AN: So, no, this isn't a crossover with Harry Potter. I didn't know that magical satchels existed in Harry Potter. I may read the fanfictions, but I never actually read the books nor watched the movies (out of disinterest, I guess), so the satchel thing is all a coincidence. Anyways, sorry for the late update. I actually had a chapter halfway done many, many months ago, but my laptop crashed, which caused my motivation to crash as well.

Chapter 7: Goldilocks Part 1

There was a pause.

"Well, I guess that's one opponent down," Kassim said.

Alibaba scrambled to stand up. His eyes darted across the ground where Morgiana had once stood. She was gone… She was really gone!

"D-did I kill her?" Alibaba squawked as he dropped the satchel in horror. "Oh my gosh!"

"What? No, don't say that." Kassim scooped up the bag and tossed it to Alibaba, who nearly fumbled in catching it. "The girl's probably still alive. She's just…" he trailed off as he rotated his wrist, his hand making a vague gesture, "stored away, I guess."

The blond stared at him. "Yeah, she's probably still alive," he parroted back Kassim's words derisively.

"Look, I'm no magic expert. Ask Yunan when he's done," the other grunted. He turned around and walked in a slouch, the fatigue and bruises likely causing him to drag his feet. "Come on. Let's go find him."

Alibaba grimaced, looking down at the satchel in his hands. He then shook his head.

Right… This was not the time to think about this. He couldn't afford getting lost in thought about the mortality of the Fanalis girl when Goltas was still out there battling against his godfather. And there was Jamil, but he was likely to be knocked unconscious after being blasted by Yunan. Hopefully, the man would remain unconscious for the rest of the day.

He slung the satchel around his shoulders and chased after Kassim.

A white beam of light struck against Goltas's chest, sending the burly man flying past columns and into a building. As a cloud of dust rose from the crash, Alibaba and Kassim hurried to where Yunan was standing. The man in green was hunched over from carrying Alamir on his back. When he turned his attention at their arrival, his eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face.

"Ah, Kassim and Alibaba!" he exclaimed with cheer. He lowered his staff and propped it onto the ground. "Good to know that you're both okay. Now, we must hurry. We don't have a lot of time."

"What do you mean?" Kassim asked.

"I'm sensing a terrible darkness approaching our way. If we don't act fast, then we'll lose sight of what we've come here for."

"You mean the Magi? Is he around here, then?" Alibaba looked around, but saw nothing put piles of rubble.

"I'm afraid, at this moment, the Magi isn't our priority." Yunan walked towards Alibaba and handed Alamir to him. Upon closer look, while the older man seemed to be in better condition than Kassim and Alibaba, exhaustion marred his face and perspiration beaded his forehead. Did he overexert himself? "We have to secure the Djinn for ourselves. Otherwise, we must defeat our next opponent."

"Wait, what?" Alibaba cried. "We're seriously going to try to conquer this Dungeon?"

"How else are we going to get out, stupid?" Kassim scoffed.

"I knew that! I just—I thought Yunan was going to magic us out of here. I didn't think we'd need the Djinn's power for anything." For that matter, Alibaba was under the impression that Yunan had snuck inside just to get away from Jamil's soldiers. He didn't think that they were going through this Dungeon to the end!

"Silly goddaughter. How else are you going to reclaim Balbadd if you are without strength?" Yunan tutted.

"I'm a guy!"

"Anyways, I shall erect a barrier to stall the enemy. You two go onwards. You'll find an object with the Star of Solomon and you must touch it. Afterwards, you will encounter the Djinn."

With that said, Yunan made a couple steps past him and positioned himself into a defensive stance. He raised his staff up and brought his other hand facing forward with its palm open. The end of his staff radiated a caerulean light, and an opaque screen appeared. The barrier seemed to stretch infinitely from both sides, curving slightly so that even Goltas was on the other side of the barrier. While it didn't extend past the buildings in terms of height, it was still considerably tall enough that even the Fanalis girl wouldn't be able to jump over it.

"I'm unable to determine exactly how strong this enemy is, but I'll do my best to buy you time," Yunan said.

"You know, for an all-powerful Magi, you sure aren't what you used to be," Kassim remarked dryly, looking up at the barrier. "Pretty pathetic, if you ask me."

"Give me a break! I had a long day," Yunan complained, shoulders slumping.

"Defeating a magicless swordsman shouldn't be that much trouble for one of the world's strongest magic-wielder."

"Did you see the size of him? He was huge! And his muscles!"

