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 24: Meeting Foras
Lenka rubbed her temples and sighed. A lingering headache pained her since she had been possessed by Orobas, and the occasional pinches weren't exactly the best things to lighten her mood. And she needed a calm mind now, especially when she was traveling with not exactly the company she had wished for.
The nose-man was a git. Miran, Myron, Lolo and her djinn agreed with her on that in the first five minutes before the travel began while they were waiting for him to mount his horse. He was complaining that they would have to walk two day because of commoner's incompetence to buy a palanquin as traveling by horse was bad for the skin. Lolo had almost punched another hole in the man's face when he tried to advise him about the importance of dental hygiene and how unfashionable beards were this season.
The fanalis and Lenka would have reached the dungeon in mere hours, even without taking advantage of the blonde's flying device but they agreed on not using the cloth as they would have to share it with the nose-man. Muu's household vessel users were of course accompanying them for the dungeon conquering and they went nearly insane from hearing Publius Claudius Naso's constant rambling and annoyed to the point where they would try to maim each other at sight, much to Muu's uncomfortableness and the man's conviction that the Alexius' house was surely a place full of barbaric slaves.
In the end Lenka took Lolo on the flying cloth with her and Miran to prevent certain death for now while plotting how they could use the dungeon to do the job for them and to keep Muu's injuries at a minimum as he would always try to interfere. Of course this was not the best way to solve the problem because Naso was bullying him and Myron now but as Lolo eloquently stated:
"Better 'em than us. Hand me the wine, lad, I can hear his annoyin' brawling even up here. Even Myron's drunken singing sounds better than that."
"What did you say, Lolo?!"
"You should hear Lenka singing then. Now that's torture."
"Hey, what was that just now, you little devil? This screams for porridge for breakfast, you know?"
But he's right. You really can't sing.
"Gusion! Don't betray me!"
"Guys, behave, we like each other, you hear! Like! Myron, don't use your gauntlet!"
"Ah, really, these commoners and slaves don't know how to keep their acts together. If I was the head of the Alexius family..."
Luckily he isn't. Can I grill him? I'm sure I would be doing us all a favor, right, dearest?
No!
Conversations like these continued until the evening when the siblings came over to their side of the campfire to announce that they had convinced the other noble that they would behave for the time of their travel. Lenka had started to laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole thing, Miran raised both brows and imitated Alibaba's disbelieving stare and Lolo told them as much as he was indebted to Muu, this was absolutely impossible, even if he would have a whole battalion to massacre on his own and then a feast to celebrate his victory with the finest food and wine, his weight in gold, a life-long provision with alcohol, a statue on the forum and everything else he wished for on this world.
The travelers were very impressed after this statement.
To their utter relief they reached the dungeon the next midday, a tall building like an Aztec temple from her world, authentic with the plants growing on it and the long broken staircase to the top, yet it was really strange for it to be in the middle of a lavender field, corn flowers and cypress trees. Scheherazade seemed to have a weird sense of humor as well.
"So, do we have a plan?" Lenka asked her companions. The portal to the dungeon in front of them shone white and chirping Rukh fluttered lazily around the stones and the weed growing from the cracks. Naso snorted.
"The plan is to conquer the dungeon."
Muu on the other hand smiled at her and nodded.
"As you are the one who has most experience with dungeons, what would you recommend?"
"Time flows differently in dungeons, as you know. When we have passe the gate we will get transferred into the maze, so when you arrive do not move away from the starting point," she said then looked at everyone.
"The first one to pass the gate may not be the first one to arrive inside. The environment is freely set by the djinn and so no two dungeons are the same. We could get into a pit filled with blood-thirsty leeches or be confronted with our worst fears, or both at the same time."
"The djinn will test our value and determination and our worth as candidates," Muu added with another nod.
"Lolo, Miran and I are no candidates because we have become household vessels," said Myron and wrapped a strand of her hair around her finger.
"So you three are the only ones suitable."
"The djinn will choose either Lenka or Naso, as I have not enough magoi."
"And so it will be just me, as you have a djinn already," Naso said with a smug expression. Lenka hummed and shrugged.
"That was no criteria for Gusion, Orias or Eligos."
"Eligos chose Lenka over me," Miran piped in, causing Naso to stare awkwardly at the boy who was more than twenty years younger but had survived a dungeon already.
"Plan b is what?"
"If forcefully separated, make it to the treasury."
"Plan c and d?" the blonde asked with a grin, looked around again and sighed.
"C, if chaos ensues, such as an enemy attack, try to control yourself and get into cover. Plan d, if one of us falls into depravity..."
"Better hope it won't happen. So then, are we prepared enough?"
"I'm ready, brother," confirmed Myron, Lolo grunted and let his neck crack, Miran took Lenka's hand who checked her metal vessels one last time before she smiled at Muu.
"See you on the other side."
And then she entered the dungeon. The familiar swirl of colors engulfed her until she found herself floating in the red pillar hat connected the world and Alma Toran. Lenka felt a wave of excitement rush through her – and Miran's small fingers slipping away. The startled cry never passed her lips because the same moment she was pulled towards the dungeon.
Her feet hit the floor and Lenka stumbled a bit to keep her balance then looked around.
"Miran!"
She was in a small round chamber, the familiar eight-pointed star was carved in the tiles and a closed wooden door led into the next room.
Orobas, can you sense him?
Faintly, he seems to be here, too, but I can't say anything concrete.
"Okay, then we'll go with plan b," Lenka murmured and pushed the door handle. The room she entered now was big, grass and beautiful flowers grew in tastefully arrangements, large boulders were scattered around and the walls were blue and speckled with white doors. The air smelled sweet like cotton candy and honeysuckle.
"Fudge."
