Kings, lost and gone

[Rantos]

Huge WIP

In a world that could be like ours. 2016 - 2020. In a world like ours, only the super natural is much more commonly accepted. Ghosts (who I am considering to name youkai) wander the world in many forms. Most youkai who care to fit in take the forms of humans upon possessing an object or animal (such as drums or raccoons). Most youkai will take the form of a human with the features of what they possessed in order to reach the physical realm, however that is not all. Youkai primarily live in the spiertual realm, and only by taking residence in a physical object or animal can they enter the physical realm. Youkai are beings known to humans and even have been known to integrate themselves into human civilization. Not all youkai are so pleasant though, in fact many are known to cause trouble, on accident or otherwise. Most youkai do not treat one another too kindly. Fights between youkai are both common and dangerous to stick around near.

Most humans do not cross into the spiritual realm, of possess the naturally prowess of youkais. But some humans are known to become what is called, Kings. A King is a ruler of youkai in the physical realm. There are 50 king in total and have the responsibility to keep peace and balance between humans and youkai. However a King is not forced to do there job. Kings are given powers much like the youkai, only stronger. It is also not uncommon to see Kings fight among each other, for when one King defeats another they gain the losers power. Kings are a little less commonly seen then youkai (considering there is only 50).

​

 

[Rantos]

Nala


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All was calm, and quiet. Mornings light shone though the top of the bamboo forest. Tranquility filled the area surrounding Nala, filling her with the type of serenity few things can invoke within her. Nala's eyes followed the swaying of the bamboo stalks. Locked in a hypnotic state that even made her head sway along with the bamboo. It was all a little much for Nala, in a strange way. She had been living in this same forest, in this same house too, for uncountable years. Yet, every time she awoke to watch the bamboo sway, she always felt as though she was within a new world.


Not many people were up at this time, this time being the butt crack of dawn. It had become something of a tradition for Nala to wake up, make breakfast take a stroll outside... but those were all things done before morning light. Nala also often did not make breakfast for herself. However she is never one to forget to make breakfast for her favorite, and only, roommate. Tsukki, the young boy was a welcome presence in Nala's small world. An odd boy, but one that Nala couldn't help but to love being around. Although she would never say so, the boy gave Nala some purpose to waking up everyday.


Breakfast should be on the table, waiting for Tsukki. Nothing too fancy. Grilled potato with an entire leek stalk. Nala wasn't one for fancy cooking. She was indeed able to create culinary art, and even has been known to make something delectable from time to time. For the most part though, Nala likes to keep things basic. Unlike a king, the physical body of a Yokai needs sustenance. So Nala often forgets to feed herself. She has grown used to the stomach pains though. Nala once even went a whole year before feeling signs of hunger. She then went another year before actually eating anything. To Nala, taking care of her mental heath was more important then her physical health. Feeling the wind brush across her face worked wonders for keeping her sane. More then food ever did.

Kala

​

If there was a woman, that had to feed a whole village, take care of a family, teach a whole school and find the solution to world peace... if such a woman did exist, she would still have less on her plate then Kala. The mad rabbit ran frantically throughout the castle, sweat falling from her brow from the sheer workout she got running up and down the castle of Amasai. Being head servant was no easy task. Being head servant of a castle that held five rowdy kids with the vitality of planet eating monsters was even harder. Kala had almost devoted herself completely to her job, removing as much personal time as she could to make way for her job.


Breakfast had been set, everything seemed to be going smoothly, but Kala knew that this was only the calm before the storm. She was ready for disaster to strike at any moment. Her eyes were ever vigilant and her ears were perked to hear any danger. Silence... very, very scary silence. The king and his family should have woke up by now. Yet there was no yelling, or crashing, or explosions. This was all, too odd. What was happening? Kala walked though the halls of the castle, making her way slowly to the dining room, where Amasai and his family should be enjoying breakfast. Kala was soon faced with the large double doors that led to the dining room. Her hands reached for the nob, shaking with trepidation. If she were to push open the doors, what should she find? Without delaying a moment longer, Kala pushed the doors open, expecting to see a mess out of the dining room.

 

[Exodus Addicus]

Tsukki, like most days, was undisturbed when Nala woke. She was always very considerate of him in that way. When he did wake up, it was to the smell of her delectable cooking. Only she could make a grilled potato smell that good, he thought. Still a little unwilling to get out of bed so early however, Tsukki laid in bed listening to the gentle thump of her footsteps and the small noises of her cooking. It was only until the noises stopped that he decided to actually get up.


