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Main Prompt: What if Yamuraiha was a Dungeon Capturer?
Other requests incorporated in here: Oblivious!Raiha with the guys flirting with her, lots of ships, more Nick/Raiha, flustered Raiha because that's cute.
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Hello everyone! I'm astounded by the response last chapter received— so glad to see so many of you sticking around :)
This is for Valentine's Day! For the singles out there, I'll be your valentine ;)
Aka an AU in which Yamuraiha never learned magic, stayed in Musta'sim, became a Dungeon Conqueror, became the right hand woman of Nick, but still managed to meet everyone else.
She stared at the book cover silently, her hand trembling as she brushed aside the dust.
The cover read Fundamental Principles of Magic.
Her eyebrows creased slightly. This was original Yamuraiha's destiny: to become a magician. But did she want this for herself? The risks were high: if she was discovered, she could be executed. Yamuraiha blinked and touched the book again. It looked so tantalizing…
She took a deep breath before whipping around, intending to get a bag to grab and hide the book in. But before she could take any action, the doors to the library opened.
"Raiha, have you seen Dunya?" Nick demanded, his stormy gray eyes too intensely focused on her eyes to notice Yamuraiha quickly shoving the book back on the shelf.
"...no, why? Yamuraiha asked slowly, inching away from the bookshelf inconspicuously while noting the panic that settled on Nick's face. "Did something happen?"
It took Nick about three seconds to internally wrestle with himself. Finally, it seemed as if his feelings of overprotectiveness as an older brother won over any royal obligations that might have stopped him.
"...have you heard of Sinbad, the Dungeon Conqueror?" Nick blurted out before he could stop himself. Yamuraiha had to fight to keep her face from betraying her true tumultuous emotions.
"I've read the stories...why?" she asked warily, her eyes sharpening.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you this…" Nick trailed off, but seeing her deadpan expression, he pushed away his concerns and grumbled, "Oh, to Hell with it. A dungeon was discovered near the coastal city of Al Kamilia. Isaac, along with some other guards, was sent to check it out, but none have returned yet."
Yamuraiha visibly froze. Musta'sim typically did not deal with dungeons: Scheherazade definitely stuck around the Reim Empire. The dungeon opening could have been because of Yunan, but she had a sinking feeling that Al Tharmen was involved with this...for whatever reason.
This was the perfect opportunity for the crown to send anybody they disliked to their deaths. Multiple thoughts ran through her mind, and to her surprise, the faces of Isaac's mother and the rest of his housemates popped into her mind before any thoughts of self preservation.
Oh, way to go, Raiha: you got attached.
"Histok," the name slipped out. She hadn't seen the black haired, tsundere crush of Mira's for a while now.
"...who?"
"Was there a palace guard named Histok within the group as well?" Yamuraiha clarified.
"I can't recall, but I can search through my papers…" Nick's eyebrows creased. Then he remembered the task at hand and grabbed Yamuraiha's arm almost desperately. With a voice full of false bravado that faltered as soon as Yamuraiha gave him a perceptive glance, Nick explained, "Dunya has gone missing. I think she was eavesdropping on my father talking about the dungeon and has set off to stop Isaac from...well..." Getting killed sounded too brutal, so he settled for a softer euphemism, "Danger."
"Where have you checked?" Yamuraiha asked quietly, her demand barely audible even in the silent library.
"Her room, Isaac's house, here, and the gardens," Nick said tiredly. "The only servant who has seen her in the past day was the kitchen boy, and he told me she requested an abnormally large amount of food. You don't think…"
"She's stubborn like that," Yamuraiha sighed, shaking her head. "There's no doubt about it. I think me telling her all of those fairy tales about independent princesses got to her head. She probably wants to defeat the dungeon and attempt to save Isaac, that idiot. I assume Regina and Isaac's mother will be on the lookout for her here, but knowing Dunya she's probably out of the castle by now. Maybe even this province."
"I asked for the servants to search for clues," Nick informed. "And I told my father, but he...he doesn't seem that worried."
Of course not. No matter how promising marrying off Dunya might be, or how much of a charming individual she was, the king had no time to send soldiers after a missing daughter. If it was Nick, the crown prince, things may have been different. But sending people after Dunya at the present moment wasn't an option. There was an epidemic going around the kingdom, not to mention the King probably had to deal with the growing public disapproval.
Sending some soldiers to the dungeon was obviously just a ploy to regain some public support: Yamuraiha personally doubted the king actually believed they could conquer the dungeon. The king wasn't going to expand desperately needed manpower on his daughter.
"He probably is worried, Nick," Yamuraiha attempted to comfort the prince. "But you and I both are intelligent enough to deduce that he can't go after her right now."
"We have to get her back," Nick said desperately, and then Yamuraiha remembered that as mature as the boy was, he was still a teenager and overprotective elder brother.
"I have an inkling of what route she might take," Yamuraiha said slowly. She pretended to ignore the hope and anticipation that ignited in Nick's eyes that he quickly smothered. "I recall showing her a book of maps once that she really liked…" The tealette hurried over to a certain aisle in the library. When she found the book, she flipped around before her eyes landed on a section of the book that was ripped out.
"What do we do, then?" Nick asked from behind her, his head peering over her shoulders.
"There...there was a map on this page," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut and searching through her memories. Unfortunately, as intelligent as Yamuraiha might hold herself to, the tealette didn't have an eidetic memory. She had read hundreds of books in this library, and recalling one individual page was near impossible. Memory was out of the question. That left her deduction skills. Flipping through some of the pages, she mused, "Judging by the book title and the other maps in this section of the book, these are major caravan routes throughout Musta'sim. And this chapter is about the Sen province." Yamuraiha turned to Nick. "How many major trade routes are there in the Sen province?"
"Five," Nick answered automatically, and Yamuraiha gestured to the missing page.
"There's only one route missing." She could see a plan formulating in the Prince's eyes.
"We're going to find her," Yamuraiha said quietly. "Now go get ready. Leave a note too, I'm not going to be labeled 'royal kidnapper' or something."
"Got it."
"I can't believe we just missed her," Yamuraiha groaned, glancing at a haggard looking green haired prince. The two of them were standing outside of an inn, having just checked with the receptionist on the whereabouts of Dunya. The receptionist had replied that said green haired girl had just left a few hours before. Even at their top speed, Yamuraiha knew they wouldn't be able to catch up to the princess and stop her from entering the dungeon in time. "This only means one thing: she's already at the dungeon, now."
"Then it's hopeless," Nick groaned, sitting down on the stone bench behind him and burying his face into his hands. "Dungeons claim hundreds of lives. The only way for anyone to escape is if the dungeon is conquered, and what's the chance of that happening?"
Yamuraiha stared at the giant tower looming over the coastal city for several long moments.
Dunya was a canon character. She had survived to canon, so why was this so different?
Dunya deserved to live. She couldn't just die. (Not yet, at least.) She couldn't just become one of the nameless casualties to a dungeon of all things.
"I'm going in there," the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them. Nick looked up, his stormy gray eyes swimming with multiple emotions, the most prominent being shock. (To be honest, she couldn't believe she was saying so herself.)
"What?"
"I'll conquer the Dungeon," Yamuraiha said swiftly, turning around and meeting Nick's gaze levelly. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, but she continued babbling and warming herself up to the idea. She had to decide now, before her rationality could catch up with what she was saying. "Sinbad did it, why can't I?"
