"Asagi, this is a nice town, don’t you think?"
My twin sister, Asagi, exclaimed in absolute wonder.
“It is!” I replied just as enthusiastically, beaming as I carefully took in the sights around us.
We had just entered one of the royal towns---and without a doubt, the scenery and landscape would be absolutely breathtaking. Towers shone with such brilliance and magnificence underneath the sun of day and cozy-looking houses dotted the roadsides. The market was fresh and alive with people hustling here and there, chattering amongst themselves like little birds. An enormous, white-laden castle stood gloriously in the centre of the kingdom, like a polished pearl that shone with light.
And though numerous guards of sorts guarded the castle, we could still get a good glimpse of the decorations and gardens that surrounded the palace. Roses bloomed in all sorts of shapes and shades and willow trees shook along with the wind. Marigolds, daisies, primroses, peonies---any sort of flower seemed to be at home at the palace. But who wouldn't be, really?
The sudden sound of a horn blast rupturing through the air startled both my sister and I. When we tried to find the source of the noise, we had finally realized that we had been so absorbed in observation that we hadn't noticed the galloping marching band passing by, the trumpeteers blowing their horns as hard as they could until their face turned beet red.
Two regal-looking figures, presumably a King and his daughter, stood above the crowd within the depths of the marching band from some sort of open carriage.
The king wore a long robe with a fur trim, practically exuding the typical image of royalty. However, his crown seemed to be a couple sizes too large---and would topple of his balding head every time the carriage shook a little too hard.
The princess, on the other hand, was the definition of elegant. Her dress fanned out around her in numerous blue layers of the finest silks and fabrics, and a crown of blue flowers circle her bun with a small tiara settled at the front of her head. Though she looked absolutely stunning, she seemed a little sad---and would force a smile everytime she met the gaze of one of the ecstatic citizens waving at her.
“What I would do to get a dress like that!” Akari cooed, ruffling her hair in frustration.
To both our surprise, the young princess abruptly looked in our direction. She smiled serenely at us before she turned away again. Akari and I exchanged perplexed glances.
“My goodness... she has the hearing of a bat!" Akari whispered to me, amazed. “I said that really quietly!”
“I don't think so, sis. We really do stand out from the rest of the crowd.” I whispered back, glancing at the ogling eyes around us.
We really did stand out from everyone else. In comparison to most of the other folk, being adventurers, we wore differnet clothes. A thin bandeau of fabric covered our bust and cargo pants went down to our knees. Our navels were exposed, yes, and our collar bones, and a fair deal of skin---but walking for days on end, you needed a little heat relief once in a while. And of course, we had gathered our fair share of spoils during our journies, and various such accessories dotted our clothing, hair, and bodies. A couple tattoos of symbols here in there were also exposed.
All the women here wore old fashioned dresses with aprons and a hat with flowers and the men wore casual pullovers and breeches. I saw eyes watching us, glaring at us. I elbowed Akari.
“I think we should get going.” I mumbled to her, feeling an awkward tension starting to settle in the air. She nodded.
We had only taken a few steps when the sound of someone yelling at the top of their lungs echoed from behind us. We turned around hesitantly, afraid that some eccentric was chasing us until we realized it was none of the than the king himself, running towards us admist the crowd.
Akari and I both screamed and started running for dear life. Whatever we had done wrong, clearly getting chased by a king was not exactly a good warning.
I turned my head as we continued to run, gawking as I noticed that the entire band had begun to chase us as well!
“STOP!” the king yelled breathlessly, his oversized belly practically falling from his robes. That’s what you get for being a glutton… I thought to myself.
“PLEASE, I JUST WANT TO ASK YOU SOMETHING!”
Akari and I instantly stopped. However, the king, considering his size and stature, tripped and flew fowards, airborne, for several feet before he fell to the ground in a heap.
All his maids and servants, guards and marchers all went after him. Questions like, “are you alright?” and “those children! How dare those young ladies not listen to the king?” seemed common in their line of fire. I sighed, wondering what Akari and I had gotten ourselves into.
