The Four Kingdoms
By Elle Pellano
A/N: Since I know that it might take a while to recall what this story is all about, I thought I should share this with you in case it's too tedious to re-read everything. It actually took me a week to finish reading the existing chapters prior to my update. I had to edit grammatical errors and make complex sentences more sensible along the way.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King
Chapter 0: Synopsis of Chapters 1 to 35
Chapter 1: Upon the request of his father, Prince Ren Tao returns to the Kingdom of Kaminari, one of the four kingdoms in a land that the author never cared to name. The other three are Kouri, Kasai and Kouku. The last one is an ally of Kaminari while the first two are considered enemies. The four kingdoms have a history of war but are now bound by a century-old treaty that prohibits people of Kouri and Kasai from trespassing into Kaminari and Kouku and vice versa. Thus maintaining a state of "peace".
Chapter 2: Princess Anna Kyouyama of Kouku prepares for a ball thrown by the king of Kaminari. His son has returned after three years of being abroad to study in the Royal Patch Academy, a school for royal bloods.
Chapter 3: During the ball, childhood bestfriends, Prince Ren and Princess Anna finally sees each other after three years of no communication. The night turned into a surprise when they find out that it is actually their engagement ball. Their fathers have organized the event without telling them beforehand.
Chapter 4: Princess Anna is furious about the announcement. She thinks that her father doubts her capability to decide on her own and to lead Kouku by herself that's why he married her off. Little did she know that her father agreed to the arranged marriage as proof of Kouku's loyalty to Kaminari. The princess argues with her fiancé when Prince Ren does not seem to be bothered by the announcement at all. He gives her a necklace with a rose pendant as a souveneir turned engagement gift and leaves her to cool her head in the royal garden. There the princess meets a slacking servant boy who tries to do reverse psychology on her.
Chapter 5: Prince Ren talks with his father about the recent events. It is revealed that he had been secretly in love with his childhood bestfriend for years. In a secluded forest, the slacking servant boy who is actually Prince Yoh Asakura of Kasai, brings food to his comrades. Together with the prince, Amidamaru, Ryuu and Manta have been sent by the king on a mission to gather intel about the enemy kingdoms. They decide to go back home after Prince Yoh reports that the gathering at the Kaminari palace is just a harmless engagement ball. While everyone else is asleep, Prince Yoh left their camp the following morning.
Chapter 6: Prince Ren starts his regular visits to Kouku to woo the princess. He encounters his former personal bodyguard, Bason who congratulates him before riding off to the Kouku palace. Princess Anna coldly receives her fiancé at the palace library. Her mood eventually changes when the prince takes her to their favorite childhood spot, the Great Spirit River -- a long river that naturally divides the land into two. By the riverbank, the best friends hold a short conversation about the enemy kingdoms.
Chapter 7: Prince Ren breaks his habit and fails to visit his fiancée due to the looming storm. Princess Anna is irritable that evening but eventually opens up to her nanny about her feelings towards the prince's upcoming departure. That night, the royal family is attacked while the whole palace sleeps. The king and queen are killed by two assassins. The princess flees but is pursued by the murderers. She jumps into the Great Spirit's River in the middle of the storm.
Chapter 8: Prince Ren wakes up from a nightmare involving his fiancée. King Yuan breaks the news about the Kouku royal family's murder to his son during breakfast. Prince Ren rushes to the scene of the crime and learns that the princess is missing but the soldiers found her necklace by the riverbank. On the way home, Prince Yoh sees a blond girl lying by the riverbank on Kasai's side.
Chapter 9: Prince Yoh brought the unconscious blond girl to his former tutor's secluded hut. Faust and his wife, Eliza take care of her even though the doctor suspects that she is from the other side of the river. Meanwhile, Prince Ren leads the search party for the princess but they had no luck finding the body. King Yuan agrees to extend the search for three more days on the condition that Prince Ren leaves for the Royal Patch Academy as scheduled. Princess Anna wakes up and finds herself in a hut. She meets an odd family -- a blond couple with a dark-haired goofy son. The son looks familiar and she eventually remembers him as the servant boy who she had talked with during their engagement ball. Prince Yoh also recognizes her as the princess of Kouku. The girl commands him not to reveal her identity and to bring her immediately to HIS king. She is referring to King Yuan Tao, of course but the prince has another king in mind. Anna joins the father-son duo on their trip to Chikyuu, the town nearest the Kasai border.
