Chapter Five
A Promise of Yore
|ii.|
Noé took a deep breath allowing the scent of flowers and nature to fill her to the brim. She had to give it to Zagan that as far as dungeons were concerned, his was the most pleasant and aesthetically pleasing she'd been to. This flourishing life, so strange and bountiful, gave her a strange sense of longing. How she wished she could bring this to her garden.
"Concentrate, Noé. We must find Zagan."
"Right," she admitted. But with the first step she took, something squeaked under her foot. Emerald eyes scrunched shut, guessing just what exactly she stepped on, before looking down as she lifted her foot. Underneath it was a tiny elephant-looking creature with tiny roots coming from its trunk. It rubbed its head and angrily shouted gibberish that she couldn't understand while waving its tiny fist at her. "S-Sorry," she mumbled and watched as the dungeon creature puffed it's chest and smacked her foot.
Brave little bugger. It kept hitting her over and over but it didn't bother Noé since it didn't hurt at all. The sudden change in the creature's angry expression however got her attention as it jumped startled before running off in the opposite direction towards one of the many doors scattered in the room.
What the…
Scurrying caught her attention from the creatures that did the same as the elephant creature and ran away scared. Some dropped their baskets full of fruits, others hurried their children. They were petrified...but not of her.
It wasn't until she heard rattling behind her that Noé turned about to face what had frightened them to safety just as it lashed out at her with its tail. Unable to avoid the impact, Noé braced herself for it instead but still took the full brunt of the hit from her back crashing against the far off wall. She fell down to her knee, panting and pain traveling across her back, but her eyes traveled up from the ground to the monster that attacked her.
A snake—a black cobra—brought its tail back from the attack and lifted its head from the floor, it's eyes and head covered by a fractured stone mask and its black hood spreading as it opened its jaw to show off its fangs. Noé couldn't help but see the potrutions coming from inside; they were small and she could also faintly see them quirming. The slithering reptile's markings glowed a dim neon cyan in the bright space taking her full attention and from its fangs liquid of the same color dripped corroding the ground it fell on. Noé blinked, disbelief blanching her skin and chills running rampant through her skin at seeing the reptile open its jaw wider.
"...snake…"
"Noé, are you al—" Noé didn't hear the end of Chief's sentence, her thoughts bombarded by even more panic at seeing that from behind the cobra's head another two surfaced which despite being less protected were no less menacing. Instinctively, Noé took a step back.
"T-T-Three-headed snake…"
"Noé—" The cobra pulled back and shot forward, "Noé, move!"
Her whole body twitched as Chief's warning snapped her out of her stupor and immediately jumped out of the reptile's heads way out of reflex. Keeping her distance, Noé hid behind a tree and watched as the creature reeled back searching for her.
"T-That thing," she stammered, fear still clinging to her very soul, "It's not a dungeon creature."
"No," Chief assured her, trying to be the voice of reason and composure for the two of them. "It's a dark djinn."
That didn't make sense though. "Black djinn come from humans who go against fate. If it were a dark djinn, wouldn't it take a more humanoid form rather than t-that—that thing?!"
"Not necessarily. Dark djinn take the form their rukh wills it to once it's more refined—" Despite listening to her, Noé's attention was mostly on the three-headed cobra as it kept sticking out cyan-colored tongues. Her nerves went haywire the second all three heads turned towards her direction and lunged towards her. Noé yelped, flashing out of the way to midair where she landed on the serpent's otherside. Her eyes scanned her surroundings and found a door that was different from all the others and was wide open. The faint scent of ashes and spices left a trail leading up to it.
Someone else's here.
The hissing that came from behind her as the cobra riled back from its last attack immediately turned her instincts on overdrive. Fight or flight. Having wasted time in looking back, she opted on following the faint trail left by those scents.
Chief returned to what she had been in the middle of explaining just as Noé traveled through the different rooms where the scent was more poignant, "—or if it's just an amalgamation of many different rukh, it can take varying forms."
Noé cussed under her breath as she stood before a large opening in the floor surrounded by charred plant remains. The scent...it went down into the darkness below. Panting, she allowed herself a few seconds of respite and asked, "What's your gold on?"
"An amalgamate. But it's also—"
The sound of hissing and slithering made Noé glance over her shoulder at the door she left behind. The cobra wasn't in eyesight yet but its movement were just coming into earshot and it was approaching her fast. "It's infected."
