Chapter 1: The Day The Story Changed

    I am unsure if today would have been naturally this dark and cloudy, but I was sure that it matched the vibes the King of All Demons was giving off. I have been in the world of my favorite video game series ‘Era of Aberrant’ for going on thirteen years now. When most people get reincarnated, they end up as a mighty hero or charming villainess, but I am considered a gross, magicless, dork of a palace maid. All I have going for me is I’m thirty-seven looking like I’m twenty-six, also my adorable niece and nephew. Oh right, we should get back to the plot.

    The armies of the King of All Demons had surrounded Bugalas Castle. My best friend/ Captain of the royal guard and I stood a top the southwest tower, scouting out our enemy. “Amice,” Harriette got my attention as I was deep in thought with my stat stone pressed between my eye and spyglass.

    “It’s bad.” I lowered the spyglass; I made sure to slip my stat stone into the secret pocket in my inner dress. “Almost every major general he has had in history is here. Each one rivaling your stats.” I shook my head solemnly. I then motioned to my right, “To the west we have the duke of demons, demon demons, Ignatius.”

    Harriette raised an eyebrow, “I thought he had been sealed for all eternity?”

    “Um, there were conditions for the seal to be broke, they must have been met. His ego should counteract his knowledge of the first century. What they don’t know is that I know just as much, if not more about that era as he does.” I pointed past Harriette to the east, “Over there we got Narcissus, duke of the dark dimension. His greatest weapon is his annoying voice.”

    Harriette narrowed her eyes, “This is serious, Amice. We don’t have time for your jokes.”

    “Right,” I nodded. “Well, he is a coward, if we manage to defeat some of the others, he might turn tail.” Without missing a beat, I moved onto the next generals, “Behind us to the north, we have Viviana and Victoria, the eldest two of the King of all Demons younger sisters.”

    “What do you know about them?” Harriette asked.

    “They’re hot.” I was promptly smacked on the head. “Ow! It’s true! Both are skilled in combat, so much that they should rival the strength of Aldous.” Harriette shot me a look at mentioning his name. “Honestly, I’m surprised that Viviana is this far inland. Historically, she has always run the navy.”

    “I know who is to the south.” Harriette shoulders slumped. “This is the day of fates, and there is no Prince Ronald and Princess Freya to save us.”

    I reached up to touch her shoulder. “They will return; we just need to be patient. We just need to hold on until then.”

    “I’ll have to trust you. It is our duty to protect what is left of the royal family so they can be reborn and cleanse the lands of evil.” Harriette declared. She raised her shoulders, causing my hand to fall off. “Let us prepare, we will set up in the throne room, I’ll protect the king at all costs.” As we made our way down the tower, Harriette requested something from me. “If I give the order, you are to take my children and escape from castle town. If Bugalas Castle is to fall, then we need to sure that some members of my clan survive to carry on my legacy and protect Prince Ronald and Princess Freya when they reincarnate.”

    “I already have several escape routes planned.” I reassured her.

    Without delay we made it to the throne room. “Bar the doors! This is the last room they are to get in!” Harriette commanded.

    As the guards followed her orders, I grabbed my niece and nephew from off the floor. “What is happening Auntie Ami?” My darling niece Esmee asked me, her soft pink eyes looking up at me in wonder. They filled with tears as an explosion went off in castle town. She and her twin brother buried their faces into my arms.

    The anticipation grew as everyone in the throne room could hear the castle around us being stormed. Harriette stood guard at the south door, her sword drawn, ready for a fight to the death. Everything went quiet for a moment. Then we heard the distinct stomping of him approaching. “Get the kids out of here!” Harriette yelled.

    I began to run towards one of the secret passageways next to the west door. Suddenly, all three doors to the throne room burst open. I shielded the children the best I could from the debris as I took a few steps backward. In through the west door came Ignatius in a low stance. His two dainty swords were at his sides, and his long, thin, demonic tongue licked at the air in an intimidating fashion. He was getting uncomfortably close to me and the children, and what does my dear nephew Biff do? He bloody grabs the duke of demons’ tongue. I watched in horror as Ignatius’ eyes grew wide.

    “Uh,” He looked to Biff, then to me, then back to Biff. He then spoke as well as he could with his tongue in a toddler death lock. “Let go of my tongue or I will eat you.”

