Volume 3: Prologue

It seemed as though once again misfortune had caught back up with me. If only I had learned from the last time I made this mistake...

*Stomp* *Stomp* *Stomp*

Footsteps could be heard coming down the corridor.

"You have a way to get us out of this, right, Arno?" Cal said nervously, as he sat on the cot beside me.

"Unfortunately, I think this may be the end of the line." I responded.

We were currently being detained in a jail cell in a palace dungeon. Our hands were bound and were stripped of our weapons and magic items.

"This can't be happening!" The short teenage boy with light brown hair, who was being held with us said.

"Calm down bros, we just need to persevere until the end like true alpha males." Another taller teenage boy with black hair said, trying to boost everyone's morale.

A group of about eight guards wearing samurai armor marched up to our cell. The captain of the group spoke,

"All four of you are coming with us. You've been summoned."

He opened the barred door and a handful of guards entered with their katanas drawn. They yanked us out of the cell and began escorting us to the upper level.

Eventually we were brought into a large open room. Its walls had a fresh coat of pink paint on them. Down the center was a long light blue rug that led to a very ornate red and gold throne, which we were forced to kneel in front of.

A girl with long brown hair who was wearing a white kimono stood beside the throne.

"Of course it had to be her." The light brown haired boy muttered to himself.

The girl gave a smug grin as she held a document in her hands. She read our charges out loud,

"Cahlem Alchimia, Hako Kuro, Ota Ryo, and 'Mr.' Arno. You have been brought to the Eternal Throne Room to face judgment from the Shogun for your crimes against the East Kingdom. All four of you have been charged with conspiring a coup against our great nation."

Cal spoke up,

"Don't we get a trial by our peers or the right to an attorney or something?"

The girl laughed.

"This isn't the West Kingdom, you silly alchemist. In our country the Shogun's word is absolute."

Suddenly another group of guardsmen showed up. These ones were quite robust in size. Each one probably weighed over three hundred pounds. They all wore pink colored samurai armor and white oni masks over their faces. In their hands they wielded massive spiked metal clubs.

There was a fifth much smaller person in the center of the group that was completely concealed by the guardsmen. They escorted the individual up to the throne then stepped aside revealing... Erika!

She was wearing blue and white samurai armor and had a pink sheathed katana on her hip, of which I doubt she had any idea even how to use. She took her spot on the throne and stared down at us. At that moment, the power to determine life and death was entirely in her hands...

Who would have thought leaving her unattended for an hour would lead to her becoming the totalitarian dictator of an entire nation.