Prologue
In a small desert village located
Danielle watched as the councilors of her village rounded up able bodied men to complete the newly risen dungeon. With the constant bandit raids, the village has reached its edged. What angered her was the fact that they waited until people were killed before taking action against the thieves. Among those who were martyred were her parents. That was one of the reasons why she was going to take part in the escapade.
"Hey, little girl," a man by the name of Koto called out to her, "You'd better turn back. We don't need any sissy holding us back."
"Then I would suggest you run on back home, Koto," she bit back, "You and I both know that I've got nothing else to live for anyway."
"Alright, but don't come crying to me if your prissy little fingers get cut off," he sneered.
"Whatever."
The group consisted of twenty one men and three women, including Danielle. Trudging along, she noted her equipment: A small bottle of water, a small piece of dried bread and a small scythe that belonged to her dad who was a corn reaper. The scythe was the only thing she had left that belonged to her family, so she kept it safely strapped to her boot. It was hidden by a brown cloak that was draped over her shoulders.
"Is that it?" she heard one of the men whisper.
Looking up, a huge cave came into view. As they entered, Danni thought it would have been much harder to approach. After a few minutes of walking in sheer darkness, mixed screams were suddenly heard. A woman beside her fell to her knees, howling in pain. Stooping to figure out what had happened, she noticed that there were sharp traps that resembled shark teeth located everywhere. Almost like a bear trap. Danni then tried to pry it sharp metal trap from the whimpering woman.
"Hey, kid, she isn't worth your time," Koto addressed her yet again.
"What do you mean she isn't worth my time, you bastard!" she shouted venomously.
"I mean that if you stay back, you'll get yourself killed. If you can't keep up you'll just drag the rest of us down."
"Screw you!" she shouted at him.
"Ahh, you should watch that mouth of yours, kid," Koto's knife hovered dangerously over her lips.
"And you should watch how you talk about the people of your village," she ended and turned her back on the man.
His only reply was a chuckle and he walked away.
"You should go on ahead," the woman suggested between sobs, "He's right, I'm just going to hold you back."
"I wish for once that people around me would just shut up," she muttered as she used her scythe to pry the trap off. This action earned a piercing scream from the woman.
"Here," Danni handed her a piece of her robe to wrap around the wound and stop the bleeding. To her annoyance, the woman continuously sobbed as she was helped up. Why was she crying anyways? It was just a simple bear trap. I've been caught in one of those when I was at age five and I can't remember ever crying this much. Maybe I'm just some kind of sick masochistical sadist. The pair trudged down the path way until a small light could be seen. Luckily, no more traps were encountered and Danni didn't have to help anymore people because they had already bled out.
A loud roar was then heard, followed by some screaming.
"Geez, all this screaming in one day is gonna make me both blind and deaf," Danni complained. "Wait is that who I think it is?"
Frantically running out of the cave was none other than Koto. He was screaming something the two women couldn't understand. Stopping by the two, he looked disheveled and out of place. The prideful man they had seen just a few minutes before was now a nervous wreck.
"What happened?" the woman asked.
"D-d-d-drag-gon," he stuttered, "B-big, sharp teeth, ate everyone else!" he let out a cry.
"Tch! It's not like you care. Now go run like the big baby girl I know you are," Danielle cruelly spat.
She then turned to the woman. "Oh, and I totally forgot to mention this but my name is Danielle." Her sudden change in personality shocked the woman.
"My name is Sharon," the woman replied with a crooked smile.
"Okay, Sharon, I'm going in. Baby Koto here will have to stay with you or maybe it should be the other way around," she pointed to the shivering man.
"Y-you'd have to be c-crazy to go in there," he warned.
"I think we should all go back and give report to the council-
"The council? The council is made up of a bunch of fat guys who deem themselves too high and mighty to come down here and complete this God forsaken dungeon by themselves. Don't tell me anything about the council," Danielle marched off into the direction of the alleged dragon. A loud roar was all that could be heard as she attempted to hide her presence from the ugly, scaly beast. This was far from easy as the dragon had a sharp sense of hearing. Its head turned whenever she made a step.
Slowly, she hid herself in a crevice in the rock. This did not go unnoticed by the dragon. It jutted forth its ugly head and peered down at Danni who was surprisingly annoyed. She didn't understand why the dragon couldn't just leave her alone and mind its own business. She then became tense as it dipped its head low. She could feel its dangerously green eyes fixed firmly on her.
