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yohohonabottle · 7 months ago

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Potions mishap -Dire consequences (Reposted from A03)

🖋️Summary: Usually his smooth-talk is enough to get him through the day, except this time things went down differently and the situation got...Out of hand. Very out of hand, in so many ways. You'd think he was attempting to fill out a bingo card of 'what could possibly go wrong' that day. Also 'Merlin' happened to be close-by, too. Funny how it's always the two of them whenever trouble crops up, maybe funnier how no matter what- They seem to always inadvertently run into each other at the worst of times. It's like fate has it out for them for whatever reason. [❗] Trigger Warning:{❗} Obsessive, manipulative, love-sick and overall toxic behavior all across the board. Also mild foul language. 📖 Work status: Completed one-shot. (Chapter II is a bonus.) ----------------------------------------------- Notes: Had this brain-rot spawn in randomly, so I gave it the bum's rush. 🎧 Song recommendation: -> Butcher vanity -> Stalker's tango

Just your typical run-of-the mill day in Rustport, the town ever so steadily on its way to getting better, now that the Immortal Fleet are gone and there's no fog or kraken in the way. But change doesn't turn up overnight even as things are several ideas better looking for the next tomorrows. The Water Wights, leaderless now and in slightly more declining numbers, are still a damn menace. I may be a captain and a hero of this dear town now, but money won't pool itself at my feet. Still gotta work, gotta hustle.

It's not like Sonja can keep a hawk-eye on Brineville nowadays either. If anything, her 'free time' is over and she'll be busy drowning in heaps of work from now on, and it would only pile on up higher.

Plus, the newly acquired Chainkeeper is still out of commission and will be in Hugin's care for a while, so no adventuring or treasure-hunting. Which means-- Back to intel-brokering and scurrying for whatever other opportunities that flit into his line of sight or grasp, or both. Today's deal looks to be pretty promising, and after that- A bit of networking, a bit of bounty-hunting, a quick stop at the Golden guest for a drink..

Boy didn't that deal turn out to be a surprise. A not so good one.

As soon he reaches the meet-up point in a back alley on Shark street by the Warehouse district, things swiftly spun for the crazy.

Holding a pick between his teeth, Sinbad reaches into his bag and pulls out a scroll, unrolling it. Names accompanied by dates and places, and notes look back up at him, some crossed out and others circled or underlined with some question marks. Little miscellaneous notes he'd jotted down about each client- Intel he'd gotten from his wide network that he has meticulously built up over the years and whatever info he'd managed to get by doing his own thorough research. Plus what to dig more into later.

One in particular jumps out at him-- A nameless chap going by a pseudonym strictly, a rather elusive one at that. The only thing he's come to know is that the fellow is from the Wights and dabbles in potions or drugs, having gotten hired several times. And yet, each time- It was never in person, always through letters and smaller fry.

Each time he manages to remotely begin to catch a pattern, he's been met with either a dead-end or a massive red herring that makes everything prior look nonsensical.

—"Alright, should be here.. Now, the carrier pigeon should be turning up about any moment." Wonder who would it be this time. -The sailor hums with a laid-back charming smirk, looking up from the scroll as he quickly rolls it up. But nothing out of the ordinary comes up. No courier, no lackey, no boss. Only him and the silence of the shaded corner, the sun high and the seagulls flying overhead. Tucking the rolled-up paper back into his bag and keeping his calm face on, he reaches for his daggers slowly, stance deceptively relaxed but on guard and on-edge.

Taking a leisurely stroll to scope out the place while waiting, Sinbad moves the pick to the other corner of his mouth, taking stake of his surroundings. Still no hair or hide, the hour of meeting is passing, the minutes wheezing by. This is the place, Atropine clearly specified in the letter earlier. Where's that bookie? Nowhere.

Ten more minutes go by which easily string into fifteen then twenty. No bookie or henchman turns up.

Was I duped? Not the first time to happen, but I did make sure to be locked-in when doing my homework. Did I overlook something somehow?

"I'm just wasting my time. Guess deal was postponed or called off." And right as the blond intel-trader mutters this to himself under his breath with a displeased sigh, preparing to leave--

Something darts like a flash, a silhouette.

On alert, Sinbad sharply turns on his heels, ready to fight and about to yell 'Who's there? Show yourself!'-- all the daring street-rat gets, is a glimpse of a person in a high-collar trench coat and a hat. But it's impossible to tell if it's a man or woman under those, and everything happens in seconds, he could barely react at all. A bottle is thrown straight at him, the cork bouncing off the wall like that from a bottle of champagne and whizzes past like a bullet, missing his head by centimeters as he stumbles with a pained curse, dropping his weapons.

Wiping off the liquid from his face and clinging onto consciousness like a drowner with adrenaline screeching like a kraken in his veins, he shrugs off the blow, blinking to clear his vision. But the blasted scoundrel is gone, had bolted like a coward. Bending to pick up his daggers and sheathing them, the tanned man staggers a little but retains his balance through sheer stubborn will. A step, two, away from the crates of the deserted warehouse- His vision blurs and the world spins, then turns black.

It's a few long moments of drifting in the weightless void, that the seaside savant finally comes to. What greets him, is a familiar face of a friend and that voice... It's the sweetest music to his ears. His mind immediately drops everything else to laser-focus on those things alone- the sight and voice, the perfume or cologne Pirin wears, the fancy tailcoat, shirt, the red embroidery on it, sash and slacks- committing it all to memory fully. Like the greatest, most precious treasures. Sinbad has never felt this strongly enraptured--Never needed or revered someone so, very, terribly badly before or had the insurmountable compulsion to keep that person by his side, safe and sound. All to himself body, mind and soul, surrender himself fully with near religious devotion and worship the very ground they walk on, no hesitation, regrets or second thoughts.

Until now.

Until laying his eyes on the best, most lovely gem one could possibly wish for. No pearl, diamond, moonstone, opal or quartz can come remotely close.

No matter what the cost, everything else be damned.

Forever.

—"Sinbad? Sinbad!" -A very much anxious Pirin barks, tone sharp with worry barely concealed, shaking the man by the shoulders with a death-grip. A pang of relief washes over him when the sailor's rum-like brown eyes open and meet his own pearlescent, vision focused and clear. Conscious and responsive, good.

The relief instantly fizzles out the second he takes notice of the look in that gaze, one he's been unfortunate enough to have gotten acquainted with a little too well.

Devotion that goes beyond what's healthy, reverence that crosses far from normal admiration. Fanatic, obsessed. Like that of a maniac. It sends chills down the vampire's spine, chalk-pale face going even paler with dawning horror as a ghastly realization strikes, one that entirely confirms his suspicions as to why a particularly cold feel of dread has been tailing him this day. Something happened here, Sinbad no doubt has gotten himself into trouble like the bloody magnet he is for it. If the glass shards lying around on the ground a meter or two behind his back are anything to go by.. Then it appears whatever was in that bottle, a potion or drug maybe, is causing this state. "..No..." Not this again! For gods' sake not again! How many times would this thing be happening? First it was Valen and solving that problem was a bitch, then it was Soren who fell prey to the same 'plague'. And both times Berial turned out to be the culprit for casting that disastrous jinx. And now it's Sinbad who's affected! How did that wretched clown get his gangly little hands on him?? How?! Each time someone fell victim to this accursed madness, hell was one tiny step away. Waking them up only got harder and more complicated, preventing chaos and unnecessary deaths even more so.

Merlin's hamsters nearly died those two times, the call much too close.

This one won't be all too different, will it? Could be, for worse unfortunately.

Letting go of the blond's scarred shoulders as though slapped, Pirin hastily gets up to his feet from how he was crouched down by the man's side and almost stumbles as he backs away from him. As if stung, narrowly tripped over his own feet. His brain instantly blanks--

Whoever this is, isn't his trusted friend he has been adventuring with all these months while stuck in Rustport. Not Sinbad, no- only a lunatic wearing his skin and voice. It reels as he keeps his eyes trained on the other like how he'd watch a lethal foe. Someone is targeting me. Someone really wants to rattle me, poisoning my friends like this to severely hurt us both in the most sadistically diabolical way.

"Pirin?" -He distantly hears the scruffy young man breathe in a confused tone of mild concern, sitting up and getting up on his feet shakily. The small spike of excitement and happiness a smidge too strong doesn't go unnoticed. "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like this?" Like I'm a madman to be scared of? No answer falls out of his lips, too shocked and stifled to speak, only shakes his head as he keeps backing away. Distance that the tanned orphan closes with steady yet swift strides, a comforting smile on his stubbled face.

It's not reassuring at all. It makes matters worse, somehow makes him look deranged instead of the usual charisma. A monster.

—"Hey now, it's me- Sinbad, your old mate! I'm a friend, remember? Come on, I'm not going to hurt you. I would never want to!"

Almost misspoke there, said 'love'. Whoops! "There's nothing to be scared of." -His tone softens ever so slightly, loosing its light-hearted vivaciousness. But it doesn't dip low enough as to sound threatening or intimate and loving. Adoring. Devoted. No, no. It would only spook his poor 'Little finch', his dear lovely siren, scare him away. Can't have that happening, can we? Instead it's sincere.

—"You can trust me, you know that, right?" Or do you still not trust me at all after all the trials we went through? Do I still seem that unreliable to you as I did on day one?

—"You're not yourself." -The shorter, slimmer man finds his voice at last, uttering the words hardly above a whisper with a shake of his head. Images resurge into his mind's eye, vivid memories of desperately fighting to keep matters under control so tragedies don't occur. Having to deal with his friends' worst tendencies rising and twisting them into senseless love-sick creeps. Potential stalkers and murderers.

How on Esperia he managed to dodge getting assaulted, Pirin has zero clue, but it was a close call. Instead he made sure to steer things right back to friendly, mildly affectionate territory or put distance and shut it down before matters could snowball into unwanted directions.

But dear gods did they made it hard at each turn. If there was any genuine interest and desire prior to the illness, it was cranked up to terrifying intensity of lustful desperation. And where there were none, the curse warped its victim's mind to reach the same result.

"I don't know how you got hit with that plague- But you're not yourself." You're sick. Corrupted.

And I'm terrified of what disaster you'll become.

A part of him wishes to run back towards the baffled, lost sailor and offer comfort- Promise the man that things will be back to normal soon. Gods know how pained he feels right now somewhere deep down, how scary it must be.. to be still lucid and see the changes taking place. Like rotting from the inside out alive, and unable to put a stop to it on his own--Only watch helplessly as the curse keeps on gnawing away like ravenous maggots. The strained look lurking underneath the slowly settling madness is proof, a strangled muted cry for help. And it tugs at his own bleeding heart to be seeing his companion in such a state. The look on Sinbad's scarred angular visage, crestfallen and pleading like a kicked lost dog- It pulls on his heartstrings like playing masterful arias.

Pirin wants nothing more than to pull the weathered intel-broker into a bear-hug. But the knowledge of how the hex festering under the man's skin is ever so slowly but surely distorting him into someone else, into a threat-- It holds him firmly at bay. Rooted in place, keeping a wary eye on how the distance between them shrinks with each careful step Sinbad takes so to back away if he gets too close.

—"Seriously, Sinbad- tell me...How's it that you always get yourself neck-deep in trouble?" -The vampire huffs with a small haggard laugh and a weak smile, attempting to lift both their spirits with humor. Which isn't too far from a genuine question. For all those months he's spent in this rundown coastal town and by Sinbad's side, trouble always somehow found its way to nip at their heels tirelessly without fail. You'd think the adventurous savant is doing it on purpose. And sometimes, that is the case. However most of the time, it happens on accident. A trouble, hazard-magnet.

Problem is, he himself isn't much better in this regard- Pretty much on the same scale as Sinbad.

And what happens when you put two equally strong trouble-magnets together?

Nothing good, that's what.

—"Sometimes I honestly think you're using it as a strange way to 'advertise your intelligence-gathering skills' and draw in clients. No PR is bad PR, right?" Too bad I know better. And already just as neck-deep in this mess.

Yet the thought of leaving this punk alone feels like a bad idea, considering how unpredictable he is with what kind of shenanigans he tends to get into one way or the other. Unlike the knight of Holistone who has always given him the feeling that he'll be fine. No need to worry about him and be on-edge. Something I wish I could confidently say about mister seadog here. Already, Pirin's mind whirls to work on quickly analyzing the current predicament and how to fix it. This isn't about him being Merlin's little helper and substitute, carrying the legendary mage's long-winding heroic legacy. It's a personal matter, about saving a friend first and foremost. The rest being safe from danger is a major bonus, granted everything works out long before any damage is done.

Would it be as simple as 'confessing' like it was with Valen? Or would it be as risky as playing along to get close and extract the curse like it was with Soren? ...Or would it be worse? It's almost as though whoever it is behind this maddening plague is mocking him. Can this even be reversed?

The disheveled young man chuckles at his words, appreciating the gesture while also feeling a stab of guilt and throb of sick thrill. It's comforting, knowing his dear friend cares about him, is willing to flip the world upside-down without batting an eye, just to help him in any way possible. Just as Pirin would do for his other comrades. He could see the gears in his mind rapidly turning, thinking up of a solution and several back-up plans.

Dimly, Sinbad remembers the show-down with the Immortal, when he had managed to use Merlindabest and get in contact with Sonja and Pirin while distracting Hodgkin so they can strike from behind.

When the pale mage had seemingly sassed with him as he asked if everyone is okay, saying he should be asking that. At the time, he had assumed that the 'Magister' was just sarcastically deadpanning, implying to him that he can't be relied upon in the least. In truth, looking back at that moment and disregarding his role as Merlin, Pirin actually meant it genuinely, as in 'Are you okay?', worried-sick.

It shouldn't be such a big deal, that the pale man cares about him, it's completely normal after all. It's what friends do. But by the gods, does the potion amplify and blow it out of proportion. It skews his thoughts and messes him up, fans the wildfires of desire with each second. It..taints the tiny, flickering, embers of real much deeper affection that have recently come to life at the back of his mind and heart. Corrupts them into foul decay of infatuation and bloodlust, plants nagging intrusive thoughts filled with a sickening giddy excitement. Perverted. The last few make Sinbad visibly shudder with a wince. The most scary part is that they're slowly beginning to not repulse him as much, instead feel like something completely mundane. Natural. Appealing, even.

The world is fading away, narrowing down to only one, single thing- The breath-taking angel standing in front of him. Pirin. Perfect, beautiful Pirin. My Pirin. My dear, gorgeous, siren. Only mine.