She pulled at the handle of the door that led to the prep room and managed to snap it off just before the doorway rose from the ground and mingled with the others high up while a new one appeared in front of her. Now she was efficiently trapped. Biting on the inside of her cheek she turned to the vastness again and spotted a glint of red and gold in the distance then raced towards it.
Myron was standing on a boulder but quickly jumped down when she saw her.
"Myron! Glad to have found you."
"Dear brother, why did take you so long?"
Lenka stopped in mid-step and looked around in confusion.
"Muu? Where?"
Myron tilted her head, her gaze turning stern then raised her fists.
"So you're not my brother then. Perish."
Lenka evaded the blow to her face by dropping to the floor and rolling behind a boulder which cracked into small pieces at the impact of a kick.
"Myron, it's me, Lenka! Use your nose!"
Orias, is she seeing an illusion?
Probably, induced by the smell of the flowers.
"Okay, don't use your nose, Orias says the smell causes hallucinations!"
"Nonsense!" the woman snarled and the floor rippled under her feet, grass, decapitated flowers and pebbles flew into the air. Lenka scowled, sneezed and dodged like crazy as the next attacks came faster than one could scream a particular curseword.
"Ask me a question, something only Lenka could know!"
Myron landed gracefully atop of another rock and stared down on the traveler before she held her nose. At least she accepted suggestions.
"What were the reasons for you to leave Sindria?"
"Judar dragged me into a dungeon after proclaiming war with Kou and Sinbad was being just a giant dickhead!"
"You talked with my mother about?"
"Your brother because I'm absolutely confused of him right now! Where is he, by the way?"
The other closed an eye and squinted the other.
"Ah, now I can see you, albeit a bit blurred. It's really the smell that makes me hallucinate. Why aren't you affected?"
"Orias is doing his best to keep my vision normal. There is a flicker around your waist, probably the illusion's doing."
"I understand," she answered nasally and climbed down to the blonde.
"Now that we have found each other, should we look out for the others?"
Lenka nodded.
"Let's jump on a few rocks. Should I carry you so that you won't breathe in the stuff again?"
"I'm fine."
To prove her statement Myron jumped back onto the rock then gestured her to follow. Hopping from boulder to boulder they proceeded further into the dungeon, always on guard of unnatural things. The Rukh were pulsating like the heartbeat of a living being, or rather the bass of a foreign tune that made the traveler jump with the rhythm after listening for a few minutes then humming. The fanalis raised a brow.
"Your singing is as terrible as Miran said."
"I can't hear your criticism, My, I'm dancing."
"I can see that, even with only one eye and the other almost shut," Myron murmured and looked around, searching for another member of their party.
"What is the use of all these doors?"
"One of them will take us on the right path, the others to painful death," Lenka answered cheerily then stopped and tilted her head.
"Do you hear someone screaming? I do."
"I don't."
She seemed to be alarmed that she as fanalis didn't hear what a normal person could hear, but then Lenka was not really the definition of a normal person to begin with.
Orobas, can you feel Miran?
The djinn shook his head.
I believe he's walking further into the dungeon. Does Myron know which one it is? We know the other djinn after all.
The Alexius shook her head as Lenka asked her.
"Maybe my brother knows the name of the dungeon, but we have to find him first."
"Oh great. Let's take a quick break, okay? To plan our next steps."
Myron nodded then changed the eye she was searching with.
"Look, there is someone," she said after a few seconds and pointed on a figure in the distance. The blonde frowned then reached a water bottle to the other.
"Shall I fire a signal?"
"Better not, I can't make out who it is, or what," answered the fanalis and handed the bottle back which disappeared in a small black hole. They decided to move a bit closer to the target, using the boulders as cover. The frown on Lenka's face deepened with every rock they proceed and she gripped the hilt of her sword tighter. Somehow this situation made her uncomfortable to an extend where she would rather activate her djinn equip than to sneak around. She glanced at Myron who stopped a few seconds later and started to smile.
"It's brother!" she said and Lenka noticed that she wasn't holding her nose and was thus breathing the hallucinogenic again! Quickly she turned back to the person they were approaching and froze.
Something grotesque, a creature that reminded her of a leech walking with several pairs of spider legs, mandibles and feelers, on which almost fist-sized snail eyes were located. It gleamed oily and mucus was dripping to the ground, leaving a trail of slime after it, a low coo came from the mouth that was filled with small teeth like glass shards.
And Myron was running straight towards the monster.
"Diamond spears!" Lenka yelled and the leech was pierced with several crystalline missiles, causing it to shriek in agony before it cramped together and it's back burst open. Guts and other unmentionable substances splattered the grass and to her utter horror several white larvae landed between the flowers as well and wriggled their way towards the humans.
"Orobas!"
A burst of flames shot up around the carcass, the grub shrieked as the fire devoured them, a piercing sound that made her stomach rise.
Myron suddenly sneezed, blinked, rubbed her eyes as if she was waking from a dream and yelped at the sight in front of her then turned to Lenka who was busy vomiting against a boulder.
"What in Solomon's holy name was that?"
The blonde shook her head and pulled the water bottle out of the black hole to rinse her mouth.
"Dungeon beast," she said after spitting on the floor. Myron grimaced at the burning cadaver.
"And I was thinking it was my brother? Just what place is this dungeon?"
"As you said, a dungeon."
"I hope this blaze won't lure more of them, but I doubt that."
"How comes that you are back to normal?" Lenka asked and drew her sword if there were more monsters to appear. Myron sneezed again.
"The stench of the burning carcass is filling my nose and thus makes me unable to smell the hallucinogenic."
Lenka made a sound of agree then squinted her eyes as something moved to her left.
"Oh fudge, it's the Nose-man."
"Really? What a pity. I hoped he was the one you had heard screaming."
"I did, too," she agreed and watched the man getting closer.
