EL: This story is strictly dedicated to my friend, codenamed Mei. It's her B-day today! (April 24, 2015) Mei, if you're out there, happy birthday and I hope you like this oneshot! I DO NOT OWN MAGI!
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The thought hit Aladdin like a bucket of ice-cold water that night. That dark thought that would haunt him, weigh down on his shoulders, and there was no point fighting against the facts.
He was dead.
His best friend, the first friend he made on his journey was dead.
Alibaba was dead.
Their friendship that had lasted years was no longer. No more joking around with him, no more late night visits to the brothels.
How did it happen again?
He felt cold tears build up in the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. He refused to believe it.
But there was no point denying cold hard evidence, after all.
He's dead. He's dead. He's dead, he's dead, he's dead.
Aladdin closed his eyes, recalling the event that would be imprinted into his mind until he too, joined the Rukh.
That's right. The memory was clear as day.
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Alibaba...? Alibaba, wake up! Please! You're not dead right? Please answer me! PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE NOT DEAD! Please...
That thought ran through Aladdin's mind as he shook a glassy-eyed Alibaba slightly. There was no response.
Hakuryuu sat, a few feet away, watching the boy who was known Solomon's heir attempt to wake up his former friend. A smirk was on his face; there was no doubt that he was enjoying the scene.
"It's no use, Aladdin. Alibaba is dead. But there isn't any need to remind you; you already know this, don't you?" His smirk grew wider. "And not even you, Solomon's Proxy, can revive him, am I right?"
He's right, whispered a voice in his head and he knew at that moment that he was. But he ignored the voice and he ignored Hakuryuu, and continued to shake Alibaba with depleting hope. His shakes got rougher and rougher as he got more and more frustrated.
Hakuryuu laughed at his hopeless attempts and the eight-pointed star on his polearm glowed. Wooden legs replaced his burned-off ones and he ran his fingers along the intricate pattern on the wood.
"What's done is done, Aladdin. Alibaba is dead."
Clenching his teeth, Aladdin weakly summoned a small ball of fire with what little power he had remaining and directed it towards to Hakuryuu. It took no effort for the Kou Empire's emperor to easily flick it away.
Hakuryuu pulled himself up, not bothering to hide his mocking laughs at the pathetic scene before him. It was practically impossible for him to awaken. Belial's power had transported Alibaba's head into the same unknown space as his arm and leg.
Aladdin didn't look up at him as he continued to bellow. "Is there any way to get him back?" He asked meekly.
"There's no way to- if there is, then I don't know about it." Hakuryuu answered. His lips twitched up into a smirk. "Even if there is, why ever would I try to return him?"
Aladdin slumped over, head lying on Alibaba's still chest. He heard a heartbeat, I was as clear as anything, but he knew that his best friend was just a shell of his former self, nothing more, nothing less.
His eyes lidded, as his hope diminished. "Why, Hakuryuu?" He inquired. "Why would you do this?"
"Why?" Hakuryuu ceased his laughter, eyes immediately narrowed into a glare that was directed at Aladdin. "WHY?! I had my two legs cut off by someone I used to trust and the friend that has stuck by me, and helped me with achieving my goals is being pushed farther and farther away into space as I speak and you ask why I did this to him?!" Spit flew out in all directions out of his mouth and splattered all over Aladdin and Alibaba's cheeks. He continued, leaning closer. "What would you do if you found out that your own mother, one that had cared for you ever since you were a child had been the one to kill the two older brothers that you love?! What would you do if you were offered assistance in killing her, finally being able to achieve the vengeance that had been rumbling in your heart for ten years?! What would you do if everything you had, everything you loved and cared for disappeared? And there is no friendship, no family, nothing else for you in life. Tell me, what would you do, Aladdin?"
Aladdin stayed silent, unmoving as he laid limply on the ground.
Hakuryuu smiled in triumph. "Don't you see now?" He asked, eyes narrowed. "It was only for the best."
Still no answer. The eight-pointed star on his polearm glowed again and vines wrapped around Alibaba and Aladdin, snatching Aladdin's staff out of his hand. He made no move to resist. It was passed to Hakuryuu, who broke it in half. With a grin, he threw it onto the ground.
"Now then, you, to the jail cells."
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Yes, I remember now, thought Aladdin, as he stroked Alibaba's blonde hair. But, there's no denying that in a way he is right.
He took Alibaba's cold hands in his own, sitting in the darkness of his cell, as he listened to the sound of silence.
You're really gone aren't you?
He felt a slight movement in his hand, and he looked down curiously.
"Alibaba? Are you... Are you still here?"
Aladdin heard and felt Alibaba's head shift in the darkness. But wait, that's impossible, his best friend is dead! But... those thoughts were broken as a familiar voice sounded in the unbearable silence.
"Al-Ala-Aladdin..."
Aladdin gasped. "Alibaba?! How?!" He squeezed his hands.
"Aladdin... I..." He heard the weak voice of his friend, and he just couldn't believe. "I forgot to tell you something... before I died..."
Aladdin felt tears beginning to form again. "Tell me," he whispered, "please, tell me."
It might've been his imagination, but Aladdin could almost swear he saw a small smile on his face. "I-I l-love y-"
It became silent again. He could see the Rukh flutter around them frantically. Around him. Alibaba. And Aladdin knew that Alibaba would not come back to finish his sentence. He closed his eyes and lifted his head to the dark night sky.
Then the tears uplifted his closed eyelids and finally, finally they came down.
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EL: That's, like, the saddest story I have ever wrote. And no, this did not happen exactly in the manga. ENORMOUS SHOUTOUT TO SUKARETTIMAY FOR EDITING THIS. I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH! Mei, I hope you enjoyed this (well, you can't really enjoy it... kinda...) and don't kill me for the spoiler in this fic. Once again, happy birthday!