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 because I do the correcting stuff on my own and English is not my native language.
Even so, have a fun time reading!
Day 19: Meeting Scheherazade
Lenka woke up early the next day, wide awake after dreaming about red hair, lions and loosing her teeth. She remembered reading that a dream about loosing one's teeth meant that one was loosing control of a situation or fearing failure or something equally bad and she wasn't really fond of loosing control or failing, especially not in a situation like this. After half an hour of warming up she went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Against common knowledge she could cook some more dishes than five kinds of soup: scrambled eggs and toast Hawaii. For the rest she needed the help of the god called microwave.
A yawning Miran came into the kitchen when she scratched the eggs on two plates and as soon as they finished eating and put the plates to the sink someone knocked on the door. Lenka opened and smiled at Muu, Myron and Yaqut.
"Good morning. We've finished a few minutes ago. Miran, are you done?"
The boy jumped on the street to greet the other fanalis while she quickly locked the door then turned to Muu.
"Shall we go now?"
He nodded.
"Myron, Yaqut, look after Miran. We return after the audience."
"I understand, brother."
Lenka grinned and waved.
"Bye then, and thank you!"
Somehow she couldn't shake off the feeling that they were here to supervise her, but maybe that was her persecution complex that occasionally visited in situations like this.
They walked in relative silence, the streets were slowly awakening, merchants were preparing their stalls for the customers, setting their most attractive products on display. The blonde felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. It was going to be a lively day again then glanced up at Muu. The nervousness he emitted was growing stronger so she carefully poked his arm. He flinched nonetheless and his hand automatically grabbed the hilt of his sword before he remembered he was not under attack.
"Don't worry, everything will be alright, or at least I hope so. I'll be telling my story and then we'll return to the training grounds, won't we?"
Muu sighed then smiled at her and let go of the sword.
"You're probably right. It's just that Lady Scheherazade seemed a bit... worried after hearing your message."
"She would be stupid if she wouldn't be a bit worried I guess."
He nodded, hopefully he wasn't offended by her bluntness. Oh well, he had to deal with it.
"Tell me when I say something not appropriate, I speak first then think most times. Quite a hassle."
His smile grew into a grin.
"Okay, I try to inform you then. We are almost there."
The palace of the Sacerdos Maxima, the highest priestess, was even more gorgeous than Sinbad's in Lenka's eyes, but that would be only natural; Scheherazade and the Reim Empire were way older than Sindria. Muu led her through a white hallway into a giant throne room where some soldiers and noble court men were standing.
The Magi Scheherazade sat on a huge wooden chair that stood atop of a pedestal, looking like a doll with her long wavy golden hair and the big eyes that changed from green to blue in the light, old and yet ageless. The mole next to her eye seemed a bit cheeky, maybe she had been in her youth. Her right hand gripped the golden staff firmly, the crone of ivy and grapes sitting firmly on her head. A rather old man with long nose stood next to the throne on her left side, the helmet he was wearing showed the crest of the Empire. On the right side was a younger man with a laurel chaplet in the clothes of a noble, his nose so high up that she was tempted to ask how the air was up there. Muu bowed in front of them and after a second of thought she decided to do the Attack on Titan style greeting – should they break their heads when trying to figure out where this gesture came from.
Man, even a Kou greeting would've been less difficult with the boobs, Lenka.
Stop complaining, Orobas.
Lenka, the old man has conquered Purson, the other Shax.
Thanks, Orias.
"Lady Scheherazade, I brought you Lenka, the traveler," Muu said with serious face. She returned the look the Magi gave her as she sent her Rukh out to get in touch with the foreigner's. The green eyes widened for a second then closed again.
"You can stop using your djinn's power. No harm shall be done to you in this halls."
The 'for now' was mentally added but Lenka was too confused to notice it.
Guys?
Eligos will stop, don't growl at Eligos, the djinn pouted.
What were you doing anyway?
Eligos uses a mixture of lightning magic that affects the brains of beings and sends out signals to not attack you. Basically it's magic to make you attractive. A charm. Not very strong until you do djinn equip. But then you will have an army following you within the blink of an eye. Back in the old days...
