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The Necromancer in Shadow by TheOminousRain

Anime » Eminence in Shadow Rated: M, English, Horror & Humor, Cid Kagenou/Shadow, OC, Words: 548k+, Favs: 386, Follows: 387, Published: Oct 27, 2023 Updated: Aug 9

768Chapter 26: Sherry's Farewell

Chapter 26: Sherry's Farewell

"I'm sorry I disappeared without informing you few days ago." Sherry says in an unusually subdued tone, even for her.

"No. Don't worry about it. I also disappeared for a night after that incident and got scolded by my sister." I reply nonchalantly as to lighten the atmosphere, which she appreciates. We are now standing in front of the school gate. Sherry is dressed for travel and is carrying a suitcase. A carriage is waiting for her beside us.

I was a little worried when she went missing at the night of the incident that I ordered Alpha and the others to search and keep an eye on her and they failed. I almost thought Alpha was really going to kill herself merely for failing to locate Sherry. She has become better at acting. Luckily Sherry reappeared to attend Lutheran's funeral yesterday, along with funeral for other students and school staff who were killed in the incident.

I heard what her foster father and the Necromancer said about her mother during the night of the incident, and their plans for her. To be honest, even I was disgusted by what Lutheran did and if the Necromancer didn't give him a proper execution, I would've done so myself.

I tend to not care about other people that much. But I suppose Sherry has grown on me. A little bit. Besides, from what I heard, she has played her role well during the night of the incident. She and Claude were definitely the main characters of that arc. Too bad I was unable to observe it up close and aid them from the shadows like a badass mysterious Shadowbroker due to Rose carrying me out of the school. At least I managed to escape later using the bathroom excuse.

As for the Necromancer's plans for her… I'm not worried. In fact, I trust the Necromancer would take care of her. Despite his villainous demeanor, I sensed that he cared for Sherry more than he would like to admit. That's why he went above and beyond to avenge her mother's death, killing Lutheran in the way she was killed with such emotion as if it was personal for him as much as it was for her. And I have to give him points for doing it in such a cool way too. I understand him, for we are the same kind of people, fools who never gave up on our dreams.

"I… have something to tell you… Cid."

"What is it?"

"I'm… going to study abroad, in Laugus. There's something I need to do… and I need to learn more in order to achieve it. I need…. more power…" She mutters those ominous words with determination in her voice.

"Oh? The college city Laugus? That's amazing." I reply whilst looking at the direction of the carriage. I won't stop her though. In fact, I'd happily encourage her to pursue her dreams.

"Also… I've… lost my reason to stay here." She says sadly as she turns back to gaze at the destroyed school building where she likely has plenty of fond memories.

"I see. Good luck."

"I wanted to… speak with you more Cid… To interact with you more… To have fun together… But…"

"But you have something to do, right?"

"Yes… This is… goodbye."

"It's okay. We'll see each other again someday, right?"

"….." She didn't answer and only gives me an uneasy smile.

"Thank you so much for all you've done for me, Cid… Especially the chocolate. They were delicious." She turns back to walk to the carriage that's waiting for her.

"Ah. If I may ask… what is it that you want to do?" I ask her before she reaches the carriage. She turns back with a sad smile. A brief pause passed before I see her closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as if holding back her tears. She eventually composed herself and says "It's a secret." with a sad smile.

"I see."

"Yes. Goodbye… Cid… And I'm…" sorry. she silently whispered the last word before turning her back on me again.

"Goodbye, Sherry." I say my farewell. She didn't answer as she silently boards the carriage and left. I keep staring at the carriage as it shrinks in the distance before finally turning back and leave… But before I can do that I see the troublesome princess walking towards me.

"What did she say?" She asks curiously, with a solemn expression.

"She just said she was going to study abroad and we said our farewells. What is it to you?"

"Hahhh… Really Pooch. You don't know how handle a maiden's heart, do you?"

"Huh? What does that have anything to do with-"

"Hmph. It's nothing." She says as she walks away anrily.

"What the hell was that about?" I mutter confusedly.