"But he's...he's…"
"A person," Yamuraiha said quietly, reaching an epiphany. Half to Nick and half to herself, she murmured, "He may be special, he may be loved by the Rukh, but he's still one person. No matter how special he is, he's still...just one man." Realization dawned on her features. Sinbad...she had always found his character intriguing back in her past life, but that had been all. He had been a character, not a living person. Now that she was here...she couldn't help but wonder how one man could change the world so much. He was just one person, yet he led with such natural confidence that Yamuraiha couldn't help but feel jealous, even if she hadn't met him.
He was just one person, yet he was trying to shoulder such a large burden.
And in that moment, Yamuraiha realized that she probably never could fully hate Sinbad. Dislike? Probably: considering his personality, she doubted that they would be the best of friends. But at the same time, she knew that there would be a part of her that admired him, this fisherman's son that forged friendships and gained power like it was easy.
"But you're…" Nick struggled to find the words.
Yamuraiha sighed, shoulders slumping with a burden too heavy for her to maintain. Foreknowledge...Yamuraiha had been planning on using it for self preservation, but standing and looking at Nick in the eyes while thinking 'he'll die' wasn't anything pleasant. Maybe...maybe she could use it to change things. Slowly, she said, "I am Yamuraiha, a nine years old magician's daughter. Arguably, I am intelligent, and that's what's going to help me in there. Dunya can't survive in there on her own."
The Prince stared at her for one long moment, and for some reason it felt as if he was really seeing her for the first time.
(She couldn't help but wonder what exactly he saw: Raiha? Elliot? Yamuraiha? Or all three?)
Then, he squared his shoulders and said grimly, "I'm coming too."
"...what?" she deadpanned.
"I'm coming."
"...no, you're not," Yamuraiha said slowly, almost as if patronizing a child.
"Yes, I am." Nick's matter-of-fact tone nearly threw her off, and that's when her brain finally kicked in.
"The kingdom needs an heir to the throne," Yamuraiha disagreed.
"Screw the Kingdom. Dunya's not your responsibility."
"She's my friend."
"She's my sister," Nick said heatedly, and the two stared at each other for another long moment. She could see it in his stormy gray eyes: Nick wasn't going to relent any time soon.
"Fine," Yamuraiha relented. "But I can't guarantee that you'll come out alive."
"Let's leave that up to Fate, now shall we?" Nick smirked, and he pointed at the Dungeon. "Let's go."
The Dungeon wasn't like anything Yamuraiha had ever expected. Even though seeing pictures of Dungeons from her past life should've prepared her to some extent, the beauty and almost innocent looking wonders that dazzled her eyes when she entered were hard to ignore. Trees were growing in the Dungeon, but not from the ground but from the sky. Metal and jewelry were scattered around the Dungeon, but they weren't just on the ground or in chests. They were, quite literally, floating in the air.
She hesitantly touched a diamond necklace that floated past her and was surprised to see that there wasn't any trap that was triggered by the touch. Yamuraiha spotted a glowing piece of jewelry, and with more careful inspection, she discovered that it was a red jewel encrusted headband. Her heart ached for a moment as she tilted her head and traced her finger against the intricate carvings. Where had she seen those jewels before?
"Here, a gift to commemorate our third year of being besties~"
"Oi, oi, Alex...aren't girls the ones who are supposed to like jewelry shopping?"
"Oh, shut up El. Here, a garnet one for you, an emerald one for me. Our birthstones~"
"...this is just like the last time when you were talking about how compatible we were from astrological signs. You're so girly sometimes."
"Shush, young grasshopper. You'll understand the meaning of love horoscopes someday~ Just watch, when we're old and married, I'll get to say 'I told you so' and you won't even be able to smack me because I was right."
"Yeah, yeah."
Ah, so that was where she recognized them. Yamuraiha...no, Elliot had never been interested in jewelry, so she surprised herself when the gemstone's name slipped out of her lips.
"Garnets…" She identified, and she blinked when the headband landed on her head, fasting itself on her securely. Scowling, she tried pulling it off but found she couldn't. It was as if the headband was a magnet and she was metal: no matter how much she pulled it off, it kept flying back onto her teal locks.
...interesting.
She turned around and saw a similar thing was happening to Nick, a diamond crown fastening itself on his head. The jewels caught the light magnificently, sending several rays of light in all directions and making the prince look almost like a disco ball.
"It senses your regality," she snickered.
"Oh, shut up." Nick scowled, trying to pull off the heavy and extremely lustrous diadem but to no avail. Reluctantly, he dropped his hands and attempted to ignore the glittering diamond jewels. His expression turned serious. "How do we find Dunya?"
"Well…" she trailed off, and then a scream sounded. "Probably that way," she said helpfully, and with that, they were running.
She blinked. Instead of a dangerous dragon or monster that she was expecting, all she saw was a platoon of soldiers lying flat on the ground, grumbling angrily to themselves. It was a miracle that none of them had accidentally stabbed each other when they fell to the ground. "Uh...what's going on?"
"...Yamuraiha? Is that you?" A voice called, and she recognized Histok's face.
"Histok, what's the matter?" She shouted, cautiously taking a step forward.
"Don't move!" He called, and she stopped in her tracks, heeding Histok's warning. He elaborated, "It's like we're stuck to the ground. When we stepped onto these metal plates, it was as if something was pulling us to the ground."
Yamuraiha experimentally thrust her hand around the area where the soldiers were, and immediately felt a force pulling her hand to the ground. With Nick's help, she pulled away from that general area. "A...gravitational field?" She questioned, but something felt off about that. She noticed that she was wearing a metal bracelet, and suddenly an idea popped into her mind.
Nick creased his eyebrows. "A what?"
Oh yeah, physics was literally out of the question in the Magi world. Thanks to the presence of magic, studies about the natural workings of the world had been thrown out of the window for studies of the Rukh. She had unintentionally slipped back into English, her home language from her past life, when identifying the force. She cleared her throat, too lost in her thoughts to properly give an answer. "Let me think about this for a moment."
She glanced upwards, to the floating jewelry again. Then she noticed a particular insignia on the ground. Bending down, her fingers brushed over the insignia. There was an immediate effect. The metal jewelry was flung upwards and stuck to the ceiling. She felt a faint tug on her head from where the garnet encrusted headband was.
Hand brushing over the headband, she realized that it wasn't made out of gold like she previously thought. No, it was definitely iron. And iron...
"No, this isn't gravity...it's magnetism," she breathed. Yamuraiha's mind was running. She was always more of a chemistry person, but then again, all the sciences were interconnected to an extent. Thinking aloud, she mused, "The soldiers are wearing metal, so it'd be easy for them to get stuck. That insignia almost felt...warm. Electricity? The flow of electricity along metal does generate magnetic fields, but they're usually really miniscule. Then again, in this world anything's possible. Magic…? Perhaps the presence of the Rukh can amplify the fields generated by the electricity? But how would that work?"
The most important thing to take away was that the Djinn of this Dungeon probably somehow controlled magnetivity. And that Dunya wasn't here.
"Where's the Princess?" She asked Histok.
"She...she decided to try finding the Djinn to get us out," Histok croaked, voice burning with shame. "We've been stuck here for awhile. The jewelry didn't attach to her in time so she was able to move to the other side."
"Nick, give them the supplies we packed?" Yamuraiha suggested, and before the boy could protest she glanced around the room and assessed her situation. Histok had said that the metal plates were what triggered the magnetic field.
...alright, so maybe Yamuraiha was crazy, but she had a gameplan. If things failed, she was sure that Nick could figure out something. She pulled off the metal bracelets she wore and attempted to take off the garnet encrusted headband (but to no avail). Ah, well. She'd just have to hope that she could be quick enough.
"Alright, if I fail Nick, you're on your own," Yamuraiha said quickly (the green haired prince jolted at her sudden declaration), and before she could scare herself out of doing so, she dashed across the metal tiles towards the other side of the room. She could feel an immense force tugging at her head, but luckily, that was the only force pulling at her and she was barely able to make it through in time.
