The Overlord Saga
Vol I. Past, Present, Future
Chapter 14: Grim Discoveries
The Soul-Keeper sat in silence as he watched the Overlord toss a rock absent-mindedly into the lava pit. He folded his arms, sighing, but not quite realizing the gravity of the situation. He didn’t understand why the Overlord was so silent- that was rare, especially when she was cramping. She never stayed silent... And that was more alarming than anything else. “What did he say that made you upset?” the Soul-Keeper asked the Overlord quietly.
“Ultimate... Leader...” the Overlord whispered, “Ultimate... Leader...”
“I’d like to say those words ring a bell, but I can’t really remember,” the Soul-Keeper frowned.
“I remember,” Jamie folded her arms, “But I thought that was impossible.” She gave the Overlord a pointed look, “Am I right?”
The Overlord, strangely enough, didn’t meet Jamie’s eye. Instead, the Overlord continued staring off into space, her lips moving but no words coming out. Her eyes seemed very distant and her fingers were wrapped around the handle of her scythe, as if scared of something. The Advisor glanced at the Soul-Keeper, obviously worried as well. “There’s always a slight possibility...” the Overlord muttered in a low voice, “And if I’m right, things are a lot worse than even I could think possible. We have to get help. And not from just anyone.” She stood up, a bit shaky, but eyes burning with resolve.
“Then who? Who could help us against him?” Jamie asked, wiping off a bloodstain from her cutlass. “This isn’t going to be easy.”
“The Wises,” the Overlord glanced at Jamie, “I know, they’re partial to ninjas, but they can help us. I know they can.”
“The Wises?” Sexist asked in confusion.
“They’re a collection of wise people. They have a room of sorts... Somewhere between life and death and between the walls of the universe. No one knows how to get there but a select few,” the Advisor explained, “It’s where the great philosophers go. The people that impacted the world with their thinking.”
“I see...” Sexist said uncomfortably.
“Where are the Wises?” Jamie asked, “That’s the thing. What if we can’t find them? What if they don’t want to help us?” She rolled her eyes, “Why can’t you just do that Overlord thing and fix this entire thing before it gets out of hand!”
“Because, sometimes, the ‘Overlord thing’ doesn’t work!” the Overlord replied, “You can’t just cut out peoples’ souls and that’s how you fix problems! The Wises... I know how to get there. I honestly do. It’ll be a long trip, but I can get us there.”
“We can’t warp?” the Soul-Keeper piped up.
“Anti-Apparating barrier. Like Hogwarts,” the Overlord shook her head, “We can go... It’s near the Fortress anyways. Just a few miles south. But I’ll warn you, if you piss off the smart people, bad juju usually happens. So, Soul-Keeper, don’t say anything. Sexist, please refrain from your sexist ways. Ehhhh Jamie, I’m halfway tempted to leave you here...”
“Hey!” Jamie exclaimed.
“Justttt kiddingggg...” The Overlord held up her head, “Advisor... I wasn’t worried about you. Okay. Everyone, grab onto me...” She held out her arm. The Soul-Keeper promptly jumped onto her back, much to the Overlord’s displeasure. The Advisor lightly grabbed onto the Overlord’s arm, and Jamie flung her arms around the Overlord’s shoulder. As the Sexist attempted to grab the Overlord’s shoulder, the Overlord turned to face him. The result was the poorly placement of Sexist’s hand on the Overlord’s chest, which seemed to linger for a good five seconds before he jumped back, horrified. The Overlord’s jaw dropped and she stared at the underling, wide-eyed.
“Oh my God...” Sexist breathed, wiping his hands vigorously.
“... Hands off,” the Overlord commented, trying to sound as casual as she could. She watched as Sexist carefully moved away and grabbed onto her arm, blushing brightly. The Overlord snapped her fingers and the group vanished, leaving behind footprints and a bloodied mess where they had slain Dr. Octagonapus.
