Open - A New Throne

He liked to think it was destiny, spawning in the break of the thick forestry, where the light would hit him just right. Filtering through leaves and branches, trickling down like a beautiful golden spotlight, highlighting his entire being. It was perfect. Fitting. Surely, it was a sign of the great future to come.


Energy pooled deep in his belly as he stretched out his arms, admiring the curve of his firm muscles. He drew fingers along his bare stomach, tracing the lines of his abs as a grin grew on his face. "Look at me!" he laughed. A hand shot up to trace along his trim jaw. "I'm fucking handsome," he gasped, "it's like my outsides match my insides again. Oh maaaan." Where was a mirror when he needed one? Or an admirer? His eyes twinkled. There had to be a newbie town nearby, right? That's what games always did. The little tutorial spot where you go to steal and plunder from NPCs, wiping out the entirety of lame-ball slimes. There... There is where he'd be recognized for his glory and fame. "Alright!" He had to get there, now!


Or so he'd told himself about (he checks the ingame clock via the palm status menu) two hours ago. So far, all he'd managed to do was walk around this godforsaken forest, smacking squirrels and slime alike with his mighty katana. Note: it wasn't actually a katana. The game called it a longsword. But he called it a katana because that's what he's practiced with all his life, and that's all that matters, so it's a katana that he used to slay his dangerous foes.


He stabbed the blade through one of the green oozing creatures, laughing majestically as he tossed it aside with a single flick of his weapon. The acid liquid left behind was easily wiped off on a tree bark, burning slightly into the surface.


"GOD. THESE THINGS ARE SO BORING. GIVE ME A REAL CHALLENGE! C'MON!" He screamed into the greenery with his deep, manly voice. He spread his arms wide, katana in right hand and head to the skies. If anybody walked upon the scene, they'd see a tall, fit beast of a man, clad in pants and a flowing cloak (but no shirt), and perhaps may think him insane. Or they'd be just stunned by his beauty, daring to approach and make themselves heard. Who knows? One could never predict the wily ways of the folk.

 

Alpha licked her lips at the sight in front of her: a rippling icon of pure handsomeness with toned, sexy muscles and washboard abs. Dem abs! Dat butt! And she had the perfect view. Alpha stretched her neck a bit out the foliage from the tree she was perched on, her eyes focused on one thing only out of this picture. That beautiful Adonis and specimen of a man in front of—wait. Wait. WAIT A MOMENT HERE, AMIGO.

The man turned around, shouting at the skies with green muck sliding down his longsword and Alpha wondered what could've went wrong during the character customization stage for the man to look like this. Surely this was a mistake of the Gods. Of course, she appreciated the view of his abdominal musculature and his firm thunder thighs but his personality was ridiculous and didn't match his appearance at all! What happened to chivalry and refined men with pretty cheeks?! And, for a quick moment, Alpha remembered just why exactly she still didn't have a boyfriend (with the possible exception of Narth who she would one day claim in a battle of glory, honor, and love; she had a reservation on him, she'd like to think).

"No!" she groaned, her protests lost as the obviously insane man began ranting about boredom, challenges, and God. Great. Even if she could ignore his penchant for shouting, he held zero-percent refinement. Sure, she had to admit that those crazier-than-life, cackling villains in those Netflix original series were pretty attractive but there was quite a contrast with that and gauging potential love interests for scientific purposes.

"No, no, no!" she jumped down, slapping the tree she was on in frustration. "You!" she spat out spitefully, pointing at him as her head tilted towards the sky. "YOU ARE NOT BOYFRIEND MATERIAL! BEGONE! I HAVE NO NEED FOR YOUR ALLURING CHARMS, YOU GRADE-A BEEFCAKE!"

And she continued that rant for quite awhile until, finally, genius had struck upon her yet again. Suddenly, she ceased her loud ramblings to wiggle her eyebrows suggestively. Opening her user interface, she quickly scrolled down her friends list until she finally stumbled upon one Roland Rutledge.

She coughed. "Haha, sorry about that," she amended sheepishly, her entire demeanor and mood doing a 180 in the duration of fifteen seconds. "So. Uh, are you interested in purple-haired peeps? Just asking for a friend, you know? And, uh, sorry about the screaming. I've been perched up on that tree for the past five days."

