Chapter Twenty-Five: Inside Zagan's Dungeon
A/N: Had a lot of fun writing this, hopefully I did justice to Mari and Sara when they return to Atlantis…
"That white animal really surprised me," spoke Aladdin as he watched the creature flee.
Tettia and Alibaba walked over to Hakuryuu, in order to make sure he was alright. "Haku, your face is pale. You all right?" asked the half-Fanalis, comfortingly rubbing his back.
Hakuryuu tightly gripped his spear. "I'm alright…" he answered.
Looking at Morgiana, Aladdin noticed a wound and asked, "Morg, are you alright, too?"
Upon hearing that statement, Tettia whipped her head around to look at the pure-Fanalis. Sure enough, she was bleeding slightly from her arm. "Morgiana! I thought you said you were fine and not hurt," she exclaimed.
Morgiana looked at her bleeding arm and shrugged. "Tet, I am fine. That monster's claws just grazed me," she said.
As Tettia threw a small motherly/sisterly fit over that, exclaiming about what if the creature's claws were laced with a deadly poison, Hakuryuu looked at Morgiana with a shocked look. Him freezing up like that caused Morgiana to get hurt trying to protect him. "Um… Lady Morgiana, sorry for what happened because of me… and also Aladdin, Alibaba, Tettia… I will not be a hindrance from now on," spoke Hakuryuu seriously.
"Don't worry about it. It was really nothing," came Morgiana's response.
Alibaba and Tettia smiled and answered, the latter waving her hand comically in front of her face in a dismissive manner, "Hakuryuu, you are too serious!"
Hearing a noise, they all looked back, eyebrows raised in confusion. "What is it? It's from the first room…?" they all questioned as they ran over to the entrance. Walking back through the entrance, they saw a familiar young girl. "Eh!? Why is that kid here!?" the lovers questioned.
The young girl was on the floor, her knife held out in front of her, tears flowing from her eyes. Not to mention that she was surrounded by the dungeon creatures. Sighing, Tettia dragged her lover with her over to the girl and creatures. "Hey, little ones, she meant no harm to you or your families. Please go back to your lives, I apologize for the interference and trouble," she said, kneeling down to get closer to the creatures.
"Yeah, we apologize for the girl's actions. She has likely never done this before," followed Alibaba. The creatures looked at them and as they walked back towards their homes, the lovers waved goodbye at them, hoping that the creatures will not be disturbed again.
Aladdin, Hakuryuu and Morgiana stood around the girl, all of them looking down at the weeping girl. "I told you not to follow us," the two-toned-blue eyed imperial prince reprimanded the girl.
She continued weeping and sobbing. Aladdin looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "I see. You entered here to help your mother and father."
Sighing, Hakuryuu looked at the original trio and apologized, "I apologize, this is my responsibility. I should have had stopped her with more force… to think that she would be dragged into this as well."
The trio smiled at him, Aladdin saying, "Don't feel so down, okay?"
Hakuryuu sighed out, "Sorry," and slumped forward a bit.
Patting his right shoulder, Tettia said with a smile, "How should I phrase is… you're so serious that you're surprisingly troublesome. Try loosening up a bit, we're friends now, you should try to get comfortable with us."
"I couldn't agree more, Tet," the blond voiced, kissing his lover's cheek. After that, he turned to the girl and, placing a hand on her shoulder, stated in Toran, "It is alright, we are strong so we will safely conquer this dungeon together with you and your parents!"
"Yes. I'm sorry… thank you…" the girl sobbed out. As the three original best friends comforted her, Hakuryuu and Morgiana stood behind them and watched. The way those three smiled so warmly at a stranger was mind-boggling to witness.
"I will not let you do that," came a male's voice. The six's eyes widened in surprise as they looked upwards, where the voice had came from. Up on a leaf-platform, there stood a masked blue-skinned man, a second later the man jumped down. Petting the creatures, he asked, "Are you all right, Francois…? Are you hurt, Marianne?" The creatures answered him. "I see… there, there."
Looking at the man, Tettia asked what everyone was thinking, "Who the hell is he…?"
"You… you will do me a favor and not bully my cute little bears, alright?" he asked, snapping his fingers, growing in size. "Welcome to my stylish dungeon! I'm the sixty-first Djinn, Zagan," he introduced himself.
Jumping into her battle-stance, Tettia sputtered out in confusion, "T-the Djinn suddenly… appeared…!? What the hell?!"
