paixaorpg | Getting Out of Dodge [Completed]

Entry tags:

Getting Out of Dodge [Completed]

Character(s): Laharl, Etna, Flonne
Content: The trio explore Spira!
Setting: Starting at the Hinterlands, moving on to Spira
Time: Week 24
Warnings: None

Laharl had been sick when the new door opened up in the Hinterlands and thus, the trio's adventure into a new world had been delayed. Luckily (or unluckily), Flonne had been a dedicated nurse to the Overlord, tending to his needs in a near suffocating way. She'd even made sure Etna hadn't bothered him too much while he was resting, though the effort really didn't matter much in the end, since Laharl's ability to sleep through anything had long since been tested.

But he'd been anxious to leave the city and see what the new world had to offer, so Flonne was happy enough to agree. She suspected he was still worried about Larxene -- perhaps the likelihood that they'd run into her would be lessened in an entirely new dimension.

Now the trio stood in front of the massive tree bearing a new door. Flonne glanced between the two demons, her hands clasped together in front of her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Flonne certainly was excited to get going to the new world, and normally Etna probably would have been too. But the more she thought about it, the more Etna started to dread going up further. She figured the monsters and Heartless were going to get much tougher, and she wasn't feeling like she was getting enough levels to keep up. Then again, Etna wasn't going to feel better about her power level until she got back a nice big chunk of her levels back. Etna was just going to have to continue to pretend nothing was wrong and hope that she won't start falling behind.

Etna glanced at the new door. "So this is it, huh? Strange place for a door, don't you think?"

Laharl was, of course, oblivious to Etna's problems. The sensation that something was off about her, he'd long since forgotten about at this point.

He was pretty glad to just get the hell out of Paixao. Larxene had never appeared, and hopefully, she wouldn't be able to track them down so easily on the higher 'floors'. At least, that's what he was sure hoping for. At least his power had mostly returned now, so that wouldn't be an issue. Being that weak had been a pain...

"This whole place is pretty strange," Laharl said, with a shrug. Halloween Town did remind him of the Netherworld, but more, well, weird.

"And, you know, we just came through a door to get into this forest," he added, jerking his thumb towards the way they came, which, yes was a tree with a door. Further down the path more strangely shaped doors resided, although the only one that seemed to open was the tree shaped one.

"Anyways, whatever, let's just go already!" Laharl said, reaching for the handle and pulling the door open to be greeted with the familiar white-washed hallway which would lead to stairs and the door to the next world.

Flonne was always unnerved by the hallway between worlds. It was so pristine and bright that she would've expected to like it, but there was something...off about it. Perhaps it was too quiet, or too empty. Her heels clicked loudly on the floor as they walked, echoing. She made sure to stick closely to Etna and Laharl, her staff out and at the ready. "...it sure is quiet in here," she whispered, unconsciously moving closer to Laharl, their arms touching. "Does it feel like we're being watched?"

"If we are being watched, then I have the perfect thing to show the guys sitting behind their little screens or whatever." Etna said as she stopped to look up and around the hall. And then, Etna held her right fist up into the air before proceeding to... well, flip the bird. She held it up high and made sure every inch of the hall saw it, if they were indeed being watched.

"Yeah, you see that? One of these days! You'll regret this!"

If they were being watched, Laharl hadn't sensed anything. He usually could pick up on anyone nearby, unless they were really THAT good at hiding their presence. He wasn't terribly worried, however, and shrugged at Flonne. "Not really."

Laharl paused a moment to watch Etna, well, send a message to anyone watching, before turning back and heading for the stairs. He wanted to see this next floor, not mess around in this lame hallway.

"Stop messing around and come on."

Flonne sighed as Etna made her display and followed Laharl obediently. "Laharl-san, are you sure we have everything we need for this new world? I don't think there will be any shops there. What if we get hungry?" Thinking of the shops in Paixao made her heart hurt just a little, the sting of rejection from her favorite cake shop still fresh.

Her questions trailed off when they reached the next door, turning her expectant gaze to Laharl.

