A few days late on this one but it's got a scene I really loved writing and I hope you guys like reading :)
I do not own Magi.
Enigma
Chapter Twenty Nine:
The Invitation and the Island
"So you... are a magi?"
Aladdin blinked, wide blue eyes looking up curiously beneath his round spectacles—a gift from one of the magicians of Magnostadt—and came face to face with a dark skinned girl with bright silver hair, pulled back into a single braid over her shoulder with a thinner braid running down the side.
Ah. Aladdin felt a wide smile touch his lips. This is Amar. "I am! But I've still got lots to learn before being anywhere near the other magis."
"But you're like Mister Yunan then," Amar continued, the smooth staff within her slender hands shifted and came to rest below her, allowing her to hover a little bit above the floor as she crossed her legs over each other. "You're a lot younger than I thought you would be."
Aladdin's smile twitched but he laughed cheerfully, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, you're pretty young as well, Amar!"
Amar's eyes twinkled, curious. "So you do know me—what has Lady Kali said? Does she speak well? You two are close, aren't you? I'm sure you're not as close as we are though since I got to live with her—"
"Kali-nee speaks very kindly of you and Koran," Aladdin replied easily, shuffling around to face her properly as he set his thick scrolls down in his lap. "And Kali-nee and I are actually very close!"
Amar's eyes narrowed. "Oh, yeah?"
Aladdin nodded proudly, puffing his chest out. "We know things no one else could ever know."
"Well, she rescued me from another world."
"Kali-nee always praises how strong I'm getting."
"I've made food she likes!"
"I've touched her chest!"
"I've seen her chest!"
Aladdin jumped back in surprise, looking shocked and albeit jealous while Amar was proudly beaming above him. Little bubbles popping from the end of her staff as she continued on, "I just wanted to see what was so great about this magician she kept going on about because I don't know if you know, but I'm going to be one of the best magicians ever and Mister Yunan even says I've got a lot of potential—"
"Amar, you're a very kind person, aren't you?" Aladdin laughed, breezy and light and Amar faltered at how similar it sounded to Kali's own. Blue eyes sparkled warmly and Aladdin grinned. "I'm glad Kali-nee has someone like you by her side now!"
Amar grimaced, biting her lower lip as her eyes shyly flickered to the side. This was a perfect chance to see King Sinbad and catch up with the charming king and speak with the other Eight Generals who seemed to be so important to Kali's life, but the massive library within the Black Libra tower had been too good to pass up and upon finding the blue haired magi Kali was always smiling about—she'd wanted to see for herself what the young boy had to offer that Amar and her brother struggled to give to Kali after all this time.
Yunan speaks well of him. Kali speaks well of him—everyone seems to love him. Amar pursed her lips, thoughtful as she gently curved her fingers around her beloved staff. I thought I was becoming a promising magician who could help Kali but with this kid around...
What Koran had known for a lifetime but Kali still had to learn was that Amar—when her life wasn't in danger and her world wasn't falling apart at her feet—was rather...ambitious to an extent. She'd been training as hard as she could at the school within her world to become one of the best spell casters to make her mother and father proud, since becoming a magician was one of the highest honors within their country.
"You must really admire Kali-nee a lot," Aladdin laughed, touching the side of his head and Amar blinked, reaching for the thinner braid that blended in with her larger one. "I'm sure living with her must have been a lot of fun!"
"It was," Amar sniffed, flipping her braid over her shoulder. Sure she'd pestered Yunan the most on teleportation magic and trying to learn how to be skilled in life magic but plants never really spoke to her the way Kali seemed to be in tune with them because of Camio. Koran was a fire user at heart and it was bitterly clear that Amar's specialty came with water and air.
And Kali always seems so enchanted by fire. Amar thought with a pout, feeling a twinge of jealousy toward her brother and the golden haired metal vessel user she'd met the other day. The man from Kou was had a fire djinn as well. Why couldn't Kali be obsessed with water?
"Since we haven't properly met," Amar paused, glancing down from her perch and Aladdin beamed up at her. "I'm Aladdin, it's nice to meet you."
Amar regarded his hand for a moment before clasping it tight in her own and giving it a firm shake. "Amar."
"I'm sure when you get older you'll grow to be very pretty, Amar! You can call me Brother Aladdin if you'd like."
"Listen you," Amar growled, vein throbbing on the side of her head as she turned her staff around to catch Aladdin's attention, but the magi had already returned to reading his heavy scrolls with a thoughtful expression. "I'm not that much younger and I'll have you know—"
"Well, this is a surprise."
A flutter of Rukh brushed past Amar's ear and she perked up, Aladdin smiling at the new presence but remaining focused on his scrolls. Sooty locks tumbled past slim shoulders and Kali peered curiously over Aladdin's shoulder, realizing she couldn't understand what it said she turned to Amar. "I thought you were going to go train with Yamraiha."
"I was!" Amar protested. "I just, well, wanted to catch up on some reading and the library here is so large and all..."
Kali hummed, looking pleased and she ruffled Aladdin's head before swinging around to grin at Amar. "Have you two properly met? This is the magi I always talk about—"
"Yes." Amar said flatly, shooting Aladdin a mindful look but the magi looked completely at ease. "We have. Aladdin is very...kind."
Kali's smile widened. "I was hoping you two would get along. There's so much you guys can learn from people like Yunan and each other compared to me. I'm an awful teacher anyways unless you're looking to become an escape artist."
"That's not true," a gentle voice teased. "You have a very promising future in teaching them how to become power hungry little devils—"
Aladdin laughed before he stiffened, looking around sharply in surprise and Amar sighed, plopping down onto the ground as Kali half turned with a small smile. "Who was—"
Aladdin's eyes went wide and the Rukh fluttered past them, strong and loving and tender as a wide green hat tipped down and pale, silky locks swayed just inches above the ground. "Mister Yunan!"
"Hello, Aladdin," Yunan smiled, faint and gentle as he leaned back against is staff. Golden white wings beat around him almost teasingly, his long braid trailing faintly in the small torrent they stirred up before it settled around his legs. "Kali. Amar."