Zagan smiled as he snatched up the village girl suddenly. Bringing her close to him, he said, "Humph. This is just an ordinary girl from the village. I didn't bring her here…"
"Stop!" cried out Hakuryuu, pointing the blade of his spear at the towering Djinn, "Let her go!"
Tilting his head to the side, Zagan hummed in thought. "…eh?" He, then, licked the girl and continued, "What should I do… after you say something like that to me…? This girl~ I wonder where you are most delicious~?" Zagan held the girl upside down and opened the her legs, which resulted in her desperately held her skirt down (or up in that instance) and shouting in Toran.
Tettia's eyes widened at the mere thought of what Zagan had meant. That was disgusting and unbecoming of a noble Djinn to do. Both she and Hakuryuu shouted in anger, "You bastard!"
Alibaba had already drawn his blade, suddenly his blade started to shine and something came out of it. Amon appeared. "A-Amon!?" exclaimed a surprised Alibaba and Tettia.
Amon looked down at Alibaba as he spoke, "Sorry Alibaba. I used a little of your Magoi… I have to confirm something with him…"
The moment Amon came out of the sword, Zagan had groaned. Rolling his eyes, the other male Djinn said in an irritated tone, "Tsk… Amon… of all things… the most nagging, stinking old man…"
Stroking his white beard, Amon asked, "Zagan… do you still intend to not choose a king?"
"Heh… that's right! I REALLY~ hate human! That's why I will not choose a human, and go there in that ugly world on the other side where humans hate each other…" Zagan then doubled over, covering his mouth like he was going to be sick. "Uoooeh I feel so awful… I will not go there even if they kill me," the childish-acting Djinn muttered. After that moment, he was back to smiles as he continued, "It is a lot better to live here together with these stylish labyrinth creatures I created, while I kill time bullying those eyesore humans that wander aimlessly around my dungeon!"
Sucking in air through her teeth, the half-Fanalis clutched tightly onto her twin daggers. "That fucking bastard," she spat through gritted teeth.
Hakuryuu thrusted his spear at Zagan, saying threateningly, "Hey! Let her go!"
Staring at the imperial prince a few moments, Zagan replied in a sing-song voice and a wave of his hand, "Okay~" However, he did not let the girl go right then, oh no, he decided to retreat to the treasury. "If you make it to the treasury! I will prepare a path for you," he exclaimed.
True to his word, Zagan made a door appear. Everyone looked at it; Tettia sighed out angrily, "What the hell…? Someone like him is really a Djinn…!?"
"It's alright… he is a Djinn… and he still has the disposition of choosing a king's vessel if someone arrives at the treasury… as proof fro that, just a moment ago he appraised you…" said Amon, suddenly disappearing, just like he had appeared.
Shocked at the suddenness of his Djinn's appearance and now disappearance, Alibaba questioned, "A-Amon! What's wrong? You appeared all of the sudden, and now you're disappearing!?"
The older Djinn answered his master, "Yes… because this time I am not borrowing the Magi's power… since the concentration of Rukh inside of the dungeon is high, I can materialize by much less Magoi than needed on Earth, but this is the limit."
"On Earth, it takes a great amount of power. Was that the reason why no matter how many times I called for you, you didn't appear?" questioned Alibaba.
Shaking his head, Amon answered, "No… because a Djinn should not materialize on Earth. The Djinn, in the end, is a pure power that a king of the Earth uses… King Solomon made us for that reason. Goodbye Alibaba… we will probably not meet each other for a while…"
Alibaba approached his Djinn as the old man fell (?) over, "Amon…!"
"That's right… Alibaba… there is… one last thing I have to say to you…"
"What is it!? Amon!" exclaimed a worried Alibaba.
"I… I… soon… I'll give birth…" muttered the Djinn rubbing his stomach and then disappeared.
With a blank look on her face, Tettia said in a flat tone, "Welp, that was weird…"
Furrowing his eyebrows in utter confusion, the blond answered his lover, "Yeah… what the hell is he saying? That old man…"
Patting his shoulder, Tettia responded, "Yeeeeeeaah… it was a little… gross…"
Aladdin walked towards the door with Hakuryuu and Morgiana, calling out to his best friends, "Let's go, Alibaba, Tet!"
The lovers looked over their shoulders at their young bluenette best friend before following after them to the door. Opening the door, the five of them stepped into the room. Looking at the path, Tettia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "So… this is that one path? It's not much of one…"
"Right? Like we can pass through this… plus those creatures… things will be bad if we fall," the blond pointed out.
