To Save the Kingdom of Sebraska | Teen Ink

To Save the Kingdom of Sebraska

March 13, 2015
By onetrueword DIAMOND, Chiang Mai, Other
onetrueword DIAMOND, Chiang Mai, Other
53 articles 0 photos 9 comments

In the Kingdom of Sebraska, animals were treated equally as humans. The people of this land had never been exposed to the outside world, except for the queen. In this kingdom, everything was balanced. Humans, animals, and nature coexisted in harmony; each taking care of and supporting the others. In this land, there was no suffering, and all prospered. Animals and nature communicated with humans and humans listened. Everything was good, abundant, all was well, like heaven.

One day, a boy, in the village, was born. People came to see him because he was very special. The special thing about him was that his head was extremely big and he had three eyes; one in the back, and two in the front like normal people.


The boy was called Kiko which means, “weird”, in the language they spoke. One day, his father and friends went out to the mountain to get some mushrooms to eat. There, they found a golden egg. They carefully brought it down to the city, to show it to the queen. However, in the middle of the mountain, the egg started to crack and something began to come out. A bright golden beam shone from inside the egg so brilliantly, that no one could open their eyes, except for Kiko’s dad. There, in the light, he saw a beautiful fairy. She told him to take good care of his son, as he will receive a magical power on his 20th birthday, and go on to be the hero of this kingdom. However, she warned, until Kiko's 20th birthday, he was not to tell anyone about his son's destiny. If Kiko’s dad were to tell anyone - even his wife and Kiko - Kiko’s magical power would never come. She told Kiko’s dad that if the evil queen, who was hiding in exile in a far-away land somewhere, were to know of Kiko and his destiny, then she would send her loyalists to kill him for sure. Kiko’s dad promised that he would never tell anyone.


Once the fairy had warned Kiko’s dad, the beam immediately disappeared and the fairy and the cracked golden egg vanished. The fairy had also erased the memories of the father's hiking companions, so they had no recollection of the mysterious event. However, they thought that having a small, sudden headache was bizarre. Kiko's father and his hiking party arrived back at their village, happy with the delicious mushrooms that nature had provided them. His father always reminded himself that he should never tell anyone, that his son would one day become a hero of this wonderful kingdom.


When Kiko was 10 years old, he easily fell into sullen moods, and become sad because his physical appearances were different from his friends. Since there was no suffering, or sadness in this land, all of his friends did not tease him and said good things to comfort and encourage him for being different from them. As he continued to grow, the positive relationships he had with his good friends encouraged Kiko, so that later he did not have any problems with the fact that he was different.


One day, when Kiko was nearly 18, there was an archery contest in the kingdom. Many people, animals, and natural things were selected to compete against each other for the grand prize of the contest. The queen addressed the contestants to recount the rules and explain the prize. The prize was some exquisite chocolate that the queen had brought from the outside world. Kiko started to covet the chocolate, as he was desperately curious about the taste. Kiko immediately went to his dad and begged his father to teach him how to shoot an arrow. Kiko’s dad was more than happy to teach his son. However, because of his extremely large head, Kiko couldn’t really see to focus down the sight and hone in on the target. His father was unable to help his son with his problems, so Kiko went to his friends. Of all his friends, only one could come up with a solution to help him. Together, they devised and practiced a modified shooting technique that allowed Kiko to accurately hit the target the majority of the time. Despite his big head, and having to use a blatantly modified shooting style, Kiko entered the contest, determined to triumph and win the exotic chocolate.


Finally, the day of the competition had arrived. Kiko sat on the bench, waiting for his turn, and saw many people and animals deft in their precise skills of archery. It finally became his turn. Kiko did his best, but he came in last place. Kiko again became extremely miserable and sad about his abnormal physical features. He returned home, crushed, telling his father that he wanted to die. As the situation became serious, as Kiko’s torment began to completely consume him, his dad decided to reveal to Kiko his foretold destiny, even though the fairy warned the father not to disclose the prophecy until the day of his 20th birthday. He summoned his courage and opened his mouth to reveal the prediction to his son, but - suddenly - his mouth immediately shut, his voice cracked, and he couldn’t speak for five days.


