"..." = Speech
<...> = Thought
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After making her initial comment, Shantae finally noticed how rude she'd been, trying to backtrack with the grace of her elephant form. "I-I mean colossal bazzonga's!"
Only to shove her itty bitty foot back into her mouth without delay.
From Sky the sound of palm hitting face rang out.
Meanwhile Aria just nodded in agreement and Albert just avoided making any eye contact as he really wished he wasn't there in the first place.
"W-Wait, I mean huge buns!" Her expressions of shock somehow got weirder the more she went on - to the detriment of her own mental health.
Opening her mouth to let out her confident last hurrah only for the giantess in front of them to move her free hand in front of her mouth. Clearing her throat before finally speaking in a velvet-like mature tone that carried natural authority. "Are you quite done?"
It was a majestic voice that naturally drew people in yet also demanded respect.
Shantae forgot all about her dumbassery as she only stood in the middle of the hall with big doe-y eyes as she looked up in admiration.
"I will elect to believe that is a positive response, then." Her voice somehow soothing despite the commanding quality that came so naturally. The corner of her plump yet sharp black lips ever so slightly curled up in a calm and confident smile.
Of course Sky couldn't help chip in. "She really did inherit all the cool genes, ay?"
The dancing hero began to nod only to stop.
"As well as the height." Instead finding herself finished off with a far more brutal attack.
Shantae could only clutch her wounded heart as she got broken from her admiration towards the Sultana of Sequin Land.
"W-Why did she get all the height as well as the cool dommy mommy appearance!" Throwing her hands up into the air with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Surprisingly that actually got a chuckle from the colossal dictator of their continent.
"Do you not feel… Angry at her rude comments?" Sky said while blinking in sheer bafflement.
The woman in question just waved off the worries from Sky. "If anything it just brings nostalgia from all the silly questions she used to throw at me while clutching onto my leg like some kind of monkey."
Suddenly proverbial thunder struck the sulking Shantae.
Silently screaming to the amusement of the monstrous lady.
"Although to answer your question; you are the spitting image of our mother while I inherited little other than my innate magic being rather similar to her own. Though mine is a far bit more destructive than her own - being far more liberal in what it damages while lacking some of its more esoteric uses." Shaking her head with a faint sigh.
Hearing that immediately grabbed Shantae's own attention. "What is innate magic and do I have one?"
"..."
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"..."
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Even the blue armoured elites were looking at her strangely despite their determination to remain in the background as loyal knights of the Sultana.
"So, my dearest Shantae, do you not remember when I taught you all about our generation's different powers including those of that pesky pirate?" Eyes closed as she tilted her head to the side. A silent pressure grew despite the rather cordial expression she held.
In response Shantae began to whistle while purposefully looking off to the side.
Of course the wise Sultana picked up on that so her mouth twitched. "Then what about when I taught you about all their unique transformations; a miracle considering Risky's own distaste for her magical side."
Once again the only reply she got was a bright but hopeless smile.
At that point the veins on Sultana's forehead began to throb as she tried to keep her own smile.
"What about the lectures I gave on the development of my own unique brand of rituals by mixing together the magical methodologies across genkai?" Each spoken word flowed out like molasses. "In fact do you remember any of the lessons I tried to instill in you - of the truths I learned through my own journey across the world alongside a lot of hard work to put it all together?"
"Teehee~." Shantae just giggled while wrapping a closed fist on the side of her head with the biggest goofiest grin she could manage.
Impressive considering she was looking the heat death of the universe in the face.
And the heat was coming in full.
That vibrant hair glowing as the room temperature began to sharply increase to give the group another reason to sweat.
Seeing the trouble about to go down led to Sky stepping up with an awkward laugh. "Well she did get hit in the head when we were young… A lot. So it probably isn't surprising that the silly girl didn't remember much before yesterday hahaha."
"Plus childhood memories are like the fresh waters of a spring - even if you want to carry it you can't help but let some slip through your fingers." Albert also tried to help prevent the sibling-cide about to happen.
Yet all of it was useless as that giantess moved her two hands to rest atop either of her chairs arms.
"No, it is fine, you need not make excuses for this airheaded girl." Slowly rising from her chair.
