C17 Under the stars.
Christmas covered the entire day and night, it was a macabre festival, but there was something literally magical about drinking and singing alongside magical monsters, some of whom had to be careful not to accidentally kill you with just a glance.
But even more magical and extravagant was the use of reindeer and Santa Claus costumes, once the phenomenon touched you, you were no longer a human or a monster, instead you joined your comrades in the competition for supremacy.
Alcohol filled the air and the strange tradition of kissing someone under mistletoe spread like wildfire.
However, in the middle of the effervescent night, Ainz was levitating something far away, held in the sky he looked at the stars, as he slowly put back in his usual robe.
"That's beautiful," Maple's childish voice commented.
Ainz turned around to see Maple levitating next to him, sitting on her turtle, and in a mental note, he told himself that next time he wouldn't let someone of level 100 get close to his unprotected back.
Ainz looked away from Maple and gazed at the sky once more before responding.
"I never thought I'd see something like this in my life, and now I can't stop admiring it. Blue Plant-san would lose his mind."
Maple shrugged.
"I never thought I'd see something like this from the planet ever."
"From the planet? Maple, ah, maybe it's disrespectful of me, but can you tell me your real name and age?"
"Hmm... Are you going to dox me? "
"From another world? "
Maple smiled sweetly. " I'll do it, but first, tell me about yourself! The person behind Momonga-san!"
"It's not a pretty story. "
Ainz looked up at the sky once more, his voice lacking emotion but there was something there: apathy.
"I swear I'm not going to dox you! And I definitely won't hand you over to the mafia no matter how much money you owe them. "
"You... what kind of shows were you watching? " Ainz looked into Maple's expectant eyes. "I'm nobody special, my name was Suzuki Satoru, 35 years old (*search for information about Ainz on the wiki before publishing). I was a salaried worker for Honjo Corps without any real friends or family."
Ainz placed a hand on his chest. "The only thing that was really important to me were my friends from Ainz Ooal Gown, that's why if there's even the slightest chance that they're here, I want to find them. "
Ainz turned around and looked at Maple with a complicated expression. "Go ahead, laugh, I won't blame you for feeling sorry for my past. "
Maple waved her hands back and forth for a moment before slowly lowering them and saying, "My name is Honjo Kaede, I'm 19 years old." Maple's face turned red with guilt. (Uncanonical Maple data)
"Ah. " Ainz's jaw dropped to the floor as his emotion suppressor kicked in. "W-well, that explains the "from the planet" part earlier, I imagine the stars look better from space."
"Well, that was a big surprise for me! Most cameras don't do justice to the view of outer space. There are even recordings of retro movies from the early 21st century that show space as absolute darkness."
Ainz put a hand to his head. "So, Honjo... Sama?"
"Waa! Don't call me that! Maple, Maple is fine."
"Maple-dono..."
Maple shrugged. "Come on, don't be like that with me. I feel weird when I think you're older than me and you treat me with so much respect, Ainz senpai."
"But you're the daughter of the CEO of Honjo Corp. Won't they send a band of bodyguards to eliminate me if I treat you disrespectfully?"
"Maybe they would if you said it in real life, but there's no problem in a game, much less in another world!"
"Honjo-sama, let me thank you for all the kindness you've shown to this common and old employee. I look forward to working under your command much more."
"Come on, Momonga-senpai. If you keep joking like that, I'm going to turn red with embarrassment. Besides, I don't think I'm a person worthy of your respect. You're a hardworking adult, and I'm a student born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Besides, you forget that it's not important anymore."
"An hardworking adult? Don't play with me. I was a total work slave, living to work, and the only good thing in my life was Ainz Ooal Gown."
Maple looked away with her head down. "I'm sorry," she said in a sigh.
"Do you feel sorry?" Ainz's voice rose with fury. "Do you feel sorryt? The air is barely breathable because of people like you or your father who don't care about anything other than profits, work their employees to premature deaths, separate families, and sell us clean air that was once free for our grandparents! And you feel sorry for it?! What the hell?! Have you ever felt your lungs burning from the inside?! Have you ever coughed up blood in the middle of a sales conversation just to be marked as "rude"? Do you even care about people like me?"
The sudden outburst of anger vanished into the wind like a silent sigh as if it had never existed. "...Sorry for losing my head."
"I-I'm so sorry." Tears fell from Maple's cheeks.
Ainz frowned internally. "It's okay, it doesn't bother me, I'll pretend this conversation never happened." Ainz turned to leave and then felt Maple cling to his back in a hug.
"What are you doing? Let go of me."
"No, I can't change the past or ease all the damage they did to you, b-but at least I can hug you."
"I already told you it's something of no importance, now let me go."
