Tears of Nazarick

Darkness, again.

The boy shuffled in bed, slowly grasping from his unconsciousness like a spell was slowly wearing-off from him.

First, the edges of his fingers would twitch ever so slightly. Then, the cold blood running through his veins would warm up, reminding him he was still meant for this world.

Finally, a song. He heard a faint lullaby coming from somewhere in this room.

Where was he?

The last thing he remembers was…

'Climb, stop!'

He jolted out of bed, desperate to find what state the princess was in. When he turned to the side, however…

'Were my hands always so pale? My hair too feels… longer.'

It didn't take long for him to realize what the source of the lullaby was, a golden princess neatly arranging some paperwork, what for he had no clue.

"R-Renner-sama."

"Oh, have you finally woken up, Climb? I was getting quite worried about you."

She turned her chair to look in his direction. Climb hadn't quite grown used to the new form Renner had taken yet, but he knew she was still the same golden princess at heart.

"Come on, is there something on your mind? Tell me anything you like, Climb."

"Well, I had just been-"

Climb had taken just a few steps before his instincts froze him out of fear. His eyes darted through Princess Renner to a specific scratch on the wall, but…

There was nothing there.

'The princess, didn't she…?'

"Climb?"

He remembered the scene, blood strewn around, bits of flesh scraped against the wall like Renner had been used as a crude paintbrush to tint it. Yet now…

"Climb! You're scaring me!"

"Ah! Renner-sama, please forgive me. I must have been lost in thought."

He was still aghast, but Renner was clearly alive and well in-front of him, so he continued.

"Are-Are you alright, Princess?"

"Well I'm doing just fine." She held such an innocent smile until now, but her next words turned it into a frown. "But what about you? You look like you didn't sleep well at all!"

She suddenly scooted closer to him, almost clutching to his shoulders.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

The knight's faced turned flush, just like it always did when Renner showed care for him.

"A nightmare? Right… That's what that must have been…"

The demon brought a hand to his face, not realizing until this point he must have looked completely disheveled, a shameful display in front of the princess.

"Jeez, you're getting me worried sick!" That was a lie, as neither one of them could come down with any illness again.

"Let's get you to bed before you pass out again!"

Climb didn't even have time to protest as Renner began carrying him off to his bed, almost laying him down with force so it would "feel better" for him.

"R-Renner-sama, please don't let my health concern you. I promise I'll be fine in no time at all!"

"Nonsense Climb!" The Princess was too adamant in seeing him well. "How am I supposed to feel safe in this dungeon full of monsters if you're not here to care for me?"

That struck a critical blow, he had no retort.

"S-Still!"

"Just be quiet now, you're going to hurt your voice if you keep talking while this sick!"

The demon was on her leash now. Climb didn't say anything as the Princess slowly climbed and straddled herself on him after laying him in bed.

"Here, we can start with this! It should get up in no time at all!"

He didn't recognize the potion she was holding, it's tint was green, unlike any blue or red potion he had heard about before.

Renner brought the stamina potion to his lips, slowly turning it all down his mouth.

"There we go, drink it all up Climb. Drink it and get all better just for me…"

It had been the night after Ainz Ooal Gown addressed Shalltear and the rest of the Floor Guardians over Albedo's betrayal.

'So much in one night…'

The Overlord silently got up from his bed, mentally taking the time to let Cixous hurry to open the curtains for him. 'Some things never change.'

"Good work, Cixous."

"It is only my duty, Lord."

He didn't turn to face her, his eyes were already aimlessly grazing over the stars. It never failed to impress how much wonder this world held over the last.

'That's right...It would be too selfish of me to hold it all to myself. The more we expand and claim what's out there, the more I can give to all of you.'

The image of Shizu holding hands with Neia flashed in Ainz's mind. To think he was scared of her at first, and now…

"Fufufu, just like me, entangled in one of Demiurge's plans…"

Another recollection, Shalltear and Albedo bickering on the throne room for who between them was going to be head wife. This got a scowl out of the Overlord that Cixous couldn't help but tense at.

