บท 123: Chapter 122
[Third Person's PoV]
Cid immediately started freaking out, and the seven girls, even Eta, rushed towards Aurora and picked her up before they all started running towards the master bedroom.
Due to the unexpected situation and their nervousness, they had forgotten they could travel through their shadows.
Cid immediately disappeared into his own shadow and reappeared in the school nurse's office. In there was Mu, or No.12, a dark elf with silver hair, an undercover agent of Shadow Garden.
As Cid appeared, Mu immediately dropped down to her knees and bowed before him. Before she even had a chance to say anything, Cid lifted her over his head, "No time for that, woman. I need you; baby on the way."
Mu squealed at being unexpectedly picked up before she even had a chance to process what was being said. Cid teleported towards where he detected Aurora.
Cid found her on the master bedroom bed with her legs spread apart, and Aurora trying to control her breathing.
"Do your thing," Cid commanded.
Due to her training as a member of Shadow Garden, Mu was able to quickly get her bearings together before looking at Cid with a serious expression after analyzing the situation.
"I'm going to need a few items…"
"Just say whatever you need," Cid responded with a serious expression.
As Mu started listing out the items she needed, the girls would disappear one by one and reappear with the corresponding object at hand.
Cid sat by Aurora's side, holding her hand reassuringly while gently moving her hair away from her face.
He noticed some Shadow Garden members peeking through the door with nervous expressions but just shook his head, focusing solely on Aurora.
Once Mu had everything she needed, she put on rubber gloves and began to assist and guide Aurora through the birthing process.
The girls watched with nervousness and worry; it was their first time witnessing childbirth in person.
"AHHHHH!" Aurora cried out in pain, squeezing Cid's hands tightly.
Cid was certain that if he wasn't a Monarch, his hands would have been crushed.
The pain Aurora was experiencing was so intense that she started crying in between her pushes.
"Please!" She pleaded, "Just get her out already! AHHHHHH!"
"Her head is crowning, just a few more, you can do it," Mu said supportively.
"I can't do it!" Aurora cried, "I don't think I can go on."
Cid kissed her sweaty forehead, "Yes, you can, come on now." He used his magic to alleviate her tiredness and pain.
"YOU COULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT EARLIER!" She cried with tears streaming down her face.
Cid just gave her an awkward smile as she started pushing.
"I just need one last strong push, and she'll be out!" Mu called out.
Alpha, Claire, and the others watched anxiously over Mu's shoulder. Even Eta, who would have normally been fast asleep, was wide awake.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Wahhhh! Wahhhh! Wahhhhh!"
"And she's out! Congratulations, it's a healthy baby girl," Mu smiled warmly towards Cid and Aurora. She washed the baby in warm water before wrapping her in a blanket.
After Aurora caught her breath, she reached over with shaky hands, "Please, let me hold her, let me hold my baby."
As Mu passed her towards Aurora, Aurora shed happy tears, "She's so beautiful… she's perfect… here, hold her," Aurora said, passing her to Cid, feeling his longing to hold her, which was just as strong as hers.
Cid scooped her up in his arms, rubbing her little cheeks with love before kissing her on the forehead.
Alpha and the others then started to surround Cid, examining Celeste; almost instantaneously, they were smitten with her.
"SOOOO CUTTEEEEE!" They shrieked.
Their shrieking frightened her, causing her to start crying. Cid immediately gave them a pointed look, causing them to shrink back and whisper an apology.
Cid softly started rocking her in his arms while smiling at her with a gentle smile, "It's alright, little one, daddy's here, shhh, there's no need to cry."
Seeing the scene, the maternal instinct of all the girls shot through the roof. Baby Celeste's crying started to calm down, turning into little whimpering.
Cid's head shot to the side; even with all of his previous practices, his face couldn't help but gain a shocked expression as his eyes turned into dragon slits.
His confusion turned into outrage, an outrage that was nothing compared to what he felt towards Aurora.
The girls were confused and worried by Cid's expression. They activated their dragon eyes and spread their senses towards the direction Cid was looking.
Then they saw it, a few miles away near the closest settlements that weren't their base, space was distorting, and they felt the mana coming from those distortions. Their expressions mirrored Cid's shock, but they still didn't know what caused him to look so angry.
"Gates? What the hell are they doing in this world?" They heard his growl.
He then let out a frustrated sigh before kissing his daughter on the forehead, "I'll be right back, little one."
Cid softly put Celeste in Aurora's arm before kissing her on the forehead as well, "What is going on?" Aurora asked with worry.
"I'm sorry I can't explain, I'll be right back. Igris, I'll leave my daughter's protection in your hands."
Igris appeared and unexpectedly responded, which was unusual even for him, "Leave it to me, my liege," his voice and tone sounding serious, understanding what was occurring.
Cid donned his Shadow outfit and disappeared into his shadow,
'My daughter was just born and all of sudden gates started to appear without warning… this definitely isn't a coincidence, I smell a conspiracy.'
As Shadow spread his senses much further, he realized something else: there were more than one gate appearing, appearing all over the world, causing him to inwardly curse.
From the first gate, multiple insect-like creatures with all different forms and powers started spilling out, as if the inside of the gates couldn't hold their increasing numbers.
"Come forth," Shadow commanded, causing all of his 10,000+ shadow soldiers to appear.
"Spread out, hunt as many as you can, I'll deal with this one here on my own."
"My liege–" Beru wanted to protest, but Shadow didn't let him finish.
"Not now, Beru, just do as you are told, I'm not in the mood."
Beru bowed his head sadly; that sadness turned into anger, but not towards his master. Of course not, such a thing was unimaginable towards Beru; he was angered towards the beings that caused his master's mood to be sour.
'How dare they!? Because of them, my liege got angry at me, I'll make them pay!!!' Beru angrily thought before forcefully calming down his emotions and focusing on the most important thing… Making sure his master is well.
"My liege, please take care of yourself," Beru said before sinking into his shadow and rushing towards the second nearest gate.
The others sank into the shadows and formed groups before rushing towards the cities and towns that started to be overrun with monsters.
Shadow stood by himself in the middle of the insect-infected area. They all rushed towards Shadow with hunger in their eyes, "FOR THE QUEEEENNN!" They all screeched in a language that wasn't anything human or Shadow had heard before, but he understood it perfectly.
Seeing the stampede approaching, Shadow looked at them coldly, "I should be spending time with my daughter, but here I am dealing with trash like you… very well, be glad you will be the very first beings I try this move on."
"Sin series: Plague of Envy," Shadow said in a deep but slow voice.
Black smoke exploded from Shadow and rushed towards the surroundings engulfing all the monsters.
The insects stood frozen all around Shadow, right in his face. They all had their mouths open, ready to consume him. They gained a purple glowing outline over their bodies before their eyes glowed purple as well with insanity.
They then started moving once again but instead of aiming for Shadow, they jumped towards each other and started trying to consume the other. Shadow just continued looking at them coldly as they ate each other.
'Plague of Envy, a move I made. This move unleashes a dark aura that infects nearby enemies with feelings of jealousy and resentment, causing them to turn against each other in a frenzied bid to possess what others have…'
They continued gnawing at each other until there was nothing left…
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A/N: Boom! How you like them apples, this was something I've been planning for a while, since Aurora first appeared…
Here's an image of Celeste if y'all curious:
[Image]
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