Guess who's back?
I do not own Magi.
Enigma
Chapter Twenty Three:
The Meaning and the Word
"She's beautiful."
Soft fingers, the drip of sweat down a matted brow. Hushed whispers and lips muffled against a crown of hair.
"I want her to be like you."
"She should be nothing like me, she'd be better off taking after you."
"I want her to be kind like you." Gentle fingers tracing larger ones as they cradled the soft bundle before them.
"I want her to be strong like you."
"Intelligent like you, then."
"Wild at heart like you."
A soft laugh, tired, filled to the brim with warmth and love and adoration as they clutched the piece of life to them.
"What kind of person will she grow up to be?"
"Whatever she wants to be." He whispered.
"I hope she doesn't cause too much trouble."
"We'll raise her right."
"I want her to live a good life."
"She will."
Her eyes met his, bright, shining. There was a fierce fire glittering beneath the sheen of water and fatigue and her hand gripped his tighter.
"I want her to have a world filled with people who love her."
He pressed his forehead to hers, their eyes trailing down to the soft bundle before them as she squirmed and a smile touched both their faces.
"She already is loved."
"Do you think he likes fish?"
"I'm not sure, my king."
"I guess it couldn't hurt to try, right?" Kali held up the freshly caught fish and threw them into a basket, far more flustered then she'd ever been before. Her eyes frantically searched her little hut for items suitable for cooking and she froze, horror washing over her. "No, no, he's just been through so much—he needs something soft. Something warm like—soup! Cam, do you know how to make soup?"
"I-I'm afraid not."
"Me neither," Kali let out a low groan, pulling her hair with her hands as her eyes darted around fruitlessly. "Maybe we can just—"
The bed to the side of the hut stirred and Kali froze, whirling around, face pale. The boy she'd rescued from a world beyond theirs stirred, brows furrowed and sweat dripping down his brow. His wounds had already been healed and at this point it was simply a matter of recovery. Kali quickly hustled over and patted his head with a dampened cloth, brows furrowed in worry as she ran a hand through her hair. I'm not cut out for stuff like this.
"I'm sure one day in the right circumstances you would make a fine mother," Camio soothed, sending a calming presence through the rushing torrent of her mind.
Nothing like this has ever happened before. Kali crouched down, staring at the tired face of the boy she'd pull from a world set on the edge of collapse. I never thought to ever...bring anyone back with me. I'm surprised the entire world hasn't fallen apart as we know it.
"There are laws defying this world even we could never understand," Camio murmured softly. "You did what you felt was right. Something told you to take him with you, and I'm sure the answer will become clear soon enough."
"What am I supposed to do with him, though?" Kali fretted, uncharacteristically flustered and flushed. Her fingers drummed nervously on the edge of the bed before she pulled back, biting her thumb and turning away. She turned back to the bed and then willed herself to turn away as her brows furrowed and she sighed, shoulder suddenly slumping. "Maybe I can just heal him up and take him somewhere else? Give him a chance to start a new life somewhere—"
"The only life he's ever known has just gone up in flames." Camio murmured. "It will take time for him to adjust, if ever."
He will. Kali knew automatically in the furthest corners of her heart. He's strong.
Those beautiful crimson eyes, bright and shining, not burning like Kouen's—radiant, like a jewel, had grit in them. There had been something that had drawn her so inexplicably toward him and she knew he was a fighter. He could do it.
The only question now was whether or not she could do it.
He stirred once more and Kali jumped, turning around and reaching for the dampened cloth to make sure he was staying cool when crimson eyes shot open. Kali nearly fell back as he gasped, coughing and hacking as he reached outwards desperately. "Amar!"
His eyes followed his outstretched hand and his fingers began to tremble, lips quivering as he let his hand fall and he stared blankly forward. "...Amar."
"You're... You're all right now," Kali started softly, and the boy blinked once, dully. "You're safe here... I can promise you that much, at least."
He breathed, chest heaving with the force of his heavy panting and he slowly turned toward her, eyes wide with disbelief and confusion. "Where... What happened? Is this all a dream? The entire world should be—"
"This isn't the world you knew," Kali started. She bit her lip, brows furrowing before she swallowed and continued. "What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to understand, especially considering all that you've just been through. But where you are now—here, on this island—this exists in another world."
"Another world?" He breathed, looking at her as if she'd gone mad and then seeming to figure he must've gone insane as he stared at his hands.
"The rukh—do you know what that is?" His eyes trained on her at the word and she breathed a sigh of relief. "The rukh don't just travel throughout our world, they travel throughout infinite worlds, binding and tying us all to ours paths and to our fates, intertwining and never ceasing. I-I have a connection of sorts to that flow, and because of that I can enter different worlds."
She sat down once more and fiddled with her fingers before continuing, "Your world, the one you remember, was going up and flames and being destroyed. I tried to do my best while I was there but it was just like many of the others. I found you amidst the flames and I—"
Kali broke off, turning her head to the side as the boy continued to stare into his lap, unmoving.
"I took you back with me."
It was silent. The gentle lull of waves lapping against the shore only several lengths away from them filled the room. There was the gentle creak of wood against the wind and the shuffling of leaves throughout the entire hut. Camio was silent and Kali waited on bated breath to hear from him—anything from this boy in front of her to tell her what she'd done wasn't wrong. That maybe this could work out—that it wasn't a mistake and maybe—
"Why?" He breathed softly.
Kali faced him evenly, eyes never leaving his face. "I couldn't leave you there."