Oh fucking hell, Eligos that is not possible, Lenka frowned and bowed again.
"Pardon this, Lady Scheherazade, but my djinn acted without my consent. They are very strong-willed and use my magoi without permission to protect me. I was unaware to which extent they actually would go to do this."
The petite blonde nodded as if this was something she had actually known already but the young man with the chaplet snorted and muttered something. Lenka catched glimpses of "woman", "can't control her djinn properly", and general animosity and frowned a little at the guy before looking back at the other woman who had started to speak again.
"You are the conqueror of four dungeons."
"I am," she answered, ignoring the surprised gasps of the soldiers, nobles and the young man on the Magi's right side. Scheherazade leaned back and let her fingers run over the staff she held.
"Muu delivered your message. How did you meet the guardian?"
Lenka frowned again.
"This is extremely sensitive information which I should only tell Magi and fellow metal vessel holder."
The other raised an eyebrow and stomped the shiny stick on the floor. A rush and flutter of the Rukh later they were covered by a shimmering dome, like a soap bubble.
"Talk. I raised a shield that will keep unwelcome listeners away."
"My name is Marlene-Karen Sensenmacher, nineteen years old. I am a dimension traveler who was brought here by the Rukh and the will of the great Solomon. My task is to protect the ones choosing kings, which are the Magi and change destiny to the better. During the time I spent here the Rukh have started to change my body to adapt it to this world because the place where I come from has no magic power whatsoever, or I was unaware if it had some. I want to maintain a neutral position in the political world or to become an ambassador. My main enemies are Al-Thamen, perverts and human idiocy," Lenka rattled off with a smile. The men's jaws fell and Scheherazade's eyes widened even more until she looked wide awake, not on the edge of falling asleep anymore. She nodded slowly and rubbed with the thumb over her staff.
"Is that so? I thought the way the Rukh act around you was strange, but it's perfectly clear if you are a being from another world."
"Yeah, well, I think it might be a parallel dimension but I have no clue how to get back. By the way, I'm sorry for conquering Eligos without asking first."
The Magi tilted her head and a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"I shall forgive you. In fact I'm glad that you did. If Al-Thamen had managed to obtain the djinn terrible things would have happened. Muu said you mentioned black metal vessels."
Lenka nodded.
"As far as I know Magnostadt mass-produces magic tools, maybe even black metal vessels. A friend of mine is there to investigate on this matter. We saw what these lunatics from the organization could do with black metal vessels. They are strong and can even perform extreme magic, but if the attacker is exceptionally skilled or strong they can be defeated easily. When the user is not very compatible or looses his reason a black djinn forms. My friends and I fought one during the revolution in Balbadd. Their regenerative ability is high, they use every kind of possible magic."
Scheherazade frowned and straightened in her seat.
"One of my mages is there now as well, but he hasn't informed me about such things yet."
Argh, fail!
L-Lenka?
It's okay, guys.
"I know that because I came from another dimension. Let's say I read some fictional books and they prove to be true."
The Magi was silent for a few seconds, simply stared at the traveler and watched her Rukh which was somehow a very embarrassing feeling. Like, standing topless in front of her or in a plushy cat costume. Or having toilet paper on her boot without noticing.
"You're not telling everything you know."
And here we go...
"Everyone has things that are better left in the dark."
The young noble snorted again.
"Witty replies won't bring you anywhere, girl. Tell Lady Scheherazade what she wants to know."
Lenka shrugged and raised her hands with a shrug. What a stupid idiot.
"Well, I managed to get this far with witty replies as well as giving mysterious hints and explicit warnings, so why should I stop? Neither King Sinbad nor Princess Kougyoku had a problem with that habit of mine so maybe you are one of the few who has?
If you have a question you want to ask, ask. If you have a problem with my behaviour, blame it on my rebellious nature, not on the environment I grew up in. I am me, not the person others want me to be, and have proven this fact in more than one occasion."
During her little speech her body language and gestures changed, the facade she used to wear in her old life built up until it was no longer Lenka the traveler but Marlene-Karen Sensenmacher that stood before the Magi and her vessel users. Her expression was cool and royally superior, her stance refined and elegant, gray eyes like steel and ice pierced her counterparts.