“Anyways, you two ladies, your names?” the King demanded, rubbing his face as sweat dripped down his chin. I tried to resist making a face at the sight. He stood up with at least 10 people supporting him! I cleared my throat cautiously before I dipped into a polite curtsy. Akari, however, spoke first.
“I’m Akari, and this is my twin sister, Asagi.” Akari explained, curtsying herself.
“Twin sisters, hmm? How interesting!” the King replied, staring at us up and down. I took a cautious step backwards. This didn't seem to be heading in any sort of comforting direction...
“I am the King…” he gasped for air. and I thought he was going to start sizzling like an egg any second. “Coru…” he gasped again. “It’s a pleasure to meet two such, such fine ladies as yourselves on a wondrous occasion as this." He added rapidly in one breath.
With an arrogant expression on his face, he suddenly snapped his fingers.
Two men brought him a chair whilst two ladies appeared and fanned him. Another lady brought him a huge pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice with enormous chunks of oranges in it, rind and all.
“You two must be foreigners.” The king bellowed; his voice suddenly becoming deep after a huge gulp of the orange substance. “I’m sorry about my body condition, but I am too busy with the city to worry about my own condition.” I raised my eyebrows skeptically. Akari elbowed me in the ribs.
“Oh, it’s no problem at all! Please, what is it you’d like to ask us?” Akari asked thoughtfully, warning me with her little gesture to keep my mouth shut.
“Do you happen to have any pieces of the key?” he demanded suddenly in an outburst. His eyes suddenly looked intense and ferocious, as though penetrating our thoughts and mind.
“Key? ” I repeated. "No such thing."
“Are you sure about that?” He asked, raising his eyebrows in a disbeliving manner. He seemed to be suspicious of our response, however, we really did not know anything about any sort of key.
“Could you go farther in your explanation? Any details, or specifications?” Akari asked, trying to press the King for more details.
“Indeed I shall.” The king replied. “But let's talk about this within the castle.”
---
“This place is enormous!” I exclaimed, looking around gleefully. It was even more surreal on the inside, like entering some sort of dream castle. The corridor was so wide and tall that it seemed bigger than a valley, a ravine, or maybe even all the houses combined!
“Your voice echoes!” I screamed ecstatically, now waving my arms about in a childish manner as I skipped down the hallways.
“ALL OF OUR VOICES ARE ECHOING!” I shouted again, listening intently for an echo.
Are echoing... are echoing… echoing… ing… ing…
“What a childish game.”
The sudden interruption of a deep voice cloaked the sound of my echoing, and I frowned, already irritated. Who was he to spoil my fun like that? And where was he hiding, anyways?
“This is not some sort of playground, you fools.” The voice continued coldly, and I searched wildly to find the origin.
“Up here, you foreigners!” The voice exclaimed more loudly, and I looked above us. There was a grand, carefully carved balcony with silk cutrains draping down the wall. A young man stood at the balcony, perched over the side as he glared down at us. And though I couldn't get a good look at him, I already knew he was being arrogant as he precariously looked down at us.
“Father, who are these people?” He asked rudely. When I noticed he was talking to the King...
Oh great. A glutton for a king, an arrogant for a prince, and a beautiful but wistful princess. What a bizarre combination.
“Kiro, stop this insolence and return to your room this instant!” the King bellowed furiously, the sappy king act suddenly dissipating in an instant.
“Stop this nonsense father! Have you forgotten you family’s needs?” The so-called 'Kiro' responded, looking just as annoyed as his Father did.
“I don’t need this right now. WE HAVE GUESTS!” King Coru's voice boomed, actually starting to frighten me a little. The echo of his voice was so powerful the corridor seemed to shudder a little time every time he spoke to his son.
“Very well then father, if you have no use for me, I have no use for you.” Kiro added icily, and though his face was still not clear, I could hear the disappointment and distaste in his voice.
“Kiro, please stop arguing. Father has brought these ladies to speak of the key, so leave them be. Arguing in front of such lovely ladies with such childish banter is not beneficial to your image, correct?” A soft, almost angelic like interrupted the harsh tones of the two males. A voice I could easily associate with the princess, as she appeared behind Kiro.
