Disclaimer: X belongs to CLAMP, blah blah blah. XD
Author's notes: AUness! AUness! XD They live in the desert in an Arabic setting~ Agh, the AUness is ridiculous. Copious amounts of OOCness to follow. But hopefully this is an enjoyable enough fic. XD It's written to go along with a fanart I did. Fuuma is a wish-granter, after all.
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Kamui in a Bottle
Chapter One
By wiredGIRL on August 4, 2003
The sun was a little too bright that morning, and its light pushed its way rudely through the pane-less windows of a small, crude little home over a tiny shop. It spilled over the few items in the bedroom, and finally made its way to a poor excuse for a bed—hay and a small pillow—and shook the huddled figure that was upon it.
Shirou Kamui awoke unhappily; it was awfully early in the morning and he had been losing sleep. He squinted as he forced himself up from his makeshift bed and bent backwards in a lazy stretch.
Damn mornings, he thought. Oh, how he hated mornings.
Still heavy-lidded, Kamui fumbled around and eventually found and pulled a poorly made, raggedy shirt over his head. With a final move to rub the sleep from his eyes, he glanced at a battered piece of parchment that had been nailed onto the wall: the only decoration in the room, a scrawled portrait of two young boys. Kamui reminisced for a moment, then turned away and trudged sleepily downstairs to his shop.
"Shirou!" a voice called from outside the shop.
"Come on in,"
The young man who burst through the doorway was none other than a panting Segawa Keiichi, an old friend of Kamui's and a person of high importance in the kingdom. His position included various tasks to complete for the Sultan, but he mostly delivered messages from the ruler to the citizens.
"Shirou! I'm not supposed to tell you this, but…"
Kamui blinked. "Yes, Keiichi?"
"The Sultan is planning something involving you!"
Another blink ensued.
"Is it…bad?"
"It's worse than bad," Keiichi blurted out breathlessly, "he's been wanting another…er…plaything."
"P…plaything?" the young shopkeeper stammered, eyes widening.
Keiichi only nodded vigorously.
"But…," Kamui's voice cracked a little. "Having Subaru should be enough for him!"
The messenger rested a hand on the younger boy's shoulders sympathetically. "I know. He's—"he paused to look around to make sure no one was eavesdropping—"he's such a bastard, that Seishirou-sama. It's bad enough that he took your best friend from you."
A bit of awkward silence followed as Kamui replayed memories from the time that the two boys in the portrait on parchment were separated, and he held back tears.
"Well," Keiichi broke the quiet, trying to work a comfortingly positive tone into his voice, "we need to think of some way to hide you! He'll be coming for you in one hour."
Kamui only nodded, making it evident that he had been forced to relive painful moments.
"Shirou," Keiichi said softly as he draped an arm over the other boy's shoulders, "let's get you out of here now."
And with that, he helped gather Kamui's few things, disguised him, and led him safely to the outskirts of the kingdom.
"Where is he?!"
Keiichi flinched at the booming, angry voice of Sultan Seishirou. "Sir… I… do not know."
Seishirou tapped his foot impatiently on the dirt floor of the shop, gripping one end of a chain lead of which the other end was attached to the neck of a poor young man dressed in a demeaning fashion.
Keiichi bowed quickly and apologetically. "Shall I send a search party, sir?"
The Sultan glowered down at the blond. "Do it," he commanded.
"Right away, sir," the servant replied as he exited the shop.
Shirou…I hope you're safe, he worried.
"Little Subby, you seem so…depressed today."
Subaru gazed up at his sadistic master as they marched back towards the palace. "I'm always depressed. You know that," he muttered dryly.
Seishirou smirked, amused, and stroked the younger man's cheek.
"My my," he began, "such an attitude we have today, eh?"
There's a reason for that, Subaru thought, irritated.
As if reading his mind, the Sultan spoke again: "It's such a shame that your little friend was no where to be found, no? I'm sure that would have made you less sulky."
Subaru tried to hide the evidence that the last remark had hit home, but it was already written all over his face.
Seishirou smiled pleasantly and reassured, "don't worry, little Subby. You two childhood friends will be reunited soon enough."
Of course, the words only made the plaything feel sick. He grimaced and wondered if the comfort was intended to upset him after all.
Kamui blinked hard and scrambled to rub sand from his eyes. There was a high wind kicking up the dunes in the desert. The sun had risen to a high point in the sky by now, and it beat down mercilessly on his back.
Keiichi had advised that he travel north, to a kingdom ruled by a much less evil sultan. Apparently the city was not too far, and even Kamui, who was an inexperienced traveler, could make it. However, the boy was growing weary and exhausted; he fretted constantly, wondering if he would use up the supplies that the king's messenger had given him.
In terrible need for a break, Kamui flopped down into a small hill of sand and took out an odd trinket that someone had thrust into his arms on his way out of the city.
"Take this!" Someone irritably threw a tarnished object that may have previously been golden at the boy. Kamui blinked at the tall woman with long black hair and well-applied makeup.
"What is it?"
"Doesn't matter," she said hastily, "just take it. You should have better luck with it."
What an odd scenario that had been; no one would normally just hand over a piece of gold. Especially one such as this—it was quite a nice-looking oil lamp. Squinting through the heat in the air, the boy studied the object carefully.
Maybe it's cursed? he wondered. He seemed to remember the woman muttering something along the lines of "the thing is more trouble than it's worth" as she hustled off.
Kamui's mood, already dark, became considerably darker.
What's the use of fighting a curse? He considered bitterly. It's better than having to live through this hell of never seeing my best friend ever again.
As he turned the oil lamp over in his hands, he noticed script written on one of the wide sides of the item. Perhaps it was the text of the curse. Having strained to read it, Kamui wiped at the tarnish in an attempt to make it more legible. The lamp trembled suddenly in his hand, though, and thin line of colored smoke meandered out of the spout.
Kamui blinked, all curses and sadness temporarily forgotten. The lamp immediately began to rattle more, and the pink fog billowed out.
The boy coughed and waved his hand in front of his face to clear the smoke, and as it parted, a large, powerful-looking being floated in front of him. He gazed in wonder up at the figure.
"I am the genie of the lamp," A deep, sultry voice declared smoothly. The face of the being wore a calm, knowing smirk. "What is it that you wish for?"
[…to be continued!]
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Final Notes: Did you all catch Kanoe's appearance? XD;;; Stay tuned for the rest of the chapters! I know it's a ridiculous idea, but it's fun. :3