DISCLAIMER: Magi and other discernible characters/quotes/citations belong to their respective authors. I do not own original content, Magi. No profits were made.

COVER CREDITS: MAGI THE LABYRINTH OF MAGIC BY SHINOBU OHTAKA (c). Cover Credits: Original Fan Character by Aladdin.

Cited: magi. Fandom wiki

A/N: *******WARNING******** THIS CHAPTER (ch.5, ch.6) CONTAINS A LOOOOOOOT OF MANGA ***SPOILERS***

#StaySafe #Quarantine2020

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Magi

Chapter V: Foundations of an Equal Nation

Some students walked up and started cleaning up after their meal. "May I remove your plates from the table?"

"Why, of course. Thank you." The King responded just as politely.

"Incredible manners." Ja'Far looked at his King, begrudgingly. "Certainly nothing like Sin and I, growing up…"

"I miss Rurumu, too, Ja'Far…" The King acknowledged his General's sadness at the loss of his only maternal figure.

Ja'Far smiled at him gently as if telling him it was alright. Standing up, he bid them good night, "Thank you again, both of you, for such a lovely meal." He and Masrur bowed and retreated to their chambers.

The King stood as well and extended his hand to the Priestess. "Please, walk with me and continue your story."

She looked at him then down at his hand, bashfully, before taking it this time. "Where were we?"

"I believe you were telling me about your brother, Jedidiah, and how he came to be a part of your family?" The King responded as they started walking to explore the castle, without their guards this time.

"Ah, yes." The Priestess held her wrist behind her back. "Arba had brought home an adoptive baby after telling Sheba to become Solomon's wife… Little did we know that my mother had stolen Jedidiah from a settlement on the outskirts of our basecamp. She could not control my father anymore due to the blossoming romance between him and Sheba, so she needed heavier leverage over him. Naturally, Sheba was very confused, but Arba reassured her that it was all going to be alright, and she should continue to pursue Solomon. A few months after that, Solomon and Sheba got along well – romantically. Another few months passed, Sheba announced that she was pregnant. My father wanted to remove her from the battle plans for the war against my grandfather. She refused and proposed a solution to slow her pregnancy so that her child may be born during happier times after the war against David. Everyone agreed since she was the third strongest magician in Alma Torran at the time."

They sat in the gallery of the castle, surrounded by many beautiful paintings by local artists and even the students.

The Priestess continued, "Many years passed, and Solomon collected 60 of the Divine Staves, leading up to the final battle against David. By that time, I was eight years old, and my brothers Jedidiah and Tess were around six years old. Ugo's research has led him to our first knowledge about the Rukh that I teach the students today. The different species my father saved from David's towers demanded that he become king. My mother, Arba, advised Solomon that equality would not be possible without a king. So he heeded everyone's request – despite his dreams of standing equally with all species in a nation that refuses kings."

"Ah, now I understand why you run this country the way you do…" The King gazed into the Priestess's eyes, satisfied with understanding more of her philosophies, "it is a refinement of your father's ideals."

"It took me a decade, but I tracked down the last living descendants of the avatars of the Divine Staves… the will of their ancestors' Rukh guide them to this day. Of course, I help remind them using a bit of Solomon's Wisdom from time to time – allowing them to speak and say goodbye to their loved ones, even for a fleeting moment."

"You continue to surprise me every second that I get to know you." The King gazed into her eyes as if he was staring into her bare soul. He was swimming in the depth of her history, holding her present, and desperately seeking to be a part of her future.

"Thank you, Sinbad. In the decade that I lived in this world, I have never met anyone who could truly see, know, and accept me for who I am."

He caressed her face with the palms of his warm hands over her veil. He leaned in, touching the Priestess's forehead to his own.

She held his hand back, "We shouldn't…"

"Is it wrong to feel this way about you?" The King inquired, pulling back, feeling a bit rejected.

"My life is severely complicated." She responded. "I just… I don't want to make the same mistakes my family made."

The King took his hands away and stepped away from her entirely, trying to shake off the thought that the Priestess is worried that he would be just like Arba since he is half-fallen, "Is that the truth, or do you have the same fears as your father? You're afraid to give your heart to someone because you're afraid to have someone break it."

"I am more afraid of hurting you, Sin." She looked down, restraining herself, "we don't exactly have many successes at love in this family…"

He was astonished by her, yet again because he was worrying for nothing. She wasn't afraid of him because he is half-fallen – she was only considerate of his feelings. Being half-fallen was a matter of no consequence to her. Had she known? All this time… had she known he was half fallen from the moment they met? Divine omniscience, how far does that power go exactly? "Did you know?"

Her eyes darted toward him. "Know what?"

