Harry awoke laying against a pulsing grey, smooth surface. Lines of faint light scattered around, fleeing, flowing and twisting between one another. Moving his eyes from the strange floor he raised only his head, body too heavy to control. There was nothing that he could see, other than the floor he was laying upon. It was strange, he would have called the view 'blackness' but there wasn't a blackness, nor white. It was simply nothing, his head ached just looking upon the... nothing.

He whimpered from the lingering pain that was slowly receding. Inside his mind utter turmoil reigned, was this something the coin had set up? Was his mind crumbling or was he dead? The pure agony he had experienced seemed enough to have killed him that was for sure. Harry twitched as he heard a voice, smooth and silky. Male, yet soothing. In a tone a mother would use upon one of her children. This wasn't Oalk.

[Little lost lamb]

"Hhuuuu..."

[Going to bleat for help? Not that it would do you any good child. Here, let me help you.]

"Help?... Yess. please help. C...can't move, everything stings. It's heavy..." Harry's voice trailed off, it hurt his chest to talk.

[Mhh... My dear it would hurt, your mana control is completely broken. It's destroying the ability to control your body. Not this one though~] The males voice chimed, a small chuckle flowing from the area. Then Harry saw a black stand extend from the floor and touch upon his chin. The thing felt wrong but his body held reduced pain. He shivered and closed his eyes allowing the wrongness to ripple over him.

[You've gotten yourself into quite the predicament now haven't you child? Picking up such an old artefact. You should have risked throwing it away for what it's worth. Now you're going to die, your soul will be crushed to feed the thing taking over your physical body.] An odd chuckle rang out at this notion. Then the voice grew dark, less caring and reassuring. [Unless~] The being paused, waiting for Harry to ask the obvious.

"Unless... What? What do you want? How do I know you're not Oalk trying to trick me?!"

Giggling commenced, surrounding him, sinking into his skin and mind. His teeth clenched along with his tightening muscles. The giggle stopped instantly leaving the dark atmosphere more foreboding.

[That thing doesn't need to trick you any longer. Like a child with no reasoning you chose to believe what the coin told you. Now you're stuck, with no way out other than with me.] Harry could feel the grin within the air... Was there air? He couldn't breathe anything in, nor out. Yet it didn't bother him until he drew attention to the fact. [You will make a contract to me Harry Vivi'Shanté. You will not play games any longer, you will not run. You will do as I command and return to your kingdom.]

"... Why would I do that?! How in the abyss does that benefit you? Though most importantly HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HELP ME!" Harry growled his out, his head thrashing to look for the thing speaking to him with such cold words.

[Benefit me? I said nothing of what will help me. It's what you need to do. I have my insurances that you'll not disobey, more so once you've sealed the contract. As for the help, I'll grant you a boon stopping the coin from consuming you. Understand me boy?]

"Heh... You seem to think I'll accept this? That I'll bow down to you? What if I allow myself to perish mh? From what I can see, you're a greater evil than whatever the damned coin is!" Harry desperately attempted to lift his body, only to have himself slump back down limp. The weight had become heavier.

[If you simply accept the contract I shall not have control of your body. I cannot interfere with the mortal realm with a flesh and blood, body. It's the rules. Nor can I tell you what the contract entails. Nor can I tell you who I am, nor what I am before the contract is accepted. It's against the rules. As for accepting the contract, you'll accept it even with all these limitations, you are not the kind of being who'll accept death so easily. You'll fight, even if it means ultimately being controlled by me~] Another giggle reverberated around the nothingness.

"Tch..." Harry snarled at his situation. At the thing speaking to him so... arrogantly. Yet it understood him all too well. Even if the outcome was bad he wouldn't accept death. Perhaps that was the reason he blindly accepted what Oalk had said... The stated alternative would have been death and Harry wouldn't test to see if it was false. His thought turned to the four wisdom... Then he mentally cursed himself.

Could he die? Really let himself be killed, his body taken over and his soul crushed? No. Not a chance in hell. Even if it meant giving himself to this unidentified thing? Yes, even this price he was willing to pay. -You're a fool- I know I am.

-No, I mean you're a fool. A HUGE fool, the biggest fool around. You should have the title Foolish Price. Never mind coward, though you are a coward- I KNOW! Harry silenced the shard of himself before speaking out loud.

"FINE! FINE! On terms of giving me the power to save myself... To allow me to live. I ACCEPT THE DAMNED CONTRACT!" His voice was loud, though not nearly as loud as the rough and rather recognisable laughing voice.

[I knew ya' would lad! Good job, yer' not gunna' regret this. I'm telling you!]

