Falling Kindom

Parting Ways

"Missing?" asked Haru, his voice betraying surprise. "Didn't you at least send out a search party?"

"They all came back with Caelitis," shrugged You, running a hand through his hair. "They were also muttering about dragons and ice, but no one could make sense of their delirious rambling." His voice wavered. "We don't even know if that idi-I mean, king, is alive now."

Hajime could feel a hint of concern from You's voice, but You did well hiding it.

"Where did he go?"

"The mountains in the east," said You, gesturing vaguely in that direction. "Something about, 'The mysteries are calling to me!' If you'd like, I can take you to the king's advisor tomorrow. He could probably explain more."

"You're not even going to ask who we are?" asked Arata, before Hajime could.

"Hajime, Haru, Aoi and Arata," said You, looking at each of them in turn before standing up. "Don't ask me how I know. You don't want to know."

"I do," said Haru automatically.

You pondered his words before answering. "Our king's been stalking all of you, especially Hajime. You should see his room." You shivered as he walked to the door, after sticking a tongue out at the bartender, who gave him an amused glance in return.

Whatever Haru had been expecting, it wasn't that. He sat there in stunned silence before Hajime pulled him away.

You appeared again the next morning, leaning against the wall of the inn, holding onto the collar of another smaller boy, who was carrying a stack of papers in his hand, as if they were precious treasure.

"You're here."

"Who's the kid?" asked Arata.

"Rui. He's the court musician. I had promised to accompany him into the city today."

A closer look at the papers in Rui's hand showed a stack of sheet music. You took off down the street with Rui following, Rui holding onto his sleeve. Hajime and the rest stalked along, gazing around the city. A few shops were open, but they had nearly no customers.

Hajime watched as a guard was arguing with a shopkeeper.

"Even if there's a blizzard or a pandemic, my shop will be open!"

The guard sighed with exasperation that Hajime could feel too. "Is it bad here too?" he asked You.

"Kind of," said You, following Hajime's gaze.

                                  *

"Ah, you're Hajime, aren't you?" asked a pretty blue-eyed boy.

"Why does everyone know me?"

They stood in the center of the room, the whiteness of the floor and the walls were blinding. Where Hajime's palace had been more black and gold, this one was white and silver. A quick glance upwards showed a crystal chandelier and clouds painted on the ceiling.

He laughed. "My name is Kai, and this is Iku," he said, gesturing to the boy next to him, whose hair was a darker brown. Iku had a sword on his belt, and held himself with the regality of a prince.

"Why are you here?" asked Kai, before looking to You. "Did he bring you here?"

You ran a hand through his hair. "They want to know more about what happened to Shun. I'm off to see Yoru." He tossed a goodbye over his shoulder as he walked away. Rui, on the other hand, stood behind Kai, hidden slightly from view.

Kai sighed. "Shun went off to the mountains a few days ago. He didn't come back, and our kingdom lost its invisibleness, which made it pretty clear that something happened to Shun."

"You mean this place was always here," said Arata, looking up at the ceiling in wonder.

"Yep."

"Why did you hide this place from view?" asked Aoi, gazing at Kai with polite interest.

"He said maintaining diplomatic relationships with nearby kingdoms would be troublesome."

"Although not as troublesome as hiding an entire kingdom from view," muttered Hajime under his breath.

A screeching call rang through the air and Iku raised his sword in surprise.

A hawk flew into the palace and dropped a letter at Hajime's feet before circling over their heads thrice and leaving again. Hajime picked up the letter; it was from Kakeru.

Haru peered over Hajime's shoulder to read with him.

Dear Hajime,

I'm pretty sure this letter will reach you at a bad time. Things have gotten worse, and it's spreading down to other cities. We don't know how, and with every passing day, Koi is becoming more paranoid about ghosts.

The death toll has increased, the healers are having trouble, and Koi hasn't slept in days. I'm heading back to the palace now, and documents have piled up, which isn't my field of expertise. The kingdom needs their king, which might be an unreasonable demand at the moment.

Waiting for instructions,
Kakeru Shiwasu.

Haru looked at Hajime. "I think it's time we split ways."

"What do you mean?" asked Arata.

"Kai, we'd like to help you find Shun, and in the meantime, Aoi and I will be heading back to Lunox," said Haru.

"You'd do that for us?" asked Kai, blinking.

"Well, seeing as most of the people pursuing Shun fell with Caelitis, it stands to reason that there might be clue in the cave," said Hajime. He looked to Haru. "Are you sure though? We ran into trouble at the forest."

Haru and Aoi visibly shivered, as Kai looked thoughtful. "I think Rui could help."

"Huh?" asked Rui, who had been standing so quietly Hajime had forgotten he was there. You walked in, talking with another black-haired boy, who Hajime assumed was Yoru.

"Think you could accompany them to Lunox?" asked Kai, nodding to Haru and Aoi. "You're their best bet at getting through the forest unscathed."

"How would he help though?" said Arata, tilting his head.

"Have you met the Whistling Witch?" asked Kai, eyes brightening. Hajime and Aoi nodded warily. "Rui and Yoru once ran into her. Rui and the Witch stared at each other until she walked away."

You started coughing in an obvious attempt to hide laughter.

"I think you'll be safe with him," said Hajime. "But if you run into thieves or muggers, kick them with a vengeance, okay?"

Aoi laughed nervously.

"Do you mind if I come too?" asked Yoru.

"Why do you want to come?" asked Haru, not unkindly.

"That's..."

"Yoru is the librarian, always in pursuit of knowledge and books and experiences and whatever," answered You, waving a hand around. "Don't try to make sense of what he does."

"And Lunox's Palace is said to have one of the largest libraries, with a vast collection of books," clarified Yoru, looking away with a light huff.

"Then that's settled. Yoru, Aoi, Rui and Haru will head back to Lunox. Kai, Arata and I will head up the mountains," said Hajime.

"And I'll protect the castle," said You half-heartedly.

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