Ethan woke up to a busy morning. That day was going to be a historic day for the kingdom. The secret operation was set to begin on that very day and everyone in the kingdom knew about it. The previous night, King Aleric and Queen Rani informed all the Kisunes Prince Ethan was going to be the one to venture into enemy territory. Most of the citizenry thought it was unwise to send their young prince on the mission, but they wouldn’t dare argue with the Orb of Enlightenment.

It was noon. Ethan was set to leave his home kingdom later that night. Though the Kisunes felt it would be important to celebrate Prince Ethan’s journey to the kingdom before he left, the Oracle thought otherwise. They just couldn’t risk letting the Okamis know what they were planning.

Prince Ethan was in the palace at the time with his family. They were in the royal orchard outside the castle. The orchard was large and green. There were several plant species in the orchard and the royal family members were seated on their thrones under one of the largest golden apple trees in the orchard. There was a calm gentle breeze and Ethan enjoyed the coolness that came with it.

The royal family was discussing the plan once more with Ethan, who had a paper map of the two enemy kingdoms in his hand.

“All you need to do is steal the Emerald and get back here. Ked the spy will help you with anything you need,” King Aleric explained with a gentle smile on his face.

“Whatever you do, don’t let the Okamis find out who you are. We can’t risk breaking the…” Budrik’s eyes bulged open. “Never mind,” he smiled awkwardly at the prince. Ethan squinted his eyes at his uncle. He put down the map and asked what Budrik meant. Budrik hesitated to respond and blinked at Ethan.

Before Ethan’s uncle could respond, Snowy, who was flying high in the sunny blue sky, swooped down to Ethan in the blink of an eye and got their attention. Ethan smiled and the owl, which gazed at the paper map curiously.

“All this work just to get a gemstone?” Snowy took his eyes off the map and returned his sharp gaze at the royal family.

“It’s more than a gemstone,” Queen Rani said with an almost smile.

“The Emerald is very important and powerful,” Budrik added on. “It once belonged to us until the Okamis stole for their selfish intentions.” He paused for a moment and scratched the back of his head. “Though there is no evidence that we once possessed it,” he paused once more and looked at Snowy. “The Okamis are mischievous thieves and so long as they have the Emerald, our kingdom is in grave danger.”

The royal family continued to discuss issues concerning the mission and the Emerald for a while longer. Snowy was skeptical about everything. As Budrik explained how the Okamis supposedly stole the Emerald from them, Snowy squinted his eyes at him. Something about the explanation seemed odd.

Later that day before the sun set, the royal family held a small private surprise party for the Kisune Prince Ethan. Ethan’s jaw dropped when he arrived at the scene with his mother and father, though he was chuffed. The sweet scent of confectionery and chocolate fudge filled the regal dining hall.

The little surprise party was supposed to last only a few hours but it dragged on up to nighttime. King Aleric and Queen Rani were glad to host the small event as long as their son wanted. Ethan and Snowy joyfully spent some quality family time with Ethan’s parents. Together, they spent some time fishing in the royal pond. They played some golf and, later, a game of tennis. Meanwhile, Budrik and Cedric were working on making a portal to the Kingdom of Okami with the aid of some workers.

“Today was great,” Ethan walked with his parents along a paved path from the royal tennis court back to the palace. Ethan looked up at the sky and saw the sun, which was close to setting. The sky was getting darker and, soon, it would be time to leave. The smile on Ethan’s face suddenly turned upside down. Snowy swooped down and perched on Ethan’s right shoulder. The maneuver caught Ethan by surprise, but it was something he was used to. “Is this really the last time I’ll see you in two weeks?” Ethan turned to face his parents with a vacant stare.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright. You heard the orb,” King Aleric patted his son’s blond hair.

“Besides, you have Ked. He’s one of the best spies in service. He’ll be sure to take care of you,” Queen Rani smiled at Ethan. Ethan returned the grin and sighed as they continued their way to the grand palace in the center of the kingdom, which was painted a light shade of orange. The palace also had statues of foxes on the top most floors.

