Chapter 2
The town in question that Corobo lived in was none other than the starter area for the game, the basic Alpoko Kingdom in the flesh! And we then simply led our group through the town to the castle, where I then heard a voice from at said castle.
"Corobo? We agreed you wouldn't leave the house without eating breakfast," said the voice of a very nice woman that I instantly recognized, her being Corobo's mother. The same face and same brown hair as Corobo, just in normal clothes as opposed to the white clothing of the Carefree Adults.
"Um, miss? We need to let you know some things," I said, which made the woman sound surprised at the voice that came from her 'son'.
"What happened to your voice?... Are you growing a beard and mustache?... And what kind of crown are you wearing on your head?" she asked.
"Mom, I'm in the crown and you're embarrassing me," Corobo said as the mom looked at it and then at my group in confusion.
"I... eh... come again?" she asked in confusion.
"It's a bit difficult to explain, but something forced me to wake up in your son's bed while sending Corobo into the crown on my head... and this crown is apparently magical, as it gives me and Verde the power to command anyone to do anything, so long as we wear it on our heads," I explained as Verde then smirked.
"Maybe not just that. Marco, cluck like a chicken, 20 seconds, go," Verde said... and then, I completely lost it as I tried my hardest to resist, but I gawked at how I did as she commanded, clucking like a chicken for 20 seconds exactly before I then went to her with an annoyed smile.
"Okay, payback. come here and give me one kiss to my cheek," I said, her gasping as she then did that and she then flushed angrily and in embarrassment.
"It's not Corobo, so I don't like that," she frowned at me.
"Well, he looks like him, he sounds just a bit deeper, and he has the same kind of attitude. It's almost like they're different sides of the same coin," Corobo's mom smiled as I then looked at her and Verde with a smirk.
"Pact, Verde. Let's not do those commanding things against each other; agreed?" I asked, her then frowning and nodding.
"Agreed, now let's go into the 'castle'," she smirked.
"Castle? You want to turn our house into a castle?" she asked, me smiling at that as Corobo spoke.
"We agreed to succeed from the Primetime Kingdom and become our own nation, Alpoko. I'm the prince, Marco is the king, and Verde is our queen," Corobo smirked.
"So, I'm queen to two people? Like, polygamy?" she asked in confusion.
"It's just easier until we can find out how to get Corobo out of this crown, okay? When that happens, he's all yours, promise," I said, Verde smiling at that as Liam spoke.
"I think that's a nice promise to make," Liam smirked.
"Okay, then come in. I'll make the recliner your throne if you want," Corobo's mom smiled as I then walked into the house across the moat and I then asked her a question.
"So what's your name, miss?" I asked her.
"Oh, my name is Clarabelle. It's a tradition in our family to name our children with names that start with C and have 3 syllables," she smirked.
"And what about the father?" I asked, her sighing and looking to the side, me seeing a picture in the room that was directly across from Corobo's starting bedroom. It was a photograph of Corobo's dad, but they were with him when he was in bed and looking very ill. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to bring up old wounds..." I said, her smiling at me.
"It's been five years now, I've gotten over it. He was a very nice and noble man. He insisted to take my last name instead of me taking his and he even named Corobo after my family's traditions... he's currently buried in the cemetery... but it's a bit overrun with UMA right now, so he needs to get some peace... but how?" Clarabelle asked as I then looked at the others with a smile.
"Well, I'd love to answer that, but I think that we should discuss the most important thing. Money," I said, the group looking at me in confusion. "If we want to run a kingdom effectively, we need cash. So, how much do we have?" I asked, the result being that Clarabelle showed the money that she had in the safe that was hidden in a very familiar box. And it was only worth 40.000 Bol. So, basically, 40 Bol.
"Not enough, sadly," she frowned.
"Then it looks like we need to do some work. And what better use than a crown that can give the power to command?" I smirked.
"So what? You're just going to make our neighbors work for us?" Liam asked.
"Do we have any other ideas? Because we only have about 2 weeks until TV Dinnah hears we've succeeded from the Primetime Kingdom, and he won't be happy to hear that," Corobo said, me being surprised at that. I had no idea I'd get some additional backstory to the small kingdom of Alpoko and that it was originally a part of the Primetime Kingdom!... No wonder the town was so small, and the land so neglected.
"Fine, fair enough. Anyways, what else should we do, then?" Liam asked.
"Well, I think that you, Liam, could be trained in how to make a building in only an hour, under my tutelage, at least!" Howser said, which made Liam smile widely.
"That sounds a bit far-fetched, but I'll give it a try," he smiled at him.
"And then we'll need someone that's good with accounting to keep track of the income of the kingdom," Verde smiled.
