Overlord: Afterparty

by Clayton Overstreet 2

For a while I figure after Ains conquers the last bit of the KNOWN world, he'd have a party with all the main characters. Some would hook up, others would just meet. Feel free to add to it if you think of something I missed.

I do not own these characters or profit from them. If however you like my writing style I have many books available from Amazon and you may like my new horror collection "The Monster is Out There Still", a collection of stories that may drive you made with fear or my teen adventure story #MERMAIDFAMOUS. If not I have numerous other books and stories posted online as well.

Overlord: After Party

By, Clayton Overstreet

There is a downside to a vast empire. The more land one controls the bigger the expense.

Ains Ooal Gown had conquered what, to the people of the land his tomb had appeared in, had been most of the known world. Oh it extended farther and there were destroyed lands and impoverished places that had been largely ignore. Like medieval Earth most of the average citizens (human or otherwise) rarely traveled more than twenty miles from home and of those that did many died rather horribly once they were away from the heart of civilization. Aside from monsters and animals spawned or altered by magic that were far more intelligent than the average bear the lands were full of humans, many with magical abilities or just plain weapons and even regular hungry beasts

On the one hand Ains recent wars with the various lands to take control had severely reduced the number of tax payers. Of course that also reduced the number of mouths to feed so it mostly evened out. However Ains' plan involved world domination and he could not simply stop. First he had given that plan to his followers and his steady march had left them with certain expectations.

Second while he now controlled a small but significant area he was certain the world was at least the size of Earth, albeit an alien world and one that had been shaped by numerous catastrophes including the work of his fellow players and potentially even actual gods and demons beyond those from the game Yggdrasil, brought to this world and to life by the ancient dragon king.

Ains had been briefly killed himself and thought he was done. While resurrection magic was not supposed to work on Players, many of his followers had realized that while they might despise Ains for some of his actions he was not actually a terrible leader and hating him was like hating a tsunami, while some others in the kingdom were far less benevolent in their evil. The one who had struck him down… well the less said about that the better. There had been a brief period of terror, doubled by the revelation that the people's hero Momon had been merely Ains in another guise playing chess against himself rather than allowing anyone else to the board.

The land had for the better part of a year been rather damaged and enslaved I n the wake of Ains' adversary until those still loyal and a few who just saw him as the lesser of two evils, had worked together and resurrected Ains to free their people. Nfirea Bareare, patriarch of his family (three sons and two daughters), the husband of Duchess Enri Emmot-Bareare of Carne County, and the finest potion maker of the age had a special ability to use any magical item, including some nobody else could so much as touch. He had once been used by a crazed woman, now one of Ains' subordinates, named Clementine to use just such a magical item. Though he was not immune to the side effects.

The item used to kill Ains had been powerful and a one shot item. The item they used to bring him back, The Staff of Ains Ooal Gown had dwarfed its power but had been designed to only work for Ains himself. On par with any world item or even superior it had taken everything Nfi had to bring back their lord and the side effects had not only included his death, but had made it permanent. He had known that going in, but his last words to his wife were, 'Enri, I'll see you again one day in the world beyond, but for now I want you and our children to be happy and alive and I think the best chance of that is in a world with Lord Ains in it. Without him we would both have been long dead before we found each other and if anything proves that we are meant to be together in eternity, it's that. I want our family to live in Lord Ains' world. It may not have been perfect, but while it lasted it was the best I had ever seen and whatever else I do with the life he gave me, ensuring that may be the best possible thing I can do."

Enri had not wanted him to do it, but once he held the staff it was already eating away at his body and in the end, she agreed with him. Crying she had watched her husband sacrifice himself, not knowing if it could even bring Ains to life. However when the staff melted and Nfirea had been enveloped in light, as she and the others present looked on, there stood the tall skeletal figure of their lord, his eyes glowing red in a flash of ruby, dark energy radiating off him.

"Well, this is unexpected," he said, looking at his hands. He had actually been returned to his own world and his human body after his "death". For months he had been working himself to death and with Yggdrasil no longer an option he had used his spare money to track down the rest of his guild. Most of them had actually died or worse.

A few he found had survived or left records, indicating that they had been sucked into the other world as well. Either in the distant past or future. Only to be returned just as he was. That was when Ains, in his human guise, had realized that time travel was possible With no hope of returning he had no real plans but he had sworn to himself that if he did now that he knew time travel was possible one of his long term goals was going to be to go back in time and fix Earth. Erase the bleak future he called home and maybe rescue his friends… or at least his species.

Then suddenly one day a rift had opened and Albedo and Shaltear had both appeared, hands out and pulled him into the gate with a kiss where he had found himself standing in the ruins of Nazarick. The current versions of the vampire and succubus had no idea about appearing in his world, so Ains assumed that Nfi's sacrifice had been boosted by some other magic. Albedo had whispered something to him, the name of something he would need in the future, the blood of "our daughter Mombedo", but he supposed time travel rules meant she could not tell him too much.

"So," he said to the people looking up at him with hope in their eyes, "where's the guy whose ass I have to kick?"

That was then of course and this was now. The fight against the other player and his people had been devastating, but fortunately large portions of the kingdom had already been laid to waist, so the fight had few casualties and since then Ains had resurrected nearly all of his former comrades.

It was just taking a lot and they were only partially done with recreating Nazarick. It had been easier when they were dealing with computer programs. Ains, with the help of other wizards Fluder Paradyne and the Dragon Queen Draudillon in particular, was working on understanding the magic used by the old Dragon Lord to bring him and the other Players to life as their game avatars, but it was likely to take centuries.

In the meantime he had a huge kingdom to rebuild in addition to having promised his people to unite the world under his banner. Sure it was easier for him than most, what with his magic, the help of his friends and allies, and so forth. But it still took a lot to resurrect important people and limited resources to do it with. There were changes, the dwarven runesmiths definitely helped, but it was going to be a long slog. In addition his traders and adventurers had been making tentative contact with other lands and there were other dangers out there that could prove a threat.

He had heard of some group called The Slayers led by a sorceress named Lina Inverse from some distant land who could prove troublesome or helpful. Among others.

"We've conquered the known world, so we'll work on this part for a decade or so unless something else comes up," he had decided. The others had agreed of course.

The day to day running of a kingdom however was tedious and expensive. His undead armies were producing plenty of food, but that meant humans no longer worked farms. Ains had plenty of potential innovations he could bring to the world, but he was wary. Earth had been trashed in only a few centuries. Many people had ideas of tearing down the Great forest of Tob. After all with the monsters now official citizens with everyone else, it was to many just a barrier inhibiting expansion. It was not as if the world had any concept of pollution or endangered species.

