The Wheel and the Great Tomb of Nazarick

A FAN FICTION BY BUF_BUODA

CHAPTER 4

AN: Hello everyone! Thank you to all of you who have expressed interest in this fic. It is absolutely mind blowing to me to have people reading this. Thank you all very much. I do not own Overlord, or The Wheel of Time.

Lots of thanks to the Usual Gang of Drunken Perverts for their ideas. Lots of thanks to Tomolade. If you're reading this, accept your name like that (straight face).

For all of you who left reviews, thanks as well. Let me try addressing some questions raised during the reviews

- Canon: The point of a fan fic is to use canon as a starting point, then move on from there in a manner consistent with the story(I think). I will be sticking to the Overlord canon, but I will change some things as well - sorry if you don't like that.

- OC: Regarding Citrinitas-chan, she'll be fleshed out later. As you must have noticed, I prefer descriptions via the POVs of other characters.

- Albedo: Albedo is already uneasy about the return/discovery of other supreme beings, at least by her task-force mission. I just teased that out a little more to induce conflict. It seems she would hate the contradiction (when she's not living it) because it would make her job awkward. Recall her character screen, and how seriously she takes her position. Besides, she knows her hatred is illogical - she just doesn't care. Yet. Regarding her nature, it seems from canon that Albedo's succubi nature is almost an afterthought to her because of her position as a guardian. She has focused it solely on Momonga. I don't know why Maru wrote her like that, but I like it. It has a tendency to get in the way sometimes.

So then, back to the story! Thanks for you patience.

Ingtar had been in or around combat for almost two days. The trolloc army at the pass was massive, and kept swelling as more bands joined from the Blight. Waves upon waves stretched beyond the pass and into the Blight. They had broken against the wall of steel time and time again, but he knew it would only be a matter of time. They all did.

'Duty is heavier than a mountain,' thought Ingtar to himself as he watched his men get ready for another charge grimly. In two days, he had lost just over a quarter of his men. The foot fared much worse - they were the anvil that held the trolloc charge in place for the heavy cavalry to smash. Of course to do that, they went toe to toe with the trollocs. They were generally outweighed, and in places where the pikes from the second rank failed to keep them at bay, they were mauled quite badly. The pass forced the trollocs to narrow down, but it was a numbers game. The trollocs had more to pay the butcher with than the Shienerans did.

"Lord Ingtar!" Turning, he saw the messenger throw himself from his horse and approach at a dead run.

"Lord Ingtar," he panted. "Lord Agelmar requires your presence in the command tent." he rushed out, handing over Ingtar's orders.

Nodding to the boy, Ingtar broke the seal and read them. Turning towards the command tent, he nodded to his second in command.

"You and the men take a breather," he said as he strolled away. Grateful men removed helmets and sat wherever they could.

"...off our backs. We need to buy-" Lord Agelmar cut off as he strode into the tent. Saluting, Ingtar presented himself.

"Ingtar... Good. Everyone is here. Now we can start."

Ingtar took a place beside the other men in charge of cavalry units. Whatever made Agelmar call them from the field couldn't be good.

"We have a bit of a respite in the fighting," continued Agelmar.

"It won't do us much good though. We are getting no reinforcements. Everyone is convinced that the trollocs will wheel in their direction once they've gobbled us up."

Sighing, he continued

"Moiraine Sedai spoke about our battle here. She has gone to get us help at the Eye. Every moment we hold them back is a moment closer to her victory, and the lives of the citizens behind us."

Ingtar shifted his feet as he glanced around. They all knew this, but for Lord Agelmar to say it out loud…

"We cannot retreat. We can only hold, or break." Steel filled the voice of Agelmar as he continued.

"We will hold. Peace favor your swords, and may the last embrace of the mother welcome you home."

It was a eulogy, and every man bowed formally and saluted. Death is lighter than a feather after all.

Lan had nothing to worry about from the goblins as Enri led them away from the barn, and to a simple house. He had a sense of the creature, and it would not trouble him - not now he was aware of it. The girl was even more innocuous, making Lan wonder again about how exactly she commanded the goblins.

'Must be that Ainz character', he thought to himself. The respect in Enri's voice as she mentioned him was unmistakable.

