Chapter 2 - A Future Together


The day that Yumemi accepted my mother's ring was one of the happiest in my memory. I could not explain why, for she had rejected my proposal to spend our lives together. Perhaps it was simply knowing that a union was a future open to us gave me the courage to withstand the long months that were to follow.

Lady Ryuely had said that this future would require patience and perseverance. But after three longs months of debating with my fellow rulers as they tried to reform an alliance and being locked in conversation with representatives from Yumemi's world, I found my strength faltering. As the seasons on the planet below changed from spring to summer, my desire to see her once more began to grow.


Yumemi found herself with nothing to do.

It was the end of summer break; Suzume was out with Kazuya on a date, Ichiko was on a trip with her dad to the mountains, almost all of the homework was finished, and there was only so much studying that a third year student could do before the brain started to melt.

Her mother had kicked her out of the house - apparently summer was no time to be sitting in air-conditioning and watching the television. Yumemi begged to differ, but she didn't have much of a choice.

With no clear destination in mind, she started to walk aimlessly toward the center of town. Her white sundress flowed around her in the wind and she held onto the straw hat that was the only thing protecting her from becoming a burnt tomato.

As she walked, her train of thought drifted to Munto.

In her recent visions, she could see him becoming haggard from the constant bickering between all the different parties who had an interest in the floating islands. Worry as she might, she could see that the young ruler was enduring it the best he could.

She smiled to herself, thinking about the proud Munto-sama, great ruler of the Magical Kingdom, battle-hardened magician, practicing diplomacy and the fine art of small talk.

Despite being the one who set the boundaries on their relationship, sometimes she wished that she could see him. It was very easy to recall the heat of their last embrace, when she listened to his internal emotions. Once in a while, it would be nice to feel that again.

Maybe one day. One day she would walk right up to the plateau, fly to the Magical Kingdom, and visit Munto.

One day when she wasn't studying. Or busy with her friends. Or at her part-time job at the shrine. Or doing homework. Or going to school.

She stopped. TODAY she wasn't studying. Or with her friends, at her part time job, doing homework, or going to school. There was nothing stopping her from visiting today.

Feeling the excitement build in her chest, Yumemi began to run down to the plateau. Sure, she would need to find a way to get up to the floating island, but she would think of something.

After all, she'd flown once before, hadn't she?


"Munto, please review this document before our next meeting."

Louie strode into the royal chamber with his blue cape flowing behind him and dropped a hefty roll of parchment on the stone table.

"This is the proposal from the Lower World's Japanese Defense Force to provide military support in the Magical Kingdom Airspace. The military representatives will be present in the meeting and have already expressed a wish to discuss this."

"Thank you, Louie." Munto did not even look up from the current piece of legislature that he was reviewing. "I will look at it soon."

Louie gave a bow and left, closing the heavy wooden doors behind him.

Sighing, Munto looked at the stack of paperwork that needed to be reviewed and proceeded to grab Louie's document next, since the meeting was within the hour. Diving right into the matter, the piece of parchment held his attention.

He failed to notice the silver akuto doll that usually rested right outside his window, make a sudden departure.

There was a knock with military precision at the door. "My Lord, it is time for your meeting with the Lower World Defense Force."

"Thank you." Munto pushed himself away from his desk and walked briskly to the door, his black coat swirling about him. He sighed once again, but then let himself out of the room and headed to the military meeting.

Which was just as bad as he thought it would be.

The Japanese Defense Force was offering aircraft for patrols in the Magical Kingdom airspace. The Magical Kingdom was the only floating country located over land mass - primarily over Japan. The military claimed that other countries, such as "America", "China", and "Russia" would target the Magical Kingdom, as it was the closest and also posed a potential threat.

All of the Heavenly advisors and ministers argued that no such patrols would be necessary - the mages of the country would be able to defend against any incoming armed forces.

Munto then listened as the Defense Force counter-argued that the Magical Kingdom's existence was a threat, since the Defense Force was no longer allowed to fly near the country. This posed a security risk for the people within the towns below, as they would no longer have access to flying resources.

For the most part, he had very little to say during these meetings with the people of the Lower World. He was still a relatively inexperienced ruler, but he took vigilant notes that he would review with his trusted advisors later.

But today, he was feeling particularly on edge for some reason and he snapped.

"Rather than go around in circles, let's cut to the chase." He looked pointedly at the Defense Force members. "I believe we have made it clear that we of the Magical Kingdom will be able to defend ourselves, therefore your patrols are not required. Furthermore, introducing foreign vehicles into the skies around our country will only cause undue stress on the citizens of this nation."

