Around 10 years ago was supposed to be the start of a new era within the land. Many kingdoms resided within the land and seemed to always be at odds with one another. Each kingdom had its share of valuable resources but not a wide variety to be self-sustaining. However, the prideful kings would never be the first to make a deal with each other in order to trade goods to aid their own people. That was until King Kenshin proposed an idea to make all of the kingdoms live peacefully under one domain, Domanium. The kings would still be able to rule over their own kingdoms as they see fit but under this one domain, the kingdoms would be united in order to trade goods between one another and allow their subjects to prosper. The ruler of the domain would be able to help resolve any confrontation that the kingdoms had with one another and help find a solution. After King Kenshin went around to all of the kingdoms to tell them of his plan, they all eventually agreed to the plan. Thus brings us to the fateful night.
On a summer evening, all of the royal families and guests were to gather at King Kenshin palace for the unification ball. A celebration for the new domain and for the hope that the future holds. Every king and queen and family members were there celebrating this monumental moment in history. This also included (Y/N), King Kenshin's only child. She was around 7 years old at the time of the ball. She had (h/l), (h/c) hair, with vibrate (e/c) eyes that were just as kind as her father's. She ran around the ballroom in her (f/c) dress that looked like something from her fairytale books. She finally run into her father and buried her head into his legs. With an oof, King Kenshin looked down to see his daughter holding on tightly to his pant leg while hiding her face. He excused himself from who he was talking to and bent down to look at his daughter.
"What's the matter my love?" he said in a gentle tone while placing a hand on her shoulder to try to get her to look at him without forcing it.
"I don't like it here" he heard her reply in a small and quiet voice. Just barely audible over the sounds of the party.
"Oh and why not?"
"There are too many old people here and they keep looking down on me" she finally spoke while looking at her father with puffed-out cheeks. King Kenshin had to do everything in his power from laughing at his sulking daughter. He covered up his laugh with a small cough before continuing the conversation.
"Well, you're not completely wrong in that fact but that doesn't mean you should be rude when you're talking about them," he said while quirking his eyebrow trying to see if (Y/N) understood what he was saying. She quickly turned away from avoiding eye contact.
"It still makes it true. And they keep looking down at me whenever they talk to me!" (Y/N) exclaimed while flailing her arms around to try to get her point across.
This time, King Kenshin actually laughed while stating, "well my love, that's because you're not quite grown yet so they need to look down to be able to understand you."
"One day, when I'm grown, everyone will be looking up to me and they'll never look down on me ever again!"
King Kenshin let out a big laugh while picking up his daughter and spinning her around. "Haha yes! That's the attitude that I know and love!"
Just the sound of her laughter made his heart soar. Her happiness is one of the main reasons he wanted to unite the kingdoms under Domanium. He would do anything to protect her and her happiness.
King Kenshin put her back down on the ground and allowed her to regain her balance before leaning down close to her ear and whispered "you know, I heard that there were cream puffs over at the snack table." She let out an excited gasp and looked at him with bright (e/c) eyes.
"If you hurry, you just might be able to get a few before they run out." As soon as he finished saying his sentence, she was running toward the snack table as fast as her little legs could carry her.
Once she reached the table, she noticed a variety of brightly colored foods on display in the most extravagant arrangement. For (Y/N), however, she had her sights on one thing only: the delicious cream puffs her father had mentioned. She reached onto the top of the table, stretching her small arm as far it would go while standing on her tippy toes to retrieve her prize. When she felt the soft and flaky texture of the treat, she immediately grabbed onto it and retracted her hand. As she was about to place the tasty treat into her mouth, she heard a noise come from underneath the table. She stopped midmotion and looked at the bottom of the table with caution and curiosity. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her or just someone's footsteps passing by. However, as she was about to eat the cream puff, she heard it again. Deciding the snack can wait, she leaned down and slightly pulled the table cloth up.
Under the table was a boy that appeared to be around her age. He had spiky blonde hair that went straight up in every direction. He looked to be from the dragon kingdom, Dragcona since was wearing the ceremonial blue top that was stitched together with black string over a white top and came down to his mid-torso. He also wore matching blue pants along with white knee braces. The part of his outfit that gave him away as hailing from the Dragcona kingdom was his garnet red teardrop-shaped earrings along with the big white fur coat he wore over his shoulders. He appeared to be curled up with his knees to his chest under the table. It also looked like he was crying. When he realized that his sanctuary was being invaded he whipped his head up towards the intruder. He stared into vivid (e/c) eyes with his scarlet red ones.