"You should have left me to die," he whispered. Kali's eyes widened on him and he brought his hands to his head, clutching them tightly as he stared with watery eyes at the sheets before him. "I'm not supposed to be alive—why do I get to live when she—"
He whirled around and lunged forward, Kali stumbling in surprise as he gripped the front of her tunic and jerked her forward, eyes burning and searching, tears pooling and tumbling over. "Why didn't you save her instead? She deserved to live more than I ever did! Amar—"
"I don't know who Amar is," Kali said quietly, but her voice left no room for him to continue. "I don't know what she means to you and what happened before I came. But I saw you about to die in that moment and I made my choice."
"She's my sister," he whispered brokenly. "My little sister. I'm supposed to protect her, I was supposed to make sure nothing happened to her—I promised."
Kali's chest tightened at those words and he bit his lip, gripping her tunic tighter. "Now she's..."
"And now you think the right thing to do is lie here and rot away?"
His head snapped up, fury filling his eyes at her words and Kali inhaled and exhaled.
Kali's eyes glistened before they calmed and she met those swimming crimson irises evenly, eyes soft. "You can decide whether or not you want to hate me for it, but don't hate yourself."
His grip on her tunic slackened and Kali quietly pulled away, setting down a clean bowl of water with a ladle for him to drink from. "You haven't eaten anything yet so I'll get something ready for you, if you're starving there's some bread and fruits here."
He remained silent, mind still reeling from the information she delivered and Kali felt a sharp pang in her chest as she turned away and quietly slipped outside.
"What ails you, my king?"
"I guess I was hoping this would be easier," Kali whispered softly as she turned the feather over in her fingers. "I-I wasn't expecting gratitude or anything like that, I know better but... I suppose I just wish he'd been happier about what happened instead of looking like..."
"Like he should be better off dead."
Kali lowered her eyes and let them drift over the crystal blue waters. They stretched on for miles with blue skies and lapping waves before a thick mist shrouded the outer edges. What if I made a mistake?
"What if you didn't?"
What if I was playing god, interfering in their world like that. Maybe he was supposed to die that day. What if he exists here in this world as well and—
"And what if you simply just did something right?"
Kali sighed. She ruffled her head in her hands once more and gave her cheeks a quick pat before she turned. Sneaking up to her own house and gently peering through the cloth curtains, she watched and waited as the boy remained motionless in bed for a moment, before he slowly reached for the small loaf of bread by his bedside. With shaking fingers he pulled a small piece away and slowly brought it to his chapped lips, pushing past and chewing. There was a pause before tears began to spill over his cheeks and he reached for more, pressing it into his mouth as he sobbed, gripping the bread tightly in one hand and his head in the other.
Kali let herself slip back down and rested against the wall of the hut as his cries filled the air, no one else to hear them except for herself and the ocean.
His name was Koran.
It'd taken sometime after he'd finally managed to eat something and swallowed down Kali's first attempt at soup—though he'd made a face and said it tasted like salted water and apples—when he'd told her. When Kali had questioned the origins he'd said that he and his sister were named after two twin constellations in that world, rulers of two great kingdoms. Apparently his family had been of rather humble origins, he'd been training to enter his kingdom's knights to join his father's ranks when everything had fallen apart due to several warring nations.
Kali had taken all this information in silently, asking bit by bit and pulling back when she felt it'd been too much. She didn't say it aloud, but the relief in her heart that he didn't resent her for what she'd done was something she thanked every star out in the sky for.
After sometime Kali realized they didn't count years like in this world and instead seasons, and after some rough math and mild frustration of Koran's part, they figured out he was roughly seventeen in their world. He liked fish but his favorite meat was boar, and he was oddly fond of the dragonfruit that grew in Sindria.
Kali wasn't quite sure how much time had started to pass. It was perhaps the longest she'd ever really stayed in this area in a long time, and while she went away for small bits of time to return to Sindria so Sinbad wouldn't go looking for her, she spent most of her time showing him her island, her little private world. Teaching him about this one and everything it had to offer. She explained to him the idea of metal vessels, something that thankfully existed in his world as well and how she and several other powers in this world were in possession of them. She attempted with Camio's help to give him a brief rundown of this world's politics, but when he had questions and Kali answered in more Kali-like fashions, Camio had to step in and remind her he needed to understand in a way that wasn't her own view first.
"But everyone's dumb and they're not seeing the bigger picture and how there's actually a grander enemy they all need to face."
"Why don't they all join forces them?"
"Well, that's what I'm trying to do right now. But it's not that easy."
He spent a particularly large amount of time examining the hundreds of maps she kept stashed away in her and when Kali had been walking by with a basket of fresh herbs to throw into a stew for them tonight Koran placed his finger on one plot of land. "Where are we exactly?"
Kali paused at that, turning and peering over his shoulder to where he'd been trying to pinpoint their location. She scanned the map once and grinned, placing a finger on Sindria and drawing it several bits away to where it appeared to be nothing but ocean. "Right here."
"But there's nothing there," Koran muttered, looking at her as if she'd gone insane. They did have a conversation of sorts like that where he'd questioned her sanity and Kali had grumpily responded that while she may be out of touch socially she was not crazy.
"It's because this island was never discovered," Kali answered simply. "I found it by accident and never told anyone."
"Do you just normally find islands out of nowhere like this?"
"Of course not, if I did it wouldn't be as fun anymore."
Koran rolled his eyes, propping his head on his chin and watching her critically. "Why haven't you ever told anyone?"
"I like my privacy," Kali said simply as she smiled brightly. "I don't really have a country like you might've. It much easier to do what I do without being tied down by things like nationality and kings. You're the only one that knows how to get to this island now."
