[Chapter 4.5: The Great Burden and The Great Beasts]
Vacuus didn't sleep. Why would he? A cosmic entity that could rend reality like paper generally didn't have a need to do so. Still, a bit of shut-eye and respite from his many rowdy siblings was rather appreciated. He stood up from the coach in his living room and stretched. It was a quick fifteen minute routine followed up by inspecting his gear, even though it was spotless every time. He moved towards his office in which he spent much of his time recently, with his many siblings being sent out and him having to manage things.
He was designed to be a killer, arguably the strongest of his siblings alongside Lily, but he didn't resent the paperwork that highlighted peaceful times. His odd appearance also meant that he couldn't freely go out and participate in various activities with the humans. Alas, someone had to make sure Lillius skinned only the people he was authorised to. Now seated at his desk he pulled out a pen that seemed to glisten with precious stones and gold coating, most likely worth a small city-state, alongside a small journal.
In it he wrote, 'Dear Diary, today marks another week we are in this strange world. Soon father shall establish his dominance over the local regions and I will get to explore the outside world. He also promised Galakrond and I first rights against those pesky lizards, once we openly fight against them that is. Maybe I'll even find some worthwhile people out there. Mortals aren't all bad after all.
And you know, I love my siblings, but they can really get on my nerves, how does one forget to switch from explosive munitions? Aah, whatever. Apparently father has something special planned today, maybe a new World Item? It's supposed to be a big deal. Anyway, I have to get to work!' He signed off on it and put it back into his inventory, where no mischievous guardian could reach it.
He began looking through the reports of his siblings' activities and there seemed to be nothing amiss. Lillius' hiccup was corrected with a bit of memory manipulation and that was that, while the workers kept their word and directed attention away from Winston's visit. There were no expenses to take care of given the self-sustaining nature of the city and he didn't have to look at defence, as the city was unreachable by anything other than wild magic and he doubted any Dragon Lord was stupid enough to actually come here.
He stood up and made his way to his bedroom. You'd expect the room of one such as Vacuus to be practical, full of maps and relevant literature, much like Valodan's was. However, when he opened the door, an avalanche of stuffed animals fell upon him. Anything from likenesses of Jaullfish to the newly acquired hamster pet Lily picked up, except made even fluffier; it was all here and made the room rather difficult to traverse. The thing is, a scythe and combat require precise movements, nimble fingers and stable hands, much like sewing which happened to be his hobby.
What could he say? They helped him relax when he was overwhelmed by work or simply bored out of his mind, not to mention that he was a damn good tailor. He dug through the plushies and made his way to his expansive closet, where he stored the clothes he made. The former slaves that Winston picked up, along with the human ones picked up from Stronoff's protection, mostly decided to serve Pyke in the Swimming City, with some choosing to have their memories of the event wiped and given money to start a new life.
Surprisingly, they felt rather at home among eldritch beings that inhabited it, given that their fear of humans was much larger. The elves and the humans got along, albeit tentatively at the beginning. The one who had united them and decided to have them become maids, as the palace desperately needed some, Tsuareninya Veyron or Tsuare for short, became head maid. The clothing he was picking out now was for her, one of the three elven maids, as well as one of the human ones.
The group had taken on their roles very seriously, learning to traverse through the massive city to procure whatever they needed, often being told by the citizens to relax. Of course, they never did and were quickly schooled by some of the citizens endowed with butler and maid-like skills on how to become service worthy for royalty. This included lecturing Lily on not running in the palace corridors every time they caught her doing it.
After their harsh training, that was done in diluted or stopped time for the equivalent of months, to become perfect maids and getting passing grades from even Amal'Thazad, who was the biggest stickler about protocol, Vacuus decided to reward them. They didn't feel worthy of being saved and serving in such a magnificent place, as well as being afraid that they may be kicked out, so they refused any and all gifts, benefits or time off.
No plans to dispose of them were in motion, they were rather liked by all the denizens of the city and it was nice to have people actually temper Lily's shenanigans, all of them doting over the childish guardian like their own daughter. Zesshi got similar treatment from the elven maids given her royal elf status. In total, there were fifteen maids, twelve humans and three elves.
