eyyo i'm ohshitwaddup! thanks for dropping by! basically i'm pissed at magi canon so i'm writing a fic to fix it, and what better way to alter canon than to have an extraneous character? so yeah, oc fanfic! this starts in the snb era after the zepar dungeon, but before sinbad travels back to balbadd to travel with king rashid.

so this fic will have spoilers for sinbad no bouken, but only to a certain extent because it's not finished yet (obvs). my fic will divert from canon, so it shouldn't spoil too much. if there's an even that i think is really important, then i'll include it here, but i'll post a note before hand to explain that a certain chapter will have a spoiler.

i hope you enjoy!

The rocks loomed before her in the ominous form of a skull with a gaping mouth. She frowns a bit, moving the strap of her quiver on her shoulder. It had taken a week of travel, and a year of planning, but she's finally here. Her hand tightens around the bow. She had heard about the dungeon from a friend and had then traveled to the small island of Zrin, hoping to conquer it before anyone else could. Now, as she looks upon it, it feels like a rash decision. What was she thinking? How could she pay attention to the challenges when she was focused on keeping her younger brother alive?

"Hey, Cenek, maybe you should stay out here. It could be dangerous," she says to him. Cenek shakes his head once. He pushes a lock of loose orange hair behind his ear.

"I want to help you. You've read the stories. You can't conquer a dungeon on your own. Besides," he gives her a crooked grin, "I'm a magician. I can help myself."

She looks back up at the dungeon and shivers. There's some kind of ominous energy surrounding it. She gulps and steels herself. She came out here for a purpose. She has to conquer the dungeon. There's no way around it.

"You're right," she ruffles her brother's hair. "Thanks for coming with me."

He grins at her. "Of course I'd come with you. It's our first time in the outside world after all."

They hold hands as they approach the dungeon just in case it wants to separate them. She can't allow her brother to get hurt. She has to protect him, just as he feels that he needs to protect her. There's a large, immersive red light as they enter before she feels rock beneath her face.

Her brother is laying a few feet in front of her groaning and holding his head.

"Cenek!" she calls, running towards him. "Cenek, are you okay?"

There's a scrape on his brow, but he nods. A ball of tension releases inside of her chest. "I'm fine, don't worry about it Zora."

She helps him to his feet and he brushes the dirt off of his pants. She pulls out an arrow and notches it on the string of her bow, just in case. She'd read the Adventures of Sinbad. There's no way there won't be some kind of danger ahead.

"I think our goal should be finishing this dungeon as fast as possible. I don't know how much longer Borna can pretend to be me before they're found out."

"Borna's a good actor," Cenek says. "I think they'll be fine. At least, I hope they'll be fine."

"We just can't afford to be discovered. Can you imagine what will happen to us if she finds out that I've gotten a djinn?"

"I don't even want to think about what Queen Galina will do. She already wants us dead," Cenek says. "But with the djinn, we might have a chance to finally defeat her."

"Yep," Zora sighs. "Here's to hoping we can actually get it."

They approach the door at the edge of the clearing they had arrived in. It's covered in moss and strange symbols that neither Zora nor her brother have seen before. Zora wipes off some of the moss and frowns. There's a series of stones that jut out from it, but seem to be moveable.

"I guess it's a puzzle?" she says.

"How are we supposed to figure out what to do when we can't read the directions?" Cenek cries out, holding his face in his hands.

"It'll be okay," Zora says, even though she doesn't think it'll be okay. Cenek sends her a disbelieving look. "All we have to do is look around for clues, amass knowledge, and then put that knowledge to use."

"Where?" he gestures to the empty cavern they're standing in. "We're in the mouth of a giant rock skull! All that's here is a fake tongue and some teeth!"

"Hmm," Zora taps her chin, looking at the opposite direction where Cenek had pointed. The teeth are closed, locking them in. "Maybe we need to count the teeth and push that many stones in?"

"The fuck kind of puzzle is that?" Cenek asks.

"Language," Zora chastises him. "There's literally nothing else here but barren rock. The teeth are the only part of the cave that are sticking out from the ground. There's probably some other catch, but this is the only idea I have right now."

Cenek nods. "I can't think of anything else either. I'll go count the teeth." He summons a ball of light into his hand and walks back across the clearing. Zora stands tensely as she waits for him, her bow ready.

"There are 32 of them. So like a normal human head," Cenek calls to her. Zora turns to the door and starts to push in the stones. As she goes, the easier they slide in, and she can hear the sound of locks clicking from within the door. The door opens as Cenek comes back. Light floods through the door and Zora sees a massive field filled with blue flowers and green grass. The sky is light and there are large birds flying peacefully within.