Chapter 10: The trio arrive at the house of Faust's long time customer in Chikyuu. While the medicine man does his business, Anna and Yoh roam around town. Anna becomes fascinated with a necklace that has a three-rose pendant which is similar to the one she had lost. With his share of Faust's earnings, Yoh buys the necklace and gives it to Anna. The blond girl mentions to the boy that when she sees her fiancé again, Prince Ren might get angry at her since she lost his engagement gift to her. Yoh then realizes his mistake but could not tell Anna the truth that he is from the enemy kingdom.
Chapter 11: The trio arrives at the town of Tochi near the center of the Kasai kingdom. Faust goes home and leaves the pair. Yoh tries to delay Anna's meeting with his father by convincing her to witness the culinary festival being held at the town. Unfortunately, they encounter Amidamaru who offers his help to bring Anna to the king. Meanwhile, Prince Ren dreams about his and Anna's first meeting when they were seven.
Chapter 12: Anna, Yoh and Amidamaru arrive at the central town of Koichi. The girl suspects that she is not in Kaminari. Her suspicion is confirmed when she meets King Mikihisa of Kasai who orders Yoh to clean the stables. To hide her true identity from the enemies, she applies for a palace maid. On the other side of the land, the search for the princess ended without finding any body so Prince Ren drowns his sorrow in alcohol.
Chapter 13: While Anna struggles with palace chores in Kasai, the funeral rites for the Kouku royal family is held. Prince Ren leaves for the Royal Patch Academy with a heavy heart. During the Kasai royal family dinner, Anna finds out that the servant boy, Yoh is actually the prince.
Chapter 14: Anna confronts Prince Yoh about his treachery. The boy offers his apologies and his help to take Anna home to Kouku. The next day, the prince lies to the king about the blond girl's background and convinces his father to make Anna his personal maid and tutor.
Chapter 15: Prince Yoh's tutoring session with Anna starts but the blond girl finds it ridiculous because she doesn't know anything about Kasai. She settles for what they both know which is the history of the first war. Anna avoids the topic about the second war since her kingdom started it. Yoh recalls a story from Faust when he was a child about an ill-fated romance that was the real reason for the second war.
Chapter 16: Anna witnesses Yoh's combat training with Amidamaru. The prince demonstrates poorly so Anna modifies his warm up exercises. After the training, Amidamaru inquires about Anna's background while eating lunch. Prince Ren leaves for the Royal Patch Academy. King Yuan is called to a meeting at the Kouku palace where the kingdom's top military generals have congregated. Upon his recommendation, the generals elected Ryuuken Tori, the dead king's top ranking military official and righthand man as the new ruler of Kouku.
Chapter 17: Yoh shares his dream to be free to Anna in the royal garden. The prince's fiancée, Tamao arrives at the Kasai palace after learning of his return. Ryuu and Manta report back to King Mikihisa about the death of the Kouku royal family.
Chapter 18: Anna leaves Yoh with Tamao in the royal garden. Kanna confronts Anna and accuses her of social climbing. The old queen, Kino Asakura stops the ensuing fight between the two palace maids. She invited the blond girl over for tea. The old queen requests Anna to convince Yoh to accept his responsibility as king.
Chapter 19: Anna is once again invited by the old queen for tea when the blond girl's tutoring session with the prince is disturbed by Tamao. Prince Ren visits his elder sister, Jun before proceeding to the Royal Patch Academy. The Tao princess was forced by their father to marry a foreign nobleman after he found out about her relationship with a foot soldier, Lee Pailong. The Tao prince divulges his plan to look for his missing fiancée in the enemy kingdoms. While Queen Keiko takes Tamao out shopping for presents, Anna punishes Yoh by making him do rounds. The blond girl faints in a feverish state and the prince takes care of her in his room.