"Hey! Get out here! No one's allowed in here" he yelled trying to get this stranger to leave him alone.
"What are you doing under the table? The cream puffs are on top" she answered not quite understanding why someone would just be sitting underneath the snack table with so many great options awaiting to be picked from.
"Did you not hear me, dummy? I said get out of here!" He yelled one more time going back to his previous position, not paying any mind to her hoping she would just listen and leave him alone. The next thing he knew was that she shuffled under the table and sat next to him. She continued to stare at him while he tried his best to ignore her.
"What's the matter?" she asked him in a gentle tone. He was caught off guard by this and looked at her with a face full of shock. Most people would just leave him alone after the second time he shouted at them to go away. Well, most people except for one very annoying idiot back home who he just can't seem to shake off. Her stare lingered on him as she waited for an answer.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he sneered, "it's none of your business! What? You think I'm stupid for hiding under a table huh? Well, I'm not. I just don't want to hang out with a bunch of stuffy old people who are always looking down on me! One day, when I'm bigger, I'm going to have the mightiest dragon in all of the lands and everyone will have to look up to me! Everyone will pay me so much respect they wouldn't dare think about crossing me!"
He spoke with such determination and passion that (Y/N) was awestruck by it. She'd only seen this much determination in one person before but he didn't nearly have as much passion as this kid sitting next to her. She wanted to have just a fraction of determination and passion as he did. (Y/N) could see that he was going to be a great ruler one day and she can only hope to be just as great as he will be.
"Wow," she said with wonder in her voice, "I hope I can be as great as you one day! What will you name your dragon? I want a dragon! How do you get a dragon? I would want my to be (f/c) and sparkly!" she rambled on. The young boy just looked at her starstruck. He had never seen anyone take him so seriously before. Most people just brush him to the side or they don't even acknowledge his presence but here was this complete stranger still under a table at the biggest ball of the century talking about she wished to be just like him and that she also wanted to have a dragon.
Once she was done with her rant, he gave a cocky smirk to not show his excitement "the name's Kastuki Bakugo, you better remember that!" She simply nodded, "My name is (Y/N) (L/N). Nice to meet you" she replied while sticking out her hand for him to shake. Bakugou then took and gave it a quick shake. The rest of their time was spent talking about their dreams about the future (mostly fantasies they hoped to see come true). They were having the times of their lives underneath that table until a rushed and chilled wind blew through the ballroom silencing everything and stopping everyone in their tracks.
(Y/N) and Bakugo looked at each other before poking their heads out from under the table cloth. They quickly scanned the room before their eyes landed on the entrance of the ballroom. There stood a man with a dark nobleman's suit on with a child that looked to only be a couple of years older than them. The man's full face could not be seen as he was wearing a masquerade mask that covered the upper half of his face. The base of the mask was a matte black, it was so dark that it seemed to hide his eye. The design that was on top of the base had what almost looked like silver lines going from the nose of it outwards and the ends of the lines extended past the mask to give a sharp winged look. The boy that was next to him wore an outfit that was similar to the man's but more toned down for a child. The boy's face was also covered but instead of a mask, it looked to be a severed hand. He had long shaggy blueish-grey hair with sickly pale skin.
(Y/N) was terrified of the new guest. In a moment of fear, she decided that she wanted to be closer to her father so she ran for the sanctuary of the snack table towards her father. She reached him quickly and tucked herself behind his legs while peaking out from beside them to watch the strangers. Her father took up a defensive stance between the new arrivals and his guest. He didn't know who they were or what they wanted but he knew one thing: they were dangerous.
"What business do you have here?" King Kenshin demanded more than asked. He stood tall and watch their every move while making sure that (Y/N) remained behind him.
"Why stop all the festivities? I do apologize for the late arrival but please forgive me. Travel was more treacherous than we had expected." The man with the mask finally spoke with a twisted smile on his face. "We just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I heard that there's going to be a new ruler of all the kingdoms and that appears to be you correct?"
