"
How does she know? Did this crazy girl trail them and saw some stuff she wasn't supposed to see? Maybe Alexia has to get rid of Amelia for once and for all...
"I don't know what you're talking about. Pooc- I mean, Cid and I are deeply in love with each other. So there's no reason for me to break up with him."
"If you're scared about me spilling the beans, don't worry. I'm not so dumb to blackmail a royalty, especially after my parents are such good friends with yours."
A huge rock was just lifted from Alexia's heart. She did think about the idea of disposing Amelia but isn't really the person to not feel guilty about it afterwards. Alexia is still only 15 years old, after all.
"I just want you to tell me that you won't do anything that could hurt Cid in any way. That boy is so clueless about the world that I'm afraid he'll one day die because he picked the wrong people to hang around with."
Alexia doesn't know if that was a hidden diss at her but wouldn't ask as Amelia looked really concerned. Alexia has seen Amelia countless times on balls and in the Royal Bushin class but never with such a facial expression like that. Especially for another person.
"Yeah, sure I can do that."
"Thank you."
And just like that, she took her leave without ever turning back on her. Alexia's gaze still lingered on her for a little bit and saw how fast Amelia was swarmed by whole bunch of people wanting her attention. Understandable, as Amelia was arguably the most beautiful girl in the whole school.
For just a little moment, Alexia could relate to Amelia in a certain way. But that thought was quickly thrown away and she continued her afternoon tea.
Her one friend that she could be really honest with for the first time in her life, the one annoying person who saw right through her just like Poochie. They will all die and suffer a miserable death because of her.
All of that combined into this single moment was almost enough for her to give up on everything and accept her fate.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
Repeated footsteps could be heard, approaching the scene at hand. Appearing out of the shadows, a person in dark clothes revealed himself before the pair. It was impossible to see his face through his hood and when you did try, you would stare at the endless abyss.
Alexia looked up to the sound of someone approaching. It was the last glimmer of hope that was still burning in her heart, that she will be saved from this monster.
"A man clad in purest black."
Zenon gave him a description that couldn't have fitted any better in this situation right now. Alexia was originally fighting with the thoughts of hallucinating, seeing this person in front of her, appearing out of nowhere.
"My name is Shadow. He who lurks in the shadows in order to hunt the shadows."
"Shadow.. is it? I see. You're the stray dog that's been snapping at the cult lately. You seem to have gotten a swelled head after crushing a few of our smaller facilities. But not one of the Cult's core members was anywhere near those bases. You're a bunch of cowards going after our weakest minions."
Even after presenting the facts that this so called Shadow isn't someone to fear, the person himself was standing there not being agitated or affected at the insults at the slightest.
"Whomever or wherever we hunt, the result is the same."
With a voice of authority that could rival the one of her father, she hears him speak, not even being worried standing before one of the strongest Dark Knights in the whole kingdom.
Zenon only raises his sword back up and points it towards Shadow's figure and grins arrogantly.
"Unfortunately for you, it's not the same. A core member of the cult is right here."
Pulling his sword back, Zenon takes a stance ready to attack the person before him.
"Today, you will be hunted by me: the future Twelth Seat of Rounds, Zenon Griffey. I will take your life in the service of the Knights of Rounds!"
Stepping forward with a fast step, Zenon attacks first and tries to kill Shadow with a thrust in his face. A big cloud of smoke and dust is created by the shockwave of the attack and it's impossible to see if he actually landed his hit.
But shortly after, the cloud disperses and she sees Zenon fighting air. Shadow disappeared, just like he came, into nothingness and then stood before her.
"So? Where is this core member of the cult?"
He got behind him in a flash!
Looking up to him, Alexia slowly realizes that Zenon may finally get what her deserves. In this exact moment, she places all of her hope in his shoulders and is strangely certain that he'll come out victorious after the battle.
Above-ground, at the same time:
It was already dark outside. Raindrops were falling without showing any sign of stopping as the sky was covered by dark clouds. On this exact rainy night, there would be a rescue mission going on that would quickly turn into a horrific evening for the knights in the Knight Order.