Aladdin looked over at the half-Fanalis and blond as he also pointed out, "For now, they seem docile. What should we do?"
Being looked at on both sides of him, by the crimson eyes of his lover and the blue eyes of his best friend, Alibaba took a moment. Taking in a deep breath, he said, "We have to go! No matter what kind of traps await us, this is the path towards the treasury!" The two individuals beside him smiled and they began descending the blocks.
Tettia was helping Aladdin and Alibaba down, while Morgiana was helping Hakuryuu. Doing that on purpose, the half-Fanalis snickered to herself, "How long do you two think it's gonna take for them to end up together?" The two boys shrugged. "You two are not fun at predicting this stuff with…" she pouted.
"I'm sorry, Tet," the blond replied. Tettia rolled her eyes and kissed him on the cheek.
From above them, Zagan's voice echoed, "You have a Magi plus Amon with you. You are too strong… I will raise the dungeon level a lot!"
Looking up, the semi-wavy haired half-Fanalis sighed and spoke out sarcastically, "Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Zagan. Really appreciate it!"
Something played and the once docile faceless bunny doll creatures suddenly morphed into monsters. Their faces opened up from the x-stitch at the center of their face. "I will crush you flat!" they bellowed out in demonic voices.
"Oh, lookie there… I totally wasn't expecting that," Tettia, again, spoke out sarcastically, "Whoop-dee-do, it's the same voice that caused that white monster started rampaging. Must be Zagan's song that makes the labyrinth creatures become ferocious."
They were surrounded by vicious creatures that were once docile. The once stable blocks they stood on were now being moved around violently by the monsters. "We will kill you…!" they droned demonically.
"We can't advance like this!" exclaimed Alibaba.
Hakuryuu readied his spear and lunged towards one of the creatures, "In that case… we have to defeat them all and block their movements!" As the blade of his spear tried to land a blow, it was repelled and that shocked Hakuryuu and Tettia.
Zagan could be heard laughing as he said, "That's useless. These children are magic users! Their best techniques are floating magic and the Bolg!"
The navy-haired prince was sent flying. Morgiana sprung into action, wrapping her legs around one of the creatures' head (kind of in a headlock, but with her legs), she caught Hakuryuu with minimal effort. "Lady Morgiana…!" the prince exclaimed. A blush immediately painted his face and he stumbled out, "Um… for a girl to hold me in her hands… you can put me down…"
"Don't move, please," came her crisp voice.
Alibaba drew his blade, "Bolg…? In that case…!" He activated Amon's flames and stabbed at the creature, its barrier breaking. "I knew it! Amon's flames are working! Could it be because it is a power from the Magoi!?"
Tettia looked around, all the creatures moving around spastically. "Dammit! If they continue to fly around like this… Amon's sword will never reach them! Plus, I can tell you don't have much Magoi left since Amon materialized," she said. Never before had she felt so useless in a battle, her daggers who have no effect.
Laughing at Alibaba's attempts of attacking, Zagan spoke condescendingly, "What? With that dull of attacks you cannot win against my little bunnies that can freely flap their wings!"
"Freely flap their wings… in that case, I can do it!" exclaimed Aladdin as he produced a fireball, which quickly multiplied into many fireballs. Everyone else looked on in shock.
Alibaba gasped and shouted, "What the hell is that!?"
"There are fireballs… around the Magi…!?" questioned Zagan.
With a serious look in his eyes, Aladdin said, "Halhaal… saras!" The fireballs shot forth and followed the creatures, the magic landing and destroying them.
Looking on, still feeling useless, Tettia clenched the handles of her daggers in a vice-grip-like grasp. I want to help! I need to help! I'm not going to sit here and let Laddin and Ali do all the work! she thought seriously to herself. As Aladdin continued to destroy the creatures, they started to assemble into one giant monster rabbit.
"We will kill you!" it said in a deep, demonic voice.
"Alibaba!" shouted Aladdin, readying more fireballs.
I WILL BE HELPFUL! mentally yelled Tettia as she jumped in front of Aladdin's magic. You will be helpful, Tettia. Take my power and use it wisely. Use my power to help our master, Alibaba, a voice in her head said. Instead of being burned by the fireballs, her daggers absorbed them and used it as fuel. Alibaba looked on in complete surprise as Tettia took his place and sliced the monster in half, successfully killing it.
Aladdin had not noticed that it was not Alibaba until he looked up. "T-Tet?!" he asked in utter confusion.