Their zealous work mandated a reward in Vacuus' eyes and so, starting from today, he would give the maids on duty a small gift in the form of the clothes he tailored for them. He discreetly asked Jericho to cast analysis spells on them to get their measurements and easily managed to sew everything in one night. And now here he was, looking over the vast ocean of clothing and trying to pick out the very specific sweater he made for Tsuare…
ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
Ever since she was kidnapped and abused by the noble that managed the demesne she lived in, her life had been miserable. Tsuareninya Veyron, separated from her sister and now sold to the Eight Fingers as a sex slave, was at one point someone you would consider beautiful or, at the very least, very charming. She had long blonde hair and turquoise eyes that for most of her life betrayed nothing but innocence. Now they could be confused with the eyes of a washed up corpse on the shore, lacking in any spark that would indicate life.
Hope had long been extinguished, leaving her with just the wish to end it all. She was strapped to the bed with loosely tied ropes, as her handlers understood she was too broken to escape. The room was blissfully quiet for a while, isolated from the world where she could imagine herself in the endless abyss that awaited after this hellish life. Sadly, that merciful period did not last long as a regular customer came in, the morbidly obese and sadistic Staffan Heivish.
He did what he always did, undressing, getting on top of her and beating her without mercy; constantly mumbling about how he wishes he could do this to the princess, but how he nevertheless was still grateful for an opportunity even with a common, used whore like Tsuare. By this point she was a malnourished body rather than a human, becoming more detached from reality with each subsequent punch, the only thing keeping her alive being the mattress absorbing some of the force.
The fat hands of the deputy impacted her shattered face once again, breaking her upper jaw and knocking out several teeth. Punch by punch, hit by hit she became more and more catatonic, disassociating and trying to preserve what little remained of her consciousness. One of her breasts was squeezed by the pig, but she didn't wail or cry as there were no tears left, only a broken husk.
But then the impossible happened. Through her blurry and bloodied vision she saw a figure take the pig off of her and knock it out. In her mind she was already dead, this being a last vision of the reaper coming to take her soul. Yet a few seconds later she still lived, in fact, she thrived physically, healed by means unknown to her and regaining her by now suppressed and dulled senses. Her brain went into overdrive processing information as the body was restored and activating the flight instincts that once upon a time caused her to try and escape the noble who kidnapped her.
She jumped back and huddled into a corner, making as much distance between herself and the terrifying man as possible. He was scarred, adorned in trophies only the greatest hunters could possess and exuded an aura of terror unlike any she had previously seen; the scent of blood that oozed off of him and his glassy, beady eyes did little to ease her fear. And yet the man acted gently, trying to comfort her, dressing her and eventually gathering the other slaves around her.
They were taken to another man's house, which initially scared them and dug further into the very recent mental wounds, slowly let them acclimate to being back in the real world when the man merely leaving the house entirely to them, taking his domestic service out and telling the former slaves he'd be back in a few days with food. Of course, the first thing the slaves did was to ransack the kitchen in desperation. Whatever it was that healed them, it didn't quench their thirst or hunger, merely restoring them to peak physical condition on the surface.
And indeed the man did come back, leaving food on the doorstep and backing off as he understood how traumatised the women were. The first few days were a disorganised mess as they gathered together for comfort in the cramped house that could not comfortably hold sixteen people. Such a situation of course couldn't continue and the women all looked to Tsuare, who was the first to be liberated and around whom they initially gathered. Day by day they managed to begin sustaining themselves better, Tsuare still privately praying for the mysterious man to come back and help them.
Her prayer would be answered as a vaguely familiar portal opened up. The figure that came out however was not a known one. A blue giant wielding an impossible scythe came through and promptly hit his forehead on the doorframe, "Damn, sometimes I envy Lily." he mumbled as he rubbed the spot where the now-broken board impacted his head. Of course, it didn't hurt Vacuus, but showing a little bit of humanity would go a long way here.