Scheherazade examined the young woman again before speaking.
"Have you ever heard the term 'king vessel'?"
Lenka made a pained face and dropped the act.
"I have. A Magi can raise dungeons, and the people conquering this dungeons are the 'king candidates'. From this candidates the Magi eventually chooses a 'king vessel', a person he or she will fully support and convince to found a kingdom or empire which will have the support of the Magi as well."
The priestess nodded.
"I believe you are an ideal candidate for a king vessel. Confident, charismatic, convincing, caring. You are aware of your weaknesses and strengths."
"I might be, but there are even better candidates around for sure," the traveler waved the praise aside. Scheherazade's fingers thrummed on her staff.
"I want you to fight one of my vessel users."
Muu, Lenka and the young noble gasped in surprise, the old man raised his eyebrow. She quickly scanned the males for their Rukh and djinn and tried to remember what she knew from reading Magi. Muu had high destructive powers and was insanely fast, but couldn't use the full equip more than a few minutes or so. And the others...
The gramps has Purson, a water djinn, Gusion said.
Noted for further notice. I don't recall the younger battling the medium, maybe he hasn't mastered full equip yet. And then complaining about people not able to control their djinn. At least you are useful company.
Aww, Eligos cooed and gave her a mental hug, another strange sensation. You didn't have the physical feeling of someone hugging you, only the calming effect.
"Lady Scheherazade, pardon the question, but is this really necessary?" Muu asked with a frown. The young noble looked bothered by this question but his Rukh showed relief that he wasn't the one who had to ask. Git. The Magi nodded.
"It is. You may have to fight other metal vessel users in the future and this is my requirement for her to prove if she is worth my trust. Neither Kou nor Magnostadt will go easy on you."
Lenka frowned as well. This was a tricky situation Scheherazade had created, and according to the glint in her eyes she knew this as well. A trap. But during her travels she had overcome worse.
"I sparred with King Sinbad and his household during my stay in Sindria as well as two of my friends, I don't mind to train with others. But the more I think about your request the more uncomfortable I get. If I accept too easily you'll probably see me as blood-thirsty and dangerous, if I refuse as a coward. I have to reason aloud so that you won't misunderstand my intentions, if I wouldn't you'd assume that I'm a sneaky person who tries to get benefits from this situation, am I correct?"
Scheherazade ignored the angry huff of the noble and chuckled. Which caused the men to stare at her in confusion.
"More or less. Let's put it another way. Would you please train with my metal vessel users to give them an idea how it would be to fight another dungeon capturer from an enemy country?"
"If it ends in someone becoming a bloody jell-o pulp no, but if you can assure that no one will die then yes."
The petite chuckled again then stood up and canceled the shield with a wave of her staff.
"Ignatius, if you would lead us to the army's training ground."
Wait, right now? Lenka mentally yelped as the old man nodded and took the lead outside.
I guess she simply wants to see what you can do, Orobas mused.
Oh, Solomon. Magi are so straining.
… and your mouth is too big for your own good.
Grr.
Lenka was frowning again. The problem was not the huge grass field and not the roman-style wooden fort in which the soldiers used to live when they had no family in Remano, she could deal with that. The problem was the crowd that had gathered. Muu had to inform he corps and the fanalis had decided to accompany them, to the annoyance of the noble, who was in fact the son of the emperor, Nerva Julius Caluades, who had to bring his guardian escorts, plus Scheherazade's guards plus the approximately five hundred soldiers in the fort. Spectators who were were highly to get killed, yaay! Hopefully the Magi would shield them.
Don't chicken out, we'll do just fine, like we always do, Orobas grinned. His twin nodded in agree.
You went trough worse challenges.
Cough, perverted Magi brat, cough, Gusion murmured, but her black eyes glistened with mischief. Black was good, but if they turned yellow one had to run for cover. A mischievous seal-jackal djinn who told the truth was exactly what she needed now. But of course this was way better than a livid seal-jackal djinn.