"Again. Magicless." Kassim nudged Alibaba with his elbow. "Let's go and leave your wimpy godfather, Princess."

"Hey!" Alibaba and Yunan shouted simultaneously.

"Quit calling me Princess," Alibaba groused as he followed Kassim.

"What do you mean? Are you not of royalty, Cinderella?"

Instead of deigning him with a response, Alibaba huffed. His temper nearly compelled him to retort back, but after having to escape death on numerous occasions today—from a megalomaniac master and his slaves to ant monsters—he didn't really want to bother. At least, right now he didn't.

He was taxed both physically and emotionally, but he figured that if Kassim pressed on with his teasing, Alibaba would snap; it was what happened during their carpet ride to the Dungeon, and even Alibaba could admit that he tended to be too predictable for his own good.

He pushed Alamir higher onto his back when he felt the kid's weight droop further down. He wasn't surprised to find that Alamir was still passed out. He must have drained a lot of his magical reserves when he tried to fly them away from the ant creatures. Although, if that had been only a portion of Alamir's magic, he wondered how strong the little boy was with all his powers. Already was he impressed with Alamir popping in and out of existence, so what other tricks that he could pull?

Alibaba considered hair growth and clothing manipulation, but, since Yunan could do that, wouldn't that be a level too difficult for Alamir? Or maybe what Yunan had done was something that every novice magician could do? Just what could a magician do once at his or her fullest potential? Possibly something not all that amazing, Alibaba speculated. Yunan's attacks were a sight to see, certainly, but Alibaba somewhat expected a mighty Magi to be able to put down his foes in a matter of seconds. Instead, it took Yunan about half an hour. Even if Kassim had pointed out that Yunan had been flagging…

Hm. It could be a Magi well-fed and well-rested that revealed a great potency; perhaps an ounce of weariness could bring down that strength by several notches. As Alibaba recalled, Kassim had told him that Yunan had been occupied when the dreadlocked boy went to fetch him. The man in green could have been running around from the chase for who knew how long. Alamir had been running too, which could mean that had he not been exerting himself he could have made his turban fly from slow to fast. If that was the case, then these magic-wielders needed to work on their endurance.

The boys eventually arrived at a small precinct where there were large mounds of treasure. Up ahead, the path was cut off by a pillar. The pillar was thick that it would take ten men to wrap their arms around it. At the base looked like it had been carved out, and situated inside the hallowed pillar was a vase.

It was a large round vase that was emanating a golden glow. On its front was an eight-pointed star that Alibaba had seen on Kouen's sword. Could that be the Star of Solomon?

"How'd Yunan know about this?" Alibaba wondered.

"He's a Magi. He's seen a lot of things." Kassim shrugged. "I guess that means he's been in Dungeons before too."

"You don't know?"

Kassim shook his head.

After a moment, Kassim and Alibaba exchanged looks before sharing a nod. They climbed up the stairs and tapped on the star together.

Nothing happened.

"Uh, I guess this was the wrong pottery—"

A blast of wind came surging from the mouth of the vase, strong enough to knock Alibaba and Kassim off their feet. There was a thrum of power, of magic, of something that Alibaba had never felt before yet somehow knew what it was. He could feel it in his bones as he watched in bewitched fright as the vase rattled and its glow grew with hot intensity. Suddenly, an enormous cord of conflagration burst out and snaked itself around the pillar until it reached the end. The fire hit the ceiling and exploded, causing a hole.

Alibaba rocked backwards onto his side with Alamir splaying next to him. His widened eyes took in the sight of the red flames coalescing together into a purpling ball, which then transformed into an enormous blue being. It took the appearance of a bald, bearded elder with a rotund belly. A circular eye sat between his brows. He had no legs, but instead a wispy tail. He peered down at them with a leveled gaze.

"Now," the Djinn spoke in a gravelly voice, "which one of you is to be king?"

Alibaba took in a deep breath.

"Aaarrrrgghhhh!"

"Would you shut up?" Kassim slapped him upside the head. "What's the matter with you?"

"I just never thought that this would happen to me!" Alibaba cried, hands flying to the back of his head. "I thought that my fate was to be a cleaning servant in the palace, but I actually gone into a Dungeon, survived, and met a Djinn! It's like those Sinbad stories that I read as a kid coming to life!"

Kassim fixed him a strange look. "You gotta scream because of it?"

