Who am I thankful for? All of you wonderful people. :)
HOORAY FOR BEING NOT DEAD AND BEATING BACK LIFE WHEN IT COMES UP AND BITES YOU IN THE BUTT.
More explanation for my long time absence later after the chapter. :)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
I do not own Magi.
Enigma
Chapter Nineteen:
The World and the War
Kali was roughly nine when she discovered she could travel between worlds.
Of course, age was a very flexible thing with her considering she was never really sure of it in the first place. She and Camio had played around with numbers, Yunan adding his own ideas in, and had settled on her age, give or taking a few years. So when she thought back to it, she supposed she was around eight or nine, maybe older or a little younger when she met Sinbad.
It was afterwards that she experienced it for the first time.
She'd intended on vanishing the moment she left Sinbad with a polite decline to join his little group and change the world. It was shortly after conquering Seere and meeting the boy who would one day grow to be a king and friend that she found herself standing at the pit of the dungeon she'd just conquered.
Confusion had filled Kali the moment she'd reappeared and found herself once more at the bottom of the pit. Camio murmured, curious, and Kali had frowned, rubbing the back of her head and glancing warily about for any sign of the purple haired adventurer. I could have sworn I wanted us to appear in the village nearby that we passed the other day...
"It's gone! Someone must have already been here!"
Kali's eyes snapped upwards, the familiar figure of the boy she'd met only minutes before reappearing to her initial disbelief. Golden eyes met gray, and the familiar feel of his Rukh suddenly washed over her as he stared, blinking in surprise before repeating the same words she'd heard only moments before.
Am I dreaming? Kali stared dumbly as Sinbad skidded down the edge of the trench, chattering eagerly and proclaiming in surprise that she had managed to conquer a dungeon. Cam, didn't we just meet him only minutes before?
"That was no dream," Camio agreed softly, a note of disbelief and faint curiosity in his voice. "It would appear we are reliving this moment once more."
Why? Kali stepped back, confused as a look of surprise came over Sinbad's face and more words slipped past his lips. But they all fell upon deaf ears as Kali felt her small heart begin to thud wildly against her chest, uncertainty clouding her mind as she was suddenly faced with this unknown situation. What is this supposed to mean? It wasn't a dream—we just met him minutes ago—why would this be happening again? Was it the dungeon? Did he actually cast a spell? No, that's not right—
"A second chance."
Kali paused, ignoring Sinbad's look of concern and turning inwardly into herself. What?
"I would believe... Based on the way the Rukh are behaving and my own knowledge... My king, you have just traveled to a new world."
...what? Kali stepped back, and Sinbad blinked, looking offended by the motion as he continued to rattle on, but Kali heard no word of it. Did you just say... A new world?
"A new world," Camio echoed. "My king, it would seem that you can travel between worlds. It must relate to the strange feeling Yunan was speaking of. This must be where the influx of Rukh around you stems from—why you are surrounded and can see the Rukh without calling upon it—you use the Rukh to travel."
Worlds? Kali thought incredulously. How can there be worlds? Shouldn't there only be one? There are more?
"Every action taken, every choice made, every different path or life you could have lived exists in another world," Camio explained, the barest hint of an emotion she couldn't put her finger on lining his voice. "They branch off, one by one and create an infinite amount of possibilities we normally never know of since we live in one world. But no matter what world the Rukh remains as one flow—"
And you're saying if my teleporting is because of the Rukh... Kali trailed off, a look of disbelief crossing her features. I can use the Rukh to travel to these...worlds?
"Yes!" Camio began eagerly, the faintest note of something like...hope?—lingering in his voice. Kali had the smallest thought that there was more he wasn't quite telling her, but she trusted Camio and if he seemed to be taking this in stride she would as well. "Think of it like a second chance—you can travel to a different world and make the choice you didn't make in the first."
A second chance... Kali's eyes flickered to Sinbad who had continued to ramble, his sword at his side, golden eyes bright, illuminating, his Rukh fluttering so wildly, so thickly, she felt as though she could reach out and stream her fingers through. I kind of like the sound of that.
If she messed up once or did something she didn't like, she could figure out how to teleport to a world where she didn't make that mistake, a world where she didn't make that choice—she could see how each one played out. Kali's eyes brightened at the idea. How often do people get a chance to live a different life more than once?
That's right. She could finally understand this strange power and learn how to work it. Yunan would help her—she'd figure out how to properly go between the worlds and how to find them and she could live all those different lives—she could see the world through all sorts of different ways and paths. If there was ever a problem that would arise she could see the outcome in another world and go back to the next to fix it, she could figure out how things would happen and explore all the endless possibilities...
It sounds amazing.
This can work, right Cam? Kali thought eagerly, her eyes growing brighter by the moment as the Rukh fluttered wildly around her. I can make this work. Yunan will help—you'll help me too, won't you? With something like this... We can find a purpose—our real purpose. We can do good in the world and change all the awful things that may ever happen.
"I will always help you," Camio vowed, his voice thick with confidence and the belief in this possibility. "If it is someone like you, I truly believe that this will work."
"This may seem sudden," Sinbad's voice broke through her thoughts and the glowing Rukh around her fluttered brighter, stronger with the newfound resolve she felt swelling in her chest. "But there are a few others who are with me, and..."
Sinbad paused, looking as if he were trying to work around his words and figure out the best way to truly phrase what he felt was right.
There was a shift in the air, a moment in time in another world where the flow of fate took a different turn, a small ripple to send off a cascade of new events.
Sinbad's hand stretched outward and Kali's eyes glinted in the finality of what she knew she was about to do.
"Would you like to go on an adventure?"
The possibilities could be endless.
Small finger slipped into the hand before her.
"Yes."
In that moment the fate of one world shifted, causing a series of new possibilities and worlds that would not have appeared before to open up.
