Age 3

"I'm going to the marketplace today," Mira explained slowly to little Yamuraiha. Yamuraiha simply stared at her for a moment, wondering who else would take care of her since Mira usually was her sole companion in the castle. "Cook needs some more ingredients and most of the other staff members have fallen sick to an illness, so I need to get the miracle drug for that."

Ah, yes. The epidemic that was supposedly caused by Yamuraiha's presence: she was aware of that, for the servants recently had been more hostile to her than usual. Apparently among the citizens, about fifteen percent of the population had already died, and now the fear of becoming sick had grown so large that many of the castle staff that hadn't fallen ill had turned in forms of resignation.

Mira, surprisingly, had stayed. She was still healthy, and was the main source Yamuraiha counted on for telling her about the world rather than the library. "I'll buy you some candy if I have any leftover money," Mira explained softly, patting Yamuraiha on the head. "I'll be gone for a few nights because I might need to go to one of the far away port towns if our capital has run out of that new miracle drug that cures the illness that ails our people, but I promise I'll return. The trip will take tops a week or two depending on the scarcity of the drug."

Yamuraiha couldn't help but give her caretaker a toothy grin. Although her words sounded cheesy and would be labelled as what those in her old life would call a 'death flag', Yamuraiha knew that Mira was always genuine with her words, and that when she made a promise, she kept it. "Mira be okay," she said slowly. You'll stay safe.

"Of course." Mira grinned, ruffling the girl's hair. "By the way, Isaac's mom will be taking care of you. You know Isaac, right? He's the servant that Princess Dunya favors a lot. Maybe you two will get along, since you two are the same age."

Yamuraiha sent Mira a sour look. Mira knew her stand on 'making friends with people her age', ever since one time when Mira tried setting up Yamuraiha on a playdate with one of the castle servant's daughters. The girl had been a few years older than Yamuraiha, at seven years old, but Mira had been sure that Yamuraiha was mature enough to handle her. However, the playdate didn't go all so well. It had ended with the girl crying and Yamuraiha being bored. When asked of what happened, Yamuraiha had drawled, "I invited her to play a small game of chess with me and pointed out a few things she did wrong."

That, of course, literally meant 'I pointed out every single flaw the girl did and mercilessly pounded on them'. After that, Mira wisely had given up on getting Yamuraiha to socialize with those she didn't want to. The only other person Yamuraiha really bothered was Prince Nicholas, although Mira didn't necessarily want to encourage their budding relationship. It was like a game of cat and mouse, even though Mira couldn't tell who was the cat and who the mouse.

"Isaac?" Yamuraiha repeated. Her 's' sound was a little slurred, but generally Yamuraiha's pronunciation was getting much better.

"Yeah. I'm sure you two can become good friends, so be nice." Mira sent Yamuraiha a half stern look before giving a chuckle at the pouty look on her charge's face. Mira's eyes grew wistful as she stared off in the distance. "Hey, Yamu…" her voice trailed off somewhat as the toddler glanced up at her, her teal eyes meeting Mira's green. "I was born an orphan. My mother was a woman who...entertained people for a living, and so I don't know my father, and my mother died in childbirth. Despite that, the Queen was kind enough to offer me a life in the castle."

Yamuraiha did not interrupt her.

"...I've never known what 'family' really is, but…" Now glancing at her, Mira gave a small, but bright, smile. "I think that if I did, then you'd be like my little sister."

Yamuraiha was struck simply silent by the thought.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" Mira laughed, as she gave the little girl one last squeeze. "I'll be back soon."

"You must be Yamuraiha," Isaac's mother gave her a kind smile as she quickly ushered the girl inside her room. "I've heard wonderful things about you from Mira, that sweet girl."

"Thank you," Yamuraiha said politely.

"How darling," Isaac's mother gushed. It was a refreshing breath of air within the suffocating atmosphere of the judgmental servants. "You are just so cute. Is your hair color natural?" Yamuraiha nodded in response to the question. She knew that Isaac's mother was a seamstress for the palace, but that was about the extent of her knowledge. She definitely didn't know of the woman's exuberant and slightly overbearing nature.

"We can braid it. Maybe...two pigtails. That will look so darling...I always wanted a daughter, you know?" The woman chattered, pulling Yamuraiha fully into the room as the teal haired girl took in the aroma of vanilla that seemed to permeate the room. Isaac's mother still lived on the palace grounds, although she lived in the more secluded servants' quarters that was outside of the main castle building, so her tiny cottage actually had furniture and a kitchen, unlike Yamuraiha's small place in the servants' quarters in the palace.

