The Cosmos' Journey (Obey Me! x OC)

Chapter 7: The Tale of the Seven Lords

Ivy stepped into a nice room and glanced around. She heard a click and turned to Levi. "Why did you look around before closing the door?"

Levi turned to face her visible green eye. "... What's that now? You want to know why I looked around to see if anyone was watching before I closed the door? (Ivy nods) Why do you THINK I did it?! Isn't it obvious?! Imagine what would happen if someone saw me inviting you into my room! A human who doesn't even look like an otaku, but a normie! You know what people would say, right?!"

Ivy blinked a couple times. Her head tilted to the right. "Are you worried that people might gossip?"

"Of... of c-c-c... of c-c-course not! Th... th-that's crazy! There's room in my heart for only one person, and she's animated! I'll always stay faithful to my dear, sweet Ruri-chan, always!"

Ivy started to giggle. She couldn't help it. He was adorable when he blushed and stuttered. Levi fixed her with a glare. "Why would people gossip?! I mean, me and some non-otaku--some normie?! And not only that, a THREE-DIMENSIONAL one from the real world?! It's insane, that's what it is!"

This was not helping Ivy's giggle fits. She then focused on the bookcase. It was full of thick, hardcover books as big as encyclopedias. The Tale of the Seven Lords: The Lord of Shadow Awakens. It grabbed Ivy's attention. Levi took notice of her change in mood. "What is it, human? What are you looking at? Wait, that looks like... The Tale of the Seven Lords. Are you a fan of that, too?"

Ivy hummed. "My name is Ivy. Also, I've never heard of it."

"... Excuse me? You don't know TSL? And you call yourself a human?! Just how clueless ARE you?! How could you not know?!"

Ivy's visible eye twitched. "Well, SORRY for being born in bloody England and being cooped up for most of my life."

Levi shuddered. Yikes. Ivy was scary. He soldiered on. "Just the fact you don't know TSL alone is proof that you've been wasting your life! So, I'm going to do you a favor and teach you about TSL. Make sure you pay attention!"

Ivy faced him with a blank face and gestured for him to start talking. "The Tale of the Seven Lords, otherwise known as TSL, is a series of fantasy novels written by Christopher Peugot. It's a heroic epic spanning 138 volumes, and it's the most widely-read fantasy series in the world. There are even theatrical versions, an animated series, and feature films, too. And it's been translated into a total of 182 different languages."

Levi knew he had Ivy hooked when she gave him a mixed look of surprise and interest. He continued. "The 1990s theatrical version was an utter disaster, owing to the fact that they added several characters that were NOT present in the original manuscript. At the time I was like, 'This producer needs to crawl in a hole and die'! But then the 2015 version came out, and it was AMAZING! Better than amazing! If you ask me, it showed that needlessly cramming a female lead in there alongside Henry was a bad idea. That's not what he needs. What he NEEDS is a friend who really understands, and the 2015 version proved that. Also, the most vital element of the story is that each of the seven lords is so unique. They're all so interesting in their own peculiar way. That's what makes TSL so great!"

Ivy was now very interested. Ivy nodded at Levi's words. He continued. "The lords are all brothers... the oldest is called the Lord of Corruption. He doesn't come across as being so bad at first, but he's always plotting and planning in secret. The second oldest is the Lord of Fools, a scumbag who'll do anything for money. The third oldest is called the Lord of Shadow, a brooding recluse. The fourth oldest is known as the Lord of Masks. He masquerades around as a high-status, upstanding member of society, but underneath it all, he's an inhumane monster. The fifth oldest, the Lord of Lechery, only ever thinks about s**. The sixth oldest is the Lord of Flies, and he only ever thinks of food. Then there's the seventh oldest, called the Lord of Emptiness. He's weird... you never know what's running through his head!"