"Master Yunan," Amar beamed. "What are you doing here?"
"I just wanted to have a chat with two of my favorite misplaced misfits," Yunan mused, tipping his hat back while Kali grimaced and Aladdin blinked in surprise. "The sunlight in Sindria is also very harsh, so the shade here is nice."
"Because you find homes in barrels and bottomless pits," Kali reminded.
Yunan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "My, I thought you were fond of my home at the bottom of that pit though."
Kali's lips twisted, unable to respond and Aladdin looked curious, rising to his feet. "Is there something we can do for you though, Mister Yunan?"
"We didn't get much time to talk in Magnostadt," Yunan explained kindly, idly drifting upwards as his staff took him higher and higher. The grand, glass ceiling above them allowed light to filter down, golden and streaming as it cast Yunan's shadow long above them.
Kali craned her head, watching the familiar man while Amar watched her thoughtfully and Aladdin blinked. "Yeah... you left right away. Until Uncle Kouen left, everyone was on edge."
"He has that effect on people," Kali played with a particular scroll, opening it up and finding an intricate drawing of one of Kou's bustling harbors. She dragged a finger along the shoreline and then looked up to Yunan. "But Ren Kouen is no fool."
"Exactly," Yunan rested his arms along his knees, smiling softly down at them. "There is a far greater common enemy before us, so neither side wants the killing to continue."
Aladdin frowned and Amar's grip on her staff tightened. Yunan brushed his fingers along his staff, "But you needn't worry. There won't be any fighting again soon."
Yunan met Kali eyes and she blinked quietly. Kali's hand clasped Amar's shoulder and the younger girl looked up in surprise, pausing at the soft look in Kali's eyes. "Shall we get you to Yamraiha?"
Amar's lips parted before she forcefully kept them shut. A small nod was Kali's response and she pressed a soft kiss to the top of the girl's head, the two of them disappearing before smooth marble touched their feet.
The salty breeze tugged at Kali's hair and she stepped back to return to the tower when small fingers snagged her sash, holding her in place. "Lady Kali—"
"Kali." Gray eyes were warm, a faint grin curling over her lips as she turned back to properly face Amar. "I thought we've been through this. Your brother calls me far worse, you know."
"But Koran doesn't need to say things like Lady Kali," Amar murmured. "He is your household vessel—the duty to be by your side and to protect you is engrained in every swing of his blade. I'm different."
"Are you saying I should look out for you, since you might betray me?" Kali teased.
Amar looked horrified, eyes blowing wide as she grabbed tighter at Kali's clothes. "I would never betray you, Kali! I've been working hard with Master Yunan, I've been training—I want to be of use to you just as Koran is. I want to help you and Master Yunan against those people."
Amar bit her lip, head bowing as fringes of silver curved over her cheeks. "I-I know I'm no magi like that boy. I don't have any metal vessels like those men but I promise I'll work hard. I'll do whatever I can to help you because you helped us and—"
"Amar."
Amar glanced up and stiffened. Kali's eyes were impossibly warm, swimming with kindness and half lidded as she bowed her head. Kali's forehead pressed to hers and the older woman reached up, gently cupping her cheek and shutting her eyes. Amar watched the Rukh twist around them, golden and gentle and loving and Kali inhaled and exhaled.
"If I can see you and Koran making it out of this alive and well and happy," her hand slid from her cheek and to her shoulder, gripping it tightly as she drew Amar close to her. "Then that would be enough."
Gray eyes slid open, stormy and clear. "You needn't worry about anything else."
"I've been learning clairvoyance magic with Yamraiha," Amar whispered softly, reaching up and brushing Kali's braid behind her ear with small fingers. "I paired it with the magic Master Yunan taught me."
"Risky business," Kali whispered back. "The future is always changing, Amar."
"But I wanted to see you," Amar's eyes flickered and Kali smiled. "It wasn't clear and I wasn't good at it, but Kali I saw...black. I felt pain and I heard your voice and I'm afraid—"
Long columns surrounded them on either side. Sleek, marbled sapphire floors and Yamraiha's study only paces away. The sea breeze curled tight around them, the distant chatter of the people below and the palace workers going about their day. The sun was bright and shining and the Sindrian sun warmed their skin.
"So long as I live," Kali murmured, eyes bright and shining and Amar's words died on her lips. "Nothing in our future exists but you as a beautiful, wonderful magician teaching thousands of others and Koran remaining the same, cranky, grumpy old man he truly is."
Amar bowed her head and Kali placed one more kiss at the crown of her hair, curving her braid over her shoulder and smiling softly. "Nothing else, Amar."
Amar looked up and Kali disappeared, nothing but the faint flutter of wings and the call of a bird outside.
"I'm afraid," Amar whispered to nothing else but the bird that'd come to land beside the curving walls of the tower.
It preened dark gray feathers and chirped, curving sharp wings outwards and casting long shadows against the sun, black wings along the marbled floors were marred by the towering columns, casting lines against the shadow of its wings and resembling that of an elaborate bird cage along the marbled floors.
"For you..."
"I simply don't trust you."
"I don't trust you either, you scoundrel!"
Kali winced, rubbing her ear from the force of the shout as the doors to the library swung open with renewed ferocity. She examined the books that had fallen in Sinbad's haste to storm toward them, took in Aladdin's startled and baffled expression, and finally—Yunan's look of complete and utter indifference.
"I left for a few minutes," Kali crossed her arms over her knees and crouched down beside Aladdin. "Did they talk about that barrel incident again? I hate that story."
"Barrel?" Aladdin blinked, turning to Kali. "No, well—Mister Yunan wanted to talk about something but he won't say it with Uncle Sinbad here?"
"Oh, I get it," Kali snapped her fingers. "This is normal, don't mind it too much, Aladdin."
"N-Normal?"
"I demand to join!" Sinbad snapped, towering over Yunan and the blonde haired magi merely drifted a little higher into the air.
"You're not allowed. I'm having a private discussion with Aladdin."
