A/N: Once again, hi! Special thanks to those who had reviewed. About this chapter…actually I've a hard time writing this. Anyway, have a nice day and do enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Magi Labyrinth of Magic.
Warning: OCC-ness
Chapter 4 : Dungeon
Adventure without risk is Disneyland. ~Doug Coupland
It was already night time when Aladdin and Alibaba finally reached the portal of the dungeon. All the way to the dungeon, Alibaba kept on glancing back at the desert for fear that Budel and his men would come. But no worry, Aladdin was sure that they were all well taken care of as soon as a pair of Rukhs came, perching themselves on either sides of his shoulders.
'So, this is Amon's entrance, huh?' Aladdin examined the portal at the foot of the tower-like dungeon.
"At the slightest touch, you will be sucked in. Most of those who have entered have never returned. It's like the gateway to death itself. Aladdin, if you want to turn back now, this is your last chance," Alibaba said, his fingers ghosting over the portal. Aladdin frowned slightly. He was feeling sort of strange and hungry too. However, he couldn't just back out now. He still had a bet to win. His vision blurred and he was feeling a little bit light-headed.
Finding no strength to lift his limbs, he stumbled forward, successfully pushing Alibaba into the portal. The portal shone as they dissolved into its blinding light. Alibaba screamed, feeling his body falling down a tunnel-like vortex. At the end of the tunnel, Alibaba gasped at the amazing view of a mysterious place. However, the magnificent view disappeared as soon as another blinding light engulfed them.
"Where am I? I can't see anything. I can't even breathe. Wait… I'm drowning!" Realization sank into Alibaba. His lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen. He gasped and inhaled the air greedily when he finally escaped the clutch of being drowned. He coughed to get the water out of his lungs, scanning through the dark space.
"Where am I?" Alibaba wondered out loud. He jerked away when he saw the skeletons beneath the water surface. That was when he felt something oily in the water. He scooped out the dark liquid and smelled it.
"This is…" Alibaba's eyes widened.
"Aladdin!" As soon as he caught sight of the child lying amidst the water, he broke into a sprint as fire began to light up.
"Aladdin!" He called out again. Luckily for him, Aladdin regained consciousness. Alibaba swiftly picked up the child and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Flame was bursting from behind furiously and quickly as well.
"What?" Aladdin peeked from Alibaba's arms at the flame. The flame was bright and something clicked in his mind. Broken pieces of memories from long ago flowed back into his mind. He could see towering inferno and later a total darkness. Piercing screams and yells for help was all he could hear when several images of bloody bodies flashed through his mind.
'What's happening?' He clutched his head. He couldn't make out what those images meant. It was confusing but one thing was for sure, the immense fear and horror he felt in the deep of his heart. He couldn't recall the rest of memories. Something was blocking away the memories. A tear slid down silently but he hurriedly wiped it away to prevent it from being seen by Alibaba.
They rolled as Alibaba jumped and landed on the ground. The fire was madly burning behind them.
"It's burning water. It burns better than the oil we use in lamps. If you're not quick enough to get away, you're done for." Alibaba explained.
"You're good, Alibaba," Aladdin praised, staring at the burning flame. "So, this is a dungeon, right?"
"Y-yeah, this is a dungeon," Alibaba said. His heart not yet calmed down its rapid beatings.
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"Sharif, please don't enter the dungeon by yourself! I beg of you, Sharif!" A rather old man advised the said Sharif as he made his way up the stairway.
"I've been waiting for him for a long time, you know," Sharif Jamil uttered without sparing a glance to his supporters gathering below with torches in their hands. "At last, it's time for me to aim for the top."
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"Ah!" Currently, the duo was being chased by a giant boulder that threatened to flatten them. Typical dungeon's trap…
Getting tired of running, Aladdin gave a sharp turn and faced the rolling boulder.
"Gather Rukh!" The small bird-like creature hurried to the young child's aid. As soon as they gathered, Aladdin dispatched them towards the huge stone. With a crack, the stone fell apart but the force was great enough to push the pair right down into a hole.
'If this goes on, we're going to crash!' Aladdin thought and mentally called forth the Rukh.
'What're these?' Alibaba wondered as their falls were cushioned by some sort of bird-like creatures that he had seen gathering by the younger's side before. He took his time catching a breath and was about to ask Aladdin about the mysterious creatures when he took notice of the younger's pale face.
