Hello everyone out there!
So Magi belongs to Shinobu Ohtaka, my OC to me, there might be references to this world, music etc, and spoilers for those who haven't read the manga this far.
A huge Thank you to Curlyfr13s for eliminating the spelling and grammar mistakes!
Even so, have a fun time reading!
Day 31 Talking about alliances
The field outside the crumbling Magnostadt walls was a bit scorched, but no one seemed to care. Kouen's face was a blank mask as he stared at Sinbad. The High King Of The Seven Seas smirked back at him. Both men were still covered with their respective djinn equip, as were the other dungeon capturers of the alliance surrounding them in a wide circle, with the Reim Soldiers at the right side of the imperial princes and princesses. Aladdin, Alibaba, Mor and Yamraiha were standing in front of them, a huge bird at their side, and Lenka was the connection between her adopted siblings and her friends from Kou. She was aware of the fact that she should be waiting next to Muu, Ignatius and Nerva, but the pleading glance of Kougyoku's had caused her to draw closer to the girl. The dark bruises and markings the overuse of the djinn equip had caused marred her pale skin and her half-brothers and cousin were in no better state. That was one of the reasons why Lenka herself still donned her armor, if one of the imbeciles were to attack her friends Orias would snatch them in seconds.
This is certainly awkward, the spirit stated. Lenka bit on the inside of her mouth and mentally nodded.
And complicated.
Stupid Kouen for not backing off of Magnostadt. The imperial army had not even moved a mile away from the magicians' city when the Medium appeared, but instead started to build their camp and watched their royalty do the job.
Frowning deeply she flicked her claws against the bicep rings, sending a sign through the ting ting ting that she was not in the least amused of the redhead's actions. Nor was Aladdin.
"Stop this! You promised to have your soldiers retreat, Uncle Kouen."
Be my uncle as well, or better, sugar daddy.
Hell no, Eligos!
There was a silent staring contest between the Alliance members and the Ren family until Kouen finally spoke up.
"No. Our original objective was this place, Magnostadt. I did not want to employ Kou's metal vessel users to fight only against Reim. It just happened that our opponent changed."
'Only' against Reim. Oh, that's rich. We would have had to fight against him since we were still indebted to Scheherazade at that time. And damn you, what was that all about me coming to Kou as ambassador!? Do you think so lowly of me and my efforts!, Lenka ranted inwardly while the small Magi started yelling again. Great. Just great. She could almost smell the testosterone permeating the air. Orias was absolutely right. They barely scraped past a major, devastating, absolutely sub-optimal catastrophe and now Kouen revealed he would have fought whoever was available. Sometimes she wished she was allowed to pound the bloody morons into the ground, but the political drama such actions would cause...
"Those from the Kou empire still have a Magi and another dungeon capturer left." Darius Leoxses, Knight King of Sasan said with a glance towards Sinbad while the King of Heliohapt, Armakan, nodded slowly.
"I wonder if you are hiding a trump card..."
"We don't know if you are not hiding a trump card either," countered Koumei and Hakuei narrowed her eyes and raised her fan. Sinbad continued to smirk while Lenka's ears twitched when a low hum filled the air. Kougyoku's eyes glazed over and she slowly turned towards her brother – and blinked when the spell broke as Yunan hit the King of Sindria on the head. Magi's staffs were terrible weapons.
"Hey, stop this."
Sinbad glowered at his attacker, who ignored his antics with practiced ease.
"Why are you fooling around like this, Sinbad? We took all these precautionary measures so you wouldn't end up in a fight against the Kou Empire... right, Morgiana?"
The fanalis girl nodded sharply and Alibaba glanced curious at her.
"What are you talking about?"
The Alliance dungeon capturers assembled next and behind their leader who crossed his arms while donning his trademark smirk.
"The Alliance Of The Seven Seas and the Reim Empire have formed an official confederation."
Aladdin and Alibaba yelped in surprise while Lenka tilted her head in agreement and slight anger. Inwardly she was imagining how nice he would look without his hair. Not very much at all.
I guess getting warped all over the world threw me out of the loop.
"Scheherazade made the decision before going into her last battle," Muu said with a frown, looking downcast at the same time and Solomon, why was she not standing next to him right now? Political reasons. Damn politics.
Sinbad raised his arms and took a few steps forward in an attempt of intimidation. Her djinn started to jeer and throw darts, knives, daggers and even shuriken throwing stars at a picture of the man.