***

Ethan was in his room with Snowy. He darted his eyes around, trying to look for anything he would need, something he had been doing for the twenty minutes or so. The Kisune Prince spotted his laptop on his bedside. He reached his hand out to it, but hesitated when it was just in his reach. “Won’t need to get it. If I did, mom and dad would’ve told me,” Ethan shifted his steady gaze to yet another object in his regal bedroom. It was a small item – a framed picture of him, his parents, Snowy, Cedric, and his uncle. A half-smile was instantly drawn on the face of the Prince. One gentle step at a time, he made his way to the framed picture of him and the Kisune Oracle.

He picked up the picture from his bedside cupboard and held it right in front of his face. “I won’t be seeing any of you for like half a month, so I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get this,” Ethan put the framed picture on the palm of his left hand. He placed his right hand over it. A spell disc appeared on his right hand and he cast a shrinking spell. The picture glowed orange, the same color as his spell disc, and shrunk gradually till it was almost a quarter its original size. He got the picture and put it in his black pouch.

The prince got closer to the large window opposite his bed. He looked out the window and saw the moon in the night sky and it was beautiful, as usual. The prince saw a familiar snow-white bird flying to his room under the moonlight. He smiled and opened the window, letting Snowy in. “The portal is almost ready,” Snowy swooped down and settled on the window sill. Ethan sighed, but smiled afterwards. He turned his attention to his telescope just by the window. He reached his hand out and grabbed the telescope, pulling it close enough to cuddle. He got behind the magnificent astronomical instrument and aligned his right eye perfectly with the eyepiece. As he did this, Snowy stared curiously at the boy.

Most would expect the telescope to point skyward, but Ethan pointed it right at the horizon. Ethan couldn’t see much. All he saw was the modern landscape of the Kisune kingdom—characterized by buildings that stood as low as only one story to as high as ten stories—that stretched only as far as the eye could see. Not exactly what I want to see. Ethan placed his hand on his telescope and said, “Magnify. Show me what I want to see.” A spell disc appeared on his right hand and an orange magical aura surrounded the telescope. He moment it did, Ethan’s view was extended far beyond the landscape of the Kisune Kingdom. His enchanted supercharger telescope could now show him the Okami Palace, which was over a hundred miles away. The palace had statues of wolves on it and blue flags. Unfortunately, Ethan’s view of the palace was short-lived. A blue light flickered on the telescope and countered his spell all in a fraction of a second. Ethan was startled and leapt away from his telescope. The orange aura surrounding the instrument suddenly faded. “Ugh, why does their force field have to be so impenetrable!” He exclaimed.

“The Kisune force field is pretty impenetrable too,” Snowy flapped his wings and flew to Ethan. The owl swooped down and perched on Ethan’s right shoulder. “You’re okay with leaving tonight, right?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Of course I am,” Ethan sighed in relief. “Soon, those monsters won’t be a threat anymore once I’m done with them.” The teenage Prince grinned.

Suddenly, he heard an unfamiliar sound. There was a very powerful roar that came from outside. The sound was loud and could be heard as far as a mile away from the palace. “Whoa!” Ethan ran back to the window with a joyful open mouth. Ethan’s sudden motion startled Snowy, who flew off his shoulder and rushed to the window. Ethan looked outside the window and saw a flash of light so bright he had to squint his eyes before getting a better look. “The portal is ready!” Ethan yelled in excitement the moment he realized what just happened. “Uncle Budrik and Cedric must’ve put a lot of effort in it!” Ethan quickly turned and ran to the door. “C’mon Snowy!” Before the owl could even turn to face the door, Ethan already left the room.

“Wait for me, Ethan!” Snowy flapped his wings and followed the prince’s lead.

Ethan was panting a bit. He ran with all the excitement he had through the long hallway and downstairs to the ground floor. He pushed the double door open so suddenly the guards were startled, but remained stationery.

Ethan looked at the large circular portal in front of him. It was a marvel. A metallic ring about three yards in diameter. There was a magnificent bright blue light that came from the center of the ring. Several cables ran from the portal to a large battery next to it. Budrik and Cedric stood a few yards from the portal, looking tired, with a few workers next to them, and Desmond the butler. King Aleric and Queen Rani were near the scene, too.

Ethan just stood there and looked at the portal in awe for a moment. His parents and the others didn’t seem to notice him since he was behind them. He sighed and began to make his way to his fate one step at a time. Snowy followed close behind, flying slightly above Ethan’s head.

“Guess it’s time to go,” Ethan said to his parents. They looked down and saw their son, who they just noticed.