In that moment, Camio would come to regret the gravest mistake he could have ever made.
And in that moment, Kali had made a choice that would set her life on a course she would never be able to change, one filled with hope and dreams and sights no one could have ever imagined.
And the greatest tragedies she would ever witness.
When Kali first began to jump between worlds, it truly was as amazing as she had thought it would be.
Camio aided her in channeling her Rukh to control the flow around her, connecting her power to become a part of the great flow which ran through all the worlds around her. From there she could shift and enter a world of her choice, but due to the lack of experience in many, Kali spent a vast majority of her days hoping from world to world and experiencing it all.
Worlds where great, towering empires had risen to impossible heights instead of falling. Worlds where small villages grew in clusters, isolated and adapting at a pace she'd never seen before. Worlds where the greatest of heroes traveled the earth, conquering adventures and exploring lands she could have never imagined seeing. Worlds where she befriended those she'd seen in worlds before and worlds where she fought against foes she could not have beaten in a world before.
She'd come to realize that time flew differently between each world, and where she would spend years within one world, when she returned the source of all her worlds—her true world, she'd find she had only been gone no more than a day or two, minutes in some cases. It was strange to find herself fully grown in one world and still only so young in another, but over and over again she was able to live through these life times, learning, developing, always finding something new to experience—to change, and each change would allow more changes and more worlds to explore and experience.
There was a world where she had become some great foreign dignitary throughout various countries, aiding and helping others and learning more about the world around her. A world where she'd come across Alibaba and Aladdin and Morgiana earlier than she had expected—a world where she met Alibaba alone or Aladdin alone—worlds where they had never even met.
She'd become a rogue fugitive in one, traveling across the continents and living her life changing name after name. A world where the countries had all adapted in a way she couldn't imagine, systems and elite forms of magic tools she'd never seen before. A world where she'd become a champion fighter amidst Reim. A world where she'd explored the vast ends of the Dark Continent and still had yet to know it all. A world where she was known by all and a world where she was known by none.
Countless worlds, countless lives, and she spent day after day living each and everyone, bringing all this knowledge and all that she knew into the world that was originally her own. But as she began to grow in the original world, she saw less and less of the world she originally came from and began to spend time hoping from one world to the next, far to caught up in the magic and the awe of it all. Should something go wrong in one world she'd head to another and fix the mistake, should she be curious about another world she would leap to one where she had taken a different path.
A world where she had stayed beside Sinbad and taken that step beside him into the world he was searching for.
And slowly, bit by bit, as the grand events that would come to truly shape the future of the world approached within each of the worlds Kali so carelessly traversed through, the chain of events that could never be denied by the flow of fate began to occur.
One by one.
World Two
Kali did not adventure with Sinbad but became a close friend, Sinbad was miraculously saved from losing in Reim and becoming a slave and never lost his first country due to strange odds that allowed his forces to prevail. Aladdin and Alibaba met, Morgiana was never freed. Kali and Kouen had never met in the original timeline as of yet.
"Y-You can't possibly do this!" Ahbmad spluttered, cheeks growing flush as he was torn from his throne and pinned to the wall by a volley of vines, thick thorns shielding the outside. "This is treason!"
"I don't belong to your country," Kali reminded, a wide grin touching her lips as beside her Alibaba nodded in determination. "And to be honest, persuading you to abdicate the throne seems like the best option to end this conflict."
"How do you expect the people to react? How do you think they'll survive if you suddenly toss me from the throne—"
"With the help of everyone working together," Alibaba turned, golden eyes flashing to Kali who nodded confidently. "We can create a better Balbadd—we can rise up and become the prosperous nation we once were!"
"You're a fool," Ahbmad spat, eyes narrowing as his cheeks grew flustered. "So much change so fast cannot happen—these people are all mad—they will drive this country to nothing but flames."
"That's what you believe," Alibaba pressed a hand to his chest, eyes glowing brightly, firmly. "But I know that we can save Balbadd! Everyone!"
Using her power, Kali aided Alibaba in forcing Ahbmad to abdicate the throne, allowing Alibaba to implement a new form of change throughout the country.
Alibaba never was able to save the country with his own strength, Amon was never truly awakened. Kassim had someone else to blame. The Kou Empire was dawning on the country to force it into submission.
"This country can't handle a war!"
"We'll all be slaughtered!"
"Balbadd will fall to flames!"
"We can get through this together!" Alibaba cried out, eyes glistening fearfully and hopefully as they stretched across the people gathered before the palace. "If it's a war we must fight through, we will make it through! This is our home! Our Balbadd!"
Alibaba turned toward Kali, eyes shining brightly. "Right?"
"Of course!" I don't know if Balbadd can survive a war. Kali's eyes went wide and she glanced to the horizon where ships were beginning to line up, continuing to advance. Even with my help, there's only so much I can do. Sinbad has his hands full with his own country and making sure Partevia doesn't snap back—there has to be more I can do!
Change the flow of this world.
"My king, perhaps—"
I'll go back. Kali's eyes grew bright. I'll get the means to face a war like this—I'll stop this war from ever happening! Stop Ahbmad from ever taking the throne—I'll go all the way back to when Alibaba told me what happened between him and Kassim.
"Kali?"
"I'll make this right," Kali turned to Alibaba, eyes glistening brightly. "I can, don't worry!"
"Kali where—"
"I'll make it so there is no war!"
World Three
Kassim never managed to burn the palace to the ground and was stopped by a mysterious young woman who had intervened. Alibaba rose to the throne and Balbadd prospered into a trading company never before seen, under the guidance of his wise father, Alibaba managed to bring Balbadd to a form of glory that the Kou Empire and others could only covet. Alibaba and Aladdin never met, Amon was never conquered.
"Isn't it beautiful?" Kali beamed, eyes shining brightly as she made her way through the various stalls, colors and bright hues coming from all angles as a wide smile touched her lips. "Balbadd has become the kind of country it should be under the right person—we stopped the source of all the problems at the beginning."