Alibaba ignored him as he stared in bewilderment at the Djinn that descended downwards in their location. The Djinn's eyes were filled with scrutiny, but the blond didn't sense any malintent. The blue man's stern expression didn't change until it lingered on Alamir's unconscious form; his eyes then grew wide as his heavy brows rose.

"My, my," the Djinn said, "what has happened to that child?"

Alibaba opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. He was too awestruck to utter anything to the magical being before him. Luckily, Kassim wasn't under the same influence.

"Beats me. I guess he got knocked out cold by an attack." Kassim stood up and dusted himself. He looked at the Djinn quizzically. "So, what happens now? You said something about being a king?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Since you two have made it here, you have cleared the Dungeon," replied the Djinn. "I am Amon, the Djinn of Politeness and Austerity; I am also the master of flames. As the ruler of this Dungeon, I have recognized you two as one of which who is worthy to use me as a formidable weapon."

And that was it.

Wait, no riddle? No test? That was it?

Alibaba might not have much recollection of King Sinbad's stories, but he did remember something about the Dungeons having to be trickier. The awe waned as he realized that the process just felt a bit too fast. Too soon. Could all there was to this Dungeon was making it past the maze and evading monsters? Or maybe it was because of Yunan who had a huge part in leading them in the right direction after finding them? Yunan did the same for Kassim, didn't he?

Alibaba felt that perhaps clearing the Dungeon wasn't as big of an accomplishment as he had thought. Even though this hadn't been what he wanted to do in the beginning, he felt like a cheater, nonetheless.

Alibaba hoisted Alamir onto his back and stood up. "Oi, Kassim. You should take Amon."

Kassim faced him with an incredulous expression. "Haah?"

"I know that I haven't done as much fighting as you or Yunan did, and since Yunan isn't here, I think it's best if you conquer this Dungeon yourself."

"First, you got all hyped up, and now you're indifferent?"

"I'm not indifferent! I still think that this is all cool."

"Probably not cool enough that you'd want your own Djinn."

Alibaba frowned. "Didn't you hear me? I just said that I'm undeserving of having one."

"And what makes you think that I want one?" Kassim countered. "I don't want to be a king or the owner of some fire power."

"Some fire power…" Amon choked out in the background.

Now Alibaba was the incredulous one. "What on earth are you going on about, Kassim? Don't you know how many people have died trying to conquer this Dungeon? Don't you know how many people would have killed to get it cleared?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Kassim retorted back his words. "I said that I don't want to be a king. Why the hell would I want that responsibility lumped onto me?"

Alibaba was confused as to why Kassim would turn down an opportunity like this. He would have thought that the other was someone eager to seize control of anything that would have made him stronger. Rather, the dreadlocked boy now appeared to be genuinely annoyed with the idea of it—or perhaps it was just concept of having to ascend to a throne that made him skeptical.

That was something to get his head wrapped around. The blond had a vague understanding as to why Kassim wouldn't like being a ruler—the idea of having restricted freedom and numerous duties to fulfill would be off-putting, but how could a commoner like Kassim even realize that sort of burden? At least, fifteen-year-old Kassim wouldn't know, but who was to say that eighteen-year-old Kassim didn't?

Did his childhood friend really change so much in these past three years that he would willingly reject the chance of attaining power? Alibaba wondered if Yunan had a hand in this. He also wondered if this change was for the better or not.

"You don't have to literally be king," Alibaba argued.

"And how often do these kings end up not being literal kings? They always end up being big-shots." At that, he did have a point. It was hard to imagine someone with a Djinn to not be in a high position of authority. But, regardless…

"Well, most Dungeon-divers aspired to be big-shots. You yourself don't have to."

"Even so, I'm not interested," Kassim said, crossing his arms. "You take Amon."

"But I don't want to! What am I supposed to do with a Djinn?"

"Do you suffer from short-term memory? Don't you remember what Yunan said to you? You need power to take back Balbadd, and," Kassim pointed at Amon, who appeared quite affronted by the gesture, "you have that source of power right in front of you."

"I just don't think I'm ready for that…"

"Then you train, dumbass. You didn't really think Yunan would let you go and wage war against Kou right after conquering the Dungeon, did you?"

"Of course not," Alibaba said, rubbing the back of his neck in uneasiness, "but it just doesn't feel right." And it wasn't just because he hardly contributed in conquering the Dungeon. He didn't stop regarding himself as a palace servant born and raised in the slums, and the idea that someone like him could rise in the social hierarchy…again…was an uncomfortable situation to deal with. What other events would he gain an easy way out and not based on his own merits?

