"This is definitely the Toran village." Ja'far glanced at his map once more to confirm it. Sinbad was astound at the village in front of them. All of them were glad to finally find it after experiencing the horrors of the desert.
"I'm sorry about that. I only heard of this village as well." Sharrkan apologized shyly. Masrur let out a small smile.
"It sure was a long way."
"All right. Let's ask the people out here. Excuse me, Miss?" Sinbad approached a Toran woman but before he could even come near them, they scurried away. The group was surprised with a barrage of spear pointed at them. The villagers spoke of language they were not familiar.
"What are they saying!?" Sinbad asked.
"T-They're speaking the Toran language." Sharrkan answered him. The men around him continued to drive them away but Sinbad was determined. He suggested that they should all calm down but it fell on deaf ears. Just then, their spears were broken into pieces. Masrur stood in front of them.
"Sin, if words won't reach them, I can silence them by force." He uttered darkly. Sinbad's eyes widened and quickly stopped the young Fanalis for it will just provoke the villagers more.
"Put your weapons down. You as well, travelers." An old man came from behind. He introduced himself as the chief of the village. He scrutinized the red haired kid accompanying Sinbad and knew right away that he was a young Fanalis.
"That red hair and those eyes, you're a Fanalis aren't you?"
"Yes." He simply answered. Ja'far and Sharrkan asked if he knew about them. The chief confirmed it but he broke the bad news to them. He told them that Fanalis lived near them but as of the present, there were no Fanalis left. Near them was a village full of settlements. There, the Fanalis lived but they were targeted by slave traders and were annihilated.
"H-How could the strongest people in the world be annihilated?" Ja'far asked.
"The Fanalis are still humans. Slave traders took that to their advantage. You're from Heliophat aren't you? The medicines hailed from Heliophat are very effective even for a Fanalis. They pretended to be their friend, deceived them and drugged them. They took children as hostages which subdued the adults. They showed no mercy." He told them while looking straight at Sharrkan. The poor kid shook in fear at his cold look.
The chief also told them that their village was once persecuted to slave traders. They were targeted but they fought. That was the reason for their extreme distrust towards outsiders. Masrur pursed his lips tightly. He asked the village chief where the village was.
"There was once a village but now—"
"I won't accept it unless I see it with my own eyes." He said before dashing off. His heart could not accept the fact that his only wish to see his own kind would forever be held away from him. Ja'far was about to follow the young Fanalis but Sinbad quickly stopped him.
"There are things that he needed to see for himself to believe."
"Sin..."
"I'll go check on him." Sharrkan said before dashing off after Masrur. Sinbad told Ja'far to let them be since they had something to talk with the Toran people. The chief village insisted that they did not trust outsiders so they will not listen. Sinbad was not one to give up so the village chief let him.
"Slave traders, persecution, not that I know the truth of what the Toran people had experience, I just can overlook that. I'll change this world's injustice." He declared. The rukh fluttered around him as the Toran chief's eyes widened at his statement.
"What?"
Ruins of Fanalis Village
Masrur's POV
I could feel fear creep within me. My breathing shortened as I anticipate the village I was looking for. I could see a village in front so naturally, I slowed down. What I did not expect was the truth.
"...." Everything was crushed into rubbish. All that was left was the ruins of the village I longed for. Anger bubbled up inside me but I stayed cool. I could not lose control now. It was then that I heard footsteps behind me.
"Masrur, I'm sure that you're upset right now but I'm certain that you'll find your people someday so...!" Sharrkan said. I clenched my fist at his words. He had nothing to do with me so why mind other's business?
"This has nothing to do with you." I simply said. I thought he would go away, scared like he always did while we were traveling.
"Don't try to tell me that it has nothing to do with me." He whispered. He babbled about how his people were also to blame for the medicine, Heliophat's policy on slavery and whatever Sinbad told him about me. His pity sickened me. I could not stand his tone.
