A/N: Greetings everyone. Here's chapter 2! Originally, I didn't think of continuing this story but seeing the response I got, I decided to do so. For those who have reviewed, I would like to apologise for my inability to reply each and every one of your kind reviews (I'm a bit short of time as always) but your reviews really made my day. I would like to thank all of you who are willing to read this story of mine and I apologised beforehand for any mistake(s) that I made.

Disclaimer: I don't own Magi Labyrinth of Magic.

Warning: OCC-ness

Chapter 2 : The beginning

The world is a country which nobody ever yet knew by description; one must travel through it one's self to be acquainted with it. ~Lord Chesterfield.

"It seemed that we've failed." A deep voice sounded through the large empty space.

"No matter it's still not too late. We still have a chance though the only thing we can do now is wait." Another sound, inhuman and mysterious echoed.

"Yes, as you wish, beloved King Solomon."

~6 years later~

The Kou Empire was a large nation that was militaristic. It was considered one of the most powerful nations because of his large armies and recently the number of Dungeon Capturers.

The veil of morning was clearing as the Sun penetrated through it. The dewdrops were dropping from the leaves while the crickets sang their songs. The wind came slowly, caressing the Earth and the grass bent as if enjoying the breeze.

The morning was refreshing and calm. A man stood within the thick walls of the castle amidst the spacious garden, glancing at the myriad of flowers and breathing in the air that carried the fragrance of the flowers. His black cape fluttered as the wind came blowing, showing off the status of the man as the strongest general of the proud Kou Empire, Kouen Ren. He soon sat down on a stone chair besides a round table where a tea set was carefully laid, not to mention some books and documents that he would eventually have to look through. He poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it. It was the finest tea in the world, Tianchi tea or best known as "Heaven Pool."

He continued to scan through a few more documents after setting down the teacup. Compared to the suffocating room, he preferred outdoors where the air and view were a lot more relaxing. Putting away the documents, he proceeded with the reports. Such a workaholic…

It was until later he heard the sound of footsteps echoing behind him. He ignored it, assuming that probably some servants or royalties and calmly sipped his still warm tea.

"Kouen~" A voice sang out cheerfully behind him and the next second, the owner of the voice pounced onto his back.

"Judal," the man, Kouen droned with a straight face while Judal was busy steadying himself on Kouen's back by draping his arms onto the elder's shoulders.

"Did you see Aladdin? I can't find him anywhere," Judal asked, still hanging on the other's back.

"No," Kouen answered almost immediately. Judal pouted and jumped off Kouen's back swiftly.

"I wonder where he is," he mumbled as he landed on the ground. Kouen made no sound, merely stared at him as Judal scratched the back of his head with a small frown on his face.

"If I'm not mistaken, Aladdin will be allowed to go out today," Kouen uttered. His words caught Judal's attention and with a big grin, he nodded, "Yep and I promised to take him out too." Kouen nodded slightly before glancing at the blue sky. It was indeed a nice weather to be out and about.

"Did you consider asking Kouha or Koumei?" He suggested to the troubled teen.

"Yes, in fact I've already asked them…but you've seen the result," Judal replied with a sigh.

"What about Hakuryuu?" Instantly, Judal beamed.

"Oh yeah, why didn't I think of him earlier? He's close to Aladdin so I bet he knew where he's," Judal said confidently and carrying his new found hope, he skipped to the training field where he was positively sure that Hakuryuu was after muttering words of thanks to Kouen.

~Meanwhile…~

"Wow, this is amazing!" A young boy with blue hair exclaimed as he peered down at the Earth below with his sparkling blue eyes from his seat on a magic turban. It was totally different from what he saw and read in the books or map. Sure the sceneries drawn in the books were somewhat similar but when you experienced their beauties personally, it was definitely on a whole new level.

The boy had woken up early (very early) in the morning and decided to sneak a peek of the outside world first as he failed miserably to wake his older brother.

'Big brother Judal must be really angry now,' Aladdin could not help but worried a tad about his brother's reaction at his sudden disappearance. However, his musing was cut short by a loud grumbling. Rubbing his stomach, the now-ten-years-old smiled sheepishly. Maybe, it was not a good idea to skip breakfast. His previous worries were set aside. After all, food came first, didn't it?

He lied sprawled on the turban. Came to think of it, he didn't know a thing about the outside world. How could he possibly know how to interact with others, let alone obtaining food? He was pondering on ways to feed his empty stomach which was demanding food for every passing second when he heard loud chattering and laughter from below.