"I can't believe this," Kassim sighed. He rubbed his temple. "Here we are in a cleared Dungeon and you won't take the Djinn. This is remarkably stupid for your part."

Alibaba sputtered in outrage and dropped his arm. "I could say the same thing to you!"

"What the hell do you mean?"

"You're the one under the assumption that just possessing a Djinn would make you royalty! Who's the real idiot?"

"And you're the one who's making his argument on feelings. At least I had a legitimate excuse."

"It's not legitimate at all!"

"Silence!" Amon's commanding voice echoed within the chambers of the vicinity. The booming sound compelled Alibaba into shocked obedience, nearly causing him to drop Alamir. He felt a small flare of apprehension churning inside of him, worried that they had angered the Djinn with their quarrelling. Was Amon going to reject them? Was he going to smite them?

He slowly raised his head to see the Djinn peering down at them with a look of…grandfatherly disapproval?

"My goodness," Amon sighed, aggrieved, stroking his beard. "You two lack any decorum whatsoever! Bickering in front of an elder while referring to him as though he isn't in the room—absolutely preposterous! What generation is this where good manners is no longer an automatic given? And imagine my disappointment to find you children trying to foist me off to each other as though I'm a low-priced wooden cup with a chipped rim!"

Amon harrumphed and continued. "Back in the respectable, dignified days, warriors of the highest creed would be kneeling in honor of me acknowledging them as my king. Yet, instead, I have a pair of hooligans who somehow made it past all the trials and obstacles this Dungeon had to offer, and then to do what? To not even want to take what they had come in here for and to simply argue in front of me."

Alibaba picked up his jaw and owlishly blinked. He didn't expect a Djinn to go into a tirade about etiquette, even if he was the Djinn of Politeness and Austerity. The previously composed blue being went on with his rant. Alibaba would have felt ashamed for behaving rudely in front of the Djinn if it weren't for him going on about the "good old days" and calling them "children." Now, he felt a tad overwhelmed. He was relieved that Amon wasn't going to smite them, but just how long could this geezer go on for? It was as if he was listening to one of his royal tutors when he had been a prince.

He looked over at Kassim to find the dreadlocked boy wearing a bored expression.

"It seems to me that one of you two must have me as an educator of politeness and austerity," Amon concluded with a sniff. "But since there are two of you and I must have one king, we shall have the Magi decide."

This caused Kassim to perk up. "Magi? You know that a Magi is here?"

"A Magi's rukh have its own trademark aura and can be detected by a Djinn. I would know a Magi being inside my Dungeon the very moment he would step inside."

"If you want Yunan to decide, you might have to wait a bit longer. He's occupied."

"No, I was addressing to—"

There was an explosion behind them. Alibaba and Kassim whirled around to find that standing amongst the black smoke and charred remains was Maimoonah.

Was Maimoonah the enemy that Yunan was talking about?

Striding up next to him was Jamil. Skin clear of bruises and gait absent of a single limp, Jamil faced them with a manic smile. In his grip was a sword, just reminding Alibaba that he was without a weapon. He glanced at Kassim—and he was without one too!

"Maimoonah, you're right! The Djinn's here!" Jamil exclaimed. He spread his arms wide and gazed at Amon with reverence. "The power… The strength I need to be king!"

"Uhhh." Alibaba looked helplessly up at Amon. "Can you do something about this?"

"I have not been chosen; therefore, I cannot interfere," Amon responded.

"No way!"

"I accept you," Kassim declared in a rush. "Now, take care of them!"

"Unless you have a metal apparatus on your person, I cannot."

"What?"

"Kassim, your earrings!" Alibaba exclaimed, pointing to the red loops that hung from Kassim's lobes.

"They're made from wood," he gritted out.

Oh, this was not looking good. Just when Alibaba was about to think of something, he noticed a dark flash.

"Kassim, look out!"

Kassim leapt to the side when Jamil nearly struck him. Jamil sprung up off from his pounce and pivoted towards Kassim. With his sword locked and pointed, the master ran forward before thrusting his sword. Kassim swore loudly before backflipping to evade and rolled over to push for momentum on his feet.

Alibaba pulled away from watching and turned his attention back to Maimoonah. The magician had brought up his gnarled wooden staff, the sleeves of the robes revealing papery white and thin arms; above his head was a crackling ball of black energy the size of a wagon wheel. The blond instantly registered the danger and dove away. There was a great blast that blew Alibaba off his feet and sent him crashing.