As if proving her point, she gestured up to the ground below her tree which was decorated with various empty bottles and plates. She leaned in, the bags under her eyes now somewhat noticeable. There was a subtle twitch under her right eye. "I haven't slept for three nights. Had to keep my eye out, you know? Anyways! You interested? I promise you that he'd be a real challenge!"

@Kingoda Hyunivas

 

He turned with a flourish of his sword, pointing it in the young lady's direction as she seemingly dropped to the ground from nowhere with a (manly) tiny shriek. "Begone, foul bea—" he cut his speech off as he blinked once, then twice, then, "wait, what?" A little midget graced his presence, it seemed?

He tried to get a word in as she ranted on and on about his alluring charms and how he was a Grade-A beefcake. Or at least, that's the gist of what he got. He preened under the compliments, easily brushing off what other insults she might put in there. So what if the little midget thought him to be 'not boyfriend material'? He hardly thought a child like her could be girlfriend material, so they were even! He didn't care about her stupid tiny (just like her) opinions! Though it did kind of sting. A little bit. But only a bit, he allowed, as he quirked a brow, settling into a stance as he watched her.

He looked from the tip of his katana to her. And then back to the tip of his katana. He could stab her, he mused. Anything to make the little squealing midget take a god damn breath and shut up.

Luckily for her (and for him), the words came crashing to a halt like a bad train wreck. "Do not wiggle your brows at me, tiny gremlin," he said at the inane gesture she seemed to be keen on making. But then she spoke of 'purple-haired peeps'. His mind immediately conjured images of busty purple-haired darlings, fluttering eyelashes at him and curling around his bicep. He licked his lips and smiled as the scene continued. Oh, King-sama~ they would call!

He giggled to himself, only barely snapping back to reality as the tiny gremlin continued to talk.

He drew up to his full height, keeping his blade ready for any attacks as he looked down his nose at her. At least she knew well enough to apologize for her wretched behaviour. "Hmph. So long as you understand your mistakes, I suppose I can forgive you."

He looked to the tree she'd apparently been perched in, burying the shame of missing these obvious clues to her presence. "Why exactly have you been up there." Actually, a far better question: "What are you keeping an eye out for?" Perhaps she'd need a knight in (not yet) shining armour to save her? His first damsel in distress! He concealed his excited squeal behind a cough, clearing his throat and smiling thinly at her. She wasn't exactly what he pictured a damsel in distress would look like or act like, but he would be kind to all, he decided. All damsels in distress were equally in need of saving! And who was he, the nice guy that he was, to say no to that?

Yes, he decided. He would help this young… maiden… out.

 

"Tiny gremlin?! I'll have you know that I'm, like, four feet tall! That's four times bigger than a one-foot giraffe!" she huffed indignantly as she strutted towards the man, her neck craned up as she struggled to look him in the eyes. And, before she could even get his attention, she faltered at his lecherous giggle. Her eyes were very, very judging at the moment. "Excuse me," she coughed, at a loss as to what to say. As he continued on with his nose pointed down at her, she couldn't help but stomp her feet in distaste. "You're so ugh!" she groaned, running her hands through her hair. Softly, she whispered under her breath with some level of frustration and panic. "I can't let you see Rudolf like this! Gah, you need to be more...pizzazz. More cuddly! You're like a cardboard cut-out of Chris Hemsworth in his prime but with a personality that's like a very sharp piece of paper that can kill a rock by means of a thousand paper cuts!"

And then, with her little small monologue done, she looked him once over before reaching over to pat his rippling chest a few times. Nice. Firm. He was, luckily, well-built enough so she wouldn't have to pester him into a few weight-lifting sessions. Maybe she could convince him to take a few lessons in proper etiquette and she seriously considered that option before she remembered her own lessons in proper etiquette and what it entailed. She shivered at the remembrance of the event and promised herself never to dip in a scone in piping hot tea right after drenching her cup in apple cider and vinegar. Not good.