Chief hummed in agreement. A bit of Noé's resolve returned to her, some of the fear caused by the cobra abolished as she took a step back before taking the jump leading down the chute. The ground was farther than she had expected but it gave her time to measure the distance and stick the landing, rolling into it and avoiding damage as much as she could. A few feet away a single door stood completely open, one that led to the necropolis inside Zagan's dungeon and where the scent became potent enough for her to recognize it.
Aladdin. Her will steeled, she ran down the spiral staircase ignoring her mounting dread as the three-headed cobra slithered so close behind her after falling from the chute itself. Even from where she was, Noé caught the sight of a dark magic circle above in the sky. Someone was summoning Extreme Magic.
I can help.
"Behind you!"
Noé took Chief's warning instantly and crouched to lunge herself into the air just in time to avoid the serpent that charged at her. Not skipping a beat, she flashed upwards into the air and turned with her hand outstretched and her light bow in it. Bringing her other hand back and nocking an arrow, she aimed at the cobra and unleashed a flurry of arrows. The amount were enough to push the dark djinn over the edge of the spiral staircase and into the depths of the city. Now that it was injured and ways away from her, Noé gave herself a minute to breath as she landed but it was quickly cut short the moment the floor beneath her trembled before one of the towers in the necropolis shone with light.
They're there. Flashing through most of the distance, Noé ran into the treasury just as Zagan let his hand fall pointing at one of those already present in his treasury. "My master will be...you, Ren Hakuryuu."
He chose already. But he hadn't disappeared yet. She could still try talking with him. Noé let herself catch her breath as Zagan explained why he had chosen this boy over Alibaba, and to her it made sense. A djinn was free to choose at their own discretion after all. She was about to speak when shrieks from outside caught everybody's attention making them turn towards the exit and finally realize she was there.
Alibaba was the first to speak out at recognizing her. "Y-You're the lady—the one from Amon's dungeon!"
The one that Zagan had chosen as his master, Hakuryuu, looked over at Alibaba somewhat puzzled, "You know this person, Alibaba?"
Aladdin was the one that answered for them both. "We do. We met her when we captured Alibaba's djinn, Amon."
Although Noé was happy that they recognized her, she pushed that aside in favor of dealing with the more pressing matter. With a pointing finger, she directed all of their eyes to the outside of the treasury and towards the necropolis. "The Toran villagers you just liberated need protection."
"Protection?" Alibaba repeated. "But we captured the dungeon already, haven't we? The dungeon creatures shouldn't be attacking them anymore."
Noé turned up to face Zagan to reply to this, ignoring the blatant glare he gave her. Apparently someone else recognized her as well. "This isn't a dungeon creature. This has been eating them and grown to an amalgamate of dark rukh."
Zagan's eyes narrowed at her, "Another dark djinn?"
Before she could ask about this 'other one' more screams began to come from outside. The urgency of the situation didn't allow for questions. What mattered in that instant was making sure that three-headed cobra didn't get to the villagers. Noé turned from the djinn to Alibaba and Aladdin, "I need your help protecting the Toran villagers."
"We just fought a dark djinn ourselves," Hakuryuu explained to her, stepping up from the others to speak to her. "We all are exhausted and our magoi is at its limits. We cannot fight another."
"You won't be fighting it, I am." All pairs of eyes widened at that declaration but what was more blatant than their shock was Zagan's obvious doubt.
"You intend to fight on our side?" he scoffed and scowled at her. "That would be a first."
This time it was Noé's turn to scowl and glare at his impudence. Honestly, she hadn't expected him to respond any differently to her than Zepar and Leraje had but she had hoped that seeing the urgent matter posed before them that he would at least be civil. Hoped for too much, it seems. But before she could give some sarcastic remark, she stopped herself. There wasn't a point in stooping to his level and have a petty banter when people's lives were at stake.
And not only theirs.
Whatever infected Pernadius in Reim, whatever infected the dark djinn that appeared in Maladh, it had come into Zagan's dungeon and infected whatever it could find: dungeon creatures and humans alike. It took life from this place and corrupted it against its will. And she had witnessed how menacing a monster like that was her first time against one back in Reim—how all it touched corroded and became a part of it. How it consumed unconditionally to amass more power. It was a dark entity that perpetuated darkness and it didn't care what it destroyed in its path.