"I live with several other servants," Isaac's mother explained, noticing Yamuraiha's wide eyes at the slightly spacious room. It was definitely big for a servant. "But I think that most of them have gone on another raid for the war. Isaac and I still stay here, and I believe that Regina and Histok are still here. Regina's another seamstress who is a friend of mine, and Histok is a rather prickly young man who normally patrols the palace grounds."

While she was talking, Isaac's mother had sat Yamuraiha down on a comfy sofa and begun to braid Yamuraiha's shoulder length blue locks. The woman skillfully maneuvered her hands the way only seamstresses could as she hummed under her breath a lullaby. "Regina likes the smell of vanilla, so she always gets Histok to buy her some whenever he goes out to the village," she said, closing her eyes peacefully as she finished one braid and moved onto the next one. She had tied the braid with a piece of pink ribbon.

"Pretty," Yamuraiha tugged on the finished braid, taking in the steady and even effort put into her hair. The look brought back memories from her past life, when her old mother used to braid her hair when Yamuraiha was a little girl. She quickly pushed back the memory before she could dwell on it: those days were gonegonegonegone. They were gone.

"Thank you," the woman replied, giving Yamuraiha's head one last pat as she tied the other braid with another piece of pink ribbon, tugging on the bow to make sure it was secure. Stepping back, Isaac's mother couldn't help but admire her handiwork. "You look so adorable," she repeated as Yamuraiha returned her smile a little hesitantly.

"Regina, here's Yamuraiha. Yamuraiha, this is Regina," Isaac's mother introduced. Regina had long, beautiful raven black hair that fell to her waist, and she had the prettiest brown eyes that made Yamuraiha stare at her in awe for a moment.

"You're pretty," she blurted out, and quickly she stopped herself with a hand, but it was too late. Both women giggled at the girl's response while Yamuraiha simply blushed under the two's warm gazes.

"Regina used to work in a profession that required her to be very pretty," Isaac's mother explained, her explanation obviously a euphemism for Regina being a prostitute. Despite that, Yamuraiha still couldn't help but be in awe of the woman's beauty and entrancing aura that seemed to radiate from her. Was this how people felt when they met Sinbad? Utterly captivated by the strong aura they gave off, as if the Rukh itself was favoring the person?

"I like her, Delia," Regina murmured to Isaac's mother. "I wasn't sure about taking her in at first, especially since the servants are always gossiping about her, but I'm glad we did. She looks just like any toddler right now." Changing the subject, she said, "Isaac's playing with the Princess again, I heard."

"Yes...I'm not sure how that boy did it, but the Princess loves him dearly," his mother said thoughtfully. "He loves her too. He's only three, but he already told me the other day that he wants to be Princess Dunya's knight. Isn't that cute?"

"It is," Regina agreed firmly, a smile flickering over the woman's face as she bent down and patted Yamuraiha on the head. "Welcome to the family, Yamuraiha. We're glad to have you here. Even after Mira comes back, feel free to stop by here whenever you want."

Those words, as genuine but heartfelt as they were, made Yamuraiha truly grin from ear to ear. "Thank you!"

The next few days were spent in absolute bliss. Although the other castle servants continued to ignore three-year old Yamuraiha, she had found sanctuary in Isaac's home. She had met Isaac, albeit briefly, for he had quickly hurried off to meet Princess Dunya's demands, but she could tell that he was a good person.

Histok, the other roommate that Isaac's mother had mentioned she would meet, was a guard with a scary face but a gentle persona inside, although it had taken Yamuraiha several attempts to actually get the guy to smile. He reminded her of one of those typical "cool and insensitive" guys who turned out to actually have a good heart, but Yamuraiha had to remind herself that being so wasn't a bad thing. People were people, no matter how cliche or overused she thought some of their personalities were.

After a week had passed after Mira had left her, however, Yamuraiha began to grow slightly worried. Even if Mira had to take a trip to one of the seaports, she shouldn't have been taking this long. Musta'sim wasn't that big of a country. She had taken her concerns up to Regina, but the woman had simply laughed and patted Yamuraiha on the head (for some reason, adults really liked doing that to her), saying that Mira would be due any day now.

