Hello everyone out there!
So Magi belongs to Shinobu Ohtaka, my OC to me, there might be references to this world, music etc, spoilers for those who haven't read the manga this far and some spelling mistakes.
Even so, have a fun time reading!
Day 16 Meeting Eligos
And she managed to get seasick again, but luckily only for the first day of their travel. Miran stayed at her side during that time until the captain asked him if he would like to take a look at the map and learn a bit about ships and after Lenka assured him that no one on this ship would do him any harm because then they would get a problem with her he went with the mustache man. She was happy that he seemed to get over the terrible experience he had made and was nevertheless surprised as he flooded her with information about the route, the ship and that they could probably see dolphins, he had never seen dolphins and if they were nice animals. He was quite chatty after he had warmed up to her and followed her almost everywhere like a puppy and was simply an adorable child, plus he had gladly appreciated her lessons on writing and reading, because he could do counting already. Right now they were standing at the right – she was still unsure if this was starboard or larboard, probably she would never learn – side of the Anneliese and enjoying the early morning's breeze that pushed them forward until Miran squinted his eyes at a sight of something in the distance only fanalis eyes could see.
"Lenka, there is another ship," he said and pointed on it. She blinked and looked at the Rukh's movement until she detected it as well.
"Can you see which colour the flag has or which emblem they have?"
The boy leaned over the railing and Lenka immediately grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him from falling.
"... no," he answered after a few seconds. "But they are coming this way. And another ship has appeared. Their flag is black with a white dot."
His eyes sparkled as he looked up to her with a rather untypically big grin for a fanalis.
"Are they pirates? Will you sink them? Will they fight?"
But his blood-thirst was typical and hers was not better, sometimes even worse. Lenka grinned as well and ruffled his hair while pulling him down from the rail.
"Tell the captain that I take a look, will you? Maybe you will see an explosion."
He nodded euphorically and raced over to the mustached man while the blonde stretched her arms and cracked her knuckles.
Ready for action? Orobas plus camouflage illusion?
… I want to sink them, Gusion pouted but the twins nodded in anticipation.
Sure thing, Lenka, Gusion, you had the last pirates, it's our turn now, cheered Orobas and in the blink of an eye the revealing chains and cloth stripes of the armor equipped before she disappeared in a blur of heat and blue and white. A second later the illusion of the blue sky covered her and Lenka laughed.
Stealth mode on!
No video game references, Orobas sighed and his brother raised an eyebrow.
I thought you liked Candy Crush, I like it.
When we fought in Balbadd she switched to MMORPG talk, that was not funny.
Player Lenka approached possible pirate ship.
I see what you mean.
Lenka switched the equip off then landed on the railing then tip-toed over to the captain and some of his sailors to listen what the men were saying.
"... probably a ship from the east."
"The coat of arms is Sindrian, so a big catch."
"We use the same tactic as always, someone tell that Captain Gunnar," the pirate boss said and scratched his black beard then straightened his clothes.
"Okay, men, the same procedure as always!"
"Captain, how far away is land?"
"Fifteen miles – who was that?" he bellowed and turned around to see where the voice came from. Lenka grinned and dropped the illusion, causing the pirates to flinch, some even yelped in surprise to see a woman in shorts standing on the railing and grinning so wide that they could almost see her molar teeth.
"Pardon my intrusion, but are you perhaps pirates?"
"A woman?" the captain asked with furrowed bushy brow – he had only one, quite a sight – and she almost started to laugh at this hilarious face. Her grin turned feral as she pointed at him while standing with the other hand on her hip.
"I hereby declare that you're under attack. Surrender or sink!"
The pirates blinked then started to laugh at her, Lenka joined because they were simply so ridiculously clueless! Captain Mono-brow stopped after a few "Har harr harr" to stare at her in growing anger.
"Woman, are you mocking me?"
Lenka snorted a last time and waved with a hand.
"No, that was the truth. I came with intent to destroy and the spirit of pure flames dwelling in my body, turning me into a great sorcerer – Orobas!"
