Against All Odds

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Winnifred did more sight seeing on the way there, trusting the minion as her guide. She wasn't about to go telling the world, but the little creatures were beginning to grow on her already. Whenever she fought them, she thought them to be such obnoxious monsters. She was told they should be killed immediately. Spending time on their side had proved to be eye opening, though. They functioned smoothly as one unit, and they were so loyal to their leader.

The Overlord was there waiting for her; Gnarl was there as well. To not keep them waiting for too long, she put more haste in her steps so she could be part of the group. Winni arrived feeling quite refreshed from how hard she slept. An arm went up to cross over her bosom while she made a formal bow to the armored man, "Dark Lord." Then she made a polite nod towards his adviser, "Gnarl." Promptly her arm went back down to her side and then behind her to join with the other, her fingers intertwining while she straightened her back and calmly observed the area. Still was going to take some getting used to.

"There was a sighting of the winged creature we saw yesterday?" The paladin inquired, letting him know she'd received the message and was prepared to hear more.
 
As the Paladin came down the stairs, she seemed almost bashful of her own appearance as she bowed. Hiding her features, even if they seemed... Oddly muscular. But he didn't mind. She was a lady of the light after all. Stuck up, prudish, and truly boring most of the time. "Indeed it has. It was spotted flying northwards from yesterday's battlefield. We can only assume that it didn't know anything of our world, other than that we apparently have... bodies that they want. But alas, it's in my empire now... Rather close to the border, but still a big threat to my people, especially if they should somehow expand by bringing a large amount of people into their portal. So we must stop them, whatever they are." He got to the point, mostly to make her see that most she had learned of him probably was propaganda. He took care of his people, after all.

"I will be heading down to the forge to retrieve my weapons and gauntlets. Feel free to accompany me. I'm sure we can make something better than those little daggers of yours as well. If you would accept my help, that is." He said, smiling teasingly, leaning on one of the arms of the throne. It was a option to do better, though the taint of evil would be in the new gear...
 
Winnifred could share in his concern for his people. She might have been discouraged from acting on much emotion, but compassion for the innocent was something that was never shut off. It was part of what drove her to be her best, corny of a fact as it was.

Along with all this, she was privately impressed with his leadership skills. She always knew he was a fine warrior who expertly commanded armies, but Winni wasn't aware of what more he did, and how he did it. It was revealing a whole new perspective for the blond as she questioned if all beings of darkness were as bad as everyone said.

Silently she nodded when he said they must stop whoever these invaders were. Then he went on to offer more gear to her, from his forge. Winnifred made an arrogant tilt of her chin as a playful response to his teasing smile, her own lips twitching into a lopsided one that was impish in nature. "You'd do anything to make me get rid of my swords, I'm sure," the lady paladin teased back, recalling memories of the mayhem she caused him with those twin blades. Suddenly her posture looked more relaxed, her shoulders lowering so her arms could fold over her comely bosom. Now wearing a thoughtful expression, she was seriously pondering on his suggestion. Winnifred was loyal to the greater good more than her Order alone. She was more practical than most were willing to assume.

"I'm grateful for your help, my liege--" An arm wiggled from the crossed position it was in to gesture to him with an open palm facing upwards. Then she smirked mischievously. "I believe I already have a request in mind. My two handed training is quite fresh in my mind and I could use a proper battleaxe instead of the basic one I'd been using back home. A bit of brushing up wouldn't hurt, either. I would desire practice rounds prior to our mission, otherwise I'd be more than happy to practice on our enemies." Lightly she shrugged, her hand withdrawing to go back to folding with the other. Winnifred saw this as an opportunity, really. It would be a weapon fused with evil, but it would benefit her more than not. Someone more sensitive to dark magic might have a harder time with it.

"Anyway, I will go with you. Perhaps an expert such as yourself can make suggestions along the way," Winnifred offered with a polite dip of her head. The Overlord, surely, was well versed when it came to weaponry. She didn't know why she was conversing with him so easily with a laid back approach all of a sudden, but the blond preferred to not look too far into it.
 
