Claire emerges
from the guidance counselor's office and lets out a small sigh.
"Well, that was dreadful."
The head teacher
just scolded her for nearly an hour, and the light streaming into
the hallway is taking on hues of
red.
Off in the
distance, she can hear students chatting. Her footsteps echo
through the empty corridor.
"Of all the
classes it could have been, why did it have to be Cid's? I have no
idea how I'm supposed to look
him in the eye tomorrow." She blushes, then turns to the empty air. "And it's all your
fault." "Wow, rude. That was
in no way my fault." "Then
explain to me what did happen. Nobody's going to believe me
if I tell them I got attacked by
some weird people in some sort of weird space and ended up falling
on top of a teacher. I thought
they were about to refer me to a shrink." "You're better off not knowing. Once
you do, there's no going back." "Puh-lease. I can't stay in the
dark, not after what just happened. I'm pissed." "…No. I can't put you in harm's
way." "I'd say I'm smack-dab
in harm's way already. Besides, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'm just going to figure it
out myself. I refuse to let things end like this." "You're wasting your time." "We'll see about that… Aurora
the Calamity Witch." "Where…where did you learn that name…?"
"I did my research, that's
what I—" Claire freezes in place
mid-sentence. She thought the hallway was empty, but at some point, a silver-haired girl showed
up.
"I do apologize
for interrupting your soliloquy, Claire Kagenou. There's something
I want to talk to you about."
The girl peers
at Claire, her red gaze burning with interest. It's Alexia Midgar,
one of the Midgar Kingdom
princesses. Claire's expression
hardens. "I wasn't just talking to myself." Alexia puts on a big show of scanning
the hallway. "Well, I certainly don't see anyone else around."
Claire's
expression hardens further. "You and I aren't friends, Princess. I
have nothing to talk to you
about."
"I can tell
you're no fan of mine. Which is odd, considering that as far as I
know, we've never talked
before."
"And we're not
going to, you royal wench, not after the way you led Cid on."
Claire's eyes are full of murder
and steel. Alexia can practically feel Claire's gaze burning a hole in her. "What?" she cries.
Her gaze darts around, and there's a hint of panic on her face. "There's a whole lot
of context you're missing! At no point was I trying to lead him on!" "Oh, really now? You can barely
even say it with a straight face. I smell a liar." "Excuse me! Rude! I'm not a liar! And
also, what's with the attitude?! You're his sister, so I figured I could at least try
to pretend to be nice to you." "And there it is. A liar and a fake, to
boot." Claire practically spits
out the words, and Alexia clicks her tongue. "You really are
siblings, aren't you? You're
exactly alike, the way neither of you has a respectful bone in your body." "Wait, you think Cid and I are alike?"
"Th-that's what I said, yeah. At
least when it comes to disrespect…" "Ohhh, so you think we're alike…
Tee-hee-hee." Claire's entire face lights up. "What does that matter, though?"
"Wow, I guess you do have
an eye for people!" "Uh…" Claire swings her arm over Alexia's
shoulder, and Alexia has approximately zero idea what to make of it. "So you said you had something you
wanted to talk about?" "I mean… I
did…" "You caught me at a busy
moment, but oh well. I guess I can make some time for you." "…Thanks?" "By the way, what other ways would you
say Cid and I are alike?" "I—I
don't know, your hair color?" With Claire's arm still over Alexia's
shoulder, the two of them make their way down the twilit hallway.
"What is this
place?" Claire asks.
"A special
parlor only accessible to the elite," Alexia replies as she turns
on the extravagant room's lights.
"Then what are we doing
here?"
"I am a princess,
you know." "Oh yeah, that's right."
Did you seriously forget?
Alexia wonders. "Go ahead and sit down." "Ooh, this is comfy. And the embroidery
is so pretty. What a colossal waste of our taxes." "Say, do people ever tell you that you
don't know when to shut up?" "Not
that I can recall." Alexia and
Claire sit on a pair of big fluffy sofas as they converse. The two
of them are the only ones in the
room. Alexia takes another look at
the girl sitting across from her. Claire has black hair and red eyes, and
she excels both at her schoolwork and as a dark knight. Her sudden meteoric rise
in strength has been the talk of the town, and she's already informally been offered a spot
in the Knight Order.
The way Alexia
sees it, Claire and her brother don't have a single thing in common
—not a single thing, aside from
how disrespectful they are. "Why
are you giving me that serious look?" Claire asks. "Because we need to have a serious
conversation." "That's for sure.
I won't let you have Cid." "I—I
don't want him!" Alexia's voice comes out shrill, which she covers
with an affected cough. "This is
about you falling on that teacher in the middle of class." "What, and you want to lecture me?"