"I am..." she began, thinking of what to say. Surely he wouldn't go with her willingly if she was completely truthful (no one would want learn proper manners) so she might have to stretch some things to appeal to his obviously large ego. "A scout! I was looking for fit men around; the best of the best, of course. Okay, truthfully you might need to be a bit more...prim, before you meet your lovely bride but still! You, my friend, will have your name known by legends and stars!" her eyes glimmered as she stood on her tippy toes (on top of a stump no less) and slung her arm across Kingoda's shoulders, her other arm outstretched into the skies. "You'll be magnificent! You already are but you can have some kinks worked out. I'm a talent agent-scout thing! Once we're done, you'll marry an amazing royal of Astorea! That's right, a member of nobility!"

Hopefully this would spark the end of her five days journey.

@Kingoda Hyunivas

 

Eyes could only roll so hard at her tiny gremlin shenanigans. "Yeah, and four times smaller than a 16 foot giraffe! Yeah, that's right," he huffed, "I can do math too." These two simply did not mesh well. If it weren't for the tantalizing promise of meeting a potential mating partner, King would've long since left the scene. In fact, he still contemplated it. The temptation only grew stronger as tiny gremlin continued to mumble and mutter, words barely making it to King's ears. Pizzazz? Cardboard? Paper cuts? Even if he could hear every word with utter clarity, he was certain she would make no sense.

And then she touched him. He blanched as she patted his well-shaped pecs, holding back a squeak of disgust as she molested his fine body. Yes, he was a very wonderful specimen, but it was look, not touch! At least for a tiny gremlin like he—

This time, when she started talking, she started saying things that made sense. "The best of the best, you say? You're lookin' right at him!" A name known by legends and stars… I mean, he could work his way to that quite easily, but if a scout had already spotted him, who was he to stop them from doing their job? He bent his knees just enough to allow her to sling and arm around his shoulders, eyes twinkling like the stars she promised him. "Astorean nobility?" He didn't know what this 'Astorea' was, but it sounded important. "A princesss? Queen? Oooh, perhaps a duchess?" He was practically salivating over the imagery flashing in front of him. Ladies with giant… personalities, smiling and cooking for him, welcoming him home with wide arms and legs!

Luckily for them all, this wasn't an anime. Unfortunately for them, that didn't stop King's nose from leaking just the slightest hint of red.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this earlier, you silly greml—uh, scout? Come on, let's get a move on! Where are these fabulous maidens you speak of?"

@Alphabet Chocolate

 

"Maiden?" Alpha considered Kingoda's words for a bit, tilting her head to side for a solid second before she gave a slow nod. Roland could be considered a maiden, she supposed. Not to mention that he had a particular penchant of taking a step above cross-dressing (and, by a step, she referred to his peculiar predilection to consuming genderbending potions that you'd normally only see in bad B-rated romcoms). "Rudolf likes dressing in dresses a lot and stuff so I guess that could be considered, uh, maidenly. Like those flowery dresses but I personally think Rudolf is more of a strong hero type than one of those damsels in distress, you know?"

She remained lost in her thoughts for a little while more before she finally snapped out of it with a clumsy shrug. "Anyways, Rudolf's probably in the kingdom or something. Last I heard, there was this invitation thingy on the world chat to Rudolf's manor!"

And, indeed, Alpha was fraught with regret that she couldn't attend that awfully splendid party that Roland had been hosting. She simply couldn't have gone without the perfect gift, especially since she had failed in setting him up with that hunk Maximilian the last time they had met. Well, the past was past and, if that party was still going on (she had attended parties that lasted weeks on end before, you know) then she had the most marvelous gift for Roland—the best gift this world has ever seen. That's right. Alphabet Chocolate, the best(est) friend, hero, and wingwoman on this side of the planet, would get Roland Rutledge hitched.

"Well, come on then!" she grinned, pointing towards the city ahead of them. "We've got to make you presentable! Imagine a new suit! A new haircut! And, hopefully, some deodorant and a wash." The last part was little more than a whisper as she eyed the slime-goo around him.

And, leaving no time for protest, she grabbed him by the hand and attempted to drag him to Brisshal (unfortunately, logic wasn't the first thing to pop into her mind and the difficulties of dragging a hulking man with her minuscule body didn't seem impossible to her at the moment). "Hurry!" she grunted. If they went at a sprint then they'd be able to get to Brisshal and visit Roland in less than a day!