Attacks all over the city, buildings destroyed and sliced in half, countless losses on one side without even knowing who the culprit is. The first attack was on a seemingly random building in the middle of the capital, but after the whole structure of it was sliced and fell down on the street, it was clear that the Knight Order had to involve themselves in.
Harbor warehouses, a family home and so on were no exeption on this whole disaster. Everything in the capital was in complete disarray and the first princess of the kingdom was trying her best to calm things down as fast as possible.
"We've finished evacuating citizens from Commercial Districts 3 through 8!"
"Close the station! Have the trains take shelter three stations down! All of them!"
Around her, instructions to help the people or minimizing the damage were shouted at the lower ranking knights. Smoke was coming from almost every corner of the city and Iris didn't really know where to run to first to help anyone.
*Rumble* *Rumble*
Just next to her was a house falling down in itself as it was broken down by a huge monster that was bigger than the building itself. It came out of nowhere in between the houses and easily destroyed the property just by moving.
It had a big and long left arm with sharp nails that was almost as big as a person. On the other hand, it's right arm was completely missing. The monster had long white hair to support and fully bloodshot eyes.
It was rampaging in the capital and had some knights and soldiers in it's hands before mercilessly crushing them to death in it's hand.
"Commander!! What is that monster?!"
The young knight was asking his superior the obvious question on hand. He was trembling in fear infront of such monstrosity and didn't think that it's possible for humans to defeat such a being.
"Calm down and help the townspeople evacuate! L-Leave this one to me..."
The older man was trying to calm the youngling down and was getting ready to fight his last fight to pass on bravely in the memories of the people. He already outlived his purpose and was ready to go in a stylish way. That was something his pride and ego demanded from him, to fight one last time.
*Crush*
But in not even one second, he already died after being trampled to death by the monster. If it wasn't such a serious tone right now, it would seem like a comedic joke to an audience.
"Commander!"
"Fire! Fire!"
The next squad of soldiers already appeared with newly invented and modified rifles to shoot that monster down. But even after emptying the ammo in their magazine, it was still not enough to even scratch the monster in the slightest.
Instead, it got angrier and attacked the next bunch of people standing before it with a smash to the ground. The floor cracked instantly and took down the people with it into their immediate death. Some survived with serious injuries but will most likely die as the medics already have their hands full.
Just behind the monster, three figures jumped upwards to attack with their swords. They were Dark Knights, specifically the ones chosen by Iris Midgar personally. To say that they were the top Knights and the stongest troup wouldn't be far away from the truth.
If you only know one truth, that is.
"Attack!"
All three of them loaded their swords with magic and attacked the monster from behind with a vertical slash down. The attacks had an effect as the back of it was sliced open but was healed immediately afterwards.
"What?!"
"It healed itself?!"
Obviously agitated and angered by the pain that was dealt to it, the monster turned around and tried to swipe the flies with her big left arm. They only dodged it narrowingly and were almost killed by the debris that was flying with the swipe if they hadn't jumped away far enough.
"Rally all nearby units!"
"Aye! We'll try to keep it here! Don't worry about damaging buildings!"
"Permission granted to go all out! Do whatever it takes to stop that thing!"
Corpses of innocent civilians after being pulled into this destruction, dead bodies of comrades lying on the ground were all scattered around in this district. Countless wounded, light and heavy all alike were escorted back to a save place as long as the monster doesn't attack them.
Iris who was running on the roofs of multiple buildings couldn't continue to watch on the suffering of her people and jumped in to kill the monster with a powerful slash aimed at the neck.
"You monster!"
*Slash* *Slash*
But to her suprise, another person attacked the monster at the same time as her but just from the other side. While Iris aimed at the side where the arm was missing, the other attacker sliced the shoulder of the monster open with an equally powerful slash.
After landing before the monster, only then could Iris get a good look at the person who was so brave and attack the monster head on.
Though, it was none other than...
