Dream 3: Loss of Many

Dang it, ok, I was trying really hard to update this earlier, but I got caught up with League of Legends and Resident Evil 4. XD Leon is so fab. Anywho, this chapter is dedicated to ElephantLover69, cause she said I probably wouldn't update quickly. When I saw that review, I thought, "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!" So my dear friend, this is update is all on you /o/ Love ya XD

"Halt!"

Nope.

"Stop in the name of Prince Sinbad!"

Pfft, haha. Still nope.

Seira grinned madly as she ran across the floor of the royal palace. The guards were hot on her heels, but they fumbled over the heavy armor they wore and the long spears in their hands.

As she turned the corner, she crashed into a servant carrying clothes, probably about to wash them for the harem. The both of them let out girlish cries on impact, though it was more interesting that the male servant had done such than Seira.

Eyeing the clothing, the brunette grabbed a pristine white robe from the pile before continuing her run. "Sorry, I'm borrowing this!" She shouted to the servant, who yelled back in protest. Borrowing this forever, she meant. She certainly didn't plan coming back to the palace anytime soon or ever, so she lacked the means to return it. Sure, she had taken the cloth and all, but it would surely not be missed, not to mention easy to replace. Plus, she just lost her own cloak and all…

Seira looked back to check if the guards were still following her. Apparently, they had all slipped on the scattered purple and white clothing. She laughed wholeheartedly and turned just in time to see she had run out of ground.

"Whoa!" She skidded across the cold marble in an attempt to stop herself from falling. Gripping the railing, Seira thanked Ra that it had been there to save her from imminent death. She blinked several times, looking down at the lively market below, before facepalming.

Oh right, this was the second floor of the palace.

Oh Ra, how was she going to get down?

Seira usually didn't rely on higher powers to help her and all, but she decided to take a leap of faith with Ra once more. Literally.

She took a few steps back before running and jumping over the railing.

"What?"

"Is she nuts?"

Hmm, maybe a little bit.

Seira was falling. Falling fast and hard. Looking down, the brunette noticed a cart of hay roll to her designated landing zone.

Perfect.

She smirked before pulling open the white robe she had "borrowed" earlier. The cloth slowed her descent significantly and she fell right onto the tarp of the shop directly below where she fell from the palace. Bouncing off the oilcloth, Seira landed in the pile of hay with an "Oomph".

After taking a couple deep breaths and spitting out a few straws of hay, she chuckled. It's been a while since she did something like that, and it felt exhilarating.

"Hey!" She heard a yell from above.

She looked up at the frustrated guards as the carriage started wheeling off and blew a raspberry at them, holding down one of her eyelids to further mock them.

Smiling triumphantly at their beet-red faces, Seira sat up on the pile of hay and wrapped the soft white robe around her body, swinging her legs over the edge of the cart.

She really didn't have any plans of going back there whatsoever.

A blonde sat at the doorstep of a small cottage that had come to be known as the home of Aladdin and Seira. He sighed, thinking about the past day's events. It had been a day since Seira had been taken by Sinbad's royal guards and everything seemed to go downhill after that.

"Why did this have to happen?" He looked up at the orange-red sun and sighed again, his little pointed bunch of hair pointed downward in depression.

"Hey, Alibaba!" The blonde shrieked and fell back when he noticed Seira crouching in front of him.

"Se-Seira…" The boy looked at her in shock before tears welled up in his eyes. He latched onto the brunette's waist and bawled his eyes out. "I thought you were dead!"

Her eyes softened before encircling around the boy's waist. "Sorry for worrying you, kiddo."

This blonde around Seira's waist was a teen by the name of Alibaba Saluja. He was a friend of Seira's from their old workplace before they both left it due to some circumstances. Now, he was a merchant who traveled around Sindria, fulfilling his dreams of wealth and adventure at the same time. Coincidentally, he had been in the town square on the very same day Prince Sinbad was, so he saw the entire ordeal between Seira and Prince Sinbad.

After his waterfalls of tears had stopped, Alibaba had let go of his brunette friend. He rubbed his eyes and sniffled. "Well, I'm glad you're okay now. How did you get away from Prince Sinbad?"

Seira smirked and stood up, placing her hands on her hips smugly. "Alibaba, you know me better than that! There's no way I'd let some stupid royal get the jump on me." She snorted derisively, remembering that stupid eggplant prince. Him and his harem could just shove it for all she cared. "I see you held down the fort for me while I was gone." She had noticed the apple tree seedling next to her cottage had been watered recently and Aladdin wasn't strong enough to draw any water from the town well. "Oh yeah, where's Aladdin? Is he in there? Is he okay?" Her eyes darted around, searching for said boy.

Alibaba's smile dropped and his pointy bundle of hair drooped once more. "Ah, he's not in right now. Prince Sinbad's guards left him be after they grabbed you. I managed to drag him out of there before the carriage began to move again."