Haah, their faces! he whooped as the dumbstruck pirates stared at the flaming pervert equipped Lenka before she jumped up to hover over the ships.
"I hope you mentally challenged gits can swim!" she yelled and raised her blue saber. "Incense's terminal blaze!"
A white pillar of fire shot downwards and turned the ships into torches, screaming pirates hopped into the water while others were clever enough to grab pieces of wood first. Lenka made sure that there was enough debris for them to hold on before she shot back to her own ship. Miran waved at her with sparkling eyes while jumping up and down in excitement.
"That was incredible! We saw the fire shoot down and then kaboom!"
She laughed and ruffled his hair then ended the equip.
"You're quite fond of destruction, aren't you? Don't let that take over, destruction should be done in moderation."
He nodded eagerly and hugged her.
"Okay, Lenka. Your djinn are great!"
Orobas whined.
I wanna make him household.
No, you won't.
Oh, come on, just a tiny bit, Orobas begged even hours later when they had left the ship and continued their travel to the capital Remano by foot.
You can't make someone a bit household, either you do or you don't.
Aw, Lenka, that's so unfair!
It is not, this is a measure I have to take to protect him, she said and glanced at Miran who walked on her left side. The boy had turned silent as soon as they had parted with the crew and grabbed her hand tightly until they had left the city on the street was made in the same way like those she had seen when visiting Rome, but this one was in better condition. He looked up and smiled then pointed at the dark clouds that were the new cause of her worry. Thunder growled and bolts of lightning illuminated the gray mass like a freaky disco.
"The storm came even closer. We will get all wet."
"Gusion will take care of that, but the strong wind bothers me more. It will blow you away because you are such a feather-weight."
Miran giggled as she poked his side and jumped a few meters away.
"That would be funny, but then you would have to catch me."
"And that would be not funny," she smiled. "Can you see an inn or something like that where we can wait for the storm to pass?"
The fanalis nodded and turned his head in every direction before jumping up to see what was behind the trees that grew next to the road and over the soft hills.
"There is a tower, or rather the ruins of a tower," he cheered and pointed on something far right. Lenka frowned. A tower? Ruins? On the territory of Reim?
Do you think what I think this is?
A dungeon? Orias tilted his head and looked at the other djinn who nodded.
Could be a dungeon. Want another djinn? Asked Gusion.
If Scheherazade has raised this one wouldn't she be mad if I conquered it?
You are going to offer her your services, she will get over that, Orobas assumed. Lenka sighed and looked at Miran who wiped his nose.
"A raindrop hit me," he said with furrowed brows causing her to snicker.
"Then do I have to punish that raindrop for hitting you?"
"Ha ha, funny," the boy rolled his red eyes. "So are we going to the ruins for shelter?"
"We run," decided the blonde and sped up. Miran squealed with joy and raced after her, up the hill and then down on the other side. Lenka was surprised that she had enough stamina to keep up with the small fanalis and even more as she was actually faster than him even though they were both running at full speed.
The Rukh are altering your body, my … Lenka, Orias explained while looking at a scroll and scratched his nose. You are faster, stronger and more arduous than a normal human. That might be a side-effect from being Solomon's warrior. The strongest warrior race back in Alma Toran and now here were the red lions or their human counterpart, the fanalis. I think it's no accident that you are like this.
Is that the reason why I grew two inches? I was so sure that I was too old to grow any longer.
Think positively, Orobas grinned, you're almost one meter and eighty centimeters tall! You can spit on almost everyone's head!
Ha ha, funny. That's 5.10 or so, right? I'm still too fat to be a model.
"Uwah, rain!" yelped Miran and the cold sensation broke Lenka's concentration as giant drops fell down and drenched them in seconds. Thunder boomed not even a second after lightning struck the earth and the howling of the wind was vicious, slowed them down until they ran at the normal speed of a human. They skidded the last meters down the hill and under a half-crumbled balcony a blink before coin-sized hail thrummed down on the ground.
