Chapter eight

Not to Sinbad or any of the general's surprise, Neah had over-worked herself to the point that she was unconscious for several days. Almost the whole time black rukh swarmed around the girl, so much so that everyone could see them fluttering about. No one was too worried about her, they knew -with the help of Yamraiha's magic- that the magi would be fine. But the young magi thought differently.

"Am I dead?!" Neah exclaimed. She wasn't sure where she was, it looked like a library, but a lot fancier and bigger. Like everything was made for giants. Looking down at herself, she saw that her hands and feet faded from their normal color and shape to a gold, shimmering form, as if she was disappearing. Where the hell am I?! She walked around for a while, completely lost.

"Oh, there you are!"

Neah jumped a foot at the sound of a loud voice behind her. She turned around and gasped at what she saw. A large, blue, head of a man with dark blue hair and a third eye smiled at her. He was being held up by white creatures, that could only be described as blobs. "W-Who the hell are you?!" She stared at the 'man' for a few more moments before she started to remember, "Wait...Are you that dude with the insanely complicated name? Uhh, Uraltugo or something?"

"Most just call me Ugo," He continued to smile.

"I knew it!" Neah looked around again, "Wait...Is this the Sacred Palace, then?"

"Yes, it is."

She looked at Ugo in disbelief, her voice just a whisper, "Seriously...? Am I dead?"

"No, you're not." Ugo assured. "I needed to talk with you."

"About what?" Neah asked. She walked a bit closer to the djinn, not as surprised as she was moments before.

"I noticed another magi was around, but I've never seen you before... Who are you? Where did you come from?" The djinn asked.

"Long story," Neah sighed, sitting crosslegged on the ground in front of the large head. "But I suppose you've got a lot of time, huh?" Ugo just smiled, and Neah began explaining everything.

Once Neah was finished, Ugo remained quiet, thinking over what she'd said. Then he said, "Hmm...That's a very interesting story." He then became concerned, "You plan on fighting the MWS alone?"

"Everyone keeps asking that. Yes."

"You really should get some help."

"All I need to do is free the djinn, magicians, and everyone else. Then I'll have them help with MWS." Neah said.

"I'm not sure they'll be in a condition to fight," Ugo said, "if the MWS is as bad as you say, it's unlikely they're in a good state." Neah stayed silent, he was right. She hated that recently everyone else was right. Ugo continued, seeing that she didn't have a response, "You're going to need the help of the metal vessel users and magicians of this time."

Neah sighed deeply, "I know...I don't want help...but I did get Hakuryuu and Kougyoku Ren to agree to help..."

"Good, that's a start. You could also talk with Aladdin, I'm sure he'd be willing to help you."

Neah chuckled darkly, "Yeah. I've already met that little pervert. Like hell I want his help."

Ugo also knew of Aladdin's perverted tendencies, "Ah, well. Speak with some of the other countries, Sindria too, and see if any will help. I'll do my best to help you as well."

"Yeah, alright." Neah agreed. Then she sighed again, "The more help, the merrier, I guess..." She began standing up.

"Before you go, can you tell me more about the future?" Ugo stopped her, looking genuinely curious.

"Uh, like what?" Neah slowly sat back down.

"How does everyone live without the help of magic at all? Is slavery still around? Things like that."

"Well..." Neah was reluctant, she didn't feel like explaining. "Slavery isn't a thing anymore. All the Fanalis that were enslaved were shoved into wherever everyone else is. Because we don't use magic, and have no need to forward our knowledge of it, we worked on learning things about science." This made Ugo even more interested. Neah chuckled, I forgot this guy's a huge nerd. "Electricity, light bulbs, indoor plumbing. Tons of other helpful things this time is lacking. Cars, these metal box things." Neah drew a box in the air, "with wheels and motors that drive people places a lot faster than walking, flying or boats." She thought for a while, "Oh, and schooling for all children no matter their class or whatever. They teach math, science, the whole nine. Even history on this time. That's the only reason why I know who you are."

"Wow," Ugo marveled. "It would be amazing to see it myself."

Neah laughed lightly, "Yeah, I guess it's pretty nice considering..."

"One last question," Ugo asked, "You said the entire world was one country, what county would that be?"

"Right." Neah nodded. "It's sort of like the Kou Empire, but no kings or royalty. MWS 'rules' everything. It's called Rakuen...I think it means 'paradise'. The MWS are really full of themselves."

"I see..." Ugo said. "Well, I believe it's time for you to head back, you've been here for a while now."

"How long is 'a while'?"

"Just over a week."

"A week?!" Neah jumped up. "Well what the hell? Send me back!"

Ugo laughed, "Ok, ok."

~