Hello everyone out there!
As you know, Magi belongs to Ohtaka Shinobu, my OC to me, there might be spoilers for the ones not as obsessed with Magi as the others plus references to this world. And if you find spelling mistakes you can keep them, they won't bite ;)
Have a fun time reading!
Day 6 Meeting Ren Kougyoku
"Oh my... What's that? That monster... Doesn't it look like he bullied our cute Judar a bit much?" the eight princess of the Kou empire said, staring down from her flying carpet. One of her djinn soldiers carried the unconscious Magi on his hands, carefully placing him on the floating transport. More waited in their human forms behind their master. Her attendant Ka Koubun said something then Kougyoku pulled her hair needle out of the golden ring holding the bow-like strands. Ugo switched to attack mode again, red heat magic in both hands.
What should we do?
I believe you should not fight her. The pain you suffered should not be taken lightly.
"Spirits of sorrow and isolation," the princess chanted while holding her vessel over her head, "In the name of my magoi and my will to grant me greater power, I command thee and thy members, come forth, Vinea!"
Water swirled around her, forming the figure of a snake. The headless djinn jumped and tried to squeeze the red-haired princess like he did with the Magi. Steam evaporated and Kougyoku screamed furiously, then covered her hands with the weapon equip. Vinea's giant sword appeared and she jumped off the carped, rotated around herself and pierced Ugo with a fulminate strike.
Lenka, still standing at the edge of the caldera heard Aladdin's pained scream. The djinn disappeared and the golden flute fell to the floor; the eight-pointed star had vanished.
"How's that, Ka Koubun?!" Kougyoku asked her advisor, then jumped on the carpet.
"How's Judar's condition?"
"I'm giving him the emergency treatment now, but we'll need standard facilities for a full recovery," the man answered. His household vessel was glowing, the light turned into water that covered the Magi's wounds.
Now?
Suddenly a blast of light was shot at the carpet that would have hit the princess if her advisor hadn't pulled her aside. Aladdin, flying on his magic turban, pointed his staff on the redhead, his face full of anger. Kougyoku tilted her head.
"Who are you?" she asked him and raised her left arm to cover her face. "So repugnant... we merely saved you and your comrades from being attacked by the monster."
"You're wrong! Ugo was fighting to protect me, to protect everyone!" the boy cried and pointed on the other Magi.
"He was the one who attacked first!"
"I see...," the princess said slowly then her expression turned cold and she glared at Aladdin.
"So you are the master of that monster then?"
She looked down on the remaining fog troopers.
"So these people down there too... are comrades of that monster?"
Ka Koubun disturbed the silence.
"What do you plan to do now, princess?"
Kougyoku waved with a light blue scaled hand.
"We have no choice but to put things back in order. Enshin! Entai! Engi!"
At her command the three djinn soldiers jumped off the carpet. Aladdin tried to hit them with his staff but they dodged and landed with loud thuds in front of the fog troupe men, giant monsters with a huge thirst for blood.
"Kill everyone!" the princes yelled and the soldiers attacked. The bandits screamed and tried to run away, Ja'far, Mor, Masrur and Alibaba pushed forward to defend. Lenka turned and ran back to help the main character; Kougyoku had faced Aladdin on the ground, smiling wickedly.
She is going to equip Vinea! Can we stop her?
Trust the cannon.
"Spirits of sorrow and isolation," the princess chanted while the equip started to cover her upper body, scales in the color of the sea grew on her arms and the hair changed it's tone.
"I order you to gather around me, to attach yourselves to me, and impose yourself, the great djinn upon my body, Vinea!"
Suddenly Sinbad grabbed Kougyoku's right hand with the sword, pulled her away and sent his magoi in the equip.
"Stop this, Miss!" he demanded. The princess stared furiously at the king, then noticed that her armor was disappearing. Her eyes widened, and she collapsed in a beautiful heap of expensive clothes and magoi-drained princess.
"What..."
Lenka stepped to Aladdin and touched his shoulder.
"Relax, she is not a danger any longer."
The small Magi gave her a quick glance then looked back at the others.
"Miss, you seem to be a princess from the Kou empire," Sinbad said. Kougyoku stared at him with wide eyes.
"Who are you?"
"I'm... Sinbad," the man said, his figure illuminated by the full moon in his back while pulling her up and still not letting go of the girl's hand.
"The King of Sindria, King Sinbad."
His golden eyes stared intensively in her rose-colored and Kougyoku blushed heavily.
"So you're... you're that King Sinbad," she said slowly.
That man is a danger to womankind. I should have roasted him when he had touched you.
I know. Poor girl.