"Amelia Hikari?! What are you doing here? You're wanted by the whole Knight Order!"
"I saw this creature running havoc in this city and waited for an opportunity to attack while it was distracted. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to save some of your men during it's rampage as it most likely would also have cost me my life. I'm sorry about that."
Amelia wasn't looking like her usual self. Her appearance that was once elegant and carefully well looked after, was nowhere to be seen. She really didn't look like someone who should be outside, fighting a monster that already took multiple lives.
"Princess Iris! And Amelia Hikari?!"
I can worry about her later. Slaying the monster comes first!
"The injured will retreat! This district will soon be deserted! Then we can-"
But before Iris can even finish her sentence, the monster was already back to regenerating itself from the damage that was inflicted on it.
"It's healing itself."
"You're kidding. That was an attack from Princess Iris!"
Iris stands confidently before the approaching monster and has no doubts that she's able to defeat it singlehandly. But what happens after that? Will she have enough energy to go around and manage everything and find her kidnapped sister in midst of all that chaos?
The last point is the only thing she's insecure about in this moment. But Amelia Hikari is standing next to her. Amelia has talent that even surpasses the one of Zenon Griffey and potentially herself. She could make it far with her talent and hard work and she could even be able to rival Iris now despite being some years younger.
In a nutshell, Amelia is an incredible swordswoman and can make her job of defeating this monster way easier than it's supposed to be.
But asking for her help now would be a problem as Amelia attacked some of her men in the past because she refused her arrest. If Iris asked her now, it would mean that she indebted to her in some way and that would be problematic in the future.
"Princess Iris, I'll help you fighting this monster for the moment. In exchange, I want to hear everything about the case of Cid confessing to his crimes and what the means were to make him confess."
While Iris was contemplating her next action, Amelia quickly solved her problem and agreed to fight this monster head on with her.
"That's reassuring. I will answer all of your questions later after we kill this thing."
Putting a lot of magic in her sword, Iris prepared herself for the next attack. Her sword glowed in a bright red color while Amelia's had a more yellow tone to it. Iris attacked first and cut off the arm of the monster in one swift slash. Meanwhile, Amelia was attacking the leg of the monster, trying to immobilise it.
The attacks were successful but they both knew that they couldn't take it easy now. They could feel it already healing itself again and so they continued their onslaughter on it. Both of them haven't talked about a tactic to fight it but were both in sync when attacking.
"Nice moves you got there, your highness."
"Thank you. But can we please focus on the fight first?"
Iris was in charge of the arm while Amelia was busy cutting of the legs with the last reserve of magical energy left in her body. Through all the slashes, the monster kept regenerating it's limbs back.
"In that case, we'll have to cut you into pieces so small that you can't even regenerate them!
This continued on for five minutes until both of them were slashing at the monster aimlessly, just trying to do as much damage as possible. But they still made sure that they wouldn't hit each other with their swords accidentally.
If it weren't for the fact that Amelia was a wanted person right now, then Iris would have made absolutely sure that Amelia would be Iris' next in command in battle. Her battle knowledge, adapting ability and swordstyle were top notch.
She was comparable to Claire Kagenou who Iris also had set her eyes on for the future.
The monster screamed in pain as it was repeatedly sliced up by powerful attacks from both women. When it tried to defend or counter, it would just lose another limb in the process and begin screaming again. But even after all that damage, it still continued to heal itself afterwards.
As Iris and Amelia prepared for the final and most powerful attack...
*Clang* *Clang*
...were both of their swords slung away. But that wasn't an attack from the monster but a whole new person appearing out of thin air. She had long golden blond hair and a well developed body. Her face couldn't be identified as she had a masquerade mask on. She had a bodysuit in complete black. But her pointy ears gave it away that she's an elf.
*Thud*
Just next to Iris, Amelia fainted from exhaustion and fatigue that built itself up the last five days from not sleeping and eating enough. The fact that she was standing and fighting just mere moments before was incredible.
"You're only causing her more suffering. Can't you see that?"
