A/N: I don't own Magi!
Wow, I certainly didn't expect anybody to like this story at all! As I said earlier, it is an experiment of sorts, so… I wasn't really sure about this whole think. But you liked it, and even reviewed! Thank you so, soo much! This is another introductory chapter, but we will finally proceed to some action in the next one. You don't necessarily need to be up to date with the manga to understand this story, but there will be spoilers. Duh. Consider yourselves warned! You wanted update as soon as possible, so I decided to spare you any additional waiting and post it unbetaed. So yeah, there are probably grammar errors, mistakes and such. Once my beta finishes this chapter, I'll re-post it. Also, this is my first story fully written in English, so please be kind :)
Special thanks to those who reviewed: XionKirana, Nights of Fire, Silv3rR0s3
As for Yellowie17 – thank you very much for your words! I hope I won't disappoint you. Do not worry, I don't abandon stories – once I start, I shall see it to the very end. Sometimes it takes me longer to update, but that is usually because of school (yay for university life…) and because my beta can't work 27/7. Buut, I'll try my best!
Warnings: Spoilers! Unbetaed! (Grammar errors are to be expected!)
Our first move turned out to be very simple… in theory. Because, you know, it only involved dimension hopping. What could possibly go wrong? And yeah. I'm sarcastic when I'm nervous. And I was really, really nervous back then.
Well, the concept of magic wasn't completely foreign to me, no. But magic in the other Solomon's world worked differently than in mine, although the main principle was the same. Magic is, basically, all about energy and how you manipulate said energy. So no, the magic itself didn't scare me. It was the fact that literally anything could happen, and the other me didn't seem to be very sure of what he was doing. So forgive me for being a little bit anxious.
Hikaru, on the other hand, seemed just fine. No surprises here, he's a freaking dragon and thus pretty hard to scare. His only fear is actually being forced to watch the Harry Potter movies again. But shhhh, that's a secret.
„Okay," the other Solomon turned to me a smiled a somewhat nervous smile. Then he pulled a big golden staff out of nowhere and hit the ground with the end of the staff. The white butterflies – who were apparently called ‚Rukh' – took off the ground (Was there even a ground in this place? Better not think about it too hard, I guess…) and scattered around him.
„Are you ready?"
„Yes."
„No, but it's not like it matters. Let's get on with this and hope we don't end… well, dead. For good."
„Aren't you a ray of sunshine today?"
„Hey, I died. I think I am allowed to sulk."
„Alright, here we go~!"
And then – a blinding white light.
We made it in one piece, much to my delight. I didn't have an idea if we ended up in the right place or not, because I was preoccupied with checking my limbs. Yeah, I still had all four and no extra ones. Good.
Hikaru was lazily lying nearby. He didn't seem to be shaken by our little trans-dimensional trip, but then again, this was Hikaru. He probably found it amusing or something. Overall, everything seemed to be fine… only that it wasn't.
„Hey… weren't you supposed to be out there with the butterflies and stuff…?"
„Well… yes. That should have happened. However, it appears that my consciousness stayed with you."
Yeah. I really should have seen it coming. Because nothing ever goes according the plan.
„Just to make this clear – you're stuck in my head."
„So it seems."
„Okayy… What does this make us – me? You technically are another me… Does this mean I am now schizophrenic…?"
Hikaru found it extremely amusing. I though it was confusing.
„Er, I don't think so? Or do you feel schizophrenic?"
„Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel…"
„Well, you were already weird. Now you're just weirder!"
„Yeah, thank you. That was so very helpful, Hikaru!"
„Don't be such a baby…"
„It's easy for you to talk, you're not the one with another version of yourself in your head!"
„I advise not to think about it too hard. Your head will start to hurt and consequently will mine. But let me assure you, it's weird for me too."
„Heh. Sorry."
„Alright boys. I say we move on and figure out where exactly we are…"
As it turned out, we were in the place the other me wanted us to be. Which was good. It was a huge place that reminded me of a palace, because of all that gold. It was glittering in the soft light that was seemingly coming out of nowhere. The rukh was all around -us-, fluttering almost happily. I could tell that Hikaru liked this place and frankly, so did I. It was serene, but more importantly, it had books.
Billions of books, carefully stacked in what I guessed were shelves. Yep, this was a nice place. Very nice. And yeah, I am a bookworm. Sue me.
I also managed to check my clothes while exploring this strange palace. I found out that I was now wearing the exact same clothes I saw other me in. They were odd (especially the harem pants), but comfortable and did not restrict my movements, which was important. That surprised me, because I expected the pants to be hard to move in. Luckily, this wasn't the case.