After two weeks, Yamuraiha was extremely worried (although she tried not to show it). Even Prince Nicholas, who she had rarely seen recently because she was hanging out with the servants more, had noticed her change in demeanor and had called her out on it. ("Whatever that's bothering you, just keep being your normal self otherwise I'll start getting nervous, idiot.") It was the most comfort an eight year old could offer, she supposed. Nicholas was only five years older than her, after all.

Finally, on the seventeenth night after Mira had left the palace, her caretaker had returned, ragged, tired, but undoubtedly alive. She had given a waiting Yamuraiha the brightest smile yet as she held up a bag of candy and winked. "I promised you, after all."

Yamuraiha didn't realize her legs were moving until she was already in Mira's arms.

She didn't know that she had grown so attached to her. That was bad, her mind whispered, although she pushed it away just for the moment. Just for once, she'd just savor the moment without poisoning it with darker thoughts, she promised herself as she leaned into Mira's embrace, closing her eyes peacefully.

Age 4

There were several challenges and obstacles that Yamuraiha did not plan on.

One being the death of the Queen of Musta'sim, which left the Prince and Princess basically on their own as their father was busy ruling the kingdom. Yamuraiha had become the favorite of young Prince Nicholas, for some unearthly reason. Princess Dunya, she had heard, had begun to be taken care of by young Isaac's mother.

Yamuraiha cursed her failing memory: she had forgotten that Dunya's mother had died when the girl was young. At least at age 4, Yamuraiha had gained some kind of form of coordination, and she set to work with immediately writing down every last detail of Magi she remembered into a small leather notebook, given to her by Mira for her fourth birthday. She had easily swiped a pen off of Nicholas's desk (she still couldn't understand why the boy, only 9 years old now, would be doing paperwork of all things) to use to transcribe her memories in.

Her guide must have been more astute than Yamuraiha had originally given her credit for, because Mira definitely knew that Yamuraiha was of above average intelligence. And thus, Mira allowed her a bit of leeway in exploring the palace, as every twenty-year old woman had her own concerns to worry about. Apparently Mira was a bit enamored by Histok, the guard that lived with Isaac's mother. She'd probably pop in to check on the lively group of servants sometime just to give them a greeting, as she sorely missed the companionship and relaxed atmosphere that they provided.

Yamuraiha briefly wondered what would become of the people that she had become acquainted with would do once the revolution occurred. It was a looming nine years away, and although that seemed like a long time, Yamuraiha could not count on time to be the same as it had been.

She had not seen Mogamett.

"Oi! Brat!"

Oh, there was Nicholas again. Dear Prince Nick, as she had 'nicknamed' him (pun intended), had surprisingly abandoned his paperwork for some reason. Maybe he had finally discovered she was the person who had unceremoniously spilled his ink all over his papers (which, by the way, were just biased documents depicting Musta'sim as the best country in the world: in reality, that was far from the truth). His reaction was amusing, although she managed to escape right before he caught her.

She tilted her head, waiting for the prince to explain himself. Nick wheezed for a moment, catching his breath before he straightened up. "My sister wants a friend and the person who usually watches over her has taken to the bed in a fever. Go play with her."

Obviously displeased by his tone of voice, Yamuraiha simply raised her eyebrows for a moment as the nine year old prince blushed a bright red, muttering something about disrespectful servants before crying out in frustration, "Fine! I'll let you into the royal library freely for a day and take whatever books you want, just please get her off of my case so that the tutors stop complaining. Dunya's wonderful, but I don't have the time to deal with her right now. She's the same age as you, right? Perfect. Now, follow me!"

Without a backwards glance, the green haired boy started tugging her towards the direction of his sister's room. Yamuraiha rolled her eyes, but allowed her petite frame to be dragged over to the room. In hindsight, it was probably a good opportunity if she was able to create a connection with Dunya. If she had a more powerful ally, no matter how young, it could benefit her somehow.

Then again, Dunya was the member of the royal family closest to the actual plot. And Yamuraiha honestly wanted to avoid the plot like a plague. Because...well, honestly she didn't want to spend her days slaving away for some flirty king who wouldn't give her the time of the day.

(It was funny, because Yamuraiha hadn't even realized that she was already planning for the future, despite the fact that she had been entertaining more suicidal thoughts even after her rebirth. This world fascinated her...unbound to physics, ruthless and primitive in the human civilization's ways, yet undeniably connected to her old world.)