Helping Amelia so that she isn't defenseless on the ground should the monster continue to attack, Iris hears this mysterious person talking. She was looking up at the monster with a sad look on her face.
Snapping out of her trance, Iris manages to ask the obvious question when a new person is appearing out of nowhere.
"...Who are you?!"
"Alpha."
Shortly after her short introduction, the monster begins to smash the woman into the ground and tries to turn her into paste. The powerful smash creates another shockwave of smoke that blinds Iris for a moment. Recovering quickly enough, Iris didn't hear anything such as bones breaking so she quickly concluded that the lady was still alive.
"The monster..."
Suddenly, above Iris and the monster, there was light a blue sparkle that came flying down on them.
"Your poor thing, I know it hurts. You don't have to suffer any more."
The blue sparke quickly turned into a big blue star with an enormous amount of magical energy. Iris couldn't believe her eyes as this attack easily suprassed anything Iris had to offer in her arsenal.
"You don't have to feel any more pain, any more sadness."
The elf didn't seem particulary angry at the monster for destroying multiple buildings and killing several people. Instead, she sounded like someone who related to the monster in some way and was trying to put it out if it's misery.
Just as the attack connected, everything the monster was and several meters behind it was vaporized due to the sheer amount of magic being put into one attack. The huge body of the monster was gone and Iris just stood there with Amelia in her arms and could only watch this powerful yet beautiful display of magic.
The shockwave and mana output was still going on for a whole minute before it finally calmed down. Smoke from the collateral damage put the elf into hiding where Iris could only see her silhouette standing in it.
The elf kneeled down and picked something up. What it was, is impossible to tell from Iris' perspective. But from Alpha's perspective, it was another puzzle piece being found in this whole mess that connected the lose ends from many years before.
"You..."
Iris couldn't even talk properly after that whole spectacle. But the elf was already stepping away, ready to go and escape from the scene without answering any of her questions.
"Wait, come back!"
"Be a good audience member and content yourself with sitting back and enjoying the show. We are Shadow Garden, and you will stay out of our way."
Iris already sensed the inevitable escape from the elf but was suprised to see the elf still standing there and looking at the unconsious girl in her arms.
"Amelia Hikari. You have brought us some concering news. We will decide later what we're going to do with you. You're lucky that Shadow hasn't ordered us to take any action, yet."
As the smoke dispersed, the unknown woman disappeared into the night where nobody would ever find her again. Iris was left standing, unsatisfied and with more questions than answers at her hand.
"Shadow Garden? And what was that about Amelia-"
But before Iris could even finish her thoughts, just behind her another building exploded and caused another chain reaction of the rumble falling down on the people. Iris was snapped out of her trance and turned around and frowned deeply at the situation.
"It's happening everywhere! Alexia, where in the world are you?!"
Deciding to bring Amelia to a medic first and then continue on to find her sister, Iris couldn't supress her frustration about this whole night being a nightmare for her and the people of Midgar that lived in the capital.
Back underground, in the sewers:
*Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang* *Clang*
Sparkles of swords clashing together was seen all around in this small alleyway. Both swordsmen were fighting to gain the upper hand in this fight. Although, Zenon was the one who was the more aggressive between the two while Shadow silently observed the patterns of his enemy.
This clash of swords would continue on while both of them weren't looking exhaused in the slightest.
"I see, apparently I've underestimated you a little. I can see how you've managed to destroy so many of our bases, even if they were small ones."
Zenon was slightly catching his breath due to his speaking with Shadow, showing he's confident in his abilities to take him down. As they were standing before each other, swords clashing against one another, would Zenon slowly go serious.
"Now let me show you! Behold the power of a future Knight of Rounds!"
Zenon concentrates his magic and strengthes himself with it to unleash a more powerful attack than the one that broke Alexia's sword. The air around him undulates and black lighting comes from the sheer raw magical power that emits from Zenon's body.
"So much magical energy..."