Noé would not allow it to continue as it wished. Not when she had the power to stop it from spreading into the world.
She offered them a smile before giving her back to them. "Whatever you may think, Zagan, I stopped caring about the moment I became a recorder. I don't care about what you or any of the others say, we have and will always be at your side to help you. Even now I will do exactly that even if you don't want it of me."
Spirit of Candor and Credence, in the name of my magoi, envelop me to grant me greater power. This I command of you and your household. Dwell in my body, Andromalius.
A blinding light from her metal vessel engulfed her and burst into a flurry of light that left her in her full body djinn equip.
Auburn hair turned a golden color and was held up in a high bun at the back of her head held together by a golden garland with its leaves accentuated with rubies. Long strands of hair were left loose before coming around the back to be tucked into the bun, surrounding her now long pointed ears both of which now had crimson feathers coming from behind them. The feathers trailed down from behind her ears to run along her neck and finish on her collarbone where a gold piece started. The gold bib necklace wrapped around the base of her neck with two thin pieces while on her chest two gold circles fell, one inside the other. The smaller one fell right at her bosom and the surrounding larger one covered the front of her chest; five pieces lined outward from the outside of the smaller circle and extended behind the larger one giving them the appearance of rays of sun. From the rays closer to her sides, smaller golden chains dangled to wrapped around her back and connected around the back of her neck. The middle ray that laid just over her abdomen connected to white fabric that wrapped loosely around her hips and stopped short of where her thighs started along with a see-through gold sarong underneath that ran to her knees. Although her upper body remained human, her legs became animal-like, turning into crimson feather-covered legs which ended in sharp talons. The outer part of her arms and up to her shoulders were covered in light feathers visible at certain angles as the light hit them. Her limp wing fell over her left shoulder like a makeshift cape as it wrapped around from her back while from the scarred right side of her shoulder blades a makeshift wing made of materialized light hung low behind her, the light working the same as the feathers on her arms.
Emerald eyes glanced over her shoulder to the group that was gawking with awe blatant in their eyes. Giving them a warm smile, Noé said, "You guys keep the villagers safe," before turning around towards the door. The translucent feathers of her right wing shifted and became a sash that came around her shoulders and with a kick off the floor they allowed her to fly off towards the necropolis outside.
Quickly surveying the surroundings, she noticed that the Toran people were scattering about trying to escape from the jaws of the three heads that hunted them.
How long can I hold my equip, Chief?
"You've used too much already, at this rate—"
"How long?" she repeated, punctuating her words with a hiss.
Andromalius remained quiet for a second before responding. "Without the sun...ten minutes."
More than enough.
Noé wasted no time to fly down closer to the ground to get a better eye on the dark djinn. Reaching her hand out, her light bow materialized in it, more intricate than before, while the other plucked one of the light feathers on her arm to nock on her bow. The invisible string stretched and the feather transformed into an arrow as she aimed at one of the heads as is rushed at a villager. Noé let it fly and it shot through faster than the eye could see piercing one of the heads before exploding into shards and rupturing the head in an instant.
"Noé onee-san!"
Aladdin's call made her glance over her shoulder at him, Alibaba, and Hakuryuu as they rushed out from the treasury to the open space of the city. "Take them to the treasury, Aladdin!" Her eyes came back to the cobra that was starting to get over the stupor of one of its heads exploding from the inside. "This monster's mine."
Releasing more arrows its way, Noé made sure to take its attention away from Aladdin and the others to give them time to coral the people away to safety. But a few moments after having destroyed it, it was frightening to see that its head began to regenerate from the stump that had been left behind. It was fresh and fully grown within seconds and baring its fangs at her. She clicked her tongue at seeing this; the thing had a reservoir of magoi somewhere. That was the only thing that explained how it kept regrowing its head even after she pulverized it. But as she kept hurling arrows at it to keep it at bay and scanning its body for the source, Noé couldn't find anything that remotely looked capable of harboring magoi for the djinn.
There was the option of searching diligently for it and getting that over with so that the fight would be easier for her but with how limited her time was she couldn't afford to. At this point, exhausting its reserve was the best way of killing the beast she could think of. After five minutes of pummeling its body with volleys, the serpent drew back and lifted its heads up in the air. When its jaw hung open though, Noé managed to spot a bright purple sphere that glowed where its uvula would be.