"You look really pale," Alibaba commented. He could see sweats lingering down Aladdin's face.
"I'm fine, just a bit hungry," Aladdin assured the elder companion. After all, he would not want Alibaba to worry about such trivial thing but focused on surviving and clearing the dungeon though he almost regretted taking on this bet. Keyword: almost. He still wanted to win so he would have to make sure that he does.
"I'll have to use a part of my magoi to summon and direct the Rukh plus I rarely exercise this much so…I'm starving," Aladdin said. His stomach was rumbling at his last statement. Alibaba couldn't help but worried about the situation as they ventured right in with nothing but clothes on their back.
"Don't worry! We'll find something to eat somewhere!" Alibaba declared and set his hand onto where he assumed Aladdin's head should be, only to meet with a green ant?
"A-Aladdin?" Alibaba half screamed, jerking away from the strange creature.
"Alibaba…a little help here."
Alibaba turned to the source of the voice and to his horror, his younger companion had his head unfortunately in the mouth of another similar looking ant. He yelled and yanked Aladdin out of the mouth of the insect. It let out an unsatisfied shriek and more of them broke out of the shining oval shaped eggs.
Aladdin was panting hard, trying to get rid of the sticky purple saliva. 'This is bad. I've used up a lot more magoi than I intended to.'
Alibaba unsheathed his knife and steadied his stance. The green 'ant' threw its sharp limbs towards Alibaba and he did not waste any time to slash it. He expected it to be more like cutting through a flesh so he was quite surprised when the knife went through the creature easily.
Encouraged by this fact, he moved on and slashed multiple times at the 'ant' when the others joined in the fight. He danced through the 'ants' and sliced them. Green liquid spluttered as the knife went through their bodies. After finished off a few more 'ants', he watched in confusion when the 'ants' melted suddenly. His confusion was immediately replaced with shock as the liquid merged to form a giant hideous creature. Its limbs shaped like knifes and it gave a huge roar, swinging around its limbs to cut down the intruders.
Alibaba dodged them with grace. Annoyed further, the creature sucked in a huge amount of air. Realizing what it was about to do, Alibaba picked up the tired child again and jumped to take shelter at a nearby dent, just in time when the creature breathed fire.
'Crap!' Alibaba mentally cursed as the creature noticed them.
"I've no choice now then," Aladdin muttered and picked up his flute. Contributing his magoi, he called forth the Rukh. They gathered and shot towards the creature before exploding. However, it recovered quickly and slashed towards the duo. They jumped away from the attack while the creature growled furiously.
"I really don't want to use this now but my option seemed to be limited," Aladdin said, wiping away sweats that were dipping now.
"Halharl Infigar!" Aladdin called out and a blast of flame was fired directly into the slimy creature. The black and white Rukhs immediately lent their powers to the young child.
"Huh? Are these birds?" Alibaba asked out loud when the Rukh flowed towards Aladdin. He had a very warm feeling when the white one passed him whereas he had to supress a cold shiver that ran down his spine when a black one came, rushing through. What exactly were those?
He continued to stare in amazement as the flame consumed the slime. A shriek sounded and soon there was nothing left of the creature.
"You did it! It's amazing!" Alibaba exclaimed. When he got nothing in response, he turned, only to see the young child collapsing. Luckily, he caught the child just before he hit the ground.
"Aladdin!" He shouted. The child frowned slightly and slowly creaked open his eyes.
"Alibaba?" He called, a bit unsure.
"Are you okay?" Alibaba asked but he soon had the urge to hit himself. Of course he was no fine. Who on Earth would collapse and still be fine anyway.
"I'm just a bit tired," Aladdin sighed out and his eyes turning duller before they closed completely. If not for the beads of sweat on his face, he would appear to be sleeping peacefully. Alibaba hugged the child closer as he struggled to stand up. Aladdin needed a place to rest.
"It's going to be fine, Aladdin. I'll make sure of it somehow," Alibaba said even when he knew that the child might not be able to hear him. Alibaba paused when he heard a soft whimper from the child. Just to make sure, he wiped away the sweats from the younger's forehead.
"Brother," Aladdin whispered and Alibaba's hands halted in their movements. Did he just call brother?
