The throne room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick served as the go to meeting place whenever Ainz Ooal Gown needed to address the Floor Guardians, their generals and the Pleiades. They would always arrive before him, waiting on one knee. In perfect formation and with bowed heads, the leaders of Nazarick awaited their Overlord to deliver instruction, praise, or chastisement.
They didn't have long before their liege teleported to the throne. Majestic as ever with the guild weapon, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, in hand.
"Welcome Lord Ainz," Albedo greeted as per her station, "All have assembled as you instructed."
"Well done Albedo. If we are all here, then we shall commence."
With practiced precision and grace, Ainz Ooal Gown took his place upon the throne and looked down upon his underlings.
"You might not be aware of this my Guardians, but a little more than an hour ago an incursion into the Tomb of Nazarick occured in my very office."
This declaration made everyone in the room capable of breathing take a sharp breath of shock, effectively lowering the overall level of oxygen in the throne room. A devil in a sharp red suit took the proclamation the hardest.
"My lord, we have failed you. The Supreme Beings made us to protect the Tomb of Nazarick and we have allowed you to be attacked within its sacred halls."
A firm hand from the Overlord silenced the speaker,
"No Demiurge, you nor any of the Floor Guardians hold any guilt in this matter."
The statement made by his lord made Demiurge, Guardian of the Eighth Floor, not feel any better about the situation. As the Guardian in charge of Nazerick's defenses ment that any breach of security reflects on him. An incursion in the office of his lord and master would mean that his plans had failed and his incompetence put the last of the Supreme Beings in danger.
"The means of entry was in a manner that my fellow Guild Members and myself were not able to prepare against when we created the tomb. If there is any fault for worry it rests upon my shoulders. Forgive me for making you worry."
This revelation took all present by surprise to say the least. Their creators, the Supreme Beings had left a gap in their defenses? How could that be? Their preparations had repelled an invasion force of fifteen hundred attackers; in what way were they lacking?
"Um, Lord Ainz?" Aura, child-like dark elf and co Guardian of the sixth floor spoke up, "Just how-"
Crack!
All in the room snapped to battle ready stances at the sudden noise, especially because of its origin point from right in front of Ainz. The readiness suddenly turned to confusion when they saw just what had made the sound.
"Ain!" A happy Harry declared as he grabbed hold of the dark robes of the skeleton. The child then launched into a string of unintelligible baby babble with an excited face. No doubt giving a full account of everything that happened in the time they had been apart.
The assembled denizens of Nazarick were dumbfounded. Where had this infant come from and why was it being so familiar with their master? More importantly, why was their lord laughing?
"Oh? Is that so? Well, it sounds like you are having a grand time." Ainz mused, going along with the course of the toddler's stream of words.
While their lord was distracted a member of the crowd suddenly put a white glove to his ear.
"Tuare, is something the matter?" The man, Sebas, asked already knowing the answer.
"Truly? Well then you had better come to the throne room. It seems our Master's new found bundle of joy is capable of breaking a few of the Tomb's rules."
Another pause while the person on the other end responded.
"I will meet you at the door to let you in."
"Lord Sebas?" A dark haired woman in a maid outfit standing behind the Head Butler of Nazarick probed.
"Worry not Alpha Yuri. Lord Ainz will make things clear in a short while." A genuine smile appeared on the old butler's face as he walked to the door into the chamber.
The door to the throne room opened a short time later, revealing a very distressed blond human in a maid uniform.
"Lord Ainz, I'm sorry to interrupt but…"
"Let me guess, Harry disappeared?" Ainz responded with unusual joviality.
Harry, upon hearing the blond lady's voice, looked back at her and quickly tried concealing himself by dashing over to Albedo and hiding behind her. The succubus could only look on at the child's behavior with confusion. She withheld any of her normal courses of action, such as crushing the child like an insect under foot, in case any harm to the toddler would displease her beloved.
The distressed maid was escorted to the front of the throne room by Sebas and she attempted to guide the toddler wizard out from behind the Guardian Overseer.
"Come along Harry, we need to go." Tuare tried coaxing.
It didn't work.
"Harry, Lord Ainz needs to get back to his meeting. He and Lady Albedo will be able to play later." Sebas tried compromising with the child.
Little Harry was not having it. He grabbed onto the hems of Albedo's dress. The action almost made the succubus lose it completely before her lord intervened on behalf of the child.
"It would seem, Albedo, that he has taken a liking to you."
"I cannot imagine how, my lord."
"Regardless of how, it would seem that if this meeting is to continue, one of us will need to take the boy out of the room."
The implication horrified Albedo, but made a certain vampire in the crowd grin at her rival's apparent misfortune.
"My lord, I-"
"This isn't a punishment Albedo. It is merely what needs to be done." Ainz firmly declared.
'Crap, Albedo's settings make her almost hostile to any being that she sees as inferior.' The inner voice of Sazuki Satoru panicked, 'Still, there should be one way to help bypass that. Oh, I am so going to regret this.'
"Albedo," Ainz spoke up after the momentary inner crisis, "If it helps, think of this as practice for when you have children of your own."
The implication hung in the air with choking thickness. Ainz knew that there existed only one person in the world that she would agree to carry their child, and that was himself. His own fault for messing with Albedo's character settings in the last moments of Yggdrasil to make her love him. Now, he had just left an open promise to Albedo that she would have children of her own. Ainz could see the gears turning in Albedo's head and her breath intensifying, the fantasies playing out in her mind of multiple children with features similar to hers and his own. He just knew that he was going to regret that statement next time they were alone.