Zora takes a cautious step inside. Cenek grabs her hand and goes with her. There's a look of childish wonder on his face.

"Zora… what is this?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "I have no idea, but it's beautiful."

A lone figure appears on the hill above them, floating. It's small and the color of the flowers. It turns to them as they approach.

"Welcome," says the childlike figure. "I am Khusak, one of the twelve aspects of the djinn Orias. You were born under my constellation, so I have been given to you as a guide through the challenges of this dungeon."

Zora extends a hand. "Thank you, Khusak. I'm Zora. I hope we will work well together."

Khusak chuckles. "So blunt. You definitely fall under my aspect."

"What are the challenges of the dungeon? How do I win the djinn?"

"You must capture the other 11 aspects in order to form Orias. If you are able to do that, then you will be given Orias's power."

"I see," Zora says. Capture the other 11? I don't even know what they are!

"Don't worry about your ignorance, Zorka," Khusak throws in the diminutive. "I have seen into your heart and mind. I know the reason you are here. I will help you, though I won't solve any of the challenges for you."

"I wouldn't want you to do that anyway," Zora says. "It wouldn't be fair. I want to win the dungeon with my own determination."

"Of course," Khusak smiles. She gestures to the field around them. "This is my domain. It will be your safe zone. However, if someone comes in and reaches my sign, you will have to defend it with the powers you have obtained by that point."

"Is it likely that someone will come in?" Zora asks.

"Yes. Lord Orias understands the past, present, and future. He predicted your arrival as soon as you landed on Zrin. Likewise, there is another coming here soon."

"I'll just have to conquer the dungeon before he can."

"Yes, that would be wise," Khusak agrees with a nod of their head. "Are you ready for the first challenge?"

"Yes," Zora says firmly. She turns to Cenek.

"Are you?"

Cenek nods. "I'm ready, just a little overwhelmed."

Zora turns back to Khusak. "Send us there." Khusak waves her hand and a rip in the fabric of reality appears.

"I'm supposed to go through that?" Zora asks. Khusak nods and gestures for her to walk through. Zora grabs her brother's hand and the two step into it. For the split second it takes to make it to the other side, Zora feels like her entire body is being ripped apart and stiched back together again. Cenek's pale face doesn't seem to be any better.

The first thing Zora feels in the new location is the heat. It nips at her skin and she can already feel the sweat pooling on her skin. She wipes at her brow and looks around. There's a wall of fire at the end of the room, surrounding a large figure on all fours.

"I guess that's the next aspect," Zora says. She leads the way across the room when the figure suddenly turns towards her.

"Stop!" it bays. There are horns curling out of red fur on its head. "You must complete my challenges before coming closer."

"What are the challenges?" Zora asks the red ram. The red ram hums, its hooves clacking as it hops around. "We'll start with something easy, since I see you have a bow. You must win an archery contest against my puppets. Personally, I think archery is really cool, but it's not my thing."

"Alright," Zora agrees. She's confident in her skill with a bow, though she's unsure how a ram will work puppets. He's only got hooves.

The landscape of the room changes and two floating targets appear in front of her. The ram clacks around some more.

"The goal of this challenge, is to hit all the targets. You are allowed to miss two completely, but any more than that and you will never win my aspect!"

"Okay," Zora says. She notches an arrow onto her bowstring as her body naturally slides into the correct stances. She draws the string back and aims, letting the arrow fly towards the target. She fires another one, quickly after the first. Both hit the target dead in the center. More targets appear, though these start to move back and forth. Zora fires her again, hitting the targets in the center.

Five targets appear, these gyrating far faster than the previous ones. Zora takes a second to examine their movements. She sees the pattern and fires five arrows. Not all of them hit in the center, but they all hit.

Ten targets appear. These start to fly around the room. She hits three in the center, but the other seven hit off their marks. Sweat drips down her arms from the heat of the room. She wipes her hands on the light cloth of her robes. She blinks the sweat from her eyes.

Fifteen targets appear, doing a similar motion. But this time, instead of just moving around, these twist. I'll have to time it even better now, she thinks. She squints at the targets. It would be easier if the room weren't so hot and dark, but she has to deal with it.

She fires fifteen arrows, with more time in between them. She misses the fourteenth target, but the fifteenth hits.

"Oh! One more mistake or you're out of the game," the ram lets out a bleating laugh. "Nimasp will love you when you reach his challenges."

"I don't know who that is!" Zora tells him. The ram seems to not care about that at all.

"Hurry, King Candidate! Shoot more targets!"