Ains however did not want another round of manifest Destiny on his watch just wiping out every culture that got in their way simply because they could. Not only would a bigger and expanding kingdom just be too much trouble right now, but he wanted to skip the parts where for example the introduction of toilets had led to the Thames River becoming a toxic mess, cars turning the air brown with smog, and radioactive waste was buried willy-nilly about the landscape. Ains might be essentially immortal but he had died once and doubted he could come back a second time if that happened.

So far he had already worked with the dwarves to find runes that turned the waste in toilets into useful chemicals and was working on introducing solar panels and windmills before anyone had any ideas about oil and coal, but without that step the industrial revolution was slow going for the masses. Trying to skip straight to the computer age when the world at large was mostly stuck in the Renaissance, not to mention had actual magic mucking up the scientific explanation of things was no easy task.

He looked over his desk at the paperwork and sighed. It had been a couple of years since his resurrection and he was starting to feel like an office drone again rather than god-king of the known world. As an undead he was not getting back pain like he had in his old cubical working alongside his manager Miss Kobayashi, but frankly the pain would at least break the monotony.

A knock came at the door. "Come in."

One of the maids opened the door. "You have a missive from Emperor Jircniv, my lord."

Ains nodded and took the scroll. It was a fairly innocuous bit of paper. It referred to the day of the founding of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Rather the date of it. In the time since the original day Ains had forgotten that he and the emperor had agreed that it should be a holiday. At the time it had all been about messing with Jircniv's head and forcing him to ally with them and support his claim to E-Rantel. He had never actually gotten around to making it an official holiday. The next year there had been much on their plates and then he had been dead. Also there had been a few problems since holiday was originally a derivative of "holy day" and not only was Ains and many of his people undead who had issues with holy power and faith, but they had wiped out the Slain Theocracy, meaning that there had been a wee bit of an upheaval in the local religious practices. Rather similar to what would have happened if someone had nuked the Vatican in 1400 AD. Basically proving that God was either not real or uninterested in protecting them and the main religions based on the repeated Player interventions were going the way of Quetzalcoatl and the Norse gods had.

In the Holy Kingdom the Faceless One was starting a church based on Ains, but in a world where there were actual undead, ghosts, and people who had been resurrected from the afterlife it was proving a bit tricky to just replace their old heroic gods with an undead whole sole contribution to the local faith was casually mentioning Lovecraftian horrors he had summoned to murder nearly two hundred thousand people. Ains was not even sure if those gods were real or part of the same magic that created him… or if they were did it matter? Had the same magic that brought Ains and his people to life created the Elder gods and Old Ones? There was a cheery thought for Sunday service. They could spend the evening counting the stars and then the next night seeing which ones had been eaten.

Though it seemed the emperor's people had remembered the conversation. "We have begun circulating the information on the holiday you discussed with his majesty and would like to know how you would like the people to celebrate and the exact name of the holiday." The date was a little over a hundred days in the future.

At first he thought, "Oh this just seems like another hassle and expense." But then he remembered back home how important holidays had been. Days off work. A cause to celebrate. A distraction from everyday life. As someone who had spent much of his paycheck paying for virtual game supplies and his free time playing a game, he understood the necessity of free time. Not to mention spending some of your hard earned money on something not completely necessary for survival, but maybe needed for mental stability. The knowledge that you could have fun. After all unlike on Earth in the Middle Ages thanks to magic and inhuman abilities the average lifespan was a bit longer than fourteen to twenty years. Even longer now that Ains was keeping them from murdering one another.

A break from the daily grind seemed like a good idea.

Winter in a medieval society where indoor heating was still done with wood stoves seems a bit of a rub, but as he recalled the actual day they had met and announced the founding had been in late spring. He could clear up any bad weather, at least for this first time, and give people a nice week to enjoy themselves. Maybe float some holiday themes past the merchants and see what the others could come up with. Also drop a few other holidays into the calendar. Christmas was a bit much but New Years, Halloween, April Fool's Day, Arbor Day, and various others could be sprinkled about the place.

Weekends were taking some getting used to. Even with the undead to handle most hard work, the dead did not spend money on food and clothes and entertainments so it was eating into the economy a bit. A two week holiday and full days off every week were going to take some work to get into the rotation when you had just eliminated the major religions (the guys who could insist you had a divine right to take a day off to pray and meditate or called starving "fasting" with a straight face) and were still working on eliminating slavery. Sadly the idea of no longer needing slaves had taken off, but many nobles were A: upset at the idea of actually paying their servants a fair wage and B: among those that did like the idea of swapping slaves for undead (few and far between) once the slaves were considered no longer of use it was not so much about easing them into society as slitting their throats and burying them someplace out of the way.

Yeah, that had been awkward. Especially since a large number of people had not seen anything wrong with it to the point that it had been a week before anyone thought to mention it or complain about the smell of the bodies. Sure it made for plenty more undead, but Ains had been horrified at both the blatant murder of "obsolete farm equipment" and the casual brutality of it. The few who were against it were blaming the heartless undead overlord. Also the freed slaves, elves and other inhuman people in particular, were experiencing all the problems African Americans had in America.

The Sorcerer Kingdom's official position was to treat all races equally and it was a spreading belief. Everyone knew Jircniv's new best friend was the Quagoa clan lord, but he had not been too popular with his own people since kowtowing to Ains. A lot of people still felt that maybe the world was supposed to end and Ains was the new devil ruling over hell and forcing them to live with anything inhuman was just another sign.

"Yes, we definitely need to give the people a respite," he decided. "Something to look forward to and celebrate." He pictured himself in a Santa suit with skeletons in green caps making toys. His original Orb of Momonga had been destroyed but he had lesser ones he wore for ascetic purposes and could have an emerald one put in for the look of it like a Christmas decoration. Thankfully most of the people of Nazarick had at least some pop-culture references. Enough that they knew what cheeseburgers, pizza, and jazz music were. There had always been some drawbacks to them having spent the beginning of their lives as computerized puppets designed by gamer geeks playing Supervillain.

This however should be something they could understand and get behind. Provided he could convince his workaholic staff to join in the festivities. He had a feeling most of them would be hurt if he hired caterers to handle their jobs for even a day. His own mother had died worked to death and he hated how diligent they were and took anything but perfection as a reason to commit seppuku.

He felt like he was living A Christmas Carol in reverse. As if Scrooge were chained to his desk insisting everybody else in the counting house go home for the holidays with extra pay to their family only to be repeatedly denied.