Quite a long time ago, Tsukki used an extensive amount of his powers, which completely paralyzed his body below the waist. Some of it had worn off though, so now the paralysis was just above his knees. Every morning he checked to see if there was any progress in the healing, which was basically done by just poking his legs to see if he could feel anything. He checked this morning too, feeling around his knees. Basically the same.. He thought, neither surprised nor disappointed. He knew he would heal over time, and he didn't mind being taken care of by Nala, either-- even though he was the one that wanted to take care of her.


Getting out of bed wasn't entirely an uneasy task, but changing out of his sleeping garments and into his regular, day-to-day clothes was a bit of an awkward trick. He was glad Nala gave him the privacy to wiggle his pants up his legs each morning. His clothes waited for him on his wheelchair, right next to his bed. After he was dressed, he hoisted himself onto his seat. Having done this and more for altogether a long time, Tsukki's arms have become very strong. One time, he accidentally pushed the wheelchair away from him, causing him to fall on his chin. He bit his tongue so hard he thought he bit the whole thing off. Poor Nala found him a whimpering mess with blood dripping out of his mouth all over the floor and staining his shirt. She must've thought the worst.

 

[Exodus Addicus]

Amasai Seth had no idea what his pranksters of children had in store for the ever-so-hard working head servant, Kala. He just couldn't because he was still in bed.... because they tied him down. Of course, he could easily break out of his bonds, but he thought he would indulge them a little from time to time, so he decided this was a good time for sleeping in until they came to release him. If he had known what they were going to do to poor Kala, he would have stopped them from what they were doing..


Currently, Ezra, Nikon, Prisca, and Teddy were waiting for Kala to enter the dining room, each in what they thought looked like a "good position". Ezra lay splayed on the floor like he had fallen out of his chair, his bowl of oatmeal knocked over on the table. Nikon sat in his chair, eyes half open, head tilted back with oatmeal falling out of his mouth and onto his lap. Prisca's bowl was pushed on the side of the table opposite of her, laying her face and arms in front of her with her long dark hair all around her body. Teddy waited right until he heard Kala's footsteps before plunging his face in his oatmeal. They were all faking death by food poisoning.


As Seth lay in bed with his eyes closed, he thought about some of the pranks his kids would often do on himself and the servants. Usually they were much more elaborate and fairly well planned than simply tying someone to their bed. Then again, this could only be part of it, He thought. They could definitely pull this off on someone else-- someone who wasn't stronger than Hercules. So they're probably planning something else for me, he concluded, not giving the issue any more thought.

 

[Rantos]

Nala

Bamboo forest
​

Her precious little friend had finally awoke. Nala could hear it faintly, but she could hear Tsukki from outside the house. Nala had to admit, as soon as she knew Tsukki was awake a big dumb happy smile appeared on her face. Nala knew every day she made the right choice when she let Tsukki become a hermit with her. Although with Tsukki here Nala couldn't really call herself a hermit anymore, not that she cared though. Tsukki's company was enjoyed thoroughly. If anything, having Tsukki around helps Nala keep together. While she would be the last to admit it, she is a mess without Tsukii telling her to eat, or bath, or to not stick her hand in a bears mouth just because it ate her honey. Yep, Tsukii kept her a little more then just sane.


Figuring it was about time to go in, Nala took one last breath before standing up. The air in this forest was so nice, tranquil to the highest degree. It only took a hop skip and jump for Nala to reach the front door of her house. She opened, then entered closing the door behind her. The dining table was right in the main room, the main room was the room one enters after entering the front door. It was a small house. Nala took her seat at the table, and in her usual fashion, rested her feet up on the table. She then waited for Tsukki, hopefully they could enjoy a good breakfast together. She was also hoping that Tsukki had an itinerary for the day, because in all honesty, Nala had no idea what to do. She was not the busiest of kings. If anything, Nala could claim to be the laziest of the Kings.

Kala

Castle Amasai
​

Well, it was most certainly a mess like Kala thought it would be. Upon entering the doors Kala's eyes darted to and fro. It took a moment for her to really register the scene before her. Five kids, limp and still, all seemed to have some traces of oatmeal on there faces. A panicked laugh escaped from Kala in small short bursts as her brain tried to figure out what situation she had just landed herself into. She walked over to one of the boys, putting a gentle hand on Teddy's back.


"T-Teddy... you okay there buddy?" Kala tried as hard as she could to keep her composure. However her shaky words and teary eyes suggested she was anything but calm. After she got no response from Teddy Kala rushed over to another child, frantically she shook the bodies of each child. When none of them woke up, Kala's knees went weak. She collapse onto the ground as the sudden wave of reality hit her. They were all... dead.


