In Which the Overlord is Flat On His Face

[badassfreakingoverlord]

It's going to be one of those days.

In the hallway directly outside the mess hall lay a book. The bright red body and overall size clearly pointed to it being the Overlord, for those familiar with him, but his back cover was the one facing upwards. No sign of any minion around. None of the cursing, struggling, and flopping one would expect from Zetta in such an undignified posture.

Just a tome, lying flat on the ground, as if a crew member had simply discarded it thoughtlessly.

Comments

[not_the_philistine]

There's no reason a book should be lying out in the open when Goliath has a perfectly good library to store it in - at least until he figures out who its owner is, and whether or not they want it back.

He picks up the book, turning it over to see the cover.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Behold! The cover has a face!

The face is utterly motionless, though. Zetta didn't appear to even be sleeping, just inanimate. On the other hand, Zetta could sleep through being on fire for a while, so maybe he just slept really deeply?

[not_the_philistine]

Curious.

Goliath flips the book open, looking for at least a title.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Not really much of one, it must be admitted. Most of the pages he looked at are blank, though some have writing in a strange demonic language. Of course, since the book had infinite pages, actually trying to piece useful information out of it might be tricky.

But being opened was causing the book to stir.

[not_the_philistine]

Goliath flipped the book shut. His knowledge of strange demonic languages was limited, but this hardly looked like something to leave lying around where any civilian crew member might find it. At least he could keep it safe in the library until its rightful owner was found.

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Flipping the book shut would bring him face-to-face with the now-awake, glowering front cover of the book.

"I'm not part of a lending library!" the irritated Overlord said.

[not_the_philistine]

Goliath, being hard to rattle, hangs on to the book.

"What sorcery is this?"

A book is a crew member? Is this person new, or did he miss a memo somewhere?

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"What sorcery is what?" Zetta demanded, eyes darting around as he looked for the sorcery in question.

[not_the_philistine]

He rephrases - "What sorcery are you?"

Books don't just talk. He's read enough of them to know!

[badassfreakingoverlord]

"What the hell do you mean, what sorcery am I?"

Zetta had been on the ship so long it barely occurred to him that people might not recognize him.

[not_the_philistine]

"You are a book that can speak. By what enchantments is this accomplished?"

[badassfreakingoverlord]

Wait, someone hadn't heard this story?

The book rose up to its full height smugly. "Hyaaa ha ha ha ha! I'm not just any book! I'm the most badass freaking Overlord in the entire cosmos! The Ohm tampered with the Sacred Tome to try to take me out, but they didn't count on me binding my soul to the book!"