However, even that measured movement caused her true raw power to be revealed; the air being displaced was great enough to cause even Aria & Sky to brace themselves. One a powerful spirit of wind and the other constantly soaring through turbulent weather. A terrifying display of physical might.
When she finally rose to her full height the group in front of her did not come close to reaching her knees.
"Hm… How old are you now? It is hard to judge when I am so much taller than everyone else." She said while leaning forward since merely lowering her neck would not help her see them.
On account of that wonderful bosom.
Nevertheless that resulted in all of them being entombed in her unceasing shadow.
Shantae's goofy smile grew more forced as her own blue eyes met those very menacing green pairs that hovered above her like twin moons. "I'm eighteen..."
"Eighteen years, huh, yet as airheaded as when you were at eighteen months old?" That voice was as calm as ever.
Yet her current posture ensured the warm light of Sequin Land didn't reach them.
Instead all that could be seen was the Sultana's silhouette, glowing eyes and that flame-like hair.
At that point a massive hand came down to grab Shantae by her pony-tail - lifting her away with no one daring to move an inch as the girl was plucked like a radish. That elegant voice coming out like poisoned honey; sweet yet carrying danger. "Well, maybe some traditional punishment will help you remember."
"Perhaps we can-" Albert began to say something yet the giant woman just slowly turned to look at him as she approached those double doors.
"Silence mother fucker." That one line caused the man to seemingly wither right there.
Aria, though, had the right idea as she clapped her hands together in prayer.
Sky just wisely looked away to pretend she didn't know them.
Honestly baffled such an elegant woman would use such crude and vulgar language.
"EH~ NO~!" Shantae's screams echoing through the palace as that giant woman walked through the double doors before slamming them behind her in the same movement.
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"I don't have a lot of time to teach you everything from the ground up, on account of that rebellious brat running around looting my lands, so I'll go with the most basic of all techniques." The giantess said while spinning Shantae around by her hair. "For a genie our magic is so dense we can more easily control it."
"S-T-O-P S-P-I-N-N-I-N-G M-E!" Shantae desperately cried out as her eyes became spirals.
Sultana smirked as she heard her precious little sister's request as she stepped out into the large training ground located in the center of the palace. "Oh that was the plan."
That poor purplette didn't even get the chance to even recognize what those words meant in that context.
Her brain practically mush pouring out her ears.
"For us enhancement is somewhat innate due to our magic responding to desire as well as its presence alone passively improving our bodies. For you it should be even more so given your innate magic allowing you to transform into our animal forms." With that being said she released her little sister - letting the momentum carry the girl up and away at speeds that would impress Sky's hawks.
For a moment Shantae didn't even realise she had been tossed up; at least until she met eye to eye with a seagull who was flying beside her. Its squawk breaking her out of her mental decline as she looked down to see the palace was exactly how it looked… When she was riding in on Hatchet.
She began to uselessly flail while screaming as loudly as her little lungs would let her.
"If you consciously enhance your body with magic you can avoid any danger." Sultana's voice carried over the vast distance. Her hands cupping her mouth to help guide her voice toward the plummeting Shantae who received the information with the grace of a princess.
Her voice was very calm and polite. "I DON'T FUCKING KNOW HOW!"
"Well you better figure it out." Not even bothering to cup her mouth; just lifting her hands in an unbothered shrug as she watched her sister as she quickly approached the earth.
The magic of genie was as chaotic as their personalities; their powers were limited but the core precept of wishes still fueled each technique Shantae had learned.
Well… Other than her transformation dances which she had learned were unique to her.
Only to quickly shake that away.
Seeing the ground was fast approaching, even if she didn't know what to wish for as base of her soon to be created magic, she at least had a great desire to not become a stain on the nice stone pavement.
Letting her magic flow throughout her beautiful olive skin.
Although by the time she managed that; the floor was mere metres away from her. Seeing the floor right in front of her she immediately panicked - slamming her eyes closed as she moved her arms to guard her head from the impact.
With that thought she tensed.
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"So are you just going to lie in my courtyard all day?" Sultana's question broke the silence. "I suppose it is fine as I have several but I was under the impression you planned to save my mainland."
It was a nice view that greatly helped sooth her thundering heart; as such she rolled over onto her back and just stared up. Her chest heaving as she panted. "That was definitely way more terrifying than Risky has ever been… Don't tell her I said that, though."