"Did you know, using Solomon's Wisdom, did you know we would meet like this?" He asked. Honestly, fearing the answer.

She pursed her lips. Honestly, fearing to tell the truth. "I… have seen you… in my visions. However, the future is always changing, Sinbad. Especially in cases of people like you – a singularity. Your every decision makes ripples in destiny that you could never anticipate." She looked away, "Never would I have dreamed of feeling this way about you."

Giving it a moment of serious thought, he reflected on the past two months they had spent together – reminiscing on that brief, fleeting moment they spent on the dock when she felt his heartbeat through his chest, she must have known at least then. She must have sensed it emanating from the deepest part of his soul where he had buried all of his darkness, like a child, hiding his soiled sheets, desperately trying to conceal the smeared parts of himself where no one could ever find it. Divine omniscience… and yet, you treated me all the same – different from everyone else, but all the same nonetheless. This realization made him chuckle, and admittedly, fall for her even more. All this time, he had countless doubts, but she was the one holding back all along. Not because she was scared of him – quite the opposite actually – she held her feelings back because she was afraid to hurt him. How could someone worry about something as silly as that? Worry about him getting hurt, even after he's done so many despicable things in his lifetime?

What's even more surprising to him is that after experiencing many betrayals in his past, he still found it so easy to trust her. Maybe it was because of her origin? Her willingness to divulge her secrets? Focalor corroborating her story? What was it that compelled the High King of the Seven Seas to trust a stranger? He knew she was honest with him. He had dealt with many talented liars in the politics of his career and was quite the expert on spotting dishonesty quickly.

Perhaps it was because she felt like home to him. Unlike Sindria, a home that he created in his image with his ideals and his politics. She was more like that small town in the Parthevia empire. The home he had not thought of in years, much to his shame – Tison Village. She brought him back to much simpler times when he was nothing more than the son of a fisherman. She reminded him of how untarnished happiness looked and felt. Being with her was as natural as breathing, but at the same time took his breath away. For him, it was a humbling experience.

"You asked me before if I have ever known true peace? The answer is no; neither of us has. All we've ever known is chaos. You grew up in the middle of David and Solomon's war, and I have become someone I don't recognize to help make this world a perfect place to live in, but is that all there is – chaos?" He turned to face her in her seat, "What about after the chaos has settled?"

"Sinbad…" She looked up at him in disbelief, "I have long given up on the fantasies that there will be a life for me after this war. To be completely honest, I don't believe I will live to see my father's ideals realized in this lifetime…"

Her statement thoroughly surprised the King after seeing what great success they had in Samaria, "Why do you doubt that? Don't you have true, immeasurable peace and happiness in your kingdom?"

The Priestess extended her hands to the King once more. He took them, his heart skipping a beat as she uttered, "Solomon's Wisdom!"

The King was able to see the past through the Priestess's Rukh overflowing, "You see, Sin, after my father collected the 60 Divine Staves, he went to war with my grandfather. Solomon, Sheba, Arba, Wahid, Falan, and Ithnan led the species into the heart of the Cathedral in a mission to end David's Orthodox reign once and for all. The troops stormed the capital while Setta stayed at the home base, with the families that the troops left, including Tess, Jedidiah, and myself." The Priestess took a deep breath, as if to brace herself for this memory, "My mother stabbed what appeared to be David and supposedly vanquished him in a single strike. Of course, my father became suspicious of the ease of their victory – and he was right. While my family and the troops marched toward the Cathedral, David and his Orthodox followers marched toward us at the home base. Setta patrolled the rear of the base while my brother and I waited patiently at the center of our camp, where we said a prayer with some of the other species' families, to ask God to protect our loved ones going into battle. Setta found Tess crying, worried sick about his parents, that was when David and the Elder Council attacked the Base of Magicians. Only Setta was able to withstand multiple attacks from the Elders. The entirety of our base was massacred because there were no warriors left behind to protect us…"

"How did you survive?" The King asked, gripping her hands tighter.

The Priestess winced at his question, "My brothers Tess, Jedidiah and I… we were spared by David… He performed clairvoyance magic to project our home base to the Cathedral capital, where our family could see…" She tightened her grip onto Sinbad's hands, and her Rukh started overflowing out of her body, forming bright yellow-golden flashback images. The King couldn't tell if it was all in his mind or if the Priestess was simply this powerful.

In the Priestess's memories, Sinbad saw Tess calling out for help to his mother as he clung onto young Samara, "Mama! Mama! Please come and save us! I'm so scared..."