“Oh, Ethan. We were just about to get you,” Queen Rani looked down at the tiled floor.

“Ready?” King Aleric grinned at his son. Ethan looked at his father and mother with carefully knitted brows. He shifted his attention to the portal and stared at it once more. Suddenly, a small smile appeared on his face once more.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” the young Prince looked at his parents. His gaze was redirected to the portal when it suddenly changed color from blue to white in an instant. Ethan blinked twice at the unexpected change.

“The portal won’t last long,” Cedric observed the unstable portal. “You better go now before the Okami force field deactivates it.”

“Ked will tell you everything you need,” Queen Rani told her son with a little smile, “Don’t worry.”

Ethan responded with a courageous look on his face. He looked at the circular portal for yet another moment. He turned and looked at his parents with a soft smile. He suddenly gave them a bear hug, which they returned.

“You need to leave now!” Budrik exclaimed. The portal began to roar and the blue light in the ring began to flicker, but only for a moment’s time. It got back to normal suddenly. “The portal is getting weaker.”

Ethan sighed and broke from the brief embrace. He walked towards the portal, not even daring to look back. Snowy was perched on King Aleric’s right shoulder, looking at his owner leave him with a down-turned head.

Ethan stood still right at the edge of the portal. He looked back. With a smirk, he waved goodbye. A second later, he faced the magical portal again. He closed his eyes and made a step forward. As he crossed the blue intangible surface of the portal, he could feel nothing at all. It was like walking through air. Two more steps forward, and the boy was gone; taken elsewhere.

“Now we can shut down the portal before—” Budrik’s statement was cut short by an owl.

“I’m coming for you, bud!” Snowy suddenly flew off King Aleric’s shoulder with tears rolling off his owl eyes. The bird dashed to the portal at full speed without a second thought and crossed it before anyone could react. The moment he crossed, the portal shut down. There was yet another powerful roar from it as the blue light in the ring died out all too fast.

“It’s not a problem to have Snowy accompany him, right” King Aleric looked into the hazel brown eyes of his wife.

“Not a trouble. Besides, I think Ethan could use the company,” Queen Rani looked at the dead portal in front of them. She turned her attention to his brother-in-law, Budrik, who just cast a cartography spell, summoning a magical holographic map right in front of him.

“That’s odd,” Budrik squinted his eyes at the map. “It seems Snowy flew too fast into the portal.”

“Is that a problem?” Cedric got closer to the royal adviser. King Aleric and Queen Rani got closer as well.

Budrik tapped the outline of the blue line dividing the two kingdoms on the map. “Well, it appears Snowy’s sudden entrance triggered the Okami force field’s defense mechanism. It just went from level three security to level five. Fortunately, it isn’t a high enough security issue to alert the Okamis of any intrusion,” Budrik explained. He cancelled out his spell and the holographic map disappeared in thin air.

“That’s alright,” Queen Freya commented. “Well, guess we should be heading back inside. It’s cold out here, by the way.” Everyone agreed to the queen’s suggestion. The portal was left outside and everyone began to get back in the palace.

As Budrik walked beside his brother and the queen, there was an odd silence among them till he broke it. “I wonder, do you think it was right to lie about the true purpose of the Emerald to Ethan? If that weren’t enough, we also didn’t tell him about the Agreement.”

King Aleric looked at his brother with an upside-down smile, “Don’t worry, it’ll be alright. Ked will stop him from doing anything contrary to the Agreement.”

Budrik sighed. He looked at his brother with a tight-lipped smile. “I hope so.”

***

The young Prince of the Kisune opened his eyes to see where the portal had taken him. He turned back to see the white portal behind him; it was still open. Suddenly, it began to flicker and dim, signaling its inevitable closure. Ethan looked at the portal with a plain frown when, out of nowhere, a familiar owl came flying out.

“Snowy?” Ethan looked at the owl with a dimpled smile and sparkling eyes. The owl descended on the young prince’s shoulder and the two watched as the portal closed in an instant. The moment it did, Ethan finally took a moment to observe the room he was in. The room was bright, with a chandelier in the center of ceiling. The walls of the grand room were painted purple and there was a large flat screen television set on one wall, and a set of sofas around a decorated wooden table.

“Where are we?” Snowy flew off Ethan’s shoulder and perched on the table.