Looking at her daggers, the way they were surrounded by fire — Amon's fire, to be exact — Tettia's mouth gaped open. "I-I… umm…" she said with a nervous laugh. Had she really just become Alibaba's Household Vessel? Tettia looked at Alibaba's expression, which was a cross between amazed and confused, and shrugged. "I… umm… think I just became a Household Vessel of yours, Ali?" she questioned, her voice going up in pitch as she reached the end of her question.
It took the blond a few minutes to absorb all that had just happened. Blinking slowly, he slowly accepted it. "Wow! Congratulations, Tet!" he called, running over to her just to pick her up bridal style and nuzzle his cheek against her own. Alibaba then began lavishing Tettia with numerous kisses: sweet and chaste kisses on the cheek, protective kisses on her forehead, and one single loving and lingering kiss on her lips.
All of the suddenness of being lavished with kisses from Alibaba, especially the kiss on the lips — in front of everyone, had Tettia's face turn a bright red. Not to say she did not kiss him back, because she did, just not for an extended period of time. "T-thanks, Ali…" she muttered quietly. "Now… please put me down." Not needing to be told twice, Alibaba put Tettia down, despite not really wanting to do that.
Looking at his best friend in amazement, Aladdin said as he attacked her with a hug, "That was amazing, Tet! I'm so happy for you!"
"Awwww~ thank ya, Laddin! C'mere!" Wrapping her arms around the young Magi, she lifted him up and gave him a big, loving hug. "You're the best~! I couldn't've actually unlocked it without you and Ali doing most of the work! But now I can help, as long as you keep giving me power-ups with that magic of yours," she claimed, kissing Aladdin's cheek then smiling.
Laughing at her actions, Aladdin looked up at her (since he was buried face-first into her chest) and responded, "Of course! I give Alibaba power-ups, don't I? Why wouldn't I give my best friend them, too?"
Tettia ruffled his blue hair as he looked up at her from her breasts. "Even now, you're still as perverted as ever. I didn't even notice you burying your face in them," she laughed.
Watching the trio's interactions with one another, Morgiana and Hakuryuu were kind of left out. Morgiana felt irrelevant at that moment because, without the promise of being Alibaba's Household Vessel, she was useless compared to Tettia and she knew that. The half-Fanalis was more flexible than the purebred was — Tettia was exceptionally skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and sword/knife skills, which was better than just being good with one thing like Morgiana was. On top of that, the older half-Fanalis also had a larger Magoi capacity than Morgiana would ever have, so the pure-Fanalis would have been severely restricted in her use of her possible Household Vessel. Despite all of that, Morgiana did not bear any animosity towards Tettia — no, the younger purebred Fanalis saw Tettia as a good friend, possibly even as a sister.
While Morgiana's emotions of feeling useless swirled inside of her, Hakuryuu was also feeling the same kind of emotions. They are… strong… so strong! If I have to compare myself… with them… he thought to himself, his grip on his spear tightening.
The five of them passed through the room after that. As they walked through the hallway, Tettia said, looking down at her blue-haired best friend, "Well… you were incredible, Laddin."
Alibaba chimed in, "Yeah! What was that move you just did?"
The young blue-haired Magi laughed at his best friends, "Fu fu fu fu… it is one of the new magic I learnt! Halhaal saras is a middle level magic that is a lot complicated because it uses a lot of ceremonial orders… it is exhausting because you have to concentrate!"
"Hohoho… you are beginning to sound like a magic user," the lovers said, chuckling and looking at their friend.
Aladdin looked semi-prideful as he once again laughed, "Fu fu fu fu… or so Yamu told me."
Both the young Magi's blond and crimson-haired best friends fell over comically when he said that. The blond ruffled his hair, almost like a noogie, and said, "You were just repeating her words! You had Tet and myself all excited that you were sounding like a magic user!" Aladdin laughed.
Behind the trio, Hakuryuu and Morgiana walked side-by-side. Morgiana took notice of Hakuryuu acting different, as if he were hurt. "Are you alright, Hakuryuu? Were you hurt somewhere during the previous fight?" asked Morgiana, looking over at the navy-haired prince.
"Ah, no… umm… Lady Morgiana… and the others too, I have a favor to ask…"
"What is it?" the four replied.
Hakuryuu continued, "I knew that my power would not be enough… and even if I'm very sorry because you saved me several times, I'm also very grateful. But, even in that case… before that… would you make me conquer this dungeon…? Without using your powers…"
Tilting her head, Tettia spoke, "What are you talking about, Haku?"