Breathing harshly, she glanced over at the other side to see Nick nodding at her, his eyes sharp. I'll take care of these guys, you find Dunya. I'll catch up. He probably had figured out Yamuraiha somewhat knew what she was doing.
She nodded back at him before continuing to the next part of the Dungeon. "Reduce the amount of metal you're wearing!" She called over her shoulder as she hurried off.
Yamuraiha wasn't sure how she survived the next few rooms.
Probably dumb luck.
Or the Rukh just wanted to mess with her: let her get through these challenges and have her fail at the last challenge. Her eyes brightened when she spotted Dunya. "Dunya!" She called, and the Princess turned around.
"R-Raiha?" She asked tearfully.
"I'm here," Yamuraiha told her friend calmly, sounding much more composed than she actually was in her head. "Good job for getting through everything thus far. What's going on?"
"There's writing on these walls, but I can't read them." Dunya gestured at the walls. Yamuraiha scanned them before she almost visibly paled. "There's not even that much…"
The tealette could barely hear the green haired princess's words, for she had begun trembling with emotion as she traced the etchings on the wall. Her breathing had turned shallow, and although she didn't notice it, her face had turned pale. She could faintly hear Dunya's concerned remarks ring in her ears, but it almost felt as if she was submerged in water. Nothing in the world really existed except for her and these etchings.
It was like...it looked like…
She licked her lips and stepped back, observing the words and throwing her hands into her robe pockets to keep them from trembling even more.
...the languages from her old life. A mix of them. She could see Japanese characters, Chinese characters...some Dutch, perhaps? Korean, English, Spanish...so many languages.
It would take forever to decipher this.
But why were these here? Nobody in this world should be able to read these: everyone only knew the standard Magi language. The only one who could read it...the only one…
...was her.
(Or so she thought, at the time anyways. In a different world, a vastly different Raiha sat listening to Erik's explanation about others that were reincarnated, her expression carefully devoid of all emotions.)
There was one thing that was very important about her past life that helped her a lot now: languages had been her thing.
Some kids were good at history. Others had been good at mathematics. And Yamuraiha? No, not Yamuraiha, Elliot. Elliot had loved languages. Languages and chemistry were her passions, and although she had believed only the latter would help her in this life, she supposed that her love of linguistics helped her now. Spanish, Vietnamese, Japanese, and English: that was her sad and slightly pathetic repertoire.
...could she do this?
She observed the large wall for awhile. It seemed as if some of the words were grouped together. Each cluster of characters was relatively far apart from the other. Although she couldn't see the Rukh, she suddenly felt a compulsory impulse that drew her towards one of the clusters of words.
夢
That character was...dream, if she recalled right. She hadn't taken Chinese, but she was pretty sure that the Japanese character was dream, and hoped that she had interpreted the correct meaning. A 'sa' gyou was on top, and with the small 'ta' at the bottom, she was able to identify it. She didn't remember the middle parts of the character...but Yamuraiha could only hope for the best.
Vida
That was an easy one. Life, in Spanish.
Mentior
She didn't recognize this language. It looked like a romantic language...or maybe it was even Latin itself. It faintly reminded her of 'mentir', to lie, in Spanish. Lie? Fake?
غير طبيعى
This one was only easy because of the fact that part of the language spoken in the Magi world used Arabic. It took her less than a moment to decipher the meaning: abnormal. She paled, and could feel a tremor run through her body.
décès
There weren't that many languages with the grave accent. The only two that Yamuraiha could think of off of the top of her head were Vietnamese and French. Seeing as she didn't recognize it as a Vietnamese word, she assumed it probably was French. Although she never learned French, it was still a romantic language. Its words resembled Spanish in a lot of ways, and this one...it reminded her of…'deceased'. Deceased? Death? Something along those lines.
The last word…
どこ?
Where, her mind supplied helpfully. Relief filled her when she realized she had deciphered the sentence. Dream, life, fake/lie, abnormal, death/deceased, and where. It sounded….it sounded almost like…
...it was directed towards her.
Eyes glancing upwards, she noticed there was jewelry floating above her again. And then something caught her eye…
...opals.
Why opals? Was there some kind of significance about them that she didn't know about? Yamuraiha almost wished she had paid attention to Alex's ramblings about gemstones and the like in her past life. Almost.
Her hand reached out, and to her surprise the opal bracelet simply fell onto her hand. There were several gemstones, and when closely examining the bracelet, the opals fell out. She had a handful of the stones in her hand, and confusedly glanced at Dunya. The Princess helpfully shrugged and pointed to some of the crevices in the wall. The crevices were arranged almost as if they were a grid...almost as if she were supposed to write something there. (Or graph something, but Yamuraiha heavily doubted that the challenge would suddenly switch from languages to calculus.)
Yamuraiha had an idea. She didn't even know where the idea had come from: maybe it was just Fate that she would solve this puzzle, or maybe she was just secretly a genius Kudo Shinichi in disguise.
She pushed the gemstones into the crevices, carefully spelling out in English: E.
To her surprise, the doors opened. Yamuraiha glanced at Dunya again, and the Princess nodded. "Onwards?" The green haired girl suggested, and Yamuraiha was glad that it was Dunya and not Nick here. As nice as she was, Dunya could be a little...dim at times, as expected of a girl her age that had been sheltered all her life. She didn't question why or how Yamuraiha knew how to enter, she just followed. That made sense: in this day and age, women in Musta'sim still were very much subservient to men, and as the Princess, Dunya had been raised to the expectations of knowing how to sew and smile sunnily for her future husband, not to think and question everything that people told her.
Nick, on the other hand, would've been on her in an instant, demanding answers and explanations. He'd make a good king someday, Yamuraiha reflected as she entered the room.
"What is this? Can it be that someone has entered already?" A voice, as smooth as silk, purred. Yamuraiha let herself have a moment of silence and peace, eyes sweeping around the room, before she gazed upwards.
Pale blue skin, light as the sky, was illuminated by the faint golden glow that came from the mounds of jewelry adorning the notably voluptuous body of the female djinn. From precious metals like gold and silver to rare gemstones like sapphires, all sorts of accessories were draped over the blue giant. The Djinn looked faintly amused when she noticed Yamuraiha and Dunya's blatant staring at the enormous amount of wealth the djinn had accumulated around her.
"Oh my, I forgot that my collection can overwhelm people when they first see it," the Djinn rolled her eyes, raising her hand dismissively. As if they had a mind of their own, nearly all the jewelry on the woman flew off and landing with a sharp thud in a large pile in the corner of the room. "Better?"
"Y-yes," Dunya croaked out, her face uncertain. Yamuraiha simply nodded, observing the sight before her calculatively.
"Now, now...how did you two girls get in here? From what I remember, I…" The Djinn blinked and observed Yamuraiha's garnet headband. She hummed thoughtfully, "I see, I see...I had only done so on a whim, a whisper from the Rukh, but it seems that I have made the right choice in sealing myself with such a cryptic puzzle. Tell me dear, how is life treating you?"
Yamuraiha could feel Dunya gazing at her, her expression definitely screaming 'be polite'. "Everything I do somehow manages to bite me in the ass," she deadpanned.
"Indeed," the Djinn laughed, covering her mouth delicately with her hand. "But anyways, how rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Hoshia, and I am the Djinn of the forty-ninth Dungeon."
"I am Princess Dunya of Musta'sim," Dunya said quietly, and although her chin was trembling the green haired girl held her head high in front of the Djinn. "And I demand that you let Raiha and my men go."