"No... no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Kala panicked in her disbelief. There was no way they could've been killed. Unless... the food must have been poisoned. Kala didn't try to think about how that would have been possible in the short amount of time between when she made the food and when it was delivered. Rather, she began to panic about what Amasai would do after finding out. "Oh Gods!" She began. "First he's going to ride me like a horse until we find the murderer! Then when we do find the murderer he's going to use my body as a club to kill them! Then, if I am still alive by that point, he will probably fire me!" Kala then began doing as she do best. Freaking out and panicking, wondering what she would tell Amasai and praying that he won't kill her on the spot.

 

[Exodus Addicus]

"Good morning, My Lady," Tsukki greeted his best friend, giving her the most sincere and humble smile he could make-- jokingly, of course. If there was any way he wanted to greet Nala, it would be to throw himself into her arms. He couldn't do that in his current state, though. For now, he liked to tease and embarrass her to see what kind of expressions she would make. His jokes were always for the reaction. Even if he got yelled at, he would probably still enjoy it.


"Potatoes and leek for breakfast today? Aren't you going to have some?" Tsukki asked Nala, knowing she was probably going to say "no". He would be fine with it for the meantime, since he got her to eat the day before. He would try harder at supper, though, so she could at least eat once today. Maybe take a bath, too. He tried to make each day as eventful as possible. Living in the middle of a forest wouldn't be quite so boring if he weren't handicapped. He hoped they could soon go exploring together, maybe getting "accidentally" lost on the way and roughing it out in the wilderness until they could find their way home. Perhaps for now, she could take him outside onto ground his wheelchair would let him go.

 

[Exodus Addicus]

Teddy was the first to crack. Kala's reaction was enough to make him snort, even after years of pulling off pranks and acting. Unfortunately for him, his face was submerged in a bowl of oatmeal, so he accidentally breathed in some of his breakfast. Eyes bulging, he sprung up in a violent fit of coughing. None of the others got up to scold him for ruining the act, because, actually, his ridiculous hacking was adding to the act.


Seth was getting bored of waiting for something he wasn't sure would even happen. As if he were the legendary Bible figure, Samson, he easily tore through his binds. It was strange, he thought, how empty the house seemed even though there were plenty of people inside and perhaps outside, too. Rather, it was too quiet. Normally his children would be creating the most noise they could, possibly wrecking stuff in the process. At the same time, one or more servants would be trailing after them. Kala was the one who knew them best out of all the servants, so she was often the one to get them to calm down. Seth hoped she was on top of whatever was going on. Either way, he was on his way downstairs to the main dining room so he could have his breakfast.

 

[Rantos]

Nala

Bamboo forest
​

She could feel it, a disturbance in the force. It was a large forest, but quiet nonetheless. It was far, very far, but Nala could hear two beings that did not belong in the forest. Those who did not belong in the forest had a way of mucking it up whenever they entered. Nala could hear the disturbance in the silence, hear the clumsy footsteps, and worst of all, even hear bamboo stalks get cut down. Hearing that made her shudder. She had half a mind to leave the house and give the unwanted visitors a warm welcome. But then Tsukki left his room. Nala would deal with them later, right now Tsukki took priority.


"Good morning Tsukki, I trust you had a restful night." Nala greeted Tsukki as he came in. He took a seat and began to eat, Nala did not eat with him, at first. The thought crossed her mind, that maybe it would be a nice thing to do to, to eat with Tsukki. For his sake at least. Nala grabbed one of the extra potatoes and began eating, smiling at Tsukki all the while.


"Alright Tsui. I thought it would be fair to warn you we should be getting two visitors soon. Traveling sales men or something like that. Now I know it's been awhile since we have last had guests, but you know the drill. You talk I punch and if things get sour I burn the forest down." Of course, Nala was only joking. Half joking really. Joking about burning down the forest, at most.


Next order of business, I was thinking of something big. I think it's time to expand. Every other king has castles and mansions or even whole cities they own. So I was thinking our little hut could step it up a bit. So, I decided, drum roll please!" Nala waited for Tsukki to make a drum roll before continuing. "We add a 20 person bath house!"