'I use to wish it came to an end, but never like this…'

The Overlord sighed to himself that only he cold hear, trying not to disturb Cixous into thinking she did anything wrong.

'At least I could make Shalltear happy. Wait, will I have to share a room with her now? Ahhh…'

Cixous worriedly observed her bony master standing by the window, looking almost wistfully at the night skies. It has been some hours that she was given no command, she could only ponder what plans must be going through Lord Ainz's head.

'Maybe he's counting the night stars, carefully deciding which ones he'd want to adorn himself with the most.'

The thought awakened something within Cixous, hadn't she recently heard something about stars?

"Increment, your food is going to cold at this rate! Is that book that interesting?"

"It is."

Cixous pouted, once again aggravated by her sisters edginess.

Increment always ate alone or had hear head stuck inside books while the rest of the maids were eating. It was how she was designed by the Supreme Beings, so most of the maids didn't bat an eye, Cixous just happened to pass by her at the right moment.

"Come on Increment-chan, you don't want the food the Supreme Beings blessed us with to go cold, do you?"

Increment scoffed at the jab to her loyalty, immediately putting the book down with an exasperated look.

"There we go! Now why don't you tell me all about it while we eat?"

"You don't have to-" Increment helplessly watched as Cixous made herself comfortable next to her, plate of food and all. "Ah, fine."

The two servants would eat peacefully for a while, Cixous sometimes paying glances at Increment rather than focusing on her own food.

Finally, Increment decided to reveal she'd reveal her hand.

"Last time I visited the library, I decided to ask Titus for any books he might had that the Supreme Beings had left behind." She picked the book by the spine to show off the cover. "This one was apparently a favorite of Tabula-sama and Blue Planet-sama."

Cixous' eyes lit up at the mention of two of the Supreme Beings. It was the highest of honors to have in hand an object that could have held their divine spark!

"So?! What is it about?"

Increment held a sly smirk in response.

"Hey. Look who's letting their food go to waste this time."

"Goodness…"

Cixous face flushed in embarrassment when she realized her plate was half-full while Increment had already cleaned-out her own.

"Well, I guess I can still tell you about it while you eat."

With uncharacteristic enthusiasm that contrasted her closed-off personality, Increment held the book so that Cixous could read through the pages.

"It's an old book recounting mythos humans from that 'Earth' realm believed in." Increment continued as if she was reciting scripture. "This chapter tells on how humans after a long night of hunting would sit down in grassy plains and look to the night skies, seeing in them great battles fought between great warriors and monstrous beings."

The tale perplexed Cixous. 'Did they not have enough monsters to deal with in their daily lives? Though Ainz-Sama always says humans were the only ones to cause their own misfortune…'

"However, that was not all they would see in that vast space." Increment continued, a sudden longing taking hold of her voice. "Sometimes, they looked to the skies thinking of their fallen comrades, those friends who had passed on and left them behind. And for whatever reason, when they looked to the night, they believed their friends had become one with the stars…"

"Really?" This notion perplexed Cixous, who was almost done eating. "Why would they believe that?"

"Well, I don't know." Increment suddenly pouted. "Maybe if someone had let me finish reading I would have figured it out by now."

Cixous turned her head up to Lord Ainz once again. Just like before, his eyes lost in that infinite expanse of stars, almost longing for something.

'There is nothing in this world that should be out of Lord Ainz's reach, but…'

She thought about the book again. Maybe that's what it was talking about?

'The Supreme Beings, are they watching over us from up there?'

Cixous felt a pit growing in her stomach, she almost wanted to cry.

It was irresponsible of her, she should be punished for such behavior.

"L-Lord Ainz..."

She murmured it low, but not low enough.

"Cixous? is something wrong?"

She couldn't bring herself to speak, such a question would be…

Knock-Knock-Knock

She hurried to the door without thinking, opening it up for Foire.

"Foire is here to serve you, my Lord."

She scurried off without even being dismissed. She thanked Foire in her heart for taking her out of that situation.

A question for another time, perhaps.