Disclaimer: I don't own the King's Quest franchise or the Bravely Default/Second franchise, nor its characters.

It's been a while since I posted any Bravely Default/Second fanfics, let alone any fanfics at all. Six months to be exact, if I'm correct. With all the increased focus on original fiction and poetry, as well as other IRL endeavors, I can't promise that I'll be posting fanfics super consistently like I used to, unfortunately.

However, I'm very happy to share this oneshot that I drafted last year, forgot to post, and then finally got around to posting now. I hope all of you enjoy reading it – especially for those who are King's Quest fans, since this is my first fanfic for that fandom! Happy reading!

A Reluctant Alliance

Summary: King Graham and Queen Valanice made Rosella of Daventry hire a bodyguard to accompany her on her travels, despite her being perfectly fine with defending herself, thank you very much. Nobutsuna Kamiizumi really needs the money to pay for his newly-adopted daughter's tuition and other necessities for studying at Al-Khampis's magic school. Both find themselves stuck with each other with little to do but talk to each other, outside of their travels.

Warning: Spoilers for King's Quest III, IV and VII, as well as spoilers for Bravely Default and its sequel Bravely Second. Death and canon-typical violence are mentioned.

Rosella really didn't want to hire a bodyguard.

Her parents insisted, worried as ever about her, despite her insisting that she was perfectly fine! She'd saved her father's life after going on her own! She'd fallen through a lake into another world along with her mother before, too! It wasn't like she didn't know a thing about adventuring, and everyone in the family had their share of life-and-death experiences individually at this point.

And yet, her parents insisted. Perhaps it was because she was traveling around to meet prospective spouses that had them concerned for her safety. They couldn't always go with her; after all, they had to rule and manage Daventry, their home.

With that in mind, Rosella soon found herself face to face with an older man – had to be in his forties, she guessed, and he wore long green robes. There was a sword he had with him, though it was currently sheathed, and he apparently had quite the track record when it came to battle – routing a hundred men by himself, and a key commander in a civil war back in a land called Luxendarc.

"Swordmaster Nobutsuna Kamiizumi, I presume?"

"Yes, I am, Your Highness." He bowed politely, but a sigh left her.

"If it's going to be the two of us traveling together for a while, I would prefer if you were less formal when it's the two of us." She managed, sighing. "Rosella is fine."

"I'll keep that in mind." She noticed how formal he was otherwise, and she was glad that she'd asked him to call him by her actual name and not just a title.

This was…going to be a long journey, wasn't it? She doubted it would be any fun with someone constantly watching over her.

Kamiizumi hadn't thought much of the job.

He needed money, Castle Daventry was willing to pay a lot to keep their daughter safe, and he knew he could fulfill it with the skills he had at his disposal. He'd worked with people younger than him before, like the Diva of the Battlefield Praline, and people much less pleasant than her as well.

Rosella certainly reminded him of Edea in a few ways – open to adventure, an action-oriented person. But when she started mentioning all the adventures she'd been through, it was hard to believe.

"Let me clarify this, but…you were almost sacrificed to a dragon, was barely saved in time by your twin brother who you never met before up until then because he was abducted at birth by some other evil wizard? And then, less than a day later, you traveled to the land of Tamir through a magic mirror to find a magical fruit that would save your father from nearly dying?"

And here Kamiizumi thought that his own experiences were wild enough to talk about. Apparently not.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened." Rosella stared at him hard, brows furrowed. "I'm surprised you're so shocked given that you literally staged a rebellion against the Crystalist Church, founded the Duchy of Eternia along with Braev Lee, and took part in a four-year civil war in the region of Eisenberg, of all places! And your former pupil Edea nearly destroyed the world because of one evil fairy manipulating her and her friends, on top of this?"

Kamiizumi nodded, and she noticed his lips twist at the mention of Edea. "It gets worse. A few years later, a different evil fairy tried to summon a different evil god to destroy the world as well."

