paixaorpg | Messing Up [Complete]

Entry tags:

Messing Up [Complete]

Character(s): Laharl and Vyers.
Content: Laharl has a go at making a seal... and fails. Big time.
Setting: Basement of the Overlord's Castle
Time: Late at night.
Warnings: Slight swearing and tl;dr

Since temporarily moving to the castle, Laharl's mood had gradually been improving, well, save the whole incident with his father. However, this living arrangement wasn't meant to be permanent, and soon he knew his mother and Flonne would want to return back to the apartment in Paixao. He suspected it would come up sooner than later.

Maybe it was all in his head, but somehow being 'home', fake as it might be, felt... safer, so to speak. Or rather, he felt more confident here in being able to protect Flonne and his mother. Maybe it was just he felt more confident here in general. In the Netherworld he wasn't that kid who considered himself an Overlord, he WAS the Overlord. The prinnies roaming around did as he said, other vassals in the castle still recognized and respected him, heck, even if he was still being called 'Prince' by his father's old vassals, it didn't bother him half as much. It was strange how now he felt so much more like the Overlord here than he ever had before.

Going back to the apartment would change all that. He'd be back to being the displaced Overlord living in a small room in a lowly apartment. Back to feeling like Larxene or one of the other Organization might pop outta no where and--well, he didn't want to think about that.

Then he found a book; he had found it down in a storage vault, down in the bowels of the castle. Out of boredom and feeling more ready to face his past, he'd wandered down there late one night, having not much else to do. Amungst the items packed away were things from his childhood as well as possessions that had--did belong to his mother. All had been put away long ago and practically forgotten. Laharl hadn't even realized there was so much down here.

He couldn't have faced this not too long ago, but now the nostalgia was not unwelcome. Some things he recognized, some he didn't. Toys from the past he didn't even know still existed were even down here, memories surfacing along with them. Old photos also caught his attention, one framed one of his mother was relinquished from the pile and placed into the safety of his scarf. He spent some time down there looking at things until finally, a stack of books caught his attention. They looked like ones that belonged to his father. Most of them were useless, but one caught his eye; it was a book about demonic seals.

Sitting himself crossed legged on the floor, he opened the book on his lap, flipping through it. He'd never made any seals; he'd never had a reason to, but now the idea of learning caught his interest. His father excelled at them, having, after all, sealed Baal. Considering that, surely Laharl could manage to learn them? Not to mention, he was the Overlord; how could it not be easy for him?

Laharl's idea of what to use a seal on was far more humble than what his father had done. He just wanted to find a way to protect those important to him. A seal that would keep out those unwelcome and allow in those that, well, were. But how to do that? How to account for all the different people that came into that apartment? Ugh, yeah that wasn't going to work.

How about just a couple of the bedrooms? A seal that would only allow humans, angels and demons to pass. That could work, right? Then no one from the Organization could get in, and it had the bonus that Timon would be forced to stay out of his room. Even that idea, however, sounded complicated, especially since he'd never even made a seal before.

Reading through the book a little more, Laharl finally decided he'd read enough and would just give it a shot. He'd probably need to practice more than a few times to get it to work right.

Leaving the vault, he pulled the heavy door closed, and dropped the book down beside him. Right then. For a moment he considered trying something simpler, but he shrugged it off. What kind of Overlord couldn't create a few seals? He'd figure this out.

Raising his hands, he began to concentrate, drawing mana to hands, he began mumbling a chant, keeping in mind what he'd read in the book. A swirling, glowing glyph appeared in front of him, that grew more complex as the seal was created. Feeling confident it was working, Laharl let his concentration slip for just a moment, but it was a moment too late. Suddenly it turned unstable, and he fought to stabilize the magic that now flared in front of him.

"Shit!"

Energy exploded, slamming into him, sending him flying back against a stone pillar. Unexpected pain exploded, before he dropped to the floor. Darkness, thankfully, took him quickly, leaving him prone on the stone floor, blood collecting beneath his head.

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Wandering around so freely in a castle that used to be his shouldn't have been as odd as it was, but that could be said about many of the things he had been faced with recently. Having to treat his son as the Overlord he himself used to be, being treated by his former vassals as anyone else who was a guest in the castle, being forced to stay in a guest room... Had this copy of his home provided as much familiarity as it did, as well as keep the nightmares at bay, he would have gone back to the apartment already.

While he usually tended to wander the castle, basking in nostalgia and memories of better times, he spent most of his time in the throne room, gazing longingly at the throne that used to be his. Sometimes, when he was sure everyone's back was turned, he had the urge to just slide in and sit there for a few seconds. Just long enough to pretend he was the king again. Of course, that was by no means a possibility, but he could pretend every once in awhile.

However, if the throne room was good for anything, it was good for gossip. Typically it was basic information--what Overlord in what Netherworld did what, who went where, who stole from who, what celebrity did that, Goleck practicing his "Welcome to the Overlord's Castle!" line. But the throne room was mostly silent tonight, and frankly... a little boring. He had been about to leave when a couple of prinnies came by, talking to themselves about Laharl's trip into the storage vaults.