Time passed, and soon Kiko's twentieth birthday arrived. To celebrate, he went to the mountain to play with his friends. Once there, he became ill with a serious headache. Kiko went to the hospital to check if there was anything wrong, but he was normal. He came back home, then he slept for several days. When he opened his eyes, he felt that something was wrong with his body. He was stunned to see that he now had a set of wings protruding from either side of his head! He could open them, and use them to fly. He could also fold them flat against his giant head when he didn't wish to use them. He also discovered that he had become extremely strong and quite smart. He had become so strong, in fact, that he could pull up the roots of a giant tree and lift up an enormous  rock with little effort. With his additional eye in the back, he could also better see opponents who might attack him. Kiko’s father came to him and told Kiko what the fairy had told him twenty years earlier. He was absolutely amazed and was apprehensive that he would have to fight against something, in order to become a hero.


A few days later, the queen called everyone to the palace to address all subjects of the Sebraska Kingdom. She said that she had received reports from a number of alarmed forest creatures, that the numbers of several groups of animals, especially tigers, were decreasing. There were no clues as to how or why they were missing - they just disappeared. Everyone started to wonder how this could be, because tigers are strong enough to defend themselves. A moment later, a giant oak tree, who was the chief of the nature creatures, said that the number of gold rocks in the lakes were slowly decreasing too. No one in this land would steal a gold rock because gold was everywhere; nuggets of gold in Sebraska were as common as normal, plain, rocks here.


To get to the bottom of things quickly, the queen commanded a troop of wise foxes to investigate and uncover the source of the odd disappearances in the kingdom. Days later, the foxes reported back to the palace: they could not find any possible source for the mysterious occurrences. Ironically, a few of the foxes that had set out to investigate the disappearances, disappeared themselves.

 

The queen announced that whoever found any evidence would be awarded and praised as  an eternal hero in the kingdom of Sebraska. Kiko’s father encouraged Kiko to find out what was going on with their kingdom, and be a hero. After listening to his father’s urging, Kiko agreed. 


That night, Kiko walked around the forest looking for evidence that might help him discover what was happening. He decided to look around an area where one of the missing tigers had last been seen . Something glinted, down on the ground, amongst the decaying leaves, in the bright light of the full moon. At first he dismissed it, but then decided to circle back and have a look. He knelt down and found a tiny but heavy metal ball. He had never seen anything like this before. He picked it up and went back to the house, showing his dad. His father also had not ever seen anything like this, and called it, “unusual”, speculating that it may be a clue.  They agreed to take the small ball to the palace, first thing in the morning.


The next morning, Kiko went to the queen’s palace. He showed the metal ball to her. She sat staring at it, frozen for several seconds. Kiko expected the queen to know what this objective was, since she had lived and had had contact with the outside world. The queen slowly spoke with her face dark and worried, “It is my evil sister…” she stammered. “No one can battle with this woman....”


The queen went on, that her evil sister had recently sent a letter stating that she would destroy Sebraska, and take retribution for how poorly she had been treated. She guessed that her evil sister had found a way out of exile, and sent some of her loyalists to begin making guerrilla attacks on the peaceful residents of Sebraska. It was now clear that the men had killed many tigers with guns and other weapons and had stolen the golden rocks, in preparation for the war.


The queen was worried and said that no one could fight her evil sister. Kiko said he would fight her sister, but the queen said no. She kept saying that no mortal was as strong as her sister. She told him that when they were little, she and her siblings teased the evil queen for being ugly and adopted. Later, the evil queen sold her soul to the evil spirit and became magnificently strong. She destroyed four of her other siblings’ kingdoms and the Sebraska Kingdom was next to be destroyed. The queen also told Kiko how the evil sister lived up in the mountain, guarded by two dragons and other scary animals. Suddenly, all the servants of the queen, who heard the rumor that Kiko was strong and had majestic powers, shouted that Kiko should go and defeat the evil sister’s kingdom. So, Kiko decided that he would go to the evil sister’s kingdom, and destroy, so he could save the kingdom of Sebraska from the danger, and be the hero. Now with his quest to defeat the evil enemy, and save the kingdom, Kiko showed a deferential attitude by asking the queen if she could help him to complete his quest. However, she was not willing to help him, as she thought he would lose and die for sure.  Kiko tried to prove that he could win, so he showed his supernatural ability for being really strong and flying with his wings. However, the queen still didn’t trust him and Kiko kept persuading her. Finally, the queen said she would test him if he could fight against her. The queen was unwilling to help Kiko, if he didn’t succeed in what she wanted to do. The queen's first task was to fight and kill the monster shark that the queen kept in her castle. The battle began; the starving shark attacked Kiko, but Kiko, with his strong power, killed him. The queen was impressed, but still scared, not sure if he was good enough. If Kiko failed, her evil sister’s army would attack Sebraska even faster and more easily, with Kiko out of the way. Suddenly a fairy appeared and talked with the queen, finally persuading her.