Oh how he just wishes to run his hands through that snowy, silky hair, feel the ice-cold skin shivering under his lips. Just for a little bit. Imagine those thin, pretty lips screaming his name, claws digging in his back and wanting for more- how wonderful it would be.... But he restrains himself, firmly keeping his hands at his sides.

—"You could say that, yeah. What can I say? Guess not even danger can resist my handsome charm." A small step closer with a shrug of his shoulders, fingers itching to reach out and grab that pretty-face by the sharp elbow; Pull him into his embrace, wrap his arms around that slim form, curved trim waist and not let go ever again. Hold tight, tighter than a python constricting its prey.

Deep down, distantly, the sailor feels a creeping sense of cold dread and helplessness, buried under layers of infatuation and messed-up insatiably intense lust. The desire to fully possess and claim, hide away the ghostly beauty like a greedy old seawolf would his treasure or like how a dragon vehemently guards its hoard, is only growing more and more.

"And it's right on-brand, don't you think? Plus, I know you'll lend me a hand if things get dicey." Still, Pirin's words ring true and cut like a knife through his heart- More so the knowledge that he really is a threat to one of his most dear companions, knowing that he's not being himself. The tendrils of saccharine insanity wrapping around his sinking heart and throat in a suffocating grip like a kraken, drag him under the abyssal waters further. The urge to lunge in hurt, betrayed anger, shake Pirin up, make him see that he is his one and only, burns like a searing brand. Why don't you get it? I'm the only one who loves you, more than anyone else. We're meant to be. It's not that complicated.

The mere thought of someone else laying a hand on the vampire, having his love, make him happy-- sends a tsunami wave of pure, raw, intense rage. It makes his hands itch to grip the daggers on either side of his waist and spill the blood of any poor sod who so much as dares to lay eyes on his Pirin for a millisecond too long. Let alone try stealing the phantom away from him.

Already, simmering jealousy bubbles and boils within him. The way his love had recoiled away from him before he could reach out a hand, really wasn't the reaction he had expected or hoped for. It stung. And it was so nice, waking up with an angelic face looking down at him, cradling him close. The one time he's not being a charming smooth-talker with a dashing smile, and he's written off as a horrible monster. You'd think a vampire, out of all people, wouldn't be quick to judge. But oh well, it is what it is. I'll take it. I've had to make do with far less.

Another step closer. Almost there.

Looking down at the shorter man cautiously eying him and taking a small step back, the look of brewing ire melts away to something softer. Reverence, boundless love and adoration, marveling at the sight before him. The soft, triangular face, the sharp, pointy nose, the thin lips, and those mesmerizing pearl-white eyes with their vertical pupils – It's as if he's seeing them for the first time. And he can't tear his eyes away. For once Tritonus has smiled upon me. The mild scowl of wounded, wary and conflicted uncertainty sprawled on the humanoid's delicate, porcelain, doll-like features easily catches his eye.

I know that look.

Thinking, mulling something over more thoroughly. One, split-second of distraction and hesitation.

The cunning, savvy hustler closes the gap swiftly before the opportunity slips by.

Placing a hand on the other's waist and pulling him close, a legend that he's once heard idly rises to Sinbad's mind as he cups that pretty face - Of a stunning young shepherd man whom was chosen by the gods as their cupbearer. How fitting. The downcast, clear pale eyes instantly snap up to meet his like a deer caught in headlights. Goes stiffer than a plank, torn between attempting to flee and fighting back, or melting into the touch. Gotcha.

It appears the pretty-boy has had developed a pretty hard crush on Sinbad ever since the man had first found him washed ashore after the kraken had ruined his boat. What inevitably set off the events of their adventures like a chain reaction, all the way to facing off against the Immortal Fleet and its leader in one last showdown that ended Rustport's crisis for good and lifted the fog.

That crush hasn't dissipated throughout the duration of those adventures, even as the vampire dutifully played his role as the Magister Merlin and did his best to hide it. Even now, he still fights to wrestle it down, treating this situation as another day of being on-duty and prioritizing his recovery along with ensuring the safety of everyone else foremost. All while shoving his own personal feelings far aside to stay focused with as much of a brave face as he can.

In that regard, he's a lot like Sonja--Serious. Always serious and dutiful, focused on the mission at hand, barely smiles or laughs. Always acts efficiently to cold-bloodedly uproot the problem at its core while thinking of how to minimize casualties down to zero as much as possible.

Too bad the current issue is rather personal. Not much leeway to be 'Merlin' here. And that, unfortunately, is the chink in his armor. All of that, paired with this secret yearning for affection and love, and you've got yourself a weak spot. Maybe that's why he froze up like this, knows he has slipped and left himself open to fire, and it's too late to cover up now.

This is the problem with smart, perceptive and mighty sharp socially-skilled people like Sinbad and Valen. Almost nothing gets past them, whether it elicits a comment or not. It's even worse when those same folks actually know him pretty well, having spent enough time with him to observe and learn quite a lot. Little things like general attitude, mindset, fears and hopes, all the trivial ticks and habits that can help all the more to read him like an open book and make rather spot-on educated guesses.

Shit. I'm done for. He's got me.

A slow, sly grin spreads across Sinbad's face as he leans in closer, his voice dropping to a husky whisper that sends goosebumps along the pallid skin.

—"Well, well, well." -He drawls, eyes sparkling with mischief and desire. "Looks like someone's been keeping secrets from me." No witty or refuting retorts meet him, the other lad mute as a fish and pointedly looking anywhere else but him. It's not like this silly little crush has really been a secret either.

Contrary to playing dumb and being a buffoon deliberately, Sinbad isn't blind. That look of strangled, suppressed, secretive desire and inner war about it isn't new to him, having seen it flash in the haunting depths many times over. At the beach, the inn, at the pier south of Brineville, the Chainkeeper and during the showdown- Every time their eyes met, it was there. Doesn't stop him from poking fun at the poor chap though, pretend to have just discovered this revelation.

—"I had no idea you felt this way about me." Sinbad continues, his voice dripping with seduction. "But now that I do, I'm not going to let you slip away so easily." And then his loose grip tightens, pressing their bodies close. Right away, that lovely delicate face turns a nice shade of red from shame, swallowing thickly with a hammering heart. And, by the god of the waves, the way Pirin's breath hitches and gets a tiny bit less controlled as he leans in ever so slightly- It sends his own heart thumping with anticipation. Satisfaction. His warm breath ghosts over that keenly sensitive ear of his, the claws gripping onto his shoulders try to push him away meekly.

—"You're a different kind of damedangler. Has anyone ever told you that, my dear friend?" A playful nip, and a little bit more of the stoic composure crumples to dust. Ever so steadily like a black widow, the captain spins his sweet web of smooth charm with a silver tongue. Like the poison coursing in his veins driving him mad. The tall sailor plays up his act, turning the heat up. Working up the poor bat and drawing him in like a moth to a flame.

"You could sing, walk me right to my death. And I'd gladly follow with a smile...My angelic siren." A pinch of flattery murmured in a soft lilt that teeters on being husky, wear away more of the defensive walls. And finish it with a pleading whisper of sincerity as though confessing to a sin or deepest secret. "Stay here, in Rustport. Stay with me."

Of course Sinbad knows what he's doing, how he is taking advantage of the night nymph's spark of vulnerability as he used his second of hesitation to make a move and how he's being an underhanded manipulator.

Oh but it'll be worth it.

He'll be sure to make up for the slights in full with no regrets guaranteed soon enough.

The small hands on his shoulders tighten for a brief second like the flutter of a butterfly's wings upon sensing imminent danger. Relax their hold slowly.

—"What, are you talking about Sinbad?" -A weak, strained attempt to put up resistance in denial. How endearing. A tad too late, however.

—"I've seen the way you look at me, when you think I'm not paying attention." His thumb brushes gently over Pirin's cheekbone, a feather-light touch that sends a shiver down the other's spine. There's no need to pull back to look into the clear pearls to see the war between duty and desire churning. It's palpable as the buzzing tension highly-strung between the two of them, and it breaks his heart. Sends it fluttering with giddy excitement.

"How about you let me make you forget about this incident?" Placing a teasingly light peck little under his love's jaw, his tone rolls down to a seductive purr at the end, the hand resting on the shorter man's waist slides under the hem of his shirt to feel the cool and smooth skin.

"I promise it'll be worth your while."

Let me love you. Please, Pirin- Don't make me beg.

Still, the youthful-appearing doll doesn't go under without a struggle, like the whale tugging at the Billy 'O Tea from one of the wellerman's shanties. And much like the captain of that ship, Sinbad was dead-set on taking that whale in tow.

—"I'm not sure this is a good idea..." Playing hard to get, while ultimately slipping right into his grasp. Pulling back slightly to look him in the eye, he notices how the leaner man still doesn't have the courage to meet his gaze- keeping his hypnotizing eyes cast off to the side as though worried someone might walk in on them doing something...taboo, inappropriate. How Pirin has subtly shrank in on himself, uneasy and nervous. Ah yes, the age old dilemma- The rational mind says one, and the heart wants what it wants.

So close to victory.

And once again, the crafty captain dives in, snatching the opportunity without second thought to tip the scales fully into his favor. Sealing the deal with a deep kiss of hot, whirlwind passion without warning. The insatiable, all-consuming hunger for more burns as though melting him from the inside- like the green gravecalling magic fires of the Immortal. Drunk on the taste, high and addicted to the feel of that frigid skin pressed against his own. It's not enough. The frail-looking nocturnal being doesn't push him away, already under his spell and it's more than enough for Sinbad to take it as consent, getting all the bolder with his advances. His kisses are messy, fiery and deeply needy, barely giving much opportunity to gasp for air before reclaiming his lover's mouth again and exploring the form in his arms eagerly. The hand that is cupping the other's face move down to hold onto his waist to both steady and keep him in-place from slipping away like sand, savoring each muffled hum of protest like ambrosia. His other hand slinks up, fingers tracing over the lean stomach and the curve of his ribs, over the planes of his chest like handling a priceless artefact most sacred.

One by one the buttons are undone, loosening the linen garment around the narrow, sharp shoulders, giving a lovely glimpse of the flawless skin, a little tease of his prize. The hardy shmoozer has never bothered to hide his desires for money and treasures, always dreaming of adventures far and wide, but now both couldn't be any further from his mind--

Nothing matters. Nothing, nothing, nothing, only the elusive young man in his grasp. Nevermind how he probably looks like a downright wasted kook or an unhinged lunatic like Nara was. ...Or how disgusted and horrified this mess makes him be deep down inside with seeing himself spiral as though watching a stranger from the outside, so guilty, ashamed. Sick.

A new wave crashes over, the riptide throwing him back under the suffocating effects. Except no compass will save him from this one, left to fight for air, for lucidity and regaining control all on his own. For Pirin's sake, before it's too late and rapidly running out of time.

I'm sorry my friend...Please forgive me..

—"I want to make you feel good." -Sinbad softly murmurs in a low, amorous voice between kisses, nearly breathless. It's true, he's fallen hopelessly head over heels for the quiet, aloof lad since the day he first laid eyes on him --It's not true at all.--however the gnawing hunger had been suppressed for so long.. It's unbearable, bursting at the seams, trickling out like ale from a faulty keg. I want to know everything, all of you. With each kiss and touch, he only finds himself ten times more ravenous as if having been starved for ages. Once again, the vampire tries to fight against the sailor's charm, overwhelmed akin to swimming upstream against a mighty current. Fails. Barely manages to get a word in at all beyond the insistent 'Sinbad!' in objection with the barrage of hot kisses.

With a vexed hum at the next kiss, Pirin finally gives the blond's bare scarred shoulders a firm push, halting the man. Good grief, let me breathe for gods' sake! Damn!

Somewhere in his mind, a stab of bitterness and pain echoes.

For months and months he had waited, sighing over the guy like some love-sick loon but not once were those feelings met.

No, because Sinbad was too busy pining after the Carmine Whispers' leader, despite how the woman has never shown an ounce of interest back. And then the handsome info-gatherer had noticed him and his feelings, despite how much he's been trying to hide them away.

The bitter pain turns to sorrow in Pirin's heart, swiftly igniting to wrath.

Every time the tanned orphan had teased, skillfully played him like a cat toying with a mouse--It was like twisting a dagger ever so sadistically slow, after embedding it deep into his heart. But the flames have long started to die out now, reduced to mere flickering embers in preparation to let go..

How cruel of you to fan them now.

—"Sinbad! Knock it off!"- He huffs out, catching his breath at long last with an annoyed frown on face. Which the tall charmer certainly doesn't take seriously, rather finding it cute. This is no good- Things are going south too fast. How can I veer us back to friendly grounds? Or at least stall enough for the wretched drug to fizzle out.

Maybe offer to go for a swim or seashell- collecting? Make it a game to take the seafarer's attention elsewhere, like the friendly competition and 'adventure'?

By the look of things, the Seaside savant would still pivot them right back to this point no matter what he attempts. Looking back on the events earlier today, choosing to leave Chippy and Hammie with their rightful owner was a wise decision. Those two would've no doubt interfered in a pitiful attempt at saving him and gotten in terrible trouble, possibly get themselves killed instead of escaping with an extremely close call.

At least this way I'll be the only one in hot waters. No need for more casualties.

—"We'll get caught out here." The nerve of this shmuck. Even still, Sinbad isn't deterred, only so much more determined. Instead of taking the hint, he persists stubbornly, dives back in for more. Едно си баба знае, едно си баба бае.

—"C'on Vanya--I'll give you everything you've ever wanted, everything you've ever dreamed of. Just say "yes" and let me show you how much I love you." -The corrupted intel-trader murmurs, lips trailing along Pirin's jawline, fingers yet again find the hem of his shirt. In a single motion, the offending cloth is pulled over the assistant's head and tossed aside in a heap with his tailcoat. Without wasting time, con artist is quick to continue exploring fervently.

"You're beautiful."

With each heated, reverent kiss that the daring street-rat leaves-- along his neck, collarbone, down to the center of chest, over his navel--Merlin's substitute shivers involuntarily. The way Sinbad works his way lower, his callous palms resting on the waistband of his slacks and he traces the fabric as he looks up...It drives him utterly mad- both with rekindled desire and indignance. That old spark he's been fighting to smother suddenly blazing brightly anew much to his chagrin, the wooden floor beneath his back proving some much needed anchor. Worst part is that I don't actually want to resist...I've wanted this for so long....

With a soft sigh through his nose, a wry smile of mild amusement slowly slithers onto the vampire's lips as he sits up on his elbows. Reaching out with a hand, he gently grasps the seadog's jaw, lifting his head a little.