"There is no power other than the Alliance that could influence the balance between Reim and Kou. That is why we allied with Reim. Do you understand what I am saying?"
Oh yes, that you are a giant dick, you scaly bastard, Orobas growled and aimed his next dart at the nose while Lenka clenched and unclenched her hands. He was a strategist, that Sinbad, and he had set up his pieces magnificently. Everything that had happened up until now and most that would happen in the future would benefit him and his allies.
"Furthermore, how could I leave the country that my general Yamraiha's father has governed until now I such a state? I want to use all the power I have available to restore Magnostadt to it's former glory."
"He intends to seize Magnostadt all for himself!" exclaimed Kouha in shock. The others were as surprised as he was, but tried to hide it. A colorful tirade in a mixture of French, German and English escaped Lenka, basically telling him where to shove his good will and a few physically impossible suggestions how he should do that. Yamraiha shot her an odd glance.
"Which language was that?"
"Be glad you don't know."
Kouen blinked slowly, his face a calm, blank mask again.
"Well, in that case..."
Suddenly he had Aladdin tugged in his free arm like a child would hold a teddy bear, much to the confusion of the onlookers.
"I will be taking this Magi with me."
An universal scream of disbelief shook the earth at Kouen's boldness, not only from Alibaba, Lenka and Yamraiha but from his own siblings as well. Sinbad furrowed his brows but remained silent, even when the actually red-haired but now snake-haired prince grinned – or smirked creepily, it was hard to discern – at Aladdin who started shivering in terror.
"You promised me, right? And didn't you too, Lenka?"
Instantly all eyes were on her – as well as a spike of killing intent washing over her from the Reim side, but directed at him – but she ignored their glares and shrugged.
"If I remember correctly, our agreement was if you helped us and had your army retreat we would tell you about our worlds. You didn't fulfill half of your agreement, so we can do the same."
Bitch please, yelled Orobas and flipped the man off who scowled at her while disregarding Alibaba's efforts to free his friend and Kouha's to hinder him in any way possible. Lenka shook her head with a sigh then raised her silver stick and flicked it through the air, creating a wide dark blue rip in the fabric of the world that closed after a few seconds. However, this action was enough to get the attention she needed from the other dungeon capturers.
"People, everything would be much easier if you stopped your bickering for maximum ten minutes and just listened. Seriously. First things first, every party wants Magnostadt, right?"
She looked at Muu, Kouen and Sinbad with a raised brow, waiting for them to nod in agreement.
"Then share it. Declare Magnostadt a neutral country and govern it through a council made up from representatives of the Alliance, Kou and Reim. They shall not fight against each other but form an union to re-build the city, the academy and technology. The three countries will be allowed to purchase the goods produced there, but the quantity will be limited. You may voice your interests through the representatives who will try to form a sufficient treaty.
You should compromise, and compromise means that not everyone gets fully what he wants, but a piece of the cake."
Lenka started to pace, six steps into the circle then back while shooting looks at the men and women around her.
"What you have seen now is the extent Al-Thamen will go to just to destroy us. They will turn innocent beings into Mediums for their sick goal of getting their god, their so called 'father' back. You have seen that you can defeat a Medium if you work together. You are stronger, can create better plans and more backup plans.
So why, why don't you get together and end the ones trying to destroy you!?
Kou is not your enemy, nor is Reim or the Alliance! They are!"
She was only seconds away from screaming at them in her anger, her determination to make them question their way of acting, and they knew. She saw it in their eyes.
"Al-Thamen is our enemy! You all know that, yet why don't you do a thing against them? I know you tried, Sinbad, don't interrupt me," Lenka waved her clawed hand at the man who had opened his mouth to speak, "but now, here, in this moment, we can change something. We, fourteen dungeon capturers, their households plus the white Magi have just defeated an opponent that no one had encountered before. We won. Because we worked together.
I know what you're thinking, nice idea Lenka, but that's idealistic naive dream, and will never work? Newsflash, people, it just did. We can't keep going on like this!"
"Lenka," Yunan said when she inhaled, "remember the set course of events. You have said too much already."
"Fuck this!" she snarled back and the floor cracked under the force of her rampant emotions. "Fuck the course of events. I was brought here to change things. I tried my best to do so while not to interfere with the future. It didn't work. We still have got a fallen Magi with nothing but his desire to see the world burn, a lost child on the way to depravity because he witnessed how his family was burned alive by the bloody witch queen Arba Gyokuen, who will sacrifice everything existing to see her 'father' again. And you, the leaders of the three strongest factions, you would be able to end all the useless fighting after one day of negotiations! Yet you do do nothing but plot against each other! And that's why Al-Thamen just showed us what they could do without active interference!