The girls initially jumped back, but in truth were more terrified of humans than the monster that was in front of them. Vacuus opened up another portal, "I am a servant of the man that saved you so be at ease. If you wish to forget about this incident and live in luxury with the money we shall grant you then step through this portal."
After a few brief glances at each other four of the women decided to gamble on the words of the blue behemoth and stepped through the portal. Vacuus closed the previous [Abyssal Gate] and opened another, "Through this gate awaits my lord's city, a realm full of beings such as myself and one of unparalleled wonder. If you decide to go through we would like to offer you employment as maids in the royal palace, where the man who rescued you resides."
The remaining women looked to Tsuare, who, with a meek voice, said "W-w-we'll… go." Gingerly they stepped through the mysterious portal and into what seemed to be another world, where their extensive maid training would begin.
ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
Today was not Tsuare's day on duty and despite being head maid she still worked instead of only delegating work. She had regained a modicum of her past self and after what amounted to over half a year including maid training in frozen time, she was now able to speak fluently to any of the beings in this city. Of course, the worry lingered that they may find her useless and throw her out so she worked as hard as possible; presuming that the rewards offered were traps to test their devotion to the lord of the city she, along with all the other former slaves, denied them.
Their accommodations were fit for nobles, each getting their own suite in the massive palace, ones that were created especially for them when they arrived, as the laws of the world held no sway here; the palace could shift to be an impenetrable maze or add more rooms, the geometry of this place being beyond simple mortals. Their saviour was mysterious, a feeling of fear still inside the maids, but it was heaven in comparison to what they experienced previously.
The food, needless to say, was divine. Cuisine they could never imagine was served to them everyday, the odd but likeable chefs letting them eat their fill three times a day. The creatures were odd, apparently called shrimp, and communicated only with their multiple appendages and clicking sounds. Odd as they were, the maids could universally agree that their fried rice was to die for, although the question of how they exactly made it in the kitchen was something they all wanted to desperately find out,
The guardians were also nice, some more openly warm than others, but all of them treated the maids with at least a bit of courtesy or ignored them entirely. Tsuare, of course, was the favourite of the Swimming City citizens who tolerated humans as she worked the hardest, earning her current position, which was in reality assigned to her by Pyke with the hope that she would finally take some time off. Such a thought was in vain as the demure maid redoubled her efforts.
Now she was busy scrubbing the aquamarine walls of the palace until she could see her own reflection in them. In truth the palace could clean itself or just never get dirty in the first place if the appropriate command was given to the World Item that the city was centred around, but after a meeting the council decided not to deprive the maids of their work in fear that they would fall into a crisis once they deemed themselves useless.
Her routine was interrupted by the heavy footsteps that she recognized as belonging to either Vacuus or Valodan, as they were the only ones who at times wore heavy armour in the palace and were also large enough for such heavy footsteps to occur. Frankly, she wished more of the councillors could have their presence pinpointed like that, it would save her the shame of bumping into Lillith and Lillius seemingly every time she tried to turn into a hallway which she couldn't currently see.
Vacuus proved to be kind, albeit not openly so, remaining as stoic as the day they met him. The indicators that any resemblance of emotion rested within him were however numerous, often finding ways to give them extra work when they finished their quotas and nervously wandered the halls in search for something that would prove their worth. Of course, as beloved by the maids as he was, Lily was still everyone's favourite since was just so damn cute.
She bowed as the titan made his way to her, "Here you are Tsuare. Alright, you're the last for today, let's see what I've got for you…" he said in a warmer tone of voice than usual. His hand disappeared into the otherworldly space the denizens of this city called an inventory as countless thoughts flooded Tsuare's head. Was she being replaced? Kicked out? Killed? Or worse… returned to that hell?
"There it is." He withdrew his hand and Tsuare, preparing for the worst, closed her eyes. "You should open your eyes." he gently assured her, or as gently as his deep voice allowed his voice to be. Tentatively she did so and saw that in his hand he held a white sweater, a big red heart embroidered in its centre. "Don't even think of refusing it, take it. That's an order." he said, parodying the tone Valodan often used with summons.