"Then why is Kali here as well!" Sinbad jutted a finger her way where she was crouched beside Aladdin, the two of them protected by Yunan's figure calmly standing in front of them. "You look as though you intend to include her as well—I was your king's candidate after all!"
"Yes, but Kali was my cute freeloader," Yunan explained with ease, idly twirling his staff as Sinbad fumed in front of him. "It includes her as well, anyways. Special information kings aren't allowed to hear, you know."
"If it's of such importance then I should most definitely be included!"
"I thought they were on good terms," Aladdin whispered quickly and Kali cocked her head. "Mister Yunan was the one who got Uncle Sinbad to help, wasn't he?"
"That's because we all needed to fight that ridiculous monster," Kali whispered back. "You see, these two used to get along alright and then things just went south. It was a bit of a messy breakup and I don't think Sinbad ever properly got over it."
"And now he bothers me wherever I go," Yunan sighed, gripping his arms and shooting Sinbad with a hurtful look. "He never leaves me alone even though I ask so kindly."
"That's a horrendous lie and you know it!"
"Are you really any better with those whimsical stories of yours you tell?"
"I'm quite fond of those myself though," Kali admitted quietly to Aladdin, casually handing the magi to a waiting Yunan and Aladdin blinked, comically confused. "Shall I count to thirty?"
"I'll have it done in less," Yunan promised, tipping his hat and then he and Aladdin were shooting out of the tower.
Sinbad let out an inhuman sound of disbelief, tugging at thick and silky locks and Kali clicked her tongue. "You'll go bald like that."
"You could at least help me out a bit!" Sinbad rounded on her, crossing his arms over his chest as he scowled. "A conversation between magi, shouldn't I be allowed to hear such a thing on my own island?"
"But it's private," Kali said simply. "And it's Yunan—I can't go against, Yunan, you know. I owe him a great deal."
"What about me?"
Kali pursed her lips, idly wiggling her fingers as though to calculate something and then she glanced up. "You're on your way but not just quite. Camio is first, Yunan is second, Aladdin is third—"
"Aladdin?"
"Yes, and you're somewhere in there too." Kali blinked, glancing up to the skylight as she squinted. "I think it's about time."
Sinbad narrowed golden eyes at her. "You wouldn't."
Kali glanced back to him and her lips curved into a wicked grin.
"You absolutely would. I'll have you thrown in the dungeons for treason."
"Please, Sin," Kali offered him the cheekiest grin in her arsenal and blew him a kiss, entire body flickering.
"Sindria doesn't have dungeons!"
Kali disappeared.
Smooth, soft wood cushioned her feet as she nearly sank into the floor of the makeshift home that Yunan had crafted within seconds. Energy thrummed around her like the softest of hums, a sweet, familiar tune and Kali ran fingers over the distorted furniture, feeling Yunan in every piece of it before she turned to the two quietly waiting for her by the table. "It took longer than I expected."
"I couldn't decide on the design for the windows," Yunan lamented, gesturing toward the glass windows in the corner, elaborately decorated with vines and flowers. "I think the lilies are a nice touch."
"Wrong season though," Kali pulled up a chair, plopping down beside an awestruck Aladdin as he rolled around on the floor, completely and utterly content from all the food he'd consumed. Thunderous noises bounced off the borg placed around the entire home and Kali casually glanced to the side, wondering how long he'd be at it before he realized it would do him no good.
Yunan waved a hand and a tray of bread and jams appeared. Kali made an appreciative hum, slathering on jam despite the fact that it would all have a strange, fluffy texture regardless. She offered one to Aladdin who weakly parted his lips despite his full belly. "So Mister Yunan, how did you meet Ugo?"
Kali glanced up curiously, wondering how much of the conversation she'd missed and Yunan smiled. "We meet every time I die."
Aladdin stilled and Yunan poured tea into several mugs, completely at ease. "Death is when life returns to the great flow. But it's different for a magi's Rukh... we return to the Sacred Palace when we die."
"...is that how Titus was reborn?" Aladdin questioned softly and Yunan nodded.
"Instead of regaining a completely new life, he was born with memories of his previous consciousness and into his old body, just as I was. I suppose this is the..."
"Ninth," Kali murmured.
"Ninth time I have been reborn into this body."
Aladdin sat up, eyes wide. "N-Ninth? You've been a magi nine times? Why?"
Yunan merely smiled his mysterious smile, curled ever so gently over his lips and withholding so much. "I wish I knew. Perhaps so that I can oppose Al Thamen. I'd like to ask the Guardian, but it's hard to speak when I'm in my Rukh form."
"Oh..." Aladdin settled back, turning his eyes downwards. "I see."
Yunan inclined his head, a chess board setting up on the table he'd cleared away. "Shall we play, Aladdin?"
The blue haired magi dutifully took a seat before the other and Kali remained in her chair, tipping it back as she gazed thoughtfully at the ceiling. "Then Mister Yunan... you and Kali-nee are close, right?"
Yunan glanced over to Kali and she threw her hands up into the air helplessly. "I can't refute anything you say, so do your worst."
"Yes," Yunan answered then, looking faintly pleased and Kali rolled her eyes. "I suppose you could say I took in a wayward child with a deep seated hunger for power and change—very ferocious, mind you. She was dragging herself along the ground day and night to get to what she wanted and she was never satisfied—"
"Okay, he gets it."
"But you see, Kali is particularly...different." Yunan slid a piece forward and Aladdin's face scrunched up in thought. "Kali's ability to see the Rukh stems from her ability to disappear and reappear around the world as she wishes—to visit the thousands of worlds interwoven with our own, as I'm sure you are aware."
Aladdin quietly pushed his own piece across the board. "I... get it, for the most part. But Kali-nee, when we were fighting against the Medium—"
"The only reason I can see them," Kali waved a hand and reached absently toward the fluttering golden wings, watching them slip through her grasp. "Is because I am connected to the Rukh in a particular way. Of course, the Rukh runs through everything that exists in this world, through all of us, but I suppose it's more like..."