"Don't act like you understand me. I'm all alone now. My family, my people. I have nothing. That's...something a royalty with a country, with a family to return to, wouldn't understand." I mocked. I did not want his pity. That will do me no good. Anger bubbled inside me but I tried to contain it. I thought he will just walk away but he burst out.
"Cut it out already!! It's true that we're different people, different bloodline, but don't say you have nothing! I don't have a country to return to. My family is gone and even before that, I was always alone. You, on the other hand, you're always surrounded by amazing people. Everything I don't have... Don't call that nothing!" He teared up. I guess even a royalty like him suffers like a normal human. I felt the ground rumble so I quickly informed him about it.
"Someone's coming. It might be a survivor from the Fanalis village." I ran towards the sound only to find slave traders. My blood boiled in anger at their remarks. They plan on getting the Toran people.
"They're headed towards the Toran people. We have to go back and tell Sinbad and the others!" Sharrkan uttered. Going back will take a lot of time.
"If we go now, it will all be too late. I'll crush them."
"What do you mean? Masrur?" I could not hear his next words because the next thing I knew was that I crushed the man's head with my foot. He skidded down the ground. The slave traders looked at me in surprise but not one man. I was sure that he was he leader of their group. All I wanted was to release this hatred with me. I ended up crushing most of them when their leader started clapping. He had the audacity to ask where my family was.
"Come quietly so that we can sell you at a high price." He said.
"I am no longer a slave. I'll never be called by that again." I said but just then, I felt my body waver. It felt heavy and numb. I could not move an inch. He grinned at my condition and that was when I noticed a glisten in their swords.
'Poison?'
"That poison should be enough to paralyze a monster like you. Get the others up! He'll be more than enough."
'No. I don't want my freedom to end just like this.' I gritted my teeth in frustration. Just then, his voice rang among others. Sharrkan stood in front of me shaking.
"I-I won't let you take him!"
"Hahaha! Where the hell did this kid came from? No matter. Taste this!" He attacked him with his sword but Sharrkan used the sword on his hip to slide the enemy's sword in half. It was small and compared to the other swords, it looked puny. He proved them wrong.
"Your swords are no match for it!" He declared and started rendering them weaponless. They dropped to the floor in pain. He continued doing that until I noticed the decline in his movements. He was about to attack but his body froze.
"He stopped moving?" They were all confused. Sharrkan huffed out stuffy air. It looked like he was in pain. The veins in his foot cramped.
"The child is fighting to protect the Fanalis behind him. Faced with this number of opponents, he'll exhaust himself quickly. It seems like he lacks experience and this is the limit of his stamina." He laughed. Dark aura surrounded me and I quickly bit my arms to bleed out the poison from my body. I could somehow move now so before anything else could happen to the Heliophat prince, I kicked the man's face. They were all surprised at how I could move but I only showed them my arms.
"You monster."
"Hmph. Not bad." Sharrkan praised. He grinned at me and the feeling on his legs were back. Together, we defeated the slave traders. They were no match for our strength.
Toran Village
3rd POV
Sinbad was able to convince the chief village about his dream of changing the world. The chief was astounded when he heard that Sinbad was a former slave.
"Hmmm..." That chief village and the villagers talked amongst themselves regarding the outsiders. Soon, Sharrkan and Masrur came back with tied up slave traders. The Heliophat prince told them that they were about to come and invade their territory but in luck, they were defeated. The old man gasped at their strength and courage. He was now convinced that they were not ordinary travelers and that they were truly different from other outsiders.
"You have my approval. You can stay here for the night. Don't misunderstand. I still don't trust you but I have a good feeling about you four. You're different from the other outsiders we've encountered." Sinbad beamed at his words.
"Thank you very much."
That night, everybody had a lot on their minds but one thing was for sure. They were following what they were destined for. The next day, it was time to bid their goodbyes to the Toran people. Sinbad told the chief that since it was their village, they should give the corresponding punishments for the slave traders. The chief nodded in understanding. After they left, the chief turned to the slave traders and ordered his men to kill them.