It's core.
But the moment was brief. Energy instantly accumulated in its mouth before it shot off. Noé evaded it, flying upwards as the magic decimated parts of the city in a single blow. That was a powerful attack for having such a low casting time. But it allowed her to see its core, and now that she knew where it was she could shoot it down.
"One minute, Noé."
"I've got it."
Rushing down towards it, Noé hovered in front of it and waved her arms around to get its attention. The snake turned her way and immediately opened its jaw to charge again. Noé gave it no time though and instead shook her arm to let all the glistening feathers fall and flutter around her. The three heads stopped and let its jaw drop to watch her as she swept her arm across. A burst of light came through and from the feathers duplicates of herself stood indistinguishable from one another. They lifted their bows and without a word began firing at it. The dark djinn couldn't aim at any single one so instead it went to attacking them directly. They weren't hard to catch and they ruptured into pieces as soon as it clamped down its jaw on them. It wasn't until it made the last one disappear that it searched around bewildered.
"Great huntress of the skies, let my aim be true. Purge the darkness with your light and bring about the dawn of a new day." It turned at hearing her speak and saw her with her arms lifted straight before her but with nothing in her hands. The dark djinn didn't waste a second and immediately opened its jaw to charge. Seeing her chance, Noé finished the incantation, a grin coming to her lips at how the dark djinn failed to notice the magic circle beneath them while fighting her doubles. "Alfajr Alsahm Alkhariq."
Focus.
The instant she cast her extreme magic, the entirety of the dungeon turned dark for a split second. That same instant turned slow in Noé's eyes as the light everywhere vanished, a glow emanating from her hands as the light gathered in them. In that instant, she saw the dark djinn hang its jaw open but unlike before the split second it took to charge its attack felt like an eternity to her.
Aim.
The light in her hands took shape as she drew one arm back and kept the other steady. She held no bow, instead choosing to concentrate all her magoi into the one arrow. Unlike her normal ones, this one struggled to keep any resemblance to an arrow, the magoi in it being too much, but Noé knew it would hold long enough for her. Focusing her sight on the glowing orb that hung in the dark djinn's mouth, Noé took a deep breath in and released the arrow with a single word.
"...fire."
The arrow flew in the blink of an eye striking the dark djinn at its core and instantly exploding in an array of light that illuminated the whole necropolis in its bursting. The core of the dark djinn destroyed, Noé watched it writhe in pain before its body solidified and turned a charcoal so fragile that it couldn't remain upright and crumbled to the ground.
It's over. Letting out a deep sigh, Noé let her djinn equip fade as the air escaped her. She stumbled back, having been at the edge of her limits, but luckily a couple of arms caught her own and held her standing.
A lopsided grin came to her lips as she faced both Aladdin and Alibaba. "Thank you, boys."
"T-That was incredible…" Alibaba fawned, stuttering in his praise.
"Thank you, Noé onee-san," Aladdin said as they helped her walk back to the treasury where all the others were. "You helped us."
"Not really." Her eyes came up to the villagers as they cheered her for saving them. The sight made her scoff especially after her experience in Maladh. But at least they were safe. "I just helped you help yourselves."
Hakuryuu came up to them to assure them that all the villagers had been kept safe. That was more than enough recompense this time, she thought. She thanked the three of them for having done as she said despite their injuries. None of them bothered acknowledging her gratitude, though, saying that it was the right thing to do.
Right thing to do...huh?
A piercing glare sent chills down her spine and made her look upward to Zagan who still hadn't disappeared despite already having chosen a master. As the villagers busied themselves with gathering the treasures of the dungeon, the three boys stayed with her.
"You did help them, after all," he said unamused.
"I said I would," she retorted hoarsely. Despite how tired she was and how much her throat hurt from how her seal was reacting to her lack of magoi, Noé didn't let him get the better of her. "As a recorder I vowed to preserve your history and past but as your champion my vows were to safeguard your future."
Zagan raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. "Vows are nothing but words waiting to be broken. Your master proved that to us."
Baring her teeth at him, Noé was about to stand up and call him out but stopped when Aladdin stood before her with his arm outstretched keeping her from moving forward. The brave little magi's expression was unfazed, a taut line painted on his lips as he looked up to Zagan.
"I don't think Noé onee-san is a bad person, Zagan."