Jugem did not enter with them, but waved Enri goodbye once he saw them to the door.

As they entered, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as his senses screamed a mental warning at him. He glanced about at the house they had just entered. The house was cozy, and had a table in the center of the room, with chairs around it, and the rest of the kitchen/dining built around it. Due to his stature, the whole thing felt small. Loial would be really cramped. Through a door at the back, Lan saw some stairs. The occupants in the room seemed a bit unassuming.

There was a blonde, weak looking man - boy really - with bangs covering most of his face and a nervous laugh sitting at the table, and a cheerful red headed, dark skinned beauty leaning casually on one of the walls. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. As soon as he realized that, he also realized that the immense feeling of danger was coming from her. It was not malice, just the interest of an apex predator. No wonder Jugem could leave Enri with total strangers.

"Hiya!" She exclaimed with a cheerful voice, waving at them and grinning from ear to ear.

"Aren't you big...," she said in an utterly suggestive voice, looking Lan up and down.

She was dressed in a peculiar outfit - frilly as though it was a maids outfit, slit to show her shapely thighs, yet with armored sections. She had a white headdress on her head that had the feel of formal wear.

Lan frowned to himself. There was no reason he should feel the unease he did, but he trusted his instincts.

"Lupu, Nfirea, I'm back," said Enri by way of greeting.

As they came in, Enri introduced them as Alys and Andra. The woman was Lupusregina Beta, a servant of this Ainz Ooal Gown character.

Lan made the necessary polite noises, stepping away from Moiraine and surreptitiously putting himself between her and Lupusregina. There was no need to tell Moiraine. He trusted her to pick up on his unease and be careful around that woman.

Yet as much as he thought he was prepared, nothing could prepare him for the burst of motion from the woman. She was suddenly at Moiraine's side, a hand around her throat. Her second hand gripped Lan's sword, scabbard and all. She had simply torn it off as she moved apparently. The perfectly manicured hand looked strange against Moiraine's neck.

Enri screamed, and Nfirea actually fell out of his chair.

"What did you do?" She asked in her falsely cheerful voice, looking into Moiraine's eyes from mere inches away. The cheer was false. He knew that now.

"I didn't do anything," replied Moraine in a voice like she was sipping tea with friends, Aes Sedai calm on her unreadable face.

Lan blurred towards her as Moiraine replied, arms stretched out to grapple, and he was met with his own scabbard full in the face, smashing his nose and lips together, and nearly taking off his jaw in the process. The back of his head slammed into the floor, and the scabbard clattered to the ground by his head. Blood poured from his face, and his nose felt broken. He struggled to his feet, gripping his sword now that she'd so nicely returned it. As he tried to draw, the woman turned and looked at him.

"I gave you back your toy so that if you come at me again, I will have reason to kill you," she said with supreme confidence. Turning back to Moiraine, she continued "With your weapon in your hand, Ainz sama won't scold me for killing a harmless human."

'Human,' thought Lan, mind scrambling. 'Why would she refer to me as that - as though she wasn't...'

He stopped the thought right there. He did not want to consider the next thought that came to his head.

"Lupu-san!" shrieked Enri.

"Alys-dono and Andra-dono are our guests!"

Nfirea nodded energetically, still shocked by the sudden violence.

Lupusregina ignored both of them.

"What did you do?" she asked in exactly the same tone. There was a slight difference though - anticipation shone in her eyes.

"I felt you do something - like you were taking a deep breath; do you understand?"

Her face was now inches from Moiraine, eyes drilling into her.

"Again, I did nothing. You attacked me unprovoked, and without any warning," replied Moiraine, her voice hardening. It felt like the temperature in the room dropped.

Moiraine heard feet pounding as people - goblins - rushed to the door, drawn no doubt by Enri's scream. She couldn't spare any attention for them though. Lan had struggled to his feet, but he had not drawn. The warning of the maid woman who held her was crystal clear.

Steeling her heart, she continued to meet the gaze of the maid. The hand around her throat felt kind. Pleasant, even. Like they could not hurt a fly. But the way she'd manhandled Lan showed that was just an act. She could probably tear out her throat before Moiraine could blink.

