Previously:

"Now go… with the blessing of King Solomon…" Amon told them. "This will be the final bit of magic I can spare you!" With that, he sent them shooting off into the portal through space and time to return them to their own world. "Oh, I should go with them." He reminded himself, shrinking into a form small enough to fit inside Alibaba's knife.

That same day, there was a huge commotion in the city of Qishan when the building that represented outside of the dungeon began to collapse.

"What's going on…!?" someone cried as the people ran from area around the sinking building.

"The dungeon, it's… sinking!?"

"Are you sure about this, my magi?" Judar's babysitter asked him.

"Yeah. I mean, it's be a pain if some wacko captured it, you know?" Judar said boredly. "That lord you roped in is gone now, so let's head home."

Chapter 19: The Promise

"We're going through that portal thing again!!!" Alibaba exclaimed as they drew closer.

"What else were you expecting!?" Faith asked dubiously.

"I don't know!" Alibaba said defensively. "Aw, dammit! I don't wanna feel like I'm being ripped apart again!"

"Yeah, that sucks!" Faith agreed with a grimace. "Well, at least it's only your second time and not your third! Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times boys and girls, 'cause here we goooo!!!" She exclaimed as they were sucked into the portal.

FSHUUUU…

'… Where am I?' Faith wondered as she opened her eyes. Instead of the usual forceful pulling sensation, it more felt like she was floating. 'So dark, I can't see…' Faith rubbed her eyes and soon realized that she was in space again once her eyes adjusted. Way down below, she could see the surface of a dark, reddish planet. She was still sitting on the magic eight-pointed star seal thingy the Djinn had made and being transported through a spiraling tunnel of light… but unlike her previous experiences with teleportation or whatever this was, it felt like she was moving at a slow, almost leisurely/dream-like pace. It was a complete cake-walk by comparison.

"Faith… You're here too." Aladdin said, alerting her to his presence. Faith looked around and saw him gliding up to her from behind. Apparently you could float short distances inside this thing if you tried…

"Oh, there you are… Is it just us?" She asked.

"I dunno… Let's check." He said. So the two of them scooted around until they saw another familiar face.

"Alibaba-kun…" Aladdin called, getting the other boy's attention.

"Yo!" Faith said as they both paused to give him a little wave.

"Ah, Aladdin!! Faith!!!" Alibaba said, looking surprised to see them for some reason. He must have thought he was alone, too.

"So, looks like we'll be home soon." Aladdin remarked as he and Faith floated over, pretending to swim through the air.

"Yeah, it does." Alibaba agreed.

"Meanwhile, this is pretty sweet." Faith said, doing the back stroke in midair. There was something really relaxing about the atmosphere. "It feels good~!"

"Yeah… I just feel like kicking back." Said Alibaba.

"Me too…" Aladdin agreed.

"…" The three of them sat in a comfortable silence for a moment as they watched the lights swirling around the outside of the vortex they were in. every now and then it would be spread thin enough in some areas for them to be able to tell that the source of the light appeared to be swarms of those little glowing bird things from earlier.

"But I'm still too hyped up to sleep." Said Faith.

"Yeah, let's talk some." Said Alibaba.

"Okay!" said Aladdin.

"That sure was one hell of a quest!" said Faith.

"I know!" Alibaba agreed. "I thought I'd die—um, wait, let's see… more than seven times over!"

"Yeah, there was that time… Oh, and that other one…" said Faith, ticking each incident off on her fingers. "For a moment, I really thought we'd be eaten by those giant ants back then…" The thought made her shudder.

"Yup, those ants sure were evil!" Aladdin agreed with a smile.

"But those eggs were pretty, right?" said Alibaba brightly.

"The moss on the walls was bright, too!!!" Aladdin said excitedly.

"Yeah, I think that was actually one of my favorite parts!!" Faith agreed. "Hope would have loved it!"

"I was hoping to get some so I could sell it, but I didn't get the chance." Alibaba said, disappointed. It would've sold like hotcakes!

"It's not so bad, we got a bunch of treasure…" Aladdin reminded Alibaba as he and Faith sweat-dropped.

"Why are you trying to gather so much money, anyway?" Faith asked curiously. Money was nice to have and everything, but Alibaba's lust for gold definitely surpassed what she would call 'normal'.

"Eh, you're asking 'why'?" Alibaba asked. "Don't you know? I mean, you said you used to be rich yourself. Don't you want that back?"

"Yeah, well, my sister and I want to make enough to be able to live 'comfortably'…" Faith said thoughtfully. "But money isn't everything, at least, that's what she says. Personally, I think it counts for a lot! So, go ahead, and answer the question."

"Well, I've got all kinds of reasons! The most important is that I need a lot of it. See, I want to open a shop when I get enough cash for it. The best way to make my own money is to open a shop, and of course, everything I sell will be stuff I found myself!!!" Alibaba explained, happy to have a captive audience. "I'm going down south! To the Kingdom of Sindria! It's the capital of dreams and parties run by Sinbad himself! There I will open my shop, 'Sinbad Dream'!" He could see it now, he'd be filthy rich, and the girls would flock to him like seagulls to a Cheeto!

"Yay! That sounds like fun!" Aladdin said.

'Sounds like Vegas…' Faith thought wryly.

