Jazzerman here, I do not own any of these characters, they are owned by their respected companies, as many as there are. You've heard this crap before. I only own my OCs.
New generation.
Part 9
The sun was nearly at its noon position as Keyon strode down the stairway carrying his helmet under one arm and clad in his steel armor once more ready to do battle with another hero. His breakfast had consisted toast, fruit, and bacon supplied by the people of Heaven's Peak who were so overjoyed at the return of their children and the freedom to drink and mingle at the newly reopened Halfway to Heaven inn. Keyon was simply glad to have a full stomach and all of his gold once more glittering from the confines of his treasury. He could finally have some new furniture and decorations brought in to replace what was destroyed and stolen.
Ziva had been up for some time, Gnarl had prodded her out of her sleep to bring up the tray that held her master's breakfast and was given explicit instructions not to wake Keyon if he was not already awake. If she disturbed the young Overlord she would not receive any food for the rest of the day. Having gone without anything for an entire day before she was quick to obey or else she'd have to work with a empty stomach. She was now standing next to Gnarl in the throne room waiting for Keyon to arrive.
As Keyon entered the throne room Gnarl greeted the young Overlord. "Good morning Sire. I hope you slept well after such a delightful slaughter."
Keyon ignored his Minion master's greeting, instead he looked around to view the patchings that his Minions had done in the walls and ceiling. "I see that the Minions are finished with their repairs."
"Yes Sire," Gnarl rasped, looking around at the patchwork jobs the Minions had done. "They finished their work late last night and will soon begin to reinforce the walls before making them more esthetically pleasing."
"Excellent." Keyon turned to look at Ziva who avoided meeting his gaze, obviously still unhappy with her new employment in the Dark Tower. Keyon looked down at Gnarl with a neutral expression on his face. "Allow the girl a day of rest to become more familiar with the tower and as reward for doing such a good job at cleaning my throne room."
Ziva's surprise faded into relief as she hung her head and released a heavy sigh. Her arms were still sore from all that scrubbing, the chance to let her aching muscles recover was a blessing. "Thanks... master."
Keyon didn't need any exceptional senses or magic to detect the venom in Ziva's tone as she called him master. Still there was much to do before the day was over and he had heroes to slay before they became aware of his presence. Keyon walked to the dark pool that was connected to every active Tower Gate in the land and turned to face his Minion master.
"Gnarl, I'd like you to send a Green to Spree to spy on our Bard friend. But before you do, make sure that Green is thoroughly bathed. I don't want his stench giving him away. I want to know what he's up to." Keyon did not wait for a reply to his command, he descended the few steps and disappeared into the Tower Gate.
"Well I'm glad that's over." Ziva relaxed as Keyon left, brushing off her new sundress. She was glad that the dress wasn't near as revealing as the rags she had to wear at the beginning of her servitude. "I'll see you later Gnarl."
Gnarl grinned an evil grin as he causally replied; "Yes it would be a good idea for you to get to work."
Ziva whirled around on one foot to face the wrinkled little Minion, completely aghast that Gnarl was going to make her work after all the cleaning she did last night. What was his deal? "Work? But he just said I had the day off!"
Gnarl was enjoying this. It had been so long since he had the chance to really have some fun with the servants like this. "He also said to wash the stink out of a Green. Do you think that he meant that I should do it?"
Ziva faltered, not knowing how to react to that. "Well no but-"
"No buts." Gnarl snapped his claws and a Green instantly ran up to the old grey Minion, but before he spoke he produced a brush from within his robes. "Go get this woman a washtub and prepare of a scrubbin'! Now young lady get to it!"
Ziva took the brush and stomped off, once she got that Green Minion clean she'd take the entire day off no matter what Gnarl said. She took care of that nasty Jester before, and Gnarl didn't look all that tough either. No doubt if she wanted to she didn't have to be pushed around, it was Keyon she had to worry about if he came back and saw her beating the little monster. She'd have to wait and focus on getting this nasty smelling Minion clean. She did regret having to get her wonderfully made sundress dirty.
