Overlord Legacy - Chapter Fifty-Three - Birthday Girls

Katt races inside the castle after she gets home from school. It's a rather special day - her birthday, in fact - and if there's one thing she wants to do with this special day before she gets older, it's to see the new spring festival. She'd had so much fun at the winter festival, and she knows she wants to have fun playing at the spring festival before she has to "grow up." She's a bit excited to be a teenager, of course, but she wants to spend her last few hours as a kid playing and enjoying the lack of responsibility.

Dad is at work, of course, so she'll have to ask grandpa.

Katt: "So you can't come with me?"
Gator: "I wish I could, Katt, but your little sisters need me here. I can't quite carry and keep an eye on both of them if I were to go to the festival."
Katt: "So it's okay if I go by myself?"
Gator: "It's a safe town and I can see the festival through the front window. You can go, but I'd like for you to be back by 7:30, so we can celebrate your birthday here as a family."
Katt: "Minus dad."
Gator: "Yeah...minus dad. He'll be home from work as soon as he can. He wasn't feeling well when he left, so maybe they'll let him go early."
Katt: "Did he still have heartburn?"
Gator: "He was feeling sick to his stomach when he left. If they don't let him go early, he should be home around nine."

Katt hops on her bike and rides the short distance to the spring festival. She hopes her dad gets to come home early, although she's not happy that he's feeling sick. He'd mentioned something about dropping a poorly-made potion on himself yesterday and might be experiencing side effects from it. She hopes it not anything serious.

It begins to get dark already. Or perhaps it's just the clouds. Regardless, Katt knows she has only a limited time to check out the spring festival, so she peddles even faster.

Immediately she's impressed. Flowers! Wild herbs growing out of the ground! Fresh decor! The festival grounds look so much different when it's not covered with snow. She has to stand still for a moment to take it all in.

First she walks over to a booth with a young lady inside, waving at people as they pass by and making the classic "duckface." Curious, Katt reads the sign on the booth. It's a..."kissing booth." Wait, what?

Katt: "You're supposed to stand here and kiss people?"
Woman: "Yep. People pay five simoleons for one kiss."
Katt: "Why?"
Woman: "Well...springtime's the season for love, you know!"
Katt: "So people have to fall in love with you to kiss you for five simoleons?"
Woman: "Uh...no. Okay, let me rephrase: springtime's the season for romance."
Katt: "Oh. I'll tell my dad about you. This sounds like his sort of season. Do you also do special things without your clothes on?"
Woman: "What?!"
Katt: "Never mind."
Woman: "Um...hey, why don't you go on an egg hunt?"
Katt: "A what?"
Woman: "An egg hunt! There are special painted eggs hidden around the festival. See if you can find some. Here's a basket to put them in."

Katt doesn't see the point of finding special painted eggs, but she decides to go looking anyway.

Katt: "I don't see any eggs around here--...oh wait. I think that's one..."

Katt: "Okay, I know I saw it a moment ago...where'd it go?...There it is!"

Katt: "Ooh...it's blue!"
Random dude: "Ah! Going egg hunting, Ms. Overlord?"
Katt: "...Who are you?"
Random dude: "Oh, I'm one of your dad's biggest fans! I wanted to get my hair cut like his, but I figured that would be too imitative. So I went with his dad's haircut instead! It's such an honor to meet you, Ms. Overlord. I know everything about your dad's life!"
Katt: "Um...alright. You ought to stop by and meet Darth Furball sometime. He's our cat, and he really likes visitors."
Random dude: "Really? I just might do that sometime."

Katt: "Clearly he doesn't know everything about my dad's life if doesn't know Darth Furball. Why do people think it's normal to be obsessed about my dad?"

After gathering a few more eggs (which turns out to be quite fun, actually), Katt glances around and her eyes rest on a playground that's built nearby. Her face brightening, she notices some "bee riders."

Katt: "Wheeeeeee!"

After having entirely too much fun on the playground, Katt asks an older gentleman for the time. Much to her disappointment, she only has thirty minutes left before she needs to be home. She feels like she's barely been at the festival for five minutes! She looks around for what she can do for the last thirty minutes. She decides to practice on a game of horseshoes.

