The World on the other Side

Hanako gave a faint smile towards the two boys, they were rather excited and full of well 'fire' in this moment as she soon chuckled, "alright alright you two have made your point, your excited" she said shaking her head at them. It was interesting to learn about how the disciples and the djins came together, what older customs had been and just how powerful Jango's father had been before his death.

"he sounds like a very powerful man, its a shame that he was taken so quickly...." though without him being gone Ali wouldn't have been born but it still must have been hard on Jango to lose his father, and then his mother remarrying. "but....im sure once you claim the dijin you'll make him proud Jango, cause finally you'll have something as hot headed as you"

Jango glared at her for a moment before puffing his pipe and laughing "Right you are. The djinn is a master of fire and just like my Dad I will be the one to wield his heat."he said proudly "That is what the shining ruby that I am guardian of stands for. Protection, warmth, security, our blazing fire never dies at the Ruby Palace."he said reciting part of his oath as Alibaba smiled "One day I'd like all of you to recite the whole oath once this thing is all said and done."he stated "I think it would make me feel better about giving all of you a djinn"

After the three had discussed what they were going to do about the dijin they had continued the journey to the mountain. The heat was almost unbearable as they got closer to were the creature resided within it, and Hanako would take a deep breath as she ran her hand against her face. "Just how hot is this going to get?! I'm like....sweating a pool over here..."

"I don't know"Jango said, already shirtless with it tied around his head like a bandana as they walked along, sweat dripping down "But all I know is that we need to hurry up and get this thing done. You guys are going to turn into puddles by the time we get there."

Alibaba was no better off than Hanako as he too was covered in seat as he floated along droopily beside the two of them as they headed down the cavern leading into the heart of the volcano "This......thing.......better come....along.....easily....."Ali panted out as he kept flying "It's sooooo hot!"

It was like walking into hell or an oven, either way it was hot enough that if they didn't get out of it, one of them could easily have a heat stroke. "We have to be getting closer...." she said as she started to twist her hair up slowly, glancing at Alibaba and she would speak "come on Ali, you should reserve some of your strength and walk rather than floating...."

"The ground is hot though"Alibaba said frowning "I'm little remember, the heat is going to burn me up"he said as Jango grabbed him tossing him onto his back "It'll be a little sweaty kid, but I gotcha"Jango said to his little brother as the two continued to walk before Jango suddenly paused hearing a low rumble and feeling the ground vibrate slightly beneath his feet "Do you guys hear that sound?"he asked curiously as he looked back at them

Hanako had managed to finish getting her hair up, sweat running down her back and she shivered at the feeling and would then feel the sudden rumble a she paused. "T...that doesn't seem right..." the ground would vibrate again and she then looked over to Jango and Ali, "Jango hand me Ali....I think thats the dijin...its gotta be close to us!"

Jango nodded sliding Ali off his shoulders as he paused listening for a moment before pointing up ahead "There's an opening...let's go"he said pressing forward before gasping as they came to a ledge

Below them was the mouth of the volcano, with molten platforms floating in pools of lava and in the center of it all was a giant red beast with a muscular giant's body but the head of a jackal with flaming eyes as his ears twitched as he looked over as the lava parted before him as he approached "I sense the Disciple and a half elf and something delicious to eat."he said licking his joules as he stopped before them

Hanako braced herself as she would soon let her hand drop near her weapon, they had to be prepared for what was about to come and she and Ali had to withstand the dijin long enough so that Jango could 'seal' it or what ever it was that he had to do to get this elemental to obey them. However, she would soon pause in shock as they stepped through the opening only to be stairing at what looked like a large opening with flowing lava everywhere.."oh my....god...." Hanako stated.

THe heat was almost unberable here as she could feel with each breath her throat getting drier and drier..but as the lava parted she turned her head just as she could see a figure moving towards them. "Um guys....t...theres a flaming dog coming towards us.."

"My turn then"Alibaba said as he moved out of Hanako's arms and floating up in front of the two of them staring the dingo in the eyes "Hmm what a big dog you are..."he said to himself

"What a tiny little Disciple we have this time! And only two people in your Royal Guard? You must be extremely strong, or extremely foolish, and if your that brat Isis's child it's probably a mix of them both.....I sense Venus with you too, the goody two shoes could never stray far from home could she. Well what up I'm Mars, the fire djinn. I take it you're here to make a new contract or forcibly seal me away then is that it?"he asked dully, flames shooting off of his tongue as he spoke

"Yep, about sums it up. You were my Dad's Djinn before and you're going to be mine now"Jango said confidently as he spoke up shaking off his initial fear "Dark elves have a natural affinity for fire, this is going to be fun."