With the first strike, Zenon pushes Shadow back into the water. But Shadow still holds up his stance and doesn't look bothered by the strengthened attack in the slightest. Zenon switches into an even more aggressive swordstyle and tries to overpower Shadow with magic alone.
He relentlessly attacks and tries to put on pressure on Shadow. But all of them are blocked and parried away with the perfect timing. Zenon tries his tactic again and loads another huge amount of magic into his sword and strikes Shadow.
But this time, Shadow doesn't even bulge and instead pushes against Zenon's attack with ease. Zenon looks dumbfounded at him being pushed back and loses his balance for a brief moment. Shadow doesn't miss this chance and steps behind him and strikes him with his elbow at the back of his head.
"He's strong."
Alexia couldn't help but admit such oblivous fact infront of her. Zenon was praised as the wunderkind and prodigy of his generation. Winning countless tournaments and stepping up the ranks in record time, there isn't a single knight in the kingdom that hasn't heard of Zenon Griffey.
And here he was, overpowered by an unknown swordsmen by being pushed into the water with a simple parry.
"Dammit!"
In his moment where he cursed himself and his enemy, Zenon could have easily been beheaded on the spot by Shadow. But instead, he just pointed his ebony sword at him and stood menacingly before him.
"You're not attacking? "Future Rounds"?"
Provoking him with simple words, Zenon falls into his trap and gets enraged. He ups the speed of the battle and attacks more violently than before. Though now, it was more flimsy strikes with no plan than anything.
All of the slashes and blocks created shockwaves and were powerful enough to damage the walls and the grounf without even touching them. It was truly a battle between talents.
But there was something important that didn't get lost in Alexia's eyes. Something she has long given up on after so many years that she saw in Shadow's swordstyle.
His technique has gone beyond execellent and into the realms of transcendent. But at it's core...his fencing is so ordinary! Like I dreamed of when I was a little girl...My ridiculous idea of ideal swordplay. Even without the innate talent for the sword that my sister had, I believed that, if I worked long and hard enough, I could be as strong as she is.
But no matter how hard I tried, I could never catch up to the prodigy. The best I could ever do was to get people to compare me to her, and laugh at me. The fencing style of have-nots, with no strength and no skill: the style of a Fencer Ordinaire.
But I couldn't give it up. This style, that's nothing but a plain, boring accumulation of basic skills...
To me...this style...
"I like your fencing style."
The words of her sister that she originally so despised and hated came back echoing in her brain as Alexia finally realized what her ideal swordplay was supposed to look like. She didn't need to try to copy her sister or anybody else, but instead would find her own style and overcome the hardships of talent through hard work alone.
As she was thinking that, Shadow has already swung his sword up and sliced the torso of Zenon. This damage put him down on his knees as blood was gushing out of his wound.
"You, who are you?! If you have so much power, why do you hide your identity?!"
Shadow only laughs at the ridiculous question posed to him. He gives the only response that he's given many other of his enemies before that hadn't survived an encounter with Shadow.
"We are Shadow Garden. They who lurk in the shadows, who hunt the shadows. That is the sole purpose of our existence."
Shadows right eye glowed in a bright purple color as if a flame just came out of it. That was enough to show his resolve to Zenon about his goals.
"Are you insane?"
"Shadow Garden? And there's a cult? What's going on?"
For Alexia, it was way too much information being processed in her brain in this little amount of time. Shadow Garden, a cult, the Knights of Rounds and this behind the scene war between the two, were enough to put Alexia's brain into a spirale.
"All right... If you really want to fight, then I'll give you a fight!"
Zenon was holding up a glass bottle full of red buds that looked like medicine.
"With these pills, a man can awaken to a new nature beyond human limitations! If an ordinary person took them, he would be overwhelmed by their tremendous power and die..."
After finishing his sentence about the future powerup he will get, Zenon throws some pills into his mouth and swallows them with a big smile on his face. This time, he looks even more sure of his victory in battle now.
The air around him changes. His magical energy seems to be exploding and it's solid enough to push away the water under his feet. He grunts in pain as his body takes a new form to adapt to his changes in his mana pool.
