41It would come to no surprise that Gregor Clegane was not a man made to rule lands, his was a body and mind made for bloody work and cruel acts, as such when he wasn't training in the courtyard, he spent most his time in his room waiting for his meal to be brought to him. Grunting with a sound of frustration, he turned his head to the nearby window as the sounds of battle rung out in the yard, tuning out the noise assuming his men were simply getting absorbed into a melee amongst themselves, Gregor left his room and missed the sounds of a woman's laughter echoing over the sounds of screaming men.
Traversing the keep, and making his way to a more quiet area of his castle, he paused hearing more combat coming into the halls around him the giant of a man moved to the noise and was stopped by a strange blonde woman wearing what seemed to be a foreign sort of metal and cloth attire that came across as a whore to his eyes.
"My my, you are a big one aren't you, are you the lord of this castle?"
Rather than answer her, Gregor charged, lashing out with a fist at her still smalling face only for her to reach out and with a casual yawn stop his arm dead on contact.
"I stand corrected, no one this weak and foolish could possibly be the ruler of this estate, you're bigger than my usual meal… but I think I've worked up an appetite watching Lady Shalltear enjoy herself with the other men…." His eyes widened as suddenly the hand holding his fist warped into a blue like sludge and started to suck his hand into her arm, dragging him down to the elbow in seconds, and lancing white hot fire up as he felt his skin being melted away inside the monster, despite all his strength, he could do nothing as he was pulled in, his legs and other arm taken in the blink of an eye as the monster stepped forward and into him, for the first time in his life, Gregor Clegane, Beast of the Westerlands, and the monster of Westeros screamed in bloody terror.
Just as his torso and neck were pulled in, still screaming and wriggling best he could, his maester, Robyn arrived, the last man to see Gregor alive.
"Oh My, I'm stuffed, lucky for you," The monster said, blue gel like skin morphing back to a human color, before he blinked, taking a step back and before he could turn, the thing was in his face, hands stronger than Gregor's clasping his collar and keeping him from fleeing in the terror he felt. "Now, you look more appropriate, are you the lord of this castle?"
A moment of silence passed, and the thing tilted it's head, mouth stretching impossibly wise in a macabre smile. "I may be full, but I'm not afraid of overeating…."
"I'm not the lord! Gregor Clegane ruled this castle! I am just the maester!"
"Ruled?"
"Y-y-y-yes, Yo-u you just ate him, my lady!?"
The creature pushed him to the ground and sighed aloud. "Oh no…. lord Ainz is going to be so upset with me! I was supposed to apprehend the lord, but I ate him by mistake. It's not my fault he didn't say anything!" she cried out, hands clasping her head for a second before she turned back to facing Maester Robyn.
"Well, no use crying over it, but you seem more pliable than that oaf, so you will come with me to meet my master and tell us of these lands!" A hand clasped to his foot and began dragging the crying and wailing maester away, doing his best to hold his robes and chain in place as they went down the corridor.
"Please, my lady, release me and I will come of my own accord!" Robyn shouted, recognizing she was about to drag him down the long stone stairwell to the courtyard, and to his shock, his request was given and he nervously walked ahead of the beast that devoured his lord, wondering with ever step whether or not it would reach a hand out to shove him down the steps of force him to join lord Gregor…
Despite his fears, they reached the door to the courtyard and he opened it, stepping out into the light of day and gazing with bloody awe at the courtyard, Clegane Keep was never known for it's size or impressiveness, but the sight of over a hundred corpses piled up in the courtyard being loaded onto floating glowing slab of air.
Being no stranger to horror and cruelty as the Maester of Gregor Clegane, it took Robyn only a few moments to calm himself and look around to see the only other woman in the courtyard dressed in a strange full suit of open face armor wielding a weapon that looked like a hybridization of a spear and lance.
"Oh, Solution, I see you found the lord of this squalid disgrace of a castle." The armored warrior said, and strode over to the two, looking down to see the shorter female, Robyn was shocked to see her deathly pale skin.
"Sadly I was not able to, my lady, I only found out the lord had died in the attack after the fact, this man seems more intelligent and is a better subject to use."
