A/N: I'm back~~~ Anyone missed me?
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(silence)
Haha, anyways, enjoy the chapter. There's a bonus omake at the end. Make sure to read the author's note in between. ;p
Age 9 (continued)
"Next," the man said boredly, waving aside the magician hopeful. Although in Aladdin's time, standards for becoming a magician were basically 'you can perform a Borg, you get in', during Yamuraiha's time things were much harder. Magnoshutatt Academy was much more suspicious and wary of travellers, especially those who came from the Musta'sim kingdom.
She fidgeted in line, clutching onto her staff tighter. Next to her, Sera threw Yamuraiha a nervous glance, which she returned with a (hopefully) reassuring smile. They could do this: they had been training almost nonstop for the past month. Yamuraiha had helped Sera figure out the basic steps to actual magic and he had taken to it like a bird to the air. Once he understood the concept, it was luckily a piece of cake for him to put the other piece together.
Since Sera was such a fast learner, it also allowed time for Yamuraiha to continue to work to improve her own skills, as often he'd spend an afternoon trying to figure out how to create a new spell or maximize the potency of one. He pointed out possible adjustments to what she was doing with the critical, scientist mind he had. She often missed small points when trying to get the big picture, while Sera was the opposite: focusing too much on the details and not on the overall idea.
Yamuraiha saw the world as the world, and she could see how small actions could affect a larger idea. A recent trade agreement between Musta'sim and the Kou Empire, for example. She started to predict how the economy itself would shift, while Sera had immediately questioned how certain goods' values would fluctuate.
Their friendship was beneficial for the two of them, but even though that had been one of the key reasons they had founded their alliance, it was not one of the reasons they kept up the friendship. To both of them, the relationship was a relief: someone to talk to, their own age, who could keep up with all kinds of technical jargon and not judge them on their looks but their intelligence.
Yamuraiha sighed as she glanced up at the sky. She hoped that the Rukh was still abiding by her wishes and was still acting...normal. One glance at Sera told her all she knew: everything was good. For now, at least.
Yamuraiha knew what she had to do to get into the Academy. Luckily, not only had Sera learned about the process from his Uncle, but he had also taken the test several times in the past.
The preliminary test was mainly to root out any Goi or low magicians that certainly didn't deserve in the Academy, thus it was the longest of the three tests to get in. First, they would be testing if she had the ability to perform magic, probably with a simple Borg, Sera had informed her. That was a piece of cake for both of them.
The second part of the preliminary test would test the magician's stamina, probably with something along the lines of maintaining a Borg for as long as possible.
(Once again, Yamuraiha thanked herself for having the foresight in mastering the simple spells. They'd help her a lot in the long run. In all honesty, she would've never thought about mastering the basics had it not been for reading the manga Naruto and noticing the effectiveness of the Kawarimi jutsu, but that was a story for another day. Thank God she was a completely weeb in her past life: if she had been reborn in Magi without knowing who everyone was and what was to happen, she would've definitely gone insane.)
The third part was a test of mental strength. Sera had told her that aspect of the test always had something different, so there was really no way for them to prepare for a specific scenario. They just had to be ready for anything.
Yamuraiha, in complete honesty, was unafraid of all three parts of the preliminary test. She knew she would pass them. She was actually a bit more worried about the part of being allowed to take the test. Yamuraiha was about to attempt to talk to the official and feed him her sob story once again and hope that her status as a Musta'sim citizen would be overlooked.
"Next," the man repeated again, letting the person before her through. Well, moment of truth.
She handed the man the form she had filled out before getting in line for being checked. It asked relatively standard questions, ranging from her name to her age. Unfortunately, it also included questions about her nationality and status as a citizen. That itself seemed like another test in itself: those who didn't fill out the form couldn't enter, making it so that those who were illiterate stood little to no chance.
"Name...Raiha. No last name?" He asked.
She shrugged. "If I had one, I wouldn't know. Orphan since day one, apparently."
The man nodded in understanding, and there was a glint of sympathy in his eyes. Perhaps he had kids. Or he was just a nice guy. Or both. Well, either way, she could use this sympathy to her advantage if she needed to.
"...Musta'sim?" He asked after scanning her paper again. Yamuraiha could tell that he was immediately on his guard.