Hanako stood firm watching the large dog moving towards them, as he seemed to be rather 'relaxed' and more so bored that it hadn't seen any action. Though at the mention of Venus, she couldn't help but gently let her hand move to the daggers hilt. "Venus is a loyal companion and a trusted friend I would not see why she would wish to be far from those she cares about." she stated towards the dog dijin named mars.

Her attention would then go over to Jango as he stepped up, his chest puffed out and the wild look of excitement danced in his eyes and she shook her head. "Down boy, I can see that tail wagging" she said towards him with a chuckle.

"Coming from a human, your words are insignificant."Mars said "You are nothing more than a tasty looking snack...though I sense a strange familiar energy within you that I haven't felt for a long time...I don't exactly know what it is though. Make ya a deal Disciple, let me eat the girl, and I'll sign a contract with you without a fight. Decline and I will agree to only fight one of you."he said

"What!? No!!~"Alibaba yelled incrediously "what in your mind made you think we'd let you just eat our friend!?"he said as Mars laughed "Yep you're definitely Iris's kid alright. She practically did the same thing."he said wiping a tear from his eye "Alright then shall we get this fight going?"he said "Oh and just to make sure there is no interference"he said waving his hands as a plume of lava came rushing out surrounding Alibaba and Hanako "Even a djinn will have some trouble getting past this lava."

Hanako gripped the hilt of Venus's dagger tighter, this was the second time she had been told that there was something within her...and it made her swallow hard but she would keep calm. After all she had control over it, she just had to watch what she did and so long as she did not draw upon the dark mana...she was fine. Though hearing Ali defend her made her smile as she neared the young child, but when the rush of Lava came towards them she rushed out grabbing Ali to protect him and pull him back just as it surrounded them. THe heat was almost burning as she yelled "Jango!" she said in a panic looking around as she held Ali, "now would be a good time....to get him to make the contract!"

Alibaba held out his arms as a barrier came around he and Hanako "Take him down Jango and I'll seal him when the time comes."he rooted as Jango grinned "Don't have to tell me twice." He said a he held out his arms as all of his swords were drawn around him before they all suddenly ignited with flames on the blade "Salamander stance"he said cooly letting out a breath before rushing forward as Mars sent out a wall of flame that Jango sliced through as he engaged in combat with the djinn. It was a spectacular feat to see as Jango was commander of the knights and highly skilled in battle. Fire roared around the cavern from both elf and djinn as they collided time and time again slowly wearing each other down as after a while they came to a pause, bloodied and breathing heavily, one of Jango's arms clearly broken and hanging limply though he was still masterfully controlling all of his blades without it "Hey Alibaba...any time you wanna break free and help, it'd be appreciated. I think I can pin him down long enough for you to seal him with this next attack."

Hanako watched as the two exchanged blow after blow, the sound of each strike echoed around them and even shook the ground. The heat of the flames continued to rise the temprature as Hanako took a deep breath, "Ali I'll focus on getting the flames, just get ready for the sealing" she stated wanting to help out some. She would close her eyes as she centered herself, she needed to cut the lava back so that Ali could perform the seal and...save Jango from any more broken bones.

She would focus on any hint of water that was in the area, she just needed enough to solidify it...before she could cut through it. But because it was so dry and hot, she was limited so she began to draw on another...'Venus...pull me back if i go to far..' she whispered to her companion after all Venus knew what the king had warned her about not to use...but to get the dijin Mars sealed...she had no choice. Hanako's eyes soon opened but a black ring was around the iris of her eyes, before she would grab hold of her weapon and moved. As she did she drew her dagger and it took shape of a scythe, when the blade meet the lava a burst of mana could be felt as it solidified before shattering breaking the prison that she and Ali had been in. "Ali do it now!" she yelled as she sheathed her weapon before anyone could see that she had used the black mana.

