EL: First of all, I have to apologize for not updating in forever.

Judal: Yeah, you do, lazy ass.

EL: I'm sorry.

Judal: You should be.

EL: I know.

Judal: You should.

EL: Why are you here anyways?

Judal: I don't know. *starts eating peach*

EL: Oh. Okay. *turns to crowd* I do not own Magi.

Sylvi lazily swatted a fly away from herself as she leaned on Hikari.

"Ugh... it's so boring without Akari here, isn't it?" she asked him. He growled in agreement.

"If she was here, she would've gave you one of those cookies that she had baked herself, remember?" Hikari growled again and snapped at a nearby fly.

"She would've played with us using her magic carpet," she continued, fingering the silver necklace that Akari had given her before she left.

Go do something that you think will change your life with Hikari. Preferably something dangerous. Those were her exact words, and Sylvi remembered them like it was yesterday.

She moaned. "Like what?"

Two men passed by, talking loudly. Sylvi leaned forward to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Hey," said the first man, "I heard that a new dungeon was raised by the Sacerdos Maxima. Apparently, it's open to anyone."

"I heard about that too," said the second man, "And did you hear about how it's a water dungeon as well?"

"No, actually. But I did hear how it's an incredibly dangerous one- more than other ones."

Dangerous.

"Several dungeon capturers died in it, so it must be incredibly hard to conquer."

Incredibly hard.

"You think anyone will be able to? I mean, I know it's a tough one but..."

Tough.

Sylvi jumped up and tapped the first man on the shoulder. "Can you please tell me where that dungeon is located?"

The dungeon was an incredible-looking structure. It seemed to be made of a white stone-like substance that gleamed in the bright sunlight.

Sylvi grinned up at Hikari. "This'll be easy for us because you can use wind, right?"

He seemed to understand her and bobbed his head up and down. She patted the dagger she had bought moments before to defend herself. "Ready?"

Hikari nudged her forward and she fell through the white and silver entrance, a dreamy feeling coming upon her.

Sylvi glanced back and forth, quickly observing the environment of the dungeon. In one corner, there were a few green gems that sparkled due to a few hanging lights. The floor seemed to be made of rock and a clear blue gem. There weren't any visible threats so she took a step forward. Hikari growled loudly and she stopped.

"What's wrong?"

Hikari swiped at the floor and his paw went through it, letting Sylvi discover that the "floor" of the dungeon was just an illusion created by the lights and mist that was coming out of cracks in the blue gems. He opened his mouth and wind blasted out of it, blowing all of the mist away. Only then did Sylvi see that she was standing at the edge of a cliff. If Hikari hadn't stopped her, she would've fallen to her death right then and there. She spun around and hugged his neck tightly, shaking with fear. He rubbed his huge cheek against her small ones, comforting her.

After Sylvi recovered from her shock, she went to see what was at the bottom of the cliff. There were large floating platforms made of the clear blue gem. Each platform was about 10 feet long and pointed at the bottom. They were each about 9 feet apart. Sylvi giggled. That wasn't going to stop her.

"Almost there, Hikari! Just one more leap!"

Hikari obeyed her and jumped from the last platform to another ledge. Sylvi scratched the place behind his ears and slipped off of his back. Her eyes darted around back and forth and her hand was on her dagger handle.

She looked back at Hikari. "Sense any enemies?"

He shook his head no. She sighed and visibly relaxed, removing her hand from her dagger. Neither saw the large wave appear behind them and swiftly, silently devour them whole.

XX

It's so dark.

Sylvi couldn't see anything, much less find out where she was. The only light in the room was the very faint light that seemed to be coming off of her body. She squinted into the darkness. "Hikari? Are you there?"

"Sylvi. Sylvi, it's me, Akari!"

Sylvi spun around to face the area where she thought the voice had come from. "Akari? Are you there?"

"Sylvi! I'm right here!"

Sylvi squinted into the darkness and saw a transparent Akari standing next to a very proud-looking Hikari. He was also giving off a faint glow of light, like her. She ran towards them quickly, grinning widely. She saw Hikari racing towards her as well, eyes shining with happiness. Akari stood in the back, smiling.

Sylvi scratched the spot under Hikari's neck and looked at Akari. "How'd you get here, Akari?"

Akari shook her head. "All will be revealed soon. But first, come with me." She stretched her hand towards Sylvi. Sylvi smiled up at Hikari and took Akari's hand. The moment their fingers touched, an explosion of bright white light came from them and the room was instantly lit up. She then saw that she was in a garden filled with red rose bushes. In the middle of the garden, there was a gleaming white gazebo. Akari led her towards it.

Once they were seated on the chairs in the gazebo, Akari grinned- grinned - at Sylvi. "So, I see that you've entered the dungeon Scheherazade raised?"

