The brown-haired warrior smirked as the fiery spell leapt up around him and was absorbed into his body, making him stronger than he already was. Snickering, he raised a palm, a blast of Ki energy leaving his hand and slamming into one of the ten bandits that had attacked him. The bandit went flying backwards, slamming into two of his fellow bandits with enough force that all three of them were knocked out. Yawning, he made a sharp gesture in the air, summoning forth a sphere of white fire that flew towards the remaining bandits. He stopped the spell just as it was about to impact.
"I would run if I were you," he said. "I can't hold this in position for too long."
That was a lie, and he knew it, but he did not want to kill these people. They did not deserve it – they were just making a living in their own way. He watched as they ran off, and then banished the custom spell. The fact that these bandits could use magick surprised him – it was not often that he met bandits like that.
He carried on walking, knowing that the Dimensional Seal that was keeping his portals sealed had to be somewhere on the world he was trapped on…
*-*-*
The Harem Dimension
An hour after repairing the room, Rebecca was taking a swim to relax. Xellos was still in orbit, so he wasn't much of a threat. She paused in her laps around the pool as a portal flashing to life caught her attention.
"Ow…"
"What the…? Gabriella?" Rebecca swam to the edge of the pool and got out, walking over to the new arrival. Her dark blue one piece bathing suit was dripping wet, but she hardly noticed. "Gabriella? What are you doing here, so far from Trivadia?"
Two gold-flecked brown eyes looked up at Rebecca through errant locks of blonde streaked brown hair. "Uh…hi."
The girl stood up, brushing dust off of her outfit of a red tunic, matching pants, and knee-high boots. Her hands were covered with a pair of red elbow-length fingerless gloves, and she wore a dull grey cape. A sword hung at her side in a dark blue sheath that had golden runes engraved into it. She paused, and then knelt. Rebecca rolled her eyes.
"Stand up," she said. "I'm not the queen of Trivadia and you're nowhere near Trivadia, so you don't need to kneel."
Gabriella stood up. "I'm so-" she began.
"And don't apologise!" Rebecca said. "Now…what are you doing here?"
Gabriella paused. "That's a tough one," she said. "Where is here?"
Rebecca sighed and snapped her fingers, changing from her bathing suit to a bright red t-shirt, matching jogging pants, and red-white sneakers.
"You are in a dimension where all the dimensions cross, creating a sort of dimensional crossroad. All I can say is…welcome to the Harem Dimension!" Rebecca grinned. Gabriella blinked.
"…A harem? You became part of a…harem?" she asked, getting the wrong idea. Rebecca blinked and shook her head.
"Oh…no," she said. "This is the opposite of a normal harem. The members are all male living with two powerful women. Each of them is a sorceress with the same power as me. Oh, and they're also the Avatars to L-Sama and Gaia."
Gabriella blinked. "Gaia's…Avatar lives here?" she asked. When Rebecca nodded, Gabriella just stared.
"…What's she like? The Gaia Avatar?" she asked at length.
"Loud and insane, but she's got a good heart underneath it all," Rebecca said. "Although she'd kill me if she heard me say that."
Despite Rebecca's jovial tone, Gabriella tensed. "You're staying with people who could kill you?" she asked. Rebecca frowned.
"They're my friends," she said. "Yes, they have the power to kill me, but they don't kill unless it is absolutely necessary. Even though Lashana, the Chaos Knight, has some of the Chaos melded with her soul, she still hates to kill."
Gabriella nodded, albeit slowly, as if she were having a hard time believing what she was hearing. "I feel as though I'll never understand you," she said. "You abdicate the throne and leave Marrin in charge, and come here. Some of the Royal Court feels that you acted out of cowardice."
Rebecca's jaw set in anger. "What?" she asked, her voice strained. "They think that I ran away because I'm a COWARD?!"
Gabriella stepped back in shock just as Lashana Tvashtar walked outside. They stopped and stared at Rebecca when they heard her yell. Then Lashana noticed Gabriella. "Hey, who's that girl?" she asked.
"Maybe she's a friend of Lady Rebecca," Tvashtar replied. "I think she said something to make Rebecca angry. Her aura is flaring."
Lashana nodded, and walked over to them. "Becca? What's the matter? Who's this girl?"
Gabriella jumped in shock and turned around. "Uh, hi. I'm Gabriella Winters," she said. "I'm from Trivadia, and I was kind of tossed here by an errant portal."
"What did you do to make Rebecca so angry?" Lashana asked. "She never gets THIS angry unless Xellos is involved."
Rebecca twitched. "Those arrogant, self-important, disrespecting, IDIOTIC COURT MEMBERS THINK I'M A COWARD!!!"
Her aura flared again, and Lashana and Tvashtar (who had only just walked up to them) took a step backwards in shock.
"…They're dead," Lashana muttered. "Calling Becca a coward is…"
"…Suicidal?" Tvashtar finished.
"Yes!"
"Lady Rebecca, please! Don't do anything rash!"
"Oh? So you WANT me to stand here and LET them call me a coward, do you!?" Rebecca turned and was seconds away from opening a portal when she suddenly…fell asleep. Gabriella sighed and lowered her hand.
"That's the only problem with Lady Rebecca. She lets her temper rule her actions from time to time," she said. "She's a good person with a kind heart, but she has to try hard to keep her temper in check when she gets insulted, especially with her level of power."
She turned and faced Lashana and Tvashtar. "You must be the Chaos Knight," she said. "Lashana, wasn't it?" Lady Rebecca told me about you and your friend, the Gaia Avatar. Hmm? Who's this?"
"This is Tvashtar, my Guardian," Lashana said. "So you're a friend of Rebecca's?"
Gabriella blinked and shook her head. "I wish I could have the honour of being Lady Rebecca's friend!" she said. "I'm just a student at the School of Magick that her family runs."
Lashana frowned. "Rebecca is just a person," she said. "What? They didn't allow her to have friends while she was the queen?"
"Only if it served the Realm," Gabriella said softly. "She often talked about friends of hers that lived in another dimension. She said that one of them was an insane elf with white hair…"
She trailed off and looked at Lashana. "…Oh."
Then, Rebecca began to snore softly.