Chapter 14: The Scent of Cherry Blossoms

Road to Ostrhinesburg: Campsite

The Overlord watched Setsuka out of the corner of his eye as the girl drifted off into dreamland. He noted that she was sleeping in the fetal position, shivering and crying out at odd moments. Yeah, that seed of pity in his head was growing at a rather alarming rate, perhaps to the point where it stopped being pity and turned into something else, like concern, which wasn't exactly far off from something else. She was beautiful, in a rather harsh sort of way, but really, he already had three wives. There had to be some kind of limit, otherwise he'd wind up like that predecessor of his that he had read about with twelve mistresses. He couldn't fathom how that man had cared for all of them. On a material level was a different story as he would never be short on gold. But emotionally being there for twelve women, that he could not begin to understand.

A particularly loud whimper drew his eyes back to Setsuka's restless form as she started to thrash about. That must have been quite some nightmare she was having, which brought up the question of whether or not he should do something. But he had said he wasn't going to touch her while she slept, so his hands were rather tied. Even if they weren't, what would he do? Hold her hand?

He lifted both hands to his head and slowly pulled his helm off before setting the elaborate headgear on his knee. A sigh escaped him as he used both hands to massage his temples. "Is it just me, or do I seem to have a marked penchant for 'damaged goods' so to speak?" He spoke to himself aloud as he rattled off the various issues his current wives had faced upon meeting him. "Sophitia, her family was dead and she felt responsible, crushing her soul under a mass of guilt. Isabella, repeated betrayals of her trust leading to an all-consuming mistrust of everyone and everything. Taki, she was emotionally dead and didn't know it." He shook his head, amazed with himself. "Of course, even saying that I wouldn't change a thing." A wry, insincere complaint issued from his mouth. "Why exactly am I incapable of developing a relationship with a woman that starts with a simple, mutual, physical attraction?"

On a whim he picked his helmet up again, turning it around in his hands so he was looking into the helm instead of out like he usually was. It was curious to note that, even with the light of the fire so close, it was patently impossible to see inside the arcanium art piece. A random thought hit him of how easy it would be to run a practical joke on him by simply putting something in his helmet, although that would imply that his helmet would need to be left upside down, which was a rather obvious tell.

With a deft flick of his wrist he flipped the helmet and caught it neatly on his head. A moment passed before he spoke aloud again, mostly to himself. "You know, just because I can stay awake for a week doesn't mean I should. It'd be a bit different if I was by myself, I could just keep walking until I got to Ostrhinesburg." He cast a glance towards his charge. "Playing nursemaid means this trip is going to take a bit longer." He leaned back against a tree, hands crossed behind his head. "Although, I suppose it won't be so bad. Four days of walking in silence compared to a week and a day, maybe, with someone to talk to. Telepathy just isn't the same."

He started to close his eyes, and flipped them open again just long enough to summon a handful of Wraiths to keep watch in lieu of himself. Even if the road was mostly deserted there was no point in taking unnecessary risks. After all, take enough million to one chances and eventually the odds would catch up to you. He closed his eyes again, in earnest this time, and fell asleep.

Road to Ostrhinesburg: Morning

Setsuka knew that she wasn't fully awake yet, but something on the edge of her senses, or else dulled by the twilight state of her consciousness, was beckoning to her with all the irresistible allure of wagashi, drenched in sugar. That, or she was simply famished and whatever it was, it was simply edible. She hadn't eaten in at least two days after all. Her eyes snapped open to the sight of The Overlord, and a large piece of meat roasting on a crude rotisserie over the fire. Now that she was fully awake, her mind settled on the "it was delicious" option and her stomach growled in anticipation. Although, growled was admittedly a bit of an understatement.

The Overlord glanced up at her briefly, and then focused his attention back on the slab. "Morning to you to." He gestured towards the fire; "I'm going to assume from that lion you call a stomach that you're hungry." A chuckle issued from within the shadowed helm. "It's a good thing I caught a rather large animal." He tore off a haunch from whatever animal it had been and offered it to her; "Help yourself."

