Chapter Text
You're in the blazing temple.
The speed at which the realization hits you is almost disorientating - quickly followed by confusion. Why are you at the blazing temple? Where had you been just moments before now - ?
A bright light. A crash. Pain. Darkness.
How strange…
You…
Can’t seem to remember….
Your head begins to hurt, prompting you to rub at your temple, though you know it’s a futile gesture. If you’re in the blazing temple, then that means that you’re in YGGDRASIL, and if you’re in YGGDRASIL then that means that you’re hooked up to a DIVE console… so this isn’t your real body at all.
Hmm…
Perhaps you should log off. A headache in-game isn’t a good sign. You might be dehydrated or maybe you’ve been online for too long and it’s frying your brain… the fact that you can’t remember what you’d been doing before now is as good a sign as any that you’ve reached your limit in terms of game–time…
Hmm..?
Where… where is the log-off menu…?
You scroll through the menus one more time before the panic really starts to set in.
Was there some time of update that changed the UI?! Why wouldn’t you remember it?! Why… why can’t you log off…?
Why…. Why…. Why…
…
Then, it hits you like a ton of bricks - you’re dreaming! This is a dream! That’s why you couldn’t remember anything before now, and that’s why you’re in YGGDRASIL, and that’s why you can’t log off now…!
So, then… this is just a dream.
With a new feeling of peace, you examine your surroundings - which look just like your quarters back at the blazing temple: a large open-air room with marble floors and pillars overlooking the river of molten lava and obsidian. Your bed sits in the middle of the room with four tall posters wrapped up in red silks to offer privacy. Black vines spotted with bright orange flowers crawl up the railings that serve as the ‘walls’ of this room. Leaned against the one solid wall that connects your room to the rest of the temple is a full-length mirror.
Sparse. But… familiar.
You approach the mirror curiously - you’ve heard that you can’t see your reflection in dreams. Since this is your first time realizing that you’re dreaming while you’re still asleep, you’ll test that bit of information out.
… Though, strangely, you do see your face in the mirror.
But it’s not quite… right.
Maybe it’s because you’re dreaming, but for some reason you’re probably around eight years old; aside from being probably four feet tall, your cheeks are round with baby fat and your dark circles are missing from underneath your black eyes. You have the hairstyle that your mother used to give you when she cut your hair: blunt bangs that fall just above your eyebrows with the rest of your hair pulled into a low ponytail that reaches the area between your shoulder blades, the same dark color as your eyes.
But there’s also two stubby barely-there black horns perched on the top of your head… right above some furry, floppy goat ears the same color as your hair. And if you look closer, you can see that your nose is not your nose at all, but a pink heart-shaped snout of all things.
You touch your nose, noticing that your hands are small and chubby with sharp black talons at the tips of your fingers instead of nails.
Then, your gaze trails downwards… you’re wearing your favorite dress from your childhood, a white sundress with sunflowers embroidered at the hem near your knees… but while your top half seems to be mostly human, you can see that your legs are distinctly furry and goat-like with two hooves for feet.
How interesting.
Perhaps this is how you subconsciously view yourself? An amalgamation of your real-world body and your avatar from YGGDRASIL? You know, aside from the fact that your dream decided you needed to be a kid right now…
Nonetheless, you decide to test the capabilities of your own mind’s willpower over your dream - you open the UI once again and flick through your inventory. Unfortunately, it’s empty. Well… maybe it would be silly to expect your brain to remember every item you’d collected in-game…
Still, it would have been fun to play dress-up… you look like a little doll right now and you know you had some cute outfits in your inventory in YGGDRASIL…
…Perhaps I should test the limits of this dream, you think. Despite your empty inventory, the guild ring still sits nicely upon your finger, and it should reason that even without it, there’d be no place in your own dream you couldn’t go…
Let’s see… the throne room…
You close your eyes, and when you open them, you’re in the grand throne room.
… But you’re not alone.
Momonga, Albedo, Sebas, and the Pleiades are all here!
Sebas and the Pleiades primarily human appearances, with Sebas looking like the ever-diligent lead buttler with neatly combed silver hair, a neat suit and a refined expression befitting of his mature appearance. Meanwhile, the Pleiades are neatly lined up along the throne room in their own maid uniforms.