Vyers had pretended to be uninterested, but slipped off toward the basement once the prinnies had left, curious to see what his son was up to. It took a few tries, Vyers having figured Laharl would stay away from that particular vault, but he was starting to wonder.

As he went to open the door to leave the room he was currently in, his senses were momentarily overwhelmed by a sudden spike of power. With sudden alarm, he shoved the door the rest of the way, taking it off its hinges. It hit the wall with a loud slam, and Vyers rushed out, skidding to a stop. "Laharl!"

He drew in a sharp breath, the blood under Laharl's head the first--and only--thing he noticed, and immediately rushed to the boy's side.

Edited 2012-03-26 03:24 (UTC)

Sprawled out on the floor, Laharl didn't stir to his father's cry at first. He was, at least, still breathing, though rather shallowly.

It would be several long minutes before Laharl seemed to finally stir a little, eyes cracking open a moment, revealing brown between the lids, before closing again. He was clearly struggling to gain consciousness.

Vyers' hand hovered over Laharl's body as he looked the boy over, not sure what to do. How could Laharl have gotten hurt this badly? He was much more resilient than that. A familiar book laying nearby caught his attention. "This is..." He hadn't looked at this book in years. Was Laharl using this before? Could that have been what that spark of power came from?

He stuffed the book into his inventory and returned his attention to Laharl, finally reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Laharl," he called again, trying to rouse him.

Vyers' voice seemed to reach him this time. Laharl's lids cracked open again, struggling to focus on the face above him and make out who it was above him. Luckily his father wasn't hard to pick out. Even saying 'old man' felt too complicated to speak. "Da-d..." slipped out instead.

Taking in a deeper breath, his eyes scrunched close again, in pain. What was this?!

Vyers froze when Laharl looked at him, even Laharl's words going unheard. "Your... eyes."

His... eyes? He was in a hell of a lot pain right now, and his father was talking about his eyes?

"W-what...?" he managed, not understanding.

Edited 2012-03-26 04:18 (UTC)

Vyers opened his mouth to reply, either to tell Laharl what color they were or to ask him just what he was doing with that book, but any response died in his throat as his expression shifted to a frown. "...We shall worry about that later," he said, carefully picking him up. "You need to be taken to a healer."

While Laharl certainly wondered what all that was about, he would not argue with being taken to a healer. At all. Being lifted only reinforced that. It took clenched teeth to avoid crying out in pain.

Wait, no, he did have one thing to say about this. As much as he didn't want Flonne or his mother, for that matter, to see him like this, he didn't want rumours spreading around the castle either. Injured making a seal? Yeah, that'd be great on his reputation. "F-Flonne... oor m-mom."

Edited 2012-03-26 04:42 (UTC)

"The hospital is quicker," he replied. The wings attached to his jacket spread and stiffened, ready for flight. He didn't know how seriously Laharl was injured, and he didn't want to risk waiting too long.

"Geh... N-no..." he mumbled, trying to object, but being in no state to do so. He really didn't want to end up at the castle hospital. There wasn't much more he could do to object, however.

Unfortunately, Laharl's objections were shoved to the side as Vyers flew through the halls, eventually landing in front of the Samurai who worked at the hospital. "Heal him, quickly. And do not ask questions," he ordered, his tone leaving little room for argument.

Not that he had many answers to give right then.

Slipping in and out, he was barely even with it as Vyers rushed him to the hospital. When healing magic was cast over him, it quickly eased the intense pain away, his face finally relaxing and breath evening out. Though he remained limp in his father's arms.

Vyers stared down at Laharl, trying to hide the worry in his eyes from the healer. He mumbled something about paying her tomorrow before walking Laharl up to his room and setting him down on his bed--a feat easier said than done what with the various piles all over the room.

It was about then that he noticed Laharl's ears had changed as well. Vyers' brow furrowed and his head tilted slightly, trying to see if there were any other changes without moving Laharl around too much.

Laharl's eyes finally did crack open again, happy to realize he was in his coffin in his own room and not in the hospital. Someone must have healed him though, since the pain was gone, but something was still terribly, terribly wrong. He felt so weak and exhausted. He didn't even realize Vyers was still hovering over him.

Vyers took a step back when Laharl finally woke up, but didn't take his eyes off of him. "What exactly were you doing down there?"

He groaned, hand going to his forehead. Oh good, his father was still here. How long had he been out since the basement? Blearily he opened his eyes again, peering up at his father, contemplating just what to tell him. Admitting he had just screwed up a sealing spell was not something he particularly wanted to do.

"I... was just trying something," he responded, resisting admitting just what he'd been up to, out of embarrassment.

Of course, he'd gotten he'd left the book on the floor, which pretty well spelled out what he'd been doing.

"Obviously it didn't exactly work," he did admit. There was no WAY he could lie about that, after all. Though, obviously, Laharl had no idea just how much he'd just put his life at risk. He knew it had hurt, but not why.

"A seal, I would assume," Vyers said, sounding none-too-happy as he pulled the book out of his inventory. "What sort of seal were you attempting to make? And why didn't you ask me first? You could have--!" He couldn't finish that sentence. And the fact that Laharl seemed to be so nonchalant about this when he had gotten himself hurt so badly was doing nothing to improve Vyers' mood.

