King of all Kings:
This really wasn't pleasant. First Ithnan curses both Alibaba and Sinbad, to which he was conveniently absent, then they have to go to Zagan's dungeon. Not that he minded seeing his old friend again.
The people of Toran were very lively. It reminded him of days long gone. They even marked the place where the third eye would be, only in blue paint instead of red.
He saw a flash of very light green hair pass him, the person's rukh didn't exactly scream 'Good Intentions'. And the person beside her, he was nothing but iron sand. His soul was already part of the Great Flow, for years now.
The lady must be a master of lightning magic.
"E-excuse me." A child's voice caught his attention. She looked sort of… pained "A-are you going to the dungeon?"
Hakuryuu nodded "Yes."
"Then I have a request! Please take me with you!" She pleaded with tears in her eyes "I want to save my parents!"
"Did your parents…" Pisti didn't finish her sentence.
Solomon looked back and forth between the two "What are you talking about?"
Pisti raised a finger, thinking "Unlike other dungeons, Zagan supposedly eats people."
"Eats people?" He asked shocked.
Zagan may not like humans that much but eat them? Were they talking about the same person?
"Yes." Pisti confirmed "The story is that those who approach Zagan are dragged in and devoured. I've heard that a number of people on this island have already fallen to Zagan."
Weren't they just exaggerating? Did they expect them to show up again suddenly without having cleared the dungeon? It wouldn't be the first time people fell victim to a dungeon.
"No one's tried to approach the dungeon since." The little girl told them "Everyone says the people who were swallowed are dead." They weren't, surprising as it was "That's why I have to be the one to save my parents! Please take me with you!"
"We can't. You'll hold us back." Smooth, Alibaba, smooth "We can't bring you along."
"But I want to save them!" She begged.
Alibaba sighed heavily "But..."
Hakuryuu interrupted him "I understand. I will save them for you." He held the girls shoulder, looking into her eyes "I will definitely find your parents for you. If they're dead, I will defeat everything that lives in that dungeon. All right?"
That's a bad idea.
Soon after, they were on boats sailing towards the spot where the dungeon was. It didn't take long for them to spot it and get dragged in.
Zagan's dungeon itself was surprising. To think the dungeon creatures all had tiny little homes. Morgiana found the right path though, leading them to a giant bear asking for honey. Solomon had to face it, Zagan's dungeon was the definition of don't judge a book by its cover.
But what truly shook him to the core was the next room. Was this really Zagan's work…?
"Welcome to my living dunegon." One of the sprouts grew and opened, revealing a djinn.
Only that it was not. Solomon knew, a Djinn could not leave the treasury. Something else was happening. And he was going to get his answers, one way or another.
He snapped out of it when Hakuryuu attempted to sever one of the human from a tree.
"This was done with a complicated set of commands." Solomon explained, stopping him "It's hard to fix when you don't know them. Making Zagan reverse it is the easiest way." He sighed "If it's of any value, no one here is dead."
"Why would a Djinn need to do something like this?" Alibaba asked enraged.
Zagan smirked satisfied "Why? Because I hate humans. I'd rather die than choose a king and go outside and live among them! I'm going to live here forever, just me and the innocent creatures of my living dungeon! We'll keep tormenting those terrible humans together."
They're not that terrible. Al-Thamen and the Orthodox Church aside.
He was never going to see another rabbit again without expecting it to grow a giant mouth full of teeth. The golems weren't fun to fight against either. Not that it was difficult.
Only a bit annoying.
And then fake-Zagan was annoying again, too.
"But there's one of you who's holding the rest back. Who oh who could it be?" He sang "It's you, the guy with a scarred face! You've done nothing but play damsel in distress. All you do is burden them. Do you really deserve to call yourself part of their group? You can't do a single thing!"
The rukh around Hakuryuu were all agitated.
He started crying vehemtly, shocking everyone "I know that! I'm trying my best!"
Even Fakey was shocked "What? Are you crying? For real?"
"Go back to your flowers, you stupid masked pervert!"
Fakey, no, he wasn't going to call him anything else, cringed. It was own fault.
"C-calm down!" Alibaba tried to soothe him.
Hakuryuu grabbed his collar "Don't even talk to me, you happy-go-lucky idiot! How did someone like you even become strong?!" He shook the poor former prince "You abandoned your own country and now you're lazing around Sindria-"
"Prince Hakuryuu, that's enough!" Morgiana interjected.
He let go of Alibaba and turned to Morgiana "Right back at you, freakishly strong girl!"
This shocked her and Solomon tried to calm the shaking prince down "Please calm down!"
He screamed at Solomon "You can put a lid on it too, stupid magician!"
Okay, that surprised him. He was never called stupid before. The poor prince must be really upset. He even called Fakey a masked pervert, not knowing it was a fake.
The prince broke cried even harder "This is stupid, I'm stupid and you're all stupid, too! Stupid!"
After making up, they continued, arriving at an open space, Fakey sprouting out of a flower again. In Solomon's opinion, this guy was acting too smug for an imposter.
"Halharl Rasas!"