---
The Evocator and the Theurgist were busy dealing with the bulk of the Insurgents, standing approximately twenty yards from the main gates. As a few missiles launched overhead and struck the very hind divisions of the Insurgent army, they felt the ground shake with a tremendous force. The Evocator grabbed the Theurgist’s arm to steady herself, then said, “We’re going to need something a bit stronger than just missiles to win this fight!”
“I was thinking the same thing,” the Theurgist nodded. He adjusted his hat, then whistled, “Hey, Insurgents! I bet you can’t do this!”
The Evocator hopped a few paces forward, holding up her hand. The clouds began to darken and there was a distant rolling of thunder. A glowing yellow symbol appeared on the ground beneath the Evocator as a bolt of lightning came crashing down. It landed behind the Evocator, in the form of some magnificent bird. Its body crackled and buzzed with electricity, its eyes a blazing white. “Storm spirit!” She called, then nodded to the Theurgist, “Go!”
The Theurgist pointed at the incoming Insurgents. On command, the storm spirit flapped its wings and took to the sky. Raining down bolts of lightning from its wings, it took out the first line in an instant, its screech reminiscent of a high-pitched crack of thunder. The Theurgist looked up as a heavily armored Insurgent leapt over his fallen comrades and came running for him. In a flash, the storm spirit was another form entirely, spiraling down as some shapeless entity and striking the Insurgent square in the chest. The Evocator breathed a sigh of relief, then walked over to where the Master of Tazers was fiddling with a bow and arrow.
“This looks fun...” the Master of Tazers began thoughtfully, holding up an arrow.
“Do you know how to work that?” the Evocator asked.
“Nope!” the Master of Tazers released an arrow at nothing in particular. She watched it as it clumsily flew across the battlefield, striking an Insurgent in the back. “Oh... That’s nifty.”
“Uhhh...” the Evocator scratched the back of her neck, “Okay then... Just... Don’t kill any of ours, okay?”
“Got it,” the Master of Tazers nodded and skipped away, bow in one hand, tazer in the other. The Evocator watched her go, a little concerned, but trying to shrug it off. The Theurgist laughed a bit at this, but shrugged.
“Let her have her fun.”
A cannonball hit the walls just then, and the Theurgist looked up in time to see a chunk of the wall top fall away. He gasped, hoping none of the bazooka-wielding underlings had been there. Thankfully, he squinted, spying a now very enraged Captain and Lieutenant as they began firing a multitude of missiles upon the Insurgents. “This place is gonna get decimated at this rate.”
“Then we have to hurry and take out these Insurgents before we all get blown to smithereens!” the Evocator nodded. “I hope the Ninja-Lord hurries... Where is she?”
---
The Ninja-Lord was up in a tree, climbing nimbly from branch-to-branch, and looking for the Insurgent Leader. She directed her platoon to scatter among the forest, not stopping until she found the Overlord’s rival. The Ninja-Lord jumped onto another tree, making scarcely a sound, and then looked down at where she saw movement. Hopping down a few branches, she spied Insurgent Little Canada and the Insurgent Leader, mulling over two pieces of paper. Taking a ninja star into her hand, she aimed it for Canada’s head. A flick of her wrist and the projectile was spinning fast at Canada... And it’d had hit if he hadn’t moved ever so slightly. Instead, it tore the corner of the first letter off, the paper sticking to one of the blades embedded in the ground.
“What the-” the Insurgent Leader looked up in time to see the Ninja-Lord jump from the tree, knocking Canada out with a kick to the back of the head. She pulled her katana out and swung at the Insurgent Leader as she turned, surprised as the Insurgent Leader blocked her attack.
“That’s not your katana,” the Insugent Leader observed, looking down at the old blade she was using. He smirked, then pushed her away, hopping over the incapacitated Canada.
The Ninja-Lord was impressed. Thoroughly impressed. But she didn’t say anything. She didn’t say anything as she looked the Insurgent Leader over, a bit stunned as this was actually the first time she’d ever seen him up close like this before. Usually, the Overlord claimed him as her target and so the Ninja-Lord learned to steer clear.