Miran shook himself like a wet dog and sneezed then started to wring out his wet clothes.
"That's a really big storm."
Lenka nodded and continued to watch the Rukh dancing in the rain, chirping happily then turning and passing her to fly deeper in the ruins. She looked after them and frowned. The whole building thrummed with power and the eight-pointed star glistened under a bow up a staircase.
"Now we have proof that this is a dungeon," she sighed and turned to her companion.
"What should we do?"
Miran blinked then his eyes started to sparkle.
"Is this really a dungeon? Can we conquer it?"
The girl shrugged and wrung her hair out.
"I think Reim's Magi Scheherazade summoned it for one of her followers, so I am unsure if to capture it or not. A message from Big S would be great now, wouldn't it?"
I hope he doesn't hear your blasphemy, Orias shuddered.
It's not like he doesn't know how I behave, he teleported me here. Or rather he brought me to the Sacred Palace and Ugo teleported me into Orobas's dungeon... Oh! Ugo said I should try to capture as many dungeons as I am able to do so, didn't he? Now that gives me permission to do capturing, doesn't it?
Her djinn looked at each other then nodded.
… sounds plausible.
I'm okay with your decision, Lenka.
She nodded then touched each of the metal vessels and grinned at Miran.
"You don't mind accompanying me? I have the strong urge to piss a Magi off."
He laughed and grabbed her hand.
"Wherever you go I go with you!"
Together they climbed the stairs to the entrance and stepped into the light filling the arch. Miran's jaw fell as the surge of magic power pulled them in the red pillar between the dungeon and the ruins. Rukh fluttered around, singing a song only Magi and Magicians could understand, of power and adventures and danger, victory and uncounted treasure. His grip around Lenka's hand tightened until it was almost painfully as they rushed towards the dungeon and in the blink of an eye they were in a dim cavern. She sighed, took a quick look at her surroundings and nodded approvingly.
"Here we are, so let's survive until we're done."
"Okay, Lenka," Miran said and they started their walk through the tunnel of rough stone. The fanalis heard it first but after a few more minutes Lenka noticed a roaring sound, as if there was water falling down a cliff. She frowned and looked at the Rukh. Individuals, more than forty, less than a hundred. Dungeon creatures. The traveler hummed and touched her blade's hilt.
"Miran, I forgot to ask, but can you fight? Even so, stay close to me."
"I am a fanalis. I can always land a kick. It took seven grown men to keep me down," he said and let go of her to bend his arms for preparation. She snickered and drew her sword before stepping in the vast hall. Lizard monsters, dragons, whatever they were called here, crawling and screeching, filled the room, huge rocks and crevices in the wall provided shelter. And a giant exemplar, the big boss, king ugly face, foul teeth and broken horns waited in the center of the room.
A rush of adrenalin filled her and with a joyful cry she jumped down to start her massacring of the dungeon monsters. The sparring with Sharrkan had bore fruits, her swipes, slashes, stabs were efficient, fluid and absolutely fatal yet Lenka couldn't shake off the illusion that this fight felt like a video game. Whenever a monster came to close a blast of fire would scorch it and from the scorched charcoal spears would rise and create a wall to protect her. The djinn reacted as if they were a part of her yet she wasn't even using weapon equip.
Miran on the other had was capable of some nasty kicks to get the monsters away from him, or hitting their vital points either with his heel or with the dagger she had given him. He looked happy yet very terrifying, small spatters of green blood on his cheeks and feet and the wide grin showed how much he enjoyed this. Lenka payed attention to him while fighting her own enemies and was more than glad that he was fast enough to get away and to her side whenever it seemed he was in the worse position.
The monster boss let out a screeching roar and exhaled a cloud of green mist to hit the travelers, but Gusion absorbed it before it was even near.
Quite stupid to attack me with poison. I want the killing blow.
"Fine with me. Miran, jump up!" she yelled while rushing towards the beast. The boy did as she said and broke the wall while clawing himself in the stone like a gecko. Lenka grinned and summoned the djinn weapon.
