Chapter 7
Infinite sparkling stars are filling the caliginous atmostphere, even though each stars only emit faint light it's brightness is sufficient to make the lonesome darkness a lovely memorable experience that is worth to remember.
"Don't you want to sleep Judar? I think it will take us a while before we reach our destination"
"No. And you, why aren't you sleeping?"
"Well I've had enough sleep before, remember. And besides being here in the dimensional tunnel allows me to savor this stunning sight"
"What sight?"
"The stars!"Alibaba said, pointing her finger up in the sky"Aren't they beautiful!" She said blisfully.
After taking a glance at the stars, a disarrayed reaction appeares on Judar's face"No matter how many times I looked at it, I don't see anything beautiful blondie"
"Cause you're just looking, not watching!"
"Huh?!"
Alibaba sighed deeply before moving her mouth upwards"Okay since im in a good mood and because you helped me-" She was knocked off when Judar suddenly fussed, noisily saying "Blondie I think you misinterpret something! Im not helping you, im only here because I have to make sure that you will be able to pay me! Bury that in you're head!"
"Yeah, yeah whatever. So can we go back to the topic?" Judar nodded, utterly showing his confirmation. "You won't be able to appreciate them if you just looked at them shallowly."Alibaba noticed that Judar was staring at her"And don't look at me if you want to know how beautiful they are"she turned her head to the black-haired man and motioned his head to look up where the stars are shining.
"Focus on the stars and listen to me carefully, OK" Alibaba paused for a second then continued "They are all tiny from here. But because of their outrageous number, a mantle of sparkling stars managed to engulf the pitch-black atmosphere with their faint but glittering lights. Stars twinkled endlessly, as if they are lively breathing and saying that they will never leave you in this darkness. And in our world the moon may be gone for days but the stars will be there whenever and wherever we go. Sometimes only a few of them are up in the sky but the thing is, it's always there at you're side and constantly at you're beck and call in those lonely nights. This sight might not be important for some people, but for me this chargeless image is one of the most beautiful sight I ever saw in my entire life, plus you'll be able to see it every night. So isn't it wonderful?"
After completing her detailed commentary she looked at the raven haired teen and was satisfied of what she saw; An eyes that glimmered alluringly and a small smile that shows delight and satisfaction merged well on his face.
She never thought that this guy infront of her could pulled off that kind of expression, a serene expression that made Alibaba to grab all the liberty she had to stare at him for mere seconds. And yeah she undeniably admit it to herself that somehow she felt nice from seeing him so calm and...happy.
And pondering deeper on the days they were together, she can say that it is not bad like she thought. Judar is really annoying but at the same time he is entertaining and dependable when dangerous situation hits them. All in all he's a good company and maybe a friend.
'They are small yet uncountable, they emanate weak light yet they shone brightly, and their light promises a never fleeting company' Broad-minded, yeah that's what his conclusion of why the heck he thought that things earlier. Being widely open to listen on the blonde's explanation made him able to see the stars in a different way, an aspect that shaped in fascination and amusement.
Judar leaned his head on the blonde's shoulder, eyes never swayed on the glamorous stars "It's beautiful" Judar said in a way that only he himself can hear however those words did not escaped from the ears of a golden haired darling.
"Judar did I hear you right!? Did you just say beautiful?!"she blurted it out in an oh-so offending behavior that spawned Judar to exasperatedly sat up. Judar didn't know if he will be annoyed to the blatant insult or be amused because, well this girl has an abnormal ability, she has the sharpest ears ever. Or maybe he just said it too loud that he didn't notice it at all, cause he was too captivated on the stars.
Disclaiming it would not help him at all and will just make him look laughable, therefore with all his might and glory he claimed it "Do I have no right to say that words!"
"No, it's just that...ughmm.. Ah..im not...used to it. Coz you know...most of the time you curses" Alibaba said nervously, hoping that she picked the right words.
"Im still a human! and for your information I still do know how to appreciate things and give compliments if I want to! BIRDBRAIN BLONDE!' And there... he's back to normal, thought Alibaba.