"What the hell is your problem?" she asked the creature. "Can't you just go about your business like a normal reptile?" This would have been a comedic situation if it weren't for her impending death. The tongue of the dragon slithered towards her and wrapped around her leg. It pulled her out slowly and sadly, she didn't have anything to hold onto. Wiggling around like a fish caught on fishing rod; she attempted to break free from the beast's tight hold. It slowly reeled in its tongue. Feeling around for her scythe, she pulled it from her boot. Raising it high in the air, she struck the dragon's tongue. This earned a great roar. On the other hand, Danni was falling to her death.
"I really should have thought that through," she thought, closing her eyes and waiting for her death.
Surprisingly, it never came. Cracking her eyes open, she looked up into an unfamiliar face. It was a young boy, no more than the age of ten. He had crimson colored eyes, similar to her own, long black hair and a pale skin. He chuckled as he set her down.
"And you are?" Danni asked irritably, despite the life threatening situation she was just in.
"The one who saved your pathetic life," he answered.
"It's about as pathetic as your outfit," Danni looked him up and down.
"You've got guts talking to your savior like that. I'm surprised you can even handle such comebacks despite being in a near death situation just a while ago," he haughtily replied. "Anyway, the name's Judar. Yours?"
"None of your business," she retorted.
"Alright, None of your business, you should at least be grateful I saved your sorry ass."
Another roar erupted. The tongue-less dragon rushed towards the two. Judar took out a wand like stick and blasted the dragon with his devastating ice magic like if it was nothing.
"H-how did you do that?" Danni stood there, mouth agape.
"Wow finally something that can change your expression! I'm a magi," he replied with a smirk. Danielle had read a few books about people who called themselves magi. Her mother used to tell her stories of a life force called ruhk and how the ruhk loved the magi.
"How long were you in this dungeon?"
"Hmm… I entered when you were shouting at that fart of a man," he shrugged like if it was no big deal.
"Tch! So you could have helped all along but you didn't!? You let all those people in here die!" she grew annoyed. "Why'd you choose to help me anyway? You could have let me die like the rest! "
"Because you interest me," he replied nonchalantly, "All those other people were boring."
"Why I outta!" she grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
"Does common sense go through that thick skull of yours?" He said in a smug tone. "I just turned that dragon into an icicle, but yet you wanna pick a fight with me? I just said I'm a magi, girl, you should learn some respect."
She tightened her grip on his shirt and swung her fist back as it readied to make contact with Judar's face. "Do you think I ca-" she was then halted by a crackling sound coming from Judar's chest.
She looked at her hand that was clenched to his shirt and saw it was slowly being engulfed by ice. She backed off without hesitation; she shook her hand as the pieces of ice fell off one by one.
Judar brushed off his shirt all while having an arrogant smirk on his face. Whirling his wand around, he walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder and said, "You see, there's just this big border of power between us, a border that you can't pass…well not at your current level at least."
"So, it's you who have awakened me," a booming voice interrupted the two. Gulping, Danni turned around to see a djinn.
He appeared upon a black throne, sitting in a manner that would fit a tyrant. Like all other djinns he had blue skin. His somewhat spiky hair black hair accompanied by his terribly sharp eyes only added to his stern demeanor. He was lean, toned and bared a black necklace around his neck. His most prominent feature was his left arm which was black and had a large black snake wrapped around it. Its amber eyes completed the fearsome djinn that sat before them.
"I am the 72nd Djinn, Andromalius," he announced. "You have made it to my chamber and defeated that beast before with the help of a magi. What is your purpose?"
"My purpose," she started, "Is to free my village from the bandits that continue to plague it."
Andromalius looked down at Danni whose eyes were filled with many conflicting emotions. "Hmm…I see anger in your heart. My child how old are you?"
"I am eighteen."
"And what do you truly wish to accomplish with my power. I'm a djinn who symbolizes justice. For anyone who I am bound with I must tell them this. Justice and vengeance are like dusk and dawn. They may appear similar but there is a distinct difference which many chose to disregard." His eyes sharpened at her and his tone became even more tremendous "I ask you again what you truly wish to accomplish with my power justice or vengeance."
