The Eminence of Not-Shadow

Chapter 12 - Final Preparations

[Not-Shadow POV]

"...Happy? I decided to follow with your request on your kidnapping. I wore the shell and hair to reenact one of the stories Shadow told you."

"You could have transformed into the person themselves and acted it out more genuinely. So no, I am not."

"I was even able to recreate the ship! We have to agree with at least something..."

"...Fine."

She folds her arms within the barrel with reluctant acceptance.

"...don't make this harder than it already is. We could have tied you up and placed into a cage, as most kidnapping goes in stories like those."

"...and I would have not agreed to it if you had done so. I am only doing this for Shadow-sama, not you."

"Yes, yes. Just relax a bit in that barrel as I need to quickly do something."

Why can things never go the way I wanted it to go? At least we reached some kind of compromise. Even so, I can't complain as time is limited. I need to get the other parts ready. I leave her room and head upwards of the ship. Heading upwards, I feel something within my mind splitting apart. I assume the cost of doing this finally caught up to me. If only Beta didn't request a complete recreation of a darn ship.

With the pain within my head, I reach the top of the ship and spot Mordred.

"Mordred."

I call to my friend, dressed in red, relaxing on top of the ship. He hears his 'name' being called and turns around.

"Yes Arthur."

"Begin our last plans, or rather the finale."

His eyes slightly shine as soon as he heard those words.

"Alright. They will be sent soon."

As he said so, he disappeared into the clouds surrounding us as a spark of thunder.

Staring into the nothingness of the night sky, I simply watch my surroundings to cool down my head. Upon reflection of recent events, it appears that things have being going too well. Our small intrusion into Alexandria was a success, and somehow Shadow has been absent for the last few heists and in Alexandria. What is he planning?

Whatever it was, I hope to see it soon.

With that in mind, I went back downstairs, heading towards Beta's temporary jail (room) location again to continue our conversation.

Using the sword, I summon a white cube that then forms a hard-covered book.

"Here, what I simply want you to do is add some details to a certain story when we arrive to our base in this book."

"Story?"

"Yes, of your Shadow-sama."

"...Don't push your limits."

"Yes, yes. All that needs to be included is a simple story. A story of a person before he became an Eminence in Shadow."

"...?"

—

[Alpha POV]

Your princess is in another castle.

Was a note left by Not-Shadow, but Beta isn't a princess...

*cough cough*

Regardless... the note also contained a series of familiar numbers and letters. I asked Eta to figure out what those numbers and letters would signify as it contains the same writing Shadow wrote for us during the John Smith situation, but she said it would take a while regardless to confirm the message. The only thing we could do now is attempt to recover the damages that was brought forth by a simple mouse and plan out our response. So, I gathered the other Shades to figure out our plans to save Beta.