They turn to look at you - something that solidifies your belief in this being a dream; NPCs can’t move like that.
“Who….”
And Momonga definitely doesn’t sound like that!
The NPCs all bow deeply at your arrival. You feel a little flustered at getting treated like royalty, but since this is a dream… you suppose it wouldn't hurt to play along.
“Greetings, lady Lenore,” Albedo greets reverently. She’s extremely beautiful, with long ebony hair and bright green eyes the color of peridot. Her ivory horns curl forward and arch over her forehead, and her dark wings are settled around her waist. Her dress is white with gold accents - like a beautiful wedding dress.
You curtsey back a little, smiling at her.
“Hello, Albedo! Sebas, Pleiades...” You nod to the others, hands clasped in front of you. It’s so cool to be talking to the NPCs… imagine if YGGDRASIL implemented a feature like this into the game… you could really take roleplaying to the next level, even as a solo player…! The otaku inside you that had been cultivated by following your brother around from a young age is on fire!
When your eyes land on Momonga once more, his skeletal face looks surprisingly… surprised. He’s big, and his dark robe only makes him look bigger, what with the armored shoulder guards making him look especially broad.
“...And Momonga.”
He stands from his place on the throne, and you take a moment to really perceive how tall his avatar is… he must be over seven feet tall, compared to your puny stature…
“Lenore…?” He mumbles in that same deep, raspy, unfamiliar tone. Something like sadness, and then mute acceptance washes over him as he straightens his shoulders. “I see… you must be Ulbert’s last creation… Peroroncino had told me, but…”
It makes sense that he’d be talking nonsense since this is a dream, but what’s this feeling of dread…?
“Ulbert?” You chirp nervously, tilting your head to the side. You know that he’s referencing your brother, but for some reason, you can’t seem to remember his real name right now. Or yours, for that matter… “Do you know where he is?”
Albedo fidgets uncomfortably, her wings pulled in tight around her waist. Sebas is no longer looking at you. In fact… none of the Pleiades are.
“... Sebas, survey the surroundings of Nazarick. Albedo… assemble all the floor guardians on floor six. And, Lenore… please accompany me to the amphitheater.” As Momonga speaks, he waves his staff - the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown! - to open a portal. It swirls darkly and mysteriously, but it captivates you instead of scaring you.
How abrupt…
“Hmph,” you huff.
Getting ordered around, in your own dream of all places…
But dreams rarely make any sense, so you follow Momonga through the portal. Perhaps Ulbert will be waiting on the other side.
–
The sixth floor is even more beautiful than it is when you’re playing YGGDRASIL.
Momonga seems to notice your awe and chuckles slightly.
“... She always did seem to like this place…”
You hardly pay any mind to Momonga’s weird dream-rambling in favor of taking a look around - the amphitheater is an impressive piece of architecture, if only for how large it is… but the real wonder of the sixth floor are its guardians: a pair of blonde twin dark elves created by Bukubukuchagama… or, just Buku as she’d told you to call her…
As if reading your mind, Momonga bellows loudly from beside you -
“Aura! Mare!”
Almost instantaneously, Aura bounds down from one of the VIP viewing stands across from the two of you, running at you with shocking speed. Behind her, Mare follows awkwardly, holding his staff and futility tugging at his skirt as if that would make it longer.
“Lord Momonga! Lady Lenore!” Aura squeals when she approaches, bowing respectfully before jumping back up to get close to you, circling you with apparent joy, “I’m so happy you’re awake!”
You stare at Aura with an equivalent amount of interest - how strange it is to be smaller than her! But you have to admit, the twins are still awfully cute, no matter if they’re taller than you or not.
“I’m happy to be here with you, too, Aura!”
When Mare catches up, he bows stiffly, face pointed straight at the ground. Aura waves at you ever-so slightly before backing up to stand by her brother.
“I…I greet the supreme ones…”
Looking as if he were deep in thought, Momonga hums quietly beside you.
“... Aura, Mare, would you two be willing to help me test something?” He asks after a minute. He only spares a moment for the twins to agree before he brings the staff back out. As in… the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Aura’s mismatched green-and-blue eyes seem to sparkle when she sees it - while Mare visibly gulps, his matching eyes seeming to waver.