Sylvi nodded. "And I've only survived this far thanks to Hikari."

"Yes, I know that."

"Really? How?"

"I was watching you," Akari said simply, studying the smoke curling off of the tea that was in the teacup in front of her.

"How?"

Akari shifted her gaze to Hikari and pointed to the back of his neck. "Before I left, I installed a magic tool there that allows me to see what you are doing and where you are. That's how I know."

Sylvi's eyes widened. "That's so amazing! Then, does that mean you're here with me in the dungeon?"

Akari shook her head. "This-" she gestured towards herself - "is just a part of my rukh. You could think of it as an image projection or just as part of my consciousness."

Sylvi lowered her head. "Oh. Then... what are you doing here?"

"I came to save your life. And to warn you about someone in the dungeon."

Sylvi tilted her head. "How'd you save my life?"

"A large wave caused by the djinn of this dungeon swallowed you and Hikari. You guys were drowning so I had to quickly transport you to this place. I couldn't bring your physical bodies here to heal, so all I could do was take your rukh- or souls, really- here. After a while, the water will recede and you won't be in the red zone anymore."

Sylvi smiled. "You never cease to amaze me, Akari."

She stiffened. "W-what did you say?"

"I said that you never cease to amaze me, Akari. Is there something wrong with that?"

You never cease to amaze me, Akari. That's why I'm asking you to- no, that's why I want you to...

"-kari! Akari! Akari, what's wrong?"

Akari slowly raised her bowed head. Her widened eyes slowly returned to its normal size. "N-nothing, your words just reminded me of something someone said to me in the past. Anyways, I was going to warn you about somebody, right?"

"Yeah."

"There's another person- a man, specifically - who's in the dungeon with you. His name is Ren Kouen. He's the first imperial prince of the Kou Empire."

Sylvi nodded slowly, taking in all the information. "What does he look like?"

"Red hair tied back into a small ponytail, red eyes, red goatee, thin eyebrows, tall, well-built. He wears a small black hat in his hair with a yellow gem in the center. He also wears traditional clothes and a black cape."

Sylvi nodded again. "Goatee... red... hat... cape... does he have any metal vessels?"

"Yes. And he carries them with him all the time. His metal vessels are a sword, a hilt ornament, and a spaulder on his right shoulder, which represents a lion's head."

Sylvi smiled. "You seem to know a lot about him. Is he close to you?"

"W-well, right now, our relationship isn't the best..."

"Why not?"

"Let's just say that I did something to make him mad."

"Oh. And why are you telling me about him?"

Akari's eyes sharpened. "You are to never, ever tell him that you know me."

"A-alright. Why not?"

"Right now, I'm his prey. He's hunting me down because I did something to him."

"But Akari, you're so strong. Why can't you just fight him?"

"Sylvi. You do not want to see him mad. Trust me."

Sylvi nodded. "But what if he finds out?"

"Then I'm going to suicide."

"What?! No!"

"I'm just kidding, Sylvi. But... just try, okay?"

"... I'll try."

"Thank you. Oh, I see that the water has gone down. Perfect timing. Well, Sylvi, let's meet again! If you need anything, you can find me at Balbadd!"

There was a bright flash and everything became dark once again.

"She doesn't seem to be breathing, Prince Kouen."

Kouen stood over the still girl. She was soaked through and through with water. A large lion lay next to her, also drenched with water. He knelt down and checked her wrist for a pulse. There was none.

Judal, who was standing next to him, yawned. "Let's just leave her, Kouen. She's dead, anyways. Even Phenex can't heal her."

He was right. Kouen rose. "We continue," he told his army, and they assembled into their proper spots.

"She's alive!" yelled a soldier in the back, "Prince Kouen, the girl is alive!"

Sylvi coughed up water. She rubbed her eyes and tried to adjust to the bright lighting of the dungeon. A warm hand was placed onto her back and she flinched.

"You okay, girl?" asked a gentle voice. She turned to see who it was.

A soldier? she thought, confused. "Um... excuse me but... who are you?"

The soldier grinned. "I'm Tyrik!"

"It's nice to meet you Tyrik. Are you a soldier?"

"Yea- Oh, Prince Kouen. As you can see, the girl is awake now."

Sylvi stiffened. Prince Kouen's here?

She felt Tyrik's hand leave her back and she looked up, only to meet the flaming red eyes of the prince.

"A-are you Prince Kouen, the first imperial prince of Kou?" She asked nervously.

He didn't answer and drew his sword, which hung at his side.

Goatee... red... hat... cape... metal vessels... yep. It's him. And he's about to kill me.

But that didn't happen. Instead, she felt some bruises that she had probably gotten from landing on the floor so hard disappear. She gazed up at the prince in wonder. How was he doing this? Something in the back of her head whispered, metal vessel, and she knew it was right.