"Camilla! Dearest Camilla, star of my sleepless nights, sun that shines during the day, what are you doing in a place like this unhomely dungeon!" he cried and walked towards a Myron that looked like she was ready to rip his head off if he really was going to hug her or kiss the back of her hand or simply continue to talk like this than sneezed and rubbed his eyes.
"Oh, it's you. Just what is smelling this bad?"
"The creature Lenka killed," the fanalis answered with a face of disgust. Naso was apparently thinking her revulsion was directed to the leech or Lenka, but not at him, and thus nodded wisely.
"Commoners have rough ways of deposing of small matters."
That's true, I want to roughly dispose of you, too, Orobas mused.
Though I'm not a commoner. Lenka, are you a commoner?
No. You know I'm not a commoner.
Loud she said:
"Let's stay alerted, there might be more of the leechiders around. The monsters. Leech-spiders," as the others continued to stare at her in bewilderment. Lenka sighed and rubbed her temples.
Orobas?
Miran's getting closer.
Good.
Time crept by slowly. At some point Myron started to stretch her arms, then he legs then combed her hair with her fingers in boredom. Naso did similar things, he searched his clothes for dirt stains and rips. To his utter horror he found some. Lenka started to count the doors that passed her vision like white rectangle clouds until she lost track of it then pulled her hair up into a pony tail. The fire still hadn't died down and the white and blue flickering chased the shadows away, the smell of burning chitin and the dungeon grass was sickening sweet and yet bitter and heavy, like burned sugar and horseradish, but it prevented the others from having hallucinations. She didn't really want to get hugged by Naso.
A familiar patter and a screeching sound caused them to jump up as Miran raced towards them, wide-eyed and pale like a ghost, followed by pure horror: three leech monsters and a mixture of a sea urchin and a cricket, in the worst possible way, plus tentacles. When he spotted the three by the fire he stopped, apparently he was under the influence of the hallucinogenic but had realized that there was something wrong with the air and that everything he was seeing might be an illusion. He inhaled deeply then screamed:
"Orobas told me what it means to be perverted!"
"I'll spank that djinn so hard he won't be sitting for the next year!" Lenka yelled and raced past him to attack the cricket with her unbreakable sword. She hacked the monstrosity's legs off and forced the blade through the chitin plates covering the stomach, careful not to impale herself on the spikes dripping with poison, turned it around then disemboweled it, causing yellowish blood and guts to spill over the floor. But this was still not enough, the beast shot some of the thorns at her which she blocked with ease then sliced it in halves and ignited it to be triple sure it was dead.
"Corrupting Miran! How dare he!?"
Myron joined the fight with a well-placed kick that crushed one of the leeches, grabbed it by the mandibles and threw it into the other. Their spider legs entangled so they couldn't crawl away in different directions. Her gauntlet started to glow and when she punched forwards a projectile of light shot through the monsters, ripped them apart and crashed into the dungeon wall. The ground shook so that the shreds, larvae and corpses landing bounced up again before a wall of fire waltzed over them like an avalanche while the Rukh chirped and fluttered around in a frenzy.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Myron! That was totally awesome!" Lenka cheered and high-fived the other. Miran grinned wide and raced over to hug both of them.
"I knew it would work with the right Lenka. A-choo! Solomon, what are those? Eww..."
Someone landed with a loud thump on a boulder to tower over them.
"What the hell is this? Not one Myron, but four?" Lolo said with a frown.
It took them quite some time to convince him that there was only one Myron and the others were Lenka, Miran and Naso under an illusion only he could see, but finally he descended to look at the poorly remains of the monsters.
"So I saw Myron. What did you see?" he asked and scratched his beard then turned from a smoldering piece to his companions.
"My brother," Myron answered while Miran rubbed his brass knuckles in his palms.
"Lenka, but after I got out of the starting room I met three of her so I realized that it had to be an illusion so I came up with the questioning."
"Clever," the blonde said and hugged him affectionately.
"Orias tore the illusion apart before it could even affect me, so I don't know. If we move away from the fire to find Muu I could ask him to stop for a minute so I can see what it is."
"Where is Captain by the way?"
"We have yet to encounter him again," said Myron with a sigh and brushed grass from the hem of her dress.
"Try to find a door that will us lead outside or a Toran table with inscriptions and I'll go searching for him, I got the cloth," Lenka suggested. Naso tried to say something against it but she continued, "Your eyes are better than mine, you can spot the odd one easier than my. Ah, by the way, the one with the missing handle was the one where I came from."
She waved then jumped on the flying device to hover over the surface. The dungeon room was really big, maybe the size of Remano or even bigger so she closed her eyes to rely on the Rukh sight. Finding someone with their help was always a bit tricky; Magi were easy as the glowing birds were rushing towards them, like lighthouses. People with much magoi like Sinbad and magicians were easy, too, as their radiance was strong as well. Normal people with less magoi and fanalis were a bit tricky, she had to listen closely to the chirping, reach out to touch the birds once in a while until she found the right ones.
The Rukh led her to the walls on a site with particularly many boulders where Muu was standing in the middle of pink and white flowers, sword drawn at the monsters in front of him. He wasn't attacking, simply staring at them, confused and desperate on what to do. Lenka took that decision for him and landed on one of the leeches, forcing her katana through it's back and split the skull in a quick move and jumped from the body to face the next enemy while setting the other on fire with a flick of her wrist.
"Muu, there is a hallucinogenic in the air, don't breathe trough your nose!"
"Lady Scheherazade..." he murmured while staring disbelievingly at the corpse. She growled then finished off a second leech and was about to dispose of the last one when the fanalis rushed past her to make leech kebob. Lenka sighed and pulled a rag out of her bag to clean her blade before sheathing it then walked over to Muu who was still busy stabbing the monster.
"It's dead already, I don't think it needs acupuncture therapy now."
"They took the form of Lady Scheherazade. They must be punished."