The Overlord couldn't help but to smirk at her surprisingly relaxed behavior, as well as her little jokes. Still, he was pleased that she accepted her offer for a better weapon. "Good, good..." He said, as he rose from his throne, and stepped down the stairs, and started walking down the hall, back to the balcony they had appeared on. "I assume an axe crafted for me would be a bit too large for you? I am quite a bit stronger than you, after all." He said with a smirk, as he stepped off the balcony, and onto a small platform that was floating in mid air.

The platform flew away from the main hall with surprising speed, yet they stood firmly on it, hardly feeling the movement at all. And almost as soon as it had started, it stopped, by a balcony on the lower levels of the spire, where the Overlord stepped off without a word, and walked down some stairs, to a little Minion with a hammer almost as big as him. "Welcome to forge mastah! What forge?" Giblet asked, his face concealed behind a mask to protect him from the heat. "Nothing for me, Giblet. But soon, you'll have to forge an axe for this lady I've brought with me." The Overlord said with a smile, as he stepped over to a long rack of weapons and sets of armor. "I doubt you'll see anything in your size... But feel free to try them out anyway." He said, motioning to the long rack.

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Keeping up with the Overlord would be difficult if it weren't for her fairly large feet, and an ability to go faster without it quickly tiring her. He himself was bigger, so his leisurely steps could put him far ahead if she didn't match his pace so well. Experiencing a comparison of size with him was fascinating, to say the lease. She was used to being taller than most women, and many men. Yet, here she was being significantly smaller than this Dark Lord. Winni would not make it easy for him to best her in unarmed combat, but even she knew that in the end he would be the victor.

Just as this was crossing his mind, he mentioned how his how weapons would probably be too heavy for him. Turning her head, she caught sight of his smirk as they made way from the balcony. For a moment she was silent, having to adjust to the moving platform since it was new to her. "I could give your weapons a try, but you may be right. I would need something less weighty," Winnifred said honestly, idly rubbing a hand along the bulge in the other arm. Already she could imagine the struggle they'll feel when she tries lifting one of those huge weapons. "You know, you say you're stronger, but it could be you have to be even stronger than that. Seeing that you haven't yet gotten rid of me," was the cheeky addition she came up with, making an innocent look while she shrugged, and then went back to viewing their surroundings.

Cautiously she stepped off the platform so they could greet the forge's keeper; a minion named Giblet. Respectfully she nodded to the doubtlessly talented craftsman, then had a brief look around. At some point she stopped at a rack of two handed weapons that she could attempt to use. A firm grip was formed around the pole of an axe before she lifted it off, grunting as she did so. Winnifred was able to carry it just fine, but swinging it sounded like a bad idea. Likely she'd knock it into something, or end up dropping it, and make a fool of herself. "Something like this, but--" Making another grunt, she carefully got the axe back into place and sighed with relief while clapping her palms together. "--lighter. A bit shorter, too." Gesturing to the axe, then herself, she emphasized her point that the weapon would need to compliment her height. Winni was tall, but not as tall or taller than the Overlord.

"Is that-- Is that... All right?" Feeling her fingers fidget a bit, she looked from Giblet to the Dark Lord, hopeful she wasn't out of line in anything she said or did. Although she maintained her calmness for the most part, there were sheepish elements to her behavior that implied she was still getting adjusted to this realm.
 
She wasn't used to even coming with requests, was she? Oh, how adorable! She couldn't even do what she wanted, like his very Minions! "Of course it's alright. It's why I brought you down here, wasn't it?" He asked with a teasing smile. "Giblet, forge a new Executioner. But smaller, to fit the lady here. I know you've forged quite a few things for Kelda, so it should be about her size. Possibly slightly bigger, as this isn't for hunting." He ordered, and Giblet got to work at once. He positively ran over to a storage of Fairy crystals and grabbed a large load of them, together with a few Dark Crystals, and carried them both towards the forge itself, starting to ready the steel and life-force needed. A soft giggling could be heard from him from time to time, when the forge wasn't too loud.