"Ok ok, calm down Judar. Let's just watch the stars again" Judar wouldn't deny it to himself anymore, watching the stars is relaxing especially with the blonde at his side. He would be a fool among the fools if he refused to devour this generous offer.
The sudden weight of a head that falls on her shoulder and an arm that snakes through her waist assured her that Judar is no longer mad at her. She can say that she become immune to Judar's habit of hugging her, and also she thought that maybe he feels a little lonely and needs comfort, and who is she to deprived him of that, as long as she can do it there is no problem especially if she's helping her friends.
"Blondie" he said before lifting his head and focused his eyes on Alibaba.
"What?"
"T-tha-...Nothing!" Embarrasment and nervousness made him unable to tell what he truly want to say. But Alibaba got it clearly and smiled softly at Judar "Ok"
Judar was flustered after seeing the soft and sweet smile of the blonde and as much as he want to stare at Alibaba he can't. As a result he shifted his eyes, trying to look for something to focus on and luckily for him he found something that caught his attention.
"Blondie what happened to you're arm?" His pair of bloody eyes glared at the right arm of the blonde.
"Oh it's nothing to worry about" And that didn't befit well in Judar's ears, Indeed it is far from critical neverthless the wound is not that small to be left out. "I said what happened?" he adds more terror in his voice.
"Remember the 3 doors we encountered, I got this when the ropes are pulling me harshly inside, and there my arm accidentally scraped on something rough"
"How idiot of you. Speaking of which, what happened to you in that place? and would you mind telling me why are you so mad at Amon?"
"Im not mad at him!"
"Yeah right, you're not perfectly angry when you oppressively imprecated him"Judar said sarcastically.
"I said im not!"
"You're so lucky that Amon still chooses you as his king, despite the indecent attitude you have shown to him, so quit at lying blondie cause you're not good at it"
"It's like I wished for it"Alibaba's golden eyes solemnly gazed down as she recall the words of Amon 'Im a fire djinn Alibaba., fire represents bravery. Bravery starts from the essence of facticity. Seeing the truth behind the fabricated lies and be on the upright position no matter what the circumstance are. Bravery should perpetually stands with truthfulness, Alibaba. Before the 3 of you reached the doors, I've already sense that between you and the fanalis, you Alibaba, has the magoi competency to support me. My deepest apologies for doing that but as a djinn I have the responsibilty to choose a rightful King'
"But im really thankful for him, not because he picked me but because he punched some sense on me"
"Don't care! Just tell me what happened to you in there!"
"The dungeon showed me the truth"
"If the dungeon just showed you the truth, then why do you look so exhausted?"
"Frankly, I don't like the way he showed it to me but it's effective. Human existence is destined to face inevitable battles. Considering it's cruelty, all of us are entitled to endure all kinds of pain and suffer till you won or keeled over. But after every battle, neither triumph nor defeat should hindered you to move forward. Before I enter the dungeon of Amon all I want is to have treasures. Infinite treasures that would let me and my family live in luxurious and will allow us to live in the most comfortable way in sindria-" She doesn't intend to stop, but a loud growled interrupted her.
"SINDRIA! are you totally out of you're mind. I..." 'wont let you go there' No, he shouldn't say that, he told to himself. "Continue" he said in a very low voice. It's a tone that he never did before, a tone full of melancholy.
The blonde spotted the change of tone that Judar made but she decided to ignore it "Sindria is the land where dreams lie, but I can't leave in dreams anymore Judar. So many times I've failed him, myself, and everyone...because I let myself be terrified by empty lies"
A loud breath of relief was released when Judar heared that Alibaba has no plans to go to Sindria(if his interpretation was right...) Tell him that his prying too much, cause he'll tell you that it is better to know everything than to live you're whole life in curiousity "Him?Who's that blondie?"
"He's my...fa...ther, my biological father" Alibaba's golden pair of eyes becomes watery.