"And her brother too," Yamuraiha added helpfully. Dunya blinked in surprise before she was stammering some nonsense, too shocked to properly register her friend's words. Yamuraiha's expression turned solemn as she bowed her head at the Djinn. "Yamuraiha, a castle servant. It's a pleasure."
"Both of you don't grovel on your knees and beg for your friends, how interesting," Hoshia noted.
"The Princess will not ever go on her knees for anyone rather than her father, brother, and future husband," Yamuraiha said evenly, as Dunya still seemed too shocked by the fact that Nick was here to speak. "And I am not so desperate to do such a thing."
"Hubris?"
"No, logic," Yamuraiha corrected. Boldly, she stared evenly at Hoshia and said, "You have to give us a chance to prove ourselves as worthy or unworthy of being your King."
"And who says that I have to give you a chance?" Hoshia asked, golden eyes glittering in amusement as Dunya turned a pale shade of white next to Yamuraiha.
"You don't need to," Yamuraiha shrugged. "But I'd assume that spending years in this Dungeon with nothing to do could be a bit too boring for your taste."
"Oho~ and what makes you assume that I would get bored?"
"When I entered the room, I didn't just notice the jewelry. Sure, the vast collection of jewels could prove a distraction for most people. But I knew better than to just focus on them. You have quite a vast collection of swords, not to mention the majority of the Dungeon challenges weren't just menial physical tasks. You challenged our thinking and problem solving skills with puzzles. It's a guess, but I don't think that you just created those puzzles to stop us from coming. You also did it because you were bored." Yamuraiha gestured to the Djinn. "As we walked in, you were showing signs of boredom, such as repeatedly tapping your finger. After we arrived, your body language shifted. Such observations led me to my conclusion."
Of course, that was a giant leap of logic, but Yamuraiha already blurted it out, so she might as well stick with said explanation. If there was one thing she learned in her past life's education, it was how to bullshit well.
"Interesting train of thought…" Hoshia hummed noncommittally. "But you lack proper evidence."
"I'm not completely wrong, though," Yamuraiha stated evenly. She knew that at least some of her points were valid. And even though she definitely knew that she was missing many pieces of the puzzle, she noted that Hoshia hadn't rejected her hypothesis yet. There was a moment of silence before Hoshia threw her head back, laughing.
"You're quite amusing, magician," Hoshia commented.
"...magician?"
"Oh, whoops. Alternate storyline, or so the Rukh tells me. Don't mind me." The Djinn waved off the comment easily, and although Yamuraiha's first instinct was to continue questioning the Djinn about her comment, the tealette was forced to back down when she felt Dunya's hand on her shoulder.
"Very well, I will grant you and your friend the opportunity to be my King." The Djinn flicked her hand, and suddenly the metal tiles on the floor levitated and spun around in the air, forming a somewhat elliptical shape in the air that resembled a mirror.
"Who do you see?" The Djinn asked softly.
Dunya blinked. "Isn't this just a reflection of myself?"
The Djinn frowned, and the green haired girl immediately knew she said something wrong and hastily tried to say something, but Hoshia rose a hand and cut the girl off, "No matter. Yamuraiha, who do you see?"
"Nobody important," Yamuraiha said softly, staring at her reflection. The image suddenly flickered, and for a moment she was staring at a teal haired girl in black magician's robes, then a teal haired girl in a Roman-ish toga, then a black cloaked figure with a mask (what was going on?) before the image flickered back to her reflection.
"What are your goals in life?" Hoshia purred.
This was sounding more like a business interview than a chance to become a Dungeon Conqueror. Yamuraiha wasn't sure what the Djinn was getting at. "To protect what's important to me," Yamuraiha started, and she could see the light in the Djinn's eyes dim. How typical, she could almost hear the Djinn thinking. Undeterred, Yamuraiha continued nonchalantly, "And screw over the storyline. Oh, or maybe I can collect enough power to control the Underworld of this world. Or perhaps make a great alliance with some countries. Time will tell, really."
She just didn't want to be...forgotten.
Yamuraiha got the feeling that Hoshia was expecting some typical hero speech about world peace after her first (and admittedly cliché) goal. A small smirk tugged at Yamuraiha's face. She had deduced enough of the Djinn's personality to figure out what she wanted.
"You won't run away?" The Djinn shifted, curious, and Yamuraiha had to restrain the surprise from showing on her features.
A wry smile stretched across her face. "I want to," she admitted, wringing her hands. "But...now that I'm here, I don't think I get that option...do I?"
"Of course not." Hoshia snorted, sounding amused once again. "I don't want a boring king. Friendship, kindness, love...where do those get you in life? Ambition, cunning, wit. Somebody willing to work hard and do anything to achieve their goals. Don't those sound much better?"
"I think you might have had better luck with Prince Nicholas," Yamuraiha deadpanned, gesturing out the doors. "He fits your criteria pretty well."
"That child already shoulders the heavy burden of his country on his shoulders," Hoshia dismissed. "Putting additional weight would break him."
Yamuraiha paused for a moment before dipping her head in acknowledgment of the Djinn's point. "True. You've reached a decision, I presume?" the tealette surmised.
"You will entertain me enough, magician's daughter," Hoshia barked out in laughter, mirth dancing in her eyes. Her crimson eyes, hardly noticeable before despite their shade, darkened a shade. "Do not disappoint me, my king."
"I'm not a king," Yamuraiha said suddenly, finding it hard to keep a smirk from appearing on her features. She corrected slyly, straightening her posture and meeting the Djinn directly in the eyes, "I'm a queen."
"So you are, dear. So you are."
.
.
It had been almost a decade since then, Yamuraiha mused. Her fingers grazed against the cool iron tip of her sheathe, staring up at the sky almost contemplatively. It was honestly a wonder, how much things had changed in eight years. The tealette was now seventeen. Her once petite body had grown, and although she was still somewhat short (to her displeasure), she at least didn't have to come up with creative ways to reach high places anymore. Her curves had begun to fill out as well, and Yamuraiha had taken to wear relatively heavy metal armor that covered said curves.
The armor helped when it came to fighting using Hoshia, anyways. And it had been a gift from Nick: she couldn't refuse something from the recently crowned king of Musta'sim. A fond smile unconscious found its way on her face at the thought of the prince...no, her king. She had decided to try to change things for the better, since she was already stuck in Musta'sim as their esteemed Dungeon Capturer. Soon enough, Yamuraiha had "convinced" (read: threatened) the former king to abdicate the throne in order for Nick to rise to power.
He was a great king, in all honesty, and had prepared for the position for so long. Ever since they were kids, it was Nick doing a large amount of the paperwork meant for his father. With Yamuraiha by his side as his most loyal advisor, the two quickly rose in both popularity and power. Convincing Nick to kick out Al Tharmen related people was a piece of cake: the green haired royal was smart enough to decipher their ill-willed intentions. When Nick had finally been "crowned" king (although everyone knew he already was the defacto king for a while) at age eighteen, five years ago, Yamuraiha had already established herself as a powerful Dungeon Capturer.
Despite non-too-subtle hints from the other nobles for her to attempt to accumulate more Djinns, like Sinbad and Kouen had in the past few years, Yamuraiha was perfectly satisfied with Hoshia. The Djinn was both her closest friend and the largest thorn in her side.
As if sensing her thoughts, she could feel her hand jerk towards the sheath as if pulled by some invisible force. Scowling, she muttered, "Okay, okay...I get it. You're my best friend, Hoshia. Sort of."
"Talking to Hoshia again?"
She stiffened, body freezing up and muscles taut with anticipation, before she turned around and relaxed at the familiar figure. "Hey, idiot," she acknowledged, warmth leaking into her voice unintentionally as her expression softened.