Then she remembered Hikari. She spun around and saw him lying on his side, back facing her. Bloody scratches covered his entire body, and Sylvi realized that he had probably gotten all of them by protecting her.

She turned to face Prince Kouen. "Please, can you help me heal Hikari?" Her voice was pleading.

The prince continued to remain silent but walked over to her lion. He pointed his sword at Hikari's still body and a pink phoenix appeared in the air, healing his wounds. Then he looked over at her. "Where did you get him?"

Sylvi suddenly felt nervous under his gaze. He had an aura that radiated absolute power, which granted Sylvi respect for him. "O-oh, him? My friend Akari gave him to me after defeating him in a match..."

Suddenly, Sylvi realized what she had just said. Oh Solomon, I just said Akari's name out loud! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... She glanced up again to see the expression on Prince Kouen's face. It was unreadable as he leaned down to look at her directly in the eyes.

"You know Akari?" His voice was deep and had a dangerous edge to it.

Should I tell him? No, of course not! B-but he already heard me say her name... Akari, I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! "Yes..."

She felt someone poke her shoulder hard. She tilted her head and saw a figure behind her. She couldn't tell what the person looked like because the dungeon lights cast a shadow over his face.

"This mushroom knows the she-demon?" Sylvi felt a finger poke her cheek this time, and winced. She squinted into the light but still couldn't see what the person's face looked like.

"Who are you?" She asked, blinking rapidly. She was starting to see spots.

The person stepped out of the light and into the shadows. "You don't know me, mushroom? I thought I was supposed to be famous."

"My name is Sylvi, not mushroom!"

"What did you say, mushroom?"

"My name is Sylvi!"

"Huh?"

"Sylvi! My name is Sylvi!"

"If you say so, mushroom." The person cackled and Sylvi pouted. She took in his appearance. Pale skin, red eyes, black hair in a segmented braid, weird outfit.

Sylvi tried to muffle her laugh as she looked at the person's clothes. He glared at her. "What? Why are you laughing at me?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What?!"

"Noth-"

She was cut off as the prince (Honestly, she had forgotten he was even there. He was really quiet, like a ninja.) stepped between her and the person. "Judal."

Judal waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah, the mushroom knows the she-demon and you need to interrogate her. Go on."

Prince Kouen turned to face her and her stomach suddenly felt sick. "H-h-hi." She stuttered.

He leaned down. "Tell me everything."

Akari smiled at Sinbad sweetly. "So, King Sinbad, please explain why you are standing outside of this hotel, almost completely naked?"

He chuckled nervously. "Ha ha ha... that's no way to treat a king, is it?"

"Of course it isn't! But this is no way to present yourself in front of other people, is it?"

"..."

"Please stop."

"It seems as if our master has inconvenienced you. As he said, please let us cover your room fees."

Akari watched as the young blue-haired boy and pink-haired girl bowed gratefully. "Thank you, friends of Sin!"

Sin? Akari raised an eyebrow at him but he shook his head no.

Akari zoned out on what "Sin" and everyone else was talking about and narrowed her eyes at the blue-haired boy. He looks exactly like him... but he might not be the same person.

"Not just your clothes, but all of your tools and everything you had on you got stolen?!" The silver-haired man cried in outrage.

Sinbad scratched the back of his head and continued to smile. "Yes, everything."

"You... Have you forgotten what those tools are?"

Sinbad laughed. "Don't worry! I'll take care of it! Just leave it to me!" There was no hint of worry in his voice and the whites of the silver-haired man's eyes were showing.

He sighed heavily, then returned to lecturing Sinbad. "Honestly! How long is it going to take you to start acting like a king?! You are Sinbad, the king of Sindria!"

The tall Fanalis in the corner nodded, agreeing.

"Anyways," continued the silvernette," I'm going with Masrur to check up on how our guests are doing."

They left the room, leaving their king alone.

"They're worried about you, you know?"

Sinbad whipped his head upwards and saw Akari hidden in a dark corner, where Masrur was just standing. "Akari? How did you-"

"I got in here through the window."

"I didn't see you at all."

Akari patted her sword's hilt. "My djinn's power."

"You're a dungeon capturer?"

"You are too."

Sinbad didn't answer.

EL: That was part one.

Judal: I barely had ANY screen time!

EL: It's not called screen time, it's... umm... it's...

Judal: What is it, Smartybutt?

EL: *stays silent* Whatever... anyways!

Judal: *mutters* Changing the topic, eh?

EL: *vein pops* A-anyways, let's check the puzzle pieces we got this time:

Puzzle Pieces

- Akari is Kouen's "prey"

- Akari did something to anger Kouen

- Akari is looking for someone who looks like Aladdin

- Judal and Akari seem to be in a friendly relationship

EL: I actually gave out a lot of pieces this time... alright guys, I upload part two as soon as possible! BYE!