"Hopefully a wise decision," Camio admitted, but the strength in his voice wavered, a strange sense of apprehension filling her. "My king, I... I must admit—"
"Kassim!" Kali's eyes went wide as she recalled the face of her new household member. Raum had taken to the strength and the burning desire within the young man's heart and Kali had taken him under her wing the night of the attempted storming of the palace in hopes of halting all problems from that end. "He was going to finally see Alibaba again today, wasn't he? I would love to see how it all works out for them!"
"...my king—"
I'll only take a moment! Kali promised, eyes brightening and she flickered and disappeared, her feet landing on the slick marble of the palace floor. "Alibaba! Kassim—"
Splatter.
Kali paused, thick, hot droplets of crimson splattering almost delicately across her cheeks. There was a flutter in the air, the glimpse of dark wings, the hurried chatter of Rukh, and Kali watched in silence, smile still stretched across her lips as Alibaba hacked, crimson droplets of blood streaking down his lips and staining his abdomen where a dagger—the dagger she'd bestowed to Kassim laid buried within him.
Black flames licked up and down Kassim's arms, his eyes cool as he gazed down at his friend, the look of betrayal, of hurt and disbelief flickering across Alibaba's face as he choked, the barest whisper of his friend's name on his lips as he fell to his knees. Bloodied hand reached upward, clutching onto Kassim's stark white robes as Alibaba rasped out a choked question.
"Why?"
And like that, the wonderful king that had come to rule over Balbadd for but a short amount of time fell to the floor of the palace, crimson staining the sleek ground and creating a thick puddle beside his fallen body.
"Because," Kassim said calmly, his arm falling to his side, blood dripping from the dagger Kali had given to him in hopes of allowing him to forge a new path. "You weren't needed in the new world."
"KASSIM!" Kali's voice split the air, fury, fear, pain and disbelief choking the shrill shout as she rushed forward, falling to her knees and hurriedly cradling Alibaba in her arms. "No—no, no, no, no, no! NO! Alibaba, Alibaba wake up—please! Alibaba!"
Vine shot outwards, white light flickering out as they wrapped themselves hurriedly around the young man's fallen body. "Please, please, please!"
"My king, his heartbeat—"
"We can save him!" Kali snapped. "We can still save him—we can save him! I-I haven't brought anyone back like this before but, but, but we can do it! We can save him! Camio lend me your strength—"
"Kali." Camio's voice split the air, hard, broken, and Kali paused, eyes wide with a frantic look on her face as she gazed down at Alibaba's half lidded eyes, golden, bright golden irises now gazing dully back up at her.
"His heart has already stopped."
"No."
"Alibaba is..."
"NO!"
Kali shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes as she rocked back and forth. "No, no, no—this can't be right—how could this have happened? I thought, I thought—"
I made all the right choices. Kali thought frantically. I changed everything that would have led to a war; I did it so that it would all work out! Why? Why? Why is this happening? How could this have happened?
Pain pierced her heart, a pain like she'd never known before as she felt tears continue to slide down her cheeks, curling past the splatters of blood and forcing them to drip down her face in tinted streams of red. Kali gazed down at the limp body before her in disbelief, the warmth from a young man who still had so much too do for the world fading in a matter of seconds.
Alibaba was...dead?
"MY KING."
Vines shot outwards, curling up over her head and protecting the back of her neck where a dagger dripping in flames would have struck. Kali blinked, once, twice, and looked behind her in absolute disbelief as Kassim glared down at her, eyes full of hate.
I thought...
Alibaba never conquered Amon.
I thought...
Alibaba never had to leave to find himself.
I thought that...
Alibaba never had the strength to defend himself against someone like this.
I thought that I could...
"He trusted you," Kali whispered, tears streaking down the corners of her eyes as she gazed at Kassim in disbelief. "You were his family."
"My family," Kassim began darkly, thick black wings fluttering around him as Kali stared in disbelief as he used flames—her flames to try and hack away at the barrier the vines had created. "—is dead."
I don't understand.
"I trusted you."
"Well," Kassim's eyes glittered darkly, a bitter smile on his lips.
"You're a fool."
Then change it.
Kali turned her eyes back to the limp body in her arms as Kassim renewed the struggle to attack her. Her eyes drew shut and Kali leaned downwards, pressing a kiss to Alibaba's forehead.
"I'll make this right," Kali whispered. "I promise."
Gray eyes hardened and she flickered, disappearing and reappearing.
I won't let your future end like that.
The chain of events that were set into play were constantly realigned, shaken and jostled from their places, but never truly broken unless Kali snapped it forcefully in half herself. She kept going back, over and over and over again to try and find a way to fully let things work out—to find the best possible answer with everyone working together.
A world where none of them died.
Her fingers shook, heart pounding as she leapt from one world to the next, abandoning it the moment she realized where it would lead and taking that knowledge with her to try again and again.
Again.
Alibaba had only been one death, but she'd seen far to many worlds where he was alive and well—there was no way the future was meant to have him lost from this world. She refused to believe it.
Camio offered words of comfort, gentle whispers and hurried suggestions as he slowly watched his king enter a spiral of despair, one that he should have stopped all those many lives, all those many worlds ago. One he should not have allowed to happen the moment he realized the kind of depth her power held.
Kali barely remembered there was a world before all this, a world she still existed in.
World One Hundred and Three
Morgiana, Aladdin, and Alibaba met. Amon was conquered. Ahbmad was forced to abdicate from the throne. Kali sought the help of Sinbad to aid them in the inevitable war against the Kou Empire. His own country prospering after having beaten Partevia and never having yet suffered any true tragedies, Sinbad was eager to help the woman he had fallen in love with each and every timeline that existed.