He wasn't about to admit he hadn't thought about food, but truthfully? He hadn't thought about food. He didn't really know anything at all about the next floor, actually. He just knew it was far away from Paixao, Larxene and his old man. That was good enough for him. He probably should have put some thought into it, in hindsight.

Laharl shrugged it off, in the end. "I'm sure we'll find something, and if not then... I guess we'll just have to turn back."

Returning to Paixao wasn't an option Laharl particularly liked, but that's how it would have to be, it seemed. Hopefully they'd find something that would keep his two vassals from whining at him. That was the last thing he needed.

Flonne nodded. Though she was hardly convinced that they wouldn't regret not bringing supplies, Laharl's easy indifference and her own excitement in seeing a new world overrode any concern. She pushed ahead and opened the door.

While the hallway they stood in was devoid of any color, the scene waiting for them on the other side was a striking display of blues and greens. Flonne gasped softly, ruby eyes wide as she slowly took her first step into Macalania Woods. "Laharl-san...where is this?" she asked in wonder, slowly turning to take in the maze of giant, twisting branches seemingly made out of crystal.

Well. This was different, and definitely not exactly in a bad way. After the white hallway, this was extremely strange. A very different place from the other floors, but that seemed to be the theme to all these places. Glancing to Flonne, he shook his head at her question. "Beats me," he replied, moving forward, glancing behind to check Etna was still keeping up.

"But I'd call it 'progress'." Progress as in, it was another floor, thus that much closer to the top.

"It's beautiful!" she gasped, skipping ahead. "Etna-san, Laharl-san, look!" Flonne pointed with excitement to the glittering trail ahead that seemed to go up into the sky. "Isn't it amazing?" She moved around the group in a wide circle, pointing at this thing and that, exclaiming at the beauty.

"And look at this!" she happily announced, gesturing to the left...

...where a creature seemingly made out of blue crystal stood momentarily before going on the attack, straight at Flonne.

Laharl only glanced around half-heartedly. It was rather interesting, but beautiful? Yeah, not a term he would use. He was more interested in where the place would lead them to. It was, however, a good thing he did actually glance over at where Flonne had gestured.

"FLONNE!"

The boy quickly dashed between Flonne and the strange monster, pulling his sword out as he moved, slamming it into the blue thing before it could manage to hit Flonne. The floating, spinning creature was pushed back from the blow, but oddly Laharl's attack did not dispatch it in one hit.

Was... it trying to cast some kind of magic?

Edited 2010-10-01 05:49 (UTC)

"Laharl-san!" she cried as his sword slammed into their attacker. Quickly jumping back, she retrieved her staff, holding it up into the sky. "Hang on!" She wasn't sure what the strange creature was doing, but Laharl was close enough to take whatever damage it would deal. She had faith in his abilities, but they had no idea what this thing was, so...

Green hexagons of light formed in front of Laharl, shielding him from the sudden onslaught of water cascading towards him.

The spell might have been more troublesome if not for Flonne's magic. Soon as it finished, he hefted his sword and slammed it down into the creature, watching it suddenly seem to fall apart before vanishing into glowing whispy orbs that flew away into the sky.

"Geh, what the hell was THAT thing?" Laharl uttered, watching it vanish, turning to Flonne and--Where was Etna?

"Er..."

Glancing around, he was confused. She'd been right there and... no way. NO WAY.

Flonne watched the orbs float away with wide eyes. Slowly lowering her staff and relaxing her stance, she blinked in incomprehension at Laharl for a moment. It didn't take long to realize exactly what he meant, though, as she looked around as well.

"...Etna-san?" she called, putting away her staff. She moved quickly around their perimeter, growing more and more worried by the second. "Etna-san! Oh, no...Laharl-san, what if she's been kidnapped? Or...or what if she fell?" She walked to the edge of the pathway they were on and looked down over the twisting maze beneath them.

"...She can fly, Flonne."

Laharl was certainly concerned, but... Flonne was just attacked! Etna wouldn't just vanish while that was happening. Not by choice, anyways.

It was probably a bad thing that the first thing that was crossing his mind was Etna had just vanished like she had how many other times now? He'd been here just too damn long now. He kept this assumption to himself for now, anyways; it wasn't a for sure thing yet, after all.