"I just want you to tell me what
happened." "I used my magic to
jump in from outside the classroom and attack him," Claire replies in a brisk monotone. "I guess I
went a little bit crazy from stress. I'm not sure I totally follow, but that's definitely
for sure what happened. I regret my actions, and I won't do it again." "I'm not asking about your cover
story." "Well, that's exactly
what I wrote in my apology letter." "But it's not the truth, is it?" "What do you mean?" "I know you've been doing research on
the demon Diablos." With that,
Alexia takes the papers she retrieved from Claire's room and dumps
them on the table. "Wait, why do you have my—?" "I can tell you're driven by more than
just idle curiosity." Claire's
expression turns serious. "What do you want to know?" "Everything. I'm trying to figure out
what's going on here at the academy." "…And you won't make fun of me?"
"I won't. Not a chance."
"You swear?"
"I swear." Claire goes silent and shifts her gaze.
Now she's staring intently at a spot of empty space. From the look in her eyes, it's
almost as though someone's talking to her. Eventually, Claire shakes her head.
"Sorry, Aurora." "Huh?" Unsure what to make of the non sequitur,
Alexia tilts her head in confusion. However, Claire isn't talking to her.
She's still staring at nothing.
"I'm at my limit
here. I don't understand what's going on, and it scares me…"
Claire's shoulders tremble a
little.
Then she turns
back to Alexia and offers her a small smile. "Sorry, you can go
ahead and ignore all that."
"…Are you okay?" "Nothing's okay… And that's why I'm
going to tell you everything. It's going to sound ridiculous, so it's up to you
whether you want to believe it." "I believe you." As Alexia sees it,
there's no sign that Claire is trying to lie to her. "Really? Then I had better start by
introducing her." "Who?"
"Her name is Aurora. She's a
spirit known as the Calamity Witch. Go ahead and say hello."
Claire points
over to the side. There's no one there. Alexia squints, then rubs
her eyes, but still, nada.
"Now, I first met her back
when…" As soon as Claire
launches into her explanation as if there's actually a person there
with them, Alexia starts
regretting having told Claire that she would believe her.
"…And now I'm
here." By the time Claire
finishes her story, the sun has already set. As the fireplace crackles away, Alexia
takes a sip of her coffee. "I think I get the picture." "And you believe me?" "I do. It sounds absurd on its face,
but it all lines up." "It does?"
"That's right—it's all
connected. The Shadow Garden, the Cult of Diablos, the
weird things happening at the school,
everything. The part about the spirit is still a little hard to believe, but still." "A-Aurora exists! She does! She's sitting
right there and laughing as we speak!" Alexia steals a glance at the empty sofa.
"Let's set the whole spirit issue aside for the moment." "I'm telling you, she's real!" "However, I do recognize the name. Aurora
the Calamity Witch… A member of the Cult's leadership mentioned her." "Is there some connection between Aurora
and the Cult?" "I don't know. I
tried researching it myself, but there aren't many surviving
documents about the Calamity
Witch. The only thing I was able to learn is that she once caused a huge disaster." Claire turns to the spirit. "You caused
a huge disaster, Aurora?" It
really does look like she's talking to someone. "Ah, so that's what happened. Aurora
says that she's the one who wiped out the Pig Orcs. She says she just couldn't stand
the look of them." "…I don't
think that's the disaster they were talking about." "It isn't? …Oh, I see, I see. Aurora
says she's also the one who doodled on the holy shield Aegis. Apparently, she didn't
know how famous it was when she was doing it."
"That's
definitely not the right disaster! Besides, Aegis went
missing, and no one's been able
to find it." "It's not that,
either? In that case—" "Let's
table that for now, shall we? It's high time we moved this
discussion along!" "But Aurora
says she has more stuff she wants to brag about." "I don't care! We need to get back on
topic!" Alexia clears her throat. "The first thing we ought to figure out is what
exactly is happening here at the academy." Claire's expression sharpens. "Agreed."
"Now, about that strange space
you got trapped in, I went through something not unlike that myself once. It was at a
place called the Sanctuary…" Alexia goes on to explain what happened
back at the Sanctuary. "That
does sound similar," Claire says. "So there's a phenomenon resembling the
Sanctuary that's happening here on campus. Then we've got the Wicked Smile
guy you fought. Odds are, he was working for the Cult of Diablos." "That was Viscount Jean, captain of the
third Knight Order's fourth company." "I was afraid this might be the case,
but it looks like the Cult has personnel in the Knight Order. We can't trust them."
"What about Princess Iris?
Surely we can trust the Crimson Order." "My sister is… She's busy right now.