She gingerly reached out and took hold of the haunch by the ends of the charred bone sticking out from either end. Lacking utensils, and left with no other course of action, she bit into the meat as daintily as she could, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.

The Overlord seemed amused by this. "No need to stand on ceremony, we're out in the wilds. That, and you are obviously starving." Sensing her hesitation he continued, "Oh don't worry about it. I'd actually rather you hurry, then we can be on our way sooner."

Thus encouraged she dug in with gusto. It wasn't hard. Whatever animal The Overlord had killed had been in pristine condition, and the taste reflected that. The meat was rich, juicy, flavorful, and it practically melted in her mouth. It was, quite literally the best thing she had ever eaten on this side of the world. It couldn't compare to primo sushi fresh out of the bay, but it was up there. As she inhaled the haunch she noticed that she was the only one really digging in. The Overlord seemed content to just watch, head in hand, chuckling away at her. Every once in a great while he would absently reach over to the slab hanging over the smoldering embers and tear off a small sliver which was then guided to his helmet. She would have thought it obvious that the morsels wound up in his mouth, she just couldn't see that. It was a rather creepy picture when the food simply vanished upon reaching that narrow gap in the helmet/crown.

She finished and set the bone, picked clean, on the ground beside her. The Overlord followed this observation with a simple question, "Finished?"

She folded her hands into her lap, feeling somewhat piggish compared to a man at least half again her size and weight, "I, yes."

The Overlord nodded once, then lifted his left hand and snapped his fingers. At the sound a ragged black tear opened on the ground, swallowing the fire and the remaining meat before closing and leaving no trace of either. "I'm sure that the minions in the Spawning Pits will be overjoyed with this unexpected bounty. If they could string two brain cells together they would be smothering you with thanks right about now."

The memory of the little goblins made her shudder involuntarily, especially all of those little hands touching her as she was sent down to the dungeon like a twig carried by ants. It was hard for her to imagine those little monsters as anything other than that, monsters. But she had only had one contact with them, so she supposed she might have been wrong. Although in her mind that was a very big maybe.

The Overlord stood up and ushered her onto the road. "I can tell that you're skeptical. I suppose I would be as well, but they really aren't anything more than delightfully demented idiots. Seriously, if I hadn't told them to take you to the Dungeon they would have just stood there gawking at you all day. I am even forced to remind them to put your hands and feet in the manacles, even though that would seem to be common sense." Off slightly to her right in the middle of the road The Overlord shook his head. "Would you just listen to me? I didn't bring you along so I could complain about the logical failings of my minions."

She hesitated, not wanting to sound like an idiot but curious enough and, god forbid, concerned enough to ask anyway. "You uh, barely ate anything. Are you sure that's exactly, healthy?"

The Overlord almost froze mid-stride, but kept going, forcing her to as well. "My my, if I didn't know you were quite young I would almost call that motherly concern. Last night you were worried that I won't get enough sleep, now it's me not eating." She thought she saw a ghost of a smile flash her way from within the helmet. "As I said last night, your concern is duly noted, but unnecessary. I could probably explain how the whole thing works, but I'm sure you don't want to hear me go on for hours about complex metallurgy involving high-grade magic and minion sacrifices."

A grimace crossed her face, but she hid it before The Overlord saw it, or so she thought. "That does sound rather, distasteful."

The Overlord shot her another glance and kept walking. "Well this is a pleasant surprise. When you aren't trying to kill me you're quite polite. I'd almost go so far as to say ladylike."

Her eyes fell far enough to see the tips of her toes as she walked. "Would you mind not mentioning…" A thought hit her mind like a slap to the face. "Wait, did you, just call me ladylike?"

A wry laugh preceded the response. "I was under the impression that saying such a thing was a compliment. Was I wrong?"

