The Grand Catastrophe

…

It was one thing to just simply hear of one’s passing, it was another to think on it. Neia was one such person to realize this. Many people had died, and the undead that roamed the street simply reminded her. Her father and mother had passed on. That much was true.

Yet, it hadn’t clicked into place. She looked around the area. It was an Inn. said Inn was one of the better ones. Rented out simply because they needed to look good. It was a somewhat annoying thing, mainly because they were running out of money, but whatever.

The Inn itself was large, with a high ceiling in the main office entryway thing. The rooms themselves were nice, if a bit sparse. In the back of the entrance space, there was a staircase that led up to second floor, where the rooms themselves were.

In the end, they rented out a vast majority of the spare rooms, and stored their horses in the stables. Neia herself was in the stables, making sure the horses were all set up. This was but one of her many duties. Other than this, she had to fix the equipment of the different paladins along with all the other squires.

It was rather annoying, yet now that she was the scout for the group, she didn’t really have to do that now. She kind of wanted to do that now though, something to pull her mind away from the deathly feelings she had rooting around in her.

Family was important to her, as she had realized after she had lost them. Her father was the best cooks she had ever had the pleasure of meeting and knowing. Her mother was one of the best paladins in the entire order. Though, she wasn’t as good as Remedios. That thought stung her for some reason.

…

Neia sighed as she walked along, behind Holy Queen Calca and her two right hand women. Her senses were firing on all cylinders. She watched as undead walked the streets, trying to find anything wrong. She knew that they were tame, but her instincts still didn’t like them.

The demi-humans she also made sure weren’t doing anything funny. Though, they seemed a bit more weirded out by her party. In fact, they themselves were the weird ones here.

They had sent out a messenger to the leadership of this nation, the god-queen mainly, and requested an audience. Lady Momonga had said yes, and asked if the next day’s noon was fine as a time frame. So, here they were. Simply walking along.

Sooner, rather than later, they all got to the main entrance for the manor. There, their flagbearers raised their own flags as they fell in line with the undead holding up the flags of Nazarick. It was strange to see. Calca walked up to the stairs that the flags lined, and walked along the path to the entrance.

Everyone followed with. There, standing in front of the main doors, was one of the most beautiful women that Neia had ever laid eyes upon. She blushed a little, and looked at the door itself as she spoke.

“Welcome to the Sorceress’s Kingdom of Nazarick. I am Albedo, prime minister and floor guardian overseer of this nation,” she pridefully said.

…

Neia walked along with the rest of the party. As they entered the meeting hall proper, she looked around the area. There, she saw the many different flags and emblems of the different gods that these people worshipped. She was a bit shocked when she had seen how fast these people converted, even with a goddess in their midst.

She hadn’t read the thing, but maybe she should, if the people of this nation found it so moving. After they had entered, they soon came to the foot of the throne. No one was sitting there. Neia blinked and looked around the area, but saw no one, other than what seemed to be a half elf girl wearing men’s clothes hiding behind a curtain.

She locked eyes with the girl, and the girl put a finger to her lips and smil;ed a silly smile at her. Neia sighed in her mind, and looked back to Albedo as the woman herself locked eyes with the elf. She seemed fine with it, so the day continued. No one else saw this, or even reacted to it.

“Now, Introducing her Majesty, the Sorceress Queen Momonga!” Albedo chanted out and the whole hall kneeled save for her own queen.

Neia looked down to the earth and didn’t raise her head to look, even though she would have liked to. The sounds of a metal staff or stick of some kind could be heard, along with the sounds of bare feet upon stone. Neia raised a brow, did she walk barefoot?

“You may raise your heads,” Albedo said as Neia heard the sounds of a woman sitting down.

She raised her head, as was told, and saw death itself. She was the most beautiful woman that she had ever laid eyes upon. Sure, her queen was attractive, infamously so, yet this woman drew her gaze like no other. A small blush crept up her cheeks, and she looked back down.

“Now, I must say that this is a shock. Never have I ever thought that the very queen of a theocratic nation belonging to a faith opposing mine, at least in a roundabout way, would be here and asking for my aid. I must ask, are you here to ask for my killing the demoness that never gave her name? Lilael is her name. She was a thorn in my side before I gain the authority I now have over death,” she described, and Calca nodded.

“Yes, that is right. We all came here to ask of you to slay the demon infesting our lands,” Calca confirmed, and the goddess spoke.

“Yes, but the nobles of your own land hate you. If I went there, there would be civil war after I slew the demon and left,” Momonga pointed out, and the queen nodded again, yet was stopped by more words.

“No, I’d rather not have to deal with a temperamental nation near my border, thank you very much,” Momonga said as she closed her eyes, and rubbed her chin, then she opened her eyes and they glinted in a way that made Neia realize that she probably wasn’t straight.

“What if instead, my Champion goes instead? Calvaria is powerful enough to deal with that demoness. Though, I do need her here in truth. This is rather tricky,” she said, and Neia could feel the tension rise in the room with each word that was uttered, she couldn’t hold back her words anymore.

…