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Alibaba had finally lied the young child down in a cave. Blanketing the frail body, he watched at Aladdin's face, thinking of how weak he himself had been, always had to depend on others, always had to be saved. His eyes roved over the golden flute that he had set down carefully by the child's side, seeing how precious it had been to Aladdin. Alibaba had absolutely no idea that that little thing exhausted Aladdin that much.
Cautiously, he picked the item up and examined it. He even tried blowing into it but nothing happened. He put the flute back down. His mind was wandering back to when Aladdin called for his brother. Came to think of it, he didn't know anything about Aladdin. Did he have a family out there? Why did he travel? That was kind of expected, for Alibaba also hadn't told him anything about himself as well, yet the child saved him despite not knowing who he was. He saved him.
The longer he brooded on the matter, the guiltier he felt. Alas, he made up his mind, he was going to tell Aladdin the reason he wanted to clear a dungeon so badly and then he would listen to Aladdin's stories too about the brother he had subconsciously called in his sleep.
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Alibaba's eyes snapped open when he heard footsteps echoing throughout the passage. He scrambled up and peeked through an opening. He thought his heart was going to jump out when he perceived the Sharif along with a scary looking guy with a knife.
'Why is the Sharif here?' He pondered. Making his way back towards Aladdin, he was startled by the sound of chains. His head jerked upwards and he was immediately met with a pair of chained legs. He was so taken aback that he fell to the ground, creeping awkwardly away from whoever standing there.
"Huh?" He sounded, recognising the female. "Why are you here?"
Alibaba was shocked further when the Sharif appeared behind the girl. He landed a few feet away from Alibaba and Alibaba prepared to draw his knife when they went right past him without a word. He watched, totally perplexed as the trio approached the sleeping figure.
"I have been waiting for you, o Magi," Jamil calmly uttered, kneeling in front of the child. "For a whole decade, I have waited for your arrival."
'Magi? What's that?' Alibaba pondered.
"Let's get going," Jamil declared. The big guy picked Aladdin up and carried him over the shoulder while Jamil held onto the flute.
"Wait!" Alibaba exclaimed but was ignored as they went past him again.
"Stop!" He blocked their ways. "What do you think you're doing?"
The Sharif sighed and pointed at Alibaba. "I could say the same thing for you. You're no longer useful for me. Go home."
Angered, Alibaba held the Sharif by his shoulders, telling him to stop. His hand was shoved away by the man as another sigh elicited from his lips.
"Take care of him, Goltas," the man ordered. Alibaba turned sharply to the back when he heard the sound of chains. He gasped, looking at the masked big guy with a knife in his hand. The knife was brought down swiftly but Alibaba was quicker. He dodged the blade and stepped to the attacker's back. He pressed his knife against the man's throat and glared at the Sharif.
"What do you think you're doing?" Alibaba demanded. The Sharif seemed to be appalled.
"You're pretty nimble, aren't you now?" Jamil praised while clapping his hands. "I was wrong about you."
The next moment, a blade went through the big guy.
"Compared to him, you're the one who's of no use. Work is the duty of men. To think that a lowly slave would work less than a free man…" With those harsh words, Jamil repeatedly stabbed the man as punishments and Alibaba couldn't help but shuddered, thinking that the Sharif was crazy.
"Hey, you!" Jamil called out, pointing the bloody blade at Alibaba's face. Alibaba fell to the ground, startled and stared at the Sharif as he continued, "I brought an army of soldiers and slaves but they just keep dying in traps."
Baffled at how calmly Jamil uttered those words, Alibaba asked, "Aren't you the Sharif?"
"Yes, I'm. I'm just the man who has been entrusted with some land, but it's enough to make you drunk in power," Jamil said and landed a kick at Goltas' shin, bringing the man down before giving a few more kicks at the poor man. "Just think about it. Why should I put up with these useless monkeys for bodyguards, with some filthy speck of land and rotten food? I'll conquer the dungeon and get my own country! I'll kill everyone who gets in my way!"
"So? What about you?" Yup, this guy was definitely nuts.