Kali had conquered four dungeons, in the original world, she had roughly just finished meeting those in Reim. Kali had yet to interact with those from the Kou Empire in the original timeline.
With the help of Kali and the Seven Seas Alliance, Balbadd managed to fend off the forces of the Kou Empire, leaving full scale war inevitable.
Sinbad had never required the assistance of "half-falling", therefore never having the kind of power of cunning skill to foresee the series of events that would prevail through this war. Kou would seek the forces of the shadows it held within the country to see them victorious at the end of this war.
No matter the cause.
"There's a new army marching in from the east! We don't know what they are!" A soldier hurriedly exclaimed, fear and ash smeared across his features as blood trickled down his temple. "Some form of black soldiers made from a thick mass of something we can't identify! They're marching forward with Kou's forces and I doubt we can hold them off much longer—"
"The generals will handle everything to the west," Kali's eyes narrowed and she strode forward, eyes glinting red as her body flickered and her equip wavered for the briefest moment. "Where's Sinbad?"
"Holding off the eastern front! He's completely dominating their forces, but—"
"I'm on it," Kali offered the soldier a warm smile and braced herself against the ground. "Help the forces Alibaba and Aladdin are leading to the North, send as much help their way as you can."
"Yes!"
Kali flickered, disappearing and reappearing amidst of flurry of ash and black Rukh. The acid stench and the bitter taste filled her mouth with every breath and Kali's eyes narrowed, searching the fields through flames and smoke as she spotted the monstrous beasts crashing down on rows of soldiers and piercing the ground before them. Her eyes glistened and she breathed, gripping her sword tightly in her scaled hands as her flaming hair whipped this way and that.
"Raum!"
A furious roar shook the earth and a dragon enveloped and made of flames rose forth from her sword, bearing its gaping jaws as lava poured from golden fangs and the dragon surged forward, decimating the enemy forces before her and scorching the earth in a flurry of scarlet flames.
This is the best outcome.
Kali shot downwards, swinging her sword in a large arc as a flurry of flames mimicked the action, shooting outwards with one long swing and burning through the legs of one of the black djinns. A furious roar tore from her lips and she surged upwards, splitting a massive beast in two as a shot of lighting soared past her and into another djinn that had been coming from behind.
Win this war and everything will be okay.
She caught a glimpse of electric blue and deep gold as Sinbad's eyes met hers, the briefest of grins touching his lips despite the circumstances before them, his Rukh fluttering wildly and madly between them.
This is what needs to be done. This war was inevitable.
"Keep looking like that," Kali called, forcing a half grin on her lips through the ash smeared stains upon her cheeks. "And I'll end up beating more of these things then you."
"I can't have that now, can I?" Sinbad called back, bringing his sword to him. "Baal!"
Kali turned to strike another djinn down.
"Bararaq—"
"Astaroth."
She felt the moment it happened as if the sword had driven through her own heart.
Their Rukh, so deeply, so heavily interwoven, their fates connected in a way Kali could never imagine being able to untangle granted her this much. She'd always wondered went on in her friend's mind, and she could only imagine the way he felt in those little glances he'd shoot her way and the drifting touch of his fingers draping over hers. In each and every world Kali had ever been too, she would meet Sinbad—she was always destined to meet Sinbad. It was fate. Whether she chose to follow him, whether she chose to leave, each and every world they would meet, each and every world they would see each other.
The air had left her lips like a pained gasp, her entire body growing still, her world slowing, head pounding. It was different from how she'd felt each time she'd seen Alibaba die, different from the way she'd watch Morgiana perish because she'd messed up or one of the generals falling to the floor because she'd failed to make the right choice.
Different in a way that it felt as if she'd had her heart ripped straight from her chest.
Wildly her eyes searched the area before her, thick with smokes and brightened with scarlet flames as the clang of metal rang throughout the earth and the world split, everyone below her crashing into each other. The pain clawed at her chest like knives imbedded in her back. Slowly, carefully, her head turned.
Gray eyes met golden, the two pairs equally wide, equally shocked.
This was probably the best choice.
Her eyes could look nowhere but the glowing pools of gold in front of her. The smoldering, glistening eyes that she'd known for years, world after world, each and every time, the one person she would have never expected to be torn from her grasp.
The glistening blade was stained crimson, driven straight through his chest. Sinbad blinked once, his gaze flickering, the briefest look of regret and disbelief flashing across his features as his eyes flickered to the figure behind him. But then his eyes laid themselves upon her face, and slowly, the fear, the panic, the ultimate disbelief of what had just occurred began to crawl onto Kali's features.
Sinbad's lips turned upwards into a charming little grin, and the sword was pulled free of his chest.
And then he fell.
And Kali's world shattered.
"SINBAD!"
His name tore from her lips as a scream, a pained, fearful cry as she abandoned all other thought and soared downwards. The briefest glint of red, red, red, flashing across her vision—but she didn't give a damn about the monster that had driven that sword, that could come later—that would come later.
Sinbad. Sinbad. Sinbad.
Sin.
Kali shot downward like an arrow, flames whipping out wildly behind her as she burst through the air with reckless abandon. Wild locks whipping out behind Sinbad as his equip flashed and he was falling, falling, falling. Kali's arms stretched outwards and she pushed forward, the air whistling through her ears and popping with a snap as Camio roared in her mind and tried to break through the storm of thoughts rushing through her head.
Her fingers barely grasped onto the man before her and Kali surged forward, clutching his head to her chest and whirling around as she braced him against her, flames propelling her forward and clashing so roughly into the ground that she felt ribs snap and her breath rush outwards as the flames nearly split the earth attempting to cushion her fall.
"Hah, hah..." his breath fanned over her face as Kali gazed down at the man before her in disbelief, eyes wide and disbelieving as Sinbad grimaced, a small grin on his lips. "You caught...me falling...for you..."
