AN: I realize that this may be poorly edited and written, but it's just an idea I had. Whenever I played the game "Little King's Story", I always wondered why the people followed him, and what kind of economies he might be affecting by his aggressive expansionist policies. So... Here we go.
"Did you hear the news?" Lunasa said excitedly to her friend Alice. "That old goat Howser's back in town!"
"I know!" she giggled back. "I heard he went all the way into the Deep Woods this time, looking as he's always been… That brat Verde went with him, said that she was looking for a friend of hers. Liam followed her, of course."
Lunasa rolled her eyes. "Honestly. I swear that there's nothing in the world that's crazier than Howser Oreganostein, and there's plenty of crazy stuff in this world. I'm just glad that we don't have to work as hard as he does!"
Alice raised an eyebrow. "We don't work at ALL, remember? Why would we? That kind of thing's for Onii. They LIKE working, and it's not like there's any shortage of food what with old Shishkebaboo sending sweets our way every day of the week."
Lunasa shrugged. "I guess so. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow?" She gave a chipper wave to her friend and wandered off towards the green fields next to the Cow River. It was a simple village they lived in – only fourteen inhabitants, not counting the Bull Knight. None of them were particularly rich, but they didn't need to be. The Onii were kind of weird, but they brought in food and other necessities from the surrounding kingdoms, and there was a certain peaceful quality to sleeping under the stars.
As Lunasa strolled along by the woods, she noticed a gleam from inside them. She paused, giving it an odd look. It wasn't often that any kind of glowing creatures appeared. As the shining grew nearer, she became nervous. Maybe it was a new type of beast? Some kind of unidentified, mysterious… creature?
The gleam became stronger, and her eyes landed on the source.
The source came out of the woods, and Lunasa fell to her knees in awe.
Tears streamed from her eyes.
Never in her life had she ever seen anything so… so… perfect.
She prostrated herself before him, bringing herself back up every other second to gaze in wonder upon that golden crown.
"I have searched for the true king for thirty-five years," proclaimed the Bull Knight in a shaking voice, "and I have found him at last. Behold your rightful leader – Corobo. The king of Alpoko."
A tiny part of Lunasa, the part that was screaming that it was just a stupid crown, nothing that should be bowed to, reminded her that using the word "alpoko" was the common slang for "world", and that was just a bit arrogant.
In her peripheral vision, she could just barely make out three figures, standing tall beside the little… No, her King, her Ruler. The Crowned One. One figure, she knew was the Bull Knight. His rusted armor, such a joke throughout their small community, seemed somehow bright under the searing gleam of the crown. If you looked closely, you could almost make out a hint of silver.
The second figure was fat – there was simply no other word for it. A ponytail was the only hair on his shaved head, and there was a strange look in his eyes. Almost as if for the first time in his life, Liam was seeing that there were some things in the world that you shouldn't sell, and shouldn't try to…
The third figure was beautiful, in a country-girl kind of way. Her deep-green dress was made of rough material, but was well-made nonetheless. In her eyes there was a certain confusion, switching back and forth between adoration and a strange kind of worry.
That's Verde, you know Verde, you HATE Verde!
Lunasa blinked a couple of times to clear the strange voice screaming in her head.
How odd. She'd never had a problem with this sort of thing before.
She knew, though, that now everything would be okay. She vaguely sensed the other villagers coming up, stopping in shock, and bowing – as they should! – before their King. She thought that the one beside her might be Alice.
No! No no no! This isn't right, you don't want a king! There's plenty of kings in the world already!
Lunasa shook her head sharply before focusing again on that beautiful crown. She knew that no matter how many odd spells she might go through, everything would be okay now. The king would help her. The King would make everything all right.
Long live the King.
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Lunasa paused to wipe the sweat from her brow. The blood on her hands stained her forehead, and she glanced briefly at the half-dozen or so scrapes that the dirt and rocks had inflicted on her skin. There was a faint tinkling sound in the back of her mind, and she knew that her King wanted her to work faster. Bending back down, she continued scraping away, Merlen and Lyrica beside her.
Their white shirts were stained with sweat and soil by now. It had been three days since the King had come, and the work had been hard. Digging in the ground for hours, trying to find anything valuable that He could use. It was hard work. She loved it, though. She loved her king with all her heart.
A sparkle caught her eye, glinting in the dirt and dust, and with a grunt of exertion she pulled up the heavy gold bar. Walking forward, He tapped it with His scepter, and the metal disappeared in a flash of light. She knew that he would bring it back to the castle – Hut! yelled her mind, It's just a wooden hut! – and convert it into the new currency that He'd established.
Sure enough, he turned away, and the feeling of horrid pressure that had made her want to follow Him so badly gradually faded.
There. Can't you see now that He's trouble? It's that crown of his, and that scepter! They're mind-controlling you!
Lunasa frowned as she wandered off, back to the green tree where she slept. Surely that wasn't so. After all, He wanted what was best for her. He wanted what was best for everyone! The kingdom would expand, and grow, and…
This isn't right. Grow where? There are already other kings in alpoko. This "Kingdom of Alpoko" shouldn't steal from them like this!
No. The king – she dared not say His name yet – loved her. Under His benevolent reign, things would be better. Progress was a good thing, everyone knew THAT. No matter what type of progress it was.
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Lunasa glanced at Alice as the two of them trotted in formation behind Him. She could barely make out her friend's new, government-issued, wide-brimmed hat – her own headwear restricted her vision to what was directly in front of her. A golden helmet, gold like His crown and His scepter. She'd been chosen to be in His Royal Guard, and they were currently investigating a rumor of the Cow Bones, the evil ghost which had been haunting the local cemetery…
No! That's wrong! Cow Bones is good – he keeps all cows friendly to humans! If he's destroyed they'll become wild and dangerous!