“Not bad,” the Ninja-Lord couldn’t help it. She flashed him a smile, then struck at him again, not surprised, this time, as he blocked her attack. The Insurgent Leader jumped back and held Muramasa in both hands, not making a move to strike. The Ninja-Lord tried to attack, but he blocked once more, though, was slightly confused as he didn’t counterattack. She went in for a fourth strike, and the Insurgent Leader rolled out of the way.
“Well?” the Ninja-Lord asked, deciding not to attack until he did. She held the katana at the ready, watching her opponent with unblinking eyes.
“Hm?”
“Are you going to attack me?”
“Oh...” the Insurgent Leader stammered, then nodded, “I... Guess?” He feebly went in for a strike. The Ninja-Lord moved around him, finding the opportunity to strike at his back, but not taking the chance. Not sure why, the Ninja-Lord backed a step, feeling her face flush. She awkwardly took a step back, lowering her sword as the Insurgent Leader helped the now awakened Canada up.
“The letters are from two different people!” Canada blurted out. The Ninja-Lord tilted her head to the side, looking at the Insurgent Leader as he picked up both of the letters off of the ground.
“You...” the Insurgent Leader began, “These letters...” He held them out to her cautiously. The Ninja-Lord accepted them, glancing at the writing on them. The Insurgent Leader began quietly, “The writing doesn’t match.”
“The Overlord never wrote this letter,” the Ninja-Lord held up the first letter the Insurgent Leader had received, “You sent her a letter, though. One like this one.” The Ninja-Lord frowned, “... Or did you?”
“I never sent her a letter,” the Insurgent Leader said slowly, “Never. I don’t write letters.”
“... We have a problem,” the Ninja-Lord concluded.
“There’s a third party involved!” Canada proclaimed.
“I need to speak with the Overlord,” the Ninja-Lord nodded, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Insurgent Leader coughed, holding a hand over his mouth as he did so. He looked at where the Ninja-Lord had disappeared, feeling a bit sad, though tried to ignore it. Had a part of him... Wanted her to stay? ‘Times like these... Makes me wish I had joined the Overlord’s army’ he thought, but severely berated himself for it.
---
The Twin was busy dismantling a cannon when the Ninja-Lord appeared next to her, looking dismayed and distracted. The Ninja-Lord cleared her throat suddenly, then glanced down at where the Twin had a torch and was trying to light the cannon on fire- just for experimental purposes of course. “We have a problem, Twin,” the Ninja-Lord whispered urgently.
“Hm?” the Twin looked at the Ninja-Lord, eyebrows raised.
“The Insurgent Leader has two letters. One of them is not the Overlord’s. But they both say the Overlord wrote them. I am confused,” the Ninja-Lord frowned, “Does the Overlord ever have others write her letters for her?”
“Never,” the Twin shook her head, “Are you sure this isn’t a ploy?”
The Ninja-Lord hadn’t considered this, but nodded nonetheless, “He is puzzled. Just as puzzled as I am. He says he never gave the Overlord a letter either.”
“... We need the Overlord. The real one,” the Twin frowned, “I’ll send Tinkerbell to find her. You call off the fight. I’ll talk to the Insurgent Leader myself and we can see if we can figure this out.”
“They think someone wanted us to fight each other,” the Ninja-Lord added, “But who...?”
“I don’t...” the Twin began, but stopped, her words caught in her throat. She shook her head, after a moment of silence, then said, “I don’t know. I have a suspicion, but it’s highly unlikely. Go fetch the Animal Tamer and the Evocator. I’ll have them accompany me to see the Insurgent Leader. I want... I want you to search the Fortress. Any sign of something wrong, you report it to me immediately.”
“Understood...” the Ninja-Lord nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The Twin stood there, leaning against her scythe. Thoughtfully, she glanced at the Fortress, feeling her stomach churn uncomfortably. ‘The Overlord needs to come back. And quickly. This better not be what I think it is,’ the Twin thought anxiously.
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