"Heed the words of the poison master! Diamond falling spear!"
Wow, that sounds cool, Orobas whistled as the sword-lance chopped the beast king in halves.
It's as hard as diamond, and she jumped down to deliver the attack, Gusion said with smug face. The name fits.
Lenka turned back to her companion.
"Are you alright, dear?"
He nodded, jumped down to squat the last minion and raced over to her.
"That was funny. Do you think that there are more monsters?" he said and glanced around then pointed at a door that had been definitely not there before. "Maybe there?"
She laughed and wiped his face clean.
"This is a dungeon, a place you should never enter until you're absolutely sure you can survive, isn't it? Trust me, you will get sick of monsters until we finish the conquest, my dear."
She kicked the door open and a bunch of rock monster stared at them causing Lenka to hum approvingly.
"Tactics change. I heat them up then cool them down and you break them please."
Before the boy had the time to nod his agree meteors fell from the sky and hit the stone giants, causing them to melt partially before water spheres collided with their surface and cooled them down again, cracking noises accompanying this process. Miran blinked surprised at the velocity of his protector's attacks then kicked the nearest creature in the midriff; it shattered and a cloud of dust rose. He smiled and jumped from monster to monster, busting them, crushing them into heaps of pebbles so that he won't be a nuisance for Lenka, could be helpful, repay her for her kindness. When the last stone crumbled under his foot he brushed his pants clean then skipped back to her side.
"Good?"
The blonde hummed again and ruffled his hair with a wide smile.
"And again I'm amazed by the fanalis' fighting power. That was incredible, even though you're so young."
Miran nodded happily; he made her proud again.
"Thank you. But you are strong, too, even though you aren't a fanalis."
Lenka, let's make him a household vessel. Which one's is unimportant, but you have to keep him, Gusion said and the woman blinked and touched the forearm protector. The female djinn was calm and composed most times but any demands she made were justified.
If he wants to stay with me, he will become a household vessel. Is that okay with the three of you?
Finally you agreed! Orobas sighed. Your head is as hard as a rock.
I'm sure that Lenka just wants the best for him and herself, isn't that so? Orias tried to calm his twin. Lenka snickered a bit then stopped as Miran stared at her with big eyes and nearly tripped over a cracking stone.
"What's so funny?"
"My djinn want to keep you," she said with a grin and shook her head. "Let's focus on the next cavern, shouldn't we?"
He nodded and stopped with terrified face as they entered the next cavern. Dead bodies lay sprawled over the marble floor, blood colored most of the gray tiles red. The air didn't smell of death, that explained why Miran hadn't catched a stench or something, but the whole scenario looked like it was part of the setting of an ancient horror movie where a vicious monster slayed more than two dozen men for fun, the ate their intestines or brains or whatever was tasty in human bodies. Lenka quickly covered her charge's eyes and hugged him.
"Dear, don't look. It's a horrible sight and I don't want you to get scared from whatever it was that did it to those poor men. Can you keep your eyes closed for a bit, can you?"
Miran whimpered and breathed through his mouth for a few seconds to calm himself.
"Yeah, I'm good. I can watch out for enemies for you."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek before stepping to the next corpse to look at him. A man, older than thirty as far as she could tell; the lower part of his body lay a few meters away. He wore a once white tunic and had a sword in the hand, a roman gladius. Maybe a soldier?
Gusion.
The djinn caused the blood stains on the floor to disappear so that the traveler could walk more freely through the remains of what had been a massacre. A glint awoke her curiosity so she carefully walked over to a pile that were the bodies of six men in golden armor that seemed to have protected a young man, maybe a tad older than she was. His face showed pure horror and he wore an expensive looking ring on his right hand. His left side was missing.
Lenka swallowed down her nausea and carefully pulled the ring off and wrapped it in a piece of his red-striped toga. A young nobleman, maybe sent to conquer this dungeon by Scheherazade to contribute to the Reim empire. She should tell the Magi what happened to them.
Orias.
