The Prince's War

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! Man, this one came out just after I posted another prologue for a different story. Well, inspiration hits you when you least expect it. Now I already announced this crossover in my The Stranded Barbarian story so I decided to put this chapter out. The reason for this is because I think it can work well as a crossover with Conan and because there really aren't proper fanfictions of Record of the Grancrest War.

I hope you enjoy it.

1 Off to Atlatan

Aquilonia, by many, considered the mightiest kingdom of the Hyborian Age. It thrived during the rule of its newest king for almost two decades, the corruption was almost not present, the alliances with other kingdoms are holding firm, and people were happy. Not everything has been perfect, nothing could be. Aquilonia suffered its fair share of wars, conflicts and political unrest during those two decades but everyone would rather that it be like this than how it was before.

Within the royal palace, which was located within Tarantia, the capital of Aquilonia, however, there was currently another unrest. Within its mighty walls, a howl of rage could be heard.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN'T HERE?!"

The man who stood in front of the king could only squirm under his mighty glare. The servants around also feeling their blood freeze, feeling the rage emitted from the bronze-skinned giant.

Conan, despite nearing his sixties looked younger than someone of his age should be. Still, the blackness of his long hair did begin to gray and he had some wrinkles on his face. He was dressed in his usual royal blue tunic, sandals, white cape and a golden crown on his head.

"I-I'm…" the servant man stuttered before taking a heavy gulp of saliva, his head sweating profusely. "I'm sorry, b-but h-he w-w-wasn't there where w-we l-looked for him, sire."

A young woman then came into the room. She had purple hair and blue eyes and was dressed in a simple blue dress and sandals.

"Father, what is going on here?" she asked as she looked the angry expression of her father.

Conan calmed down, letting out a deep breath and palming his face. His daughter had a good effect on him, not being able to be too angry in her presence.

"It's your brother," Conan said in annoyance. "He wasn't with his instructors this morning so I sent someone to look into his room."

The young woman's eyes widened before she looked at the servant. "He isn't there either? What happened?"

"We… aren't sure, princess Lira," the servant said, much calmer when he talked to the king's daughter. "The room was locked when we arrived so we knocked to see if he was there. When we got no response for a while we were worried but luckily we had someone who knew how to pick locks so getting inside wasn't that much of a problem, but when we entered we found no one."

"Was he kidnapped?" Lira asked in a slight panic.

"We aren't sure, there was no sign of struggle."

"Then I can safely say he wasn't kidnapped," Conan quickly said as his eyes narrowed. "There is no way they could have taken him by force without any sign of struggle. And he is too careful to be poisoned."

Lira turned to Conan. "Are you saying… he escaped?"

Conan said nothing, his worries as a king and as a father were obvious. He turned to the servant. "Gather a search party and tell them everything! Now, go and FIND PRINCE CONN!"

The servant flinched at Conan's sudden rise of tone, showing even more how serious the king was. Then the servant quickly bowed his head. "Yes, sire! It will be done!" and then he went away with a hurried step, motivated by both his duty and his fear of the angry king.

Conan then turned to his daughter. "Lira, do you have any spell that can track him?" he asked in an utmost serious voice.

"You mean if I can use a Clairvoyance spell? Sorry, father but that spell is far more complicated than an offensive spell, I still haven't perfected it."

Conan grumbled under his breath. He would ask her mother "Fine then. I'll need to check on the search parties and advise them if necessary." And with that, he walked away.

Lira could only look sadly as her father walked away frustrated. If she was being honest, this is the last thing their family needed. Then she saw someone else enter the room. It was a tall young man, with a very muscular build, dark skin, long black hair, and green eyes. He was dressed in red short pants sandals, his upper body being completely uncovered except for gold bracelets on his arms.

"What is all this fuss about, sister?" he asked as he looked at Lira.

"Our brother, Conn, has seemingly escaped," she explained causing her brother to narrow his eyes similarly to their father.

"So that brat got in trouble," he said with an eye-roll. "Why am I not surprised?"

"What do you mean, Derios?" Lira asked curiously.

"Well, he has been arguing with his father a lot these days," Derios said. "I thought he might do something drastic. I'll inform our brothers and sisters about this." He then also departed.

"Oh, I just hope that he is alright," Lira said in a worried tone.

Conn, the prince and heir to the throne of Aquilonia, was currently walking through the busy city streets. He was a young man that greatly resembled his father, similar height, build and even the same hair and eyes. However, his facial features were softer compared to his father's more rugged features, something he got from his mother, queen Zenobia, and his skin wasn't bronze since he didn't spend as much time in the Sun.

He left his room in the middle of the night and found himself a fast horse. After that, he made sure to avoid the guards and any border sentries, which he was very familiar with. He rode southward of Aquilonia, passing Poitain reaching one of the coastal cities of Argos.

The reason for his sudden escape was simple. Since he was the heir of the throne he wanted to rightfully earn the crown. His father earned it through blood and sweat, not just getting it by being born. Conn wanted to do the same, but his father just said that he knew that he was worthy. Conn didn't believe it. He hasn't participated in any great battles, he hasn't vanquished any mighty foe, and his father made sure he didn't need to. Ever since the death of his mother, his father has been more protective of him than any of his other children. Even Derios had led his own battle at the Pictish Wilderness.

So he decided that this was the best way he could prove himself. To the south was located a continent called Atlatan, which has been discovered around ten years ago. It had its own kingdoms and empires, and from what Conn learned, there was an incident that restarted a great conflict between the two leading nations. It was a perfect place to start.

While he walked, Conn was wearing a brown hood over his head. While not many people could outright recognize him, his father had allies that could report to him if they saw him. Conn looked towards one of the ships, which is the one he recognized bore a crest of the Factory Alliance, one of the struggling powers on Atlatan. Currently, it was being loaded with goods to trade, which was established not too long after the people of two continents met.

"Come on, let's load these crates to the ship! We want to be finished before midday!" yelled one of the men, which Conn assumed was a captain.

"Hey there!" Conn called out getting the captain's attention. "Is this ship set for Atlatan?"

"We are. What's it to you?" the captain asked with his arms crossed.

"I need a ship to get to the continent. I would like you to sail me there," Conn explained.

"The passenger ship departed this port yesterday. We are only here for this cargo," the captain said as he pointed at the crates behind him. "And our cargo doesn't include passengers."

"Oh, I can make it worth your while," Conn said as he took out a small bag from his cloak and gave it to the captain. The man took the bag and opened it, his eyes widening as he saw that it was filled with gold.

"Well, I… I suppose I can make an exception this time," the captain said with a smile as he closed the bag and pocketed it. "But just so you know, we aren't stopping in your desired destination. We still need to deliver these goods."

"That won't be a problem," Conn said. "I can manage."

With that, Conn walked to the deck of the ship, ready to sail off to Atlatan and whatever test it had for him.

AN: And that is all for now. As you see, the focus here won't be on Conan, but on his son Conan II, or Conn for short. The reason for this is because I think that he could fit as the main character more than Conan could, and he really can be the main character in his own right. I hope that doesn't bother you too much. When will the next chapter be uploaded? Not sure since I plan on focusing on my Star Wars/Akame ga Kill story, but I hope it doesn't take too long.

Well, I hope to hear your feedback. And check out my other stories.

See you next time!