Kala

Castle Amasai
​

There was a moment of relief, when one of the kids sprang into a coughing fit. He was alive, choking but alive! That moment of relief was soon overshadowed by the fact that one of Seth's children was choking. In a panicked moment, Kala's eyes went red. In the next instant she was behind Teddy before anyone could even register that she moved. Now a normal being would simply begin the Heimlich maneuver, but Kala did something she was a little more familiar with. Kala stuck her finger down Teddy's throat, then shot a bullet down there. The bullet hit the food lodged in his throat then vanished upon impact. Destroying the food too. She keep shooting until there was nothing left blocking Teddy's wind pipe. All while never harming the boy.


When Teddy was fine, Kala felt it necessary to do one last full body pat down, as if she would find any physical injuries. When she found nothing of that nature, she held Teddy, consuming him in a hug and squeezing a little too tightly. the tears that feel from her eyes were less of sadness and more of extreme relief. Kala cared for these kids on a deeper level then just because it was her job to. She thought of them as her family, and Kala couldn't have the death of any of her family. Not again.


"Okay, okay. Jokes over. Everyone, sit down normally, your father will be in soon." She went over to every kid, one at a time and shook them down, tickled them, did everything in her power to get them to give up on the joke.

 

[Exodus Addicus]

Tsukki was elated that Nala decided to eat without him even asking her to. She smiled at him, and he grinned back at her, mouth full of food. It was always nice to see Nala doing things for herself, which seemed to happen more and more often.


"Visitors? I've been wondering when we might have some guests. Would you really punch them though?" He wondered, feeling slightly sorry for whoever was coming. He didn't bother asking about the "burn the forest down" part. Knowing Nala, she would probably never do that to her precious forest; however, he wasn't sure she wouldn't burn intruders. Better be able to put up a good chat so nothing bad would happen to them.


He'd often heard of "The King Slayer Nala" when he was in town. This was before he met her. Tsukki was never one to believe in rumors, so this never affected the way he treated her once he did meet her. Admittedly, he was a little surprised by just the kind of character she was when he really got to know her. "The King Slayer Nala" seemed like a fib made by scared humans, until he realized how extremely powerful she really was. Never once did Tsukki fear his roommate, though. Her simple charm and blunt kindness were enough to make her his favorite person to be around. There were times when she would just melt his heart with a simple yet adorable thing she said or did. There were also the times when he thought she was a purely amazing King.


"You want to add a what?" Tsukki almost choked one his food, too baffled to keep his cool and add a witty comment. "Uh... Not that I'm against the idea or anything- I'm totally for it- but what made you think of adding a twenty-person bath?"

 

[Exodus Addicus]

Feeling a little embarrassed and very guilty, all four children quietly went up to Kala, heads down, and apologized(Teddy was is shock, though). In the midst of their act, none of them realized she had been crying, but once she tickled them up they did. None of them wanted her to cry-- the reaction they were hoping for was more of a faint or frantic panicking. They all loved Kala in a different way, which was why they chose her to prank more often than the other servants. They just didn't realize what a bad joke this prank was.


"We're really sorry, Kala.."


"What's going on?" Seth asked upon entering the dining room. "Why aren't your four eating? And why did you tie me to my bed if you weren't going to come get me, huh?"

 

[Rantos]

Nala

Bamboo forest
​

It took a moment for Nala to wrap her head around Tuskki's reaction to her proposition of a 20 person bath house. In her own mind, a 20 person bath house sounded both reasonable and practical. So Tuskki's reaction invoked a quizzical eyebrow raise from Nala. Nala shifted her feet on the table, entering a more comfortable position before explaining her thought process.


"Well you see Tuskki, we can't just go about getting a two person bath house now can we? 'Cause that's just a bath tub. I think room for twenty is enough for some stretching room don't you think?" While any sane being would say that a 20 person bath house was a little too extravagant, Nala with her go big or go home personalty thought that 20 persons was still too small. The only reason she set upon 20 was because she didn't want to end up landscaping the whole forest. However, the idea of Bath World did not sound like the worst thing ever. Far from it in Nala's mind.


Nala let that sink it. She remained in silence as she finished her potato. As Nala swallowed the last remaining bit of the raw spud, a loud knocking resounded though the house. It came from behind the door. There was a pause, and Nala remained motionless. More knocks came, growing in both frequency and size. Then another pause, and Nala moved her head to look at the door.


"We ain't buying what your selling! Scat!" The knocking stopped for another longer moment, before resuming, even louder then before. With a huff Nala rose from her seat, she motioned with her head for Tuskki to follow behind her. When the two would arrive at the door, Nala would let Tuskki open it. Upon opening the door. Tuskki would be greeted by two men in white suits and black ties, one of the two would ask if the King was home.