"But magi, you do not know what she and her kind, what her master, did to us. She does not deserve—" but the smile that came to Aladdin stopped Zagan in his tracks.
"Maybe I don't really know who she was back then. But what I do know is who she is now." Aladdin turned to the side to face Noé with an adoring gaze and smile that took her aback, "Noé onee-san helped us in Amon's dungeon and she helped us protect the villagers as well. She risked herself more than once for us and others, for people she didn't even know." The small smile then changed, breaking into a grin all of his own. "And even when I only know her because of that, I believe that Noé onee-san would never falter from helping others. I believe and know that she is good in her own way."
Noé was ready to disprove him. The boy had no idea what he was talking about. There were many things that she was and that she wasn't. And what she knew for a fact was that she wasn't noble or selfless. Her intentions had always been selfish—it was how she was raised to see the world. Zagan was right. And yet despite being told this by a djinn, the magi chose to believe what he saw, chose to believe what he'd experience. A part of her wanted to contradict him, to prove to him that, unlike Teosa, she truly was someone to be wary of, but at opening her mouth words didn't leave her throat. Instead a small taste of water touched her lips. Her fingers reached up and a bated breath escaped her at touching the silent tears that had escaped her eyes.
Wiping furiously at them, she lowered her head to hide it. Chief helped calm her by gathering the light around her, a glow that began surrounding her like a warm cloak. "Aladdin is right, Noé. Circumstances and the actions of others might have shaped you, but it is your own actions that define who you are."
"If that is what you believe, magi, then I will not try to dissuade you further." Zagan turned to face Noé just as she lifted her face after wiping it. "The fact that your kind and your master disgust me won't change, but it will be my foolish hope that you serve him better than your master served our king."
That again… It wasn't like she didn't know or wasn't aware of what had happened. She knew what Teosa did—what she had caused—but also believed with all her being that Teosa couldn't have done that by her own will. There was just no way that she would have deliberately killed the two people she loved most in the world.
And although she yearned to know why, she withhold her judgement about it. She would always believe in her master. But she would also see to it that things never repeated themselves again. "My will is my own and I intend to serve him as well as I served my own master."
Zagan groaned dissatisfied with her answer but deflated before turning to Hakuryuu while still addressing her. "You're really nothing but a lapdog still. Well, at least that undying reverence will serve a purpose now." In an instant his body disappeared and entered the blade of Hakuryuu's polearm.
WIth him gone, Noé could finally breathe as she fell back to a sit. Grinning up to Aladdin, she softly said, "Thank you, lil' princas."
Aladdin stared blankly at her for a moment before smiling warmly. "You're welcome. But onee-san, I'm just Aladdin."
Just Aladdin, a tender smile crept to her lips at this, somewhat understanding the implications of such words.
She scoffed at his simplicity. "In that case, I'm just Noé, 'just Aladdin'."
Aladdin chuckled at that jest. "You're funny, onee-san." Offering his hand, he helped her get up to walk over to the transfer circle that was complete to take them home. Standing by his side, Noé smiled and brought her hand over his head to ruffle his hair before placing it on his shoulder to lean on him for support.
"Sorry," she said as she tried to stand by herself.
Aladdin didn't seem to mind and wrapped his arm around her waist to help keep carry her weight. "It's alright. You used almost all of your magoi to destroy that dark djinn. You shouldn't push yourself."
She offered him a smile and accepted his help. The moment the pillar activated, though, it sent her on her own just like it always did. How she hated that light magic acted differently with her. But with just herself and her thoughts, it allowed her to reflect back on the fight. The dark djinn had been a hassle to fight, more than it should have. She was sure that had it been a fight on the outside where she could syphon rukh from the sun there wouldn't have been any problems. But this showed her just how ill-equipped she still was in controlling and dealing with her naturally small reservoir of magoi.
Looks like even after all this time I still have things to learn.
"No matter the years, we always have something new to learn," Chief said, pensively but proud of hearing her admit her own shortcomings. "What are your plans then?"
Learn. She needed to train vigorously under the right hand. She may be in peak condition physically but through all these years she had neglected to study properly how to use her little amount of magoi efficiently. And depending on the seal won't cut it.
And throughout all her travels, she knew of one tribe that could teach her well enough.
"I think…" she whispered hoarsely, her eyes fixed on the world they would soon return to, "it's time to go back."