"…Very well, you will be coming with us, my supreme lord Ainz has questions for you." Waving her hand, the woman known as Shalltear seemed to rip a swirling black and purple hole through time and space and walked through, the thing that killed Gregor pushing him through and Maester Robyn suddenly found himself walking from the dirt of the Clegane Keep courtyard onto what had to be cushioned floors, massive marble pillars with gold inlay leading up the long hall toward a momentous throne laid into the material, gree stone, impossibly smooth was on either sign of him as he was pushed forward into what could be only described as a room of art.
His awe was cut short when he was brought before the throne and saw that the skull he thought was an ornament was actually a being sitting upon it, raw terror gripped him as he saw the being was not a mere corpse on close inspection, the dark orbs being light by burning fires staring at him with intent and ringed fingers lifting off the arm rests to link under it's chin.
"Greetings, I am Ainz Ool Gown, lord of the great tomb of Nazarik." It's voice reverbated through the room, despite the jaw not moving an inch as it rose from the seat and moved forward, everything in Robyn's bones said to turn and run, flee for his life, and would have if not for the iron grip of the Shalltear woman grabbing his elbow.
"My lord, I present to you Maester Robyn of the castle you had us conquer." She said, taking a knee and roughly yanking the maester to the ground to bow both their heads.
"Raise your heads! I thank you for your work Shalltear, take Mare and whatever resources you need to begin fortifying the keep to make it worthy of Nazarik!" Looking to his left, Robyn saw the creature stand and depart immediately through another ripple in reality before turning his attention back to the being before him.
"Now than, Maester Robyn was it?" it asked, before noticing he still was knelt, "Rise, Would you care for a refreshment?" Before he answered, it reached into a hole in space and pulled a clear glass pitcher and glass out before handing the glass to him.
"I'm sure this is all a large deal to take in, have a drink and let's talk, I wish to know how my tomb was teleported to this new land."
Tywin Lannister was known as many things, and seen by many people as far more, cruel but firm, harsh but understanding, devious but generous, but no one dared call him merciful, as would be spoken of when he heard that the monthly tax collection from the Clegane lands had not come in, nor had the tax collector dispatched to retrieve lord Gregor's monthly tribute to house Lannister, drumming his fingers across his desk, the lord of the westerlands considered the probabilities, he knew there were no bandits in the westerlands, having the largest and most intact army following the previous wars meant he was able to patrol the lands with a higher number of men on horseback to root any trouble before it could settle in, and he doubted any fools would be willing to try and disturb Gregor's territory given his bloody reputation.
Ruling out his tax collector being abducted and murdered for his coin by bandits, that left foreign agents, Dorne and the Martells being chief of suspected minds behind this for the obvious reasons, but discounting the obvious left no one else, and he while his spies and informants in Dorne weren't numerous, not one of them had sent warning of any plot to pit him against Gregor, leaving the only other of the two possibilities.
Gregor had killed the tax collector, an act while not just an affront to him but a precedent he hadn't had to deal with since the Reynes of Castamere had made their last act of defiance to his family's authority.
With a grunt, he stood and had his attendant go fetch the master at arms of Casterly Rock to assemble a party of five hundred men at arms, and two hundred knights, lord Gregor only had a force of a hundred men, and no knights to his household, while a overwhelming show of force to deal with the Clegane forces, it wouldn't hurt in case this was a prelude to a dornish assassination attempt or ambush on his person.
True to the efficiency he had honed in his house, it only took two hours to gather, and have the force he ordered to be armored and armed, all mounted on horseback, where he took his place in the center of the formation, the Clegane Keep was less than half a day's ride from Casterly Rock.
Having only one stop halfway to let the horses drink and feed, the host of Lannister soldiers soon found themselves outside Clegane Keep, to no welcoming party or even greeted by Gregor, something that even someone as brutish as he was, was out of the ordinary.
"It seems the second possibility is more likely after this…" Tywin thought as he bade the head of the column to advance to the castle doors, just as they did so, the double door entrance opened and a woman of remarkable beauty, in a garb he had never seen before walked out, loudly clapping her hands twice as she stood before his men.
"Greetings, I apologize for not organizing a reception for you, my lord has been busy and unable to organize one prior, I have just been given the task of monitoring this location."
Tywin glanced to the keep, eyes scanning the windows and murder holes wondering if archers were trained on his position, but seeing his men looking to him for direction he lifted his head and trotted his horse forward, his men forming around him as he approached the pale woman.
"I am Tywin Lannister, Lord Paramount of these lands and the master of the man that owned this castle, who are you and where is Gregor Clegane?"