We wouldn't have seen tomorrow if Yunan hadn't convinced the Alliance to come!
I tried to do it inconspicuously, it didn't work and now I'm willing to re-invent the atomic bomb to get the job done! Because if they don't do it, and you don't do it, who else will do it?
One has to do the first step, and I am willing to do something. Who else is?"
She stared at them for a few more seconds before sighing and shaking her head, the silver chains of her djinn equip clinking together at the motion.
"I am so sick of it. Not just of my own bloody incompetence, but yours as well. All of you want to achieve a world where people can be happy. Equal, as far as this is compatible with the human mindset. You use different means to do so, means that contradict. The easiest way would be for the Alliance, Reim and Kou to make an alliance to get rid of Al-Thamen, but nooo, that would be too easy.
We have just lost a Magi, people, a Magi. A honest-to-Solomon Magi. And they? What did they loose? Not even a single black Rukh!
Just what stops you? What is it?"
The last sentences were uttered in such a low voice they had to strain their ears to understand Lenka who then sighed again and looked at the sky where the magicians of Magnostadt appeared in a swarm of brooms – or staffs – similar to bees, then landed. She stepped back to have them surrender peacefully, aware that some of the other dungeon capturers continued to watch her. Artemina of Artemyria seemed to smirk encouragingly at her for a moment.
Aladdin immediately ran to a small group with a tanned teenage boy crying his eyes out and another one holding a pale girl. Sphintus and Marga. So Titus was dead at the moment. Lenka wondered how long it would take the next Magi to re-appear in this world and looked up at the sky.
Her eyes widened hen she spotted a familiar white cloth that lowered its altitude when one of the passengers jumped down and a few seconds later Miran slammed into her with enough force to make her stumble a few steps back and gave her a hug so tight she was sure she heard her ribs crack in protest.
"Lenka! You're alive!"
She chuckled slightly and carefully ruffled his hair with her clawed fingers.
"Of course I am. As if something like this could kill me."
He nodded but refused to let go of her until she canceled Orias' djinn equip, glad that her legs carried her weight again, and held him an arm's length away to look for injuries. Using Foras' power she healed a few nasty looking gashes on his face and arm and was about to tell him she was finished when she heard an angry yell.
"You!"
Lenka waved lazily at Kang Shun Ra who stomped through the Reim soldiers, the flying scarf wrapped around one arm and her bow in the other; her fringe was sticking up in a way that showed that she had been a bit too close to a shock wave or an explosion, perhaps both.
"Hey there, Shura. Good to see you are alive as well."
"Fix it!"
The bow was almost shoved in her face and Lenka raised her brow at the weapon. Looked like a genuine household vessel to her, nothing wrong with that.
"I don't think I can. Oh, don't throw a tantrum here, I just helped to defeat the blob of doom and am not in the mood to put up with it. Lady Scheherazade is dead, I'm low on magoi and politics are a bloody nuisance."
She blushed bright red and tried crossing her arms, then decided the flying cloth had to be removed and tried throwing it at Miran. The scarf stayed in the air until Lenka pitied her, picked it up and wrapped it around her neck again.
"Thank you for protecting the citizens, both of you. I'm happy you are not seriously injured as well."
"Sure thing!" Miran grinned while Shun Ra blushed again and looked away.
"I didn't do it for you so no need to thank me... yeah..."
"I still do."
Watch out, dear.
Lenka turned around and her eyes narrowed when she saw Sinbad walking towards her. The man smiled friendly, still not having dropped his djinn equip, still attractive as hell, but his expression seemed to freeze when she didn't do as much as blink at him and only raised a brow.
"King Sinbad."
"Miss Lenka."
"So," she drawled, "do you need something? Or do you want to chat, for old time's sake? Since communication by letter didn't seem to work well on your part."
He flinched and flashes her a guilty smile.
"We seemed to have had several... issues regarding the exchange of information."
"What a nice way to put it. Tell me, did Ja'far proofread that letter you sent to Lady Scheherazade, regarding my... persona?"
The way he avoided eye-contact made it more than obvious that he hadn't. Lenka inhaled deeply, her fingers twitching with the urge to wrap around his neck and squeeze, or to slap him or punch his teeth out. And then she smiled at him. A wide, innocent smile that made him shiver with fear.