"I don't really want them to watch," Lenka murmured. Muu who stood next to her smiled painfully and fiddled with the hilt of his metal vessel. Touching metal vessels to draw comfort or check if they were still there was a nervous habit probably every dungeon capturer developed somewhere along the way. She had seen Alibaba and Kougyoku doing the same, sometimes even Sinbad silently counting his djinn containers. And of course she was not a tad better.
"Me neither. I hope Myron and Lolo won't start a fight right here."
"And now I hope your sister won't attack me after I wipe the floor with you," she tried to joke. Muu raised a brow and grinned.
"Be careful, it might be the other way around."
"I don't think so. Oh, before we start fighting I want you to know that I have absolutely no exhibitionist tendencies. My djinn saved on cloth in the equips. Don't complain I didn't warn you."
He blinked surprised then his smile turned a bit embarrassed.
"I think this is standard for most djinn equips. Mine isn't really covering either."
Lenka faked a shudder.
"Trust me, I have experienced worse than you for sure."
She returned Miran's waving then looked at Scheherazade. The Magi seemed to have finished a barrier to keep the spectators safe and now waited for them to come over.
"You will fight Ignatius first," she said and nodded towards the old man.
Remember, he uses a water djinn, but everyone of us can deal with it. I control liquids, acid and gas, so you have free choice, Gusion said.
Maybe you can even show off 'that', Orias mused and Lenka nodded as well.
"I doubt we should use extreme magic."
"The barriers are strong enough to withstand several extreme attacks," the petite blonde told her. "You may change your djinn during the fight."
Why do I have the feeling that this is almost as suicidal as trying to stop a fight between Myron and Lolo?
Because it is.
Thanks, Gusion. I'm so confident in my skills now.
Take me first, Orobas cheered and jumped up and down.
"Okay, I try to keep the damage at a minimum."
"A fair fight," Ignatius said and started his incantation. Lenka hadn't even to say a word, the white flames covered her instantly and left her in the usual pervert equip with almost a mile of gold chains, very skimpy cloth stripes to attempt covering and the fiery stole. The familiar weight of the blue crystal saber in her right hand was as calming as the presence of her djinn. With a joyful laugh she jumped up to hover over the field, fresh air, blue skies above and the green grass below her. Seconds later the old man had turned into a trident-wielding merman and shot up to her. She smiled at him for a second then tried to stab his stomach. The wall of water he summoned started to boil as soon as the sword touched it, curved columns of flames chased him over the skies.
Lenka hummed happily and hurled fire balls at him, similar to Aladdin's that followed enemies and exploded.
He's on defense, she realized after a few more attacks. The old guy won't attack me because I'm a girl. Bad decision.
Bad decision, Orobas agreed. Fire prison?
Fire prison.
That trick really never got old, six pillars from different directions that fanned out and formed a cage that started to shrink just worked too well. And still Ignatius didn't fight back. Time for some verbal encouragement of some sorts.
"Come on, old man!" she yelled, "Do you Kou will spare you?! They don't need geezers to question, they rip you into shreds before you can even equip your djinn! Are you too rheumatic to fight back? Problems with haemorrhoids? Lumbago?"
A muscle in his face twitched then he changed his grip on the trident.
"Don't blame me, girl."
A white-glowing circle appeared over him, he was going to use his extreme magic. Lenka snorted and tugged at her magoi reserve. Her evocation field was at least five times largerr than Ignatius' and still grew bigger until she finished the chant in her head.
Now?
No.
Now? It's been almost two minutes. Why doesn't he use his extreme? This is so boring!
Because I would simply blow him away when he does.
We are so great. Hey, look at the geezer.
He started sweating, the veins on his face throbbed angrily. She grinned at him then yawned openly.
"I can keep on like this, you know? Four hours. I could have tea-time with scones while using the djinn equip, knit a scarf and lacquer my nails crazy pink, all while waiting for you to either attack or cancel everything."
Her gaze softened as she continued "I think you can stop now, we will continue training on another day for sure. This is enough."
The old man's eyes widened then he lowered the trident. The magic circle disappeared without a trace while he floated down to softly land on the grass and stopped the equipment. The traveler snickered amused and flew down as well to hover a few feet over the ground.
"Who's next?" she asked with a wide grin. Scheherazade nodded towards Muu.