The smile on the face of the maid widened as Moiraine held her gaze.

'Fool!' Moiraine thought inwardly, chiding herself.

'Why did I forget there could be channelers here? Just embracing the source like a woman newly raised. Fool!' The Aes Sedai berated herself.

She released the source, and Lupusregina nodded, though there was disappointment in her eyes.

'She knows!' thought Moiraine, the stirrings of fear in her heart.

'She knows when I'm holding the source! How?'

Moiraine could not sense a shred of channeling ability from the woman. It should be impossible to hide it from her this close to her. Her mind stopped though, as the woman leaned in and kissed her full on the lips before releasing her and bounding away. She patted Lan on the head as she passed him, got back to her previous place at the wall, and leaned back the exact way she was.

Silence reigned. She heard a drop of blood hit the ground from Lan's ruined face. Her face was probably as red as that blood.

Looking around, the goblins at the door were equally shocked. One of them recovered, silently turned to the door, and left. The others were jolted by his motion and quickly followed him out.

"Let's start again from the beginning," the maid said.

"Hiya!" She exclaimed with a cheerful voice, waving at them and grinning from ear to ear.

Enri sighed and looked at Lupusregina with tired eyes.

"What was that about, Lupu?" she asked.

"She seemed like she was going to be naughty to you and Nfi-chan, so I just had a little talk with her ~su," the maid replied in a cute voice.

Moiraine's mind was racing as Nfirea and Enri made apologies for the maid.

'Just what exactly have we gotten ourselves into?' she thought. She was getting used to being out of her depth, but this was a little too much.

'I thought I was mentally prepared for this. After all, the logical conclusion has always been that we are somewhere else. Maybe a different world even. Yet every incident that confirms this just jolts me all over again.'

None of her inner turmoil showed on her face though. She was Aes Sedai. She made all the right noises to move the conversation along, but snapped back to attention when Nfirea mentioned a healing potion.

"What was that?" she asked him.

"Oh," he replied. "I was just saying that the least we could do was to help you with a healing potion for master Andra."

"We would be very grateful," replied Moraine with a slight bow of her head.

'This should be interesting,' she thought to herself.

Nfirea stepped outside and came back some moments later with a small, intricately made glass jar containing a blue liquid. He gave it to Lan to drink, and Moiraine barely held back her gasp as the injuries on his face knitted themselves together. Lan himself could not keep the amazement from his face and voice.

"Master Nfirea," he asked. "What is this thing?"

"It's a healing potion," the man replied. "After all, I am a potion maker."

With that done, Enri brought out cups of tea and served them all, before joining them at the table. The maid did not sit. She walked to the back of Lan's seat, and put her elbows on the back rest, supporting her chin with her wrists, and nuzzling the side of her face into his back, making him clearly uncomfortable.

"Lupu," Enri said with warning in her voice.

"What?" The maid sounded incredulous as she stood up straight behind Lan and stared at Enri over his head.

"Lupu, they are guests," Nfirea said gently.

"Ara… Who would have thought you'd be jealous, Nfi-chan?", the maid replied in a voice that left little doubt as to what she meant.

"Lupu!" shouted Enri and Nfirea together, blushing hard.

The maid just giggled and bounced on her toes.

"Andra looks like he'd be delicious. Not to mention he can take a little beating - for a mere human. I think I like him," declared the maid as she walked back to the wall.

"Please forgive her," Enri said to Moiraine, still red from the blush.

"No offense," replied Moraine.

"If we could get back to the topic at hand," said Lan in a normal voice that betrayed nothing of the utter bewilderment she felt from him through the bond.

"Of course," said Enri, all business again. "What do you want to know?"

"Just general information," replied Moraine, picking up her cup and taking a sip of tea. It was passable.

"Well, this is Carne village," began Enri.

"I'm the village chief, and we belong to the Re Estize Kingdom, though they do precious little for us."

Nfirea picked up as she paused.

"We're a simple village, really. Nothing special about us besides the fact that Ainz sama protects us. He sends us help when we need it, and even sent Lupu here to protect us."

