Chapter 37: Crimson Tower
They wound up traveling through a cramped tunnel that stank of mildew and dirt.
"Just how far does this thing go?" Alexia asked.
"About two miles," Mary answered.
"Two miles?! Why would you dig such a long tunnel?"
"If I did it any closer it might have been noticed. I had to make absolutely sure to keep it a secret for this day."
"Did you dig this all by yourself?" Claire asked.
"That's right," Mary said. "I couldn't risk anyone else finding out about it. Most of the people in this city will betray you for a crust of bread."
"How long did that take?"
"Eight years."
"Eight years?!" Alexia and Claire both exclaimed.
The girl with the feathered hat gave a disinterested shrug. "I wasn't digging the whole time, only when I was in residence. I had to be certain everything was ready for this night."
"That means you had to know what was coming. Why didn't you tell anyone?" Claire demanded.
Mary stopped and looked at her. "The last time the Red Moon appeared was thousands of years ago. To you humans it's nothing more than a fairy tale. Do you really think anyone would have believed me if I had told them about it? And if word had gotten out it might have alerted Crimson. He is the Blood Queen's second in command and has been in charge while she has lain dormant. That would have made things very dangerous for me. So, I simply decided I would do it myself."
Claire nodded as if all that made perfect sense.
"Why did you say, 'to you humans?'" Alexia asked. "Are you an elf or half elf by any chance?'
Mary's cheeks turned red and suddenly got moving. "Come on, we have to hurry. The sacrifice will take place when the moon reaches its zenith. There's no time to waste."
That's not suspicious at all, Alexia thought.
"Yes! We have to save Cid!"
Claire followed on the other girl's heel. Not having any choice, Alexia got moving too. Honestly, she didn't like this situation at all. The three of them were about to storm the Crimson Tower alone. The original plan had been to go in with a force of about fifty spellswords, knights, and mercenaries and that was going to be super dangerous. There was also the fact that there was something very off about this Mary girl. Alexia didn't trust her at all.
Plus, whoever was kidnapped Alexia was absolutely sure it wasn't Poochie. While she felt sympathy for the poor victim, Alexia normally wouldn't put herself in such risk for an unknown stranger. She was only doing this because the brocon was bound and determined to run into the dragon's mouth.
Eventually the tunnel came to a dead end that was a brick wall.
"Here we are," Mary announced. "This should be one of the tower's sub basements. They're not normally occupied and I'm sure with everything going on tonight they'll be deserted. Now, we need to carefully knock down this wall so no one-"
Alexia felt Claire pour mana into her body as she lowered a shoulder. "I'll do it!"
Without hesitation the girl charged straight at the wall and promptly shattered it, send bricks and mortar flying everywhere. Claire stumbled and fell through to the other side.
"Ugh! Nice going! You're about as subtle as a bull in a glass ware shop!" Alexia said as she and Mary stepped through the gaping hole.
While still lying on the ground Claire looked up and glared at her. "Hey! I got the job done and there's no time to waste! I just-"
It was then the three of them noticed they weren't alone. Standing there about ten feet away was a figure in a black outfit with a sword at her hip. It was a silver haired elf with a ridiculous bosom holding a book and staring at them with the same look of shock Alexia was sure she had on her own face.
Something about the woman looked awfully familiar.
"Lady Claire? And the slu-" the elf suddenly cut off and coughed into her hand as she set the book down.
In a flash Claire leapt to her feet and all three of them had swords in hand.
"Who are you?" Claire demanded. "Are you a vampire? Do you know where the sacrificial ceremony is going to be held?"
The elf smiled at them and held her hands up, making no effort to reach for her sword.
"Please be at ease. I am not a vampire, and I am not an enemy, Lady Claire. My name is Beta, and I am a member of Shadow Garden."
That's weird, Alexia thought. Wasn't her voice lighter just now?
"How do you know my name?"
"Who wouldn't know the current God of War Champion?" The elf replied smoothly.
"That makes sense," Alexia admitted. "I'm sure the whole lot of you were in the stands cheering on 'Jimina.'"
Beta turned her eyes to her and Alexia was sure there was annoyance in them, but it was quickly suppressed and she sounded cheerful as could be. "I'm sure you wouldn't blame us for that, Princess Alexia. Afterall, who could be more worth watching than Lord Shadow."
Alexia nodded, not at all surprised this Beta knew who she was. "Uhm, are Alpha or Delta here by any chance?"
"No, my subordinates and I have been entrusted with our current task."
Alexia let out a huge sigh of relief. She would have actually liked a chance to talk to Alpha again, but knowing Delta was nowhere nearby set her mind at ease.
"What is Shadow Garden doing here?" Claire asked with a suspicious frown. "Have you come here to stop the Red Moon?"
Beta let loose a relaxed laugh. "No, Lord Shadow will deal with that. My group is here to perform some reconnaissance. We're interested in possession and so are here to recover some texts and acquire a sample of the progenitor's blood."
"Possession?" Alexia saw the color drain from the girl's face. She couldn't blame her as that was not a subject for polite company. Alexia was sure Claire found the topic as disgusting as she did.
Mary meanwhile focused on something completely different.
"You want to steal some of the progenitor's blood?! That's blasphemous!"