Turning Laharl took a breath and called out for his vassal. "Etna!"

"Oh...that's right." She had been so caught up in her worry she completely forgot about that. Flonne sighed, making her way back to Laharl's side, hands clasped together. "I'm worried...ever since she arrived, Etna-san's seemed distracted and...different." She couldn't get a straight answer from her and had been assured that she was imagining things, but now...what if something was wrong? Etna was much better at hiding things than she was.

She met Laharl's gaze with a pensive expression.

Hearing no response to his call, Laharl turned back to Flonne, a bit surprised. Huh, she'd picked up on that too? "Yeah... She seemed... off to me, but I couldn't figure out how."

Whatever it had been, suddenly it seemed he'd never find out now. Maybe he should have just asked her.

"I donno if it would have had anything to do with her disappearing now though, Flonne," he then added, wondering if that's where Flonne was going with this. Of course, it MIGHT have, but why would it have suddenly only had an impact now? No, his gut was saying it was just like before. How Etna had vanished several times. Flonne had. And his own mother, right out from under his nose. He no longer questioned the fact that people could just literally vanish.

Laharl might have been used to such things, but Flonne certainly wasn't. Her head lowered, she reached out and took Laharl's hand. A quiet sniffle escaped her as she tried very hard to push down the well of tears that surged. "W-what if she's hurt...?" she whispered. "What if she needs us and we can't get to her?"

Her hand squeezed Laharl's tighter as her tears finally broke through. She was so worried for Etna that she trembled. She had to stop this, Laharl would get annoyed at her tears, but Etna was her friend.

As he always did, Laharl stiffened at the sudden contact, his face flushing slightly red. Before he had a chance to pull away, her grasp had tightened and she used one of his third greatest weaknesses: she started crying. If there was anything the Overlord hated, it was seeing Flonne cry.

With a sigh, he turned to fully face her. "Flonne... come on, stop that. It's... Etna. If anyone can look after herself, it's her," Laharl told her, attempting to do his best to calm her down. It was probably a good thing he hadn't told her about Etna's fight with Larxene. That incident aside, there was no reason Etna couldn't be trusted to handle whatever came at her. Well, as long as that strange 'off' feeling about her really was nothing as he still hoped.

Flonne nodded, wiping away her tears with her free hand. "Yes...you're right." She met Laharl's eyes with her own shimmering, ruby gaze. "Was this what it was like when...when I disappeared? Before?" She lifted their linked hands between them, placing her other hand over his. "Please, don't disappear too, Laharl!" The very thought made her head sway and her heart hurt.

The Overlord shifted uncomfortably at Flonne's question, unsure of how to answer it. He was getting rather used to Etna vanishing, but when Flonne had... it hadn't been a nice feeling, he'd admit that much. Only his mother's disappearance had hurt more. He knew he'd see Flonne again, after all, but his mother? The chance of ever seeing her again was... unlikely.

His expression looked almost sad at that point. He just couldn't summon up an answer. Luckily Flonne said something else that he could. "Don't worry, Flonne. I'm not going anywhere," he promised her, without a moment's hesitation.

Laharl was to the point he kind of doubted he ever would. He'd been here how long now? While others left and came, he had been here so damn long... Only Timon, as far as he could recall, had been here longer. A lot of people he'd met and spoken to over the past year had long since vanished.

Flonne nodded, eager to hear Laharl's reassurance even though she knew he truly had no way of preventing it if the time did come. She reluctantly let go of his hand, turning away. She still had a hard time believing Etna had simple vanished out of thin air -- for some time, she'd hold out hope that her friend and fellow vassal was still out there, somewhere.

"We...we should move on," she finally said, walking forward and gazing down the glimmering, crystalline path ahead of them. Her eyes dry now, she turned to glance at Laharl over her shoulder. "We have to find a way back to the Netherworld!"

"Yeah... Yeah, let's go, Flonne," Laharl said, agreeing with moving on. Standing here wasn't getting them any closer to getting out of here, after all. Etna would laugh at them if they just stood around worrying about her. And if Etna was still here somehow, well, it was Etna; she'd catch up soon enough.