There's double the amount of targets than last time. They fly around the room almost too quickly for Zora to see. How the fuck is this an easy challenge? She thinks. I'll just have to take my time. She watches the targets and counts the seconds it takes for a new one to pass in front of her. She takes in a breath and draws the string. One down. She recounts. She lets an arrow loose. Two down. Three. Four Five.

She continues to meticulously shoot down the targets. The last one disappears before she can fire an arrow.

"Fine, I get it, you're good at archery," the ram sighs. "I'm bored of this now. You have one more challenge."

"Okay," Zora says and comes forward. Cenek's hand is clasped in the back of her shirt. He's nervous. The ram is far larger up close. It's taller than Zora is. She looks up at it.

"What do you want me to do now?" she asks. The ram shuffles its hooves, seeming to think before turning one red eye to Cenek. Cenek screeches as he's lifted into the air. He struggles against whatever magic is holding him there. There's a sinking feeling of dread in Zora's stomach.

"No," she says before the ram can tell her what to do. "I'm not going to shoot him."

"Then I guess you won't win my aspect," the ram sighs. "Come on, Zora. Think of the power you'll gain. You'll be able to kill your stepmother. Won't that be great? You've fantasized about it for so long. Ever since she killed your parents. I've seen it in your head. I can help you do that."

"It's not worth it if I have to lose my brother!" Zora exclaims. "I won't lose someone else who is important to me. Why would you even think that I would? Do people actually fall for that? That's so disgusting. If I shot my brother, I'd be no better than our stepmother. Killing for my own personal gain."

The ram hums before he opens his mouth wide and laughs. "Ahahah! I really had you going there! Okay, you get my aspect. I'm the aspect of passion and loyalty. Of course I wouldn't want you to actually kill your brother. If you did, I'd have to kill you myself. I'm not sure if you know this, but if you lose a dungeon, you die."

"Oh god," Zora says.

Cenek falls to his knees when he's back on the ground. Zora kneels next to him, rubbing his back as he coughs. There are tears on his cheeks, mixed with the sweat from the heat of the room. Zora decides that she hates this aspect.

"But congratulations! You won my aspect. This means that I'll fight for you and I can't be won by any other conqueror."

"Great," Zora says weakly. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. She kind of wants to throw up. The ram puts his nose to Zora's forehead and burning heat enters her. She wants to scream.

"This is my brand," the ram explains. "The Brand of Varak, It'll only be on your body until the end of the dungeon. Then, you'll be able to harness the full power of Lord Orais into a piece of metal."

"Fantastic," Zora responds even though she feels less than fantastic.

"I know you probably want to rest now because I gave you a scare," Varak says. "But I'd recommend against it. You're going to have to face another conqueror soon, and you're going to want all the aspects you can get. Lord Orias can sense three djinn on the island, heading this way."

"Fuck," Zora says. "That means they have more experience than me."

"Yep! So you're going to have to work really hard! But don't worry. Now that you've won me, the war aspect, I'll fight in challenges with you."

"Alright," Zora said, kind of wanting to die. "I guess I'll need to get going then."

Varak snorts loudly through his nose and steams pours out, opening another rift in space. Khusak appears beside Zora's shoulder.

"Congratulations on winning Varak's aspect!"

"Oh great, you're here," Varak groans. Khusak sticks their tongue out at him.

Varak shrinks and floats onto Zora's shoulder. Khusak floats behind her, opalescent wings beating softly.

"The next room you're going into will be fun," she says. "I love Tora."

"I don't," Varak sighs. Zora grabs Cenek's hand and steps through the portal. The air on the other side is refreshing and clean. Like Khusak's chamber, Tora's smells like dirt and plants. There are bees buzzing around flowers. It's far less ominous than Varak's. Varak shivers.

"It's so cold in here."

"No it's not," Cenek snaps, scowling at Varak. Zora raises her eyebrows. It's not often that Cenek reacts aggressively in a situation. He's quiet and thoughtful.

"Welcome!" comes a sweet voice that is almost reminiscent of singing. The figure that approaches them is lean and androgynous.

"I am Tora, the aspect of love and creativity," the figure says in a two-toned voice.

"It's nice to meet you," Zora says dumbly. What the fuck? She thinks, this person is so beautiful?

"I see that you've resonated with my aspect," Tora says. "What do I look like to you, King Candidate?"

"I'm Zora," Zora says dumbly. Tora laughs.

"How cute. Are you ready to face my challenge?"

Zora slaps her cheeks and averts her eyes from Tora to regain her bearings. "Yes. I'm ready. I need to win you over."

"Oh, babe," Tora fans themselves. "You can bend me over anytime.'

"Ohh my god?" Zora says, her face heating up.

"Tora, is this really necessary?" Khusak asks, putting their hands on their hips. Tora blows Khusak a kiss. Khusak rolls their eyes, but does return Tora's smile.