Alamir's body, to his relief, landed on a pile of treasure. Alibaba tried to push himself up, but he ended up falling back onto the ground. He wheezed for air. It was no use. He was thoroughly beaten up and depleted of energy. He nearly got hit by the attack, but that enough nearly restricted his ability to move due to the amount of pain his body was taking. He couldn't push himself anymore.

But seeing Maimoonah slowly advancing towards Alamir sent him into panicked desperation.

"Hey, you wrinkly old creep!" Alibaba shouted at the top of his lungs. "Hey, over here!"

Whether the magician was ignoring him or couldn't hear didn't change the fact that he was still making his way towards the kid.

"Damn it. Damn it!" Alibaba propped himself up with his elbows. Kassim, who was just as—if not more so—fatigued as he was, was struggling to keep his life from the crazy master's swinging sword. Yunan wasn't here and was probably out of commission seeing how Maimoonah was here. Alibaba didn't want to think that the man in green was dead, but…

Alibaba shook his head. Kassim and Yunan weren't here to save Alamir, and not even Amon could lend a hand. It was now up to him. But what could he do in this hopeless state?

Hold on—Amon said that he could help if they had metal on them.

Metal.

Alibaba used up the last of his energy to crawl towards the closest pile. His breaths became ragged as he dug through the gold coins and jewelry. It didn't take long for him to find a ring with a small diamond. He slipped it on and raised his hand up high.

"Amon, I accept you as my Djinn," he cried out. "Take me as your king!"

What happened next was a blur.

He nebulously remembered a blaze of fire surrounding him, but he hadn't felt the scorching heat. He also remembered seeing something shiny from the depths of Maimoonah's robes.

He let out a groan and tried to sit up, but the ache on his torso prevented him from doing so. He lied back down and opened his eyes. Clear blue skies.

Where the hell was he?

He knew that he was on a field of grass, but that was as far as his purview could tell him. The weight of his satchel sat on his stomach and the rod in his hand...

Rod?

He shifted his head to see the object. It was a little difficult with the stalks of grass obscuring his vision, but he managed to determine that it was a bronze flute. The bulbous part under the mouth piece had the Star of Solomon, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. The same hand that was holding the flute was wearing a silver ring with the same star on the diamond.

Did he get two Djinns in one Dungeon?

But that couldn't be the case. He had a flute, and Alamir had told him and Kassim about needing to take back his flute from Maimoonah. He wondered if the memory of him closing in on Maimoonah meant that he had swiped it from him. If this was really Alamir's flute, then shouldn't he know his real name, then? Alamir had mentioned his name being contained inside. Maybe the kid needed to be in possession of the instrument?

Speaking of which, where was Alamir? Where was Kassim and Yunan?

This didn't look like any part of the Dungeon he had been in, so could he be outside? He knew for a fact that he wasn't in Qishan either—too grassy and quiet to be the merchant town.

Alibaba groaned again.

He wasn't tired anymore, but his body was in too much agony to get up. He didn't know where his companions were and he didn't know where he was. His hair was still long and he was still wearing a stupid dress.

"A-Amon," he whispered, his voice cracking as though from disuse, "can you hear me?"

No response.

Alibaba groaned again. He was completely alone.

Once upon a time, there was a (bedraggled-looking) maiden.

Her face was youthful, her long hair was a cascade of gold, and her clothes were but of a simple dress. An unassuming yet lovely maiden was what she was.

(His face was set in a deep scowl, his long hair was clumped and tangled, and his clothes were dirty and torn. A grumbling and filthy boy was what he was.)

The maiden wandered aimlessly in the woods until she came upon a large tent. Feeling famished, she called if anyone was inside, but she received no response. Puzzled, she poked her head inside. Sitting on a mat were three bowls of porridge.

Unable to contain herself, the maiden took one of the bowls and tasted the contents.

"This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed. She went for the next bowl.

"This porridge is too cold!" She went for the next bowl.

"This porridge is just right!" She ate everything in that bowl.

After eating her meal, she felt sleepy. She turned around and found three pillows.

She tested one of the pillows.

"This pillow is too hard!" she exclaimed. She went for the next pillow.

"This pillow is too soft!" She went for the next pillow.

"This pillow is just right!" She lied down and closed her eyes. Soon, she drifted off into a deep slumber, unaware that, in her previous daze of weariness, it was discourteous to barge into a family's tent, eat all their food, and sleep on their pillows.

(Maybe it was a good idea to have Amon as his Djinn.)