"Oh?" Fakey asked surprised after he shielded himself from the fire "Then I guess you don't need my help?"
"Stop acting." Solomon said coldly "You're nothing but a fake, you couldn't help us anyway."
"Aladdin?" Alibaba wondered, not knowing what he was talking about. The others shared his clueless expression.
"If he was a Djinn, there's no way that could've hurt him but part of him burnt off!"
"Tch!" Fakey sounded annoyed "I wanted to scare you guys some more! It's as he says, I'm not a Djinn. I'm a dungeon creature created by Zagan to look like him." He stuck his tongue out.
Alibaba got angry and ended up attacking the imposter but it only ended up in multiple copies and them falling into a trap. Solomon used the cloth to help levitate them but it ended up ripped due to the fake.
He would used normal levitation but Morg activated her household vessel, so he left it to the Fanalis but he was too late in stopping her from jumping down again. They followed her after the light from inside the tunnel vanished.
She was in a horrible state. She didn't have that much magoi to begin with, to lose so much at once… He could give her some, but it wouldn't help her permanently. Even a doctor might not be able to help.
They had to get to the real Zagan. Fast.
Just then, Tiare, the girl from the village, appeared from the rubble that used to be Fakey. Together they went through the next door, finally landing them in the Necropolis that used to be the Underground City Zagan.
Solomon wasted no time in throwing up a borg.
"So we meet again, Solomon." The head of the stone dragon drew back "And King Alibaba. How's your injury?"
"You!" Alibaba yelled angry.
"Even in your condition, you've all made it here to Zagan's deepest recesses in such a timely manner." Ithnan praised "You truly are impressive Solomon and his Candidate. Though, the former really shouldn't be. But then, this is the end."
"Shut up!" Alibaba stopped him "We won't let you take Zagan."
If only that was all.
"Zagan's just a bonus." 'Knew it' "My true objective isn't him. It's all of you." He threw his arms up into the air "I will have Solomon himself and King Alibaba's life to offer to our Father. All is according to Al-Thamen's agenda."
Al-Thamen. Al-Thamen.
He couldn't hear it anymore. Couldn't bear it anymore.
"Prince Hakuryuu." He spoke, voice devoid of emotion "Take Morgiana and that girl to safety! Alibaba, give them back-up."
Alibaba protested "But-"
"GO!" Solomon bellowed.
This was his enemy. His fight.
His fault!
He was going to save those people! He couldn't bring back the knight, but he could save the princess!
And maybe, just maybe...
Ithnan, too.
Hakuryuu and the others scurried away. They wouldn't be in his way now. He had free reign of the place. But he didn't really care.
He attempted to stop the former princess from stabbing herself and transforming but her knight interfered. Troublesome. The puppet would have to go first.
Fine with him. It was easy enough.
He dodges a blow from the knight and blocked on of the monsters attacks with his borg "Al Raqesa!"
The knight stopped moving, only twitching ever so slightly.
Sending multiple magoi shots at the princess, he bound her to one of the nearby buildings. But Ithnan just had to get one more word in. Or 4. He watched as the monsters form shrank, leaving behind a humanoid shape.
Dark Djinn Equip?
Nothing he wouldn't be able to beat.
"Flash!" The beam of light landed a direct hit as and he gathered more magoi "Flash! Flash!"
Dunya was falling backwards, still standing after being hit three times. He charged forward with impressive speed.
He skidded to a halt right in front of her, pointing his want at her face.
"Dhoruf Luyila!"
Behind him, the knight fell apart.
The princess, still conscious, unsteadily went up to the pile of sand. Her rukh was starting to turn, their colour darkening more and more.
Solomon sighed, putting up a borg to keep Ithnan out and activated the Wisdom. It didn't take long for him to find the girl's knight, pushing him towards the person he once served under.
It was a tranquil scene.
Isaac left shortly, but Dunya had a peaceful and happy smile on her face. But today took a toll on her as her consciousness faded. He caught her and looked at Ithnan.
He wanted to question his once friend but he disappeared amidst thousands of black rukh. He shouldn't be surprised, they're enemies and Ithnan had nothing to talk with him about.
He held Dunya up and made his way towards the others who were nearly at the treasure room.
"Why is she here?" Hakuryuu asked curious.
"She's not an enemy at the moment." Solomon explained "She was simply used by Al-Thamen."
He accepted the explanation as they hurried towards the treasury. They had to hurry for Morgiana's sake.
Once they arrived, Solomon looked around for the chest that was Zagan's metal vessel. As he touched it, a bright light illuminated the room, turning stone to gold. At the same time, something flew out of the chest, manifesting before them.
The Djiin loomed above them "Who will... become King...?" He looked down on them with glaring eyes "My name is Zagan… The Djinn of loyality and purity!"
Hakuryuu and Alibaba looked at the Djinn shocked and scared of his expression, fearing the Djinn might not hear them out and instigate another fight. Solomon had the tiniest of smiles on his face. He couldn't blame them.
The Djinn had a truly grave expression on his face, showing just how displeased he was.
Zagan's expression changed as his eyes fell on me "My King..."