"What's the challenge?" Zora asks, calming herself down to try and get back on track.

Tora taps their chin. "Hmm. I think… I want you to prove your creativity in whatever form you desire. I love all creative mediums." They snap their fingers and writing utensils, paints, fabric and needles, appear before Zora. "I will give you a topic and you have to create something based off of it."

Zora nods. She can do that. Khusak rubs her shoulders.

"Don't feel so tense. Tora may be the aspect of creativity, but my star-children tend to be very creative. I'm sure you'll do well."

"Thanks, Khusak," Zora says with a smile.

"The topic is –!"

Before Tora can finish, the ground beneath them shakes. "Oh, looks like the other conquerors have entered the dungeon."

"I don't have to wait for them to make it here, do I?"

"Nope!" Tora says. "Since you have Varak's brand, they'll be sent straight to me after they meet and speak with their ruling constellation."

"Well, fuck," Zora looks to her brother. He puts his hands on his hips.

"I'll keep them from progressing to get to you. They have to walk up here to talk to Tora after all."

Zora ruffles his hair. "Alright. Tell me the challenge, Tora!"

"I want you to make a creative work about love and death."

Damn, that's zero to one hundred real quick, Zora thinks but she nods and grabs the scroll and a pen. "Got it. Love and death… Love and death…"

It's hard for Zora to start because she had not grown up in a place that would give her a chance to feel love. The only type of love she knew was the protective bond she had with her younger brother. She thinks her mother may have loved her, but that was ten years ago. Zora was only seven. She doesn't remember it anymore. She's sure her father loved her, at least as a way to ensure his rule over the country (every king needs an heir, even if she's the daughter of a lover and not the queen). She taps the end of the pen to her chin and looks at where her brother and Varak are guarding the open portal. Varak has grown back to his normal size (very large), and it makes her brother look miniature.

Love and death…

Come on, write what you know, Zora!

Well, Tora never said it had to be romantic love.

She puts the pen to the paper and starts to write about a victim of circumstances, who triumphs through her trials because of the love she feels. The love she experiences inevitably ends in her own death, when she sacrifices herself to save the lives of her family.

There's a loud crack and Zora looks to where the portal is just in time to see her brother send a tree crashing down in front of a group of people.

"There are people already in the dungeon?" one of the shorter kids asks.

"We'll just have to defeat them," says the guy in the front. He seems determined, but Zora doesn't care. She's almost done with her creative piece now. She quickly jots down the concluding moment, where the protagonist dies, surrounded by those she loves, having finally amassed them, and then hands the scroll to Tora.

"Here, it's finished!" she says.

Tora makes an appraising noise, tapping their chin as their eyes read quickly through the paper. There's more crashes as Cenek brings down more trees to halt the progress of the new group. Zora feels a swell of affection for her younger brother.

Tora lets out a sob and Zora turns her attention back to them. "This is so sad. I love it. It's great, especially since you were so rushed. I want to be one of your aspects. I can see the depth of your emotion through your story."

"Thanks," Zora says, a little abashedly.

The new group arrives at the top of the hill, panting and looking very irritated. Cenek follows close behind, his wand out.

"Sorry! I wasn't able to stop them! This guy turned into a half-lizard!"

The half-lizard's tail swings around irritably. "Who are you?" he asks.

Zora meets eyes with her brother before turning to him. "I am Zofia," she lies.

"Zofia," he repeats.

"Yes," she answers. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sinbad the dungeon conqueror," he says, putting a hand on his chest. He turns to Tora. "Please, allow me to take part in your challenge before you decide to follow Zora."

"But baby, I already decided," they coo. "Besides, I don't think you'd be able to win my challenge."

Sinbad looks offended. "And why would you say that?"

"Because, I can see into your mind and your soul. I'm the aspect of love and creativity, and you have a lot of both –but you purposefully ignore what makes those parts of humanity so intriguing and beautiful. The pain. Without pain, we cannot truly appreciate the beauty and duality of life. There are a lot of conflicting emotions within you that you are not prepared, nor want, to deal with."

Sinbad seems taken aback. Zora and Cenek share a look. She feels kind of bad for him, but she also doesn't care. He's her enemy. She will conquer the dungeon, not him. She has to. She wants it more than he does, anyway. She read his books. He has the ability to travel and find more dungeons. This is the only chance Zora has had in her life to leave the castle, let alone the country, to find a power that will allow her to triumph over her stepmother.

There's a small lion on Sinbad's shoulder. It whispers something to him. Khusak gives it a glare.

"Is that his constellation?" Zora asks. Khusak nods.