"Greetings to you Lord Paramount Tywin Lannister, I am Yuri Alpha, vice commander of the Pleiades. Lord Gregor is dead, this castle is now territory of my lord, the supreme being, Ainz Ooal Gown."
Tywin was silent, the murmurs of disbelief and discontent spreading amongst his men before he held a hand and utter silence followed.
"I know nothing of this 'lord' and thus do not see him having the authority to see my territory as his own." He stopped to take a quick breath and continue. "Men! Storm this keep and bring this Ainz Ooal Gown to me alive, he shall face the king's justice!"
On finishing his roar of command, the woman that was twenty feet away suddenly appeared by his side, before he had the chance to register her presence, the screams of the cavalrymen that had approached the gate reached him, turning his attention to the pale girl standing by his leg, he opened his mouth in shock.
"Now ladies, kill everyone but this one, he's the regional lord, lord Ainz will wish to speak to him."
His eyes went from her, to the three she spoke of and saw them standing amongst the bloody remains of the men and their horses from the vanguard, each wearing similar attire to this Yuri Alpha, and aside from one vague spear, carried weapons he had never seen before, one being pointed in his direction and making a popping sound in sync with the man to his left having half his face sheer away, while the other taller redhead laughed loudly as she and the spear wielder sliced and gored their way through his men like they were straw training dummies.
"Now then, Lord Tywin, please follow me," Yuri said as she pulled him from his horse with one hand and dragged him to the stairway of the Clegane keep by the back of his coat, forcing him to witness the one-sided massacre.
"Lupisregina, Narbeal, Delta, Cease your actions at once!" Behind him, a powerful voice thundered over the screams and sounds of the massacre taking place bringing about an utter silence making the demons freeze in place before bowing to the one that spoke. "Yuri Alpha, who is this man?" Tywin was roughly hauled to his feet and spun to face a massive being, the thing holding him again showing it's unholy strength by slapping both his arms to his torso and holding him steady, easily matching the height of the Clegane Brothers, but seemingly broader, wearing a black ornamental robe from some strange land of Essos he had no experience with given the strange head piece and red mask, coupled with a pair of thick metal gauntlets covering his hands.
"This man claims to be Tywin Lannister. Lord Ainz!"
"Ah yes, the Lion of the Westerlands, I've heard many things about you from Maester Robyn and the tax agent you sent here to get tribute from the former lord of this castle. I apologize for his death, I had ordered he be taken alive, but in the midst of battle he was slain by one of my warriors." Not waiting for Tywin to speak, he waved an arm in the direction of the slaughter and addressed the warriors he had present.
"Bring the dead to me, I will not have my first meeting go worse than we have already made it," and turned back to the stunned Lord of the Westerlands. "Lord Tywin, Are you well? You have been awfully silent." It took a moment but overcoming the shock of the inhumane actions of the people around him, he spoke at last, doing his best to summon his strength as he did.
"I am adjusting to this turn of events and the death of my men, this is nothing less than a declaration of war."
"Oh come now, let us fix this without bloodshed."
"I believe you have already shed enough of my people's blood this day…"
"Then allow me to remedy that, the Pleiades have just finished arranging your men for my spell."
"Spell?" his mind froze at the absurdity of the word, whipping his head from the massive being and toward his men, all of the ones who had come with him having died in such short order being laid out in orderly lines making his heart tremble, before snapping back to Ainz at the mention of magic, his biting insult to such a farce died on his tongue as he saw the gauntleted hands raised forward glowing in colored energies he couldn't begin to describe.
"Mass resurrection!" Ainz boomed, the energy flowing from his hands to cover the field of corpses and soaking down into their bodies like water into a cloth. One by one they began to rise, wounds healed and sitting or standing in a stupor of confusion he shared with them as they clutched the rendered and torn segments of armor and felt the areas where they had been struck down.
"Now lord Tywin, do raise some order with your men, they've had a traumatic ordeal and could use some control, when you finish with that you can follow me."
"One moment…Lord Ainz,"He paused, doing his best to sound as sincere in speaking to the creature behind him, "You brought my men back to life, how is such a thing possible? who are you to do such a thing?"
"I already told you lord Tywin, it was a spell, albeit a higher tier one than I am used to using for this occassion. Do you not have experience with magic in this realm?"
END CHAPTER.