Solomon should have brought Ugo out and let him explain the situation. Now it was too late.
The Djinn quickly kneeled "It's been a truly long time. I have to apologize… for many things…"
The others were stunned by his behaviour which differed greatly from Fakey's. Oh, they were in for a surprise.
"I will immediately reverse the magic cast upon the villagers." He assured "That's a reckless action that my labyrinth creatures performed but the Djinn cannot leave the treasury, so I could not stop them… Forgive me please…" He really did seem sorry and he raised himself and looked at Morgiana "This is not even enough to make up for what happened but... I will give a part of the magoi in my dungeon to that girl to heal her. This will save her life."
The boys brightened as colour returned to the Fanalis cheeks and Alibaba thanked Zagan which the latter ignored. When he tried to talk to him again, Zagan showed his distaste.
Solomon had to hold back a chuckle. Zagan never liked humans, whether it was him or a copy. That would stay the same. At least he tolerated them.
"Could you please let only King Solomon talk to me? Others than him and non-Magi make me feel sick." His expression certainly didn't look well before he turned to me "But I am truly surprised to see you here, my King. I was sure you would never return, yet here you are."
"A lot happened." Solomon explained, rubbing the back of his head "It's a bit complicated, so I don't want to start explaining now."
"Then I won't ask you to." He turned to the others with a glare "Well, let's choose the King."
The Toran villagers were embracing each other as they were freed and Tiare found her parents quickly. Solomon smiled, seeing them happy and talking in that old, familiar language.
He never realised how he'd missed hearing it.
But they had other problems. The curse was still placed on Alibaba and it had to be removed. He tapped the blonde's shoulder and told him to lie down so he could help him remove the curse.
"You can do that?!" He asked surprised.
The King sighed "I would prefer not to do it myself, but now is the best time. It's better to get rid of it before it spreads more."
Alibaba nodded and Solomon turned to their companions.
"Could you make sure nobody disturbs us? We're going to be unconscious for a while."
"Of course." Hakuryuu was fast to answer "We will keep watch."
Solomon nodded and activated the Wisdom, diving into his friends consciousness. If Alibaba had been more corrupted, he would have probably found a version of him here but all he encountered were fragments of memories until he came face to face with the nucleus of the curse.
White rukh spread around him as black rukh flew around his only companion in this vast space.
"It has been long since we really talked." He began.
"We never talked much to begin with." Ithnan countered.
"But not as little as nowadays." He threw back.
"You should just erase me." Ithnan told him "I'm nothing more than a nucleus of a curse now. My real body was killed by Sinbad not too long ago."
"I don't really understand, Ithnan, why you do all of this." The King muttered loud enough for the man to hear "Why do you resent this world so much? This isn't Alma Torran. Because of your actions, wars and poverty are spreading throughout the world… Why are you doing such a thing?"
"In order to create the 'Darkness' in this world and as a result, free everything. Free from the prison of being dominated… from the structure of this world. In other words 'Destiny'. To escape from an unavoidable road that leads to an end, decided by someone… there's only one way to escape and survive. That is, falling into depravity!" He glared at Solomon "We will not do as destiny says!"
"You have the wrong idea about destiny...!" Solomon claimed "Destiny isn't something to make you do as you're told. By overcoming difficulties, life and this whole world can advance forward. That's what destiny is for. A world that has lost the power to advance will be destroyed…" His expression turned soft and he glanced downwards "Just like... Alma Torran."
Ithnan looked up into the vast ceiling of the space they were in "Ever since 'Alma Torran', we debated over this a million times. We never see eye to eye with each other. Even in this world, we never will." He once again glared at his former King "I have nothing more to say to you! Erase me!"
Solomon looked at him with a pained expression "Ithnan, when we saw Il Illah... Arba, Ugo, Sheba and me... I wanted to change 'Destiny'. I wanted to share God with every single intelligent life form. That way, every one of us could become the master of this world. So that we could change it with our own hands. That's how today's 'destiny' came to be."
Silence was all that followed.
"We still... won't see eye to eye with you." Ithnan spoke after a while "But this is such a disgrace…" White light engulfed him "To think that I would go with such a serene state of mine," He took off his mask and smiled slightly "with you in front of me, when I'd thought I'd never be able to fully face you again."
"Ithnan!" Solomon called as the light grew "I... As Wahid said back then, the rukh of the dead goes to the Master of the World. The rukh from the people during Il Illah's reign are sealed with him and the people affected with the black rukh go somewhere entirely else but..." The light was almost everywhere now "I will find a way to bring everyone together! I promise!"
He felt something wet on his shoulder as the light that now made up Ithnan embraced him.
"I will hold you to that, my King."
As Solomon opened his eyes again, he didn't notice the tears streaming down his face at first. Not until Hakuryuu offered him a piece of cloth, asking him if he was okay.
"I'm fine." He answered, taking the cloth "Maybe I overdid it."
He wasn't going to tell them that tears can't come from overworking. He just hoped none of them had enough magical knowledge to notice.
He had a promise to keep now and he was going to see it through.