Getting them into a holiday spirit would take a lot of work. Or… he mused… actual mind control. Actually that was a viable option. Maybe he should make Nazarick act as Santa's workshop. They could handle the actual holiday magic. Delivering toys to good little girls, boys, elves, goblins, trolls, ogres, dragons… and then he could literally force them to enjoy themselves for a few weeks while they recuperated from the extra work load. Of course the "toys" would vary from back home. Many of the poorer children would probably prefer a lump of coal or some jerky to a doll.

"Octeez," he said to the maid still standing nearby.

Delighted he knew her name she bowed. "Yes, my lord?"

"I will be delivering a new circular to the entire staff. When it's done I will want you to bring the Floor Guardians to the throne room tomorrow after everyone had read it and submitted their opinions. Also see if you can get Nigredo and Pestonya and Princess Renner to join us. They are very good with children. Oh and have Renner bring Climb." The demon-boy would be a good choice. He had been homeless as a child, starving on the street before Renner had taken him in. Ains could have them also talk to those three elfin slaves that had been left over from the assault on Nazarick by those Workers, though keeping the former slaves from suggesting killing every human rather than rewarding them with gifts might be difficult.

Even Ains had not been that destitute back in his own world. He was well aware after all this time that the average trailer park back home had a higher standard of living than most castles. It seemed like a good perspective to have. Someone who knew what a homeless starving orphan actually wanted or needed besides what some rich noble would come up with. Maybe he could avoid turning the holidays into the farce Christmas had become back home where you kept the receipt incase a gift was unappreciated or people stabbed each other to get that one special gift for their child that everybody had to have. Knowing the people of this world he could see the concept of Black Friday starting a civil war among the nobility. Marquis Raeven being a prime example.

He closed the ledgers in front of him and began drafting a notice asking for ideas from the staff, pausing as he wondered if he should make suggesting "fruit cake" a whipping offense.

(Three Months Later)

Ains felt a little guilty having a huge part at the former mayor's mansion in E-Rantel, but he had ultimately caved when Princess Renner explained the importance of appearance. "Many people imagine that the wealthy spending money on seemingly frivolous indulgences is somehow a waste of resources.

"That's because they fail to realize that appearance is incredibly important. A demonstration of wealth and power shows strength. Someone who works all day to earn a living until they groan under the weight of their responsibilities is both demonstrating that they are incapable of employing others to work for them, which implies weaknesses such as poverty or obsessive distractions. A king should have the time to plan meetings with other nobility and be relaxed and thoughtful about figuring out border disputes or trade agreements and being polite, not worrying about doing his own laundry.

"Also it's very important that the wealthy employ as many of the poor as possible. It keeps them busy, but it also keeps them happy, despite their complaints. You do not need the kind of money that people get paid to brew and make tea, but a poor village girl with three children to feed does. You cannot give her all the money she needs because then she's rich and you are not and may suddenly decide to take over. Also it leaves you nothing to pay others or run an army. Not to mention the poor tend to handle sudden influxes of wealth poorly. So while it may seem superfluous for a rich person to buy a pair of boots for a whole gold piece, the cobbler who made those boots, which will last a rich person for decades, had just gotten enough money to buy shoes for his entire family even though they need to be replaced every year.

"Finally politically showing off wealth in that manner is very important. It lets the peasants feel that the kingdom is doing well and lets foreign powers feel like you can afford the best armies, the best merchandise, and anything else you need. Merchants dress well so you know their goods are worth buying. The nobility throw parties to mingle with other rich people so they can show that their lands and businesses are doing well, demonstrating that they are not impoverished and can afford to lounge around enjoying the finer things. The richer they are the better servants they can afford and then the poor who work for them, when the party if over, can spend the extra money they made serving canopies to the rich and annoying. It trickles down. A slave eating scraps from a rich man's table are often much better off than those serving a much poorer farmer.

"So you can also use a lavish party to demonstrate that your reforms work. People are worried that freeing slaves and paying servants more money or having them do less work will cut into their profits. Fear of poverty often drives people to work and makes the more sympathetic to those who do have less, if only because one day it might be them. However when it becomes an immediate prospect self preservation takes over. Sure many people are also just greedy, but if you want them to agree that people without magic can still live well paying their employees rather than treating them like livestock."

Only after the lecture did she pause. 'I'm sorry my lord, I'm sure the Supreme one knows that. I did not mean to imply…"

"No Renner, you are right. As the lord of Nazarick I have lived an unimaginably different life in a different world, literally, from the one we now occupy. While I am on a mental level naturally aware of all of your points, I'm afraid that you are right to lecture me about this particular topic. We have always had everything we needed and magic has provided it, so money has only ever truthfully been useful only outsize of the Great Tomb." Mentally he was cheering; glad to finally have someone who actually knew about ruling humans to give him advice. Most of his advisors were monsters who thought all humans, with a few exceptions, should be killed. Ains himself was hampered by the undead's blasé attitude to life and death.

Admittedly Renner was a manipulative psychopath, but she was pretty much the only person he had who actually knew how to run a human kingdom. Had she been in charge instead of her well meaning father, her idiotic elder brother, and her other brother who had evolved into a better person a wee bit too late to the party, it was entirely possible 90% of the Re-Estize kingdom would not be rubble interlaced with crow pecked corpses.

So on her advice and with much encouragement from his other followers, Ains agreed to have a "Unity Day" party. His people would use magic to deliver appropriate gifts to everyone in the kingdom and then, with a bit of force and threats on his part, have their own party immediately afterwards. Meanwhile he would host celebrations for the nobility, invite the orphans from the Re-Estize orphanage to join the party and play with the noble children, and basically try to demonstrate he was having a good time.

"And I will give all the guests who arrive their gifts in person," he decided.

He also found other ways to fill out the week. He arranged a wedding for Climb and Renner at the beginning of the week. The princess was a demon now, but her people loved her and still had a bit of attachment to the royal family, the princess in particular. Her kindness to others was admittedly an act she put on for Climb's benefit, something he had become aware of with time, but it was also part of who she was. "Doing things for my darling Climb makes me a better person. Surely Lord Ains understands." Most people however were unaware of her true nature so they still loved her and some secretly harbored the slim hope that in the event Ains ever was destroyed for good she would be his heir apparent.

While Emperor Jircniv made a point of overseeing the new holiday in his own kingdom, avoiding direct contact with Ains as he usually did whenever possible, he and his new wife Ri Kista Kabelia had been unable to refuse that invitation. He had been formal but he had at least shown up even if Renner was not technically a princess any more, but just another servant of Nazarick.

