[August 2] [Disgaea] Flonne's Finishing School

Title: Flonne's Finishing School
Day/Theme: Day 2/A school of morality
Series: Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Character/Pairing: Laharl, Etna, Flonne; a hint of Laharl x Flonne
Rating: PG

Whoa, this ended up way longer than I thought it would be. x_x

The King of the Netherworld, Demon Overlord Laharl, couldn't believe his ears.

"You want to what?"

Flonne gazed up at him, a cheerful (or possibly just vacant) look on her face. Her newly pink eyes brimmed with earnestness. "I told you, I want to open a love school for demons!"

"A...love school? Is that like a love hotel?" Laharl shuddered at the thought.

Flonne looked momentarily puzzled. "Love...hotel...? I don't think so. But now that I know demons can feel love, I want to teach everyone in the Netherworld about it. We could teach them to care about others, and help each other!"

Laharl's vassal Etna, previously silent, spoke up from her place next to his throne. "Uhhh...I don't really think most demons would be interested in it... Besides, we demons aren't really known for our caring hearts and helping hands. In fact, most demons would soon stab you in the back. I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

"...it's a stupid idea," Laharl summed up succinctly.

"But it's worth a try," Flonne argued, her face set in a stubborn pout. "Look, all you have to do is give me a room or something to teach in. And then books, and supplies, and..."

Already tired of her entreaties (though he did wonder what kind of textbooks she could possibly use), he interrupted her. "Fine, fine. Take whatever you need. Just stop buggin' me about it."

Flonne's face lit up with a wide and cheerful smile. "Thank you, Laharl! I always knew you were a good person with the welfare of the Netherworld at heart!"

"...just DON'T say the 'G' word! I've got a reputation to maintain!"

******

Two months later

Laharl, in need of a demonic scribe to record his latest pithy saying, pulled the silken rope hanging next to his throne to summon his majordomo.

"...nothing's happening." Etna was a master of stating the obvious. "The majordomo isn't coming, and neither is anyone else."

"WHAT?" Laharl roared. "How dare they not be available to take their Overlord's orders! Where could they be?"

"...you don't know?" Etna giggled. "Boy, you are out of it, aren't you? Flonne's class started five minutes ago."

"What does that Love Freak have to do with anything?" Laharl snarled.

"Well, she seems to have struck a chord with the demons, because half the population of the Netherworld is going to her classes. I guess they'd rather have someone being nice to them than snarling orders at them...imagine that." Etna's voice was strictly emotionless, but Laharl got the sneaking feeling she was secretly laughing at him.

"I won't stand for this. Etna, we're going to that class and we're going to whip all those slackers into shape! Come on, we'll teach them to desert their Overlord!"

******

Laharl and Etna, peering in covertly through the huge double doors of the Netherworld Auditorium, were speechless (probably for the first time in either of their very long lives).

"Today's lesson," Flonne said perkily from her spot in the front of the room, "is about loyalty!"

"Loyalty!" the enormous crowd chanted. Etna hadn't been joking - the majority of the Netherworld was crowded into the spacious room, and seemed transfixed by the former Angel Trainee at its head.

Flonne donned a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and produced a long pointer apparently from thin air. "Now, it's important to be loyal. This means keeping your friends' and families' best interests at heart."

A gargoyle raised his hand. "Isn't there also something about obeying?"

"Very good!" Flonne beamed. "Loyalty also means obeying your lord...even if he IS Laharl."

"Hey...!" Laharl shouted, his pride wounded at the resignation in her tone, but he trailed off as every eye in the room trained on him. Etna, of course, had miraculously vanished, and he swore to punish her the second he got out of here...if he made it out alive. Most of the looks were more than a little unfriendly...

The same gargoyle raised his hand and, without taking his eyes off Laharl, asked, "What if our lord met with an...unfortunate accident or something? Would we still have to obey him?"

Flonne frowned. "Well, not really, but you couldn't do it yourself. Only someone who wasn't his vassal could hurt him without being disloyal."

All eyes were still fixed on Laharl. The gargoyle spoke again. "Well then, I guess we'd make sure nothing happened to him...IF he attended your class and learned how to treat people with respect once in a while."

A dragon piped up. "Yeah! Don't treat us like we're your slaves or something! We're just as good as you are!"

Laharl looked at Flonne in horror. What in the Netherworld was she TEACHING them?

He'd still shown no sign of capitulating to their demands, and the crowd of demons started closing in on him. Demons were rising from their seats to join the mob. Things did not look good.

With a snarl, Laharl shoved a Prinny off the bleachers, ignoring the small explosion as it hit the ground, and sat down in the newly vacated space. He gave the advancing demons his best Overlord glare, and they reluctantly returned to their seats, still giving him occasional suspicious looks.

Flonne cleared her throat. "Erm, Laharl! So glad to have you join us! Now, can anyone give me an example of loyalty to a friend? All right, how about you?..."

Laharl gazed up at the petite figure behind the podium, and his mouth curved infitesimally upward in what might have been the beginnings of a smile.

This was not lost on the demons around him, and the gargoyle gave a satisfied grunt. Maybe things would turn out all right after all.