The Dark Commander and Demon Lord guided their guests into the castle. Both the Hero and the Holy Princess had thrown aside their cloaks and started to brush their previous adventure off. Pain eagerly walked back through the castle giving the others the tour while the Demon Lord just shook her head.

"And this here is the main hallway that connects several important locations of the castle, including the Great Hall where we will have our meeting. If you look to your left, you will see the pathway that takes you to the concert hall, and if you look to your right, you will see the path that takes you to the kitchens. Up ahead is the sealed off throne room, just ignore that one, and after that, we have a staircase to the second floor, which we will now go up!"

"Is this man okay? He's giving the whole layout of the castle away?" The Holy Princess asked while Pain went on with the tour.

"Indeed, he is giving so much away; I have to think it must be a distraction from something important," the Hero said.

"Try not to read too much into it; this is just how he is," the Demon Lord sighed from in front of them. The Holy Princess and Hero glanced at each other for a moment before looking back ahead.

"Wow, it must be tough for you, huh, Demon Lord," the Holy Princess said awkwardly while trying to strike up a conversation.

"You have no idea; he just does his own thing and never listens to me." Charlotte sighed.

"Oh, I get it. Just a little while ago, this Hero of mine made me jump into a dirty river!" The Holy Princess said with a nod.

"We were being chased by a group of troops with our backs up against that river!" The Hero tried to defend himself.

"I understand; I could see Pain doing something like that too," The Demon Lord shuddered at the thought.

"See, Girolamo, Even the Demon Lord, wouldn't want to jump in a river like that!"

"But, but... we needed to escape!" The Hero again tried to defend himself.

"And here we have the entrance to the Great Hall, come on in!" Pain finished with his impromptu tour and gestures for the others to enter. They walked into the hall and to the table. Both the Hero and Princess shared a glance as they approached the table. After walking around it for a minute, they finally settled on two of the seats.

Pain and the Demon Lord sat down in the remaining chairs. The four of them stared at each other in silence for a moment. Each awkwardly looked around the room and at each other while a zombie shambled over to bring them drinks. The exception was Pain, who wore a smile but was silently cursing whoever sent a zombie to deliver drinks when he explicitly said not.

Finally, the Demon Lord cleared her throat to break the silence.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"We-Welcome to the Dark Castle, I hope we can hav- have a productive talk," she stammered.

"Ye-yes, I will be ha-happy if this war can end soon," The Holy Princess stammered back.

"You two were just talking to each other with no problems," Pain said with a confused expression as he looked back and forth between the two.

"Pain, please stop; we need to have a serious conversation now," Charlotte said sternly.

"Yes, if you aren't going to say anything productive, please keep quiet!" the Holy Princess added.

"See, you too can get along!" Pain chirped. The Demon Lord and Holy Princess blushed and turned away from the table.

"Anyway. I believe we came here to discuss peace?" The Hero awkwardly tried to get the conversation on track.

"Yeah, how about we don't kill each other anymore," Pain said with a smile.

"Pain!" The Demon Lord shouted.

"I agree, let's stop," the Hero nodded in agreement.

"Girolamo!" the Holy Princess shouted.

Both the Demon Lord and Holy Princess sighed.

"As much as I want to complain about these two, I am okay with just ending it," the Holy Princess sighed.

"I agree, but there is still much to discuss," the Demon Lord said.

"Agreed. First of all, I can make an order for my troops to stand down, but once my mother hears about it, we will be in trouble..." The Holy Princess said.

"How so?" Pain asked while starting to munch on some snacks that a zombie had brought. The Holy Princess stayed silent and looked down.

"Even if we call troops back, her mother will make an order to send them back out to the front lines," The Hero clarified.

"I thought the Holy Princess was the one in charge of the army?" the Demon Lord asked.

"I'm... supposed to be, but many years ago, my mother, The Holy Queen, said I did not properly embody the role of a Holy Princess..." The princess said while shaking with her hands by her head.

"I understand," the Demon Lord said with a knowing nod. "So, we need to come up with a plan to keep her from intervening."

"How about a coup?" Pain casually asked.

"Pain! We can't just suggest for a coup!" The Demon Lord shouted out; she was shocked he had said it.

"Practically speaking, a coup wouldn't work. The Holy Queen has too many supporters in her inner circle," The Hero thought out loud.

"Girolamo! Don't go thinking about it like it's a good idea!" the Holy Princess blurted out.

"Let's just ignore these two," The Demon Lord said while rubbing her head as if she had a migraine.

"Agreed," the Holy Princess said while making the same motions.

"Let's figure out the details for dealing with the Holy Queen later. Perhaps if we have a good plan for peace, she will come around," The Demon Lord said.

"I am doubtful, but it is a good idea to try!" The Holy Princess said with a nod.

"So, the coup thing will be plan B?" Pain asked.

"Pain!" the Demon Lord yelled.

"Okay, how about plan C?" The Hero added.

Neither the Demon Lord nor Holy Princess said another word. They just sat at the table silently. After a moment, they glanced at each other and nodded.

Pain and the Hero were thrown out of the meeting into the hallway, and the door slammed shut behind them, and the zombie who only now shambled out of the room.

"Well, that was a brilliant plan to have them get along," the Hero said with a smile.

"What plan?" Pain asked.

"The... plan to make stupid suggestions so they could break the ice..." The Hero and Pain stared at each other blankly for a while.

"So, you don't think a coup is a good idea?" Pain finally shouted.

"Of course not!" the Hero shouted back.

"Oh well, want to go check out more of the castle? Let's see. The zombies can show off some of their dance routines, the skeleton band can play some, and we have some art. Oh, and I think there was a basketball game today!"

"Sure..."

The Dark Commander and Hero walked off to see the rest of the castle.