"Then I have to change djinn."
Thanks, Orobas, she thought as the armor faded and left her way more covered.
Gusion, do we want to make a show?
I don't mind.
She quickly blew a kiss on the inside of inside of her right arm then smiled at her next victim who drew his gladius.
"Let's go.
Spirit of friendship and reconciles, cover my body, turn me into a great sorcerer! Gusion!"
"Spirit of hunting and nobility, I command thee, be clad in my body, turn me into a great djinn, Barbatos!"
Count the seconds.
Lenka bared her canines in a grin, her ears and whiskers twitched in anticipation as she faced the now dark-skinned Muu. His long hair had almost turned into a white mane and he wore even less clothes than she did in her fire equip.
Eligos spots eye candy, the djinn said and wiped the drool from her mouth before wriggling her eyebrows meaningful at the twins who instantly ran for cover.
Two, three...
Before she had even time to agree with her djinn or to enjoy the view she had to block his javelin with her lance, then a second, third, fourth time as they raced towards the sky. He was incredibly fast and tore a few of her weaker barriers into shreds like rice paper or cobwebs until she could raise a wall of diamond between them.
Eleven, twelve...
"Pentaprism!"
Muu growled as she used the crystal's surface to break the light – and thanked her physics teacher in the very second – and blinded him for a moment then almost teleported himself behind her to stake her. Gusion reacted even faster than the man and covered her queen without an order then shot several crystal spears at him.
Thanks.
Nineteen, twenty, twenty-one...
"Diamond falling spear!"
"Barbatos' javelin!"
Flashes of light, crashing sounds like the roar of thunder filled the sky as the different spells collided. Lenka thought that her attack would have neutralized his but she had way underestimated Barbatos' offensive power. In the split second she had left before the impact would turn her into crispy bits a name flashed through her mind.
Orias!
A black field the size of the arena opened in front of her and swallowed the strike completely. She hardly noticed the surprised screams from below as she was busy with snarling at him.
Thirty-four, thirty-five...
Now I'm pissed.
"Sulfuric cloud!"
The airspace around her turned yellow then rushed towards Muu who waited a second too long, the sour particles touched his feet and started to eat at the metallic-looking beast legs he possessed. His eyes widened terrified and he instantly dived towards the ground. Lenka saw his Rukh flutter like exhausted butterflies and called the mist back; she had won her second fight.
Muu's nose was bleeding as he took his normal form, a sign of the high toll his body paid every time he used Barbatos' powers for too long, but this was the only injury he seemed to have. Ignatius was a bit better, he wasn't as beat as the fanalis and his face slowly lost the red color. Scheherazade waited until Lenka canceled her equip before she spoke.
"You have used two djinn in the fight against Muu. This is something I've never heard or seen before."
"Orias is a supporting type but works best alone or together with his twin Orobas, or so he told me. I've never tried a combination equip before, it seemed too dangerous without sufficient medics around."
Hakuryuu will be able to use two djinn at the same time.
Because Belial is a really strange guy. Really strange. But we can do the same.
"Try it. I am able to use magic of the eight type easily."
Oh shit. Guys?
It could work, the thing we have talked about could as well.
Better just try the double equip.
The twins nodded in agree, Lenka opened the fastener of the golden necklace and took the golden jewel in her right hand then concentrated on her magoi and the presence of her djinn. Left side and right side.
I'll chant loud.
"Twin djinn of faithfulness, dignity and truth, unite your households again, cover my body, turn me into a great warrior, Orobas, Orias."
This was by far more exhausting than using one equip, she needed to fuse the different energies of her djinn and hers somehow to cover herself with that. White and blue, midnight blue and silver, the sky and clouds. Sky and clouds. She was a canvas and the sky and clouds, the blue, white and silver were the picture. Lenka felt the familiar tickle of her body changing and concentrated even more. Sky, clouds, canvas. Blue, white, silver.
A sudden pain caused her concentration to break and the implosion of the Rukh threw her back, the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth. Her field of vision was strangely blurred and rose-colored, the voices she heard were screaming or something like that, a high whistling noise filled her ears as if she had been dancing too long next to the speakers of her favorite club. Groggily she sat up and coughed while a big warm hand stabilized her back. Suddenly Miran's face appeared in front of her and a tissue was pressed to her nose.