I don't know how much time I spent walking through the palace. It may have been hour, or mere minutes – it was hard to keep track of time in a place like this. And Hikaru wasn't able to help me, because dragons don't really care about time the way humans do. Not that it mattered, as I was not in hurry. I was just looking at one of the books when I met the inhabitants of the palace.
And what a meeting it was! One to remember, that's for sure, because the little one crashed down on me. And the books he was carrying followed the suit. The rukh frantically fluttered around us and Hikaru did the only logical thing. He started to laugh, that overgrown lizard.
"Ouuuph!" That was the first thing the little one said to me. It made me chuckle, despite being buried alive underneath all those books. How did he even manage to carry all those at once? Probably magic. That, or the laws of physic didn't apply to this place. It was both equally possible, but the former idea seemed more likely.
While Hikaru was still laughing (that scaly bastard) I somewhat managed to crawl from underneath the books and not to destroy them in the process. Which was good, I bet they were interesting. Anyway, once I freed myself I helped the little one to get up as well and finally looked at him.
To say I was surprised by his appearance is an understatement of the century. He looked so much like me – same dark blue hair (he even had them braided!), same blue eyes, just wider – he could be my brother or… -son-. Indeed, I was not the only one startled by this meeting.
If the other Solomon had a body, he would be frozen on spot. I swear I heard him inhale sharply. Hikaru wasn't laughing anymore, but he still looked amused.
I tried to shake off the surprise of this meeting and smile. I probably wasn't successful, but the little one smiled as well and even offered his hand for a shake.
"Hi! I'm Aladdin!"
A wave of emotions. Swirl of pictures, rapidly flashing in front of my eyes. A group of people, dressed in the same way, each holding a staff. Weirdly looking creatures looking grateful. A smiling woman with pink hair -Sheba- smiling at -me-. "The little one's name will be… Aladdin."
I figured it out pretty quickly. Like, in matter of miliseconds, because our minds were connected. Those were the other Solomon's memories… and the little one standing before me… was his son.
I wasn't sure how to react, how to properly treat this boy, who was basically an orphan. A part of me that was Solomon of this world -the king of Alma Torran- wanted to be his father, because that is what he would have been if not for Al Thamen. I, on the other hand, saw him like a younger brother of sorts. I was torn and unsure what to do, so I improvised.
"Hello, Aladdin. My name is Solomon."
I believe I even managed to smile sincerely. He gave no reaction to my name, but seemed to be interested in my appearance… for about a minute, until he spotted Hikaru.
I think you can imagine well what happened next. For the sake of Hikaru's pride I will just say that from that day on it wasn't always just me pulling his feathers…
I eventually managed to peel Aladdin off Hikaru, much to the little one's disappointment and Hikaru's delight. I asked the boy if he was living here all by himself, and he told me that he was living with a friend. Then he took my hand and guided me through the palace.
His "friend" was a blue giant. A djinn, apparently. And no lamp included. Damn you, Disney. (At least they've got the colour right).
"Ugo," squealed Aladdin and waved his hands in hope to catch the giant's attention.
"Look, I made another friend! I found him near one of the bookshelves! His name is-"
"Solomon…" Ugo breathed out. Oh, this is another meeting to remember, isn't it? But this time, I was not the confused one.
"Yes! Ugo, you know him?" Aladdin looked at the djinn, the question evident in his eyes.
"I… uh… this is…" Ugo stuttered, unsure what to say. I sympathized with him, because he was kind of seeing his -dead- friend standing in front of him. No pun intended here!
"…Not possible?" I decided to save him. He nodded, grateful.
"Well, it is not. Possible I mean. Because I am not the one you think I am. Although, at the same time, I am. My – our – situation is quite complicated."
He just stared at me, unblinking. It was actually a little scary, mainly because he was so damn big.
"Way to go, genius," mumbled Hikaru, who appeared on my left. I think poor Ugo jumped a little, but can you blame him? First he sees his dead friend, then suddenly a dragon appears. That would throw most people off the balance. Aladdin, on the other hand, seemed to be very happy and proceeded to ruffle Hikaru's feathers.
Inside, I was smiling at his distress. He deserved it for laughing at me earlier.
"Um, I think we've broken him."
"Ugo's smart. He will figure it out, eventually."
"If you say so…"
True to the other Solomon's words, Ugo did figure it out. At least partially. He also befriended Hikaru, much to my surprise.
I managed to sort my thoughts onto how to treat Aladdin. I thing I become some kind of brotherly/fatherly figure for him. Which was fine with me, although it sometimes made my head hurt. I tried to give him all the love the other me wanted, because he deserved that. Both of them did.
For a while, we were one small family and time just flew by. I was getting used to -our- power and the suddenly, it was time for another grand adventure…