Tuare reached out to grab it and slowly pulled it towards herself. Oh how soft it was, as if a cloud was made into tangible clothing, and it smelled of fresh lavender. She clutched it to her chest as tears began to fill her eyes. She moved forward and embraced the cosmic entity that towered over her. Vacuus gave her a fatherly pat on the back as they stood there in silence, the only sound being the quiet sobbing of a girl who had seldom experienced kindness in her life. Tears streamed down her face, but, for once, they were tears of joy…
ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ
The council was gathered in full force, a world item sitting in front of Pyke. It was a formless blob that blinked in and out of existence. It was called the [Essence of Change] and could grant someone a second form. What Pyke was interested in however was whether this could work on three creatures. "Are you familiar with the three beasts of the deep?" he asked his children.
Winston nodded as their representative, "Weaker than guardians by a small margin, but still classified as World Enemies and thus stronger than us ministers."
"Correct, but I always resented the beings that bound me, those shitty devs, for not letting me grant them humanoid forms like yours. I often summoned them in the Old World, they probably have the most experience out of all of you. I even summoned one of them when I first arrived with [Summon: Lurker Below]."
"Father, surely no Shi Tee Devil could bind you?"
Pyke let out a small chuckle and let the misunderstanding pass, "You'd be surprised. Either way, those creatures are now gone, so perhaps I can remedy that and you'll get three more siblings."
Lily immediately jumped up, ran up to him and tugged on his arm, "Let's goooooooo dad! I want new friends!" she said in the uncontrolled, loud voice children possess.
For once he actually let her drag him, snatching the World Item and making his way to the balcony overlooking the city where the three beasts awaited him. Out of all his creations, these three had died for him the most and fought alongside him often, unlike the guardians who saw little action in YGGDRASIL. He stepped towards the angler shark, dragon-shark and kraken, all three loyal servants, even if the devs pulled a prank on him with the kraken, requiring him to domesticate it via battle and thus giving it its signature slashed throat.
The kraken looked as you'd expect it to, a multitude of tentacles, each with sharpened hooks in order to immobilize its prey, as well as an extremely sharp beak that could cut through damn near anything. It's glassy eyes were the last thing many adventurers saw in the past, before they were dragged to the depths and their bodies were eviscerated.
The dragon-shark was a unique creature. Massive in size, over fifty meters long and at least twenty wide, it was the size of the oldest of Dragon Lords, although its full body was generally unseen under the water if one didn't have a spell or item to improve visibility. Both its webbed feet and tail had sharp claws, several meters long, that made them tools for murder rather than locomotion, albeit the beast still was dexterous compared to those unsuited to the environment.
Finally, the angler shark looked as it sounded. Rows upon rows of jagged teeth jutted out of its maw, illuminated by a lure that looked like an anguished human face. Despite being large, several dozen meters in length, it was still unbelievably stealthy, a sort of coating around its body that seemed to absorb light even from its lure. The lure's only function wasn't to bait victims, but to also ensure them as it act like an extra limb.
"Today I'll give you what I previously couldn't. The gear should manifest with your forms…" he paused, "You deserve this. [Essence of Change]." The power of an entire world was unleashed and a bright light engulfed the area, blinding even Pyke and his creations. From the light emerged three distinct figures.
First, the kraken appeared to turn into an awfully cute girl in her mid teens, around 165 centimetres tall. Her eyes were dark silver, much like her hair, which was tied into a high ponytail. She wore a thick, navy blue scarf around her throat, protecting the world from seeing the mass of scar tissue that it was. A sweater matching her scarf covered the rest of her upper body, while fuzzy sweatpants engulfed her legs. Her shoes, which matched her colour scheme, were obviously meant for winter, the inside being stuffed with fur. Of course, she ended up mute and began communicating with hand signs, but before she could construct a coherent message, Pyke embraced her and patted her head, "I'm so sorry I did that to you…" he muttered, guilty that what now amounted to his child, one of the only beings that kept him company during his YGGDRASIL confinement, had to experience the pain he caused her thanks to the shitty devs' prank. If one of them ever made it to this world... there would be hell to pay.