His eyes roved over the group of men that were gathering below. What a great timing! Wasting no time at all, he jumped from the flying cloth and landed silently in the middle of the crowd.

"Hiya! I'm Aladdin, a traveller. Can you please kindly spare me some food and water?" Aladdin requested, startling most of the men. Silence fell like a blanket upon them and they stared at each other for the longest hours before roars of laughter erupted. Aladdin looked around, a quizzical look on his face.

"You come to a den of thieves and ask them to give you some food?" A man questioned wryly and that elicited another fit of uproarious laughter.

"Just take everything he has and sell it though I don't think we'll get much," another man commented while grinning madly. Aladdin was sweating profusely as he thought, 'desert thieves? It seems that I've just picked the worst person in the world to help. What luck.'

He inhaled sharply as a man held him high by his clothes.

"Hey, look at this," the ugly man declared and gestured at the golden flute. "It's gold!" He added and endeavoured to grab it but his hand was snapped away by Aladdin's smaller one.

"Don't touch that," Aladdin whispered darkly.

"Huh?"

"Don't…touch…THAT!" Aladdin hollered. The man was taken aback by the sudden outburst and released his hold on the small child. The child dropped to the ground while the atmosphere tensed. The thieves wanted to laugh and mock the child but soon found themselves unable to as the aura around the helpless child changed into something… sinister.

Blue turned red and everything faded to black with piercing shouts and screams in the air.

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"Hakuryuu~"

The said person resisted the urge to sigh, hearing the sing-sung voice from a certain priest. He lowered his spear and prepared himself to dodge whatever coming. Despite his efforts, he was still tackled down by Judal. Annoyed, he groaned and blew his lank bangs from the front of his eyes.

"What're you doing here and GET OFF OF ME!" Hakuryuu protested, struggling against the extra weight on his back. Judal obliged, but not after a few teasing and comments on how he sounded and complained like a girl.

"So, what do you want?" Hakuryuu glowered at the dark-haired teen in front of him.

"How mean! I'm only here to ask whether you've seen Aladdin or not," Judal fake cried, causing Hakuryuu to facepalm himself at the childish display.

"Aladdin? Did something happen to him?" Hakuryuu inquired.

"No, I'm just wondering where he went. I promised to take him out today," Judal replied. The prince paused, thinking back as if to recall something.

"Ah!" He let out. That successfully gained Judal's full attention. "I've seen him departing early this morning. He said that he want to visit a few places first because of his inability to wake certain someone," he resumed, throwing sideway glances at the other.

"What? That chibi! " Judal growled.

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"Achoo!" Aladdin sneezed. 'Someone must be talking about me. Nah, maybe it's just my imagination.' Aladdin mused and continued rummaging through the stolen good, hoping to find something edible but he found nothing so far. The thieves were now lying in a huge heap, totally knocked out. Aladdin collapsed onto the ground sweating after he had done looking through the last pile of items.

"I can't believe this. There's no food here! How can they call themselves thieves anyways?" Aladdin complained. Frustration clearly showed on his face. He pressed a comforting hand on his grumbling stomach, feeling more drained than before. It was until later that he discovered or rather noticed a piece of paper that was set on the small, poorly nailed wooden table. A few stones were placed carefully on each corner of the seemly old paper to prevent the wind from carrying it away in its playful dances. Aladdin scanned dully across the paper or the so called map. His gaze stopped at a small town marked with a red circle.

"Oasis City Utan, huh? Sounds like a nice place plus it's not that far away," he thought out loud and hoped onto the magic turban. Let's go!

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Hakuryuu heaved a heavy sign at the sight in front of him. Judal, the infamous priest as well as the greatest magician in the world was sulking in the corner with dark clouds over his head.

"Priest?" Hakuryuu called. No response. He had a headache seeing the theatrics which led him to wonder exactly how Aladdin was able to bear these every single day. Truly, the younger's level of tolerance was admirably high.

"I've wanted to ask this for a while now but why can't Aladdin go to the outside world?" Hakuryuu asked. He expected no answer from the sulking figure but he was soon proven wrong.

"It's because he's still unstable," Judal answered while recovering from his previous position. His eyes depicted seriousness. Now that was a fast change.

"What do you mean by unstable?"

