Chapter 2: Dungeon

After Vulpi got comforted by Aladdin and Alibaba, she finally calms down as they finally arrive at the entrance of Amon's Dungeon when the night came.

"This is the entrance to Amon's Dungeon. We finally made it here." Alibaba says as he walks over near the entrance "At the slightest touch, the Dungeon will suck you inside it." He says, hover his hand at the entrance as he continues. "Most of this who have entered never returned. It's the gate of death itself." Alibaba says then he turns his head to Aladdin and Vulpi who holds Aladdin's hand to support him since she notices that he is very pale. "Aladdin, Vulpi, if you want to turn your backs, this is your chance now." Alibaba says as Vulpi frowns at him at what he had said.

"Why do you want to turn our backs now when this is actually our chance to enter the Dungeon?" Vulpi said to him who looks surprised as she continues. "And I know you can't enter a dungeon alone, right?" Vulpi says, smiling at him. "You have us and we have you, so let's help each other, okay?"

"But what about your wounds?" He asks as Vulpi looks at her bandages on her back nervously before she walks closer to the entrance, dragging Aladdin with her.

"Don't worry about me. Compare to the one from my past..." She trails off, facing the wall entrance as Alibaba curiously looks at her and faces again the wall entrance.

"What if you suddenly faint?" Alibaba asks and Vulpi sighs.

"Alibaba-san, would you stop worrying. I'm perfectly—" She cuts off when Aladdin suddenly stumbles forward, sucking them to the entrance since Vulpi has been holding his hand the whole time while Alibaba – in instinct – grabs Vulpi's hand causing the three of them getting suck into the dungeon.

Vulpi slowly wakes up from their fall, as she sees that they are in a cave and hears the water running with a smell of gas.

"Aladdin!" Alibaba yell and Vulpi turns her head towards the voice and runs at the direction ignoring her injuries. She then sees a fire spark ahead of her and she also hears a groan. She pants when she arrives at the area and sees Aladdin and Alibaba watching the roaring flames in front of them.

"It's burning water." Alibaba says. "It burns better than the oil we use in lamps. If you're not quick enough to get away, you're done for." Alibaba says and Vulpi sighs in relief that they are safe.

"You're good, Alibaba-kun." Aladdin says as Alibaba turns his head to him. "So this is a Dungeon, right?"

Aladdin smiles as Vulpi perks up at the sentence.

"Y-yeah, this is a Dungeon." Alibaba returns his smile and Vulpi puts her hands on her hips.

"Are you forgetting someone?" Vulpi asks.

"Sorry about that, Vul—" Alibaba cuts off when he sees something on top of Vulpi's head. Apparently, Vulpi has fox ears and has red-orange hair and her eyes are the same color as her hair. "EEEH!"

"What's wrong, Alibaba-kun?" Aladdin asks and sees Vulpi's ears, causing him to panic. "Vulpi-nee! Your ears!"

"Hm? My ears?" She says and touches her head and her ears. She then notices her hood is off from falling into the Dungeon. "KYAAA!" She quickly hides her ears with her hand. "Don't look at me!"

"Hey Aladdin! What is going on?! Why does she have fox ears?!"

"That's because…" Aladdin trails off and Vulpi carefully looks at Alibaba while hiding her ears.

After the explanation of Vulpi's situation, Alibaba crosses her arms while Vulpi looks down with her ears drooping.

"Now I get it. You were born with those ears, right?" Alibaba asks.

"Yeah. Not only that, I have a tail too." She adds, refusing to look at him.

Then Alibaba stands up and walks behind Vulpi before touching her ears, startling her.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"They are real…" Alibaba mutters continuing to touch her ears.

"Stop it! It tickles."

Alibaba then stops realizing what he's doing.

"Sorry." He apologizes as he put his hand behind his head. "It just that you look really pretty without that hood on."

"…You think so…?"

"That's right, Vulpi-nee." Aladdin says. "When I first saw you, you're really pretty before you got that cloak."

Vulpi widens her eyes from Aladdin's statement and she smiles with her ears standing up.

"Thank you, Aladdin, Alibaba. Let's go, this adventure is starting!"