"Need any armor while we're down here? Or are you satisfied with what you've already got?" He asked, looking her up and down. He almost always wore his armor, but she seemed to feel safe enough in his domain to not wear hers. Which he found slightly odd, but he ignored it. Instead, he took in her form for a moment. Not as curvy as his mistresses tended to be, but she had a certain... Militaristic charm.
 
Sheepishly she chuckled at the nicely put 'well, duh' he replied to her with. Winnifred loathed how shy she suddenly was in that moment, wishing dearly that it could be taken back. Curiously watching the minion get to work served as a useful distraction from her embarrassment, though. She now could look forward to having a new weapon to use. The Overlord was certainly generous with his resources. He really must see the usefulness in her. Winni could always appreciate that in someone since her life was mostly based on her ability to service others.

"My armor will do fine," she assured, thanking him politely with a dip of her head. Winni couldn't imagine replacing the plates that had been protecting her for this long of a time. They were like that favorite outfit in your closet that you never wanted to get rid of.

Feeling the Dark Lord's eyes on her, she reclaimed composure and looked up at him. She wasn't unaware of the fact that he was looking her over, now that the bulky armor wasn't hiding everything. Rather than react like a shy giggly schoolgirl, Winni felt herself flexing, more as a defensive response deeply conditioned in her than anything else. Little did she realize, it had a way of showing off her figure in ways that suggested she were wanting to impress someone. When in her mind, that wasn't at all the case.
 
He looked her over once more, before speaking up again. "So... How goes your war against me? Might seem like an odd question when we're both standing here, and it is. But it's still a question that interests me. Just because you have joined me for now does not mean that your fellow 'Holy' warriors will stop their war. Which might mean that I'll have to defend against attacks from them, even as we're trying to take care of a completely different threat." He doubted she'd give him a long report on her side of the war, as he still was the enemy... But some information about it might be better than none.

Behind him, he could hear Giblet starting to add in the life-force, meaning that the process was done in but a short time. Soon, she'd be quite well armed, and probably itching to try out the new weapon. Luckily, he had an arena, where the two of them could try this new weapon. And see if she thought herself powerful enough to defeat him, or possibly even kill him right here in his own domain.
 
The question was indeed odd. One of her brows raised up as a show of curiosity while she patiently listened, a set of fingers going up to brush her side-swept bangs back in place. Even though she was maintaining her professional posture with her hands behind her back, there was a look to her that could very well be considered laid back. Since she was so focused on the Overlord's voice, she didn't take the time to acknowledge that his presence had a way of making her feel more at ease. Probably she would be more so if it weren't for the respectable title he had.

Now that she was processing all of what he just said, she found herself agreeing that he made a good point. Her brothers in arms would be surprised to see her on the enemy's side and might assume the worst. At the same time, she couldn't exactly rally with them to try and take down the Overlord. Winni owed her life to this man. That held more importance than anything having to do with her Order. She just might have to do some lying, such as telling the paladins she was spying on the Overlord... This damn demon war was forcing her to twist her morals more and more. It caused unsettling feelings in her gut that were sickening and thrilling all at once.

Briefly she blinked at the minion who was crafting her weapon, noticing that it was being produced in a short time. Impressive! She could remember having to wait quite some time for her swords. Looking back to the armored figure across from her, she brought both hands from behind her to clasp in front of her. "I understand, and wouldn't dare try stop you from fighting against The Devoted Defenders. Just as well, I will not hurt the other paladins. Unless it's necessary," Winnifred said with a proper nod and a five second smirk. You'd be surprised of how necessary it could get with those brats in shining armor. They were not the kindest souls towards her; she was the only one born from a poor family and the only woman in their Order. There were other reasons too, she was sure. "Since I'm the one in charge of the attacks against you, I imagine they won't interfere as much if I told them I had it under control. They'll be suspicious of me for temporarily siding with you, Dark Lord, but I'll deal with that in time. At the moment they probably think I'm dead since I haven't yet updated them of my status." Actually, they probably wouldn't so much as think of her name for a while. They had better things to do, like defending royalty against dark forces or escorting important figures to faraway places. At least they were trustworthy on the battlefield...
 