'Innocent people are suffering, hunted down and treated as commodities. I won't forgive that. I have to change that wth my own hands!' Sinbad thought as they made their way back to Cathargo.
Cathargo
Thais' POV
I could not believe my eyes as I set them on the brat in front of us. He grinned manically at us.
"What do you mean she's your Queen?" Leonhart asked.
"She conquered the dungeon of Zepar! His dungeon is one that I raised not long ago! Amazing isn't it? Oh yeah, old hag! You have two djinns right?" He asked excitedly.
"How do you know about it?" I asked calmly. The others were shocked at how I possessed two when they only knew one. Judal grinned before showing me his eyes. They were bright red, as if they looked deep into my soul.
"I can see and manipulate the rukh." I was about to test out if he was really a magi. My sword was blocked by a shield.
"Borg. A trait of a magician." Leonhart commented. I nodded. Judal boasted out that he was not just some ordinary magician for he was a magician loved by the rukh. A magi.
"Alright. That may be the case but what is it that you really want?"
"Hmm? I already told you. Im here for Selen." He reached for her hands again. Selendine looked a little uncomfortable.
"Me? What for?"
"You want to take back Parthevia from the current emperor right? Why don't you become my king and together, we can take back your country." He
"I'm sorry but I'm working under Sindria Trading Company right now." She said. Judal fumed at this and asked who was the boss. She told him that it was Sinbad. The black haired Magi made sure that he will convince him as well. After all, he had learned a lot about him. I narrowed my eyes at how he was able to gather a lot of information. Sinbad was NOT that famous yet.
'There is something off about this kid. Do you think we should investigate about him?' I asked my djinns. They hummed in agreement. Just then, I felt a weird sensation in the atmosphere. I looked up to see a cloaked person with mask on his face. His eyes glistened in interest as he watched us. I was about to comment something when he disappeared from my sight.
'What the—?'
'Be careful, Thais. He's quite familiar and that person must be one of the members of that organization Ugo has been spouting about.' Ose warned. I pursed my lips tightly. Leonhart and the rest chatted with the brat. Night fall came and we had no choice but to stay in Cathargo.
"I'm glad there's an inn out here. You should go and rest for now, Leon. I'll just talk with Selen over there." He nodded. I did talk to her and she told me that it would be better if they'll just wait for Sinbad since it will just take them another two days to get to Cathargo.
"I see. That does save money but I worry about Judal. I'm sure that kid will not like being bored."
"You're right. By the way, I have a favor to ask of you Thais. Please teach me how to connect with my djinn. I tried but it's as if there is a barrier between us." I pondered about it and decided to check on her magoi.
"Let me use this." My hands glowed yellow and I felt the rukh shift around us. There was indeed a barrier between them but it was more of her emotions. I assured her that what she needed was to calm down and relax. She did and I asked her to try and connect with her djinn. The insignia on her sword lit up and I was sure that Zepar had heard her call.
"There. So are you going to be Judal's King?" I asked. She looked down before truthfully speaking. She told me that she did not really know what a king vessel was or what he was talking about. I had a brief knowledge about it so I shared what I know to her. Listening carefully, she took note of the djinns, king vessel, Magi and the rukh.
"There are a lot of things I really don't know about this world."
"Surprising right?" I grinned at her. She nodded until we heard Judal's complaints. I guess she had to attend to him now. Great, a brat in their wake. I pity them.
It took Sinbad about 3 days before they reached Cathargo and we welcomed them. He was shocked to still see us here for he was sure that we should have gone back to Balbadd. Selendine and her company to be exact since we needed to go back to Yrif.
"Well, it was actually for you people to save money. Selendine thought that it would be better to have you people back first before going." I explained. Selendine justified herself that there were a lot of things going on. She hesitated a lot.
"Hmm? Did something happen?"