"Kali," Yunan took over and he captured one of Aladdin's pieces. "Comes from a special group of people who were, I suppose...born into the Rukh."
Aladdin watched Yunan set his piece aside and turned his eyes toward Kali, whose arms were propped on the back of the chair as she continued to watch the ceiling in thought. "Since the Rukh flow through all worlds," Kali said finally. "I can go where they go."
"But if the Rukh where to disappear," Yunan watched Aladdin tentatively set a piece down and he allowed a smile that didn't meet his eyes to stretch across his face.
Kali shut her eyes, hair spilling over the chair and dangling behind her.
Yunan knocked another piece aside and Aladdin watched it fall over. With a gentle hand he stopped it from rolling off the table and set it down properly. Yunan's smile widened and Kali peeked an eye open.
"Tell me Aladdin, what do you think of Sinbad?"
"Uncle Sinbad?" Aladdin brought a cookie to his lips and hummed. "Well... I suppose I think he's great! He has lots of magoi and attracts a lot of people. He gets someone like Kali-nee to hang around and his Rukh is very bright... very kingly."
"Very kingly," Yunan echoed, lips twisting into a wry smile. "So why aren't you his magi?"
"Well..." Aladdin played with one of his pieces. "I really do like Uncle Sinbad... I don't have the relationship you do with him, Kali-nee, but I guess I feel like he might be dangerous. Which is strange, since Sindria is such a nice country and I like everyone here."
Kali set the chair back on all its legs properly, turning in her seat to rest her arms along the back rest. Yunan reached for another piece as he set it on the board. "I suppose I know your answer, Kali."
"Is there really one?" Kali blew air through her lips and Aladdin pityingly handed her a cookie which she gratefully took.
"Then tell me, Aladdin," Yunan looked up and met bright blue eyes. "What do you think of king's vessels?"
"King's vessels?" Aladdin questioned, nearly knocking over a piece and Yunan set another down with an air of finality.
"I'll tell you what I think about Sinbad," Yunan eyed the piece he'd laid down with the faintest whisper of bitterness and perhaps regret. "Sinbad frightens me. He's too disposed to being a king's vessel."
"Is that bad?" Aladdin murmured curiously, brows furrowing slightly and Kali absently drew a vine forward from Yunan's make shift home, watching it sway and curl with the twist of her fingers.
"Aladdin, you chose Alibaba before you even properly knew you were a magi... isn't that frightening?" Aladdin was silent and Yunan smiled. "I picked up Kali because I felt something from her before I could even think twice. The same goes for Judal and the other past magi. We choose our king based off instinct and then thousands die as empires rise. They receive great power from the magi and then influence the world... as a part of its internal process!"
The vine tentatively reached for Kali's fingers. "But what exactly is a king's vessel?"
The air in the room shifted, bright and thrumming with energy. Aladdin watched the Rukh swarm and Yunan held a piece loosely in his grip. "There should only be a handful, but now there are many. If in our time, all these kings were to clash... who should fate allow to survive?"
Aladdin swallowed, brows furrowed but eyes bright. "But... it doesn't have to be that way, does it Mister Yunan? That's why we're having the Summit to change it all. Even someone like Kali-nee is technically a king's vessel but she doesn't have a country."
"But that comes with its own set of rules," Yunan said.
The vines reaching for Kali's fingertips drew away and her bangs slid across her face. "No one is innocent in this."
To be a king and to be a murder come from the same sides of one coin.
"That's why we're here," Aladdin said firmly and Yunan and Kali looked up. "To make sure it doesn't have to end this way."
Yunan smiled absently. "Yes, I suppose so. You may be right after all, Aladdin."
Yunan waved his staff and Kali disappeared, reappearing beside their table. "I believe it's about time the three of us all had a proper chat, shall we?"
"This is it?"
"Looks like it."
Soft sand curled beneath Kali's feet. She'd been contemplating after Magnostadt if it were time to switch over to some sandals at least, little leather straps to provide some kind of support, but feeling the earth beneath her feet and the dirt between her toes was a feeling she could never shake from the core of her being. It grounded her, kept her connected to the earth—the world.
Overhanging trees sprouted from the shoreline. Old, crumbling buildings were propped up in the center of the island, providing sleek steps that allowed those visiting to step through and enter its heart. Kali peeked beneath thick leaves, casually strolled up the steps and examined long, cracked pillars. Her fingers drifted along a stone table, long and stretching far across the center where many would be gathered within the next few days.
Kali set her hands on her hips, idly surveying whatever of the island that she could see. "Shall we start?"
"I see no reason to hesitate."
A wry grin curled on her lips and Kali set off. Her feet sunk into soft, snowy white sand. The grains shifted beneath her feet and she began a wide perimeter of the entire island, working around the shoreline and making her way to the constructed docks. She wove through the foliage, letting her fingers drift along thick green leaves, vines weaving between her legs and curling around the tips of her hands as she gently parted them aside.
The air was crisp. Not cold or frigid and but not kind. It was sharp enough to remind her not to stray. Camio mumbled soft things in her mind and Kali smiled, letting his voice flood her senses and drinking in every note of it.
A bird called and another answered. Kali stopped to watch as two of them burst forth from the thick foliage and took toward the sky, wings beating in tandem as the soared off toward some destination known only toward themselves.
"In my next life I'd like to be a bird."
"I know."
"What would you like to be?"
"Perhaps a tree of some sorts."
"A tree?" Kali knocked on the wood of one beside her. "How come?"
"Steady." Camio mused. "To dig my roots in deep and remain."
Kali hummed, fingers stretching across the large trunk. "Then I will be a bird and you will be the tree I'll come to perch on."
"I would wish no less."
A snake slithered over her foot, cool underbelly gliding across her skin and Kali quietly offered it her hand. It wound up her arm, black tongue flickering outwards as it fixed her with one golden eye. Kali smiled absently, curving her calloused fingers over the top of its head before she allowed it to continue on its way.