The blinding light overtook her sight for a split second before she found herself at the top of the hole left behind by the dungeon but found that their troubles were still far from over. Taken by surprise, a cyclone took ahold of her and swept her upwards, the blades hitting her every which way before it seceded and dropped her on the ground. Not only her either. As she lifted herself off from the ground, she noted how Aladdin, Hakuryuu, and Morgiana had been swept away as well, injured from their endeavors in the dungeon. They were too weakened by it; they couldn't fight anymore.
But I can.
Noé gritted her teeth ignoring the agonizing pain of her body overflowing with magoi as the seal instantly began to replenish it as soon as the sun hit her. But with how beaten her body was from the attack and from having just used so much strength conjuring her extreme magic, replenishing her magoi so fast was causing her body more harm than good.
"Noé, stop it! You can't fight like this!"
"I have to," she groaned through gritted teeth. Pushing herself up, she felt the headache that had been mounting in the back of her head spreading and making her dizzier than she thought she'd be. The dehydration was hitting her hard with how much magoi the seal was replenishing. Despite it being full now, she couldn't hope to use either it or Chief's magic.
She bit her lip, hoping the pain of one would dull the other, and stood up staggering a few steps before facing the three that threatened them. The weapons they had put her on edge. She'd seen dark metal vessels once or twice before, but they had been underdeveloped pieces of junk that didn't hold a candle to the real ones. But now she knew the danger they posed to her and the others. Unable to use her own, they would be a hassle to fight...but not impossible. She would just have to rely on old tactics to deal with them.
Seeing as they were waiting for her to make a move while talking amongst themselves of how helpless they all were, Noé slowly loosened the obi around her waist enough to allow her to reach back and free her wing from its confinements.
One of them, the brany one that had his vessel active, tilted his head curious. "Who's the woman?"
The eyepatched swordsman shrugged. "Not one of the targets, so it's not our concern."
"It is if she stands in our way," the old man in the wheelchair said aloud.
Their blatant dismissal of her presence gave her enough time to mentally prepare for what she was about to due. Noé took a deep breath to brace herself a split second before she rushed at them.
"How idiotic." The brawns used his metal vessel, the dark arms from his armor extending out to catch her but Noé was fast enough to evade them. Jumping out of the way, she grabbed tightly to the end of her wing with her left hand, ignoring the pain from her grip. Just as she was about to land, she forcefully willed the feathers to react to her instincts. She felt them as they curled to her command, slow but just fast enough, and steeled; feeling them harden against the wing as she landed on the ground, she stopped sharply before turning about and whipping the wing out with her hand in their direction. The feathers flew with an accuracy that targeted the three of them in a straight line but even their sharpness akin to steel daggers didn't faze them when the brawns only swept them away with his dark arms. The feathers strayed and impale against the trees around them. No, not all, she realized, her eyes narrowed on them.
"What an odd attack." The brawns took the red steel feather that stuck out from his metal vessel. He gasped at touching it, the sharpness of it cutting at the slightest touch.
"Well, she's still willing to fight," the swordsman proclaimed aloud to his companions.
"Take care of it, Zurmudd," the old man announced and made the brawns step up to fight her.
Gritting her teeth as the pain heightened with her tight grip on her wing, she counted her blessing for what it was. If they wanted to fight her one at a time then it would only benefit her. The sudden taste of iron and the warmth in her mouth told her differently as she coughed into her mouth.
"Your body is too hurt from the influx of magoi. It's not a matter of what you can fight with, you can't fight in this condition!" Chief's warning was heard but she decided to ignore it. If she couldn't protect Aladdin and the others then she would be exactly what Zagan and the others thought her to be, a liar and a traitor.
She had already let someone precious to her disappear from her life. There was no way that would happen again, not if she had the breath to fight it.
Dodging away from his attacks as they came, Noé did her best to skirt around him before spraying her steeled feathers. While some hit, most of them were blown away by the whirlwinds caused by his attacks. It was only a minute later that she began to feel the warmth of blood dripping down her wing. Her tongue clicked in annoyance as she realized that she had severed more feathers than she should have. The blood told her that she wasn't using her old feathers anymore; these last few attacks had been with growing feathers, ones that were deep-rooted into the wing. That explained why her attacks had become even less effective than they had been before. Developing feathers didn't steel as well as fully grown ones.