Kougyoku seemed to realize that he still held her hand and slapped him away.
"How long do you plan on holding my hand, you insolent man?" she shrieked and turned away to hide her red face that rivaled her hair.
Well done! Just don't get deceived by him! Vinea has raised you good!
Oh, shut up, Orobas, this is not a soap opera.
Very close to one, very close. Wish I had snacks.
"My apologies princess," Sinbad said then raised his right hand to his hearth.
"But I had to stop you. We are people of royalty. We shouldn't have a dispute in this kind of place."
"But that child...!" she cried and pointed on Aladdin who had still his staff ready and was glaring at the girl. Sinbad faced him and said:
"Aladdin, this matter ends here. You should withdraw your staff too."
He saw that the Magi held on the golden flute and continued in a softer voice.
"It's alright. A djinn will not die from an attack of this degree. Your friend is still alive. Furthermore, it's also not your style to act on impulse and fight, isn't it?"
Aladdin looked as if he would start to cry any second. Lenka gave him a hug and whispered "Ugo is alive. Aladdin, remember what I said about being a big sister and making hard decisions for the greater good?"
He nodded slowly.
"I have to check how grave the other Magi is wounded, so I will go with them and clear things with the princess. I'll be back at latest tomorrow at nightfall."
Aladdin swallowed heavily and nodded again. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and stepped away to face him.
"Don't do anything reckless while I'm away."
"Okay, big sis Lenka."
Meanwhile Kougyoku had hid behind her sleeves again and rushed over to the carpet.
"We're returning," she said and her attendant yelped in disbelief.
"But Princess..."
"Princess Ren Kougyoku?" Lenka asked and the other girl whirled around to see who had addressed her. Her eyes appeared over her sleeves.
"What do you want?" she asked. Lenka greeted in Kou-style, causing some of the djinn soldiers to whisper.
"I am Lenka, a traveler and trained paramedic under the guidance of the Rukh. I will aid your Magi and enlighten you about what happened here, if you wish. I am no enemy to you."
The gears in the redheads head spun faster as she stared at the foreign blonde girl. Ka Koubun whined again; this tipped the scales to the other dungeon capturer's favor.
"Then go and heal him. You too, Ka Koubun. And you," she turned back to Sinbad, pointed on him and screamed:
"It's not because you said something that I'm returning now!"
Lenka kneeled down next to Judar. His injuries were severe, if nut almost fatal, but miraculously he was still alive.
What will you do? I'm not a healing djinn, you know? Orobas said. The traveler exhaled slowly.
Do you know some magic formula for healing?
He told her and Lenka lifted her hands to her neck to unfasten the necklace. Ka Koubun watched her.
"What are you doing?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"Metal vessels don't go well with magic," she answered and held her hands over the body.
Please, Rukh, please give me the power to save this one who chooses kings, she begged. The white birds that normally flew in no order around her started to gather at her hands after the mental command. After a few seconds they started to glow bright. Lenka closed her eyes.
"Heal."
The magic swirled from her hands into the Magi and now she was able to see where the main injuries were.
"We have to keep his heart going and fix his spine and ribs to prevent brain damage. Then the organs. If he gets weaker I might have to do CPR on him," she mused while thinking at the same time that this might be very entertaining. Being a fangirl was a hard job. The attendant and the princess stared at her in confusion.
"You do what?"
"Heart massage and breathing into his lungs to provide him with oxygen."
"Oxy-what?" Ka Koubun said distrustful and Lenka sighed.
"Air."
Kougyoku's eyes lost a bit of their cold.
"At least you seem to know what you are doing."
Lenka shrugged and poured more power into Judar. Under her hands bones connected again, fragments became something whole. After a few more minutes she was completely exhausted. When she leaned back to put the metal vessel on her vision blurred and the dungeon capturer felt something wet on her cheeks.
Your eyes are bleeding.
Yaaay! Lucky!, she thought ironically.
"We have arrived," the princess said and turned to Lenka and her attendant. She blinked.
"Your eyes are bleeding."
"I know," Lenka sighed and wiped her face clean.
"I did as much as I am able to do at the moment. Judar is not in grave danger any longer, but still far from okay."
Kougyoku pursed her lips and said:
"You will stay to heal him completely."
The other girl shrugged and raised her hands.
"I will do my very best, yet it is a miracle that I was able to heal him this much."
Ka Koubun cleared his throat.
"Princess, please excuse my rudeness, but we won't be able to move the oracle to your chambers if you don't take a step to the left."
"Hmpf," Kougyoku answered and stepped from the carpet down onto the balcony then turned and gave Lenka a quick wave with her sleeve.
