Hello everyone out there!

So Magi belongs to Shinobu Ohtaka, my OC to me, there might be references to this world, music etc, spoilers for those who haven't read the manga this far and some spelling mistakes.

Even so, have a fun time reading!

Day 12 Living in Sindria

The birds were way too loud. Lenka groaned and searched through her medicine kit until she found a small package with a promising name.

"Adieu headache," she said and gulped two white powdery pills down.

Geez, don't celebrate this hard when you don't like the feeling of hangover, Orobas scolded.

Do you like the feeling of hangover? Because you're making it sound as if she has to like the feeling to have a reason to party, Gusion asked her co-djinn.

"I don't like the feeling but I want to party, that's why I take pills against the headache. Modern medicine is so great!"

Even with an obvious lack of sleep Lenka was too energetic to be called crapulous so she decided to look after her friends. Alibaba and Aladdin were still fast asleep but Morgiana was missing; the traveler was sure the fanalis girl was out and training with Masrur already. She smiled then slowly closed the door, turned around-

"Holy Solomon, Ja'far!" she squealed when jumping in surprise. "Please don't sneak up on people like that until you want them to die from a heart attack!"

She was sure that his smile was a bit cheeky.

"I came to fetch you to your first lesson with Yamraiha."

Lenka perked up instantly.

"Just wait a second please, I go and grab my pad and pens!"

"We have enough parchment for you, quills and ink as well."

"I know, but I can work better with my own tools," she told Ja'far who waited in her door frame as the traveler collected the items she needed and her anatomy book as well.

"Okay, I'm done."

He looked at her with slight interest while they walked to the staircase.

"I'm surprised that you don't have a hangover after your excessive drinking the night before, especially after you and Sharrkan had that drinking competition..."

Lenka blinked then grinned.

"I wasn't that drunk, I remember that I found the way to my room on my own. By the way, how did Sharrkan get back in his?"

Ja'far snorted gently.

"Masrur carried him after he fainted. I hope that he learned his lesson now but I fear he hasn't. Yamraiha has her laboratories in the black Libra tower where we have a library and school as well. I would teach you myself but during my absence the amount of work I usually do has increased."

"A library? I hope I will be able to read again soon. The literature here must be very interesting."

"It certainly is as long as you remember that not everything some authors write is the truth" he answered with slight disapprove mixed in his calm voice. Lenka chuckled.

"As far as I noticed you don't have seven horns, have you? And the fire you breathe is metaphorical fire under your king's lazy butt."

She blinked surprised at Ja'far. Was that really a wide grin the stern vizier showed her? He looked really nice, even cute and she had a hard time suppressing the fangirl-y squeal that would definitely scare every human around and have her banned from the island. They crossed a courtyard, entered another part of the palace and stopped in front of a heavy door. Ja'far knocked three times and waited. And waited. His expression darkened for a second and Lenka felt a cold shudder creep up her spine. He raised his hand to knock again when Yamraiha flung the door open.

"I'm so sorry, I was doing some research and didn't hear your knocking! So sorry! Please don't be mad!"

Wooow, he controls the whole palace, Orobas whistled in amazement. Ja'far gave his co-general a gentle smile.

"It's okay, Yamraiha. You're doing me a favor when teaching Lenka how to read and write again."

The mage nodded eagerly and had to grab her hat to keep it on her head.

"Of course! I'm really looking forward to it!"

"Then I will excuse myself now."

He bowed in front of the women then turned and hurried away. Yamraiha sighed as if a heavy weight had disappeared from her shoulders and smiled at Lenka.

"I see you are well-prepared. Come in."

Yamraiha's laboratory was stuffed with wondrous devices, crammed bookshelves, desks full of scrolls and potion flasks. A real magician's workplace. Humming she cleaned on of the desks and two chairs then assigned one to Lenka then placed a pile of books in front of her.

"I collected some books that might be interesting and helpful for your studies."

The traveler smiled, took the first and opened it to look at a random page.

"Yamraiha? Can you please note down your alphabet first? I'm afraid that I have to make a dictionary."