Some time after they arrived back in Sindria and experienced a great festival, Dunya woke up. But as soon as she learned that Yamraiha came from Magnostadt, she stopped speaking to anyone aside from Solomon which amused the man to no end.
He was a magician after all.
He may not have come from Magnostadt, be he was still a user of magic. But he supposed it was because he wasn't part of Sindria either.
He could clearly see the woman's life was in danger. But he had to wait until she was comfortable enough with him to heal her. It would do no good to try helping her when she clearly didn't like magic.
What to do, what to do?
It didn't take long for Sinbad to try and talk to her personally. As soon as he and Yamraiha entered, Dunya's eyes grew cold. Sinbad tried to assure her they were not in league with Magnostadt but as soon as he took her hand, the energy of the metal vessels connected, breaking them apart.
Dunya's chest and arms started to glow purple as black crystals emerged and Solomon grabbed his staff, using magic to stop the proliferation. He told the two to stand back and used the Wisdom to break the dark crystals away.
"Aladdin, how did you do that?" Yamraiha asked confused and amazed as the crystals burst and vanished.
"I-" Dunya started to have trouble breathing and Solomon's face turned serious "Yamraiha, you and Sinbad get out. Call someone to bring cold water and a cloth but tell them not to come in until I call."
Sinbad hesitated as Yamraiha already went to get someone "What are you-"
Solomon glared at him darkly "I'm going to use magic to help her. Now if you could please get out."
"Y-yes!" Sinbad hurried out and closed the door.
Solomon sighed. He would have to use a Al-Kimia Al-Quadima spell for this. Alchemic magic was the only way now. He took Dunya's arm and concentrated.
Not only would he have to reconstruct her body on a molecular level, he'd have to make sure only the white rukh remains.
It only took few seconds but it felt like eternity on him. He sighed again, this time relieved and called the help Yamraiha organized after making sure Dunya was okay now.
He was glad Sinbad listened in the end and left. He didn't care much if people knew what types of magic he could use but something about Sinbad rubbed him wrong. He knew the man was half-fallen but that wasn't it. Maybe it was because the man was a first class singularity.
Or maybe because he reminded him of David.
He didn't know why but sometimes when he looked at Sinbad, he would be reminded of the man that was supposed to be his father. But that could also be because David was a singularity as well.
And Yamraiha was one of his generals. He might ask her what happened and he had no doubt she would have told him.
Dunya didn't really like it when he told her of his plans to go to Magnostadt.
"But why?" She asked softly.
"If that country discriminates between magicians and other people," He began "I've got to see it for myself." He looked at her sadly "The same thing happened where I was born… I can't leave it like this."
"Where would that be?" She wondered weakly.
He smiled slightly "Nobody knows about it anymore… It's very, very… terribly far away, you see…"
"What is it called?"
"Promise not to tell anyone?" He had a feeling he could say it without anyone else finding out. He wanted to say it at least once more without someone from the past present or involved.
The princess smiled warmly "Yes."
Solomon exhaled slightly and looked at the ceiling "It's called… Alma Torran."
Alibaba didn't take well to his decision of going to Magnostadt.
"Alibaba..." Solomon started "Magnostadt has a very troubling system. I... saw something similar before. I can't let this go on as is, not with the knowledge I have."
Alibaba still didn't seem to take well to it but then he frowned, like he'd made up his mind "Fine, under one condition I will stop being hesitant to let you go off on your own."
"What is it?" He felt wary all of a sudden.
Alibaba gazed at him relentlessly "Why did Zagan call you 'King', better yet, why 'King Solomon'? Did you lie about who you are? Don't you trust us?"
Now he looked hurt. He knew he should have done something, anything to make sure Zagan wouldn't mention it. Now it was too late.
Morgiana looked interested, too.
'Great, no getting out of this one.'
He laughed nervously, putting a hand in front of him "I can explain, so don't interrupt please." When they made no move to, he continued "When I first met Alibaba, I wasn't too sure about anyone knowing my name. I was pondering if I should tell you or not but in the panic blurted out the name of someone… dear to me. My actual name is Solomon, but please don't call me that."
"Why not?" Morgiana asked quietly.
"I'm getting there." He answered, uncomfortable under their stares "There are people in Al-Thamen, like Ithnan, who would recognize that name from… a 'kingdom'... of sorts…"
"Why would that be important to them?" Alibaba questioned and paused for a moment "Are you a King on the run?"
He inhaled sharply "I wish." They looked at him funny "It's more complicated than that. I'm hardly a King. I can't seem to do anything right, much less make important decisions without someone getting angry and starting a war."
They looked at him with wide open, horrified eyes "A war?!"
"I never said a war happened." Solomon spoke up.
"But you made it sound like it did!" Alibaba cut in.
"Please." Solomon tried to calm him down "It was more of a 'One side of the Kingdom against the other'."
...
"We won?"
"Don't say it like that's what's important!" Alibaba yelled "You had a civil war? I know I have no right to say it but why aren't you there?"
