You looked at Demiurge as you picked your way through the landscape, thoughts racing. How did he know you would be showing up? Why was he waiting for you? Would he even like you, now that he wasn't an NPC? You thought harder, racking your brain to think of what you remembered of him. A thought, and you paused; what did he remember from before… Well, you were going to call it the Shift.

Did he remember you from before?

When you'd first found him, you'd admit to not making a single squealing noises out of pride. None occurred and no one would tell you otherwise.

"Ohhh, look at you!" You'd walked your way around him and did so more than once, looking at his physical details and admiring the work that went into him. "You're so handsome! Ulbert put a lot of heart and soul into you, damn…"

You'd pulled up his flavor text, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the detail worked into his character. A smart tough guy on the outside with a soft side on the inside.

"Interesting… Ulbert didn't give you anything in the way of kinks. Though, he may have thought Shalltear was too much…" You'd let out a soft laugh, closing his backstory with a smile. "Still, I can see the heart and soul he gave you. One of the best written of the NPC's, that's for sure!" You'd patted his head, a content smile on your face.

"Here, follow me; I'm going to make a temple down here and I need to pick the best spot!"

Of course, that wasn't the last time you'd been around him, not by a long shot. You'd had him around when you were designing and making tweaks to your Temple (among other projects) just to have something to talk to while you worked. And you had talked about… A lot of things. Your issues included.

Did he remember those one-sided conversations?

"Welcome, Lady Zara." He spoke with a bow as you reached him, his tail flicking lazily from side to side. "What brings you to the 7th floor?"

"I, ah, wanted to check on my temple." It felt… Weird, talking to him. You'd talked at him plenty of times in the past, but talking with him felt… Different. Not bad, necessarily, but different.

"Of course, my Lady." He stood, his classic know-it-all smile on his face replaced with something softer. "Would you mind if I accompany you? With Nazarick's current state, it would be unwise to leave you without protection."

"You can if you want to." He seemed… Kinder than you expected. Gentler, as well. Your alarm bells were going off, but only quietly; the whole situation was weird.

"Then I shall, my Lady." Another bow, and then you both entered the temple.

The inside of the 7th floor temple was designed to feel haunting, yet beautiful. It was supposed to feel like an abandoned and decrepit church that still had a surviving window of stained glass, one that shone its multicolored light to the its abandoned state.

It took inspiration from Bloodborne, Skyrim, and many other old-school games with similar atmospheres. There was plenty of detail, cracks and what was designed to look like old religious art upon the walls, scorch marks from some lava pools that were on the inside.

This temple was your favorite place in Nazarick.

"Demiurge?"

"Yes, my Lady?" You could feel his questioning look on the back of your head.

"If you don't mind my asking…" You had to know; may as well bite the bullet now and get it over with. But how to ask without giving away what, specifically, you wanted to know?

"What's your earliest memory?"

"My earliest memory…." You turned to look back at him; he seemed surprised.

Was he expecting you to just… talk at him, rather than with him, now?

"My earliest memories, as far as I can tell, are when my creator was creating me." Well… Shit.

He continued, not seeming to notice your plight. "I remember him speaking with some of the other Supreme Beings, asking for opinions on me. They're clearer the closer I got to being completed."

You nodded, a smile on your face.

"Ulbert put a lot of work into you; I'm sure that if he were here, he'd be proud of you." Demiurge stopped walking, face flushing a deep red. His tail was going a mile a minute, like a cat who was about to pounce on an unsuspecting leaf. His blush reached the tips of his ears, making the earrings in his left ear pop with color.

"M-my Lady! I am unworthy of such praise—"

"I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true, Demiurge." You interrupt, placing a gentle paw on his shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure Ulbert would agree with me on this one."

You didn't think his face could get any redder, and yet here you were witnessing it. He placed his face into his hands, to hide his face from you or to try and alleviate his own emotions you weren't sure. It didn't help hide it, since the tips of his ears matched the color of his face. His tail curled itself around his leg, as if to keep it from giving away any more of his emotions. The tip of his tail, however, was twitching like mad. His ears were also gently flicking, as if that alone would alleviate the sheer volume of emotion he was feeling. It was pretty damn cute, which you honestly hadn't expected him to be able to do. Serves you right for only thinking he could be handsome.

"Thank you, my Lady." It took a full five minutes for him to calm down enough to speak. The redness had faded to a nice peach, rather than its original tomato red, and his tail had freed itself from around his leg. He looked up at you, adjusting his glasses as he did so.

God, he was just too cute.

"Shall we continue to your Temple?" You nodded, finally removing your paw from his shoulder.

"Of course." And now it was awkward. Just your luck, you weren't that good at this kind of thing!

You both continued walking; this time, though, Demiurge walked next to you rather than behind you.

You hadn't the slightest clue how to handle it.

You stopped walking, looking at what appeared to be a regular wall within the temple. You, however, knew better. Behind the wall was your temple

"The purpose of all life is living well" You spoke clearly, looking at the wall as you did so. Watched it shimmer into nothingness, revealing your temple.

At a complete contrast to the rest of the 7th floor temple, yours resembled a small stone shrine that was commonly found around Japan. It had a small statue of a fox with Zara inscribed on its stand, as well as three bowls that held certain items. The items in these bowls determined your buffs; the closer the stone bowls were to the edge of the shrine, the stronger the buff. You, at level 100, were allotted three buffs; hence, three bowls.

The room your temple was in had walls covered in a soft green moss, the only gap being a small door in the back where your NPC could sleep. Speaking of your NPC…

"Hello, Lady Zara!" A small child-like voice spoke from behind the shrine, a small head peeking out from behind it. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"

"Yes, actually. Arioch, could you tell me if anything strange has happened to the temple?" Arioch shook his head, shyly stepping out from behind the temple and giving a small bow.

"No, my Lady. There has been nothing strange or abnormal here." Arioch was in his Temple uniform, one common to Japanese shrines. He was, in actuality, an Imp; he had been designed to blend into the population of the 7th floor should it ever be attacked and was the last line of defense between an enemy and your Temple. However, unlike other Imps, Arioch was made to be a kind soul, one fitting to oversee the care and upkeep of the Temple. Even as a Level 1 NPC, you had designed him to be kind where other occupants of the Tomb of Nazarick may not be.

You had also designed him to look young, as if he were a child, to lower the guard of anyone who may try to harm him. After all, killing him sealed players in the 7th floor temple

"Wonderful. Thank you, Arioch." He beamed at the praise, bouncing on his heels as his tail waved slowly from side to side.

"Will that be all, Lady Zara?" God, he was precious. So, so precious.

"Yes, that will be all. When Demiurge and I leave, would you please re-seal the temple?" You saw, out of the corner of your eye, Demiurge straighten up slightly as you spoke his name. The red-ness seemed to be almost gone by this point.

"Of course, my Lady." Arioch bowed again, then turned and began tidying the room to an impeccable degree.

You turned to Demiurge, clapping your hands together.

"So! Momonga called a meeting on the 6th floor; I think we have just enough time to get there without being late. Would you like to walk with me there?" Demiurge nodded, gentle smile back on his face.

"It would be my honor, my lady."