The mage tilted her head and grinned.

"Sure. I'd love to learn your alphabet as well."

She picked up a scroll, a quill and ink and drew a symbol.

"This is the letter 'A'."

Lenka copied the sign in her pad and wrote the Roman alphabet's 'A' under it.

"This will be hell."

"I told you this would be hell," Lenka complained two hours later. After they had written down the alphabet the blonde had transcribed a passage from a book called Magic Studies on Shields and Shielding and translated it in her own world's letters. The result was half a page of an unintelligible language so Yamraiha had started to explain the text word for word and Lenka noted them down as the first entries for her dictionary. Sadly her teacher's writing style was done with thick strokes so that the characters were very hard to distinguish and thus she had to compare the letters to the book again.

"Yeah, but you've progressed very much already," Yamraiha said absently while she thumbed through Lenka's anatomy book. "This is so advanced. Maybe we can translate it into my language too."

The blonde hummed in agree.

"I will spend six months here at least until I continue my travelling. Say, can you please teach me a simple thunder spell?"

The mage looked up.

"You're not suitable to be a magician because you don't have a borg, but... I think I can. Ask the Rukh to turn into electricity and turn into a ball then to hit the place where your enemy stands."

Lenka nodded then stretched her arms and yawned.

"How about we end this for today and get us something to eat? I'm starving."

"Good idea."

Yamraiha closed the book and handed it back to it's owner. Together they left the laboratory and walked towards the kitchen where they were provided with a light meal they consumed in a small but bright dining room.

"So what are your plans for today?" the mage asked before taking a sip of her juice. Lenka shrugged.

"I will bring my things back to my room, visit Aladdin and then the silver Scorpio tower. During the time I spent on that torture boat I had no possibility to train and I fear that I have gained weight. Hopefully someone is willing to spar with me."

Yamraiha chuckled.

"Sharrkan surely will after you crushed him in the drinking competition..."

"I think he is still hungover."

"Well, I had a potion to cure myself," she said looking extremely proud. "And that's why magic is better. You can't cure a headache with a sword."

Lenka grinned.

"You can, if you chop your head off."

They burst out in laughter then left the room. Yamraiha brought her back to the green Sagittarius tower then searched for Ja'far to report how well the teaching had went while Lenka climbed up to her companion's room. It was still dark and the air was musty so she crossed the chamber and opened the curtains and windows. Aladdin and Alibaba groaned and peeked out of their beds when the sunlight shone on them. The traveler grinned devilishly, grabbed their blankets and threw them as far away as they flew. Not out of the window, though, she didn't want to have an argument with the gardener because she had flattened the roses or something like that.

"Too bright," mumbled Alibaba and hid under his pillow while Aladdin yawned and rubbed his eyes. Lenka seized another cushion to hit the blonde prince with it.

"Stand up you cissy! Fight like a man!"

"Oi! What is you problem?!"

The door opened again and Morgiana entered. Her face brightened as she saw Lenka.

"Pillow fight?" she asked with slight mischief.

"It's not a just fight, my dear. This is pillow war!"

"Get away!" screamed Alibaba and tried to hit his tormentor as a third cushion met his facial area. With a muffled cry he fell from the bed.

"... my win," said Morgiana while Aladdin laughed so much that tears ran down his face.

"It's not over yet!"

A red-faced Alibaba climbed back onto the mattress, a pillow in each hand. "Taste my pillow!"

"Mor! Girl power! Unified!" yelled Lenka as the fanalis jumped forward. Alibaba dropped his weapons.

"I surrender! Ack!"

Mor had successfully tackled him and sat on his back. She sniffed then made a disgusted face.

"... you stink. You didn't bathe yesterday."

"Ew, you know, Alibaba, girls like men who not always reek of sweat. And baths are very good for one's health, you don't get serious illnesses and parasites if you bathe at least two times a week."

"Two times?!"

Lenka nodded.

"I showered every day back home after training and washed my hair as well."

Mor stood up and brushed her dress's hem.

"... I get you something to eat."