Just as Giblet started hammering the axe to shape it perfectly, the Overlord laughed low, yet with a sinister tone. "You believed you had my attacks under control?" He asked, with a grin of disbelief. "If you don't remember how our last battle went until the demons arrived... I smashed your defenses to pieces, then started massacring your troops!" He laughed some more, before finally gathering himself.

"I knew your were all proud and arrogant... But truly, you had my attacks under control? Even though I've taken village after village, town after town? The only place you've been able to hold so far is the city of Southwall! And only then because you have truly grand stone walls to help you!" He knew he was teasing, possibly mocking her a bit, but then again... He was the Evil Overlord, Destroyer of Empires. It was to be expected.

The sound of Giblet taking the axe before it was cool enough to touch could be heard for a moment, before he took care of the situation, and carried it over to the grindstone, to sharpen the axe to perfection.

"But at least that explains why I've only ever seen you fighting me." He looked around his armory for a moment, then thinking to his quarters. "That explains why I have no trophies of Paladins... You've been the only one I've been fighting, and I've yet to have managed to kill you... Annoying, really. I made room for a full set and everything..." He sighed slightly and shook his head, yet he was still smiling wickedly. "No offence to, by the way. As I mentioned, I've defeated you and your forces both... But you have always slipped from my grasp... Until you leapt into it yourself, at least."
 
The confusion on Winnifred's face had an angelic innocence to it. Quite honestly, she didn't understand why he was laughing. Did she say something funny? Or perhaps he misinterpreted something, or simply wanted to poke fun for no reason? When she said that she would tell the other paladins she had this under control, in no way was she implying there was any actual controlling. More than anything it was a statement of reassurance she'd be giving to the Order so they wouldn't feel the need to send in a rescue. All were aware of how dangerous this Overlord was, after all.

Nonetheless, she let him have his jokes. Over time she learned that correcting people made her seem like she was stuck up and had no sense of humor. The confusion eventually relaxed into a neutral look, although curiosity was evident in her sapphire gaze as he went on to say he desired a paladin trophy of sorts. Was he serious about that? She shouldn't be surprised either way. Quietly she scoffed at that and shrugged, pretending to look apologetic for being the reason why he lacked this prize.

"I'm not blind to your progress, Dark Lord. Your resources, armies, and what have you are superior by comparison, and you alone are a force to be reckoned with," Winnifred told him with a smile of her own, although it was fairly simple compared to what he was wearing. Even with this knowledge though, she could never disobey orders. Until now, she supposed. Joining forces with the Overlord instead of dying might be considered dishonorable.

The smile twitched into a smirk, adding a touch to smugness to her calm features. "Sometimes I wonder if your failure to kill me isn't because I expertly slip away, but because you let me live. I'd understand if you would miss me, but at least you'd have my armor to remember me by?" Making a haughty chuckle, she brought up a hand to set over her heart and looked up at him as if she were feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Winnifred was playing off the proud and arrogant ways her paladin brethren were known to have, even if the truth was that she aimed to be more on the humble side. The fact she was here with him was proof enough of that; others were more important than her own self or her beliefs.

Also, exchanging teases with the Overlord was just all too fun. Winni had few opportunities to engage in even the simplest forms of enjoyment.
 
He kept his smirk on his face, pleased to still find her as humorous as he had thought. "In the start, it was you simply slipping away. And I didn't bother searching too hard for you, as I thought you to simply be another one who would slink away in defeat. But, no. You kept returning. And I kept besting you. I started having the chance to catch you... But I chose to take what riches I could instead. And it was two reasons for that. Getting richer, of course, but also... Because I had understood that I could keep besting you, as I had done until then. By letting you slip away..." He chuckled darkly.

"I will admit that you are also one of the enemies I've enjoyed fighting as well. And the little taunting matches we tended to have during the battles helped..." He was still grinning darkly. "In other words... Pleasure and business, all in one. A benefit of being evil."
 
