I DO NOT OWN EMINENCE IN SHADOW, HOWEVER I DO OWN ANY OF THE ARTS SHOWN IN THESE FICS.
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Chapter 1 : Sneaky Little Vampire.
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When she first saw him, she was very surprised.
She hasn't expected this era to produce such a powerful human capable of not only taking her, a progenitor, on equal footing. But as well as dominate her, even by pure intuition, she could tell he could easily surpass her and beat her anytime he wanted to even with her strength being enhanced by the Blood Moon.
Bit by bit, she could tell she was slowly regaining her senses, but that wouldn't last long due to Crimson's schemes – She'd been hurt deeply by his betrayal, how could one of her most trusted allies and servants do this to her? – and the Blood moon was slowly making her lose herself.
Their battle continued on for minutes as they traveled across the city skies, luminating the skies with bright colorful explosions and a rain of roses.
It was only when they crossed each other for the final time, coming face to face when he finally talked.
"Tonight's game has gone on long enough, Your Majesty." His red eyes piercing her own crimson eyes, she smiled bitterly.
Silently begging him to put her out of her misery so that she would no longer hurt anyone anymore.
"Would you be so kind as to tell me your name, my good sir?" She responded.
The world momentarily shook as a violet magic encompassed the gentleman in front of her, his right cheek forming a strange mark as his eye glowed with magic.
She smiled internally when he responded to her wishes, magic began building up from him, this was it.
This is the end.
"I.. Am.."
She took one last look at Mary, her friend, her most loyal subordinate cried out for her. She gave her a sad apologetic look.' Good bye Mary, thank you for everything .'
Before embracing her fate as the gentleman in black released his magic.
"Recovery Atomic."
Or so her final goodbyes wouldn't have been an actual 'goodbye' when the man in front of her did something unexpected, she wholeheartedly believed he was going to obliterate her, but this was.. Unexpected, but welcomed.
The world shook and stopped, a wide gentle magic exploded harmlessly throughout the city as all the Ghouls, vampire thralls and victims alike were healed.
Elizabeth's world grew dark as the tendrils of unconsciousness took her.
++--------------------++
Elizabeth hadn't expected to a Mary suddenly crying and hugging her when she woke up, at first she was worried that she was still out of control, until she noticed she was completely in control of herself with no problems whatsoever.
"Elizabeth-sama!" She cried weepingly on her chest, followed by several apologies.
Elizabeth smiled, she was glad Mary hasn't changed even after hundreds of years, she looked around the room they were in and notices that they were in some sort of expensive apartment.
'Observing your surroundings comes later, talking to Mary is first priority .' She internalized.
She looked at Mary who was clinging onto her and gave her a smile.
"Mary." She called out her name, prompting Mary to look at her with the same tearful eyes. "I'm sorry, for everything."
Mary's eyes widened ever so slightly, she knew what Elizabeth was referring to. The very same 'Haven' they tried to bring into realization, she shook her head and disagreed. "No, please don't apologize My Lady, it was not your fault, it was that traitor Crimson's doings." She hissed the man's name with venom.
"Still, that doesn't mean I had not committed a massacre that time, all the innocent souls that didn't have to be killed.." Elizabeth's smile gloomed, the haven she wanted to create had been destroyed by her very hands, such a thought brought ever the guilt to her.
"Be it as it may, My Lady.. You never wanted to hurt anyone, you of all people endured having to abstain from drinking human blood. I'm sure everyone would understand, if they were still here." Mary finally stopped sobbing, Elizabeth looked to the window view of apartment they were in, she saw sunlight slowly seeping in within a small part of the room.
Mary also noticed it. "Ah, it's morning."
She wanted to close the curtains so that her Lady wouldn't be bothered by the sunlight, even if it's not hitting them, but she wa currently stuck hugging her and she's not sure if she could let go.
"But, at least." Elizabeth spoke, promoting Mary to return her gaze to her Lady.
"At least..?" She questioned.
"At least we have a new opportunity to create the Haven once more." Elizabeth said while looking outside.
Mary's gaze softened, her Lady was right, they could start a new again with their new lives, whatever happened she will still stay with Ladyship.