Arms and legs fully splayed out with "decent" becoming a long forgotten concept.
"I suppose congratulations are in order, you have succeeded, developing what some may consider as the strongest and most difficult spell in our arsenal." Nodding her head sagely. "Although I tried to teach you it many times in the past - you just laughed it off no matter how much danger I theoretically put you in."
The giant woman let out a sigh that caused Shantae's eyes to glow. Those minute movements are enough to make those literal hills shake in a very satisfying fashion. "Although I suppose that you had no confidence in me keeping you safe… You truly did forget all about me?"
That elicited a shiver down Shantae's spine. "W-Well-"
Surprisingly the Sultana sat down while raising a hand to silence the nervous younger genie. "If you are sixteen now; then it truly has been quite some time since we last met."
Tilting her head back to look at the clear skies above. "Time has grown somewhat meaningless to me…"
For a moment Shantae could only silently look on as her older sister looked on into the distance.
"I don't think two years matter much." Instantly waving off the girl's worries.
Of course that just resulted in a pouty Shantae - who didn't even have the amazing view to help heal her aching heart this time. Although she was also quite confused. "So… What did I actually do and why did it require you forcing me to skydive without a parachute?"
Eyes containing silent judgement.
"What you used is commonly called either invulnerability or invincibility - it does exactly what you think it would - while it has a constant as well as significant drain to your magic even to a regular genie." She began to lecture her with a faint nostalgia that Shantae didn't fully understand. Although she had a fairly good idea that it wasn't the first time she'd been taught like this.
"As for why I threw you into the air?" Sultana calmly began to explain her reasoning with the aura of an experienced & knowledgable lecturer. "Simply put, our magic requires a lot of desire for your first cast so I required you to really want to avoid damage, in other words I needed you to feel like you are going to die painfully and thus willing to do everything to avoid it."
For a moment she sounded reasonable enough… Until Shantae remembered that she had already learned some magic from a certain zombie. "Hey, wait, you say that but I managed to summon a localised lightning storm without much hard work and that isn't the only spell I learned!"
That caused the giant to pause for a moment - turning to look at Shantae with a raised brow. "Well part of it would be your desires already aligned - as well as the requirements being easier for other spells..."
Eyes narrowing to show off her gloriously vibrant blue eyeshadow.
"So how did you manage to learn those spells?" Her curiosity turned her to the only other two "sisters" that she knew existed on the mainland at the moment; the lazy Hermit and meddlesome Risky Boots.
Shantae didn't see much issues with sharing so just shrugged. "Learned it from a zombie friend."
That actually bewildered Sultana.
"Was it also this zombie that helped you find that fairly competent father of yours?" Leaning closer to the fairly perplexed Shantae grew a bit more sombre as a smile that didn't fully reach her eyes appeared.
Looking back to the palace where the trio who came with her were "sneakily" watching.
" I did have some feelings… Still don't know what to do with that, though, hahaha…" Her laugh was rather forced.
As blunt as she was - even Sultana realised that something was wrong - silently watching her far littler sister and youngest of their kind. Just taking a moment to think before cautiously opening her mouth to speak in her best attempt at a supportive tone of voice. "Do you need to do anything with it?"
Seeing the confusion return to Shantae's face she continued calmly.
"As I am sure you may have noticed, my father was not a human but a goliath, in fact our mother became a complete joke among our genie sisters due to my birth. In that respect you were born in a moment of passion between two heroes… So why worry?" Raising a brow in genuine question.
Shantae just ruffled her hair with an annoyed groan. "Yeah, but how am I meant to act around him, I'm a grown ass woman who only just found out a couple days ago that my father is alive! He definitely isn't a bad guy 'n' Aria is great but…"
Sultana just shrugged. "Then don't do anything and just let life work itself out - the worst thing that can happen is that you go your opposite ways with a silent nod."
"You really are smart." Giggling as she spoke.
"I am your older sister and ruler of Sequin Land." Chuckling herself as she slowly moved to stand.
Once she was back to her full height she looked down at the little genie before clearing her throat to get serious once more. "My knights have found the location of the oldest and wisest of the three known geologists; so I will request your aid in helping them. This is a task I can only trust to you."
A familiar yet empowered smile found its way onto Shantae's lips as she saluted. "Red'2'go!"
…
"What on genkai does that mean?"