Upon making this decision, the queen decided to let Kiko know about the only passage between the outside world and the Kingdom of Sebraska. It was a cave near where he used to play as a child, but he had never gone in it. Now, finally entering the cave as an adult, it appeared to be interminable. Kiko walked for six hours, with no end in sight. After ten hours had passed, he had an ominous feeling that he was lost, and that people were following him.
Suddenly, Kiko heard a weird voice crying out. In the dark, he stumbled around until he found the place where the sound was coming from. It was a kitten! As little as a baby chick, with soft fur and big eyes, the little cat was limping on a terribly injured leg. The skin was torn, and she was bleeding badly.
Using his superior brain, Kiko went over to a muddy patch of earth and scooped up some of the cool, salty soil in his hand. He summised that applying the mud to the wound would help heal the injury. Kiko stayed with the cat for two days, taking good care of it. They survived by eating mushrooms growing on the cave’s walls, and lapping up the droplets of water condensation that formed and slowly trickled from the stalactites overhead.
After the kitten was healed, Kiko asked her a question about how she was injured. The cat said that she was of the Kingdom of Julala, which is ruled by Sassy, the good sister of the Queen of Sabreska. The kitten went on that Julala was now destroyed, conquered by the evil sister. The kitten was one of the very few who had gotten away. Upon hearing this, Kiko told the cat of his quest to destroy the evil Queen, and to save Sebraska from danger of being conquered. The cat was amazed, and said that she had the supernatural ability to become transparent, and asked if she could join him to help him complete his quest. Kiko agreed, and the cat promised that she would always help him.
When they finally neared the end of the cave, a bright light shone in front of them, and a fairy appeared. She said, “ I am the fairy who chose you to be the hero of this kingdom. Therefore, I will always help you.” Then she produced a crystal ball, where Kiko could see the gods, waiting and ready to help Kiko as he fought to defend Sebraska.  Suddenly, a god from the magical ball materialised beside them and said “I am the god of transportation.” With that, he carried Kiko and the magical kitten out of the cave. He also said he would send two brave men to be at Kiko’s side - a brave warrior, called Santo, who always protects and helps; and a wise man, who would be a fitting companion, as Kiko was smart as well.  


Once the god of transportation had delivered Kiko and the charmed kitten from the cave, and united them with the two companions, as promised, Kiko realized they were in the world of common humans. Everyone looked the same as people in the Kingdom of Sebraska, but Kiko saw that these people were not in harmony at all. In the world of humans, Kiko observed many people intoxicated with alcohol and other substances, theft, violence, and many other bad things that he had never seen in Sebraska. Kiko, Santo, and the wise man agreed that the conditions in the human world were deplorable compare to their beautiful Sebraska.


Kiko, the kitten, Santo, and the wise man pressed forward on their quest, wondering how they would get to the evil sister’s hidden kingdom. Using the cat’s magical talents, they became transparent; and with Kiko’s ability to fly, they flew up in the sky to see if they could find any clues.


After ten days of exhaustive searching, another majestic goddess appeared. Her name was Juri, and she was the goddess of wisdom and knowledge. She comforted Kiko and assured him that the gods were doing their best to protect he and his brave group. Juri told them that they were now in Beijing, China. She also told them that they should go to New York, in America. There, another god would help them find a way to enter the hidden kingdom safely. They didn’t have passports, but the wise man faked them, and they were able to find their way to America pretty easily.


