i'm the overlord! me!

    Simply put, Law was almost sure he was losing his mind. Walking to the store, coming home from the infirmary, turning the corner, over and over he saw a gust of red in the corner of his eye and occasionally one of blue, here one moment, gone the next. Had the multitudes of dead pirates he’d stolen the literal hearts of come back to haunt him? Nah. A murderer was more likely than specters trying to invoke paranoia.

   He heaved a sigh as he glanced over his shoulder, the figment nowhere in sight. This was getting under his skin. It was time for a test.

  At the next corner, the one right before he’d reach the last stretch of sidewalk leading to his apartment, he went on as normal, pausing behind the cover the wall provided.

Wait for it…

   Wait for iiiiit…

Now.

    The pirate whipped back around the corner with his top grade glare, taking in a deep breath to shout down the street. The accusation of someone following him stuck dry to his throat and he nearly choked on it at the sight of the culprit peeking out of an alleyway. He was expecting someone- anyone but him.

     He almost starts snickering at the thought of the seemingly always composed Law absolutely losing his shit over low level demons. Almost-- because he makes a sloppy mistake and his own eyes meet with the eyes of his target. Normally, a stalker-- no spy, he assures himself again-- would run away the moment they're caught, but Laharl isn't some wuss that backs down so easily. 

     He comes out from his cover behind a corner and presents himself with a wide and proud stance. "It's a type of tactic used in war, misternomer!" No, shit, that was really bad. "I mean, Trafalgar D Waterlaw!

     "You're kind of useful in other situations, so I'm just seeing if you'll be useful to me at all or not. By the way, don't take that as praise or anything, because it wasn't." He takes a few steps closer to close the gap between them (though his voice is loud enough to be hear at least ten blocks away), but not too close so he didn't seem too short in front of the taller man. 

Instead, regarding the rhetorical question, the vassal’s eyes flicker in amusement, he saying: "I am fairly aware of that, yes. But you know - If you’re a bit strange in the world, it often means that fate itself can be thrown for a loop and you can make your own destiny."

To get by in this world - any - sometimes it didn’t hurt to be a bit strange, essentially. Also to fight against a pre-ordained set of ‘rules’ and such was esentially what he did as his other self all the time. That said, it seemed the Overlord assumed this talk about secrets was to be about why he willingly joined him. Well, yes, actually, the bespectacled one had been meaning to bring that up at some point. Especially now since he felt their ‘goals’ were fairly the same. It would be a good idea to do it when they were out of listening ears.

     He waits for the door to be opened, only a slight struggle from the vassal with his hands full, and then enters when the entrance presents itself. He waits for the other to enter with the babies and then close the door behind them. 

     "So, unless you suspects there's some sort of spying equipment here-- which I doubt because everyone in this city is stupid, spill what you have to say," he pushes, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in a small display of impatience. "Again, you better not think of betraying or else I'll have to kill you. And it's way easier to do that now since you got the brat over there." With his head, he motions towards Naoya. 

“ Perhaps you were betrayed by someone important to you? ” He suggests, throw the wild assumption out in the open. Maybe the question would have its consequences, but in Sorey’s mind that seems to be what the demon was at least partially hinting at. They certainly have different opinions, but some of what the other was saying bothered Sorey more than it should… really have.

“ A mess? I can’t say the same for you, but the love I have for my friends is genuine! You’re the one you doesn’t seem to understand, ” He retorts, face contorting to take on an even more serious expression. Friendship was a matter he’ll get worked up over, and this was certainly a good example of that zest.

     "No shit, Sherlock! I've been betrayed by every goddamn demon in the Netherworld! They're oh so loyal to my old man, but as soon as he's dead, they try to kill me. 'Oh, I don't acknowledge you as Overlord' or 'you're a lesser Overlord than your father'! I'd like to see them try and be as good as him or me. I'd like to see them kill me while also 'honoring' my dad. Everyone is so goddamn irritating!

     "And I don't care if your love is genuine. How long do you emotions last, human? Do you still love the friends you had when you were two years old, but lost contact with years later? Or are you one of those sheltered types?" Laharl assumes the latter. Somehow, he can tell this guy hasn't gone more than five feet from his home for most of his life. 

     "And I'm not killing people for power! I'm suppressing those idiots who want to kill me for power. I work hard enough because of that. Try waking up after two years to find everything going to shit because your dad is dead suddenly and fix that. You can't, can't you? Try organizing that goddamn mess and dealing with an invasion by both the human world and Celestia and assassination attempts from your closest vassal and some stupid love freak angel and also a fake little angel sister."

(Despite his glasses being stolen by Jack at this point and Naoya staring at that.)

Though, he had to worry a bit if his boss could keep up alright - he was shorter. The apartment was in sight, though: and soon the time for the truth would come.

     "You're a strange fellow, you know that?" A rhetorical question, but somehow, in his tone, it requires an answer. "I never really met a human so... willing to be under me. Actually, I don't think I've had any vassal besides you willingly go along with me." His two closest fri-- vassals don't count because they're very... Their entire stories warrant an entire game. 

"What does that even mean?” He rolled his eyes in annoyance at the proclamation of the other male turning him into a vassal. Of all the shoes he could step on…

My dear friend, Yinza says it translates to something like ”coming from images commonly found in tooth decay illustrations aimed at children”

And we were like… what??? What does Laharl have to do with tooth decay?

Then it was googled. And… well…

(Source)

(Source)

And… well, here. Google image search!

All just unspoken assumptions.

“ Back in my world, and perhaps even in this world, if I fight, ” He places a hand over his chest, fingers clutching at the Shepherd’s clock covering his torso. Wearing a surprisingly calm expression, he continues on. “ I have the possibility of becoming tainted. My kind aren’t supposed to be tainted. Yet I fight in ways that I can still protect my friends while remaining untainted. ”

At least, he hasn’t really felt the stains of darkness yet.

“ I haven’t been betrayed by any of my friends. I trust them, and if they happen to betray me, then I’m sure they’ll have their reasons for doing so. We all walk our own paths, and I wouldn’t want to be the obstacle that stands in their way, ” He says, despite knowing all too well that he’d feel the bitter rush of having one of his friends turn their back on him. Understanding…

Sometimes he wasn’t sure if he was fully capable of understanding other’s meanings and goals in life.

     "Oh yeah? What if their reason for betraying you was planned in the first place just to take your life? You just don't get it! You hero types always try to push your stupid mindset forward, and then you don't actually listen to those who suffer from it!" He huffs and turns his back to the human. 

     "I don't think heroes have the slightest bit of empathy at least when it comes to things that directly go against what they believe. Your love and friendship is nothing but a hypocritical mess! Understanding? Understanding? What's there to understand about someone trying to kill you for power?"

     He, of course, never lets all those attempts on his life get to him. If he did, one of his closest vassal's banter would always rile him up, and half the Netherworld would be filled with corpses (more so than usual). He has power, and he knows that fact, and all he has to do is display that power and he sees demons of all types scurrying away. The only reason those main characters of other games won their battles is because his power was downgraded significantly!