One of the Defense Force generals started to protest, but he was immediately shot down. "If you require access to the airspace around this country for the purposes of providing emergency support to the town below, then my ministers will be happy to assist in drafting up some legislature to facilitate those actions."

The general continued to vocally protest and this time, there was no holding back.

"Do not insult my intelligence. I may be young, but most of my experience lays on the battlefield. I can see when someone is trying to get a military foothold into a region. Whether you are attempting to do so as leverage against us or against the other countries you have mentioned does not matter to me. There will be no air patrols around the Magical Kingdom, unless of course you grant us the right to run ground patrols in the town so that we may have regular surveillance for potential threats."

This comment left the entire conference in silence, except for the human general who was still sputtering in anger. Hearing no further arguments, he stood. "I believe this concludes the meeting for today. I look forward to speaking with you all next time."

Then he stormed out of the room.

As soon as the doors closed behind him, he ran his hands down his face in exasperation.

That was poorly handled and he knew it. What was the matter with him today? His ability to play the game of saying one thing and meaning another did not come easily to him, but he was usually capable enough to keep his mouth closed and leave the gameplay to his ministers.

There were more meetings to attend to, but he would be of no use in this state. He slowly made his way to Ryuely's temple on the edge of the palace. Visiting the calm and tranquil prophetess would surely help sooth his nerves.

He made his way up through the central staircase, a winding tree with large leaves that served as stairs. The leaves spiraled up through a glass dome to the rest of the outer palace grounds.

He felt better the minute he stepped into the sunshine, but his mood remained dark and troubled. He trudged up the stone steps. At the entrance to the temple grounds, he saw the silver akuto doll crouched, with its wings unfurled. He stopped to pat the creature.

"So this is where you got to." He rubbed the creature's front gem. "I see that at least you were able to escape your cage. Some of us aren't as fortunate."

Laughter filtered down from the main temple grounds. It was not uncommon for the hospitable Lady Ryuely to receive guests from the other seven heavenly countries.

"Thank you for providing the food. I was quite hungry."

If she was serving food, then her guest must be from the Lower World, since Heavenly Beings did not eat. There was no denying that the humans were enchanted by the ethereal ways of Lady Ryuely. But, there were only so many Lower World inhabitants he could stand in a day. Perhaps he would return to his room and prepare for the next meeting.

"What does that one taste like?" This time Toche was curiously inquiring.

Munto paused; it was surprising to hear Ryuely's little assistant being so lively around strangers, especially humans from Earth. And yet, here he was being friendly, as though he had met the visitor before.

"How do I describe it to you when you have not tasted anything before?"

Now his heart leapt into his throat. He recognized that voice - he would recognize it anywhere.

He hurried up the stairs, two at a time and then stopped when he reached the top. There, at a small stone table, was Toche picking strangely shaped fruits from a bowl. The person sitting across was…

"Yumemi," Munto whispered.

Afraid that the dream would end if he spoke any louder. He rubbed his eyes to verify they weren't playing tricks on him.

A gust of wind ruffled her white sundress and blew off her straw hat. The hat tumbled through the air, coming to rest at the young king's feet. Toche had jumped up to retrieve the flighty headwear, but froze when he saw who had caught the troublesome hat.

Yumemi was laughing and then her eyes met with his. She stood and took a few steps forward. "Ah, Munto!" She looked around, as though uncertain as to what to say. "I didn't have anything to do today, so I-"

He cut her off as he ran to her and swept her into a giant hug. He held her up off the ground so her head was close to his. Feeling a rush of joy, he buried his face into her caramel-colored hair and he whispered her name again. His happiness intensified as he felt her arms circle around the back of his head and she murmured his name as well.

"Munto, I've missed you."

With those four words, he felt complete. Everything was finally right in the world and so he said nothing and just held in his arms the one thing he wanted to protect the most.

They stayed like that for several minutes, just enjoying the warmth of the sunlight, the slight breeze, and their closeness to one another. Eventually, Munto realized that he would have to let go of the girl in his arms, so he slowly put Yumemi on the ground, but did not move his arms away from her.

She looked up at him with sparkling eyes and a small smile on her lips. Suddenly, he felt compelled to be closer, to show her exactly how much he had missed her. He leaned down, bringing his face right next to hers, letting their breath mingle in the shrinking space between them. The young girl closed her eyes in anticipation and he could feel his heart racing.

"Munto-sama!"

He looked up with mild annoyance over the top of Yumemi's head, but held her against his chest, helping to hide her red face and wide eyes until she could settle down from the sudden outburst.