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Harry froze, his mind stopped working for a split second. Then once the gears started clicking all he could do was shout.

"MOTHER FUC-" Then blackness consumed him.

{/Break\}

Harry woke up, dizzy, disorientated and in pain. His thought process proceeded as such.

* First thought: I'm alive!

* Second thought: I've really got to stop waking up like this.

* Third thought: That DAMNED coin!

* Forth thought: Well... I'm in the tavern. Least I know where I currently am.

* Sixth thought: Why is the coin dust?

* Seventh thought: I wonder if there's any of that stew left over from yesterday... Wait, dust?!

He forced himself up onto his rear, his back resting against the side of the bed. Where he had been gripping the coin was the remains of dust. Some still in his now open hand, the rest on the floor where he had collapsed.

"... Oalk?" Harry was nervous at this point in time, this feeling grew as silence continued for what seemed like hours. His thoughts turned into the hope of something gone wrong, perhaps Oalk had killed himself somehow?

[Congratulations lad!] Harry almost screamed, though thankfully held in his surprise at the loud... coin?

"Wha? The coin... you're... what?"

[Heh, confused lad? I ain't no lousy coin. That coin right there is something used to contact and contract beings in the mortal realms. You now being one of 'em. Once such a contract is made I don't need to use the physical object to talk to you. As for the congratulations, you're now on the path to demigod-hood! Your name once you reach your pinnacle, if you ever do is... Wait let me see, that name is it under...]

"..." Harry felt it best to stay silent as he heard a mental shuffling of papers. What in the world was going on?

[Ahah! Found it. You're now on the path to becoming Gral. Demigod of Chaos, Trickery... Charm... and ugh... Wisdom... Wait that can't be right, the coin was fated for you, you should be wise... not to mention charming...] Oalk's voice turned worried as Harry controlled himself to not have a meltdown.

[That's strange... Perhaps there was a glitch in the glyph, did I make a mistake somewhere?]

"I have questions!" Harry stated to the thin air.

[Mh? Oh yes sorry, I forgot about you lad. Ugh, something didn't go as planned. Perhaps... mh. The contract is made so... I guess I can't revoke it, no... Blast it. Sorry, questions?]

"What's going on? What are you? Why did you wait so long to pull that shit on me? Lastly... DEMIGOD?"

[What's going on is a procedure used to balance powers within the world, you're in the middle of said procedure. I'm Oalk, High God of Accounts, Checking and Humanoid Resources for the Demigod department. Currently filling in for recruitment, gotta' meet the quota.] A mental sigh came to Harry. [It took so long because a bond needed to form between the symbol and the chosen participant, had to lie to make you keep the coin close. Apologies.]

Harry took this in, desperately trying to wrangle the information down as it attempted to fly over his head. "Ah... I didn't understand most of what you said. I'm getting that I've been duped and tricked."

[In a manner of speaking yes... Here's what's going to happen, you're going to be tested. Going back to your kingdom and taking over the throne. If you do a good job, you get granted even more powers and ugh... immortality from ageing.]

"... My family has the throne?"

[Younger brother assassinated and father terminally ill, so it says right here. Your mother could take over the throne but at this point in time you have the first rite. Not to mention you don't have a choice, you're going to go through with this test or you'll die. Simple as that lad.]

Harry winced at the news of his brothers death and the upcoming death of his father. He loved them... as much as he disliked most of their personalty traits. They were family, caring family if only for each other. Gulping down whatever sound was aching to come out, Harry spoke. "No choice... Do I some boons as you put it?"

[That'll be right... Although the boons usually correspond to the kind of demigod you're meant to become but... From what I could see there's been a problem. The quickest fix would be for you or I to chose what you'll beco-]

Harry quickly voiced his opinion before Oalk could continue. "I'll choose! Please don't choose for me, I can do it!"

[... Right you are lad. I'll place you into a kind of sub-dimension with your choices shall I? Also you'll be able to teleport directly to Luiren, your Kingdom. Well, teleporting there will be your only way out.]

"Ah, cornering me again. Anything I should know?"

[Try not to pick conflicting ideals, it could get nasty. Sometimes it works, more so if you add balance in there. Other times you explode. Also grab your bag.]

"..." Harry silently peeled himself from the side of the bed to grip onto his satchel. Then nodded to the air.

[Finally get you out of my hair...] Oalk was heard mumbling as Harry began to feel slight tingles run across his arms. He brought his bag against his chest, hugging it as his head span.

Then whiteness consumed him.

/////

Thanks for reading this confusing chapter.

Any questions relating to characters will be answered if asked in the Q/A thread.

Chapter 5 (SOONtm)

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