"I am the Third awakened."
His wounds are instantly healed and is even more bulkier than before. His blonde hair is standing up and the skin of his body turned into a gray tone. His eyes resembled the one of the creature she was chained down with. Pitch black with a small red dot in the middle where the iris is supposed to be.
Zenon enjoys his new body so much that he demonstrates a simple swing to the ground, enough to destroy it with just the air created by it.
"Those who can control this power are the real chosen ones. The ones worthy to join the Rounds."
Zenon is undoubtly stronger than Iris right now in this form. Alexia thinks that he's the strongest being to ever exist due to witnessing it firsthand and covers in fear. Though, she would have done that if she hasn't seen Shadow's swordstyle with her own eyes.
Even after getting a powerup that makes you more powerful than the strongest Dark Knight in the kingdom, Alexia still thinks that Shadow will be the one who's going to be triumphant in the end.
"Let me show you...almighty power!"
Zenon boasts that while readying his sword with another huge amount of magic. He regains his calm smile, arrogantly thinking that the fight is already over. He charges at Shadow with blinding speed and tries to thrust his sword at him. Shadow, just like before, blocks his attack with his black sword without even pushed back a millimeter.
Alexia feels uncomfortable with the word that Zenon uses to describe himself. "Almighty"? That absolutely wasn't the figure, picture or even power that Alexia had in mind when she thought about the epitome of "Almighty".
Rather, it looked...
"...How ugly..."
"That's ugly."
Alexia and Shadow's voices overlap. After all, they both strive the imperfect swordstechnique. And looking at Zenon like this makes someone rethink their dreams if Zenon is truly the example of "Almighty".
"Did you just call me ugly?" Zenon's smile fades away.
Even though the raw magical power of Zenon is damaging the sewers around them, Shadow doesn't look fazed at all. He stands in front of Zenon, looking disappointed at the sight of his enemy and someone who's supposed to be a prodigy, the next of the Rounds.
"If that's the best you can do, don't claim to be almighty. That's blasphemy against the almighty."
"You son of a bitch."
This time, Shadow takes the initiative of the fight and leads Zenon on. He goes for a counterattack and gives Zenon an uppercut to his chin. Zenon stumbles back some steps and has to catch his breath. While the form is more powerful than the Zenon from before, it's still a big change in Zenon's body.
"Dammit."
He hasn't got the time to adjust to it yet. That exact thing backfired on him in this crucial moment of the fight.
Shadow comes with neck breaking speed in front of Zenon's face and punches it. Shadow continues on with his fistfight in the swordsbattle with only his left hand while the other is still holding his sword. He slowly steps forward and gives Zenon enough time to strike again.
But the aimless slashes are simply dodged by him and are interrupted by a high kick to the chin. Zenon falls backwards on his back and lies there for a dangerous amount of time. Shadow brings his foot down on the glass bottle and shatters it. And with his stomp on the ground, Shadow creates barrier and field with precise and dense magical energy.
"There is no road to almightiness for those using borrowed strength. None!"
Zenon picks himself up, only to find himself being engulped by Shadow's magic. It wasn't really a barrier but rather exceptionally precise magical strands on the level nobody could achive. This surge of magic shows itself in the form of blue-violet rays of light.
Violet vains appear on Shadow's face and coat.
There hundreds to thousands of these ultrathin strands which make an mesmerizing pattern that look like vains of magic. They wrap themselves around Shadow as if they're engulfing him in this beautiful display of magic.
"Playtime is over."
The strands extend only so much until they reach Alexia's feet. It only showcases the precision and control that Shadow has over his own magic.
"How pretty."
Alexia wasn't admiring the violet-blue rays and called them pretty but instead was more amazed by the display of Shadow's showcase of his magic. The ultrathin strands that amounted into a stupid number, the control not to overstep and stop it anytime he wants, and lastly the beautiful and yet dense amount of magical energy at the center of it.
