Chapter 9: Thank you
"You know we're breaking curfew, right?"
"Relax, it's completely fine! We're allowed to be out here."
"Uh, huh, that why we had to sneak off campus instead of going out through the main gate?"
"Hey, it's perfectly okay so long as we don't get caught."
"You know you sound like a criminal, right?"
"Oh, stop whining already! If worst comes to worst, I'll just remind them of who I am, and we won't get in trouble no matter what we do."
"Okay, now you're sounding like a princess."
Alexia gave her pooch an aggravated scowl. "Could you quit complaining and just focus on the mission please?"
"Kind of hard to do since I've got no idea what this is about."
The two of them were in their school uniforms and had their swords. It was nighttime and they were currently walking through the streets of the capital.
"Alright," Alexia faced Cid and gave him her full attention. "I told you about Shadow, the incredibly powerful masked spellswordsman who killed Zenon and rescued me."
He nodded.
"Well, while he was fighting Zenon, he mentioned being part of an organization called, 'Shadow Garden.' My sister and I suspect they're acting in opposition to the Cult of Diablos, but that's only a theory. Just as with the cult we know nothing about this Shadow Garden beyond the fact they exist. Our job is to gather information on them and on Shadow too if possible."
"Sounds reasonable, but how exactly are we supposed to do that?"
"Well, luckily there have been a number of attacks by a random slasher. Eyewitness reports are that this man is dressed in black and claims to be a member of Shadow Garden. We'll track this guy down, capture him, and interrogate him."
"Whoa! We're chasing down some crazy slasher and trying to take him alive? Isn't that way too dangerous for a couple academy students?"
"It's fine," she assured him. "I'll do most of the fighting, you just need to back me up."
"So, you want to solo against some nut who likes to go around attacking random people. You don't see any problem with that?"
Despite herself Alexia couldn't help but smile. "Poochie, are you actually worried about me?"
"Of course, I am! If you get killed, they are absolutely going to blame me for it!"
Her smile curdled. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking about how my death might affect you. Anyway, that's our objective."
"Isn't there an easier way to get information about Shadow Garden? One that doesn't put our lives at risk?"
"Sure, if Shadow pops up and agrees to answer a few questions we can go straight back to the dorms."
"Yeah," he sighed. "Like that's gonna happen."
"Then let's keep going."
XXX
When she'd mentioned Shadow suddenly appearing and agreeing to an interview Alexia hadn't expected anything. She certainly wasn't counting on Poochie stepping forward, slapping a mask over his face, and announcing to her that he was Shadow.
Alexia had sort of hoped Cid might give something away. She'd been watching intently for any tiny sign of discomfort or hesitation. But she spotted nothing of the sort. Pooch was the same whiney, lazy, half-hearted slacker he always was.
How can anyone so useless hide such insane power?
Alexia still wasn't sure what she believed. As more time passed the memory of Shadow talking as he healed her grew fainter and increasingly dreamlike. She hated to admit it to herself, but it could have been nothing but her imagination. Ever since then she'd been searching for evidence that Cid really was Shadow. She'd discovered exactly nothing. Not so much as the slightest hint the two of them were connected in any way. That meant either Cid was a master of concealing his secret identity or there was just nothing there to hide.
She knew which alternative was likelier.
The problem was that in her heart she was sure that she'd heard those words from Shadow. Alexia understood it was nothing but a feeling. That it was supported by no scrap of evidence or any sort of logic. But she just couldn't make herself let the notion go.
Whether or not Cid was the mastermind behind a secret organization, she was glad to have him at her side. In a weird way she knew she could count on him more than anyone else other than her sister. She wasn't sure how useful he would be, but at least he would be at her side no matter how dangerous things got.
They were walking down a deserted street when Cid came to a sudden halt.
"What? Did you see something?" Alexia placed a hand on the hilt of her sword.
He turned to her, face grim. "I need to take a dump."
Her jaw dropped. "What?"
"I need to take a shit. Like right now, or I'm going to crap my pants."