"No matter what happens, don't help me. I want to survive in this dungeon by my own power alone! Ignore me, even if I'm dying," the navy-haired prince said, waving his hand almost dismissively in front of himself.
Alibaba looked at him and said, "Hakuryuu… you… should not be so reserved!" That caused the imperial prince to look at the blond with a 'you are kidding me, right?' face. "Aren't you thinking too seriously about this? I think that it is a good thing if we help each other! So don't sweat it and rely on us! Okay?!"
Aladdin threw his hands into the air and said, together with Tettia, "He is right!" Then the Magi continued on by himself, "I still have lots of techniques left!"
"Don't sweat it… you say?" he repeated questioningly. His two-toned eyes looking at the hand of Alibaba, which for some reason was outstretched near him. Slapping it away, he erupted with a loud, "Something like that… should be alright!? I'm… a prince, you know… I'm not in a position that I can be satisfied by borrowing someone else's help. I have to do something to get Zagan to accept my power…"
"Haku…" sighed Tettia.
Sighing, Alibaba said to the prince, "You know, don't tell that to us. I know how you feel, but…"
"I don't need you to pretend like you understand me," interrupted Hakuryuu.
"I'm not pretending! You know… in the past I…" said Alibaba in a serious tone. Tettia entangled her fingers with his, thinking he was actually going to go into detail about his past.
However, Zagan's voice came from above, once again, "Navy-haired boy, you are right! You are helping each other too much, and that troubles me. You are too strong, so… if you fight together, I find it difficult to see through your singular strength. That's why, for the next test… you will be divided into two groups and fight by yourself."
"Divided… into two groups…?" they all questioned the Djinn.
Zagan made two doors appear and said, "From now on, you will be divided into two groups and go separate ways! At the end of each path there is a goal. But, if both groups don't reach the goal, no one can advance."
"Two groups, huh…" said the blond.
"How should we form them?" asked the half-Fanalis.
Zagan laughed, "What are you talking about? It is obvious that I will choose the group arrangements as I like!"
"EH?" the group questioned.
The ruffian Djinn chose Alibaba, Aladdin and Tettia to be one group while Morgiana and Hakuryuu were the next group. He was not happy that it was not equal, but what could be have done?
And thus, the five were split up. Walking down the corridor, Tettia, Alibaba and Aladdin were laughing and conversing. "I really hope Haku and Morg hit it off~! She needs to try and get someone else's attention for once," the half-Fanalis spoke with a grin.
"What do you mean by that, Tet?" asked the young Magi.
Humming, Tettia tried to think of a way to say what she was thinking — without being rude to Morgiana. "Umm… well, it's kinda like… I saw she had feelings for Ali… and she can't have those feelings for him anymore. Since Ali is my romantic partner now. Get it?" she explained, kind of straightforward.
Nodding his head, Aladdin answered, "Aaaaaah! I see now! I don't see why Morg even needs a romantic interest anyways…"
"Yeah… it's not like she's always showing a plethora of emotions, Tet. She barely shows any sign of anything, really," interjected Alibaba.
"I know, I know! Yet, she clearly showed interest in you, Ali. And the only reason she even bears any feelings towards you is because, since you had the money, you freed her from slavery. The two of you weren't meant to be, anyways — there's no chemistry between you two, it's just… flat. Ya know what I'm talking about? And the fact that she wanted gain the usage of a Household Vessel to seem useful to us, probably Ali in particular, is just proof of her feelings…" Tettia sighed, shaking her head, "I really hope she warms up to Haku, and ends up falling in love with him. Because, you," she locked arms with Alibaba and leaned against him, "are off the market~!"
Tilting his head to the side, Aladdin said with hints of confusion, "I don't understand why Morg would even need to feel like she is useful? She's very useful the way she is…"
"EXACTLY!" shouted Tettia in agreement. "There is absolutely no reason why Morg feels the way she does. After all, she's better at hand-to-hand combat than I am, and she is just slightly faster than I am on her feet. Morgiana's always been better at hand-to-hand than I have been, even before she started training with Tor and Mas — and she was untrained when we first met her!"
Alibaba nodded, "True… she was untrained back then." Just after the blond said that, the statues around the trio came to life.
"Welp, fuck me…" muttered Tettia.
Meanwhile, Hakuryuu and Morgiana walked down their path in awkward silence. Both said nothing as they walked, not knowing what to say — usually the Magi and his two best friends would be talking. Talking and dragging the two others into a conversation. Now, with those lively three gone and on their own path, there was nobody to drag the quiet two into speaking. Turning his two-toned eyes towards the Fanalis, the prince broke the awkward silence, "Umm… I wonder how the other three are doing."