"I hate star-children of Ser. They always think that they own everything. And they're loud."

"Rude!" roars the small lion, Ser, on Sinbad's shoulder. "Hey, Khusak, how about you go and be judgmental somewhere else? And take your star-child with you while you're at it!"

"Sorry, did you forget how Lord Orias's dungeon works, Ser?" Khusak asks. "I know you've never been the brightest of the aspects, but I'd thought that even you would remember at least the reason for your existence!"

"Fuck off, Khusak!" Ser roars louder and jumps from Sinbad's shoulder, through the air to latch onto Khusak. Khusak screeches and throws Ser to the ground. Ser grows and bounds back over to Sinbad.

"Grab my tail! Grab it!" he commands at the same time that Khusak screams at Zora to hold her hand.

"What?" Sinbad asks.

"Excuse me?" Zora asks. The two candidates look at each other in confusion.

"GRAB ME!"

"HOLD ME!"

Tora settles down, their hands resting on their stomach as they yawn. Varak sits down next to them.

"I should have known the conqueror would be one of Ser's," Tora hums. "Ser's star-children are natural leaders. It would make sense that someone with two djinn would be one of his."

Varak nods. "You'd think it'd be mine since people always associate my constellation with war. But nah, Ser's got an insatiable hunger."

"What do you mean?" Cenek asks, sitting next to Tora because he can't bring himself to sit next to Varak, but he's also very curious as to what he and his sister have gotten into.

"Well, see, Ser's a lion. And they eat rams like me," Varak shivers. "I hate that guy. He always tries to tell me what to do when hello! I don't want that, thank you very much!"

"So you guys can leave your rooms and just hang out?" Cenek asks. Tora nods.

"The whole room formality thing only happens when a conqueror enters the dungeon. No one's been able to win all of us before, so we haven't formed Lord Orias in over a thousand years. We've had a few conquerors try but… they didn't understand the challenges before," she pauses. "Normally they can't even make it past Varak."

"Yeah, they're power hungry so when I try and get them to prove their loyalty to their companions by making them choose between their goal and their friends' lives, they choose their goal. Which is an automatic fail! I don't want someone like that wielding my aspect's weapon."

"Does each aspect have a weapon?" Cenek asks, watching as Khusak and Ser talk to their respective star-children to talk them into fighting each other.

Tora nods. "Yes, we all have a specific combat use. So, theoretically if someone captures all of us and forms Lord Orias, they'll be able to use all of our aspects separate weapons. No one's done it yet, so we're not exactly sure how it works."

Varak nods. "Being stuck inside a dungeon with the same twelve beings is rough."

"I know," Cenek sighs. "I was locked in a castle for my whole life until I came here."

"That sounds rough, buddy," Varak commiserates. Cenek remembers having his life threatened and scowls at Varak.

"I'm not your buddy."

Varak shrugs, unbothered.

"Come on, Sinbad, my dude," Ser paces in front of Sinbad. "Don't you at least want to see my ability?"

Sinbad crosses his arms. "Your fight with Khusak is not our concern. She and I are both trying to capture the dungeon."

Zora nods. "I'm not interested in fighting him. I just want to catch as many aspects as I can so that I can obtain Lord Orias."

Khusak slumps their shoulders but nods. "You're right. I was getting carried away. Whenever I'm around Ser I just can't control myself. He makes me so upset," she shoots him a glare that Ser returns. She smiles. "Let's go and get the next aspect! You won Tora, didn't you?"

"Yeah, she did!" Tora calls. "Are you guys done fighting yet? Yeah? Good," they stand and help Cenek up off the ground. "Alright! Time for the next aspect's challenge, are you ready?"

Sinbad nods grimly and Zora shrugs. Tora chuckles and wiggles their fingers.

"You're going to hate the next room, by the way. Bets are off for who's going to win –if either of you are even able to make it to the challenge."

Zora looks up at Sinbad with a worried expression that she sees mirrored on his face.

Tora cocks their head to the side. "Oh! Dopatkar and Do-pahikar want you to know that they don't want you to bring your friends into the challenge. They think it'll be unfair since Sinbad has more."

"But she has more aspects," Sinbad says.

"Oh, we're not allowed to help on challenges," Tora explains to him. "We're just here in case she wants to kill you."

"I'm not going to do that," Zora says quickly. "I don't want to kill anyone."

"That's not true," Varak says, stomping a hoof. Zora shakes her head.

"I don't want to kill anyone in this dungeon."

Sinbad gives her a concerned look, though Zora can't tell if it's because he thinks something bad happened to her (true) or if she's unstable and easily angered (not true). Tora comes over to Zora and puts her hand on Zora's chest, right under her throat. Something seems to bubble in Zora's chest before she slaps her hand over her mouth and starts to cough. Her throat burns as she looks at her palm to see dirt. She gives Tora a disgusted look that Sinbad mirrors.