While Alexia wasn't in the cycle herself, she certaintly could feel the stupid and unbelievable amount of magic that was densed into this small space. She was sure that Zenon felt this even more strongly than herself. Alexia was shortly tempted to step inside of it to get a feeling of this magic but decided against it.
"What is all this? Is this magic? But it's so...A single person could never-"
Zenon couldn't believe his senses. It was way too much magical power than anyone should possess. It was so dense and thick that Zenon himself thought he would be unable to walk or breath.
"Once upon a time, there was a man who wished to withstand a nuclear bomb. The man developed his muscles, honed his mind , perfected his skills. However, there were yet heights he could not attain. But I couldn't allow myself to give up. So after years upon years of training, I arrived at a single solution.
If I don't want to be vaporized in a nuclear explosion...I simply have to become nuclear myself."
Shadow was standing before Zenon with the most serious look he has in his life. Both Zenon and Alexia don't know what he's talking about but are sure that this "nuclear" thing is something that shouldn't be underestimated.
"You're out of your mind!"
Zenon tries for a last attempt to attack Shadow as he's not moving. But his sword breaks at the contact with Shadows body and completely falls apart. It was that moment when Zenon realized that if he would have striked Shadow before, it would lead to the same result. Shadow was just toying with him this whole time and didn't really see him as a threat.
Zenon steps back and falls on his knees in complete fear. The only thing he could do now is looking up at Shadow as he's preparing his ultimate move.
Shadow raises his sword above his head with both of his arms. The strands of magic surround him and his sword in a truly beautiful manner.
"Let the true meaning of "almighty" be carved into your soul. This is my almighty power."
"S-stop..."
Is the ground trembling? Or the air? Or Zenon himself?
"I..."
No, it's everything.
"...Am..."
Everything is rippling.
Alexia notices that she's shaking, too. It isn't out of fear, though, but joy. That's the final destination. That...swordplay is the strongest.
"...Atomic."
In just a blink of the eye, all sound vanishes. The magical strands are pulled into it's center, Shadow. There was a small moment when she saw a little light, before everything around her was vaporized into nothingness.
An incredible explosion occured.
Alexia herself wouldn't be part of the destruction but was still thrown up by the shockwave the explosion caused. Bricks, water, stones around her were all vaporized and deleted from the world as if they never existed.
All of Zenon's particles or anything that made him "Zenon, the prodigy" were gone on the spot. Nothing was left of his body as the sheer amount of magic was striked on him.
The explosion penetrates everything. Consuming the walls and the earth, blasting toward the night sky in a stunning manner.
Just above the explosion, the city river was already trembling and rippling with huge waves. It wasn't just the water but the ground itself that was trembling like a tier 9 earthquake. And right from the center of it, a column made of pure magical energy erupted from the underground.
It swallowed everything on it's way. Private residences, the heavy clouds, the streets were no exception. It expanded without any signs of stopping and only stropped when it's diameter was already hundreds of meters long.
The column of magic lasted for whole five minutes, making sure that everything in it is completely vaporized into nothiness. Luckily, the spot where the explosion occured was already evacuated by the Knight Order and the only casualties were the buildings and their contents.
After the dome slowly dispersed, all that was left was a huge crater in the middle of the capital. As the sky was also pierced by the attack, the clouds were taken along with it. So in middle of the crater was a hole in the sky which showed countless stars, unreachable for anyone, and the full moon in it's full glory.
That was the view Alexia currently had. Before, she was looking at the hallways of the sewers where two of the most powerful men she has ever seen fought. But now, it's the star filled sky complimented by the illumination of the moon.
Just next to her, there was a sword lying on the ground. Alexia picked up with a slow pace and held it up high. She took a stance and replicated the moves she had just seen before. Slowly, but carefully, with beauty yet so mediocre, but all in all, so much potential that she could take in this swordplay of hers.
Shadow's swordplay inspired her to appreciate this swordstyle of her even more. It was truly eye opening to her. She may never be on the same level as Shadow but that doesn't matter at the moment. What matters is the thought behind every move, every swing.
"Alexia!"
