Chapter 11.5– A little craving for riddles [Omen]
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After 20 minutes of silently running as best as they could Ryoji and his company have finally reached the hallway where the generator room was located at. Unlike the others, this was rather connected to a large door, an optical illusion as they came closer and closer.
Takeo stood to a standstill, his pupils constricted quickly; feeling an aura of another.
He knew whose aura it was—glad to see that the castle had emergency procedures yet worried what the protector has in store for them.
Hold up, guys. In order for us to enter, he must give us permission." Takeo stating, a spirit of the old resurrected was starting to rise from the ground, slowly despite the impending danger rising.
Huh. What's next? You never had a friend like me? Akina giggled by covering up her mouth, feeling a sudden rush of inappropriate happiness during this time of helping the school to regain its defenses back. She tried to make sure that no one saw, but the one person who did took note of it, the one who knew her the longest out of the rag-tag group.
What are you giggling about, Akina? Now I wanna know..... Funka pondered as she turned towards Akina and asked in a casual tone "What are you laughing about?" She poked her friend slightly, easily getting Akina's attention as she kept smiling at Funka.
"Remember Aladdin when Genie first came through the ground?"
Funka began to laugh, nodding "yes" as she cleared her throat.
"Well, Ali Baba had them forty thieves," Akina started to sing quietly, sounding like a princess from a Disney movie-quite pitch perfect to the seconds she sang more. "Scheherazade had a thousand tales
But, master, you in luck 'cause up your sleeves," Funka jumped in, laughing pleasantly in between as she continued, before they both got loud for the group. Suddenly Sera came in singing perfectly by staying in rhythm, even the cold-blooded Takeo jumped in as well silently, knowing full well he missed the old glory days of Disney.
"You got a brand of magic never fails
You got some power in your corner now
Some heavy ammunition in your camp
You got some punch, pizazz, yahoo, and how?"
See, all you gotta do is rub that lamp"
"And I'll say," Reza jumped in, hitting it with an excellent imitation of the late Robin Williams
"Mr. Aladdin, sir
What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order
Jot it down
You ain't never had a friend like me—"
"Enough." The Heart-Bond interrupted them, a glimpse of his former past came to light: The no-nonsense demeanor in completing the task by any means necessary. "If you think I chose you all so that you play around while the teachers are risking their lives for us—then go back to where you came from.
What is up with him? I'm trying to lighten up the damn mood, he's so moody. You're really somebody who's got so much many issues. Funka wanted to call him out but what is the point about it, keeping quiet was the best thing to do. "And where is that song from, anyway?" Ryoji asked impatiently, turning at them while awaiting an answer. He has never heard about that song.
Ravens, once promoted to a higher rank, they were granted a day where their hearts can run free to their imagination.
Whatever they wished of; they got it for one day.
The only song Ryoji heard of was "Lijepa li si" by Thompson, by which his uncle Zanko told him, "it is the epitome of the Croatian Spirit—Our unofficial anthem."
Ryoji would never forget those words by his uncle, and even if he did: Those memories would pry their ways into his brain.
"Uh....Disney's Aladdin? One of the best Disney movies that I hope," Sanda emphasized on the hope part. "And I hope———that the remake is gonna be as good as the original." His statement got everyone in the group agreeing with him except Ryoji, who looked at him, dumbfounded by the movie they spoke.
Ryoji turned away from them. "What the hell is an Aladdin?" He paid no attention to their puzzlement of how Ryoji Dragomir Kazama——was so unrefined for his age despite being not knowing how much blood is on his hands.
Sanda reverted back to being nervous by asking his classmate Takeo by forcibly turning him, never being so frightened in his life. "Uhhhh——Who? Whose permission do we need?"
"The old guardian of the castle grounds——An asshole of a Samoan high-chief." He answered, a ghost of Samoan nature, whose body was white as winter-blanket and taller than trees and his cadaverous face was quite intimidating to look at. With his eerie budging muscles and fierce eyes filled with acrimony, he had begun to unnerve Ryoji. Even Ryoji, possibly the last Ravenskreig assassin that has not been exiled or killed in action, trembling before this particular ghost.
Funka was trembling a bit as well since she was a devout Christian, believing that there was good spirits and bad spirits everywhere. Some of the teachers and students that knew of this high-chiefs' existence, believing that he was the ultimate warden.
His arms had faded tribal tattoos, his most recognizable one was a large large black lizard-shaped on his left arm.
There was something more mischievous about this spirit.
Akina dreaded, thinking that they had to fight this intimidating spirit in order to get into the generator room.