She stammered, "No, of course not!"

Inside, her stomach did a flip. Her master had tried to teach her how to be a lady before Mitsurugi showed up. The endless times she had repeated that tea ceremony until she had perfected it. The proper way to walk down the street, even if her height and the color of her skin made the other people glare at her. Even going so far as teaching her how to do origami. If he knew that his efforts had bore fruit, he would be so proud of her. And The Overlord would know, right? He was royalty, or at least he knew what royalty acted like, right?

The Overlord commented, "Well, apparently I said something right. I haven't seen someone glowing that much, figuratively, since Velvet got to watch me boot her sister out of the Tower." Before she could ask the obvious next question the answer was offered to her, "My late wife."

She was still curious, especially considering the memory she had of three other women clustered around The Overlord when she had mistakenly arrived in his home. Still, she was well aware that asking about a dead loved one might be a bad move. "What was she like?"

The Overlord didn't immediately respond. Instead he looked off into the distance for a while, silent save the rhythmic clack of his armor at every step. When he did speak, his voice had an almost trance-like note to it on top of the baritone rumble. "Velvet was, put in two words, delightfully wicked. She liked watching people be tortured, got off on it actually. She had been spoiled her entire life, something I really couldn't help but continue. She loved black lace, tried to dress up some of the minions one time, now that I think about it. And, well, one time she saved my life from being wholly consumed, by her own father no less…"

The Overlord spoke as if he was looking right at the woman he was describing, not speaking to a near-stranger sometime in the future and reciting information from memory. There was a note of wistfulness in his voice, a passive desire more comparable to missing someone who was simply far away, rather than dead, a warmth in his words that made the connection she had had with her master seem trivial. And yet, there was resignation as well. He knew that "Velvet" was forever beyond his reach and had moved on with his life. But he was undoubtedly older than she was, so that logically meant that he had had much longer to come to terms with her death, right?

Following her train of thought she asked the next question. "How, how long ago was this? I mean…"

The Overlord silenced her with a glance. "Velvet died about eight months ago, give or take a week. Murdered by her own sister."

Again, she felt like she had been slapped in the face. Only eight months? How long had she been stewing over her master's death, almost six years? Such a realization made her feel petty, childish, and just an overall horrible person. Velvet had obviously meant far more to The Overlord than her master had meant to her, and she was the one who couldn't let go.

Her response was automatic, no thought involved at all. "That's terrible!"

The Overlord's eyes seemed to tick towards her as quickly as the sun moved across the sky. "I know that Setsuka. I was there, remember?"

She physically winced, not from the rebuke, which was deliberately worded to be gentle, but from her own carelessness. How could she, of all people, be so insensitive to this particular topic? "I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

The Overlord lifted a hand and silenced her. "Relax. No need to get yourself worked up over an off-the-cuff comment."

She made a weak attempt at a joke. "You know, you seem very forgiving for an Evil Overlord."

He seemed to take her joke seriously. "It comes from long practice. Especially when it comes to ignoring certain trespasses when I know the offender doesn't know any better." The Overlord shot her a sidelong glance, "Keep in mind that I'm not referring to you at this point." His gaze turned forward again. "Besides, in all honesty, if I killed everyone that offended me, both this world and my own would be almost devoid of life by now. The trick lies in trying to focus on the redeeming qualities of whomever I'm trying to not murder." He paused for a moment and seemed to be deep in thought. "Shall I regale you with a story from my past to illustrate my point?"

She was touched by the consideration, and the thought of saying no was only a fleeting notion. "Go right ahead, I'm intrigued."

The Overlord nodded once and began. "In my world there is a town called Heaven's Peak. Now, don't let the name fool you, the city is situated above a bog and there is nothing heavenly about it. Anyway, around the time of this tale the entire city was suffering from a disease, a plague if you will, that turned the infected into a rotting corpse that walked around and attacked people, in turn infecting them. Usually all it took was a bite, or so I recall." He chuckled, "My memory is not perfect, much as I might wish it otherwise. But when I call to mind the state of that wretched refugee camp in the sewers I was forced to slog through, I don't remember really caring about how the infection was transmitted."