"My parents were magicians. There was a magician purge. The people Musta'sim sent decided to take me to the palace out of the small good will in their hearts. I discovered magic, they were going to kill me, I escaped, and here I am now," the man read her response to 'history' and with a tone of slight disbelief.
Yamuraiha shrugged. That was the best she could do with forty-five words. "Trust me, if I had room, it'd be much longer."
"So you don't know who your parents are?" He asked.
"Unfortunately, no. Otherwise I would've just found out some of my parents' old contacts or something and have them help me learn magic in the first place," Yamuraiha deadpanned. Did he really underestimate her intelligence that much? "The castle kept my identity under wraps."
"Teal hair…" The man muttered, deep in thought, but he quickly pulled himself together and pointed at a separate line. "You'll have to go through there. Safety precautions."
"Will I eventually be able to meet up with my friend again?" Yamuraiha gestured at Sera, who was next to her.
"If you pass through security and the first part of the preliminary test," he answered, shooing her. "I assume you don't have any paperwork then?"
"Nope. I doubt that they would even want to consider a magician as a citizen of their country, so I don't think any official paperwork was ever given to me. Although I guess since it's the place of my birth I'm technically still a citizen of Musta'sim," Yamuraiha replied honestly, allowing a bit of snide disgust to seep into her voice. She would never understand why a country would willingly drive away potentially resources of manpower. Magicians could have been a strong asset to Musta'sim, had they kept a symbiotic relationship.
She couldn't blame it all on the country though, as she was sure Al Tharmen's constant manipulations had played a part in driving away the magicians. But still. Now Musta'sim was stuck in a war against a country of elite, high powered magicians who could probably cast one spell and knock away a legion.
(Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but she was sure that some of the more powerful magicians could do that or something similar. Yamuraiha mentally put that on her to-do list: figure out some area spells that would be able to target multiple targets at once.)
"Move along, Miss Raiha."
She obediently made her way to the other line, which consisted mainly of suspicious looking men and a few people that had features foreign to Magnoshutatt. She slipped behind a rather tall person with blonde hair tied in a neat ponytail. In all honesty, she couldn't tell the gender of the person in front of her. They were certainly tall enough to be a guy, but their face and hair made them look rather...girly.
"Um...hi, there," Yamuraiha said lamely. "My name's Raiha. Yours?"
"...Lynn," the blonde replied, their voice as gender ambiguous as their name. The blonde studied her for a moment. "How old are you?"
"Nine," she answered nonchalantly. "You?"
"Fourteen. Nine, huh? That explains why you're so short," the blonde muttered the last part mainly to themself.
Yamuraiha twitched dangerously. "Excuse me? Did you just call me short?"
"Yeah, shortstuff. You're so tiny, I can barely even see you." The blonde's lips curled up into a smirk.
"At least I'm not someone whose name is Lynn. Are you even a boy or a girl?" Yamuraiha replied snidely. In her past life, Yamuraiha had been tall for a female. But in this life, Yamuraiha wasn't growing fast enough for her liking, making her just a tad bit sensitive about her height. She was in the four feet range for goodness sake. In her past life she had been well above five and a half feet.
"I'm a boy, idiot," Lynn growled. It seemed as if she had hit a sensitive topic as well, for she could literally see the annoyance roll off of Lynn in waves.
"Really? Couldn't tell," Yamuraiha shot back.
"Guess someone as small as you has a puny brain to go along with it," Lynn replied, glaring at her.
Yamuraiha twitched. "That's it," she snarled, ready to tackle the mage had it not been for something else interfering.
"All potential students in this line, please follow me!" A mage, probably using some kind of magic that enhanced their voice so that everyone could hear, yelled at Yamuraiha's line.
Lynn and Yamuraiha both shot each other dirty glares before turning away from each other in synchronization.
"Tch." "Hmph."
"Since all of you are immigrants from countries that are on our watch list, we'll have a screening first. We will be injecting a certain truth serum that will hurt you if you lie, and we will ask you questions. Please note that if you are of suspicious intentions, it is very likely that you will be killed."
...okay, Yamuraiha was honestly expecting something along the lines of this, but she was unaware that Magnoshutatt had developed a truth serum. Another piece of information she should probably note: such a thing would be extremely useful in torture and interrogations.
Well, now was the time for her to use her (contrary to what Lynn believed) clever brain to find loopholes. If she didn't find a way out of this...well, she was screwed to say the least.