But that wouldn't stop her. Even if she had to strip her wing bear of feathers, she would fight them off as long as she needed to for Aladdin and his friends to regain consciousness and run. Only a little longer. But just as she was about to avoid another attack, her legs suddenly refused to move, her body so engorged with magoi that she couldn't muster them to.
And even when she screamed at them in her hoarse voice it was futile. Zurmudd caught her off guard with the whirlwind sending her off into the air as the blades of wind cut her every which way. Unable to move still, she fell freely, and couldn't avoid the hit that came her way from the metal vessel's arms. The punch hit her directly in her gut and with nothing holding her in place, it sent her flying out of the island and towards the sea with a devastating force and speed. The water hit her hard as she sunk. Still conscious enough to hold her breath, Noé tried hard to not let her pain take away the concentration she attempted to muster. The uncontrolled influx of magoi left her too burdened to move but with it she could try and flash herself back.
"Noé , don't—" But Chief spoke to late—not like it would've changed her mind—but what neither of them had noticed was how the rukh fought against her seal. It wasn't until she flashed thinking of the battlefield she had just left but instead landing in another that she realized what had happened.
It'd never happened before. The seal had never disobeyed her. But as she hit the ground sending white petals flying and obscuring the bright blue sky she saw above her, she grasped just how beaten and tired her body actually was. There wasn't a muscle she could move now. The quick influx and her lack of rest to adjust to it had cowed her more than she had wanted to admit. Bitter tears sprung at her eyes at the thought of Aladdin, Alibaba, Morgiana, and Hakuryuu alone, unprotected.
Dead.
Because of me. The thought so vivid that it ignited memories of loses so akin to that frustrated her but quickly disappeared at the thought of getting up to try again. She had the magoi, flashing wasn't the problem anymore, she just had to brute force it. But just as darkness began to take ahold of her blurry vision, a silhouette stood over her, darkening her surroundings before they were meant to. But they were only a few seconds before she blacked out.
—{ii}—
Time ticked away. Not only for this world but for the others. Rakah couldn't stand wasting time and he absolutely despised those who made him wear it thinner than it already was. And as he stood in a secluded corner of the prominent alabaster temple, he grimaced at the mere thought. The Regia was a magnificent structure, a temple fit for its sacerdos maxima and her disciples, and although Reim was a very well guarded country, they did respect their religious freedom to leave the temples unguarded inside.
The faint sound of dainty laughter echoing through the walls calmed him a bit as it told him just who was coming down the halls of the giant temple. Finally, he groaned but didn't stand from his place leaning in one of the spaces hidden by two pillars. He watched as two women passed by in the middle of chit chatting in quiet whispers and waited a little longer until their voices were a bit fainter again. Stepping out, Rakah turned his head towards the women seeing them wave their farewells before they parted ways. One went ahead to exit the temple, surely to return to the Regia, while the other took a turn into one of the side exits that led further into it.
Following quite a distance away, he shoved his pockets into his pants as he walked through the open arch that led into the garden. It was well kept with flower beds scattered around and surrounded by statues placed all about the garden. What stood out was the fountain in the likeness of the goddess which gave the temple its namesake. Rakah found the woman on the other side of the garden near a balcony that overlooked downhill towards Remano, Reim's capitol. But most importantly it was away from prying ears and eyes. Still, he chose to err for the side of caution and instead of facing out towards Remano like she did, Rakah gave the city his back and kept his gaze towards the open gardens.
"You seem well." Her voice was sweet, demure, and as beautiful as she was, but he knew that beauty often hid the worst kind of nastiness.
"I'm not here for idle prattle," he retorted, already fed up with having been made to wait. "You told me to wait to give your report but as far as I see you just prolonged giving me nothing."
She laughed behind her hand. Had Rakah not known better, he would believe her to be the epitome of gracefulness that she feigned to be. Or maybe she was and he just wasn't able to see how she was using it to her advantage, whatever that may be. Really, he would never understand women.
"I didn't ask for an extension to give you fruitless answers," she replied, her voice delicate but loud enough for him to hear her. "My darling pets found a little sparrow in a dungeon to the south."
With his arms crossed, his grip tightened onto his arm. On the surface, he remained impassive. "And?"
"She's a seal bearer."
He clicked his tongue. "Information is useless if it's nothing new. I made contact with her awhile ago." Rakah held his tongue after that. No need to tell her that he and Noé had pacted. "You are as useless as I thought you to be."