"Hey, dork." The blonde strolled forward, flicking her forehead and making Yamuraiha frown at him. His sky blue eyes were brimming with amusement as he patted her head patronizingly, almost as if she were a child. With a wry grin, he commented, "You haven't grown at all, huh. Shortie."
"I was taller than you for a long time until you hit that damned growth spurt," Yamuraiha sputtered indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I'm pretty tall by normal standards! It's not my fault that I'm surrounded by freakishly tall men, Lynn."
At the sound of his name, the blonde seemed to relax a fraction. "Yeah, yeah. Keep making excuses."
"Why are you even here?" Yamuraiha gestured around her bewilderedly.
Lynn was an ambassador from Parthevia, and she had first met him two years after conquering Hoshia. At the time, the blonde had simply been a transfer student to Magnoshutatt's Academy who was on a trip with Lord Mogamett to discuss a treaty with Nick. The two had immediately struck it off on the wrong foot, with Yamuraiha claiming that her magnetism abilities from Hoshia were much better than his petty Lightning Magic. Lynn had immediately challenged her to a duel, and the day ended up with a frazzled-looking, half electrocuted Yamuraiha and a rendered-immobile Lynn grudgingly calling it a tie. Eventually, she had heard that the blonde returned to his home country and quickly rose through the ranks.
She met Lynn again about two years ago, when she was fifteen. Calling him "Lord Lynn" was the most debilitating thing she had ever done, in all honesty. She could only take his smug look at hearing her utter the title for a few hours before she finally snapped and poured wine over him during dinner. They became friends afterwards, somehow.
"King Nicholas didn't inform you?" Lynn questioned, sounding moderately surprised. "We decided about this about a month ago."
Ah, that explained it. Nick frequently called in Musta'sim's officials to give a general debriefing of major events that would go on in the next month. Unfortunately, Yamuraiha often chose to use those meetings as her naptime.
(In her defense, Nick always debriefed them in the early hours of the morning. She was goddamn tired, and the green haired king's voice was always soothing enough for her to fall asleep.)
Noting her uncomfortable body language, Lynn rolled his eyes. "You didn't listen to him, did you?" He deadpanned. Yamuraiha shifted the weight of her body from one foot to another, awkwardly shuffling her feet. Sighing and sending a look heavenwards that spelled 'why must you do this to me?', Lynn explained, "Several high ranking officials from several different countries have been invited to Musta'sim to attend your annual ball. I believe Nick seeks to establish friendly relationships with Balbadd and a few other countries tonight."
"It's tonight?" Yamuraiha squeaked, struggling to recall the date.
...ah, yes. It was tonight.
So that was why Mira kept asking Yamuraiha for her measurements. She was probably preparing a proper gown for her.
"Yes, it's tonight," Lynn deadpanned, an unspoken 'idiot' attached to his words. "Don't worry, you don't have to come. Nobody would want to dance with you, anyways."
Her pride immediately roared at the comment. "Nobody, you say?" She repeated dangerously, her tone making the blonde fall silent. Jabbing her finger at his chest and attempting to ignore his towering frame over her, Yamuraiha said furiously, "Nobody? Oh, I'll show you, idiot. Watch me. I'll bet you that I'll have more invitations to dance than you will, for sure."
"Do you really want to bet that?" Lynn snorted, giving her a cocky grin. "Because I'm willing to accept that bet. You'll definitely lose."
"Good. I can't wait to see your humiliated face when you lose," Yamuraiha sneered.
"But!" Lynn cut in, and she paused. A roguish smirk spread across his face as he leaned down, closer to her. Her body jolted as she felt his warm hand take hers, and a deep scarlet blush spread across her face when she realized that the blonde was kissing her hand.
Lynn's kissing my hand.
She stood completely frozen, still in shock.
Stopstopstopstop this was waaaay too much information for her to process right now, she felt as if her head was about to explode—
Oh my god. Lynn's kissing my hand.
Her face turned bright red as the blonde pulled away, a knowing and somewhat triumphant look in his eyes as he took in her dazed expression. "Who," he purred, "would refuse me?"
Oh my god. Oh my god.
Jaw opening and closing, the blush on her cheeks only grew darker as he stared at her with an intensity that she had only seen once before: in their duels. It was that look that Lynn got whenever he was determined to win, at any cost.
Oh. My. God.
Her face heated up more.
Yamuraiha felt like a bumbling idiot in all honesty, and it was that thought that snapped her out of her daze.
"Y-y-you...y-you idiot!" She managed to stammer out, literally lunging forward and attempting to punch him in the chest. "Wh-wh-what the hell was that?!" Hit. Punch. Hit. Punch.
To his credit, the blonde didn't flinch at all under the weight of her blows. Finally, when she was running out of steam, he stopped her punch in midair and forced for her to look at him directly in the eyes. Her cerulean eyes rounded, mouth forming a small 'o' as pink dusted her cheeks. "You're turning eighteen in a few months, right?" Lynn asked cheerfully, looking unconcerned as she stammered out nonsense.
God damn it, Raiha. Get a hold of yourself.
Finally, she collected herself enough that she wouldn't stumble over her words completely. "Yeah, why?" Yamuraiha asked cautiously.
"If I win, come back with me to Parthevia," Lynn proposed.
...
…
Don'tblushdon'tblushdon't—
...
—god damn it.
...
"W-what are you saying?" Yamuraiha drew back, her footsteps wobbly. Unfortunately, her balance was thrown off by the sudden movement, and her foot slipped. The blonde ambassador released his grip on her hand and instead lunged forward, grabbing her before she fell and pulling her back up to her feet.
"Exactly what I said," he said quietly, the two's faces separated only by an inch or two of space. His close proximity made it difficult for Yamuraiha to think coherently. (Damn it, Raiha, stop blushing and do something.)
"I...I don't understand."
"I think you do." Another smirk crawled its way on his lips.
…
...should she run, hide, or die of embarrassment?
…
...maybe all three.
...
"I...you...you...I...I'm outofhere," Yamuraiha finally squeaked out, darting off before Lynn could stop her. When she was sure that there was enough distance between her and Lynn, she sighed and sank against one of the castle's marble pillars, cheeks burning. Burying her face in her hands, she let out a muffled groan. "Why is life so complicated?" She bemoaned, knowing that Hoshia was probably sporting a gleeful grin at her king's situation.
(Somewhere, on the other side of the palace, a certain blonde was groaning and banging his head against a pillar in embarrassment. Mortified, he whispered despairingly, "Oh my god, I can't believe I just did that. Stupid Sera, this was all his idea. Why did I listen? Why did I do that?")
After collecting herself, Yamuraiha stumbled upon two walking figures.
...damn fucking Murphy. Damn. Him. To. Hell.
"Oh God, he's here too?" She complained, inwardly moaning at her luck. Her voice was slightly more high pitched and louder than she intended, and both figures immediately turned around.
"Oh, great. The ugly hag's here."
"I'm only older than you by two years, Sharrkan," Yamuraiha hissed, resisting the urge to throw something at the white haired Heliohapt. What was with men and insulting her looks? "And I am not ugly," she sniffed, arrogance leaking into her tone of voice.
"Keep telling yourself that," Sharrkan shot back. "Stupid magnet chick."
"Idiotic swordsman," Yamuraiha returned.
"You use swords too, dumbass." He gestured at Hoshia incredulously.
"I think you're the one with no brains here. Such a boorish, unrefined brute."
"Oh wow, she's pulling out the fancy vocabulary. Give this girl a medal."