"First!" He put a hand on Alibaba's mouth "Stop shouting. Walls have ears, you know. We're lucky as is that no one's eavesdropping this time." Like Sinbad back in Balbadd "Next, I can't be there. Even if I was, it would do literally nothing."
Morgiana looked confused "Why not?"
He looked away with a hurt face "It's too far away and not really there anymore."
"It's gone?" Wondered Alibaba and Solomon nodded "But you just said you won the war!"
"We won the war!" He repeated "But I was... not capable of… doing… something. There were problems afterwards. I was unable to even talk to them, weird as it sounds. It was fine for a couple of years but resources were low and eventually ran out."
"So everyone had to move?" Alibaba asked.
He nodded again "Yes."
"An entire Kingdom?" He emphasized.
Oh, it was more than just a kingdom "Yes."
"Why didn't you ask your neighboring countries for help?! Surely not all of them were jerks and left you alone! …Did you… have neighboring countries...?" Alibaba's voice faded at the end.
"Not really." Solomon admitted "We had allies, for lack of a better term, but they were already with us and faced with the same problem."
"Okay, that explains some things." Alibaba said "But it doesn't explain one thing."
"Which one?" He tilted his head.
Alibaba peered at him "Why would a Djinn of all... beings… call you 'King'?"
Okay, there was no way he could sugarcoat that or make it sound 'normal'. What to do, what to do? Great, he was on the verge of panicking, just great.
"They…" He started slowly "must be… calling every royalty that?" Their unconvinced faces disturbed him greatly "Hey!" He put his hands up "How am I supposed to know!?"
"Zagan let you speak with him." Alibaba reminded, like it was a miracle which I should have not been deemed worthy of if it wasn't something deeper.
"I'm a Magician, remember?" He tried, hoping this worked "Zagan also said he'd let Magi talk to him and I am rather strong. Maybe he made an exception. Ask him, not me!"
"We can't exactly do that…" Alibaba told him like it was obvious "But fine, I believe you." Solomon surpressed a relieved sigh. Alibaba put a hand on his right soulder and Morgiana one on the other "But remember that we're your friends, you can trust us!" He smiled "We will be at your side no matter what!"
'Yeah, that's what I thought about Ithnan and the others, too.'
"Thank you, Alibaba, Morgiana. You're the best."
On the next day, Alibaba, Morgiana, Hakuryuu and Solomon traveled away from Sindria on a ship. It was even more peaceful than expected. But when they were about to reach port, Morgiana noticed something off about it.
At the same time, a male teen floated out of the water in a water bubble, ships behind him in the same state. Magic tool then. Needless to say, he scared them away. Water magic just isn't effective against something like Ramz or a Halharl powerful enough to evaporate it.
After docking, the Navy explained the situation to them when shouts arose from behind them. The navy didn't help them. Solomon looked at the others, they thought the same. They had to help.
Luckily, Hakuryuu was still there. He and Zagan were very helpful in tracking the hideout. But the problem was to get in. Or it would be. Morgiana threw them, Solomon flying before she could throw him, too. Sure, he could have used the cloth Yamraiha fixed but this was fine as well.
They landed in the water, making it splash around them in a big wave.
Solomon took Hakuryuu at the arm "Let's go and find their leader." He turned to the other two and yelled "You think you can do this without us?"
"Of course!" Alibaba responded "You go and find that woman!"
The two jumped into the base, backed by Morgiana and Alibaba who stopped the crew from coming after them.
"Is it really okay to leave those two by themselves?" Hakuryuu worried.
"Yeah." Solomon beamed "But you should know that yourself, how strong they are."
"That's true." He smiled "Let's find Madaura!"
The two continued running until they encountered two pairs of stairs.
Solomon pointed at one of them "We have to take this one."
"How do you know?"
"The rukh are going there and I don't think they'd do so without reason. The chances of Madaura being this way are higher."
Hakuryuu only nodded, there wasn't much to be said. They pushed open the door at the end of the stairs, coming to face Madaura.
"You've done well to come this far." The woman praised "Brave little lads." She chuckled, raising her right hand that had a blue jewel on it "I will make you my good little children, too!" Her nails started glowing and Morgiana and Alibaba arrived in the exact same moment, the magic affecting them as well "Magic Tool, Holy Mother Halo Fan!"
A bright line shone and a colourful halo with pictures resembling a mother and children appeared, fading away shortly after. One after one, Solomon's comrades collapsed.
He looked at them confused before glaring at the woman. Judging by the name of the tool and the age of the children and teens defending her, the tool might only work when the spell is cast before the person becomes an adult and independent from their parents.
Wicked. That's all he could call it.
This woman was manipulating their minds! His head and heart ached.
This situation was all too familiar. No way she was getting away with this! Doing nothing would be the same as helping! He refused to have any part in this aside from stopping her.
He would have never been part, leader even, of the Resistance, if he let behaviour like this slide!
He glared at her and turned to Alibaba, roughly shaking him and blocking the purple smoke "Hey! Snap out of it! Are you really okay with this, Alibaba? With how she is manipulating to you?"
As the smoke he inhaled became less, he started to snap out of it.
He looked at his friend surprised "Aladdin..."