The insult didn't faze her and the smile on her lips grew. "She's marked."
The mere mention got Rakah's hand to come up to his chest, just over his heart. His eyes narrowed as his hand fall back to his arm. "You saw it?"
"Barely," she admitted, "but it is without mistake. She is one of master's couriers, one of us."
Rakah's eyes went askance at receiving that information. Had he known she was marked he wouldn't have pacted with her. He had enough to deal with quelling his curse. He didn't need hers to intercept with his via their contract. But it was done and Rakah couldn't back out of it now. At least from what information they had—little as it may be—he could tell that it hadn't progressed. If either due to lack of time or because of something she was doing to keep it at bay was unclear. But the pact wasn't the only thing worrying him either. Rakah just couldn't keep much of an eye on Noé anymore.
Not when I finally found the last one. After scouring countless worlds using the limited traversing that both Grace of Sunlight and Peaceful Darkness allowed him, he had finally, finally, located Ceara again. And this one...he knew this one would be the one to at last call upon Silver Echoes. It was an instinct so innate that told him this that he couldn't ignore it. He had to stay with Ceara—no matter how much it aggravated to see her with that man. He would hate to have to leave this simpleton girl to manage Noé but the choice was out of his hands now. If what he wanted was to keep an eye on Ceara then he would have to leave Noé to her.
"Then it should be easy for you to keep watch over her if she's marked."
"Of course," she replied, tilting her head to the side to face him. Soft green eyes stared back at his amethyst as a smile curled her lips. The tiny scurrying took his attention for a brief second as, from the shadows created by the pillars of the temple, small black rats with beady cyan eyes scurried out whisking away from shade to shade before disappearing. "My darlings and I are more than capable of handling Miss Noélia."
"Then do so," he said and rose from leaning against the balcony to a few steps forward. "And whatever happens, do not engage her."
"What if she begins to pry?" she asked genuinely perplexed at his order.
"Even if she does, whatever she finds won't connect back to either of us," he said. "So do as I say. Don't fight her." Because if she did, Rakah knew that she would stand no chance against Noé. And their numbers were already small as they were. He didn't need less tools to work with when his arsenal was already so tiny.
A smile spread across her lips and she nodded. "Very well, Mister Rakah. Then you shall deal with searching for the remaining seals and I will deal with Grace of Sunlight and Miss Noélia."
He didn't acknowledge her reply and instead left her to herself in the balcony. As he strolled down the steps of the temple he spotted one of the rats scurrying through the darkness. Rakah wasn't too keen of the woman since she appeared so ambitious. It was how much she managed to control the powers given to her by her own mark in such short time that told him exactly how greedy she really was.
It's always the cute ones.
Walking up to one of the rats as it hid beneath a shade cast by the temple, Rakah stared down at it, his eyes cold and merciless. "And one more thing." The rat's head tipped up and tilted as if listening. "Don't try to take Grace of Sunlight for yourself. If you do..." He stepped onto the rat, the small burst of light magic beneath the sole of it squashing it out of existence.
Rakah might have his qualms about killing Noé for the moment, but if it were anybody else he would strike them down as quickly as his lightning let him. He'd gone too long searching for their escape, and he wouldn't let a fake like her try to steal that away from them.
A/N:
This chapter was a little shorter than the rest, both word- and page-wise, but it was a bit more packed as well with other things. Anyway, this was a fun one to write simply because I got to introduce Noé's and Andromalius' djinn equip. She a bird gal in every sense of the word!
Also, although it's a less informal than I usually do this, I want to thank everybody who's ever reviewed, favorited, followed, and most importantly read this or any of my stories for that matter. This past month was hell and it drove me down a long and dark road. Thinking of these characters and these stories (and all future ones that will come) was one of the few things that kept my head over the water. Now with those dark clouds behind me and with so much sun shining, I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I give you much kisses and hugs You are all the best, and I'm glad that you all enjoy reading these stories I've come to share with you :)
Next chapter, I'll definitely go back to my usual spiel in the A/N, so no worries! Speaking of future chapters, I've surprisingly writing ahead on this story! I'm keeping to a schedule though so I won't be posting those soon. I'll tell ya, though, next chapter we'll get to see Noé in Reim with a certain magi and a certain little red lion cub. So as always, hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next update!