"Don't waste your time on things already dead, unless they're zombies, but then I'd recommend crushing their heads and burning them afterwards. And walking skeletons are easier to dispose of, but what if we meet a ghost? Or a lich? Whoa, the worst we could meet would be a ringwraith! A Nazgûl would be more than bad. It would be badass."
He looked up and tilted his head.
"You look like Lady Scheherazade, too but I know she would never talk this much about dead things being 'badass'. So you must be Lenka, even though your voice is the same as Scheherazade's."
"Sniff at the burning body to clean your nose, Muu."
He did and sneezed as they others had before him then blinked at her and smiled.
"Nice to see you again. Where are the others?"
"Waiting for us to come back. You were the last one missing," she said and waved the cloth which had waited in the air down for them to climb on and sit down. Lenka quickly explained what they had found out about the dungeon up until now then added:
"I'm trying to find out what djinn it is. Do you perhaps know the name of the dungeon?"
"Sadly I don't," Muu shook his head then laced his fingers and sighed.
"I can't get rid of the image of me killing Lady Scheherazade."
"You killed a monster hiding under the illusion of Scheherazade," she corrected and patted his shoulder.
"Don't forget that she's back in Remano in her palace, waiting for us to come back."
Muu smiled then leaned over to peck her cheek.
"I know. Thanks, Lenka."
She blinked then started to grin sheepishly, assuming her face had a nice pink tint now.
"So you're up to what? Conquest?"
"I have to convince certain djinn on the way, but yes. Conquest."
"Oh Solomon."
She was relieved that they reached the others the same moment or else... and they had found the right way to the treasury. Sadly Naso still hadn't been eaten.
Two and a half rooms filled with hungry leech-spiders and urchin-crickets and hairy humming balls with big yellowish teeth, six chasms from which the hungry screams of monsters sounded up to them and a riddle which was so stupid that Lolo and Myron had simply broken down the door to get into the next chamber later Lenka was still hoping for that to happen.
"Somehow this dungeon is trying to kill us," she told Muu and beheaded a leech. He nodded cheerily and gutted a monster that looked like a guppy with goat legs.
"Barbatos' was worse. I lost count of how many times I almost died."
"Only Gusion's was actually worth being called dungeon," continued the blonde and turned a fur ball into a pincushion with the djinn's power.
"And maybe Eligos'. Orias was more mentally straining. Orobas forgot to feed his monsters and they died."
"Seriously?"
He disposed of another cricket and the intestines spilled over the floor. As if it wasn't slippery enough with slime already. Lenka nodded and looked around quickly to make sure that Miran hadn't been injured and was still giving a fur ball serious ass-kicking then charged the next monster.
"Maybe you should tie your hair together, it get's rather yucky now with all the guts flying around. You'd look great with a pony tail."
Rawr, Eligos purred and made a clawing gesture which sent Orias into hiding mode behind the fridge to armor himself with a broomstick.
"How can you hold up a decent conversation in a situation like this?" Naso yelled from the sidelines then hid behind another rock. Somehow the djinn had a soft spot for huge rocks and creepy monsters. The logical consequence would be creepy boulder monsters now. The two dungeon capturers ignored him and continued their killing spree, chatting happily.
"I might try if this continues. How about we go celebrating after the conquest? Anything you want to eat?"
"Fish and chips. I miss fish and chips really bad. Hey, shall we try to see who can drink most? I almost won against Sinbad, but I'm sure he cheated. Bloody stupid king."
"That sounds good to me."
Eligos hopes this will involve drunken fumbling.
"Ah, young love..."
The last monsters disappeared in a cloud of dust as the djinn of the dungeon started speaking and the party looked around to find a huge wooden door under an arch in which something was carved in. Lenka frowned and waved Miran towards her. The voice was deep for a woman but high for a man, exactly in the neutral middle where she couldn't decide if the djinn was male or female, even when a low chuckle resounded in the room.
"Only the pure ones will pass through the gate. The others... let's say that I have something for them. You are a funny group. Maybe you will survive. Now, pure ones, walk on."
"Miran, the djinn means you. I'll catch up later."
He nodded and grabbed the bronze door handle and left. Myron frowned.
"So what are the criteria to be regarded pure? Pure-blood?"
She reached out to follow Miran but the handle disappeared under her fingers. Lenka frowned as well.
"I'm not in the least pure, I'll stay with you, My."
"So you have involved yourself in indecent actions, shame over you" Naso cackled and left the room. The four persons left stared at the door in surprise and horror.
"A male virgin he is?" Lenka said slowly and Yoda-esque. Lolo started to laugh while Muu turned to his sister, his eyes widened in horror.
"Myron?"
The Alexius blushed then stubbornly crossed her arms and glowered at him.
"So what if I'm not pure? It wasn't that big of a deal either way."
Muu placed his hands on her shoulders, going into full big brother mode.
"Tell me, what is his name? What does he do to earn a living? Did he at least propose to you?!"
Lenka turned to Lolo and started to grin at him as he tried to look innocently but failed as she mouthed 'caught red-handed'.
"Did you at least propose to Lenka?"
Muu and Lenka flinched guiltily but the djinn interrupted them through moving the door further away and creating a huge space between them and the exit. The blonde felt something like a cold touch on her shoulder and gaped at the dice game board appearing on the floor. She gulped and stared at the colorful tiles.
"I fear terrible things will happen in this room."
"Nah, not really terrible. Please put away your weapons and decide on the first one to throw the dices."
The dungeon capturers sheathed their swords then looked at the other two.
"I will start," Muu said and a cup with dices and a blue glass plate appeared in front of him.
"Five. Oh dear," the djinn cackled in joy.
"You're not allowed to throw the dices in the next round."
"What kind of game is this?" he murmured while Lolo threw next and proceeded three fields. The djinn made a ka-ching sound and clapped.