~Later~

"A―H!" The three run away from a rolling boulder behind them. Aladdin blows his flute and Ugo's blue big body sprouts out from it with the three of them perch on his shoulder as Ugo jumps at the cliff to the eggs. Once safe, Aladdin summons Ugo back in his flute as Alibaba pants beside Vulpi who pants while hissing at the pain that produces from the injuries.

"Vulpi, are you okay?" Alibaba asks and she gives him a strain smile.

"I-I'm okay, Alibaba-san…" She says as Alibaba looks at her worriedly before he turns his head to Aladdin.

"You look really pale, Aladdin…" He says to Aladdin, who is leaning at the egg to rest.

"I'm fine. Just a bit hungry." Aladdin says, smiling as he continues. "I used the power of my stomach to call out Ugo-kun. So…" His stomach growls after he said that. "I'm starving."

"This is bad." Alibaba thought. "We came in with nothing but with the clothes on our backs." He then laughs to reassures both of them.

"Hahaha! Don't worry!" Alibaba says. "We'll something to eat. So DON'T suddenly start biting—" He cuts off because Aladdin is replace by a green big ant, surprising Alibaba. "A-Aladdin?!" He calls backing away from the big ant thinking that it was Allen.

"A-Alibaba-kun…?" Aladdin's weak voice calls out as Alibaba turns his head to his right then his jaw drops to the ground at the sight before him. "Help… please help me…!" He calls out weakly as Alibaba panics and grabs Aladdin from the Queen Ant's mouth as the ant reacts when her prey got away.

Then suddenly, they hear a cracking sound from the eggs and realize that many more ants have started to surround them. Alibaba unsheathes his dagger as the Queen Ant starts to attack him. Alibaba – in instinct – cuts the tendril which surprised him by how soft it is to cut.

"Huh? They're really easy to cut!" He runs at the Queen Ant then start slashing its stomach and green goo comes out. This upsets the other ants as they start to attack him all together, but Alibaba just easily cuts them one after another as they were easy kill and suddenly, the other ants suddenly turn into a large goo pile as they gather together creating a King Ant – bigger that the Queen Ant – with three eyes on its head and creepy mouths sprouting out from its body.

The King Ant inhales the air around as it exhales fire to them surprising the three of them, but they manage to get out on its way before they turn into a burnt corpse. Alibaba carries both Aladdin and Vulpi – who is unconscious due to her injuries.

"Crap." Alibaba curses as Aladdin besides him weakly blows his flute and Ugo gets summon again. The King Ant swings his arms to Ugo, but he dodges it while attacks its shoulder as it turns into green goo my its impact, but it quickly goes back to its original form.

"I guess we have to use our trump card now." Aladdin says confidently and he blows the flute again, looking paler than before and Ugo obeys his command as his hands suddenly surround by a pink aura and white birds appear around them.

"Huh? Are these birds?" Alibaba wonders while holding Vulpi to prevent her from falling as the aura around Ugo's hands grow bigger. Then he makes a battle stance as he attacks the King Ant, who slashes its blade arm, but Ugo jumps out of the way. The Ant blows fire at him, which Ugo's aura blocks it before punching the ant as it turns into complete green goo and dust surrounds them in its impact.

"You did it, Aladdin!" Alibaba says happily looking at the crater that Ugo creates after he defeated the King Ant.

"See? Ugo-kun is pretty strong." Aladdin says, weakly. "Let's do our best to beat…" Aladdin didn't finish his sentence as he collapses from exhaustion.

"Aladdin!" Alibaba exclaims when Aladdin collapsed, then look at Vulpi, who is still unconscious as he sighs in defeat.

In Vulpi's dream

Fire burning everywhere around Vulpi as she gets scared from the scene.

"Okaa-sama! Otou-sama!" Vulpi shouts. "Everyone!"

"Vulpi!" A woman's voice cries out and Vulpi sees a woman being trapped in a collapsing house.

" Okaa-sama!" She runs toward the house.

"Don't come over here!" She warns Vulpi and Vulpi stops near the house. "Vulpi, you have to become strong. No matter what, don't give up."

"But Okaa-sama…"

Vulpi's mom then gives a smile to her. "I love you."

The house gives away and crashes onto her mom.

"OKAA—SAMA!"