"I can do that with ease. I already manage to get money back from Dinnah's stupid taxes, so I should be able to handle it with ease," Clarabelle smiled.
"Okay, then that means we're going out to search for loot," I smirked.
"Got it, let's go, Verde," Corobo said from the crown, us then being surprised as Verde then automatically followed after us and her being in confusion as we walked outside.
"That crown is stronger than it seems. I did want to join you, but now it seems my feet are just moving on their own!" Verde said in surprise as I then looked at her in surprise.
"Welp, that sounds troubling. It seems that I accidentally broke the pact, huh?" I asked, Verde sighing at that.
"Yeah, but so long as it were accidental, I'll allow it," she said, me smirking at that as we then went to the random citizens and I effortlessly managed to use the crown to have them follow me, them all being lesser in intelligence than I thought, as all of them only thought of being carefree, not much else.
"So, why do they not care about me controlling them? It's almost like they're mind-controlled or something," I asked in confusion.
"Well, that's a simple answer. Most of our neighbors are not too bright. And that includes mine and Verde's parents," Liam said, me smiling at that.
"I'll try to make it so they don't get involved in anything dangerous if you want," I said, the duo smiling at me.
"Thanks, we appreciate that for sure. I do not want to lose my parents at all, that much is for sure," Verde smiled. "But you're probably wondering which ones they are, right?" she asked, me nodding at her. "Well, they're actually among the group we have. The one with the purple hair is my mom, Morada. And my dad is the one with the red hair, Rojo," she said, me sighing and rolling my eyes. "What? What are you thinking about, Marco?" she asked me in annoyance.
"Nothing, just wondering why their names and yours are based on spanish colors," I said with a smirk, which made her look at me in confusion.
"And spanish is a what now?" she asked, me then smacking my face in annoyance as we then had the adults go to a hole and grab the big bag of gold within, me then sighing and speaking.
"It appears that this isn't my own world after all. Because Spanish is a language in my world, originating in Spain, which is one of the western-most nations of the continent of Europe," I said.
"Huh... now that you mention it, I remember seeing a show on that from TV Dinnah. I thought it was made-up," Corobo said as I then frowned. I had to tell them at SOME point, right? I then said something.
"When we're done treasure hunting, when it's just you, me, Clarabelle, Liam, and Howser in a room, I'm going to say something to you that I feel I should say," I said.
"So you're not telling it to the other townies? Why not?" Verde asked as we then dismissed the carefree adults and they then dispersed to go back to doing nothing, them just looking slightly confused at what happened.
"Well... I'd rather trust the ones I met and actually know me as a person as opposed to knowing me as just the king," I said, Verde nodding.
"Tough, but fair. Okay, let's go check the money now that we've got some," Verde said as we then went into the castle and we then showed the money we got, which Clarabelle then counted up and smirking.
"Wow! This is worth 100 Bol! We're pretty much rich already!" she said in shock, me smirking at that.
"Easy now, mom. We all know that Dinnah is way richer than we are," Corobo said.
"Right... ahem... well, what should we do? I doubt we'll be able to expand much further unless we get some help, right?" she asked.
"Leave that to me and Liam," Howser said as he appeared from the left and smirked at us. "We can invest that money into making a training facility for the town's citizens! With the funds accumulated, we can either make a farmer's hut or a guard station, so we can train the citizens to be farmers or soldiers. The choice is yours," Howser smirked.
"I think we should make the soldier hut," Verde smiled.
"Why not the Farmer's? I think that they'd be the smarter choice, since they could probably dig for even bigger treasure," I said, Verde frowning at that.
"How about we flip a coin? Heads for soldiers, tails for farmers," she smirked.
"Deal," I smirked as she then flipped the coin with her fingers and we watched as we then saw the coin land on tails, me smirking at that. "Looks like it's farmers," I smiled.
"Dammit," Verde pouted. "Well, farmer hut is the one we'll make, then," Verde smiled as we then watched as Liam and Howser then got a phone out and called up for supplies, me being shocked at how they automatically appeared out of nowhere outside.
"Uh, what kind of service is that? And can I ask if they do food deliveries?" I asked, Howser smirking at that.
"Trading friends that owe me a lot of favors overseas," Howser said, me smirking at that. "Now then, time to train Liam into making a building in a day!" Howser said before he was about to walk out before I spoke up.
"Wait up!" I said, the duo then stopping in place automatically and looking at me in confusion.
"What's wrong, Marco?" Liam asked.
"I need to let you guys know something that I feel you may not believe, but I need to get it off my chest beforehand. I actually come from another universe entirely, and everything that has happened so far is stuff I saw in a book of sorts," I said, the group looking at me in shock.