"You have invented a new drug that saves people from getting bald. One fortune cookie for you! You can open them to get a new event if the one you're going into is not to your liking."
"This is similar to cheating, isn't it?" Myron mused and walked her two.
"Prettify! This dress will look lovely on you!" the djinn hummed and suddenly Myron wore a dark green, sleeveless mermaid-style robe, long gloves and a matching shawl, her hair done in an elegant chignon. She raised her hands then the hem to look at the shoes.
"Why are the heels so high?"
"Because they are high heels. And blondie takes the lead when trowing a six. And what do we have here?"
The djinn started chuckling and again Lenka felt the cold sensation of someone standing behind her.
"Oh, interesting. May I borrow your friend's appearance for the game?"
She spun around to see a red-haired girl with a ring lip piercing floating in the air, dressed in a tartan skirt, knee socks and a black top. Fake Micaela grinned wide and raised a Magical Girl staff, or to be precise, Sailor Moon's Magical girl staff.
"Now to your field's event! More clothes-changing!"
Lenka looked down to find the baggy pants, blouse and vest replaced with black leggins, a pink long-sleeved tunic, brown leather belt and a leather jacket and almost impossibly high ankle boots in purple to complete the outfit.
"Now this is not the worst combination I've been wearing up until now," she said approvingly then turned around to look at Muu and gasped in surprise as the djinn had changed his clothes as well. Jeans. He was wearing jeans. The djinn was a freaking genius. Jeans and a white button-down shirt and black leather slippers. The first two buttons were open to show his toned body and the sleeves were rolled up as well. Where was her camera?
"Smartphone! Ahh, no power left, God, why do you have to torture me this much!?" Lenka wailed and shook the device before violently tossing it back into the black hole and turning to the startled man, a familiar gleam in her gray eyes.
"I so want to make out with you now."
"Ew," Myron said with a shudder.
Miran sighed and looked at the wooden door, playing with the brass knuckles and the thought of breaking it into splinters to get Lenka out.
"I really wonder what they are doing in there."
"I don't want to know," Naso said and scratched his nose.
"Kill the pinata!"
Lolo did happily and munched the candy while watching the others suffer.
"Hold a speech about the importance of proper dental hygiene!"
"My teeth are perfect," Myron grinned.
"Have tea with a bunch of suitors!"
"I hate this dungeon," Lenka murmured behind her cup.
"Cook pancakes for your hubby!"
"Me too," Muu agreed and tried not to burn the illusion of a kitchen.
"I don't even have a hubby and the mental picture of me having one is scarring. Oh, too salty again."
"Knit a scarf for your beloved!"
[Scene censored by the djinn of the dungeon due to Lolo's violent curses and the attempt to stab the host with the needles.]
"Tell the others your biggest mistake in life!"
"Going with you on this dungeon conquest."
"We understand you."
"Aw, I love you too. Double event! Girls, dance a waltz!"
"Tamm damm damm, tamm damm damm..."
"At least Lenka knows what the djinn wants us to do."
"Answer three embarrassing questions!"
"Damn."
"A wild Pikachú appears!"
"Don't kill Pikachú!" Lenka yelled at Lolo who was staring at the adorable yellow beast in confusion.
"Spaghetti eating contest!"
"Nurse cosplay!"
"Couple Event! Guys, braid each others hair!"
"Vader is Luke's father!"
Noooo, don't spoiler me, Orias wailed.
"Chippendales!"
Hell, YES, Eligos drooled.
… this is wrong on so many levels it's devastating, Gusion murmured and covered her eyes.
Who wants join me in therapy?
"Serenade your husband to be!"
"Couple event! Fanalis girl, give the guy with the wide grin a massage!"
"Perverted dresses! Solomon, I hadn't had this much fun in ages!"
All djinn raised their hands.
Six utterly embarrassing and disturbing rounds later Myron and Lolo had passed all trials and left the room. Lenka only needed one field to reach the goal but had spent the last fortune cookie already to escape a pole-dancing session and now it was Muu's turn. As soon as he stopped on her
tile the illusion of a hill at night appeared around them, completely with starry sky and occasional cicada chirping. Fake Micaela grinned the grin Lenka feared on Real Micaela's face more than anything else in both worlds. Judar could learn a lot from her.
"This is the last task, I'll let you proceed after this. Ready?"
"I excuse myself for everything I'll be doing to get out of here," Lenka said to Muu.
"You take the words out of my mouth."
"Hey, it's not that bad. Okay, it is."
"Fudge."
Fake Micaela cleared her throat.
"Make out passionately and give the other a hickey in the process. By the way, you won't get out of the space until you're done. Have fun!"
She disappeared with an evil cackle a plop and left two stunned dungeon capturers on a hill at night under a starry sky with no one but themselves and illusionary cicada.
"Have I told you I absolutely loathe this dungeon?" said Lenka after a few seconds of relatively silence. Muu nodded slowly then ruffled his hair with a sigh.
"I bet dinner that the djinn is watching us."
"That is not a bet I can accept because the answer is definitely yes."
"So... we are going to make out?"
"Unless you want to stay here forever, we do. This falls under the category emergency, and I can live perfectly with snogging in emergencies," Lenka shrugged then wrapped her arms around his neck. Muu smiled and placed his hands on her hips.
"If you want to see it like that..."
"You are actually enjoying this, are you?"
"Hm-hm," he smiled and brushed his lips over hers.
Miran and Naso had been bored to an extend where they had started to talk normally and came to the conclusion that they didn't like each other and thus had waited on different sides of the room. Myron and Lolo had joined Miran's side and were playing I spy with him, much to the annoyance of Naso as most of their jokes were making fun of him. All four of them jumped up when Lenka and Muu were pushed through the door, the illusion around them fell so that they were wearing their normal clothes again, albeit looking a bit breathless and flushed and with forming bruises on their necks.