...Ideally.

@Kingoda Hyunivas

 

A woman who refused to settle into the damsel-in-distress stereotype, huh? Well, King loved a good challenge. Plus, for a powerful man like himself, wouldn't it make sense to have an equally powerful wife? He nodded to himself and even smiled at the little gremlin as she continued talking about this Rudolf. What an odd name for a lady of nobility. Perhaps it was a nickname.

He even let her pull on his hand and tug him towards a… direction. Probably towards the manor she'd spoken of. Still… "What's wrong with my hair?" he asked, looking up at the bangs that fell across his handsome face. He'd spent ages perfecting it! "And a suit? But… I like what I'm wearing?" Though, he supposed, nobility would wear suits. And ties. He'd never tied his own tie before. Hmm.

Maybe he could just leave the buttons undone to continue showing off his awesome bod, pretend that was what was in fashion.

At her exclamation to hurry, King sighed and swept the little gremlin into his arms. His long legs would carry them faster than her tiny little tip taps. "Why the rush? Is… Rudolf… in trouble?" he asked, even as he kept a jogging pace. Perhaps there were fools crashing the manor party! King frowned – he didn't take well to people bothering his waifu. The little gremlin would be held at his shoulder, balanced in place as he pushed his virtual body to run.

Though he would usually pause to ask this, the urgent circumstances required that he kept on going. "By the way, name's Hyunivas. Kingoda Hyunivas." He huffed and bounced the little kid. "You are?"

@Alphabet Chocolate

 

Alpha was, above all, a chatter mouth. Luckily, previous experience had taught her that sometimes things were best left unsaid lest she provoke a fight with Roland's future groom. "Sheeptorpedo," she said at last, the nonsensical compound word being the culmination of all her feelings towards the matter. Hopefully she conveyed just enough to soothe Kingoda's confusion. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts to expedite and calm the situation, whatever guardian deity which had observed the conversation had said the nay and, within moments, she was scooped up into his muscular hold. Now, on a typical day this would be both a relief and a blessing. Being carried for free? No leg pain? Sign her up! Again, however, there were consequences for everything and she watched enough telenovelas and soap operas like Coronation Street to understand what happens when you're uncomfortably close to someone else's (wo)man. "Nope!" she said abruptly, squirming in his hold. Although she gave a small struggle, she seemingly didn't have the will and iron resolve to fully push him away. She wagged her finger at the man's face as he went at a brisk jogging pace. "Rudolf isn't gonna be happy if you're getting up and close to other girls! Think of the scandals! This is gonna be just like when Astor and Arachna had that love affair!" she pondered at the last thought. "Oh wait, nevermind. It was Astor and that fire gorilla."

There was a pause after that last thought as Alpha's face blanched a bit in a mixture of horror and disgust. The memory was definitely something she needed to use brain-bleach on considering the fact that the though of Astor starting a gorilla family with gorilla kids in the gorilla nation of Astorea was something too terrific to bear. Promptly, she deleted it from her mind. That's right. Astor was definitely having an affair with Arachna. Yup. Perfect. Fine. Nothing else happened that would warrant her continued revulsion...and then she remembered her severe case of arachnaphobia and began foaming at the mouth.

Kingoda's words provided a pleasant distraction from her current train of thoughts that were threatening to destroy her last string of sanity. This was the reason why she didn't tend to think things through before doing it, lest she get summarily traumatized by past events. "Uh," she stumbled a bit, trying to regain focus on the task at hand. "I don't really know much actually?" the statement was followed by a questionable turn of her voice, a bit high-pitched and sheepish. She did the best attempt of a shrug she could manage within the man's grasp. "Rudolf was gathering a bunch of people for this party and they were doing some kind of quest thing so either Rudolf is getting an army to perform some sort of twisted coup d'etat or Rudolf's planning on doing something."

She coughed. "Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not even sure if we're supposed to be helping Rudolf or protecting the earth from Rudolf...but, oh well! I guess the chances that they're all suitors or something is pretty low so you have a fighting chance!" she grinned, attempting to reach over and slap the burly man on the back.

