Chapter 98
[Third Person's PoV]
'Now then, it looks like everything is going according to how it should, Rose is running through the sewers making her way towards the abandoned church.' Cid thought as he slowly made his way towards the same place.
…
Rose breathed heavily as she leaned on the wall of the underground sewage, 'Good, I think I made it far enough, nobody should be chasing me now, I should be fine for a while, I don't even know if I did the right thing.' She thought as she slowly walked against the walls.
'Did I do the right thing?' she pondered as she tried to walk, 'Before meeting father Natsume did say that Perv Asshat is most likely connected to the church and he's controlling father from the shadows using his influence to proclaim himself as my betrothed. I wasn't strong enough to sway my father'
Tears started pooling in Rose's eyes as she held her chest, more specifically her beating heart, thinking about Cid, 'I'm sure that he must have heard of the news already, I wonder what he thinks of me? Even though he said he wouldn't judge me, I can't help but think otherwise.
Is he worried about me? Does he believe me? Or maybe he's out here looking for me' she thought hopefully.
The upper part of her chest suddenly grew in pain. Causing her to grunt and pain, she moved her shirt slightly and saw part of her skin turning black
'The mark is spreading, the sign of being possessed.' she thought in horror.
"I'm so stupid…how are we supposed to have our happily ever after like this" tears unwillingly started to shed from her eyes, "I'm so sorry Cid" she mumbled while quietly sobbing.
As she cried she heard the sound of a piano being played, she stopped crying and wiped her tears as she muttered, "Is that the Symphony of Fate being played?"
…
Shadows fingers rapidly pressed on the piano keys as they played Beethoven's 5th symphony also known as The Symphony of Fate. As his fingers moved he sent a message towards Beta
'Beta, bring her along towards us'
'As you wish master~' Beta replied.
Due to their years connected with one another thanks to Cid's blood, they have found a way to telepathically speak to one another using such connection, no matter the distance between each other.
Shadow continued to play as he detected movement in his vicinity, these movements belonged to Rose as she followed the sound of the piano.
She found Shadow sitting underneath the moonlight as his fingers danced on each key. She could practically see and feel each music not come to life.
"Azrael…" Rose muttered,
As Shadow played his last key, Rose started clapping her hands, "That was beautifully done, that's the most well done piece i have ever heard"
Shadow bowed towards her, like a performer bowing towards their audience. "So tell me, Rose Oriana, what will you do now"
He said slowly looking directly into her eyes. Although she couldn't see his face, she saw two purple dragon slits boring into her, frightening her.
She tried to look away but couldn't, her own body was betraying her, 'His eyes are telling me he's already aware of what I've done' she thought as her body started shaking responding to her frightened emotions.
She brought her hands together closely to her chest as she said, "I just… wanted to protect Oriana, I wanted to bring about a better future."
"Why are you speaking like that?!" Shadow's voice was filled with disdain.
"W-W-what?" She stuttered out unconsciously taking a step back.
Shadow stepped closer to her, staring down on her deep in her soul, "The way you're talking right now, that's the talk of someone that has given up, you keep saying 'wanted' as if it's a thing of the past and have no hope of achieving it. Tell me is that truly how much will you possess, that you give up at such a small inconvenience."
Tears started gathering in her eyes, "For you it might be a small inconvenience but not to me."
A mass of Shadow's power soon gathered in his hands, "That's true… so I shall give you that power!" Shadow continued starting into her eyes, "But that's only if you have the will to keep struggling to keep fighting. Power in the hands of someone with no will to keep fighting is meaningless and worthless for both parties involved"
"Power…" Rose stared into a ball of energy, "Would I be able to change the future with that power?"
Shadow answered her questions with one of his own, "Will you have the will to fight for a better future?"
Soon from the shadows Beta appeared with the shocked Alexia falling to the ground as the scenery changed too fast for her to keep up.
"What?!?! Natsume what's going on?, where are we?" Alexia asked in surprise before jumping back and getting into a fighting stance.
She then saw Rose and her face lit before her eyes fell on Shadow but before she could say anything else Natsume knelt down before Shadow and put a hand over her heart.
"Master, I have brought her here as you requested."
Both Rose's and Alexia's eyes widened in disbelief with their mouths hanging open.
Alexia's expression turned serious and looked at Natsume as she asked, "Just who are you?"
Natsume's entire body was then covered in black slime as it wrapped around her body turning into a shadow garden uniform, she looked up at Shadow who nodded his head and turned towards Both Alexia and Rose.
"My real name is Beta, I'm the official second member of shadow garden, one of the 7 deadly sins, the Sin of Lust"
"But then what about Natsume?" Rose asked in disbelief as Natsume was still her favorite novel artist.
"That is only an alias I use, With the books I publish I'm able to enter places of high society where I'm able to gather information"
Alexia brows scrunched, "Why are you telling us this, that doesn't sound like something you just casually just tell someone, and why am I here in the first place? What did you mean you brought me here as he requested?" Alexia had so many questions but no answers.
Beta started to get annoyed with the constant questioning, her eyes turned into dragon slits as well and said, "Shut up and don't interrupt, Master when he's about to speak"
"That's alright Beta, those are valid questions she's asking… and we talked about you kneeling, your my wife, you don't have to kneel before me"
Beta just pouted and stayed kneeling, "I'm just showing you the respect you deserve, as your wife, I'm am yours to command"
Shadow just sighed and shook his head, before turning his attention towards Rose and Alexia, "There is a reason as to why I'm appearing before you two, you both are in the middle of 'Demon possession' or in other words magical overload"
"I am?" Alexia asked in shock before Rose had a look of defeat.
"The signs of it will appear on you in a few hours if it's not treated" Shadow casually said as he leaned against the piano.
"How could that be possible and how could you possibly know?" Alexia asked, looking at Shadow suspiciously.
"Well when we were intimate together, I was exploring your body and felt your magic going out of control slightly. Which occurred due to training I put you through, that's usually the starting phase of your magic going out of control"
Alexia's turned completely red. While Rose and Beta looked at Alexia in surprise.
"STOP SPREADING NONSENSE YOU ROGUE, I THOUGHT THAT MAYBE YOU WERE SOMEONE RESPECTABLE BUT IT SEEMS THAT WAS JUST A LIE, THE ONLY PERSON I HAVE EVER BEEN INTIMATE IS…" Alexia stopped yelling and froze, her eyes widened in shock.
"Cid?" She softly called out in confusion
Shadow smirked before his slime suit started coming undone and transforming into his every clothes showing his true identity, the one and only Cid Kagenou
As soon as Cid's name came out of Alexia's mouth Rose's head immediately snapped towards Shadow as he turned into Cid leaving Rose in a daze which almost caused her eyes to roll to the back of her head and faint.