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
Kali's lips pulled open, she choked. Tears, hot, heavy pooled in her eyes, spilling over as she choked on a sob and her arms shook, the man she cradled to her chest gazing up at her in a sense of dazed wonder as blood coated both of them amidst the ash and smoke and flames and destruction.
"No," Kali choked, despair filling every note of her voice as she shook her head back and forth. "No, no, no, no, no—no."
A raspy hum left Sinbad's lips, his eyes flickering, bright, smoldering gold dimming ever so slightly as he looked up at her, reaching up with a blood soaked hand and cupping her tear stained cheek, with it. Tears continued to pour down her face as Kali's body was racked with sobs, tears streaking downwards and wiping the blood down her cheek as she held back screaming in agony then and there.
I can't save him.
His heart is stopping.
She felt the gentle fluttering beneath her fingers, the hurried, rushed thump thump in his chest as it struggled to live in a body that was already dead.
"I'm...a fool," Sinbad admitted, his lips turning upwards as Kali let out a noise of agony, shaking her head back and forth as the proud, fierce woman was left nothing but shattered pieces and broken sobs. "I can't...believe...despite all...my power..."
Sinbad exhaled, pain evident in the grimace of his face as his eyes never left Kali's features, drinking it in as second after second of his life continued to tick past and Kali sobbed, choked wails and noises of agony slipping past her lips.
"Don't leave me," Kali whispered, despair the only sound in her voice. "Don't leave me. You can't leave me. Not you."
The strong, golden king has triumphed over and over again. He was the one person she never imagined falling to his knees. He was the one person she never expected to ever have to worry about each and every time she traveled to a new world. He was the one person she was always leaving behind.
He was the one person she never expected to leave her.
This can't be happening.
Her mind had grown silent, not a single one of her djinns able to break through the relentless chant in her mind as she pressed her forehead to Sinbad's gritting her teeth and shaking her head as tears fell from her eyes and onto his face and Sinbad let out a wheezing, pained chuckle.
Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin. Sin.
My precious friend.
"You conquered this dungeon? That's amazing!"
"Hahaha, I'm Sinbad!"
"I'm going to change the world—that's what I want to do."
"Well, I'm not saying you have to or anything. It would just definitely be nice."
"I think you'd fit with us just fine."
"Must you always disappear all the time?"
"Kali? Just Kali? Hmm, I like it. It's a lovely name."
"Kali..."
"Don't leave me," Kali whispered.
Sinbad shut his eyes, a pained, devastated smile pulling across his lips as he held her cheek in his bloody palm and she cradled him to her with her blood soaked hands—his blood. "What I would have given...to hear you say that...before all this..."
"I'll say it over and over again if it makes you happy," Kali promised, her voice thick with pain and sorrow and her lips trembled and tears continued to fall down her cheeks. "Don't leave me. Sin, don't leave me."
She felt a sticky finger shakily brush aside a lock of matted hair and she let her eyes fall open as golden gazed up intently at her. "Please."
Sinbad's smile widened and slowly, shakily, he strained himself upwards. Kali quickly bent her head, expecting him to speak when instead he strained and tilted her head forward. Kali froze, heart stilling, the world around her quieting as Sinbad pressed his lips to hers, firmly, softly, the lingering feeling of want and pain and the longing all transferred through the simple brush of his lips against hers.
Kali's eyes were wide, staring down at him as tears fell endlessly from her eyes and Sinbad offered her the warmest of smiles.
"You don't really need to hop around from place to place you know, there's always a spot for you right beside me."
"My country is your country."
"Can't you ever imagine yourself...staying in one place?"
"Well, you could always just stay by my side."
"I love you," Sinbad said firmly, softly, and Kali felt her entire world shift into place as the countless memories, both from this world and every world she had ever encountered this man in came hurtling forward, flashing through her mind scene for scene. Lingering glances, gentle caresses, drifting hands.
"I love you, Kali."
In each and every world, Kali was always destined to meet Sinbad, no matter how they met, not matter how their paths crossed; she would always meet Sinbad, each and every time.
And in each and every world, no matter the outcome, no matter how he turned, no matter when he sought after, no matter what he chose to fight his battles for, no matter what mistakes he made, no matter what he did.
Sinbad was always destined to fall in love with her.
The fluttering heart ceased to beat, the golden eyes ceased to shine, and with a slow, pained exhale, Sinbad's eyes slid shut, and his hand fell from her cheek, leaving a streak of blood and tears across her face.
"Let's go on an adventure."
A beat, a moment of silence as the battles raged on around her.
"My king..."
A pained cry of agony and pain split the air, a ragged, fierce wail echoing amidst the chaos of war as Kali sobbed, her body shaking with the force of the sobs leaving her lips and the tears streaking down her face as the world came crashing down around her.
In that moment, Camio understood the weight of what he had failed to do.
And in that moment, Kali understood the true cost of what her powers granted her the ability to do, the full extent of what it meant to be able to travel to all these worlds, to witness all these events.
What it meant, to be able to watch the ones you loved die, over and over again.
Kali's body flickered, the Rukh fluttered, and she disappeared.
"Kali?"
Kali's eyes snapped open, the world around her stilled.
She felt Camio hold his breath as Kali paused, her eyes darting down to her hands, blood free and small—young, years younger than what she'd just been in the world before. Her brows furrowed and she glance to her side, the loose clothes she wore, the silver sash around her hips—if this was her age now than—
The original timeline?
"Kali!"
Her eyes snapped upward, bright, beautiful gold and a face younger than the one she had just witnessed dying in her arms beamed down at her. Sinbad, still young, still as wild and charming—alive as ever grinned, setting his hands on his hips. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."
He's alive.
"Well, not that I'm complaining of course."
In this world, in the original world, he's still alive. Everyone is still alive—we all haven't met yet.
"You should just stop leaving all together and just stick around with me—"
Sin.
