Welcome.

[trustmods]

It doesn't matter where you last were or what you were doing. What matters is that you're waking up in a decently comfortable bed in a room that's completely unfamiliar. You may feel a bit groggy, like you've slept for too long, but that will fade in time. Welcome to Graceside Preparatory Academy. You may want to pick up the key to your room before you leave, though don't worry. Your door won't lock automatically so you won't be locked out if you've forgotten to pick it up. The hallway outside your room is most likely full of other confused students by now and should you turn around to look at the door of the room you just left, you'll find a nameplate with your name printed on it. There's a single word underneath it with no explanation. This is your title, but don't worry about that right now. Depending on when you left your room there may be a clock chiming in the foyer up ahead. It seems like it's seven, though it's difficult to tell if it's seven in the morning or seven at night. There aren't any windows, after all. Should you venture into the room with the clock, you'll find that the only exit is closed - there's absolutely no way to break down that steel bulkhead. It looks like you're stuck in here for the time being. The foyer also holds some very interesting information. There's a bulletin board with twenty-nine pictures on it. Beside each picture is some very specific and very familiar information. Feel free to examine it. The bulletin board is large enough for plenty of you to gather around and gawk. Don't try to get at it though, that glass in front of it is very thick. If you try to break it, you'll find out the hard way that it's shatterproof. Sorry about that. Perhaps even more of a concern than the glass is the list beside the profiles. It looks like a set of rules. You might want to examine those, though they're not providing much of an explanation for why you're here or how you got here. So relax and get to know your fellow students. You might be stuck here for awhile.

Comments

[decrees]

The only academy was closed, but it didn't look anything like this.

[Good job, Logan. You closed the one school in Albion.

He's eyeing the profiles right now, though he does offer a cursory glance at the rules list.]

This is fairly impressive for a kidnapping.

[swirlied]

No kidding... Why would someone go through all this effort? [ Giving them rooms, setting up rules, putting a giant steel bulkhead on the exit. This was ridiculous.

Yuuri takes another glance around the foyer, in case he missed something. ]

This place is so creepy.

[decrees]

It doesn't make any sense. Keeping us isolated would presumably be easier than arranging all of this.

[Not to mention more effective. This seems completely ridiculous, honestly.]

I take it you don't recognize it either?

[swirlied]

[ He shakes his head. ]

Not at all... [ He's been in castles and other medieval style buildings, but this place feels so much older somehow. ]

I don't think I've ever been in a building this old, actually. It looks like no one's lived here for ages.

[decrees]

It's surprisingly clean for a building that hasn't been used for some time.

[Their maids must be pretty good.]

[swirlied]

Yeah. It's actually kind of unsettling. It just shows that whoever kidnapped us put a lot preparation into it.

[decrees]

Indeed. I wonder how long they've had this planned.

[It's kind of creepy, honestly.]

Regardless, I don't intend to stay here for long. There must be another way out.

[swirlied]

I didn't see anything on this floor, at least. [ Admittedly he hadn't looked thoroughly but did he really need to... ]

Unless you have super strength and can get that steel bulkhead down.

[decrees]

I'm not a Hero. The Hero of Strength might have been able to, though I don't know what became of her.

[She's prrrrobably dead though. That was fifty years ago, after all.]

There's no reason to try to remove that, I doubt any of us would be capable of it. There are plenty of walls that would be much easier to break.

[Unless this entire building is reinforced with steel or something. That wouldn't be surprising.]

[swirlied]

Hero of Strength...? [ He shakes his head, that's not important right now.

Especially because this guy has a point about the walls. ]

I wonder if there's something we could use to try and smash through one of them.

[decrees]

That's what I've been wondering. I haven't had a chance to look yet, but I doubt it would be quite that easy. They seem to have prepared for everything else, but there must be something we can do.

[You're probably better off not asking. Logan could go on about Heroes forever...]

[swirlied]

There has to be something we can use around here. We might have to put things together or something... There has to be a way we can do this.

[decrees]

I hope there is.

[If their captors are smart they'll have already taken that into account...]

Ah, I don't believe I got your name. I am Logan, the King of Albion.

[swirlied]

Yuuri Shibuya. So you're a king too, huh?

[ He looks like an intimidating one, that's for sure. ]

[decrees]

Ah, you're the... "demon king", was it?

[...also hang on...]

What should I call you?

[LAST NAMES... he never knows how to address people who have them, because Albion is weird and inconsistent.]

[swirlied]

Shibuya is fine, but you can just call me Yuuri if you want. [ He's used to people calling him that by now anyway.

Also— ]

And yeah, I'm the demon king.

[decrees]

[Yuuri is probably going to be easier to pronounce...]

...Forgive me if this is an insensitive or ignorant question, but are you a demon?

[You don't look like a demon. Admittedly he's never met a demon, so he's not sure what they're supposed to look like, but a perfectly ordinary teenage boy is not what he was expecting.]

[swirlied]

It's not. [ He's just glad no one is terrified of him here. ]

I'm actually only half demon.

[decrees]

Ah, I see.

[...you can be half demon???]

Did you take the throne recently?

[swirlied]

Yeah. I mean, time works differently than it does on Earth, so it's hard to really tell. [ Because this guy totally knows that this place isn't on Earth. ]

Maybe a few months?

[decrees]

[...Because of course it's not on earth, why would it be? Demons, man. Who even knows.]

Ah. I wish you the best of luck, then.

[IT SUCKS, YOU'LL PROBABLY HATE IT.]

[swirlied]

Thanks. I'm sure I'll need it. It's definitely a lot harder than all those fantasy novels make it seem.

[ Oh right he's probably been at this a lot longer, huh? ] ...But I'm sure you know that already.

[decrees]

[Why does everyone keep mentioning fantasy novels?? It's definitely not a fantasy!]

Indeed. I've been ruling Albion for quite some time.

[Logan doesn't look displeased, just very tired.]

It is a difficult job, but it is the one I was tasked with and I will not let anything happen to Albion.

[swirlied]

[ He nods, smiling. Wanting to protect your country more than anything else is certainly something Yuuri can relate to. ]

What's Albion like?

[decrees]

[OH BOY HIS FAVORITE TOPIC]

Albion is a country of six and a half million people. It's large but the majority of people live in a few scattered towns. Bowerstone is where the castle is located and is the largest of these towns. Brightwall is where the academy is located, though it's been closed. While Albion's towns are safe due to the soldiers, traveling between them is often incredibly dangerous - there are numerous monsters and beasts that will attack travelers and it's impossible to have soldiers stationed everywhere.

It's a wonderful country, though I only have one other to compare it to.

[And hahahaha let's not with Aurora.]