Meh. No matter. Anyway, that fight against the Necromancer was so fun! I also properly paid him back for the Mimic Incident! I look forward to our next meeting! Though he mentioned No. 001. What was that about?

Pooch is such a heartless jerk sometimes. Does he care at all about the girls he confessed to? The girls who actually reciprocates? Did he went out of his way to purchase that chocolate and give it to her just to let her go like that? Although… part of me is glad that they aren't together anymore. But… I can't help but feel uneasy about Sherry. Especially after our last conversation.

"Sherry… Are you alright?"

"Yes, Princess Alexia. I'm fine." She said with hollow eyes as she kept staring at her foster father's tombstone. I said nothing until she stared at me with those eyes.

"Princess Alexia… Do you still like Cid?"

"Huh!? W-Where did that come from!?"

"I saw how worried you are for his well being that night."

"W-Well… He's such an idiot that he might kill himself by accident! I only worry about him because he's a… past associate of mine! A past collaborator! That's all!" I said in weak denial as I blushed.

"If you still like him… will you listen to my request?"

"Wh-What is it?" Is it that you want me to leave him alone? Because you love him? And you need him? Especially now that you've lost your foster father? I waited for her next words nervously.

"From now on… I must stay away from him… There are things I need to do. And so… I entrust him… to you." She said as her eyes began watering. I was flabbergasted. She loved Pooch. Why would she want to leave him?

"Sherry. What are you even saying?"

"That's all I have to say. Goodbye." She said as she held back her tears and walked away.

"Sherry…" I mutter as I remember my conversation with her last night. Just what is it that she needs to do that she would… actually leave Pooch… the person she loved… like that? What burden is she carrying? And why didn't Pooch stop her, help her or at least ask her what's wrong? Stupid Pooch.

Sherry spent a few days taking care of my wounds in secret while I recover my strength after we made our pact that night. It was probably the most injured I've ever been in this life… and the previous one too. That's why we were missing for a few days. Can't let myself be seen with too much wounds or my sister would lose it and decides to imprison me. She was able to attend Lutheran's funeral yesterday and I even told her to say her farewells to Cid. It wasn't easy for her but it needed to be done or else she would constantly be burdened by thoughts of him.

"Have you said your farewell?" I ask her while sitting beside her in the carriage, not as the Necromancer but as Claude.

"Yes. From now on… I will walk down a path of vengeance. Cid should stay… where he is now."

"Hm."

"Claude."

"Yes?"

"Will I get strong?" She asks.

"I'll make sure you do." I answer.

"But I… I never held a sword in my entire life."

"Who said I'm gonna teach you the sword, Sherry?"

"Huh?"

"I'm gonna teach you in the ways of the Necromancer. I will teach you true magic, not paltry body enhancements like the people of this world tend to use. I will turn you into a Living Artifact, just like me."

"A Living… Artifact…?"

"Yes. And you will join my elite minions."

"So I'm just a minion to you?" She says pouting.

"Oh! No no no! You are my friend! But, the Necromancer can't be seen as having friends. So when we appear in public, we will be a master and subordinate. In private, we can be who we are. Don't be mad."

"He he. I'm just kidding. I understand." She says, regaining some smile and humor.

"So when will our training start?" Sherry asks eagerly.

"We will start once we arrive in Everick. You did say you wanted to stay there for a time before you "head towards Laugus", didn't you?" With the academy closed due to the heavy damages it suffered, we got an early summer vacation and thus plenty of students decided to return home, me included, hence she is riding the carriage with me to Everick, my family's domain, which so happens to be where my main base is located.

"Yes. I want to see your family. Especially your little sister that I've heard so much about." She says while smiling mischeviously.

"My sister…." I smile uneasily, wondering what my sister would say when she sees me bringing a girl into our home.

"What kind of person is she?"

"A very clingy little sister who annoys me most of the time. So clingy that she insisted on sleeping in the same room as me after the whole Alexia's kidnapping incident, which started rumors about our incestuous relationship. Which isn't true, okay?"

"Hee hee. She is the most precious person to you, right? The one you wanted to protect."

