Fumikage walked into the war room and took a seat next to his friend, Kyoka. He was the last one to arrive to the meeting. Then, the princess walked in and took her seat at the head of the table.
"Hello. Thank you all for coming. You are my most trusted fellows," she said.
"Why were we called here, sister?" Itsuka asked, sitting to the left of her. Momo looked at Kyoka, a furrier and Momo's best friend.
"Do you want to tell them, or shall I?" she asked. Kyoka took a breath and explained her story.
"I was hunting a deer in the forest when I saw a goblin," she said. Gasps went through the group. They hadn't seen goblins since the Demon King had been roaming around the lands. Chatter went through the group.
"I thought we just defeated him!"
"What will we do!"
"We have to fightback!"
"We have to warn the country!"
"Everybody, quiet down!" Momo shouted.
"Thank you, Your Highness," Fumikage said.
"The Demon King is still weak from his last defeat. If we gather a small group of no more than 20 people, they can go and finish him off for good," Fumikage said.
"Good idea. I will go with Count Fumikage and my body guard, Minoru to gather a group of warriors to go," Momo declared.
"I can't go just yet. I have a couple of things I have to do first, but I will come as soon as my business is finished," Fumikage said.
"Oh, okay then," Momo said.
"I will go in his place," Kyokavolunteered.
"Let me go too, sister," Itsuka said.
"No, somebody has to stayhere and watch over the princessdom while I'm gone," Momo said.
"If you insist," Itsuka sighed, worried about her sister.
"We should also warn the nearby kingdom, Herolandia. They also live on the edge of the Musutafu forest and they could offer some support to our quest," Minoru said.
"The king of that kingdom is very irritable. Are you sure he would listen to us?" Kyoka asked.
"It doesn't matter. We have to try, anyway. That way they could at least be prepared if the Demon King attacks," Momo said. She turned to the knight standing at the door.
"Prepare a horse for me and my fellows," she ordered.
"Right away, Your Highness," the knight said, disappearing. Soon, four horses were prepared for the heroes. Everybody gathered to wish them goodbye.
"Good bye. I promise I won't let the DemonKing long be revived," Momo said. Then, she turned to her sister.
"Take care of the princessdom while I'm gone," she said.
"Be careful, dear sister," Itsuka said, hugging her.
"You know I will be," Momo said and got onto her horse.
"We'll be back before you know it!" she called as she rode away with Kyoka and Minoru.
Shouto sat in the library, reading a book about another boy with a terrible father who was a mage who could use fire and ice.
"Excuse me, Your Highness," a chambermaid said, coming into the library. Shouto looked up from his book.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Your father called you to the throne room. You guys have visitors," she said. Shouto sighed and shut his book. He got up and headed to the throne room. His father and three siblings were already there. He took his seat next to his brother, Hiroji.
"Who's visiting us, father?" his other brother, Ichiro asked.
"It's the princess from the neighboring... princessdom," their father said, saying princessdom with disgust. He didn't believe in a country run by children. Then, three people walked down the hall. A boy with a hat of purple balls and an axe, a girl with slanted purple hair and a whip, and in the middle a girl dressed all in metal armor with her hair in a pony tail and a crystal crown.
"Rather scantily clad, not that I mind," Ichiro stated, receiving a few sniggers from Hiroji.
"Be quiet, you two!" their sister said.
"Fuyumi, you're no fun," Hiroji whined.
"How did I get such a whiny brother," Shouto sighed.
"Shouto! You're just like Fuyumi, you wet blanket," Hiroji complained. Shouto shrugged and turned to their guests. Momo, Kyoka, and Minoru bent into a bow and then straightened back up.
"I am the Princess and Co-Ruler of Yuecademia, Momo Yaoyorozu. I have come to warn you of an oncoming threat. This furrier (Momo motioned to Kyoka) has seen a goblin roaming the forest," Momo said.
"The goblins were supposed to be wiped out!" Ichiro whispered.
"They had all died along with the defeat of the Demon King," Fuyumi whispered back. Momo continued when nobody said anything to her.
"And you know that that means-" Momo was cut off by Enji.
"Yes. The Demon King has come back," he said. The siblings gasped in unison.
"So, you can see our problem. I am gathering a small group of warriors to go and kill the Demon King while he is still weak," Momo said.
"And you're asking for help from my kingdom?" Enji asked.