—"Какви медени слова ми думаш.. Почти ти се вързах." -His tone is a fond, softly tranquil murmur if not with a small lilt of mirth and longing as he holds the half-lidded smolderingly wanton gaze evenly. Pirin's grip sharply tightens, claws digging into the tanned skin. And whilst the look in his pearly irises remains warmly serene- his breathless, deathly, tenor adopts an edge of bitter humor.

"Нямаш си на пр��дстава колко ме дразниш." And then the calmness, mild amusement falls off to reveal the suppressed hurt anger that's been lurking underneath. Just as the smile fades away from his face. "I've been waiting for months, naively held out hope that maybe-some day- you'd come around. All while watching you hopelessly pine after Sonja, even though she didn't even once show interest back." Letting go of the man's jaw sharply, his claws leave stinging nicks.

Slipping out of Sinbad's grasp like sand or an eel, Pirin smoothly rises to his feet and crosses over to where his shirt lies discarded. Picking it up from the floor and slipping it back on, he fixes up the buttons. Deft, firm, steady hand. The shorter man's voice is.. steadier, more flat as he speaks up again, keeping his back towards the swindler he once wanted. There's still a listless note of pain in it, albeit much more withdrawn than mere moments ago.

—"I knew you were only larking back then, whenever you teased me with empty flirting." For a brief second his tone becomes humorous as he adds in after that. Self-deprecating. "Didn't stop me from wishing you wouldn't toy with me, though."

When he glances over his shoulder back at Sinbad, the hurt is gone. Steeled to affable fondness.

"And then came a point where I finally realized the day I'm hoping for won't come. So I resigned myself to accepting the situation and move on. Still sucked, but what to do? It happens."

And here you are, reopening old scabs all over again.

—"I'm still grappling with toning those feelings down, making myself see you as a friend and nothing else. But I've been getting better at it, slightly. I'll still love you just as deeply as I have before- Just through platonic lens."

Adjusting his tailcoat and smoothing out its wrinkles, he finally turns back to face his friend with a genuinely peaceful smile. Even if a tiny bit wistful.

—"And now you're pining after me, after I finally accepted you only got eyes for the Roses' leader." A chuckle. "Funny how the tables have turned, isn't it?"

Goodbye, my friend.

And then pulsating pain hits, like a sledgehammer coming down hard. Nearly makes his vison blur and swim. It stops, then comes back- just as merciless. The outlaw's hands snap up, back hunching over as he clutches at his head with gritted teeth. The hammering doesn't leave him alone, only pauses for a long second or two before coming back with the same brutal force.

Just where did these come from?!

This is pure torture- The rapidly start-stop cycling of the migraines pounding all over his skull. ..Oh boy, here comes the vertigo and nausea. Yup, there they are. What a horrible hangover. Several minutes pass by with this ongoing sporadic hammering haunting him without remorse. Serves me right for drinking ale like water, I guess. Honestly- Between the filthy water of those rusty old pipes and alcohol? Yeah, no- I'm sticking to ale, thanks. And then it all screeches to a halt-- The pain, the insanity and intrusive whispering voices and thoughts. Like they were all burnt away, letting blissful silence to settle over. Finally, clarity. Peace. Oh sweet, sweet relief.

A familiar voice seeps through the quiet, like the gentle and distant wash of waves ashore. Yet crystal clear all the same.

The words come as a slap and a gut-punch, leaving Sinbad reeling and winded. His hands drop at his sides, brows knitting together into a look of realization. The revelation that the vampire knew about his pursuing of the Whispers' head-honcho, that he kept silent about his feelings for his sake all that time-- It stings worse than the bleeding claw-marks on his jaw. Or any other physical blow ever could. It's mind-boggling and so heart-wrenchingly bittersweet, finally shaking him out of the potion's weak, wretched grip.

Suddenly the envious glances that Pirin threw the woman back when the five of them and Nara were about to depart from the Scandia Isles make sense. When Sonja offered him to be his first mate and he had reacted like a surprised love-struck fool, or whenever the nightly humanoid caught them bantering at the tavern and picked up on the subtle, hopeful flirting subtext lurking under his playful jokes. However not once did the other man complain or make a face, even less made an attempt to swoop in and proclaim his longings. And Sinbad perfectly knows, understands why.

Because above all else, Ioan wants for him to be safe, well, satisfied, and happy.

And if being with the mafia woman will make him truly happy, then so be it. Right as it seemed.

Pirin, the reckless, infuriatingly kindhearted soul he is, is more than willing to let his own yearnings die and become his wingman, and stay as a friend. The peaceful smile playing on the other man's lips and the look of serene, wistful acceptance leave him stunned, at a loss for words with an aching heart. You--!

Never before in his life, has the Seaside savant met someone this selfless. But it makes sense, doesn't it? It's so, obviously on-brand for Pirin to pull this kind of stunts, make great sacrifices in the name of those close to his heart.

There's still a chance to fix this mess, before that fool leaves and disappears to bury his hopes again.

Before Pirin really looses that spark and becomes cold.

—"Pirin, wait!"

Hastily getting up onto his feet, the brown-eyed man dashes to catch up with his companion's retreating form. There are still lingering effects from the toxin running in his veins along with obsession, but to hell with them! (They're so nearly gone. Barely but a tiny speck that gets washed away.)

Pausing in his tracks, the false magister turns his torso slightly to look at the other with a faintly baffled look. Immediately his expression morphs to one of shocked surprise as warm lips crash against his own in a brief, scorching kiss. Two arms encircle him fully into a tight hug, as though the scarred blond is scared he'd turn to smoke and fizzle out. The final blow was most shocking- Three, simple candid words said quietly in a voice raw with emotion, that it cracks. No bravado, no teasing yet full of many things left unsaid.

—"I love you." Pirin blinks, stumped. Did I hear right? I think I misheard.

What follows next throws him for a loop further. A stream of honesty that has never come out of the intelligence-gatherer before, the money-loving man pouring his heart out as though under another spell or potion. With being laid bare like this, he honestly has no idea what to do or say. It feels far too poignant to be merely an act. At the same time, it's not out of Sinbad's league to shed some mighty convincing crocodile tears in order to get what he wants. Just like how he's not averse to being silver-tongued, and concoct elaborate ruses and other questionable methods to reach his goals.

...And yet, he had distinctly chosen to trust this shifty weasel nonetheless on day one contrary to his own deeply-rooted trust issues screaming to do otherwise. That trust has been proven to be well-placed time and time again. Nothing jumps out as malign or false, triggers his intuition.

"I know I've been caught up chasing after Sonja while flirting with you on the side...When I should've seen what's right in front of me much sooner. I thought I could have my cake and eat it too, without pausing to consider how unfair it would be. Forgive me." Hesitantly, the magical creature hugs back. Allows him to go on- Once again places his faith in him without wavering or judgement.

It's all the courage he needs to continue. So Sinbad presses on.

"It had completely slipped my mind that you'd keep quiet like that for my sake. Even though I've already seen you make plenty of sacrifices before." A strained, humorless chuckle followed by a half-lighthearted remark. "Really blundered there, didn't I?" Pirin stays mute as a fish, an air of quiet understanding and compassion to his silence as he hears him out without interruption.

Like always.

Didn't matter in what kind of troubles he dragged him into or how much he bitched about things at times, passed out drunk or needed to be bailed and insensitively pulled his leg-- The 'ghost' remained by his side until the very end. Right from the very start, throughout the entire hellish craziness.

Sinbad had thought the man is just plain gullible, laughing off his faith in him and then moved on. Only to be astonished by the fierce loyalty later on, the humble but fiery spirit and quiet strength that he got to see; the witty sharp tongue and what a fiend the 'frail' night nymph is in action onto the battlefield, pitching in with his own strategies and ideas.

Unknowingly-little by little, that same allegedly naïve shorty became one of his pillars to draw courage and strength from. Find solace in during rough times.

His compass.

The thought of losing him, letting Pirin down is devastating.

—"I was, such a foolish idiot, taking you for granted." I won't make the same mistake again. "You're right--The tables have turned. And I can't imagine my life without you." Taking a moment to compose himself and get his thoughts sorted with a deep shuddering breath, Sinbad pulls back slightly to press his forehead against his partner's. A hopeful smile rests on his face.

If...the vampire rejects him, chooses to leave altogether, then..so be it.

At least he'd know the truth in full.

—"I know I'm making a tall order.. I get it if you refuse to hear me out on this one-And I'll respect your choice either way. I won't hold it against you." The moment of truth, huh? Sure is nerve-wracking. Mustering up all of his bravery, he finally forces himself to face his friend. Look him in the eye as just himself. Just, Sinbad. A flawed, knowledgeable, goofball of a man with his heart on his sleeve for once. Instead of running away from his desires like he's always done.

—"Can you give me one last chance, Vanya?"

There. Said it.

No answer. And then a small clawed had ruffles his hair harshly in a sign of playfulness, making it a far bigger mess than it already is. There's an affectionately amused grin in the shorter man's tone, the edge of feigned disapproving exasperation having no real bite as he mutters- "You really are something, alright."

Looking down at him with a sheepish grin, the sailor scratches the back of his head. Not quite sure what to make of this one.

—"So, uh- Is this a yes, or....?" What greets him, is a devious smirk quickly followed up by a brief peck to his lips as cold arms wrap around his neck and rest there casually. Tease.

—"Did I answer your question, Jolly sailor?" The silly nickname of endearment makes him smirk, certainly noticing how it thematically matches the one he gave. No doubt a playful nod to the Jolly sailor Bold shanty and their own respective backgrounds fitting with the story pretty well.

Everything considered, this incident wasn't such a misfortune eventually. Not bad at all. Maybe I should thank Atropine next time around. —"C'mere-" Hooking an arm under his love's back and under his knees, a small yelp slips from the doll as he hoists him up- It turns to a reserved giggle as he peppers his skin with kisses. The stubble on his chin tickles, causing the slimmer man to laugh, no longer able to stifle it.

Absolutely worth it, the way Pirin laughs-- It's music to his ears. Light, clear and ringing like windchimes softly jingling as they sway.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 📑 Translations: ✒️ "Какви медени слова ми думаш.. Почти ти се вързах." - What honeyed words you're saying to me... I almost got fooled. ✒️ "Нямаш си на представа колко ме дразниш." - You have no idea how much you annoy me.

#afk journey #afk journey fanfic #fanfic #yandere scenario #oc #afk sinbad #tiny spice #reposted from ao3

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oneofthemillionarmy · 8 months ago

Text

The Thief of Agrabah

Summary line: You, Jasmine, is the leader of the Forty Thieves in search of the Djinn in the lamp. When you release the Djinn from the lamp, he makes a deal with you to break the rules for your first two wishes as long as you wish him free in the third one. That may be harder than when you first agreed.

Jasmine!you | Djinn!Seokjin | Action, Adventure, Fantasy | Trigger warnings: death, recreational drug use, deadly insects | Word count: 17488

Once Upon a Time, You Were a Princess Scenario Series (more here)

~•~

You can feel nothing but your heartbeat in your ears and your knees begging for a rest as you crouch behind a large boulder. Behind you, are 18 of your father’s crew waiting for your signal to run in, swords swinging. The rest of the 32 crew members are behind other boulders, waiting for you. You signal to your father, Ali Baba, hiding behind the other boulder, checking in on scene in front of you.

Through one of your father’s crew clever eavesdropping and investigation, the forty thieves were able to uncover Sinbad’s treasure. Known within the neighborhood, Sinbad is a down-and-out merchant where none of his merchandise has ever been able to trade and sell properly. However, he has discovered in his travels an island of treasure. Due to his greed and lack of trust to his friends and family, he’s secretly brought back the treasure in small amounts at a time and hid them in a magical cave nearby. As his lack of trust for any people around him, he has never allowed any sailor to remain as part of his crew. Once all the gold has been transported, he sends the sailors off with their own bag of gold and that will be the last of their partnership. Today is Sinbad’s last voyage, which means he must have finally transported the rest. Thank you, Sinbad, for making it too easy.

You hear intently for Sinbad’s secret password and etch the words Open Sesame onto your arm in order to commit it to memory. Once Sinbad and the sailors are ready to leave the cave, you and the thieves will pounce upon them.

The deed was done too quickly; you’re known in the band as the quickest with the blade as you drew quickly and slit Sinbad’s throat even quicker. The rest of the thieves swarmed in and your father led the horde. You quickly turn your head to glance at your father run towards you. Without missing a beat, you catch his pace and beginning running side-by-side with him. With a matching, cheeky grin, you and your father rush forward.

~*~

You pass by your men going through all the treasures and came to your seated father with a leather water pouch and offered it. Your father smiled at you and accepted your water.

“437.” You proudly rose your chin up at him to give him your total number of kills from the start of your thieving career.

“439.” Your father winked as he handed you back your water; of course he’s had plenty more than under 500 kills, but he only started counting again once you started joining his band. You sneer at him and plop down next to him, taking another swig.

“Ah, Y/N, how could you have not beat me by now? I’ve taught you just about everything I know.”

“Oh hush, father. I’m going to do it one day, just you wait.”

“Well,” Your father grunts as he puts his hands on his knees to provide leverage as he brings himself up to tease you, “If you were going to do it, you would’ve done it already.” You sarcastically smirk at him and pass him to sit down on one of the boulders next to him. He turns to you and comes to sit beside you, “Y/N.” He catches your attention and you look towards him,

“Despite the fact that you can’t beat me,” You narrowed your eyes towards him and he laughs, “I think you led this ambush really well. In fact, all of your previous plans worked better than any of the plans I used to have.”

“Thank you.”

He nods, “I think it’s time for you to lead the band.”

“What?!”, you whip your head towards him to see if you can catch any subtle hints of playfulness. He shrugs, “I think it’s time. I think it’s time for me to retire, find someone, and settle down.”

You raise your eyebrows, “Father...did someone catch your eye?” Your father gives you a rare, impish but shy smile.

“Who is it?!”, you excitedly tug on his arm.

Your father rubs his neck, “You know the lady who works at the fruit stall?” You can faintly recall a beautiful woman nearly the same age as your father, wrapped in emerald green cloth.

“Oh! I know her! It’s um, Na-Nahla!”

“How do you know her?”

“Of course! I’m the one who shops at the market for us, Father. She always gives us an extra melon and an apple for me. She’s very kind.”

“Oh. Cool...” Your father seems to shift his feet a little, but you already knew what he was going to ask.

“I can always take you to the market again. Introduce the two of you?” You nudged your father.

“Well, if you’d like.” Your father puffed up his chest a little so he could hide a bit of nervousness, but you could tell. He’s your father after all.

