With the mysterious Gaucho-man defeated and forced to surrender and comply with the group's requests, under the demands of Banjo, the plane's descent was slowed. Although still slowly approaching the ground, it was nothing compared to the roller coaster like speed the jet was falling at before.
Standing before the tied-up assassin sent after them were Malincha, Banjo, and Shen, trying to figure out everything that had happened.
"So, what's our game plan? I mean, Pan just fell out the sky, and although I trust him, I can't say I believe in him being able to get up fine after that! And, also, we have this guy, who will probably kill us once he gets his part of the deal." Malincha said. 286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSYZcG8vuL
"Nah, he can't kill us." Banjo was sitting on top of the metal horse which the Gaucho man had been riding, petting the statue's mane roughly. "He'll need this thing to do it. Without it, he's about as harmless as the average guy!" 286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbh9API4d5H
"Oh, that completely explains it! The magical horse allows him to make planes crash and fight demons! Thanks, that explains everything." Malincha sighed, looking out the window as the plane slowly got closer and closer to the ground. They were in the Salta province of Argentina, which was still way too far from the southernmost coasts of South America.
"Y'know, you're right." Banjo turned over, laying his back on the metal horse's back and putting his hands behind his head. "We all owe each other explanations, or else things are going to be more difficult then they have to be. And I think that you owe us the biggest explanation, Shen."
Shen lifted his gaze from the book in his hand, widening his eyes slightly. "..You're right."
"I still don't understand it though, that horse let him kill people from afar, stop bullets, make the jet dive, and even healed our wounds?" Malincha gestured to where her bullet wounds should of been. After taking the man's horse, Banjo had used its powers to mysteriously heal both of their wounds, leaving them both completely fine.
"It's metal manipulation. That's how he manipulated the plane, and that's how he killed that man from afar. There's iron in the blood, so if he controls the iron, by extension you can control the blood as well. And with that same principle, I managed to heal the both of us." Banjo explained, and then slid off the horse, walking over to the tied-up man.
The Gaucho Man was staring at the floor silently, whispering to himself. His toes wiggled and scratched against the hard floor, and he kept twitching in a weird way. As Banjo approached him, he slowly lifted his head, and his teeth started to chatter and bump against each other.
"Before we start explaining everything, I'm going to restore his mind, as per our contract." Shen flipped open the book, and a small slit appeared on the cover of the book once again. The slit slowly opened up, revealing a mouth, as Shen leveled, and pointed the book at the man's face.
The mouth opened up, and made an inhaling motion as the book began to suck out every bit of information it had forcibly fed into the man's mind, the information streaming out of his skull in the form of a black, electricity like energy, and then Shen abruptly closed the book once he was done.
The three stared at the man, who's eyes slowly closed, and his head fell downwards, as he drifted into sleep. Then they stared at each other, expectantly waiting for any of them to begin speaking.
"...Alright, so what's the deal with that creepy book? And how come you never brought it up until now?" Malincha asked.
"This book...it's a similar artifact to that metal horse over there." Shen looked at the book, and then slid it into his pocket. "Have you ever heard of the Three Laws of Lionel?"
"Of course, any decent archeologist should know them by heart. Could mean life or death." Banjo side eyed Malincha. "What about you, do you know them?" He teased.
"I told you, I'm not even really an archeologist, I'm just an actor!" She said.
"I beg to differ, from what I've seen, you're not just an actor. You've al-" 286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡci6PXqJOQk
"Just explain it, we all need to be on page for this. And no accusations until you completely clear yourself of everything you've been hiding, got it?" Banjo said.
Shen drew in a deep breath. ".... Right. The Laws of Lionel are not concrete laws, like Newton's laws, but merely theories used to explain the existence of several magical artifacts across the globe. The first law is that the older an object, the more powerful it becomes. The legends and myths surrounding the object start to become real as it gets older."
Shen pulled the book out of his pocket again, and tightly clenching the corners of the cursed book. "This book, the Nomo Grimoire is more then 4000 years old. It's an ancient relic of my homeland, Kochias Island, and was first just an ordinary book. Those who wanted power pretended that the book had magical powers, the power to suck away and absorb all the information of those curious enough to open the book into itself."286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy02vIT5RCA
"So, you had something like that this entire time and neglected to inform us about it?" Malincha shook her head. 286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyDGwabuk6
"Well, I'm telling you now so get over it already." Shen shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess this means I won't be getting an apology out of you?" Malincha asked.
"Of course not. Like I was saying, as the book grew older, the book's power increased, and the legends surrounding it became real. This book has the power to absorb all the information of those who read it, until the reader is reduced to a toddler like state. But, as the wielder of this book, I can also overload enemies with the information in this book, which is what I did to Gaucho." He pointed a thumb at the man behind him.
"But. The thing about this book is that the more I use it, the darker my mind becomes. Centuries of terrible secrets are hidden within the pages of the book, and every time I open it, they pollute my mind. Since the day I was born, I was cursed to wield this book. No one else can bear this cross."
Malincha's irritated expression faded away, and she took a step towards Shen, who looked down at the floor, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not telling this so you can feel bad for me, though. My entire goal for following you, Banjo, to this Labyrinth, is so that you can reward me by using the eyes to destroy this book. The tradition of my island is that when the current chosen wielder of the book dies, it chooses another person to wield it. It's impossible to stop this, but the Eyes of Moloc can do the impossible with ease. That's why I'm here."
"Huh! For some reason, I thought you'd be a lot more selfish!" Banjo laughed. 286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUjOxMxxU1
"Whatever. So, what about you? I'm not the only one who's been hiding things, after all. Both you, and Malincha, are keeping important secrets." Shen glanced out the window and could see that the plane was about to land. 286Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbc2LhksbXC
"Honestly, I have no idea what you mean." Banjo shrugged his shoulders and waited for Shen to elaborate.
"You once mentioned that you somehow engaged in combat with the Devil of Polu, did you not?"
"Ah, you mean that." Banjo stared down at his palm and wiggled his fingers playfully. "Really, there's not much to know. While confronting him, I felt a strange energy flow through me. Was the best I ever felt, like I was a completely different person. It felt like I could do anything, and after that whole incident, I've been a lot stronger, physically."
"So, then what about me! I have no idea what you mean by I'm keeping a secret! You guys are the only ones I haven't lied too yet, so I don't know what you mean." Malincha said, exasperated.
"Are you sure you don't know?"
"Of course, what are you TALKING about?"
"The secret that you've been keeping, Malincha, is that you aren't actually human."
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