"Alright! You now have the Brand of Tora!" Tora shrinks down and settles on Zora's shoulder, leaning on Khusak. "Time to go to the next room! Make sure you hold hands so you end up in the right place!"

She twirls around and another portal door rips open, from the sky to the ground. Zora and Sinbad share a look of comradery that can only be formed by experiencing something really fucking weird together. Zora holds out her hand and Sinbad takes it in his own with a nod. They step through the portal into the next room. It's extremely cold in this one in this one, like the opposite of Varak's.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sinbad says as he looks around. There are shadows of people dancing around on the walls. He shivers slightly. Zora nods.

"Varak's room had a weird temperature like this one and he tried to make me kill my brother."

Sinbad doesn't look surprised. "The djinn can be very sadistic."

"It's probably because they're locked up all alone for so long," Zora says. "Loneliness does bad things to people."

"You're not wrong," he says.

Two peals of laughter ripple throughout the room, echoing along the cavern's walls. Zora covers her ears to try and block it out. There's a bright flash of green light and two figures appear before them. Their forms are constantly shifting, as if their bodies are mutable.

"I am Do-pahikar!"

"I am Dopatkar!"

The two figures link arms and form one being. In their conjoined aspect, they have four eyes, two noses, two mouths, four arms, and four legs. One mouth is smiling, the other is grimacing. Their body is mottled with greens and oranges.

"Together we are! Do-Pat-Hi-Kar!"

"I am the aspect of philosophy," says the grimacing mouth. The smiling mouth opens up. "I am the aspect of volatility!"

"Welcome to our challenge chamber!" they say together, followed by: "We're excited to play a game with you!"

"I wonder what we can do to them?" says the smiling mouth.

"Let them have a battle of wills!" the grimace yells. Sinbad seems taken aback, but determined. Zora wonders what he went through to have that kind of reaction. She's read some of his books. He seems to have a strong enough will. Do-Pat-Hi-Kar places two of its hands on both of their foreheads before either can react.

Zora feels her body hit the ground before she blinks open her eyes in a foggy landscape. She looks around but sees no one. She panics for a moment before she steels herself. It's nothing she can't deal with. She's been alone before.

She starts to walk around, carefully observing the fog for some kind of landmark. This is part of the challenge, so she has to figure out what to do. As she walks further into the fog, she becomes more worried. Is she doing the right thing? Maybe she should have waited for Do-Pat-Hi-Kar to appear and tell her what to do. She shakes her head. She doesn't need to be told what to do. It's a battle of wills. She can't break down and question herself. She has to be decisive and firm.

She stops walking and looks around, realizing she can't find her way back to the starting point. She takes in a sharp breath before closing her eyes and rubbing them. It's fine, she thinks, my body hit the ground before I came here. It must be an induced dream of some sort. It's okay. Don't worry Zora, you'll be fine.

She continues to walk, looking around for some kind of sign. So far I've met six…seven? Aspects. What's Khusak the aspect of? Did they just forget to mention it? I wouldn't doubt it. These aspects are all kind of scattered.

She is ripped from her thoughts as she runs into something solid. It grabs her as she falls back, holding her up. She looks up and see's Sinbad standing in front of her.

"Hey, thanks man," she says.

"Don't mention it. I couldn't let a woman fall," he winks. Zora rolls her eyes, feeling disgusted. Now is not the time.

"So, what do you think is going on here?"

Sinbad's face is grim. "We're in someone's mind. I've only been in a place like this once before. I'm not exactly sure why we're here."

"If we're both here, how can it be one of our minds?"

"Maybe it's both," he says. "A shared mind-space. The aspect is able to combine itself into one amalgamated form, so why wouldn't its power have something to do with that?"

"I didn't even think about it that way. I thought I was supposed to find something in my own mind to deal with," she says. "I'm not exactly sure what this challenge is supposed to be."

Sinbad shakes his head. "Me neither. I can't summon any of my djinn or my aspect."

"What's Ser the aspect of anyway? Khusak didn't tell me."

"He's the aspect of leadership and vanity."

Zora raises an eyebrow at Sinbad. "You know the aspects are supposed to tell us something about ourselves, right?"

"All I'm hearing is 'natural leader,'" Sinbad shoots back. "Is this your first dungeon?"

She nods. "It's the only one I'll have the chance to enter."

"Why's that?"

She shakes her head. "Long story short, my brother and I are basically hostages of our father's wife, and I want the djinn to help us escape her."