Some of the dangerous creatures beyond the newly constructed outposts of the kingdom had already been slain by the Guard. She could remember leaping onto the Turnip Head, a strange exhilaration shooting through her as she stabbed the thing through the head, feeling the warm turnip juice splatter on her armor.
The Turnip Head tribe lived here for years… They provided us with food, they were vegetable growers… Now He's put wide-brimmed hats on humans and says that they are to do it?
The hastily-painted checkered lines marked where some poor scout had caught sight of their target. Through the golden haze that filled her mind, Lunasa thought she might be feeling afraid. She wasn't sure. No doubt it would go away soon – it was impossible to feel afraid with Him. He'd told her so.
As the troop stepped into the graveyard, a strange humming noise buzzed through the air, and rattling bones were raised up and connected. Soon, a mighty beast stood before them – the legendary Cow Bones, guardian of the graveyard and keeper of the dead. He was the one who ensured that all would pass on to their reward… No, he was a monster. A demon, and a devil. What was this nonsense about him being some kind of guardian? The golden haze strengthened, and as the Cow Bones stamped at the ground, Lunasa drew her sword. She would die for Him.
A chime rang through her mind, and she felt herself charging forward, screaming obscenities at the spirit, leaping onto it with that odd burst of strength, and hacking at its dead flesh with her blade. As she hacked away, she could feel its muscles tensing, and a bell-like sound that her head somehow interpreted as blue in color made her leap backwards and scurry back to Him. Just in time, too – the spirit charged forwards, narrowly missing Alice, who was the last to run back.
Lunasa struck fiercely at the now-headless body of the Cow Bones, knowing that soon the skull it had sent out to attack would return. In her mind she heard the Blue sound, and it sounded frantic. She turned, preparing to leap off, and all she saw was bone white filling her vision.
GET UP. TO ME.
The order echoed through her so loudly she screamed, but she pushed herself up and ran back beside Him. A cursory glance showed that the massive skull had shattered her left arm when it sent her flying out, and she barely had time to wonder who on alpoko would fix it for her when her muscles flexed, sending her towards the beast again.
No, please, not again! I can't fight this thing, it'll kill me!
Cow Bones slammed down onto the ground, sending out an enormous shockwave that lifted her off her feet, sending her into the air before bringing her down to the ground with a CRACK! that rang through her skull. Crawling up and dragging herself back into ranks, she was momentarily confused at a lock of white hair that wisped across her vision.
Stumbling along behind Him, she realized with horror that she had Aged. It was said in the old tales that man would live forever, unless slain by poison, fire, or beast. When man was close to death, his body would grow frail, his hair would grow white, and his skin would wrinkle. Only the Healing Waters in the ground would save man then.
Oh God here it comes again where's my helmet I need to have my helmet. I can't die like this, I hate Him, I never wanted to do any of this, I… no, please…
Lunasa stayed conscious just long enough to feel the final charge of the Cow Bones break every bone in her body.
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Lunasa dragged herself ashore, hand over hand. Her eyes stared straight ahead, with no deviation to the right or to the left. The gritty sand was harsh on her soft skin, but it felt beautiful to her. The Cow Bones was destroyed – the guardian of the dead was no more. When Lunasa had woken up in the land of the damned, she'd looked for a way out. The things she'd seen, though… She could barely think straight anymore. Time moved oddly in the ocean of souls, and weeks upon weeks had been spent swimming through a sea of agonizing pain. She was here, though, here at last. Sane at last, free from that cursed crown. There was so little of Lunasa left, she thanked God that this had happened when it did. She didn't know if she could have lasted another day under the influence of that terrible, terrible golden king.
She curled up on the beach and sobbed, weeping as she lay in the fetal position. Wondering what would become of her beloved countrysides and trees. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an Onii approach.
Odd. They don't generally come out of their King's canyons and ravines on their own.
The little black homunculus plopped down next to her, and began singing a soothing song. The Onii were simple folk, and didn't understand very well the concepts of fear, or pain, or hurt. They only knew that their songs made people feel better, and so they would sing.
"Please," Lunasa choked out, her voice sounding raspy even to her, "go to your king. Warn him."
The Onii looked at her with an inscrutable expression. Its teeth appeared briefly from its wide mouth, then disappeared again.
She grabbed onto it, trying to convey the importance of what she was saying.
"You have to go to your king. Warn him that he's in terrible danger. Tell him to call his armies."
The Onii opened its mouth, and for just a moment Lunasa thought she would die, that it would swallow her up in one bite, and that this time it would be permanent.
"The End of Days comes."
She stared at it in confusion.
"What?"
It leaned down until it was mere inches away from her and repeated in an annoyed voice, "The End of Days comes."
Then it stood up and walked away. Lunasa watched it until she was sure it was going towards the Onii King before letting herself curl up and cry quietly again. Maybe it had worked. Maybe they would be warned.
"Lunasa!" called a cheerful voice. It sounded like – Alice? Turning slightly, Lunasa saw her friend running towards her. She was wearing some kind of cat ear headgear, though, and carrying a deadly-looking bow. Lunasa looked into her eyes and saw nothing alive in there.
"Lunasa, we're going to go kill a king! Isn't it exciting?"
As she felt the golden haze approaching, the last bit of Lunasa, before it died, thought bitterly to itself:
Long Live the King.