After having plenty of time to reason to herself, Yamuraiha had decided on a path. She would still willingly run into Mogamett's arms if he would try to save her from Musta'sim's revolt. On the other hand, she had to come up with a backup plan in case she somehow managed to royally screw up and not catch Mogamett's attention. Sadly, as she had yet to see of any possible escape for a child servant to leave the palace, Yamuraiha was still working on that.

But either way, she wasn't going to die from a pathetic revolt that nobody except those in Musta'sim would have heard about. If she was going to die, she would either try to drag as many people down with her in some kind of epic battle, or just go quietly due to her own causes. The ideas were so contradictory that Yamuraiha wanted to giggle at her own convoluted mind. What was she thinking? She couldn't even properly give a reason why she wanted to go out with a bang, yet wanted to go without a tiny peep at the same time.

She would avoid Sinbad like the plague. Being with that man just begged for trouble, and Yamuraiha sort of wished that in her past life she had continued Magi, as she had stopped watching after that incident. She had heard whispers about Sinbad and something about being Half-Fallen, whatever that meant, so most likely the guy would turn out to be some final boss. It would make sense: the portrayed strongest man on the Seven Seas turned villain? That was the ultimate cliche, and Yamuraiha (despite her reclusive tendencies in her past life) was definitely genre savvy enough to know that possibility was highly likely.

"Dunya, meet Raiha. Raiha, meet Dunya." Nick introduced tersely, and Yamuraiha's teal eyes blinked in faint surprise at the nickname. At her questioning glance, he rolled his eyes and explained, "Your name's too long. And god forbid I ever call you 'Yamu' like that annoying woman."

Yamuraiha tested this new nickname, 'Raiha', on her lips, contemplating it for a moment. There was a slight foreign flare to it that made her lips twitch upwards in acknowledgement, and Nick had obviously caught this movement as he puffed out his chest proudly.

Yamuraiha turned to meet her newest companion, observing the Princess with slightly judgmental eyes. They were the same age, although Yamuraiha was slightly taller and had a more tan and healthy complexion from running around all over the place. Her stealing and teasing of the castle servants was not all for games: it also prepared her for what was to come. Although Dunya could play as much as she wanted in the sunlight with that knight of hers, Isaac, Yamuraiha was preparing for a revolt.

A war.

Once, Yamuraiha had pissed off a knight, but was delighted to see that she could outrun him long enough to hide and escape punishment. That was exactly the kind of thing she wanted to be able to do when the time came: stealthily evade.

Dunya's eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, and the girl was peering at her curiously as well, obviously examining her new companion.

There must have been something about Yamuraiha that earned her approval, for the Princess quickly brightened and clasped her hands around Yamuraiha's. "A pleasure to meet you, Yamuraiha. Please just call me Dunya."

Yamuraiha sent a helpless look towards Nick, who gave her a smug smirk and an innocent shrug before slipping out of the room, bidding her luck with his eyes. Traitor, she scowled. Leaving her with the problem of entertaining his little sister so he could head right back to work.

Sighing slightly, the girl returned the gesture, "Nice to meet you too, Dunya. If you'd like, call me Raiha."

A/N: Annnd we finally get our first canon character encounter. :)

Also, a quick explanation on the names/nicknames as it'll become a bit more apparent in the story. 'Yamuraiha', obviously, was her birthname, which is why when we are in her sort of POV we get "Yamuraiha did this". Our character doesn't like the nickname 'Yamu' that Mira gave her, as that was the nickname the canon Yamuraiha was called, and thus you'll rarely see that pop up. 'Raiha' is the nickname that Prince Nicholas gave her, and is how Dunya (who is the one from canon and is actually the same age as Yamuraiha) will call her. Yamuraiha has no qualms with the nickname 'Raiha' as from what she knows her canon self wasn't called such.

Basically, Yamuraiha doesn't want to be confused with her canon self. She isn't Yamu, and doesn't want to be exactly her, and the reminder of the fact that she stole someone else's life and isn't part of the world doesn't help with her angst issues.

Anyways, thank you so much for all of the amazing reviews! I read every single one, and notice every addition to the story, and it just makes me jump with joy (literally, to my family's displeasure) whenever I see one of those. ;) If you have time, do leave a review. I love hearing the feedback, and honestly there are so many routes this story can go that sometimes you guys point out stuff I didn't even realize, haha.

Until next time!