"My family was trapped in the Cathedral by a borg that was created by immense amounts of magoi as old as the city itself. By the time they broke free of the barrier, flew to the base using the Divine Staves, everything and everyone were scorched..." Tears started streaming from the Priestess's closed eyes, "My family arrived to see us cowering in fear and horror in front of David, my brothers clinging to me... The last words my grandfather said to us were–"

She paused, and the King closed his eyes as well, and it was as if he heard David's stern and ominous voice from her memories, "Stay healthy and get strong, my dear grandchildren – Be the strongest magicians the New World will ever know. I have great plans for you three–"

Poor Tess saw his parents arrive and called out to his mother and attempted to run toward them. As soon as Tess was upright, David spoke after being interrupted and waved his staff gently, "Insolent child."

The King felt like he was reliving this nightmare from the Priestess's perspective, and he could feel the horror and helplessness she felt when Tess's hand turned ashy and charred in hers. He recognized someone quite familiar. Sinbad didn't recognize her face, but he recognized her eyes and her Rukh. He couldn't quite place a name with that face. Understandably so because Sinbad only knew Falan when she had completely fallen and, in this memory, he witnessed how a loving mother was triggered to fall into depravity. Every little bit of information he learns from the Priestess makes him understand the things he distrusted before.

"Falan rushed over to hold her son, who could only mutter out his fear and to plead for help weakly. Solomon fought David, who reasoned that it was everyone's destinies to be sacrificed that day, on the anniversary of Il Ilah's descent, on the day that he was blessed. In an effort to become one with God himself, David and the Elders self-destructed, and David entrusted his staff to Solomon, this begun the next chapter of his prophecy."

"Prophecy?" The King clarified as he opened his eyes.

The Priestess let go of his hands, "Everyone was mourning what seemed to be the meaningless deaths of our lost loved ones, but my father set out to find out what David meant by the staff being the key to fight against destiny... He took my mother, Arba, Ugo, and Sheba by accident – they found that the staff is the key that unlocks the place that stored David's magoi. In that dimension, they found Il Ilah, whom my mother considers 'Our Father,' the creator of Alma Torran. They figured out that David was able to siphon magic directly out of God's body, which reached out tentacle-like projections to open my family's third eyes. At that moment, they understood the truth about 'God's agenda' – they understood the absolute flow of destiny."

"Absolute...?"

"They came to understand that no matter our intentions, no matter how big the ripples we make, everything that we experience, the choices we make, they are all simply phenomena created to propel the world forward toward a single destination. They understood that there was no such thing as free will – we were merely finite beings that can never escape the rukh's flow, known as destiny."

The King stuttered in disbelief, "What do you mean by a single destination?"

"Just as we are born, the universe births worlds as well – and just as we die, worlds perish as well – this is the flow of Il Ilah's Black Rukh, creation and destruction. Everything must be destroyed repeatedly so that his magoi may be replenished using a burst of energy that creates a new world."

The King clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, feeling hopeless, "Impossible… If that were true, then everything I sacrificed, everyone I've lost, all the bodies I buried – they were all for nothing?"

The Priestess looked down in shame, then caught the King's gaze. "Do you trust me?"

She caught the King off guard with this sudden change of the subject. Shaken by her divulgence, Sinbad could not think of an answer right away. Trust? "I—I don't know… This—it's a lot to take in." The King took her hand and held it tight as if holding on to the last sliver of certainty while his world and all of its truths crumbled around him.

She was taken aback by the sudden force around her hand. She looked down at where they intertwined and looked back up in his eyes, searching for a place to ground herself down.

The King continued, "This is what I do know – I love you."

The Priestess caught herself reminiscing back on their brief journey of discovering each other over the past two months. She smiled reluctantly, "You know, they say that it is much better to be trusted than to be loved? You may not always trust the person you love, but it is so much easier to love a person you trust. There is nothing good that will come out of loving someone you cannot trust, Sinbad."

"Even so…" The King gazed into this strange woman's eyes, trying to find her so that he may pull her out of her misery. "Falling in love is like falling into depravity – inexorable, inescapable, and irrevocable. Even after everything you've told me, I cannot unlove you…"

"You will have to…"

"It's that simple, huh?"

The Priestess took her hand away as she changed the subject. She cannot allow herself to be swept into his storm. She cleared her throat to resume again, "Everyone thought that David led them to that dimension only to realize how powerless we are, but my father saw a different agenda." The Priestess saddened once more, "My grandfather's trap worked well... He led them there so my father can kill God and stray from his destined path. My mother was outraged and protested that they would be doing the same thing as David, but my father had different plans – he wanted to share God with all life forms, he said that every one of us must become the masters of our world. My father's vision of a nation that rejects all kings was quite literal. He wanted to reject God's ruling over everyone's destiny. My father, Solomon, changed the will of the Black Rukh in Ill Illah to reflect his dreams of a world where everyone stands equally. Sheba argued that Solomon placed his will in the Rukh because his will is to make all sentient beings happy. Arba argued that we never really escaped the prison of destiny at all – only this time, it wasn't God's destiny, but King Solomon's destiny."

