~ADVENTURE~

Shisho gulped from the sudden response from the guard, taking a step backwards himself. Soon, however, he settled down once more, as the King had calmed the guard down. ... But the words that came from the King's mouth soon after was itself unsettling enough.

"... Well... That hardly sounds like a natural disaster, your majesty," Shisho commented, then blinked as he mentioned of a survivor. "Survivor? But how?" he asked, slightly bewildered. Regrettably, he should've read a bit from the book that he purchased earlier; regardless, it is a bit too late to start reading now.
"We don't know." The king responds, sighing. "The sole survivor, you see, is the princess of the Ashen kingdom. This is confirmed not only by those who see her, but also by a letter she carried. There is a single, particular problem, however."

"You see, historically, the Ebony and Ivory kingdoms were bitter enemies. This changed when the Ashen kingdom intervened; they proposed a truce under a single condition, and it is that condition that has led to peace between our kingdoms for generations. Namely..." The king pauses for a moment, looking to make sure Shisho is listening, then continues.

"...whenever the Ebony and Ivory Kingdoms wish to change rulers, they must offer an heir of a particular gender. This must be done at the same time. These two heirs will then fight not only for their right to rule, but also for the affections of whatever heir the Ashen kingdom puts forward; whichever heir he or she chooses will rule together with him or her over all three kingdoms, primarily their own, with whichever suitor 'lost' acting as a governor of sorts over their own kingdom." The king pauses for a moment. "I, ah, managed to garner the affections of my dear Sophia. We ruled together until she passed some 5 years ago. Raitan, my son-- originally I had him working with the guard to toughen him up a little, make him take some responsibility, but after his mother died, he-"

There's a pause.

"I'm getting off topic. The problem is that both my son, Raitan, and the Ebony kingdom's brat, Merstae, are both claiming that she was in love with them; that could very well be true. But the problem is a single, small thing. She was about to pick her suitor when the Ashen Kingdom was destroyed. When we found her afterward, her memories... were gone. She is the real deal, certainly, but she does not remember who she was going to propose to."
Shisho blinked as he lifted his head slightly upwards in thought as he digested the information. So the King probably wants someone to determine which heir was the one that the Ashen princess chose prior to the disaster, and now they're left with a princess with no memories, but the fate of three (or now, two) kingdoms hung in the balance from the decision of one amnesiatic girl.

Shisho didn't like where the direction of the conversation was going, seeing that suddenly, the King of Ivory was seeking for an independent party. What can an independent party do at this point? Hang out with the princess?

"... Well then, I'm not sure how am I able to be of help, your majesty," Shisho lowered his head with respect slightly, peeking at the responses and body language of the guards in the room. "They say that time will heal everything, so is it not better to wait for the princess to recover her memories?"
"Ordinarily, I might say so." The king nods, "But... with the destruction of the Ashen kingdom, the people are growing... antsy. You see, I-"

...
...
...

As Shisho looks on, the King simply sits there, paused perfectly in mid-action. For a moment it seems as though he should say something... but then a loud, tearing sound-- like a record scratch or ripping paper-- rings out in the air.

All at once the world distorts and bends, and then goes black. Shisho becomes lost in a strange, weightless abyss, a dark space that just seems... empty, devoid of even himself...

...and then he's suddenly right back where he was, feet planted firmly in the air above the net-panels, the book slowly burning on the ground in front of him.
And within the blink of an eye, the fantasy scenery was gone; leaving behind a burning book and a floaty Navigator in a moldy book shop.

Shisho picked up the book, blowing the fire out with a big huff, coughing as the dust threatened to snuff him out, instead. ... Tucking the book into his massive sleeves (and disappearing under it), the Navigator nodded to the bookshop owner, and floated out of the shop... and network.

[[Goto: Netsquare]]