"That was the first and last time you screwed with my reputation among other nations, Sinbad," she informed him icily, pleased to see the tiniest glare on him. The crunch of debris under sandals caused her to look to the side at Ignatius Alexius, flanked by six soldiers of Reim. He nodded curtly and handed her a scroll and a note.
"Miss Lenka, Lady Scheherazade prepared this before the war. She believed you will see it as sufficient."
She smiled at him, scanned the note and smirked, then used Orias' power to pull a sealed letter into existence. Her smirk widened when she raised the two items to get the king's attention.
"Ja'far really hasn't read it? Then I have to change that. Orias, if you may?"
Scroll and letter disappear in a swirl of blue.
Ja'far's eyes narrowed at the message that had appeared from a black hole. The seal of Reim was proudly displayed on the scroll, but he could see the crest of Sindria next to it, the wax already broken. How peculiar. Instead he reached for the letter and opened it with one of his trusted wire-knives. His eyes narrowed even more at the familiar handwriting of Lenka. Smiling a little he continued to read but that smile dropped faster than a boulder in free fall before he hastily broke the wax on the scroll open and stood up fast enough to topple an hail of paper onto the floor.
Now he remembered just why this infuriating Magi of Al-Thamen and Kou continued to call Sinbad 'stupid king'. It was sad, but it suited him perfectly.
"Ja'far? I've got the books you wanted..." a nervous Sharrkan said from the doorstep. The ex-assassin wished he was there where his king was to kick his behind into next Tuesday. Instead he sighed gravely, handed the younger man the scroll and started an official decree prohibiting every shop, every stall, every tavern to sell Sinbad alcohol for the duration of three months after he returned from the eastern continent.
"Oh fuck," Sharrkan yelled at the missive.
"Exactly, and we just have achieved a treaty with Reim..." Ja'far really, really wanted to kill Sinbad, but the political backlash would be hell. Not to mention Reim's reaction to the letter...
"Oh fuck," gulped Sharrkan, realizing just what their king had done to them. And then:
"Does this decree count me in as well?"
Sinbad glared at Lenka, the air smelled like ozone and was heavy with energy. The horns of lightning on his head crackled ominously and his knuckles were white around the hilt of his sword, despite the green scales over them.
"Lenka. What have you done?" he growled while she felt the satisfaction and eagerness of her djinn bubble under her own skin.
"I sent your letter to Ja'far."
His eyes widened almost comically when she continued her explanation.
"I noticed that whatever I would do to you personally would have repercussions, so I did it indirectly. An eye for an eye."
"Reim cares for her allies," Ignatius said with an half-lidded glance at Sinbad who looked ready to explode in a shower of electric sparks. He was really vibrating with anger.
"I'm not going to say 'told you so', but don't forget Balbadd, and then Judar in Sindria. I like to do things unconventionally and if you still think you could do something against that..."
Lenka shrugged and smiled at the man.
"Well, I won't advise it."
We would want to see you suffer more, but the fact that all your household members will know by now, Kou knows, Reim knows and everyone who will ask us will know what an asshole you are, Foras cracked her knuckles.
Well, it's been nice to know you, stupid king. Adios, good reputation!
His eyes narrowed to angry slits but the impact of wood on skull interrupted them. Yunan clicked his tongue and shook his finger at them, his staff of punishment having found the favorite target yet again.
"Sinbad, what is this all about? Lenka is a dungeon capturer of Reim. Have you forgotten how hard we have worked to get the confederation with Reim? This is the second time today I have to remind you of that. Are you perhaps getting old? Your ears failing? There are some adept life magicians over here..."
"I'm not getting old!"
"Every person ages, Sinbad, but those who deny this fact are often the ones most ignorant of their weakening bodies."
A vein pulsed dangerously on the king's forehead.
"Yunan..."
The Magi blinked then calmly walked over to Lenka, grabbed her right arm and leaned against her.
"Safe zone."
"Let go! Yunan!" she hissed while Miran's death glare wandered from Sinbad, who exhaled in relief, to the new threat to his Lenka. The man blinked owlishly down at him then moved even closer to her.
"Wife mine, why is he staring at me like that?"
"I am not! Your! Wife!"
Suddenly she was the focus of everyone's attention, but the Magi didn't seem to care. At all.
"Aw. So cold," he whined and peered up at her face, eyes big and shining with unshed tears, lower lip quivering pitifully. The traveler didn't know how old he was, but perfecting this expression must have taken longer than than a lifetime. Her resolve started to waver so she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself by listening to Orobas' yelling.