Seira's eyes brightened instantly after hearing that. "You did? Is his fever gone? I want to see him!" She made the move to turn around to check for the bluenette in the market, but Alibaba suddenly grasped her hand. The brunette blinked at the grip on her hand and looked at her friend in inquiry. "…Alibaba?"

He looked down, not knowing how to tell her the news. The angle shadowed his eyes from her view, so she had no idea what was going on in his head. "Seira…"

Her sepia eyes narrowed at the strange tone the boy's voice had taken. "What's wrong, Alibaba?"

He lifted his head and met her eyes with his own honey-colored ones. Seeing no other way to say it, the blonde decided to pluck up his courage and just tell her. "There's something you should know…"

His voice fell down to a whisper, as it was news that needed to be said in such to lighten the blow Seira would take from hearing it. Every word Alibaba told her made her eyes widen and the tears in her eyes increase. After he finished telling Seira the news, he let go of her wrist and watched her reaction. She stayed still for a moment, her eyes wide in disbelief and her hands clenched tightly. Finally, she brushed past Alibaba and opened the door, a tear escaping her as she entered the cottage.

Alibaba sighed and sat down in the same spot he did earlier, before Seira surprised him. He wanted to enter along with her, but thought it best if she was left alone for the moment.

Seira shut the door behind her and stared at Aladdin's empty bed, the sheets still disorganized from his hastiness as he had nearly been late to his job in the field the previous day, when that stupid noble took her.

She really didn't expect for this to all turn out this way. From Aladdin's sickness to Prince Sinbad's proposal, it was one heck of a ride.

And this is how it ends…

Seira knelt in front of Aladdin's bed and laid her head down on it. She felt the small indentations in the futon from where Aladdin slept and the mostly dry, but still wet spots from where he drooled when he dreamt about Hassan's luscious apples. His love for apples was the only reason she got that apple tree seedling. She just wanted to see his smile when he bit into the first apple the tree produced. But now she never will.

"Aladdin," Seira sobbed, clenching the sheets of the bed. "Why did you have to go…"

The brunette stood up, the cloth still in her hands. She tore it clean in two, screaming in anguish after. Tears of frustration fell from her eyes as she flipped the boy's mattress. She kicked at the hanging drawing of Aladdin and some chick from the city brothel, ripping away the girl with her foot. She then furiously punched at Aladdin's portrait again and again until she lost it and punched through the boy's drawn head along with the log wall.

Seira screamed once more, but not in pain, no, in anger, finishing her statement from earlier. "Why did you have to go and eat all Hassan's fruit again?!" She glared hard at the punched out drawing, her eyes lit with fury.

She was pissed. Oh, she was so pissed.

That kid was going to die when she found him.

Hassan's eyebrow twitched irritably when he saw the scene in front of him. True, this scene wasn't new to him, since it had happened hours ago, but he was still annoyed at it.

His fruit stand had been ransacked. Multicolored splatters made themselves at home on every surface of the wood counters. A half-eaten watermelon that wasn't quite ripe enough for consumption was all that was left of his store.

If it weren't for the fact that the culprit who did this to his precious produce was a child, he would have torn a whole new one for that person. Heck, even then, he probably still would have done it, but it was Seira's Aladdin, so he made an exception. But that doesn't mean the boy was going to go without punishment.

He scratched at the bandages covering his left eye before turning to inspect his oranges to see if they were ready for harvest. Hassan sat high up on the branches of his orange tree, a breeze swaying the branches slightly. He always came up here when he needed some shade or a place to relax him. Ra knows he needs it after all that's happened today.

He hummed in content when he looked at the sunny coloring of the fruit. He could start selling these the moment his stand was cleaned and away from the bottomless pit that was Aladdin.

"Hassan!" A voice called to him from below. Two hands gripped the branch across from him and swung the body they were attached to up.

Recognizing the person, he continued to look at his oranges. "Hello, Seira." He greeted the brunette as she landed in a kneeling position on the branch, shaking the nearby branches.

"How bad is the damage?" Seira asked frantically. She knew Aladdin had gone out on an eating rampage again, but to what extent it had gotten to, she had no clue.

"Take a look." Hassan gestured at his cart and she groaned at the sight. If it weren't for the fact she had spent many months growing out her hair to its waist-length, she would have ripped it out at the amount of damage Aladdin had caused.

Seira knew she didn't want to know, but she had needed to in order to pay Hassan his fruits' worth. "How much?"

He pulled out a slip of paper from the folds of his pants and handed it to Seira. Just looking at the paper made her faint of heart, but to actually look at its writing… She glanced at the number and nearly had a heart attack from the multiple high digits.

"Th-that much?!" She could feel her soul leave her body. Goodbye cruel world… But before that, she needed to take someone with her. Crushing the paper in her hand, her eyes darkened, remembering a certain bluenette who was responsible for all this. "Where's Aladdin?"