"The purpose of Domanium is not to rule but rather to be able to help with the peaceful trading of goods and services between the kingdoms. The kings and queens will still be able to rule their kingdoms as they see fit as long as they are still trading fairly." King Kenshin clarified to the man.
"Ah, I see, my mistake. Then you are more foolish than I had originally thought. You wish to unite the kingdoms but not to rule over them? Tell me, your highness, how do you plan on making the kingdom's trade peacefully? How can you keep one kingdom from taking advantage of another and keeping all the profits for themselves without 'ruling over them?" How can keep war from breaking out and keep people from being people? You see, people will always think of themselves first and will throw whoever they need to into the fire in order to survive?"
At the end of the masked man's rant, all of the guests were looking around at each other, wondering if and when one of these monarchs will do what he had just stated and turn on them. King Kenshin could feel the uneasiness and tension rise in the room All of his hard work was about to be done with just a few sentences.
King Kenshin took a deep breath and harden his look, "Because I will be the living contract between the kingdoms. I help to keep the peace with my men at my side and work through any issues that they may have so that not only will their people prosper but their kingdoms will thrive as well. I am willing to lay down my life to help keep the peace so long as their subjects live."
And just like that, all of the guests in the ballroom were reminded of what they agreed to when they came here tonight. They no longer doubted what King Kenshin was doing. They all knew that they had made the right choice when they gave approval to this idea when King Kenshin was presenting it to them in their throne rooms.
The man in the mask slowly started to chuckle, which turned into a burst of full-blown laughter that only a mad man could produce. He stood there clutching his stomach like he was trying to keep it from bursting open while his mini-version just remained motionless in his spot. The masked man finally composed himself before he whipped away a nonexistent tear. He stood tall and looked at the girl that was hiding behind her father before making eye contact with him again.
"I always knew you were a foolish one but I've never seen anyone so delusional before. My, that is quite the spectacle isn't it?" He said in a chilling tone. If anyone wasn't on their guard before, they were now. The shift in the room turned into something haunting that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
"It's a shame that it will never come true, King Kenshin. You say that you're the living contract and that you're willing to lay down your life. Well then, let's prove it shall we?" As the mystery man was talking, his henchmen come from the shadows behind him, filling his half of the ballroom. King Kenshin drew his sword and took a stance. "I guess there's only one way to find out," he stated in a low tone.
All at once, the henchmen rushed forward toward the guest and chaos ensued. (Y/N) was pushed by her father in hopes of getting her out of the way of danger. She fell onto her butt and just watched in horror as the stuffy, boring ballroom had suddenly turned into a battlefield. Her father, transformed from a peaceful and gentle man into a fearsome warrior in a matter of seconds. (Y/N) was in shock that she couldn't do anything but just watch. She watched as guards gave their lives to protect the royal families. People were getting cut down like trees. She just listened to the screams of party guests and the clashing of swords. She wanted to run away or at the very least scream. From a distance, the one friend that she made that night was shoved out of the ballroom as he kept his eyes on her. Why wasn't she moving? Why wasn't anyone helping her? She's going to get killed if she remained there any longer.
Just as (Y/N) had finally gathered the nerve to do something, she witness the nightmare that would haunt her for the rest of her life for the first time. She watched the masked drive his sword into her father's stomach. She watched as the man she knew to stand tall crumble to knees trying to keep his blood from pooling out too much. She watched as her father looked up at his killer with a determined look and tell him something. The killer lightly laughed. She watched as his killer's predecessor came forwards and place his hand over her father's face. And just like that, he disappeared, like he turned into dust and never existed. His physical form was no more. Right when (Y/N) was about to scream, she was roughly pulled upwards and rushed out of the ballroom to safety.
That night is burned into the minds of everyone who attended the ball 10 years later. The night that the dream of a foolish man came tumbling down in a blaze of glory. Some even describe it as heaven crashing down to earth. The kingdoms went back to their solitude and war started to break out among them. Most aren't sure what started the war but that didn't really matter, all that mattered was coming out as the victor. The kingdoms had long forgotten the unification and the domain. Something out of a fairytale, even the mere mention of it, turned people into a laughing stock. However, there are few people who still believe that Domanium can become a reality once again, just like King Kenshin had envisioned all those years ago.