Chapter Text
Zestial, an ancient Overlord who had dwelled in hell for centuries, had achieved all his goals and objectives, except one. The one that always weighed on his heart: the longing to have a family.
In life, he never had a family; he died alone, without children or a wife. His only chance to see children is in the cannibal district, which he visits every week to watch the little ones play, laugh, and have fun.
He yearned to be a father but knew that sinners could not reproduce, so he didn't need a wife to have children and adoption presented itself as his only hope of forming a family. Even if it was small: just him and his future child.
He tried to adopt a child several times at the scarce adoption centers in hell, but due to his reputation as a fearsome and ruthless Overlord, his applications were always rejected.
During an extermination day, he took refuge in a safe zone to hide from the exorcist angels. Suddenly, he noticed movement among some nearby rubble.
There were two little girls: one with pale skin and blonde hair, and another with dark skin and cream-colored hair.
"Little girls? In the middle of an extermination? And alone?" He remained confused at the sight of them.
He left his shelter and stealthily approached them. Upon observing them more closely, he confirmed that they were alone, without any adult looking after them.
Based on the size of the little girls, he deduced they must be around six years old. To his surprise, they seemed very calm in the middle of an extermination, playing with discarded weapons from the exorcists.
Something clicked in his head. Two girls alone with no adult looking after them. This was his chance, he could adopt the girls and finally fulfill his wish of being a father. He had to take them away immediately before the exorcist angels found them and hurt them.
The two girls, who were playing with the discarded weapons, watched as a strange shadow emerged from the ground.
"Hello, little ones," Zestial greeted with a small bow. "Know thee that thou art in a dangerous place?"
The two girls exchanged confused looks, without responding to the strange man who had appeared before them.
Before he could say anything else, he felt a threatening presence behind him. He immediately grabbed the girls and dodged the attack that was coming from behind.
Looking back, he saw a slender woman with silver hair, her face reflecting intense anger. Her hair rose up resembling two horns, and she maintained a combat stance, ready to launch another attack.
"I thought it was an exorcist, but it's just a woman," he thought while firmly holding the two girls so they wouldn't fall from his grip. "Why is she attacking me?"
The woman's attacks were quick, and he had to dodge to avoid getting hurt himself and the girls he was carrying in his arms.
"Mommy, stop!".
The two girls screamed, their mother's attacks making them shake violently in the sinner's arms as he roughly dodged each strike.
"Mommy?". He stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing the girls.
He understood why she was attacking him. She was a mother trying to recover her precious daughters whom he had taken from their shelter. He felt like a child kidnapper.
"Wait, please! I can explain!" exclaimed Zestial raising his hand in a gesture of peace.
"What are you going to explain?!" roared the woman with obvious fury. "How you tried to kidnap two defenseless girls?"
"They were alone!"
"They weren't alone, I was watching them!" she shouted, jumping to attack the sinner who had her daughters again.
"Hey guys, look at this!" shouted an exterminator from a nearby roof.
"What happened?" asked several companions who were approaching him.
"It's a mother confronting a child kidnapper," he replied, pointing down while pulling a chocolate bar from his pocket. "The fight is entertaining. I was going to attack them, but watching them fight like this seemed more fun."
Several of his fellow exorcists joined to watch the fight: the mother of the girls vs the child kidnapper.
The exorcists watched in amusement, eating snacks and placing bets on who would win the fight.
"I bet my two weeks' pay on the angry mother!" shouted one of them.
"My month's salary on the clumsy kidnapper!" replied another between laughs.
Meanwhile, Zestial kept trying to explain the situation between gasps while dodging her attacks.
"I just wanted to adopt them! I thought they were abandoned!" he shouted desperately while protecting the girls from their own mother's attacks.
"Adopt them?" the mother stopped dead in her tracks, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"
The girls took advantage of that moment to break free from Zestial's grip and run toward their mother.
"Mommy!" the two girls shouted.
The exorcists on the roof booed disappointedly as they saw the fight coming to an end.
"What do you think you're doing?" asked a figure descending from the sky.
"Lieutenant Lute!" they all stood up, abandoning their snacks and the spectacle of the fight.
"Why are you wasting time watching a fight between sinners?" she asked firmly. "Shouldn't you be fulfilling your duty to exterminate them?"