"Yes. We need just around 15 warriors. My princessdom is very small and could not give a lot of warriors," Momo said.
"So, you're asking for 15 of my best warriors to go and fight with you. I would be providing 5 times the number of troupes that you have here-"
"Yes, but Count Fumikage is also joining us," Momo protested, interrupting him. Fumikage was known throughout the lands as an extremely strong warrior.
"And furthermore (Enji glared at her for interrupting him), I don't see any warriors here. Only a young furrier, a grapely midget, and a girl in revealing armour who thinks she can rule a country. Why, you all look the same age as my youngest son, Shouto," Enji said.
"For your information, the two with me and I are very good warriors. We have strength well beyond on our years," Momo stayed, boldly, trying to convince him that they were worthy of their quest.
"How old are all of you?" he asked.
"My comrades and I are all 17," Momo answered. Enji laughed.
"17! You are the same age as my son, Shouto and you expect me to believe that you can defeat the Demon King. My older brother, Toshinori, with a group of his most trusted followers, died to defeat the Demon King. Get out of my sight with that ridiculous proposal!" Enji said.
"Please! We need your help! We can't let the Demon King get stronger!" Momo burst out, coming closer to Enji.
"Guards, take them away," Enji said. Guards came close to them. Momo got one away sword and Minoru hit another with his axe. But, there were too many guards and they started overpowering them.
"Please! We can't do it without you! Don't you understand what the threat is!" Momo yelled as she and her friends were dragged away.
"I do. I just don't want to help," he said, right before Momo and the others were shut out of the castle. Yet, Momo wouldn't give up yet. She hammered on the door.
"If you change your mind, we'll be going to go see if we can recruit the Dragon King!" She yelled through the door.
"The Dragon King! They must be mad. I heard he was a complete savage and ruled over a bunch of barbarians," Hiroji said.
"Well, unlike you, they aren't cowards," Shouto noted.
"Hey!" Hiroji protested. Ichiro turned to their father.
"Father. Are you sure we should send them away?" Ichiro asked.
"Yes. The Demon King is a huge threat," Fuyumi said.
"Sending some of our warriors with them would send them to their deaths. We need more warriors than the small group they were talking about," Enji said. He stood up from his throne and turned to walk away. Before he went, he turned back to Fuyumi and Ichiro.
"And both of you, don't you DARE ever argue with my decisions again," Enji said and stalked out of the room. The siblings shared nervous looks. Shouto got up and walked out of the room, too. He went to his room and packed a few things into a sack.
"Where are you going, Shouto?" Fuyumi asked him, leaning on his doorway.
"Just going for a jaunt," Shouto said as he walked out of his room and toward the stables.
"Really? Are you sure you're not going to follow that princess and her friends?" Fuyumi asked.
"Of course not. I've heard about the Dragon King. Reasoning with him would be bordering on impossible. I'm going to go to the summer festival down into town. I'm going to gather my own team and go after the Demon King," Shouto said. Fuyumi looked away, but she knew she couldn't dissuade him.
"Fine, but at least take one of the knights," Fuyumi said.
"No," Shouto responded. Fuyumi blinked.
"Please! It would make you're sister feel better," Fuyumi pleaded.
"I can't. It's too much of a risk," Shouto said.
"Well, too bad because I already recruited a knight to go with you," Ichiro said.
"What!" Todoroki asked.
"I couldn't let my baby brother go by himself and I couldn't go because Father's grooming me to be the next in line for the throne, but I made sure to get you a good knight. His family has been working as knights for us for many years. Oh! And he's only a little older than you," Ichiro said. He turned to his side to show a young knight dressed in armor and wearing glasses.
"My name is Tenya Iida. Pleased to be in your service, Your Highness!" he bowed.
"Also, your brother has already briefed me on what you are doing so I am up to date!" Tenya said.
"He's a bit... enthusiastic, isn't he, Ichiro?" Fuyumi asked. Ichiro shrugged.
"It'll be good for the boy. Maybe some of it will rub off on him," Ichiro said.
"Well, let's go. Quickly, before father notices," Shouto said to Tenya.
"Goodbye, Shouto. Be safe," Fuyumi and Ichiro hugged Shouto. He merely nodded.
"I'll try my best," and he left with Iida.
A/N Please tell me what you think so far. If you have any constructive criticism, please tell me so I can improve my writings. Thanks for reading.