She took a deep breath as they continued onward. Brisshal was within sight and she felt some childish, eager glee fill her at the prospect of beautifying this man, whether he wanted it or not. Powdered make-up! Lipgloss! Hairdos! It'll be a full-on girl's night out that she had only experienced in movies. Stuck in her excited ramblings on what the near future may bring, her mind barely processed Kingoda's next words. It took her a few moments before it clicked in. Her eyes widened, her jaw slackened, and she looked over Kingoda with genuine surprise. "Wow," she said simply, dumbfounded. "Maybe we don't have to work that much on etiquette after all! You have one of those fancy princey names so that's a plus and at least you asked for my name! To be honest, I completely forgot about that! Gah! You're perfect courtly material!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands in sheer excitement. "My name's Alphabet Chocolate!" she started. Her hands were extended before them, waving at the measurable distance.

It was a quiet place with a few bustling areas consisting of merchants and peddlers. The houses were crafted out of some sort of wood and the light shone on its fair city without discrimination, lighting up the pavement and alleyways alike. It was a glowing place that directly contrasted the shaded area of the woods and the people, all skinny and fair-dressed, seemed friendly and plentiful. "And that, Kingy," she laughed. "Is Brisshal. And we're gonna be shopping there all day, so you better be ready! You can keep your outfit and the haircut if you really want it, but we're gonna so have to make some adjustments! Maybe some tweeds or a bowtie or some suspenders! That'll clean you right up."

@Kingoda Hyunivas

 

It was like holding a cat that didn't want to accept his love. King furrowed his brows and adjusted his grip, holding tighter as the kid continued to half-heartedly struggle away from him. Was she really going to be shy about it now? After everything she'd done? At least she eventually gave in and settled back down, making the task of carrying her tiny form easier (not that she'd been that hard to carry – she was tiny and annoying, not fat). Hell, she'd even reached over and slapped his back in… a friendly gesture?

He wanted to say something but with her impressively rapid ranting, he couldn't get a word in at all! It was only when she paused that he'd managed to introduce himself, and even that had been met with more rambling. He expected more nonsense. But then she started making sense!

Yes, yes, he nodded, he was courtly material. He did have a princely name! The praise swelled in his chest and grew into a silly grin on his face. He was pretty amazing, wasn't he? Amazing enough to ignore the odd name that was 'Alphabet Chocolate'. "Pleasure," (is yours) he slipped in before she could say more.

Whether it was his hasty interruption or their arrival into Brisshal's beautiful town that did it, King found himself admiring the scenery in sweet, beautiful silence. It lasted at least a second. One glorious second.

And then as she laughed, he let the midget go, letting her fall to the ground. Whoops. He could feign it as shock, if anything. Bowties? Suspenders? "Are you trying to make me look like a nerd?" he asked with a tiny frown. He looked to his rock hard abs and sparkling pecs. "Though I guess I could rock it."

As the child-woman directed him to the first stop of the city, King let out a soft, wondering…

"Who's paying for all this?"

@Alphabet Chocolate

 

Alpha stared at Kingoda in confusion, befuddled by his words as they drew closer to the shopping center. "Paying? Who said anything about paying?" Alpha asked. Sure, money for basic trousers and the like was easy to come by considering that Brisshal was stocked up on cheap items for battle. It didn't worry her much, considering that she was dressing Kingoda up for more shallow purposes than what one may expect. Following that line of logic and the ease of gold-farming, Alpha had long since drawn to the conclusion that paying for something of such low value was equivalent to just taking it for herself anyway. Such a measly sum of money was easily forgotten and a mass-produced product that could be found on any commoner wasn't something people tend to remember.

With a sigh and a shrug, she jumped up from the ground to give Kingoda a quick clap on the back before gravity brought her back down again. "Don't worry, Kingy. This is Brisshal, everything's essentially free!" she grinned. With a slight twirl, she looked up at Kingoda with a sly wink. "You're gonna be royalty so I think the next time you stop by here, it'll be an honor for them or something! Don't worry, you'll be the Duke of some plot of Astorea. To be honest, I haven't given Rudolf's place a visit yet since the entire coronation thing. Astor Balfest, er, something along those lines...well, he gave everyone some land! Including me! I kinda forgot where it was or what I was the owner of, though...but it doesn't matter! What's important right now is that Rudolf gets an awesome husband and that you'll be the one and only! The Duke of that mansion of parties!"

