Forget Me, Sinbad [Magi: Sinbad x Reader]

The Nova Experiment

Zarah laid unconscious on a cot in Yamraiha's tent. From the looks of her, she was physically okay, just too exhausted after the major drain of energy she had exerted to make that Rukh tree grow.

From the campsite, the magical tree could be seen in the distance, towering over every other tree in the forest.

"Whoa, that's even taller than me!" Haru said in astonishment.

"I guess that's what it looks like if she doesn't hold back," Yamraiha added, marveling at the sight.

"I didn't know how to stop her," Sinbad said solemnly "I wondered if she didn't black out, would she have kept going until-"

"Don't say it," Yamraiha cut him off "Zarah is alive and well. She's a kid, so she'll have no problem springing back to her usual self in no time".

Sinbad exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't understand why, but the child he had initially thought as dangrous and unstable now had him worried for a whole new reason. The image of her falling from that tree was burned into his mind, and his stomach dropped at the mere memory of it.

"King Sinbad, I do have— what I hope to be— some helpful news," Yamraiha transitioned.

Sinbad looked over to her, and raised an eyebrow.

"I was reading more of that forbidden magic book, and there are secetions throughout it that were journal entries," Yamraiha opened the book to a specific page and showed it to Sinbad. Her fingers pointed out the messy scrawl written in dark ink on lined pages "These notes kept referring to something called 'The Nova Experiment', and, from what I pieced together, it has something to do with Zarah".

Sinbad's eyes widened "You mean, these are notes about the experiments on Zarah left by those mages?"

"From what I understand, yes," Yamraiha nodded "The Nova Experiment was supposed to be a weapon, but it seems like they were struggling to fine tune their efforts, and couldn't control it".

"I can see that. Zarah's not exactly the most subtle and reserved," Sinbad stroked his chin.

"Actually, those notes weren't referring to just Zarah. She was not the only child that they experimented on," Yamraiha looked stern while revealing her findings.

"Oh dear...," Sinbad's face went pale.

"They apparently implemented their forbidden magic experiments within the fetuses still growing inside pregnant women. Only seven out of the thirteen they injected survived to give birth, succumbing to the effects of the unstable magic".

Everyone at the camp, who had once been off doing their own things, had all stopped everything, and listened to Yamraiha's compelling and sinister news.

Hinahoho crossed his arms and shook his head "That's absolutely horrible".

"No kidding," Jaafar added, a empathetic look on his face "to even think of doing that to your own people...".

"Wait, did the women die, or was it just the babies?" Sharrkan asked in confusion.

"Does it matter?" Pisti retorted, looking a little uneasy.

"It's unclear, and I want to know!" Sharrkan defended himself.

"Both passed away," Yamraiha clarified "The seven babies that were born were then put under numerous tests. The mages were trying to learn if the children had taken to the magic while in the womb, and what kind of properties each one might have possessed. Of the seven, only three had a reaction to the tests, while the rest parished from them".

"Oh my god," Pisti was on the verge of tears, wanting to cover her ears from hearing about the cruelty of the mages who once resided on the island.

Spartos pulled her in close for a comforting hug, as his eyes were beginning to well up as well.

Yamraiha sighed as she skimmed over the notes to recall what she has learned, looking exhausted herself.

"Yamraiha, you can take a break if you want. We can pick this up later," Sinbad placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"No!" Yamraiha tensed up "It's better you know everything written here now, because who knows where we'll be at later. Everyone needs to know what we're working with here".

"I agree," Drakon stoically said from the side.

"Okay," Yamraiha found her place in the book and exhaled "The three children that remained held very simular abilities, all being able to create plant life out of seemingly nothing".

"So there were others like Zarah?" Alibaba asked.

"Yes, but it seems the power they held at this stage was very minor," Yamraiha answered "They only could made grass and wildflowers sprout from the soil, but it only heppened when they cried. They then furthered their testing by injecting them with a new amalgamation of forbidden magic".

"I don't like where this is going," Pisti shut her eyes.

"One child didn't survive, and another got gravely sick, and no longer harnessed any abilities it once possessed," Yamraiha continued "The third child seemed to take to the new magic, and started emitting a green glow. Since she was still too young, there was no way to see if she could control her powers, but they saw improvement in her abilities by making much larger vines grow whenever she either cried or laughed".

"That sounds like Zarah," Sharrkon shrugged "But then what? Didn't she wreck up the place and kill a bunch of people?"

"You have zero filter. Like, seriously," Spartos commented.

"What? They talked about the ruins in the forest. She did that, right?" Sharrkon asked nervously.

"Zarah did say that, but I'm afraid that's where the notes end," Yamraiha shut the book, resting it on her knees.

"Thank you for your research, Yamraiha," Sinbad gave her a small bow "I'm sure this information is going to be useful in the time to come".

"But what about Y/N?" Alibaba asked "Those notes said nothing about the tree or those roots that emitted Rukh. We don't know any more about helping her than we did before!"

"But the notes did say that Zarah emitted a green glow, just like Y/N's injuries, and they weren't spoken of in a negative light," Sinbad pointed out "I'm sure there is something we can work with there".

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Meanwhile, in Yamraiha's tent, Zarah blinked open her eyes. She let out a small, but long groan as she sat up and rubbed jer face. She looked down by the tent's entrance, spotting Aladdin sitting on the floor, resting his head against his staff as he slept.

"What happened?" Zarah spoke to herself, but then something in her memory lit a spark in her eyes.

She hurriedly jumped off of the cot and pushed through the tent opening. One of the door flaps whiped Aladdin in the face, waking him up.

With a start, Aladdin looked around and saw her leave "Z-Zarah!" he got up and went after her "Hold on, you're not well!"

Zarah saw the crowd around the fire, running determinedly up to them with her chest puffed out.

"Zarah!" Aladdin yelled after her, and everyone looked their way.

"You're awake!" Sinbad smiled.

"Are you feeling alright?" Yamraiha asked kindly.

Zarah looked a bit lost for words with all of the eyes landing on her. She felt like a deer caught in headlights.

Her once determined face became meak and nervous, so she took a step back. Her gaze then fell on Sinbad at the side.

Despite her once thinking him as an enemy, and someone that she could never trust with her back turned, recent events made her see him in another light.

Zarah took a deep breath, only focusing her eyes on Sinbad, and pretending like no one else existed. The smile on his face made her feel happy, safe, and warm. All of her anxietiesseemed to wash away, and Zarah spoke confidently, and very clearly "I know how to save Y/N".