After a while he finally broke the embrace and the girl signed to him, "I love you, dad." It took all Pyke had to suppress the emotions that were raging inside of him. When it came to her level conversion in this form, she was a shaman of the highest order, her racial levels from her true form being turned into class levels, letting her control spirits and elementals. Pyke pointed at her, "From now on you shall be known as H̠̪̘̀̑́́͜a̧̠̱͐̒̾̔͢f̜͎̦̪̓́͘͡͞ͅb̲̞̫̺̒̅̂̉ä̭͇̪́̑̂k̡̖̲̉͋͛ŗ͍̀̈l͙͐͗͑͟ͅa̦̙͇̅́̆̉͟. Cirina in mortal tongue."
Next came the dragon-shark. Unlike the subtle horns on Lillius' head that were easily covered up by his hair, these were majestic and curved behind the man's head like a halo. He was tall, perhaps not as much of a giant as Galakrond or Vacuus, but still around 190 centimetres tall. His hair was of a dark green colour, much like his eyes. He was dressed in a sleeveless jacket made of exquisite green scales that shimmered in the light, same as his boots, and he possessed no shirt. He wore white, formal pants that highlighted his muscular legs.
He stepped forth and bowed, "Ah, it's good to be able to talk to you dad. I wanna tell you of somethin' interesting; it seems my racial levels have a direct equivalent in this form, much like how a dragon could become a dragon knight, I seem to have become an aquatic version." Odd as it was, Pyke wasn't too surprised, the New World was still uncharted waters with many unexplored possibilities. Pyke clapped him on the shoulder, "Well, T̡͚̯͉͎́̌͂̽͝ỉ̼a̠̪͈͔͓̿́̓̓̌ć̭̬̂a̖̠̹̅̎̇ư̻̫̠̒̀͊͢i͐͟, or should I say, Hycarius, welcome to the crew."
Last came the angler shark, which appeared to be a black silhouette of a person, rather than any humanoid. Gradually hundreds of red eyes opened wide all over the figure and took in their surroundings. Suddenly they closed and the figure began to reform and eventually stopped. The form was of a beautiful elven woman with no discernible feature, even to Pyke's keen eye, that would characterise her as a heteromorph.
Her skin was white as snow and unblemished, while her body was lean and seemed to scream of perfection, as if it was sculpted by a God. Her clothing was of a form-fitting snow white dress that exposed a substantial amount of cleavage, as well as pure white sandals. She looked at Pyke, "I believe this form will be suitable for the tasks ahead. In the case of elven beings being encountered they will be more easily influenced. The likelihood of such an encounter is high. I shall proceed with this form." she said.
In reality, she was formless, owing to the fact that angler fish were masters of subterfuge, stealth and luring prey, thus being able to adjust her shape at will proved to be rather appropriate. The inherent ability of doppelgangers, that is to read minds and thus adjust her act on the fly, was also given to her. However, when Pyke looked into her shadow, he could see the darkness waiting and biding its time, until its prey was just in the right spot. "I'm sure you'll get along great with Lillith, S͕͇̀͐i̛̫͖̮͛̓ń̦̲͎̅͠è̹͈̭͐͆s͕̽ṡ̞i̟̝̥̎̀͑a͇͗, or rather, Cophi."
Pyke looked upon the new forms of his children and proudly decided that the use of a World Item was worth it and so, "Let us have a feast! Mark this as a historic day for all of eternity!" he declared, All sixteen rushed to the dining room where a good time was had by all and the startling discovery was made that Hycarius could almost match Amal'Thazad's drinking habits…
(AN: Thank you so much for reading! Today is a double upload given that I skipped a day, thanks to the fact that I was travelling. Sadly, soon these days of double uploads will be gone as Volume 3 is not yet written and chapters will hopefully come out every week or two. While you'll be waiting for those you could read [Overlord: The Demon Empress] by PaulyThide since it is truly phenomenal. As always, more to come and I hope you've enjoyed the story.)