"Thanks Mor!" Aladdin chirped and jumped of the bed to hug Lenka.

"Morning, big sis."

"Morning? It's noon already, haven't you heard the bells?" she said and scratched his back. "I was with Yamraiha of the eight generals up until now and she taught me this world's writing. That reminds me of something. Can you write, Aladdin?"

He peered past her breasts up to her face.

"A bit. Why do you ask?"

"I just thought that you could write Ugo what happens to you every day so that he knows what you're doing. I'm sure the Rukh will reach him when you read your letters to them."

"Really?" His face brightened and he jumped up and down. "That's a good idea! No wonder you're my big sister, you're incredibly clever!"

Lenka laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Only in my world, dear. I have to study everything again in this one. By the way, I will go to the silver Scorpio tower now to train my djinn equip and do a warm up. I have gained weight," she admitted with a grimace. Aladdin blinked then moved his fingers.

"No Aladdin, you don't want to grope me right now."

"Okay."

The silver Scorpio tower was a light-flooded building where the other guests of the palace could train as well. Lenka saw sparring pairs, weapons glistening in the light and instantly felt welcome. She dropped her pink tupperware bottle, her sword, vest and shoes at the edge of the field and started with a warmup of yoga moves, pilates and other gymnastics. It was afternoon now, about four o'clock and a gentle breeze made the hot air a bit more bearable. She had spent an hour to get her smartphone recharged, a very difficult task as she had to reach the voltage the device needed to gain energy without toasting herself. While Orobas sang with Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5 the dungeon capturer curled and flexed, bent and stretched through a couple of exercises she was taught years ago until her legs shivered and her white top from London was soaked with sweat.

Suddenly a pair of dark-skinned feet in sandals came to the fore. Lenka pulled an earplug out and looked at Sharrkan; the man stared at her in awe while she was almost flat on the floor with her legs spread wide and her hands on her ankles. In a fluid motion she released her grip, did a roll backwards and stood up.

"Hey there, Sharrkan. Have you defeated your hangover?"

"Almost. That was some crazy stretching you did there. You must be awesome in bed."

Err, are you hitting on her too? yelled Orobas. Lenka shook her head and gave him a half smile while switching the music off.

"I don't sleep around, but thank you for the compliment."

"Aw, come on, how old are you anyways? You must have had a lover or two already with that body of yours."

She blinked. How old was she now?

"Wait a second, I have to count... I think I'm going to be nineteen in about... fifty-three days."

Sharrkan grinned brightly.

"Is that so? We will hold a big feast then, bigger than yesterday! Maybe the mage can make herself useful and summon a southern sea creature and then we can hold a maharaghan! And this time I won't loose in a drinking contest!"

Lenka grinned mischievously while standing with her hands on her hips.

"You won't be able to defeat me in drinking, Sharrkan. Hinahoho and Drakon certainly would and I'm almost sure that I can beat Sinbad too."

"Nah, our king drinks like a fish, not like a pretty white girl like you," he snickered then his eyes widened with excitement. "You have a sword? Can you use it? Wanna spar a bit?"

Lenka nodded eagerly.

"That would be great. I heard that you are a master with the blade, aren't you? Please be forgiving, I haven't had the time to train properly since a month or two."

His white teeth glinted when he grinned and stepped in the middle of a pavilion to unsheathe his curved blade.

"Don't worry, I'm always nice to girls."

Lenka grinned and grabbed her unbreakable katana. A bit heavier than the sabers she was used to from fencing but that wouldn't be a disadvantage.

"Ready when you are, bombshell."

She inhaled then rushed forward to attack his right shoulder. Sharrkan warded it off with ease and counterattacked. Soon they were enlaced in a fast and heated fight, the clangor of their swords filled the air as they stabbed and slashed at each other. Now she could see that Sharrkan was indeed a supreme swordsman. His style was polished and refined, fit for a real battle to the blood while her own was forged in a clean hall on two evenings a week since her fifth birthday and in the competitions she had taken part where everyone fought almost the same way. Luckily she had Orobas who screamed commands in her head although they were sometimes very confusing. Even so she held her ground well until Sharrkan did a quick pirouette and she had to dodge the metal ball attached to the chain he wore that came flying in the direction of her stomach. She froze as she felt the cold sword near her throat.

