Shirou Yukimura − An Audience with a King (and a Call to Adventure)

Shirou could see clearly that many of them were quite anxious. It made sense, he thought to himself. It wasn't everyday that you were able to stand before a monarch, let alone the ruler of a fantasy kingdom in another world. They had gathered in front of a large set of double doors and were told to wait patiently for the doors to open. Some of them had been waiting for half and hour while he and his roommates had only joined them a couple minutes ago.

When the doors finally did open, Shirou could feel the tension pop like a bubble as they all peered into the throne room. It was much larger than any room they had previously seen or been in.  It extending out from its doors for what appeared like quite the long distance before meeting the bottom of the stairs on which the king's throne was placed. As they all walked into the room, Shirou saw that the king was not alone on his throne. On his left, sitting on a throne that had a similar design to the King's, but was a bit smaller, was Princess Katarina. On the king's right stood Captain Valeria, holding onto her helmet with her left land. Adjacent to the platform that the king's throne was upon stood two men. One of them, a large, grizzly man in a set of well-decorated armor, stared intently at the group as they approached the throne. Given the amount of medals and decoration on his armor, Shirou assumed that he must be some kind of high ranking military official. Next to the old man in armor stood an elven man in a green robe with golden embroideries. He didn't even seem to mind them as they approached, instead flipping through the pages of a book he was holding. 

Eventually, they all stopped before before the bottom stairs of the elevated platform on which the king sat on his throne. Now looking up from much closer, Shirou saw the king in much more detail. He was dressed in a outfit with bright colors and a purple cloak. He seemed to be in great health given how old he looked and his crown looked very similar to the tiara that Katarina wore. 
As the king rose from his throne, Valeria shouted,
"Introducing his majesty, rule of the palace and sovereign ruler over the Kingdom of Deusaerium and it's territories, King Voran Saire Ariecastre the third." Her voice echoed through the massive hall as the king stood up from his throne. 
For a second, he didn't move and the group was pretty confused. That was, until Shirou and some others, noticed Katarina urgently mouthing "bowl" to them. Immediately, a bunch of them bowed and the rest, who didn't notice what Katarina was doing, quickly followed them.
Apparently now satisfied, the king slowly walked down the stairs before he stopped on the last one before the floor. 
"Greetings, esteemed guest," the king said in a deep voice, "I am King Ariecastre, and I humbly welcome you into my abode." H e gave them a little bow of his own, to which a couple students awkwardly bowed back again.
"Firstly," he continued, "I'd like to personally thank you for your cooperation. It was a concern of mine that whoever answered our call would not be as, considerate of our request for audience." After waiting for a response and not getting gone, the king continued,
"I'm sure you have many questions, so I'll attempt to answer them to the best of my ability. You see, it was not random chance nor our direct action that caused you to be transported from your realm to ours. You see, you were all summoned as a part of an ancient prophecy connected to Deusaerium's ancient history. This prophecy, which had been passed down through my family in secret, spoke of a warning. That in times just before a great threat to Deusaerium would emerge, our gods would send us a warning in the form of a golden star. However, it also said that in times of true need, that the gods would also draw upon their powers to reach for help from beyond our realm. I believe, that you all are that help. Called upon by our gods to aide us in our coming time of need."
Shirou couldn't believe what he was hearing, and as he turned to see how the others were reacting, it became clear from their expression that they were also having a hard time believing what the king was saying.
"Four days ago," the king continued, "our astronomers were able to predict and see the golden star as it shot through the night sky. They were also able to map out the location underneath the golden star as it faded from the night sky. The very next morning, I sent out my daughter Valeria to take a ship full of soldiers to said location. That location, was the very island she found all of you on. It became clear to us that it was no coincidence that you appeared on an island with the ruins of an altar to our gods at it's center, unknown to us before that day because it was obscured by such heavy forestry."

"Wait, wait, wait," Tommy said interrupting the king, "What are you saying? That we're some kind of, chosen heroes?"
"Not just chosen," the king answered, "you are all destined. Not in a hundred years have we witnesses celestial events that so closely matched the predictions of our forebears. Which means that there must truly be a danger to the kingdom so grave, that we required you to save us from it."
For a couple minutes, no one said anything. They were destined heroes? A bunch of highschoolers and one homeroom teacher? How? Sure it was hardly the only crazy thing they had heard since arriving in this world, but it was one thing to be transported to another world and a totally different thing to be told that they were all destined to become heroes.