"Do you know what you have done to yourself?"

Well, this was a new feeling. Laharl cringed slightly at the sight of the book. Oh. His father had found that.

"W-well, I'm the Overlord, I shouldn't have to ask someone about how to do something I should be able to do," he countered, a little bewildered by this, partially because of how drained he was. He hadn't even thought of asking his father. In hindsight, maybe it would have been a good idea. Hell, he could have made him do it.

"...Huh?"

Laharl blinked blankly up at his dad. He honestly had no idea.

"You have never used a seal before! How did you know you were doing it correctly?! Seals are incredibly delicate, they are not a toy, and it is obvious enough that you were not using even something a beginner would use." Vyers whipped out a mirror and held it in front of Laharl. "Now, what seal were you trying to make?!"

He looked ready to yell back at him, but he caught the sight of brown eyes looking back at him in the mirror. Jerking up, his head spinning and his stomach lurching, he stared up at the mirror. Brown eyes, just like his mother's, staring back at him. His parted open mouth showed the lack of his pointed teeth and shakingly he lifted his hand to touch the edge of his ear... a round, human ear.

Colour just drained from Laharl's face, as now he understood, staring at the reflection in blank horror. He felt like he was going to be sick.

Turning away he leaned and clutched onto the side of his coffin, utterly horrified.

"I... I wanted to make a seal," he mumbled, "That would only let demons, humans and angels through."

Clearly, he hadn't gotten much past the demon part of the seal, before it had gone completely wrong.

Edited 2012-03-26 06:10 (UTC)

Vyers let out an annoyed sigh and put his hand out in front of him, calling up the seal over Laharl to see what he could make of it. If it was meant to be as Laharl said, the seal barely even resembled that now. The runes jumbled, the circles unaligned... He could see places where it looked like the seal Laharl was trying to create, but it was nearly unrecognizable. It was going to take awhile to sort this out.

"Exactly how much magic did you pour into this?" he asked. From that burst of energy--the seal backfiring, he assumed- he guessed it must have been quite a bit, but it was better to make sure.

It took a moment before Laharl responded, still appearing stricken with horror. "Not... that much," he responded, though 'not that much' by Laharl standards was likely still a fair bit. It was Laharl, after all.

Vyers stared down at Laharl. "You are going to have to be more specific. On a scale of... Hm... Let us say 'Blade Rush' to your 'Meteor Impact' skill, how much power did you use?" As much as Vyers hated to admit it, he still had a way to go before he could even match Laharl again.

This just seemed to get worse and worse. Laharl hated to answer, but answer he did. "I don't know... Winged Slayer?" It was still a bit of a guess, but he was pretty sure now it was too much. Dammit, how could he have messed this up so badly?

...Yes, that was way too much for a first seal. But that at least meant Vyers might be able to fix it on his own. "This... may take awhile to dispel," he said. "I am not sure how long, but it is not going to be easy."

Laharl just glanced over his shoulder at his father for a moment, before looking away. "Of course it won't..." he said with a groan.

There was silence from him for a moment, before he suddenly spoke up.

"I... just wanted to find another way to... to protect what's important to me," he admitted, quietly. It was pretty obvious 'what' was more along the lines of 'who'.

Vyers let out a long, slow breath. He knew that was the case the moment Laharl mentioned the type of seal he was trying to use, but Vyers had a feeling pointing that out right now wouldn't do Laharl any good. "I know," he said instead.

He paused a moment. "I am... going to have to tell your mother what happened."

Dropping his bangles from his wrists to the floor beside his coffin, as he realized just how heavy and uncomfortable they were around his wrists now, he slowly sunk back down into his coffin, feeling too weary to remain sitting.

Obviously, he did NOT want his mother to know, but... it's not like there was any chance he could keep it from her or Flonne for that matter. None at all.

"It's not like I could keep this from her," he just replied, being strangely realistic. "Or Flonne."

Frankly, Vyers wasn't sure he wanted to imagine what sort of situation he would be in if he tried to hide this from Gwen. "...I suppose I could keep the trip to the hospital quiet," he said after a moment. He already planned on paying the healer extra for her services to ensure she remained quiet.

"It needs to be, or the vassals in the castle will get ideas!" Laharl said, suddenly worried again. So he had been healed in the hospital... dammit.

It was around now that the what-if's hit him in the face. What if his father couldn't undo his screwed up seal? What if he was stuck as a human? He couldn't be overlord like this. Oh hell, he suddenly felt even more nauseous than before.

"Ah. Well, that I had already thought about." It was more Gwen that he was thinking... Though he had a feeling that would only get him in trouble as well.

"Perhaps it might be best to return in that case?"

Staying the Netherworld was never meant to be permanent anyways, but as much as he preferred being here, right now he knew he couldn't stay here. Not like this.

"Y-yeah..."

Vyers hesitated at the door, looked back at Laharl again, and tried to offer him a reassuring smile. "We shall fix this. That much you need not worry about."

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Messing Up [Complete]

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