This will be interesting…!
…
You settle into the seat next to Momonga as he casts a variety of spells that the twins counter. To you, it seems like a scene straight out of some sort of cheesy fantasy anime your brother might watch.
At some point, though, you end up looking up at the sky instead of at the epic battle in front of you.
… You’d never seen the stars this clearly before in any place other than YGGDRASIL. There was too much pollution.
But you’d always secretly wanted to convince your brother to take you out to the countryside so that you could see them with him. Of course, it was a pipedream since the nearest place that the stars were visible was hours away, and Ulbert already worked so hard at the factory, and if he could see them in YGGDRASIL, then why would he even bother with all the effort…
… Right… that was why you started playing this game, too. To spend time with Ulbert…
And it worked! He showed you the ropes, invited you to the guild he was in, gave you cool gear…!
… So why does your chest hurt so bad…?
“... Lenore…?” Momonga’s voice rumbles next to your ear - when did he get that close?! - causing you to jump.
You swivel in your seat to face him, blinking rapidly.
Funnily enough, Momonga’s holding a pitcher and a cup. They look so dainty in his massive hands.
“... Would you like some water, as well?” He asks seriously.
You shake your head slowly.
“No… No, I’m okay. But thanks… I guess.” Then, you notice Aura and Mare looking at you with curiosity. “... Did you finish with the tests you needed to conduct?”
Momonga nods in confirmation.
“We did. Aura and Mare performed well, as expected. However, …”
The lich is interrupted as a portal opens in the middle of the arena and a figure steps out - it’s a young looking girl with long, silver hair and bright red eyes. On top of her ornate red-and-black historic western-style dress, she’s wearing a bonnet and carrying a parasol.
You recognize her immediately as Shalltear, the guardian of floors one, two, and three. A vampire created by Peroroncino.
“My my… am I the first one to arrive?” She drawls smugly, twirling her parasol. When she sees you and Momonga, though, her cool look is replaced by utter excitement as she drops her parasol. “My lord! My lady!”
She runs to give Momonga a hug around the neck, muttering something incoherent before releasing him to hold both your hands in hers. Her cheeks are pink with joy as she squeezes your hands.
“It pleases me greatly to see you’ve settled into your new form, my lady!”
You return her smile, albeit somewhat awkwardly.
“Shalltear, you’re looking as adorable as ever!”
Behind her, Aura looks unimpressed. She pretends to cough into her hand a few times before muttering ‘fake boobs’ just loud enough for you to hear.
Shalltear spins on her heel in anger - and thus begins an interesting bout of bickering.
“How nostalgic…” Momonga says beside you.
You look over at him curiously, but his eye…sockets (?) are focused on the arguing girls. Your gaze naturally slides back over to them, and you can’t help but grin a little. He’s right; Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino argue like this all the time.
“Disgraceful…” A deep voice rolls over you like the chill of an icy wind… It’s Cocytus, the guardian of the fifth floor. An insect-like monster with chitin armor covering almost every inch of his body. He’s holding his battleaxe as he walks towards your group. “... You’re bickering in front of our leaders like children.”
Momonga clears his throat beside you.
“Ahem… Silence…! Shalltear. Aura. You’ve said enough!”
The two of them stop at once, bowing an announcing their apologies
Turning away from them, Momonga acknowledges Cocytus.
“I shall always respond to your summons, master…”
As if it weren’t already busy enough, your group is interrupted yet again as a man’s voice rings out across the stadium.
“It appears I’m late… sorry for making you all wait,” Demiurge says as he steps forward. You study him curiously - he’s your older brother’s creation, after all: A finely dressed imp with brown hair that’s sharply spiked upwards, glasses, pointy ears and an armored tail.
“Demiurge…” Momonga greets.
He approaches behind Albedo, who smiles serenely as she walks, but you can’t help but notice that he seems to be looking at you.
The floor guardians…
It’s then that you remember Momonga asking Albedo to gather the floor guardians earlier. What a strange sense of continuity for a dream…
The group approaches the four of you, stopping a few feet away.
Holding her scepter, Albedo gestures grandly before bowing.
“Let the ritual of fidelity begin!”
At her prompting, each of the floor guardians blow deeply and announce their loyalty to you and Momonga.