"Wait, so..." said Hoshi, "If we're supposed to be heroes here to save you all from some threat, what's the threat?"
The king turned to Hoshi, "an excellent question." He turned to the old man in the suit of armor and snapped his fingers. "General, if you could explain our current circumstances to our guests."
"Of course my liege," the general replied as he walked up to them. He first turned and offered a bow to them,

"Greetings. I am Sir General Maridus, supreme commander of Luceidus's standing army and head of our king's greater war council.
Now, while we can not be sure of the threat that has brought you to us, I have been fairly convinced by those besides me on the war council that the threat is mostly to be an attack from the Kingdom of Wintersheart or the land of Aniyin."
"Ahem," interrupted the king, "our guests are unaware of what Wintersheart of Aniyin is, general."
"Of course, my apologies," said the general, "the explain it as concisely as possible, Wintersheart is a kingdom far northwest of Deusaerium occupied almost entirely by monsters such as Lycans, the undead, and many more. Meanwhile, the northern land of Aniyin is a land full of Dragonfolk and the last living dragons in the world.
Centuries ago, we were able to maintain decent relationships with both kingdoms, but in recent decades, our relationships with said kingdoms has deteriorated. Many of our smartest scholars believe that war with one or both nations will become inevitable.

At this point, Shirou wondered if this was all a mas hallucination. They were supposed to fight in a war? That was why they had all been taken from Japan and placed here, to become soldiers?
"I understand it may be a lot to consider, said the king, "but there are few other options that could be as drastic a threat to our kingdom as impending war. Please I urge you, join us and fulfill your destinies as foretold."
Before any of the students could react or say anything, Shirou saw Miss Fujiwara step up in front of them.
"No way. Absolutely not," she said directly facing the king, "these are children. And you expect them to fight in a war for you. Why not just send out your own soldiers to fight?"
"It's not that simple," replied General Maridus, "even when accounting for all our forces spread throughout our kingdom, manpower can not make up the unholy powers of monsters or the destructive abilities of dragons."
"Long ago, we may have stood a chance," added the king, "but there are so few left in our kingdom with the abilities necessary to fight against them. It was basically a miracle when I discovered that my own daughters had been gifted with such powers, but they are two needles in a haystack so large it may as well pierce the heavens itself.
But it is different when it comes to you all. Our prophecies call you heroes, and in these lands, heroes are those who not only fight for what is good and just, but those who posses the special gifts to do so at larger-than-life scales. Please. I understand that it seems like we are asking a lot, and we are, but you all are our only hope if a war were to break out."
Miss Fujiwara stood firm in the face of everything. 
"But they're children," she repeated, "even if they got these so-called special powers, how could you expect them to fight in a war against soldiers, let alone these monsters?

"We would not send them out to fight immediately," answered the general, "as far as we're aware, we still have at least a year before any massive conflict would officially start a war. We would train them, teach them how to fight and use their gifts to their fullest potential."
'You keep bringing up these gifts, but they don't have them," rebutted Miss Fujiwara.
"That is accounted for," said the elf, speaking up for the first time. The king gestured to him,
"That gentleman is High Minister Morviden, one of my most trusted advisors."

"The bestowing of the gifts is the last event detailed in the writings," explained Morviden.

Miss Fujiwara turned from Morviden back to the king, "Even if it was guaranteed. You're asking them to fight in a war. I can't accept this. In fact, I demand you tell us how to return to home right this moment."
Morviden stopped reading through his book as he looked up at the king. King Ariecastre, now with a sadder expression, turned back to Miss Fujiwara. 
"I'm... so sorry. But... as far as we know, there is no way for you to return to your home at this moment."
The answer hit everyone like a bag of bricks. For what seemed like forever, none of them said anything as their hearts collectively sank.
"What do you mean there's no way for us to go back home?" asked Miss Fujiwara, her voice not hiding how shaken she was by his answer.
"Allow me, your highness," said Morviden as he approached them, "as explained to you previously, the conditions of your arrival were all very clearly laid out from our prophecies. However, the conditions under which you may return to your homes has never been made clear in any of our ancient writings. At best, our scholars have deduced that the reason for your summoning must be overcome for you all to return home. Which in our case, means that you would have to fight alongside us and win the war."
All of them were flabbergasted. Even though none of them could muster the strength to say anything, they all slowly realized the same thing. If the only way for them to return home was to win a war that was at least a year away from even starting, then they wouldn't be able to go back home for a year and however long the war itself lasted.