"Well, before I do that, I'd stop by Balbadd for a bit to take care of a little business. What about you guys? Are you gonna go home?" Alibaba asked them. "Come to think of it, that Djinn said something really outrageous back there… What was that about another world?" he asked Faith.

"Oh, that. Yeah… the truth is I'm from a completely different world. For some reason me and Hope got sucked up into a swirling vortex of light, and the next thing I know, we've been separated and left to fend for ourselves on a strange planet… And our money's no good here, which is why I need some of this treasure to hire a decent search party and find a decent artist so I can put up lots of 'lost' posters in order to find her." She explained very matter-of-factly without even blinking.

"…" Alibaba blinked. "I-I see… Uh… Good luck with that?" he said awkwardly, sweat-dropping. He really didn't know how to respond to something like that. "What about you, Aladdin?"

"Me? Come what may." Aladdin replied, gazing into the light surrounding them. "Right now, I'm going to keep looking with Ugo-kun for the Djinn Vessels. I guess if you've reached your goals, Alibaba-kun, Faith… then our adventures together… are over…" he finished sadly.

"… Over, huh…?" Faith said, suddenly feeling down. She hadn't thought of it like that before… She had gotten kind of attached to the little squirt. She liked this world of magic and monsters and adventure.

"…" Alibaba bit his lip as he also thought about everything they had been through together. "… Hey… Aladdin… Thanks for… well, everything." He said with a small smile. "I had always wanted to go dungeon diving but, I never thought I could do it until I met you… When you joined me dungeon diving… I was so glad! See, I had backed off… I made it to the stairs all right, but just when I got to the top, I always got cold feet. I'd be frozen and couldn't move at all. But that's all ancient history now… I was afraid of screwing up, so I gave in. What a coward I was! We've done it because of your and Faith's strength!"

"…" Faith said, surprised. He was praising her? What's gotten into him all of a sudden? He didn't have to look so down about it…

"I don't think so…" Aladdin said, standing up. "You're brave!" he told Alibaba. "I've known that from the day I met you. You were playing along with that old guy back then, but I saw how angry you were when he laughed at your dreams, which is why, when he threatened the lives of other people, you got really angry… You fought him, and went out of your way to save others. That's how you really are… You know, back then I… I really began to take a liking to you!!! Despite your reasons, you still believed in yourself! As long as you do that, you're fine! That's not something a coward could do. So I know you're brave. Really brave! I respect that about you, my best friend!" Aladdin finished brightly with a radiant smile.

"…!" Alibaba gasped, extremely touched. "A-Al—!"

"Yeah, Aladdin's right." Faith agreed. "That part of you really reminds me of my sister, so if you say you're a coward then I'll get mad, 'cause you're really similar…" 'Though she's way less of a chicken than you are.' She thought with a smirk.

"F-Fa—! Don't go praising me like that!" Alibaba said as he blushed with a giant grin on his face, suddenly feeling incredibly happy and embarrassed by all their praise, as he gave both of his new friends a solid whack on their shoulders. "You won't get anything! Well, a little cash maybe, since we're rich!!!" he told them with a silly expression on his face. "Now I will get all the women and food I've ever wanted!" he said with a maniacal laugh, clutching some of the treasure in his hand while he imagined it turning into delicious food and beautiful women.

"Food and girls~?" Aladdin asked excitedly, blushing at the thought of being able to play with those pretty onee-sans from before again.

"Hells yeah!" Faith cheered, pumping her fist in the air.

"So don't say stuff like 'the adventure is over', there's still plenty left to do! It ain't over yet!" Alibaba said excitedly. "There are still lots of dungeons! And plenty of other worlds to explore! It'll be a blast! I'm getting excited just thinking about it! So much that I can't sleep!!! That's why we've got to find all of them, Aladdin! We've got nothing better to do, right? And Faith, you can join us once you've found your sister! You can bring her along, too!! Let's quit just sitting beside the road and get moving! We can do it if we're together!" he finished passionately Aladdin and Faith smiled and grinned.

"Yeah! Let's go!!!" They said excitedly.

"Right! It's decided, then!" said Alibaba.

"Yaay~! It will be so much fun!!!" Aladdin cheered.

"It's gonna be epic!!!" Faith shouted.

"Let's go, then!!!" Alibaba said excitedly. "It's a promise, okay?"

Morgiana awoke with a start and suddenly found herself sitting on the ground in the middle of a dirt road.

'This is…! The city's outskirts?' she thought as she looked into the distance at the outer limits of Qishan, surprised and confused. But she wasn't the only one.

"…" Alibaba sat there for a moment, stunned to find himself in the middle of a very deep and large pit with all the sacks of treasure. He had been transported back to the base of where Amon's dungeon used to be.

"The boy appeared where the dungeon had vanished!" exclaimed one of the many astonished onlookers who had come to investigate the dungeon's disappearance.

"Just like the old legend!" said another.

"That boy finished the dive!?"

"WHOOOAAAH!!!" The crowd cheered in amazement. Alibaba smiled and looked around excitedly.

"Huh? Aladdin? Faith…?" he said, confused when he realized neither of them was still with him. 'Ah, well… It's cool, we still have some time…' he thought, assuming that wherever they were, they were probably together somewhere safe. 'I must head back home and get prepared, then I'll wait for him. I know you'll be back, Aladdin!!!' he grinned at the memory of the younger boy calling him his friend.

However, Aladdin and Faith would never return to that city.