"WHO DARES TO TRESPASS THESE SACRED HALLS THAT BELONG TO ME—THE GREAT KAIMANA?!?" Roared the guardian ghost, the rag tag group jumped back in fear, as it reminded Funka from an extremely old movie.
"Oh dear, powerful Kaimana, defender of Surwick—we ask for your permission so that we can defeat the evil that is inside that your room. Please?" Asked Takeo, he bowed down before Kaimana, who then showed his true form as smoke evaporated and revealed that the ultimate warden was nothing more than a scrawny spirit with a slim face and a wired goatee.
"Nope. That, I'm afraid I cannot do, little boy." Rejected Hakea, who scratched his ghostly beard and summon a astral cane to walk around
The Heart-Bond and the gang were revolted about the old phantom's appearance change. No one would expect The Guardian Spirit to be some frail ghost shaped of a Polynesian elder man, nonetheless using a cane. The Heart-Bond also seemed to be quite curious about Hakea.
"Why not?" Asked Bonded-Ryoji, it was quickly followed by Hakea ignoring his question. He examined Ryoji closely and said, "Hmm. I'd imagined you would be....." He examined him close and personal, scratching his beard once again in the process. It fascinated Ryoji that if this man was a Samoan High-Chief—it means he had incredible strength, in Ryojis' opinion. "Older."
"My age shouldn't be a candidate for weakness, I can reassure you-"
"Can you say that again, Heart-Bond? My hearing isn't what it used to be!"
"Did he just insulted us, Ryoji? Is this old geezer just insulted us?!"
Igneus roared with anger as the Heart-Bond in the physical world did not let his anger show how troubling this was for Igneus.
Calm down, Igneus. He probably didn't mean it like that. Let me do the interaction part and you just..make sure your anger isn't going to be a problem from here on out.
Reza began to plead louder than a earthquake before Ryoji, interrupting in the process, "Sir, we need to enter this exact room! Please, the fate of humanity rests with you permitting us to enter!"
The spirit only scratched his chin, unwavering in his promise to protect this sacred room. "You sound a submissive dog begging for a treat. I don't answer to docile dogs; I answer to those who bite back."
visibly hurt from his words., Reza took a step back as that ghost's insult.
Sera Bishop came in front of the group, which Hakea's attention drastically changed, her posture was more akin to an adult woman ordering a servant around. He took upon a liking for the modern princess' sudden change in her demeanor. I hope Mothers' lessons that I learned from her are going to be vital in this situation.....
"What my friend meant was the castle, as you are quite aware, is under duress and we need to enter this room or else you're not doing your job well by go against a solution to your problem. Am I clear on what I want in return? Or do you need me to spell it out for you?" Well over a minute it was silent, the two parties did not say anything towards each other
".....Now that is how you make a first good impression. Strong, authoritarian, and unwavering while you were negotiating with me. I guess the daughter of ZiON is truly her daughter. But..." He stopped for a second before continuing on. "What makes you think at this is the room to reactivate all that power?"
They all looked at him, shocked about what he said, who then continued while stroking his ethereal beard. "This room is nothing but a fake. The one that you're looking for—lays in the foundation of this school; all the way down to the bottom of the abyss, where the runes that run it that only a selected few know of its existence."
They were shocked by his statement, as it was all the way on the bottom, as he said; the foundation of the school.
"Please, Mr.Kai-Kaimana si-sir?" Akina asked with puppy eyes, her goldenrod eyes were gleaming in the dark. He smiled at her, it reminded him of how living used to be before.
"Well, I wish could for a cute little thing like you but I can't do like that, I'm afraid. If you can prove yourselves to me: I shall warp you all to its destination," He could do it the easy way, yet he remembered he was not as friendly as Lino.
"you have to answer about twelve of my riddles—-
"TWELVE RIDDLES? We have to do twelve riddles?" Takeo complained, with Funka smacking him at the back of his head, it had some force to this head.
"Quit yapping and let's get it over with." She commanded him.
Kaimana had stopped his staring at the demon fox-weasel box, feeling extreme discontent at him; yet he remain professional, choosing to be silent in his disgust. "If all of them are correct.. Then.. you can enter the generators room."
Is it really a generator room at this point if it has ancient runes and only be activated by magic? Akina thought rhetorically.
"If not?" Sera asked the ghost politely.
The spirit smiled and said, "Well, failing my riddles isn't an option, now, is it?"
"No, it isn't." Reza answered, feeling as docile as ever, he looked down as the games had already begun.
All we need to do is answer all his riddles correctly so that we can reach the generators in time. It should not be that hard, unless I'm overestimating them. Ryoji analyzed the situation, focusing on the task at hand.
———Track 11.5 Ended———