"D-Do you know, Suzuki-san? When I was little, I admired my father and wanted to become the CEO of the company. I had a dream: to climb to the top and fix the world's problems." Ainz didn't say a word. "But as I grew up and studied, I realized that was an impossible dream to achieve. Still, I followed my father's expectations by studying in the best schools and preparing myself to succeed his position, then I discovered Yggdrasil." Maple's voice took on a cheerful tone. "It was a world totally different from what I had imagined, so far removed from the real world, even if touch and smell weren't there, that world became my real world."
Something warm was born in the chest of the undead, an extraterrestrial emotion that will soon be gone but still rare and unique for an undead: Sympathy.
"I met so many people in Yggdrasil, friends and enemies, monster, events, however, it all finally ended one day. And now we're here. You're right, maybe I shouldn't have given up my dream of becoming a CEO and fixing the world." Maple hugged Ainz tighter. "But if you gave me the choice between that or having lived in Yggdrasil... I'd have to be selfish because Maple Tree, The Emperors of Flame, The Holy Swords, and Ainz Ooal Gown; Yggdrasil is the best thing that ever happened to me in my life and I don't want to lose them for anything in the world."
Ainz stroked Maple's head. "Hey! This time I was supposed to console you! Why did it end up like this again?"
Ainz looked up at the sky once more and said, "Thank you."
"Eh? Did I do something good?"
Ainz continued to stroke Maple's head. "Yes, your head is a good stress ball."
Maple pouted as she gave gentle hits to Ainz's cloak, who ignored her as he continued to play with her hair and look at the sky.
"Maple, do you think we can go to space and see the stars someday?"
Maple put her hand to her chin and said, "We can do it now too."
"Eh?"
"[Deploying armament]" Ainz didn't finish expressing his surprise and before he knew it, he was being carried princess-style out of the stratosphere.
Ainz began gasping for air and moving his hands from side to side, surprised by the feeling of weightlessness.
Maple watched him wobble a bit before the emotional suppression helped him calm down. He still tried to say something, but in the vacuum of space, no sound was transmitted. Maple laughed cheerfully as she spun around in the emptiness, or at least it seemed like she was, but it her voice didn't made it throught the void.
Ainz looked at the planet, totally amazed as he saw the continents and seas, the clouds, the mountains, and the deserts, it was... It was simply magical beyond words, small, fragile, and beautiful, that little blue marble was so beautiful and yet it looked so fragile, like a bubble of water that would break at the slightest of his touch, still Ainz raised his skeletal hand and stretched it towards the planet.
'Maple brought me here to admire the stars and I'm here stunned just by the planet' His head was blank and his body concentrating on a unique emotion. Ainz extended his hand fascinated and then the smiling face of Maple appeared in front of him, her hair reflecting the starlight in such beautiful shades, she gently extended her hand taking that bony palm that was reaching towards the planet and with an unnatural flow, the Overlord found himself lost in Maple's big smile.
Before they knew it, they were gently dancing in the night sky, Maple's thrusters leaving behind a beautiful reddish trail, and they both got lost in that waltz where time seemed static, leaving only the two of them alone in that place.
Maple then saw something and directed the thrusters in that direction without breaking the dance.
When they both arrived on the moon, Ainz could only move his jaw in a silent laugh as Maple led him by the hand.
They both stepped on the moon and Maple jumped several meters in the air before landing back on the ground. Ainz watched her impassively as she jumped around on the moon, but Maple hurried to his side and suddenly they were playing tag on the moon. Even though they could probably communicate through [message], it seemed there was no need to do so now. When they finally grew tired, Maple lay down on the ground and looked at the planet in peace.
Ainz lay down next to her with his eyes open and they both remained in complete silence for a few moments.
["By the way, Maple, do you know from where in the world we come from?"] There was a silent pause for several seconds before a scream of terror escaped Maple's mouth. It's fortunate that sound doesn't travel in space because otherwise the shockwave would have probably destroyed the earth.
Author's note:
Yes, I got carried away again, but well, I love this chapter, usually Maple's chapters in Overlord seem to write themselves XD
Oh, I cut a scene in which Ainz and Maple carve their faces on the moon but maybe I should add it? Should I?
Well, I don't think we're going to derail again, so brace yourselves for the impact of the Maple/Ainz meteorite falling into the new world.
Tanks to all for reading any way, this may not be the finest Fanfiction, but we really need some Bofuri fanfictions and someone has to do it.
Kisses! Sincerely,
"How did they realize that weed is cheap in my neighborhood?"
J-More
P.S. All comments made in the authors not are not necessarily true. I am not responsible for what is written after Sincerely.
P.S.2 I was too lazy to look up Ainz's real name in the end, but I left the note I put there because it's funny, plus I'm almost certain that's his name...
P.S.3 I'm not sure how old Maple is, I think in canon she's 16 but here I said she started playing at 16 so now she's 19 but her body is that of her 16-year-old avatar. In short, Maple is not old enough to drink in Japan or in USA but hey, she can buy a gun, nothing more and nothing less...
P.S.4 Obviously, I'm not Japanese to speak about honorifics, but I think I did a good job with them.
P.S.5 No more PS for today.