Your mood suddenly changed and you turned towards him, “But Father, I don’t know if I can take over your role. You don’t just come up with strategies, you’re more than just a leader to these men, you’ve become a father to them, almost as much as you’re my father. But even so, I’m not their sister, their mother, nor their wife. There’s no reason for them to follow me like they’ve followed you.

“Y/N, you will have your chance to truly prove yourself to them. I promise, until that moment comes, I will not leave until you are ready.” You look towards him and smile, who knew such an empathetic and sentimental man would be the leader to the most notorious thieves in all of the Middle East.

Just as you reach out to hug him, your father grabs you tighter than he ever has and pulled you close, turning you two around. Unbeknownst to you, it was too late; this was not one of your father’s loving hugs.

You cannot and never will be able to find the words to express the moment and your feelings. In an instance, everything stopped. You felt a force push your father into your arms. When you pull back a little, you see an arrow has pierced your father’s heart. His eyes roll back and his muscles slack, leaving you to hold on to his weight.

You couldn’t hear a damn thing, you couldn’t feel anything but the cold, and you could see nothing but your father’s corpse in your arms. From far away, you faintly recognize the sound of a battle raging; most likely this is a crew of robbers who also had their eye on Sinbad’s treasure.

You felt tugging at your arm and sleeves, one of your father’s crew members has wrapped her arm around your waist and pulled you away from your father. No matter how much you fought and resisted, you could not get out of her grasp. All you could see is your father’s body, slowly disappearing from your vision.

~•~

Your body feels heavy as you hear indistinct chatting beside you. You gaze up towards the ceiling as your eyes start to glaze over.

“It’s been 9 months! We’ve spent three quarters of our last loot. You need to talk to her!”

“Well, who told you to spend your portion so quickly?”

"We all cut our own portions down to half to cater to Y/N’s hashish! If it weren’t for Ali Baba’s memory, we would have left Y/N by now.”

Maybe you should. There’s nothing left for me to do.

Morgiana is your father’s closest crew member. She’s rather one of the largest women you’ve ever seen and she’s the one who dragged you away from your father’s corpse.

“Y/N, how are you feeling?” You lift your hand up limply to provide her some form of an answer.

“Y/N. Look at me.” You slowly turn your head to Morgiana, and stare blankly at her.

“I’m sorry, but Ali Baba is dead. We all mourned for him. And I understand how you feel, but -”

“You will never understand how I feel.” You shot up, finally speaking to her after a week.

“Ali Baba was like a father to me too.”

“Yeah, but he wasn’t really your father, was he?” Morgiana narrowed her eyes at you so intently, you nearly backed down from her gaze. You knew that it wasn’t true. Of course, Morgiana was not his biological daughter, however your father took in Morgiana when she was 7, even before you were born. Morgiana was always in your life and was practically the sister that you never had. If it weren’t for Morgiana’s loyalty to Ali Baba’s wishes, you would have handed over the leadership to Morgiana. She was clearly more respected by the crew than you were right now.

“Sorry...” Morgiana puts her hand on your head and nods.

“I’m going to get some air.” You mumble. She nods and let go of your head, letting you rise from your spot.

Once you exit the tent, the cold air wraps around you and you start to feel a little more sober. With no intention or destination in mind, you head to your camel and hop on, riding into town.

~•~

Once you enter the town, you ride around mindlessly until you find a qahwa house. Perfect. All the riding around sobered you up anyways

You step into the establishment and set yourself up on a pillow. And your night continues on.

Around two hours or so, you start hearing a conversation beside you.

“Have you heard about the Djinn in the magic cave?” A man pipes up, back turned towards you.

_Pfft. Magic. _Although as you think longer, you recall an interesting cave that opens up with the words open sesame.

“Magic? It’s all hokum. And even if it’s not, it’s forbidden art.”

“Yes, but the untold treasures that comes along with a Djinn...What would you do with all that treasure?”

“Well, how large are we talking about?”

“It is said to be too large for a single man. It’s said to be as a large as Agrabah itself!”

Wouldn’t that be nice.

“And that Djinn? It can fulfill any wish!”

Any wish? Well, if I had one wish, it’d be...

“Where could one even hide such a big treasure?”

“Well, it’s magic. I’m sure it can hide itself. But I would bet it would be under the sand like a lost city or ruin. I heard of a riddle, but I don’t understand it. I don’t even know if it’s the key to finding the cave.”

“Well let’s hear it.” The man behind you begins.

In a realm of secrets deep and vast,

An oasis hides from all who've passed.

Its brilliance obscured by a shimmering veil,

For only the chosen, it will unveil.

Seek out Orion, a hunter bold and bright,

And follow the Pleiades' shimmering light.

Through cosmic choreography, a path will form,

Guiding you closer to the oasis warm.

Yet, traveler, be wary of treacherous plight,

For dangers unseen may lurk in plain sight.

Only the worthy, the diamond in the rough,

Shall emerge unscathed, resilient and tough.

In this mystic realm, a jeweled scarab you'll find,

Unlocking the entrance with wisdom entwined.

But wait, the final piece, the moon's touch,

At its zenith hour, the secrets clutch.

When lunar beams caress the scarab's glow,

The scarab’s flight will reveal the hidden show

For once, the cave shall appear,

A trove of wonders beyond mortal fear.

Step into the realm where dreams intertwine,

A cave, enshrouded, treasures divine.

Delve with reverence, each step with care,

Discover ancient wonders beyond compare.

“Well, I’m at a loss. But it is already the night. Perhaps you can tell it to me again tomorrow.”

The two men get up and part ways. You also consider it’s time to head home.

~•~

In the following days, you keep repeating the riddle in your head many times. It provided you the promise of an unguarded treasure, save for the potential booby traps of its own making, but you have always been clever. It promised treasure for your father’s crew. It provided the potential to bring your father back.

Nine months, your father’s crew held on to you. Of course, perhaps 15% of them already left in the first two months, however the truly loyal ones have stayed. In your father’s memory and in respect of everyone’s time, the least you can do is find this treasure for them. Once your father resurrects, they can choose for themselves to retire or to stay. No hard feelings.

The crew see a change in you. You keep to your tent nowadays, bringing in any and all of your knowledge resources you have looted thus far. Morgiana has maybe seen you 3 times to provide you your meal, although you haven’t paid much attention to her presence.

In a realm of secrets deep and vast,

An oasis hides from all who've passed.

Its brilliance obscured by a shimmering veil,

For only the chosen, it will unveil.”

That’s obvious. It’s the beginning of the riddle.

“Seek out Orion, a hunter bold and bright,

And follow the Pleiades' shimmering light.

Through cosmic choreography, a path will form,

Guiding you closer to the oasis warm.

You understood that it’s an astronomical term, but what is Orion and Pleiades? You use the stars to navigate through the desert, but the names always escape you. Every night, you stand outside to look at the sky, looking for anything that resembles a hunter and clothing.

One night, one of your father’s crew comes out of the tent, “Y/N!”

“Hafeez.” You greeted.

“What are you looking for?” He looks up too, trying to spot what it is that grabs your attention.

“Have you heard of a constellation called Orion and the Pleiades?”

“Of course! It’s that one. It’s large. Do you see the three stars that are in a line? That is its belt. There! The limbs.” He points up to your left, and you see a somewhat figure. “And that, those are the Pleiades.”

“That’s the Pleiades? How can anyone recognize that? It’s just a cluster of stars” You protested.

“Well, it’s based on a story of seven sisters, of a hunter goddess. And cluster of stars are very bright compared to the rest around it.”

“How do you know this, Hafeez?”

“You forget, I was your father’s navigator.” He proudly reminds you. You smile and look back up, “Thanks, Hafeez!” And that’s the longest anyone has spoken to you in the past 9 months.

You rush back to the tent and re-read the riddle that you’ve written down.

Seek out Orion, a hunter bold and bright,

And follow the Pleiades' shimmering light.

Through cosmic choreography, a path will form,

Guiding you closer to the oasis warm.

Yet, traveler, be wary of treacherous plight,

For dangers unseen may lurk in plain sight.

Only the worthy, the diamond in the rough,

Shall emerge unscathed, resilient and tough.

In this mystic realm, a jeweled scarab you'll find,

Unlocking the entrance with wisdom entwined.

But wait, the final piece, the moon's touch,

At its zenith hour, the secrets clutch.

When lunar beams caress the scarab's glow,

The scarab’s flight will reveal the hidden show

For once, the cave shall appear,

A trove of wonders beyond mortal fear.

Step into the realm where dreams intertwine,

A cave, enshrouded, treasures divine.

Delve with reverence, each step with care,

Discover ancient wonders beyond compare.

That’s it! If you’re not mistaken, Orion belt and the Pleiades aligns itself towards the eastern direction and you’ll only be able to make trip within the time the constellations are still aligned. According to this riddle, the cave hides in an oasis you’ll come across. Once you’re there, you’ll have to find a jeweled scarab. That’s all you’ll start with. If you’re not wrong, you have plenty of time to understand the rest of the riddle.

~•~

You’ve finally announced the plans to the band of thieves, and although someone could have raised a concern or two about whether or not the riddle even leads to the cave, or this myth is just a hokum or a hoax, all of them have been adventure-starved. Within half an hour, everyone had their belongings packed and set off through the desert. You kept Morgiana and Hafeez at the front with you.

It took 4 days, but you finally saw an oasis in the horizon. When you sped off ahead of everyone else, they all saw your lead and cheered as they sped through the sand towards their goal.

Once you all dismounted, you warned all of your father’s crew of the dangers ahead in the oasis and told everyone to stock up as many weapons, antidotes, and medicine. Once everyone was ready, you split into one large group and two small groups. The large group began to search for the scarab while a smaller group scouts the oasis, map it if they could. The other smaller group hunts for resources and settle camp.

“Y/N!” Morgiana calls for you and you quickly head to the direction of her voice. Once you arrive, she points to a tree stump that has the etching of a scarab. “It must be in this area”, you notified your group. They begin to search the large, open area, leaving no stone unturned, no branches unbothered.

“Here!” one of the thieves call out to you. You quickly rush over and peer over at the large stones that surround a nearby waterfall. Writing begins to slowly carve itself into 5 different large rocks next to each other; it must sense the proximity of a challenger such as you to uncover the Cave of Wonders. You crouch down to read it.

Within an oasis, tranquil and serene,

Where the scarab's secret lies unseen,

Unleash a tempest in this gentle place,

To earn the jewel, embrace its grace.

Gather your wits, adventurers bold,

To stir the air and sand, untold.

With wisdom and care, the task engage,

Create a marvel, a sandstorm's stage.

Harness the zephyrs that gently blow,

From the heavens above to lands below.

Craft a contraption, an artful design,

To whirl the sand in a vortex sublime.

Beneath the palm trees and shimmering skies,

Let winds dance and sand grains rise.

Direct the breeze with your cunning might,

As the scarab awaits in the storm's delight…

Sigh...another riddle.

“Is that telling us to create a sandstorm?” One of the thieves peers over your shoulder. “That’s ridiculous!” Another shouts.

“Ridiculous is what makes the person who can do it, worthy.” You remind them. They all go silent. You continue to reread the words, hoping that ingenuity pops out at you.

“Y/N”, Morgiana comes to your side, “We’ve been traveling all night here. The crew are tired. We should rest up before trying this task; it will also give us some time to think.” You consider her words before agreeing. The rest of the crew retreat to camp and you follow suit.

~•~

“I know! We get up on to each of our shoulders, everyone grabs a handful of sand, and we all take turns throwing it up in an upwards spiral! Someone will be in the middle and run a huge circle to keep the sand up!” One of your men jumps up in exclamation.

“Sit down, you overgrown camel hump! That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” One of his friends laugh at him and the man sits down.

Over at another bonfire, you sit and draw circles on the ground, reflecting on a strategy. Morgiana comes over with some fruit on a leaf, “Eat.”

“Thanks.” You take the leaf from her but just set it down next to you. Morgiana clears her throat and you look up to her. She glances down at the food and look back up to you. Finally, you roll your eyes and stare her down as you stuff a grape into your mouth. Satisfied, she smiles and nods, leaving you to your thoughts once again.

You stuff another two or three grapes in your mouth and turn back to your diagrams on the ground. One of the groups were able to create a rough outline of the first half of the oasis, including the area you’re on and the area which you found the scarab riddle.

Within an oasis, tranquil and serene,

where the scarab's secret lies unseen,

unleash a tempest in this gentle place

To earn the jewel, embrace its grace.

So, one of the requirements is that the sandstorm must occur within the oasis. While there’s sand and dirt within the oasis, there’s more dirt than there is sand, so you’ll need to bring in bags of sand from the surrounding desert.

The main ingredients for a sandstorm are high winds and sand. Sand is easily collected, but high winds? One of the ways would be to use the tents by having the men flap them to generate a breeze, but it wouldn’t last due to stamina and lack of powerful strength. Most of your father’s crew are nimble, flexible, and above average in stamina in order to set ambushes and plunder homes; creating high winds is a completely different animal.

As you do your best to think through different strategies, your body becomes more and more tired until you drift off to sleep.

~•~

It wasn’t long before you woke up to the sounds of your father’s crew snoring. You sat up straight and looked around. The sun is already beginning to rise and the fires pits have diminished to embers. You look down to your diagrams again, remember that you were stuck with the dilemma of finding a way to control wind.

As you were mulling things over one more time, you heard some faint rustling and clicking that got louder and louder. You looked around and --

“Scorpions! Wake up!” You shout. The crew begin waking up jumping and yelling. A whole colony of scorpions began crawling all over the camp, digging themselves off the ground and crawling over everyone sleeping as well as everyone’s bags and camels.

Everyone is scrambling to get the scorpions off of them. You assist the crew members closest to you to run out of the scorpion’s area.

The camels also got up and started running around, attempting to shake off the scorpions. Some of the crew chased the camels and used their cloaks to swipe the scorpions off of animals.

"What is going on? Scorpions don’t group together!” Morgiana shouts out. You shouted back to him, “It must be this oasis!” The only thing you can think of is the oasis working on protecting itself.

You quickly run over to your camel, but as you got closer, you saw your camel lain on the ground, unmoving. The scorpions have infected your camel with its poison and now she’s gone. A bitter taste filled your mouth and you angrily search the satchels on your camel, finding vinegar.

You come back over to your father’s crew and fill vinegar in your mouth. It was so sour, but you spit it out over scorpions as quickly as you could, stunning the scorpions to retreat. The rest of the crew saw your actions and followed suit.

The last of the scorpions finally died off and the thieves cheered once the colony died. You look over to your camel, “May God have mercy on her.”