One fact so far gave her cause to interject. "But, if a single bite was all it took, then how did you avoid becoming infected yourself?"

The Overlord shrugged, "Again, I truly cannot say. But if I had to guess I would suggest the dark magic saturating my body. I'll not deny that I was bitten many, many times. It was rather hard not to considering I was always being swarmed by dozens of them in the sewers. And each bite burned something fierce. Imagine being stung by a whole hive of bees and that might be an apt comparison." He shook his head. "But I've gotten way off topic. On the East side of the city, through yet another zombie infested area, is a tavern called Halfway to Heaven, something of a cross between a brothel and a bar. As it was a bar, it stands to reason that there was a very large crowd of drunk men there and, as drunk men are often doing, they were acting extremely belligerent."

There was a pause, in which The Overlord cast a thoughtful glance skyward. "Now, I don't mean to sound arrogant, but who in their right mind would challenge me with only a beer mug for a weapon? Every one of them and their brother starts insulting everything about me from my glowing eyes, to questioning the integrity of my mother's nether regions. I distract myself from the urge to hang them up by their entrails and parade their corpses through the streets with the thought that these were simple working men that were trying to unwind in an apocalyptic setting." A derisive snort issued from the inside of the helmet. "My thought however, proved to be completely false. Every single one of them, save the town blacksmith, was a lazy do-nothing that let his wife do everything. That was when I acted out my elaborate revenge fantasy, nailing most of the whining husbands up by their thumbs, letting a swarm of flesh-eating insects devour them from the inside out, and then putting each of their heads up on spikes around the perimeter of the Tower." The Overlord turned his gaze back to her. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that a bit too much detail?"

She put a hand to her mouth, as if that was enough to fight down the bile threatening to make her lose the meal she had eaten earlier that morning. She managed to get a few words out. "A little bit, yes. Perhaps, a different story, with less gory details?"

The Overlord tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Perhaps, ah yes, the tale of my efforts in Evernight Forest then. Most of my foes there were dead already, with no blood to speak of. It all started with…"

Road to Ostrhinesburg: Evening

Setsuka listened on with bona fide awe as The Overlord rattled on about the adventures that he had had. He told her of deserts inhabited by great worms that could swallow a city, forests where elves lived in communion with nature, caves where water was so plentiful that you'd be soaked to the skin just from stepping inside, and the Abyss. That most of all stood out in the stories. Every single detail that she heard of from those stories matched every detail every fanatical priest had ever spouted about Hell. So basically The Overlord was telling her, in no uncertain terms, that he had been to Hell and back no less than five times. Even more, he was telling her that he was the master, no, king of those abysses. Ergo, the king of Hell. She owed her life to the king of Hell, and that was wrong on so many levels but, did it really matter?

On the other hand, all those stories made her think. She had traveled herself, as obvious as that was with her growing up in Japan and now standing in some European country she had never bothered to learn the name of. What bothered her about that was that she had gone all over the map, but never actually experienced any of it. She was sure that there were places she had been worthy of suitable awe, but she had simply passed them by, so dead set she had been on revenge. It made her realize how hollow her life was, and question whether or not her master would be pleased by how she was living. He would have wanted vengeance, but at the cost of her life?

The Overlord wrapped up his latest tale, that of the Infernal Abyss. "… It was around then when I became aware of the impending treachery of my current jester, Quil. Some quick spellwork was required to counteract the trap that minion somehow managed to set up. I'm glad I managed to, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here." As often happened, there was a break into which The Overlord interjected a chuckle and a wry remark. "In hindsight that was probably a good move anyway. Especially considering how completely unimaginative he was in devising titles for my reign."

