1 - Act I: i. The New King

Version 1.1, updated 5/19/18

Despite the fact that Evan himself agreed to this, he thought that the coronation is too early—that Ferdinand is still too young to take the crown. He himself has no right to complain, but young Ferdinand had not experienced the hardships he faced, the emotions he felt. One may argue that his son did peer through his past many years back, but seeing and feeling are completely different things.

He was at his desk filling in the pile of documents full of requests, concerns, and the like, while under surveillance by Doctor Thetis and his beloved, Tani. Evan coughed specks of blood on his hand.

"Your Majesty! Please don't push yourself. I advise you take a rest," Doctor Thetis said. She wiped off the sweat out of his forehead and the blood off of his hand.

"Evan, she's right." Tani frowned. "You've done so much for your people. So much for everyone in all the other kingdoms. You're working yourself to death…"

"Tani, I'm okay," Evan reassured. He wiped his eyes. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"You can't hide it from me," Tani replied. She tried her best to hold back the tears. "I've heard from Doctor Thetis. And we're trying our best to find a cure, so why? Why do this?"

Evan turned away from her gaze. "That's precisely why. I have to do as much as I can before I, before I…" He trailed off. He immediately stood up and walked past the both of them.

He stopped at the door and said, "Make sure the preparations for the coronation are almost complete. I'm going to my chambers."

"Obviously."

Evan, the Pure-Hearted King was at a lost. He wondered what his Chief Consul would do in this situation.

[]

The parade was as grand as the fabled dragon Draigfawrlanlofft itself, capturing the hearts of many people from all walks of life. Practically everyone took a day off—even guards stationed at their posts danced to the music to relax. Those who were unable to travel to the Kingdom of Evermore were able to watch live footage in their Leafbook, thanks to Broadleaf's new streaming technology. Many attractions and performances line up the main road, making one wonder how anyone could move in such tight spaces.

"Can't believe good ol' King Evan invited the entire world to witness his passing of th' crown aye!" A sky pirate laughed as he ate a slice of awwberry pie.

"Yeah, and I thought these sorta things are only for the elite of the elites. Like when Queen Nerea took the throne," a merman agreed.

Prince Ferdinand peered through the window of his carriage, observing the expressions of his soon-to-be subjects: some are having the time of their lives while others looked concerned. "Can Ferdinand even surpass King Evan's achievements?" one might say. "He practically did everything already!" Ferdinand grew tired of listening of such gossip; he tried his best to ignore those same doubts himself.

The horses stopped at the center of Arenella Square, where an elevated stage was placed before the fountain. Ferdinand was escorted out safely, he then raised his arm over his head to cast a shadow over his face. The sun was shining brightly.

And so, the rest of the coronation went all according to plan. The citizens of Evermore cheered and kneeled before their new king. With the passing of the crown finally completed, King Evan, now relieved of his noble duty, announced his retirement and his current plans to be shifted to Ferdinand. "I'll prioritize my health over everything else, I promise," he reassured.

But Tani silently cursed at whoever gods who allowed for this to happen. Evan did no wrong, she thought, and he did not deserve this treatment. She tried to cover up her emotions, but they kept piling up. She did not want to sour a momentous event in history.

Although he had to leave the throne abruptly, Evan wanted to take responsibility for his incomplete projects, but he knew the public would not understand. He would apologize to his son publically if he could. There will be people who would hate Ferdinand instead of him, he thought. At least Evan still had power as an advisor of some sorts whenever his son would leave for international business.

The newly made king stood on the stage before his people for the first time and took a deep breath. It felt strange at first, but Ferdinand was prepared for this day. At least, he think he did. If his father could build a kingdom from scratch as a child, then he certainly can rule at a mere age of sixteen summers. His trip through time five years ago was not for naught, after all.

Hello. My name is NazoLuk3, and the name may sound familiar - that's because 5 years ago, I posted one chapter of The Return of the Renowned Rouge (mispelled Rogue). That story was my spin for a Ni No Kuni sequel featuring Oliver and the gang. Back then, I was very young and had little experience actually writing a story. That story was conjured in my head in about a day or two, and I decided to publish the first chapter because I had this idea for a really cool scene in the story (that I now forgot). Basically, I had to write the entire story just to lead up to this cool part. That was the case for most of my stories, and you could probably notice that trend of incomplete stories after one or two chapters. I won't finish them, unfortunately.

The reason why I return with this story is because Ni No Kuni II did not satisfy me. The plot was okay, if not slightly unrealistic, and the characters, especially the party members, were not developed as much. When I beat the final boss, I still had so many questions and this is the result.

This story aims to answer some of the questions I had while playing the game.

I plotted at least the first act of this story: about 5 chapters were written, but need to be edited. But if I do lose interest in completing this story, I apologize in advance. Note that I did not 100% the game, but I played a fair bit of endgame, so some plot threads may seem inconsistent and canon parts of the game may be butchered.

Thanks for reading,

NazoLuk3 2018