Sinbad let out a noise of surprise, shock flashing across his features as Kali lunged forward, throwing her arms around his neck and falling to a pile of limbs against the ground. Sinbad gazed upwards in disbelief, blinking once, twice, feeling the warmth of the girl before him and suddenly realizing exactly what she was doing. His eyes went wide and his cheeks flushed as he laughed somewhat haughtily, trying to play off his sudden shock. "If you wanted a hug all you had to do was ask! I'd gladly give you a hug any...time?"
Sinbad froze, slender shoulders shaking violently before him as choked sobs left Kali's lips and she buried her head into his shoulder, clutching onto him with a death grip.
"Kali? Kali, are you all right?"
Kali continued to sob, the sound of his voice forcing the tears out faster than she could imagine as Sinbad began to grow slightly panicked, trying to pull her aside so he could get a good look at her face. "Kali—"
"AH! Sin! Did you make Kali cry?"
"What? No! Not at—what?"
"Sin, what are you thinking? You took things to far!"
"Ja'far! I didn't do anything—"
"Sin..."
"Don't look at me like that, damn it! Kali! Kali, what's wrong?"
Alive. Her mind chanted. Alive. Alive. Alive.
In this world, the real world, he's still alive.
I can still save you.
Camio did not utter a word.
Sinbad's death in the world before Kali's return to the original timeline had shifted her perception of things more than she could ever imagine. Whatever it was that was setting these events into motion, she would have to figure out the best way to deal with it so that the best possible outcome prevailed—the one in her world.
What Kali had originally seen was simple worlds for her to traverse and experienced had morphed into an emotion and a complex feeling she could not fathom—an understanding that each and every one of these worlds existed, and in each and every one of these worlds, the lives that were lost were permanent then and there, and each and every time, it was still as real as if experiencing it in her original world.
But Kali was failing to grasp onto the idea, not quite in tune with it enough to understand the full brunt of what it meant. Instead, she was beginning to see that all these worlds, no matter how painful, couldn't be permanent because it had yet to happen in her real world, and it would never happen in her original world. She would continue to travel through each and every world, experience it all over and over again so long as she could figure out the best end for the world that really mattered—hers.
All these infinite worlds remained nothing but second chances for her.
And slowly, the pain of living through the fall of each and everyone would destroy her.
As she stood now, Kali believed she could do it. She hardened herself, refusing to buckle under the weight of the countless deaths she began to witness through each world she attempted to save, attempted to help. She refused to fall under the sadness of watching them die over and over again.
I can handle this.
Sinbad fell to his knees, blood trickling from the side of his mouth as his overuse of magoi finally put the ultimate strain on his heart.
I'll keep working hard.
Alibaba fell to the floor, blood pouring from where he'd been stabbed through the back as Kassim stood cackling over him.
If I keep going, I know I can do it.
Aladdin died with a gentle exhale in her arms, his staff broken to bits in his hands.
I'll figure out a way to save everyone.
"Thank you, Kali." Sinbad slumped forward, the black Rukh that had consumed him whole scattering into the wind as Kali's fingers trembled on her blade, her sword driven straight through Sinbad's chest.
I promise, I'll find what's causing this all.
"My, aren't you a filthy thing?"
I'll save you all.
And then the final piece fell into play.
"Who are you?"
The first looked young, a few years younger than herself at least, with long, dark black hair pulled back into a thick braid falling low to the ground. A muscled chest and slim body leaned forward slightly, and dark eyes eyed her with surprise, blinking owlishly at her.
But it was the second that made her wish her powers worked in dungeons.
He was tall—towering, perhaps Sinbad's height. Hair like fire—red, crimson came down to his shoulders, his broad and firm figure adorning fancy robes and a long black cape that fluttered behind him. A goatee was noted on his chin, and her eyes traveled upwards, meeting irises of a deep crimson, tinting to gold.
Everything about this man screamed power—dominance. His aura and the air around him demanded to be acknowledged, known, submitted to.
He seemed to radiate everything she fought against.
In Kali's original world, she met Ren Kouen.
In that moment, it had taken Kali a moment to realize the sudden flurry of emotions she had felt, not simply because the final piece to tip the scale in her spiral of destruction was cast, but because she knew those eyes. She'd seen them before. In countless worlds and in behind countless battles, she knew those eyes, red.
You killed Sinbad.
For the briefest moment, she had wondered what would happen if she'd killed him then and there.
And without realizing it, this man too, was always somehow woven into her worlds. In each and everyone, the barest whisper of a name, the looming problem of the Kou Empire, the enemy hidden within that country, that sick, twisted woman who stood at the head of it all and the reason for the fall of so many worlds.
You were always there somehow, weren't you?
It wasn't until after the entire dungeon ordeal, after her vessels had been taken and Kali had decided to remain in Kou, before she had befriended all of them, that Kali had disappeared to another world before she realized it.
She remembered opening her eyes to the new world, trying to get a grasp on where she was and what kind of position she was in. She felt the clank of metal on skin, the heavy weight of chains and she felt her heart grow cold as her eyes darted downwards to the locked chains that held her in place atop a high pedestal leveled above the ground.
Kali's first instinct had been to immediately destroy the awful things, but the wild shouts and the furious chants around her had halted her actions. Her eyes darted around wildly, taking in the crowds of people pressing forward eagerly, wildly, thirsty and hungering for something—but what?
"Ready the blade!"
Kali froze, her head swinging around to spot a man standing beside a thoughtful Sinbad, golden eyes cool and collected as the man beside him raised his hand.
What is this?
Kali reassessed her clothing, blank, stark white, clean and far too well kept for just any prisoner—was that what she was? If she was held here in chains like this, with Sinbad overlooking some sort of...event, what could have occurred in this world?