The rest of the local royalty and community leaders had stuck around for the celebration of the actual holiday at the end of the festival week. Ains had barrowed from Mardi Gras and the Thanksgiving parade, the Day of the Dead or Bon Festival, and New years to fill in the eight-day week. Adding one final one for the day after the official celebration. He remembered how going out drinking on New Years sucked and he had reached out to the religious community to declare it a fasting day to make up for excess from the week before and alleviate any guilt for indulging. Well "brainwashed the priests into thinking it was their idea and that he had reluctantly caved to their whims" but same difference.

Had to give them a win and an excuse to join in on the Unity Day carols when they were serving the evil undead overlord. Cocytus and the lizard men had written some remarkably catchy songs and the lizards' indigenous art and musical instruments definitely added something to the festivities, especially when the elves had joined in and the Nazarick types trying to introduce new types of music. Actual holy phrases being banned in public due to their effect on the undead from making the more powerful feel uncomfortable to actually igniting or even exploding some of the lesser zombies.

Ains would have liked to try to change people's actual opinion of the undead. He had even come up with a parable about how the light of dead stars continues long after the actual star was gone. But the tendency for them to drink blood and kill indiscriminately when not under his control made that seem like a bad idea. Best to treat them and all black magic like radiation, occasionally useful when controlled and bad for most people to mess with.

He sat on a dais in a new suit in gold and green with a leaf pattern and dwarf made spikes and runes. Sort of a nod to all the races whether they came from the forest or the mountains or the city. He had spent the night greeting people at the door.

Enri had arrived on a Barguest flanked by several goblins. She had been a bit embarrassed. "The goblins and my sister found a puppy in the woods after they killed the parents and thought it would be funny to train me to ride it like the wolf riders."

Her sister Nemu had joined the goblin paladins and had her own warg to ride. Enri meanwhile had been declared Duchess of Carne village. According to Demiurge duke was a title for a warlord, someone elevated to nobility by leading successful campaigns in battle against enemies of the land they were defending. They had tweaked it a little, making that a requirement. Neither her children nor sister could claim the title in the event of her death. However if they proved themselves in battle against enemies of the sorcerer kingdom or Carne village itself, they could.

If not the title would be lost until it was revived by someone who earned it and until then the city would form a town council like they had before who would elect a leader until that happened. Though working with the goblins as a paladin Nemu was a strong candidate and had already earned a knighthood even if she was just a teenager. She did not have a family yet, but so far her nieces and nephews had shown no problem with this new tradition. Being Carne County's nobility had its perks, but each one also had jobs and skills of their own. Unlike the nobles of the Empire when Jircniv had talent he titles and lands from those who could not pull their own weight, if they did lose the title it would not truly affect them much. In fact the people of Carne might insist they keep it if they tried to abdicate.

Among the goblins standing near Enri at all times Ains recognized the ranger Brita. She was watching carefully as Enri spoke with Lupus Regina. She was wary of the werewolf, but like the other guards around the place, she was really watching most everyone. They tried to food freely, both to keep from being distracted by hunger and incase it was poisoned. Ains and his allies might not have any open enemies left but there were always plenty behind the scenes for any leader. Or if there were not it was best to assume there were than to go the other way and be wrong.

Plus the room was swarming with monsters and not just the ones she lived with every day back in the village. Ains noticed the way her eyes were following Shaltear and sometimes the pink haired vampire noticed the redhead too. It looked to Ains like the ranger was gearing up for a conversation. Or would run screaming. It was hard to tell with people who had met the tiny vampire or really any of his inner-circle.

Some did better. he saw Brain Unglaus working the crowd, looking handsome but armed as a guard. He worked under Cocytus now, having been resurrected on the insect-like guardian's request. Then given the option of giving up his humanity to become stronger.

With Climb, now a demon along with Renner, as an example he had agreed. After all he and Climb had both died honorably as men. He had stood in as the boy's best man at the wedding… which was interesting in itself. People had been rather worried since it had involved blasphemous promises to dark oaths in a deconsecrated church, but with the happy couple being demons and Albedo officiating the standard ritual would not have been appropriate or safe.

After some discussion Regina had bitten him. There were a lot fewer werewolves than vampires thanks to Shaltear's harem of brides (which now included the all too willing girls of Blue Rose and the girls of another adventuring group who had survived that attack on the seaside village that drew out that man in the red power armor as well as that troublesome dragon lord with the remote controlled platinum armor) and having added climb and Renner to the ranks of demons it had seemed the easier option.

"Judging by his skin tone he seems to rather enjoy the sun in any case," Ains had said.

Regina had rather enjoyed being a lone wolf, but liked sparring with a fellow werewolf once she realized she could beat the lesser wolf to death and he would get right back up so long as silver was not involved. Brain meanwhile appreciated it, willingly being torn to shreds as part of his training.

"I stood there ands let Lord Cocytus cut me down to show my honor. Gazef would be rolling over in his grave if he could see how much I improve with this kind of training."

He had not been terribly surprised to learn that Shaltear was one of Ains' subordinates. Though intimidated considering how strong she was. after seeing her fight with Ains though he was actually impressed, both that he himself had survived a fight with her and in Ains' defeat of the vampire despite being outmatched as a warrior. He had begun to work on his style in the coliseum with the lizard men and Hamsuke, focusing not just on his new superhuman abilities as a werewolf, which definitely boosted his abilities, but also on the mental aspects of being a warrior.

"One day I will defeat Shaltear Bloodfallen in battle." Though it was going to take a few centuries from the look of things. She too was much smartyer since then and while she agreed to spar with him, it always seemed to end with her draining him until he limped from the ring looking like a human prune.

"I'm as big a fan as a little pain play as anyone," she told Aura. "But this boy is crazy."

Climb and Brain had been somewhat more disappointed to learnt hat Sebas was also among the Nazarick guardians. However Ains' servant had only let that go on for so long. "My dear fellows, I've had enough. You two on some level blame Lord Ains for the deaths about you and the loss of the kingdom, but that is merely because he is an obvious target for your rage. Without his intercession Gazef would have died in Carne village along with the rest of them when the Theocracy attacked. Your kingdom was already on the brink of civil war as clueless nobles bickered over which of them would have killed your ineffective king and his children for the crown while a large percentage of the kingdom was being actively run by a crime syndicate flouting your laws and with the crown prince, a clueless braggart, on their payroll assisting them in getting away with their crimes. The only competent ruler you had was a woman of amazing ability forced to work behind the scenes merely because she was female.