Her lips twisted. "How can you say that to a girl?"
"Sorry, this is a code brown! No time to be subtle!" He placed both hands on his butt and fled. "I'll be back when I can! This may take a while!"
He ran off to who knew where. It was already late, and all the residences and shops were dark. She assumed he would search for a deserted alley or empty lot.
"He abandons me to go squat in an alley somewhere," she muttered to herself. "This is the person I'm relying on."
She sighed and resigned herself to waiting there until he returned. There was no point in pressing on and the two of them getting separated. As she stood there, Alexia heard footsteps coming from up the street. She also sensed mana, whoever it might be could use magic. As a precaution, Alexia gripped her sword hilt and eased it a couple inches out of its sheath.
When she spotted the person approaching her, he was wearing a black cloak and had a hood up over his head. A sword was in his hand.
Alexia instantly drew her own blade and faced him in a fighting stance. "Who are you?"
The man came to a halt about fifteen feet in front of her. "We are Shadow Garden."
"I see," she judged that she had considerably more mana than he did. Obviously, she didn't know how skilled a fighter he was. But given the positioning of his feet and the angle he was holding his weapon, she guessed he used Eastern Dragon Swordstyle. "Why have you been attacking people? Is the man called Shadow your leader?"
"We are Shadow Garden."
"Well, we are Princess Alexia Midgar, and we will be placing under arrest. Toss down your sword and surrender."
"We are Shadow Garden."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
Alexia pumped mana into her legs and arms and used it to harden her blade. She rushed forward and attacked. Her opponent just barely managed to block her strike. They exchanged a handful of blows as she tried to overwhelm him. By the time he was able to get clear of her Alexia had already gotten his measure. He was indeed a practitioner of Eastern Dragon Style and a skilled one at that. Alexia figured that if he were a student, he'd qualify for section two. Which meant he was well above average, but nowhere near her level. She was confident not only that she could defeat him but disarm and capture him.
That was when she sensed someone else coming towards her from the other end of the street. She gave a swift glance and spotted another guy in a black cloak with sword in hand.
"We are Shadow Garden," the new arrival said just before charging towards her.
"Really? I never would have guessed."
She backed away so as to deny her back to either of them. They worked together to try and take her down. Their teamwork was pretty good. Her second enemy was using Lotus Blossom Swordstyle, and his skill level was about the same as her original opponent. They launched combo attacks, trying to force her to overcommit to one side to cause her to be open on the other. She had the edge in speed though and in the middle of the street there was plenty of room to keep both men in front of her.
"Two on one isn't very chivalrous you know. Especially against a helpless little girl. How about you let me fight each of you one on one? That sounds fair, don't you think?"
"We are Shadow Garden."
"Yeah, I knew you were going to say that."
Fighting two people at once was a lot more difficult, but Alexia was still confident she could win this. She was using a simplified version of Royal Bushin. The basic counters and thrusts she relied on were quick and easy to turn into combos. There were no wasted movements or unnecessary flourishes, her opponents lacked that advantage. The complicated movements they used gave her advance warning of what was coming and took just a fraction longer to execute. With her advantage in speed, she managed to block and knock aside everything they threw at her.
The problem was they were both fighting her at the edge of their striking distance and supporting each other. If she wanted to take advantage of the occasional opening it would mean pressing forward and offering up a target to the man she was not attacking. That would be dangerous. She had the edge in skill, speed, and mana reserves, their only advantage was outnumbering her. The ringing of bare steel was loud and was bound to draw attention. Either Poochie or a patrol of the City Watch were bound to arrive sooner or later. That would be her chance. She just needed to hold her ground until then.
That was when she sensed a third mana signature from behind her.
"We are Shadow Garden."
"Oh, come on!"
She twisted to move out of the way, but her third enemy lunged at her, and she felt his blade cut into her side beneath her ribs. She swallowed a cry of pain and backpedaled as fast as she could. One glance told her the wound was bad, it wasn't deep, but her blouse was already stained red, and she couldn't stop to do anything about the bleeding.