She set off like that through the rest of the night—traveling every inch of the island and committing it to memory. She felt the sand between her fingers, the brush of leaves against the face, the prick of jagged rocks at her feet as she took particular care examining every inch of the center of the island. Kali touched every jagged pillar, walked along and around each stone table and finally came to a halt at the centerpiece of it all, turning her eye toward the waning moon above them.
"It has been awhile," Camio murmured. "Since we allowed ourselves a moment like this."
"It has," Kali said softly, reaching up and running her fingers over the softened vines. "You're losing your touch, Cam."
"You believe so?"
Kali smiled, letting the moon bathe them in its silvery light. She was reminded faintly of some old tale she'd picked up while traveling so long ago. Something about a girl who belonged to the moon living her life on earth for as long as she could until the moon came to take her back.
"Stay with me now."
"I have never left."
Kali took a seat on one of the tables, cool beneath her fingers. A breeze tousled her hair and Kali watched the sky above them, dark and splattered with stars.
"Think this will be enough?"
"Only once the moment arrives shall we know."
Kali nodded quietly, hair tickling her cheeks and she shut her eyes and let the sound of the sea and the air fill her.
"The world will not burn if you remain but a moment longer."
Her shoulders slumped, laying down on the stone table and letting the sharp cold creep softly along her skin as vines curved around the legs of the table and curled around her.
"Just for a moment."
"I will be here when you wake."
"Perhaps I may be mistaken, but I feel an odd sense of familiarity, my king."
Oh, hush, Cam. Kali casually examined her hands, carefully hidden in a reflected illusion thanks to the anklets around her feet. I don't know what you're talking about. All those worlds have finally gotten to your head.
She felt Camio grimace though he seemed faintly bemused. "Perhaps."
It was, after all, not her first time in this throne room.
Towering stands rose up on either side of the grand hall. Pillars of marbled granite sleek and etched in familiar linings of gold and red. Wooden archways curved around what was once a towering glass ceiling, thick draperies and patterns lining every inch of the wall. Before the rows and rows of seats, politicians and noblemen and women alike, elaborate tapestries covered the floor in the fine crimson colors of gold and red that Kou so proudly bore.
Kali casually dragged her toes along the carpeted fabric, missing the feel of sleek marble beneath her feet from once before. The air was thick—tension crackling and eyes all watching the group of travelers standing tall in the face of perhaps the strongest man of the Kou Empire.
Alibaba's face was determined, not giving those seeking his fall an inch. Morgiana stood proudly at his side, expression hardened and fierce like the wildest of beasts while the children she'd met from Sindria flanked their sides. His scarred hand, a testament of his trials, pressed firmly into the palm of his other, golden eyes bright and Rukh battling around them in a gentle storm while the Rukh of so many others roared in response.
The fiercest of them all—Kali's eyes strayed to the sole source.
Red, vibrant, alight against the stark, crisp white of the elaborate gowns and robes hanging over his shoulders. They draped around him, pooled over the broad stretch of his arms and reminded every person in the room that he was to be followed. Power radiated off every inch of his frame and he met Alibaba eye for eye, raised high from where he sat upon his throne.
"Lord General of Balbadd and the Kou Empire's Western Subjugation army," a soldier roared from the highest balcony alcove. "His excellency—Ren Kouen!"
"You couldn't have picked a better time to arrive?" Camio mused idly. "Perhaps after all the entertainment?"
I wanted to see how this would all go down. Kali shrugged, casually stepping past a soldier and the man blinked, turning curiously but finding nothing. Step in if I needed too, you know? I can't leave Alibaba to the wolves.
"Was all the trust for show?"
Of course not. Kali breezily coasted down to the ground level, tiptoeing around several other men and then sliding into place beside Alibaba and behind Morgiana. The Fanalis paused for the briefest of moments, eyes darting back as her brows furrowed in confusion but she quickly turned her attention toward Kouen once more. I do, after all, have some things to speak with Kouen about, you know.
"...Nosy."
I suppose that's one way to put it.
Kali crossed her arms over her chest, casually crossing her legs over each other as she plopped down onto the floor of the throne room. For a split second she saw Kouen's head tilt, eyes sliding her way and she couldn't help but wonder if she'd been found out. But his eyes only remained on her hidden spot for a moment and then he leaned back into his throne, raising his chin and looking down at Alibaba. You haven't lost your touch yet, Asmodeé.
"Do not praise me yet, my king."
"He offers insult!" A nobleman weighed heavily in robes stood, a horrid scowl pulling on his lips and Kali recalled a very similar situation so, so long ago. "His excellency is a descendant of the great Kou Empire and Crown Prince of the House of Ren! You may not raise your head in his presence! Your family has fallen, you must kneel along with the retainers to show respect!"
"No, there is no need!" Another man called gleefully, eyes crinkled at the corners and he waved an extravagant hand. "After all, the royal house of Saluja no longer exists. Alibaba is merely an ambassador from Sindria with no relation to Balbadd. Therefore, he need not kneel!"
"In another world you would have slaughtered them all." A quiet voice whispered and she felt Camio stir, a small smile touching Kali's lips in response.
This is not another world.
Alibaba took a step forward, lowering himself into a crouch and Kali's head snapped toward him. Her eyes narrowed, illusion flickering as she tensed. Alibaba, you don't need to bow before men like them—
"My lord," Alibaba began, clear and resounding. "I will indeed kneel before you. However..."
Alibaba glanced up, a calm, thoughtful look on his face. "To touch one's head to the floor in Balbadd is to wish for a safe childbirth to a pregnant woman. Is that what you want?"
A heavy silence hung in the air, mouths falling open and eyes bulging out of their heads. Those around Alibaba blinked and Kali slapped her hands over her mouth to keep from bursting into laughter because Kouen and pregnant. The noblemen paled, hurriedly jerking hands toward the row of former palace soldiers. "All of you—on your feet at once!"
"Fine," Camio said proudly. "A true king, through and through."
Kali saw then a memory before her eyes. A rugged, fierce blonde boy seeking to save his country however possible with the aid of a grand king and others at his side and her own words floating through the air—but now here he stood, proud and within a quiet solace as Rukh battered lovingly around him and those beside him shone with bright eyes and Kali felt her heart surge.