"I'm not quite sure myself. All I know was that he's compatible with both the black and white Rukh, which eventually lead to his unstable mental state. Sometimes, his spilt personalities scared me as well," Judal shuddered, recalling the event that had occurred a few years ago. He definitely did not want to relive that day again. Sparing a glance at Hakuryuu, he could conclude that the prince still remembered that particular incident due to his pale face.

"Well, that's that. I think I'll need to find Aladdin now. That chibi is a magnet that attracted endless troubles. He may be getting into hot water now," Judal claimed and trotted away, pushing the memories of that day away into his deepest mind.

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"Ouch!" Aladdin yelped as he received a punch on the head by a pretty but not so kind lady.

"What're you doing to our precious merchandise?" The lady yelled.

"Precious? I'm so sorry. I've never had something like that before so I can't resist it. If there's some way for me to pay you back, I'll greatly comply," Aladdin stated apologetically.

So, that was how it ended up with Aladdin working for the cavaran for three days. The cavaran leader's daughter, Sahsa was kind enough to him but he knew that she was too trusting and naïve whereas the pretty lady, Leila was mean and paranoid. She also seemed to be very protective when it came to Sahsa. Who knew? Maybe opposite do attract.

Two days passed and Aladdin was getting rather boring. However, he somehow felt that something interesting was going to happen soon since he had noticed a few shabby-looking guys muttering among themselves a day before when he was helping Leila to carry some loads. For the sake of that, he would wait and see.

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"No, you can't take Route Three! A band of thieves has their hideout there or so I've heard." Aladdin awoke from his slumber, hearing Leila's distressed voice. He yawned and stretched his back, his eyes searching for the source of commotion.

"But taking Route Three would be much shorter and the thieves' hideout might not actually be there," others argued. Leila seemed like wanting to protest further but was interrupted by the same dirty looking men Aladdin perceived before. Aladdin immediately grimaced at the sight of the men but couldn't help feeling a bit excited as to what would happen next.

"She's a thief!" The ill-bred men announced. Somehow Aladdin was not as surprised as he thought he would be. Maybe it was because he never really cared about it.

The cavaran leader obviously didn't trust Leila whereas Sahsa was quite torn apart. Therefore, the cavaran went for Route Three, the very same route that the thieves were hiding. He stared at the longing back of Leila. She was in deep contemplation when the cavaran left.

Human was such a strange creature. When they discovered the past of someone else, they often judged them by those insignificant things though some might overlooked their past but none would actually forget about it.

"Lady, shouldn't you go and save your friend?" Aladdin asked.

"What for? It's not like they would trust what a thief said right? I was mistaken from the very beginning. I've no friend. I'm just a thief and I think I'll go back to being one then," she chuckled bitterly.

"But she's your precious friend, isn't she? You've changed, don't you? I can see that you really mean it when you said that you decided to live without telling lies," Aladdin didn't know why he was comforting or persuading her to save her friends. Maybe she reminded him of someone he knew who always lied to hide the overwhelming emotions in their hearts. Soon, the lady broke down, saying that it was too late to save anyone.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure that we catch up with them!" Aladdin declared and held his hand out for Leila to grab on. Leila took the offered hand after a moment's deliberation. Determination glittered in her eyes.

"Fly, magic turban!"

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The cavaran was surrounded by hundreds of thieves each armed with weapons. The cavaran members were panicking as they watched in fear at the thieves.

"What Leila said…was true…" Sahsa's father gasped and Sahsa was tearing up, feeling bad because she had doubted her best friend, Leila.

'I'm sorry, Leila!' was her last thought. She shut her eyes when the head of the thieves grabbed her by her hair, his knife shinning dangerously in the air.

"Wait!"

"What?" The leader halted his movements and looked upwards, to where the sound came from. He was soon brought down to the ground by a strong step right on his face.

"Sahsa! Are you alright?" Leila followed Aladdin's lead and took out another thief who was holding Sahsa's father.

"Leila!" The dark-skinned teen exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, dummy! We're friends, aren't we?" Leila said, patting Sahsa's head as she cried.

"Umm, sorry to interrupt you two but I think this is not the best time to be having a reunion," Aladdin reminded the pair. The thieves had gotten over their initial shocks and were angered at the fact that some random kids were getting in their ways.

Leila's eyes went wide with fear. She feared that they might never make it out alive when several soft 'thud' were heard. She looked around and saw the members of the cavaran lying on the ground, unconscious and that included Sahsa.

