Eminence in Shadow (Patreon)

Just the intro here, sort of getting the hang of writing these characters. I plan to flesh it out soon, but all stories need their starting foundation.

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Series: The Eminence in Shadow

Characters: Cid Kagenou, Alpha, Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Eta, Gamma, Zeta

Contains: Female weight gain

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It was rare for all Seven Shadows to gather with their leader. Each member was busy with their various tasks, and they all believed that Shadow was busy enacting his grand scheme.

In reality, Cid Kagenou was just attending school and acting out his standard background character persona. He would occasionally slip out to fight bandits or practice new one-liners and scenes. Anything that would line his pockets with some gold to fund his Eminence in Shadow activities. 

But the chance to be with his friends for a group scene was enough to draw him. Or so he thought. Tonight's scene was a tad bland.

‘It's a little too dialogue-heavy,’ Cid thought to himself. He was one for dialogue, but he put significant effort into what he said. Everything had a purpose, even if it was just to sound cool or mysterious. ‘Come on, Gamma, at least add a little more flair to your dialogue. Alpha seems to be trying her best, but the script isn't giving her much to work with. It's so dry that Eta fell asleep.’

That’s what Shadow saw this all as. A scene to the game he and his friends had played since they met. He wasn’t aware that his predictions and spontaneous adlibs had uncovered a real cult with a plot that expanded across the continent. 

This meeting was meant to discuss what to do with Mitsugoshi. It was a company run by Gamma that sold products that Shadow had talked about. His “wisdom of the shadows” had resulted in the girls creating copies of products from his world, selling them, and making massive profits. Tonight’s conversation was basically a long talk about finances and economics.

It went on and on long enough that Shadow's mind began to wander. His eyes followed suit until they landed on the various snacks on the table. Each and every one of them was a blatant ripoff from snacks in his world. They did, however, manage to stir up an old memory.

“Y’know, I remember a competition where if you collected a thousand candy wrappers, you won a prize…” Shadow murmured under his breath. The sound was barely audible, yet every member of the Seven Shadows heard it. They ceased everything they were doing and listened intently.

Thankfully, Shadow continued, not knowing that anyone had heard him. “Yeah, the winners got early entry to a theme park dedicated to the snacks the company sold.”

“Theme park?” Gamma asked.

Delta's ears shot up, and her tail wagged. “Delta remembers theme park! Boss said they were super fun and had rides and food and games!” Delta practically jumped up and down with excitement.

Beta didn't say anything aloud but recalled stories of various rides dedicated to couples. The idea of her Lord Shadow taking her on a ride for the express purpose of kissing her overflowed her mind.

Alpha nodded understandingly. “I see. A theme park would be an additional way to gain revenue. We could also use it as a front to gather information about the Cult of Diablos.”

“In the end, it just led to a localized trend of obesity,” Shadow added. “Some people turned out to be super into it.”

That part struck the group especially hard, mainly because a fair number of those present had a little extra meat on them.

Gamma was the thickest, as she rarely went on combat missions. Most of her time was spent managing Mitsugoshi. It was because her mind was sharp…and her body was incredibly clumsy. That left her plenty of desk work with a surplus of chocolate to snack on. Plenty of it settled in her chest and increased its already generous mass. Though, an unmistakable amount of chub clung to her belly. It was a soft paunch that could overflow both of her hands with rolls that bunched up at her sides. The part where Shadow mentioned some people were “into it” caused her to blush. Perhaps her Lord Shadow meant this as a message for her? Perhaps she should snack a little more?

Delta was easily excited. As a Therianthrope, she naturally put on a little weight toward winter. She just happened to add some extra this year. After a string of intense missions, she celebrated by eating quadruple portions. That thickened her midsection and hips considerably. Like Gamma, Delta thought Shadow had commented to let her know it was almost time to start making babies. If she were going to be eating for two, then she would increase her portions even further.

Continuing to misunderstand Shadow's words, Epsilon thought putting on weight would increase her chest. She already used slime to create an illusion of a voluptuous chest. However, if she could obtain the real deal, she would gain as much weight as necessary.

Eta was still asleep. She just picked up on the words theme park and obese. She would string it all together later.

Zeta grinned and cracked her knuckles. She was also a Therianthrope but had yet to start accumulating her winter weight. She could easily remedy that, as Shadow obviously mentioned obesity as a subtle hint of how to gain more power. If Zeta put on weight, that additional mass would hold more magic energy. In reality, it wouldn't.

Beta blushed and furiously scribbled notes in her journal. Lord Shadow had somehow found her secret writings on this exact subject. His feelings were the same as hers, so she would have to put on as much weight as quickly as possible.

Finally, Alpha took this as a new sort of training. She would oversee this theme park and gain weight as she did to kill two birds with one stone. She bowed her head to Shadow and spoke, “We will do as you order, Lord Shadow.”

Shadow rose from his seat. “Daybreak approaches, so shadows must recede. Though we shall never disappear, we will observe from plain sight and strike when the time is right.” He turned with a flourish and leaped out a window. The Seven Shadows watched him before they excused themselves and set about their secret objectives.

Meanwhile, Shadow returned to his dorm, thinking about how cool his exit line was. What he didn't know was that the girls would take everything he said seriously. That was also on top of not knowing they heard what he said at all.