In the Heart of the Sky Kingdom
* * *
What makes us royalty? Its not the wings on our back. Its the resolve to protect the lives of our people that we bear on our back.
It was a young girl of only ten who told him that.
Her long, golden hair, flowing down to her waist, shone like the sun, and her blue eyes were as clear as the sky
She was a beautiful girl, with an intelligence that belied her age.
Make up your mind, Sekiran Be a good king.
The girl his strict but kind, beloved sister
Smiled and said that.
Those were her last words.
* * *
Sekiran Neverfall, the Sky King of the Neverfall Sky Kingdom.
He awoke, his handsome and youthful, yet somewhat frail face, with dark circles under his eyes and slightly hollow cheeks, contorted with a deep frown between his brows.
He slowly opened his eyelids, and the first thing that came into view was the endless Eserem Sea of Fog, and the beautiful blue sky spreading out above it.
But he isnt taking a nap somewhere, like on a deck with a panoramic view of the outside world.
He is in the heart of the Neverfall Sky Kingdom in the control room, located in the deepest part of the labyrinth.
All the inner walls of this dome-shaped room are monitors, constantly displaying images of the outside world from all directions.
I had a dream I didnt want to see
The Sky King roughly wiped away the traces of tears from his cheeks with his fist, then forced his heavy, sleep-ridden body out of the throne, and stood up.
And he blankly stared ahead.
What he sees there is a steering wheel, instruments, and a control panel of a type similar to the ones currently used in airships.
In other words, these are the devices used to manually operate the Sky Kingdom of Neverfall or rather, the aerial fortress, Neverfall.
This country is currently being kept afloat by Great Spirit Atmo, but just in case, the Neverfall royal family must learn how to manually operate this aerial fortress using these devices.
Well there has never been a single just in case situation in the history of the royal family, as far as the royal familys history books go.
This is a fact unknown to many of the citizens, but this country has existed under Atmos protection ever since it was founded.
Protection, sounds nice though.
But another word for that would be control.
The royal family is supposed to bear the lives of the people on their back.
Therefore, they cant defy the control of Atmo, who keeps this country afloat.
If they disobeyed, the country would sink to the bottom of the Sea of Fog, and all the humans would die.
Atmos pronouncements are absolute.
In this country, the royal family is nothing more than a convenient pawn, or a disposable
The Sky King shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking.
He cant think about this any further.
Itll show on his face.
The Sky King tried to maintain a neutral expression as much as possible, but ended up sighing and looked behind him.
There, a giant, mysterious sphere, shining in seven colors, floating in the air, extending cables in all directions from its lower part, like a jellyfish.
This is the Atmo Sphere, said to be the jewel that houses the Great Spirit Atmo.
The Sky King looked further up, above the Atmo Sphere.
A funnel-shaped glass tube hangs from the ceiling.
And inside that tube, filled with a faintly glowing, pale blue liquid, a single girl was quietly sleeping, floating gently.
Her long, golden hair, flowing down to her waist, shone like the sun, and her blue eyes were as clear as the sky
Shes a beautiful girl, although its hard to tell now because shes submerged in a mysterious liquid, her eyes closed.
In other words, this girl
Looks exactly like the Sky Kings beloved sister.
She is the Sky Kings daughter.
Air Neverfall.
!!!
The Sky King immediately turned around, unable to bear it.
He cant even look at her for a moment.
He cant stop the tears from flowing.
The Sky King, his head bowed, trembling, quietly sobbed.
But his sobs were soon interrupted.
Buu, buu, buu
With that sound, the communication device on the Sky Kings arm notified him of an incoming email.
An email In other words, a pronouncement from the Great Spirit Atmo.
The Sky King didnt notice, but it seems that many emails were delivered while he was napping.
The Sky King hurriedly displayed the unread emails on the LCD screen of his bracelet-type communication device.
And then, those emails all had the same content.
There was no text in the email body.
The message was simply displayed in the subject line of the email.
In other words.
Hasten the Princess Sacrifice Ritual.
The Great Spirit Atmo persistently sent that email, again and again.
Why?
Atmo had given the Sky King three days to say goodbye to his daughter.
And yet, why is he telling him to hurry, before the deadline?
Kuh Kukuku!
The Sky King, realizing the reason, involuntarily chuckled!
In other words!
In other words, in other words!
To Air!
To the Sky Kings daughter, who looks exactly like his beloved sister, who he lost to the Princess Sacrifice Ritual!
Help has come!!
As if to prove it, just then, the Sky King heard the heavy door, the only entrance to this control room, slowly begin to open behind him.
Gi gi gi!
That heavy sound, like a groan of agony, sounded to the Sky King like a song of blessing from the gods!
The Sky King has been neglecting Air.
He wouldnt even see her.
Thats true.
But hes happy.
That there is someone whos trying to defeat him, a wicked king, and rescue his daughter.
Hes incredibly happy!
Its twisted, incredibly twisted.
But after all, he loves his daughter.
Thats why hes happy!
Youve made it this far
And the Sky King, muttering that quietly, had an idea of who the intruder was.
Its probably Takataka, the Mouse beastman boy.
The brave airship pilot boy who befriended Air
The Sky King had been secretly keeping track of Airs movements after she escaped from the palace.
He was eventually forced by Atmo to bring her back, but until he was forced to do so, he was always aware of Airs whereabouts, using various methods.
Naturally, he knew about Takataka.
To you who worked hard to save Air First, as a father, let me say thank you.
Although his back is still turned, the Sky King thanked the intruder in a loud and clear voice.
But as the king I have to stop you. The Great Spirits pronouncements are absolute. The ritual will be carried out.
But immediately, the Sky King added hostility to his words and spoke coldly.
Therefore.
The Sky King finally turned around.
And!
If you want to save Air Defeat me!!
He spread the large, white wings from his back, floated into the air, and faced the intruder!
Yes, the intruder!
Airs precious friend!
Takataka!
Thats who the Sky King thought it was.
But, however.
It wasnt.
It was
Someone he had never seen before.
A black-haired, black-eyed girl, with an ominous presence.
The Sky King canceled his levitation, landed on the floor, and stared at the intruder girl.
And then, he said.
Who are you?
!!
And the intruder girl, Emi!
Puffed out her chest stood tall
And declared!
No, who are YOU!?