The World on the other Side

Iris would take a deep breath to calm herself before looking at him again "I've done what I can as a ruling Queen Jango, I understand your grief with the death of your father but you still must show respect to the current one" she said simply, "i also thank you for tending to Alibaba so diligently all these years, though I wish he would not roam so he is the heir and the only one of my children that possess my full talent of magic" she said simply, after all blue eyes and magic where almost the thriving force in this world.

"Yes, but unlike you, he actually spreads his magic around the kingdom and helps the commonfolk."Jango said "And I respect Keraun, doesn't mean I have to interact with him whenever I'm around. I don't see Sheera or anyone else over here sucking up"he commented still untrusting of his Mother as his red and blue eyes turned to her

Iris would shake her head as she stood there her arms still slightly crossed but she would nod, "very well...though do keep an eye on his new hand maiden...for a commoner she posses a great deal of power." she looked back at the girls door then started to walk past Jango knowing he'd tense up with his mother so close. "Do take care of yourself Jango, you are my precious son after all." she then would move off.

Hanako had moved into the bedroom as she just looked around, her mind still seemed foggy from crying so much and even now as she stared at the luxurious room she felt like she was living in a dream or a nightmare it was hard to tell as she went to sit on her bed. She couldn't tell when she had fallen back or fallen asleep, but she felt something warm against her side and she groaned softly before muttering "Kenji..." her brothers name.

"Uhhh no...Ali...Alibaba"said the small boy as he stood beside her looking down "Are you alright? You really don't look so well...should I have someone bring you some tea or something?"he asked as Jango leaned against the doorframe behind him after his talk with his mother "Let her breathe Ali, she's gone through a lot mentally in the last day."Jango said a frown still etched onto his striking features

Hanako laid there her skin paler than normal, but she would just listen to the two of them speaking as Ali asked if she was alright. She would sit up as she took a deep breath to try and calm herself a bit, "I'll be fine...I guess with you there I thought you where my little brother" she chuckled faintly, "you two were about the same height but he was blonde with blue eyes."

She pushed some of her hair from her shoulder, "Sorry I worried you Ali....Jango, I'll be fine so what is todays plans?"

"Well, you have to get formally introduced to the castle staff that'll be working directly under you, as well as learning your list of chores and duties required of the Hand Maiden, it's mostly an introductory day"Alibaba said as he crossed his legs as he began floating in the air next to the bed

Hanako nodded sitting there, "that seems fairly simple, though I would probably need a map of this palace I got lost last night and ended up falling asleep in the gardens...till Queen Iris found me and brought me back here." she was attempting to brush off how effected she was learning about her family's death she was not sure if it was working or not but she had to move on...for Ali.

"That will all be done don't worry"Alibaba said "I didn't finish though, because after those are done, you start physical training with Jango. And my magic lessons will be after dinner. So it'll be pretty busy from here on out, are you sure you're up to this?"he asked

She would nod her head "Don't worry about me Ali, its my job to worry about you and make sure your taken care of." she stated warmly reaching out to gently pat his shoulder, then looked over to Jango. "well both of our jobs right Jango?" she would then slowly push up from the bed and stretched out her arms. "Let me freshen up and we can go and get started"

Hanako would step from them as she moved towards she had seen it was a bathroom of sorts, and would find the water basin to start to clean her face and brush out her hair so that she didn't look like she spent the night sleeping in a garden. "What sort of chores will I be having to do?" she called out to them.

"In terms of household work, just general tidying up after me. Your biggest job when it comes to chores are giving out orders to the household staff. You are essentially chief of personnel around the castle. As well as advising me, acting as ambassador on my behalf, writing down the things that I saw because I have the writing of a 8 year old with very limited dexterity. Going to meetings and the like when I am unavailable, those types of things."Alibaba said as he turned back looking at Jango who shrugged

Hanako would nod her head simply at the thought of just making sure that he was tended to, and with his small stature and his 'age' she was more or less like a baby sitter which she didn't mind. "That seems simple enough...though I'm really going to have to learn to write in your language I don't think anyone here besides you and Jango could read japanese" she stated as she stepped from the bathroom her hair brushed out and she had her two braids in the front hanging down framing her face.

"ONce we are done talking to the staff I'll start reading up on those history books and practicing your language I can't rely on your magic forever in understanding everyone."

"No...but you don't need to...you haven't even realized it yet have you"Alibaba said smiling "You talked to my mother, without me present, through your own magical translation"he laughed "And Jango's japanese is horrible, and when I was sleeping I'm sure he delievered the news about your family he asked me to find out for you. You can freely speak in our language...now writing, I don't know, we will find out"he said as he began floating down the hallway "Well let's go get started"

"Wait that was my magic?" she stated in shock as she wondered how that had managed to happen, she hadn't even practiced or attempted to do anything as she would then look to them. Though when Ali brought up her family she would grip her hand tightly trying hard not to let it effect her again, "I see...well thank you both of you." she stated simply, taking a deep breath and followed after him as they would get things started.

The first was to go and speak with the staff which to Hanako didn't seem that hard, though when she saw just how many people she was to be in charge of she had been caught off guard at least 60 people stood before her in one of the side great halls, ranging from different ages, cultures and so on. It was a bit startling, but only a handful had blue eyes or one blue eye which told her that Ali attempted to find every blue eyed person he could. She stood there at the head of them all before she would soon bow her head towards them, "I look forward to working with you all, though I am your boss sorta....I also wish to be someone you can relay on and I hope you all can be those I can trust." she stated before standing up with a bright smile. "Everyone lets work hard together!"

