Time for the next chapter! For anyone who is interested, there's a description of Rina's appearance at the end of the chapter so if you want a better idea of what she's wearing then go and check that out!

I do not own Magi or it's plot!

EDIT: this chapter has been edited. Nothing major just spelling/grammar mistakes and minor plot holes

Magi: The Work of Fate

Chapter 2

Rina's Serpent

Rina wandered through the streets of Balbadd, a thoughtful look on her face as she studied the rukh that flew through the air. While most of it was white, the few black rukh that she saw concerned her. Closing her left eye, the blue one, Rina was able to see the rukh around her more clearly. Just as she was about to open up her other eye, a sudden burst of white rukh caught her attention.

While she couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from, she could tell that it was from somewhere within the forest that she had travelled through only a month ago. She stared at the rukh, surprised at the sheer amount of it. She'd only seen rukh like that once before and that was when she had met that man. Yunan is what he had called himself.

Shaking her head and ridding it of thoughts from the past, something she had found herself doing more and more frequently since arriving in Balbadd, Rina opened up her left eye and continued walking through the busy markets of Balbadd, deciding that it would be best to head down to the Fog Troupe's base.

Ah yes, the Fog Troupe.

Rina wasn't quite sure how she felt about them. Even now that she was apart of it, working closely alongside Alibaba and Cassim, she was still unsure of how things would turn out. For the most part, they really did seem to be trying to help people and the rukh in the air remained fairly bright, however she wasn't naive. She could see the ones with the more sinister look in their eyes, the ones who enjoyed the chaos of it all. During her time spent with the notorious gang of thieves, Rina had done her best to stick to the shadows and not interfere to much despite her concerns. That proved to be rather difficult when you had not only the founder but the leader constantly talking to you.

It seemed that wherever she went, either Cassim or Alibaba followed, questioning her as to where she had run off to, the former being the more direct of the two. As guilty as she felt, as much as she wanted to tell them why she had left, she just wasn't ready to talk about it.

She hadn't been the only one who wasn't to keen on talking about the past however. For the first few days that Rina had been a member of the Fog Troupe, she had watched Alibaba mope around, constantly gazing at the mark on his sword with a sad look in his eyes. After a few days of that had passed, Rina had had enough of seeing her friend upset so she had approached him and asked (demanded) that he told her what was getting him down. It had taken some coaxing to get the answer out of him, but when she did, even Rina found herself growing shocked.

While she had known that Alibaba had captured a dungeon, she was unaware as to how that had come to happen. When she had found out, she could only stare at her friend with a look of shock and interest. So much had happened since she had left. To think that Alibaba had gone to live in the palace, and then there was Cassim had done. Something Rina wasn't quite sure how to feel about. To think he had betrayed a friend so easily... And then, more recently, a strange young boy who could summon a Djinn from a flute? That was something only Magi's could do. Had Alibaba managed to come across a Magi? If so, which one? From what he had described, it certainly didn't sound like the Magi of the Riem empire, nor did it sound like Kou's magi and she knew for a fact that it wasn't Yunan. So who had it been?

As thoughts of the mysterious boy that Alibaba had met ran through her mind, Rina walked straight into something. As she took a step back, rubbing her nose, the young girl realised that the something was, in fact a someone.

A very tall someone.

With wide eyes, Rina stared at the male in front of her, eyes studying his tall form, red hair, red eyes, piercing on his lower lip and gold armour. His height rivalled that of the Imuchakk.

"I'm sorry!" Rina jumped back slightly as she realised that she had been staring at the tall man. I really need to watch where I'm going...

"Masrur!" Cut in another voice, it was the voice that sounded almost like a mother scolding her children. "You need to pay attention to where you're walking!"

"Yeah." The tall man, Masrur, replied in dismissive tone as he stared down at the girl in front of him, a bored look on his face. "Sorry."

"At least try and sound sorry!" Said the other voice, that Rina could now see belonged to shorter man with white hair, pale skin and freckles who was wearing a green keffiyeh on his head. He then turned to Rina and bowed slightly. "Please forgive him."

"Oh, it's fine!" Rina said as she smiled to him before she moved to continue walking. While it was strange to see a fanalis in Balbadd, she didn't see any need for her to stay and chat. "Well I better be off."

And with that, Rina was on her way, heading to the Fog Troupe's base.

Well that was what she had planned to do but lately it seemed that things hadn't really been going as planned. A firm hand was placed on her shoulder, stopping her from walking, causing the girl to frown.

