Ai walked up and entered in a combination. Sihalia's large gates opened up and let everyone in. Sato was amazed by how big the city was. "I knew it was gonna be big. But I never thought it would look like this."

"Silly big brother. Of course it's gonna look like this. It's the largest Kingdom in all of Oldhedge Country." Ai skipped along casually. "Come on, I'll show you around."

Sato turned to Sakura, "But aren't we here to talk to the king. Do we really have time for a tour?"

"We have plenty of time. It's not like we made reservations or anything." Sato and Sakura stopped their conversation when they noticed a bunch of Bakemono hounding Ai and asking her questions. Ai was talking and making cute poses and gestures.

Sato and Sakura walked over to Ai. "Hey Ai. What's going on?" Sato asked her.

Ai spun around with a big grin on her face. "Oh nothing, these guys just missed me, that's all."

"Um, okay. So are you gonna show us around or what?"

"Alrighty come on guys! First I'll show you my favorite place! It's so fun there!" Ai continued skipping along. Sato and Sakura followed a couple of steps behind. Once Ai finally stopped they were at a playground. Though, it was basically just a picnic area with a swing set, but Ai sure seemed to love it.

"Come on big brother, push me!" Ai demanded as she ran over to the swing

"But Ai, we don't have time." Pushing Ai on the swings seemed like a serious time waster. And Sato seriously didn't want to waste any more time than necessary. He had to get out of this weird book as soon as possible.

Ai's eyes were on the verge of tears as she quivered her lower lip, "Please, just for a little while?"

Sato stared at Ai's puppy dog face. He should've expected something like this from Ai. But still, he had to be strong. No swing sets! Sato gave in, "Fine, you win. Just for five minutes. And then we're going to speak with the king okay?"

"Okay. Now push me!"

Sato pushed Ai as she was laughing and having a blast on the swing. "Yay! This is so much fun! Isn't it big brother?"

Sato sighed, "Yep sure is." Another reason why Sato didn't want to do this. He hated pushing the swing with a passion. Half the fun was being the one on the swing. He had to find a way to free himself from this torture. "Hey Sakura, you wanna have some fun?"

Sakura was sitting on the grass nearby, "Nope, it's all yours." She gave Sato a smug smirk, "Enjoy."

After a couple hours when Sato had it with Ai and the swing set. He picked her up and carried her away. And the group eventually made it to the castle. They were immediately greeted by a tall muscular guard with sky blue skin complete with hair and eyes to match. "State your names and business here," he demanded.

Sato put Ai down and walked up to the guard, "I'm Sato. And I'm here to speak with the king about something private."

The guard was visibly insulted, "And what makes you think his Majesty has time to waste on private discussions with peasants like you?"

Sato was getting impatient, "I don't really give a damn! I just have something I need to discuss with him. And that doesn't concern you." This man was starting to get Sato steamed beyond belief.

The guard reached into his sheath and slowly pulled out his sword. Ai noticed the guard's blade and stepped in front of Sato with her arms spread. "Stop! Don't hurt him. I am Princess Ai. Now since I am with him, will you let us go so we can speak to my father confidentially?"

The guard slid his sword back into his sheath, and sighed, "I had received word the princess had returned. Very well, go ahead." As Ai and Sakura walked into the castle the guard growled at Sato, "I don't like you."

Sato grunted, "Feeling's mutual."

"I'm watching you punk." The guard warned as Sato walked into the castle. He was immediately greeted by the King's cold stare. Sato was bewildered by how much he looked nothing like Ai. Unlike Ai's angelic face his was rough and although he shared Ai's bright red eyes he had a stern expression on his features. His short jet black hair was clean cut.

The king cleared his throat. "Who dares enter my castle without a proper salutation for someone of my status?" As the king spoke, his deep bass-like voice echoed through the castle walls.

Sato had no idea what the King was talking about. Luckily for him, Sakura did. He looked over to her and she mouthed the word, "Bow." She was already bowing herself. Sato nervously got down and started bowing as well. Sakura mouthed another word, "Idiot."

The king spoke with his booming voice again. "Now for introductions. My name is King Akio, Magic Bakemono. I am the ruler of Oldhedge Country and General of the Sihalia Army. Now who might you two be?"

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Sakura spoke first, "I am Sakura, Strength Bakemono. Daughter of the Lieutenant of the Greydale Army, Shun.

Sato went next, "I'm Sato." He remembered that he couldn't let anyone else know that he was a human. And since Bakemono seemed to use their type rather than a last name, he figured he should do the same. "And I am a Warrior Bakemono." He didn't know why he picked Warrior. It just seemed to roll off his tongue.

"Very well. You may stand." King Akio commanded. "Now I thank you for returning my daughter to me. Good day to you both."

Sato blurted out, "Wait a minute! No!"

Akio glared down at Sato, "Excuse me?"

Sato walked up closer to the King. "With all due respect your Majesty. We didn't come here to bring Ai back to you. As a matter of fact, she's staying with us. What we really came here for was to ask you an important question concerning the Forbidden Book.

The king suddenly had a gloomy look in his eyes, "Okay then. Please join me for dinner. We'll discuss it then."

After Sato, Sakura and Ai left, Nori walked inside the castle. His eyes faced towards the floor, "Your Majesty...I'm sorry."

Akio looked down at Nori, "Don't be, it's not your fault."