Alibaba, you've grown so much.
A deep throated chuckle filled the room. Kouen tipped his head back, loud laugh ringing through the air and he rose to his feet. "Enough! You're all dismissed."
"He is amused."
Kali squinted. When was the last time we heard him laugh like that?
"...when you fell into the palace pond, perhaps?"
Ah, you may be right.
Kouen gripped the elaborate robes and tossed them mercilessly behind him, stepping forward and down the steps as the noblemen dropped their jaws in horror. "M-My lord?"
Kouen's household gathered beside him, flashing bright grins while Seishuu collected his fallen robes with practiced ease. Alibaba's group flinched back, Morgiana looking up to the towering household while Kouen tipped his head up, a grin curving at his lips. "So, boy! You didn't bring your magi."
"He's keeping all his knowledge to himself," Shou En muttered.
Alibaba's determined face slackened only slightly as the nobles began to unwillingly disperse, casting scathing glances over their shoulders and muttering about the indecency of the situation as they swarmed out of the throne room like bugs. Kali watched their exit curiously, wondering if she should take this chance to follow then since things seemed fine and she could always catch Kouen after their talk—
"You grow faint of heart?"
Can you blame me?
"Kali," Kali jumped, head whipping around in shock where Alibaba and Kouen were regarding where she stood thoughtfully. Alibaba smiled, tipping his head slightly. "You can show yourself now."
"You figured me out?" Kali grinned, idly rubbing the back of her neck as the glass illusion shattered. Alibaba's group let out squawks of surprise while Morgiana merely looked satisfied, Kouen's household blinking in mild surprise but nowhere near as startled. "I'm losing my touch, it seems."
"It's a familiar feeling," Alibaba explained, a knowing twinkle in his eye and Kali's smile widened as she disappeared and reappeared closer beside them. "Your presence in this room leaves a rather impactful memory."
"Your excuse of an illusion holds no candle to others," Kouen said flatly and Kali turned, clasping her hands behind her back as she peered up at him. You came.
"I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be too hard on my favorite king." I did.
The two of them gazed at each other for but a second and an eternity seemed to pass. Kali remained where she stood, unmoving and Kouen's eyes bore into her own, unrelenting. The silent, unspoken understanding that there would be no running this time.
"Let us talk properly, you and me."
Kouen's eyes never left her face. "Stop glaring at me. You're uncomfortable but I'll answer your questions."
Alibaba stilled and Kali broke their stare to offer the blonde a reassuring smile. "You know not what you may be able to do for him, my king."
Whatever Kouen has to say will most likely rattle him to the core. Kali tipped her head, dragon piece clinking softly with her braid. I just... want to be there.
"I don't remember a proper invitation being extended toward you," Seishuu added, no malice in his voice at all as the snakes around his head blinked thoughtfully at her. "Is this your way of saying that you've come back to our king?"
Kali blinked in surprise and Shou En grimaced, "Doubtful. This woman knows no loyalty but to her own heart."
Ouch.
"They are not faulty in their words."
You're traitorous, Cam.
"Come." Kouen said, not sparing any of them a single glance over his shoulder as he set off for one of the many doors leading out of the throne room.
His household broke apart, heading toward different directions and those who'd come with Alibaba glanced around in confusion. Toto made a face, coming to stand beside Alibaba as she set a hand on his shoulder. "Shouldn't we come along? Or at least Morgiana?"
"This is a conversation between the two of us," Alibaba shook his head. "He won't kill me here. He still wants to speak with Aladdin anyways. And I doubt..."
Golden eyes flickered to Kali beside him, whose gray eyed gaze remained on the back of the man walking ahead of them. "He's the kind of man who would do so."
"Kali," Morgiana murmured and Kali turned, quiet eyes staring intently into her own. "Make sure he stays safe, please."
Kali paused before the smallest of smiles touched her lips.
"I would have no greater honor."
"...is what I said," Kali absently watched a vine crack the foundation of the ground beneath her and curl up to meet her waiting fingers. The shattered marble at her feet was the result of her indignation and rebellion, and she played with the soft leaves with a small scowl. "And here I am."
Kali sat impatiently outside one of the many council rooms throughout the royal hallways of the former Palace of Balbadd. The familiar architecture curved over what should have been sleek stone and flowing, sea-kissed tapestries were replaced with red and gaping maws of golden dragons along archways. Inside the room at her side Kouen and Alibaba were present—what they were saying beyond her reach since Kouen had slammed the door in her face and told her to wait outside since, "You were not addressed within my letter, were you not?"
"Arrogant man," Kali muttered. "Goatee wearing, flaming haired jerk."
She curved the vine around her fingers and twisted them to the right, watching the vines explode from the ground and begin crawling along the walls. Let him deal with that later on.
"...you are more annoyed by this than I expected you to be."
What's the point in me coming if I can't even be a part of the conversation? Kali used her free hand and tugged at her hair. I want to know what he's saying. I want to know what's going on—not knowing is what's driving me insane.
Camio was silent for a moment. Kali sensed some unspoken words and she frowned, turning inwards. "What is it?"
"It is just... He told you to stay outside and you... well, listened."
The vines growing happily along the walls shriveled in response. Kali sat there, back flush against the wall and crouched like a petulant child and calmly pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes.
"He'll never let me live it down."
"Perhaps."
"So the rumors are true."
Kali's head shot up, eager for some sort of action and she blinked, taking in the familiar, lightly scarred complexion along with tired eyes—another war council—and ruffled hair despite being pulled back tightly against his head. Kali propped her head on one hand, taking in the trailing robes and extravagant fan with a small grin. "Koumei you haven't changed since I last saw you."
"Which wasn't long ago," Koumei reminded and then promptly yawned. "Mind you, we had also just finished fighting for our lives."
His words hung in the air for but a moment. That was all they could be granted, after all. It didn't matter how high the mountain climbed, how great the ocean swam—another lay in its wake and another beyond that only more to come. Kali would like to have greeted him properly, to have demanded update after update on everything in Kou—to know if he was alright.