++--------------------++
They stayed for a day or two for Elizabeth to recover a slight bit of her strength to move around. True, the gentleman that had saved her healed her, but her strength was a different topic altogether as she felt sore.
A caravan was already waiting for them in the roads; she and Mary had met up with 'Claire Kagenou' before the caravan had arrived.
Before getting inside the caravan she noticed the presence of a certain someone , someone that she owed greatly.
Her gaze met the gentleman that was wearing casual clothing, she bowed to him gratefully, to which he acknowledged by biting down on a.. What was its name again? It was the same food Mary had suggested she should try yesterday.
Ah right, burger! Delicious treat, that one.
She smiled sweetly at him, and entered the Caravan.
Claire and Mary were too busy giving each other their farewells, interlocking their foreheads together.
Soon enough, she and Mary left the lawless city, they continued their journey from there, traveling around from city to city.
++--------------------++
During their time traveling, Elizabeth's dreamless nights were sad as always, something that had not changed even after hundreds of years, the nights were always a bitter sad thing for her as she was unable to sleep well.
But she endured it, nothing too new that she wasn't used to.
However that changed when they arrived at the kingdom of Midgar.
...
It had been a simple stroll around the city with her umbrella protecting her from the sunlight. She could withstand sunlight to an extent, albeit with some discomfort. However that did not mean she was going to go outside without an Umbrella just because she can endure it, it would give her a sunburn you know!
Currently she was looking around the stalls for something new to try, whether it be an accessory or a food, when she entered the kingdom she noticed a noticeable crater within the kingdom expanding by a few miles – I mean, it was hard not to notice it. – she guessed it was made by none other than him , considering she could still sense traces of his magic.
Her shoulder suddenly bumped into someone, bringing her out of her thoughts. She turned to apologize to them but froze when she saw who it was.
It was him.
It was the same gentleman that rescued her from her fate.
"Ah, you're.." The gentleman muttered.
She turned to him, lifting her skirt and bowing to him. "Hello again, my good sir!" She said happily.
"You're that final boss from the piggy bank." Said good sir muttered without thinking.
What? Final Boss? Piggy bank?
"What?"
"What?" They parroted to one another.
She probably misheard it.
He shook his head, "Ah, it was nothing, do I know you Miss?" He said while tilting his head.
Does he not remember- Ah, so that's why.
She was currently talking to him in his public persona, that was probably the reason he was faking it.
How reckless of her.
"Oh dear me, my apologies, why don't we talk somewhere else?" She asked of him, desiring to talk with the one that saved her.
"I'd ask to invite you, but I'm rather new to this city."
It seems that he got the message judging by his shrugging, "Sure, I guess? I know a good spot here." He turned to a direction and walked, she followed after him with a smile.
...
He wasn't jesting about it being a good spot, the restaurant was at a high vantage that had a great view of the kingdom.
She noticed the clothes of the residents and took note of their somewhat strange but formal appearances that differed from the other kingdoms. 'This kingdom is rather advanced. ' she mused.
A waitress approached them when they entered the restaurant, the gentleman – She still doesn't have his name regrettably – took care of things thankfully, she wasn't too sure about ordering food on her own in this era.
"Table for two please." He asked the waitress, soon enough they found themselves sitting in one of the table seats near the terrace.
She was eustatic, the view was really beautiful and the tables even had these big beautiful umbrellas attached to them!
If she didn't know any better, she would have thought this was specifically made for vampires.
She was having a great time.
"Thank you for this my good sire, but I never caught your name properly during our conversation back at the tower, I'd also like to thank you. " She giggled sweetly.
"Ah, I'm Cid, no problem about the whole healing shtick. " He took a bite out of the burger he was holding. "What brought you here though, Your Majesty? I imagine someone like you would be busy with something." Cid uttered the last part with his Shadow Voice.
"Nothing too serious, I'm merely wandering around getting myself adapted to this era, the Haven is still something I'm after." She also took a bite of the burger she was holding.
"Hmm, that sounds like a good plot point." He muttered under his breath, she ignored what he said in favor of eating the delicious treat in her hands.
