The Unbroken Promise {A Magi Fanfiction}

Chapter Eight: The Friendly Rival and The Fight

"When I came to," Alibaba said. "I was notified that the King had passed away, and by the end of the day, I fled from Balbadd. I ended up working for wages in the Oasis villages. Since I had always dreamed about it, I thought if I made my way into a Dungeon and got a hold of some treasure, I could make amends. I really started to believe it could be done, but in the end I was all talk, and I spent my days just drifting along, without a care."

Mikha burst into tears, crying in the palms of her hands. "Oh, Alibaba! That's so sad!"

Rashil tackled her sister onto the bed, hugging her. "Mikha, no. Don't cry, 'cause then your gonna make me cry and we're gonna be a mess!"

Mikha sniffled. "Liar. You're not going to cry."

"Maybe. But he's such an idiot, he deserved everything that happened."

Mikha shot up. "Why do you have to be such a jerk?!"

"Because he deserves it!" Rashil snapped. She sighed and glanced at Alibaba. "But the point is, he's learned from his mistakes, I think. Probabaly." She walked over to Alibaba. "You hear that? I said something nice-ish about you, my friendly rival." She stuck her hand out and Alibaba gently shook it.

"Friendly rivals," he agreed.

Rashil sat back on the bed with Mikha and Xander.

"Strange, but acceptable," Mikha said, still sniffling.

Rashil rolled her eyes and kissed her sister's cheek. "Come on, get a hold of yourself, sis."

Alibaba chuckled. "You know, all of that aimless wandering? That all changed when I met you, Aladdin."

Aladdin's eyes widened.

Xander sniffed the air. "Mistress?"

Rashil gently poked his cheek. "Hm?"

"Are Mister Sinbad, Mister Jafar, and Mister Masrur supposed to be outside the door?"

A tick mark grew on Rashil's forehead.

"There's still something I don't understand," Morgiana said. "If what you told us is true, Cassim is someone who once betrayed you. So why would you--"

"Shh!" Rashil interjected. "We have unwanted visitors."

"What do you mean?" Aladdin asked.

She stood up. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it, just don't say anything else until I come back." She opened the door and then slammed it shut.

They could hear the bespectacled young woman yell, "What is wrong with you?!" followed by a series of hitting sounds and chastisings.

She casually walked back into the room, dusting off her hands as if nothing happened. "Okay, continue."

Morgiana cleared her throat. "If Cassim once betrayed you, why choose to join the Fog Troupe? It doesn't make any sense."

Alibaba searched for a good answer. "After we captured that Dungeon, I wanted to settle something before taking the first steps into my new life, so I came back to Balbadd, but... What I saw there was..." He got a pained expression on his face.

"You don't have to say it," Mikha said.

He shook his head. "No, I need to get this off my chest. What I saw was disaster. This most definitely was not the Balbadd I remembered. I remember asking a man how Balbadd had gotten this bad, and he said there was no how or why about it. That ever since the previous king, my father, had passed on, it had been getting worse and worse. The man told me that bandits had been coming out on foggy nights like that one."