Koran opened his mouth but paused, letting her words sink in as he slowly turned back to the map with a soft blush coloring his cheeks. Kali scratched the side of her head and added, "Of course if you ever get sick of it here and want to see anywhere else, just let me know! I'm sure you wouldn't want to stay here forever anyway."
What's mine is yours.
Koran said nothing, merely making a small noise in the back of his throat. His eyes landed on a large mass of land and his brows furrowed as he placed a finger on the map. "What country is this? It's huge."
Kali followed his gaze. "Oh, that's—"
Koran watched in slight amazement as the woman who'd been caring for him all this time, someone sly and flighty and oddly hard to read in her own way began to turn a deathly shade of pale as she stumbled over her words. He waited patiently as she stuttered before Kali finally swallowed. "That's the Kou empire."
"Why was that so hard to say?"
"You don't beat around the bush, do you?" Kali mused, ruffling his head and he swatted her hand away as she sighed. "Well, the basics of what you need to know is that it's quite the formidable country. In a span of several years they managed to grow from a small group of united countries to this hulking mass of power. They country is currently ruled by an emperor and his sons and daughters are leading the war front to conquer the entire world for—"
Kali paused, clearing her throat and taking on a deeper voice as she set her brows into a deep furrow like Kouen, "—the sake of unifying the entire world."
She snickered at her own joke and paused when Koran merely stared at her blankly. "It's a long story and all you need to know is that if you somehow ever find yourself there by accident, never mention my name and you should be fine."
"What'd you do?" Koran raised a brow in surprise and slight doubt. "Are you some sort of wanted criminal?"
"Of sorts," Kali tapped her chin, looking for a proper way to word what she wanted to say. "I spent some time with the royal family and I suppose their crown prince took a fancy to me because I would be a helpful asset in their goal to unify the entire world. He proposed and I ran away and now I'm wanted by the entire empire."
Koran was gaping at her as Kali grinned, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "I promise you're fine though don't worry. It's not like they have an entire army hunting me down or anything."
"But they do according to Kougyoku."
Hush, Cam, he doesn't need to know that.
Kali felt a wide smile pull at her lips as she stepped away from the table, humming to herself happily as she began to prepare their meal for the evening. She'd never realized it until not but living with someone was rather nice in its own way.
You're not alone anymore.
Behind her at the table Koran was staring quietly at the map, his finger tracing a plot of land that he supposed would have been his country in this world. He stared at it for a long time, mind churning with memories as his throat constricted and his chest grew tight. Koran's eyes fell to his hands, gently scarred and softened with days of healing and care. He looks at his clothes, fresh fabrics and felt his face, unmarred by any dirt or ash.
What am I doing?
He felt sick.
Something was wrong.
Kali's eyes shot open, peering into the dim darkness of her room. Moonlight came through in slim streams through her window and her hand instantly went for her necklace, feeling it resting softly against her chest as it should. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for what had made her feel amiss.
There was a slightly chilly ocean breeze filling the small home and Kali leapt from her bed, eyes searching the room desperately as her hair fell in wild tumbles around her shoulders and she rushed to her bedside. Her metal vessels glistened back at her and she froze, blood running cold.
Raum.
Grabbing Seere and bursting through the curtains that made for her door, Kali shoved open the wood to the front of the house and scanned the ocean horizon, crystal clear waters turned black from the night sky above them. "Koran? Koran!"
"My king, you do not think he—"
That fire in his eyes. Kali suddenly felt sick to her stomach as these past few days suddenly flashed behind her eyes like a blur. The fire that drew me toward him—
Her feet dug into the sand and she sprinted across the island, knowing that after all the time he'd spent here there was only one proper place to go.
Koran's face, once devoid of emotion cracking a smile, lips pulling into a hard frown, that disapproving look in his eyes, anger, resentment, all the emotions she'd been dying to see and elating in when he finally revealed them to her. Eating dinner with someone, cooking for once and not having a meal brought to you, someone complaining about your cooking, all the little pleasures she hadn't realized she'd lost coming back to her in a horrid flash as fear gripped her heart and she disappeared, reappearing at the beginning of a cliff.
—how long had it been since she saw that fire in his eyes?
"Koran!"
His back was facing her. The cream colored shirt she'd given him to wear with a deep red sash tied around his hips fluttering softly in the breeze. Raum was gripped tightly in his hand as he faced the cliff's edge, silver hair barely resting against his nape.
"Koran," Kali called softly. "What are you doing?"
"I don't know."
"If you wanted to train," she joked. "You could've just asked. I'm a pretty good fighter despite my looks. I even know someone who could train you really well with the sword—"
"What have I been doing?" Koran held the sword up and stared deeply into the metal that reflected back at him, red eyes staring back. "I've been wasting my time here doing—doing nothing while out there, somewhere back in the world I belong, Amar could be fighting for her life, she could be suffering, torn apart while I'm just sitting here doing nothing."
He gripped his head in his hands and he turned to her, eyes wild and filled with horror as tears swam in them. Kali's heart broke and she took a step forward, biting her lip as she slowly reached outwards. "Ky... You can't blame yourself for what happened. The way things were in that world, it's all the fault of someone else—you're not to blame."
Her lips trembled and she felt her heart clench as she started again, "And if there's anyone to blame for bringing you here and making you feel like this, it's me. You did nothing wrong."
"No, Kali," Koran laughed, looking at her with bitter sadness and Kali froze. "I did nothing."