The princess' nose wrinkled at that statement. "Don't tell me – she misled Edea too?"

"No, but she misled a different entire group of people, led by the brother of one of my allies at the time."

The princess' nose wrinkled. "Somehow, that is a lot worse."

"It is. At least both times, we stopped the end of the world from happening." He couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the hilarity of their situation.

"What else have you went through?" Rosella asked, tilting her head. "Let me guess, you adopted someone who nearly killed you in the past?"

He froze. Turned his head and stared at her with silence before asking, "How did you know that?" He'd never mentioned Minette to anyone – that wasn't the necessary information they needed to know.

"Lucky guess?" She stared back at him, then her eyes widened– "Do you actually have a…?"

"Daughter, yes. Adopted." He swallowed, glanced away from her, then met her gaze again. He supposed that he'd have to at least let her know, with her catching on so quick with just a guess. "She's in school right now. Back in Luxendarc."

"I see." Rosella decided not to ask further questions, but he bet that she already guessed why he'd taken on this job. He decided to shift the conversation to Rosella herself.

"Speaking of Luxendarc, I think you would like to travel through there. Its regions have varying climates and peoples." A light chuckle left Kamiizumi at that, and Rosella glanced toward him again as he continued speaking. "Of course, I'm not sure what your parents would think of it, given that it could be a danger to your safety."

A huff left Rosella and she shook her head. "As far as I know, anything I do could be a 'danger to my safety,' according to my mother." Kamiizumi could see her rolling her eyes as she kept talking. "She wants me to just get married – I know she means well, and we also have our kingdom to consider, but I don't want to just sit on the sidelines while everyone else gets to go on adventures. I've grown up on hearing so much of my father's past travels and so on that I just want to see the world, too!"

"Even if I am escorting you for the sake of you hopefully finding a potential spouse and keeping you safe, you could take advantage of the fact that you're traveling right now." Kamiizumi pointed out gently. "After all, we don't know how soon you'll find someone worthy of courting you and eventually having your hand in marriage."

"You're right." An impish smile crossed her face, and Kamiizumi swallowed. "You said that I'd have a fun time traveling in Luxendarc, right? Could we use my spouse-searching as an excuse to go there?'

The Swordmaster faltered. "Princess, I don't know if your parents would want you going that far – "

"Too late! We're heading back to Castle Daventry to ask about this and see if they approve." A giggle left Rosella, a smile spreading even more across her face. "This is perfect! Thank you, Kamiizumi, for such an excellent idea!"

Oh no. Kamiizumi wasn't sure if he should be regretting this, but he could only follow her back to the castle.

Somehow, her parents agreed to this probably bad idea of touring Luxendarc to find possible suitors – not that there were a ton, but maybe there would be someone interested.

"I'm surprised they agreed to it," Kamiizumi commented after he and Rosella got on the ship meant to take them to Luxendarc.

"Why is that?" Rosella glanced up at him, and a sigh left him.

"Well, Luxendarc's currently in the middle of some changes with its Crystal Orthodoxy. Reforms and so on. I have little to do in that area, even if I have worked with some of its people."

"Tell me more about the Crystal Orthodoxy," She requested, and he answered her.

The Crystal Orthodoxy was a whole church that worshipped Crystals – namely ones of Fire, Water, Earth and Air. It was possible for them to go into a frenzy, resulting in destruction and chaos, so it was important that vestals tended to them regularly. Agnes Oblige, the now-former Pope of the Orthodoxy, was once a vestal of the Wind Crystal. But with the Orthodoxy suffering losses of replacing vestals and now trying to find a new Pope since Agnes recently stepped down, there was some internal chaos going on.

"It doesn't seem to have affected the everyday lives of others, despite the chaos." Rosella noted.

"No, it hasn't. Though behind the scenes is a different story."

"Are you banned from any particular place?"