--
Keyon strode through the brush of Evernight forest with a well balanced horde of Minions right behind him. Keyon had not been in the forest of Evernight since he was quite young but the many dirt paths provided him with some direction.
The Elves had worked hard in the years since Oberon Greenhaze inadvertently turned the forest into a wonderful place where monsters sprang from the Elf hero's troubled sleep. Between Oberon's nightmares and their forced servitude to the Dwarves their race was almost wiped from face of the earth. While Keyon didn't really care if they had been destroyed or not, they had been his father's greatest supporters since his father slew the Wizard and cemented his position as Overlord and for that alone was worth keeping them around. If they continued to remain loyal and Keyon then he would hold them in higher regard than any of his human subjects, if they began to rebel Keyon would have to subjugate them.
Keyon's Minions didn't like all the foliage, they remembered all the monstrous frogs that could swallow a Minion whole and Wisps which couldn't be harmed by blades or any sort of physical attack. Only the Blues could harm them and only three of them traveled with them now, not enough to make the others feel safe in this magical land.
Keyon and his horde continued on the winding dirt path until they reached the wide opening where once stood the tree that connected Oberon to the land and gave birth to the corruption that nearly swallowed the entirety of Evernight. In this clearing were now many small but well constructed huts made of living plants and stone. Small they were perhaps but they were each large enough to easily house a family of three and not be too restrictive. The Elves were going about their business, many seemingly unchanged from their time under the thumb of the Dwarves thanks to their amazingly long lives but were now Elven children playing among the brush, a product of the Elven women Keyon's father had spared. Given the choice between gold and the exploitation of a long lived race he chose to become a savior to the Elves so that he could get monthly tithes from them. It took many years but Keyon's father was able excavate the ruins of Goldo Golderson's fortress and acquire all the lost gold so there was no lost for the former Overlord. Now all that gold was sitting in Keyon's treasure vault, and he couldn't be happier about it, but now was time for business. Not to dwell on happy thoughts of gold.
Keyon leered down at his Minions, silently telling them to be on their best behavior here. He needed the cooperation of the Elves if he was going to find this rogue Elf that was with among the heroes who had ruined his life. With proud steps he stepped into the Elven village, his very presence enough to cause the children to stop their games and run to cover to peek out at the tall man in scary armor. The farther he walked into the village the more and more people stopped to stare at Keyon and his Minions. Keyon could feel their eyes upon him, but he continued to carry himself with as much prestige as he could until he came to the exact center of the little village and stopped. He didn't have to wait long as the Elves came out of their homes to get a closer look at their savior, or at least the man who looked like the man who had saved them.
Keyon turned to the nearest Elf, he knew he wouldn't have to be as rough as he had to be towards the peasants in Heaven's Peak because the peasants were more likely to just run away at his approach. Keyon motioned for the Elf to come closer which he slowly did.
"Can I help you?" The Elf asked slowly, not knowing how to behave around the supposedly dead savior of the Elves.
"I desire the head of the rogue Druid, Evan Tangle." Keyon's words were as clear as they were harsh. "No one attacks my tower and lives for very long. I require the knowledge of the Elves to locate this treacherous dog."
Another Elf came closer to Keyon, "Evan Tangle is a denouncer of yours mighty one... He claims that you are an evil that will one day do things far worse than what the hated dwarves did to our race. He has been using strange spells lately..."
"Strange spells you say?" Keyon mused, stepping closer to the Elf. "So you have seen him then?"
"N-no my lord! The village elder spoke with the spirits of the fallen to watch Evan Tangle. He would know all that you want to know my lord!"
"Take me to this elder of yours." Keyon glared straight at this Elf, absently shifting which hand held his axe.