But those were nothing but luxuries.
"You look well."
Kali's lips twitched. "You look as though you need a bed."
Koumei sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he treaded closer toward the door. Kali curled her arms over her knees, relaxed as Koumei fanned his vessel over the lower half of his face. "There are many things we all need."
"If you're here," Kali mused, voice breezy. "I hope you two don't think you can brainwash the poor kid into doing your bidding."
"Is that what you thought it was?" Koumei's fan slid shut and he fixed her with a thoughtful glance. "Though, I suppose you were one of my toughest audiences yet."
"He might be harder."
"He," Koumei nodded toward the room. "Has a country to lose."
Koumei's quiet gaze settled back on her. "As does my brother."
You don't.
Kali's eyes dropped to her feet. Scarred, marked with failures and triumphs. The faint patches of dirt along her soles, the anklets encircling her feet, the marbled ground beneath her.
"Do you remember what you said back then?" Koumei inquired quietly and Kali glanced up, blinking once. Koumei glanced back to her and then his fan returned to cover the lower half of his face. "When I saw you, I thought you were one of the strangest things I could have ever met, foolish though you were."
Kali winced, a small smile on her lips. "I was expecting a warmer reception from you, Koumei. Don't tell me you've written all those makeshift beds I made for you off already."
"I also thought," Koumei continued, one hand on the door as he turned to look at her and Kali saw then the weight of the nation on his shoulders. "That if anything were to be my brother's downfall—"
Rukh brushed past Koumei's hair, fanning the edges of his face as they chirped and fluttered and lived. Kali watched them around him, watched them fly and curve so freely and she saw a thousand worlds in his words.
"It would be you."
Koumei inclined his head and stepped through the door, his final words to her before parting nothing but the softest of utterances. "Those days were fun, I suppose."
The door closed behind him with a soft click.
And Kali had only but a minute to her thoughts when Kouen stepped out an instant after.
She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips, pressing her hands to her head as Kali shook her head. Kouen closed the door shut behind him, robes sweeping with a grace she could never possess across the floor as he turned and regarded her with a contemplative expression. His face was set in stone and Kali dragged a hand over the lower half of her face, letting it rest over her mouth as she turned her eyes upwards toward him. "If Kougyoku comes running around the corner I'll be at the mercy of you Rens."
Kouen ignored her statement and arched a fine brow. "You look as though the world were crumbling at your feet."
"Do I?" Kali wondered curiously, fingers reaching up to smooth the crease between her brows out of habit. "I suppose it does rather feel that way."
"You've grown faint of heart."
"Your goatee is longer."
Kouen inclined his head only but an inch, regarding the long vines that had burst through the perfectly marbled floors and begun creeping along the walls. "Impatient as well, I see."
"If you hurt him, I'll do much worse than that." Kouen was silent and Kali smiled absently to herself. "That's what I'd like to say, at least. But who knows?"
"You think me in such a fashion?"
"You pointed a blade my way in the middle of a war."
Kali let that memory hang in the air between them. Despite the flush that threatened to overtake her cheeks and the uncomfortable twist of her heart, she watched the side of his face as he turned his eyes from her and fixed them ahead. Kouen was silent, the air between them taut but not tight—twisting but not breaking.
"You need not look at me in such a way." Kouen rumbled. Kali paused, keeping her eyes trained on him and then crimson finally turned her way. They churned, swirling and dark and Kali remained there by that wall, unmoving.
What am I supposed to make of something like that? Kali wanted to laugh, but a strange sensation pricked the corners of her eyes. An apology? No, Ren Kouen is not such a man. He pulled her in the midst of a battlefield into his arms—spent all this time hunting her down with the promise to take her back and now—
"He has a country to lose."
Kali stood, absently brushing dust off her knees. Kouen remained where he was. Power radiated off every inch of his frame, it always would, but crimson eyes burned in silence. No words left his lips as he watched her, almost waiting, perhaps, because that was where the two of them seemed to stand. Facing each other as they hung on the balance of so many interwoven pathways and threads and the weight of so much on either of their shoulders—
Kali quietly held out her hand to him.
Kouen's eyes dipped once to her hand and then back to her face, waiting and silent as she watched him watch her.
Kali offered him a half lidded look, the corners of her mouth curving upwards into the faintest of smiles.
The tiger raised his paw and set it quietly amidst the outstretched wing of the bird.
The two of them disappeared and Kali shoved the brightest memory of Balbadd into the forefront of her mind and heard the Rukh flutter in response. Though the buildings had changed, though the view was different and the people and the time all so, so different, the presence remained. Wind tugged at her hair, the glow of a setting sun kissing her cheeks and the start of the thousands of strings in her grip unraveling.
"I could have killed you," Kali whispered in the silence of nothing but wind and the call of birds from the arching palace roof.
Kouen looked instead at the view before him, his feet settling on the sleek balcony floor of the highest rooftop she had brought them to. The harbor stretched out to the west, deep, churning blue and the cries of gulls in the distance as a ship left port and another returned. Below them the courtyard to the east, people moving across the walkways as though small pieces along a board. His eyes dipped to a discarded game set a few paces away from them, cushions positioned on either side of the table and a familiar strategy game present by the smooth wooden pieces.
"I could have taken you to the bottom of the ocean and watched the air escape your lungs," Kali murmured, hands clasping behind her back as she began to pace away from him. Kouen watched the distance between them grow in silence. "I could have taken you to your execution. I could have stripped you of your vessels and watched you fall from the heavens."
Gray collided with crimson and the wind tugged Kali's hair around her face.
Ruby red locks curved around Kouen's jaw. He quietly reached up and removed the golden headpiece sitting atop his head and set it on the balcony ledge. The evening sun set his hair aflame and he turned to face her entirely.
"I know."
Kali was still and Kouen made his way toward the discarded game that had been set up. He picked up a tiled piece, turning it in his fingers as though he were examining the quality of a jewel. "Do you remember how to play?"