"She's not your real mother." He told him sympathetically "And even if she was, you're old enough to live your life by thinking for yourself now!" He turned to Morgiana "You, too, Morg! Try to remember something important that you were given by someone…"
Slowly even Morgiana broke free and even as Madaura tried to stop them with red chains emerging from her tool, they broke free. Solomon looked at Hakuryuu who had not yet broken free. It came to a shock for even him when the young man attacked them instead of stopping Madaura from leaving.
Solomon's borg protected them from harm but now their own friend was in their way. It truly impressed him how much Hakuryuu could already use Zagan's power though. But this was hardly the time for praise.
He stood back, confident Alibaba could take care of this. And true to his believe, he did. They went to follow Madaura but the rest of the children blocked their way.
They got past them easily. When they reached the outside, Madaura and the part of the crew with her were captured by the Actian Navy.
It was frightening when the poor people started to throw rocks and advanced on Madaura and they moved to stop them but Hakuryuu ran past, grabbing the dagger of a participant and stood in front of the woman.
Solomon could tell from the weird behaviour of the rukh, Hakuryuu wasn't about to do something great and right he was. But he never expected the horrifying sight of him slashing her head off cleanly, right in front of the children who called her their mother and the townspeople.
Even with a spell on them, that must be traumatizing. A terrible sight for anyone to witness. He was no stranger to death. And she would have been killed anyway. And he certainly wasn't feeling bad for her.
But it was still cruel.
Alibaba was angry, his voice shaking but for once he couldn't really support his friend as much as he wanted "Why?" Alibaba questioned shaken "Why did you do a thing like that?"
"That was me executing the leader of the pirates." Hakuryuu explained "It was what the people wanted as well. And besides, wasn't our objective wiping out the pirates?"
"Even so..." Alibaba started but was cut off.
"Of course, it's also true that I was somewhat delirious from her spell. She looked just like my own mother to me." Now Solomon was really interested.
"Like your mother?" The blond echoed "Then why…"
"That is the reason why." The prince said with closed eyes "I remembered, you see. That my mission is to kill Al-Thamen's witch…" Arba? "Who defected to my uncle's side and seized control of the Kou empire… To kill my very own mother!"
That explained why he couldn't find out about her earlier. Members of Al-Thamen had black rukh and did not return to the flow, weren't even part of it anymore. If his guess was right… that woman he called mother might be Arba. At this point, he wouldn't put it past her.
"It was at that moment that I made up my mind." Hakuryuu continued and Solomon realized he missed a tiny part of the story "That I would be the one to protect my elder sister's life… and... And I also made a promise to myself. That no matter what, I would kill the witch of Al-Thamen… Ren Gyokuen!"
The three looked at him sadly. His reaction was understandable to the Alma Torran King now.
"She was quite similar to the Great Holy Mother, you know. Not caring the least about her own children. Such a woman shouldn't be allowed to live."
'Ah, hey, that sounded like David!'
…
Definitely Arba. But he wondered how she could fall so low. Was absolutely nothing of his trusted friend left?
"Are you saying that's why you killed her?" Alibaba questioned.
"Either way, she was a criminal on her way to the scaffold, wasn't she?" He justified.
Alibaba took a step back in surprise but his eyes hardened again "That might be true. But what you did… weren't you just settling a personal score?"
Orba of Madaura's crew chose that moment to break free and attack the prince. He went to stab him but Hakuryuu caught it, hitting the teen away.
But Hakuryuu didn't take it too well. He verbally assaulted them with the truth they were starting to realize themselves. At that, Alibaba got angry again and grabbed him by the arm that was holding Orba's dagger.
Hakuryuu threw it away and left.
Since the commotion was after, the pirates were about to be escorted away when Alibaba stopped them.
Solomon knew that while he and Alibaba helped the children, Morgiana went off to find Hakuryuu. When the ship sailed away, Morgiana was behind them again. As Alibaba went to follow Hakuryuu to stop him, Morgiana held him back but she allowed Solomon to take off after him.
Solomon found him not too far from the gate on the path.
"Hakuryuu." He called from above, alerting the younger of his presence "Are you going to go off now?" He let himself fall on the earth "Alibaba was really disappointed. And besides, we can't say goodbye like this…"
"Aladdin..." Hakuryuu began confidently "I'm about to ignite a war that will split the Kou empire in two. When that happens, will you lend me your power?"
Solomon looked down "Well, I don't like wars. I know sometimes war is necessary but not always."
"King Sinbad has already told me that he'll join forces with me." He clarified "You're allies of Sindria, aren't you?"
"But..." He trailed off.
Hakuryuu smiled gently "I had a feeling this would be your reaction. You're different than King Sinbad. In what exactly, I'm not quite sure…"
"I want to help you because you're my friend…" Solomon admitted "And I'll help you if you're in trouble, but... I won't help you just to win a war. And I also learned once that wars out of revenge can only breed more sorrow." He smiled peacefully with closed eyes before directing a melancholy gaze at the orange sky "I would tell you to find a way to extinguish your vengeful soul but..." He chuckled and looked Hakuryuu into the eyes, expression not wavering "I fear that would make me a hypocrite."