The Elf's interest in the overlord had been almost solely on the deadly weapon that Keyon held in his armored hands. If the Minions had been doing more than watching their master and laugh at how scared the Elves were of their master then they would have been more feared. It was only his appearance and the darkness that surrounded him that made the Elves give the overlord such a wide berth. In truth they saw him as a friend, but one that was to be kept at a distance. The overlord did after all slaughter nearly every Dwarf in the Golden Hills just to kill the Dwarven king, Goldo Golderson.
The Elf lead Keyon and his Minions to an unremarkable hut on the outskirts of the settlement. Keyon was curious that the head of this community would live on the fringes of the village rather than live in the center where any could seek his council. The young overlord decided that it did not deserve further speculation, the Elves had their own way of doing things, if the old man planned on living out where the creatures of the night could drag him off it was his decision. Keyon remembered the words of his mother; 'The Elves are strange.'
Keyon turned to his Minions and told them to stand guard at the entrance of the hut while he talked to the elder. The Minions obeyed his command and stood at the doorway while he went inside. It was a clean hut, if a little too green and leafy for the overlord's tastes. Standing in the middle of the room was the oldest Elf in the village. He appeared to be only in the beginning of his aged years, as all of the older Elves had passed on during the raids on Evernight and the others had died under the harsh treatment of the Dwarves. He still looked young by human standards but he was actually well beyond any age that any living human could claim, some wrinkles adorned his ageless face and his wheat gold hair was beginning to silver. His clothes were fashioned to resemble the same type worn by the Elven ghosts. Perhaps it was his way of saying if his time came he was ready to go.
The aging Elf motioned to the elegantly designed chair at the equally exquisite which Keyon gladly sat upon and was a little surprised that it could support the weight of both him and his heavy steel armor. The elder took an identical chair and sat comfortably in front of the overlord with a curious but not overly positive expression.
"I hear you seek Evaneskel Tangle," The elder said, using the Druid's full Elven name. "I know that he wronged you but is that enough reason to kill him?"
Keyon's glowing blue eyes narrowed and burned red, his response voiced his subdued indignation. "He attacked my Tower with a gaggle of other heroes. If Dwarves were to raid your forest or temple again would you not cry out for vengeance?"
The elder showed no outward expression of agitation which only served to further irritate the overlord. "Perhaps, but before we talk of such things perhaps we should drop these façade. It is obvious to me that you are not the same man that freed us from bondage and who we owe our lives to."
Keyon decided to play coy, the belief that the overlord had survived the attack was what kept the Elves so loyal. He needed all the help he could get and he did not want to dredge through these woods day after day searching for one Elf. "What makes you say such things?"
"Through my deep meditations and my days spent at the mother goddess temple among my fallen ancestors I have grown the ability to sense the auras of all living things." The Elf explained plainly. "You are similar to the man who released us from bondage but you clearly are not same man."
Keyon chuckled and sat at the Elven Elder's table, they had much to discuss. "True, I am the son of the man who you owe your lives to. I say 'owe' because I too require your assistance in tracking down Evan Tangle, one of the Heroes that slew my father, your liberator."
The Elder's brow tightened at this news, he knew that Keyon wished for Evan's head but he had not known that Evan Tangle the renegade Druid of Evernight had gone so far to betray the Overlord who had taken him from the gold mine where giant slugs nearly devoured Elf and Dwarf alike. The Elder calmed himself and regained his composure, leaning forward with his hands crossed as if he was bargaining over the trade of meat and grain.
"What else did these 'heroes' do to spite you?" The elder asked pointedly.
Keyon frowned under his helmet, he didn't owe this Elf any answers, it was only for the sake of keeping the pointy eared idiots on his side that he answered. "They destroyed my home, murdered my father and mother, and stolen nearly everything from my Tower. I have already taken the life of a disturbed cleric that had taken over Heaven's Peak and reclaimed the gold that rightfully belongs to me. However I have only one hopeless servant to keep my home in order and I know not where this rogue Elf dwells."
"Well, in hopes that you will see that the Elves are still in your father's debt I can help in both respects. Evan Tangle has been sighted skulking around the caves that used to house those dreadful skull creatures. Not far from the Temple to the mother goddess." The elder said to Keyon's delight. "But before you leave I have a gift for you, think of it as a coronation present for the son of the overlord."