"I surrender."

He grinned and sheathed his blade before slumping down.

"Whew, you're really good. I had to try hard sometimes."

Lenka grabbed her bottle and drank a a few gulps before she sat down as well and offered the bottle to her sparring partner who gladly accepted.

"You're worlds beyond me. I'm glad that I have the time to train with you more often since I will stay here until Aladdin leaves."

"Oh, yeah, you're his protector, aren't ya?" he said and gave her the bottle back. "You'll need my advice to guard him well."

She nodded then stretched her arms.

"I'm really blessed that I get so much and so good tutoring as well as a luxurious lodging. I hope I can return the favour some day."

"Of course you will," a deep voice answered. Lenka and Sharrkan turned to look at Sindria's king and his vizier. Sharrkan instantly jumped up to bow.

"My king."

Sinbad patted his shoulder then smiled at Lenka.

"I see you have convinced Sharrkan to train with you, Lenka."

"I did. He is a good teacher and an even better fighter, isn't he?" she answered and brushed dust off her pants. "What leads you here, Sinbad?"

"I wanted to see how your training with your second djinn goes."

"Gusion," she said absently and uncapped the bottle again. "I thought she was a water djinn but in her dungeon were a lot of nasty poisonous creatures too."

I can control any fluid and turn it into gas, hard or jelly, and acid. Especially acid, the djinn answered.

Can you lend me your power?

… I will.

Lenka concentrated on the water and imagined how it rose from the pink bottle and floated in the air. And grinned as the liquid reacted as she pleased. Sinbad nodded his approval as she ordered the water to change into ice then again into water then forced it back into the container.

"That was not bad. I believe that water djinn are easier to manage because you can imagine the djinn equip easier than with the fire kind."

"You have to meet Gusion and change your opinion then," she said with a slight chuckle. Ja'far cleared his throat.

"Yamraiha told me about your morning. She was very contented with your progress."

"You met the mage?" Sharrkan yelped while Lenka chose to ignore him and answered the vizier

"Is that so? I'm glad because we had quite the difficulties with her handwriting and the language. The alphabet was not a problem but the words are."

"She certainly has a vivid writing style," he agreed with a smile then turned serious again. "If your writing is well enough you can help me in the office. You know your arithmetic?"

"Ja'far, I can do curve sketching, charge your household budget and evaluate any stochastic problem you have. I got a prize for having the best mathematic final exam in my school as well as in physics and in chemistry. I was educated to lead a company and know a bit about politics too. I can do almost everything."

The second time on this day he smiled brightly at her but now a shudder ran down her spine despite the hot air.

"I'm sure that I will find a sufficient occupation for you, Miss Lenka."

Your mouth is way too big to do you good, Lenka.

Dear Kougyoku,

I'm finally able to write you a letter that isn't full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. After the incident in Balbadd King Sinbad invited me to Sindria where I write this letter to you. I hope you will have the chance to talk to him during his stay in Kou. He had Yamraiha, one of his eight generals teach me the alphabet and then the language which I'm still learning at this moment and now his vizier Ja'far uses me as personal assistant and calculator – I can't complain, I get a bit of pocket money which I spend for snacks in the city. Everyone here is so nice to me and I'm glad that I can help them in some way.

When we traveled from Balbadd to Sindria a dungeon appeared which I conquered. My new djinn goes by the name Gusion, is female and a spirit that controls any fluid. That's quite funny, I'll never have wine stains on my clothes after one of the famous Sindrian parties again. Trust me, there are no parties like Sindrian parties. I had one for my nineteenth birthday two weeks ago and I'm still a bit hungover after I won over Sharrkan of the eight generals again in a drinking contest. They caught a southern sea beast on that day too and the whole city had their famous maharaghan. I was able to show off my skills at dancing that are completely different from what you know. Maybe I will dance for you some day – just kidding. Okay, I do if you ask nicely.