Some senior magicians came around, ordering for people to come with them. To Yamuraiha's displeasure, she was looped in a group with Lynn and some buff guy with tattoos. She immediately exchanged glares with said blonde as they followed the magician into a certain chamber.
Are you going to fail before you even take a test to get in? Lynn's smirk obviously conveyed.
Please go die. Yamuraiha smiled.
After you. He smiled back politely.
The atmosphere was getting uncomfortable, to the point that the buff dude and the magician that was guiding them shifted uncomfortably and attempted to ignore the two's silent jibes at each other. The four entered the chambers.
"Please drink these potions. Two other magicians will be monitoring you three as well, so don't even think about escaping," the magician said sternly, handing each of them a potion before motioning for them to sit at the table in the center of the room.
...oh, great. Her interrogation wasn't even going to be private. Yamuraiha's lying skills would definitely be put to the test.
"Raiha, Lynn, and Zares," the magician read off their names. "I am called Feiste. I will be screening you three for today."
Joy to the world.
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A/N: Soooo you guys are amazing, and really your reviews and the sudden wave of favorites and followers were what made me actually sit down and write this haha.
Lynn's an adorable marshmallow. Really.
A certain review from TheLazyCouchPotato has inspired me to write omakes that are based off of Disney movies (although this one turned out super long haha). Let's see how quick you can catch what movie this is supposed to be below. (I'm betting the fourth sentence.)
Also, feel free to request for a specific Disney movie to be written for the next chapter. You can also request the appearances of certain characters/ships.
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Omake
Raiha opened her eyes wearily. For some reason...she could hear...singing?
A hand was offered before her, and she quickly regained her senses and glanced around her. She was on a balcony...dressed in dark royal blue Arabian dance styled clothes. For some reason that immediately set Raiha panicking, she was in Yamuraiha's current timeline body and oh my gosh she actually had a chest.
She glanced upwards to meet the eyes of the person who was offering her his hand. And that was a mistake.
A broad smile was sent her way as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear. Golden eyes shone at her, his warm gaze making her almost want to blush. Keyword: almost. "Don't you trust me?" A deep, tenor voice resounded.
OH. MY. GOD.
"Heck no!" Raiha shrieked, slapping him promptly in the face, sending him flying off of the balcony, his magic carpet barely catching the purple haired man in time. The man groaned and glanced at his tall, blue haired genie for help. Hinahoho, as the genie was named, helpfully shrugged. Ja'far, his longtime companion, seemed amused.
"That was just Sinbad...oh my gosh that was just Sinbad," Raiha muttered to herself, certain she had gone insane. "What the hell is going on?"
"Princess, don't mind King Mogamett," Sinbad quickly recovered, holding out his hand once again. "Just trust me. I can show you a whole new world."
...what.
Sinbad was pulling Disney jokes on her.
Mogamett was apparently a King.
She was a Princess.
If Sinbad was supposed to be some bastardized, perverted version of Aladdin, did that make her Jasmine?
OH. MY. GOD.
Perhaps later, Raiha would defend herself by saying she wasn't completely in her right state of mind. After all, she had just recovered from her state of unconsciousness and probably still wasn't all there yet. Whatever logic that she might have been able to use in that very moment flew out of the window as Sinbad kissed her hand.
Sinbad. Kissed. Her. Hand.
"Pervert!" She sent him flying with her first, immediately whipping around and running back into the safety of the palace walls. She was not going to get involved with Sinbad in any way. For some reason she was in some kind of Magi version of Aladdin, which in a way was ironic considering that the title character of Magi wasn't playing the...Disney title character, but that was a totally different point.
"Oh my God. What's going on? What's going on?" Raiha mumbled. As she hurried along the hallway, she bumped into someone and immediately winced at the sudden pain from slamming her face against that person's chest.
Who she saw made her do another double take. "S-Sera?" She identified weakly. It certainly was her bookworm companion, with his warm amethyst eyes. The only problem apparent to Raiha was that he had also grown older: he was taller than her by a few inches, and his once boyishly messy locks now were grown longer and tied into a neater ponytail.
"Princess Yamuraiha," he acknowledged, and Raiha definitely knew something was wrong. Sera never addressed her as such. "You have to meet one of your suitors right now. Where were you?"
