Entoma's quill scratched along the surface of the document, the red ink would have bled through but for the thickness of the parchment that was still popular in academia. 'Paper is so gauche.' The phrase stood out to her, as did the haughty expressions of the upper class administrators. Entoma considered it a minor absurdity, but harmless enough to let pass, and it did have the advantage of not requiring a cloth or anything else beneath to catch the bleeding of the copious amount of ink she was having to use.
"Another one wrong. This is what happens when you don't study." She huffed and dipped her quill into the red inkwell again. 'A talented student, but lazy. Just how far do you think talent will get you without discipline, young idiot?' She let out another huff and scrawled some notes at the bottom of his paper. [Take notes in class or I'm going to use all my red ink on you].
She took off her mask and turned her head to the window, it was a bright and sunny summer day at the Academy of Arwintar, and despite grading one bad paper after another from her new crop of first year aspiring entomancers, her feet tapped out a catchy tune that a student outside was playing on an instrument. Entoma opened her mouth and webbing shot out, snatching a passing bird from the air and yanking it back into her mouth.
Nobody outside cried out, nobody did anymore. 'They've made briefings about me into a standard part of the orientation. I'm glad in the modern age people are so much more accepting.' Entoma thought while the bones of the bird crunched in her mouth, its feathers briefly caught in her throat and she pounded her chest several times with her fist until it went down.
The music outside hadn't skipped a beat, but it was trailing off. 'How long since those 'guitars' made it out here from Mict'aratz? A few years at least, and they're more popular than the lute already. What is it about those things that makes the humans so eager to mate?' She wasn't exaggerating in her question, an entire department was busy putting together competing studies on 'the impact of music, novel and traditional, on the mating patterns of humans'.
'I don't care what Fluder says, I don't believe for one second that any of those old goats are studying it for any other reason than to try to chase girls.' She thought again, and her mind turned to Inta. 'Mercifully, he doesn't seem to care for the instrument.' She reflected, though he did laugh at her suggestion that their colleagues were only after young women through their work.
The last of the bird feathers settled in her stomach and the last mark was done on the last paper. She groaned and stretched out, the golden fingers of her false hands interlocked with the knuckles toward her body, a popular stretch for every race with hands that Entoma had ever seen, she understood why. That slow burning stretch and the groan of satisfaction that went with it were a welcome relief. For good measure, she stretched out her legs beneath her smooth polished brown desk, even though it was early, Professor Entoma was now done for the day.
She looked at her calendar on the wall just to be sure, "No, no classes." The little round circle with the day's date was empty. "So now what?" She asked herself, when the answer knocked on her door.
The noise drew her eyes to the entrance of her office, and Inta poked his head in. "Lunch?" He asked, then the vampire spotted the stray feather on the floor, "Or have you eaten already, dear?"
"I've eaten, but for the right company, I could have another bite." She winked all of her eyes at the vampire in the door and he flashed a charming smile in his direction that bared his vampiric fangs.
"Great! There's a new restaurant I want to try, it specializes in heteromorphic cuisine." He licked his lips to show his eagerness, but Entoma shook her head.
"I'd rather not be, the meal." She retorted when his mouth opened to protest, only for the O shape of his lips to stop and spread out into that charming smile she couldn't take even one of her red eyes off of.
He chuckled, "Very funny, but I mean they specialize in meals for nonhumans and nondemihumans. Blood for vampires of course, but rumor has it they even offer…" He held the words back until Entoma leaned forward across her desk. "Humans. Ones who died by natural causes and sold their remains for after death for extra money to enjoy while they were still alive. I even hear that they found some aging humans who sold themselves in exchange for rich, fatty food to enjoy until they died, and it makes their flesh-" He stopped, "are you drooling, my love?" Inta asked, and she very clearly was.
Entoma vigorously wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "Of course not!" She lied, "I don't drool. Or snore. Or talk in my sleep."