"Follow me."
"Right behind you," Lenka said and followed the girl inside.
Kougyoku sat down on a comfortable chair and connoted Lenka to sit across of her while a maid brought tea and sweets for them. Then she stared at the blonde that had immediately picked up her cup to take a sip. Lenka noticed her glance, tilted her head a bit then smiled.
"Excuse my rude behaviour but I'm really drained. Healing someone consumes a lot of magoi."
The princess nodded.
"So is that."
Lenka reached out and took a sweet. She sighed in delight.
At least they know how to make good food.
"This is really tasty. Local cuisine, isn't it?"
"I believe it is. Is it really this good?"
"I think so, but taste differs. So, Princess Kougyoku, feel free to ask me any question you want to ask. I'll try to answer as many as I can," Lenka said bluntly and placed her cup on the desk. The redhead blushed a little and hid behind her tea cup.
"You're very straight-forward."
Lenka grinned.
"Some call me rude and tell me that the filter between my brain and my mouth that keeps my thoughts inside is broken but I think I'm... honest. We both know that honesty is very important, so let's be fair and square. You can call me Lenka, no honorifics please."
Kougyoku nodded and grabbed the porcelain with both hands.
"Alright then. Lenka. What happened in the city? What was that... thing?"
The dimension traveler sighed.
"That thing was a djinn."
The princess blinked.
"A djinn?"
"A djinn. He belonged to the blue-haired boy that attacked you, Aladdin. He is a Magi. I'm his guard for the time being."
"A Magi?!" the other yelped.
"Yep. Actually more a puppy than a Magi at the moment, but never mind. Apparently Judar had trailed Sinbad, I mean King Sinbad, then saw Aladdin and decided to fight him. Just for fun. I tried to stop them, but Judar froze me for some minutes."
"Wait, he froze you? Why are you still alive?"
Lenka tilted her head and grinned.
"That might be another shock but I possess a fire djinn."
Kougyoku gasped for air and the other girl reached out to take her cup and place it on the table.
"Oh, don't spill something on your dress! It looks expensive. Yes, I'm a dungeon capturer. I won't harm you or anyone else in this tower. But if they're members of a certain organization with black Rukh I'll have to fight them.
Shall I go on?"
The princess shook her head very fast then slapped her cheeks.
"Yes please. I think I'm prepared for more shocks."
Lenka felt the strong urge to cuddle her but resisted.
"Okay. So, Judar froze me but I got free because of my djinn equip. Meanwhile Aladdin had summoned his djinn friend – emphasis on friend – to survive the attacks and protect the people around him. Then Judar said he wanted to kill Aladdin and the djinn attacked Judar independently and flattened him. Then you appeared and destroyed Aladdin's friend and saved your Magi. The End."
Kougyoku breathed in.
"Sou you say I killed a djinn that protected his Magi from being killed by Judar?" she said slowly. Lenka shrugged and raised her hands.
"Well, I think djinn can't die, so he is still kind of alive... somewhere."
"That's horrible!" the redhead howled and hid her mouth with her sleeves as she teared up.
"I'm horrible! The whole situation is horrible!"
"It certainly is," she agreed and ate another sweet then realized that she might comfort the other girl.
"Geez, cutie, you're not horrible," the traveler said and reached out to pat the right arm through the sleeve.
"Judar is your friend, isn't he? You protected him because it is your duty as a warrior to protect those dear to you. You should have asked them what happened and listened to the whole story, though, because, you know, Judar can be a bit... extreme to call it in a friendly way. I met him this, no, yesterday morning and he was really okay then, even though he ate my peaches. Then on the evening he had a, uhm-"
"I know what you want to say," Kougyoku asked and lowered her sleeves. "He was being a meanie and a bully. I grew up with him."
Lenka nodded.
"He punched a defenseless ten year old on the eye. That is a bit more than bullying, I would rather call it child abuse."
The princess rubbed her eyes and sighed gravely.
"I see... What a mess."
"Indeed. Do you want a sweet to calm your nerves?"
"Oh gosh, just give me the plate," the girl groaned. Kougyoku started to munch with delight while Lenka poured tea in their cups. Apparently the redhead was either a bit of a stress eater or very fond of Balbaddian goodies because they decreased rapidly. The door rattled and Ka Koubun entered.
"Princess, I have stabilized the oracle's condition- what are you doing, princess?!"
Kougyoku looked up, her cheeks round and stuffed.
"Nuthin."
"Awww so adorable!" Lenka squealed and leaned forward to hug the redhead. "You're so cute I want to eat you up!"