"Blasphemous?" Beta turned to her and sounded amused. "That's an unusual perspective coming from a non-vampire, isn't it, Mary Strongest Vampire Hunter?"
Mary snapped her mouth shut and glared at the other girl.
The fact Shadow Garden wanted to do experiments with blood set off alarm bells for Alexia. Given her own experience she couldn't help but see a parallel with the Cult. She didn't suddenly think they were as evil, but maybe they weren't quite as different as she'd assumed.
That was not a pleasant thought.
"Why do you need Elizabeth's blood anyway?" Mary asked.
"We believe there's a connection between Possession and the origins of vampirism. That's our theory at least."
"You people have studied Possession?" Claire sounded a bit nervous. "Tell me, is there a treatment for it? Maybe even a cure?"
Beta smiled at her. "I don't believe that's anything you need to worry about, Lady Claire."
"Why are we discussing something as disgusting as Demonic Possession?" Alexia asked.
For some strange reason her question made Claire flinch and Beta turn a hard glare her way.
"You find Possession disgusting?" Beta asked in icy tones.
"Don't you? Doesn't everyone? Your body literally starts to rot. How could you not find that repulsive?"
Claire rubbed at an arm and twitched.
"It's a disease… some might even call it a curse," Beta said with that same unforgiving tone. "The people who are inflicted are innocent victims who have done nothing wrong."
"I'm not saying they did anything wrong, or that they deserve it," Alexia said. "I'm saying it's not something for civilized conversation."
"I see," Beta gave her a soulless grin. "I suppose you agree with the church then that the people who suffer from it should just be driven out and forgotten? That is the 'civilized' solution I believe."
Alexia shrugged. "Well what else can you do? Everyone knows there's no cure. Once you have it it's a death sentence."
"Let's stop talking about this," Claire burst out. Obviously, just as disgusted by the subject as Alexia was. "My brother has been kidnapped by the vampires and is going to be made into a sacrifice!"
"Your brother?" Beta sounded mystified. "Eh… Lady Claire I really don't think-"
"Is that true?!" Another masked girl in black leapt out from behind an aisle of books. "Is Cid in danger?"
Even with the mask it was obvious who this person was. It wasn't as if a stupid mask would be enough to really disguise someone you already knew.
"Rose!" Without a thought Alexia ran up to her friend and hugged her tight. There was a moment of hesitation, but Rose put her own arms around Alexia and returned the hug. "I was so worried about you! I'm glad you're all right!"
"Thank you, Alexia," Rose whispered in her ear. "I'm so happy that you don't hate me."
"I could never hate you!"
The other girl smiled at her with a tear in her eye.
It was only right at that moment that it occurred to Alexia how the other girl had to be interpreting this. Oh fuck! She must think this is me returning her feelings! Since Rose had already confessed her love there was no way she would see this as a simple hug between two friends.
Alexia wanted to clear up the misunderstanding immediately, but with Beta, Claire, and Mary all looking on there was no way she could. So, she disengaged and took a single step back. Since she couldn't really explain about the platonic hug, she decided to change the subject.
"What are you doing here? Why are you in Shadow Garden? Were you a secret member this whole time?"
Rose shook her head. "Lady Alpha invited me to join after… the incident. I had nowhere else to go so I gladly accepted the offer."
"Listen Rose, maybe I can…" her words trailed off. Her instinct was to help her friend. But there was nothing she could do. Midgar had treaty obligations to Oriana and they would demand her extradition so she could face trial and execution. Iris and father would immediately place her under arrest and hand her over. It wasn't as if Alexia could even claim that Rose was innocent.
Rose smiled at her, clearly understanding why she'd gone silent. "I appreciate the thought Alexia, more than you will ever know. But I think I belong where I am now."
"That's enough, Six-six-six," Beta snapped.
"But if Cid's been kidnapped, we have to save him!"
"We have a different mission. Lord Shadow will deal with the Blood Queen," the elf addressed Claire. "I am sure he will save your brother."
"You can't know that for certain!" Claire cried.
"That's right!" Rose declared. "We have to-"
"Get back to searching the archives, Six-six-six! You're a member of Shadow Garden now. Follow your orders."
Rose gritted her teeth but nodded.
Interesting, Alexia thought. Beta obviously knows who Shadow really is but Rose doesn't. I guess his true identity is a secret even inside of Shadow Garden.
"Why are you calling Rose Six-six-six?" Alexia asked.
"In Shadow Garden we cast aside our previous identities. Your name is a number."
"Really? Then what about Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, and you?"
Beta frowned in annoyance. "If you reach a certain level within the organization, you will be assigned a code name. Six-six-six might get there someday, but right now she is just another soldier. I'm sure you wouldn't understand this, princess but in Shadow Garden everything is earned, even a name."
Alexia was starting to find this big boobed silver haired elf as annoying and insufferable as the other one she'd met. Could they be related?
"Enough of this!" Mary shouted and headed towards a stairwell. "We can't waste any more time."
Claire nodded and followed. Alexia did the same. As she went, she sent Rose one last look. The girl appeared frustrated but made no move to join them. Maybe that was just as well.
The three girls hurried up the stairs to begin their assault on the Crimson Tower.