He glanced toward her. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you were part of the Duchy. You helped lead their rebellion that founded it, and then participated in a civil war in Eisenberg." Rosella managed, raising a brow. "I imagine there might be places that you've been restricted from approaching since."

"Surprisingly, nothing's set in stone about that. Probably because I was already starting to travel the world and hone my swordsmanship on my own by the time the first evil god was defeated." Kamiizumi shrugged lightly. "I didn't exactly keep in close contact with anyone at the time, save for a select few, so tracking me down and putting a legal banishment or exile on me would be too difficult for them to do. Though…I don't approach Eisenberg much nowadays. Too many bad memories."

"That makes sense." Rosella figured that if she were on the losing side of a civil war, she wouldn't want to go back to its location either. "Though, I'm sorry to hear that your experiences there were mostly unfortunate."

"Enough about that, however." A hum left Kamiizumi, before he paused, looking toward Rosella. "Rosella – since we'll be traveling throughout most of Luxendarc, I was wondering if we could head to Al-Khampis at some point. The academy there is where my daughter studies, and I'm sure she'd appreciate a visit."

"Minette? Of course." A smile spread across Rosella's face at that. "What is she like, if you don't mind me asking? Is she like you, but shorter? I know you adopted her, but…"

"Truthfully, she looks nothing like me. And she's not fully human, either."

"Not fully human?" Rosella's brows furrowed. "Why? Was it a magical transformation, or..?"

"No. Her birth mother–" He paused, swallowed, then continued, "Her mother…fed an antibiotic substance to her so she wouldn't be affected by a plague going on at the time. It made her immune, but also gave her feline traits. Shortly after, her mother died, and she was on her own for years before she was picked up by the Grantz Empire, and then we eventually met each other. She's shorter than most girls her age as part of the effects, too…"

She noticed him trail off, and she frowned. "You're worried about how she'd be treated at school?"

He sighed. "Why wouldn't I be? She already has a deep distrust for normal humans due to her past torment, and I'd hate to learn that she's being bullied at school and so on. She's been through enough cruelty."

She frowned. "You can't shelter her from everything harmful."

"I am aware." He nodded once. "But I just want her to have a happier life…a better one than what she had before."

Rosella swallowed. In a way, Kamiizumi's sentiments reminded her of her parents – well-meaning, wanting her and her brother to be happy. She took a deep breath, looking up at him before speaking again.

"I think she appreciates a lot of what you've done for her so far," She managed after a moment. "I think it's fair to say that I know what it's like knowing that your parents want you to be happy, but they have to learn to make sure it's not…overbearing? If that makes any sense?"

"I understand what you mean." Kamiizumi nodded once, looking her in the eye, and there was the faintest grin at the coner of his lips. "It's taken me long enough to earn Minette's trust fully – but being there too much for her won't help her either. It's a balancing act. Though," He frowned, "You'd think I'd be better at this given that I've mentored others younger than me."

"I think being a mentor and a parent have their differences." Rosella shrugged a bit, but she couldn't help but grin a bit. "Though all you can do is try your best."

"I hope I'm doing my best. And," He smiled a little, "I'm sure your parents are, too."

Rosella knew that her parents weren't completely born into royalty – her mother, yes, but her father worked his way up the ranks and started off as a knight back in the day. Castle Daventry had went through a lot after they both started ruling together, and the eventful plights did much to affect how they looked after their children – mainly Rosella herself since they'd lost Alexander for numerous years but still.

"I'm sure they are," She breathed back. Her conversation with Kamiizumi fell into silence as he looked out to the sea, and she looked toward the waters as well. The sea was a sparkling blue – she'd swam through an ocean before in Tamir, but this one seemed much larger, encompassing more area than she could imagine.

She wasn't sure how long she'd be on this journey with Kamiizumi. But there were infinite possibilities of where this journey would take them, and what would happen – and she was excited to see what came next.

Maybe traveling with someone wasn't so bad after all, she decided. Not at all.