Moiraine did not miss the fact that whoever this Ainz was, he deemed Lupusregina strong enough to be protection for this village. Her maid outfit was obviously a ruse. She focused on Nfirea as he continued.

"The biggest city close by is E Rantel, though I would not advise going there now. With the war coming, master Andra here will probably be forcefully recruited."

The names they mentioned were totally strange to Moiraine. She could not press for more information now without revealing too much, and it was not a risk she was willing to take with the maid nearby.

"Where are you from, mistress Alys?", asked Enri.

Moiraine had anticipated this question, and had prepared a sufficiently obscure answer.

"We left Shienar on a quest to find someone. When we camped, all was well. However, we woke up in this strange place," Moiraine replied. She smiled to herself. From the looks on the faces of Enri and Nfirea, they were sufficiently confused. The maid was more concerning. For the first time since Moiraine had laid eyes on the woman, she looked thoughtful. The thoughtfulness quickly hardened.

"Enri chan," the maid said, all signs of playfulness gone. "These guests of yours will have to meet with Ainz sama."

Moiraine looked up in alarm.

"Hold on. We -"

"I will inform Ainz sama tonight about their presence,"

The maid cut her off like she hadn't been speaking. Turning to them, she said in a voice as hard as steel,

"It is not a request, Alys-san, Andra-san. Don't try to leave. Or do - I'll be one of those assigned to hunt you and hopefully, I'll get to keep Andra-san." She turned and walked out of the room.

'Things are progressing very fast,' thought Moiraine uneasily. She made excuses for herself and Lan as soon as possible, and left for the barn where the others were. They had a lot to talk about.

Prince Barbro Andrean Ield Ryle Vaiself rode at the head of his army in a foul mood. They were mostly foot. 4500 of his current troops were infantry, forced conscripts from Marquis Bowlrob and his loyal nobles. He had a measly 500 cavalry troops, knights from the Marquis' army.

'Stupid peasants for a stupid mission in a stupid backwater village.' the prince thought darkly. 'Why the hell should I go on this stupid mission while that fool warrior captain gets to strut around like he's anything special?'

Barbro's foul mood was evident to the knights that rode with him. They took extra care not to even be noticed by the Crown prince. For those with the unfortunate luck to be beside Barbro, all they could do was pray to whatever gods they followed that he would not lash out in his anger.

Barbro's mood was foul for a simple reason. The kingdom was going to war as they always did with the Baharuth empire. It was a chance for martial glory. Yet his father had sent him to this backwater village to investigate this Ainz.

'What difference does one magic caster make?' thought Barbro.

This was especially bad because Barbro and his faction had lost face during the demonic invasion incident in the capital. He had taken the logical decision to stay on his Manor grounds and consolidate that position. Who cared about the death of peasants anyways? But the King had ridden into the fray, taking his elite soldiers with him. Worse, that sniveling pig of a brother, Zanac, had ridden too - fat chance he could even swing a blade. Yet from the rumors, Zanac, with the assistance of that despicably obtuse sister of his had organized the Adventurer's Guild to fight the demons. They'd even managed to recruit the adamantite teams Darkness and Blue Rose, and the legendary swordsman, Brain Unglaus. As a result, his logical action had been seen by the foolish peasants as cowardice.

'Me! A coward! Because of that stupid pig!'

Now, this war was a chance to redeem himself. He'd nearly fallen to despair when the Empire seemed uninterested in their annual war this year. Their declaration had come almost three months later than usual. But it had come.

Yet his father sent him here.

'Could he be supporting Zanac for the throne?'

Barbro's mood got darker and darker the more he imagined his opportunity for glory slipping away.

He called a knight over. The man guided his mount beside that of the prince and bowed in the saddle, waiting for further instructions.

"March us faster," Barbro said, his foul mood seeping into his voice.

The knight gulped.

"My prince," he began.

Barbro cut him off with a loud sigh. "I honestly don't care about whatever excuse you want to give," he said. "All I want is to be at Carne yesterday - and yesterday is already past."

The knight swallowed his objections.

"I hear and obey, my prince," the man replied, falling back and issuing the command to pick up the pace. The men were tired, but no one would complain. The prince had a mean streak a mile long, and no one wanted to be caught in it.

Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate your reviews.