"Cid-kun, can I call you that?" She asked, despite knowing this was his public guise, but there was no harm in calling him that when there's no one listening.
"Sure."
"You also don't have to call me so formally, just call me Elizabeth, it would be rude to my savior after all."
"Sure."
"I'm staying here for a few weeks, would you be so kind as to accompany me till then?"
"Sure."
"Wonderful!" She beamed happily, this day was becoming greater with each passing second and she was here for all of it, Cid didn't even think twice to listen to her wishes! Truly a gentleman.
Cid wasn't listening at this moment. *
Truth be told, ever since they had that dance from back then, her heart had started to flutter when thinking about him, she was unfamiliar with this feeling and was greatly confused.
The butterflies within her only worsened when she continued to talk to him. Her cheeks started to redden as just being around him now caused her to blush.
Soon, night came and they parted ways after a long conversation – albeit she talked the most, Cid did converse with her every now and then. – that night, her nightmarish nights became a paradise to her as she dreamed of him.
Ever since then, she asked Mary not to wake her up forcefully now so that she may enjoy her dreamful nights with her savior.
There was one dream that stood out the most to her, something she really cherished with all of her heart, the one that she loved the most.
One where she had a daughter.
She could vividly remember playing around with her hair, walking with her in a garden, enjoying tea with her.
She never really caught a good look at her dream daughter, but almost every night she would sleep hoping to be in the same dream.
She didn't know why that was a dream, but she didn't care. She never really figured out how her daughter even came to be in a dream.
But she did have a vague idea of who the father was..
However the chances of it happening in reality was...
Nearly non-existential, she knew how that man had many who loved him way before her..
Truly..
Truly.. A regrettable shame she couldn't awaken sooner and met him.
++--------------------++
Cid was not having a good time, well, not too much.
He hadn't expected to run into Elizabeth after the whole Blood Moon thing, during their conversation – For context, whenever two powerful warriors meet, they could engage in a conversation through their actions, one of his most notable conversations was with Violet-san back at the tournament. – Elizabeth is one the few people he can converse very clearly, he heard her pleading to end her misery during the fight. This time around, be opted with healing everyone in the Lawless City including her instead of blowing them away.
Last time he saw her was when she left with that other red haired girl with the great lines he definitely didn't plagiarize. Running into her in Midgar was an unexpected one, he somewhat forgot her name when they bumped each other.
Also, it was damn risky, you know you're not supposed to talk to random Mobs, Ms Blood Queen!
Though since she asked to show her around the city, he might as well do it, nothing like he had better things to do.
During their time sitting around at the restaurant he usually goes to relax, she said something interesting about "wandering the world to get used to this era."
His first thought was 'Damn, that kinda sounds cool, maybe I should do something similar...
An Eminence suddenly appearing in random areas dispensing his Wisdom and Presence everywhere .'
Fuck it, they sounded fucking cool.
He wanted to leave somewhere during the end of semester and plan for the next few weeks.
...
Well, there goes that plan.
Elizabeth has been appearing everywhere to accompany him, and he couldn't do what he wanted.
Like damn girl, we're technically friends now but give me some personal space, usually they would go on some outings and have conversation, nearly everyday.
Every. Day.
Goddamn it he wanted to play around, but he can't do it with Elizabeth around accompanying him every fucking where.
This continued on for weeks, at one point he asked her why she was following him everywhere.
To which she responded, with a smile mind you. "You agreed to accompany me for the next few weeks until Mary and I leave the kingdom." Okay, he would have pulled the same bullshit like he did with Delta by saying he never said something like that.
But then he remembered, aren't vampires supposed to have great memory or something? Considering they could live for centuries and remember small details, he could vaguely remember watching a show where this blonde effeminate vampire had one hell of a hate-boner for a bloodline.
Curses! He shouldn't have mindlessly agreed to her, now he's stuck with her.
Currently he was on a 'date' with her in the same restaurant they first went to, he wasn't exactly sure if it was a date but she kept asking him out.
It was currently night time so she didn't have an Umbrella with her.
"Not many people can compete with such as I, a progenitor, are you perhaps.. Not human?" She asked innocently while drinking one of Mitsugoshi's new products, a Milk Tea. .