That didn't turned nicely for the dark haired teen, seeing her downcast appearance made him unconsciuosly tautened his hug. And he's not good at comforting people and he pretty knows it, nothing is left for him to choose from so he did what he thought is appropriate.
"Hey what's with that droopy face! You look like a dumb potato about to cry! Ahhahahaah" If the soreness on her face indicates that he succesfully washed away Alibaba's unpleasant mood, then he'll remain jubilant even if he receive a whack- which no longer than a second he received.
If the smile shows pleasure- for accomplishing her ire to rise or the raven had gone mad. Or maybe both, does not matter anymore because she's angry, no she is furious "Psycho are you making fun of me!"
"Psycho?Me?! I don't think so blondie"
"Great! who in their right mind would still smile after receiving a whack" She smugly grin when Judar's dreadful face was displayed.
"Blondie may I remind you that... you still have debts and you still haven't paid me, remember?" After his last word, he gave Alibaba a bone crushing hug.
"Ouch! May I remind you too that I already have the payment! Dumbass!" Alibaba never concede she is indebted on Judar, instead she secretly told to herself that she needed to give him a reward for helping her or whatever words he might called it.
"Oh really,what is it?" He excitedly said.
"Idiot! Of course these treasures"
"I don't need that"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAT! SERIOUSLY! You must be kiddding! don't you know how tired I am in collecting these extravagant treasures! Well it's not that Im complaining but dividing these treasures for the three of us is quite difficult ya know! And what's with the drama that you don't need these? well sorry cause it's the only payment I could give you! Asshole!" she said before sending her mortuary glares to judar.
'There she is again, glaring at me together with her pouty lips. Dammit if Im a man without dignity to hold on I'd probably stole a kiss... WHAT'S THAT!... KISS HER. OH NO! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!... KISS HER, WHY WOULD I WANT THAT... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! DO I REALLY WANT TO KISS HER? !' Judar thought.
After that he realize how close he is to Alibaba-his face is just an inch away from the blonde's face and his arms girdled Alibaba so tight, all of these are enough to make his face flush in the deepest color of red. The loud thump in his chest and the swirling butterflies in his stomach placed him in a bizarre sensation, making his temptation to increase every second and his nervousness to flow out unwillingly.
'Did I say too much?' Witnessing his oozing nervousness, Alibaba can't help but feel a little worried about him. "Are you alright Ju- hmmm!" Alibaba's flabbergasted state restrained her to move or to even think straight. She did not anticipated this to happen, it may seem it's about the soft lips that was placed on her own but no, it is far different from anger that she should feel now.
The soft and tender lips on his, tastes like honey and strawberry, a perfect blend that will make anyone be addicted in it. He can say that kissing her is the most dumbest but also the best thing he had ever done in his 18 years of living, and now it's official and clear to him- the feelings he had for the blonde is genuine and special.
Eventually Alibaba achieved the power she demand to escape the land called stupor. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"Her shrieking voice and robust punch broke the kiss and precipitately made the raven haired teen to lay down dead, but no matter how huge her effort to calm herself, the earsplitting sound of her pounding heart didn't stop, though.
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"Oracle! Oracle!"
"Glad we found him!"
"Please wake up Oracle!"
Upon opening his eyes he never expected to be welcomed by old stinky veiled geezers and if it's not good enough- his face is currently in pain because of the punch he received from kissing Alibaba. And speaking of which 'Where is she? ' Oh yeah, she's in the place where the dungeon stands and him? ' Where am i?' He promptly stand to inspect the place and was greeted by tons of sand. 'Desert?im out of the city?"
"High priest! Where are you going?" the three veiled man said in union when the black haired teen took a step forward.
"None of you're goddamn business, idiots"
"But the emperor wants you're presence"
"Like I fucking care" he said while waving his hand. Though, their severe annoyance didn't depict well on their unsymetrical poker faces, their actions utterly did the job- by dragging him forcefully in the flying carpet and putting a magic spell in him was enough to make him shut in silence.
The trip going back to rakushuo was fast but still, the nagging frustration made it feel like forever, and curiosity combined with anxiousness for the blonde killed him a thousand times.