Thankfully, Albedo still had the presence of mind to not try and get those promised babies right now. Instead, she let out a calming breath, mustered her will, and picked up the small child still hiding out behind her.
"Come now, little one. We need to let Lord Ainz get back to his work. Say good-bye."
"Bye!" The toddler squeaked out with a wave of his hand before succubus and maid left the throne room.
It took a full minute for anyone to recover after the doors had slammed shut. Thankfully, Ainz was ready to address the situation before any of the Floor Guardians could recover their senses.
"While not the ideal means of introduction, that child was Harry Potter, the intruder."
An icy blue insectoid let out a cloudy breath before speaking,
"My lord, I will not doubt the validity of your statement; but, you mean to tell us that a human child slipped through Nazerick's defenses?"
"He did Cocytus. Though I highly doubt that Nazarick's defenses could prevent an incursion from another world."
Not letting another question pop up, Ainz reached into the dark space linked to his inventory, withdrawing the letter that had arrived with Harry.
"Sebas, you have English reading skills, do you not?"
The butler nodded and approached his lord. With Sebas' approach, Ainz handed him the letter. The dragoniod read aloud the letter from Albus Dumbledore ment for Petunia Dursley. While their natures as heteromorphic beings made them apathetic towards humans at best, the simple fact that their Overlord was taking an interest in this one must mean there was something special about him. That, and the boy had somehow managed to teleport within the walls of Nazarick, a feat that should only be doable by one wearing a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.
When Sebas ended his reading, Ainz allowed his subordinates a few moments to digest what they had heard.
"The country of Great Britain was the name of a country in another world that the Players of Yggdrasil knew; but to my knowledge, magic only existed in myth and legend."
'And let's be real, if magic existed back on my earth there would be no way people who could use it would let the world around them decay like it did. Right?'
"This leads me to believe that the young Harry came from an alternative reality from the one that we were familiar with. One that has magic present. Furthermore, we can safely assume that it was through their magic that the child was able to travel to this world as we did, thereby bypassing the anti-teleportation protections within Nazarick."
"I see," Demiurge voiced, "We will need to consider a countermeasure for the future my lord. If the child meant anything to Albus Dumbledore he will undoubtedly come looking."
"Agreed Demiurge. While I do not mind the child, I would rather not have an adult poking around Nazarick's sacred halls."
"Understood my lord."
"And what of the boy, Lord Ainz?" Cocytus asked.
"Ah yes. I was wondering if you would indulge me in a long term experiment."
The mention of an experiment got Demiurge interested but he kept his silence and listened to the Overlord.
"The boy presents a new perspective on things. Aspects of magic that are not native to Yggdrasil."
The Guardian of the Seventh Floor could see where his lord would be going with this,
"You wish to add the boy's strength to our own."
'Sorry Harry, but this is the only way I can think of to make sure they don't do something rash to you.'
"Indeed. The issue becomes to ensure his loyalty; but, we have a perfect opportunity for that as well. Being a child, we can nurture him, mould him to be the best that he can be. To ensure his undying loyalty, he must see us as his family."
This declaration took the assembled room by surprise but none dare question the Supreme Ruler of Nazarick.
"I have already assigned Tuare to be his nanny, she will be in charge of making sure his physical needs are met. Seeing his attachment to Albedo and myself, we shall take the role of nurturers, we shall see to his emotional well being. As for the rest of Nazarick," At this point, Ainz rose from his throne and held his free hand out to emphasize his statement,
"One of my friends once told me that it takes a village to raise a child. Albedo and myself won't be able to teach him everything he might need to know and so I must rely on the rest of the Tomb of Nazarick for this long term goal. Will you help me?"
Each of the Floor Guardians present: Shalltear Bloodfallen, Cocytus, Aura Bella Fiora, Mare Bello Fiore, and Demiurge, each expressed their commitment to their lord's plan.
"Excellent my Guardians. I have no doubt that with our help, the boy will become more powerful than any of his kind ever has been. And when those from his home come looking for him, Harry James Potter will gladly show them the power of Nazarick!"
A/N
I was shocked by the initial support that I got from everyone in the just the first chapter. Shocked but pleased, so thank you one and all.
I especially want to thank those reviewers who reminded me of the potential relationship that Harry and Pandora's Actor might have in the future, essentially being brothers. It opened my mind for a few things for the future. (Anyone up for a N. Tonks/ Pandora's Actor pairing? Eh? Still toying with that one though.)
I feel that I should make something clear. At this point in time, I have no intention of a racial change for Harry. The reason will come to light soon, but before there are complaints that the Tomb of Nazarick is no place for humans, let me remind one and all that there is precedent to human acceptance within Nazarick. Of course there is Tuare who is under Ainz's protection, but I refer more to Aureole Omega. Her character build is an immortal human, but a human none the less; and seeing she is a member of the Pleiades I would say that her existence would provide a better excuse for Ainz making an exception to the general rule.
Alright, there will be a fast forward of nearly a decade in the next chapter, but Harry's life growing up in the Tomb of Nazarick will be revealed as the story progresses.
Thank you all for your continued support. Remember to Read, Review, and Redistribute.
Noxraa Torgan