"But now that he's here, the keys will never be safe," Nori said with worry coating his voice."

"I've already told you, Nori, the lighter is the key," The king said as he stroked his beard. "He'll never be able to escape from this place."

"But...what if he's the one who has the lighter?" Nori asked still staring at the floor."

"No one will survive," The king stated as if it was a fact.

"Once it was time for dinner, everyone went into the kitchen. Sato wondered why there needed to be such a big table when only three people actually lived there. He shrugged and sat down between Sakura and Ai. As Akio was cutting up his steak he looked over at Sato. "So what did you wanna discuss with me, young man?"

Sato barely heard King Akio while he was stuffing his face. He started speaking with his mouth full of food, "I wanna know about the last human who entered the Forbidden Book."

King Akio couldn't understand Sato at all. "I'm sorry. What was that?"

Sakura whispered to Sato. "Stop being such a goofball. Act mature. We're the king's guests! So don't talk with your mouth full."

Sato gulped all of his food down at once, "Sorry. Anyway, I wanna know how the human who entered the Forbidden Book years ago got out."

King Akio took a sip of his water. "Oh. Well, I can answer that very easily. He didn't."

Sato, Sakura, and Ai all gasped. Sato leaned forward, "So then say if another human were to enter the Forbidden Book. How would he leave?"

Akio set his glass down, "One way and one way only. Find the Warrior Bakemono Niji. He has the Magical Sword Heiwa no Jigen. It allows the wielder to travel through dimensions peacefully and without interruption. It's the one surefire way for a human to get out of here safely."

Sato nodded, "So where is this Niji guy then?"

The queen dabbed her mouth with her napkin. Unlike King Akio, Sato thought the queen looked a little too much like Ai. Angelic face, white hair, red eyes and all. The only difference he could spot was the queen's more mature and responsible demeanor. "Just beyond this kingdom, there is a small village. You will have to pass through a cave to get there. The village is connected by a bridge to Fairport City. Fairport City has a ferry every day. You can take it and head over to Silverwald Country. I believe that's where Niji is currently residing. However, he constantly changes locations. So you'll have to find all that out for yourself. By the way, I believe I have yet to properly introduce myself. I am Queen Hikari."

Akio put his silverware and napkin on his plate neatly. "Now what is this about my daughter staying with you?"

Sato gulped. He had hoped this wouldn't come up. But since it had, the only thing he could do now was suck it up and deal with the consequences of telling the king his runaway daughter refused to stay with him. "Listen, your Majesty. It's nothing personal against you. But you see, the thing is Ai doesn't wanna be cooped up in this castle anymore. She wants to explore the world is all."

Akio started laughing, "Oh well why didn't you just say so, baby?"

Ai spoke for the first time since she walked into the castle, "You mean, you're okay with it?"

"Why of course I am. I traveled around when I was younger too, you know? So you might as well follow in my footsteps. When you're older of course."

"When I'm older? But then, what's the point?! Sato will be gone by then!" Ai ran off.

Akio turned to Sato, "What does she mean by that?"

Sato shrugged nervously, "Who knows?" Sato felt like it was starting to get dangerously close to his secret being revealed. He seriously hoped Akio wouldn't pry for more information.

Akio had a suspicious look in his eye but let it go, "I'll go after her."

Sato put his arm out in front of Akio. "No, I'll go." As soon as Sato ran out of the castle he tripped over something. "Damn, why is it so dark out already? Ai! Ai! Where are you?!" Sato heard someone sobbing in the distance. "A-ha! That has to be Ai. He followed the sound of the crying and sure enough, there was Ai, sitting on a log by a lake. "Hey Ai! I found you."

Ai started wiping away her tears, "What do you want, Sato?"

Sato blinked, "What? No big brother?"

Ai just turned away and gave him the cold shoulder. Sato pushed her gently, "Come on, talk to me. What's wrong? Are you mad at me or something?"

Ai glanced back at Sato. "Why didn't you say anything when my daddy said I had to wait until I'm older to leave home?"

"Well, I was going to but you just ran out so fast, I never got the chance. Speaking of which, I have a question for you. I thought you just wanted to see the world? What does it matter if I'm with you or not?"

Ai shook her head, "Sakura's right. You are an idiot. I wanna travel with you and Sakura, all of us together. It's so much fun and I don't ever want it to end."

Sato didn't know what to say. But he knew he had to say something. "I can't promise you that it will never end. Although what we can do is have as much fun as possible until it does." Sato smiled, "Now come on, let's go tell your dad you're leaving. Little sister." Sato held out his hand and Ai beamed in response.

Once Sato and Ai made it back to the castle, Sato told King Akio about Ai's decision to leave anyway.

"Well, I guess there's nothing I can do if she will just run away again. Just promise me this Sato. Don't let anything happen to my precious daughter. Protect her with your life!" Akio commanded

Sato bowed, "Yes, sir. I promise."

Sakura laughed so hard she doubled over, "Oh my gosh. Sato protect Ai? As if! He's the one who needs protecting. He almost gets killed like every day!"

Sato frowned, "Shut up!"

The next morning, Sato, Ai, and Sakura said their goodbyes to King Akio and Queen Hikari. They headed off for the cave they would have to pass through to get to the nearby village. Unknowing to what lurked in said cave waiting for them. A dark shadowy figure in the cave enveloped its claw-like hands in flames. "I smell a human."