"A hypocrity…?" The prince asked utterly lost.
Solomon nodded "I'm not in the exact same position as you but I fought against my father. I would have probably killed him, that was the plan." He shrugged "But he was faster than me. He committed suicide."
"And you're okay with that?" He asked shocked.
Now Solomon was confused "With what? Him killing himself or me not killing him?"
Unexpected silence greeted him and he guessed Hakuryuu didn't put that much thought into the question.
Solomon sighed deeply. He was sighing too much these days "Moving on. I want to give you a piece of advice."
"Advice?" He sounded distrustful.
"Yes, advice." Solomon repeated "It's about your mother." This caught the prince's attention "Don't be careless against her. After you described her, I got this feeling that she may be someone I once knew."
"How would you know my mother?" He whispered.
"Arba." He said "I have a feeling your mother is actually a woman called Arba." He inhaled sharply "Don't think you can win against her as you are now."
This angered Hakuryuu "What do you know?!"
"More than you." Solomon glared "Especially considering Al-Thamen!"
Hakuryuu yelled "Al-Thamen is from my country! You can't possib-"
"That's where you're wrong!" Solomon shouted back, tears starting to form in his eyes "Al-Thamen didn't start in Kou… But in Alma Torran…" The tears were streaming down his cheeks now as Hakuryuu was rendered speechless "I'm so sorry." He sobbed "I thought I sealed them away forever… I never thought they would manage to return… I'm so sorry..."
"Aladdin..." Hakuryuu quietly muttered.
"It's my fault, Hakuryuu…" He cried even harder "It's my fault! I made a decision that angered them! I did! If I had… if only I had… if only I hadn't done that… So many people would still be alive. Al-Thamen wouldn't even exist! I just... I just wanted the best for everyone…" He lamented "But I can't even do that right…"
Hakuryuu grabbed him by the shoulders "Did your decision itself hurt anyone physically?"
"No…" Solomon whispered.
"Did you do it to hurt someone?"
"No…"
"Did you do it for your sake alone?"
"No…"
"Did you tell Al-Thamen to make the fight physical?"
"No…"
"Whose sake was it for?"
"Everyone's…"
"Was it to help them?"
"Yes..."
"Did you expect them to fight against it?"
"No…"
"Did you do it for the people who joined Al-Thamen afterwards as well?"
"Yes..."
"Did you found Al-Tharmen?"
"No…"
"If you didn't do what you did back then, could you have helped them with the same results?"
"..."
"Aladdin."
"No…"
"Why not?"
"We would still have been… trapped."
"Was there any other way to get free?"
"... … … No…"
Hakuryuu embraced him tightly "Then it's not your fault! None of it! You saved them and they repaid you so unfairly!"
"They lost a lot…" He whispered into the younger's shoulder, pain evident in his voice "They were sure they went from, from… from one prison to another!" He returned the embrace "But that's not the case. I... I made sure… I made sure they would be the masters of their own paths… I did! But they still got angry. The past can't be erased you know… We knew that above everyone else… We were all great sinners…" He hugged him even more "And now, this world? Al-Thamen's plan is to bring Il Illah back... This world.. I- I can't let that happen! If 'That' comes down upon us, i-if he touches the earth…" He tightened his grasp on him "Everything will cease to exist. His hands will rob everything he touches of the white rukh in their bodies and eleminate it. Humans and animals and plants... Even light and sound will perish… A place where nothing moves, nothing can be heard… A complete… world of death… Along with the black sun… it could come, to this very world."
Hakuryuu stared at the trees around them horrified. Except for Solomon's and his breathing, no sound was there. If what he was saying was true...
What Gyokuen, no, Arba, was doing… He can't let that happen. Hakuryuu bit his lip. Solomon was stronger than him, he knew that and if even he was in such a state… Hakuryuu was afraid.
How many knew about her plan? Probably nobody except them and the members of Al-Thamen. Did Judal know? He was one of them! But he didn't act like he wanted the world destroyed. He loved his games of starting war and creating chaos, sure… but hasn't he been acting strange? Ever since he came back from Balbadd? Could it be he didn't know about Al-Thamen's actual goal? Was he being used, just like princess Dunya?
Asking him would be too risky...
Hakuryuu tightened his grip. What could he do? And Solomon said he wouldn't be able to fight against her as he was. But what could they do then? What would be enough?
"How can I beat her, Aladdin...?" He murmured.
"Solomon."
"What?"
"My name is Solomon."
"What?"
Solomon chuckled weakly "My name isn't actually Aladdin but Solomon. Don't ever tell Arba that though." He joked, a few tears in his eyes "She'd kill us both."
"I won't." The prince assured and they both let go of each other "But why would Arba be my mother? I do believe you but it seems a bit strange."
"She's probably possessing her body." Solomon told him "Something like that is possible. But I think hers is a bit more complicated than what one would think." He glanced at Hakuryuu's face and elaborated "I think her possession deals with lineage."
"Lineage?"