Once everyone as calmed down, they all quietly gathered their things and cleaned off the dead scorpions off of their belongings. Seven camels out of fifty, gone. Three crewmembers gone. About thirteen of the thieves had the poison beginning to take affect and everyone else prepared the antidote quickly. The poison luckily wore off and 40 crewnenbers were still alive, albeit, still quite weak.

Once everyone was alright and everything was packed up once again, you and your father’s crew buried the dead and went back to the site with the waterfall.

~•~

You had some of your father’s crew climb up some the trees to get an aerial view of the oasis as you keep to solving the riddle. You order some of your father’s crew to grab 4 midsized bags of sand and bring it back to this area. You also ordered some of them to move away anything that can obstruct the sand such as leaves, branches, boulders, so that the area can be clear. Once the men with the sand came back, you had them loosely cover the area with sand.

“The wind is strong today!” One of the women shout to you as they come back down from the trees.

“At least there’s strong wind somewhere.” You mumble to yourself and watch the thieves come back down. A group of them gathered tent clothes to create a slide to come back down from the trees. Huh.

“Alright, everyone. Here’s what we’re going to do…”

You ordered the crew to create another tent slide, the same size as the one the scouts used to slide down from the trees. Once they’ve created the second slide, connect it together to the original slide to create one big open tube. They placed this tube with one end at the top of the trees, and the other end to the open area where the loose sand is. The rest of the crew gathered around the open area with whatever large cloth was left such as blankets, cloaks, etc. and waited for your signal.

You watched intently at the center of the area where the tube was directed towards. When the tube at the top of the trees finally caught the wind, the tube created a funnel, in which would guide the wind to the ground where the loose and was. Once you saw the loose sand starting to fly consistently, you gave the signal to the crew to start flapping their cloth to push the wind back to the center area instead of dispersing. With the wind tunnel, it took a lot less energy from the men to simply keep the wind in the circle.

In just a few moments, the sand really started to pick up and swirl around each other. You ordered the crew to flap harder just to generate a little more momentum and a small sandstorm began to form. The crew started cheering but you encouraged them to keep going. The sandstorm reached to, perhaps, half the height of the waterfall, but apparently that’s all it took. You stared at the top of the sandstorm, where an object slowly formed. Once you were sure it was fully formed, you signaled for the crew to stop and the sandstorm finally dispersed.

You ran to the center and saw what you were waiting for. A golden scarab laid silently on the ground.

The cheering was nearly deafening but you focused on the scarab. You were one step closer to seeing your father again.

But wait, the final piece, the moon's touch,

At its zenith hour, the secrets clutch.

When lunar beams caress the scarab's glow,

The hidden cave reveals its wondrous show.

In this mystic realm, a jeweled scarab you'll find,

Unlocking the entrance with wisdom entwined.

Through lunar light's kiss, the cave shall appear,

A trove of wonders beyond mortal fear.

_ _

Step into the realm where dreams intertwine,

A cave, enshrouded, treasures divine.

Delve with reverence, each step with care,

Discover ancient wonders beyond compare.”

You consulted Hafeez once more to determine zenith hour, which was midnight. at least 6 hours left in the day before midnight, everyone was allowed to do their own thing. You yourself explored the oasis a little longer. According to the map drawn by your fellow thieves, there is a peak waterfall and you couldn’t wait to check out the sight.

When you got to the top, it was absolutely incredible. The oasis was not too big, or not to small. beyond the oasis, you can still see the desert with the sun beginning to set. Once you release your father from the underworld prison, you’ll take your father up here to see the view.

~•~

At 11:55pm, you and your father’s crew gathered together to see what happens. You look around and read the faces of the thieves. Now that it has quiet down, many have already satiated their appetite for adventure and now skepticism is starting to rise in them.

Although everything that has happened has clearly shown that magic is involved, it did not prove the treasures were real. Many began to speak themselves about the size of the treasure may have been exaggerated. Perhaps, even if it’s real, who is to say someone didn’t get to it first?

But you have nothing left to lose. Best scenario, everything is proven true, your father comes back, and everyone continues to stay as the notorious Fifty Thieves...well, Forty thieves now... Worst case scenario is that everything is proven false, the thieves would probably kill you or start a mutiny against you before you are sold...Not that Morgiana would ever let that second part happen, but there’s always a possibility.

The moment struck, and the scarab began to glow a golden red, turning the golden body translucent into glowing rubies. You held your breath as the scarab started to get hot. You couldn’t hold it any longer and dropped the scarab, but the scarab would not drop and suspended where it was, turning itself to a certain angle. It’s been a minute but nothing has happened, leading everyone to start grumbling, “What now?”

You almost became nervous, but you noticed a shadow within the gem. You slowly approach the jeweled scarab and peered through the red gem. And there it was.

Through the gem, you finally saw a large tiger head made of sand that was not there before much higher than any peak in this oasis. That must be the entrance. You slowly reached for the scarab, not dropping your sight of the tiger, and the scarab allowed your fingers to pinch it. Once you lowered the scarab, the tiger appeared to the rest of the band, leading a mid-sized uproar from your father’s crew.

~•~

You and the group finally reached to the side of the oasis where the tiger head was. Upon reaching it, many of the crew members began to tremble in their knees and buckled. The tiger head was alive and its spirit was immensely intimidating, which led to the trembling.

“We must continue”, you turned towards the crew, “I will take 10 of you with me. The rest can stay with the ones who cannot.” You picked out your father’s strongest, fastest, most loyal, and most clever thieves within the group and reached to the entrance. The tiger’s head took slow deep breathes, creating a warm, rhythmic breeze. The eyes glowed the same light as the scarabs, as if the scarabs created his very large eyes. They peer down to you and the group.

“Who disturbs my slumber?” His voice had a deep growl, just like a tiger would. Even with the mightiest thieves in the group, you still heard gulps. You step forward, “It is I, Y/N.”

“And what is it that you seek?”

“A Djinn and the treasures within the cave for my father’s crew.” The tiger regards you for a moment, before saying, “Know this: Only one may enter here, one whose worth lies far within. A Diamond in the Rough. Touch nothing but the Lamp of the Djinn.”

“But, what about the treasure?” One of the crew members speak up.

“Touch nothing, but the lamp.”

You look to the crew, “Not to worry. The djinn will provide you all treasure beyond what’s in the cave. You all know why I’m here; I only have one wish. This trip will not be in vain for any of you.” Once your father’s crew considered this and agreed, the tiger head opened his mouth widely. Past his tongue, were steps down into the cave. A bright light, similar to the color of 10,000 torches.

You take your trip down the stairs, every step taken carefully, in case of any booby traps in the cave. So far, so good.

You’ve finally reached to bottom of the steps and there was a door, standing alone in the darkness, where the only light came from through the door. The light was absolutely blinding.

You shielded your eyes from the light as you stepped through, and beyond the door, was the largest room you’ve ever seen. In this large room, which seemed endless, mountains of gold and other precious metals were littered all over the floor. Precious stones adorned any and every trinket. Oh, if only the guys saw this. This place would cave in on itself (pun unintended). If you didn’t have one goal in mind, you might have also given in.

“So, is there like a sign, or something like, “Lamp this way”? Or is it just buried in all of this?” You mumble to yourself. As you kept walking, you started having this eerie feeling that something was following you. There’s no way, is there?

Regardless, you trusted your instincts and turned on a quick corner behind a mountain of treasure and hid behind it, waiting for someone to ambush you. To your surprise, there was no person, but a carpet. And it could float.

“What?” You raised an eyebrow and stepped back. With all that you’ve seen in the past few days, this has to be the most surprising.

The carpet seemed to have its own spirit, because it began to circle you, like it was inspecting you. “Hi...” You cautiously greeted. The carpet stopped and flicked a corner of itself, as if it checked off a box that graded your sanity, and bowed itself towards you. You chuckled, “Wow. Are you a human-turned-carpet, or a carpet with a mind?” It used two of its corners and wiggled, informing you that it was the latter.

“You are incredible!” The carpet uses its two corners, which you can only assume it was its hands, and covered itself like it was shy.

“Hey, do you know about any lamp that holds a Djinn? Would you be able to show me the way?” The carpet excitedly flapped itself and flew around you before bowing its head again.

“Great! Lead the way!” The carpet began to float softly ahead of you and you followed suit.

The carpet led you to an oval opening in the cave wall, large enough for you to pass through. Once you got through the wall, you saw stairs made of rock that led up to its own peak. At the top, sat the long-awaited lamp. You ran up the steps and slowed down at the top. The lamp itself was simply bronze and plain. After passing through mounds and mounds of gold, it was no comparison that if you didn’t know the value of what was inside the lamp, you would have leapt for the treasure out there. If the lamp was at the surface the most obvious mound of treasure, it would have been the first to be tossed aside and last to be taken along with the rest of it.

Alas, the lamp was still the true prize, and it was time to go. The carpet waited for you at the bottom of the stairs and when you came down, it guided you back to through the treasure room. Although you consider yourself focused and disciplined, there was one thing that truly caught your eye.

At the corner of your eye, you noticed something that was turquoise in the middle of all the gold, and you stopped at your tracks. Neither you nor the carpet realized you were without each other, and the carpet continued to float away. Upon further inspection, you realized why this caught your eye. The turquoise pendant was your father’s! How the hell did it end up in here?

You stumbled backwards in shock, tripped on a small statue and fell back into a mound of gold. When your hands reached out to find purchase, your hands reached for the gold mound and grabbed some gold. The moment your hands touched the treasure, the cave began to rumble.

“You have touched the forbidden treasure!” The tiger bellowed. If anyone it was intimidating facing the tiger’s head, they haven’t heard his growling within the pit of his stomach. “Now you will never again see the light of day!”

The carpet flew like an arrow quickly to you. Since there’s no going back now anyways, you quickly snatched the pendant and the carpet swooped your legs up and you sat on top of the carpet. The carpet sped off, flying as fast as it could back to the entrance.

Seeing how the carpet have been so flexible thus far, it’s only reasonable for you to assume the stability of the carpet is, in every sense of the word, wavering. You grip strongly onto the carpet’s edges, so much that if your nails were any sharper, you could have unraveled a thread or two. You can only imagine yourself flying parallel to the carpet, just trying to hold on for dear life, however you come to find that’s not the case. It’s as if something is pulling any part of you into the carpet. First, it’s your knees and hands, but once you dare to shift, you find that any part of your body that’s in closest proximity to the carpet immediately is drawn to it and stuck on the it, keeping yourself as steady as possible.

Perhaps the cave was deeper than you thought as well. The ground started to crack, opening up to lava below. You looked back at the lava erupting and the treasure sank into the lava, completely melted.

You were close to the entrance. You were able to see the mouth opening already closing. The moonlight was shining through and you could see the silhouettes of your father’s crew cheering you on to come back. But it was one step to late. The mouth finally closed but the carpet was too close and too fast. It could not dodge the cave wall and the two of you smacked into it. The last thing you saw was the cave ceiling as you fell and blacked out

~•~

Am I dead? It’s so cold...wait a second. You opened up your eyes but you could see absolutely nothing. If it weren’t for the lamp and pendant that you could feel in your hands, you’d think that you truly died. You felt a thick fabric cover you and you remembered the carpet was still with you.

“Thanks...carpet. I’m sorry, I don’t have a name for you.” You sighed and laid back down on the ground, “This is great. No way out, no light, no food or water. Nothing.”

The carpet brushed one of its corner tassels over your left hand where you held the lamp. You realized what it was saying and bolted right up, “You’re right! But how do I wake the Djinn?” You felt around the lamp to see if there were any indicators and swiped a thumb over some etching that you could only imagine was an inscription or instructions.

The lamp started to shake violently, making you let go, but it suspended in the air before it jumped up to halfway to the ceiling. A large pink puff of smoke spilled out of the lamp’s spout; the smoke was also illuminated so that you were able to see what was happening.

Once the pink puff of smoke was in the air, it began to mold into shape.

“YYYYYEAAAASSSSSSS!” The pink smoke burst itself into a Djinn. An enormous...human-like djinn. The djinn honestly looked more like a giant human than what Y/N ever expected a Djinn to look like.

“Wow, that was one hell of a sleep, I feel like Sleeping Beauty,” the Djinn twisted its own neck all the way about two times before he let the head go, letting it spin itself back around. What’s a Sleeping Beauty? He twisted his everything as a form of a stretch. Arms, wrists, hands, fingers, really, just about any joint and muscle. He finally settled down by shrinking himself down to your size, folding himself into an upside-down table and crawling around like a spider circling you, “I haven’t felt this good in, oh I don’t know, 2000 years.” He had a very thick foreign accent that you’ve never heard of before. Looking at him closely, his facial features were soft and delicate, with deep, large dark eyes and large, plump lips.

He's speaking really fast like he’s trying to say everything in one breath. With him being a Djinn, there’s no doubt in your mind that he can. It’s nothing that you’ve ever seen before, you can’t even begin to comprehend that this whole ordeal has actually led you exactly what you wanted.

“My name is Y/N.”

“Ooo, I like that. May I call you Jaz? Or Jazzy?” He quickly transformed himself with new attire that you’ve never seen before, it was black and white and tailored that fit him so nicely, but extremely odd to you; not any clothing that you’ve ever seen. In his hands was an instrument you’ve also never seen before. It’s brass and curved itself; about the size of his torso. He played it like a nay, but he kept it close to his body, and the sound was very different from a nay, you’d think it was a musical animal. But it sounded new and wonderful.

He throws his instrument up in the air and it disappears into the same puff of pink smoke you saw when the Djinn came out. The Djinn turns his attention to you and grew into larger size again, big enough to rest his head on his head, his elbows to the ground facing you, and be at your eye level. “Say, what year is it? Are camels still your main mode of transportation? Is this your home? It’s quite dark in here, Master.” He snaps his fingers and a large bright light encased in transparent glass flickers like an oil lamp at the top of the cave, illuminating the whole cave.

“So, so this is legitimate? I’m not dreaming? I’m your master now?”

“That's right!” He transfigured nothing out of thin air again, this time he had many objects around him that seemed to be man-made, flashing bright lights towards him. “You get three wishes, but first, rules.”

“Okay, so I really only have two wishes, I -”

“Whoa! Hold on. I gotta tell you the rules first. Rule number one: I can't kill anybody. Rule number two! I can't make anybody fall in love with anybody else. Rule number three! I can't bring people back from the dead. Other than that, you can have anything else your heart desires!”

Your shoulders slump when you heard his third wish. This whole trip was a waste, not including satiating your father’s crew for treasure.

“Hey, what’s with the pout? Do you not realize, the very being in front of you can do you anything??” Jin gestures to himself.