Either way, it's clear that the Cult is kidnapping students to carry out some
diabolical plan." "What sort of
plan, though?" "There's a space
similar to the Sanctuary here at Midgar Academy, so it wouldn't
surprise me if there was a piece
of the demon Diablos sealed here like there was there."
"Now that you
mention it, I've heard rumors about the right arm of Diablos being
locked away somewhere in the
academy… But those are just rumors, right?" Alexia shakes her head. "I wouldn't be so
sure about that." "Wait,
seriously?" "I don't have any
solid evidence, but… There's a forbidden book in the school library that details the academy's
history. If someone sealed Diablos's right arm here, then it would have to be recorded in that
book." "Can you use your royal
authority to get us into the forbidden book section?" "Cutting through all the red tape would
take ages." "What do we do,
then?" Alexia grins. "We sneak
in, that's what." "We'll get in
big trouble if they catch us." "So let's not get caught. We can't
trust the Knight Order, we can't trust the teachers… It's up to us to crack the
case." "If we get found out, I'm
pretty sure I can kiss my informal offer good-bye." "I'll just hire you myself. If there's
one thing I'm good at, it's throwing coins at people." "Do you really need to throw them?"
"It's important to let people
know who's in charge." "…Uh-huh."
"Anyway, we're doing this. The
Cult of Diablos and the Shadow Garden are making moves and mobilizing as we speak. If
things go on like this, the victim count is just going to rise."
After listening
to Alexia's speech, Claire hangs her head and sinks into thought.
Then she slowly makes her
suggestion. "What if we just left everything to the Shadow Garden?"
Alexia is so
caught off guard that she's momentarily struck speechless.
"…There's too much we don't know
about them. We don't even know why it is they're fighting the
Cult. I'm not willing to put
that much unconditional faith in them." "Are you sure? From what I gather, they
saved me back in the Lawless City, too." "Even so, the Shadow Garden is
dangerous. When I imagine what would happen if they ever turned that massive strength
of theirs against Midgar, it makes me think my sister might be right to be so worried
about them."
"Ah, fair. I
kind of get it, you know? After all, Shadow took down Elisabeth the
Blood Queen on his own. If the
legends about her strength are true, then that would mean
Shadow really is in a league of his
own."
"I have to believe
that she was in a weakened state. If she really was as powerful as
they say, then the Midgar Kingdom
will have little choice but to tiptoe around Shadow for the foreseeable future." "One wrong move, and he'd become a bigger
threat than even the Cult, huh?" "Exactly. He has an entourage in the
Shadow Garden called the Seven Shadows, and they're forces to be reckoned with. All
of them are at least as strong as my sister, and some of them might very well be stronger.
It's not just Shadow. The whole organization is a powerhouse."
"Now that you
mention it, there was that therianthrope Zeta… I've never seen
Aurora that scared of someone. She
said she couldn't get a read on the limits of Zeta's strength."
Alexia bites her
lip. "Look, I want to believe that they're on our side as much as
you do, but…for now, I can't
trust them. They're too dangerous."
"Yeah, you're
right. I guess we just have to do whatever we can. You can count me
in." "I really appreciate that, Claire."
Claire takes her own hand with
the magic circle on it and clutches it in her other. "If all we do is sit around, nothing's ever
going to get done. Aurora, this magic circle, Shadow… There are so many questions we
need answers to. Thank you for this, Alexia." "Huh?" Alexia looks at her in confusion. Those
weren't the words she'd been expecting. "For hearing me out and for really
listening. It was scary, being on my own. I felt so powerless. The fact that you believed
me really means a lot." "…Anytime." "And I get how you feel, too. Things
seem so hopeless when you're on your own, don't they?" "I never said I—" Alexia's voice
trembles. Her sister's been
practicing her sword work like a woman possessed, and she never
has time for Alexia these days.
Rose deserted Alexia and went
off solo. And Natsume…well,
Alexia never trusted Natsume in the first place, so that one's
whatever. "Let's do this, you and me." Claire offers Alexia her hand, and
Alexia shakes it without a moment's consideration. She can feel its warmth
envelop her. "Thank you, Claire."
"Of course. Besides, this'll
make it easier to keep an eye on you," Claire says under
her breath, then squeezes Alexia's hand
so hard it cracks. "Huh?" "If this is what it takes to protect him
from your clutches, it's a small price to pay." "C-Claire, that hurts." "Oh gosh, I'm sooo sorry. I'm
looking forward to working with you, Alexia." "L-likewise to you, Claire." Alexia squeezes back just as hard, and
the two of them smile. It's
like they were cut from the same cloth, muses the spirit.
Claire and
Alexia stand before a room in the women's dorm. Alexia gives Claire a skeptical look.