"Yunan, We have had this discussion already. I am not married to you. I am not married to anyone. And that will not change. Do you understand?"
He pouted. Honest to Solomon pouted at her. Seriously, did every Magi have an adorable pouting face? Was it required for the job? She should check Titus' when he got better.
"I got you two dungeons."
"Judar did, too. And Lady Scheherazade as well. I am not married to them either."
"We would kill you or him first," Miran piped in, glare intensifying again.
"But this will be a lot easier, now that I've got an underling."
"Underling?"
Lenka looked around until she found Shun Ra, who looked less than amused and more embarrassed than she had her seen up until now. Gripping her household vessel tightly as if it was the rope that would get her out of the situation the girl shook her head then continued to stare wide-eyed at Sinbad, clearly amazed that she was this close to the High King of the Seven Seas. The blonde nodded in agreement then said:
"Have you even asked her about the underling thing? She doesn't seem to agree with you.
Well, back to the topic."
She glanced at Yunan who was still glued to her arm.
"Why would you even want to marry me?"
"A good question," Sinbad agreed, causing her to scowl at him.
"You shut up, you were the first to ask after all. Lord Ignatius, I think you missed your cue to leave several times already."
The man seemed to smile at her, enjoying her despair, but that was probably her imagination.
"I believe I am exactly where I should be, as you are currently negotiating with the King of Sindria and the esteemed Magi Yunan."
'Esteemed' my ass, Orobas scoffed.
Negotiating, as if, Foras agreed.
Lenka wanted to cry. Somehow things kept getting out of hand and she was not sure if she was being paid enough to keep up with it. It was time to change that. She sighed and rubbed her face with her free hand before talking again.
"Then let's get this done so I can focus on the funny things. Sinbad, we are going to behave like mature adults now. No lies, no dirty campaigns against the other, no more shady schemes. If you have a problem with me, then tell me so. I'll do the same.
Wait, we have had that conversation before, right?"
"You said something similar to Prince Nerva when you were introduced to Lady Scheherazade," Ignatius offered. She nodded slowly while fixating her eyes on Sinbad and held out her right hand.
"Do we have a deal?"
He stared at her for several more seconds before reaching out and taking her hand. And the smirk was back again as well, she noticed.
"Deal."
I still want to see him suffer.
Eligos too.
Do you think we can somehow get footage from Valefor? How he gets mauled by Ja'far?
Well, that would be extremely satisfying.
Orobas, Eligos and Ronové shared a devious grin. Lenka nodded again, let go of Sinbad's hand then looked at Yunan who was watching the exchange with a gentle smile.
"You could give me king candidate status. You'll be dragged into this mess either way, as Mor's teacher..."
"Ah, don't worry about me, Lenka," the Magi chuckled and let go of her arm, straightened his hat and started to float.
"I will look after my student now, to see if she has settled in with the fanalis corps..."
"Myron will love her to death," she joked then turned towards the men left with her.
"If you would excuse me now, I have to talk to the Kou faction. See you around, King Sinbad, Lord Ignatius."
She grabbed Shun Ra, who thankfully had snapped out of her staring, and dragged her over to the Ren family. Miran followed them, but not without a last glare to Sinbad. Kougyoku smiled shyly at her when Lenka stopped in front of Kouen. The man stopped listening to the murmured advices of his brother and raised a brow.
"What?"
"This is my latest household member, Kang Shun Ra," she introduced. The girl blushed bright red and bowed deeply. She would have cowered in front of him, but the hand on her arm prevented that.
"The problem is: Shun Ra is from Hang village on the Kanan plains. So she is a citizen of Kou."
"Indeed," Koumei agreed from behind his fan. Lenka smiled and raised a finger.
"But if she is my household member, doesn't she belong to me then?"
"What?" Shun Ra yelled then clasped her mouth shut, eyes darting embarrassed and fearfully to the two Kou princes. When they stared back down at her she flinched and hid behind Lenka, just to remember that she actually didn't like the blonde woman. In the end she decided that that point was irrelevant and she was safest where she was now.
Kouen smirked at Lenka and tilted his head towards the girl who shivered in response.
"She seems to like you. You can keep her."
"Eh!?"
"Aw, don't cry, Shura, we'll treat you nicely," chuckled Miran and reached up to smooth her hair down. The girl blushed bright red in response then tried to hit him with her bow. Lenka shook her head and grinned wryly at the men.
