Ah, there she
goes again. Zeta is fickle and
gets bored easily, so she never takes the time to truly master any
skill. "Oops, I didn't practice enough." "Found you!" The tail transforms into black mist and
vanishes right before Delta's mighty sword can cleave it in twain.
"That was too
close." The only thing perceptible about Zeta is her voice. "I need
to take this seriously."
With that, the
black mist gathers and coalesces into tens of thousands of tiny
swords that twirl around Delta.
"A Thousand Blades. Certain
Death." There are clearly way
more blades than that, but Zeta keeps her declaration conservative. The lethality of her
attack, on the other hand, is anything but. The swarm of blades thrust into Delta and hoist
her body up into the night sky. "Agh, agh… Arrrgh!" Delta is helpless to resist as she gets
sliced up in midair. She narrowly manages to use her arms and legs to protect her
vitals, but it looks like she might be in real danger here. Zeta's gotten stronger than I
expected. She's a relative newcomer to the Seven Shadows, but she's a bona fide monster
who's been improving like nobody's business. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Delta's howl thunders through
the night, and her magic sweeps out in a terrifying shock wave. The ten thousand blades get
obliterated. "N…no way," Zeta
mumbles in disbelief as she spills out from the cloud of mist.
She lands like a cat and stares
over at Delta's blood-soaked figure. Splatch. Delta spits out a mouthful of blood
and glares at Zeta. There isn't a hint of playfulness left in her eyes. "...…" Every hair on Zeta's body stands on
end. Delta manipulates her slime
into a colossal black sword. No, that thing is too big to be called a sword. Too massive, and too
brutish. When Delta uses it, we call it the Large Hunk of Iron. Normally, Delta
mimics us and fights with the same weapons we do, but that isn't her final form. The
savage Large Hunk of Iron is her true weapon, and when she brings it out, that's proof
that Delta the Tyrant is done messing around. "Grrr…" A low growl escapes Delta's throat.
Zeta breaks out into a cold
sweat.
I glance over my
shoulder, more than a little worried about the safety of the dorms
and school building. What to do,
what to do? At this rate, they're liable to get blown away.
The problem is, it
bugs me to no end when someone interrupts me in the middle of a
battle where I'm playing for
keeps, and I'm a big believer in the whole "do unto others" thing.
So I guess that's
it. I say a silent prayer. So long, Midgar Academy. Rest in peace,
Skel and Po.
"YOU'RE DEAD."
Delta's
bloodthirsty magic permeates the Large of Hunk of Iron. I retreat with some legitimate gusto to
put some distance between us. Meanwhile, Zeta…flies into the air. That's not a
metaphor or a turn of phrase or anything. She actually flies upward.
Upon
strengthening my vision with magic, I discover that she's clad
herself in a thin layer of black
mist. Oh, huh. I never knew you
could use it like that. "Bye-bye,
Doggy." With that, she soars off
and vanishes into the clouds. After the briefest of pauses, Delta's
entire body shudders with rage. "G-GET BACK HERE, YOU STUPID CAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!"
She, too, vanishes, leaving a
massive gust of wind in her wake. "Same old same old, huh?" Their fights never reach a proper
conclusion. Either Zeta leaves, or Alpha gives Zeta a piece of her mind. Not me, though. I
prefer to just sit back and watch. Anyhow, guess I'd better head back and
get some shut-eye. "Hmm?" I sense a number of people drawing
closer. It makes sense, considering how much of a ruckus Zeta and Delta just made.
"I know those presences… It's
Alexia and the guards, right?" I
decide to conceal myself and see how this plays out.
Alexia rushes
over to the yard behind the dorms. Honestly, it's not much of a
yard. The area is poorly
maintained, and it's completely overgrown with trees. The night dew
soaks her boots.
She looks back
over her shoulder as she runs. "Come on, hurry up!" The guards race after her with looks of
terror on their faces. "That magic is dangerous, Princess Alexia! We need to
wait for reinforcements!" "If you
keep dawdling, the culprit's going to get away!" "Princess Alexia, wait!" Alexia ignores the guards and pushes her
way through the thicket. Soon, she finds the aftermath of a battle. "No way…" The ground and vegetation are riddled
with lacerations, and the area lingers with traces of powerful magic. "Who even has magic this strong?"
"Princess Alexia, we— Ah! What
is this?" When the guards finally catch up to her, their voices get caught in their
throats by the choking quantities of mana still present in the air. "I-it's dangerous here, ma'am.
The culprit might still be in the area." "Exactly. And it's your job to
catch them." "B-but,
ma'am…" The guards glance at one
another, unable to look Alexia in the eye. Alexia sighs, but
she makes sure they don't see
her doing it.