Returning his sword to his scarf for now, he started to work his way up and along the shimmering path.

It wasn't long until the pair found themselves facing the open air and brighter light of a wide open plain. Behind them glittered the dark blue and green of the forest they had walked through, but ahead, the wide expanse stretched beyond anywhere their gaze could see. Flonne's eyes widened as she moved ahead, shielding her face from the bright sun.

"Laharl-san...! It's so...big!" She glanced over at him. "...perhaps we should turn back and get supplies. We could be walking out here for days..."

Even Laharl was surprised by this. Paixao was large, but it was nothing like this. The land before them was huge and flat. There was no easily visible landmarks, except for the tall mountain peak in the far distance. It would likely take them all day, if not days, and to reach what? The mountain? Laharl wasn't sure. Either way, the lack of, well, any sign of a city was troublesome. He had to agree with Flonne.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he said, with a sigh. "What a pain..."

Flonne lifted a finger to her chin, gazing to the side in thought. "Perhaps Etna-san will be there waiting for us..." she murmured softly, mostly to herself. Nodding to confirm her own decision, she cast a final glance at the open horizon and turned to head back into the enclosed forest they'd only just came out of.

"Laharl-san, do you still have your journal on you? I know it's a long shot, but maybe Etna-san has made a post..."

"Uh?" Laharl said, glancing back at Flonne, as he'd already turned and started to head back in the direction they'd come.

He was fairly certain there wouldn't be any posts waiting from Etna, but... well he guessed he could humour Flonne. "Yeah, I guess I can check," he muttered, as his scarf seemed to come to life at this thought. Producing his journal from it, he flipped it open and turned it on, as he once again began to walk. He could do this and move.

At least that's what he'd thought. He'd only gone a few steps before Laharl froze, staring at the journal in shock. It took everything in his power not to drop it, in fact. The message played, but he hit the reply button before it had even finished.

"Ah--!"

Gripping the journal tighter, he tried to respond to the post he was seeing properly, "Mo----" but then paused, realizing that might not be the best thing to start with, as her post had sounded like she had no idea where she was...

"T-this... isn't the Netherworld," he managed to comment as a voice reply. He was trembling as much as his voice was. His mother. His mother was back here again, somehow! He'd... thought he'd never see her again!

Flonne nearly ran into Laharl as he stopped suddenly. In fact, she had to press her hands against his shoulders to stop herself and, as she looked over his head to the screen of his journal, she gasped softly. Her grip tightening, she held her breath as she looked between him and the journal, eyes wide.

Could it really be? And...human? She didn't know much about Laharl's mother outside of what she had learned on the night of the red moon, but it seemed as if she was human now. Biting her lip, she moved away from him to carry on her own conversation with Gwen over the network.

She recognized him... and she was... oh damn. Was... was she really from then? Laharl's head spun. Why did she have to appear NOW, while he was so far away? It was going to take hours to get back. Dammit, this was bad! Still, he HAD to get back and find her. He had to get to her!

And, on top of it, she didn't recognize Vyers at all. This was going to be difficult. Convincing her to trust Vyers was the best he could do. His father seemed to be stuck acting like an idiot, but at least he would get to her. Meanwhile, he knew what he had to do.

Closing his journal, Laharl looked to Flonne who'd also, apparently, been speaking to his mother. His gaze was filled with worry and desperation, but also determination. There was a clear message of what they needed to do in the air, he felt. He didn't have to say it, right? "Flonne?" he questioned her aloud. You're with me, right?

Flonne closed her journal with a guilty start as her name was called. Her expression of surprise changed to a reassuring smile as soon as she saw his face. She joined him again, nodding only once in quiet agreement. Whatever happened next was bound to be hard on the Overlord, a change in his life that would be emotionally stressful, for better or for worse. She wasn't sure how she'd fit into all of it, but as the pair began their journey back to Paixao, nothing had to be said; she would be by his side through this, as she was in all things.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Getting Out of Dodge [Completed]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject