Chapter 22: You're not Serket

Emiline's View

I saw it all: the cute quotes, the holding of hands, and even the closest attempt to a kiss. But all of it was ruined by that lady on that carpet. Wait a minute! I see a black bird perching on the hook of her left claw.

"Magi, I know you're here," she said as she stared at me.

Surprised, I decided to reveal myself. I used light magic to hide myself and made the effects fade away. I floated behind Ramses and Leila and looked at this stranger.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I said to the lady.

"You've been stalking us?!" the two lovebirds shouted at me.

"Er... uhhh" I was sweating slightly and had an awkward smile.

"Hey! I'm right here, and I still have to answer your questions, ya bunch of retards!" Serket said.

She put a thumb on her breast and smiled.

"I am Serket Brishika, that's the only thing you should know," she replied. She raised her right claw and began to chant.

"Spirit of Dominion and Treachery, let your flames of betrayal coat me and grant me massive power. Come, Marchosias!"

A pitch black flame that glowed an eerie blue engulfed her right hand and soon engulfed her whole body. The pillar of flame consumed her and when it cleared up, revealed her Djinn Equip.

She resembled a black wolf with a blue fade at the tip. Her knuckles protruded much more sharper and hooked claws that resembled wolf claws. On her torso, she wore a tight sleeveless black coat with fur on her collar. The zipper of the jacket stopped by the middle part of her breasts, revealing her major cleavage. The black fur on her back collar sprouted black wings. She wore extremely short black shorts with black knee-length heels that have blue fur. Her hair has become much spikier and points more downward and she has gained short black ears with some blue at the tip. Her eyes have turned navy blue.

Talk about major fanservice.

"Ramadan Sinn," she clenched her right fist and bent her arm inward, summoning a large sword of black flames that glowed with the same eerie blue aura.

"What the hell is going on?!" Leila said in panic.

"Run away, Leila, leave her to us," I said as I walked beside Ramses.

I grabbed my Magic Carpet from my shirt and tossed it into the air. It flew in front of Leila and she hitched on it. She looked at Ramses with a concerned look and looked away as the magic carpet flew away from the scene. I stared back at this mysterious King Vessel.

"If you want to fight us, then we're going to have to fight somewhere else," I said to her.

"I don't really ca-"

Her answer was interrupted by a fully Djinn Equipped Ramses tackling her with Lykos. He pushed her far into the desert and I followed him. His push was stopped when Serket kicked him away from her. All three of us was floating in the middle of the desert, looking at our opponents sternly.

"Serket, whatever has happened to you, I'm going to find out right now!"

"..."

He lunged forward with a stab with his sword, but was dodged with a simple lean backwards. She twirled her body and threw a kick at his back, but was parried by his orange blade. Despite using the sharp edge, her leg remained slightly scratched. She outstretched her palm and shooting out three thin ropes of black flames. Ramses ducked, dodging the flame pillars with ease and threw a palm strike at her belly. Her wings absorbed the attack and managed to survive his wind powered palm. She leaned backwards and did a quick split kick when she was upside down, shooting out black blades of fire from her legs. Ramses was knocked back from the flames but managed to recover from the knock back.

"Alright, Lykos, let's do it,"

He hopped off of the wolf and both the wolf and swordsman shot toward her with an alarming speed. Both man and wolf started to flurry her with slashes from tooth, claw, and sword, managing to guard them with quick hands. I quickly flew behind her and pointed my staff at her back and fired a concentrated bolt of Strength Magic. Seeing this, she quickly planted her left hand on the air as if she was standing on ground and did a quick spin kick engulfed in flames that forced us to back away from her. After a full 360 rotation, she leaned her legs forward as she flipped backwards and did a pinwheel kick with black flame blades protruding out of her feet. I used my Borg to block the slash and Ramses managed to dodge the vertical slice by flying backward. Now, the lady was facing me and fired a black ball of flame at me, which I dodged quickly. I quickly shone my staff and used Light Magic on her eyes. She threw her left claw toward me. She missed, hitting my afterimage created by my light magic.

"Zorf Seisella!" I shouted, creating black chains from my staff to restrict her. Using strength magic to hold her, she had difficulty struggling.

"Ramadan Infigar!" she said with a mischievous smile.

A pillar of black flames erupted from underneath her, destroying my chains with intense flames. She looked at Ramses and taunted him with a beckoning gesture.

"Well then, what will you do now, Ramses?" she said with a smile.

Suddenly, something brutally slashed her from behind. It came from Lykos. She dropped toward the ground, too hurt to recover. I quickly summoned a many black chains to restrain her whole body.

"Ramses, now!"

He hitched on Lykos and the wolf opened his mouth, charging a powerful wind blast. He pointed his sword at her and charged his weapon.

"Take this! Altair Saiqa!" the twin tornadoes quickly consumed her. The wind was so strong, my hair and robe were violently swinging by the wind. I covered my eyes to prevent any sand from entering my eyes. A small sandstorm formed around the tornado.

After a few minutes, the sandstorm subsided, leaving a somewhat unharmed silhouette of Serket. My eyes widened from her new form. She now wore a white gown with a sort of dove motif. Her hair has become blonde and her eyes become cyan. Her skin was now ivory, which complimented her her white corset dress that resembled a gothic lolita with a short skirt. Short wings formed from her forearms.

"I'd like to thank you for that Magoi, Ramses," she said with a smile. Ramses's eyes expressed sudden surprise from seeing her fully healthy from that attack.

Ramses seemed to show some signs of exhaustion. I quickly flew to him and created some wind from my staff and poured it into his sword. Ramses was now back in full shape and was ready to fight.

"Damn Magi, you should have dated her instead... Nah, you should have been dating me!" she demanded.

"Where the hell have you been the past 10 years?" Ramses shouted back.

Ramses's View

Seriously, we were childhood friends, but how come she appears to me 10 years after with 2 Metal Vessels?! The look on her eyes, they don't show the happy and excited girl I liked to thieve many years ago. When my parents died, she was also kidnapped.

"Ramses..." she said softly. She flew up to me until she was close,"I'm so sorry for leaving you. I can't tell you the truth about what happened,"

She put a hand on my shoulder. She looked at me with a calm smile which turned malicious in seconds. Suddenly, I felt a large pain on my left side. I felt like I was getting... drained.

"What are you doing?!" I held my sword and quickly sliced away her arm. Much to my surprise, her arm was cut off from my blade and she didn't seem to react.

"Y-y-you're..."

A small gust of wind pushed her arm back and she grabbed it with her left hand. Casually, she connected the severed parts together, causing it to recover quickly.

"You're a zombie?!" Emiline said, surprised from her inhumane feat.

She grinned, showing her teeth. She quickly disappeared in black flames and appeared in front of her. Emiline threw her staff at her, covering it in a purple aura, but she simply grabbed it with her arm. Emiline was now in pain, feeling her Magoi getting drained.

"I need more of that Life Energy, Anima!" she said to Emiline.

Not wanting her to just continue draining my friend, I flew up to her and sliced off her arm that held Emiline's staff. The flow was disrupted and she reverted back due to the separation of her Metal Vessel with her body. Not wanting her to absorb any wind attacks, Lykos chomped her body and tossed her away.

I grabbed her severed arm and brutally shredded it with multiple slashes done in quick succession. I grabbed the claw with one hand. Even if I can't see myself being able to kill her, she doesn't feel like the Serket I knew before. She might not even be the same Serket.

"What has gotten into you, Serket? How did you survive?"

Right now, she was floating in the air as Stolas. She sighed and clenched her fist.

"How come you were invited to the Amun-Ras? You're a dirty thief like me!" she said with anger,"Why couldn't you stay with me? I never died, you just left me and forgot all about me when you were going to the Royal Household!"

"How did you become a zombie then?"

She looked away from me with an emotionless face. The moonlight, now recently risen has darkened her features, leaving a dull blue shade around her.

"After a year, my parents and I nearly died from a starvation, but then a mysterious magician by the name of Noctis saved my parents and "showed me a bridge between life and death". I eventually succumbed to my starvation for the lives of my parents, but I became a zombie through Noctis's magic."

My pupils dilated as I saw red strands of blood materialize into an arm. She grinned and laughed silently as it recovered.

"Of course, I'm a zombie like your friend, but I had 10 years of getting used to in this form, and 10 years as a King Vessel with both Djinn."

She instantly flew toward me at fast speed and threw her left claw at me, causing me to block it with my sword. Out of nowhere, her right hand quickly punched my face. She grabbed her right claw with her right hand and equipped it in less than a second. I quickly turned around and cut her diagonally with my sword, but she instantly regenerated the severed midsection. Lykos headbutted forward, knocking away my former childhood friend.

"Serket, I don't want to hurt you any further, I don't see any reason in this fight,"

"Go ahead and hurt me as much as you want, I can't feel any pain," she said with a grin.

"Have you really become a true zombie, Serket? One that only feasts for flesh? One that is mindless? One that is aimless? Maybe the only pain you can feel is emotional!"

Taken aback, she gritted her teeth and charged forward. I gripped my blade tightly and braced for her attack.

"You're not Serket..."

Franklin's View

Inside the throne room of Mira

After that training session, I thought I managed to fully equip my Djinn, but Mira realized that I only kept it for half a second. It was hard to adapt to a zombie body due to two parties using Magoi. Equipping it alone is alright, but fully equipping it will cause what Mira described as "cataclysmic results". It would be easier to equip it if I was a half human.

I sat down on the floor, Mira sitting on her throne, looking at me with happy eyes. Ever since I've become a King Vessel, I've always wondered how other people got it and why?

"Mira... have you ever wondered what is a King Vessel?" I asked the queen.

She pondered for a second and gave me my answer.

"A King Vessel is a King chosen by a Djinn that could have been guided in a dungeon by a Magi. Sometime, the King would later have a Household by his/her side and rule a nation under their rule," she said.

"But can't anyone do that?" I replied to her.

"Well, yes of course, but the King is granted power and lends his/her power to their Household and with great power comes great responsibilities."

