Archive of Our Own

“You are treading where none may pass… Beware…”

Alpha narrows her eyes at me, holding her ebony blade tightly as she stands in front of Delta. The beastkin is motionless as she lays on the ground. 

“Who are you?” The elf’s voice calls out, threaded with frustration, and something else. A light breeze causes the trees around us to sway, autumn colored leaves swirling around us. 

I adjust my sunglasses over my mask, holding my facsimile of a handgun at my side as I answer coolly. “The name's Bond…”

The air is growing colder as the sky loses its color, the lingering remnants of twilight fading away. 

“James Bond.”

“Why are you doing this? What are your organization's goals?”

“They are beyond your understanding.”

Alpha huffs, her expression hidden behind her mask. She is playing her part perfectly, just as she always does. In this case, her role is discovering the unexpected betrayal of her organization's leader, while investigating the emergence of a rival faction. 

As for what was actually going on: I had created another fake organization, MI7. It was mainly for the purpose of allowing me to play the role of the rogue agent pretending to switch sides, while actually still working for the good guys. Oh, and also because Shadow Garden has been attracting too much attention in Midgard lately. 

So, that led to where I am now; squaring off against my own subordinates, who are hot on my trail and no doubt about to uncover the horrible truth. 

In other words, I couldn’t have planned it better myself. Although I was surprised that Alpha had brought Delta along; I’d rarely seen the two work together as their styles were so incredibly different. The moment I realized the wolfgirl was here, I made her my priority target. She’ll probably have a headache when she wakes up, but she’ll be fine. 

As long as she doesn't find out it was me. 

Alpha adjusts her grip on her weapon, a classic tell. 

“Well, if you won’t cooperate…” 

And then she’s gone. I don’t react, relying on my magic to tell me what she’s doing and where she is.

Ah, she’s behind me. I take a step to the left as her blade passes through my after image. 

“Got you!”

“Too slow.”

I can feel her irritation, but she says nothing in response, continuing to attack me. Each swipe, every swing, I use the least amount of effort to dodge. At this point, it’s practically instinct. Above us, more and more stars pop into few as the breeze dies down. It’s rather quiet, excluding the sound of air whistling and snapping as Alpha continues her relentless assault. 

But then, she stops. She’s back to standing in front of Delta, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She removes her mask, letting it fall to the ground. Her blue eyes search me as her eyebrows knit together. 

“You… It–it’s really you…” Her tone is soft, almost forlorn. “Shadow–”

“I am Shadow no longer.” I unbutton my coat, letting it hang off my shoulders. “I have a new role, and a new name. You will not stand in my way.”

We stand there in silence for a moment; a moment which seems to drag on a lot longer than it should. That expression she was giving me… 

A few goosebumps began to form on my skin. What is this feeling…?

Alpha’s eyes are shimmering now, reflecting the waning light of the sunset. The hand holding her sword is shaking. 

In the next moment, she steps forward again, blinking from existence as she goes on the offensive. Her strikes are ravenous, as ferocious as Delta’s, powered by a fealty surpassing even Epsilon’s. 

This is… Well, it’s a bit much. Pretending to lose your composure and fake-crying, that was all well and good. But now, well, she’s already figured out who I am. There’s no need for whatever this is. We’d sparred many times, but this… 

This isn’t sparring. 

I step backwards, easily deflecting the barrage of strikes and thrusts which come my way. Alpha is in a rage, like I’d never seen before. As she rails against me, she pants out a barely coherent stream of words. 

“I know–I’m a failure! Weak, stupid, slow–All of us are compared to you!”

Her blade divides into two, forcing me to both dodge and block at the same time. 

I feel a sting on my cheek. A third blade, almost unnoticed, had passed by my face, close enough to draw a single drop of blood. 

“You’ve gotten stronger,” I say, meaning it.

She ignores my words. The elf’s bladework grows increasingly sloppy, as the sound of her heavy breathing fills my ears. The air around us has swelled with raw, tangible magic. 

I think it’s about time to finish this. 

I summon a parcel of magic into one of my palms. The next swing of her sword, I catch with my open hand. 

There’s a bright flash of violet light, snapping the trees around us like twigs. Alpha’s sword deforms as I drain her power. I stop before it fades entirely, leaving her with just enough to maintain the slime suit. I lower my hand, stepping back from her as the light fades. This is normally the part where I turn away, but my gaze lingers on the First of the Seven. 

Alpha is wiping her eyes as she stares at the ground, her legs shaking considerably. 

“Master… D-don’t go! We’ve tried so hard to keep up with you!” Her voice cries out as she falls to her knees, exhausted. 

I manage to turn around and begin to slowly walk away. My feet feel heavy, as if there are weights in my shoes again. 

Still, Alpha continues to call out to me. 

“Master Shadow–Cid! We want to help! We want to be worthy… But you’re so far above us… So impossibly far…”

Her voice drops to less than a whisper. 