"Nah, I'm human." He said nonchalantly.
"I see, sorry it's just a surprise when someone had been able to keep up with me."
"Mhm.. " His thoughts wandered off.
"Also, my apologies Cid, for making you pay for all the expenses." She apologized sheepishly.
Ah right, whenever they bought something, Cid had to pay for it because Elizabeth didn't seem to have any money on her, dont worry sister! I'm also onboard with you on being broke!
"I would pay for all of our expenses, but sadly, the gold in the tower mysteriously appeared." She looked at him apologetically.
?!
Cid started to sweatdrop, he knew damn well why the gold in their tower was missing.
After all, he was the one that took it.. Holy shit, does.. Does she know?!
Would she sue him if she knew? Cid's eyes darted from side to side erratically, what should he do..?
Well, it doesn't seem like she knows.
Unfortunately for Cid, Elizabeth did in fact, know he was the one that took the gold.
She wouldn't question why he did take them, but she was sure he had a reason for that, not to mention he had saved her.
For there she won't say anything about it, but it seems he didn't expect her to knew it.
Huhuhu~~~
She might as well try to tease him..
"It's such a shame, we were supposed to give those gold to charity, help people you know?" She gave him the sly side eye.
'Oh SHIT, does she know?! "
Cid was starting to shit bricks – Figuratively – Sure he wanted to amass gold for himself, but hearing that the gold was meant to be used for something like that made him more nervous, he could get arrested for this holy shit!
Worse, she knows both of his identities, what will happen if Alpha and the others get wind if this?
They'll totally roast his ass!
He'll totally be humiliated and they'd hate him.
Nah, he needed to deal with this.
"W-Well, that IS pretty terrible."
"Right? How could someone even steal such a huge amount of gold without anyone noticing."
"Y-Yeah."
"If I were to make an exaggeration, I'd theorize that the person that took them had the ability to store them somewhere, and could move rather fast." She smiled, rather too innocently.
Cid was straight up sweating buckets.
"..." Cid was looking somewhere else.
"..." Elizabeth continued to smile.
"I don't suppose you noticed anyone stealing back at the tower? My good sir?"
"N-N-No... "
"Well I suppose I'll just let it go, if even you don't know who took it, then it would be of no use." She said regrettably, in a way too suspicious manner.
"Y-Yeah, N-No use."
"Mhm."
Elizabeth continued to smile as if nothing was wrong while Cid was practically a sweating mess.
Finally noticing that her Milk Tea was all gone, she wiped her mouth with a tissue and stood up, she looked at Cid who was looking at her with uncertainty.
"This night has been wonderful just as the previous ones, but.. Would you accompany me one last time tonight before I leave Midgar..?" Elizabeth asked gently, Cid wanted nothing more than to leave right now because of how spooked he was of Elizabeth.
Seeing no way out of this – and possibly because she knows that he stole from her – he followed after her, they later arrived back at the place Elizabeth was staying at, Cid opted to go as Shadow since they were moving around extremely fast.
When they arrived Elizabeth opened the windowsill to the terrace and welcomed him in, Shadow was half-sure he was walking into a trap where she will sue him for stealing.
"In here, Cid-kun." She gestured to a long glass table, she sat down and relaxed.
"I'd rather you called me Shadow, I am someone who lurks in the darkness to keep my enemies at bay, not Cid Kagenou." He delivered one of his planned out lines.
Elizabeth looked at him understandingly, before she stood up and walked to a shelf and took out a.. Wine?
She walked back to the table and poured herself one, before gesturing to Shadow.
"Will you not come in, my good sir?"
"I've already accompanied you, while I did enjoy our time, Your Majesty, I have other things to do." He really hoped his bullshit-fu would work.
Elizabeth's expression turned sad, "Ah, I see.. True enough I've bothered you more than I have should these past few weeks even getting in the way of your duty." She lightly spun the wine in her hand, carefully observing it. It was a wine that had originated way back in her times when The Haven was still around, a wine that even her would get drunk if she tasted even a little, it was a really special one that Mary even made sure to store it carefully, though she was not sure why exactly her friend had done so, but she's grateful she did anyways because she was gonna NEED a confidence boost for what she's about to do.