"You're joking right, you must be joking!" Clarabelle gawked.
"The name of the book was Little King's Story and mostly everything we've seen so far is just like in the book," I said.
"Um. Mostly? What does that mean?" Liam asked in confusion.
"It means that some things are different than what the book described as. For instance, Corobo would've been the king and wouldn't be stuck in the crown. None of you happened to have living family members in the book I read, and the kingdom of Alpoko didn't succeed from a place called the Primetime Kingdom... and also, said Primetime Kingdom shows programming from my own world to the residents of both the book and the real world, somehow," I said, which made Verde surprised.
"Really? Is it possible that you're lying? Tell me if you're lying," Verde said, me then gawking and then speaking without thinking.
"The only thing I've lied about is that it wasn't a book, but a video game for the Nintendo Wii!" I said out loud and spontaneously, which made the group shocked at me as I then held my mouth shut.
"A video game? Now I see why you lied, because I have NEVER heard of such a thing. What does a video game do?" Verde asked.
"It's like a television show, but you can control the main characters with a special remote and have them do certain things. For Little King's Story, the game in question, you can only control Corobo and then have him control up to 30 ciitzens. And I am not revealing anything more for the moment," I said, the group looking at me in surprise.
"What? Why not? You just got me hooked!" Clarabelle said with annoyance.
"It's mainly because I want to keep some things as plot twists for the rest of you... also, considering how much has already changed just by my mere presence, I have a bad feeling that even more is going to change up in the coming days," I said.
"I see, you think that you being put in Corobo's place is going to make a butterfly effect, right?" Verde asked, me nodding. "I may not watch much tv, but I know how screwy that stuff is. Okay, I agree to not press more unless you allow it," Verde said, me smirking at how the others then nodded.
"Can we go and make the building now?" Liam asked.
"Yep, just wanted to get that off my chest," I said, Liam then rushing out the door with Howser following close behind and Pancho then simply yawned and then look at me.
"Mmoo..." he mooed as I then looked at him with seriousness.
"Talk," I said, him then doing just as I did.
"And why would I... aw dammit!" Pancho groaned in annoyance, which made Verde and Clarabelle shocked, as well as a gasp in the crown from Corobo.
"No way! A talking cow?!" Corobo gawked.
"Hey! It's steer, not cow," Pancho said, me smirking at that. "Ugh, yes, I can talk. So, what of it?" he asked in annoyance as I then looked at him in seriousness.
"Do you happen to have any input on what was just said?"
"If you want to really know my thoughts, I know that this whole mess was caused by some kind of powerful magic that originates in the Worrywart Kingdom. Find the source, you can get Corobo out of the crown... but as for Marco? His situation is much more complicated. I'll tell you closer to the end," Pancho said, me smirking at him for saying that much.
"Okay, I can accept that... but I do kinda want to know how my own folks are, y'know?" I asked, him nodding.
"Get the Primetime Kingdom under your control and you could call them at any point from the tall radio tower," he said, me smirking at that.
"So... how much time do we have until the end of the day?" I asked.
"Right now it's 6 in the evening," Verde said, me gawking and looking outside in surprise.
"Huh. Time flies by very fast in this world. So... next question... yay or nay to the king and queen sharing a room?" I asked.
"Are you crazy? We only just met," Verde frowned at me.
"And I agree completely. I was only asking because of Corobo's interests," I said, him then speaking after.
"Please, Verde? If he does anything to you, I'll let you do whatever you want for payback to him," he said.
"Oogh... fine. But only for Corobo, not you for now," Verde frowned.
"That's fine. I'm more the patient type with relationships regardless. And like I already said, it's just platonic for you and me. Once we get Corobo out of the crown, you can have him all to yourself," I said, her frowning at me.
"But will we? Like you said, the things have changed so much already. What if we can't?" Verde asked.
"If that happens? I'll just give Corobo's crown to you from that point on," I admitted.
"That doesn't make me feel happy," Verde pouted.
"Just give it a shot. I can say that the source is a friendly and they will certainly release Corobo if you can rescue them. But it won't happen unless you two get tougher," Pancho said.
"Fine," Verde sighed.
"If it's that big of a deal, Verde, you could always just ask if we could have two beds in just one room. One for me one for you? Split apart by, like, three feet?" I asked, her then looking at me and finally looking at me with a small smile, even if it only lasted a second.
"That sounds easier for me to digest," she said... and then, as if on cue, my stomach grumbled.
"Oof, talking of which, what's for uh... dinner?" I asked.
"We have some eggs from the chickens. That and some warm milk could help you sleep," Clarabelle smiled.
"Okay, breakfast for bedtime, definitely something I haven't tried before," I smiled.