"Lenka, are you hurt? Your eyes are bleeding and I think you hit your head pretty hard. How many fingers am I showing?"
"Twelve," she answered and started to wipe the blood away. "I'm joking, I see three fingers."
"I'm showing only two."
Lenka frowned and immediately regretted it as more blood trickled from her nose and her vision blurred again.
"Might be a concussion. That's not good."
A small and cool hand touched her forehead and Scheherazade looked at the other blonde.
"... you are not gravely injured but I recommend you staying at home for today. You shouldn't train tomorrow and recover your magoi."
"Sorry, this is all Eligos' fault. I wanted to ask Orias if he had some glue and opened the door and caused an explosion and hurt Lenky. Sorry."
"It's no big deal," Lenka said then stared at the blue djinn that hovered over her. "Er, what are you doing here? And why would you need glue? Since when did you have glue?"
"Eligos wanted to see if you are hurt badly because the LSS only sent snow," she cheerfully said and flapped her fairy wings, completely ignoring the surprised gasps of the people around. "So Eligos borrowed a bit of your Rukh and a bit of the power of the explosion and came out to look. And Eligos needed glue to finish an idea Eligos had. Eligos would have preferred rope, but well..."
"It's all because you opened the door. If a door is closed you should knock first and not break the lock to get inside," Orias gently scolded and patted Eligos' hair then smiled at Miran.
"Are you doing well?"
"I am, I'm following all of your and Orobas' directions!" the boy grinned. Gusion snorted and carefully patted his head with the tip of her flipper. Lenka almost cooed at the adorable picture in front of her. The djinn really cared for him.
"Those directions are a huge load of crap, except the staring part, this is almost plausible."
And they were teaching him bad words.
"They are not crappy!" Orobas complained and scowled at the other djinn then looked at the small fanalis for help.
"They helped until now, right? Did they? Please say they did, Miran, did they?"
Miran nodded serious.
"A bit, it confuses people a lot."
"You have to get bigger then it will work better. Continue to confuse them, I'll do the rest."
Lenka groaned and hid her face then looked up as the warm hand rubbed her spine encouragingly. Her mind seemed to freeze for a second. Why was Muu sitting next to her and since when was his hand on her back? A voice in the back of her head that was obviously the inner fangirl squealed happily something about not thinking about it, just enjoying this before the louder voice of reason screamed at her to stop being such a damn fangirl. She must have hit her head really, really hard.
"Your djinn are interesting, I never thought they could appear like this."
"They are feeding on her magoi. You must have exceptionally large reserves," Scheherazade said with a slight frown. The foreigner nodded then raised her voice.
"Guys, please postpone your 'Chase the suitors away from Lenka' club meeting, I'm getting really tired here!"
Gusion and Orias disappeared instantly while Eligos took her time to say good-bye to Miran and Orobas stared at Muu with an intensity that made the man shift uncomfortably.
"I don't approve of you."
"You approve no one. Shoo, back in your vessel," Lenka said and rolled her eyes - Orobas did the 'I'll be watching you' gesture in djinn version – with three fingers – before disappearing.
"Lord Solomon, I'm really cursed with those djinn."
"I like them, they are funny," Miran said and took her hand to pull her up with ease. She was surprised how strong he had become then realized that Muu helped him by lifting her.
"Er thanks. Whoa, my legs are feeling like pudding, all wobbly and such. And I don't really like pudding. Only whe it's Christmas."
"I'll bring the two of you home," Muu said earnest and exchanged a look with the Magi. Scheherazade nodded then touched Lenka's forehead with the tip of her staff which really didn't help with the growing headache.
"I hereby proclaim you as friend of the Reim empire and a king candidate of mine."
Ignatius nodded in agree while Nerva looked a bit deprecatingly. But maybe this was his normal expression.
"Don't let Judar hear that," the traveler warned with a lop-sided grin. "He's pissed already because I conquered two of Yunan's dungeons. If he knew where he lived he would freeze his house and turn everything in a radius of twenty miles into wasteland."
"Is that so?"