The princess swallowed and tilted her head to look at the blonde in slight astonishment and happiness while her adviser started to scream.
"Let go of the princess, insolent woman!"
Lenka turned to him without letting Kougyoku go to give him her death glare and was surprised how well it worked: he stopped his rambling and stared at her like a rabbit would stare at a big snake.
"For your information, I'm a dungeon capturer and the heir to a noble, influential household, so will you please stop your attempts to annoy me? And I can hug a cute girl because I'm cute as well."
Ka Koubun's face went pale and Kougyoku blushed.
"Dungeon capturer?"
"Am I really that cute?"
The traveler loosened her grip to smile at her.
"I think I'll stay here for the night. Have you ever had a sleepover guest?"
Lenka left the tower on mid-day after a very late breakfast with her new friend. Kougyoku had been very cute after they had banned the advisor from her chambers and the two of them had eaten and laughed for hours before falling asleep in a pile of blankets and pillows. Lenka had told her stories from her past life – without telling that they happened in another dimension – and her adventures in this world and they had compared what had happened to them in their dungeons. The princess talked about her life in the palace of Kou and her brothers, so they had compared their siblings as well. And then the essential topic for girls' sleepover parties came up – boys.
"That King Sinbad is a very good-looking man," Kougyoku had swarmed. Lenka had answered with an uncomfortable sound, shrugged and told her that he was indeed handsome, yet a bit shady with his objectives. But the princess had been wearing the rose-colored shades of love already so any criticism bounced away before coming too near.
Lenka had checked Judar before leaving. The Magi was still sleeping, but his injuries had been treated well by the advisor and the palace healers. Yet he was more pale than usual and his Rukh floated sleepily around him.
It was really strange that in your dungeon weren't any dungeon creatures, Orobas. What happened to them?
The djinn smiled sheepishly.
They kind of died.
Seriously? No way!
They weren't sick, they just died because they were too old and it was too boring to make new or keep them alive.
Geez. Didn't you have fire skeletons or fire spirits or something like that?
Err...
Forget I had asked. Looks like we're there. Do you have this odd feeling as well? As if something is crawling up your spine?
This trembling of the Rukh? I'm amazed you can feel it.
Hey, I'm not your everyday booby girl, you know?
Lenka landed in front of a building with a small tower and wrapped the cloth around her neck. The man standing guard nodded at her and let her inside. The indisposition grew stronger with every step she took. The girl stopped and frowned.
Something is really wrong.
She looked around then talked to a man passing by.
"Have you seen the boy with the long blue braid who is Alibaba's friend?"
The man's expression darkened.
"Apparently the poor guy fell ill yesterday after the battle."
A cold hand seemed to clasp her heart.
"Where is he?"
"In the upper room of the tower but-"
Lenka started to run before he had finished his sentence. Her feet stomped on the ground as she circled around the corners and along the hallways until she found the staircase to the tower. Taking three steps at once the girl raced up until she bumped into the closed wooden door. The two maids inside stared at her in disarray when she stumbled into the room, breathing heavily. She beheld the small Magi lying on the bed, pale from the exhaustion and loss of magoi.
Lenka threw her bag in a corner, pulled her scarf and metal vessel off, rushed forwards and placed her hands on Aladdin's head and torso, then began to pour her magoi into him. Her hands started to glow with the familiar white and golden light and tiny Rukh danced through the air.
"Don't you dare to die on me, stupid little brother," she growled and doubled her concentration.
Three hours later Lenka staggered out of the Magi's chamber and downstairs. Her nose and eyes were bleeding and she had a headache as if she had drunken far too much the day before. Plus she was so hungry she could have eaten a horse. Or two. Maybe with some lemonade... wait, they probably hadn't lemonade in this world, had they? Damn, no chocolate and no lemonade and her smartphone's battery was empty as well...
A door to her left opened and Ja'far, Masrur and Morgiana left the room.
"Miss Lenka, you're back," said the vizier while the fanalis girl stepped to the other to get a short hug. Lenka patted her head and looked at the other men.
"Hey there. Judar's condition is stable, Aladdin's as well. I've gotten friends with Kougyoku. Can you please give me something to eat? A big portion of something to eat. I'm very hungry. "
Masrur nodded and turned away to raid the kitchen while Ja'far led the traveler into another room. Lenka saw a chair and slumped on it with a groan. Mor sat down next to her while the ex-assassin left the door open.
"Masrur should be back in a couple of minutes."
"As long as he brings food I will forgive him anything," the dungeon capturer sighed.
"Do you want to know what I did with the Kou people? Made friends with the eight princess, Kougyoku. A real darling. Very protective of her family. Not fit to be that pig-king's woman."