The aging Elf rose from his chair and walked quietly to the door, almost tripping over a napping Brown. Keyon had to bite his tongue to keep from breaking into hysterics, he like all young people loved gifts but he was even more so since he rarely received gifts that did not have to do with some sort of lesson or training for becoming the future overlord.
Regardless the Minions let the Elf through and followed as their master walked after the Elven elder. They were led beyond the outskirts of the village to the side of the slow river that wound its way through Evernight. There on the shore gathering water in buckets to take back to the village was a young Elven woman. This Elven woman stood a foot shorter than Keyon, had glittering shoulder length silver hair that was elegantly decorated with pink flowers. Her piercing green eyes seemed to pull at Keyon's very soul as she glanced at the young overlord and walked towards the village elder.
"May I help you father?" She asked politely, bowing slowly to her father and to Keyon.
Her father smiled as he motioned to the young overlord. "Maya, I would like you to go with the overlord to work for him. He will be your master and you will serve him in all respects."
Keyon was on the fence about this, Elves were magical creatures by nature and she could present a danger if she one day she desired to attack him. Despite being allies to the Elves Keyon did not fully trust them, they always seemed so calm and at peace with themselves and everything. It made them seem passionless and without any personality. The fact that the elder would give his own daughter to servitude just perplexed Keyon further.
'Maya' only smiled in response to her father's announcement that she was now Keyon's servant. "It will be an honor to serve the hero of the Elves. I will go willingly with you master and I will do anything to please you. Anything."
That emphasis on 'anything' caused Keyon to recoil in embarrassment, but his helmet's darkness hid his red face well. "Well, er... head to the Tower Gate and Minion Master Gnarl will give you your assignments. I have to hunt down a thieving druid."
"I wish you luck mighty overlord." The elder waved as Keyon and his Minions walked on towards the Cave of skulls were out of sight before turning to his daughter. "You understand your mission and what it means if you succeed?"
"Of course father. I know I won't fail... Good bye father." Maya clasped her father in a tight hug before setting off towards the Overlord's Tower Gate to report for duty.
Keyon grinned as he trekked through the thick foliage of Evernight, mentally and physically prepared for another fight to the death.
--
After spending half an hour minutes of washing that disgusting Green Minion had called it quits. While the Minion had been pretty well behaved due to it's fascination with the soap bubbles, the overall stink seemed to permeate the water and soap and made her feel quite ill. Once the Green's foul odor was dulled Ziva simply left the Minion sitting in the small wash tub to do as he pleased. Her job had been to wash the little booger, not to keep an eye on him.
Ziva had spent rest of her time wandering the Tower's lower and higher floors. She had learned a lot about her new home's different rooms, and during her wanderings of the Spawning pit she was so glad that Keyon hadn't commanded her to clean anything down there. It stank down there. She had seen the Dungeon, and the upper rooms but the one that grabbed her interest was the forge and how armor and weapons were empowered.
Minions are creatures born from different kinds of gathered life force and when the overlord wanted to strengthen his armor or weapons he would throw his Minions in with the molten metal and then forge the metal into the desired shape. Doing so would imbue the metal with properties similar to the Minion's characteristics.
"So does that mean that only metals can be empowered by life force? Would it be possible to infuse power into something like stones or wood?" Ziva asked aloud, examining the three different forges.
Giblet, the forgemaster Minion only shrugged because he had never wondered about such things. He only knew how to work the forges and to hammer red hot metal into arms and armor.
"Well why don't we try? Come on!" Ziva whined, trying to play the sympathy card on the little Brown Minion.
Giblet gulped, he didn't want any part of this. If he started forging things for slaves there would be heck to pay from Gnarl or worse yet the overlord. But thankfully he wouldn't have to, his sensitive ears picked up the magical echo of the Tower gate being activated, someone or something was coming through.