"What's happening?" She rushed to Sahsa's side. However, she was too overcome by a wave of drowsiness. Before her consciousness faded completely, she was sure she heard something.

"Don't worry, lady. I'll take care of the rest. It's better that you don't see what's going to happen next," Aladdin said before averting his attention to the group of thieves. The thieves were bewildered at the sudden collapsing of their prey and took a cautious step back.

A chuckle reverberated from the young boy who was the only one remained standing. White and black Rukh came twirling and dancing around the boy.

"Now, entertain me!" Aladdin bellowed. His right eye grew darker until it turned blood red and a smile flashed across his face. The thieves sensing the turn of table scrambled away for their lives. Trepidation filling their very beings but all was in vain and so they were all gone.

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"Ugh!" Aladdin grunted. He was wiping away some blood that managed to reach him when he was 'sweeping' away some filthy 'dusts'.

"Having fun?" A voice was heard right above him. Knowing the voice too well, he greeted without even looking, "Big brother."

Aladdin could feel the air around him moved and there he was, standing right in front of Aladdin. Aladdin had barely enough time to stop a grin from spreading through his facial because Judal was frowning with a slightly unkempt hair. Judal might be the expert in masking his true feelings but the dishevelled appearance was a big giveaway of how fretful he had been during these days.

"Come on. Let's go," Judal told him explicitly.

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Leila woke up with a terrible headache. On her side was Sahsa whose anxiety was clearly evidenced on her face.

"What's happened?" Her sound was hoarse and she kindly accepted the drink Sahsa offered to her.

"Everything's fine now. We don't know exactly what'd happened but I still want to thank you for coming to save us," Sahsa replied and Leila showed a small smile, embarrassed. Then, as if remembered something, she turned her head left and right. This gained a confused tilt of head from Sahsa.

"Where's Aladdin?" Leila enquired.

"Oh, it seemed like he has already left by the time we woke up," Sahsa explained. "But he did leave a note," she added thoughtfully and fished out a folded paper from her pocket.

"Here." Leila received the paper and unfolded it.

"I'M TERRIBLY SORRY THAT I'VE TO LEAVE EARLY AS I STILL HAVE MATTERS TO ATTAIN TO. THANKS FOR THE FOOD AND CARE YOU ALL HAVE GIVEN ME THESE FEW DAYS. I HOPE WE'LL BE ABLE TO MEET AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.

P.S. BE SURE TO SMILE OFTEN, LADY BECAUSE YOU MIGHT SCARE MEN AWAY WITH THAT SCARY FACE OF YOURS!

FROM ALADDIN"

"That little brat!"

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The night sky was a mysterious beauty with millions of stars decorating it and not to mention the white moon. In the beauty of the night, the duo travelled under the moonlight on a red flying carpet.

"So, did you have fun today?" Judal asked with a raise of eyebrow.

"Yes!" Aladdin yelled, punching his small palms into the air.

"You didn't kill them all, the thieves I mean," Judal stated and sat with his legs crossed.

"Of course not! Who do you think I'm? Brother Kouha? Besides-" Aladdin protested. His tone suddenly turned a few notes lower, "it's not a bad idea to let them suffer from trauma for the rest of their pitiful lives." And the evil cackles began. Judal sweatdropped. There he went again…

The duo spent the next moment in silence, simply admiring the night.

"Hey, big brother? Where're we going now?" Aladdin sliced through the silence. Judal looked at the younger's curious face and pulled out a map. He gestured at a point.

"Qishan. There's a dungeon there," Judal said.

"Dungeon?" Aladdin yawned.

"A dungeon is a strange place with an unknown culture and never before seen architecture. It is indestructible with only one entrance with light emitting from it. We as magi have the power to make the dungeon appear or disappear at will. Therefore, I'm going to…" Judal stopped his explanation when he heard soft snoring noise from the younger boy.

He looked down and saw the young child sleeping in his laps, occasionally nuzzling closer to Judal. Judal sighed and patted on his head. Normally, he would have complained for being ignored but he would let it slip this time. A pair of white and black Rukh came fluttering their way onto the younger's head and waited there.

"That's right. I'll have to thank you guys for helping and protecting him," Judal whispered, careful not to startle the sleeping child. Satisfied, the Rukh flapped their wings and departed towards the horizon.

And so, the journey began.

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"It has finally commenced. The wheel of fate had begun its turn. I shall not fail you again, your majesty King Solomon."