The three of them began to circle her like sharks. Suddenly being in the middle of the street was turned into a disadvantage. There was no way to keep everyone in front of her now.
"Three against one and fighting a girl? Don't you feel embarrassed as men?"
"We are Shadow Garden."
"No, seriously, what are all the other Shadow Gardeners going to say when they found out you had to fight a weak little woman three to one? I bet everyone's going to make fun of you."
"We are Shadow Garden."
They began closing in, taking care not to give her any room to maneuver. Alexia gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the pain in her side. She couldn't stalemate three opponents and her wound would keep bleeding is she didn't apply a dressing. Her only choice was to try and take one of them down quick. She forced more mana into her legs and decided to rush the one on her right.
But before she could a black clad form dropped from the rooftops. He landed on the man and his ebony blade pierced him. The two others she'd been fighting leapt back and looked as shocked as she felt. The person who'd just arrived yanked his sword free and stared at the two. He wore a mask and had crimson eyes.
Shadow.
"Foolish pretenders who mock the name Shadow Garden. Your lives are forfeit."
The two men shared a look and then started running for their lives.
"Fools…" Shadow muttered and began to follow.
Alexia was stunned but shook it off. "W… Wait, Shadow! I order you to stop!"
He did. He stopped. And looked at her. He looked at her the way a lion would look at a mouse. She knew, without any doubt, that he could end her with the flick of a finger.
Her hands started shaking and she felt ice creeping up her spine. But her sister needed her help.
"I… I am Princess Alexia Midgar!"
"I know who you are, princess," a cold unsympathetic baritone answered.
She swallowed. There was not so much as a spark of warmth in those eyes. "I need to know, what is your purpose? What do you plan to use your incredible power for?"
"My business is my own, it doesn't concern you." With that he turned to go.
"Wait! What are your intentions towards my country? Are you a friend or-"
He turned back to stare at her with those uncaring eyes. "And if I said I was your enemy? What then?"
"I… I don't believe you're an enemy. You saved me."
"What if I told you that saving you was an accident? That I went there that night to destroy an enemy base and your salvation was nothing but a byproduct of that."
She forced herself to meet his gaze. "I don't believe that. You healed me."
He gazed at her for a long moment. Alexia couldn't read him; it was like staring into the abyss.
"I've saved you twice now, princess. Don't expect a third time." He turned to go.
"Thank you for rescuing me! I don't care why you did it, thank you!"
If her words mattered to him, he gave no sign. He leapt away up to the roof tops and was gone.
Alexia looked down at her hands and noted they were still shaking.
XXX
"Alexia! Alexia! Are you okay?"
She was leaning against a wall and forced her eyes open. She felt tired. "Hey, Poochie. Took you long enough. Was it a good shit?"
"What happened? You're bleeding, and there's a dead guy over there!"
"It's okay, I used some of my skirt as a dressing. There wasn't one slasher, there were three. They said they were Shadow Garden, but they were lying. Shadow came to save me, again. He killed that one and chased the other two away."
"I guess he really likes you then."
Cid put a hand on her side, and she felt warmth flood into her body.
"You know healing?"
"Yeah, my family estate is way out in the boonies and there are always bandits. My sister even got kidnapped right out of her bedroom one time. She and I were both taught healing just in case."
"Huh, that's a good idea. Teach me?"
"If you want."
After a moment he took his hand away. Her side was no longer throbbing, but she still felt weary.
"Do you think you can walk?"
"Sure, give me a minute."
Instead of waiting he pulled her onto his back and started walking.
"Hey, you dumb pooch I said I can walk. I just need to rest a minute."
"Forget it, there's a guard station half a mile from here."
"You don't need to carry me, just leave me and go let them know."
"Yeah, no, with my luck you'll get kidnapped again and they'll blame me. It's less trouble for me to just take you there."
While she would normally never let pooch get away with overruling her, she decided, just this once, to allow it. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Hey, Poochie?"
"What?"
"Thank you."
He turned his face to look at her. "You're welcome."
His eyes were kind, and very warm.