"He's Judar," the answer came with a shrug.
"And thank you very much. I'll give my best. Ah, by the way," she opened a hole in space and pulled a sealed scroll outside.
"Sinbad gave me this for you. He asked me to negotiate for a bit. I free-loaded for seven months at his palace and this is a better way to pay him than the alternative."
The Magi nodded slowly and took the letter in her small hand.
"I contact you when I want to talk with you in private. You seem to have uncommon knowledge about the way this world works and I'd like to hear a few more things from you, but not today. Muu, bring her to bed."
The man saluted and Miran smiled at Scheherazade; he was as big as her.
"Thank you, Miss Scheherazade. Have a nice day."
He raced over to the waiting corps to inform them about what happened as they were maybe, or rather hopefully, too far away to listen to the conversation.
"I can go on my own," Lenka protested and tried to get Muu's hand away from her waist, not an easy task because he had wrapped her other arm around his neck, as if her foot was broken and he tried to stabilize her. Even in her hazy state she noticed how gentle he treated her – and how close they were. Too close. In her struggle to free herself she stumbled over a rock and instantly she was pulled back against him again.
"Whoops. Watch your step, Lenka."
"It would be easier if you would just let me walk on my own."
She couldn't see but rather feel him grin and damn, why was this so similar to a setting in a cheesy romance story? At next Prince Charming would appear on his white horse and the birds would listen to her songs... this reminded her of Spartos and Pisti and a sudden feeling of sadness almost drowned Muu's reply.
"Lady Scheherazade asked me to bring you and Miran home and thus I'm doing so."
"You are so in love with her, Muu."
"Of course I love her, she's the one responsible for who I am now."
Lenka hummed in agree.
"That's a sweet thing to say. You should tell her. Ah, better not listen to me, I'm still a bit woozy but I'll train with you and your corps when I've slept a bit."
"Shall I sent someone to fetch Miran tomorrow?"
"I'm sure I' okay by then, but if you want to send your sister. I believe she's already attached to him."
Muu chuckled, glanced at the subject of their conversation to see if he was still there then back to Lenka.
"He's a good boy and very lucky to have someone like you to watch over him."
"I'm glad to have him as well. But don't knock before eight tomorrow."
"Have you no trust in my inner clock?"
"Not a tiny bit. Absolutely no trust."
Miran shook his head in pity as he followed them into the city. Adults. He would never act so strange when he was a grown up.
And cut! Chapter 19 done! *hands bottles with water to the characters*
I am absolutely stunned that I've managed to write this much. My parents tried to make me do household chores and I was like: more than eighty wonderful persons out in the world follow my story, they have waited since last Sunday for the new chapter! I have to write!
Somehow they were very understanding... because I cooked lunch.
And whoa, whoa whoa, six reviews for the last chapter? Hot damn you guys are absolutely awesome, the last chapter that had this many was chapter 4!
Here, have some cookies you cuties, Handara, Leilaneko, Miyutsuki-Hime *tries to feed you gluten-free cookies* and:
Nemeria: he he he... he. I have a plan and this plan involves the confusion of many people, a lot of angry screams and me running away fast. The next chapters will be hell for me and my mail account. And yeah, I saw that you found the reference to Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle in the extra in chapter 17. I love this work a lot. And Lenka should actually become an OC in a Tsubasa fanfic, but then I started reading Magi and needed a protagonist... and she said she would do the job... *pats Lenka on the head* :D huge revelation!
HeartPirate: Aw, stop it, you're making me blush :D And don't worry, he will come back. Judar will always come back... or so I hope. I need spoilers! Waah! *cough* Yeah, this manga will be the death of me. But I love it.
Anon: Thank you! So much! I hope I can find the time because university starts next week and maybe I will be getting a job, but the worst thing that will happen to Second Chance is the update rate slowing down to a chapter every two weeks.
Because I will drop the word limit from the next chapter on.
Always more than eight pages (ca 4,000 words) for you to read! My fingers will kill me but this is so worth it!
God, what a long AN. Sorry! I'm just so happy. *tries to bake more cookies to give them to everyone who followed and favorited*
Yours,
TheMultipleMeExperience