During the past few weeks, Elizabeth had been observing herself, for why and where these light and funny feelings in her stomach came from whenever she was around Cid/Shadow.
At one point she even asked Mary what these were, to which the latter reacted with hope and horror somehow mixing with one another, she questioned her multiple times about who she was reacting to and why, Elizabeth simply laughed it off.
But eventually.. She managed to figure it out on her own, she was In love with her savior.
She knew it wasn't fair, she'd killed thousands of people back in her era, she'd done many injustice, and there were those who had already loved him.
But still... if she didn't let these feelings out she knew she would simply tear herself from the inside.
Since this was her last day before leaving, she wanted to leave without regrets. She wanted to make this night memorable for her. (Backed up by the power of literal super alcohol.)
++--------------------++
"It's no trouble, I did steal- I mean rudely attacked the Blood Queen so rudely." He jested.
'Yeah I mean, this makes it fair for the two of us.. I think. I did steal from you, but I healed you while you bothered me for weeks, fair play you know? '
Cid was currently planning his escape plan if his new friend did plan to sue him for stealing, no way in hell an Eminence would get arrested and brought to court for stealing. That would be too lame!
He saw that Elizabeth wasn't responding, he looked at her and saw that she was chugging the shit out of that glass of wine. 'Speaking of which, doesn't she look stacked when she's literally staying in a place like this? She even has that wine which I'll admit is probably the best one I've ever smelled and seen .'
She slammed the glass down and walked towards Shadow.
He mentally prepared himself to unleash all of his Verbal-fencing and Mob-fu skills for the possibly upcoming Boss-suing Battle.
She walked past him and rested her arms on the rails, looking at the moon.
Cid noticed that her face was unusually red, did she get drunk from one glass?
"My Savior.. Would you listen to me one last time before you leave?"
Cid didn't say anything, he was still preparing himself.
"For all of my life, I've been hailed as a traitor and a delusioned fool for trying to believe in something, for trying to achieve something nearly impossible."
Cid was suddenly off guard by what she said, he was expecting her to go full on Karen mode on him for stealing, but he didn't expect her to say something they hit too close to home.
He relaxed his form, and listened to her – Which was rare since he tended to ignore people. – He felt like she was going to say some important stuff.
"I'm sure you're already aware of 'The Haven'." He was in fact not aware of what 'The Haven' was but found it rather cool.
"It was something I wished to achieve, a land where vampires and humans can coexist, the vampires had been a race where they simply saw humans as cattle and ate them like one, I didn't like it, I didn't like how they were treating lives like worthless objects. So instead, I fought back, I created The Haven, a dream I sought to fulfill." She said weakly, she was still looking at the moon.
"They instead called me a fool for it, a traitor they said, they tried to strip that dream away from me. But I refused to buckle down and give up." Her smile faltered into a sad one.
"But instead, one of my most trusted subordinates betrayed me so that he may use me to bring chaos around the world, he destroyed my hopes and dreams of achieving and creating The Haven I soughtfully wished to attain."
Shadow, for the rare instance, was listening to her intently, he could relate to what she was saying, back in his previous life, people mocked him for his dream, for wishes, for his goal of becoming an Eminence in the Shadows, but he never faltered nor gave up.
He kept on pursuing that dream until it became true, unfortunately for his vampire friend, her wishes were forcefully destroyed, by one of her friends even!
He could only sympathize with her.
'Don't give uppu! My vampire friend, no dream is impossible if you try hard enough! I mean look at me. ' He said internally.
"From that night alone, My sins grew ever so largely by the amount of destruction and death I committed because I was unable to contain myself.. I wanted nothing more than to end myself to atone for my sins." She stopped briefly before looking at him. "Until.. I was reawakened once more and met you."
Huh, he wasn't gonna lie, that line sounded great, are these vampires natural at making these Badass lines? He could still vividly remember the other red haired girl who 'saved' him from those ghouls, ah.. The fun times of 'The frenzy has begun.'
She strutted to him and stopped a few inches away, "I found myself being able to see hope.. And a new discovery that bloomed within me that even I was unfamiliar with."