"So that's four lies in a row, right there. But, like any good… companion." He smirked at the ambiguous word use, "I won't point that out. Not a word of it." He promised while all her eyes glared at him with only a smidge of anger to each of them.
"You just did." She pointed out.
"So you agree." He answered with a wink, and she reached to her mask and put it on her face.
However, any further words were cut off when the message went through. "Entoma, I need to see you in Nazarick, I have a task for you."
"At once, master." She answered.
"Lunch will have to be delayed." Entoma replied to Inta when he looked at her expectantly, awaiting her retort, "My Lord calls for me."
The whorling vortex opening in between the two, hid Inta from her eyes, and Entoma hopped over the desk with a graceful motion before she passed through the way home and left Inta by himself.
"Alright then, so much for that. I'll just eat by myself… I guess. And… stop talking to myself… eventually." Inta rolled his eyes at his own disappointed uncertainty, and went off to do exactly that.
Entoma found herself standing immediately before the steps which ascended to the Throne of Kings, there sat the ruler of the Sorcerous Empire, Ainz Ooal Gown. "Lord Ainz." Entoma said and bent at the knee, bowing her head deeply to her God.
"Entoma," Ainz's noble voice rang out, "welcome home! How have you been enjoying your position at the Academy? Have you made many friends, are you happy?" He leaned forward when he asked the question, little was said of her early start at the Academy several years earlier, but she made no complaint. 'I wonder, should I have kept watch on her? She was given the personality of a teenage girl, but I know the NPCs can 'grow' as people. What was it Bukubukuchagama said? If you try to push a teenage girl, she'll just shut down and shut you out.' So he tried to give her privacy and room, and it seemed to have worked out.
'But now there's work to be done, and she shouldn't think anything strange of my questions.' Ainz told himself and waited eagerly for his child to answer.
"I love my work, Lord Ainz. My students are engaging and eager to learn, my colleagues are friendly…"
Ainz felt his nonexistent ears prick up.
"And the city is wonderful. I like where I live, and I could be happy teaching there for a very long time." Entoma said, her gold hands clinked together with excitement, "I was actually thinking we would make a mage tournament between some of the faculty members, it would be a great introduction for the student body and-"
Entoma went on and on about her life, and Ainz did his best to pay attention to the details.
But the truth was, he missed most of what she said. Not because he wanted to, but because his own heart sang as one of his rarest and most unique children, had found her own way to her own place in the world he made. 'With her happiness, my children are one step closer to my desires for this world.' It was a happy thought that he clung to until Entoma finally ceased her long, long story, and though her face couldn't smile, he could feel the contentment coming off of her.
"All that is wonderful, but Entoma, I called you here for a task, one you are uniquely well suited for." Ainz said, and Entoma's body went still as a mountain's roots.
"At your command, Lord Ainz." Entoma replied with the savage fervor of any of his followers.
"You will go to the desert of the arachnid peoples, they lie on the path between us and the beastmen, and they are withholding permission regarding our request to move an army through their country. You and one other will travel to their domain and negotiate with them. Impress on them the importance of granting my request while it is still a request." Ainz said to her, leaving the implied threat to them hanging in the air between his throne and Entoma's hearing.
"As you command, My Lord, whom will I travel with?" She asked.
"That is up to you, pick who you like." Ainz answered with a kindly nod toward her, but privately he wondered, 'Which of her sisters will she choose?'
"I see, then Lord Ainz, I may choose anyone?" She clarified.
"As long as no other duties preclude them going, yes." Ainz added the caveat and Entoma said simply, "Then I choose Inta."
'Inta, who the hell is 'Inta?' Ainz wondered, but the space between his throne and where she knelt offered no answers, so he simply answered, "Y-Yes, of course. Go to your home, make your preparations, I will send you just as soon as you are ready."
"Long Live His Sorcerous Majesty!" Entoma declared as the gate opened again, and rising to her feet, she left the King with a mystery, a mystery he was determined to solve.