    My mouth gapped open, I then profusely apologizing as I tired to pry Biff’s little fingers off his tongue. “I am so sorry, he is just at that age. He likes to grab things, and he has no sense of danger-“

    “My brother’s an idiot.” Esmee blurted out.

    I gasped. I let go of Biff, leaving him dangling from Ignatius’ tongue, to grab Esmee with both hands. “Where did you learn that word!?”

    Ignatius got Biff off and handed him back to be. “Lady, you have bigger issues.” He got back into his stance, only with out his swords that were now in their sheaths. “Like how I’m going to kill you.” He hissed.

      Our attention then snapped over to where we heard a man with a deep voice clearing his throat. There stood Aldous, the dreaded King of All Demons, he towered over Harriette. “After countless reincarnations,” his voice boomed. “My goal of ruling Bugalas unrivaled has almost come to fortition.” A grin filled with malice grew on his face; he then leaned forward and got in Harriette’s face. “All that stands in my way is, you.”

    Harriette’s eyes narrowed. Her and Aldous stared each other down, their faces only a few centimetres away from each other. Oh, the fanfiction writers would have a field day if this scene was in any of the games. Wait a minute, there is no way Harriette can win this, but I have the sneaking suspension that Aldous is going to keep her alive. Maybe I can fulfill my promise of finding Harriette the perfect husband. I should probably get her kids out of harm’s way first. I check with only my eyes to see if I can slip away to the secret passage. Shoot! There is a monster standing right in front of it. I guess we are stuck here.

     Every soldier on both sides formed a circle in the throne room like the combatants were high school rivals. I was wedged between one of the royal guards and a boar like monster. Biff was reaching for the monster’s tusks, so I swapped the arms I was holding each toddler in. I knew how this fight was going to go, so did everyone else in the room, but that is what makes Harriette so great; even when the odds are against her, she still fights with everything she has.

     Aldous drew his massive sword. The blade itself was the size of me, I began to worry if Harriette was going to survive the encounter. “I am Captain Harriette of the royal guard. I will not allow you slay another member of the royal family!” Harriette declared, she then let out a battle cry and lunged towards Aldous.

     He blocked her swing with his sword. “I do not need your permission.” Aldous growled. He pushed back. Harriette leapt backwards as Aldous rammed his sword into the ground, missing her but sending rubble flying at the crowd. Harriette took advantage of his sword being lodged into the ground, she ran forward. She held her sword aloft as she jumped into the air, she then swung with her whole body, hoping to split his skull. Aldous caught her sword mid-air; his hand began to bleed. He grinned. “Heh, you’ve been the only one who has been able to draw my blood. I assure you; you shall be the last!” He flicked his arm. Harriette lost her grip on her sword. She fell face first into the cold stone floor. Aldous tossed her sword behind him; he then ripped his own from the ground and took a few steps towards King Gotthilf.

     Harriette forced herself onto her feet. “Don’t you dare take another step.” Aldous stopped and turned his head towards her. Harriette then ran at him, weaponless.

      Aldous grabbed her by the head and lifted her in the air. Harriette swung her legs and fists blindly in the air in a desperate attempt to hit him as she screamed into the palm of his hand. “Shut up.” He then rammed her into the floor before lifting her back up. Harriette was moving. My heart skipped a beat, did I just let Esmee and Biff watch their mother die? “Narcissus! Ignatius!” Aldous summoned his generals forward. He tossed Harriette at them, each one catching an arm. “I want to keep her, hold her while I finish this.”

       Harriette raised her head, “Basta-“ She began to spit at him, until she was interrupted by Aldous cutting the side of her face with his blade.

      “Watch your tongue, there are children present.” Aldous then wiped away the fresh blood to inspect the mark he left of her face. “Now you have a reminder of your ultimate failure.” He then continued forward. I stared at Harriette; I had never seen her defeated before. I watched her blood drip onto the floor, not noticing that Aldous had stopped in front of me. “Maid!” He barked at me. I squeaked in response as my orange eyes met his hazel eyes. “Whose children are you holding?” His head tilted slightly to the right, as if trying to answer the question before I did.

     “Harriette’s,” I answered with a shaky voice.

     "They are of the Ofenjen clan?” He was flabbergasted. “How? They, they are blonde.” He thought for a moment. “Who is the father?”