Alexia is snapped out of her trance and looks to the side to see her sister running at her with full speed. Iris jumps at Alexia and hugs her tightly as she's glad to see her alive.
"Alexia! I'm so glad you're all right! So glad! I-I'm sorry! Are my arms cold?"
Alexia is initially dumbfounded at this behavior from her sister. But after recalling back the times she has accompanied her sister on missions, Alexia realized that Iris did that to spend some time with her and to get some experience on Knight Order work.
But she was blinded by hate and rage during that time by her misunderstood words and didn't appreciate the time at the slightest.
Though now, Alexia finally sees the complete picture and is glad that her sister didn't give up on her. She shakes her head at Iris' question and silently hugs her back.
"Thank you... Iris."
In middle of the huge crater in the capital, there were two sisters who finally reunited after this whole nightmare on both sides.
Midgar Academy, rooftop:
Two figures were standing on the rooftop outside in the blazing sun. Summer was slowly approaching and some days were already hot enough to be called so. One of the figures was the second princess of Migar, Alexia Midgar, while the other one was the average young boy, Cid Kagenou.
He had been summoned by her without getting to know the reason. But he knew that if he refused a royal order he can say his life goodbye. So here there are, sweating because of the extreme heat.
"It seems like there's more to the plot than meets the eye, but as far as the public is concerned, the case has been solved. Though, I don't quite understand why you confessed to being the culprit."
"Just the magic of torture, you know? Guess I'm done here, then."
Alexia knows how horrible torture can be and she's fairly sure that Cid is just trying to look cool by acting unfazed after all of it.
Cid wasn't the one to listen about serious reports. And the heat was slowly getting to him even after regulating his temperature with magic. But just about he was going to go away he was stopped.
"No, wait! Um...There's something I wanted to talk about. You told me you liked my fencing style, remember? Maybe it's a little late to say this, but...Thank you."
She twirled with the ends of her hair strains and didn't look him in the eye while giving her thanks. That may seem rude from a certain perspective, but both of them knew that she was just embarrassed because of the little pink blush on her cheeks.
"You're welcome, I guess."
"I finally learned to like my sword style. Not because of you, though."
The pink blush still apparent, Alexia tells a small lie to him so he doesn't get an inflated head.
"I think you could have left that last part out, don't you?"
Cid doesn't particulary care as he's both the person who showed her the sword style and the one who told her he likes it. But Alexia doesn't know that and will probably never get to know that.
"Well, it's true."
Alexia smiles at the way Cid is speaking. Even after both of them experienced something so gruesome, he still doesn't change the tone how he sees her. To him, she's just Alexia. The brute and his money giving machine. But Alexia doesn't mind. This conversation with him feels more real than anything before.
"Anyway, I'm out."
That's why...
"Wait!"
Cid turns his head to the sudden stop.
"I mean...We've been pretending to be a couple for a while now. And during the incident...Zenon kindly got himself killed. So if you're interested..."
Alexia fiddles with her fingers in embarrassment. She looks to the ground to avoid eye contact. Cid now fully turns his whole body in her direction.
"I was thinking maybe we could try to keep this relationship going a little longer."
Alexia knows it was a daring move on her side. Really, the second princess of Midgar asking out the son of a lowly baron to be in an actual relationship with her? Alexia from a month ago would have called the person a liar if she's ever been told that.
But people change with time. And the time spent with Cid wasn't a negative one. After some serious contemplating, she arrived at the conclusion to give this relationship another chance. This time for real.
Time seemed to have stopped for Alexia as she eagerly awaiting his answer. Cid only smiles with a happy look on his face and raises his hand. This gives Alexia hopes as...
"I'm gonna have to say no."
"He's gonna have to say no."
...they're completely crushed by a two combo.
Cid puts his thumb down to signalize his rejection with the biggest smile on his face. But that alone wasn't enough. Out of nowhere, Amelia appeared behind Cid and also gave her a thumbs down and imitated the smile Cid had. It was truly a ridiculous sight to see. That only rubbed more salt into the wound