I still struggle to maintain Gusion's weapon equip, she is really baulky. Hopefully you can give me some advice on how to get on good terms with a female djinn. By the way, I hate travels by ship. I get severe sea-sickness that will last until I leave the boat. It's really bad.

I've been a guest in the palace for almost two months now. I start in the morning with a revision of my vocabulary and it's expansion, then I go to help in the office. You won't believe your eyes if you saw the mountains of scrolls they bring in every day. After lunch I have free time, I go to the city with my companions Aladdin – the Magi, Alibaba – Prince of Balbadd and vessel user, and Morgiana – skilled fighter and my backing in vicious pillow fights as well as with Pisti, another general. We girls have a hard time to get the boys out of their mourning state after their losses but we managed to distract them after we arrived in Sinbad's paradise island. Before dinner I go to the training area and try to get a weapon equip with Gusion or do a sparring with Sharrkan, Morgiana or someone else.

I really hope you get the chance to visit me here soon because I need a partner for girl's talk and the decimation of sweets and fruit. They are even more delicious than in Balbadd and I really have to train hard to not get fat.

Yours, Lenka.

"Here you go," she said and handed the sealed letter over to Sharrkan. "I skin you alive if you loose it."

He grinned and saluted.

"Don't worry, your princess will get her letter for sure."

"Have a save trip," Lenka smiled at her friend who continued to grin. In the past months she had become extremely close to the younger generals as they spent very much of their time together: Yamraiha had continued her teaching and she sparred not only with Sharrkan now but with Spartos as well, Pisti became her companion on long strolls through the city on which she dragged Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana out of the palace too. The petite princess from Artemyra had a lot of fun while looking for dresses for Lenka and Mor and the dungeon capturer was reminded of Micaela again as well as Kougyoku. A day before Sinbad's travel to Kou she had finally finished her letter for her friend after receiving help not only from Yamraiha but also from Ja'far who was almost ecstatic that he had finally an assistant who was not only willing but capable of helping him with the official matters of the palace.

"At least you worry about me."

"Did Yam tell you to drown halfway to Kou?"

"Worse, she said she would do it herself."

"I think she would be really sad if you died," she mused and nudged him playfully. "She likes you."

Sharrkan snorted but Lenka caught the glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"She is a pain in the ass with her superiority of magic talk."

"You're not a tad better, Sharrkan. Have you packed already?"

He ignored the first part of her sentence and nodded while they left the library where she had finished her report to Kougyoku.

"Yeah, just have to stuff your letter in now. Oh, good evening, King Sinbad."

"Sharrkan. Good to hear that you have finished packing your luggage by now," the king said with a friendly smile then concentrated on Lenka.

"Can I have a word with you? In private," he added as she changed a glance with his general who grinned.

"Sure. You'll send me off tomorrow, Len?"

She nodded then waved.

"Of course I will. Bye then, Sharrkan. And don't forget the letter."

"I won't," he assured her then left with a pat on his king's shoulder. "Have a nice chat, my King."

Lenka squinted her eyes as Sinbad sighed. What did Sharrkan mean? Would he ban her from Sindria?

The king noticed her intense stare and frowned.

"Don't look at me like that. I just wanted to know how your stay was up until now."

Lenka relaxed a bit and shrugged.

"It's really nice here. Everyone is friendly and – are you hiding behind that pillar to eavesdrop, Sharrkan?!"

At her yell the dark-skinned man walked through the hallway to the door, hands behind his head and smiling innocently.

"I just had to fix my chain, the weight came off."

"Sure it did," she said while rolling her eyes. Sinbad chuckled and touched her back lightly with his right.

"This way, the gardens should be quiet and cool at this time of the day."

That sounds to me as if he wants to hit on you again, Orobas murmured and Lenka silently agreed. She thought that they had settled their dispute in Balbadd when she helped with Alibaba's training and during the fight against the black djinn yet this situation was way too awkward for her. So she continued the small talk.