"This is the betrayal that tore your family apart..." The King's heart ached for Samara, understanding her more and more. He wanted to pour his love into her heart to mend the cracks of her soul.

"You're not wrong, but this is only one of many betrayals that tore my family apart," the Priestess continued. "Everyone changed after Solomon fused with Il Ilah – my father most of all. When he returned, he looked down on Sheba, Jedidiah, and I with empty eyes. We could tell his soul was lost. Our families and allies argued without my father's guidance and ultimately felt afraid, hopeless, and powerless without being able to use any magoi. The other magicians felt it was unfair that only Solomon, Sheba, Ugo, and Arba became the only three Magi that can use both the magoi within them and the magoi around them. Sheba continued to argue that everyone in the resistance wanted equality, but when we achieved it, they could not tolerate being no stronger than the next person."

The King tried to put himself into everyone's shoes. The people of Alma Torran were all correct to some extent, making it hard to pick sides.

"To resolve this, Queen Sheba created 72 sacred metal treasures that housed the Divine Staves with Ugo, and they distributed one to every chief of every species, thus, dividing the power equally." She smiled with regret in her eyes, "In the end, Arba was able to turn everyone against the will of Solomon's White Rukh, and Arba was able to discover a way to repaint the White Rukh black. This time, using their own wills as magicians, inventing the phenomenon of falling into depravity, creating the Al-Tharmen organization."

The King's heart weighed heavy, but it was nothing compared to what Samara was feeling.

"The day of the Magicians' Revolt came, but my father was still too weak from his ascension to godhood. With Solomon's gift of equal rukh, the Magicians of Al-Tharmen were also now able to wield the new Black Rukh to carry out their own wills, straying from the Rukh's Great White Flow. Ithnan was so broken by the loss of his brother, Setta; Falan and Wahid were so blinded by their rage at having lost their only child, Tess; my mother worst of all – she was so blinded by the idea of bringing back the will of Il Ilah. Arba did not hesitate to kill Sheba and cry in pity of her for having lost her way of following Il Ilah, accusing Solomon of being a great sinner for manipulating everyone to believe in his new deity. She pleaded with the crowd that the new organization, Al-Tharmen, will create a pure world, free of the prison of the destiny of their new false god, and my mother gained their confidence. Ugo arrived too late to save Sheba, but the baby in her womb survived – that baby is Aladdin. She entrusted his fetus form to Ugo."

"I... am so sorry, Samara..." These were the only words the King was able to utter.

"Sorry? Sorry for what exactly? Sorry for my father's hubristic decision? Sorry for my mother's blind faith? Sorry for not being able to protect Tess against my grandfather? Sorry that Sheba was not able to hug Aladdin even once in his lifetime? I have run out of the capability to feel sorry for myself a long time ago." Samara blamed herself for all the awful things that happened not only to her family, but she felt responsible for the collapse of an entire world.

The King fell silent, realizing the depth of pain that the Priestess carries.

"Jedidiah and I spent what we thought was our last moments with our father. Ultimately, he recovered enough to rejoin the new war that ignited against Al-Tharmen. First, he led my brother and I underground to join other refugees who were unable to fight. He told us to wait for Ugo." She smiled nostalgically, "He told us he was so proud of us and that he loved us very much. He told us that we must take care of our brother, Aladdin, but he didn't get a chance to say goodbye. I just remember holding my brother's hand as we watched our father walk away for the last time. Then, he apologized for his regretful decision and asked the chiefs to lend him their power. They all agreed to protect the world together – that is when the 72 chiefs holding the sacred metal treasures became the 'Djinns' you know today. Together, they destroyed several avatars and their Black Djinn, but that did not prevent Il Ilah's descent into Alma Torran. In the end, the final battle was between my mother, who believed in her God, Il Illah's voice, and my father, who did not believe in entrusting everything to God's will, coating that belief with our fickle desires. My father died sealing Il Ilah and Al-Tharmen into a different dimension before they could destroy Alma Torran." Tears started streaming uncontrollably from the Priestess's eyes.

The King simply hugged Samara, her Rukh emanating relief. "You're not alone anymore; You've met me now... I am here for you."

The Priestess hugged him back and sobbed, a heavy burden lifted from her chest after keeping it bottled inside for so long. Only now has she realized she was truly alone – without her parents: Solomon and Arba; without her family: Sheba, Falan, Wahid, Ithnan, Setta; without her brothers: Tess, Jedidiah, and Aladdin, but she had a confidant in the King, and somehow, that helped fill the giant void inside her heart.