She pushed the small package through the black hole that had opened in space and took a glance at the Rukh in this room – and found a small clay figurine under a pile of rubble. A proof of the perpetrators who had invaded the dungeon. The evidence followed through the hole and Lenka returned to Miran.
"We have a problem, a big problem. Agents of the organization have entered the dungeon and killed an envoy probably sent by the Magi Scheherazade that should conquer the dungeon," she told him with lowered voice. "We have to get to the treasure room before they get there or we will have an even bigger problem."
In times like this she was glad that the fanalis were a warrant type of people, Miran simply nodded and followed her quickened steps through the dungeon. The next chamber was even bigger than the first one they had entered, but high walls blocked the view to the door. Lenka simply pulled off the slightly wet scarf to fly them to the exit - and was more than surprised to see a giant maze under her hovering tool. Howls and yelps, scratching noise and steps echoed up to them.
"In times like these I'm glad to have conquered a few dungeons already, though only Gusion's was worth being called a dungeon," she told the boy as they rushed over the labyrinth. "But I bet this maze has even more booby traps than hers. I'm glad that we can speed things up like this, because I don't want to imagine what the lunatics will do with a genuine metal vessel."
Miran nodded.
"I hope this will be over soon."
Maybe the djinn of the dungeon heard their conversation, maybe her own djinn had managed to talk to him, her or it or maybe even Solomon had said something, Lenka and Miran reached the door to the necropolis after two more chambers that were surprisingly empty, except the one stray giant rat that was brought down with a single swipe of the unbreakable blade and landed on a house high enough so that she could see the treasury tower in the middle – and two persons in the formal robes of Al-Thamen plus a young man that strode forward confidently, though their clothes were quite tattered. The dungeon hadn't been that easy on them as it had been for Lenka. She gritted her teeth and touched the silver metal vessel on her arm.
"Miran, try to get away from the fight, those people are the peak of evil. Please get into the treasure room and search for an object that has the eight-pointed star, like the symbol on my metal vessels, will you?"
He patted her arm, nodded and raced over the roofs at the edge of the dead city. Lenka inhaled and equipped Gusion. The rush of power she emitted was enough for the fiends to stop and turn back to where they felt the sudden explosion of the Rukh – just to find themselves face to face with a woman with green hair, jackal ears and whiskers that brought a swipe of the spear she wielded at their borgs. The shields shattered without effort and the owl-staffed guy to her right turned to a doll which fell on the floor with a thump and rolled under an empty stall while the man drew his weapon, a battle-ax and stared at her with bloodshot eyes.
"Who are you?" he rasped and his comrade answered "This one is the false king's puppet."
Lenka grinned.
"Pot calling the kettle black, aren't you? To quote another of your puppets: 'die!'"
A hail of solid spears pierced the ground as Lenka attacked again and Mr Bloodshot raised his ax.
"Dark djinn equip!" he bellowed and black plates covered his body.
"Homing spear!"
Several missiles shot after the Al-Thamen puppet who started flying to get rid of them, it would take him quite long to do so she hoped. The two metal vessel users attacked each other, Lenka with furious determination, the other with a lunatic cackle, sword-lance against giant ax. Mr Bloodshot grinned like a madman.
"Die, woman."
"Die, cauliflower-eared challenged retard!"
Yes, her curses were definitely better than his, and he even understood what she was saying! He roared furiously and tried to split her in two. She dodged and floated in mid-air, weapon raised.
"Diamond crushing!"
The man's armor turned him into a pincushion, causing him to scream again. A tingle in the Rukh let her look up and she bared her fangs at the mage flying above her, grinning like the lunatic he was.
"Don't you miss something?" he said and pointed on a spot between two houses a few hundred meters away. Miran stood in the middle of rotating thunder- and gravity spheres, dagger in one hand and turning his head fast in every direction to look for a way to escape. Lenka's heart froze at this sight while the mage chuckled then snapped his fingers. With a loud boom the spheres exploded, the detonation ripped a hole in the necropolis's floor. A giant cloud of dust rose up and left no trace of Miran.