Chapter 20: Anna dreams about Ren's departure for the Royal Patch Academy when they were fourteen. She wakes up finding herself in the prince's bed while Yoh sleeps as he holds her hand. Tamao comes back from shopping and sees Anna caressing her fiancé's head. She is furious and brings it up during the family dinner. The following morning, King Horokeu Usui of Kouri arrives at the Kasai palace bearing a letter from his father. Upon reading the letter from Lycan, King Mikihisa sends Ryuu and Manta to a mission.
Chapter 21: King Horo Horo sees Tamao spying Anna and Prince Yoh during their tutoring session. He kisses her by accident resulting to Tamao becoming hysterical. While old queen Kino berates Tamao for hitting their esteemed guest, Anna accompanies the king of Kouri and the prince to the royal garden. King Horo Horo teases his friend about Anna. Meanwhile, Prince Ren is welcomed back by his friends, Lyserg Diethel and Chocolove McDonnell at the Royal Patch Academy. He takes note of Jeanne's absence. Jeanne Mont St. Michel, Lyserg's cousin had to rush home to her sick father. The Tao prince informs his friends about what happened back at Kaminari. On the way to their class, the prince comes to the aid of Princess Pirika Usui much to the surprise of his friends.
Chapter 22: Master Silva, an instructor at the Royal Patch Academy announces the upcoming Friendship Ball during their Society of Royals class. Prince Ren is paired up with Princess Pirika for an assignment. They struggle with the task since neither one of them wants to reveal any information about his kingdom. At lunch time, the boys talk about Pirika's older brother who had suddenly dropped out of school when a friend died. By afternoon, Prince Ren and Princess Pirika get kicked out of the library for arguing noisily. In Kasai, King Horo Horo goes back home. In Kouku, King Ryuuken shares intel to King Yuan about the enemy kingdoms.
Chapter 23: King Mikihisa leaves with Tamao to visit a sick friend overseas. Anna pressures Yoh into sharing his escape plan for her. Yoh decides to become king so he can do something about the peace treaty in order to stay friends with Anna. Back in Kouku, an old neighbor breaks the news to Amidamaru that his friend, Mosuke, a blacksmith was murdered on the same night as the royal family.
Chapter 24: Lyserg takes a leave from school to see his dying uncle, Jeanne's father. Prince Ren and Princess Pirika agree to meet after class to do their assignment. The Tao prince learns from the Kouri princess that his friends are keeping a secret from him. King Mikihisa and Tamao arrive in time to see the Duke of Mont St. Michel before he dies. Led by the Royal Police Chief Duke Liam Diethel of Morphia, the relatives and friends of the dead duke gather to discuss his last will. Prince Hao, the other Asakura twin shows up in the middle of the conversation. He sees his father for the first time since he was sent over to Mont St. Michel when he was ten. He breaks up his arranged engagement with the duke's daughter, Jeanne.
Chapter 25: Amidamaru comes back to Mosuke's abandoned hut in Kouku where he is greeted by the same old man who tells him the background story about the crossed daggers hanging by the front door of the hut. Amidamaru knows this of course but is surprised that someone from Kouku also knows the story. The old neighbor mentions that he heard it from a boy who was Mosuke's last customer. At the Royal Patch Academy, Prince Ren and Princess Pirika talks about Anna and the peace treaty. They agree to share their experiences so that they would get to know more about each other's kingdoms. Back in Kasai, Anna reprimands the prince for playing with his brooch, a gold star pin with the heir's insignia. Prince Yoh also notices that Anna is wearing the necklace he gave her and contemplates on asking Mosuke to make a more expensive piece of jewelry for her. It is revealed that the prince was Mosuke's last customer.
Chapter 26: Kanna, a palace maid recalls her past and how she met the other Kasai prince. King Mikihisa returns to Kasai with Prince Hao who instantly becomes interested in Anna. The prince requested his father to also make Anna his tutor. At the Royal Patch Academy, Chocolove contemplates on the complicated relationship between his friends. Lyserg and Jeanne returns to school. They are surprised to discover that Prince Ren has become friends with the Kouri princess who he considers as his enemy before.
Chapter 27: Prince Hao and Anna conduct their tutoring session which turn into an argument. Princess Pirika and Prince Ren receive praise from Master Silva for their Society of Royals essay. The class discusses about royal symbols. Meanwhile, the dead Kouku king and queen's chamber is once again opened. The servant that is tasked to cleanup the murder room finds a gold star pin.