"I'll show you." Hassan jumped down from the orange tree and walked to his fruit stand, Seira following in suit. Walking to the other side of the stand, he gestured to the wobbling giant white and blue mass they somehow hadn't seen from their seats in the tree.

The brunette blinked several times at the quivering blob before turning to Hassan. "I don't get it. Is Aladdin behind this… this thing?"

"I'm right here, Seira-nee!" Aladdin's voice chirped. The globule rotated around to reveal the bluenette's petite head at the top. Why was Aladdin's head on the strange blue ball? Because the blue ball was Aladdin's body.

Seira stared at Aladdin with a blank expression on her face.

"Hey, big sis!" Aladdin waved at her from above. "I feel so much better after eating all this sweet fruit!" Apparently his appetite for fruit, along with his fever and Seira's brief leave had caused him to digest all of the produce Hassan had out. His worst case of fruit hogging yet.

Seira's fingers twitched violently at the boy, or whatever he was now. Leaning down, she grabbed the half-eaten watermelon.

Aladdin tilted his head at her action. "Eh, what are you doing with that, big si-" He got cut off when the melon hit his face.

"You stupid fat idiot!" Seira yelled as the melon slid off Aladdin's face, its red juices still stuck on him.

The bluenette blinked several times as well at what just occurred before tears welled up in his eyes. "Why are you being so mean?!"

"You ate Hassan's fruit again, of course I'm going to be mean!" She replied back, irk marks appearing all over her head. "Now, apologize to Hassan!" Noticing the boy's disgruntled look, she added, "Or do I need to take away your brothel privileges?"

Aladdin's eyes widened. "I'm sorry I ate all your fruit, Hassan." He hastily said to the man. He could not afford to lose his privileges! All the ladies in the brothel relied on him (for money)!

Hassan waved away at that statement. "It's quite alright." Sure he had lost the profit and all, but it was futile to be angry at the boy, as the child's guardian would swiftly deal out punishment and payment for the produce anyway.

Seira sighed before she looking at the crumpled paper clenched in her hand. "Oh Ra…" Judging by the cost of the fruit and the money she and Aladdin got from their jobs, it would take years to pay it all off! And that was excluding their food expenses and Aladdin's brothel funds! "How will I ever pay this off?!"

"You don't have to. I'll pay it off for you." Sinbad replied from behind the brunette, smiling dazzlingly.

… Wait, what?

Seira jumped and let out a girlish squeal at the sight of the purple-haired prince. "What the- how did you find me?!"

Sinbad smirked before pointing at the white cloak wrapped around Seira. "People tend to notice when you're wearing the third prince's favorite robe."

She blinked in reply before looking at the cloth herself, noticing the two signature golden phoenixes within a green house-shaped pentagon in the very center. Her face flushed red at the sight of the emblem of Sindria's royal family.

She could have sworn it was a normal robe when she grabbed it…

Sinbad turned to Hassan. "Going back to the matter of her credit…" He held up a hefty bag, roughly the size of his head. "It will be bought by me, Sindria's third prince, Sinbad."

He promptly dropped the bag in front of Hassan, who scurried to catch it. Opening the bag, Hassan's eyes widened at the amount of gold in there. Sure, he knew it was the correct sum and all, but, dang, that was still a lot of gold.

Seira stared in shock at the glittering mass of bullion before glaring at Sinbad. "Look, I know you royals have tons and tons of money to spend, but why waste on a commoner like me?"

Sinbad glanced over at the brunette, showing her his pearly whites. "I said this before, Seira, and I'll say it again: I want you to become one of the wives in my harem." He held out a hand to Seira, who now directed her narrowed eyes at the outstretched hand. "Come on, let's go home."

No matter how much she felt like she should grab it, like she needed to grab it, that it would lead her to salvation and out of this pitiful life of hers, she knew it was a temptation to a thorny path.

A thorny path that wasn't worth the trouble of being out of all the ones she currently had. Not so she could be bought by some prince. No, not at the price of her newfound freedom.

"I refuse."

Expecting this response, Sinbad merely crosses his arms. "Do you really think people would give you jobs after you insulted the third prince?"

The brunette flinched. That's right, how was she going to pay this debt of hers off with that little stunt of hers yesterday? Everyone apparently loved this egotistical third prince. And everyone in the province had seen her insulting him so openly in front of them all. Forget money, who knows when she'd even get a job again?

Seeing her panic-struck face, Sinbad smirked. "What will you do now? I basically own you."

Seira glowered at him. "Don't mess with me! You can't just treat people as collateral to their own problems!"

"Just give up, I bought you with eighty thousand gold coins. You belong to me now, Seira."

Well shit.

Okay, I have to know. How many people did I mind screw in the middle of that chapter? Review if I got ya o/

Also! I need to know which Magi character should be the second prince of Sindria, he must be:
1) A rude butt
2) ... Nope that's it, but be warned, he may not show up often and will be slightly bashed on