“Not everything.” You mumble to yourself. But the djinn heard it.

“Excuse you,” he puts his hands to his hips, “I can do anything.”

“Except those three things. In everything, there are rules.”

“Okay, look here, girlie,” He shrinks again and flies in circles around you, poking you, “I can do anything. But those rules are to prevent really bad things from happening.” You turn around and begin to grow a small, sly smile. Oh…So he can...can do...

“Okay, what do you mean you can?”

“It means I can. You know, can you do the can-can?” In a blink of an eye, the eccentric being now has a whole row of himself interlocking their arms around their shoulders, kicking in unison from left to right and right to left. They disappeared and the Djinn comes back down to you, “But I don’t recommend it. There are ethical and moral consequences to these issues and we’ll all do everyone a favor by not doing that.”

Lot of big words for someone who isn’t suffering…

"Well...I only had two wishes, but now that you took those away, I don’t know what I can even do with you. What would someone like you even want to wish for if you couldn’t have those wishes?”

“Oh well, in my case...Ah, forget it.”

“What? What is it?”

“I think I’d wish for freedom.” You raise your eyebrows, “Freedom? Are you...a prisoner?”

Jin looks down to his wrists and you follow his gaze to see thick, golden bracelets, “Everything has a catch. I can do whatever I want…except do what I want.”

You shake your head, “I don’t follow.”

“You see, I have unimaginable, incomprehensible, incomparable power…But I’m only out when I have a Master and they need me. I can’t use my power outside of that. Instead, I’m stuck in a little lamp for however long. Nothing to do but to sleep, lounge, and entertain myself.

Your heart felt a little bitter for him when you heard that. “Jin, that’s terrible. And you’ve been in there for 2000 years? I couldn’t imagine.”

Jin easily changes his mood when he sees you unhappy and comes back up to you, “Oh, that’s not your problem. However, your wishes are my concern and command. So, what will you need?”

“Well, how about I make you a deal, Jin?” You snap your fingers. He raises his eyebrows. There probably weren’t many people to trying to make deals with a Djinn if they already get wishes.

“I will set you free in my last wish, but I want you to disregard your rules for the first two.” Jin throws his head back and laughs. Like really hard. The cave was quickly drowning in his tears of laugher but he drains it away once it filled up.

“I’m sorry, what?” You innocently smile and nod, “But don’t worry about that first rule, I won’t be using more than 1 for myself…but I have a crew I need to take care of and I want them all to have one wish. Their wish will be within the bounds of your rules. This crew is actually my father’s crew. They took great risk to come here with me on this journey, and we have lost some on the way, so that I can get to you. I would like to do them justice so they can have whatever they want, but I would limit their wishes to your original rules. I’ve only ever needed one ruleless wish for myself, and the last one will be to wish for your freedom.”

Jin sizes you for about a second and narrows his eyes at you, “Let’s say that I won’t allow you to have ruleless wishes. What would you end up doing?”

You shrug, “I don’t know. But at the end of the day, I could still be happy and you will still be trapped.” He narrows his eyes at you, “You’re really going to hold my own captivity over me? That’s cruel,” but he mumbles under his breath, “Although I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same…”

“So, how about it? Consider this chance to be a grand hurrah before you can start saying ‘no’ again.” You cross your arms and wait for his agreement. You were confident that this would be a great deal.

It was terribly quiet as you patiently wait for his response. Within the short amount of time that you’ve known him, he seemed to be a pretty quick thinker, so you’re actually sure that his answer has already been decided. He’s just annoyingly dramatic.

He poofs a long piece of parchment and brings a pair of round glass linked by a thin wire and puts it over his eyes. “42 wishes no more, no less…” he mumbles himself, “no rules…third wish is my freedom…” He hands you the parchment, “If this is all true, just sign here on the dotted line.” You raise an eyebrow at him and take a look over at the written deal. He hands you a piece of charcoal and you reach out to take it but he retracts it quickly, catching your attention, “Just to be very clear, you’re really going to want to make sure you don’t wish for anything beyond what’s in this contract…consequences are pretty dire if you break your contract with me.”

“I hate it when people do that. What would be the consequence? There’s no point in being ominous.” You cross your arms.

Jin shrugs, “Your consequence is the opposite of what you wish your last wish for. For example, if you’re not supposed to wish for someone to die, you’ll die instead. If you wish for more wishes, you’ll end up becoming a djinn yourself to fulfill other people’s wishes instead. Those are the ones I’ve heard about, but this deal has never been struck before, to my knowledge, so I’m not sure what your consequence would be if you don’t wish me free.”

“Hmm, like for the rest of my life, I’d become an indentured servant myself, or something?”

“Probably.”

You contemplate for a moment; however, you can’t think of any reason why you could possibly go back on your deal. You raise your chin and snatch the charcoal from his hands and sign the piece of parchment. At the last stroke, the parchment disappears.

“Well!” He claps his hands and grows humongous again, twirling as he does, “This is a deal!” He shrinks down and extends his hand out to you again and you take it. Once you shake, he creates fireworks exploding in the cave, which freaks you out, assuming the structure would cave in, but it doesn’t. Which reminds you, perhaps you should have asked for 43 wishes in order to ask him for one to get you all out of here. You pout and look up to the top of the cave and he follows your gaze. He smirks.

“Ah, yes, we are in a dilemma, aren’t we? Actually, I’m in no dilemma, I can easily get myself out of here. How will you ever get out of here?”

“So, you would get yourself out, but not your master?” You cross your arms and look at Jin.

“Well, you haven’t wished for it, have you?” Jin winks.

You turn around and throw your hands in the air in dramatic fashion, “What a load of camel dung! We just made a deal and you can’t even begin to follow through.”

“Excuse me?” He poofs the parchment to his hands again and shoves it at your face, “No where here does it say you get 43 wishes, or that you getting out of here is within the deal.”

“Yes, well you need to grant 40 of them to my father’s crew first. How do you expect to do that in here when I can’t take you to them? Between the two of us, you are the one with the ability to get us out of here. If you’re the one who can do something but isn’t, aren’t you the one who’s breaking the deal because you’re not doing your best at it? And although it’s not explicit, I’m sure as a Djinn, you’re meant to protect your master. If your master dies in a cave, isn’t that your fault? And you will stay stuck. It’s in your best interest to get me out of here.”

Jin narrows his eyes at you and waggles a finger, “Tsk tsk, Y/N. You should know better than to taunt a Djinn.” But you just raise your eyebrows and tilt your head as you watch Jin turn the gears in his head.

“You clever little minx.” What the hell is a minx? He shrugs and the carpet flies underneath you, leading you to fall backwards and sit down on the carpet.

“Hold on tight, Princess.” Before you can protest that you are not a princess, the carpet soared upwards to the top of the cave. You instinctively cover your arms to shield yourself from harm, but Jin blasts through the thick rock and the carpet was shielded by the falling boulders. You watch the rocks fall over an invisible barrier as the carpet is flying through the cold dark rock.

The surface of the oasis explodes as you and Jin burst through to above the trees. It’s already sunset. Above the desert, above the trees in the oasis, you’ve never seen anything more beautiful. Further away, you can even see Agrabah’s skyline. Below, you hear a deep roar of cheering and you look down to wave at your father’s crew, cheering to see you have survived.

~•~

Once you touch the ground, you half-expect cheers all around you, but the cheers die down quickly once they recognized an unknown being beside you. You look to your left and see Jin already reaching out to shake hands with the people closest to him, who of course all have a very confused look on their face.

“Men,” you raise your voice to catch everyone’s attention, “This is what we came here for. Or rather, who we came here for.” You gesture towards Jin.

“Yes! I am Jin the Djinn. Please to meet you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you.” Jin, once again, showcased his power by creating multiple versions of him and greeting every man.

Morgiana comes through the crowds of thieves to speak to you, “What happened down there?”

You nod your head over towards Jin, “He happened.”

“Alright, Princess. What’ll you have?” Jin comes back to you. You raise your eyebrow towards him, “I’m no princess.”

“It’s just a nickname. You are my royalty at this moment until I grant all your wishes.” Perhaps it’s from the rising sun, or you’ve never been addressed as a princess, but your cheeks felt hot.

You start feeling nervous, which felt foreign to you. Just about everyone knows their wish, you know your wish. You are so close to becoming reunited with your father.

“You know-you know what?” You broke through the ranks of thieves and grabbed your belongings, “We need to leave this oasis first.”

“What? Why?” Morgiana and Jin come up to you. You turn to face them, “Well…the oasis is very dangerous. After what I had to go through in the cave, I would rather not stay here any longer than I want to. We should-we should go back to-we should go back to our base camp. It’s not home, but it’s best to go back there, I feel like. So yes, we should go now. Let’s go!”

It may be the first time you’ve ever spoke to them with such command even if your voice seem unsure at first and they all realize it, because there’s no debate and the rest of the crew and they all quietly gather their things.

~•~

Jin’s a Djinn so there’s really no extra space you need to provide him on the carpet, as your camel has unfortunately died through the journey, other than stuffing the lamp in the closest sack to your reach. Jin flies around you, over and around, and talks to everyone as they’re all very curious about way he works.

“You know, Princess,” Jin flies up to match your sluggish speed, “I’m not gonna lie, you may be one of the most boring masters I have thus far. I mean, you did make this really intriguing deal with me thus far. But since then, no one has made any wishes, and you’re using the most boring way to travel through a hot desert and you won’t even entertain me with trying to trick me again to help you without using a wish again, and you haven’t talked to me.”

“Okay, I have a question.”

“Shoot.” You raise an eyebrow at him, unfamiliar with his words.

“Go ahead, ask your question, Princess.” He rephrases.

You turn your had to look back at the front. In your pocket, is a heavy amulet that’s been gnawing at you since you woke up in the cave.

“The treasures in the cave. Where do they come from?”

“Oh that? Well first, let me tell you that this world has existed for a long time, and the world is a lot bigger than you think. Anyone who’s ever died, they always have at least one precious object in this world, even if they never had it. Every homeless person who died even has one; perhaps they once seen an object in someone else’s possession. Rich men have so much more and nothing that they can’t let go or take it with them comes to that cave. The Cave of Wonders is also a Cave of every man’s greed and envy. The reason why it’s so protected by Aziz is because the pure of heart, the “diamond in the rough”, has no greed or envy enough to not want to take the forbidden treasures in the first place.”

“Aziz?”

“The tiger head entrance.” He explains. You can’t help but crack a smile to think that the tiger and Jin have a friendship of some sort. However, limited it may be if Jin as been stuck in the lamp for as long as he’s had.

You take out your father’s amulet to look at it and Jin tilts his head, “Although, I guess Aziz didn’t expect a living person to find a sentimental object enough to take it. I guess there must have been a reason that you got trapped underground.”

“How do you know it’s sentimental?”

“I’m over 2000 years old. There’s not much I can’t understand. You are, in fact, a diamond in the rough, Princess, otherwise you would have never been able to get past Aziz. But anything that you must have taken, it must mean so much more than something out of greed or envy. And the way that you’ve been quiet for this long and the first thing that comes out of your mouth is to inquire about this, you’ve been thinking about it for this long, this amulet means a lot to you.”

You roll your eyes at him, “Alright, alright…It belonged…belongs, to my father.”

Jin doesn’t speak for a moment, “You father is dead.” You inhale sharply and nod.

“…Aaand, you want to wish for him to come back alive…” You don’t respond to him and he didn’t press it further. You can’t explain it, but the air turned heavy between you two, and it’s not the humidity.

~•~

Four days to the oasis, two and a half days back. Jin was bored enough to use his magic to charm everything and everyone to never weary on the journey for no breaks and be twice as fast. Once you’ve arrived, you allow everyone to settle back into camp. Many of the souls on your father’s crew are brave enough to talk to the djinn like he was a new member of a crew; showing off their sword-fighting skills, their stealth, and any other skills they have to impress the one being who could easily do all of that and more. But you won’t burst their bubble like that.

You settle back into your tent and lay down on your cushions, wiggling your toes and stretching yourself out after a long journey.

“Y/N.” You turn over to see Morgiana peeling back the tent opening and coming in.

“Yes, Morgiana?” Morgiana tries to walk directly towards you, but the magic carpet has settled in your tent, comfortably in the center. However, as Morgiana is about to place her foot down, the carpet perks up and tilts itself; apparently it prefers to be sat on rather than stepped on. Morgiana has no choice but to walk around it, eyeing the carpet as she does. She finally takes her eyes off of it and sits next to you.

“So, what happened down there?” You sigh. Although a lot had happened, it didn’t really seem like anything happened, “I don’t know. I walked down there, found the carpet, got a guide through the treasures, mounds of it, I may add; the cave ran through very long and very high. The carpet finally got me to the lamp and I grabbed it…That’s all the tiger head – Aziz – had told me to do. I wasn’t supposed to touch anything but,” Your hands felt heavy as you take out a surprising turquoise memento. Morgiana widens her eyes. She slowly reaches out to touch it, afraid that it’s just a mirage from the hot journey. You open up your palm and allow her to take it.

“That’s not possible.” Morgiana murmurs.

“Not in that cave it doesn’t.” You proceed to inform her of the nature of the treasures of the cave.

“That’s…quite wonderous indeed.” Morgiana finally speaks up. You nod at her statement.

“Well, your whole mission was to retrieve the lamp and find the djinn. You have the lamp. You have the djinn. What are you waiting for?” You sigh and fold your hands behind your head and lay down, “I don’t know.”

“Well then, until you do know, you have to go out there and give the thieves what they want. A good leader doesn’t wait to share the spoils of their adventure to the ones most loyal.”

“Well, I’m not exactly – “

“You are their leader.” She stresses and puts her hand on my shoulder.

“It’s just until we get my father back.” You shake her hand off her shoulder and look down to the ground.

“Look at me.” You raise your eyes to do as she says.

“Do you remember when I told you about my first adventure with your father?”

“Yes, yes. He took everyone out to the western sea and sailed to the first island, where you all found buried treasures like some rogue sailors.”

“And you know all of the dangerous trials we endured to get there. The way that your father cleverly guided us through every single one.” What’s her point?

“Everything you’ve done in this time, was nothing short of what your father would have done. You have him in you; his leadership skills too. Not to say that you need to be your father in order to be a leader of the 50 Thieves…40 now…but whatever you have in store for us, I know you’re going to be better than your father and he would be so proud of that. You’ve learned from the best but it doesn’t mean you need to be the same in order to be the best. In order to break through that ‘best’ barrier, you need to best the best. Does that make sense? Besides, no one has ever found a djinn for 50…40 people and gave them one wish and only keeps one for themselves. It already shows where your head is at for how to lead.”