Katt: "Hmm...if I just throw this right..."

Katt: "...Crap."
Did you miss?
Katt: "Twice. There's one in the flower bed and one right next to the pole. You can't see it?"
The Sim Deity has no night vision, Katt. That's why she almost ran straight into a road sign when she was driving back to college this evening.
Katt: "What?"
Never mind.

Quickly Katt pedals back to the castle on her bike, trying not to be late. Grandpa's not typically that strict, but still, she doesn't want him to miss her own birthday celebration. It's 7:35 when she charges through the doors.

Katt: "Am I late? I tried to leave on time."
Gator: "Haha! You're just fine."
Katt: "...You got me a cake!!"
Gator: "Well, of course I got you a cake. You're the birthday girl, you know."
Katt: "Is it jello cake on the inside?"
Gator simply smiles at her. Katt grins back. Grandpa remembered that's her favorite kind of cake.

Gator: "Finally a teenager...my goodness, how time flies."
Katt: "It hasn't seemed to fly too fast."
Gator: "The older you get, the faster it goes, Katt. It seems like just yesterday when your father was a baby."
Katt: "Who was easier to take care of - me or dad?"
Gator: "Honey, you don't even compare to your dad's childhood. Now, make a wish before you blow out the candles."

Katt pauses, trying to think of what to wish for. She realizes how much she really appreciates her life and how good she really has it. A lot of kids at school seem to think she's this poor oppressed tormented child because she lives in the Overlord Castle (some people even say the ghosts of previous Overlord heirs haunt the castle, even though Katt tries to convince them all her ancestors are buried in the cemetery), but she's never really been unhappy.

There's only one thing she can really think of that she wishes for.

She blows out the candles, hoping they somehow magically help her wish to come true.
Gator: "Did you make a wish?"
Katt: "Yep. But it's a private wish."
I wish that, while I'm a teenager, I get to spend much more time with my dad. I love him and I don't want to miss him too much before I grow up.

After the wish is spoken in her head, the sparkles begin to zoom around. Almost there. She's almost a teenager!

She ages beautifully, looking very much like her mother. She decides to cut a little more off her hair - long flowy hair is for flirts and she certainly doesn't want to be thought of as a flirt. She feels much different as a teenager, much more mature. At least she can finally help dad and grandpa around the house, and she can help with her little sisters.

One thing's for sure - jello cake is still her favorite. She immediately digs in.

Gator: "Now don't eat too much of it. You know your dad will want some as soon as he gets home."
Katt: "Haha! If I don't get my fair share, he'll eat all of it, grandpa! You know his appetite."
Gator: "You do have a point there."

Gator smiles at his beautiful granddaughter as he slowly eats his portion of cake. Is Katt already a teenager? Severin was a teenager when he became her father. Gator hopes Katt doesn't take the same path, but he's still so grateful for the time he's spent raising Katt. She's a lovely young woman. Severin will certainly be surprised to see her.

Severin arrives home from work on time. Gator wonders if Severin even mentioned feeling sick to his superiors or if he just plowed on through, ignoring his health. One thing Gator can't fault Severin for is his work ethic. He works hard, even when he's not feeling well.

As soon as her father walks in, Katt tries not to smile. She can already see the look of surprise in his eyes as he looks at her.

Severin: "Wow...Katt."
Katt: "I had my birthday about an hour ago. We saved you some cake. Grandpa got jello cake for me. It's really good."

Severin: "Just...look at you! You're all grown up already. This doesn't even seem real. I thought you were a toddler the other day."
Katt: "Haha! Not you too. That's what grandpa was saying. Actually he was saying you were a toddler the other day."
Severin: "Well. You're a very pretty young woman. Now I have to keep an eye out for icky boys."

Katt: "Oh dad. I'm sure I'll be fine. But yeah...this is me."

Severin can't seem to stop staring at his daughter. Is she really a teenager already? That can't be possible. He's not even out of young adulthood yet. And yet this gurgly little baby girl that he had as a teenager is now a teenager herself.

Gator watches as he sets the dishes on the counter to do later. He realizes how young Severin really does look, especially standing next to his teenage daughter. If he were a complete stranger, Gator would imagine he'd confuse Severin and Katt as being brother and sister, not father and daughter.