Several of his loyal retainers were at the top of the stairs. Marty and Tail enthusiastically approached, while Harka followed at a steady pace.

"What is it?"

Tail walked forward, his brown robes aflutter, with the slightly rotund Marty just behind him. "We need to make a report about a space-time anomaly."

This drew all of Munto's attention, and he walked over to meet them, keeping Yumemi's hand tightly clasped in his. "What space-time anomaly?"

Marty began to explain, "It was discovered on The Day of the Future. For the past few months it has been - oh my, if it isn't the princess!"

Tail also moved in closer, "My Lady, we did not know you would be visiting!"

From slightly behind Munto, Yumemi smiled and gave a little wave. Munto moved forward to confront both retainers. "What about the anomaly?"

Marty cleared his throat and continued. "Ahem! As I was saying, it was discovered on The Day of the Future. Since then it has been dormant - reacting to nothing, with no physical changes."

"Today," Harka cut in assuredly, "it began to discharge energy as lightning. In the past few hours, the strikes have increased in strength and frequency. The anomaly itself has also started to grow in size."

"Take us there," their king commanded. All three retainers looked hesitantly at Yumemi, but time was of the essence. "Quickly!"

"Yes, sir!" They all headed down the stairs to the main part of the palace.

When they reached the edge of the palace walls, Munto paused. He bent down slightly and held out his arms to his beloved. "Now, we fly. Come, Yumemi."

With her slight frame braced against him, they took to the sky, floating with Marty, Tail, and Harka to the edge of the city.

Any time-space anomaly could be potentially dangerous. Heavenly Beings would become cursed if they manipulated space-time. Luckily, the Outsider Gass had taken the brunt of the space-time curse instead of the young king when Gntarl had tried to abduct Yumemi's town.

Now there were no outsiders to prevent Heavenly Beings from breaking through space-time, but the threat of the curse kept them at bay.

Looking down at the young girl in his arms, he felt a slight uneasiness.

She was the sole person from the Lower World that had demonstrated the ability to break through time-space. While she seemed to suffer no ill effects from that particular brand of magic, he was not willing to take any unnecessary chances.

"Munto-sama, here it is!" The three retainers dropped down the ground as he landed and let Yumemi slide out of his arms.

The distortion was a black, amorphous blob, in constant, shifting motion. The surface was slick, with a blue sort of luminesce, like oil. White electricity rippled on the outside, striking out at any nearby object. The lightning produced a sharp, crackling noise as each strike landed.

Munto moved Yumemi behind him, in the event of a stray lightning bolt. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"It is an abnormality in the space-time continuum." He gestured for her to stay put. "Not quite a hole to another dimension, but not from this dimension either."

The lightning subsided and he took the opportunity to take a closer look. The anomaly started to hum, although it could have also been a buzzing noise.

"Munto," The girl's voice was laced with worry. He did not need to be told twice.

"Everyone, back away. I think it's going to-"

Lightning arced everywhere, strong electrical strikes landing on every square inch. The air was singed with heat, obliterating all traces of moisture.

There was no time. Munto grabbed Yumemi and forced her onto the floor, shielding her with his body.

A second later, pain shot up his back and then spread throughout his body. Every muscle clenched and each cell screamed in agony as the electricity surged up and down his spine. The clothing on his back was hot, burning hot, but he stayed still, covering her.

From his position on the floor, he struggled to raise an arm. Red energy gathered around his palm. He fired shot after shot of energy blasts at the space-time entity.

The lightning started to die down and Munto was able to raise up enough to aim properly. He maintained constant firepower on the space-time blob, and slowly, but surely, the space-time abnormality started to fade away.

Within a minute, only some minor flecks floating in the air were all that remained. Using the last of his energy, he created some fire and these remnants went up in smoke.

With the threat handled, he allowed himself to drop to his knees. Yumemi ran up to support him. "Munto!" Weary from the attack, he leaned against the girl.

"Call for…Sheza…" he managed to say through gritted teeth.

"This is…more damage…than I can…heal on…my own." He was breathing hard and heavy as Yumemi relayed his instructions to Marty and Tail. His two retainers made off with great haste to summon the healer. Harka stayed behind in case there were further instructions.

Munto was vaguely aware that she was looking over the wounds on his back, and he could feel her shaking slightly. "I wish there was something I could do for you. It looks so painful."

"As long…as you…are safe…" Munto smiled tiredly, but then he grimaced as a wave of pain washed over him. Blackness crept in at the corner of his vision and stole away his consciousness.


A/N: Here's chapter 2. The tempo will start to pick up next time.

Let me know what you think!

Update: This chapter has been edited with minor corrections since the initial release.