His gaze turned toward the sword in his hand and Kali watched intently. "Amar could have died today. It could have been yesterday or the day before and all this time I've been laughing, I've been actually enjoying myself, trying to think that there's nothing that I can do so I should just move on but—"
"Dwell within my body—"
Koran's eyes hardened and Kali held her breath, body coiling tighter as she tensed. "There is something I can do."
Koran raised the sword and turned it toward him, eyes screwing shut as Kali let his name fall from her lips in a scream as she lunged forward.
"RAUM!"
A flare of vicious heat filled the air and Koran stumbled backwards, the sword in his grip searing a burning slash through his palm as it disappeared and reappeared in Kali's clawed hands. His eyes went wide, snapping upwards as crimson red licked outwards and came to a quiet smolder. Kali's once shifting eyes became smoldering, sadness filling her irises as she stood before him in her equip, her gaze never leaving his own.
Before he could do anything else Kali dropped Raum, letting the blade slice into the ground with a dark sizzle as she raised her arm. Before Koran could recoil she brought her hand down and struck him in the back of the neck. His eyes fluttered and he crumpled to the floor, Kali dropping her equip as she reached to catch him and fell to her knees, gazing down at the pained face before her and feeling her heart fall as she inhaled and exhaled.
"My king... You cannot blame yourself for how he feels." Camio murmured softly. "You made your choice to give him a second chance and he made his to throw it away."
You owe him nothing.
"I'm not going to let him die, Cam," Kali breathed softly, gently tucking a strand of silver away as she felt a wry grin touch her lips and she disappeared, reappearing in her hut and setting him down on the floor. "I've dug myself this far, I might as well finish."
Camio fell quiet as Kali stood, feeling the distress of his in her mind. "You cannot, my king."
"It's the only way to keep him alive."
"There are no guarantees."
"You've been worrying about me a lot more than usual lately, haven't you?"
"Storms are coming and I know you."
Kali touched the feather at her neck and shut her eyes, feeling an immense sense of gratitude toward her first and closest companion as she turned away from Koran and faced onwards, eyes hardening.
"Then let's go."
And she vanished.
Koran felt a powerful throbbing in the back of his neck and a wave of nausea washed over him. He gripped his head in his hands, feeling a chill creeping up his spine as he reached upwards and rubbed his head. "What..."
Memories of what had happened flashed through his mind and he suddenly felt sick, hacking up nothing but spit as he braced himself against the ground. He searched the hut and found no signs of Kali, fear suddenly gripping him as he stood alone in the empty house with nothing but the ocean around him.
What have I done?
There was a flash and the putrid scent of smoke and blood hit him like a slap to the face. His eyes went wide and he whirled around, gray irises once stained blue alight in crimson color as Kali stood before him in all her metal vessel glory. Smoke wafted off of her, blood dripping down a cut along her cheek and the flaming ends of her hair were matted and sizzling with dried blood. His eyes widened and horror and he stepped toward her when his entire body froze.
Soft silver locks, matted and dirtied with ash pooled over Kali's arm. The small figure lying limp in her arms and breathing ever so softly as vines began to wrap around her body. Eyes he knew would be impossibly blue were shut as Kali gingerly laid her along the ground, a soft white light shrouding her entire body.
Koran's body trembled, disbelief in his eyes as he staggered forward and his knees hit the floor. "Amar?"
"She was holed up with a group of magicians making a final stand," Kali said softly, but her voice came out in a broken rasp and Koran jolted, his attention refocusing on her. "I suppose it was meant to be that she hadn't been killed yet."
Kali wavered on her feet and Koran's eyes went wide as she offered him the faintest of smiles, eyes flickering with an emotion he'd never been able to figure out until this very moment as she tipped her head.
"Is that enough reason to keep going now?"
He shot upwards, reaching out and grabbing nothing but air as Kali disappeared.
Why's it so bright?
She wasn't sure where she was for the briefest of moments. She'd merely allowed the rukh to guide her to wherever they deemed fit because in that moment she was far too tired to put up any kind of fuss. She swayed unsteadily on her feet, the toll of laboring furiously in the other world to try and find Amar had only proved fruitful by the slimmest chance and perhaps a twist of fate. Her eyes rolled and she could hear Camio ushering words in the back of her head but unable to decipher them as she staggered against a wall, wondering why the décor looked so familiar as she let her equip fall and Raum hit the floor with a noisy clatter.
"Kali."
Her name left his lips with a touch of horror and an air of fear. She wearily turned and blinked once, deep golden pools taking in her form with growing disbelief as the scrolls he'd been carrying in his hand to most likely shove aside for work later fell to the floor. Kali blinked once, slowly processing what was happening as a crooked smile touched her lips.
"Hey... Sin..." She croaked, eyes rolling back as her knees hit the ground but before she could fall warm arms were enveloping her entire form.
She inhaled deeply, the barest tang of wine and the overwhelming scent of the sea spices filling her senses as Sinbad cradled her to her chest, lips moving to form words she couldn't read as she breathed softly, trying to focus on letting Camio heal her before she lost consciousness.
Here, huh? Kali let her eyes flutter shut as she heard the thud of footsteps and felt herself being lifted from the ground. Guess it's better than showing up in Kou... Who knows what would've happened.
Oddly enough as she felt herself begin to drift into darkness Kouen's face flickered through her mind and her brows furrowed.
I wonder how he is...
Kali had never told anyone this before, but she was always impossibly fond of silk.
She knew it was a petty sort of thing to fancy, especially since it was something of luxury and she knew she should have more consideration considering everything she'd seen. But it was a horribly guilty pleasure of hers and she could never resist the sleek smoothness of the texture and how cool it always felt beneath her skin.