"Yes, Lieutenant, we'll do it right away!"
"Very well," having said this, she left the place.
Zestial and the girls' mother felt the presence of several beings approaching.
"There art exorcists around!" whispered Zestial. "Wilt thou allow me to help thee escape?"
"Trust you?" she asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. "You, who tried to kidnap my daughters?"
"I didn't try to kidnap thy daughters! I just wanted to adopt them!" whispered Zestial. "Listen, if we don't leave here now, the exorcists will attack us."
"Alright, I'll trust you this time."
Just before an exorcist could reach them with their attack, Zestial grabbed the family of three women and transported them with his powers to a safe place.
It was the first time he had transported more than one object at once, and upon landing he was exhausted from the excess magic used. He found a secluded hiding place where they could take shelter during the final hours of the extermination along with the mother and her daughters.
"This place is too cramped," complained the mother.
The place he took them to was too small for the four of them, so narrow that they needed to contort themselves to prevent the girls from being crushed.
"It was either this or staying at the mercy of the exorcists," he responded. "I am Zestial, by the way," the Overlord introduced himself.
"I'm Carmilla, Carmilla Carmine," the woman introduced herself. "And they are MY daughters, Clara and Odette," she added, emphasizing the word "my".
"A pleasure... And I apologize again for trying to take thy daughters."
Carmilla nodded, accepting the apologies. During the conversation, Zestial shared his deep desire to be a father and how he had unsuccessfully tried to adopt from various orphanages in hell. For her part, Carmilla explained what she had been doing when she found him so close to her daughters.
"So those weapons thy daughters were playing with are the ones thou wert collecting? Why dost thou collect those things?"
"I need those weapons for a business I have in mind."
"Business?" asked Zestial intrigued. "What kind of business needs exorcist weapons?"
"I'm developing weaponry using abandoned angelic steel," replied Carmilla while arranging Clara and Odette on her lap, leaving little space for Zestial. "My plan is to convert the weapons discarded by exorcists into new weapons and sell them at a good price."
Zestial was fascinated by Carmilla's business idea. Reusing abandoned weapons was brilliant, and it would undoubtedly be profitable given the high demand for weaponry in hell. While the girls rested on their mother's lap, Zestial and Carmilla delved into the project details, forging an unexpected connection in that narrow shelter.
Hours later, the fireworks announced the end of the extermination. Both adults emerged from their hiding place, Carmilla carrying her sleeping daughters in her arms.
"Well... I guess this is goodbye," said Zestial melancholically. "And again, I am sorry for trying to take thy daughters."
"Don't apologize, I understand why you did it," replied Carmilla. "I would have done the same if I had found a defenseless child during an extermination."
Before leaving the place, Zestial felt an emptiness in his heart as he left Carmilla and her daughters behind. He had no reason to stay there; the girls already had a mother who protected them, and he would just be in the way.
"Zestial, I think I might need help with my girls," said Carmilla, blushing. "You see, I'm always taking care of them alone, and it would be good to have someone else help me with them."
"Really?" he turned to look at Carmilla. "Wouldst thou let me help thee raise thy daughters?"
"Of course! Though I would understand if you're too busy to..."
"I wouldst be delighted to help thee with the girls! In fact, I cannot imagine a better way to fulfill mine dream of being a father than by helping thee raise these beautiful little ones."
Carmilla smiled and a glimmer of hope lit up her eyes. The girls, still asleep in her arms, cuddled closer to their mother. Without another word, Carmilla led Zestial to her home.
Zestial felt happier than ever having found the family he had longed for so much, even if not in the way he expected. Fate had woven a peculiar path to bring them together, turning a misunderstanding during the extermination into the beginning of a beautiful family story.
And so Clara and Odette woke up the next morning with a new dad. The girls were thrilled with the idea of having a father, especially one who was a powerful Overlord.
For Carmilla, seeing the happiness on her daughters' faces during their first family breakfast with Zestial was enough to confirm that she had made the right decision.
From that day on, their little family of three became a family of four, proving that even in hell, love can bloom in the most unexpected ways.
[Here, an image of Carmilla attacking Zestial when she sees him trying to take her daughters. From this image, with a simple idea of Zestial finding two girls in the middle of an extermination and wanting to adopt them, this one-shot was born.]
