色戒完整版

Chapter 3: Emerald Castle

"Please... please..." George kept muttering.

"Wake up!" George heard a loud high pitched voice beside him and felt a pair of small hands pushing him.

George opened his eyes; the pain in his chest was no more; he felt fresh, different. And the pain in his back was gone. He looked around and jumped back as he saw a monkey beside him.

"What the..." He whispered as he looked at the creature that had brown fur around its body, and although standing straight as if it was human, it was clear it wasn't. "What is a monkey like you wearing a suit?"

The creature donned a stylish suit that might have cost thousands of dollars to make, and considering that it was this small, it was most likely tailored for the monkey making it more expensive.

George, who had performed as a professional magician, had an expensive suit that had been tailored for him, but even he hadn't owned a suit of this caliber in his lifetime.

"Why?" The monkey replied.

"No, it's just that you are a monkey, and so I assumed you wouldn't be able to talk." George replied before his eyes widened in realization, "Wait... How are you talking?!!"

George moved back in fright, struggling to get off the ground from the shock.

"I don't know what you are talking about! Now tell me, how are you here?! Answer me!" The monkey shouted.

"No, you tell me why I'm here!? How are you even talking?!!" He screamed as he stood up and distanced himself from the talking monkey.

As he looked around, he saw designs that were far different from the ones that he was familiar with.

There was no sign of 23rd-century technology, and the design might have looked much older than the ones of the 21st to the 19th century. It could be designs that were inspired by medieval architecture and aesthetics, but he couldn't be sure.

"No... Oztanfil is gone... and now some strange guy appeared... What is going on?" The monkey whispered to himself, looking anxious about what was about to happen.

George had been drafted into the military through mandatory service for picking up mines that were still in certain areas in the United States after the country had a civil war at the end of the 21st century, but from the professional military training alone, he could tell that the monkey didn't pose any threat.

"Hey monkey, I won't repeat myself; where am I?" George asked, still processing the fact that there was a talking monkey in front of him.

The monkey raised its eyebrow in confusion as he inspected George's clothing. "Do you really not know who I am?"

"Look, the only monkey I know is Curious George. I still don't know where I am. And here you are expecting a person like me to know who you are?"

'His clothing is strange indeed, but how does he not know who I am?' The monkey thought before responding, "I am Michael, a friend of Oztanfil." He responded with his furry chin up high.

George responded with silence; he couldn't remember any name that was similar to Oztanfil; was it even a real name to begin with?

"You seriously do not know who Oz is?"

As the monkey uttered that name, George's memory sent him back to years ago when he was still a little boy; his father, an avid fantasy book reader, loved reading the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. "Oz, you mean, the Wizard…"

"The Great Wizard of Oz, yes. You're in Emerald City, and there is a wizard outside of this castle that wants to challenge Oz in a deathmatch!!! And if Oz loses, we all die!!" The monkey screamed as it started scratching its whole body like the other monkeys.

George shook his head as he heard this coming from the mouth of the monkey, "Yeah, this isn't making any sense… A monkey… Wizards… oz… This is a dream definitely…"

"A dream? This is a nightmare!" The monkey shivered.

"Hey, monkey, slap me."

Pah!

The monkey didn't hesitate to deliver, which helped George to realize, he could feel pain, and it was the only evidence he needed that whatever he was experiencing was not a DREAM.

"Holy crap… I am in Emerald City…" He whispered to himself.

"Yeah, doofus, where have you come from, New York?" The monkey asked while slightly chuckling while still shivering slightly in fear.

George nodded, wondering how the monkey knew where he came from. "As a matter of fact, yes. I am from New York."

The monkey jolted back in surprise. It was a known fact that Oztanfil came from New York, where most of them believed to be the realm of gods. Oztanfil disappeared, alongside most of the things that he had brought from New York, and now this man has appeared in front of him.

"Wait... so you must be related to Oztanfil, right?"

George shook his head, "No, I'm not. I just heard some stories, that's all."