"With your brutal teaching," Kali grimaced. "Barely. I never won against you though—that I remember very clearly."
Kouen made a low, rumbling sound from deep in his chest. Kali watched him curiously, her hair tugging in different directions and making her feel as anxious as the wind thrumming at her heels, but she remained. "If you plan to make a bet and then propose a game, I'm not falling for it again."
"You always lost," Kouen said evenly. "Because you attempted to win by keeping all your pieces."
Kouen set the piece he'd been holding down and picked up another, the faint carving of a bird etched into the smooth wood. He ran his thumb over the curving grooves, trailing over the small wings and then he examined the board beside him. "You were always willing to give up one piece, however."
"It had the most mobility," Kali disappeared and reappeared on the cushion a few feet from him, crossing her legs over each other and peering up at him curiously. "...what are you thinking about, right now?"
War. The words whispered between them. Blood. Lives. The Summit. History. Knowledge. Power. Outcomes. She thought about what he'd said after the battle with the Medium. Thought about how much weight his words had carried and how it bothered her how much she wondered if they changed with what was to come.
"You," Kouen turned to her, crimson eyes searing and aflame. "Are the kind of woman who would run as far as the earth stretched beneath you and then you would continue to run."
Kali's brows furrowed, words bubbling in her throat but she held them back as Kouen turned the piece over in his hand. "When you could no longer run, you would walk. If you could not walk, you would crawl. If your legs were stripped from you then you would drag yourself forward with your hands. If you lost your hands you would bury your teeth into the ground and continue onwards until there was nothing left."
Kouen held the piece between his thumb and forefinger, the wings of the bird peeking out from beneath his thumb. "When I realized this, I thought what you needed was someone to run beside you. When you continued ahead I thought you needed someone to run you to the ground—someone who could stop you before you had to crawl, before you had to drag yourself by nothing but your teeth."
Kouen's lips curved upwards the faintest bit. Kali froze, transfixed by the expression upon his face as he held the piece up to the light of the setting sun. The hardened lines around his face eased into a quietness, the same she saw when he allowed himself to be swallowed whole by the scrolls in his hands. Kali saw for the briefest of moments a man who wanted nothing more than to learn and know and she saw it all within the largest of studies and the comfiest of chairs and the warmest of candles and—
"I wanted to know much and knew little," Kouen rumbled. "Perhaps that was where I lacked foresight in all of this."
You can't tell me such things. Kali wanted to snarl like a child, like a cornered, scared animal. You can't say such things to me and show me this because—
"Merely extravagant words painted across golden shackles," Kouen mused, voice low and resounding. "I have some semblance of what it is I need to do. I have come this far and I will run as long as I must to see it through. What occurs at the Summit will not be discarded, as there are a great many things I wish to learn, but that fact will not change. Whether the direction must be shifted or the terrain askew, I will continue."
"You didn't need to call for me here to tell me all that," Kali whispered as her eyes rose to meet his. "I've already known."
A bird called and another answered. Wings flapped in the air and then two figures soared across the sky and toward the horizon without a single glance back.
"A proper talk," Kouen said lowly, turning his head toward her. Crimson eyes shone like the brightest of flames and Kali couldn't help chanting in her mind that it was fire. Always, always fire, wasn't it?
Kouen's crimson eyes paused in burning her where she stood and fixed themselves upon the wooden piece in his hand. He turned to the board beside them, pieces littered in clusters all around and with the softest hand she had ever witnessed of him, he set the piece down, nestling it in a spot all of its own.
"Perhaps," Kouen said quietly, but Kali heard each part of it like a thunderous roar and felt each syllable as though it were fire in her veins. "What you needed was merely a place to return to."
Rukh fluttered, soft wings brushing against them. Kali heard their whispers, quiet and soft. She'd almost forgotten, but there they were, filling the empty silence between them as crimson remained on stormy gray and Kali shut her eyes to drown it all out for the briefest of moments. Her heart surged, waves crashed around her, and in the dark gold of the evening sun, Kali looked up at Kouen and felt a small smile curve upon her lips.
"You are," Kali said thickly, "impossibly cruel."
Kouen's eyes slid shut and he inclined his head ever so slightly. "I will do as I must."
When his eyes parted to gaze upon her again Kali saw worlds and felt the fleetingness of so many memories she could hardly remember at this point.
"What I said to you after the battle remains true," Kouen said finally, resounding. "I am, after all, a man of my word."
The sun finally dipped beneath the horizon, only the faintest sliver of melted gold catching their figures. Long shadows stretched out behind them and Kali heard once more, the many promises the whispers of the Rukh seemed to always make.
"I'll remember that."
Whenever I write Kali and Kouen in a scene together, I find that I'm never able to do it in a setting unless it's something like this. The quiet study, the low light of an overhanging walkway amidst the palace, or in the evening. I wonder if that says anything about them but who knows?
WAS REALLY TEMPTED TO KEEP GOING BUT I HAD TO CUT THE CHAPTER HERE OR THE PACING FOR TH NEXT ONE WOULD BE WEIRD AND I KNOW YALL ARE LIKE GIVE US THE SUMMIT ALREADY AND I SWEARZ IT COMIN.
I've got a thing for birds. And flowers. I hope I can incorporate these symbols properly one day into an actual book or somethin' :,)
Sorry again for being a few days late on this one, some things came up and it got away from me for a bit but here it is! I hope you all enjoyed :) Thank you again for your amazing support because THIS STORY IS ALMOST AT 2K REVIEWS LIKE WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. I almost short circuited realizing that and I can't believe it's already been so long with this story. I hope I can continue to do it justice and bring you guys to a proper ending, but until then, I'm going to enjoy every bit of writing this and I hope you all do too.
PSA: I FINALLY CLEANED UP MY TUMBLR AND IT IS NOW READY TO ROLL LOVES. It hasn't got much on it yet but feel free to pop on over and bug me about updates, ask me some questions, or just chat! You can find me as alkhale and if you see the Hinata profile you're in the right place.
Thank you for reading!
Marshmellow-
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