"This here—this
is blood." She traces the bloodstains splattered across the grass.
"Someone lost a lot of it. They
could be badly wounded. They might even be the culprit behind the incidents…"
The Case of the
Missing Students is the talk of the campus, but the Knight Order is
completely butchering their
investigation. They've ignored the mountains of evidence and declared that no criminal activity
has taken place. Alexia, on the
other hand, suspects there's more to the case than meets the eye.
"There were some elite dark
knights fighting here. But why here?" she says. The spot they're in is no battlefield.
It's just the yard behind some student dorms. "It makes sense to think this could be
related to the case. There's clearly some powerful force at work here…"
One of the
guards' panicked voices interrupts her train of thought.
"P-Princess Alexia!" "What?" "O-over there!" The guard is pointing at a silent
figure dressed in a jet-black longcoat. "When did he—?" Alexia shudders. She didn't sense his
presence at all. "W-wait,
that's…" The figure is wearing
his hood low, and he wipes his fingers across a bloodstain on
the grass. His voice rumbles
like it's echoing up from the depths of the abyss. "This is
the toll that a battle demands, is it?"
"Shadow…" There's something strikingly melancholic
about him, and Alexia finds herself at a loss for words. "Was the life shed here a necessary
sacrifice for the sake of the world?" "Did you have something to do with this,
Shadow?" Shadow pays no heed to
Alexia or the guards. Instead, he sinks deep into thought. "P-P-P-P-Princess Alexia, get back! You
need to retreat and call in the Knight Order —" The
guards tremble as they draw their swords. "Stand down, all of you," she replies.
"Our swords are no threat to him." Despite knowing that, she levels her
sword at Shadow all the same. "Answer me, Shadow. What happened
here?" When she pours magic into
her blade, Shadow finally turns to face her. The red eyes beneath his mask home in on her. "And what would you do, knowing the
truth?" "Catch whoever was
behind it. I won't let them get away with this." Behind his mask, Shadow lets out a
small laugh. "Your efforts are futile." He vanishes. No, wait—there he is, right in front of
her. "Wha—?" She failed to sense his magic, his
presence, his anything. Before she knows it, he's standing directly before her with a
sword pressed to her throat. Alexia recognizes that sword. After all, it belongs to her. "My…sword…" She never even noticed him steal it.
"We live in different worlds."
"What does that even mean?"
Alexia clenches her jaw. She's
put in so much work. She was so sure she'd closed the gap a little.
"Front and back,
shadow and light… There exists a world that people from the frontside would be best served
avoiding."
With that, he
retracts the sword and turns to leave. His black longcoat flutters
behind him, and he strides
unhurriedly into the night. "It's
time," he says. "Time? Time for
what?" "They're making their
move…" A black liquid gushes
forth from Shadow's feet, surging upward and engulfing him.
Then the wind
blows, and Shadow vanishes in a cloud of black mist. Alexia's sword topples to the ground
where he was standing. "He's gone…
Who was it he was talking about?" Alexia doesn't understand any of it.
However, learning that Shadow is
involved is a step in the right direction. A small step, she admits bitterly, but a step all
the same. She turns around.
"Why aren't those
reinforcements here yet? We need to hurry up and preserve the
scene of the—" She freezes in shock. "What…the…?" All the guards are unconscious. In the
span of that brief moment, Shadow knocked each and every one of them out. And
Alexia didn't notice a thing. "How is there still such a gap between
us? I'm trying so hard… I really am…" She hangs her head and clenches her
fists tight. Chapter
1
Claire's Back,
and Her Symptoms Are Worse Than
Ever!
The next
day, all anyone on campus is talking about is Zeta and Delta's
battle.
"So apparently,
there was some crazy magic detected out behind the dorms last
night," says Po. "Yeah, I heard," Skel agrees. "I was
asleep, so I dunno anything about it." "I was asleep, too, so I dunno
anything, either." The two of
them furrow their brows. "They're surveying the scene now,
right?" Skel asks Po. "So they
say, yeah. Some of the teachers went to help out." "If it happened behind the dorms, then
I'd bet you anything they were trying to sneak into the girls' dorm. This is clearly
the work of a pervert." "No, no,
they say the magic was behind the guys' dorm." "Huh. Guess they must've been trying to
sneak into our dorm, then." "What were they after, though?" Skel flashes a vulgar grin. "My hot
bod, obviously." "Oh, sure."
Po's grin is just as crude. "And mine, too." "Makes sense," I agree, my expression
as placid as the Buddha's. Those
two bozos aside, most of the students are taking the incident
pretty seriously. The theories
are all over the place: Some people believe the culprit was someone
with a grudge against the
school, others think they were trying to steal some sort of
precious artifact from the labs,
and others suspect the incident was connected to the mysterious
disappearances.