“Kira, don’t tell me even you're on Father’s side! I thought we had joined arms---but apparently it was some figment of my imagination. Don't expect to speak to me again.” Kiro seethed, storming out of the room as he sent Akari and I a final venemous glare.
“Father, something has been pestering Kiro for the last few days; I wonder what has happened?” The princess, now known as Kira, asked anxiously.
"Kira, this conversation will continue later. As you have told your brother, I am occupied currently with matters of the key. Leave us be.” Coru bellowed, his voice still commanding but slightly softer. Kira curtsied graciously before she left the room as well, practically floating as she scurried into the shadows after her brother.
“Anyway, on the subject of the key, what is it exactly?” I asked curiously, rubbing the back of my head. "And what do you mean exactly be pieces? A key does not serve any purpose if it is broken."
The King turned into us solemnly as he beckoned us to sit down in plush seats. I actually sank into them because the material was so soft.
“The key opens an ancient tomb where a curse has been sealed. Once all pieces of the key are gathered and collected, the doors will open.” Coru explained, eyeing us both intently.
“So you’re trying to curse everyone, then.” Akari and I asked in unison, both suspicious of the man's intentions and purpose. We may be dealing with an absolute psychopath here...
The King suddenly began to laugh, as though ridiculing us, before he cleared his throat and began to speak again more seriously.
“No, my intention is to destroy the curse after assembling the whole key. Legend has it that individually, the pieces cannot be broken. And because the key possesses such great power, that each individual piece will grant its wielder with a power." He explained, a look of hysteria sparking in his eyes for a brief second, sending chills up on my spine.
"But I have created radars and devices that will locate the pieces, and both my children also have one in their possession as well. I was able to locate you two, foreigners I had never seen before, with the radar. For the reason did I start questioning you, you see?" He offered. Akari and I hesitantly nodded, still slightly perplexed by the complexity of it all.
"I... will do anything for the pieces. And though I would search for them personally, time has not been so kind on my body, and as a result, I have sent my children in my place. Kiro really is just lonely because he believes I have lost interest in our family and have grown to the point of obsession with the key... which, he may be a little correct about, after all." He sneered ominously.
He's probably right. I grimaced.
“Alright... but I still don't think we have anything to do with this key." I insisted, trying to think of anything I had ressembling a key.
“Do you have a piece of the key?” Akari asked, and the King nodded as he pulled out a chain from his shirt, revealing a piece of golden metal---engraved with symbols and embedded with little jewels---that looked like a piece of a puzzle.
Akari and I exchanged glances.
Perhaps... we did have a part of the key.
I fumbled for my mother's heirloom, comparing the golden piece of metal with the King's and my sister's.
The King suddenly stood up, his face completely ecstatic as he threw the chair over with the momentum of his body swinging forward.
“I was right!” The King cheered hysterically, his eyes widening with awe. “Hand over your pieces, hand over your pieces..." He repeated, stretching towards us with his thick fingers.
“No.” Akari replied coldly. The King looked absolutely shocked at her response.
“W-W-What...?” He stammered, in complete disbelief at her defiance.
“These are keepsakes from our mother. You have no right to have them.” I replied, agreeing completely with Akari's statement.
“But... I must have them.” His voice trailed off, before he suddenly open his mouth widely to scream furiously, his face burning with fury and anger.“I MUST HAVE THEM!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, the room shaking with his rage.
He went wild.
He screamed and shouted furiously, knocking over anything and everything in sight until his callused hands were bleeding from the shards of various vases, pottery, and other ornaments decorating the scene. He suddenly stopped admist his fit and made an order.
“GUARDS! SEIZE THESE FOOLS AND LOCK THEM INTO THE DUNGEON UNTIL WE HAND OVER THEIR PIECES!”
He can completely undergone some sort of outrageous metamorphisis---from some creepy, but jolly old man to a hysterical lunatic.
Our secret only began to unravel from this moment on.