Ziva however had no chance of hearing such a sound, but she could read the expression on Giblet's face. His long ears were raised straight up and he had turned towards the stairway that led back to the throne room.
"What's up Giblet?" Ziva asked.
"Visitor here, but not master..." Giblet said, in a sad pathetic voice that almost made Ziva feel like giving the little critter a hug. Not really but she was close to doing it.
Being the curious girl that she was Ziva climbed the winding stairs to see this 'visitor' for herself. But as she came closer and closer she could hear Gnarl talking to someone.
"Well young lady it is so refreshing to see someone enter the tower and desire to become a servant to the overlord." Gnarl rasped, "There's another servant around the tower however the master has allowed her the day off to learn the layout of the tower. Sadly she's nothing but a lazy layabout. If you see her have her show you about, I will no doubt have more for you to do once the master returns."
Ziva gritted her teeth, her dislike for the old Minion returned like a thunderclap as she overheard Gnarl calling her lazy. But her concentration shifted from punting the old Minion like a child's ball to fascination at this new arrival. Ziva had never before seen an Elf, but it was clear that this young woman was indeed one of the forest dwelling folk.
Maya's reaction to this other girl was not that of curiosity, but of subdued hostility. This young woman was wearing a nice red sundress, no doubt a gift from the overlord. If this whelp was planning on seducing the young master of this tower she had another thing coming.
"Now ladies, I leave you to get acquainted. There are some tasty beetles down in the Spawning pits that are calling to me." With those last words the Minion master licked his lips and proceeded to the descending stairway to hunt down a crunchy snack.
--
To be continued.
--
AN: Well there you have it. Maya is the second mistress choice but don't cast your votes yet. I need more time to develop both her personality and Ziva's before I leave the choice up to you people. So hold your horses. Also, Overlord fans come join us at the Overlord section of the Misc games forums. We need people. One last thing: I'd like to say that I LOVE YOU PEOPE! Last chapter had 10 reviews! A record for one of my chapters!
Warrior of Virtue - Thanks. But I'll try to keep these going none the less.
spedclass - Will do, or I'll try.
blackrogue123 - Yeah. So when you see a cleric... BURN THEM! XD No not really...
anon - go reviewer.
Night's Beloved - Yeah I admit it that I'm not perfect and I make errors, but I do run my chappies through a spell checker and eye it quickly before posting it. Still some errors do come through, but I'm more peeved at misspelling words than grammar errors, they're not important in my eyes. As for the Anti hero thing, that was the major thing people complained about in overlord, that many of your quests had positive outcomes for your peons. But I noted that unlike usual 'choice' games your evil path receives more bonuses than your good one. As reference in black and white (1&2) the good path is almost always rewarded, while evil is almost always the same as failure. Still I'm just glad to get another person favorited this fic. I try my best.
Amorphusshadow - Will do. Also you don't have to give me too much credit, although I feel the greatest honor on this site is inspiring another writer to write. I'd gladly stop by the forum, I have my own forum to do with as I please but the truth is no one stops by or stays long. You won't be seeing the Bard for a while however. -looks at the Misc Games forums- I totally forgot that I made an overlord forum on FF August 07 but no one's shown up, and I just now deleted it.
Tabansi232 - Yeah, he's strong, has magical talent, but his mother pretty much beat the hormones straight out of him. I imagine she had to beat him a lot since there were plenty of scantily clad women around.
Feneris - Glad you liked it, keep reviewing because I need more motivation!
BrazeRancor - First; glad you're reading the reviews, it makes me glad that people aren't just skipping over them. Second; I'm not writing the zelda/overlord fic, Amorphusshadow is doing that and you can help give ideas at the overlord forum in the misc game section of FF's game forums. Give us a visit.
almostinsane - Of course I'll read it. I really wish that Overlord would get it's own section in games. I mean there are sections on FF that have 1 story or less in it while in misc sections there are sometimes 10 or more of another series... FF's admins are strange like that. -shrug-