"Kids these days. So, when were you going to tell me that you really, really want Magnostadt for yourself?"
"He really, really wants Magnostadt for himself," Koumei responded with a yawn. Kouen scowled at him for the better part of a minute, realized that his brother had fallen asleep while standing and whacked him upside the head. Koumei woke with a startled gasp then started coughing due to choking in mid-snore.
Well, that was a whole new level of pathetic.
Shut it Ronové, you are not better, reprimanded Foras. The other djinn hid in a corner of the living room to sulk. Lenka sighed and shook her head before staring at the first prince.
"Inform me of such plans. Reim and Kou could have agreed on sharing governing rights over Magnostadt, but thanks to your display of being not able to compromise it fell to the Alliance. That was the reason I was visiting in the first place."
"I see," Kouen nodded.
"You don't," Lenka deadpanned.
"Or else you would have not done something as stupid as 'I didn't want to employ Kou's metal vessels only against Reim'.
I am an ambassador of Reim. I was at your capital to convince you not to fight against Reim. You still said you would fight against Reim. Clearly you didn't think this over."
He scowled at her now, clearly not agreeing with her way of showing him the errors of his way. Lenka glared back, raised her hand and poked him with her right index finger, Foras' ring glowing red.
"You plan on fighting Reim? Fine, I'll kick your ass into next Wednesday in a battle. One-on-one, we don't want to get the innocent involved. And don't you dare thinking you've seen everything I've got up my sleeve. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Koumei said and yanked his brother away from her finger of gender bender for a whispered conversation that no, he would not support a fight against Reim and no, he would not change his opinion and yes, that could have ended badly, with a capital B.
Kougyoku tip-toed to her friend's side, glanced at her arguing – or rather lecturing – brothers then at Lenka.
"Did you threaten him with the ring?"
"Only the ring?"
The princess sighed and hid her face behind her sleeve to rub her temples.
"I knew I should know better by now, but still."
"He had it coming," Lenka shrugged and smiled at the other.
"Are you feeling better?"
Kougyoku nodded and lowered her sleeves.
"A bit. I don't want to think about how much worse I would be if you didn't reminded me that the ocean was right under us."
The blonde started to grin. A difference from the set course of events. She hadn't even noticed.
"Hakuei didn't do a refill with all the wind?"
"No, she needs an actual storm for that. Brother Koumei and Brother Kouha had it even worse."
"Good thing I could share a bit of my magoi with them."
Miran skipped over to them, Shun Ra following him with a nervous blush that turned into a wide-eyed gape when the boy grinned cheekily at the eight imperial princess.
"Hey there, Miss Kougyoku! Are you all right?"
"A little tired. It was an eventful day," she admitted with a smile then reached out to pat his head. Shun Ra's jaw dropped a few more inches. Miran giggled, patted her sleeve back and blinked at his guardian.
"I want to go over to the fanalis corps. Can I? You should come over later as well. We haven't seen them since the dungeon conquest. You have some explaining to do," he smirked at her, waved and dashed away. Lenka gulped as she watched his small form disappear in the crowd then looked back at Kougyoku who raised her brows expectantly.
"Is your betrothed here? Where?"
"He's not... we are not... the fanalis dungeon capturer of Reim over there."
"I see," cooed the other and smothered a giggle in her sleeve then got back to business.
"Go and apologize for not sending him a letter."
Lenka stared incredulously at her.
"How do you you know?"
"I know you. Plus I have a spy with you."
"Miran?"
"Amongst others," Kougyoku admitted vaguely then glanced at Shun Ra, who blushed red and looked down immediately.
"A second household member?"
"And your brother allowed me to keep her."
"Brother Kouen can be very considerate."
"I wonder if my siblings admire me as much as you admire him," Lenka mused. They chatted a bit longer – Shun Ra was forced to tell them how she had activated her household vessel, which was done with much stuttering and blushing on her part – until the blonde had to squint against the light of the setting sun. Orange, red, peachy pink over the ocean that mirrored the sky and the dark blotches of the arriving airships...
Seems like we have got a Magi back, said Orias. She sighed and stretched her arms then looked at her companions.
"What a day. Anyone else thinking we should get paid for this hassle?"
"There is not enough money in the world to pay me for the horrors you put me through already," Shun Ra pouted and crossed her arms, blushed then paled when she remembered that she was in royal company and sent the princess a disbelieving look when Kougyoku giggled softly behind her sleeve.
"I am sure you will come to understand Lenka's behavior in the future. It is not that irrational, but rather..."