The thing about Kou was that every room she'd stepped into had been lined with silk—she figured it must've originated from their country because she only found so much of it in Sindria.
The soft silken sheets beneath her skin immediately told her she was either in one of two places in the Sindrian palace.
There was the chance that she was in her own room in the tower, one always kept for her whenever she fancied staying longer than usual. Or there was the chance that she was in—
"Sometimes I wonder if you cause me more trouble than you're worth."
Sinbad's room.
His room was always extravagant. A large bed lined with silks and gleaming in color. It was wide and spacious and filled with little of the actual man himself. But the windows were always so large in his room, something she deeply adored and figured it was because he always wanted to be able to see the ocean.
Kali's wearily blinked against the soft daylight and turned her head, feeling sore and tired but alive. Her eyes met Sinbad's unrelenting gaze and she managed to crack a crooked grin, "How much am I worth then, exactly?"
"More than anything anyone could ever offer." Sinbad said without remorse and Kali remembered with faint amusement he wasn't the lady killer of the seven seas for nothing. "So have mercy on me, Kali."
Her brows furrowed in confusion and Sinbad leaned forward on his elbows, covering his eyes with his clasped hands. He wasn't in his usual garbs yet, his hair loose and falling over his shoulders in the way that she normally liked. "You bring me back stories of the places you go to, sometimes. I suppose when we were younger I threw much more of a fit of trying to figure out where you were always disappearing off to and now I respect that I can't control that part of you."
His grip on his hands tightened. "I wish I could sometimes but I know better."
Kali remained silent, quietly wishing he'd show her his face so she could get a better gauge on his emotions instead of him hiding his eyes from her like this. "So what can I make of it when I find you in the halls of my palace with a pool of blood and ash at your feet and you looking as though you'd fought an entire war on your own and I know the moment you wake up again all I can do is watch you slip from my grasp."
A dark chuckle left his lips and Kali realized suddenly the extent of what had just occurred and what it meant to the two of them as she quietly reached forward and let her hand cup his cheek. His hand quickly grasped her own and held it there as smoldering gold locked onto her eyes and never ceased.
"How can you expect me to let you disappear again," Sinbad began softly, his voice filling her ears as he brought her hand to his lips. "If I know that's what I might be letting you run off into?"
"I thought you liked a little adventure in your life," Kali mused, meeting his gaze evenly from where she lay in bed. A slow smile crawled over her lips. "I can handle myself you know."
"Clearly."
A small bout of laughter left her lips and Sinbad remained unamused as she hummed to herself. "I'm sorry for making you worry, Sin. I promise it won't happen again." In your palace that is.
"I hate to say that I remain unconvinced," Sinbad mused dryly, pulling her hand from his lips but not letting go. "And I suppose you won't be telling me where it was that put you in such a state either."
Kali hummed, "Worlds beyond even your understanding."
His eyes sparkled at such a challenge and he appraised her for a moment, lips curling upwards as his eyes glittered. "You know, you fit perfectly here in my bed."
Kali rolled her eyes, making herself a little more comfortable as she turned on her side to face him. "I'm surprised. You handled this a lot better than I thought you would."
"Oh, I'm seething on the inside." Sinbad explained calmly. "I have half a mind to let Ja'far be the one to lecture you because I know you'll listen to him more than me—" Kali winced at the truth of the statement. "—but the longer I can have you here in my grasp then I'll do whatever to keep you from running of just yet. You seem to be oddly preoccupied as of late."
Kali blinked, realization flooding through her. "Amar has already been healed, I released my hold on her several hours ago. I assume she is merely unconscious now from the strain of before."
"I've just found something to spend some time on," Kali mused.
Sinbad arched a brow, opening his mouth to inquire when there was a series of rapid knocks on his door and he turned. "Come in."
Ja'far stepped through the door beside a Sindrian solider, looking uncertain and slightly put off when he locked eyes with Kali and a look of annoyance crossed his features as Kali winced. She could sense the words waiting on the tip of his tongue to lecture her and her habits but he chose instead to do as his job entailed and he sighed, turning to Sin. "There is a boy that has appeared in the courtyard, he demands to see the ruler of this country and..." Ja'far turned to the soldier for confirmation and he quickly filled in.
"He's demanding for the release of Lady Kali, my king."
Sinbad and Kali blinked once in unison, looking beyond confused before Kali's eyes went wide and her mouth fell open, eyes lighting up as she threw the silken sheets aside. "Is his hair a little more silver than Ja'far's?"
The solider blinked and Ja'far looked confused as Sinbad stared up at Kali in disbelief. "Yes, I believe so."
"Kali," Sinbad started slowly. "What is he talking about?"
"It's Koran!" Kali cheered, leaping off the bed and disappearing midair before she reappeared beside the solider, nearly giving him a fright—he must've been new—as she clasped his shoulders. "Take me to him, please."
"Kali, you can't be serious." Ja'far started suddenly, a light blush coloring his cheeks. "You only have—"
"Let's go!" Kali cheered, disappearing with the soldier in tow as Ja'far blinked in disbelief, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Sashes on..."
Ja'far slowly turned behind him, realizing there was another headache on the way as Sinbad sat at his bedside, staring off into space until Ja'far shook him.
"Ja'far."
"Yes, Sin."
"Did Kali just run off to go greet another man?"
"I would say more of a boy than a man, but yes, Sin, she did."
"I see."
Without another moment to waste Sinbad stood, gathering himself and all his charisma and charm as he stormed from his room with an annoyed Ja'far at his heels.
