Part 9
When Lilim woke up, she found herself in a carriage. Her hands and feet were bound, and her mouth tasted of blood.
“I’ll kill them… I’ll kill all of them.”
Her mutter earned her a bemused scoff from the man guarding her.
“I’ll kill them…”
Her tear ducts had long since run dry. At that point, the only thing keeping her going was hate.
What she needed was power.
Knowledge was useless. It couldn’t protect anyone. The only thing that could free her was pure, unbridled strength.
So she prayed: “I want power…” Power enough to break her bindings, power enough to kill the priest, power enough to—
The voice seemed to come from nowhere. “You want power, do you?”
“Huh…?”
Lilim looked around, but the only person there was the guard.
“Do you want power?”
That time, she was certain she heard it. The voice was deep, like it was rumbling up from the depths of the abyss.
“I do! If I just had power… If I just had power!!”
“Ha-ha, the kid’s lost it.”
Apparently, the guard couldn’t hear the voice. However, it reached Lilim’s ears loud and clear.
She didn’t care if she was just imagining things or if that voice belonged to the Devil himself. That would have been fine by her.
All she cared about was power.
“If it’s power you want…then power I shall grant you.”
Suddenly, bluish-purple magic materialized in the carriage.
“Wh-what is that light…?!”
The carriage skidded to a halt, and men piled in from outside.
“What happened?! What’s up with the magic?!”
The magic broke into fine particles and began spiraling.
Then a figure appeared in the middle of the spiral. It was a boy dressed in a jet-black longcoat.
“How the hell’d he get in here?!”
“Grab him! Get him out of the carriage!”
“I AM…”
At the spiral’s center, the boy raised an ebony blade aloft. The air itself trembled from the raw vastness of his magic.
Lilim watched as the unparalleled power gathered in the boy’s sword.
That right there—that was what she was looking for: enough power to crush everything in her way.
“…ALMOST ATOMIC.”
The magic exploded outward.
All sound vanished, and the whole world was drowned in bluish-purple light.
“Eh, I’d give that, like, sixty out of a hundred. Still needs some work.”
Lilim awoke to the sound of the boy’s voice. She must have passed out.
“This isn’t enough. Not for what I’m trying to achieve…”
The boy was muttering from the center of a crater. The carriage had been blown away, and the creepy group had vanished without a trace.
Lilim trembled. But not out of fear.
“E-excuse me…,” she started to say.
“Huh? Oh, you’re up. Here, lemme fix that possession for you.”
With that, the boy released a burst of bluish-purple magic. After enveloping Lilim’s black bruises in warmth, the magic flashed and returned her skin to its original condition, as if it had wound back time itself.
“No way… It can’t be.”
By the time the magic faded, the bruises were completely gone. The possession had been tormenting her, and just like that, he’d cured it.
“That one, though, that one I’d give ninety-five out of a hundred. My control was almost flawless. That said, it did wear me out a bit.”
“He was right…” Heartfelt tears began welling up in Lilim’s eyes. “He was right… Father was right…”
“Huh?”
“He said that the possessed were descendants of the heroes… And that there was someone out east who could cure the possession… He was right about everything.”
“Dang, I had no idea our story already spread all the way out here.”
“So, why? Why did Father and Mother have to die…? Why? None of them did anything wrong!”
The boy scratched his head for a moment. “It’s ’cause of the Cult of Diablos. All the bad stuff is their fault.”
“The Cult of Diablos?”
“Yeah. Those men just now weren’t from the Holy Teachings Church. They were secretly Cultists. They hid the truth, and now they’re trying to eliminate the heroes’ descendants with history none the wiser and revive the demon Diablos. For them, the heroes’ descendants are a threat.” His black longcoat flapped behind him as he spoke. “We are the Shadow Garden. We lurk in the darkness and hunt down shadows.”
“Lurk in the darkness and hunt down shadows…”
Lilim’s heart trembled.
Everything was all coming together.
“So Father was right after all.”
“Yep.”
“He told me there was someone in Midgar who could cure the possession. He told me that was where my duty lay.”
“Huh? Yeah, for sure.”
“You must be my duty.”
That was her duty.
Her father died, her mother died, and her brother died. All of them had sacrificed themselves to keep her alive.
“I need power… Please, give me the power to hunt them!”
“Very well. She’ll be along shortly.”
“Who?”
The moment the question left her mouth, there was a flicker in the dark. That flicker turned out to be a beautiful blond elf dressed in a black bodysuit.
“I told you to wait up! We can’t keep up with your speed,” the girl groused.
“Well, the mission’s finished.”
The elf girl shot the boy a reproachful look. “I can see that, yes. That’s definitely a Cult carriage, albeit one that’s been smashed to tiny bits. How many times do I have to remind you to leave enough evidence for us to collect?”
The boy scratched his head for a moment.
His elven counterpart heaved a defeated sigh, then looked over at Lilim. “So she’s the new one?”
“That’s right. I trust you can handle the rest.”
“Huh? Wait, hold on!”
The boy turned to Lilim. “You can go ahead and get the details from Alpha.” With that, he vanished into thin air.
“I swear! He always does this, just disappearing out of nowhere.”
“Um…who are you?” Lilim asked.
The girl gave her a warm smile. “Sorry about all this. Looks like you got quite the scare. I’m Alpha, the first member of the Shadow Garden. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Alpha… I’m—”
“Don’t.” Right when Lilim was about to introduce herself, Alpha cut her off. “You’re going to be living under a new name from now on.”
“Huh?”
“We lurk in the darkness and hunt down shadows. For us, our public personas are only just that. Only in darkness do we truly exist. Even though that means we may never be able to return to the light.” Alpha held out a mask and fixed her beautifully clear blue eyes on Lilim. “If you have enough resolve to do the same, then take this and become the Shadow Garden’s sixth member, Zeta.”
“Zeta,” Lilim murmured, reflecting on the name. “I’m…Zeta…”
“Sounds like your resolve is firm. You have strong eyes. But…”
“I want power.”
“You have plenty of talent. You’ll become powerful in time. But someday, that hatred of yours will…”
Alpha was about to say something, but she stopped herself. Her blue gaze lingered on Lilim for a good while longer.
“No, it’s nothing,” she said sadly.
Up above in the night sky, the white snow continued falling in silence.
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