There was glint and Kali turned her eyes upwards, eyes growing wide with horror and understanding at the sharp blades that glistened before her, heavy swords and masked men waiting upon a scaffold to see the event through.
An execution.
Kali grew numb, curiosity and cold, wondering acceptance at what she was seeing. What could have occurred that would have had me against you, Sin? What could have ever happened that would lead to this...
"Even as a prisoner, he seems to still pamper you," Camio observed.
Kali soon realized she should have been asking not what, but who.
"Ren Kouen!"
Kali's eyes flickered forward and she realized she was only placed directly in front of the scaffold, a chance for her to see full view without anyone in the way. A cruel punishment for whatever I did. Then executioners parted and a man was dragged forward, back straight, face level despite the seconds of his life ticking by.
You...
Kali's eyes widened, shock and disbelief coloring her features. I worked alongside him?
Ren Kouen approached the scene for his death calmly, eyes, ever so red, never once wavering as he was forced down onto his knees. His crimes were read off one by one, shouted viciously across the roaring crowds as the people called for his head to roll. Kali's brows furrowed, her ears finally picking up on the accusation that he had "taken a precious friend and general to King Sinbad's cause and turned her rogue through brainwashing and magical control"—lies Kali figured, some part of her knowing in that moment. Lies.
And suddenly the noise bubbled down to a distant murmur in the back of her head as red, bright, crimson red met her gaze. Kouen's face hardened, his expression locking onto her gaze and never once wavering. Kali gazed in wonder, confusion lining her features as he kept his gaze focused on her, almost as if he were drawing...strength? Her brows furrowed and amidst the hardened crimson, his eyes softened, ever so slightly, as he continued to gaze at her, almost as if he were drinking in her very features...
Kali froze.
The way Sinbad had looked at her the moment he died.
"Ready the blades!"
No.
Kali's eyes grew wide, panic she didn't know she felt and fear she didn't understand gripping her heart. She rushed forward only to be jerked back by chains, the people around her cheering viciously as her heart thudded loudly against her chest and emotions she didn't understand came crashing down around her, the memories of the life she must have lived in this world, as this Kali, slamming into her.
Calloused hands, a king's hands, gentle murmurs through a darkened study, dreams for a world different from where it was headed, warmth, fire, red, the broken despair of betrayal, the fluttering hope of something new, the fear of trust, the quiet, curious wonder of perhaps...maybe...
Kouen's eyes never once left hers until the moment the blades prepared to swing downwards and gently, the smallest smirk touched his lips, and his eyes fell shut.
And the blades swung down.
Kali's form flickered and she reappearing, heart pounding and chest heaving in the room she'd been given in the Kou Empire, and Kali dreadfully understood the chain of events that had finally been sent into motion.
The reason why she gave him a chance.
And the cold weight of another life added onto her shoulders.
World One thousand and one
"Good bye, Kali."
World one thousand and five hundred
"Kali..."
World two thousand and three hundred
"Kali..."
World five thousand and six hundred
"Just know..."
There had been a point where Camio had broken down in the midst of her mind, his voice soft and broken and whispering an apology she didn't think she deserved to her for putting her most precious friend in pain. His mumblings of a broken promise she didn't know was hers or to someone else, and the strong, silent vow to stand beside her no matter what.
Kali grew cold after the worlds had hit the hundred thousands.
She didn't know when she'd stop keeping count; she just knew that it had happened at some point.
"MY KING!"
"You can't be serious—" Ahbmad began hurriedly, fear plastered across his face as his legs trembled and Kali stood, outlined in the moonlight of the palace with Raum glistening in her hand. "Guards—"
Kali raised her arms, gray eyes cold, metallic, unfeeling as she brought her arms down in a wide arch. Ahbmad screamed, his shriek echoing off the palace walls and failing to be silenced as Kali stood, brows furrowed ever so slightly, the sword in her hands frozen in place and refusing to arch any further downwards to end the life of a possible cause to all the deaths she'd seen.
"Raum."
"This isn't the way, my king." Camio began hurriedly. "This isn't the way—"
"Raum."
Her sword refused to budge and Kali's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the hilt growing increasingly hot in her hands.
"Fine." Kali dropped the sword with a painful clatter to the floor. Ahbmad looked up in hope and Kali simply stepped forward, ignoring Camio's roar in the back of her mind as she gazed forward.
"Spirit of darkness and light, dwell within my body, using my magoi grant me the power of kings." Kali's eyes tinted black, long streaks of black curling out from markings beneath her eyes as her nails curled into black claws. Various markings inked in black spread across her skin, black silk mixed with armor shielding parts of her body as the anklets on her legs glistened and Kali's hands curled as shadows shot from the ground and began to take form in her hands.
Ahbmad's eyes grew wide with fear as a towering axe stood arched over before her, wispy ends of shadows trickling downwards as Kali gazed down at him calmly.
"Murmur."
"KALI!"
And the axe swung downwards.
Kali carefully placed the final rock atop the makeshift grave she'd managed to make. Quietly, without a sound, she gently laid the familiar sword atop the pile of rocks and stood.
She didn't know when she'd stopped crying each time they died.
"...Kali?"
Dull gray eyes flickered upwards, raining pouring downwards and cascading down her face as Kali gazed quietly forward. The vicious droplets bounced off the wide hat that rested atop his head, shielding his face from the rain but not much else as a familiar face gazed at Kali with slightly widened eyes.
"Kali."
There was a flutter, a whisper in the air, and Yunan's eyes darted to the Rukh fluttering limply around them, then ending tendrils of black mixed amidst the white.
Kali said nothing, simply gazing forward dully as Yunan tipped the brim of his hat downwards, a moment of silence passing between them before he quietly stepped forward, one hand gripping his staff as the other reached forward.
"Would you like to come inside?"
There were no words spoken, and Kali could hear the gentle coaxing of Camio's voice in the back of her mind as Yunan's hand gently enclosed around her and he led them into his small little house at the bottom of the Great Rift.