Winnifred always considered herself to be more of an annoyance to the Overlord than anything else. He duty was to keep trying to stop him though, no matter how hopeless it seemed. She sometimes wondered if she would ever grow tired of that work. Not right now, though. She was being continually humored by the armored man, arrogantly explaining how he was so much better than her while wearing a dark smile. How strange it felt to be this close up to him without having a mace swung at her or a bunch of Minions attacking at once...

"So as long as I draw breath, my Lord, I'll always come back," she said with a chuckle, looking almost apologetic as she made a mock bow in his presence. Was that really to be her fate? Keep attempting to take down this formidable foe until he finally felt bored enough to kill her? It sank in deeper as to how much of a puppet she truly was to the Order.

Having heard his claim that he kept her alive for the sake of continually besting her, she touched an index finger to her lower lip and gave him coy smile. "Almost sounds like this has all been a game to you. Besting me over and over again to add another tally to your victories while you bring home more loot. That's certainly is evil and twisted, Dark Lord," Winnifred said with a shake of her head, seeming to be impressed rather than upset by any of this. She didn't know why she was feeding a compliment to his already large ego, but what was said was said. "Suppose I'll have to learn some new tricks so you won't tire of my usual ones? I quite like being alive." She chuckled again and folded her arms over her chest.
 
"Some new tricks would make the battles more interesting indeed... But no, I do not let you live just to best you. But to not get any opposition I do not know, and therefor no opposition that I do not know if I can defeat or not." He said with a dark chuckle, before he suddenly noticed that the sound of tools had stopped. And almost before he had time to look over, Giblet was rushing over with a axe that was far too large for him.

"Big choppy for light lady!" He squeaked happily, as he held the large weapon out for her to take. "Sharp and heavy! Perfect for chopping and smashing!" He was obviously proud of his creation, and eager to see it in action.

"Good, Giblet. It seems your quality does not suffer even when crafting for me." The Overlord said with a smile, before dismissing the Minion, who only ran a few paces away, to stand ready in case they ordered anything more.
 
The somewhat complex phrase he offered had Winnifred smirking, a thoughtful expression settling onto her face. He was an amusing character, that was undeniable. It was almost unnerving because she seldom smiled in the presence of others, let alone this often.

Before much longer, the Minion arrived with the oversized weapon in tow. She didn't hesitate to take it from, forming a firm grip around the pole with both hands. A surge of power coursed through her that could possibly relate to it being a dark weapon, but she did not think anything negative of it. Rather, she was fully accepting of it, quite liking the way it energized her. "Fine craftsmanship," Winni complimented as she looked the blade over, developing a look of fondness as she delicately smoothed a thumb along the axe's face. She had an intimate relationship with weapons that went so misunderstood that she often forgot it to be a trait of hers. "Perfect for smashing and chopping," she then agreed, repeating Giblet's words with a small chuckle at the end.

Taking some steps away from the Overlord, she gave it a few test swings to be certain it was as perfect as it looked. There was grace in the way she sliced through the air diagonally this way and that, following up with a horizontal slice outwards from herself. She was mindful of the limited space she had and completely in sync with her weapon, treating it as if it were an extension of herself. The graceful maneuvers ended with her pointing the axe at the Dark Lord, her lips spreading into an impish grin. "Care to spar, my liege?"
 
The Overlord chuckled, and stepped over to the wall where all his spare weapons and armor hung. He put a hand on a few different ones, with a thoughtful expression for a few moments, before grabbing a axe that looked a whole lot like the one Winny had just been handed. He hefted it with skill, giving it a few swings to remember it's feel, before stepping over to his helmets, and grabbing a rather plain, old looking one, and put it on.

"I'd be happy to." He said with a dark chuckle, obviously getting into the spirit of battle, as he tended when he put on his helmets. He stepped towards her, and lifted his axe, holding it by his side, ready to swing. "No touching, light touching, or full contact?" He asked, with another dark chuckle.
 