Outside of her dream

"See, this is how a gate should be!" Jamil says, amused. They are now facing a ray of fire sprouting from the ground that seems to be impossible to cross ahead as Vulpi is carried n Alibaba's back and a girl that they met the other day and a muscular man wearing a mask. As they watch the pillar of fire sprouts up Jamil's attention is at the Arabic writing on the side. "What is this writing?"

"It's the language of Tran." Alibaba answers Jamil's curiosity while carrying Vulpi on his back.

Jamil looks at Alibaba in surprise before he smiles. "You're good. Most commoners can't even read Arabic." Jamil gives him some gold before they hear a girl groan as they turn at the source and they see Vulpi lifts her head from Alibaba's shoulder.

"Alibaba-san…?" Vulpi call and sees sprouting flames ahead as she looks at it in shock. "W-where are we?"

Alibaba puts her down to her feet.

"We are currently facing a fiery obstacle, Kitsune-hime." Jamil says to her.

Vulpi blinks at him, wondering who he is while looking around searching for Aladdin then sighs when she sees he is at someone's shoulder. She looks whose shoulder it is, subsequently, she pales when she sees a bloodshot eye coming from the one-eye metal mask. She backs away, causing her to bump into Alibaba who was in the middle of conversation with Jamil.

"…I learn if from a proper teacher." Jamil says looking at the writing, which catches Vulpi's attention. "'Path to the Dragon… Spot of the Dancing Truth…'" Vulpi looks at him ridiculously at his poor translation.

"'Dance with the Whirlwinds, cross the jaw of the Dragon, and you shall find the truth. All lies at the dragon's tail.'" Alibaba finishes his translation at the writing as Vulpi looks at him in fascination then to the writing. "Ouch!"

"I was just going to say that." Jamil says suddenly stabbing his arm. "Isn't this great? You've got the chance to prove that you're translation is correct."

"Hey! That was rude, you know. Stabbing someone because they got it—Ouch!" Jamil suddenly stabs her shoulder as she grunts in pain.

"I would recommend shutting your mouth, Kitsune-hime." He says as she narrows her eyes at the mane he made for her.

"'Kitsune-hime'?"

Alibaba swallows his saliva as he stands before the sprouting flames before he turns to Aladdin who is still asleep.

"Aladdin risked his body for me." Alibaba thought then he turns to the worried Vulpi. "And Vulpi shouldn't move too much."

Alibaba jumps ahead in great speed as he dodges one by one every sprouting flames that come out as Vulpi watches him.

"'Dancing with the whirlwind… cross the jaw of the dragon.'" Alibaba recites in his head as he dodges another flame as he continues to run ahead. "'… and you shall find the truth…'" When nearly reaching the dragon, he picks up his speed as he jumps, but suddenly, a flame sprouts and luckily he dodges it barely.

"That's it! Pull the switch!" Jamil exclaims as Alibaba obeys by putting his hand in the dragon's mouth – where the switch is – as he turns the switch, the flames disappears one by one until it turns into a normal person's way. "Now!" Jamil commands as they run ahead as Alibaba – who is still ahead – smirks but suddenly a fire eats him up before he could even react.

"Alibaba-san!" Vulpi exclaims when she hears him scream, silently praying that was just an act when the fire disappear, Alibaba is no longer there.

"Oh my, he died." Jamil says in mocking sympathy which makes Vulpi clench her hands into a fist at the mocking tone he makes.

Then Aladdin groans as a sign of waking up which manages to snap her thought and he lifts his head, looking around for Alibaba.

"Huh? Where is Alibaba-kun?"

~Later~

"So… you saved me?" Aladdin asks when Jamil explains his story with some lies mixed into it.

"Yes. I'll also save your friend. He took your flute and went on ahead. Right?" Jamil smiles at Vulpi at the last part as she stays silent. Aladdin hums in thought as he looks at the familiar red-haired girl who looks away. "Ah. These are my two slaves." Jamil says, trying to entertain Aladdin and Vulpi as he points his finger at the mask man. "This big one is Goltas. He's from the nomadic tribes of the north. An Injury left him mute, but he's strong and study." Then he points at the girl. "The small one is Morgiana. She's the descendant of the hunters from the Dark Continent. Her sense of smell is amazing and she's got one hell of a kick, too. They were both quite expensive." Jamil stands up when he's done introducing his slaves. "All right then. I'll see what's waiting for us ahead. You wait here with the girl." Jamil starts walking with Goltas ahead as he whispers to Morgiana something who slightly nods at his command before a long silence occurs.