Kala

Castle Amasai
​

Although sometimes these kids made Kala want to drive her head into a brick wall repeatedly, she couldn't help but love them. In a weird stockholm syndrome kind of way. When each kid came to apologize, Kala planted a small kiss on each of there foreheads. A promise that no matter what, she still loved them. She swiftly forgave them, and began cleaning up the mess that Teddy had made. While she did that, she told the kids to continue eating. But before all of the kids could get back to doing just that the man of the hour, Amasai Seth, entered the dinning room. He began asking questions about this and that, and before anyone else could answer him, Kala was jumping on the scene.


"It's fine! The boys were just playing a... somewhat... harmless prank! They were a little tied up down here so they couldn't untie you. But judging the fact that you are down here and not up there... I think you were fine either way. This way milord." Kala led Seth to the breakfast she had prepared. Unlike the young boys, Seth's breakfast was mostly meat and rice and bread. In fact, that's all it was. When Seth was to start eating, Kala would pull out a newspaper from under the table. A strange place to put the newspaper, truly. She would put the newspaper in plain view of Seth, the headline saying "King Slayer returns: a requiem in fire?"


"A summery milord. Many Kings have been found dead, burned to nothing more then an ashen skeleton. Many people believe it to be the work of the King Slayer, and although who the true murderer is up in the air, I would advice you to keep this in mind and proceed with caution." Kala eyed the newspaper, a small twitch formed under her eye as she thought about how dangerous things may seem from here on in, and how the possibility of losing Seth had become more real then ever.

 

[Exodus Addicus]

Tsukki had to admit, a twenty-person bath sounded much nicer than a two-person bath; however, it was still quite extravagant, and he wasn't sure how they would even build it. Also, was she thinking they would bathe one at a time in this enormous bath? Or... together? Neither of those ideas seemed to make sense to Tsukki. If they were going to have a comfortable, reasonably-sized bath- that they would take turns in- it would be built for two people to fit in. The idea never crossed Tsukki's mind, though, so he was going to suggest a fifteen-person bath.


"Nala-" he began, but was cut off by a series of knocks on the door. He glanced at Nala when the knocking persued and she yelled a quick response.


"What if they're selling twenty-person baths?" He joked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. There was some more knocking at the door, so Nala got up and, being motioned to follow, Tsukki left his breakfast and pushed on the wheels of his chair. He moved himself toward the front door and without hesitation, pulled it open enough to show himself, but not his roommate.


"Why hello!" He exclaimed in an overly-friendly voice. "What brings you here?" His eyes glinted as he looked over their attire. Fancy clothes to wear to a forest, he thought.


"Is the King home?" The one on th left- the taller of the two- asked. Tsukki thought for a moment, wondering what they wanted with Nala. He didn't want to give her up, so he stalled to give her a moment to decide for herself if she wanted to see them or not.


"Hmm... The King? Which King could you be talking about?"


Seth listened attentively to Kala, as he always favored her word on anything; however, he almost groaned aloud when he caught the pun she made. He scratched the back of his head, telling himself not to say anything about it.


Whatever prank the kids played on Kala he also kept quiet about, but eyed them in curiosity. It wasn't with suspicion or heat, but none of them made eye contact with their father, which raised an eyebrow. Kala said it was a harmless prank, though, He thought. I'll ask them about it after breakfast. For now, he paused in a moment of prayer like his wife had always done before a meal. He wasn't really sure what it meant to pray, but it was important to Lilly, and he respected and remembered that.


"Food's the same as always," he commented. Of course, this was a compliment. Seth hated change. He preferred things to be simple, peaceful, and constant, which was a rare event in a house with four children-- each of which had already lived several lifetimes.


Kala handed him the newspaper. The headline of it made him put down his fork and lift said newspaper from the table.


"King Slayer.." He murmured, recalling the title from long ago. It was a woman, I think. She was... short? Did I even meet her? Try as he might, Seth couldn't remember who the dubbed "King Slayer" was. He again listened quietly to what Kala had to say, reading the front page story at the same time. Oh that's right... Whoever she was, she possessed an immesurably strong fire.


Aware of the danger, Seth suddenly addressed his children. "Kids, don't go outside the castle gates for a while." Almost in chorus they responded with a "but daaaa~d", to which he raised another eyebrow. The four ducked their heads or averted their eyes, which made Seth almost sure something was up with them.


"But.. What about our friends?" Ezra, the eldest, said a little slowly. "They'll be worried.."


"You can ask Philip to send for them." Seth replied quickly and almost instantly regretted it. That would mean more kids in the house(although they were all youkai children, so they were actually quite old in age). He wasn't, however, going to go back on his word.