Never a moment of peace here, is there?
"You tell that brazen oaf to release her at once," Koran snapped, shoving the line of guards forward as he gripped the sword he'd stolen from one of them in his hand. "She already said no once, there's no need to go so far as to kidnap her a second time!"
"We have no idea what you're talking about," one soldier called out from the ranks. "But we cannot allow someone to storm through the castle with the intention to harm our king."
"King? Some king he is if he can't even face me himself." Koran spat.
Gray eyes that always seemed somewhere far away, those shy smiles pulling at lips that seemed to be hiding a secret far beyond him. The way she tried to fix her cooking after he told her something was bad, the look on her face when he'd catch her leaning against the window and letting the breeze play with her hair.
The sadness in her eyes and the loneliness on her face as she stood before him covered in blood and ash with Amar at her feet.
I messed up.
Koran gripped the sword impossibly tight in his hands and he grit his teeth, refusing to buckle down. He owed this to her. He needed to make things right. There was no way he could allow someone with a look like that on her face to walk out of his life.
I want to help you.
"You want to help her?"
I want to repay you.
"How so?"
So where are you, Kali?
"May I ask, who is the one so rudely barging down my doors when he could have merely asked for an audience with the king?" A smooth voice rang across the courtyard and Koran froze, turning around as the soldiers paused and parted, two men stepping through their ranks.
The man behind him stood, back rigid and a mild look of annoyance on his face but Koran had an odd suspicious he was not one to be trifled with. The man before him though was another story—radiating with a brilliance he had never come across before, standing tall and proud and defining the very meaning of the word king. His arms were crossed over a muscular chest, a sword hanging at his hip and long purple locks strewn over his shoulders.
This must be him. Koran swallowed. No wonder Kali was afraid.
"My name ids Koran," he began calmly, recalling upon his training with his father as he drew the sword forward and narrowed his eyes. "On my name I challenge you to a duel. Return Kali to me at once and release her from your grasp."
The two men blinked, looking sorely confused as the king turned to the man behind him. "Ja'far, where is Kali?"
Ja'far blinked slowly, turning to the king with a look of ill amusement. "I have no idea, my king."
Playing dumb, huh? Koran ground his teeth and readied himself close to the ground. "Fine, if that's how you wish to play."
Kali's eyes flashed through his head, the sad, lonely little smile on her lips and a weight of thousands of worlds on her shoulders.
I'll pay you back, Kali, I promise.
Koran rushed forward and drew his sword down in a long arch as the people around him gasped. The king's eyes growing wide with surprise.
I won't waste this life you've given to me!
"Maybe you'll do after all."
Before he could even blink the sword in his hands was broken in two. Koran's eyes went wide as the top half of the sword went sailing through the air before it impaled itself in the ground. He held onto nothing but the hilt and a bit of the blade as the king stood before him, golden eyes piercing and a sword in his hand as he stared down.
A chill ran through Koran's spine and he refused the urge to buckle down under the presence of the man before him.
"I will ask you once again because I believe we have a misunderstanding here. What is it that you want from Kali and why do you believe I have her here against her will?"
"Because you wanted to marry her and she said no, so now you've kidnapped her!" Koran spat, tossing the useless hilt to the side as his eyes landed on the half sword beside him, still imbedded into the ground.
The king before him was giving him a look of complete disbelief and Koran bristled, feeling something hot beginning to well up in his palms as he felt desperation clawing at his throat.
I don't stand a chance against them, I know that.
A breezy laugh echoed in his ears and the sight of his sister sleeping soundly in a bed, safe and alive.
But I have to try!
"Koran!"
His head shot upwards, eyes quickly searching when at the top of a rooftop sooty locks stretched outwards against the sky. Kali leaned over a balcony top, eyes alight with happiness and joy and the king before him turned. "Kali! Will you please explain what—"
"I'm coming, Kali!" Koran exclaimed, ducking forward and grasping the half of the sword still left. He felt the blade cut into his palms and he whirled around, shoving through two soldiers caught off guard and lunging forward.
Something sharp sliced across his cheek and a wire wrapped tightly around his legs, forcing him to the ground. Koran growled, whirling around as the white haired man narrowed his eyes at him, looking confused and annoyed as he pulled when Koran drew his half of the sword, blood dripping from his hand.
"You seek power to protect my king." A voice filled his head, loud and hot and demanding to be heard as he froze, eyes growing wide. "I will grant you the power to protect her life. You serve her now in her name and in the name of my familiar."
Koran felt a word on his lips and the voice spoke loud and clear. "Now calm my name!"
"An-nar!"
A serpent made of crimson flames suddenly appeared from the base of the half sword where a golden pentagram began to glow. Koran's eyes went wide as crimson flames erupted upwards as the serpent wound itself around the sword, transforming it and curving the blade and giving it a new shape. The blood that had coated the base turned seemed to burn the metal and formed it into a hilt as his grip tightened and he used it to break free of his bonds.
The king's and Ja'far's eyes were wide with disbelief, the two men staring with almost comical confusion at the boy before them as Koran whirled around, opening his arms wide. "Kali!"
Kali's laugh filled the air and she leapt from the balcony, plummeting toward the ground with outstretched arms as an indignant squawk sounded from behind him. A sharp breeze buffeted the two of them before Kali collided into him and the two fell into the ground, Kali's eyes wide with pure happiness and disbelief. "You—I knew there was something about you, after all!"
"I'm sorry," Koran instantly began. "I'm sorry for how I acted and how I treated you—the life you granted Amar and me to live again will not go in vain. I promise, I won't disappoint you!"