"Hey, are you sure about this?" "Of course. Nina will come through, one
hundred percent. Cid says he told her that he wanted to read a book from the
forbidden section once, and the next day, she brought it right to him!" "Seriously? I've never heard a
faker-sounding story in my life." "No, no, it's cool. Cid would never lie
to me." "Of course he would. The
guy's practically made of lies and avarice." "Hey, don't go bad-mouthing my brother."
"It's true, though." Alexia ends the conversation by knocking
on the door. "Comin'!" someone
replies cheerily from inside. The door swings open. "Heya, Claire. Glad you're safe. You had me
worried there." It's a short girl
with wine-red hair. "Sorry about
all the fuss," Claire tells her. "Hey, as long as you're okay, then
consider it water under the bridge. Make sure you give me a shout before you go missing
next time, 'kay?" "I'll see what I
can do." Nina shoots a glance over
to the side at Alexia. "Gotta say, though, you two sure make for an odd couple. Nice to
meetcha, Princess Alexia." "The
pleasure is mine, Ms. Nina." "Please, just 'Nina' is fine. When'd
you two become friends?" Alexia
and Claire answer at pretty much the exact same time. "Oh, we're not friends." "More like enemies, if anything."
"Hey, whatever works for you,"
Nina replies, then invites them inside. "Anyways, c'mon in. You look like a couple of
gals with somethin' on your mind."
Nina takes a
seat on her bed and crosses her legs. Alexia and Claire sit down on
a pair of modest chairs.
"Before we get
to that, would you mind if I asked you a question?" Alexia's gaze
darts around uncomfortably.
"Go for it. I'm an open book."
"Why are you in your underwear?"
For reasons unknown, Nina is
dressed exclusively in sexy lingerie. Despite her petite build, she has curves in all the
right places. Even fellow women find themselves captivated by her figure. "'Cause it's comfy." "Do you always hang out dressed like
that?" "Yeah. Mitsugoshi's
underwear feels great, and the designs are awesome, too." Nina
smiles, rolling up the sheer
fabric to show it off.
"I swear…,"
Alexia mutters. "I'm going to have to get those product numbers off
you later." "Yeah, no prob. I've got some other
models of theirs that are great, too." "Show me," Alexia replies instantly.
Her expression is dead serious. "And who exactly are you ever
going to get to show them off to?" Claire scoffs. Alexia glares at her. "Shut up, you."
"Anyhow, we need to get back on
topic."
"Oh yeah, right,"
Nina agrees. "And I gotta hit the hay soon, so if you could give me
the quick version, that'd be
great. Late nights are murder on my beautiful skin."
"Sure, of course.
We wanted to ask you about that forbidden book. How'd you steal
it?" Nina blinks blankly at Claire's question.
"What forbidden book? You lost me." "You don't have to keep it a secret. Cid
told me everything. You took a book out of the forbidden book section, right?"
"The young'un said that? Well, I
can assure you it didn't happen." "I told you, you don't have to keep it a
secret." "And I told you, I'm not
keeping nothing. I literally have no idea what you're talking
about." "Really?" "Really. I wouldn't know the first
thing about sneaking into the forbidden book section." "I did warn you," Alexia says
mockingly. "Fido lied to you." "Sh-shut up! Nina, you're telling the
truth? You're not hiding anything?" Claire begins shaking Nina's shoulders so hard
that the hooks on Nina's bra come undone. "C-calm down, Claire! I promise, I'm
not lying!" "Rrrrrrrrgh!" Claire
bites her lip and flushes scarlet. "Dammit, Cid!! You lied to me
again! You can't keep
doing this to me!" "See, even
you know he's a liar." "Shut up,
shut up, shut up! Forget this! I'm going home!" "All the way back to your parents'
place?" "To my dorm room!"
Claire storms out of the room
with her face bright red, and Alexia hurriedly chases her. "W-wait a second, hold up! We
still need to talk about our plan for tomorrow…" Alexia turns back to Nina for a moment.
"Thanks for having us, by the way." "I'm not sure I follow what just
happened, but make sure you take it easy, 'kay?" Alexia gives her an awkward smile, then
closes the door behind her. The
room is quiet now, and Nina rises to her feet and walks over to the
window. "All righty." Her unhooked bra slips to the floor,
and she sees herself reflected on the window's surface. There's a grim scar on her
left breast. "Time to get
moving." She runs a slender
fingertip over the scar. Then
her cold gaze drifts out toward the deep night's boundless
dark.
I love going for
late-night walks.
The world is quiet
in the moonlight, and it helps remind me about what really matters. I haven't been losing my way
much lately, but back in my previous life, the gap between reality and what I neede