Warmth enveloped her like she'd never felt before, her eyes dull and glazed over as Yunan waved his hand and a chair appeared beside her, blankets gently draping themselves around her as Yunan moved this way and that to prepare a new brew of tea.
"Are you hungry?"
Kali slowly, gently took a seat, her fingers reaching upwards and curling around the soft fabric of the blankets around her.
"It's been awhile since I've seen you... How have you been, my dear?"
She didn't know why she'd ended up here.
Yunan gently pulled up a chair beside her, setting a cup of tea on the table beside her and settling back with his own cup in his hands. "I can only imagine the kinds of places you've been."
Kali felt vines gently trickle downwards from beneath her collarbone, curling softly down her arm and entwining with her fingers, coaxing her hand upwards and curling it around the cup of tea and bringing it gently to her lap, like a set of hands cupped over her own.
"There's only so much one world can offer, can't it?"
There was a whisper in the Rukh, one Kali found she couldn't quite hear, but Yunan understood perfectly clear. The old magi paused, thoughtful, wondering as he eyed the Rukh around Kali before his eyes softened and he ran a finger around the rim of his cup. His lips shifted and he repeated the same words that had been whispered to him through the Rukh.
"It's okay."
And it was as if a spell had been broken.
Soft droplets echoed in the gentle warmth of the home, separate from the pounding of rain outside, the heavy pour that somehow managed to reach even the bottom of the Great Rift.
"I'm tired," Kali whispered hoarsely, warm, gentle tears streaked down her cheeks, curling over her chin and hitting the ground before her. "I'm tired, Yu."
Yunan glanced upwards at the soft term, and Kali's shoulders did not shake from the force of her sobs—how long had it been since she cried? Years? The tears continued to fall in a constant stream, down and down and down. Kali's back hunched over and she curled in on herself, her lips trembling as the weight of the countless worlds all came crashing down on her.
"I don't want to do this anymore," Kali whispered brokenly. "I'm tired...I'm scared... I don't want to see anyone die anymore."
Yunan gently set the cup of tea down on the table beside him as he stood. Kali's eyes grew blurry and tears continued to pour down her face as she shut her eyes, clenching her teeth as her shoulders trembled and her fingers no longer held the cup in place, vines curling around the smooth cup and setting it down on the table before her.
"I stopped counting," Kali whispered. "I stopped keeping track. I killed them, Yunan. I killed so many of them, over and over and over again..."
Kali shut her eyes, bringing her hands up to grip her head in her hands as she choked, devastation and pain lacing her voice. "No more..."
Yunan stood before her, eyes soft, gentle, the same eyes that had gazed down at a lost child who couldn't understand why the world had refused to accept her all those years ago.
"I don't want to lose anyone anymore."
Yunan's eyes grew warm, his smile soft as he reached forward and gently draped his arms over the trembling figure before him, pressing his forehead to hers and offering the only kind of comfort he could in a moment like this.
"Then let's figure out what to do together, shall we?" Yunan inquired softly.
"We are with you my king," Camio said softly. "Always."
"Always."
"Always."
"Always."
"Always."
"Always."
"Let us save the world, together," Camio murmured gently.
A soft whisper, gentle, and ever so achingly familiar made its way through the Rukh, a voice from a time long past and a world long forgotten.
"Always."
I.
AM.
ALIVE.
:D
You all have no idea how wonderful it feels to finally be updating again. If you guys have missed me, I hope you know how much I missed you. I'M SORRY FOR BEING GONE SO LONG WITHOUT ANY WORD, I'M AN AWFUL HUMAN BEAN.
There's no other way to explain except the fact that life honestly just caught up with me. I never had the time to write, I hadn't touched this site in months, I never had the chance to ever sit down and really bust out a chapter like I should have done so many months ago. School and extracurriculars and all the others events and things that I'm apart of at school just added up and every time I wanted to sit down and write, it felt like there was always something else I had to do.
I'm sorry I couldn't even offer you guys an author's note to explain the absence and just left you guys hanging. :( Every time I wanted to post one up, I kept telling myself there was no need because I'd keep trying to get this chapter up only to fail and end up letting it sit there, untouched.
But I'm happy to say I'm back now. :D Updates may still be slow, but they won't be such a long period of time, and I'll try to get the next chapter out as quick as I can. I'll also be updating a lot of my other stories as well when I get the chance too sometime this week or next.
ON A SIDE NOTE, CAN I JUST TELL YOU GUYS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL.
The amount of pms and reviews leaving behind concerned messages and inquiries as to how I am were kinder than you guys could ever imagine, thank you for looking out for me and wondering whether or not I'm okay. It feels more amazing than you can imagine knowing y'all actually care about me and not just these words I type out. :') I know you guys love the stories too but it's nice to know I matter. XD
ASK KALI NEXT CHAPTER BECAUSE THIS WAS KIND A LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE AND AS MUCH AS I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU GUYS THE ANSWERS, I'D RATHER HURRY UP AND POST THIS CHAPTER SO YOU CAN ALL READ AND REJOICE.
BY THE WAY.
WE ARE ALMOST AT A THOUSAND GUYS. A THOUSAND REVIEWS. THAT IS FLIPPING AMAZING AND I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR MAKING THE COUNT POSSIBLE AND FOR LOVING AND READING THIS STORY.
YOU ARE ALL AMAZING HUMAN BEANS.
-sends as much love as possible through a screen-
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter :) I totally understand if some things seem a little confusing and all over the place, but if you guys need it I'll explain this whole timeline and jumping worlds thing more next chapter. I'll probably explain it more in the story anyway since this was just meant to confirm some of your theories or disprove others. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed! :)
THANKS FOR READING, I HONESTLY LOVE YOU ALL.
Marshmellow-
-OUT!
