Chapter 5: Under the Façade

Enjoy! (:-)

Ainz was silent still. He just could not form any words in the presence of Miyako, who looked as beautiful as ever.

As she got up and made her way to him, her long white and red cloak trailing behind her, and her Japanese fox mask shining silver in the light, he found himself in a sort of daze, which was abruptly ended when he felt La Muerte nudge him in the side. He blinked, and became fully aware that Miyako was now standing in front of him, a small smile adorning her face and an amused glint in her eyes.

"Thank you for coming, Lord Ainz. La Muerte, thank you. You are dismissed," The last two parts were directed to the being standing next to Ainz, who simply bowed, turned around, and left, the doors closing behind her.

Miyako looked Ainz over from head to toe. Ainz felt a little uncomfortable and turned his head slightly to the side. Miyako giggled quietly at this.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" She asked quietly, her giggles subsiding.

Ainz turned his head to look Miyako in the eye. "Yes, it certainly has."

Miyako gave him a sad smile, but before she could say anything else, the doors behind them opened once again, and five beings rushed into the room.

One of them, the tallest one and somehow obviously the leader, was a Birdwoman; she had a lithe frame with black feathers covering her body, sharp claws, and blood red eyes set into a sharp, narrow face, yet she had white angelic wings. Another was an Arachnoid; she had three red eyes with black pupils, a very voluptuous body, and large insect wings sprouting out of her back along with eight long spider legs. Another one of them had long, curving horns sprouting from her jet black hair, a voluptuous body as well, and demon wings sprouting from her lower back. Yet another had been a midnight black bat with red eyes, before turning into a tall, thin women with long white hair, red eyes with slits for pupils, and deathly pale skin. The last one had a hood over her head, and large, glowing white wings sprouted from her back. Ainz vaguely remembered Miyako bringing these beings up in a conversation they had had about her guild and their progress; he believed they were called the Valkyrie Maids.

"Valkyrie maids! What is it that you had to barge in for?" Miyako said calmly, yet loudly so that they could hear her from across the room, stepping out from behind Ainz's frame.

The Birdwoman walked forward and bowed along with the rest of the Valkyrie Maids. "We are terribly sorry for barging in on your discussion with Lord Ainz, Lady Izumi, but it is urgent."

"How urgent?" Miyako asked after they had risen.

"Lizzy urgent," The Birdwoman said.

Ainz was confused, but Miyako seemed to know what the Birdwoman was talking about, because she chuckled.

"Ah, Lizzy's gone and got herself lost again, hasn't she?"

"We cannot find her anywhere, and we believe she might have snuck into the Throne Room, the only place we haven't checked," The Birdwoman continued.

Miyako smiled gently, then, lifting her head up slightly and seemingly talking to no one, she shouted, "Lizzyra Azura Chamelo, I know you're in here!"

For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, Ainz noticed something shimmer on one of the many large branches of the tree-throne, and the next second part of the black tree and the air turned into a dragon.

From what Ainz knew about dragons, and from personal experience, he knew they were colossal creatures, but this one was incredibly small for a dragon, looking about as tall as Shalltear. He also knew that they were mainly dark, solid colors, but this one was a pale purple with orange fringing the edges of her wings, an emerald green coloring the ruff around her ears, and little, barely-noticeable-unless-you-looked-properly speckles of red spread about on her scales. He had never seen a dragon that looked so exotic.

"Yes, Lady Izumi?" Lizzy asked with a pout.

"You know you have to go with your Valkyrie sisters, right?" Miyako said. But before she or the other dragonet could say anything more, the Birdwoman stepped up.

"Pardon me, my Lady, but let us take care of her. She is our little sister after all," she said to Miyako.

Miyako smiled. "Go ahead."

The Birdwoman and her companions all rushed toward the tree, Lizzy disappearing before they could even make it to the base. They all began to fly around the tree, trying to find the little dragon, who had indeed hidden herself well. As Ainz and Miyako watched absent-mindedly, the Arachnoid summoned little spiders, and the woman turned bat (who was obviously a vampire) took a vial out from her miniaturized clothing and threw it at the one of the higher branches of the tree. Instantly, the little dragon appeared, the vial obviously having contained some type of substance that would reveal the dragon, whom immediately began to run along to branches of the tree as the summoned spiders and the other Valkyrie maids chased after her in a rage. All in all, the sight was quite funny, and he and Miyako both began to laugh.

Miyako, her beautiful laughter subsiding into giggles, turned to Ainz. "They'll be at this forever. Let us go somewhere more private for or talk."