Danni took a big gulp before answering, she thought deeply about her parents and her village and after think it through she had her answer. "I want to avenge my parents…I won't lie about that, but above all I want to make sure others don't suffer like I did." She looked up to him with a reassured look on her face, now know what she wanted. "I want to bring those bandits to justice!"
"Very well, I will help you. I admire that goal of yours."
"Hmm, looks like he accepts you," Judal appraised.
"He accepts me?" she asks.
The dijin disappeared and sealed itself into the scythe that was now on the floor. With that, Danni fell to the floor and hugged her dad's scythe. "No one else, I won't let it happen to anyone else."
"Hey, would you like to become a King's candidate?" he asked from behind.
"No," she flatly answered, and then smiled, "I've got bandits to take care of, besides, I want to make sure they never come back again."
"Are you sure? You really should reconsider I'm telling you it would be better."
"I said I don't want to. There are many better qualified people."
"Your loss," Judar shrugged her off and then walked away.
"Thank you," she expressed her gratitude. This caused the young magi to grunt. In turn, Danni giggled. "You're pretty cute for a sadistic little boy." She whispered that last comment, but Judal heard it and grunted even louder.
"See ya, None of your business," he waved.
"My name is Danielle Diem!" she shouted after him.
Then, looking around, she noticed the vast treasure that lay there.
"Hey guys!" she called out to the two who were waiting outside, "I think we're gonna need a lot of bags." She grinned at their shocked expressions. She, Danielle Diem, cleared a dungeon and the age of eighteen, but she could not have done it without the little magi.
Returning to the village, everyone watched the trio with anticipating gazes. That's when Danni held up her dad's scythe. The people shouted for joy. Singing and dancing were also done. Everyone was relieved. Everyone had hope, until the bandits came again. The people pushed Danni forward.
"So, you really putting this little bitch up front to fight us?" the leader mocked.
"You bet they are buddy," she held up her scythe.
The leader just laughed and carelessly swung his sword. He hit one of his teammates. The man fell to the floor, dead. That was when the village people scattered towards their homes. They watched the scene through their windows.
"Looks like it's just you and us, little girl," the leader menacingly pointed out.
Black flames then surrounded the scythe. "I guess you'll be the first to have a taste of my black flames."
The flames burnt the front platoon. At first, the fire seemed harmless, but piercing screams filled the air as it burned the deepest depths of their souls. The black flames weren't meant to burn the body, but to deplete the human's life force (Magoi). The leader, like a coward fled to the back. After setting the rest of them on fire, she turned to the leader.
"You don't deserve this kind of flame," she swung her scythe at him. Black flames engulfed him, but instead of only burning his soul, it replayed all his previous sins. All the lives he took, all the items he had stolen, all the people he had used as slaves; they all replayed in his mind. Mentally, he was being tortured. Standing there, Danni watched as he screamed in pain. What she didn't know, was that her flames got out of control. It had already started to spread up the houses. A scream broke her out of her trance. Turning around quickly, she witnessed a little boy no older than five being burned. Gasping, she ran over to him and tried to out the flames. This did nothing but make it worse. His mother screamed and kicked at her aside.
"You witch! Let go of my son!" she cried and hugged her son. She too, was engulfed in the flames. People began to scream as the fire miraculously spread. Danni cried in frustration. People around her were dying and she didn't know what to do. Letting out tiny screams, she pulled at her hair and sank to the floor.
"Danielle!" Koto called out, "Use the flames again. It will extinguish itself."
And so she did. To her surprise, it worked, but nothing could ever bring back the lives that were lost. She began sobbing as some people threw rocks and sticks at her. They even lit paper and threw it her way.
"Witch!" "Murderer!" They shouted after her. Grabbing her scythe, she ran. She ran as far as she could. There were some pursuers but their fire soon burned out. Danni watched as they turned around. She was in another province, but that didn't stop her. Word spread fast, and they would surely have her head on a platter. She sat in an alley way and cried the last few tears she had left. It took her three days to get where she was now. Among the three days, she ate zilch. This was due to her depression. Curling herself in a ball, she allowed sleep to take over. When the sky lit up again she would be on her feet. This is what happened when you care, when you try to help others. Right there and then, she vowed to show the world around her how apathetic and indifferent she could be. She would wander, learn how to control the power she had, and whatever comes after is up to the Great God in the sky.
"You know, you're pathetic," a familiar voice interrupted her drifting.
It was Judar.