"The theocracy had already decided they were going to wipe you out. The empire was going to massacre you all in that war before they asked my lord to cast his spell. Gazef, if I am any judge, faced Ains in battle because deep in his heart of hearts he wished he could take my lord up on his offer to join him, but could not forsake his oath to the king regardless of the mistakes the man made that left his throne precariously balanced between a dozen enemies. The fact that Lord Ains beat them to it is hardly a reason for a true warrior to hold resentment towards him and personally I have to wonder what would have happened if anyone else held a fraction of his power, if they would have been nearly as kind in their takeover.'

Not only were his words hard to argue with, even if they did not both fear and respect him, but knowing that Sebas' lover had been one of the people worst treated under the old system choked off any words they might have attempted. She had been raped, enslaved, raped, beaten, raped, poisoned, drug addicted, raped, and nearly killed mostly by the former nobility. That Tuareninya still seemed like such a good and decent person capable of loving anyone was a miracle in itself.

Ains could see her dancing with Sebas now. Like himself he had ordered the guardians in attendance to enjoy the party. "How would it reflect upon me if my most trusted aids did not enjoy the benefits of their fine work when in public?" using his own reputation and claiming it would be tarnished by their lack of fun had worked wonders, at least in this instance. Though he had been forced to dance with most of the female floor guardians and seven head maids as well as various noblewomen (much to Shaltear and Albedo's dismay) by the same logic.

Fortunately thanks to Tuare they were considerably less jealous. The human maid had not been terribly welcome among the servants of Nazarick until it had turned out her experiences had come in handy. Despite having been made older the people in Nazarick were in fact all only as old as Yggdrasil itself and had spent the majority of their existences as puppets standing around a computer generated environment.

They had come with back stories when Nazarick was translated to this new world, but while they had become real people their actual experience was like an adult child. They had basic knowledge, but most of the maids had never even been in battle before despite their skills. The Supreme beings had killed most of their enemies before anyone stepped through the door of the tomb.

So they were very naïve in certain respects. Like they knew about the basics of sex, but seemed relatively clueless on why Ains was not "boning" every chick in the tomb, since they were all willing and assumed he could easily satisfy every one of them with energy to spare. Albedo had actually tried to jump his bones a few times to the point she had to be dragged off him, seemingly unaware that he was ill equipped to fulfill those desires.

Aura and Mare had both been asking questions on the sly and Ains was just glad he was not required to explain such things. He was glad to ditch that particular responsibility, especially since that strange half-elf girl Antilene was following Mare around like a puppy. Literally on a leash. Fully intending to marry, or at least breed with the young elf in a dress pretty much the second he came of age by elf standards. The crossdressing elf twins were a bit more reserved than Shaltear, but that was probably due to age since while their uncle Peroroncino and the vampire's creator was a rabid hentai fan, Bukubukuchagama had been a prolific hentai voice actress.

Dealing with those two siblings back in Yggdrasil was bad enough without having to actually teach their "kids" about such things and Ains was grateful for Tuare's help.

Tuare meanwhile had been an indentured prostitute for a number of years and while she had her horror stories she also had a few experiences that had not exactly been unpleasant. When it came to grownup relationships she was quickly known among the maids and other females in Nazarick as practically a guru. Not least of all after winning the heart of Sebas himself. It helped that after a few years she had willingly let them transform her a nekomata (split-tailed cat-woman) in an occult experiment, so she would no longer age and could be with him forever, but she had earned their admiration and respect long before that already.

The knowledge she imparted was eagerly received like they were teens in a locker room. Though it did not make anyone happy to realized the reason Ains would not be making many moves on anybody any time soon. (Though rumors abounded and hope sprang eternal that Demiurge was actually working on that problem). Many of them had also heard her rather gruesome stories and decided they would follow Shaltear's example and date other, women, often each other. It was simple and left them able to serve Ains after all.

Ains could see Neia AKA The Faceless One and head of the Cult of Ains Ooal Gown dancing with CZ2128 Delta not far from Sebas and Tuare, the two gazing into one another's eyes. He had been worried about the paladin, but even after she had worked out that Ains had both killed her father and secretly replaced her country's leader with a doppelganger, she had merely been impressed. After all her religious beliefs centered around the strongest having the right to do just about anything they saw fit, since weak people were incapable of truly affecting the world. "You did offer to resurrect him and I turned you down. Besides he was a soldier and we were at war with the demihumans. He likely would have died in a fight in any event. As would many others myself included. You conquering our land saved many more lives and I have no right to complains simply because my father was not one of them."

He suspected one day her faith in him might wane, as he feared it would in all his followers, but for now she seemed perfectly content in CZ2128 Delta's arms and the one eyed maid likewise. Well he knew who was going to be doing a lot of work as an ambassador to the holy kingdom for the foreseeable future. Ains chuckled. Maybe they and Sebas could double date.

The ground shook and outside the current Frost Dragon king and Nazarick's assistant librarian Hejinmal was dancing with Aura's golden dragon pet while the dragon queen eyed them speculatively. Hilma of Eight fingers and her other former criminals turned nobles were working the room. None of them had ever requested any form of immortality, having learned the hard way that there were downsides to regeneration. Brain might like being torn to shreds, but being eaten alive by insects repeatedly had made them appreciate mortality and the sweet release of death.

Enri meanwhile, still a young and vibrant woman, rebuffed every noble willing to throw themselves at her feet. Of which there were many, men and women. She might not stay single forever, but for now she was still grieving Nfi and Ains felt a twinge of guilt. He still had people checking on how to resurrect the boy, if possible but it had come up dry so far. The fact that she and her family in no way blamed him and honored her husband's death to save him actually made it worse in some ways.

Ains paused as he scanned the room. Brita seemed to have disappeared. Odd for a guard. Admittedly she was officially a guest and nobody was making her guard Enri. Plus there were plenty of goblin guards about the place. Maybe she had popped off to use a chamber pot. Ains was doubly grateful that since arriving in this world such things had not had to deal with those issues himself.

Oh well. She was only one of several people who were dipping in and out of the sea of faces, some he recognized and most he did not. Albedo was nearby and it looked like she wanted another dance as she stared around at all the happy couples enjoying Ains's largess. He noticed that Shaltear had also vanished. If he danced with Albedo now he realized he might be able to sit down afterwards without being pressure to also dance with the Lolita vampire.

Not that he was against her feelings for him. She was no younger than anyone else in Nazarick and more mature than many in a lot of ways because his friend who made her had been a fit of a hentai fanatic. He both appreciated her and Albedo's insistence that they both loved him and liked that while she was forward she was A: not as forward as Albedo when she lost control and B: had her own harem of hot vampire women (and a few others she dallied with) to both take the edge off her own libido and to take the pressure off of him.