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They were now at the front of the gate where flames were bursting here and there. Noticing the writings by the gate, Alibaba recognised it as the tongue of Tran, a language of old legends and maze. That earned him a penny from the arrogant man. Jamil insisted on translating even when he got most of them wrong. Another fact noted, this guy was a total idiot but maybe he could use this chance to…
"Dance with the whirlwinds, cross the jaws of the dragon, and you shall find the truth. All lies at the dragon's tail." Alibaba corrected the translation. However, that gave him a sharp jab on his arm. It seemed like the man just couldn't let his pride down, huh?
He inhaled deeply and passed through the passage, dodging pillars of flame. As soon as he reached the end, he pulled the switch within the stone dragon's jaw. The flame extinguished, letting the trio to pass through. Alibaba smirked before he was engulfed in flame. By the time the flame was gone, Alibaba was nowhere to be seen.
"What a shame," Jamil mocked as the girl wiped away a speck of dust on her face. That was when the Sharif heard noise from the once unconscious child. Aladdin raised his head from the rather uncomfortable position. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he spotted the lady from before along with another young man.
"Where's Alibaba?" was Aladdin's first question when he found that the blonde haired man was absent.
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"So, you saved me?" Aladdin asked when they found a place to rest.
"Yes, I also saved your friend. He took your flute and went on ahead," Jamil explained with a smile on his face. Aladdin did not really trust the man before him because he knew for sure that Alibaba was not a fool to take away his flute if he still treasured his life. However, the flute was not with him now as he could see and he had a general idea of who might have taken the flute and glanced at the girl from before. She was avoiding direct eye contact and that concluded it. The man was lying. Now, better think of some ways to end this person.
Jamil noticed the stares and introduced the pair behind him as his slaves. The big guy was Goltas from the nomadic tribes of the north whereas the girl was Morgiana who was a descendant of the hunters from the Dark Lands. Aladdin resisted the urge to frown when the Sharif said that they were both quite expensive, treating them as items on sale.
"All right then. I'll see what's waiting for us up ahead. Wait here with the girl," Jamil announced. As he passed Morgiana, he whispered an order to watch the child which she received with a small nod.
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"Nice to meet you again." The Sharif was gone for a while now so Aladdin decided to start a conversation with Morgiana. However, his effort was futile as the girl did not show any response. Aladdin even tried several attempts to make the girl smile by making faces with his incredibly flexible face but the girl had showed no interest to even turn to look at him.
'Well, it seems that I'll have to use my trump card now,' Aladdin thought. He hoped that he would manage to crack a smile on the girl's face using his last resort. Not that he did not have confidence in his skill; after all even Kougyoku commented on how funny he was it was just that he was getting bored.
It was a good thing that Morgiana looked back at the last moment when he was performing the act. She did well to resist the urge to laugh though she couldn't stop the chuckles that were escaping from her mouth. She seemed shocked and covered her mouth instantly. Aladdin was overjoyed and he jumped while cheering at his successful attempt.
"Finally! You laughed!" Aladdin said in his childish voice. He liked challenge and the feeling after you have overcome one was great.
"I didn't," Morgiana denied the obvious fact.
"You should smile often. You look really pretty when you smile!" Aladdin commented. The girl simply turned away from him, keeping a poker face as if she had not really smile back then. Aladdin persistently made his way to face Morgiana again.
"But, your face has odd feature. It's because you're from the country called the 'Dark Lands'?" Aladdin questioned, trotting back to his seat.
"It's not dark." The girl finally began. Her voice was layered with thin sorrow. "The 'Dark Lands' is what the Rehm Empire called the south region of the border because they consider the whole area undeveloped. It's my homeland, Carthago."
"Is it undeveloped?" Aladdin had read once in one of the books. He was positively sure that Carthago was not really as undeveloped as he thought. Well, just to make sure.
"It's not undeveloped. There are countries and villages, and the Sun is beautiful. The land is spacious and there are many huge animals. There are many delicious fruits, too." She explained. Her voice sounded monotone. Aladdin could tell that she barely had any memories of the land by her tone.
"That sounds nice like a fun place. It's just like…" When Aladdin was about to say the place sounded like his homeland, he felt a splitting headache. Slumping over, his mind was floated once again by images of burning flame. It was everywhere; the fire, the people and the screams. As fast as they came, they faded. Aladdin was panting as he tried to calm himself down. Staring down at his trembling hands, he gulped.