"Haphazard? Impulsive? Confusing? Immature?"
"Hey, I have a plan, it's you who take so long to understand it!"
… no, it is exactly like they said, Gusion nodded slowly.
We love you either way, Orobas added hastily. Ronové snickered from his sulking corner.
Suck up.
It's called survival instinct, something you are lacking greatly.
Eligos thinks the pot is calling the kettle back.
… indeed.
"The alliance forces are retreating already," Kougyoku said and watched several of the great birds take off but the other dungeon capturer shook her head.
"The majority will stay here to built Magnostadt anew."
"A shame."
Lenka snorted disbelievingly.
"haven't you heard your brother saying he would have attacked Reim forces? I would have had to fight that stubborn idiot."
"I know," Kougyoku sighed deeply then smiled at her friend.
"I don't think he would have started a war against Reim while you were allied with them. I saw you fighting today and I must admit, I wouldn't be able to face you in a battle. I don't fight my friends to defeat them."
"Aw."
She pulled the younger woman into a well-deserved hug.
"Cute. I don't want to fight against you either. And I'm still allied with Reim, so the possibility is still there."
"Koumei wants to buy your services with a province of the empire."
"He can try. I'm not giving in to bribe," she chuckled then used Foras' power to manipulate Kougyoku's cells to heal the damage done by over-using her djinn equip.
A commotion from the Reim side caught their attention. Lenka caught glimpses of gold, the excited flutter of the Rukh greeting a new Magi, and smiled at the joyful outburst when Aladdin, Sphintus and Marga greeted their friend.
Wait a second, guys. If he was dead, a skeleton, and is now back in flesh and blood, isn't he an undead? Eligos is confused...
The other djinn groaned then Gusion explained her why Titus was not an Undead but had been reborn, or reincarnated. Lenka chuckled at that then raised her brow at Kougyoku who poked her side to get her attention. The princess' eyes sparkled with mirth.
"I believe it's time you go back to the Reim side. Don't worry, I'll be fine with my brothers."
"Err..."
Lenka, go, Foras commanded with a low hiss while Kougyoku's eyes narrowed as well.
"You know, this is all for your good, right?"
And she reached up for her hairpin. Lenka yelped, nodded fast then walked over to where the new Magi was, her stomach cringing nervously.
Remember the plan, Foras hummed in the back of her mind then the djinn severed the connection between her and the spirits. Great. Now she was alone inside her head. Lenka really hadn't realized how much she was used to the bickering in the background. Now that she was closer to the children she could see that Aladdin was introducing his old friends to his new ones. Titus was hugging Marga tightly to him while the girl peeked up at Morgiana, who was looking back equally curious, Aladdin danced around Sphintus who was talking to Alibaba. Miran was there as well, standing next to Mor, grinning wide at the commotion. When he spotted her, his eyes wandered to Muu Alexius. The man stood close to the gaggle of children, observing his new Magi closely, almost as if he was a miracle. Which Titus certainly was.
Her stomach did another flip then dropped to her knees when he turned towards her. His eyes widened, then narrowed and he quickly walked up to Lenka, who was playing Rock, Paper, Scissors against herself whether or not to run away when he stopped in front of her.
"Where have you been?"
She blinked then rubbed the side of her ruby ring.
"Foras' dungeon transported me to the capital of Kou. I'm sorry I was not able to write a letter to explain things to you."
"You missed the war against Magnostadt," he continued, and her stomach dropped even lower.
"The next dungeon got me to Artemyria and Yunan took his time to get me back to the eastern continent. I was here since the first attack of the black djinn."
"The dungeon was more important than Reim?"
"No," Lenka growled, feeling her patience run out, "the fact that the dungeon was abducting innocent people was more important for me than to get here and kill more innocent people than I could save. I'm sorry," she repeated when his expression stayed the same, hard, unflinchingly. Cold. He shouldn't look at her like this. Lenka took a step back and exhaled slowly.
"Look, I can understand that you are angry with me-," she yelped in surprise when she was pulled into a tight embrace. Muu sighed and buried his face in her hair while his arms wrapped protectively around Lenka. As if he wanted to never let her go again.
"I was worried, you know?"
Lenka was sure her face was glowing a magnificent shade of cherry red in the dark, but nightfall and the bonfires did their best to cover that. She felt her shoulders relax and a warm flutter replacing the uneasiness she had felt before. Returning the hug she leaned against him, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"I missed you. You were under my care and then disappeared."