Slightly turning her head to look at the imperial prince, Morgiana answered simply, "Yes." Well, so much for breaking the awkward silence; that just made things even more awkward for the two of them. I wonder why he divided us into groups like this… the young Fanalis thought to herself.
"Splitting the enemy's battle power, huh…? That's great," said Hakuryuu.
Looking back over at him, Morgiana grunted a questioning, "Eh?"
The look on the prince's face was one of a frown and a serious glint in his eyes as he spoke truthfully, "This way I can complete this without borrowing their help, and don't worry about me, just be concerned about your own safety."
The young Fanalis just looked blankly at the imperial prince. This person… why is he refusing help so stubbornly…? I don't understand his reasons. But… I feel like I have already had this kind of talk with someone else before… I wonder why, she thought to herself. In front of them, a statue moved and came to life.
Statues had come to life, blocking their path forward. "The statue moved!" exclaimed Aladdin, holding his staff in a battle-ready way.
Alibaba and his lover had already drawn their blades and were ready for a fight. "So the enemy this time is a giant made of rocks," the blond pointed out.
"I wonder if Morg and Hakuryuu are all right…" the bluenette said worriedly.
Looking over her shoulder as Alibaba activated Amon's Sword, Tettia answered her young best friend, "I'm sure they are! Morg can fucking one-shot any enemy with her kicks!" After saying that, she and Alibaba began attacking the statues — Tettia tapping into Amon's Flames to give her blades magic properties.
Morgiana's attack failed and she held her shin in pain. Zagan laughed as he pointed out, "Hahaha, it's useless! Those kicks won't work! This is Golem. I made him. I created him from a really tough mineral, so his body is incredibly strong! Maybe some kind of magic could work on him, but it seems you cannot use magic… I'm looking forward yo seeing how you will survive this!" Then Golem lunged towards the young Fanalis.
Before Golem could land an attack, Hakuryuu directed some of his Magoi into his spear and then attacked the golem — killing, or breaking, it. "I-it broke!?" exclaimed the confused and shocked Morgiana.
"What kind of move was that…?" the ruffian Djinn questioned.
Morgiana asked the navy-haired prince, "Hakuryuu, what was that…!?"
"I manipulated the power within my body, and entrusted a little of it in my spear. In the East, it is a move known as Ki…" he answered.
Zagan spoke, now somewhat understanding, "Ki? The power within one's body…? I see… this is one type of Magoi Manipulation!" A dark look crossed Zagan's face as he thought, The quantity of Magoi that a human can use is minimal… plus it is risky to wrap your weapon with Magoi. "Heh… it seems you are not a normal person… but, how long will you be able to keep it up?" he asked, more Golems surrounding the two.
Golems also had our favorite trio surrounded. Alibaba swung his sword and cut down a golem. "They are tough, but… it seems they can be cut by Amon's Sword," he said.
Tettia sighed out, feeling slightly fatigued due to her use of her Household Vessel, "Guys… I can't keep using my Household Vessel… I have to stop, so I can use it later…"
"It's okay, Tet! We don't want you to hurt yourself trying to help. You're always such a huge help! Let me and Alibaba take care of these guys, okay," spoke the Magi with a gentle smile. "Maybe sit down and eat something?"
Shaking her head vigorously, Tettia refused, "No! I won't have you and Ali protecting me! I can be of help, I just can't use my Vessel anymore." The fire surrounding her daggers disappeared as she did not want to push herself to the limit and possibly hurt herself. "I still have my strength, too, ya know," she exclaimed, picking up a large and heavy limb of the defeated golems.
Alibaba laughed as he said, "That's our Tet!"
"Damn right!" called Tettia as she threw the rather large limb at more golems. Successfully, it shattered the golem. "Cool! New way to fight the enemy! With itself," laughed the redhead as she picked up more pieces.
Suddenly, a thought cross the blond and bluenette's minds. "How will Morg and Hakuryuu fight against something like this…!?" they questioned.
"Morg will probably end up doing what I'm doing," said Tettia.
Hakuryuu had continued to wrap his Magoi around his weapon, cutting down golem after golem, it was now having an effect on him. He was bleeding from the eyes and mouth, veins bulged from under his skin. His continued use and now fatigue had Zagan laughing hysterically, "Look, you're tired now! Magoi manipulation is a move that eats away at it's user's life… if you continue to use it like that… you will shorten your lifespan!"
