"Who will become king?" the djinn cries out, his voice ringing of the walls. Kouen grins and opens his mouth to reply, ready to step forward, but the djinn interrupts. "Eh? Is this all I really get to pick from?" Agares' face falls, and Kouen stumbles a little as the djinn shrinks from a fearsome beast to a friendly cat. To be fair, said cat is still vast enough to devour him in a small manner, but now he seems almost precious.

"What do you mean?" Seishuu shouts. "Here's your fabulous King's Candidate right here!" He gestures broadly to Kouen, waving his arms to and fro until one of his fellows, Kin, bops him on the head.

"Mind your tongue," he hisses to Seishuu, "lest you give the djinn a poor impression of Lord Kouen!"

Seishuu turns around to jab Kin in his gut. "I don't need some squishy, dungeon-capturing greenhorn to tell me, a seasoned veteran-"

Kouen throws out an arm in front of both of them, and the bickering stops. "I am Ren Kouen, conquerer of the dungeon Astaroth, and I will be your king as well, Agares." He draws his arm back in, clenching it into a fist. "I have solved your puzzles and bested your beasts. I bear in my heart a noble quest." His voice grows to a roar that makes men cower, and he thrusts his hand out, pointing at Agares. "A precious, fuzzy djinn such as yourself is the perfect compliment to my assets! Join with me, Agares, so that we might spread the Kou Empire's ideals to the world!"

Agares leans forward, becoming vast once more. "And what might those ideals be?" The djinn's voice is a snarl, but Kouen doesn't flinch.

"All men," Kouen replies, repeating the words his loyalty to Hakuyuu have burned within his soul, "are one. They simply do not realize it. The divisions of country and kingdom must be destroyed to reunite the world and eliminate war." He clasps his hand over his heart. It is an oath he has sworn many times in his heart. "The world is one!"

Agares eyes him before grinning, all teeth. "Very well. I accept you as my king, Ren Kouen." He becomes insubstantial and his power courses through the air and into Kouen's pauldron as his final words ring through the air. "I hope you will serve me well..."

Kin and Seishuu are laughing back and forth as their carriage pulls to a stop so that they can join Kouen on horseback for the final stretch of their return into Rakushou.

"You certainly showed that djinn his place, Lord Kouen," Kin says as he clambers on to his stout warhorse. "Why, the two of you were like a pair of lions fighting it out for dominance!"

Seishuu rolls his eyes as he gently kicks his horse to a trot. "I'd say they were more like a pair of bickering alley cats."

Kin glares at Seishuu for his snickering. "Nonsense. Lord Kouen was the model of decorum!" He reaches over and claps Kouen stoutly on the back. "Why, I dare say people should call him a lion himself with how well he leads."

"I don't really have much need for nicknames, Kin," Kouen says, shrugging off the compliment and the almost-painful clap on the back. "My talents speak for themselves."

Seishuu looks thoughtful as Rakushou slowly rises in the distance before them. "I dunno... Your djinn equip with Astaroth gives you snake shit..." He grins over at Kouen. "Maybe Agares will make you look like a terrifying lion."

Kouen's brow furrows in thought. "Well, I hope it isn't too fearsome. I was thinking that such a... comparatively soft djinn might be alright to show the Princess."

Seishuu whistles. "Kouen and Hakuei, kissing in the garden, Kouen and Hakuei, his pants begin to-"

"You stop that!" Kouen shouts, his face going red. Seishuu recognizes it as embarrassment, not rage. "I simply think that Astaroth is too fearsome a djinn for a lady's sensitive disposition."

Kin laughs at that. "I daresay though, the Princess's charm point is most definitely those things which make her least ladylike."

Seishuu groans. "I swear, if you bring up that one time she beat me in riding-"

"I was going to bring up the swordplay, actually." Kin twirls his thick black mustache and looks practically devious. "I hadn't heard about the lost contest of horsemanship."

As they cross through the gates of Rakushou, Kouen holds up a hand to order the party to stop. With a shuffling of hooves and an abrupt end to what would have been a very rude word, Seishuu, Kin, and the rest of the adventuring party obeys.

"My Lord?" Kin asks, looking at Kouen curiously.

Kouen slowly shakes his head, his hand still raised. "Something is wrong." He looks back at his men. "We sent word ahead that we'd be returning."

Seishuu glances around at the almost empty streets, the lack of fanfare. "Maybe we came back quicker than expected? Or maybe they just didn't feel like giving as big a to-do for your second djinn?" He gives a teasing smile. "What, sad you aren't getting as much atten-"

"No." Kouen turns back around. "No, something is wrong." He spurs his horse to a gallop and speeds through the streets. The people he sees move slowly, and so many wear white, mourning white, as they did when the Emperor died, and the pit of Kouen's stomach is cold with terror. He will ride through the gates of the palace, he will cross the courtyard and go up the high stone stairs to find-

Through the gates, the palace is gone.