Far from finding the frequent interruptions disruptive, she found them enlightening. It was very nice to have his insight, especially since he had had a few years to mull things over. She'd only had a few questions over the course of the entire day, and she had another one now. "Titles?"

The Overlord rolled both his head and eyes. "Oh indeed. The jesters love coming up with titles for every sundry act I perform. Usually ranging from amusing to insulting. My previous jester was a big fan of 'insulting.' And if you don't mind, I'd rather not repeat most of them. It'd take another day and a half for me to recount them all anyway."

Deciding to press her luck, and The Overlord's goodwill, she forged ahead. "Well, how about just one?"

The Overlord starred at her for a short while before relenting. "Very well. I think you'll only need to hear one to get the gist of it. Which would you rather hear, amusing or insulting?"

Unable to resist the chance she had just had handed to her, the choice was rather simple. "I think I'll try my luck with, insulting."

A snort preceded the response. "Heh, well I was all but asking for that." He started to mutter, his eyes looking skyward. "Let's see, one that will illustrate the whole picture. Ah, after my efforts in the Heaven's Peak Abyss, Quil devised this particularly snarky one." Somehow The Overlord manipulated his voice up an octave, and threw on the most melodramatic air she had ever seen. "Preventer of the Floral-Print Menace!"

She had to fight to keep her composure, and it was more difficult than every battle she had ever fought before, combined. It got to the point where she was crying from trying to suppress the urge to collapse onto the ground so she could devote all of her energy to laughing. In all honesty, the title in and of itself probably wasn't all that funny. But it was more the image of The Overlord making a minor fool out of himself purely for her enjoyment. On that topic, it was very nice of him.

Somewhat to her surprise, a yawn cleaved through her mirth. It was only then that she realized that it was very late in the evening. Late enough that the sun was only just above the horizon. Its fiery glare was enough to force her to raise a hand to ward off the light.

The Overlord apparently followed her gaze to the horizon. "Hmm? Oh, how time does fly. I could've sworn we only set out an hour or so ago. Regardless, it was a very entertaining day. I don't think any of my wives have ever asked for a complete re-telling of my adventures."

She pulled her eyes away from the sunset, beautiful though it was. "Adventures? You really see all of this as one big adventure? Not, conquest?"

The Overlord's spiked shoulders rose and fell, and she was struck by the curiosity of how many people had met their end on those huge spines. "Conquest, adventure, they are both interchangeable terms with me. Would you believe me if I told you that before arriving in this world I was suffering from a severe case of cabin fever? I am the complete master of my homeworld. There is nothing left for me to see or conquer there." He made a grand sweeping gesture that was obviously meant to encompass the entire world. "So far, I have not seen anything exceptionally grand that I have not seen before. Large mountain ranges, sunsets on the ocean, forests that cover the land as far as the eye can see, I have seen each of these things many times, enough that they have lost their appeal. I am egged on by the knowledge that this is but one small continent. And if it took me close to five years to bring my world completely to heel, I can only imagine how long this will take."

The Overlord's driving ambition was utterly inspiring, and he was humble about it. Again, the thought was a double-edged sword that made her feel good, and at the same time made her take yet another hard look at her life. She had no ambition for anything, never had any beyond killing Mitsurugi. She really needed to stop doing this to herself, these were borderline suicidal thoughts, and she ostentatiously had no desire to perform hara kiri.

The Overlord increased his pace a bit, gaze sweeping back and forth from one side of the road to the other. "Now, if I remember correctly I'm sure there was a campsite that my troops used en route to Ostrhinesburg. Where…" Her chaperone took two more steps before bolting off to the left. "Ah, and here we are. The soldiers were even considerate enough to leave a bundle of logs for the next traveler, which just so happens to be us." Leaving her to her own devices, The Overlord started to tend the fire; so much as he needed to when he lit the flame with a snap of his fingers. "Perhaps, on the morrow, you can tell me a little about you since we seem to have devoted all of today to my ramblings."