Sorry to break
it to you, folks, but all that happened was a cat and a dog getting
into a fight. Still, I can
definitely dig this whole "there's a grand conspiracy unfolding
behind the scenes of our quiet school
lives" atmosphere it's caused.
"Our next class is
over in the lecture hall, so we'd better get a move on," I tell
Skel and Po.
"Damn, Cid," Skel
says. "It takes a lot of balls to go ditching a certified stud like
me." "Yeah, wait up," Po agrees. "This
certified stud is still getting ready." I abandon them and head out. Gotta say, that last-minute decision I
made to go full eminence in shadow on Alexia last night was great.
There I was,
lamenting the path we were on as grisly battles played out in
secret on the peaceful-seeming
campus. I mean, the way I took my ad-lib skills and used Zeta and
Delta's fight to inject a sense
of realism into my performance? That was pure music. Then there was the bit where I showed
off my strength to suggest that we lived in different worlds. Implying that normal
people have no place in underworld battles is an oldie, but the classics are classics
for a reason. Every time I think
back to it, I can't help but grin. Little by little, I'm carving my image
of the perfect shadowbroker into this world's history books. "Master." Feels like I just heard Zeta's voice.
I'm probably imagining things. "Master, over here." "Oh, huh." Guess I wasn't imagining things.
A girl wearing a janitor's
outfit grabs me by the uniform, and sure enough, it's Zeta. For whatever reason, she's paired a
knitted hat with her work clothes to hide her cat ears. "What's with the getup?" I ask. "It's a disguise. I'm undercover," she
replies succinctly as she rubs up against me. "You gotta stop marking me with your
scent. You're making a scene." There are tons of other students in the
hallway. "You stink of dog,
Master." "Yeah, well, if you
keep doing that, I'll stink of cat." "Mrrn…" I peel Zeta off me. "By the way,
where's Delta?" "Gave her the
slip. She's crossing the sea now." "Y'know what, I'm not even going to
ask." If Zeta puts her mind to
it, catching her is just about impossible. That's the whole reason she's able to brawl with Delta
like that. "Hmm. Over here."
Zeta pulls me by
the hand and leads me to an empty classroom. Given how cold and
dusty it is, I'd wager that
nobody's used it in a good long while. "Just FYI, my next class is starting
soon," I tell her. She sidles in
close and whispers in my ear. "I have a report." I guess she wants to keep playing spies.
"The attack on her failed." "Figures." "But she's still on the other side."
"I see." "The Cult will send another assassin."
Zeta walks over to the window and
looks down at the scenery outside. I walk over next to her and look out
the window, too, to build atmosphere. Off in the distance, I can see the teachers and
Knight Order investigating the scene of last night's fight. Zeta fixes her violet gaze on them. I
follow her lead and stare at them as well. "It'll probably be you-know-who," she
says. "You-know-who, huh?"
"I'll step in if things get
hairy." "I'll leave that call to
you." Then Zeta suddenly ducks.
I follow her lead and duck as well. "They're probing," she says. "Sounds like someone out there's got
good instincts." "Mm. Lurk in the
shadows." I steal a glance
outside, and for a brief moment, I can feel a distant gaze. "I wonder what they're looking for?"
The bell rings. "Oops, I gotta go." When I turn around, Zeta's nowhere to
be seen.
It's lunch
break, and me, Skel, and Po are lined up in the cafeteria. "Hmm, what to have for lunch…?" I
ponder aloud. "Must be nice,
Cid, getting to live it up with the money you stole from us."
"Yeah, must be nice. Skel and I
can barely afford the nine hundred and eighty–zeni meal for broke aristocrats now." "Stole is such an ugly word. That money
was my rightful winnings." That
said, I'm saving the cash I scammed off these guys for my
shadowbroker activities. If I
go wasting it now, I might not have enough when it really counts,
and I'm the kind of guy who always
keeps his priorities straight.
I decide to go
with my usual nine hundred and eighty–zeni broke aristocrat meal. A
zeni saved is a zeni
earned. "Haven't seen you in a
while, Young'un." All of a sudden,
I hear a voice from behind me. There's only one person in the whole
world who calls me "Young'un."
"Hey there, Nina." Her wine-red hair is just as silky as
always. The way she's wearing her uniform leaves scandalous amounts of her chest
bare, and her legs extend thin and slender from her short skirt. Nothing about her
fashion sense is subtle in the slightest. This is Nina, my third-year
upperclassman. "Where'd you get
off to during winter break, huh?" she asks me. "Claire was looking
for you. And she dragged me
along, too, so that was a drag." "Oh, you know. Here and there." "Here and there, huh?" Nina wedges herself in front of me. She's
tiny, so her head barely comes up to my collar. "Hey, no cutting." I try to elbow her, but she nimbly
sidesteps it. "Going for the nine
hundred and eighty–zeni poverty meal, are we, Young'un? Sounds like someone's a little hard up
for cash."