     “No one knows,” I admitted, “I left her alone while she was drunk one night, and nine months later, these two were born. We are assuming they are only half Ofenjen. They have the pink eyes though.”

     “I can see that.” Aldous got down on one knee to get a better look at the twins. Every time he tilted his head, the twins would mirror him. Aldous stood up. He gazed up at Gotthilf on the throne. “Maid, take the children to their room. They don’t need to be here.”

     I bowed my head. “Th-thank you.” I quickly turned as the monsters that had blocked my path had now parted, I scurried out of the room before Aldous could change his mind. I’m sure that if the twins had looked even slightly like Gotthilf, that they would have been killed. As I made my way upstairs, I ignored the whines coming from the twins, begging to know if their mother was alright. All I could imagine was the brutal way Gotthilf was being killed. In most of the games he either played a small role or was dead, or died sometime during the tutorial, but after thirteen years, I had grown somewhat attached. Mind you I never really liked him, but we were always civil with each other, I was grateful that he let me live all those years ago. I began to cry.

      Biff grabbed my wet face. “Auntie!” He wailed. Tears were falling down his face too. He then uttered gibberish.

     “I’m sorry, Biff. I didn’t catch that, sweetie.” I apologized while choking on my own tears.

      Esmee then grasped onto the collar of my dress. “He said, is mama gonna be okay?!” She screeched.

     “I think so.” I nodded as I turned the corner. I didn’t say another word until we made it to their room. I took them in; I set them down on Esmee’s bed and made my way back to the door. I checked to make sure that we weren’t followed before sealing the door. I got down on my knees in front of the terrified toddlers. “I’m sorry you had to see all that. You might see less of your mommy for a while, but she is the strongest person I know, she can handle anything.” I cleared my throat. “Now as for King Gotthilf, he is dead.”

        Esmee stood up. “But we just saw him! He is alive.” She took my hand and tried to lead me to the door. “Come on, I show you!”

       “No, sweetie.” I pulled her back as shouting could be heard outside in the courtyard. “He is dead. That very tall man just didn’t want you to see him die. Stay there.” I stood and walked over to the tiny window. Gotthilf’s head was being paraded around on a pike. “He is most definitely dead.” I pulled the curtain over the window. “Neither one of you are to look out that window until I say so. You are also to not leave the room.” I hated speaking so harshly to the little babies, but I needed them to know how serious this was. I returned to kneeling before them. “You two remember the stories I would tell you about my life before I fell from the sky?” They both nodded. “You can’t tell anyone about them ever, and I mean ever. It is a very important secret. Anything I tell you when we are alone and the door is closed, is a secret. You can’t tell anyone. Do you understand?”

     “Yes auntie.” The twins responded.

      “Now, if you ever ask me a question out in public and I say, ‘I don’t know’. If you ask me when we are alone, my answer might have changed. Okay?” I tried to make my voice more playful and normal.

     “Is that a secret?” Esmee asked.

     “Yes.” I nodded. “The new people in charge must never know how much I know.”

      “Can I show them the secret passageways?” Biff asked innocently.

       I looked at him for a moment. “Biff…”

     Esmee was the one to answer him. “No, silly! Secret is in the name!”

    “Oh right.” Biff scratched his head as he thought about it.

    “Everything is going to be alright, kids. They are just going to be different, very different. Tomorrow you to are going to hang out with me while I work, doesn’t that sound like fun?” I tired to sound excited.

    “All you do is clean.” Biff huffed as he crossed his arms.

     “Ah, but this will be fun cleaning, it’s always fun cleaning when there are new people in the castle.” I was desperate to try and make these kids happy for tomorrow.

      Esmee tilted her head just like Aldous did, they had only met once, and he was already rubbing off on her. That head tilt was one of his signature moves. “So fun cleaning makes you say no-no words?”

     “Yes.” I gritted my teeth as I remembered all the profanity I had used during the clean up after banquets, thinking I head been alone or with an adult only audience.

       I tucked in the children for the night and left the room. I made my way to the servants’ quarters. One of the other maids filled me in. All the guards had been thrown in the dungeon, but after Gotthilf was beheaded, the bloodshed stopped. Harriette was safe but chained up and muzzled like a savage dog. Tomorrow I would have to come up with a plan.