I swear, Rina thought as she glowered at the ground, if someone's trying to mug me again…

Turning around to stare at the owner of the hand, Rina was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't muggers but instead the white haired man she had been talking to only seconds ago. Well I suppose that does make more sense than someone mugging me, she mused as she stared at the pair in confusion.

"Would you mind if we asked you a few questions about what's been going on in Balbadd recently?" Asked the pale man, a polite smile on his face. "We've recently arrived and we're rather curious about the situation."

Rina could only stare at him uncertainty. What exactly did they want to know, and why?

"I guess I could try and help." Rina said after contemplating the idea, they seemed harmless enough she supposed. Even if they did ask about the Fog Troupe she could brush over the topic. "I can't promise I'll be much help though. I'm just a traveller who's passing through."

"Rina!" Called out a familiar voice, the moment she walked through the entrance. Looking up, she saw Alibaba jogging over to her.

"What's up?" She asked as she observed her friend who now stood before her, breathing heavily.

"Where have you been?" He said as he stared at her with a curious glint in his eyes as he took in the unusual frown that had found its way onto his friends face. "We were organising our next attack."

"Oh!" Rina said, a look of realisation replacing the frown as she slapped a hand to her forehead. "I completely forgot! I guess I got a bit sidetracked at the markets!"

It would probably be best to to mention those two men. It would worry everyone if they knew that strange people were asking about Balbadd's government and trading.

"Oh ok." Alibaba replied, an unsure look on his face. "I'll fill you in on the details so you know what's going on."

Rina listened intently as he explained who their next target was and when they would be attacking. The plan was very similar to the ones from the past. Get in, take anything of value, get out and then go and share it out to the people of the slums. It wouldn't be a hard job and nothing should go wrong.

"I think that's all..." Alibaba said once he had finished explaining.

"Thanks." Rina said with a nod, a thoughtful look coming onto her face. "Hey Alibaba?"

"Yeah?" Replied the blonde as he looked up, a curious look on his face.

"Do you want to come into the markets with me?" Rina said as she remembered the reason she had been wandering through the markets on her very first day here in Balbadd. "There's something I need to get and I think your opinion might be helpful."

"Didn't you just get back from the markets?" He asked, a confused look coming onto his face.

I really wish I was better at lying… She thought to herself as Alibaba stared at her in her silence.

"Well I guess I got so distracted that I forgot to get what I was looking for." Rina finally spoke, letting out a laugh at the look on Alibaba's face upon hearing those words. Not giving the boy a say in the matter, she took ahold of his arm and tugged him towards the markets with her. "Off we go now!"

"What exactly are we looking for?" Alibaba asked as he followed his friends through the busy markets of Balbadd, narrowly dodging walking into a group of people.

"You'll see when we find it." Rina replied as her eyes scanned the markets, looking for stall that would have what she needed.

In every direction people could be seen, some buying and selling goods others begging for food. The markets were full of people, full of life and full of rukh, fluttering around. Children were running down the street, merchants were yelling out, trying to attract customers and people wandered around, looking at various goods. Balbadd was full of life, but as Rina continued to wander through the streets, she realised how truly lifeless and empty this city had become. While Balbadd had never been perfect, it was certainly better than this. It seemed since that pig had taken over, the city had fallen into despair.

As memories of her past in Balbadd, the days spent running around the slums with Alibaba, Cassim, Mariam and the other children, nights spent with Cassim, trying to get enough food to survive, the day that she left, all of these memories ran through her head and as they did so, she made a promise to not only herself, but the citizens of this country.

I'm going to save this place. I won't let these people turn their backs on fate.

As these thoughts ran through her mind, mismatched eyes finally spotted a stall that would be of use to her. Smiling, Rina sped up her pace, heading in the direction of the stall as her eyes took in the glitter of metals that she could see from that distance,

"We're going there?" Alibaba asked as he followed behind her, his tone laced with confusion. "What do they sell."

"You'll see." Rina said as they came to a halt in front of the stall. She sent a polite smile to the old lady who was running the store.

The lady gave the pair a gentle smile and polite nod and Rina went to work, looking at the various different items that were being sold. All of which were metal. The items ranged from expensive jewellery with flashy gems to simple daggers that could easily be concealed.

"Eh?" Alibaba said as he frowned, picking up a sharp dagger. "What do you need from here?"

"I was thinking of a small piece of jewellery." Replied Rina, eyes running over the various different items. Turning to her friend with a grin she took the blade from his hand and placed it down. "Don't go and hurt yourself."

"Come on Rina." He whined, his ego hurt that even after all these years she still insisted on babying him.