"Sorry it took us so long, the game wouldn't stop."
"I miss my first dress," Myron said and cackled at the others' disbelieving stares and stood up.
"Kidding. Let's go! I'm done with this dungeon."
She kicked Lolo's side but the man grabbed her foot and pulled so she fell down again.
"Hey, be nice to each other, we have suffered enough already," Muu said weakly and scooped his sister from the floor and placed her a few meters further down the room. Lenka took Miran's hands and pulled him up into a hug.
"Hey, little devil. Tired?"
"Yep. And bored."
"I think we get to the treasury soon."
"I hope that, or else I will dig my way through the floor," he said with a scowl at the tiles then glared at Muu, freed himself from the hug to poke him in the side.
"I can guess what you did and we are not amused."
Lenka facepalmed in horror.
"Orobas! Miran! Are you for real?"
"Apparently I am," shrugged the boy and skipped down towards the next door.
"Everyone ready?"
Lolo's laugh rumbled like thunder when he followed Miran.
"Show me what you've learned, lad."
He nodded and broke the door out of the wall with a swift kick. Myron clapped sarcastic and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes, Lolo, teach Miran how to become a brute like you. So not cool."
"I am annoyed, so I kick doors," the answer came with an adorable blink that caused Myron to melt. Lenka giggled and shook her head while Muu smiled in relief.
"Whoa, look at that, boss!" Lolo hollered and pointed into the next chamber then stepped in first. The others followed and stared in disbelief at the sandy floor of the room. Naso was the first one to speak.
"Just what is so impressive? It's sand."
"It's not simply sand," the fanalis said with a wide grin and threw the broken door into the room. The wood landed on the sand then got swallowed by the grains and disappeared.
"It's quicksand."
The dungeon capturers exchanged glances and Lenka was about to pull off her flying cloth when a bubbling giggle filled the hall and Fake Micaela floated through the ceiling, wearing nothing but a sloppily knotted white bath robe.
"Sorry, little dears, but those tools don't work in here. You have to walk. There is a path through the sand, you simply have to find it. If you miss your step you will get sucked into a chamber in which you'd rather not land, I promise."
"Don't abuse my best friend's face!" the blonde yelled, causing the djinn to cackle like an evil witch.
"So I shall wear yours? No, better..."
The body flickered and morphed and suddenly Lenka was staring at herself. Or rather, the male version of herself. The eyes were the same, but the jawline was stronger and the nose a bit pointier, the shoulders broader and the muscles more sculptured. Her twin would have looked like that.
"Is this form to your liking? I like it."
Myron muttered something she couldn't really understand, but Lolo looked at her disbelievingly. Muu reached out and touched Lenka's arm as she had started to shiver.
"Lenka..."
"Stop that," the high voice of Miran piped in. He was glaring at the djinn who cocked his head in confusion and tugged the robe apart to show well-toned abdominal and pectoral muscles.
"So what's your problem with this gorgeous appearance?"
"You're stopping our progress. I don't like that."
His glare hardened and the brass knuckles he was wearing started to glow white, the Rukh began to chirp and flutter in excitement. Fake Male Lenka snickered and leaned back in the air, arms crossed behind his head.
"So what, brat? Can't you see I'm busy mocking your companion?"
Miran moved fast. One moment he was standing in front of Lenka the next his small fist connected with the djinn's stomach and crushed him into the floor.
"NO ONE MAKES FUN OF LENKA!"
A white and blue explosion sent a shock wave through the chamber, so blinding that she had to shield her eyes, and even then it was still too bright. When she finally opened them again the sand had turned into glass and Miran was balancing on the djinn's belly. His hands were covered in white flames, forming the long claws of a beast with their flickering light.
"Household Vessel: White Paws," he snarled and grinned devilishly then yelped as the opponent disappeared with a poof!
STRIKE! Orobas cheered, blinked and ran away screaming when the other djinn glared at him murderously. Eligos instantly followed, swinging a metal baseball bat - just where did she get this stuff? - and yelling insults at him for stealing cutie Miran away from her. Lenka on the other hand jumped onto the glass floor and skidded over to the boy to hug him tightly and examine his hands.
"Fantastic! Whoa! Those are cool! Owch."
"Let me take a look, too," Myron demanded and pranced to them.
"Looks good to me, but you should stop now before you pass out."
He nodded, concentrated and the flames died down slowly. Miran grinned and raised his hands to examine the brass knuckles that had appeared again.
"Awesome."
"See what's even more awesome!" Lolo exclaimed and opened the next door.
"An empty city!"
After wandering through the Necropolis for almost thirty minutes or so Lenka guessed the six finally they entered the treasury and started searching for the djinn container. Naso was disappointed that the room only contained pottery instead of gold and jewels and continued to nag until Muu found a lance with the star symbol and touched it. The nose-ter promptly hid behind Lolo's broad frame when the djinn appeared in a blinding flash, and filled the room with smoke before it formed a woman that looked like her skin had once been the smooth bark of a tree. Flowers were woven in her liana hair that was tugged back behind her ears from which very big and sparkly earrings hung. The nose was flat, almost like Voldemort's from the Harry Potter movies thought the traveler with a smile, but her Bambi eyes and full lips made up for that lack. And as many other djinn this one followed the principle of 'clothes? Pff, who needs clothes, bitch' and wore only a skirt, several piercings, necklaces and the floaty stole almost every djinn had.
It's Foras! Orobas cheered and wiped drool away. Eligos cheered as well, Gusion started to grin – really frightening – and Orias hugged a pillow for defense.
Foras is similar to you, Lenka, in the way that she likes to taunt people, he said then disappeared behind the sofa.
"Welcome, you who have conquered the dungeon. I am Foras, the thirty-first djinn of Solomon, spirit of lost treasure and discoveries. From the six of you...," she pouted at Miran, Lolo and Myron, "three are household vessels. What a shame."