The monkey face-palmed himself and sat down on the floor; "We are doomed. Lumindra is going to kill us all. I told Oz to not challenge him, and now he ran away! That guy doesn't even have any power, so why challenge a real wizard?"

George took a step back, this situation happened very similar to what happens to Oz, who is not a real all-powerful wizard as he claimed to be, but a magician pretending to be one.

George strolled for a while, thinking about the situation that he was in before seeing a reflection of himself on a reflective emerald wall, but he didn't see a 60-year-old man; he saw a 17-year-old George staring back at him. "What the…"

*BOOM*

The whole building shook, causing George to turn to where the sound came from, "What was that!?"

"It's Lumindra; he is probably angry that Oz hasn't greeted him yet."

"Lumindra, is that the other Wizard you were talking about?" George had not heard of any wizard named Lumindra in the book, but seeing that there was one here, he didn't know what to think.

The monkey then started pacing back and forth again as he bit on his fingernails before taking a glance at George's ruby ring, which was on his finger, "Wait, that ring..."

"What about it?"

"It's... isn't that the Persona Ring? I thought only Oz had that?"

George raised his hands up before the ground beneath him shook again, "What?"

"That ring! You could use it! You can save us all and yourself!"

George looked at his ring and shook his head, "What are you even talking about?!"

Meanwhile, the City Guards were shooting their arrows toward the violent wizard, trying to stop him from breaking in any further, "Oztanfil!! You dare disrespect me, and now you cower?!!"

He continued pushing the arrows away as if they held no weight, using his magical telekinetic abilities and breaking the walls that secured Oz's throne room.

*Crack!*

The door that was the entrance to Oz's door could be seen, in which he flew towards it and opened it using his telekinetic abilities.

As he stepped into the room, he could see Oz sitting on his throne instead of his head in smoke form floating above it. "Why are you in your physical state? Have you used up your ethereal energy?"

Oz didn't respond; he just sat there, staring at Lumindra.

"Am I talking to myself here?"

Oz raised his hands, causing Lumindra to take a step back. There are legends surrounding Oz's power that a flick of his finger could kill and destroy anything, but instead of that, Oz wiped off his forehead sweat.

'Where the heck is the monkey???' George thought while sitting on the throne pretending as Oz.

It turns out the ring was a magical ring that allowed the user to look like anyone he desires and to survive; the monkey had him pretending to Oz, "Fine... If you're not going to answer me. I'll attack you first."

George then stood up from Oz's throne, causing Lumindra to jolt down, "What is it... Are you scared?" Lumindra asked. "I have reached the 8th circle; yes, I, Lumindra, have finally reached the sacred 8th circle ranks... I am just like you. You're not so special now, aren't you?"

George used all of his experience when he acted at this moment, straightening his back and extending his right arm towards the window before pigeons appeared out of nowhere and flew out the window, distracted.

Lumindra looked at the pigeons flying and shook his head, "I came here to fight, and you show me some teleportation magic?" He chuckled and shook his head before turning to the throne where George was standing, but there was no one to be seen on the seat.

"Huh?" Lumindra wondered as he tried detecting Oz with his mana, 'Wait... he just teleported pigeons here... without mana?" He realized.

He tried detecting any signs of mana in this room, but nothing.

"Finding for me?" George asked.

"Ah!" Lumindra jumped and turned behind him, where he saw 'Oztanfil'. He had heard of legends that the pinnacle any wizard or witch could achieve was 8th-circle magic. But among the wizards, they knew that theoretically, one more was possible; if a wizard could eliminate the need to use mana when using magic, he would reach the true pinnacle of magic, which was theoretical godhood.

"How..." Lumindra asked as he took careful steps back.

"I will give you one more chance; if you challenge me once more, I will kill you."

"But you challenged me..." Lumindra replied, sounding confused.

"Are you questioning me?"

"No! No! I'll leave!" Lumindra quickly floated off the ground and flew away from the throne room.

George maintained a strong stance before dropping to his knees, "I'm alive... I'm alive..."