"...should I leave?" Masrur, who had been standing uncomfortably between the two, asked awkwardly. Immediately, the two stopped butting heads to look up and bark, "No!"
"It's not my fault that you're basically illiterate."
"I'm still the prince of the Heliohapt Kingdom! Of course I can read."
"But do you ever actually read?" At her question, she was met with silence. Crossing her hands over her chest and snorting, she muttered, "Of course not."
"Ugly."
"Stupid."
The two stood like that for a moment before grins broke out on both of their faces.
"Nice to see you again, Yamu," Sharrkan offered, procuring his hand. She took it, albeit reluctantly, and rolled her eyes. Punching him in the arm in a friendly gesture (the white haired man inwardly winced: the tealette could pack a punch), she found herself smiling.
"You've grown taller," she observed. "Damn it, I was hoping I'd be taller than at least one of the guys I know. Rather than Ja'far. I presume that you two are here for the ball?"
"Sinbad tried to bring all of his Seven Generals," Masrur confirmed. "But Hinahoho, Spartos, and Pisti decided to stay in Sindria."
"So that means...it's just you two, Ja'far, and Sinbad?" Yamuraiha surmised.
"Yep." Sharrkan nodded his head, both of his hands resting casually on the back of his neck.
It had been extremely strange at first to hear "Sinbad and the Seven Generals." Yamuraiha knew that her presence...her choices would impact the Magi world, but it was a whole different thing to actually see it. At first, she had been adamant in avoiding the Magi characters. However, thanks to conquering Hoshia, she was suddenly thrust into the political world as Nick's advisor and trump card. Yamuraiha eventually resigned herself to her fate and decided to interact with the Magi characters naturally.
She met Sinbad and his Generals four years ago, when she followed Nick to Sindria for an important meeting. Yamuraiha had slipped out of the meeting after a few hours of long, boring sweet talk (she would always admire Nick for putting up with such things) and instead toured the city.
Funnily enough, Sinbad had also sneaked out of the meeting, to Ja'far's chagrin. The two met in a rather seedy area of Sindria that resembled a red-light district, right in front of a brothel. Assuming that Yamuraiha was a prostitute, Sinbad had attempted to flirt with her and lure her to bed.
Unfortunately, it was at that moment when Ja'far, Nick, and the rest of the Generals arrived. Mortified, Ja'far immediately explained and introduced Yamuraiha as "Musta'sim's Dungeon Capturer", and Sinbad hastily (and unapologetically) gave her an apology for his actions. It took the combined efforts of Yamuraiha and Ja'far to convince Nick that "yes, she was alright" and "no, he should not break off their treaty just because Sinbad had attempted to seduce her".
Unimpressed with all the arguing going on, Sharrkan had slipped off in the middle of Ja'far's lecturing. Yamuraiha had (unsurprisingly) joined him, and heard the Heliohapt mutter under his breath that she wasn't even that pretty for Sinbad to pick up, anyways. Immediately, she had punched him in the face, and the two quickly settled into a routine of "insult each other and we're friends." Nick and Yamuraiha stayed in Sindria for about a week more after that, and during that time she grew close to most of the Sindrian Generals.
After leaving Sindria, she still kept in contact with most of the Generals through letters, so it didn't really feel like it had been four years since she last saw them.
"You said 'you too' earlier," Masrur said suddenly, interrupting Yamuraiha's thoughts. She blinked in surprise and tilted her head. The Fanalis clarified, "When you saw Sharrkan. Did you meet someone else already?"
"I saw an old...friend...of mine. His name's Lynn." The name made something flutter in her chest, but at the same time, a scowl settled on her features.
"Ah, Lynn?" Sharrkan immediately brightened. "From Parthevia, right?"
"Mmhm." Yamuraiha was surprised that the swordsman knew of him, considering Sindrian-Parthevian relations, but she supposed anything was possible.
"He was showing me his Lightning Magic last time I saw him. Magic's pretty cool, unlike your shitty magnetism abilities, Yamu," Sharrkan said snidely.
Yamuraiha resisted to grin at the irony of the situation. Oh, she could just imagine how canon Yamuraiha would've taken those words. "Magic's pretty cool," hah.
"...wait, did you just call me Yamu?" Yamuraiha suddenly realized. Her eyes narrowed. "I told you, it's either 'Yamuraiha' or 'Raiha,' not Yamu." It was almost a running gag now, and Yamuraiha...couldn't actually find herself to care much about the titles she was addressed by. "Raiha," "Yamuraiha," even "Elliot" — all three were just...her.
"Yamu rolls off the tongue better. I have no idea what you have against that nickname, but I'm not changing my speech just to make you more comfortable," Sharrkan rolled his eyes, sticking out his tongue very maturely. Yamuraiha scowled at him, punching him (playfully) in the shoulder. His hands shoved firmly in his pockets, he mumbled under his breath, "Besides, it suits you."
"...what?"
"N-nothing," Sharrkan defended immediately, gesturing wildly towards the palace. "Anyways, don't you need to go inside and get ready for the ball?"
"Ah, you're right," Yamuraiha realized. Nodding at the two, she whipped around and hurried off, calling over her shoulder, "Trust me, my appearance is going to blow you away. You'll be begging for a dance by the end of tonight."
(If she had been closer, she would've heard Sharrkan mutter, "There's no doubt about it" while blushing madly under Masrur's scrutiny.)
"I look pretty, Mira," Yamuraiha breathed, staring at the mirror in awe. Whatever witchcraft her attendant might've done certainly did the trick. Stretching from her neck and down to her bodice was a heavy golden chest piece, encrusted with dark violet amethyst. Beginning as a warm navajo white, the ripples of silky fabric grew darker and darker until they were a heavy rouge. Her bodice was a beautiful shade of cosmic violet, and amethyst earrings hung from her ears. On her forehead rested a red jewel hanging from a golden chain. Together with her teal locks that were left down to flow down her waist freely, the colors combined to make her look almost as regal as a princess.
Although Yamuraiha had never been a vain creature, wearing such an outfit boosted her confidence in a way that no kind of sword could. The feeling of being attractive wasn't a completely foreign idea, but she had pushed aside such frivolities for the sake of Musta'sim for such a long time that it almost felt like she had undergone a complete metamorphosis.
"No, you're stunning," Mira corrected, her face glowing with pride. The blonde haired woman was also wearing a dress due to Yamuraiha's insistence. The dress, a light sea green, brought out the emerald shade of Mira's eyes. Its tight fitting bodice served well in accentuating the woman's lithe curves. Despite the fact that Yamuraiha had the more expensive dress, courtesy of Nick ("You can't let a servant outdress you, no matter how close you are."), the tealette honestly felt that her attendant was much more physically attractive. "You've grown so much, Yamu."
"I love you so much right now," Yamuraiha said in a hushed tone. "This...this is...amazing. You made me look so...so...so gorgeous."
"You're always gorgeous, Yamu. You just don't notice," Mira giggled, patting the younger girl's head fondly. "Now, King Nicholas is coming to get you."
That comment threw Yamuraiha out of her reverie. She blinked, stupefied. "Why?" The question slipped out of her lips before she could stop it.
"You're his escort for tonight, silly," Mira rolled her eyes. "Weren't you paying attention at all? He announced it during the debriefing the other day. He said that he already asked you."
"Oh. Really?"
Yamuraiha searched through her memories before finally recalling that Nick had asked her for something the other day. She wasn't really paying attention at the time, though, and just murmured "alright" without thinking much of it.
Oh, whoops.
"So...what exactly do we royal escorts have to do?" Yamuraiha asked meekly.
"...I shouldn't even be surprised anymore," Mira shook her head exasperatedly. She explained, "You and King Nicholas have to open the ball with a dance, that's all. After that, you're free to do whatever you wish, since the king probably has guests to attend to."