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After waking up with peoples loud cheering noises, Alibaba took a one day rest in the city of Qishan. First is to find the red-headed fanalis- which she did not fail to do, and last is to have a break. Yeah she deserves it, her body was incredibly aching after conquering the dungeon of Amon and remembering the incident that startled all her nerves was not helping either.
And she felt something is missing or to be precised someone is missing, but as stubborn as she was Alibaba ignored it's existence and indulged her 1 day break. And within the said day a guest appeared in front of Alibaba's door.
"Are you here for round 2?"
"After you beat me I felt hatred towards you, something like slitting you're throat and reaping you're limbs could only erase and satisfy that hatred. "
"Well it's not that pretty shocking"
"Let me finish first!" he cleared his throat before opening his mouth again"The time that someone told me you went to the dungeon...Im really frustrated and furious to myself. Like you, I always have a desire to gain power from conquering a dungeon. It's shameful...it's really shameful of me that someone outside from our city would counquer that dungeon."
"In short you're jealous of me and you're here to take you're vengeance because I stole you're dream" Alibaba mockingly said.
"How many times do I have to tell you to let me finish first!" This is strange from what Alibaba thought, she asked herself of when does this man gain this great amount of patience- he's so out of character right now, maybe something happened to him.
"You're Alibaba Saluja the former First Princess of Balbadd. I as the governor of this City is humbly asking for you're help" next to his last word was the unforseen inclination of Jamil's head.
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The awkwardness building in the three travelers was getting bigger and at any rate would explode into a huge trouble that will put the blonde in the middle.
"Alibaba, why do we have to include him?" Morgiana is not the type of person who would show her disgust but this is an exception.
"Morgiana he needs my help, sorry"
"It's not you who needs to apologize Alibaba" she gave Jamil a glare that made her so called enemy to stand in indignation.
"Beast, if im not mistaken I am still the governor of Qishan. The kind governor of Qishan who freed all the slaves and gave them a decent job where all of them can earn money. Instead of an apology, you should praise me with compliments for my heroism"
"Alibaba did that! The agreement you had with her forced you to do that!"
"But still that agreement wouldn't be effective if I didn't agree, right?"
It's enough, her temper is at it's peak and she has to do something about it. She puts all her weight to her feet then she grabbed Jamil's collar to have a firm hold of him.
But before she could attack Jamil, the blonde's loud voice interfered "Guys !Would you please stop it! and let me drive in peace!"
"It's not my fault, she started it" jamil said teasingly. And that's how they're first day of travel goes on, a day filled with ballistic noises coming from the two fellow travelers of Alibaba. 'I guess it can't be helped' Alibaba thought pitifully.
Another day had come where Alibaba's ears had to suffer again in another unpleasant noise but to her surprise, the noise was far from usual cause this time the noise was coming from the falling stones that was hitting the roof of their cart.
The small soft hands on her chest woke her up and a cute little strange blue-haired boy smiled at her and said "Good evening nee-chan, how are you?"
His innocent smile did not ceased the blonde from giving him a glare"Boy do you want to see you're death"
"Nee-chan don't be so rude" The little boy smiled again.
"Stop smiling like an innocent child! you pervert!" Her strong whacked help her to detached the pervert blue haired boy.
"Ah my head hurts, by the way have you seen a girl with stoic expression, her hair is red and a man with black coat and hair?" She said while rubbing her forehead.
"Are you talking about Morgiana nee-chan ? Because of her cast-iron kicks, Fatima imprisoned her into a different cell. And the black haired guy you're talking about is at that corner sulking and whinning" Alibaba turned her head as the boy pointed jamil's location.
"By the way Im Alibaba. And you, what is you're name ?"
"Im Aladdin, nee-chan" he said as he stretched his hands on the blonde.
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Sorry for the super duper late update guys. Working in a graveyard shift is really exhausting, and finding time to do this fic seemed to get really hard for me. But you're long wait is over. Thanks for reading this fic :)))).