"Yes…" I answer honestly. "The Cult targeted her since our childhood. That's why I investigated and when I figured out the scale of the Cult's influence, I knew I couldn't destroy them… and was forced to join them under an alias instead so I can keep watch on their operations… and keep my sister away from them." And I follow that honest answer with my made up motivations to justify my joining the Cult to her.

"Then… She didn't know…?"

"No, she didn't."

"Perhaps that would be best." She says tiredly as she leans her head on my shoulder and falls asleep, no doubt tired both physically and mentally after all the crying she did these past few days.

"Yes. Yes indeed." I whisper as I allow her to sleep on my shoulder as we continue our journey.

Author's Note:

A bit more Sherry angst for this chapter. I used to be more of an Alexia fan but writing all these angst is slowly making me more of a Sherry fan (Edit: I'm back to being Alexia fan btw). I'm sorry Sherry. I'm probably as evil as Claude. The part where she became determined to walk the path of darkness and left Cid in the light is inspired by how the fanfic "To be a Female Eminence in Shadow" by Levelgap handled her. Go read it. It's great.

Also this is probably the first time I wrote a section in Cid's first person perspective. I had help from SatanorSatan's essay about Cid Kagenou, which is titled "Cid Kagenou: Reaching for One's Ideals" (which you can find in TEiS community discord) to understand his character. Hopefully I did well portraying his personality.

Lifedies: This is a really good fic

Answer: Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it.

BetweenIandGirl: As far as I can tell, original story had Lutheran killed by Shadow and if we assume their world worked under some tropes it would be a surprise for Sherry to find out Shadow is Cid if the came into contact or just having some sort of final battle. Here it's Necromancer/Claude killing Lutheran and trick Sherry to believe it's Shadow fault(Now she join Necromancer factions than rather became Researcher in original), it would be a double cross surprise if final battle happen between her and Shadow and found out Shadow is Cid and then told the truth that Necromancer is the one killing her father.

Answer: Yeah. I'm sorry Sherry but I have more plans for you.

Hexylen: Oof, I think I may have actually been cut by the sheer Edge in these chapters.

Pretty great stuff though, Necromancer proving that he could match Cid (at least magically if not physically (yet)), and the whole continuation of misunderstandings from Shadow's "I won't forgive you" definitely being about the Mimics and not about what Alpha suffered under Necromancer.

A bit sad that there hasn't been any more Dungeon spelunking, but that can be for later, maybe around the Bushin Festival or something. Personally I haven't seen season 2 yet, but at the rate you're going you'll probably go a bit past the anime, luckily there's always the manga and LN to fall back on, and if not you can always go AU, this is a fanfic after all.

Keep it up, there are too few good TEiS fics that are worth reading, and yours is definitely better than those.

Answer: I'm glad you enjoyed it the edginess.

Lol yeah. The fact that Necromancer is more injured than Shadow during their melee bout before they go nuke proves that Necromancer is still weaker as a fighter than Shadow. Magically he's more talented than Shadow. Also yes. The Mimic incident has been avenged.

I have plans for other dungeons in the future. Don't worry. I read the LN so I can use their content for future arcs too. And as you said, I could go full AU when I ran out of arcs. Or maybe one of these days I should read the WN to use some of its elements.

Thanks. I started writing this fic while craving for more TEiS content and seeing how small the amount of TEiS fanfics there are currently out there I decided to write my own.

J-More: When Iris asked for where were Cid and Claude, I thought: it wouldn't be so funny that after the battle, Cid walked into Claude changing Outfit just to silent change outfit himself and left with out saying a world.

Answer: LMAO That would be pretty funny indeed.

J-More: Pretty sure Shadow was mad because Necromancer stole his moment XD

Answer: No. It's about the Mimic Incident.

TheVirtualPug: That was a REALLY good sequence. I love it.

Answer: I'm glad you enjoyed the Sherry sequence. I enjoyed writing it too, so much so I slept late and end up writing so much, hence I released 4 chapters in 1 day at 20th November 2023 (which is yesterday at the time of this writing).

Chapter 610 - 29