"I believe it," Kali breathed, eyes shining as she let out a laugh that rang loud and clear throughout the entire courtyard. "I can't believe it! So this is what it feels like."
"Kali."
Kali jolted, a wince appearing on her face as she and Koran slowly turned to the two men behind them. Ja'far looked as though he'd gone mad, leaning against a pillar several feet away for support as Sinbad took a step forward, disbelief and confusion and perhaps jealousy coloring his features. "What is going on?"
"Sin, meet Koran," Kali gestured between the two men. "Koran, this is Sinbad, king of the seven seas—he's not the one you were thinking of by the way, this is Sindria. If anything were to ever happen to me this is where you would go, okay?"
Koran nodded eagerly and Sinbad blinked once, turning to Kali with the full intention of demanding this entire story to be cleared up for him when Kali threw him an impossibly bright smile, slinging an arm around Koran's shoulders. "He's my first ever household member!"
Sinbad looked as though he'd been struck and Kali looked torn for the briefest of moments before she stood, pulling Koran up with her.
She leaned on the tips of her toes and pressed a brief kiss to Sinbad's cheek, causing the king to freeze as she grinned cheekily. "I promise I'll make this up to you later."
She whirled around and threw her arms around Koran, letting out a loud cheer. "Right now, we need to celebrate! See you later, Sin!"
Before another thing could be said, the two of them disappeared from sight, leaving nothing behind except a broken Sinbad and a pale faced Ja'far.
"Ja'far."
"Yes, Sin."
"I need wine."
"I will join you in a glass."
Omake Part II:
"You seem particularly taken with those fruits."
Kali hummed happily to herself, leaning against the wooden window with the thin paper sheets pulled aside so she could peer out into the open courtyard. Several flowers had bloomed in her wake, something Kouen had noted but not commented on as he saw it as something more permanent and felt anything that likened her chances of staying here were worth the effort.
He sat poised on the other end of the room, back rigid and watching her silently with two steaming cups of tea before him.
Kali bit into the soft flesh of the peach before her and she laughed mildly to herself. "Someone I know got me hooked on them."
What's he like in this life, I wonder.
After a never ending arsenal of stories from Kouen and playful teasing on Kali's end, much had become known about the so-called traveler. Kouen had been uncertain how to proceed the past few days, keeping her here in his private wing of palace where no one yet knew of her existence. He suspected Hakuren may have caught on to something but he knew his cousin would never tell.
"Kouen," Kali called suddenly, and his eyes instantly went to her figure. How strange this woman was. Elusive in her own sense yet clear as day, coy, he figured, was a fair word to describe her, she constantly looked at him as though there were something she knew that he didn't and he had a suspicion it was about himself as well. "If you could be anything else but what you were now, what would you be?"
"You mean occupational wise?" Kouen inquired slowly.
She always made him feel as though he needed to be one step ahead of her. He'd never once desired to be older than he was because he found himself mature and already fit for his role, but in this instance, he suddenly wished he had more command over her than she did of him.
I want you.
"Anything," Kali mused, her eyes lost and somewhere far away.
Look at me.
"A tiger."
A breezy laugh left her lips, full and drifting and he was drawn toward the sound as he soundlessly moved from where he had been sitting and made his way toward her. "That's fitting in ways you don't even understand."
"And what would you be?" He continued, watching the way her face curved and her brows furrowed slightly in thought, propping her chin on her hand as she hummed once more.
"I suppose a bird?"
"Fitting," Kouen breathed. In ways you don't even understand.
She had only been here for the span of a single month. How he had managed to keep her here for this long when he was aware she could leave in a matter of seconds, he did not know. There was a part of him, a part of him he slightly resented for being childish and not like the way he should be at a time like this. His family was out fighting wars, he could not afford to have his attentions divided.
I want you.
His hand reached outwards and gently brushed against the side of her cheek. Kali's eyes fluttered and she turned to him with slightly round eyes, watching him curiously as she turned her head slightly, leaning into his touch.
"What's wrong?"
Why is it that...
"What am I to you?"
He knew the gap between their ages was worthy of thought, but he knew someone of his stature could make up for it where it really counted.
...I feel as though I can never truly have you?
Kali watched him for a moment, blinking once before a gentle smile fell upon her lips. Kouen paused at the sight, something constricting tightly in his chest as his head swam and Kali brought a hand upwards, cupping slender and calloused fingers over his own as she showed him for once a side of her so completely and utterly honest.
"Someone precious."
The flowers resting gently against the vase in the corner of the room shifted.
Kouen had her caged between his arms, his body looming over hers as her back was pressed back into the window. One hand guided her face toward his while the other found her other hand, slipping his fingers through her own and gripping them tightly as he pressed them down. His lips had found hers the moment her words had left her lips, pressing against them firmly and without relent. He felt her stiffen with surprise, the small noise that left the back of her throat and her body shifting as she moved to raise a hand and he pressed forward.
Don't push me away.
Her head pulled back, eyes wide and round with disbelief and shock. A low growl almost left his throat at the lack of her lips apart from his own as she stared at him, cheeks flushed and chest rising and falling as she caught her breath. "Kouen—"
My name.
He pressed forward, hand slipping to the back of her head where it threaded through sooty locks and pushed her forward. His lips made quick work of her, shifting and pressing with small nips as he barely let her get an ounce of air. "Kou—"
Say my name.
His brows furrowed and he gripped her hand tighter in his, refusing to relent. She pulled aside and gasped, flushed and head reeling. "Kou—"
Before you go, call only my name.