Ja'far frowned.
"The eight princess of the Kou empire you said?"
Lenka yawned and rubbed her eyes. Luckily they had stopped bleeding.
"That's what I said. I told her what had happened and she was very sorry. Right now she might not be a big help I reckon, but I think she will ally with us in the future."
"Us?" the vizier asked, brows furrowed.
"Team Sindria, Team Aladdin and me."
Morgiana touched Lenka's arm.
"Alibaba is on Aladdin's team?"
The dungeon capturer nodded and smiled at the other girl.
"He is. He's Aladdin's king candidate after all, and you are their friend, so you're on their team as well. I'm my own team that joins Magi teams if the Magi have problems. Big problems."
Mor nodded as well.
"Good. Masrur is returning."
Again Lenka was impressed of the fanalis' hearing. Almost a minute later the man stepped into the room, holding a tray loaded with a bowl and a carafe which he placed in front of her.
"... here you go."
"Thank you so much," the dungeon capturer said contented and started to inhale the thin soup, the piece of bread and some dried fruit. Ja'far continued to stare at her until Lenka wiped her her mouth with the napkin and placed the spoon on the tray.
"Gosh, I'm alive again. Thank you. So, there is something you wanted to ask me, isn't it?"
The vizier nodded.
"That's right. When you-"
"Geez, that boy surely is a handful."
Sinbad stomped through the door and interrupted his general without noticing he did and ruffled his purple hair with a sigh.
"Seriously."
Then he noticed who else was in the room and started to smirk.
"Well, if this isn't our special friend."
Lenka gave him an odd look. Was he picking a fight? Was he still mad because she avoided him after the kiss?
"Are you speaking of me, King Sinbad?"
The king shrugged and sat down across the traveler then propped his chin in his palm and started to drum with the fingers of his other hand on the table, still grinning at the blonde.
"Who else allied with the Kou and their Magi?"
A cold shiver ran down Lenka's spine and she felt Mor shifting on her chair. So that was his problem.
"I haven't allied with them. I did my duty like the Rukh wanted me to do."
"They wanted you to safe that man?" Sinbad asked with grim eyes. Lenka clenched her fists in her lap and stared back.
"They did. They made me feel his agony because I was unable to stop him or Ugo."
"That's why you went with them?"
"Is this an interrogation?"
The king's gaze grew even colder.
"Answer," he demanded. The foreigner felt anger rising and straightened up. Her expression was cold and dignified now, the face of a queen.
"You should be glad I went with Ren Kougyoku and her followers. I told her what happened and she was willing to not inform her imperial father about the incident as well as to become my friend since we have similar backgrounds and beliefs. She is a pawn in this wicked game as well and she has got no ill intentions towards you, King Sinbad. I'd rather say she is fond of you and your achievements."
Sinbad blinked surprised then smirked again while Ja'far relaxed a bit and took his hands out of his sleeves.
"Is that so? What about you then? What are your intentions?"
Lenka was startled for a moment. That man... Then her anger flared up. She rose from her chair and glared down at the king.
"I'm sick of your games. I told you several times that I'm not you enemy or Sindria's or Kou's or anyone's country's. I am an enemy to those Al-Thamen lunatics and brainless idiots like the ones who think that women are inferior to them and thus deserve sexual harassment and violation. I have my duty as a guardian of the Magi. I fight to protect them and for people dear to me. And trust me, there will be a time in the future when you will be more than glad that I was here to do the job.
Let me tell you something: in two days the country of Balbadd will change, for some to the better, for others to the worse. At this time I will accompany Aladdin wherever he goes. So you better go call some of your alliance ambassadors here and get your vessels back, or else the chances for you to survive are really low. Got it?"
The traveler stepped to the door, then turned back to the king.
"Ah, for your information: I might be going to my new Kou princess friend to heal her Magi and complain about how stupid males can be, and especially what an ass you are. I will come for you if you need to be saved even if I prefer to not do it. Good bye."
And the next chapter finished! I was really surprised how well this worked out *gives Lenka a high five* but three more chapters until I'm done with the Balbadd Arc and then to Sindria! And in these three chapters some might find the answers they're looking for, but sorry I will keep the pairing for myself for a few more chapters – don't worry, everything is planned already *snickers eerily*
My younger sister recently showed me where to answer reviews -.-° so after this chapter I will definitely answer the new ones incoming! *hides in shame in the basement to cry*
A huge thank you to those who read, favorited, followed and/or reviewed Second Chance!
Unbelievably happy,
TheMultipleMeExperience