“I don’t know, but we’re definitely in Okami territory,” Ethan strode to the table. There was a slight pause before he asked, “Why did you come here?”

“You didn’t think I’d live two whole weeks without my favorite human, now did you?” Snowy flew up so Ethan could see him eye to eye. The owl stared into Ethan’s hazel brown eyes with a smile, and the prince chuckled delightedly.

“Welcome, Prince Ethan, to your new home,” came an unfamiliar voice from right behind them. Ethan quickly turned his head to see who it was. He saw a certain male figure dressed in black approaching. His black jacket, black pair of pants, and black shoes made it all too clear that he was a spy. The young Kisune spy was clearly only a few years older than the Kisune prince.

“Who are you? Are you Ked, or something like that…” Ethan laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his blond hair.

The Kisune spy took a light bow, “That is correct, your highness, I am none other than Ked the Kisune Spy.”

“You don’t need to bow,” Ethan blinked twice at the scene.

“Oh,” Ked continued with a look of surprise on his face. He stood straight and looked down to face Ethan. Ked was only slightly taller than the prince. “Nevertheless, it is still an honor to have you hear, my prince,” he paused and looked at Snowy for a split second before he added, “and your loyal bird.”

“Just call me Ethan,” Ethan grinned at his new teammate. The statement surprised Ked, but he smiled along. “It’s an honor to serve the Kisunes, really,” Ethan continued. The two seemed to observe each other for a moment. Their gazes were fixed on each other. Ethan stared at Ked’s brown eyes and Ked did the same. “You’re younger than I thought,” the teenage prince commented.

“I’m the youngest spy in service, yet one of the best,” Ked explained. “But we aren’t here to talk about that.” Ked reached into his jacket and pulled out a set of keys. He handed over the keys to Ethan. “Those are the keys to this house,” Ked said as he examined the boy from bottom to top. It was almost as if he was carefully calculating how ready Ethan was for the operation and how much help he would need. Ked’s gaze continued upwards till his eyes met with Ethan’s hazel brown eyes. “You’re here on a very important mission as you know,” the Kisune spy got a necklace and a small badge on the wooden table and handed the two items to Ethan. Ethan examined the objects, which Ked placed in Ethan’s palm.

“The jewel attached to that necklace is a cloaking stone,” Ked explained, “Keep this necklace around your neck at all times. Keep the badge as well.” That statement aroused Snowy’s curiosity. The owl stared at the cloaking stone for a moment before asking what it was for. “Prince Ethan can’t just wander around in enemy territory. He’ll need a disguise; that’s what the stone of for,” Ked explained further. “I’ll help you on your mission. For now, I need to go.” The spy turned and began making his way towards the door quickly.

“Wait!” Ethan suddenly exclaimed just when Ked was about to leave. Ked turned and faced him once more, responding with a ‘yes’. “Where can I find you just in case I need help?” A faint smile appeared on Ked’s face, followed by a small chuckle that could hardly be heard.

“Don’t worry, Prince, everything will be alright,” Ked said. He made his way to the door and opened it. Ethan kept blinking at Ked. “Get enough rest. You’ll need it.” Ked closed the door and left the house.

Ethan was all alone in the room with Snowy. He looked around the large living room. He made his way from the living room to the bedroom, which was behind yet another door in the grand, regal room. The bedroom was identical to the one in his palace; he could hardly tell a difference. The prince got to the comfortable bed and sat on the edge of it. He sighed and looked at the small cupboard to the right side of his bed. He took off his golden crown and placed it inside the cupboard along with the cloaking stone and the badge. He took off his pouch and unzipped it. He reached his hand into the pouch and pulled out the framed picture of him and the members of the Kisune Oracle. He placed one hand on the picture and a spell disc appeared over it, magnifying the framed photograph back to its original size. With an almost smile, the prince gently placed the picture on the cupboard.

“C’mon, there’s more to this place than the bedroom. Let’s go check out every other room,” Snowy suggested. The prince stood from his bed with a grin and continued to explore the house. He checked out each and every room with him owl companion before he got back to the bedroom and lay on the bed once more. Snowy perched on a bird perch placed on the cupboard, right next to Ethan’s bed. Ethan turned off the chandelier. The two wished each other a good night’s sleep and shut their eyes. The next day would be their first in the enemy kingdom.