"So, where was I? My stay here, right? I'm really happy that you invited me too. Here are so many friendly people who try to help me with my problems that I don't know how to thank them in a proper way. The least I can do is to share the little I know from school back home."

She stopped when she realized that she had started to babble but Sinbad didn't seem to mind. He was smiling at her when he led her through a door into the inner garden.

"That's good to hear. As I recall my generals are quite fond of you too. Ja'far and Yamraiha told me about your eagerness to learn and to help with the official matters, Sharrkan complimented your progress in swordsmanship while Pisti mentioned shopping trips... Did she help you when picking out the clothes you're wearing now?"

Lenka chuckled as she remembered the tour where the small blonde had dragged her into almost every clothing shop on the island until they had found a wrapped green neckholder dress that ended over her knees. With her flying scarf used as sash it didn't look like a sack any longer but rather cute and the jewelry she wore made up for the missing ornaments.

"I think it's my fate to be used by friends as dress-up doll, yet Pisti was really understanding when I told her to pick not so revealing clothes, wasn't she? But I'm really thankful for her help.

So, you called me out to ask me something, didn't you?"

He tensed slightly at her bold question then sighed.

"You are very straight-forward. It's true, I have a question."

He stopped next to a small fountain in a remote part of the garden to look at her, his golden eyes were clear and honest.

"Could you imagine being a part of the Sindrian kingdom?"

Lenka blinked in surprise then loosely covered her mouth with her right hand.

Did he just ask what I thought he would never ask? Didn't he hate me?

I fear I heard the same, Lenka. I'm a djinn of faithfulness and truth, and he speaks the truth as he holds no ill intention towards you. You should answer him.

Err...

"Is this a proposal?" she asked with caution. "If so then I have to decline. I don't think that I will stay here forever, so marriage is a bit... You don't hate me?" she blurted out as he answered not instantly. Sinbad looked at her in confusion.

"Why should I hate you? You did nothing to make me hate you. But it's sad that you turned me down. Again," he added with a slight chuckle. Lenka blushed.

"It's just... I don't know how to say it, after the incident in Balbadd when I went with Kougyoku you were very upset. And you should only marry someone you truly love," she said and her blush deepened. "I mean, it's not as if I won't like you, you're a great man, yet you're ten years or so older and I don't like you like that – stop mocking me!" Lenka growled as he started to laugh. She felt incredibly stupid and childish now so to keep at least a shred of her dignity she turned away to get her red face back to it's normal color.

"Git."

Okay, she was indeed childish yet he stopped laughing and walked around her to face her again.

"I'm sorry for laughing at you, but you can't deny that this was funny."

"Oh yes, har har, I'm dying from laughing."

"Yet it's a pity that you won't join me. Sindria would have gained very much from you."

Lenka's features turned soft as she saw his pleading glance but she shook her head.

"I have a duty to fulfill first then think about what to do with my life. But you should really search for a girl who loves you as you are, not the position of the queen of Sindria. And I don't think you find these girls on parties," she added with raised forefinger. Sinbad laughed then turned serious again.

"Would you mind giving me a kiss? As a good-luck charm for my travel to Kou?"

Lenka's eyes widened then she smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Have a save trip and a good outcome with the emperor, Sinbad."

He grinned cheekily at her.

"Was it too hard to give me a real kiss?"

She laughed, shook her head then turned back to the exit.

"How long were you watching us?! Mor, never adapt to the eavesdropping habit the eight generals have! Geez, even you, Ja'far! I thought you rise above something like that! Was this you idea, Hinahoho? You wanted him to marry someone, marry him! Or better, Ja'far marries him, kihihihi!"

Suddenly Sinbad was very glad that Lenka had refused to become a part of his generals or things might have become very soon very awkward.

Ha, another chapter done! Many skips in this one but I want to proceed with the story, there are characters I want to see again as well as introduce new OC's. Another thing I wanted to say is that Second Chance will be on break until August 23. Can't take my computer with me when going on holiday -.-. But as compensation I'll add an extra after chapter 13.

Thank you for your support, for reading and following, favoriting and/or reviewing!

Yours,

TheMultipleMeExperience