Winnifred spent a few more moments getting acquainted with her new friend. Names for the axe were already being listed in her mind as she fluidly practiced swinging it about. A while back, she faced an enemy who wielded magic that caused disease. Literally she made people sick, and brought plagues upon towns. Since Winni's healing abilities were born with her rather than learned through holy arts, she was the obvious choice to go up against the toxic villainess. Even though Winnifred won the battle, she had the displeasure of witnessing the dead body turn into a dark cloud she inhaled illness from. It should have killed her, but instead it just put her out of work for a few months. When she was finally allowed to leave her bed, she took up practicing with more weapons while she gained her strength back. The two handed axe turned into a quick favorite. In addition to learning this, she learned each day was a blessing from now on.

Interestingly, she was told she must thank their Goddess each day for saving her life. Honestly though, was it the entity she worshiped? Or was it her own will, strength, and magical gift? The thought process didn't proceed though as the booming voice of the Overlord grabbed her attention. Winni struck a formal pose with the butt of the weapon on the ground so it could be stood up by her side. She was silent a moment, looking over her opponent and then smirking quite impishly. "Light touching would be fine" she answered with a nod. Fun as it would be to do full body contact sparring, it would be best that they don't beat each other up when there were other fights to attend to. "Now where to, my Lord?"
 
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"There is plenty of space here. And most things in here are sturdy enough to take a beating. So we'll simply do it here." He said simply, with a smirk, before pointing his axe at her. "And here! We! GO!" He announced, before charging towards her, and swung the huge weapon towards her. He didn't use full force, as she had said, but from him wielding such a hunk of metal, it still packed quite a punch! He swung it overhead, knowing he had the advantage of strength.

Giblet stood back a bit, and giggled to himself as he watched his lord start fighting his current nemesis. And before the fight truly started, more Minions started coming out of a great many holes and tunnels above them, to watch!
 
Winnifred took one last, quick look around of their surroundings since this was where the sparring would take place. If it's one thing she learned in her years versus the Overlord, it was that she did a lot of dodging and running. There was just no other way around it. The paladin was strong, sometimes stronger than a full grown man, but the dark one in armor was stronger than she'd ever be. Physically, possibly even magically. She could honestly say she didn't know the full extent of her powers.

Her lack of armor would be useful in this case since it wouldn't be slowing her down. He was charging towards her with intent to swing, prompting Winni to tighten the grip around her weapon while she calculated the next move. One of his overhead swings was on its way to crushing her, though not intentionally. Decidedly, this would be a good test for her ability to block with the new axe. Sliding her left hand farther towards the head of it, she then raised the metal pole to stop the Overlord's chop. You could see her arms shake, despite her ability to keep the blade above her. With a clench of her jaw and a deep grunt, she gave a push with all her might so she'd give herself enough time, and room, to do a somersault past his right side. The paladin kept her weapon tucked under her curling form and came out in a partial crouch with it wielded at the ready.

As easy as she might have made that look, it was far from it. Her bosom was heaving with her breaths, but not from tiredness. It was excitement. The Overlord challenged her--pushed her, even--in ways that others didn't. Probably because with this fellow, it truly was a matter of life or death.

Around them, minions were cheering on their Lord. It was oddly sensational to be entertaining the little guys. They were already growing on her. Rising back to her feet now, she eyed the Overlord with a mischievous smirk. Now she wanted to test a swing of her own against him to see how far it might get her. At the least, it would get her better acquainted with the axe she decided to name Echo. Winnifred was then beginning a sprint attack, where she'd chop left and right in a fluid pattern once she was in range, and the first strike had been made.
 
The Overlord was surprised by the strength Winni managed to muster to block his blow. He chuckled darkly as they locked axes for a few moments, before she managed to push him back, followed by a somersault to the side. He turned to follow her as quickly as he managed, just in time to see her incoming swing. His large, gauntlet-clad hand rose quickly, to swat away her first strike, giving him time to raise his axe to block her counter-swing, and quickly swing his axe down, locking their two weapons together by their blades, and pulling her a bit close.

"So far, so entertaining!" He chuckled, leaning in to get his face more on level with her, before his head shot forwards, to smack his helmet against her face, quickly followed by a low, quick fist aimed towards her gut!

The Minions cheered as the battle intensified, especially as weapons started to clash, and how they were seemingly drawing close to first blood...
 
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