Everything she’s saying makes sense, but for whatever reason, you can’t bring it in yourself to believe the person she’s talking to you is you. Morgiana sees your hesitation still. Her disappointment is obvious by her long-exhaled breath. She gives you a long look before exiting the tent, only to be replaced by your new companion.

“Hi there, Princess!” Jin pokes his head through the tent with a grin. You scoff and turn your head away.

“Hi, Jin. Welcome to my tent, can I interest you in some halva or qishr?” the djinn mumbles to himself as he walks into the tent.

“What are you talking about?” You turn to him.

“Sorry. That wasn’t your custom.” He removes his shoes and lounges onto your plush cushions in front of you.

“My custom? So, you’re truly not from here, huh?”

“Not from here or from when.” He winks at you and you’re clearly confused by his facial expression. His smiles is tight-lipped as you watch him internally struggle with something.

“Alright,

“Come on. We have to give everyone their wish.” You put your hands on your knees and stand up. Morgiana follows your actions.

“You are giving them their wish.”

~•~

Morgiana gathered the band together to hear you announce the plan you have for them to receive one wish within boundaries from the Djinn. Everyone watches Jin as he gives a similar performance to the thieves as he did with you, as he’s not one to repeat performances.

“Thieves, thieves, and more thieves, I present to you, myself! In this one-time offer” his voice magnifies and echoes across the desert.

“The choice of a lifetime!” Jin enlarges himself and the most clouds you’ve ever seen gather above him, dark and thunderous.

“A wish from me!” He immediately turns back to his regular size, and 50 clones of Jin appear, gathering around all of your people to pass out scrolls to the band; some of his clones turn around to pass around more scrolls to others thieves who already have a scroll in their hand, replicating business.

“Please note that all wishes made are finalized and are unable to change the course of a different wish. Your wishes may cause unlimited supply of happiness, bliss, pleasure, joy, pride, and/or financial gain. Please do not make a wish if you are planning to fall in love, resurrect the dead, or killing another person or being. Please consult your leader before making a wish.” Jin spoke faster than anyone else you’ve ever met as he claimed, this spiel is supposed to provide “shady - but also not shady because I’m me - informed consent.” Whatever that means.

The crew was quick to line up, excitedly pressing and pushing each other, even though there’s an entire desert for them to space out.

You sit next to Morgiana and Jin as the two of you watch the magic happen.

The crew is rather more practical than you expect them to be. You would’ve have expected at least half of the crew to wish for enough treasure to retire and settle down. Surprisingly, none of them did. Almost all of them wished for skills or tools to pillage and plunder much more efficiently than ever before.

One of them wished for bottomless pockets so he can always hoard more and more treasure as time goes on. Another wished for the ability to see the future, although Jin only granted him 10 seconds into the future, he was rather even more satisfied. One thief will never need to sleep again. One thief wants to have fighting skills so he will never lose. There was a water jug that will never run out, one of them never getting sick, diseased, or poisoned, a traditional stone home that can be stored and pocketed so that she will always have shelter she can actually start calling home, etc. Hafeez wants to be able to see the stars in the daylight.

You find yourself smiling at everyone’s interesting wish; it really showed you that no one person is the same. You’re still far away from Agrabah so there’s no fear for anyone to spot 40 people showing off their powers or tools to each other.

“Alright, you’re the last one, Morgiana.” Jin turns to your friend and grins. She laughs hesitantly, “Honestly after seeing what everyone else is wishing, I’m not sure what I should do next.”

“It’s not like you’re not allowed to wish for the same wish.” Jin pipes up.

“Right.” Morgiana stands up and starts lightly pacing to come up with a wish. You and Jin curiously watch her pace.

“50 dinar that she won’t be able to come up with a wish in the next 10 minutes.” Jin leans in and mumbles to you.

“I’ll take that bet.” Morgiana sighs and turns to you two.

“I hate that this is what you’re betting on…But yes, I will need a little time.” Morgiana’s shoulders drop slightly.

You chuckle, “Hopefully you won’t need more than 10 minutes.” Jin shrugs and stands up, lending a hand to help you up as well. The two of you leave Morgiana to her pacing.

The two of you return to your tent and you settle down in front of the hookah again. Jin lays down across from you.

“Can you smoke?” You gesture to Jin to take a puff.

“…You know what? I never got a chance to try it.” Jin reaches to grab his own hose.

“What? Never?” You lean forward in surprise. As far as you’re concerned, this was your personal favorite pastime. You watch Jin inhale but his face scrunches in disappointment, “I don’t think it does anything for me.” He transforms his body into his own puff of smoke and the two of you watch the tobacco evaporate from his body.

“That’s too bad…It’s all I really do now.” Jin shrugs and stares at the hookah.

“So, where are you from? What’s the story of Djinns?” Jin’s eyes start to lose focus as if he is forgetting the world around him.

“I’m pretty far away.” You raise an eyebrow at his mumbles.

Jin twitches a smile and he mumbles to himself, “I’ve always wanted to do this…”

He raises his head to look at you with serious intensity in his eyes and puffs out his chest, “I’m…from the future.”

You snort and roll your eyes, sitting back and inhaling another puff.

Jin simply blinks at you, “Well I was hoping for a better reaction that ‘pfft’. You don’t believe me? How else could you explain my presentations, my odd language, and unique haircut? Did you not see the flashing lights back in the cave?”

“I knew it already; not necessarily that you’re from the future. But no matter how far or wide I may travel; I know could never encounter the things you’ve shown me for thousands of years. You’re a Djinn, and therefore magic exists. It can’t be a difficult jump to imagine that anything else isn’t possible. Perhaps you can tell me that you’ve touched stars by now in your time.”

Jin looks over his shoulder at you and grins, “Perhaps.” He turns around and lies on his back to stare at the tent above him.

“I’m about two millennia ahead of your current time period. I was a travel blogger and I stumbled on the lamp and it hasn’t been used for at least a couple centuries. I released the Djinn and got my own chance to make wishes. I wished that I can travel through time and space so that I can see more. I wished that wherever I go, nothing I do affects others and others aren’t able to affect me. For example, my person and my body wouldn’t carry any diseases or viruses that can hurt others that don’t hold the immunity and vice versa. For my last wish, I did intend to free the Djinn. I promised it because I got to know him while I travelled. We became something in the likeness of friendship and he went with me everywhere. On my trip that wasn’t intended to be my last, I visited the oasis his lamp originated from. Abu, my Djinn, warned me about the Cave of Wonders, but in one mistake…I was forced to change my final wish and the rest is history.”

“What happened to Abu?” You crane your neck to glance at him.

“He went back to his own lamp. He’s also somewhere lost in the Cave, probably stirring in there with contempt for me. It’s my fault that I’m a Djinn and he’s still not free.” Jin shrugs but his voice carries solemn guilt.

“I have a question. If you weren’t a Djinn now, would you still be able to travel through space and time?” You use your finger and draw circles on your mat.

“Actually, I’m pretty sure I get to keep the effects of my wishes…When someone wishes for never-ending wealth, it wouldn’t go away because he finished his wishes. Although, as far as I know, no one has become a Djinn afterwards. Who knows what the rules are there?”

“If you became human again, would you go home?”

“Most likely. It’s not to say I wouldn’t go off to see more. I can’t be afraid to be trapped anymore since I don’t have a Djinn. And with my power now, there’s no point in wasting it for the rest of my life.”

“You’re a true adventurer, Jin.” Jin turns over to you and smiles, “Coming from another true adventurer, thank you.” The tent quickly turns silent. His story leaves you to your own considerations.

“Do you think Morgiana has made her choice yet?” Jin ponders.

“Nope. She’d come in if she figured it out.” The person of the topic appears immediately at your last phrase.

“I got it!” Morgiana exclaims with excitement. You and Jin look at one another.

“…So…does that count?” He asks.

“Let’s say it doesn’t.” You grin cheekily and jump up, “So what will it be?”

“Jin, I wish to be able to create and unlock any door of any kind, anywhere.” You smile at Morgiana’s imagination and look over to Jin. Jin grins at her and stands up, dusting off imaginary sand on his pants.

He lifts his hands to Morgiana and starts to tap his fingers furiously, making an extra show for the final wish to your band of thieves. He stops abruptly and simply snaps his fingers. Nothing really appears but you all know it worked. Morgiana lifts you and squeals in excitement. She puts you down and dashes out of the tent to alert her partners in crime.

Jin looks over at you, “Well, Princess. Are you ready to see your father again?” You suck in your lips and turn away, “I’m really tired now. There’s no point to do it right before we all rest. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

Jin nods in understanding of your true hesitation and leaves your tent for the night.

One night turns into 4 days. You decided that you would like some opportunities for your team to test out their newfound abilities or tools. You take a day or two to find a new place to settle again, seeing how you’re currently leading a crew of vagabonds.

Although no one’s really complaining about having a Djinn around, you know that everyone is whispering to each other why you still haven’t used your wish. Honestly you wish that you could wish that you wouldn’t be so scared to make your wish.

In the meantime, your new guest is having the time of his life entertaining the rest of the thieves with his glamourous magic.

Every meal, he conjures amazing food your crew normally couldn’t eat. He creates a show of colorful bursts of explosion in the night sky; all ‘free-of-charge’ apparently. Every time you look over at him after he does something new and incredible, you see him sneaking glances at you, as if he’s searching for your approval or awe.

“Sooo…Princess….” Jin saunters over by your side after yet another beautiful display of explosions. You’re laying on your mat behind the rest of the group; the rest of them sat ahead to get a better view of the fireworks. You side-eye him at his nickname for you but he just ignores it, “I bet you’ve never seen fireworks before. Of course you haven’t. It wouldn’t be around here.”

“I mean, you’ve done this for the past three days now, so I guess you can say I’m used to it.” You shrug and lean back on your elbows. You’re such a liar. These so-called fireworks are the most beautiful thing you’ve ever laid your eyes upon; you don’t think you could ever get tired of them. Well, fireworks, and the incredible face of the Djinn that conjured them. But with how much he boasts about his magnificently cosmic powers, you felt that he didn’t need yet another thing to boast about all day.

“Tsk tsk. I know you’re lying, Princess. You can’t lie to a Djinn.”

“Why is that? Are you some sort of detector of lies?”

“Ah hah! So you were lying.” Jin points an accusing finger at you. You just scoff and turn your attention back to the fireworks.

“Hey, I don’t mind sticking around for a long period of time, heavens know I don’t want to go back into my lamp anytime soon…But you seem to be having second thoughts about your wish.” Djinn scoots over to you and lays down on his side, facing you.

You sigh, knowing that it was bound to come up.

“It’s not like I would want to wish for anything else…but something makes me feel like I’m not ready to see my father again.” The last firework disappears from the night sky, leaving just the stars left in the night sky. You take your weight off of your elbows and lay down on your back on your mat. The rest of the group turn back towards their little bonfires and chat amongst themselves.

“So you don’t want to see your father again?” Jin draws circles in the sand, you feel the movement of his fingers and the sand against your arm.

“I do…” You imagine seeing a constellation of your father’s face.

“Hey,” Jin stops drawing circles and leans in close to your face. You turn your head towards him to, his warm breath hitting your face.

“You can tell me anything. And besides, there’s no wish I haven’t heard of. There’s no reasoning that’s too absurd to me. If anyone gets it, it would be me.”

“I think I’m scared that he’ll come back and see how I’m leading his crew…that he’d find me a disappointing leader…”

Jin raises an eyebrow and chuckles, “I guess that is a little absurd to me.” You groan and flick some sand his way. He easily brushes it out of his hair and chuckles.

“Okay, not to say that your feelings aren’t valid, but…you’re the only person whose ever lead a band of thieves to uncover magic. There’s no other people in this world that has magic like your crew. This single feat is greater than what anyone has ever pulled off. This is not a small adventure. You need to stop thinking you’re only in your father’s shadow. You’ve come so far from that.”

His words does prove a point to you. You don’t know if there’s anyone in this world who can lead a group of unruly and chaotic thieves to receive magical powers. There’s nothing that can stop your crew. You and your crew.

“At this point, I think your father couldn’t be prouder of what you’ve accomplished. And you’re bringing him back from the dead! What can he possibly complain about? I know I’ve never met a more impressive master in my lifetime as a Djinn.” The more and more Jin talks about it, the more you start feeling for hope that your father will only feel pride and happiness. And besides, you really do miss him.

You sit up and look at him, “Okay, Jin. I’m ready to have my wish.”

Jin grins and hops up. He pulls you up from the sand, pulling you against him. Who knew that for a Djinn, he’s got a warm chest like a human. His arm is strong, firmly wrapping his arm around your waist.

He leans in, your foreheads touching. He simply whispers, “Then I just need you to say the magic words, Princess.”

You let go of this nickname, ready to move forward to new things.

“Jin, I wish that my father comes back from the dead.” Jin locks in with your eyes, staring deeply into yours. He raises his other hand that’s not wrapped around your waist and simply snaps his fingers.

You feel a rumbling beneath your feet and you see the sand shifting. Everyone stands up on guard. You look around and back at Jin, his arm securing you steadily against him as everything rocks vibrations to your core. His eyes are searching your face as he whispers, “I got you.”

Up ahead, you see a glow of light outlining from Jin’s shadow and it breaks your attention away from Jin’s eyes. You lean to the side to look past his body and see a glowing green streak ripping like a seam on the ground.

The rip becomes larger and larger and the green light comes through wider and wider. The light bursts through and shoots upward, bleeding into the sky and forms a curving pattern like a oasis river.

“What is that?” You ask in wonderment, staring at the green ripples.

Jin cranes his neck to look up for a second before staring back at you, “It’s called an aurora borealis. There are certain places in this world where this occurs almost every day. But I don’t know why it’s happening now.”

“What is happening now?”

“I think I opened a rip to the underworld to summon your father. To be honest, I haven’t done this before so I’m not sure what’s going to happen really.” Jin mumbles.

Your attention breaks from the aurora down to the ground to watch the rip. There’s a dark figure coming out of the middle of the rip.

“Father…” You slowly untangle yourself from Jin’s arms and move closer the rip. The figure is just about completely out of the rip and the rip starts closing. You start walking faster and faster until you break out into a sprint to reach your father.

“Father!” You’re close to him as the rip finally closes and the aurora disappears, leaving only the moonlight to reveal your father’s face.

You pounce the last few feet towards him and wrap your arms around your father in a hug, bawling into his shoulder.

You felt his cold hands wrap around you in a tight hug as well. Your father is home.