"I've got big
plans for the future, so I'm being economical. It's not like I'm
actually broke or anything."
"Oh, yeah, sure you aren't. Go
ahead, order whatever you want. It'll be my treat." "I'll take the most expensive thing
they've got, then." "Sounds good."
She turns and orders the priciest meal the school cafeteria has to
offer. "Two of the ten
thousand–zeni super-duper filthy rich lunch sets, please 'n' thank
you."
Nina is a friend
of my sister's, so maybe that's why she's always so nice to me.
Whenever I ask her for
something, she never lets me down. One time, I even joked that I
wanted to read one of the
forbidden books from the library, and she actually went and got it for me. I have no idea how she
pulled that one off, but the bottom line is, she's constantly helping me out. Meeting Nina
was the first time I was ever glad to be my sister's brother. "Y-you should treat me, too!" "M-me too, me too!" Despite being daunted by Nina's very
presence, Skel and Po never miss a chance to look for handouts. "I gave you two that deck of cards,
didn't I?" "Th-th-that's right!"
"Th-th-thanks for the cards!"
"No problem. I felt bad after
the way Claire hassled you." Ah,
so that's how it went down. Thanks to Nina's influence, we're able
to secure one of the nice tables by the window. "Go on, take a seat." "Aye-aye, ma'am." I sit down next to Nina and begin
digging into my super-duper filthy rich lunch set. Across from us, Skel and Po nervously
do the same with their broke aristocrat lunch sets. The super-duper filthy rich lunch set
starts with an appetizer. A maid skillfully sets it
up.
"So, Claire's
gone missing?" Nina asks as she eats her carpaccio. "Sure looks that way," I reply as I do
the same. Dunno what fish this is, but it's tasty as hell.
"Princess Alexia
just asked me if I knew anything, but everything that day was
pretty normal for me, so I didn't
have anything to tell her. What about you, Young'un?" "I'm in the same boat. Alexia's really
going hard on the search, huh?" "Something's got her worried, I think.
There's been a couple of other students going missing, so I'm kinda worried, too."
"I guess there was that whole
commotion last night." "The thing
behind the boys' dorm, you mean? Yeah, scary stuff." "For sure." "That reminds me, I spotted the Crimson
Order scoping out the scene. I hear they've been on a recruitment drive, but their
newbies are about as rubbish as you'd expect." "Dang, you know all sorts of stuff."
She gives me a proud wink. "You
could say that." "Are you
planning on joining the Knight Order when you graduate?" "Ooh, I dunno. My grades aren't nearly
as good as Claire's." "Really?
They aren't?" "Why do you look
so surprised? Everyone knows my grades are terrible." "Oh, huh. I always just assumed you
were at the top of your class." "Ha-ha-ha. That'd be Claire, probably.
She's been getting wicked good marks lately. I'm just your run-of-the-mill
underachiever." "I'll take your
word for it, I guess." Nina
unconcernedly raises a spoonful of soup to her petite mouth.
Just by looking at her, I'm
pretty sure Nina's stronger than my sister, but hey, everyone's got their reasons for
wanting to keep their true strength a secret. Nina's a woman of many mysteries.
"I'll tell you
if I hear anything about Claire," she says. "You must be worried
about her." "I must? Not really… Err, I mean, yeah,
I'm worried sick." "You never
change, do you? It is Claire we're talking about, though, so she's
probably fine. If you ever need
a hand, you know where to find me." Nina flashes me an adorable smile.
Meanwhile, Skel and Po eat their
broke aristocrat lunch sets in silence.
"Can we
seriously not get out yet?"
Claire heaves a
sigh in the academy classroom. Her surroundings are shrouded in
white fog, and there's nobody else
around. "Just a little longer."
"You've been saying that for
ages." "Yes, because it keeps
being a little longer. I'm trying to widen the crack, but you
have so little magic it's taking
me forever."
"Oh gee,
my bad. Sorry for having so little magic. I'll have you
know, I've got more magic than
almost anyone at school." "Small
fish, small pond." "I swear,
it's like you're trying to offend me." "Oops, did I say that out loud?"
"Also, what were you saying
about a crack?" "There's a
crack you can pass through to get back to your original world."
"My original world?
What world is this, then?" "Oh, a lady never tells." Claire lets out another sigh.
There's so much she doesn't understand, she doesn't even know where to start.
She sits down at
a desk. Right as she's about to cross her legs, though, she senses
that something is off. "Huh?" There's something touching her leg.
On further inspection, she
discovers