She objected, "I happened to enjoy myself quite a bit, if you must know. It didn't seem like rambling to me at all."

Another deep chuckle emanated from the helm. "There's that lady's politeness again. Not bad, Isabella would have had a conniption by now. Not to mention she'd have blisters the size of my anvil back home." He laughed again, louder this time. "I would insist that she not wear those heels, but that woman is almost independent to a fault. Her sense of style is as important to her as her survival. I'd call her mad, if I didn't appreciate that trait so much."

Her next question seemed to make sense, at least before she said it. "Then, you only like independent women?" Inside her head she immediately screamed at herself, the words popping in so fast that they blended together. 'Oh my god why did you say that?'

The Overlord stared at her for what felt like a very long time before answering, and when he did his words came out at a slower lilt. "I should hope not. That would mean I hate two of my wives; Sophitia and Taki. Although, I suppose Taki sort of falls into somewhat of a middle ground in that category." His eyes narrowed, and she could easily imagine the sly smile spreading across his hidden mouth. "If I may, why are you so curious as to what kind of woman I like?"

Not quite knowing the answer herself, her only response was to stammer until she just clamped her mouth shut. Not that she could have made herself any more foolish by saying anything else. Well, she could have burst out with a declaration of love, and that would most certainly been even more humiliating… Oh dear god she had not just thought about that. Worse, she had nothing to go on. If, and it was a big if, she actually felt something for The Overlord it would be a life first. She'd, she'd never even kissed a boy before. It wasn't that she hadn't tried, in the brief periods of her life when her loneliness had overshadowed her drive for revenge. But the men in Japan thought she was a freak due to her height and pale skin, and Europeans thought that she was a freak because she wore a kimono and acted somewhat like the Japanese. Her master had been the only person ever to have accepted her without reservations, and he was dead. In a way though, The Overlord reminded her of her master. It was in that kind, self-assured manner that he had, and how he was the single most powerful warrior she had ever known. Her master had been like that, until Mitsurugi arrived. Now though, she had a hard time imagining who could be even more powerful than a man that could literally become a walking inferno, was the king of Hell, and broke other men in half with a single blow. If she was going to fall for someone, could she make a better choice, provided that the feeling was reciprocated?

The Overlord's merry voice interrupted her jumbled thoughts. "Regardless, at least I won't have to bother handing over my mantle again for the night. You never gave it up to begin with."

She unconsciously hugged the black cloth around herself, noting that she had completely forgotten that it was there, "I, ah, I'm sorry?"

The Overlord waved her apology away. "Don't worry about it. I never bothered to ask for it back, so it's my error."

She waited for a moment, trying to process everything, when a question popped into her head. "Why exactly are you so tolerant of everything I do? Of what most everyone does?"

One loud laugh burst from deep in The Overlord's chest. "Setsuka, if you had to put up with the amount of things that I have to, you'd probably be a bit more tolerant of the world around you too. One servant of mine, by the name of Sarah, is completely incompetent. She has started more fires in my Tower than I can count. Now, either she is a secret pyromaniac that is very good at acting like an air-headed ditz. Or she is simply that. What makes the situation marginally worse is that she always believes, with one-hundred percent surety, that she is helping. That makes it patently impossible for me to stay angry with her for more than an hour."

She just shook her head and huddled her body up against a tree, ready to nod off at a moment's notice. The only thing stopping her was the fact that she couldn't pull her eyes away from The Overlord's glowing eyes.

Road to Ostrhinesburg: Second Campsite

Erasmus hummed a mild tune to himself as he prodded the fire, noting in the back of his mind that it was the same beat that the Heaven's Peak Reaper had been belting out over his conquest of Wolfkrone. It had been a rather nice day, all things considered. And on that topic, he wasn't at all surprised that he had talked as much as he had. He had always been rather open with those people he considered his friends, or more. That list was just extremely short, always had been. Before he had become The Overlord that entire list had encompassed the seven people that had fought alongside him to kill his predecessor, even though they had failed miserably. After that, well, it had been Velvet until eight months ago.