He pressed his lips to hers once more, gathering her in his arms and holding her tightly to him.
She bit down on his lip and iron filled his mouth as he grudgingly pulled away as she pushed against him. He reveled in the way she looked, breathless, flushed, panting and lips bruised and parted. If this was what it took for him to have the upper hand he would do so for the rest of his life.
Kali brought a hand to her lips, gazing at him with wide and disbelieving eyes. He was tempted to pull her forward and kiss her again when she leaned back against the window.
"I suppose there's no point in asking what I mean to you then, is there?" She murmured softly, and he knew in her voice he didn't have much time.
"I wish to marry you." Kouen said simply, swiftly, not doubting for a second those words were not meant to leave his lips.
"You barely know me."
"I will come to know you."
"I could betray you."
"You would never."
Kali grinned at that, eyes twinkling. "I don't deserve you."
Kouen paused for a moment at those words, gazing intensely into her eyes. "No." He said, voice deep and almost like a rumble and Kali seemed transfixed by the sound for a moment. "You deserve the world and more."
Let me give that to you.
Kali's eyes brightened and for a moment he thought she would cry as she laughed, shaking her head. "I really, really don't deserve you. She'll be lucky."
Kouen halted at those words, eyes narrowing as Kali suddenly leaned forward. Her hands cupped his face and she leaned forward, forehead pressing to his as she smiled at him, eyes warm.
"Thank you for everything."
She leaned forward then, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek before her lips found his ear and she whispered a location and pulled away, touching the feather in her hair and throwing him a wink.
"We tend to slip through pretty easily, so I suggest you hold her tight and never let go."
And before his fingers could latch onto her, he grasped nothing but air as the woman before him disappeared, leaving nothing behind but a promise and a dull ache in his chest.
"Lord Kouen, is there something we should be on the look out for in this village?" The soldier beside him inquired, and Kouen narrowed his eyes and he peered over the throng of villagers from the top of his horse.
She wouldn't lie.
"We will return tomorrow. Send word for the other scouts to return and we will—"
"Stop right there, you thief!"
A flutter of wings, a shift in the air.
Kouen stilled as hurried footsteps thudded against a dirt road and a shopkeeper spat obscenities. He slowly turned as a wave of sooty locks, pulled back into a messy ponytail with several familiar feathers jutting out. He watched, transfixed for a moment as a girl perhaps only a year or two younger than himself leapt over several crates and ducked around a vendor, a bag in one hand.
He mapped out her route and waited patiently, merely urging his horse forward a few steps when she turned around to shout something back, not paying attention to the road in front of her as she collided into his horse.
With a yelp she fell back and his horse swayed, letting out an annoyed huff as Kouen watched, crimson eyes unrelenting as peaches spilled from her bag and she groaned. "Hey, watch where you're going—"
She paused, gray eyes stained blue and a face familiar to the one he'd seen only days ago stared up at him, looking lost for a moment. "Your eyes are beautiful." She breathed.
"The last village to the west, past the winding river in the shape of a snake."
The shopkeeper shouted something and she froze, face paling as she quickly scrambled to stand and Kouen slid from his horse with practiced ease.
"Much more spunky than I was at that time but cut her some slack, she's had it rough."
Her eyes went wide and she finally caught a full look at him, with his pressed military uniform and soldiers flanking him on either side.
"Feathers in her hair."
He waited to see what her reaction would be and found himself fondly pleased with the flash of rebellion that flickered through her eyes, lips pulling back as she readied herself to fight her way out of this mess.
"You hold onto me tight now."
He reached forward and grasped her wrist. She jolted, eyes growing wide as she quickly attempted to pull away. "Let go! It was just a couple of—oof!"
Her face collided with his chest as he pulled her close and wrapped his other arm around her waist, keeping her locked in place as he stared down at her, wondering for the briefest of moments if this were a dream when she wrestled in his grasp, looking up at him with wide and burning eyes.
"And never let me go."
"Marry me."
A hush fell over the entire village and he heard the shopkeeper fall to the floor, having fainted from overhearing his words as the girl before him blinked once, slowly, as disbelief and fear began to crawl over her face as she squeaked.
"What?"
Found you.
When you say there's going to be heavy SinKal but you're a sucker to new ideas and the omake you've been playing with just has to have its own little happy ending because I really do love Kouen and writing a younger, more honest and impulsive version of himself is just too much fun to pass up.
HELLO MY LOVELY READERS I HAVE MISSED YOU A GREAT DEAL AND WE HAVE WAY TOO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT.
Firstly, thank you all so much for patiently awaiting this update. I know you've all been waiting way too long and thank you all for the support and for standing by me even though I'm horrible and I take forever to update. I hope this update finds all of you in good health and you like it enough, I really want to flesh out Koran more and I have some things for him and Amar in store, so look forward to it!
Sin will definitely get the love he deserves because the ending of magi has me shook and I can't believe the adventure is finally over even though the entire final arc was a huge mess and so crazy to follow, Magi will always have a special place in my heart and I can't wait to bring this story to a completion as well.
I LOVE YOU ALL THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR IMMENSE SUPPORT AND I HOPE YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER AND YOU'LL ALL STICK BY THIS LOSER OF AN AUTHOR AND KEEP READING HER DUMB STORIES –HEARTS-
P.S- I just got into Voltron: Legendary defenders and I really shouldn't have but I'm in love and please do expect a story for that soon because I'm trash.
I LOVE ALL OF YOU.
Marshmellow-
-OUT!