Katt stays up a little bit longer, chatting with her dad. But it soon gets late and she knows she has school in the morning. Going upstairs with her grandpa, she helps settle Requiem and Banshee into their cribs.

Gator: "Well...looks like I've got myself a helper now."
Katt: "Of course! You do so much for us, grandpa. I want to help in any way I can. Besides, they are my sisters, you know. I can learn how to be a good big sister."
Gator: "I don't think you'll have any problems with that."

Severin decides to wash the dishes before he heads to bed. He knows his dad was leaving them to do for tomorrow, but Severin would feel terrible about ignoring the stacked-up dishes and ensuring his father would have to do them in the morning. He's not lazy at work - he certainly doesn't need to be at home.

Of course, he does have another reason - to get his mind off his churning, nauseated stomach. His dad and daughter had both asked him as soon as he got home how he was feeling, and he replied he was feeling much better. It was only to get them to not worry about him. He isn't feeling any better since he left for work. In fact, his boss had asked him if he'd drunk a large amount of water before coming to work since he had to use the bathroom to "pee" every hour when he normally didn't have to that often. Severin had nodded, not willing to reveal that he'd been vomiting during his whole work shift, lest he get sent home early.

The dishes get done, Severin scrubbing them perfectly clean to try and keep his mind occupied. Then he looks over and sees a filthy mess on the counter next to the blender. Dried-on frosting and goop from the cake is stuck to the counter, along with crumbs and some other slimy substance.

Severin quickly looks away, trying to forget it's there. Or should he clean it? That would keep his mind--

His stomach lurches. Severin puts a hand over his mouth and immediately attempts to swallow the vomit back down. The whole thing is getting exhausting, and his throat has been burning and raw all afternoon and evening.

When are the effects of that stupid potion supposed to wear off? He can't stand the thought of having to endure this for a whole week. He swallows again, trying to keep the vomit down. His throat is already burning. He can already smell his own puke.

The smell does him in. Immediately he slams open his bedroom door (nearly knocking over poor Darth Furball), dashes into the bathroom, and collapses near the toilet.

Severin's not even sure how his body can possibly produce more vomit. He would've thought there'd be absolutely nothing left in his body at this point. He coughs up the last of it into the toilet, wanting just to fall over and die to get away from this misery. Unsteadily he gets back to his feet, washes his hands, gurgles with mouthwash, and thoroughly brushes his teeth, trying to get the awful taste out of his mouth. Even after a second brushing, he can still taste it in the back of his throat.

Shakily he lays himself down to sleep. He hopes he'll sleep the whole night through. He's completely worn out and exhausted, so he doesn't have a problem with immediately falling asleep. Unfortunately he wakes up two hours later, stumbling out of bed and into the bathroom again. This time his stomach has completely run out of contents, and he has to hug the toilet and dry-heave until it's over.

Two hours later, same story. Darth Furball looks at him worriedly as he gets out of bed yet again.

Severin: "Deity...what is going on with me?"

Glancing down at his stomach, Severin notices a little bit of bloat. He would've thought it'd be sunken in, what with all he's thrown up. Maybe this is just a really, really bad case of indigestion, or gas, or acid reflux, or a stomach flu, or something. It has to be over soon. It has to be.

After more dry-heaving, Severin slips back into bed. This time Darth Furball hops up, nuzzling his master and then standing guard. His master is clearly not in a good state tonight. If the hero were to show up, Darth Furball would have extra work to do.

All night Darth Furball guards his master, even following him into the bathroom when he gets sick once more. Fortunately no hero shows up tonight. Finally Severin falls to sleep and stays asleep for several hours. When he rises late in the morning, Darth Furball finally feels comfortable letting himself sleep.

Banshee and Requiem certainly wake up happy.

Severin greets his dad, eating some toast to make sure he doesn't put too much food in his stomach. The nausea (thank the Deity) is almost completely gone, but he doesn't want to push his luck.