Morgiana was sending worried and confused glances at the young child. Aladdin bit his lower lip and claimed that it was nothing important. Luckily for him, she did not venture further and Aladdin was grateful for that.
"I'd love to see your homeland. Can you take me there one day?" Aladdin requested, trying to lessen the tension.
"I can't do that," Morgiana replied.
"Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? I'm a slave so it's obvious that I can't escape," she answered. Aladdin didn't give up though, saying that she could if he cut the chains again. However, Morgiana seemed to insist on the fact that no matter what she could not ever escape. She even raised her voice once. It was not like Aladdin could complain about that. After all, she seemed to have gone through a lot but to make her said that, the Sharif must have invisible cuffs on her that restricted her every movement. Still, Aladdin was actually quite glad to find out that she was a whole lot more honest compared to Alibaba.
Aladdin paused his musing and concentrated on the main thing in hand now. He couldn't afford to lose the bet now or Judal would definitely make fun of him for quite some times.
"Say, where's Alibaba?" Aladdin asked. His voice turned serious and Morgiana was a bit shocked by the sudden change.
"Your friend is an utter fool. He's insane and beyond comprehension. He didn't understand the situation he's in. He tries to save others even when he can't save himself." As much as Aladdin wanted to listen to more comments on his new found friend, he reminded himself of his main objective and forced himself to stay quiet as well as patient waiting for Morgiana to continue.
"Because of that, he is…your friend is…he's dead," she concluded gravely. Aladdin gasped in disbelief but something told him that the blonde haired young man would not die that easily. Maybe it was because of the determination he seen in his eyes.
Just then, a couple of small stones connected to his head and he glanced upwards, only to meet with Alibaba's face. Aladdin was pretty much dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of the teen. Aladdin stood quietly and took a few steps back towards the wall.
"You should know your place too, or you'll end up dead as well," she warned.
"Or not!" Alibaba exclaimed, making his presence known as he jumped from his hideout, sliding down a vine.
"How?" Morgiana was baffled. That was when a pathetic cry echoed from behind.
"Magi! Magi! Please purge those mons-" The Sharif came, screaming. He stayed rooted to the ground when he saw the supposed-to-be-dead Alibaba.
"Sorry, I lied about the translation," Alibaba apologised, sounding not so apologetically. "Actually it said, 'Dance with the whirlwinds and in the jaw of the dragon, you will find the truth. All is before the tail of the dragon.' Thanks to you, I've found the right path!" Alibaba declared. Aladdin had to admit he was impressed. He never knew that Alibaba was this cunning. Well, better get going now. He set down the magic turban and up they went.
"Sorry, miss! Let's meet again later! Let's go to see the Sun when your invisible chains are cut!" Aladdin left the words for the lady. It was strange how the girl didn't chase after them. Judging from her expression, she must have thought of something blissful.
"Morgiana!" A yell and her blissful expression was gone, replaced by anger. Alibaba nearly had a heart attack when she literally ran up the wall. Aladdin had to urge his magic turban to rise higher and quicker to prevent her from reaching them.
Jamil was definitely not happy with their escape and landed several kicks on Morgiana as well as a few more stabs on Goltas all the while cursing and complaining.
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"This must be the Gate of Truth. The treasure must be behind this," Alibaba said. A fancy door was in front of them with the very same symbol he found on Aladdin's flute.
"That's the spell. Have you tried opening it?" Aladdin asked.
"No. Look at the handprints. Both are right hands. That means you can't open it alone," Alibaba answered.
"Then, it's lucky that we're together, right?"
"Yeah."
With that, they placed their right hand on either sides of the door. As the light shone, they simultaneously called out, "Open Sesame!"
The symbol lighted up and the door was open. A blinding light and wind emitted from the opened door. When the light faded, the inferior of the dungeon was crumbling away like puzzle pieces .What replaced it was a blue sky and a massive city. Only the gate remained untouched. Both Alibaba and Aladdin stared in awe as the change magically took place. They were standing on a rather high place, high enough to see all the buildings below.
Their goal was near and they could feel it.
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"I see. I understand the situation now. It seems that we've gotten more to take care of in the future, huh?" In an unknown place, a voice was heard. The owner of the voice then sighed heavily. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he raised his head, an amused smirk playing on his lips.
"Well, it seems that the guests have arrived."