"Alright." Yamuraiha nodded at the simple explanation. Dunya had tutored her and Nick about how to dance before: this should be a piece of cake. Assuming that Yamuraiha could still recall dance lessons from four years ago. Hopefully Nick remembered what to do, because if not, they were utterly screwed.
There was a knock on the door before Histok's voice rang out, "His Majesty, King Nicholas II has come to pick up Lady Yamuraiha."
Mira opened the door immediately, squealing and hugging the black haired palace guard. "Histok, you dressed up! Oh, you look so handsome! Stay by my side during the ball, alright? Otherwise all the ladies will be all over you."
Yamuraiha lingered awkwardly at the doorway, fiddling with her dress. She looked up and met eyes with Nick, and for a moment, it felt as if those cliche phrases like "the world froze" seemed to actually exist. There was something intense in the king's gaze that kept her from looking away or moving. Almost nervously, she tugged on the neckline of her dress awkwardly.
The silence was broken when Nick said quietly, "You look...beautiful."
Beautiful.
"Stunning," "gorgeous," "pretty" — all of those adjectives seemed to pale in comparison at that one word.
Beautiful.
She felt her cheeks warm.
"You look rather attractive yourself," she offered casually, breaking the tension that had unknowingly permeated the room. Unconsciously, her eyes swept down his fine clothes of violet silk and she let out a small noise of appreciation. Mm, yes, purple was definitely his color.
"If you were any other girl…" Nick shook his head, looking fairly amused.
"...you wouldn't have had me as your right hand woman in the first place," Yamuraiha finished cheerfully. Suddenly, her entire body language shifted as she drew closer to the green haired king, placing her hand on his cheek and leaning in closer. Her eyelashes fluttered coquettishly as she purred sultrily, "But...if you'd like for me to act like other girls, your Highness, all you had to do was ask."
"Never do that again," Nick ordered, pushing her hand back and stepping back two steps. His face was a tad bit more red than before, but rather than that, she was pleased to see that the king didn't look that flustered.
"You have to get used to women flirting with you, Nick." Yamuraiha snorted. "You're a king, still single, and drop-dead gorgeous. Oh, don't give me that look: you know it too, you're hot. If you blush like that every time that a girl makes a move on you, you'll be married by next week."
"I don't blush like that with every girl," Nick mumbled. Under his breath, a quiet "only you" slipped past his lips.
"Suuuure you don't," Yamuraiha drawled, unaware of the king's quiet murmuring. Sighing and causally linking arms with the green haired man, she said, "Alright, alright. Let's get going to the ball: I heard the other guests can't dance until we do, right? We can't keep them waiting forever."
"How considerate of you," Nick commented, a wry grin spreading over his face. The two turned to the exit only to see Mira and Histok standing and sporting knowing smirks.
"What?" Yamuraiha demanded. Nick locked eyes with Histok before turning bright red and tugging her towards the ballroom.
"It's nothing, let's go," Nick mumbled.
"May I present King Nicholas II of Musta'sim and Lady Yamuraiha, Dungeon Conqueror!"
Immediately, applause rang out in the ballroom. Yamuraiha glanced to her left: Nick was looking incredibly composed, despite the large number of important officials and kings present. Matching his steady footsteps with calm and elegant strides, Yamuraiha leaned over and whispered, "You remember how to dance, right?"
Nick sent her an amused, somewhat strained smile as they felt several scrutinizing gazes on them. "You haven't been practicing after I announced that we'd have a ball?"
She coughed awkwardly. That was enough of an answer for her longtime friend.
"...you weren't listening, were you?" Nick deadpanned.
"Of course I was, who do you take me for?" Yamuraiha asked arrogantly. Nick stared at her knowingly. She stared back evenly. Then, her shoulders slacked and she sighed, admitting, "...yeah, I wasn't."
"That sounds like you." Nick sighed. Nodding his head at the musicians, he put his hand on her waist and offered his hand to her. Without even thinking, she moved closer, one hand resting on his shoulder and the other taking his.
"Waltz? How classic," she commented dryly, and as the music started, her feet followed his footsteps automatically. To her surprise, her body moved instinctively, almost intuitively knowing where the king would step next. She glanced down at her feet, only to feel a slight tug on her hand.
"Focus on me," Nick instructed.
"I...uh...alright," she said lamely, lifting her gaze so that she could stare at his stormy gray orbs. "Nice...music?"
He sent her an amused look. "You are absolutely terrible at small-talk."
"Thank you," she deadpanned, feeling his hands shift. Taking his cue, she released one of his hands and twirled in a circle easily thanks to his guiding hand. Her dress billowed outwards, the fabric completely mesmerizing as violet hues shifted to rose pink. Seamlessly, they joined hands and continued sweeping across the floor in several elegant strides.
"I think it's time to let our guests dance," Nick murmured, spinning her once more. "You have my full permission to leave the ball, now, if you'd like. I need to meet with some guests."
"Balbadd?" she guessed accurately, the king nodding. "Well, although formal events like these are hardly my thing...I made a bet with Lynn that I'd get more dances than him. I'll be around if you want to dance another round."
Nick's lips twitched upwards. "Noted. Raiha, you respect me...right?"
"To an extent," Yamuraiha allowed, the corners of her lips turning upwards. "Why?"
"Then promise me you won't kill me."
"I...won't?" She agreed hesitantly, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. "Wait, why would I want to kill y—"
Before she could utter another word, the green haired royal spun her quickly and let go, sending her spiraling off right into one of their guests.
"I...ow...Nick is going to pay later." Wincing, she glanced upwards and apologized, "Sorry about that...Sinbad?"
"No need to apologize, dancing with a beautiful woman is always welcomed," Sinbad winked at her, easily repositioning her hands to their proper places. Yamuraiha instinctively fell back into proper closed position as the two began to dance to the music. "Have you considered my offer, yet?"
"You mean the offer about being one of your Generals that I have rejected several times?" Yamuraiha deadpanned.
"Everyone would love to see you~" Sinbad sang, swinging her to his left. There was something about Sinbad's movements that made it so easy to play the follower. Although his dancing wasn't as graceful as Nick's, there was a much more free and casual quality to it that had her fighting to keep a grin off of her face.
"You dance well," Yamuraiha complimented. "I guess Ja'far really does work miracles."
"I'm hurt," Sinbad pouted, sending her a mock-wounded look. Without warning, he spun her around in a circle. Not even a beat later, the two were moving once more, cutting through other dancing couples easily, despite the crowded space. "It was all me, you know."
"I'd be more inclined to believe that if I hadn't heard the opposite from Pisti's letters," Yamuraiha replied cheerfully. Her carefree expression melted as she glanced to the side of the room, where Nick was striking up conversation with the King of Balbadd. "But I doubt you accepted Nick's invitation just to dance with me, Sin. You have business to do here, I can't keep you all night."
"Trust me, I would not protest if you kept me up all night," Sinbad said flirtatiously before slowing down his pace, gently raising her hand and kissing it. "But alas, you're right. I must bid you goodbye for now, but fear not, beautiful maiden. You are welcome to approach me anytime tonight."
"Yes, I will definitely take you upon your offer," Yamuraiha deadpanned, but couldn't help the slightly flirtatious side of her that surfaced. "Or instead of me coming to Sindria, you could always stay at Musta'sim with me. I assure you that it'd be...worth it," she purred, taking delight in Sinbad's slightly dumbstruck expression before she laughed lightly. "Kidding, Sin. Kidding. If you take that comment seriously…"
"Weeeelll," Sinbad said thoughtfully, drawing out the word.