Good point, but how come it had to be those chosen by a Djinn? Anyone can be a King without the help of a Metal Vessel.

"The Kings we face today, ones without it are most likely corrupt and greedy. I believe that the King Vessels are Kings who will lead a nation or create a nation that follows the path to the righteous,"

"But it worries me about the longevity of their power. There has been many King Vessels in this world and they're most likely to be kings or queens in the future."

I put up my hands, clenched in a fist.

"To create a nation, they used their powers to kill others who don't accept their ideals, and now that many King Vessels have appeared, what will the world face today?"

Mira raised a brow then sighed.

"We already knew something like this would be asked. To keep the nations united as well as keeping their ideals separate from others, we decided upon the Seven Seas Alliance to try to end a world wide war based on clashing ideologies and ideals,"

She stood up and showed me the window showing the view of Artemyra. The landscape and areas were beautiful and the people were enjoying each others company, exchanging laughs and conversations.

"Of course, we try our best to make a nation that is lively and harmonious. Otherwise, we'd beckon 'the fated day' earlier,"

"Fated day?"

"Did Sinbad ever talk to you about the abnormalities of this world?"

I nodded to her question.

"Slavery, wars, pandemics, malice," I said. She nodded to my answer.

"The fated day is what we believe the day when Al-Thamen would release the Black Sun again and repeat the events that lead to the World of Solomon's destruction."

"But doesn't that mean that the King Vessel's rise to power help the beckoning of the fated day?"

"Not really, if you really think Kings had to kill just to rise to power, to instill fear over his or her subjects with their power, then you clearly have a prejudice against all Kings."

She stared at me sternly, much to my fear. She was right... partially. A King slowly rising to power doesn't really need to kill others to show that they're strong. That's tyranny. It may grant them praise from followers, but how will other nations react?

"Kings rise to power when they earn the respect of their subjects. Leaders know that not all of the people will follow their ideals and that's why they follow other ideals fitting to them,"she rested her spear on her shoulder,"These "Kings" have grown larger in numbers and many have created their own nations with their own rules and ideals, but the Seven Seas Alliance's purpose is to unite these nations by establishing friendships with other nations."

"So that's why the SSA's motto is "Don't invade and don't be invaded,""

"Yes, you are correct,"

I grabbed my scissors and looked at it. Will I eventually be fated to be a leader? I like this power, in fact I love it. But I love it to the point that I favor it as a power that can help me to protect others. Just protecting my friends isn't enough to be a King. Do I have to be a perfect King to deserve this?

What have I done to become an ideal King? I had to look deeper. Deep to my soul. Realizing that my souls are bonded with my big brothers, I suddenly felt like I've never done anything spectacular myself. It wasn't me who was talking to her, it was Ben and John. I'm a shy talker and my brothers are very outgoing. They're a part of my Rukh and it was their talents that got me this far. Maybe I was chosen because Ben's rukh lay in me. Maybe I'm just some sort of carbon copy or replacement.

"Mira... I think I really don't deserve to be a King," I dropped my scissors to the ground, causing her to be surprised.

"Why? What's wrong Franklin?" she said concerned.

I turned to her with a melancholy face. This face caused her expression to show more concern.

"Have you ever heard of the man named Alibaba Saluja?"

"Yes... through Sinbad," she replied,"Why?"

"You know how he has two Rukh inside of him?"

"Yes, and they bonded to form into-"

"I know! Is it okay if I tell you about my brothers?"

She had a furrowed brow with a face of worry. Her brow mirrored her already diagonally facing brow and nodded, worried about my melancholy.

A/N: I write these chapters quite fast eh? Well aside from that, you've probably noticed the new cover image for my Fic. Yes, that's Franklin in EB form. I'm not a good artist, so don't expect me to just grab SAI paint tool and just draw one of my characters with finesse. This isn't Deviantart... (Yes, I'm aware that they accept written work)

To be honest, I was originally going to do it with Franklin trying to go back to his world and stop his brother from some sort of Coup d'etat against the world's government, but I thought to myself that it was too simple, so I wanted to make Emiline, who was initially a normal Magician a Magi, but a unique kind of Magi compared to the Magis of the Magi World and Alma Torran. Something that's symbolic. After reuniting with Dark Souls Lore (play the game if you want to, it's more awesome than it actually is), I liked how the four lord souls resemble four elements that are foils to a certain element and decided to make them Magis with a specific aspect to make them more unique compared to normal Magis. With the four elements of these Magis, I sometimes consider Scheherazade a Magi of Life, Judar, a Magi of Death or possibly Darkness(most likely Gyokuen will be Darkness), Yunan, a Magi of Light. Aladdin is unique compared to these guys because he's Solomon's proxy, so I don't classify him into any of the aspects. If you read closely, you'll figure out I used another rule of four on a few certain people.

Once again, I shall say it again, I love the Magi series so much. The characters are good not only for their looks and powers, but their personalities and character development are quite rich. The setting is quite beautiful and the plot and unveiling elements of the story make this story very interesting. The usage of sociopolitical issues and how the characters face them is such a great element to this story as well as good obstacles for character development.

Review as honest as you can if you wish and have a nice day/evening.