“…Why do we even try…” 

Alpha’s voice is frail and hollow; as easily shattered as a pane of glass. 

“P-please… D-don’t leave me…” The elf whimpers. It's a coarse sound, rougher than sandpaper against my ears. As if responding to it, a strange, burning sensation begins to stir in my chest.

It hurts. 

… What is this feeling?

I cloak myself in darkness, invisible to even the most trained eye, before turning around to face her again. My work here is done, and everyone has played their part perfectly. 

So then why… 

… Why do I feel this way?

My gaze lingers on the woman before me. No matter how much I try, my legs refuse to take me away from this scene. 

Alpha’s eyes are wide and pale, staring at nothing. Her skin is an ethereal hue, made ever more so by the moonlight which now baths us. There is a melancholic beauty in her appearance, even as she desperately clutches her hands together over her chest. 

Finally, my body begins to move again. 

Hey–Wait! 

Why are you going there…?

My legs drag me forward, an unseen force leading me to the collapsed elf. My body seems to have a mind of its own now. 

Well… I guess I’ll just have to make due. 

My mask melts away as I finally step out of the shadows. With my hands outstretched, I take hold of Alpha’s arms and guide her upwards so she is standing again. She gasps quietly, taking a shuddering breath. 

And then I hug her. 

Her body trembles in my embrace, but she soon stills. Slowly, gradually, she snakes her arms around my back, pulling me even closer. 

Her grip is tight. 

“Cid…”

There is an increasingly damp spot on my shoulder, where her head is buried. I pat her back softly, listening to the elf’s breathing slow down. 

I don’t know how long we stood there for. But every moment, good or bad, must come to an end. I finally release her, taking a step back. 

Alpha’s arms linger in the air. It takes a moment for them to fall back down to her side again. I look at her face, and am slightly surprised to see her eyes are closed. Geez, did she fall asleep?

It might not be part of my normal skill set, but I would hope I’m not that boring of a hugger…

But then Alpha smiles, before slowly opening her eyes again, blinking away the leftover tears. She’s staring at me, almost the same way Beta does. 

Well, I guess she’s happy. That’s all well and good, but… What now?

“Master Shadow… What were your intentions with this operation?”

“There is a… Storm rising against us. I was going undercover, to expose the enemy.” I scratch the back of my head. “I don’t think that’s going to be happening now, so…” I trail off, reverting back to my natural facade of a lazy noble. 

“I’m—I’m sorry I ruined your plans, master…”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to take some heat off of us. No biggie.”

Alpha gasps. “Of course… I’m such a fool!” 

“Hey. There’s no need for that.”

She seems taken aback for a moment, before she shakes her head and smiles again. “I will take Delta back, and scale back our operations, for the time being.” The blonde makes a fist over her chest, watching me for approval. I cast my gaze over her, considering just how much devotion she has shown me. 

This beautiful young woman, my most trusted subordinate. 

My friend. 

“I’ll go with you.”

Her mouth drops open, before it is quickly shut. 

“... As you wish, Master Shadow.” She bows, and walks over to Delta. 

“Wait,” I call out, walking beside her. She stops, blonde hair fluttering around her as her full attention is now back on me. Instead I walk past her, my focus on something else. 

I bend down and pick Delta up, cradling her in my arms. I let my magic wash over her, making sure I didn’t accidentally hit her too hard. 

Ah, she’s fine. Thick skull on this one. As I observe the wolfgirl, it strikes me that her face is the most peaceful I’ve seen it; such a contrast to how she is while awake. 

Cute dog. 

One of her ears twitch in her unconsciousness. 

… Surely her hearing isn’t that good? 

I shake my head, discarding the absurd notion and ignoring the faint smirk on Delta’s face. I nod at Alpha, letting her take the lead back to Shadow Garden HQ. I have to let my subordinates pull their own weight, afterall. 

It’s definitely not because I forgot where they told me HQ was. 

As we sprint through the forest, fallen leaves being torn to shreds by our passing, I glance at Alpha, having felt her gaze on me nearly the entire time. Perhaps it’s the lighting, but her eyes are a shade of blue I’ve never seen before. 

Thinking over it, all of the Seven have grown up, since I first rescued them. If I were to be honest with myself, they have pretty much surpassed me, as an organization operating in the shadows. 

It did still puzzle me that I was the only male in the group. Not that it was necessarily a good or bad thing; I had long since gotten used to being surrounded by inordinately attractive women. This sort of thing ultimately didn’t really concern me, though. 

Because as the overseer behind the scenes, I had a very important task to fulfill—being cool, of course. Although, this incident with Alpha has caused me to rethink how I’ve been doing some things, at least. My idea to masquerade as a special agent was obviously pretty awesome and cool, but I didn’t really consider how it would affect Shadow Garden, when they discovered my apparent betrayal. 

Perhaps…

Perhaps I didn’t need to keep them in the dark about everything. 

A shadow needs light to thrive, after all.