The girl howled in anger and grief and the Rukh chirped loud as a storm appeared around her, the floor turned into an acidic sea and parts of the buildings shot around like missiles. Failed! Failed again to protect, to keep someone safe! She had promised to keep him safe! Lenka rose as high as the dungeon was and initialized Gusion's extreme magic. The white-glowing circle was humongous, only the side where the treasury was didn't melt away as another surge of acidity from the magic flooded the empty city. The mage and the black vessel user had no chance to escape her wrath. The clone plopped into a figurine at the first contact with the acid while the vessel user screamed in terror as it started to eat away his equip and then his body.
"Scumbags," growled Lenka while her vision blurred from the tears. "Bastards. I never forgive you! Never! A second time! Heed my call, djinn of friendship and reconciles! Melt the evil from the surface of the earth, corrode the depraved stains-"
Err, Lenka? I've got him, Miran I mean, Orias said nervously. I sent him to you, okay? Please don't cry.
She stared at the vessel in shock and surprise as a big black portal opened in front of her and Miran jumped at his protector, fresh as a daisy and nearly uninjured, almost crushing her with the power behind his hugs.
"I'm alright, Lenka. I'm fine."
The traveler blinked then squeezed the boy tighter to suppress the shaking.
"Don't do that again, you hear me? Don't scare me like that."
Miran petted her back.
"I was okay, Orias and Orobas were very friendly. They said that I should stay with you and try to convince you to let me accompany you everywhere you go! They are nice."
"I might have to scold them and you because you almost gave me an heart attack, haven't you?" she murmured then floated down to the entrance of the treasury.
It took them only a few minutes to find a big ugly pot with the emblem of Solomon. As soon as Lenka touched the weapon the djinn appeared, a mischievous small girl with braids, fairy wings, a scepter and a fluttery stole dressed in a way that strongly reminded of those clothes Pisti was wearing, moreover the djinn looked like she was a relative of Pisti!
"Hello conquerors! This is Eligos, the fifteenth djinn of Solomon! Eligos is a spirit of tactics and favors, she knows how to attract them from lords and kings! So, which one of you should Eligos make her master?"
She lowered down to grin at Miran who was hiding behind Lenka at first but gathered enough courage to smile back.
"Will it be you, boy, who will be Eligos's master?"
"I don't came here to become a master, I followed Lenka," he said and hugged her waist. Eligos eyed the blonde woman a bit longer then burst out in laughter.
"Oh! OH! You have the disaster twins!"
That is a part of my past I don't like when it is mentioned by someone, Orobas grumbled.
"That is so funny! Okay, Eligos has decided, she will go with you, blondie! If you managed the disaster twins you can manage Eligos too! Oh, this is so exiting!"
Lenka was grinning now too.
"Thank you, Eligos. My name is Lenka, Solomon's warrior and guardian of the Magi, currently heading to the capital of Reim. I'm looking forward to work with you!"
"Eligos wants the sword, you can take as much treasure as you want, as long as I can have the sword."
She forgot to talk in third person of herself, so excited was the djinn, and laughed even more as black holes swallowed every piece of treasure in the room.
"This will be a funny journey! Now shoo, back to the other world you go!"
Oh Solomon I forgot that she was this hyperactive, Gusion murmured. Lenka chuckled then sat down on the tunnel floor. Four djinn. Now it was only Sinbad who had more than her, she remembered and stretched her arms with a yawn, the sword on her hip thrummed with the heartbeat of Eligos' power. Miran settled next to her and sighed as she started to rub his back.
"That was a nice djinn."
Can Eligos make him household vessel?
He's going to be mine!
Brother, don't scream at Eligos like that, she just arrived. Hey, don't touch that unless you want it to explode!
… welcome to the nuthouse.
And another djinn added to Lenka's collection and another chapter that burst the words limit...
Not much to say except for thank you you fabulous readers! Your support keeps me going! Thanks a lot!
Yours,
TheMultipleMeExperience