Shadow looked at her intently, Elizabeth met his own with her own gaze, albeit more dreamy and light.
"I know I myself had once said that many loved you from your organization, but if I did not do this, I do not know if I will ever be able to forgive myself." She inched forward, her drunken state becoming worse.
"And that is..?" Shadow asked with his Cid voice, clearly interested in what she had to say.
"I love you." She grabbed his cheeks and b met her lips with his.
Cid froze.
Huh?
Huuuuuuuuuh?!
'Ayo, what the fuck .'
He was uncharacteristically completely frozen in shock, even breaking character just to process what happened.
What did she say? She said she loved him? Was she actually serious?
Come on dude, he appreciated her but they've literally known each other for like a month or two.
'Romance has never even crossed my mind before, I knew I'd settle down in a few hundred yeses but this is way too unexpected, how do I respond. .
It would be really rude to reject her now that she took up the courage to do this, not to mention drinking some alcohol.
His persona as shadow was never supposed to even attract things like this, what kind of girl would even like him when he's doing all this bullshit lol.
Almost at once, several hundreds of women from a certain organization sneezed, the princess of both Midgar and Oriana also sneezed, A certain sister sneezed, a pink-haired yandere sneezed, EVEN Elizabeth nearly sneezed if not for the fact she was drunk.*
But wait..
'Doesn't an Eminence in the Shadow and A Blood Queen having some sort of past sound cool? Maybe I could even use it in the future! Maybe he could even convince her to forgive Cid mused.
'She did say she was going to leave right? No harm in letting her have this one. '
Elizabeth removed herself from Shadow, and looked away, being a blushing mess.
Shadow finally shook out of his stupor and looked at her.
"Is that what you really feel..?" He asked.
Elizabeth lowered her head down, and nodded. "I truly love you, romantically."
Shadow stayed still.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The quiet game continued on for a while before Elizabeth finally said something.
"I.. Understand if you do not feel the same way.. I just had to get out of my chest-"
"No."
However she was cut off by Shadow.
"If that's what you truly feel then.. I will try to reciprocate them." He said.
Elizabeth's gaze immediately looked up to him, both with surprise and hope.
Shadow walked inside and took a glass for himself and Elizabeth, pouring the same wine she had drunk.
"I cannot promise you wealth- literally, but you did say you wanted to get these feelings out of your chest before you leave." His character nearly broke when wealth was involved.
Elizabeth was still looking at him with widened eyes, before they softened, tears threatening to come out.
"Don't shed tears my Bloody Queen, why not enjoy the moment?" Shadow nearly wilted inside saying something that was not on his field, flirting.
She smiled and nodded, taking the glass Shadow had offered her and drank..
Shadow brought the glass to his nose and appreciated the scent. 'Damn girl, where did you get something like this? This is totally a rare secret item in a game .'
Shadow shrugged and brought the glass to his mouth, drinking it all gracefully, not knowing the wine that Elizabeth had drunk was special, special enough that a light sip was enough to get her drunk, a vampire had a powerful anatomy and metabolism(To an extent they do), if a human like Cid drunk it, despite his magic constantly flowing inside him, would be enough to turn him into a slobbering mess without trouble and even knock him out cold.
'Well, not like I could get drunk because I'm constantly using magic on myself .'
Oh how wrong he was.
++--------------------++
Cid woke up, the first thought that went into his head was 'Oh what the fuck My head hurts. '. Did he really get drunk? Was he having a hangover?
Second was ' Oh, shit. ' After seeing his current situation.
He was currently sleeping on a couch in his Shadow Persona, with Elizabeth sleeping on top of him..
Well, at least his sigma grindset was still game judging by the fact his clothes were still on.
He barely could remember anything from last night, the last memory being Elizabeth's confession.
'Well, that was a thing. '
He quickly snuck out of the couch while gently setting Elizabeth down so she wouldn't wake up, he looked outside and saw that sunlight was still not up.
He walked towards the windowsill where the terrace was and prepared to use Serious Dash™ when Elizabeth suddenly spoke up from behind him.
"No goodbyes, my dear beloved..?" Elizabeth said while wiping her eyes, she had just woken up.