Letting out a quiet laugh at his dismay, Rina turned back to the stall and the goods it had to offer. Running her fingers over the various pieces of metal, she studied each item, trying to find something that would do the job. She needed something that wouldn't stand out to much. She already had a sword at her hip along with various other weapons or jewellery that she had acquired during her travels on her. Something small was what she looking for. As she made thought about this, she looked up to see Alibaba to make sure that he hadn't picked up another deadly sharp knife. She was happy to see that he instead had some sort of earring in his hand. Taking a step towards the blonde, Rina took a closer look at the item in his hands. It was a truly beautiful silver earring in the shape of a serpent. When worn, the snake would curl around the ear, almost as if it was a real serpent. It was small enough to not stand out yet big enough to actually be useful.

"That's nice." Rina said as she peered over Alibaba's shoulder with a grin. "It's not something I'd expect you to pick out."

"I saw it and thought it would suit you." He replied, laughing slightly as he handed it to her. "You should get it."

With a nod, Rina moved closer to where the old woman was sitting behind the counter. With a smile, she showed the woman the earring before asking, "How much for this?"

"Three huang." Replied the lady, causing Rina to frown.

Having been her first time buying something since arriving in Balbadd, the Fog Troupe were a gang of thieves after all, having someone ask for Kou's currency left the girl feeling unnerved.

Why was Balbadd using Kou's currency? Did that mean that that organisation was in Balbadd?

With the frown still on her face, Rina reached into one of the many hidden pockets in her robe, pulling out some of the left over huang she had from her time spent in Kou Empire, an empire that was growing at an alarming rate.

"Here you go." Rina said, passing it to the woman before handing taking the earring. Quickly pulling out one of her other piercings on left ear, she slid the earing in, adjusting it so the serpent's head rested correctly on the curve of her ear.

"It suits you." The woman spoke with a smile, her eyes running over the earring before glancing over to Alibaba. "Your friend has a good eye."

"He does." Rina replied, letting out a laugh as she watched Alibaba's face contort into a proud expression. Ruffling her friends her she smiled at the lady once more before bidding her goodbye and then the pair began to make their way back out of the markets.

"Why the sudden need to go shopping for jewelry?" Alibaba asked as he walked besides her, never having gotten an answer to his earlier questions.

"Just something for me to remember my stay in Balbadd." Rina said with a small smile, running her fingers along the earring with a fond smile.

"You're not staying?" The blonde said, his eyes widening as he paused in the middle of the street. "You're going to leave again?"

"Not just yet." Rina said with a laugh, patting her friend's shoulder as she made her way past him. "First I'm going to make sure that everything in Balbadd's fine."

"Where do you plan on going afterwards then?" Alibaba asked as he jogged to catch up to the girl, knocking into a few people in the process.

"I'm not sure yet." Rina said as she stared up at the sky, arms behind her head. "Maybe I'll go visit some friends in Reim or maybe Sindria, I haven't been there yet..."

The pair continued to walk, speaking of all the places that could be visited, all the adventures that could take place. However, eventually they arrived in the slums and her mind was taken off of her next destination and instead brought back to her current one.

A frown came onto Rina's face as she saw all the starving people, people of all ages who were being treated so poorly. The slums of Balbadd was a place that she truly hated. Her eyes wearily scanned the area, taking in the amount of blacks rukh that seemed to gradually increase as each day passed.

Rina could only hope that everything would turn out okay in the end.

The second chapter is done! I really enjoyed writing this one!

It's a bit longer than the first one and a bit more happened. We were able to find out some more about Rina and some more characters have been brought in! Next chapter we will be seeing Aladdin, Morgiana and Sinbad so I hope you're all excited for that.

So I just wanted to talk to you about Rina's appearance/outfit so you guys would be able to have a better idea of what she looked like.

So we know that she has black hair, her left eye is blue while her right eye is red and that she carries multiple pieces of jewellery. She's a bit taller than Alibaba and as for her outfit, she has black Arabian styled pants (pretty much the exact same as Judal's), a white singlet styled top that ends around her bellybutton and over that she wears a robe. I've been struggling with trying to describe the robe but basically how I see it is a lot like the Sindrian robes. It's the same colour, maybe a bit more of a sandy colour (without the green bits) but only shorter, ending just above her hip. She wears it open and the sleeves are rolled up to her elbow. Also she doesn't wear shoes and goes around barefoot.

I'm sorry if none of that made sense!

Well you can expect an update soon, maybe in a week or a week and bit!

Well see you guys next time I guess!

- xXxDreamscapexXx