Morgiana looked back at the prince, who did not give a flip out what the Djinn had said. "What did you say!?" she asked hysterically. Surely, that could not have been true; if it were true, why would the imperial prince continue using that move if it would end in his life being shortened? Two golems threw punches at Morgiana, to which she promptly dodged with little effort. "Hakuryuu! Let's fall back for the moment. Let's think of a strategy! If things continue like this, your life will…" she began but was cut off.
"I don't care," came the navy-haired prince's crisp, stern voice.
Her crimson eyes widened and she looked horrified. "Eh?" she asked in a shaky voice.
Looking her dead in the eyes, Hakuryuu said, "I prefer that my lifespan is shortened over being helped by other people. I already asked you to leave me alone!"
"What are you saying!?" Morgiana questioned as he turned around to face more golems.
As he continued to attack the golems, he explained, "It is necessary to conquer this dungeon… to accomplish my mission… I am the only one who should have responsibility for that mission, so it has nothing to do with you!"
Looking back at him, she said in a worried and annoyed tone, "Nothing to do with me…!?"
"You are annoying… I told you it doesn't have anything to do with you… I'm a prince, and this is my country's problem alone," he said in a low, serious voice.
That was when it hit her: the reason she felt like she had done this before was because Hakuryuu was acting like Alibaba had. Hakuryuu was, at that moment, acting in a very similar way that Alibaba had acted way back in Balbadd. Claiming it was none of her business, that she was annoying. Growing angry, Morgiana stomped her foot, breaking the stone beneath her feet and spoke, walking in front of the prince, "It has to do with me… it is true… that I probably don't have a lot to do with you, but, you probably have them too. People that want to help you, people that hold you dear and are waiting for your return! So, in place of those people… this time, I will help you!"
Laughing at her winded speech, Zagan said between laughter, "Help him!? That's useless! You can't defeat my Golem! No matter how much you struggle… my Golem is tougher than your legs!"
Morgiana ran towards the golem and instead of going to kick it, she reached her hands out to grab it. The young Fanalis picked up the giant, obviously heavy golem — which had both Hakuryuu and Zagan sweat-dropping. "Even if I can't break them with my legs… I wonder what would happen… if they collided with things of similar toughness," she said as she threw the golem into the other golems. Upon collision, the other golem was shattered and pulverized.
Gasping, Zagan leaned back in terror at her strength. They were pulverized…! he thought to himself hysterically.
"Come on, let's continue Hakuryuu," she said seriously.
Marina and Sarabi arrived back at Atlantis, it had not taken them long to return in their futuristic ship. "Why did we have to come back~~~~~" whined the childish queen.
"I don't know the specifics, Mari, but let us return to the palace," spoke Sarabi, exiting the ship.
Trudging herself off of the ship, Marina looked up to the sky above her kingdom (or empire?). She smiled as she saw the stone effigy of her geeky father, Milo, seemingly looking down at her. "Alright! Let's see what the emergency is, get it taken care of and get back to Sindria before the kids get back," she exclaimed, quickly running to her palace.
The purple-haired advisor rolled her eyes at her best friend and then quickly ran after her. "Come back here and walk! Like a proper returning ruler!"
"NEVER!" yelled Marina as she entered the palace. Immediately, she went to the meeting room, where a group of Atlantean elders were awaiting. "Yes, yes. What is the emergency that was so important that you called me and my advisor back from our stay in Sindria?" she asked seriously.
One of the elders looked at her weirdly. "You never sent word to any of us that you had traveled to Sindria, my queen. Last we heard from you, both you and Lady Sarabi were still in the Kou Empire," the old woman said.
"That is untrue. I had a message delivered to you that we were going to Sindria when we left the Kou Empire. That was why you sent one of our ships to Sindria to pick us up," stated Sarabi as she walked into the room.
"You know she is getting too old, Lady Sarabi," said a younger elder.
Nodding, Sarabi said, "Yes, I do. Now, seriously, what is the emergency? We were enjoying our time with old friends, and meeting new and potentially powerful friends and allies."
"Ah. Well, actually, there is no emergency. We just wanted you both to come back. We have to put our foot down on one issue — the issue that Queen Marina has not yet found herself a husband. It is imperative for her to find one, our empire needs a king to stand by her side — the royal bloodline must be upheld," an elder, a woman named Kallisto, said.