Gator: "Are you feeling any better, Severin? And I want the truth this time. I heard you wake up at least a couple of times last night to throw up."
Severin: "I'd hoped that I wouldn't disturb you. Yeah, my stomach's feeling a lot better today. Just a little bit bloated. Hopefully that's the last of it. I do feel achy and sore in a lot of places, especially my back, but I'm wondering if that's just from hunching over the toilet so much yesterday."
Gator: "Well, be more careful when handling potions next time. Don't even pick it up if it's made by an 'amateur witch.'"
Severin: "I know, dad. Believe me, I know. Anyway, the newspaper says it should be sunny today. We can take Banshee and Requiem to the spring festival for a little while, just to get them out of the house. Katt said I would like the spring festival anyway."
Gator: "That's fine with me, as long as you're sure you're feeling better. I don't want you running off to the festival bathrooms the whole time we're there."
Severin: "I think I'm fine, dad."

Gathering up the little ones, Gator and Severin head out to go to the spring festival. As soon as they get in the car, it begins to rain.

Severin: "Well. Someone lied on that weather report. This is just great."
Gator: "Well, we'll have to use our umbrellas. Maybe it will stop soon."

It doesn't. But that doesn't prevent Severin and Gator from checking out the spring festival. T'is the season for romance, they say. Gator quickly finds out that "they" are right.

Woman: "Mm...cute baby you have there."
Gator: "This is my granddaughter, Banshee. She's adorable."
Woman: "I don't suppose you could use another baby in your life, could you? A baby...of a different sort?"

Gator glances down at his old hand. He still wears a wedding ring on his finger. He's widowed, but he still feels completely committed in marriage to Amaranth. He can't even force himself to consider anyone else.

Severin, meanwhile, finds the attraction Katt thought he would like.

Woman: "Five simoleons for a kiss! Only five, dear. I might only charge you three, actually. You're Severin Overlord, aren't you?"
Severin: "That would be me."
Woman: "I knew it! I was just wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me. Do you know how many people would kill to kiss you? Actually, you know what? I'll pay you five simoleons to let me kiss you."

Severin obliges. Five free simoleons is five free simoleons, after all.

The woman attempts to go in for another, deeper kiss, but Severin has no desire to go further. Not while the effects of that stupid "fertilitee" potion might still be in his system. The last thing he needs is to play around and get this random lady he doesn't even know pregnant, and her pop out sextuplets or something.

As Severin pockets his five simoleons and turns around, he finds his dad trying to work a strange-looking machine. Severin remembers one of his co-workers telling him about it. It's apparently a love machine that tells you how compatible you are with a particular person.

Gator: "What is this thing?"
Severin: "Did you put in the name of someone else?"
Gator: "'Mild.' It says the results are 'mild.' What does that mean?"
Severin: "It's a compatibility machine, dad. Whose names did you put in?"
Gator: "Yours and mine. I had no idea what this thing was."
Severin: "You put...?! Dad!"
Gator: "Well, we're mildly compatible, evidently."
Severin: "That's gross. And it's getting really wet out here. The consignment shop has a fire, if I remember correctly."

Gator has no qualms with getting some place dryer and warmer, so he and Severin make their way to the consignment shop with the babies.

Gator: "I think Requiem just fell asleep. How's--"
Banshee: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"
Severin: "Still awake over here."

They get inside and settle by the warm, cozy fire.

Gator: "What are these curious things floating above our heads?"
Severin: "They look like...mini plumbombs. I've heard in other universes with other Sim Deities, green plumbombs constantly float over our heads, but it hasn't happened here, until now."
The Sim Deity has complaints against the Sim Designer. When the Sim Deity says "hideheadlineeffects ON", she wants all such headline effects to be hidden. None of this crap about--
Gator: "Mm. Ever get the feeling the Sim Deity is angry? Not with us, but with someone else?"
Severin: "I feel like she's really patient with me."
Gator: "Well, someone has to be."
If I had no sense of humor, I would've destroyed you all before the second generation ever came about. Instead, I just laugh at you all. And cry sometimes.

Gator and Severin spend a little bit of time by the fire in the consignment shop, then head home in time to see Katt off the bus. After a snack, Katt asks if her father can help her with her homework. To her delight, Severin is happy to.