He glanced over at Setsuka, noticing that the girl's eyes hadn't left him since she lay down, or, more accurately, his own eyes. His earlier query hadn't entirely been jest, more of a test than anything, one that didn't have a real pass/fail mechanic. He had seen the seeds that he had been concerned about in the morning, accelerated by spending an entire day enveloped in his dark presence. And that wasn't him being arrogant; Taki had told him about how simply being nearby had altered her perceptions of him over time. Setsuka had been wrapped in his mantle all day, and now two nights in a row. The same cloth had been wrapped around his shoulders for close to three years. It was probably as saturated with Evil as Sophitia had been immediately after being jolted by the Tower Heart. That was amusing in a certain way, as he had read somewhere, one of the rules of Evil, that the more beautiful and pure something was, the more satisfying it was to corrupt. In another it was quite in conflict with his thoughts from earlier in the day, ergo, infuriating. Now he had some idea of what his twelve mistress ancestor had gone through, only in the acquisition process, and it sounded absolutely horrid when he said it like that.

He leaned back against the tree behind him before summoning a token force of Wraiths. Then he half-closed his eyes and settled in to wait, just to see what would happen. If things played out to his expectations, well, he wouldn't have to move an inch. If not, then he wouldn't have to move either. There just wouldn't be someone clinging to his torso in the morning if he was wrong. He half-found himself hoping he was wrong.

Road to Ostrhinesburg: Second Campsite: Early Morning

Setsuka felt her eyes flip open, the sudden visual input not quite lining up with what she had seen before falling into that blissful void that humanity called sleep. She remembered staring, and there was no other word for it, at or perhaps into the eyes of The Overlord, but she had not remembered being so close. Then she took notice of where her hands were. Her left was lightly resting on the chest plate of The Overlord's armor, fingers holding one of the ridges and that was probably the only thing keeping her hand up. Her right hand was looped around his back, all the way around to the other side of his hip. If she wanted a parallel she could compare it to a couple she had seen a few years back. A pair of young lovers that had sparked in her a feeling of loneliness and envy so intense that it was one of the few times after her master's death when she had completely forgotten about her mortal grudge against Mitsurugi, and now she was mimicking it perfectly with The Overlord, a man she had met only a few days ago.

She looked up into The Overlord's eyes, and found that he was looking back. "In my defense I must say this, I'm not the one who moved."

She sprang up, but only so far as her knees, and found that he was being completely truthful, again. The possibility that he had simply moved her over to him did not even occur to her. Her head was spinning, not because she was totally surprised with her actions, as she had started to suspect herself of harboring such feelings, but for the timetable. Her unconsciously acting so soon on only a suspicion that didn't even account for The Overlord's side of the equation, it was almost inconceivable.

She started to stammer out an apology. "I, I'm-"

The Overlord raised a hand, and she found herself quieting. "Look, Setsuka, I'm going to be honest here." He paused for a moment, "Now, how exactly do I explain this without sounding like an asshole?" He shrugged and started talking. "This, attraction you have isn't wholly of your own creation. Something similar happened to Taki, my third wife. She told me that, over the weeks she pursued me, her perception of my actions was slowly warped simply by being nearby, and by nearby I mean moving through the trees off to one side of the road or the other. That attitude shift only took two weeks. You have been within an arm's reach ever since yesterday, and wrapped in my three-year mantle the whole time." He set a hand lightly on her right shoulder. "I'm not trying to say you're especially weak-willed, because I know that to be untrue, but I'd like for you to be able to make an informed decision."