"You can't do this!" yelled Miss Fujiwara as her eyes started to well up with tears, "You can't just take us from our homes and then say that we may never go back!"
"I understand that it isn't fair to you," the king answered, "But this was not of our own volition. We had no hand in this. We simply followed upon what our ancient writings taught us to do when the signs of impending danger were upon us."
After saying this, he stepped off of the last stair and walked right up to Miss Fujiwara.
"I understand why you would all be so distressed. But I would not ask this of any of you if our situation were not so dire. I know you all wish to go back home, but if you were to abandon us, our home would certainly be no more if either nation attacked us." After saying this, the king slowly got down on his knees in front of Miss Fujiwara and bowed towards them, his forehead touching the ground.
"Please," he said still bowing facedown on the ground, "I beg of you, please do not abandon us. I don't ask this of any you as just a king who wishes not see his home destroyed, but as a father who wishes to see his daughters grow up. I promise you, we will equip them with everything we can offer to make sure they survive."
Everyone was stunned at the king's actions. Shirou even saw how his own daughters and advisors were shocked by what he had done. They really were desperate for their help, Shirou thought to himself.

Despite everything the king had done and said to them, Miss Fujiwara seemed unwavering. 
"I'm sorry your highness," she started to say, "I truly am. But i can not, in good conscience, allow my students to−"
"I'll do it." 
Everyone turned around to see who had interrupted her. To his shock, Shirou saw Johnny walk forward from the group towards the king.
"What are you doing, Johnny?" asked Takumi.
"Didn't you hear what they said?" Johnny replied, "Even if they wanted to help us get back they can't. And they need us."
"That doesn't mean you should take this chance to try and act like a hero," Takumi yelled at him.
"I'm not trying to act like a hero," Johnny yelled back, "I just..." He turned to Tommy before turning to Shirou and back to the king. "I just want a chance to prove myself, and do something good."
They all stood their stunned; no one could believe what Johnny had just said. For a moment, it seemed like he was the only one crazy enough step forward, until...
"Ah, why the hell not" said Tommy as he stepped forward.
"What are you doing man?" asked Rio, "Are you insane? You actually wanna go through with this?"

"Let's face the facts mate," Tommy replied, "my life back home was basically over the moment I broke Johnny's nose. Whatever's waiting for me back there ain't all that great."
"But it's not worse than risking your life to fight in a war," interjected Ichika, as she reached out to grab his arm.
"You might be right," Tommy said as he turned to look at her, "but Johnny's right too. At least this way, I can try doing something that's actually good instead of rotting away back home."
After Tommy finished his piece, two other people also stepped forward from the group. One of them was Kiyo, who quietly walked up to join Tommy. She didn't say anything to any of them, and neither Shiro nor Rio had the heart to say anything back to her.
The other was Hoshi, Mayumi's friend. Mayumi eyes widened as Hoshi stepped away from the group,
"Hoshi. Why?" Hoshi turned back to Mayumi with a sad smile.
"You know why," she answered, "at least here, I'll have the chance to live and love how I want." 
After Hoshi, Ana stood up with her.
"I'm not letting Hoshi stay here on her own," she added, "No way." Hoshi smiled and thanked Ana for joining her.
After a short span of silence, both Hiro and Lia stepped forward.
"If we can't go back home anyway," said Hiro, "I think we should at least try to help them in any way we can." Lia nodded as she turned away from Miss Fujiwara towards Valeria and Katarina.
After Hiro and Lia, Masaru stepped forward, followed shortly by Noboru. Neither of them said anything, but nobody expected them to either.