Chapter 28: Princess Pirika becomes part of Prince Ren's circle of friends. The Tao prince asks her to be his date in the Friendship Ball. Back in Kasai, Tamao discusses the invitation letter to a ball organized by the Royal Patch Academy during family dinner. Prince Hao suggests to his father that Anna accompany him to the ball. The king agrees much to the dismay of his niece. Kanna visits Prince Hao's room and expresses her disappointment over the prince's choice of partner. Hao seduces Kanna and instructs her to check Anna's belongings for clues on who she is while they are gone.
Chapter 29: The former king, Lycan visits his son in Kouri after seven years to deliver an invitation letter for the Royal Patch Academy's Friendship Ball. King Horo Horo recalls his short stay at the academy where he met Damuko, a childhood friend who died because of his wrecklessness.
Chapter 30: This is just a continuation of King Horo Horo's memory of Damuko, how he was affected after her death and how he found out what happened to his mother. After much thought, the Kouri king ultimately rejected the invitation letter to the Friendship Ball. Former police squad leader turned hired assassin, Luchist Lasso returns to their hide out. Together with Opacho, he has closed a deal that would entail attending a masquerade ball.
Chapter 31: The four Kasai representatives hone their dancing skills for the upcoming Friendship Ball. Prince Yoh and Anna hatch a plan to steer Prince Hao away from the blond girl so that she could look for Prince Ren during the ball. Bason brings Prince Ren's attire and becomes curious about his date. Luchist and Opacho make preparations for their attack. Amidamaru confronts Faust about a logbook he found where Mosuke recorded his recent purchase of sleeping potion. He suspects that Faust is involved in the Kouku royal family's murder.
Chapter 32: The Royal Friendship Ball is held at the Queen's Hall. The Royal Police Chief accompanies his son and his friends to the ball. The Kasai delegation also arrives. Anna executes their plan to put a laxative on Hao's drink. Unfortunately, Tamao grabs the glasses from her and drinks the laxative herself. Princess Pirika sees Anna with Tamao and develops a hunch. Prince Ren and Lyserg argues over the Kouri princess who overheards the Tao prince's real reason for befriending her. A crying Princess Pirika leaves the group but is followed by Lyserg. Prince Ren suddenly develops a migraine so he is accompanied by Jeanne back to the academy. The Tao prince hallucinates about his missing fiancée who shares an intimate moment with him. Back at the ball, Anna tells Prince Yoh about the failed plan to distract his twin brother but Prince Hao does not seem to need it anyway. The venue is rocked by an explosion.
Chapter 33: The delegates are ushered outside the ball venue. Prince Yoh tries to look for Tamao and his twin. Duke Liam catches Luchist from the crowd amidst the chaos. Anna sees him and remembers her traumatic experience. The following morning, the royal delegates return to their ship to sail back home. The kingdoms are pulling out their heirs from the academy after the fiasco last night. Bason fetches Prince Ren from his dormitory. Lyserg and Pirika also visit the prince. Lyserg admits to his friend that they put something on his drink so that he would be forced to go home in the middle of the ball. There was a threat for his life last night. Pirika also reveals to the prince that she saw his fiancée with the Kasai delegates. At the Royal Police head quarters, Duke Liam interrogates Luchist then realizes that last night's attack is just a diversion for the real one. They rushed to the port of Morphia where the royal ships are docked only to see the sinking of the bombed Kaminari ship from afar. One of the police officers informed the chief that Lyserg also boarded the blown up ship.
Chapter 34: The king of Kouku calls for a meeting in which he presented the tortured Kasai warrior, Amidamaru, before the generals and the king of Kaminari. The royal messenger informs King Yuan that his son perished during the bombing of the royal ship. In his anger, the Kaminari king drove the Harusame into Amidamaru. As life fleets away from him, the Kasai warrior sees a painting of the Kouku royal family and recognizes Anna.
Chapter 35: Three days prior to Amidamaru's capture, Faust reveals to him his secret. I won't tell you the secret because this is my latest update so please read. Bwahahaha.
End of Chapter Zero
Question: Why are the names of the four kingdoms all begin in K?
Answer: The author wants the readers to pay attention to details because everything is linked together. Nah, they just sound good together.