Foras tilted her head, the liana rustled slightly, and looked closer at Muu then smiled playfully.
"You are the contractor of that hunk Barbatos already."
He nodded, not taking his eyes off the spirit.
"I am."
"A pity you don't have more magoi. I quite like him. Has got nice abs and personality and a really cute grin. And a faible for playing tag. The next..." she pointed on Naso who straightened himself under her gaze then stepped forward.
What a dimwit, Orias sighed and Eligos nodded in agree.
Fory will so not choose him.
And really, Foras' excited smile fell and she stared at him with an awkward expression.
"... is a clear no-go. What's up with you people, didn't you find a hottie with enough magoi to come with you on the conquest? This is an insult to me! I deserve some eye-candy after being locked up for so long for Solomon's sake!"
"I am what?" 'this' roared indignantly while Lolo and Miran started to snicker and Muu covered his amusement with a cough. Even Myron looked to the side to hide her grin. Foras looked like she had seen one of her leech monsters suddenly starting to fart pink glitter and wear a tutu, a mixture of disgust and amusement.
"I said you're a clear no-go. You're greedy, dimwitted, scrawny and egocentric, a clear no-go."
… ha ha, said Gusion and Lenka had to bite on the inside of her cheek to choke her laughter, especially when Foras continued her explanation.
"I can make men witty, but only to a certain extend, and manipulate the cells of beings, but someone like you would need three of me to achieve something. This makes me remember one of my former queens, a very vain person, to be honest. She wanted eternal life and beauty and tried to use my power to achieve this. You all can guess what happened, right?"
"Her magoi ran out," Muu said with another nod. The djinn fluttered her lashes at him and cupped her cheek with one hand while the other held the elbow, a pose that caused her ample breasts to get squished together. Eligos whacked a drooling Orobas on the head.
Don't get so worked up over nipple piercings! Small breasts are better than those jugs anyway! Right, Len- oh, I forgot, you are one of them. Where is Leraje when you need her?
"Exactly, and when she saw the blood running from her nose she used my power to heal the wound that wasn't really there, thus caused her nose to bleed even more, and then her eyes started as well and then her intestines began to melt... and minutes later she realized what she had been doing, but then it was too late for her to call the palace healer and I was rather free again."
"And the morale of the story is what?" Naso asked, causing her to stare at him as if he had said that yes, he liked to wear frilly dresses and orange lipstick and to eat kittens on toast, but only with soda, not with coke or else he had to cough on the fur.
"The morale is that I won't choose you," Foras deadpanned and turned towards Lenka, blinked surprised then grinned wide and leaned down so that she could look at her more closely.
"Now I see some familiar faces! It's the twins! Eligos and Gusion are there, too! Hey, my dears, how've you been in the last centuries?"
"Rather well," Lenka answered for them and tried not to stare too openly at Foras' boobs which were pressed against the floor now as the djinn crossed her arms on the ground, her backside sticking into the air. So that was only a skirt on the front... and a string with metal beads in the back. Kinky.
"I see. Now you don't look that bad either, bombshell. That is some fine ass you got about us chicks teaming up for a funny travel?"
"Excuse me, what did you say? I was busy admiring your pretty face. I don't see many girls this beautiful in those days. They are all missing the certain spark, you know, the one that makes them truly unique?"
Now she knew what Orias had meant. A female pervert. Thanks to her bold answers Foras blushed a bit then blinked at her under lowered lids.
"I like girls with attitude. Even more than male eye-candy. I think the two of us will have much fun in the future."
Then her gaze turned earnest, almost piercing.
"Orobas may have given you back your faith in yourself, Gusion reconciled you with your past, Orias might have made you even more dignified and Eligos helped when achieving favors, but I," she smiled and fierce determination appeared in her green eyes, "I will give you the power to never loose someone again and to discover what it is that you truly desire.
Do we have a deal?"
Lenka nodded and stretched her hand out.
"You bet."
"Wait a second!" Naso interrupted, looking angered and shocked at the djinn who stared back in confusion, as the other persons in the treasury did.
"Just why do you think of choosing her!"
"Bad idea," Muu muttered as a fine wrinkle appeared between Foras' brows.
"I am clearly more qualified! I have connections! Great wealth! A noble lineage that reaches back for centuries! Gifted and knowledgeable! Why would a djinn choose a mere commoner, a simple traveler when there is someone like me available?"
The room was silent for a few seconds then Foras started to laugh, a deep, almost smoky laugh that surely had catched the attention of many guys in her past life.
"Oh Solomon, are you for sure? I would have never guessed that the male ignorance and ego could be as huge."
"You have to meet King Sinbad and Judar the black Magi then. Their egos only rival their desire for power."
Foras giggled then wiped tears from all three eyes, inhaled deeply and shook her head in pity.
"First reason I chose her: as Orobas just told me she has Magi lusting after her. And not just one."
Everyone except Miran choked as he knew thanks to Orobas about Judar and Aladdin, and the ground under Muu's feet cracked. Lenka shivered and rubbed her arms under the sudden chill.
"Damn that chatty djinn. I won't say they lust. They are interested."
"And as Orobas just said she has several royal accomplices. And she has in the hots for one of the red-heads."
"..."
"Kougyoku is a girl!" she said with a glance at Muu who didn't look very happy with the way this talk took. Foras grinned wide and wriggled her brows.
"I was not talking about her, my dear."
"Did you know that Orobas is very happy to see you again?"
I'm not!
You're drooling in joy, three voices said in unison, Foras blushed bright pink and looked to the side.
"Point for you. So, the second reason I choose her: she's clever. Educated. Has manners. Can hold up a decent conversation with me. Unlike you," she said and pointed with a long nail on Naso whose face reddened until he resembled a furious tomato with a paler nose.