"What? No smart comment?" he asked.
His question was greeted with an uncomfortable silence. He then laughs. "Your ignorance is truly something to be laughed at."
Still, there was silence.
"Tch! What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, suddenly growing irritated.
Danni looked up at him with lifeless eyes. Right there and then, Judar realized that the incident changed her. Instead of being the smart mouthed girl he had met in the dungeon, the girl who sat in front of him was like a dead body. Bags were settling under her eyes and her face held no emotion. Her black hair fell into her face. Her red pupils just made the sight even more gruesome. They were nothing like his. Her eyes were wide, which just left a creepy effect on him. Judal left her. In the end, everyone leaves her or rather, she leaves them. With that, she began her journey in order to control this dreadful power that she possessed. On the way, she picked up small part time jobs. She went through different sword trainers. One of them being a dungeon capturer. He helped her master her dijin equip.
Seven Years Later
Kougyoko and her companions step off the ship only to be greeted by Sinbad. She was here on a business trip, but that didn't matter to her. She was getting to see the self-proclaimed 'love of her life'.
"Hello Princess Kougyoko, It's a pleasure meeting you again," Sinbad greeted. This caused the pink haired woman to blush. Sinbad's eyes then narrowed at the princess's companion. He had black hair that almost shaggily fell to his shoulders. He wore a short sleeved black robe that showed his toned arm, which were impressive but still mediocre Sinbad's and white pants.
"Oh, this is Zayne", she introduced her newest servant. "He is my new servant."
"Who only became a servant because it's hard to find work nowadays in the Kou Empire." He added in a belittling tone. "
"Okay Zayne he didn't need to know that." Kougyoko said, still keeping her pleasant smile for Sinbad.
Zayne's eyes rolled over to her but he ignored her comment and continued, "The only reason I took this job was because my other working options was becoming a fisherman and I hate fish, a farmer and I hate smelly animals or a soldier and I'm definitely not dying for my country."
Kougyoko tried to ignore his statements and look composed for Sinbad but her calmness was slipping as a beat of cold seat ran down the side of her head. "Zayne, I said to please be quiet."
Ignoring her comment once again he persisted with his patronizing statements. "I mean who would want this job. Kougyoko is a pain in the butt. She's pretty much hopeless without me ever since we were little. Have you seen her as soon as she wakes up? Her pillow is always covered in drool-"
SLAM!
The sound of Kougyoko's foot crashing down on Zayne's could be heard clearly by everyone around but some chose to ignore it. Zayne held back a tear as he tried to keep his composure from this instant attack.
Kougyoko smiled delightful at Sinbad, as if nothing happened, and proceeded to speak, "Please forgive his farfetched stories. He's my friend ever since we were young you see, so he always likes to make jokes."
Sinbad smiled pleasantly at the two and couldn't help but chuckle. "I can see you two are very close. He's not formal with you at all; he calls you by your first name and is very straightforward with you. He has all the makings of a good servant."
"He is very faithful." she said looking over to Zayne. "No matter how cynical he may be."
After a moment of introductions, the group was led towards to castle by Jafar.
Meanwhile, Danielle also hopped off the ship. After seven years of training not only her body, but mind, she was ready to take up arms again, but this time, without her power. To her, it would be best if no one recognized her as the girl who killed some of her own village occupants by accident. What was she doing in Sindria you ask? She wanted to become a mercenary in King Sinbad's army. She had the basic training so it probably wouldn't be difficult to join the women's army. That's why she needed to locate where the palace was. Without knowing, she walked straight past Sinbad, who was talking to Kougyoko. Sinbad's eyes followed her. He had never seen someone like her around. Maybe she was a tourist. He shrugged it off. Spotting a bar up ahead, Danni stopped to ask for directions to the palace.
"Can anyone point me to where the palace is?"
"Well, hello Sweat Pea," a drunken man drawled, looking her up and down, "You know, there's an empty space in my bed. "Why don't you come over and you could fill it for me, instead of going to the ole' palace."
The black haired woman rolled her eyes. Unknown to her, she was in fact a beautiful sight. It wasn't every day you could look into the eyes of someone who possessed red pupils. She was also quite shapely.
"Don't listen to that bastard," another drunken man addressed her, "Come with me. You'll have way much more fun."