Alibaba flew up quickly as the prison shattered around him as he finally unleashed the full force of his magic as a large tidal wave erupted from his finger tips dousing the area as Jango launched his final strike as all 5 blades shot out pinning the djinn to the side of the now cooling lava rock holding Mars pinned as Alibaba began chanting as a silver stream of light looking like a ribbon left his finger tips snaking around Mars enveloping him before flashing white and vanishing as a crescent appeared on Jango's main blade as the half elf sighed falling to the ground panting heavily but with a huge smile etched across his face "We did it!" Alibaba cheered happily "we stopped the first djinn!"

Hanako was shaking as she could feel her mana settling but she would grip her hand tightly but would smile happily when she saw the dijin become sealed. Though she was soon moving over towards Jango and gently placing her hand on his non-broken arm, "we did it alright...and your a hot mess" she stated with a small laugh, "Ali think you can help me with his arm? it be pretty useless if we don't get it set now"

Jango shook his head as he pushed himself up off the ground sheathing his swords "Nah...he shattered the bones, I heard it go. Just leave it until we get back to the carriage, I have something for this as we ride back to the castle, but it's going to hurt and leave me out of commission for a couple days"he commented "It's this potion the apothecary made incase we did break anything or lose an organ, it'll regrow it, but it's a brutal process"

Hanako nodded faintly as she would move over towards him, watching as his arm just swung there and she couldn't help but shudder at what sort of pain he had to be in. However, at the mention of regrowing bones she would shake her head "ok...stop stop...you used it once before and that was the WORST sound I heard next to you howling...please do not be a cat this time..." she stated shuddering at the 'yowls' he made when he had broken a few other bones cause even in a 'smaller' body it still was not a noise she wanted to hear any time soon.

"Yeah I'll keep that in mind"Jango said though he was smiling happily as he held his sword at his side already feeling the air around them cooling significantly "And now the people will be much more at ease...though its your turn to take on the next one on. That water one is definitely not going to be my expertise."he said shaking his head

Alibaba nodded smiling happily "Let's get back to the carriage and start heading back home."he commented floating them up out of the now cooling cavern

"but I already have a dijin...shouldn't we have one of Ali's other siblings capture the water one?" she asked as she walked with them down towards the carriage, the cool air already felt much better as she took a deep breath. "this feels so much better already...the heat is clearly going down"

"Yeah Sheera's the next in line to get a Djinn. I'm Ali's bodyguard and the oldest boy but she's my big sister and the oldest out of us all. I'm sure you remember her, she's the one who gave you over to Alibaba in the first place instead of having you executed. I don't think she's been around since those days actually. But even with that, Sheera isn't exactly the physical fighter I am, though she is better than me with magic, but not as good as Alibaba. So she's somewhere along the lines of you I guess"Jango explained

"Yeah I kinda forgot Sheera was next in line to get one.....I should really write these things down.."Ali said scratching the back of his head with a weak chuckle "It may definitely help in the long run. But Jango does have a point, his fire djinn isn't really going to be much help to us at sea, but Venus is metal and neutralizes all the other djinns to some extent. That's also why she's the most loyal to the Disciple."

"Oh we have to go deal with Neptune? I hate talking to that aloof bitch, it's like she doesn't give a damn, or isn't aware about ANYTHING going on around here."Mars chimed out from the sword on Jango's hip as the elf sweatdropped "Sounds like the perfect match for Sheera too...

Hanako listened to them and would shake her head when it came to their 'connection' to their family, "You two have pretty much the worst connection with your family" she stated with a faint sigh and would raise her hand to brush some of her hair from her face, though hearing Mars talk about the water dijin she would speak "wait Neptune....isn't that a guy?" she asked her head tilted some. "I mean you know the whole phrase Neptune king of the sea....etc..."

"Ooooh no"Mars said as he suddenly appeared from the sword his arms crossed, dog eyes glinting evilly "And you'd be wise off not to say that in front of her. She gets reallllllllllll angry about that men. Old sailors folklore to save their egos from having the "Mistress of the Sea" wreck their ship with her storms and whirlpools."he said "Ya know it'll be a miracle if we make it out to her to be honest."

Hanako looked at him as he seemed to be trying to scare her as she tilted her head, "you know...i see why you work well with Jango...you both get that evil look....Jango's is scarier though half the time he don't mean it just gets Ali to do his studies mostly" she stated as she wasn't even phased by it. "as for a mirccle you really need to spend more time around us....weird stuff always happens hardle a mircle considering...between Ali's magic and Jangos stubbornness things happen rather smoothly...I just make sure they are fed, bathed, clothed and ready for another bout of 'fun'"