"Uh, well.." He stuttered under his breath, this was already awkward since he just slept with a girl, though he was sure nothing happened.. (Hopefully)
Elizabeth shook her head in understanding. "No, I've kept you long enough, I'm happy as it is. Thank you for everything Shadow."
"You have no need to thank me, I don't need any."
"Mhm, I know." She said softly.
Shadow turned around to leave.
"When you need gold or wealth to use in your duty, you may ask me in the future, I'm quite sure I still have a few thousand gold coins lying around in one of my castles."
Shadow immediately paused, he slowly turned around to meet her gaze, to which she simply smiled innocently, giving him a wave.
Shadow reluctantly left with a burst of speed, leaving Elizabeth alone.
Internally she giggled joyfully.
++--------------------++
Cid turned off his slime suit after landing on the rooftop of his apartment.
He entered through the window and face planted on the bed.
"She had more..? She had more gold..?" was all he said.
Baffled by the fact she admitted she had more than just the one she had at the tower and promised to give him if he asked.
Wait..
Doesn't that confirm that she knew that he stole from her? And she didn't even sue him! What a kind friend, he was excited to meet her again.
"We shall meet again when fate crosses our paths once more, my fellow dreamer."
And definitely not because of the gold she promised him.
Definitely.
Definiteeeeely.
Unconsciously, he scratched the lower back of his neck which sported a very faint bite mark.
++--------------------++
It has been a few days since they've left Midgar, she and her Lady had opted to travel by ship this time around to get to other kingdoms.
Mary was enthusiastic about serving her Lady once more, it seems that she has been adapting rather well to the new era, even taking a liking to burgers.
One thing she noticed was that her Lady was happier now, her joyful expressions and presence had only grown ever since they left Midgar.
Did something happen..? She knew her Lady was now in love – To both her joy and horror, and also surprise. – with the same man that had healed her.
She wasn't too sure about it because Shadow was a criminal, someone who was pictured as a dangerous individual by the kingdom.
But seeing that he makes her Lady happy, and hasn't done anything during their outings, she will not question it.
"My Lady, you've been rather happy as of late." She said to her Lady while bringing her a cup of tea.
"You think so?" She said while smiling.
Seriously, what happened when she was gone? She has never seen her Lady this happy, something great must have probably happened.
"Yes, did something nice happen?"
"Mhm."
"I see."
Elizabeth looked at her as if she was waiting for something.
"Aren't you going to ask?"
"Is it okay for me to?"
"Of course Mary, you are my friend after all."
Mary gleefully beamed internally at that.
"Thank you.. If I may ask, what happened..?"
Elizabeth giggled, cutely.
Okay, Mary was getting off put by this because her was monotonous at most times, hearing her giggle like a maiden in love is-
...
Wait...
"Oh you know, just one of my dreams finally coming true."
"A-And that is..?" She asked hesitantly.
"Secret." She gleefully put a finger in front of her lips, hushing. "But I could give you a hint."
"...?" Mary looked at her Lady expectantly
"Our dream of creating The Have has taken one big step.. One that'll guarantee the coexistence of Humans and Vampires." She smiled.
Mary's eyes widened.
"Really?! "
"Mhm.. You'll see why in nine months."
"That's great news my Lady I- wait, nine months..?"
Why nine months specifically, unless she dated a plan during that specific time, the only thing she could think of that relates to nine months was-... No way, no fucking way.
Did her Lady Elizabeth really manage to ensnare that man in just a few weeks?!
Mary paused, looking stupidly at her Lady.
Elizabeth had already finished drinking her tea and had already walked away for more when Mary shook out of her shock.
"Elizabeth-sama don't tell me you're-?!"
Yep, it appears that Elizabeth had managed to trick Cid into thinking nothing happened, when in reality she merely dressed the both of them back up after they bumped uglies.
"Do prepare some books on how to take care of children, and some clothes for the little one while we travel will you? Auntie Mary." She giggled, successfully teasing and surprising Mary.
Her subordinate and friend on the other hand could only process so much.
"EHHHHHHHHHH!?-"
Her confused scream could be heard all over the ship.