"She's not your mother?"

"Nope. Our mom was a lady friend on the side. Our stepmother is infertile so she can't have children of her own," Zora snorts. "Not that she wants any. She's perfectly happy being a bitch by herself with no one to bother caring about. Why do you want the djinn?"

"I want to gain enough power to save the world. I want to create a country that will solve all of the problems that exist. No war, everyone is accepted and loved. There's no poverty or death or disease."

"That sounds like a nice idea," Zora laughs and elbows him in the side. "Hey, if things don't work out for me here, mind if I come and live there?"

Sinbad laughs. "Of course. Everyone would be welcome."

Zora gives him an appraising look. There's an energy surrounding him that moves some deep part inside of her. It's almost as if he's a being created from the essence of hope. She doesn't know why, but she thinks that if anyone can build a nation, it's him. "You're a cool dude, Sinbad. But I'm not going to let you win the dungeon."

"I wouldn't expect you to," he says. "We both have our own reasons for wanting to win."

"So, do you have any idea as to why this is a battle of wills?" she asks.

"Nope," Sinbad responds. "Usually the djinn are clearer on their challenges."

"Hm. Maybe we're supposed to discuss our ideology and try to win each other over?"

Sinbad sighs and rubs his brow. "That's probably what it is. The last dungeon I was in had a similar challenge."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I lost it," he mutters.

Zora pats him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry. At least I don't think our ideologies are totally different. We just have very different reasons to find gain the djinn. You want to create a country and I want to escape my stepmother, but we both want to make the world a better place in the end."

"What do you want to do for the world?"

Zora frowns. "My country is in a very bad place. It's ruled by the military, the people are starving, and all trade has been cut off from the outside world. The queen doesn't want any foreign influence. She's a purist. She treats the people as if they're slaves to the government. No one can speak out against her because everyone is afraid that they will be killed or that they're families will be killed. I was lucky enough to be able to escape here with my brother in an effort to get a djinn. I want to eventually fix my country and return it to the glory it was previously, before my –the king was murdered."

"What country are you from?" Sinbad asks, looking interested.

"I'm from Merlyuda."

"I've heard of that place from some of the locals of this island. Apparently it was a trading hub because of its valuable resources."

"Yeah, and then the queen decided that she didn't want to 'give away' anything to those nasty foreigners," Zora rolls her eyes. "Saving my own country is the first step for me to try and better the world."

"I feel similarly, except to save the world I need to create my own country first."

There's the sensation of cold water being thrown on her, and then Zora is opening her eyes to see the ceiling of Do-Pat-Hi-Kar's chamber. She sits up, holding her head and sees Sinbad looking similarly confused.

Do-Pat-Hi-Kar is kneeling in front of them, looking upset.

"It isn't fun when you agree! You're not supposed to support each other, you're supposed to want to kill each other!"

"I don't want to kill her."

"I'm not going to kill him!"

"But death is so interesting," says the smiling one.

"I just like watching people suffer," says the grimace. "But I guess if you can't fight each other philosophically, we'll have to do something else! You need to prove your worthiness! Hurry, Do-pahikar! Ideas!"

"I don't know! You choose! You know I can't make decisions!"

"You're worthless," the grimace snaps before tears well up in 'Do-pahikar's' eyes. The grimace begins to try to placate their upper half. Zora watches the spectacle, unsure what to do. Should she intervene? Or let the grimace get cried on by their upper half?

"Hey, guys," she tries. The aspect whirls towards her.

"I don't want to hear your attitude! Half of me is sad!" …Dopatkar(maybe? Zora isn't sure) screeches. Do-pahikar lets out a breath and rolls their eyes to look up at the ceiling.

"I'm always sad. The only thing that could make me happy is the sweet embrace of death."

"I don't know if I want this djinn," Sinbad mutters. Zora nods in agreement. She's tired of this!

"Look," Zora steps closer to the sobbing and angry aspect. "I want to help. What can I do?"

"I don't know! I can't make decisions!" the two voices wail in unison.

Sinbad steps forward. "Then choose me as your master."

Zora gapes at him. The two aspects nod and run to him.

"I'm so glad I don't have to make any decisions," Dopatkar says, sticking out one of its hands and putting it on Sinbad's ribcage, over his ribs.

"Me too," Do-pahikar agrees, placing its hand next to its other half's.

Sinbad lets out a groan of pain and then wheezes. He rubs his chest when they release and turns to look at Zora. Zora glares at him.

"What the fuck," she snaps. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Women shouldn't say those words," he says.

"I'll show you words, you bitch," she rolls up her sleeves and stomps towards him. He raises an eyebrow down at her.

"What? Angry?"