Severin: "Urrghh....gosh...."
Katt: "You okay, dad?"
Severin: "Agh...just my back. It's...very sore, for some reason."
Katt: "Well, if you help me with my homework, I'll give you a back massage. Deal?"
Severin: "I'll take you up on that."

Katt: "So I have to write a planning outline for a speech next week. It has to be on the topic of safety, but of course I have to narrow that down to a specific topic for me. 'Safety' is too general."
Severin: "'How to Protect Yourself Against Heroes.'"
Katt: "I don't think that'll fly, dad."
Severin: "'How to Please an Overlord so He Doesn't Blow Your House Off the Street.'"
Katt: "Pertinent, but no."
Severin: "'How to Threaten Everyone's Safety and Throw the World into Chaos.'"
Katt: "I think I'm supposed to be promoting safety, dad."
Severin: "'How to Safely Threaten Everyone's Safety and Throw the World into Chaos.'"
Katt: "Sigh. Why did I ask you to help me?"
Severin: "You still owe me a back massage."

Later in the evening (after his back massage, which feels wonderful, but doesn't cure his aching back), Severin heads outside to enjoy some fresh air. After Gator started cooking dinner, Severin suddenly couldn't stand the smell. He's sure it was wonderful - Gator never burns his meals - but the scents just became overpowering to his senses. He began to feel sick again, so Severin decides to play guitar and breathe in the open air.

He desperately hopes his body returns to normal soon. How many other effects is this potion supposed to have? And who made that stupid potion anyway? Whoever they were, Severin would like to sock them in the face.

Before Katt brings some dinner out to her dad, she decides to have some fun with Darth Furball. She always finds it amusing when her dad plays the hero in order to train Darth Furball with how to react.

Katt: "Oh, look, little kitty, I'm the big bad hero. What're you gonna do? Hmm?"
Darth Furball: "Put 'er up. Come on. Let's duke this out fair and square."
Katt: "...Is that a boxing stance?"
Darth Furball: "I have been taught how to swing and jive. And to bite people's ears off when they get close."

Everyone decides to enjoy dinner in the fresh air outside, especially since it stopped raining earlier. After dinner, Severin resumes playing his guitar. Gator stands by and listens. His son's gotten very good on that guitar. Severin's boss is already looking at hiring him as a lyricist to several bands - and even playing his own gigs soon.

As Katt walks by, however, she notices something.

Katt: "Dad, are you...bloated?"
Severin: "Nonsense."
Katt: "I know you're trying to block it with your guitar. But I can see you're bloated. Are you sure your stomach's okay?"
Severin: "It's fine. I'm not nauseated or anything. Maybe it's just indigestion. I'm sure it'll go back to normal soon."

After a while longer playing, the Overlords head back inside to celebrate a special moment - it's Banshee's and Requiem's birthdays. Why are they toddlers already? Severin wonders. Why is time moving so quickly that I can't even keep up with it? I know they're my kids. I love them like they're my kids. So why do I still feel way too young to even have one kid?

Gator and Katt get on the floor to celebrate with the happy babies. Severin can't quite bend over.

Severin: "Deity...what is wrong with my back?"

Requiem ages first. She's a cute little girl in a very tomboyish way. She already has a no-nonsense spirit about her.

Banshee (loud as ever) very much adopts her father's looks. She also has a mischievous gleam in her eye. Severin wonders if he'll have to chase after her as much as his mom had to chase after him.

Before going to bed, Severin kisses his three daughters goodnight. He'd never intended on having three girls. In fact, he'd never intended on having any kids at all. He was fine with cloning himself at some point and having the clone be the heir. But now that he's a real father, he knows he's in love with his daughters. At this point, he doesn't know if he'd want it any other way.

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Author's notes: Poor Severin. So much achiness, so much nausea. Such bad indigestion. It's indigestion, right? ;D

Katt is beautiful. Banshee and Requiem are adorable. AH LERV SEVRINS KIDZ.

By the way, I probably shouldn't have put so many details in Severin's "sick" scenes. I do have problems with acid reflux and nausea, so I probably made myself a little bit sick writing the scene. Oh well. Props for realism, maybe.

Look forward to hearing from you in the comments!