Deciding she had had enough, Danielle walked away. She didn't have time to deal with these people. The sun was going down and she didn't have a place to stay; not that she minded staying in an alley way for the night. Trudging down the paved path, she noticed a few more drunkards follow her. Making a detour in what looked like a dead end, she waited for them to stagger her way. She quickly grabbed the first man she saw and subdued him by twisting his arm behind his back and shoving him into the wall.
"Tell me where the palace is and I'll allow you to keep your arm," she threatened nonchalantly.
"Okay, alright," he surrendered, "To find it, you just keep going up the hill. You'd be blind not to see it."
She let him go and walked out to see the other drunken men bewildered at her roughness. Thank the heavens for stamina. If she didn't have any, it would have taken her the whole night to reach King Sinbad's castle. Along the way, she earned herself weird stares from civilians. A small boy had commented on the weird color of her eyes as they were crimson. Looking at the little boy reminded her of the one that got burned by her flames. Letting out a sigh, she stood in front of the palace gates. It was guarded by five guards.
"State your name and purpose," one of them demanded.
"My name is Diem and I'm here to speak with your king," she stated. Technically, she didn't lie about her name.
"I'm sorry, but the king is in a meeting. You'll have to wait until morning."
With that, Danni walked to the side entrance. Without the knowledge of the guards, she knocked out the sole guard that was placed at the side entrance. She quickly made her way down the hall.
"S-so, what do you say, King Sinbad," Kougyoko asked with a small blush.
"I've already told you countless of times that you are welcomed here in Sindria," he said with a pleasant smile. This made the pink haired woman blush wildly. Unknowingly, Zayne scoffed at their exchange with jealousy. Over the period of time he had begun working for the princess, he had started to develop feelings for her. Through their childhood he was always protecting her and when seeing her with Sinbad he could only compare himself to him. He felt like but a meaningless dog fighting with a bear for Kougyoko.
"My King!" a soldier burst through the door, "Someone has infiltrated the palace!"
"Infiltrated?" Kougyoko asked.
"Yes, princess," he bowed.
"What would you have us do?" he then asked. After a moment of contemplation, Sinbad answered.
"It's alright, I will take care of the matter," he decided.
The soldier nodded.
After knocking out around fifty guards, Danni stopped for a breather. There were no more at the moment, so she leaned against the wall and slowly sat down.
Someone entered the hall. Danni watched as a purple haired man and a pink haired woman, accompanied by one of the guards took in the sight before them. Carefully, Sinbad walked over to where Danni sat. He studied her with his chin between his index finger and his thumb. He quickly noted that she was the same woman that had passed him earlier. What captivated him the most were her red eyes. The color was much like Judal's but the shape of her eyes were wide like Alibaba's. In them, he could see nothing. Not a hit of emotion. They were almost lifeless.
"Are you King Sinbad?" she then spoke up. Her voice wasn't any different from her expression.
"Yes, and are you the one who attacked my men?" he asked.
"Technically, they attacked me," she corrected.
"Either way, you have some explaining to do," he pointed out.
"There's nothing to explain," She answered, "I want a place in your army as a mercenary. They denied me access until morning. I decided to take action because I technically have nowhere else to go. That's all."
This surprised Sinbad a little. Thank goodness Jafar wasn't around at the moment. He would have definitely exploded the matter.
"You can't expect me to just allow a stranger into my army, no matter how capable you may be," he started, "But you can always gain my trust by working here for a bit."
"With all due respect, I'd rather you not talk about trust. Trust takes years to build and just a few seconds to break apart. That's the ugliness of it all," she stated in monotone.
Sinbad took in what she said. He had deduced that maybe she had some bad experiences or maybe just some trust issues.
"Alright, since you have nowhere to go, I will allow you to stay at the palace, but you'll have to work," he finalized.
With a sigh, she accepted his deal by taking his outstretched hand. At the back, Kougyoko glared at the intruder. How dare Sinbad help that woman! She just infiltrated his castle! Who knows what else she could do?! She watched as Sinbad kindly helped her up. Zayne watched as Kougyoko seethed. He understood why she was upset. By the looks of it, this woman wa /10 and Kougyoko was an 8/10.
All the mysterious woman needed was life. She was too dead. Zanye warily watched her as she came over and introduced herself. Her name was Diem. That was a pretty weird name. The translation of her name had something to do with the word day. He couldn't remember. Something was just eerie about her, and he would be the one to find out.