She fell silent, trying to understand what she had just been told. The Overlord was telling her that her affection, and that's indeed what it was, was purely a figment of her corrupted mind. Well, no, not exactly anyway. The Overlord said that it wasn't entirely her heart making the decision. So amidst the magic clouding her mind there was a genuine kernel of attraction formed by his kindly mannerism, his unwavering acceptance of her, and maybe the way she sensed the possibility of a whole new world opening up to her. Maybe, to her this was a way of finding a purpose again, something beyond mindlessly seeking death across all of creation. Maybe she wanted a home again, and that tied inexorably in with the acceptance. The notion that The Overlord already had three wives was only a periphery concern.

She reached down to loop both of her hands around The Overlord's massive gauntlet. "I, I don't care. Even if all of these thoughts aren't mine, at least some of them are. I don't, want to be alone anymore." A single tear splashed down on the black metal, evaporating almost instantly. "You can understand, right? Please, don't deny me this. I…" Something inside broke, and she slowly leaned forward until her forehead was resting against The Overlord's chest. Even more slowly, The Overlord's free hand slowly rose to rest upon her back, as if to shelter her from the ill will of the entire world.

Dark Tower: Spawning Pits

Sophitia stared through the gauzy lens of the Tower Heart, a dreamy smile on her lips as Setsuka broke down to her husband, now shared between four women in total. Did she care? Not at all. She actually found the whole thing rather touching, but that could just have been because she liked it immensely when Erasmus was acting romantic. Furthermore, the way he was acting right now made her think that Erasmus would make as wonderful a father as he was a husband. With some effort she tore her eyes away from the poignant scene and took a glance down at the hand resting on her middle. Now, more than ever, she truly wanted another child. Even though she knew that Overlords were extremely unlikely to sire children, as per Erasmus's own words. She still had a long way to go before she reached the twilight years of her life, and that was time she planned on putting to good use.

Behind her, there was a distinct lack of noise that ironically told her that someone was there. "Taki? No need to be shy."

The ninja grudgingly stepped forward into the circle of light cast by the Tower Heart, clad in one of the kimonos that Erasmus had purchased. This one was an elegant violet color with blue trim, and blended in with the darkness. Which seemed to be almost a rule when it came down to what Taki would willingly wear.

She gestured towards the huge crystalline orb, directing Taki's attention towards the events unfolding back in Europe. "I think it's fair to say that I win, don't you think?"

The former assassin grumbled while looking down at the floor, "Yes, obviously." Taki lifted her gaze again. "But surely you can admit that 'inside of three days' was an extreme long-shot? And, she hasn't even kissed him yet."

Almost as soon as Taki finished speaking, Setsuka, in the hazy image that they could see, slowly lifted her head, the remains of tears still clinging to her cheeks, and hesitantly drew her lips to the dark gap in Erasmus's helmet. It was adorable, because it was quite obvious that Setsuka had never done this before. And if she'd never even kissed someone, the odds of the next step having happened were slim to none. It wasn't like she was trying to make fun of the young woman, the situation just deserved laugher in a cutesy kind of way.

Taki slowly shook her head, while rubbing her scalp as if to ward off a headache. "I think I'll just stop talking now. Anything I say around here just seems to wind up biting me in the ass."

She crossed her arms, an indignant pout threatening to shine through. "No need to be so bitter. All I asked for if I won this little wager was for you to be a little bit more open with me. Is that really so hard? We're living together, just in case you forgot."

Taki's face fell under a shadow as the ninja looked down. "Just, give me a little bit of time to get used to this. It's been a long time since I lived with anyone. I'm having a difficult enough time coming to terms with, well, you know…"

She nodded, and an unspoken understanding passed between the two of them. Then she decided to push anyway. "You're still coming up to my room for tea after this. Because whether you want to be sociable or not is of no consequence now. You, me, Ivy, and soon Setsuka have a few things to discuss before this is all over, and you know what I'm talking about."

Leaving things at that, she turned back towards the Tower Heart, mind still swimming in the possibilities that lay ahead, for all of them.