"Being flirted with by an idiot," she mumbled. "Tell whoever it is I'm not in the mood."
"B-but he's the crown prince of the nearby Musta'sim Kingdom-"
"It's fine," she growled. "I'm not in the mood."
"...okay."
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"Prince Ali, fabulous he, Ali Ababwa~~~"
"...kill me now," Raiha groaned, burying her head deeper into a pillow. "He came back."
"Princess Yamuraiha! Another prince has come asking for your hand quite suddenly. Please come get dressed," Sera called, knocking on her door. "And I believe another prince is creating quite a ruckus out on the streets."
"Yeah, yeah," Raiha muttered, getting up while inwardly groaning. She did not want to look at Sinbad, much less interview him for her hand in marriage. She quickly dressed herself in a coral pink Arabian styled robe that reached her ankles before exiting her bed chamber.
She followed Sera to where her father, now Mogamett apparently, and Sinbad must have been waiting.
"Princess Yamuraiha has arrived," Sera announced. At those words, Sinbad immediately perked up. On the other hand, Raiha's shoulders slumped even more.
"My daughter," Mogamett said gravely. Oh please nononono.
"Yes, father?" She asked politely, already dreading what was to come.
"I have been talking to Prince Ali, and I believe that he has given quite a number of reasons for your hand in marriage. He is quite…" Mogamett glanced over at a starstruck Sinbad. "...taken by you."
"Princess," Sinbad bowed and kissed her hand again, and it took all of the self control Raiha had to stop herself from punching him in the face once again. It seemed as if Sinbad hadn't forgotten their last encounter either, for he flinched when her hand twitched. "Have I ever told you that you've completely swept me off my feet?"
"Yes, yes I did. You went flying pretty far," Raiha deadpanned.
"Your teal hair is as exotic as is beautiful~"
"...you have purple hair."
"Do you have a map? Because I've gotten lost in your eyes."
"Personally, I can only hope you'd get lost soon."
"Are you an angel? Because-"
"You're delusional," Raiha deadpanned. "And please refrain from any more horrible pick up lines before I puke."
Being the intelligent man he was, Sinbad immediately retracted.
"My daughter, you have been rejecting all of your marriage offers thus far. I believe that you already know how important it is to have a spouse to help you rule the kingdom once I abide from the throne, and I believe that Prince Ali is a suitable candidate for such," Mogamett attempted to persuade her. "I've already signed a contract with him."
"...you did what?!" Raiha hissed.
"...I may have signed a contract with him stating that if you did not have a fiance by the end of the week, he would become your fiance," Mogamett admitted.
Raiha just stared, stupefied.
"...I think you broke her, my king," Sera commented helpfully. The comment seemed to slap Raiha out of her stupor, for immediately the teal haired girl screeched 'I will never marry this guy!', slapped Sinbad again, and ran out of the room.
"I think we should follow her," Sinbad said, helpful as ever. He nursed his swollen cheek, nodding in thanks when his companion Ja'far came and applied some ointment to it.
The men followed after the runaway princess and were surprised to see the girl run into the other guest greeting room desperately.
Raiha nearly threw herself on top of the younger male she saw in the room. "Father, I can't marry Sinb...I mean, Prince Ali. I...uh, I want to marry this guy!" She exclaimed desperately, hugging on to the said person.
She quickly stiffened when she realized that the person she was holding on to had white hair.
Oh, please karma be merciful on her and please let this guy not be the person she thinks he is.
"Ow, what the hell woman? The only reason I agreed with my brother to come to this stupid marriage interview was because I heard you rejected every suitor you had," the boy grumbled, and Raiha froze when his green eyes met hers.
"Sharrkan," the figure beside him warned.
"It is...decided then? Princess Yamuraiha of the Magnoshutatt Kingdom will be marrying Prince Sharrkan of the Heliohapt Kingdom," Sera announced.
Sharrkan rolled his eyes and glared at the teal haired princess who had sealed his fate. Sinbad seemed like he was about to wither away. Ja'far patted Sinbad on the back. Hinahoho, the genie, muttered something about seeing his wife Rurumu. Mogamett looked amused. Sera looked confused. Armkarr looked satisfied, crossing his arms over his chest, having finally found his brother a suitable wife.
...and Raiha?
Well, Raiha promptly fainted.