Honestly if anything he was jealous of her. He had not exactly died a virgin when he became undead, but it had been a pretty close run thing and he certainly did not have her way with women. Smiling he got up and went to nervously offer to dance with albedo. Now that he felt bad about. Like making her love him was the ultimate date-rape drug. He could not even undo it now, since the staff e had used before was now long gone.

It was awkward to say the least.

Speaking of Shaltear's way with women she was outside looking up at the sky and sipping a goblet of blood (Ains had a little something for everyone and it was rather hilarious when someone drank from the wrong punchbowl) when she felt someone watching her from behind. "You've been eyeing me all night. Should I be flattered or are you going to try to slay me again?"

"So you do remember me." Brita had talked to Brain Unglaus, having seen him also watching the vampire a time or two. He had told a story in which he had twice managed to escape her grasp. Brita had been let go as she ran off to fight the Black Scripture and gotten hypnotized. Brain had claimed Shaltear had not even remembered him the times he had met her.

"I never forget a beautiful woman. Especially one who reeks of fear. Your heart is beating like a little bird. Careful my dear or I might night be able to resist plucking it out."

She tried to control herself. This girl in front of her did not look like the round mouthed monster she remembered taunting her and calling her dessert in a tattered dress while killing her fellow fighters as if she were plucking flowers. She looked like a petite noblewoman and had, for much of the night, been dancing with other women including some who looked much more like vampires than Shaltear did.

Brita was a bit jealous of Brain then. He had faced this monster from what she heard with courage and fought another to the death. Though he insisted his first time fighting Shaltear once he realized how powerful she was he had fled crying too. Had stood in the presence of Ains Ooal Gown on the battle field.

"Is it true you were never human to begin with?" Brita asked softly.

"Hmm? Well yes. I was created by a Supreme being. As I understand it they made us as part of a game. I suppose in their world they were not much different than anyone else. After all if everyone has the same powers they are hardly powers at all. If everyone were immune to being shot with arrows would crossbows even be considered weapons? So they made a world where they could be powerful and some of them designed each of us in Nazarick, gifting us as their blessed children."

"Do you feel that way because they made you loyal to them?" Brita asked.

Shaltear smirked, sipping her blood. "Perhaps. Though it hardly matters. Before they left the lords more than demonstrated their superiority against their own kind, becoming gods even among their own kind. Then when we came here lord Ains has done nothing but demonstrate that he is worthy of our loyalty and adulation. Looks, intelligence, power, wealth… whatever one might look for in a man he has well most if it in spades. His bone structure is flawless."

Brita looked away. "I'll take your word for it. I thought you were interested in women."

"Oh I am my tasty little dessert." Suddenly she was right beside Brita, whispering in her ear. "I have all the needs of the flesh. But almost everyone has an… exception."

Brita only kept from jumping out of her skin because she was paralyzed with fear. She was actually wetting herself and she knew the vampire knew that. The shame broke her free and she managed to keep from moving or screaming, if only because she was terrified that if she did Shaltear would not be able to control herself.

"I have nightmares about you, almost every night. I see something move in the woods and I'm afraid it's you. Sometimes I scream for no reason."

Shaltear stepped back and smiled. "If you are looking for an apology, I could say the words but I'm afraid I would not mean it. I am a monster after all and I was made the way I am. I am a creature of terror and I rather enjoy the smell of fear on a pretty woman. I'm not sure if I want to eat you or well.. eat you. Fortunately for you, you are a friend of Lord Ains' protégé Duchess Enri as well as a guest at his party and I have rather filled up on the snack table. So I will leave you."

As she turned Brita said, "Wait."

"Yes?"

"I was afraid before I met you. I was a female adventurer. I was scared every time I faced a monster. I was afraid every time I fought a man who was bigger and stronger than me. I know I'm good looking and I knew no matter how hard I trained I would never really catch up to them. Not enough hat if they ever wanted to they couldn't… do just about anything they wanted to me." She took a deep breath. "And these days I am often afraid I will fail Lady Enri. I try so hard, but I'm surrounded by people stronger than me. Ogres and goblins and dwarves as well as human men. I've fought a troll and been smacked aside like a fly. After I met you I was so scared of monsters I ran away from being an adventurer to become a ranger. And when the prince had out city surrounded I ran with the others instead of staying to fight with the men despite being the best warrior in the village because… well because I knew what awaited me if those soldiers won, more than wanting to protect the women and children as we tried to flee." She turned tears shining in her eyes.

"your point being?"

"I'm weak and afraid," she said. "I think I've been afraid as long as I remember. Except… except for once. When… when I was under your spell. You never made me forget. You looked into my eyes and for the first time I can remember I felt at peace. I'm used to feeling weak and afraid and overpowered. I have never, ever felt that sense of pure bliss, like nothing in the world could scare or hurt me.'

"What are you saying?" Shaltear asked, though she was pretty sure she knew She could not force an answer from someone under Lord Ains' protection.

"I want to stop being afraid. I want to be strong. I want to be able to protect people and never, ever run away again." She looked at Shaltear, meeting her eyes. "I've been doing a lot of reading about vampires. I know you can turn someone by biting them but… is it true you can make them a living thrall as well?" Brita had been doing a lot of reading about vampires in recent years for obvious reasons.

A thrall was a human servant of a vampire. Meant to protect them or doing other daytime chores that sun fearing undead could not. Shaltear was immune to sunlight, as evidenced by her fighting Lord Ains without hesitation in the middle of the day. She had never considered making one. They became eternally young and regenerated and lived so long as they were not dismembered and set on sire and their vampire master lived. Thralls were quite strong, depending on the vampire who made them. In Shaltear's case she suspected that Brita would be on par with a death knight, if not stronger.

Thralls also, as the name implied, remained in a state of semi-hypnosis. Lowered inhibitions and no fear or shame or any other emotion that would make them hesitate to obey their master's every desire. Something else Shaltear was familiar with. She still shuddered with joy whenever she remembered the time Lord Ains had deigned to use her as a chair. Normally she would not submit to anyone in anything, but as she said everyone had exceptions to their rules.

She did understand the feeling Brita described. She was possibly the only vampire in the world who had ever been mind controlled herself. It had taken a World Item, since she had a natural immunity to mind control like most vampires (necromancy sometimes being an exception). She did not remember much but she knew the feeling Brita was talking about. The certainty of purpose, the lack of worries. Compared to how she felt after she had woken up and found out that she had dared raise a hand against Lord Ains, well it had taken a lot to get over than and she had deeply wished she was back in the trance many times. Hence her failed attempts to get drunk.