"H-hello, Morgiana. My name is Vulpi and the boy besides me is Aladdin." Vulpi points at Aladdin. "Nice to meet you." She smiles at Morgiana expecting her to reply but she didn't say anything and Vulpi sighs. Aladdin then do many attempts of making her laugh, but it was no avail until Aladdin imitates Jamil and Morgiana snickers and smiles a bit as Aladdin stands up, very happy that he was able to make her laugh.

"Finally! You smiled!" Aladdin cheers.

"I didn't." She denies as she looks away from him.

"You're really pretty when you smile." Aladdin tries to entertain, but she turns her back to him as he runs in front of her. "But your face has odd features. Is it because you're from that country called the 'Dark Continent'?" Aladdin asks, sitting down next to Vulpi, who just observes both of them.

"It's not dark." Vulpi looks at her. "The 'Dark Continent' is what the Reim Empire calls the region south of the border because they consider the whole area undeveloped. It's my homeland, Carthago. Please don't call it that."

"Is it undeveloped?"

"It's not. 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." After Morgiana explains about her country, Vulpi smiles at her when she sees a slight happiness in her eyes.

"That sounds nice, like a fun place. I'd love to see it. Take me to your homeland." When Aladdin says that, Vulpi remember her home before and after being burn down by the fire.

"Say, where's Alibaba-kun?"

Vulpi snaps out of her memories when she hears Aladdin's question as she look at him. "Where is he?"

"Your friend is an utter fool. He's insane. He doesn't know the situation he's in. He tries to save others, even when he can't save himself. Because of that, your friend…" Morgiana trails off as her voice starting to crack. "…is dead." Aladdin looks at her in shock before stones drops at Vulpi and Aladdin as they look up together and discovers Alibaba is still alive and raises his hand in greeting. "Your friend is dead" Morgiana repeats as Aladdin and Vulpi stand up.

"Or not!" Alibaba's voice startles Morgiana as he lands safely besides Vulpi. "Because I'm invincible" He points to himself before they hear Jamil's scream.

"Magi! Magi! Please purge these monst—" Jamil comes running to them in fear but stops when he sees Alibaba. "Wha-?"

"Sorry, I lied about the translation."

"What?!"

"Actually it said, 'Dance with the whirlwinds, and in the Jaw of the Dragon, and you will find the truth. All is before the tail of the Dragon.'"

"Also for your information, 'Kitsune-hime' is not my name. MY name is Vulpi!" Vulpi says to him, annoy at the name he gave to her.

"Thanks to you, I found the right path. Thanks a lot, my lord!" Alibaba says smirking at Jamil and Aladdin spreads out his turban into a carpet. "Take care!" They begin to float above them.

"Sorry, miss! Let's meet again!" Aladdin says to Morgiana. "Let's go see the sun when those invisible chains are cut!"

Morgiana looks at them, dazed as she imagines the outside with warm sun dancing under it.

"Morgiana!" Jamil calls her, snapping Morgiana out of her daze and chasing after them by climbing the walls without using her hands, surprising the trio in the carpet.

"Aladdin! Higher! Higher!" Alibaba says in panic when they see that Morgiana is catching up and the carpet obeys at his command as Morgiana fails to catch them. They manage to get out from Jamil's hands from turning into slaves.

"This must be the Gate of Truth." Alibaba says when they reach their destination facing a familiar gate. "The treasures must be behind this door."

"That must be the spell." Aladdin says as he sees the magic circle in it. "Have you tried opening it?" Aladdin asks.

"No. Look at the handprints." Alibaba replies, looking at the two right hand prints at the gate. "Both are right hand. That means you can't do it alone."

"Then we're lucky there's the three of us." Aladdin says. "But whose hand are we putting there?"

"You two should do it." Vulpi says behind them. "Since you're already ahead of me." Alibaba and Aladdin look at each other before nodding as they put their right hand to the handprints.

"Open Sesame!"

The magic circle of the gate glows above then as the gate before then opens slowly with a breeze hitting their faces and suddenly the surrounding around them starts to change into blue skies with a city below them.

"So this is the Dungeon of Amon, huh?"