"I missed you too. I'm sorry."
His chuckle vibrated through his armor and one hand began to rub her back.
"How many times will you tell me you're sorry?"
"... I honestly have no idea, but that's nothing new, isn't it?"
"Indeed."
"Can you let me go? They are staring at us."
"I know."
"You don't care?" Lenka asked with a frown. The stares made her uneasy again.
"I don't."
Either way he took one step back to give her the chance to get the blush under control.
"Will you come to Reim after this is over?"
She nodded slowly and was rewarded with a wide, happy grin that brought a smile to her face as well. He still wanted her back, even though she had disappeared without a word.
"I think I will extend my contract, if Titus allows me to do so."
"I do, no worries," came the cheerful reply from a few meters away and the adults both flinched. Titus smiled at them, eyes sparkling with mirth and the wisdom of centuries.
"I'm glad you will continue to work with us in the future, Miss Lenka."
Aladdin beamed at her.
"I was surprised to hear that Titus knows you, it was really funny. I thought he was a girl at first," he admitted cheerfully. Lenka grinned down at the two Magi and cocked her head to the side.
"I heard the rumour he is, on the level of the Rukh anyways."
Titus shrugged then tugged his makeshift curtain dress back up.
"It doesn't really matter. I am me, Titus Alexius, second Magi of Reim. Nothing more, nothing less."
He blinked surprised.
"That was a very mature thing to say."
Marga giggled and hugged his midriff tightly.
"I'll stay with you either way."
Miran raised a brow and glanced hopeful at his guardian.
"Back to Remano?"
"Back we go."
The boy nodded gravely, but she could see that he was barely able to contain his joy.
"Good. No more running." He pointed at the adults.
"You and you, sort this out. I'll go and talk to Myron. I'll take it we are staying here for a few more days?"
"Not more than three," Titus said and scrunched his nose.
"I just remembered I left the paperwork unattended. Or rather, my mother did. This is actually quite confusing. I know what she did and what I did. Anyway," he looked at his dungeon capturers, "I feel fine now. Sphintus and Aladdin are here with me, they will take care of me if something happens."
Muu saluted with a smile then turned to Lenka.
"Shall we go?"
Lenka stared a few seconds at the hand he offered her then nodded and took it. The comfortable feeling was still there, despite the odd circumstances, and she thanked the logic of space, gravity and the rotation of planets that it was dark now. No one could see her red face being so red, it was all the fire's fault... Solomon this was awkward.
Stopping well outside the hearing range of the majority of normal humans she peered up at him.
"So, how do we do this? Do we continue from the point I left or start anew?"
Muu smiled at her and squeezed her fingers.
"That is yours to decide."
Lenka scowled then sighed and rubbed her temple with her free hand.
"You know I'm an idiot from another dimension with a mission from Solomon so... oh, fudge explaining things."
She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss.
Good girl, Foras murmured in the back of her head when they broke apart and she smiled warmly at him.
"I'll leave a note when I'm off to save the world again."
"How much time do I have until then?" he asked and placed his hands on her waist. Lenka shrugged and grinned happily, a myriad of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
"A few months I think."
Muu nodded in agreement and leaned down again.
"Then I have to plan accordingly."
"So we get to hold a wedding?" a voice asked from the sideline, causing Lenka to jump out of the embrace in shock. Apparently Miran had told the fanalis corps that their beloved captain and the blonde dungeon capturer were about to make up and out and of course they wanted to see them. Still that didn't explain the two child Magi, Alibaba, Sphinthus and Marga being dragged into this as well. The older teens were beet red, especially Shun Ra, who was in a choke hold, courtesy of Miran, who donned a shit-eating grin. Myron was holding her hands in front of Morgiana's eyes, grinning almost as wide as Lolo who gave Muu a thumbs up.
"Well done captain!"
"Aw, so cute."
You have very few options now, Foras said calmly.
Faint, laugh hysterically or hide your blushing face in his gorgeous hair.
Lenka took option four. Intimidation.
"You have exactly ten seconds to run before I start throwing fire balls at you."
Naturally they were fast enough to dodge them all. Damn fanalis reflexes.
Chaper 31 done! I feel like dancing right now. Virtal hugs and brownies to my amazing reviewers! To the wonderful persons who have favorited Second Chance, and the awesome followers. Best Presents ever.
The next chapter will be posted on March 27! Until then, stay happy and healthy and don't eat too much cake, because I know I will do tomorrow :D
Yours,
TheMultipleMeExperience