She had gotten over it but it sounded like this girl was experiencing trauma from being, well, human. Weak. Whatever you wanted to call it.

Setting her goblet aside Shaltear walked towards Brita, smiling as she heard the girl's heart flutter in her chest. "And what is it you want from me?"

"Peace." Brita was pale, but she stayed put and dropped to her knees, putting herself below Shaltear. "I want to stop being afraid. I don't want it to be a mask any more when I look at somebody stronger than me without trembling."

Shaltear reached out and pressed a finger, cool at the grave, the Brita's trembling lower lip, tracing it so that her sharp claw almost but did not quite break the skin. "And what would you give me in return, my tasty dessert." She leaned forward and flicked her tongue, also cold, along the curve of Brita's ear.

Brita moaned. It did not feel bad, but she was terrified. Yet she was used to that feeling. "Make it stop. However you choose. I want to stop being afraid. I can't take it any more. Rip out my heart if that's your choice tear out my throat if you have to. It's… not my first choice, but I can't take being… me any more." She had been in a room full of monsters. Afraid for herself. Afraid for Enri. And surrounded by so many people who were not afraid, when everything inside her said they should all run screaming for the hills.

She hid it well but she remembered when they let the little hobgoblin into the village years ago and she had been unable to keep from questioning it, even though the scrawny runt was nothing to the other goblins. She had written it off as adventurer mentality, but it was another monster. She had felt good when they won. When she did not run and fought. But she was always afraid. When she had met Momon she had played it off but she had even been afraid to ask those second rate punk posing as adventurers for the money tog et a new potion and had focused on the rich weakling in the armor… or so she thought.

Oh sure, everyone said true courage was standing and fighting in the face of fear. That a true hero faced enormous odds and came out on top. And she could see that. but once you did it, did you have to keep going? Fine, she had faced her fears and fought for others when terrified. Fantastic. She was a godsdamned hero.

She was sick of it. When you trained you were supposed to get stronger. Surely Gazef and Brain were terrified when they were young men in battle or training. But they grew. They got over it and faced death when it came smiling. Brita had been a pretty girl and no amount of training had made her like the muscular lady Gagaran or any adamantine heroes or even the goblins, female or male, half her size she trained with daily. She was pretty and that was nice, but her frame and height were never going to change and if she got hurt she could barely afford a single healing potion. The one she had gotten from Momon himself had barely saved her life.

She was always going to be weak and afraid. Part of her thought at this point she would be scared forever if they turned her into a werewolf or a dragon or even a frost giant. It was no longer just about her physical self, it was how she saw the world. She was always going to be scared. Plus now she knew there were things out there like Ains, Shaltear, and so many more. That nutcase Lady Clementine was similar. She had been fearless from what Brita heard, up until she fought Ains and was now fairly traumatized, but ultimately she had been in the same boat as Brita without being afraid.

Clementine was dangerously insane and without conscience, sure, but had never been scared and even now at least her fear was justified and rational. Brita would happily give up her mind at this point.

Shaltear smiled and her eyes glowed a soft red, but did not mesmerize the shaking girl. "Well, since you ask I suppose I could do something.. but eating your heart at a party is rather gauche and Lord Ains is encouraging gift giving. I reserve the right to devour you in any way I choose later, but for now…' She brought her hand, the fingertip shiny with Brita's saliva, to her own mouth and ran it over one of her fangs. A small slit opened and red blood welled out of it. "Stick out your tongue, my tasty girl…."

Brita did and Shaltear held out her finger letting it drip onto the redhead's tongue and then sticking it into her mouth. Brita swallowed; her eyes suddenly glowing ruby red and she moaned as her body relaxed. Shaltear hear her shuddering heart become hard and rhythmic, utterly calm and felt everything she felt.

The cut had already healed on her finger as Brita looked into her mistresses' eyes and sucked gently on it, nibbling with her teeth. Shaltear pulled free after a moment, still connected to her tongue by a red tinged strand of spit. Brita smiled with ecstasy, no longer afraid of anything. "How may I serve you, my mistress?"

Smiling Shaltear reached over with her other hand and ran her fingers through Brita's short but silky hair. She grabbed it and tilted her head back. 'It'[s been a while since I've enjoyed someone with a pulse and body heat. How about you and I make our way to the basement and I see just how much pain and pleasure a thrall can take? I can introduce you to some of my brides…"

Unafraid Brita smiled and nodded as Shaltear leaned in and kissed her gently, fangs puckering her lips as two needle sized holes bled for a second before the vampire licked the tiny red drops away. A moment later they both moved in a blur, racing out of sight.

Later she returned to Carne village with Enri, though Shaltear would soon become a regular visitor. Brita soon became known as one of the most powerful and fearless warriors the city had, though those less well versed in vampire lore could not understand it. They knew she was seeing a vampire, but little tests like sunlight, mirrors, garlic, and holy symbols did not so much as make her flinch. Fortunately the goblins and Enri did not care precisely what had happened, they just knew she was happy and strong and protected the village.

After all they were loyal to Ains.

Lupus Regina was okay with it. Ains had assigned her to guard Enri's family some time back, and had not rescinded the order when Nfi died or the family had grown by nearly half a dozen. Like their mother Enri's kids were a handful and most of them had about as much fighting ability as their father. Sure the whole village would lay down their lives for any one of them or the entire lot would lay down their lives for them, but it would be better to have someone around besides her who would not simply die in the process and could actually protect some of the brood.

Regina had already failed Ains once in regards to the village and frankly she still would like to see the city and the surrounded area torn asunder in a wave of screaming terror. One might think that was a werewolf thing, but having met Brain she supposed it was just part of her personality, as gifted by her wonderful creator.

Elsewhere monsters flew through the night sky and coordinated teleporting themselves and the gifts they carried across the kingdom. One little girl woke up and almost screamed as a woman with a skinned face and a giant pair of scissors stood over her, but froze as she gently placed a pretty dolly on her pillow and then vanished. Elsewhere maids and monsters, dragons and undead flew everywhere leaving gifts lovingly chosen with divination magic and a spy network

A few people tried to commit crimes that night, thinking that Ains and his minions would be busy. Several sneak thieves, a few bandits, and various other slime bags. Each one was found the next morning nailed in place in some unlikely place like an Easter egg hunt. Not that they were hard to find. They were all still alive and screaming.

After all if Ains asked they needed to be able to get them to confess.

Somewhere Ains' voice rang out in a cheerful laugh. "Hahahahahahaha! And to all a good night."