"She only uses half her spirit in a persons body, so her other half would be in another dimension. I found this out after a bit of research I did with Ugo after we went to Zagan. I found it weird that they escaped the dimension I sealed them in. If the 'doll body' is destroyed, she won't be able to come back. But it's not that easy."
"Why not?" Hakuryuu wondered "We would only need to find it."
"That's the problem." Solomon countered "It will be hard to find. I have another solution though." He smiled at his curious face "Remember the lineage thing? We just need to make sure she doesn't have anyone to possess."
Hakuryuu paled and shakily pointed at himself "Does that mean me and Hakuei have to die...?"
"No." The teen let his head fall as he sighed in relief "But we have to change your bodies."
"How? I can't possess someone and what about that person?"
"You think too complicated." Solomon deadpanned "I only need to change your body on a molecular level. Would it be okay if I used a bit of magic on you?"
Hakuryuu thought for a moment and looked up with a determined face "If it helps stop my mother, I will do it!"
"Good." Solomon nodded and stretched his hand out "Give me your hand."
Hakuryuu grasped it and a light began to shine, engulfing his entire body. Solomon released his hand again, smiling proudly.
"What was that?" Hakuryuu asked "Nothing happened."
"Wrong, your body is different." The King stated "I used an Alchemic magic on you, Al-Kimia Al-Quadima to be precise."
"Never heard of it." Hakuryuu admitted.
"Next to no one uses it or knows how to." He shrugged "Yunan, the wandering Magi uses it if I'm correct. But I think the Ancient Alchemy spell I just performed on you would even impress him. It uses a lot of commands."
"It can't be that bad…" He trailed off.
Solomon raised an eyebrow, amused "It uses around 1,022,000 commands. Ask any magician, or even Judal, to try and perform a spell with that many commands and tell me their reaction later."
Hakuryuu backed away a bit, for some reason, the others amused smile disturbed him a bit "O-okay..."
Solomon dropped his smile "But the problem with Arba's not gone yet. Your sister can still be possessed." Hakuryuu looked at him alarmed "I did meet your sister before, however, I had no idea that she had anything to do with Arba, so I didn't do anything. If I meet her, I will try to help her but I might need your assistance if she doesn't want to listen." Hakuryuu nodded stern "Also, your mother has been possessed by Arba for a long time but... we might be able to help her, too. She wasn't always her, you know."
"Are you sure that's for the best...?" Hakuryuu wondered dubious.
"I'm not telling you to suddenly start treating her like a real mother if we can save her, just that you won't judge her for Arba's actions." He replied "Your real mother loved her children, both of them and I'm sure she would have loved you and Hakuei just as much if she'd been allowed to."
"How do you know that?"
"The rukh do not lie." He answered "If you're not convinced, I'm sure I can show you with water magic. It doesn't have sound but don't actions speak louder than a thousand words?"
"No! No… it's fine." Hakuryuu quickly answered.
"Is that so? It's fine with me either way." Solomon said nonchalant.
"Can I ask something?" The prince clenched his fists on his lap.
He tilted his head "Of course. Ask away."
"If Al-Thamen's such a threat, why are you going to Magnostadt?"
"Oh, that." He was surprised "My main reason is unrelated to that. I heard they discriminate between magicians and normal people and that disturbs me on a personal level. The... place I come from did the same long ago and it wasn't a good thing." He looked down sadly, remembering the past but then looked at Hakuryuu again, this time more serious "The other reason are the magic tools, like the ones the pirates used and the Dark Metal Vessels. They had Magnostadt's emblem on them. If they are helping Al-Thamen I need to know and why."
"Don't you think that's going to be dangerous?" Hakuryuu asked worried.
"It will be fine." The King swatted his worries aside "What bad can happen? And if I'm in too much trouble, I'll call Ugo for help!"
"Ugo?" Hakuryuu asked puzzled.
"I haven't introduced you yet?" Solomon asked wide-eyed.
"Ah, no."
"Haha, well, that's fine. I will introduce you another time, Ugo's bound to attract unwanted attention with his size."
"His size?" He asked sceptical "What is your friend?"
"I guess you could say he's a Djinn." Solomon spoke with a wide smile.
"Heh, a Djinn you say." Hakuryuu said amazed "That's ama-... A Djinn?!"
Solomon laughed at the others aghast expression "He's a great person."
"B-but..." He stood up in shock "To make a Djinn appear you'd need a tremendous amount of magoi! A normal magician doesn't have that much! Are you a Magi?!"
'Heavens, why.'
"No, I'm not." He answered courtly.
"Then what are you- No scratch that, Who and What are you?!"
"Just Solomon." He smiled.
"Solomon Jehoahaz Abraham, King of Alma Torran and one of the two creators of this world."
Whoooo~
This was fun to write.
Sorry for that one sudden slip in Point of View. Things are slowly starting to change and Solomon keeps opening up about the world. But only to his friends.
I know he was really OOC at the last part, but I hope you can forgive me for that.
I'm adding a little extra scene for fun in the end of the next chapter. I hope I can make it amusing enough^^
Tell me what you think please! See you next time~!