She grabbed Kingoda by the hand and led him into one of the stalls ahead. It was a decrepit, run-down shack that looked scarce in comparison to some of the more artisan and well-kept stalls. In fact, the only thing that made it a competitive and worthwhile store would be the number of customers it brought in, which was a surprisingly large amount if one went by the considerable crowd which loitered around there. "This place looks really popular! Mainstream fashion, you know?"

Alpha took a look around its gruff exterior before she squeezed through the narrow crannies. By the looks of it, it was some sort of antique clothing store and, upon closer inspection, she realized that most of its consumers were gruff, elderly men. Kingoda was a gruff, elderly man, wasn't he? He was sort of a silver fox in that regard and Alpha supposed that Roland was a man who appreciated such looks.

It was at that moment that Alpha had a short moment of dawning realization at how old and weird Roland was. He was quite lucky that he had a friend like her; otherwise, he'd be just a weird grumpy crossdresser with long, purple hair and a penchant for getting decapitated by ancient vampire witches. Huh.

Either way, Alpha withdrew from the shoppe, her brief thoughts forgotten as Kingoda slipped into view. "Kingy! Kingy!" she cried in excitement, her arms filled to the brim with various articles of clothing and knickknacks she had obtained in the store. There had been an awfully cute teddybear without eyes that she found particularly endearing. She kept it securely hidden underneath the back of her shirt in hopes that Kingoda wouldn't see it and assume it was for him. That teddy bear was hers.

She regarded the bluished purple-haired man with excitement and glee [yet another reason why Roland and Kingoda would make a purfect couple (get it? purple and perfect? purfect?)]. "Here ya go, Kingy! Top of the line clothing from the olden days! I'm one-hundred and ten percent sure Rudolf's gonna love this!" she grinned!

PLAYER ALPHABET CHOCOLATE HAS PRESENTED:
​

X1 BOWTIE OF BEATIFIC BEAUTY
X203 SPECTACLES OF SPECTACULAR SUPERVISION
X5 PAIR OF PRESENTABLE PUMPS
X15 BRACELET OF BLAZING BOTANY
X9 TIGHTS OF TITANIC THEATRICS

@Kingoda Hyunivas

 

He considered it. He really did. She made a sensible enough argument – and one that benefited him, to boot! So, it was with no guilt, that he held his arms out for whatever garments Alpha had retrieved for him.

It was just... he hadn't expected so much.

Kingoda loved sunglasses. He did. He wore them with passion. But even he had to admit that 203 pairs of spectacles was a bit overkill. How had she even snuck that out of the store? Or had she? Was she really telling the truth about things being free? Or did she have some secret deal with the storekeepers? So many questions, and, as he looked at Alpha, he realised there would never be answers.

"I-" And then came the stockings. And the bowtie, which was actually kind of snazzy. "Alright, wait a second, Alph-" Why did he need 5 pairs of shoes?! He almost dropped the spectacles. "ALRIGHT!"

Just like that, the pile tumbled to the path under their feet. Kingoda had his hands on his hip as he stared down at her, one brow raised in the classic douchebag look. "How am I supposed to carry all of this?" he asked her in dubious disbelief. He'd not yet had a chance to explore the system, you see, and had yet to discover any sort of… inventory system. At least, not one that would let him take all of these physical things and put them away into a pocket of another dimension for convenience.

Could one do that? He hoped so.

"I'm not going to wear all these things," he finally said, nodding with the sort of finality that meant no more fighting about it. "But," he bent down and plucked the bowtie up, then looped it around his neck, "I'll wear at least this. That's good enough, right?"

It looked hysterically horrible, really. Without a shirt collar to hide it, one could see the bowtie was pre-tied and actually had an elastic-like loop going around his neck.

"Right. With that settled, lead me to Rudolf." He smiled and turned away from the pile of clothes now occupying a good bit of space. That wasn't his mess to deal with! Not anymore, at least.

@Alphabet Chocolate