"Yes! That was a dick move," she tells him. Sinbad shakes his head.

"This is a dungeon, Zofia (oh yeah, Zora thinks, he still doesn't know my real name). If you were looking for a fair competition, you came to the wrong place."

"Fuck you," she bites out, very angry even though she knows he's right and she had been planning on cheating him out of aspects anyway.

"No thanks," he says with a grin.

Do-Pat-Hi-Kar tilts their head to the side, as if listening to something before clapping their four hands. Cenek and Sinbad's friends appear in the air and crash to the ground. Cenek sits up and rubs his head, looking around.

"What…?" he asks. A white haired boy next to him stands up and runs to Sinbad.

"Sinbad," he says, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I won the aspect," Sinbad says. "But I'm not sure what's going on other than that."

"Ah! Damn! You lost?" Cenek asks his sister. Zora feels too ashamed to meet her brother's eyes, but she nods anyway.

"I did. He took an opportunity I didn't realize we had," she sighs. Cenek glares at Sinbad, but stays quiet. "It's fine though! We have six more aspects to meet and win! There's still a chance."

"Speaking of aspects," Do-Pat-Hi-Kar cuts in. "The next one is Kalakang and he has a team challenge in mind."

"A team challenge?" Zora asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes, to test the comradery between a king and his followers," Do-Pat-Hi-Kar explains. "Kalakang is the aspect of friendship and healing."

"What's Kalakang like?" Sinbad asks. Zora thinks it's a smart move. So far, they've been going into the challenges blind to the personalities of the aspects in charge. Do-Pat-Hi-Kar pats (no pun intended) Sinbad on the shoulder, and then rubs it lovingly. Sinbad pulls a face and steps away from them.

"Kalakang's a wimpy-wimp!" Ser roars, appearing on Sinbad's shoulder. "But he sasses Khusak so it's alright with me!"

"He sasses everyone," Khusak retorts, floating next to Zora. "It's just a part of who he is. Also, Kalakang's not a wimp just because he's a healing aspect. You'd do well to remember who saved your life back when-!"

Tora slaps their hand over Khusak's mouth. "Khusak! You know we're not supposed to talk about that."

"Oh yeah," Khusak sighs. They look at Sinbad and Zora. "Forget I said anything. Basically, Kalakang will be a lot kinder than the rest of us. Probably, if you can handle being verbally hung."

"I've probably heard worse," Zora says.

Sinbad steels himself. "I'm not going to lose in a challenge like that."

Zora looks up at him from the side. There's something about the way he said it that makes Zora thinks he's lost one before. She remembers how he grimaced when talking about a battle of wits. It makes her curious. His stories had always cast him as an unbeatable hero. She wants to know more about him.

But she won't learn, because she has no plans to interact with him after she wins the dungeon. She has too much to do to waste being curious about the first dungeon conqueror.

Cenek grabs her hand. "Don't worry, sister! We'll definitely win if it's a team competition."

She grins down at him. "You're right, Cenek. I'm not worried at all," she shifts to look Sinbad in the face. "You won't be getting another aspect. I'm going to win the dungeon."

He raises an eyebrow and smiles condescendingly down at her. "I'd like to see you try."

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand

that ends part 1 of the dungeon! i'll have part 2 up within a week!

some notes about portrayal:

-Sinbad was dealt a huge blow during the zepar dungeon. he was forced to face all of the insecurities he didn't even realize he had about becoming a king of his own nation. also: it was right after the slavery arc, so he had his confidence destroyed twice in two consecutive arcs. he's in it to win the dungeon, but he's also lost a lot of confidence in himself since he lost to serendine.

-Ja'far, Masrur, Mystras, Sharrkan, and Hinahoho will be a lot more active in the next chapter during Kalakang's challenge! They were quiet in this chapter because they were only shown like twice, and since the story focuses mostly on Zora and her actions, she doesn't always notice things, especially in the heat of the moment.

-If you want to read about the demon I based Orias off of, here's the passage from the wikipedia article:

"In demonology, Orias (also spelled Oriax) is a Great Marquis of Hell, and has thirty legions of demons under his command. He knows and teaches the virtues of the stars and the mansions of the planets (the influence of each planet depending on the astrological sign in which it is in a specific moment and the influence of that sign on an individual depending on how the zodiac was configured at the moment of his/her birth or at the moment of asking a question to the astrologist); he also gives dignities, prelacies, and the favour of friends and foes, and can metamorphose a man into any shape." ( wiki/Orias)

-The aspects are the 12 personalities of the djinn, and to form the djinn all the personalities must come together. We'll see who ends up with the djinn in the next chapter!

so! thanks for reading and i hope you review!