She took Ainz's hand, and suddenly the scenery changed.

They were now in a large, white and gold room with a large violet silk and wool covered bed, a relatively large bookshelf filled with books, a little table with two little chairs, a comfy rug on the floor, and two semi-open glass doors leading to a balcony he could see on the other side. This is where Miyako led him to, still clutching his hand, he realized.

She opened the doors fully, and Ainz was in awe at the sight. The land flowed underneath the balcony, and in the sky, the sun was setting in a beautiful sunset, much like the one on the faithful day he had said goodbye to Miyako, he realized yet again.

He walked forward on the balcony, marveling the sights, as she finally let go of his hand and turned to close the doors behind them.

"This is… beautiful," He said, simply awestruck.

"Thank you," Miyako said, still turned towards the doors, a fact Ainz did not notice.

"It's…" Ainz hesitated for a second, then continued," … it's like the last time I saw you. When we said goodbye," He finished, turning towards Miyako, which is when he finally noticed her still facing the doors.

"Miyako? Are you alright?" He asked, worried.

"… No, I'm not alright," She responded quietly, the atmosphere, Ainz noticed, having changed between them.

Ainz heard a single sob, and only had a second to realize that she was crying before she turned around and leaped at him, wrapping her arms around him and pushing her face into his bony chest. Surprised, Ainz fell back onto the marble bench behind him, and had subconsciously wrapped his arms around Miyako to protect her had the bench not been there to break their fall.

"I missed you, you idiot!" She shouted into his chest, her calm demeanor from earlier broken, her hands coming up the clutch at his robes as she cried hard into his chest and robes. Ainz was still in shock by what had happened, so he did not say anything.

"W-when I left the game that day, I-I thought I'd n-never see you again," She rambled on, stammering from her sobs, clutching onto him harder, like he would disappear if her grip relented. "T-Then this, all this happened, and knew I'd never see you again! B-But then Aries told me she had seen the Great Tomb of Nazarick, a-and I thought 'maybe there is hope'. A-And then, today, when I saw you, I could've broken down on the spot! I-I was so, so happy t-to see you…" she trailed off then, and just cried.

Ainz didn't really know what to do, but thanks to instinct, he didn't have to. Slowly, Ainz lifted one of his hands, rested it on Miyako's head, and began to slowly, softly, gently stroke the top of her head. Miyako paused for a second, probably from surprise, then continued to cry, though, slightly quieter than before, eventually stopping altogether. After that, they just sat quietly together, Miyako's arms gently wrapped around his waist, Ainz still stroking her head while one arm supported Miyako on his lap, neither making a sound for the longest time.

After a long time, in which the sun had set and the bravest stars where just starting to peek out from the fading light, Miyako lifted her head and looked up at Ainz, who noticed and looked down. Miyako blushed slightly in the receding light and lowered her head, again burying her face slightly in Ainz's chest. A few more seconds of silence passed before Miyako spoke.

"On the last day of Yggdrasil," She started, "When it turned into a real world, all of the Floor Guardians, the Area Guardians, and the Valkyrie Maids were present, and I knew, from the moment that I looked into each of their faces, that I would not only have to be their ruler, but their support, too. I am the only thing that's keeping them from breaking down completely from grief, because their creators, my guild mates, are gone. That's why I have to wear a façade of confidents and calmness, because if I crumbled, they would crumble, too. You understand, right? That's why I wanted to break down but couldn't. It's for them." She finished there, falling silent.

"I understand completely," was all he said, all he had to say. He vividly remembered the time before he had to go and face Shalltear, and Albedo had broken down in front of him, pleading for him not to go and risk being killed, and he had realized then how secretly sad they must all be, and that he was their only link to saneness. He understood completely the responsibility Miyako felt. It came with being a ruler, along with other, pressuring things as well.

Miyako's grip on him tightened slightly. "Please, Satoru," She said quietly. "… Please don't leave me. Ever again."

Ainz's paused for a swift second; it had been a while, indeed, since anyone had called him by his real name, to the point that he had almost forgotten what his real name was. He was thankful that he had Miyako to remember it. His grip tightened on her, his love for her growing so powerful that even his undead calming effect couldn't disperse it.

"I won't."

Well, I just hope this chapter made up for my absence. If not, then I and deeply sorry. I hope you enjoyed it, even thought, to me, it kind of seems a bit short, and I'll see you in the next chapter. Peace! (:-)

-LunaRose2468