"I am-"
"Blah blah blah. Third is, as I already said, boobs and booty."
"Why do I think I'm in a comedy show?" Lenka murmured as Lolo roared with laughter, causing Myron to smack his head, which led to a silent headlock-match until Muu interfered, a slight blush on his face. Miran sighed in agree and patted her arm then snickered at Naso who looked like he had swallowed his tongue.
"I like them as much as I like hot men, but the interaction with the guys is better if you have a female conqueror. So many thing you can do... I must confess that I have slight voyeuristic tendencies."
Oh Solomon, am I as much a pervert as her?
Eligos is and Orobas is as well and Orias is a closet pervert too. Don't worry, we can all be friends.
Eyyy!
I'm not a closet pervert! I'm not perverted at all! He is the one with a stack of perverted pictures! And she has even worse!
…
… no, I don't want to know how you got them.
"Yeah, well, before I drift into reminiscence of my past peeping adventures I give you a few more reason: she is noble as well, has better connections, more magoi and is rich beyond comparison. And her aptitude is not even a matter for discussion, as she could charm Gusion, a djinn even his Highness Solomon had his problems with."
Gusion raised her flippers as if she had won a prize then bowed for a clapping Eligos.
… thanks, my fans.
I believe I will be going mad someday because of you guys.
Many great minds were somehow mad, look at Foras.
That is very helpful, Gusion. Not.
"This babe is clever, caring, helpful, busty, brave, bubbly and furious, qualities I appreciate in my chosen ones. And to boot every other out she has a task given to her by Him himself, a destiny or so to speak.
Go play with your toy soldiers, this is a field where only the best can win."
Foras clapped her hands and beamed at the fanalis and her new contractor.
"So, why don't you go and pack the treasure, hmm? I've spent way too long down here!"
They packed as much treasure as they could carry, which was almost everything collected in the vast hall, then the djinn shrank a few sizes to take a close look at the ring Lenka wore on her right index finger and grinned mischievously at her.
"I take this one. Rings are quite handy, you won't have to put them off when things get a bit more heated."
"Could you try to distract Orobas not that much please? I need his powers to toast people."
Foras grinned dirty and rose up again.
"Are you finally done collecting stuff? No? Well, doesn't matter. Off we go!"
The teleporting circle appeared under their feet, glowing brightly and the dungeon shrank away as the djinn vanished into the red jewel on Lenka's finger. A second later she could hear the happy, terrified and enthusiastic shouting of her djinn when Foras entered the room in the back of her mind and jumped her ex-boyfriend who was very likely to become her toy again in no time. The blonde shook her head with an amused grin then smiled wide at Muu who was sitting down next to her and took her hand.
"Orobas and Orias just figured out that they are a minority now."
The sun was high up but aside from the giant rectangle hole in the ground there was no sign that the dungeon of Foras had ever existed. And another thing, or rather, being was missing as well. Actally two. Muu felt his stomach churn with anxiety and growing anger as he scanned the pit, the two huge bags of treasure down at the bottom and the landscape for what felt like the fifteenth time in a quarter of the minutes.
"Where the hell are you, Lenka?"
*Bangs head against the desk* Hell yes, finally halfway through the story! And now I have some good and some bad news.
Second Chance will be on hiatus next Sunday, November 15 and continue on 11-22-15.
Life is really busy at the moment and I'll have very little time to write in the upcoming week with important stuff coming up. And 8,000 + word long chapters (12-15 pages) don't write themselves over night...
Now the good news: the story has 100 followers! *squeals in delight and throws sweets*
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so very very much!
I'm working on a Christmas present for you. Some might already know but I can draw. Pretty well. And there will be so much to do for me.
I still accept requests for extras per review or PM. Call me a workaholic but I love this stuff.
And now to the guest reviewers! Get your cookies over there, they are waiting.
Guest who reviewed on Nov 1(did you review twice? Thank you :)): Good choice of torture instrument. You can do great things to the eyes with a spork. Great things. Eligos approves of your choice.
Gadget boy: Thank you very much :D I fear I have become addicted to reviews. They are worse than chocolate, but at least you won't get fat, only depressed when there are no new ones. And don't worry about Sinbad *pats the book with the storyline* I'll get this covered.
Kankri: Of course I have to mention Lenka's friend, she misses her a lot at the moment. And don't worry, they [omitted because of being a major spoiler, please don't hurt me]. Okay?
Nemeria: Please get an account or else the answers I want to write for you or want to write for you will get longer than the chapters :3
Lenka carried her past issues around for a very long time without telling someone as she feared their reactions more than anything else. The break-down was necessary for her to round the thing off, accept her past and to start anew. I'm glad it made her more human in your eyes, I always fear she's becoming a Mary Sue. Those are evil.
Eligos meant the one who poisoned Lenka, Inara, who has serious mental problems and is maybe a tad closer to insanity than Judar. Which is completely lunatic.
Don't worry, Gusion is going to find you. She's being promoted to minor god at the moment.
Miran! Best decision ever. I so want a brother like him and Orobas. Their interaction is priceless.
The twins and Barbatos: Orias was more or less indifferent as he was more a nerd than a battle-freak like his brother. Orobas and Barbatos had more of a manly friendship mixed with competition for the attention of the girls.
Choice of weapon: I'll look it up. This is going to be fun. Maybe I'll play deus ex machina and teleport you there to get a piece of him.
Family moments and wedding: there will be more, even though it doesn't look like that at the moment. And there will be fluff. And now I have to stop or else the spoilers will spoil the fun.
Haunting me: I always wanted a pet ghost to spy for me.
Halloween: I'm not very religious but I like graveyards. The tranquility is very inspiring.
And off we go! See you again on Nov 22! Thanks for your support!
I'm searching for a beta as I'm still not that good with grammar despite studying English, please PM me if you are interested!
Yours,
TheMultipleMeExperience