There was an approving murmur through the crowd of them and nods in her direction as Alibaba stood beside her "Hanako will be staying with us for quite a long time. Your top advisors, as I'm sure you realized, are also the ones who can use magic. Think of them as your supervisors whenever you personally have tasks that need to be carried out"he said smiling as he began introducing each and every one of them by name which showed the level of respect Alibaba had for all of his subordinates no matter how insignificant

Hanako looked to each member he had named as she would smile, trying to make sure she had each of their names as well as their appearance though it was easy as they all had some sort of blue eye combination. "I'd like to talk with all of you some time in the future, at least to help me when it comes to overseeing everything. As you are aware I am from Japan and little of your world and its customs are known to me...so truly if you feel that you must tell me something...by all means I will not be offended."

"Of course, we are here to serve Prince Alibaba, and of course you by extension" said one short round dwarfish woman bowing her head

"Excellent"Alibaba said "Well then, if that's done, we can move onto the next task on the list...what was that again?"he asked Hanako raising an eyebrow

Hanako would look over at him as she would soon hold up her hand as she began to mentally list things before then looking at him as she would speak, "Well we have already done the introductions with the staff, so from there we are to figure out my chores for each day, then after that is training with Jango then magic lessons." she said looking at him with a small smile.

"Good job, you passed your first test"Alibaba grinned "And right you are, chores, let me take you to my study, and your adjoining one"he said as he began walking down a different set of corridors

"If you thought the library at Sheera's castle was impressive, wait until you see his"Jango said in his cat form walking beside them

Hanako would bow one more time to the other staff before turning to follow after Alibaba as she then looked down at Jango as he walked beside them, "I see...also Jango if you want you can ride on my shoulder you'd look more like a cat that way" she said teasing him some, then looked at Alibaba as they got to his study.

As he opened the doors she was soon standing there in complete awe, her eyes wide and she looked from one end to the other but was just startled, as the books seemed to just go up and up even though the room was massive with a desk sitting in the middle with a large window behind it. "this....this is your study?" she stated stepping inside noticing a few books where even levitating open and half read, while a stack of books where putting themselves away.

Though she really couldn't help herself as she moved over to one of the books that floated there, her hand reaching out as she gently slid a page over, reading the text as best she could but it looked almost runic so she left it alone for now. "Ali...this...this is amazing!" she stated finally having more a question. "are these really all yours?! No wonder you don't sleep!! I could read all these for hours and still not make even a dent! even take my whole life!" she would spin around as she laughed in excitement. "I don't even know where to start!"

"History is a good one"Alibaba said twiddling his fingers as a large tome floated over "The first chapters are all about language and how to read and write and speak properly."he commented "And to answer your question yes these are all mine, I collect books, and over the last hundred years I've been alive I've been reading them. The more knowledge one retains the better off they are."he commented moving over to his desk sitting down behind it

Hanako turned to look at him as he would bring the tome down as she then nodded "alright then I suppose during lessons and my other chores I'll be reading this." she stated as she would take it from him, it was rather large but she would angle it on her arm some as she flipped it open to read the first page. "This is going to take some time....though at least some of it is in japanese...or what I can call Japanese."

"Probably a more ancient dialect where East Asian languages originated from" Alibaba said "In doing my research and readings with my other brother, we have discovered that whenever the gate has opened, it has always been in the same spot, just at different points in time. So the last time it opened, those humans who came through are where what you call Mainland Chinese came from."he commented "Another gate also opens in a desert region, and the last wave of humans 2,000 years ago brought this wave of middle eastern influence. That is where my mother's origins are from, which is why I have dark skin and hair."

Hanako still was looking over the pages in the book, while listening to him explain just how the gate worked and what was brought to this world when it did open. She glanced over at him, looking over his appearance if that was 2000 years ago, then that was quiet an interesting concept considering back then a lot of different things were happening.

"Well that would certainly explain your name too...." she stated as she stood there, trying to not start laughing as she thought of the movie that his name would cause several people to break into song. "so the gate opens on a regular basis about every few centuries....is it because this world doesn't have resources that my world has? Or could it be that this is almost like an alternate timeline....I wouldn't mind looking at some of the maps of the globe here...it be interesting to see just how the land masses are and if there's an area similar to Japan..."

SHe would soon get to a page about the gods as she read it over, and tilted her head "How many gods are in this world again Ali? in my world there's various religions but there's no concrete evidence that they exist so there's a ton of debates over that....a lot of wars fought for one or the other....such as were your mom comes from their religions based off the god Allah though one of my personal favorites is Egyptian...they have over a dozen different gods though Ra is the main one who has the body of a man but the head of an eagle to represent the sun...rather fascinating."

"That does sound very interesting"Alibaba said "A man with a eagle head..that's cool. But we only have one god, Barcyl. Barcyl was the first Disciple of Magic, and his knowledge of magic made him a God, and he created the Disciples. Those who have his blood are considered demi-gods blessed with his longevity and other uses of his magic."he said "I'm not too sure where Barcyl himself originated from, but he is the one who created the Gate system"

She would stand there thinking, trying to think of any particular origin religion that he could be from "it almost sounds like Odin....from the Viking or also known as Norse Mythology, Odin like most of the top gods was a creator of life and so on, he and his kin lived in what is called the World Tree or Yggdrasil.." she stated. "I can see if there are any books on the religions and I can translate them for you."

"Though for yours...he sounds like an interesting being, though I never thought a whole realm could worship one god..."