Once in the United States, they encountered a stray dog that was able to foresee the future. She was very gentle and docile creature, who offered to join their quest and to asssist them as she could with her powers.
Finally, after several weeks of traveling, they arrived in New York, fatigued and weary from travel. They made their way to Central Park, where another god suddenly appeared, and told them to look ahead of them. There, they saw a bunch of weird looking guys carrying something massive. They were wearing black suits and they looked like thieves or spies. The god told them that they were the crew that the evil queen had sent out to see and explore the outside world. The god, Kiko, and his group carefully and stealthily moved closer, watching their every move. A few seconds later, one of the lead men made a sign in the air, and a black, magical hole instantly appeared. As the strange men went through the hole, hauling the massive object in with them, the god explained that this was the only entrance to the evil sister's kingdom.  Before their eyes, the men and the massive object disappeared!


The god told them to enter the hole, quickly, before it closed, so they did. Kiko now understood how the missing animals were able to vanish without a trace in Sabreska.


Once through the magical hole, they stepped into the supernatural land of the evil queen. They were the first outsiders to enter this hidden land. The god cautioned them to hide themselves and to always be careful. The god also gave magnificently strong weapons to Santo, as he and Kiko were to fight and conquer this land. There were no humans, and everywhere around them were only monsters and ugly creatures. With the cat’s magical power, they cloaked themselves transparent, and began the dangerous task of making their way to the lair of the evil queen.
They found their way to the castle, and there they were confronted by two enormous dragons protecting the castle. The cat uncloaked herself, materializing before the dragons. They were extremely mad and ready to kill them when they first saw the humans. They were trained to kill any human by the evil queen, except for herself. With the wise men’s idea, and mixture of Santo and Kiko’s power, they defeated one dragon. They killed the dragon by Santo feigning that he was dead. Eventually, the dragon swallowed him, and Santo , with his sword, cut the neck of the dragon and it died. Next, they tried to do the same thing to another dragon, but it did not work. The wise man looked the dragon with scrutiny. He needed to make a new plan to kill the dragon. Kiko flew and tried to kill him above by dropping a massive stone. But this didn’t work and the dragon ate two hands of Kiko and almost killed Santo.


They were bleeding badly so the cat again made them transparent. For a few days, they hid in the cave and tried to recover. However his best companion, Santo died. Also, the god appeared and told him that their parents were killed yesterday for some unknown and mysterious reason.


Kiko was extremely mad as he knew that the evil queen did that in order to get revenge for killing one of her dragons. He  promised that he would get revenge by killing her as well. He stood up, but he fell, because he lost two of his hands and did not have any power. Kiko was miserable about his situation. Because of this he tried to commit suicide. However, two never before seen gods appeared and gave Kiko new hands and stronger power. They also explained that the gods were helping them as the evil spirit, whom the evil queen sold her soul in order to be strong. But Kiko refused as he was afraid of losing again. His mindset was precarious as he told the gods that he would give up this quest and live happily in the kingdom. But the gods said this was imperative and connected him with heaven to show him his parents. He could see his parents doing well and they cried to say that he must get revenge for their lives. So, Kiko decided to continue fighting.


He killed the dragon and smashed the wall of the castle. Kiko killed every single soldier who tried to kill him. The queen of Sabreska also sent 10,000 troops to fight against her sister. He could have done all of these things because he had the strongest weapon in the world, the tears of his parents. He and his crew members entered the room that the queen stayed in. The queen was drunk and was smoking a lot of bad things to pleasure herself. She was shocked that they made it through because they were really weak. She couldn’t fight because she was drunk, and her mind was not clear. Kiko thanked the gods and his parents for giving him this great chance.   After a second, he cut her neck. As soon as the first drop of her blood fell in the floor, the monsters suddenly became humans. And they asked them what they were doing right now. The evil queen had conceived many innocent humans that they should come and her free land, and made them into cruel monsters. Now, as Kiko paid the price for his parent’s death, he became the king of that land, which he named “Pyunghawe”, meaning, “peace forever”. He also married the queen’s daughter and united the two kingdoms. For the rest of time, his name was always praised.


The author's comments:

This was written after my dog died from a car accident.


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