"Well—" She was about to say something when Judal came and flashed the purple haired king his maniacal grin. I sweatdropped at the two when Judal insulted Sinbad and in turn, the purple haired king pinched him. Selendine tried to stop him but there was no need for Judal just used his Borg.
"A Borg? But only magicians can use that." Sinbad was confused. Judar used this chance to boast his status as a Magi. That caught Sinbad's interest. The black haired Magi saw the unbelieving look on his golden eyes before grabbing Selen's metal vessel. Our eyes widened at what he was about to do.
"Judal! Don't do that here!" I shouted. He ignored me and Zepar appeared. The people ran away in fear and I face palmed at his ignorance.
'Such a brat!'
'Calm down, Thais. There is no need.' Ronove tried to convince me. Judal encouraged Sinbad to join him and become his King which made the purple haired merchant weary. Ja'far tried to talk but the magi cut him off and babbled about the world's injustice and naivety. I could see that Sinbad agreed with his knowledge about the world and his wish to have them as his king.
"What about Thais and Leonhart?"
"Hmm? They are that wanderer's king. Tch. His stupid smile always irritates me!" Sinbad was confused so I enlightened him.
"He was talking about Yunan. Our dungeons were raised by him and we completed it upon our wish and his request."
"I see."
"So how about it, Selen, Sinbad? Let's take back Parthevia." Sinbad was silent at first before pointing it that he really did not feel like a magi. For Sinbad, a Magi was more like Yunan and the Reim's priestess. That earned him an irk mark from the black haired magi. He wanted to show off but stopped himself since he pointed out that it will just wear him out.
"Plus, sooner or later, you will realize that you will need power." Black rukh fluttered around him and that made me wary of this kid. A fallen magi? Sinbad let out a sigh before telling Selendine that he was her responsible now. Judal smiled. He held into Selendine. Drakon walked towards and told us details about their escape.
"At that time, one of the heavenly generals transformed into something unusual and attacked us. Thanks to my own transformation caused by my household vessel, we were able to escape safely but this doesn't change the fact that Parthevia got a hold of technology that fuses human with dungeon creatures. If they turned their armies or the whole country into monsters then...." Drakon trailed. We already knew what would have happened. Parthevia will be unstoppable. Barbarossa WILL be unstoppable.
"I understand." Sinbad uttered. I turned to him to see his weary face. Without anyone suspecting, I held his hand tightly. He was shocked but he clenched it tightly.
"It will be alright." He smiled. We travelled towards Balbadd but we had to cross another desert before reaching the port. Night time fell and we had to camp out. Luckily, there were no sandstorms impending. Dinner was served and everybody enjoyed the food. Leonhart contacted Ana and we were glad that they were safe.
"We will be back soon so I will be expecting to receive reports."
"Yes, my Lord." Everybody already went to their beds except me. My body felt somewhat tired but I was glad that the bruises were not that evident anymore.
"Thais?" I turned around to see Sinbad. He sat beside me and asked why I was still awake.
"No reason really. My eyes don't feel heavy and I guess I have a lot on my mind."
"We all do." Sinbad held my hand. It was calloused but warm nonetheless. I smiled to myself. Leaning on his shoulder, I inhaled his scent. It was the smell of ceramics due to the structures in Heliophat but I could still smell the sea and a hint of lavender. It was calming.
"I love you, Thais." He murmured. My face flushed at his words and I glanced at him to see any lies. All I could see were his serious golden orbs that pierced my soul. I could only nod but I was sure that my blush was evident because he chuckled at me.
"I can't help but fall in love with you. You're really something." He said before capturing my lips. I was unsure on what to do but he guided me. Our lips molded perfectly against each other and I could feel his longing.
'I love you, Sinbad.' I thought. He pulled away with blush evident on his face.
"I guess that proves that we're a couple now?" I asked. He chuckled before kissing my forehead.
"Yeah."
"I love you, Sinbad." I murmured.
=END=