Even after they had stepped forward, Shirou, Kazuya, Mayumi, Jun, Rio, Ichika, Takumi, Naoko, Emi, Yuko, and Satomi still remained behind. For a while, despite the fact that nine of them had agreed to go along with what King Ariecastre's plan, it seemed like, according to consensus, the majority still disagreed. Shirou though about the two options before him as he looked at the students around him who had had refused to follow suit. Kazuya, Mayumi, Rio, Ichika, Takumi, and Satomi all had good, fulfilling lives waiting for them back home. They were either very smart, very talented, or both. It took him a second to make a guess as to why Jun, Naoko, and Emi hadn't moved, but he quickly came up with a hypothesis. Jun may have been friends with Tommy, Kiyo, and Rio, but he was foremost Shirou's best friend. Unless given strong reason to, he couldn't imagine Jun choosing against what Shirou was going to go for. From what he knew of Naoko and Emi, he assumed something similar: a strong emotional attachment to another person who refused to join in. Naoko's attachment was obvious, she was dating Kazuya. Emi's attachment was  a bit less clear, but it made sense to given that half of her friend group had chosen to not move up, and it only really balanced as "half" of her friend group if you counted Masaru and Noboru in that equation.
But then there was him. He obviously didn't fall in line with Kazuya, Mayumi, Rio, and the others who had something physical within their lives to return to. He was in the same camp as Jun, Naoko and Emi, his only reason for staying was the people in life. He couldn't rely on Jun choosing to stay. For all he knew, that could get them stuck in a cycle of trying to follow the other's choice without actually knowing what they wanted. His mind then jumped to Kazuya and mom. Would he stay because of them? The longer Shirou thought about it the more his uncertainty grew. It just wasn't efficient to make a decision based on his complicated feelings about his family, except for his father. Just thinking about him in any way made him want to step forward.
And then there was Mayumi. Mayumi, his best friend before everyone else. She had been there for all of his ups an downs, mostly downs. Since then, he had been given the wonderful privilege of growing up besides her and seeing her change into a confident, talented, beautiful girl. No matter how much he stagnated and she evolved, she refused to leave his side. Despite the amount of work she had to put into acting to succeed she had aways made time for him. For him...

After a long while of no one else moving, King Ariecastre got up from his bow on the floor. He waved off some of the dust that had gotten on his clothes before speaking,
"Well, it appear the majority has made their choice," he concluded, "and although I'm saddened by your choice, it wasn't that unexpected given the unfortunate circumstances of you−"

The sound of Shirou's shoes hitting the floor as he took two steps forward was enough to make everyone fall silent. He didn't dare turn his head. If he saw Kazuya, Jun, or Rio's faces he didn't know if he'd just as quickly step back. But he knew for sure, that if he saw whatever distraught face Mayumi was making, he would walk back without hesitation.
Now it was dead even, ten to ten. Shirou had assumed that if he had stepped forward, Jun would follow suit. Now was the time to find out if he was right. After what felt like the longest wait of his life, even though it was barely five seconds, he heard two steps towards him before he heard Jun say, "If Shirou's going, I'm going with him."
Twelve to eight. What had previously been assumed to be the majority opinion, had now just barely become the minority one. 
He didn't have to turn around and look at Miss Fujiwara to see in her eyes that she had lost. She couldn't just abandon or ignore the desires of twelve of her students, even if that meant she had to go along with a plan she desperately did not want to see continue.

The king walked up the Shirou as he placed a hand onto his shoulder.
"On behalf of not only my kingdom, but me," he said to Shirou, "thank you. Thank you so much."
He then took his hand off his shoulder, before turning around to face General Maridus, 
"Arrange for a couple transport carriages to head to the Starfall Monastery. The Gifting shall be done tomorrow."
"Of course, your majesty," said General Maridus with a bow. He quickly walked out of the throne room to act upon the king's plans. 

After the general closed the doors behind him, it felt like no one dared to move or say anything. What could they say to each other. In less than hour, they had not only learned of their inability to return home anytime soon, but the majority had decided to stay, whether that was out of a sense of obligation, responsibility, or desperation. As Shirou thought about the choice he had made. He then felt a hand on his shoulder, as he turned to see Jun. There was uncertainty on his face, as if he was trying to use his expression to ask Shirou if they had made the right choice. But at the same time, he saw something in Jun's eyes. A sense of commitment; a promise to be there for him no matter what. 
"I'm with you man. No matter what," he said simply. Shirou nodded to him, he couldn't bring himself to smile at this time. 

But of course, he was the first to hear it. The sound of a nose sniffling, quiet but distinct. He didn't even have to turn his head to know where the noise originated from. He had heard it more than once before. The first he remembered hearing it was when Mayumi had told Shirou that she had made up with her parents, trying not to cry before she eventually started sobbing. It was his familiarity with the sound that was also why he didn't turn around as he heard the sound of someone run away from them out of the throne room. He had made his choice, and as much as it broke his heart to make Mayumi cry, there was no turning back now.