Author's Note:

At the time of writing this Overlord has not finished, though I am further along in the plot of the light novels than where the anime currently is. However the war with the Slain Theocracy has not come out as even a book yet and I suspect it will be some time before the anime, which may vary as there are several versions of the series already with discrepancies (like the differences between the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, anime, and second anime Brotherhood and the video games), is finished. So while this story may not 100% match the actual outcome

Review this and tell me how I did. I rely on feedback to improve my writing and constructive criticism is always welcome but please have a valid reason for decrying my story and try to use your words, rather than punching out a short sentence on a cell phone with a bunch of abbreviations and whining. If you dislike something please explain why you dislike it and why it did not work with those particular characters. "OMG u suk = GAY" while revealing of your own character and a failing in the American school and/or penal system is not helpful. When reviewing ask yourself WWAD: What Would Ains Do?

This story is more of a wrap up after everything else in the series so you can see where everybody ended up, more or less.

I've been picturing this party since I saw the end of Season 3. Sadly in the anime instead of keeping the adventurer girl and her sisters in a cabin in Nazarick they redid the story so Shaltear just killed her and according to the creators the two little sisters died as slaves. Sad since she was supposed to keep big sis as a love slave. Well she was pretty thoroughly dismembered, but there is Brita looking all hot and seemingly very happy when she was entranced. Seems like a tasty little treat for the vampire who is probably full after eating the blond…

I do see Enri as a warlord despite herself and definitely picture the goblins teaching her to ride a barguest puppy after all their teasing. Nemu would definitely join their army and grow into some spear toting wolf riding warrior.

Nfi's ability to use any magic item seems like it could easily be connected to Ains being the only one who can use his staff and he seems like he would sacrifice himself for just about anyone. Doing it for Ains seems a no brainer and I can definitely see someone using some ultra powerful item to kill him, but finding a work around after everyone is sad and decide they need him back.

Not sure how they play it in the anime but it seems like the Faceless One and Delta definitely have a budding romance going on.

Tuare also could definitely get bonus points with the maids explaining naughty fun times to them. Essentially nobody in Nazarick is actually more than 10 or less, if you only count the time they have been real.

I can see Ains playing Santa for a holiday he invents, but also having trouble enjoying it himself. And in the show they did declare the founding of the Sorcerer kingdom a holiday.

Climb isn't going to remain stupid about Renner forever. In fact I get the feeling he's not completely oblivious to her psychotic self. She just raised him so they play for each other. Their wedding would be interestingly embarrassing for Ains sitting there with all those girls lusting over him.

Eventually something is going to be evil enough to make the Blue Rose girls and other heroes throw in with Ains. Evil eye is lusting after him, but A: he's her enemy and B: unless her pseudo-undead self is seriously into getting boned not to mention willing to fight Albedo and Shaltear for the privilege she's going to be disappointed when she finds out the truth. However she and Shaltear seem like they would have a lot in common and once they throw in together I could see her being the pink haired psycho's lieutenant(nice to have a girl who isn't her slave) and adding the other girls to their undead harem. Possibly as a way to boost their power and save other people's lives, plus their team leader clearly wants to be evil and the others kind of are.

Heck her best friend is a murderous psycho whose fetish involves playing Misery with Climb.

Overall I just see this party as how they would tie up all the loose ends when Ains finally controls the known world. He's immortal and all so the whole world domination thing never needs to end, but I thought this would tie up a bunch of loose ends. I considered a fight scene with someone, but honestly at this point it's going to be a while before they run into anyone they consider a serious threat and that would require more than a fan fic to write. (Honestly I think they're killing the platinum dragon. He's turned down joining them and frankly he's spent the whole time trapped in a magic circle)

If you need something longer to read, try my actual books like "The Monster is Out There Still". The title refers to the way I do not think horror stories should have happy endings for anyone but the monsters. Otherwise they're just adventure stories.

An example of a short horror story from the book.

A Terrible Wife And A Horrible Mother

Kayla's son Toby started going crazy one day. He swore that there was something in mirrors that was trying to get out and get him. "They crawl out and take your place and push you back into the mirror. You can tell because there's something wrong with them. Just little things, but you can notice if you check." He would scream and fight if anyone tried to get him to go into the bathroom until his parents took the mirror out. Even then he went in with electrical tape and covered all the shiny surfaces like the faucet. When he went to school he was caught peeing outside several times refusing to enter any bathroom or class with a mirror.

Finally they had to send him to an upstate mental facility where, less than two days in, he had to be put into isolation. If anyone brought a mirror close he would become panicked and even violent. They had to put him in a straight jacket and keep him in a rubber room.

Soon his father Ted became frustrated as Toby refused to even speak to him and stopped going in to the building, but Kayla would visit at least once a week. However when she came every time he would just glare at her with his ice-blue eyes and say, "You are a terrible wife and a horrible mother."

One day she just broke into tears and shouted back. "Why? What makes you think I'm so awful? Honey, you're scaring everyone. You are here because we're worried about you. I don't know what I did to make you like this, but please tell me and maybe the doctors could help you. I am just trying to do what's best for you."

He told her calmly, "You didn't do anything to cause this mom. This isn't your fault. Actually I feel very safe in here and I do not want to leave. But you are still a terrible wife and a horrible mother." "Why?" She pleaded. "I just want to understand."

He leaned in and whispered in her ear.

A few moments later she ran out of the hospital and saw her husband waiting for her by the car. Ted opened the door for her and got into the driver's seat. He noticed a far away look in her eyes as Kayla kept staring at the road. "Something wrong sweetie?"

"No, I'm fine." But as they went she seemed to get more and more agitated.

When they got home Kayla walked inside and stopped to stare at the wall where so many of their family photos were hung up. It seemed like every time she saw those ice blue eyes of her son they got colder and colder, looking back at her from the pictures accusingly. She looked at them and began shaking and sobbing. It got worse until her husband came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. Kayla turned and through her tears she looked up into his comforting brown eyes as he stroked her hair.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

She wanted to answer, but the words choked in her throat. She just kept staring up at him, shaking and with tears streaming down her cheeks. Finally she croaked, "I really am a terrible wife and a horrible mother."

He looked confused. "Why?"

She almost answered but again was unable to say anything. Kayla felt a scream building. She was cracking and soon she was going to start shrieking and never, ever stop. All the while that last sentence her son had said before she left the facility repeating in her mind over and over again.

"Weren't dad's eyes the same color as mine?"

Sometimes when I am alone and nobody else is here,

I go into the bathroom and have a staring contest with my mirror.

It kills time when I get bored,

I have done it again and again,

But it still makes me feel uneasy,

Every time I win.