Falling Kindom

Chaos

Hajime was in the study, poring over documents with Haru and Aoi. He was surprised Aoi knew so much about the affairs of the kingdom, but then again, Aoi was raised a noble. After a brief conversation with Haru—who seemed delighted to share his knowledge and opinions—Aoi had picked up everything necessary.

"Hajime, Hajime!" called Kakeru as he ran in, breathless.

"What's wrong?" said Hajime, standing up and walking around his desk.

"There's a disease spreading in the east of the kingdom," said Kakeru, straightening, and forcing himself to speak in full sentences despite his shortness of breath. "That's one thing that's concerning."

"You mean there's another?" asked Hajime, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't faced any crises as of late; it had been awfully peaceful, and he was starting to wish it had stayed that way.

Kakeru nodded. "I heard from a tavern owner that there are rumors of another kingdom appearing out of nowhere in the east."

Hajime wondered what Kakeru was doing in a tavern, and which tavern owner had let a little boy into a tavern in the first place.

"Kingdoms don't appear out of nowhere," said Haru quietly.

Kakeru shrugged. "It's just a rumor."

Hajime waved a hand. "Forget about that, that's not important right now." He looked at Kakeru with piercing eyes. "Has the disease been identified?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"Symptoms?" asked Aoi, putting a book back on the shelf.

"A sudden plummeting of body temperature and random blue spots on the skin. The healers have started calling it Caelitis, in honor of the blue spots."

"I've never read about it," said Aoi, looking crestfallen. Haru absent-mindedly ruffled his hair.

"You said it was spreading in the east?" asked Hajime. Kakeru nodded, and a look of worry crossed Haru's face. "That's where Koi went."

"He's trying to contain the situation with a group of healers, but I think they're failing," said Kakeru, looking down. "We have three deaths."

Aoi's sharp intake of breath could be heard. As Hajime was wondering what to do about this situation, Arata wandered in, full guard mode on. If it weren't for the laziness evident in the way he walked, he would look like a proper captain.

"Hajime," he said, looking around at everyone in the room. "King Tokiya of Hyra wants to have a word with you. He said it's urgent."

Now that was a surprise. Usually people would send a letter saying they were coming on a visit.

"Guide him to the courtroom," said Hajime. Arata nodded and stalked out of the room, head held high. Hajime looked back to Haru. "Could you take care of the rest?"

"I'll have a map drawn out and issue a quarantine," he said, as he gestured to Aoi and the two of them left.

Hajime headed down to the courtroom, rubbing his forehead, letting his feet guide him through the halls.

Tokiya stood in the center of the room, gazing around with polite interest. His indigo hair seemed to absorb the shadows of the fading sunset. His knight stood beside him, a careful mask of disinterest on his face. Hajime glanced at both of them; his knight's ice blue eyes appeared to gaze right through him.

"Hajime," he said softly.

"Tokiya," nodded Hajime. "What brings you here?"

"I believe you heard about the kingdom that simply rose from the ground?" he asked.

"Just now. Do you mean to tell me that it was not a simple rumor, blown out of proportion by the townsfolk?"

Tokiya shook his head. "It exists. It is far closer to Hyra. And now there is Caelitis flitting around our kingdoms," he said, his eyes darknening. "Doesn't the timing seem off to you?"

"You think they have something to do with it?" Hajime tilted his head, considering.

Tokiya shrugged. "It's all worth a wonder."

The knight placed a hand on his sword's sheath. "It's unlikely. They seem to be at unrest as well."

Tokiya turned to him. "What do you mean, Camus?"

"Exactly as he says. There's no pandemic there, but their castle is in an uproar," said Kakeru, walking in. He nodded to the messenger hawk on his shoulder, who flapped its wings and flew out the window. "They're probably too busy to cause a bio-war."

Hajime sighed and looked around. He'd never heard of such a disease nor symptoms, but new things popped up all the time. "How's Koi doing?"

"Koi's fine, Your Majesty," said a new voice walking in. His pink hair fluttered as he gave a winning smile.

Kakeru ran up to Koi and hugged him, Koi laughing. Hajime smiled.

"Tokiya, is there anything else happening?" asked Hajime.

Tokiya shook his head. "I'll see to things on my end, but I do want to know about the kingdom over there," he said, gesturing vaguely to the east, a suggestive look on his face.

Hajime knew what he was asking, but wondered why he couldn't lead an investigation himself. "Exactly how bad is in the situation in Hyra?"

"Terrible."

"My queen would've had this situation under control by now," muttered Camus under his breath. Unfortunately, that didn't go unnoticed by Tokiya.

He threw Camus an irritated glance. "Too bad she's not queen any longer, huh?"

Hajime watched the exchange with amusement. Tokiya sighed as Camus huffed and looked away. "Hajime, I'll be leaving now."

He stopped by the door and turned around. "If you do choose to investigate, you'll have to go through Hyra. Be sure, you are welcome in our kingdom." He walked out, as Hajime raised a hand in farewell.

Hajime turned to Koi and Kakeru. "Koi, status report."

Kakeru pulled away from Koi, as Koi nodded, a determination filling his eyes. "We've counted 50 cases, and almost 30 more in the starting stages. Right now, it's being confined to the city of Nox, however there are two out of that city. We don't know how it's spreading."

Hajime started walking to the conference room, Koi and Kakeru following in whispered conversation. His eyes barely registered the paintings on the walls, but he knew them so well he could recollect them all. If Tokiya was right, and this had to do with the kingdom in the east, then they'd have to do something about this.

"Haru!" called Hajime, as he walked into the room. Haru and Aoi were poring over a map, their heads together in a conversation. They both looked up as Hajime walked in, Kakeru and Koi in tow. "I think we need to go on a little picnic."

Haru blinked as Hajime repeated his conversation with Tokiya. Haru started tracing a path on the map.

"If we're to believe the latest gossip from our intel unit," said Haru, as Kakeru pretended to tip his non-existent hat, "Then the kingdom is situated somewhere here." He pointed to somewhere past Hyra. "It's a straight route past there, but we'll have to cross the Spiravit Forest." Haru's face changed to one of worry, and Hajime knew better than to question it.

"When do we leave?" asked Hajime.

"Your Majesty," said Kakeru, placing heavy emphasis on the words. "You can't seriously be considering going yourself."

"And what if I am?" Hajime challenged. "It'd be faster for me to go than to wait for a messenger.

Haru sighed and Aoi gave a nervous laugh.

"And Koi—" Koi looked up "—Head back to Nox and try to contain the situation, will you? Take some of the palace healers with you."

"Roger!" Koi raced out.

"Are you sure we'll be fine?" asked Haru, as Aoi studied the map.

Hajime didn't answer.

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