Chapter Text
The kingdom that Phil was from was not a peaceful one by any means. Their history was filled with tales of great kings who had conquered lands far beyond what was originally a small village and they were almost always filled with bloodshed and death. The hostile takeover of lands was a common theme in the epics that were passed through the land. The citizens hailed these men as their heroes and held festivals in their name. Music would ring throughout the town and fireworks would light up the sky.
All that changed since last year though. According to the history books, it was the most gruesome moment recorded so far, with over 7000 people being killed in one night. No one knew what had happened, and that was what terrified people at the time.
The festivities were loud and the people were singing praises about their heroes when the white moon suddenly went dark along with the stars, every light in the city being put out. The kingdom was enveloped in darkness and shouts of confusion were echoing through the streets. Then the light returned, and the moon was lit a crimson red and screams could be heard from miles away. The citizens ran away from the festival streets, away from the thousands of bodies that painted the ground a bloody red.
The cause for these deaths were still unknown, there wasn't any clear way that so many people could be killed so quickly without something other wordly be involved. And this led to the theory that the victims were killed by a creature from the forests. The rumour spread like wildfire and soon enough, nobody was willing to go into the forest and find out whether it was true or not.
The King eventually got tired of his people's stubborn decision,growing more and more frustrated by every passing day. The problem was that the forest was their quickest route for transportation, making what would've at last a day long journey a 4-hour journey instead. So in the end, he had a small group of his soldiers go into the forest and travel through it, and come out the other side to report that the forest was, in fact, harmless.
Unfortunately, the group that has been sent into the 'cursed forest' never returned from their journey. Instead, there was a funeral held for the 10 men who had gone missing and were presumed dead. This didn't help any of the rumours and only served to serve them. The year passed and the kingdom suffered from the long journeys they had to travel, with an evident decrease in profit when it came to trade.
The King was still insistent that the forest was safe, but even he took precautions. Rather than send a team to explore the forest, he had made a tradition of sending a group of his strongest warriors and sending them off into the forest with the best equipment they could afford to supply, hoping that they would kill whatever lurked in the forest.
And another tradition was formed alongside it, where the kingdom would hand lanterns and sing requiems for the fallen soldiers lost to the cursed forest instead of holding its yearly festival for the conquering heroes. No one who ever entered the forest would return, and no signs of them would ever be seen again.
.
.
.
Phil was all too familiar with this tale, having been around 10 when the thousands of people had lost their lives, and 11 when the exploration group was sent into their unknown demise. He never truly believed the rumour of something unworldly living in the forest, but he did believe the idea that something that dangerous was killing the warriors every night.
"C'mon dude, you seriously can't believe that it, right?" The brunette walking beside him questioned, disbelief in his tone.
Phil shrugs, "I just don't really think that's true, mate"
"But how ??" Sneeg nearly shouted, rushing to step in front of the blonde man, "You have to admit that these disappearances are unexplainable, there's no way they're done by man,"
Phil just lifted an eyebrow at the others' antics, before walking past him, "Just because it seems impossible doesn't always mean it actually is, "
The fire-spirited man pouted at the dismissal, "You're such a party pooper, Phil,"
He just rolled his eyes and walked into the throne room, where the ten strongest warriors of the kingdom had been called. Phil was accompanied by Sneeg, a man of great strength with no fear, Puffy, a woman who was skilled at the how and arrow, Hannah, who was a master with poisons and medicine alike and Foolish, whose invention was both incredible to look at and summoned sparks as powerful as lightning.
When they entered the room, they were greeted by five more warriors and they slowly made their way to each other, smiles shared at the sight of familiar faces. Phil was greeted by another figure, a tall man who wore a mask around his lower face and soft forest green hair.
"Hey, Sam," Phil said with a smile, shaking his hand firmly.
The man- Sam, smiled back warmly as he pulled his hand back, "Always good to see you as well, Phil. Unfortunate it's under these circumstances,"
Phil's smile faltered for a second before he fixed it back up again, "Maybe not, but I have faith in us,"
"I don't wanna fucking do this either," Aimsey whined, leaning against Shubble, "I could be sleeping right now, but I'm stuck doing a dumb mission again,"
Shubble raised an eyebrow at the statement, "Weren't you already spending most of your day just sleeping while your brother was out running the stall?"
Aimsey chuckled, not looking even the slightest bit embarrassed at being called out, instead tilting his head with a mischievous grin, "Yeah, Ranboo got stuck with all the work while I got off scott-free!"
Niki chimed in, smiling with amusement at the younger of the three, "Didn't Tubbo want you to run the stall for the next whole week when he found out you weren't actually sick?"
Aimsey groaned at the reminder, hanging their head in discontent, "Don't remind me. That guy sure can be terrifying when he wants to be. And he'll do it with a smile that promises so much pain,"
"Well, I personally think you had it coming," Sneeg cut in, a glint in his eyes that said that he wanted chaos, "You called in sick and didn't even bother to play the part properly! Even I could pull that off,"
Aimsey glared at the man, crossing her arms, "Listen here, I'm not gonna-"
"Alright, let's settle down now before his majesty sees you two bicker like some idiots," Fundy said as he walked into the room wearing an amused smile.
"Fundy!" Niki exclaimed, rushing over the ginger with a glad smile, "It's been a while, how've you been?"
Fundy grinned wide as he hugged Niki, pulling back to adjust his hair again (it still looked like a rat's nest to Phil, but maybe that was just him), "I've been good! I managed to get alot more of the machines to work this time! It's still gonna take a while before they're gonna be of any use to us,"
Sam chimed in with a gentle tone, ""If you needed, I could always help you....Well, after we find out why we've been called, I can help you,"
Fundy nodded, relief seeping out his shoulders, "Yeah, that would actually be really helpful. I've only got basic shit down, but large machinery aren't really my thing,"
Phil smiled at the interaction the room shared.
Shubble, an excellent strategist who spent most of her time with Niki, another skilled Archer who was a silent killer, as well as Fundy, the main advisor to his majesty. Quackity, a man who preferred daggers, had been out of the country in a small town which he had taken a liking to, but was called as he was still technically a citizen of the country. Aimsey was another great strategist who was so skilled, it spread rumours that he could tell the future. And of course, there was Sam, a master technician who set up excellent traps that could capture anything. Phil would say he shared talent in all the fields, which earned him the title of the strongest warrior the lands had seen.
Suddenly, the doors open wide and he walks in his majesty. Phil bows out of courtesy as he watches from the corner of his eyes as everyone follows him. Fundy walks on the stand beside the throne and calmly speaks out, a dull look overtaking his eyes, and a tremble in his hands, as though this hurts him to do.
"The warriors have all arrived for the mission. Let us begin this meeting, your Majesty,”
XD nods, “Let us begin,”