Marina grew angry at the news. "Excuse me, what?! Did you just say that you faked an emergency just for me and Abi-poo to come back her in order for you hags and geezers to tell me I need to find a husband?!" she said, raising her voice in apparent anger.
"Yes, your highness. Like Kallisto said, it is imperative for the royal bloodline to be upheld. Furthermore, since you are now twenty-five years of age, you are considered to be in the prime of your—"
"I WILL LOOK TWENTY-FIVE FOR A VERY LONG TIME! YOU ALL KNOW HOW WE ARE GIVEN ABNORMALLY LONG LIVES THANKS TO THE CRYSTALS!" screamed the angry queen.
Kallisto cleared her throat, "Be that as it may, you still must find yourself a husband, Queen Marina. Your mother found a—"
Taking in a deep breath through her nose, Marina almost hissed, "My mother found herself a husband when she was over eight-thousand years old — almost nine-thousand years old — and still a princess. Let me say that if my father had not come along when he did, that mother would have still not found a husband when my grandfather passed and she became queen!"
An elder, who was a male named Alexandros, bowed his head, saying, "But, my queen, the fact is that your mother still herself a husband to rule along side her and to preserve the bloodline. We have let you rule without a king for a while now, however, our top priority as of now is to keep the bloodline going. Now, we are telling you, Queen Marina, you have one year and six months to find yourself a husband — or we will choose one for you."
How dare they! Marina thought as she glared at the elders. Fighting the urge to beat the snot out of the elders, she quickly turned on her heels and exited the room — leaving behind a shocked and gaping Sarabi. She slammed the door behind her, what she needed now was some candy. Promptly walking out of the palace, the Atlantean queen walked to her favorite candy shop, that she had commissioned and candies from all countries (due to trade). "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY CANDY?!" sobbed out the queen when she saw that her precious candy shop had been blown up.
The owners of the candy shop, a man named Paramonos and his wife Apollonia, came out of their nearby house upon hearing the wailing of the queen. "Queen Marina! Welcome back! We are terribly sorry that we have no candy for you — as you can see… our shop has been blown up," Paramonos said, wringing his hands together apologetically.
Turning to face them, a fire burned in Marina's purple eyes. "Who. did. this," she hissed.
Marina's intense anger had Paramonos stumbling back a few feet, but he answered his queen's question, "Zuko and Mayumi, my queen. They were fighting, like they usually do, and ended up blowing up our shop. Thank the crystal in the sky that nobody was in our shop at the time, else they would surely be dead."
"They're dead!" exclaimed the queen. Before she took off to find the idiots who blew up her precious candy store, she looked at the owners, "I will have your shop rebuilt as soon as I deal with the idiots who destroyed it." Paramonos and Apollonia waved goodbye to their queen as she ran off screaming loudly, "ZUUUUUUUKO! MAAAAAAYUUUMI! YOU TWO ARE DEAD WHEN I FIND YOU!"
Off in the distance, loud "Oh crap"s could be heard from the two. "Mari, don't be too hasty now," said Mayumi, once Marina had found them (which of course had not taken long).
"You. destroyed. my. precious. candy. shop!" growled the enraged queen, cracking her knuckles.
Zuko up his hands up defensively. "Mari… we didn't mean to blow it up… it was Maymi's fault, though, she was the one that used one of those fish-blasters to try and blast me," he said, trying to throw Mayumi under the bus.
"You both are still going to pay for what you've done. I cannot leave you idiots alone in out kingdom without blowing something precious of mine up! First, you blow up my favorite place to get food, then you blow up my favorite bar, now you blow up my most precious shop: the candy shop!? You must both be punished," she growled.
That was when Sarabi showed up. "Marina! Put your fists down! You aren't going to be fighting anyone, let alone are friends," the advisor said.
Glancing over her shoulder, Marina's angered eyes bored into Sarabi's blue ones. "Wanna bet? Sarabi… they blew up yet another one of the kingdom's shops! As queen, I can't keep letting them do that," spoke Marina, now acting like a queen.
Rolling her eyes, Sarabi retorted, "Oh, so now you're going to act like the queen you are?"
"They blew up my precious candy shop~~~!" whined Marina. Why is it that she can bring me out of my serious mode? questioned the queen mentally. Zuko and Mayumi laughed at how easily their queen had returned to her childish ways. "Oh no, you two are still going to be beat up," Marina said, yanking herself away from best friend. Marina proceeded to beat up Zuko and Mayumi for their transgressions of blowing up the candy shop.