"Oh, screw you." She punched his shoulder, shoving him towards Nick and the various political officials standing off to the side.
"That can be arranged!" Sinbad called over his shoulder, sending her one last flirtatious grin before he joined a conversation with several ambassadors.
Intending on turning around and convincing somebody else to dance with her, Yamuraiha's jaw dropped as she spotted a certain masked figure slinking forwards. "Holy shit, not good," she mumbled to herself, glancing over at Nick. After weeding out and banishing any Al Tharmen linked government officials, the tealette had figured that their country was relatively safe.
She knew that Nick himself probably oversaw the security measures for this ball, considering its importance and the amount of influential officials attending.
They were finally striving towards peace.
It wasn't perfect, but this ball was a sign of promise.
If she allowed the suspicious-figure-she-suspected-to-be-part-of-Al-Tharmen to do whatever they wanted, they could have an international political crisis on their hands. Slowly, she approached the Al Tharmen member lingering around the punch with a friendly smile. "May I have this dance?"
"You," the man snarled.
"Me," Yamuraiha agreed amiably. "We're taking this battle out of here. I don't suppose you'll tell me if there's more of you?"
"You're the reason he purged us," the Al Tharmen member drew his weapon, drawing gasps from the crowd. "You, abnormality, will die."
"Not today." And without any further ado, Yamuraiha lashed out, barely even thinking as she unsheathed Hoshia and sent the man flying out of the window. Heh, wearing metal when trying to attack her. Idiots. Noting the eyes on her, Yamuraiha performed a dramatic bow and winked, using over exaggerated casualness to reassure them. As soon as most of those eyes had receded, she hurried out of the ballroom to where she pinned the man, hissing at the guards under her breath, "Security breach!"
She found the Al Tharmen member pinned to one of the palace columns, decorated with iron. The columns were specifically designed to suit her powers: as long as Yamuraiha was around and aware of threats, it was hard for any assassinates to penetrate the palace.
"Listen up, you," she growled, thrusting her sword and narrowly avoiding skewering the man. Instead, she lunged forward and grabbed the man by his neck, effectively cutting off his air supply. "I've worked my ass off to ensure this kind of peace. I don't give a shit about whatever the hell Gyokuen or Arba or whoever the hell you're following wants. I'm protecting my goddamn country and this god forsaken world: that vow includes both internal and external threats. Talk now or I'm going to fucking screw Kou over, you piece of shit."
A little more bitterness seeped into her voice than she would've liked. She slackened her grip ever so slightly.
"You," the man hissed, gasping for air. "Will die."
"Eventually," she conceded, "but not today."
"You...will die…"
"Charming."
"...will die…"
"Are you going to fucking speak or—"
"Raiha, get away!"
Yamuraiha had barely a second to register someone darting in front of her before the man exploded.
She gasped, heart pounding. "Did I ever mention I appreciate you and your magic? Because I'll say it now: I appreciate you and your magic, don't be fooled by my tsundere ranting," she rambled, clinging onto Lynn's sleeve and aptly hiding behind his powerful Borg. "Dammit, I knew I should've went to Magnoshutatt anyways. Dungeon Capturers can't be magicians, heh. I could've been the first…"
"Shut up, Yamu."
Yamuraiha blinked, then tilted her head. "Sharrkan?" she identified the figure to her right. "Whaddya doing here? Do you have a sunburn?"
"Wha—?"
"Because you're hot," she giggled, swatting at his arm. Sharrkan did not react to her very amazing pickup line, unfortunately, instead panicking and grabbing her arm before she could finally reunite with the ground.
Ahh...the world's sideways…
Lynn cursed. "Poison. A hallucinogen, perhaps."
"Musta'sim has healers," Sharrkan said tightly, hoisting Yamuraiha to her feet and intelligently snatching Hoshia from her hands before she could stab herself. The bluenette giggled. Sweetly. Lynn looked as if he was either going to off himself or spontaneously combust of embarrassment. Perhaps both. "Can you call them?"
"There's no need: they're already here."
Both men turned and immediately inclined their heads. "King Nicholas," Lynn acknowledged, swallowing back his fear. "You'll help her?"
The King gave them a deadpan expression. "She's Musta'sim's prized Dungeon Capturer and my precious friend. Whom do you take me for?"
The doors to the ballroom burst open, and out came running a red-faced Musta'sim princess. "I'm here, brother!" exclaimed Princess Dunya, nearly tripping over her long robes in her haste to reach them. "Hurry, you should return to the ballroom before the other guests catch wind of this incident and panic."
"You mean an explosion wasn't enough?" Sharrkan asked dryly, blinking in surprise as the tiny princess easily grabbed Yamuraiha out of his arms and dragged her along the hallway.
"I convinced them it was one of her stupid duels again," Dunya explained tersely, tugging their giggling companion along.
"Stupid? Who are you callin' stupid?" Yamuraiha whined. "I'm smart, dammit."
"Yes, yes. We know."
"I beat Nick at chess yesterday. Twice."
"Congratulations," Lynn commented dryly, helping Dunya lower the tealette onto a cot in the infirmary. "Now, sit still while the princess works her magic."
"It's science," Dunya corrected, quickly pulling out a needle. "Now, I need both you gentlemen to keep Raiha still. Very still. She can stir up quite a racket while under, you know. Last time, we needed four guards to subdue her."
Yamuraiha giggled again. "Oh, I wouldn't mind being...subdued right now," she purred, hand trailing along Sharrkan's chest while simultaneously giving Lynn her best smolder.
Dunya cackled at the men's expressions.
"Ohmygod I almost caused an international incident."
"You didn't," Nick emphasized, exasperated.
"Sinbad sent me a get-well card. Sinbad! The guy who literally finds himself in trouble all the time and manipulates his friends without a second thought," Yamuraiha exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and groaning. "That man is such an enigma, I'll tell you. Fucking special snowflakes."
"Language," Dunya reprimanded, sipping a cup of tea as she watched her brother and friend play chess.
"And Lynn! Lynn wouldn't even talk to me for the rest of his stay here. And Sharrkan too! What the hell happened?"
Dunya giggled. "Oh, I wish there was some way of recording it," she murmured dreamily. "You three were quite the sight."
"Dunya…" Yamuraiha squinted. "Please don't tell me I had a threesome with them."
"Noooo…"
"Foursome?"
"No…."
"F—"
"Why the hell are you two discussing sex so casually in front of me?" Nick cried, slamming his king against the chessboard while blushing furiously. Giving them the equivalent of a middle finger in the Magi world, he scowled and swiftly pivoted on his heel, exiting the room with a flourish.
Dunya and Yamuraiha exchanged looks before breaking out in giggles, high fiving.
This world wasn't...ideal, necessarily, but…
...she treasured it. All the experiences she'd gone through, all the people she had met…
...she would protect this world, magician or not.
I MARATHONED AND FINISHED THE ENTIRE MAGI MANGA FOR YOU PEOPLE.
I read all 369 chapters just so I could get back into this. Ahhh, that was a productive Saturday. ;) I send my everlasting love to you all.
Part of this was already written, but I finished the rest and it's like half crack and half HISHE LOL. This wasn't fully proofread in my haste to finish it for Valentine's.
Hey, so I haven't gotten the chance to reply to reviews yet! I'll do so by this weekend for sure :) There's a lot of interesting points I've read, but I have exams this week so I should really be focusing on them. I'm sorry! I promise I read them all, I just want to make sure I give you all the attention you deserve.
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I love you all :)
Drop a review if you have time lol! I think I included most of the ships you all like ahaha so there's the romance/fluff for you dorky romance-deprived shippers.