Princess of Balbadd (Magi x Reader)

Withstanding her Witchcraft

AN: Gory Trigger Warning. If you handled the manga okay this should be fine. But if you want to skip over blood and guts, you can skip from "Then he strikes." to "One good thing..."

"You have nothing to worry about now."

~*~

"Seriously, Mystras. Where are the others? I left them in your care." The hand Hinahoho has on Mystras's shoulder gives a squeeze less friendly than the previous one moments before.

The redhead starts to sweat visibly. "Ja'far went with them while I got dinner started." He points towards the meager campfire with a pot of boiling water over it. He then points westward along the beach. "They went that way. They're supposed to stay along the shore so they don't get lost."

"Why do I get the feeling you're hiding something?" The blue haired giant eyes the Sasan knight suspiciously.

"Hiding something? No! I'm not hiding anything." His hands wave defensively before him.

"Then how about we go round 'em up? It's getting late."

Hinahoho starts dragging Mystras by the collar across the sand as the latter complains about dinner not getting cooked. You trot alongside them, feeling lighter than air. Whatever that phoenix had done to you was amazing!

The beach curves northward and still no sign of the others. Eventually, you hear someone calling out Kikiriku's name. Hinahoho stops, lets go of Mystras, then shoots off in the direction of the caller. Mystras gets up and the two of you run after him.

"I'm sure Kikiriku is just playing hide-and-seek with the others," Mystras yells ahead, hoping to calm the distressed father.

The three of you run into Ja'far, who was the person calling out Kikiriku's name. He and Mystras freeze as Hinahoho's shoulders rise and fall with deep breaths.

"Where is my son?" he demands.

Ja'far bites his lip and looks at the ground.

"Please don't be mad. We were gathering supplies and at some point, he wandered off," Mystras finally confesses, "We didn't want to alarm you, so Sharrkan went to get Ja'far since he knows Kikiriku so well. Ja'far had me stay by the boat and get dinner ready in case he found his way back there. We'll find him."

"Where's Sharrkan and Masrur now?" you ask, placing a hand on Hinahoho's forearm in effort to calm him.

"We got separated," Ja'far gloomily admits.

"Maybe all three of them are together? They're probably playing a joke on us older folk, huh?" Mystras interjects hopefully.

"For your sake, I hope you're right," Hinahoho growls, "If anything happens to my son...I'm holding you personally responsible."

All of you continue along the beach, alternatingly calling out the names of the missing boys.

It feels like you have been walking forever when you spot a cave with a small stream running out to the ocean. A lot of the beach is smoothed over from recent waves, but Ja'far investigates the sand near the mouth of the cave then looks at your group with a nod.

"Different sets of footprints lead in there, and they're fresh," he affirms.

"Guess it makes a nice place for children to play. They could pretend to be pirates or something," Mystras chuckles nervously as your group enters.

It is significantly cooler inside. The light from outside only reaches so far. It's hard to make out how deep it goes, especially when it seems to branch off.

"Kikiriku! Sharrkan! Masrur!" Ja'far calls out, voice echoing down the tunnels.

"We're over here!" you hear Sharrkan's voice to the left. "We're all right, but come check out our neat discovery!"