You hear distant cheers from the crew, ecstatic to see your father back as well.

You don’t realize how long it’s been since you’ve been crying in your fathers arms, but when you’re done, you see that it’s about daybreak.

Through your red, swollen, teary eyes, you look up to see your father’s gentle smile. Nearly nothing about him has changed, but if you looked closer, you could see a hint of grey tint on your father’s skin.

“Y/N, how did this happen?” Your father looks at himself and his surroundings, confused. You sniff and wipe your tear-stained cheeks.

“Um, it’s a long story. Let me take you back to the tent first.” You escort you father holding his hand tightly in fear that this is just a dream and he would disappear.

~*~

You couldn’t rest all morning, knowing that you really brought your father back from the dead. There he was, just in the tent resting. You and the crew excitedly chatter about how he’s back.

A few hours into the afternoon, you hear your father’s voice call out to you.

You duck into the tent to see him sitting on the edge of his cot. He’s hunched over like he’s weak but his hands are gripping the edge of the cot really hard, like he’s scared he’ll fall. His eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“Y/N…I think I’m ready for you to tell me why I’m back.”

“Of course!” You bounce over to your father’s side and begin explaining how everything happened. Your father intently listens to your every word.

“Can I meet this Djinn?” You nod and call out to Jin to come in. Jin pops into the middle of the tent and dramatically bows in front of your father.

“Ali Baba, Y/N’s father. What a pleasure it is to meet you.”

Your father slowly turns his head over to you.

“Y/N, would you please leave for a moment? I’d like to talk to the Djinn.”

“Sure, father.” You get up and leave, smiling at Jin as you pass by. He turns himself, watching you leave before Ali Baba clears his throat.

“Jin the Djinn, at your service.” Jin grins at Ali Baba.

“Send me back.” Jin’s grin drops fast.

“What’s wrong?”

“This doesn’t feel right. I’m not supposed to be here anymore. I’m supposed to be dead.” Ali Baba looks down at his hands. No matter how warm the desert is, he’s ice cold.

“Uh, I’m sorry about that. Perhaps it’s misleading to say I’m in your service.” Jin twiddles his fingers, “You see, Y/N is my master. So it’s only her wishes I can grant. She has one wish left, but since she just wished for you back…I doubt she’ll want a return.”

“But I feel restless, cold, and…everything is just wrong…I belong in the Siijin, in the underworld. Even the sun doesn’t feel right. Down there, the sun is cold and everything is still so dark. Everything I touch is warm and alive. It…it repels me…” Jin raises his eyebrows and rubs the back of his neck. This is why you don’t bring people back from the dead.

“I think you, me, and Y/N needs to have a discussion.” He raises his hand, about to snap you into the tent, but Ali Baba stops him.

“No! We cannot tell her. You will crush her. That’s why I wanted you to send me back without her knowing.”

“Oh, no.” Jin raises his hands, “I’ve seen waaaay to many movies to know that you shouldn’t hide these things.” Your father looks confused to the term movies.

“Long story. But what did you expect if you got your wish anyways? She’ll still be crushed.”

Ali Baba’s shoulders slump in disappointment.

“Look, I’ll try to help. I’ll find a way to explain to her the situation. But I’m not running any more interference other than that.” Jin snaps his finger and disappears from the tent. Your father sighs.

If your daughter doesn’t want you to leave, maybe I can help you….

Your father hears a deep and ghostly whisper and looks around frantically, “Who’s there?”

Someone who can help you….

~*~

You’re in your own tent studying different maps when Jin appears by your side. Now that everything is back to normal, you can’t wait to get back into thievery.

“Hey, Princess – oof.” You engulf Jin into a tight hug. Although he meant to share grim news with you, he couldn’t help but relax in your arms and return the embrace; it’s been years since he’s hugged another person. It felt so good.

“Thank you, Jin.” You pull back just a little to tiptoe up and deliver a kiss to his cheek. Jin looks down and smiles at you. This is the first time since he’s met you that he’s able to see a genuine smile on you.

“You have a beautiful smile, Princess.” He speaks lowly. He gently brushes a strand of hair out of your face to see your bright and clear eyes. You realize, you’ve never been held by another man, let alone spoken to so softly and gently. You shyly bury your head in his chest when you realize you’ve been staring at his pouty lips formed in that gentle smile. You feel him tighten his embrace with hand on your head and his head resting on top of yours. The two of you are standing in the middle of the tent, locked in a quiet and intimate embrace.

“Now that you granted my wish, I guess it’s time for me to grant yours.” You whisper, almost hoping that he couldn’t hear you.

But this moment, unfortunately, could not last forever.

“Y/N, I have to tell you something.” Jin mumbles in your hair.

“What?” Jin pulls away, and gives you a painful look, unsure if it’s through the pain of bearing bad news, or the pain of pulling away from the first thing that he’s felt comforted by since he’s been stuck in that godforsaken lamp.

You reach up to run your thumb gently over his furrowed brows. He reaches up to take your hand and pull it down to feel your hand on his cheek.

“I’m afraid to tell you something about your father.”

That almost took all the intimacy out of this moment. You pull away from him.

“What’s wrong?” Jin inhales deeply.

“There’s a reason to why Djinns don’t bring people back from the dead.” Every word leads you to more dread.

“Just spit it out. Please.” Jin licks his lips as you cross your arms.

“Your father doesn’t want to be here. He doesn’t belong in this world anymore.”

“He told you? Why didn’t he tell me?” You sink down into your chair, saddened that your father’s return is ruined. Jin crouches down and places a consoling hand on your knee.

“He wanted me to tell you this. He knows how much this means to you…but there’s nothing you can do about it if he doesn’t belong here. It’s painful for him to be here. The longer he stays, the more it will get worse for him.”

Your tears well up in your eyes and you look up Jin, “Then what can I do?”

“I think we have to talk about this with your father. I’ll be here with you until we figure this out.” He gently reaches up and wipes a tear off your cheek. You nod, giving Jin a weak smile.

“Okay.”

Jin takes your hands and helps you out of your chair. He wraps an arm around you and pull you close to him. He gives you a cheeky smile and snaps his fingers.

When you appear to where your father is, you turn to see your father sneaking Jin’s lamp into his knapsack.

“Father?” Your dad looks at you with regretful, sunken eyes; his skin even greyer than before. Like Jin said, the longer he stays here, the worse it gets.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” The three of you begin hearing a cackle in the air. A tall, slender man appears by your father’s side in black robes, holding a gold staff with a cobra with ruby red eyes at the head.

“Who are you?!” You shout, unsheathing your dagger on your hip and pointing it towards the mysterious figure.

“My name is Jafar, pleased to meet you.” The man holds an air of haughty arrogance as he gestures to himself.

“Jafar…the Royal Vizier?” Also known as Agrabah’s shadow king. For decades, the kingdom has known that the poor old Sultan has been secretly-not-so-secretly brainwashed by his vizier and the citizens were powerless to stop it.

“Yes, it is I. But apologies to grace you with my presence so shortly, but I must go. But before I do, I must thank you, Y/N, for helping me retrieve this lamp. Oh ‘Diamond in the Rough.’” Jafar rolls his eyes at your title.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, yes. Of course you wouldn’t have known about the cave of wonders, had I not given you the riddle.”

Your jaw slowly drops as you realize that he was the one who talked about the cave of wonders back at the qahwa house. Jafar chuckles at your slow expression to catch on.

“There you go. Now, the lamp.” Jafar holds out his hand and your father gives it to him.

“What are you doing, Father?!” You raise your voice at your father for the first time.

“I’m sorry, child. But I know it would hurt you if you help me.” Your father looks away, unable to face you.

Jafar cackles one more time before he uses his staff to transport him and your father away. You and Jin look at each other for just a split second before he disappears too.

~*~

“Morigiana!” You roar for your crew and they come rushing in to see you packing up every weapon in your arsenal.

“Who here wished they can go from one place to another?” You growl for an answer. Two or three of your crew members held up a hand.

“We’re going to the palace. The Royal Vizier stole the lamp along with Jin and my father.” You grit your teeth as you pack your last dagger in your hip.

“No one steals from the Leader of the Forty Thieves.”

~*~

Since there’s only two or three thieves that wished for teleportation, there could only be so many of you that can be transported at a time. You assigned your band to appear in the palace in groups of 10 at a time. You’re appear on the side wall just outside of the throne room’s courtyard. The plan was to arrive on each side and close in on your enemy.

You nod at Morgiana and she starts drawing a large rectangle on the wall, creating a door, and pushing it through. With 39 thieves that have magical powers, this should definitely even the odds against a sorcerer.

You peek out from behind the huge potted plant that hid Morgiana’s doorway. At the end of the throne room, you can see Jafar sitting comfortably on the throne like he’s probably already done a million times.

On the side of Jafar, you see your father’s depressive slump as he’s been detained by heavy shackles. On the other side of Jafar, you see the poor, old Sultan sitting on the floor like a child, also detained with heavy shackles. But the Sultan barely noticed. His eyes were red and unfocused as he simply played with a tower of trinkets. And by Jafar’s right hand resting on the armrest of the throne, sat the beautiful yet simple, bronze lamp.

You grind your teeth when you think about how you were played by some random bozo to make you get lamp for him. Seeing your father so helpless and so different made you realize there was no going back to whatever you were originally hoping for. You truly are the new Leader of the Forty Thieves.

You watch Jafar take the lamp in his hands, admiring his own wit and glory for finally having the lamp in his possession. He takes a swipe of the lamp’s body with his thumb and a puff of smoke came out of the spout. Jin appears knelt in front of Jafar.

“I am your Djinn. You get three wishes. What will it be…Master?” Jin says monotonously, looking absolutely dissociated from his current position.

“Djinn, for my first wish...I wish to be the Sultan of Agrabah.” Jafar stands up and holds out his hands, as if he were ready to embrace his new role.

Jin purses his lips when he snaps his fingers, rolling his eyes as he does. Jafar’s black robes begin bleeding into the traditional white Sultan garb. The old Sultan starts floating in magic as his clothes disappear off of him and drops him as soon as he’s only left with his undergarments. But the poor Sultan remains unaware, only aware of his little toys.

“Jafar…” your father speaks up from behind the sorcerer. Jafar’s distorted smile slowly drops and he glances over his shoulder to your father, “What?”

“You said that you’d help me get back…” Your father looks down, still ashamed of his decision to betray you. His hair is now thin and limp, his skin turning into a greenish-gray color.

“I said I can help you, but I never said I’d bring you back to the Sijjin.” Jafar nonchalantly rubs the cloth of his Sultan robes between his fingers.

“How can you help me if you won’t bring me back.” Your father protests weakly.

“Silence.” Jafar uses his staff to make your father kneel in submission. You grip your sword harder.

Jafar turns to Jin and raises his arms again, “Djinn! I wish my second wish to be…bring the Sijjin into our realm.”

“No…” Your breath gets caught in your throat as Jin looks away from his own fingers as he snaps.

“No! Why?!” Your father attempts to reach for Jafar’s robes but Jafar easily pushes him out of the way.

“I will rule over everyone and everything. I will bring the Sijjin to this world and use the army of the dead to bring the world to its knees!” Jafar cackles maniacally as the earth begins to shake violently.

Across courtyard, you see your thieves finally in place. It’s now or never.

“Charge!” You shout, unveiling yourself from behind the plant, leading your own army to battle.

Jafar and the people by his side looks toward you and your band.

“Fools!” Jafar uses his staff to send a blast of energy through his cobra’s red eyes. Four of your thieves use their wish on creating shields, which held off the energy blast. Cutting you off from your sprint for just a moment before you start rushing again.

Jafar uses his staff once more to summon all the palace guards to appear in the throne room. There must be at least 100 of them. One of the thieves used his wish to duplicate himself infinitely, evening out the numbers, and each thief takes guard for themselves. The final showdown has officially begun and your team keeps the rest of the guards out of your way, as you head straight to the throne with your sword drawn. As straight as you can, at least.

Jafar cackles at your attempt to run straight while the entire kingdom experiences the earthquake. Just outside the kingdom’s bounds, in the large, empty plains of sand, a familiar glowing-green light is ripping a enormously large gash through the ground.

You reach the bottom of the steps to reach the throne as you trip over from the most recent violent shake. Jin climbs down the steps to help you up.

“Jin, is there anyway to stop his last wish?” You plead, grasping his arm for support.

“No…no wish can be undone…” Jin shakes his head. He looks up and glares at Jafar.

“He still hasn’t made his final wish yet though. Who knows what he’ll do next?”

You look down at Jin’s arms and see the golden bands on his wrist. The ones that tie Jin’s identity as a Djinn. A powerful, cosmic being…bound by duty.

“Jafar!” You shout to get Jafar’s attention. He looks down at you like you’re a simple gnat.

“You don’t have the power to control the whole Sijjin. You’re no Djinn. You’re just one simple sorcerer, who couldn’t even get the lamp on his own. You are powerless compared to a Djinn who can actually conjure the whole Sijjin.”

“Y/N,” Jin whispers at your side, “What are you doing??”

“Shh, I’m trying something.” You stand up as well as you can to walk up the stairs.

“And what happens when more people die? You’ll have more to control. But even you can’t control everything. The dead will revolt eventually. You’re just made of flesh and blood, like the rest of us.”

Jafar glares at you and looks over to Jin, “We’ll see about that.”

“Djinn! I wish for my final wish…I wish to be the most powerful Djinn in the world!”

“Good going, Y/N.” Jin mumbles as he snaps his fingers.

At that moment, Jafar begins changing into a huge, red Djinn. His body too large for the throne room now, and he breaks through the roof of the palace. Your thieves conjure the shields as the rubble begins tumbling down.

“Now what?!” Jin shouts to you in the midst of the chaos.

You run up the steps to reach the throne and snatch the lamp that’s newly formed at the tail-end of Jafar.

“Wait, what?” Jafar looks at his wrists as golden band begin appearing.

“In everything, there are rules.” You grin, repeating Jin’s words to you.

“Nooo!” Jafar starts spiraling down into the lamp and completely disappears.

The guards stop fighting with the thieves and the old Sultan falls over, fainting and drooling due to the long-term brainwashing finally being released. Your father goes over to the Sultan’s side and help him up onto his throne.

“You should probably put this somewhere no one will ever find it.” You hand over the lamp to Jin and he winks at you, “No problem.”

He throws it up in the air so hard and fast, that the lamp disappears into the far beyond of the sky.

Everyone looks up to the sky to watch the lamp disappear, and now your attention is one the ever growing green-gray cloud of the underworld beginning to occupy the space.

“What now?” Your father asks.

“I still have one wish left…” You mumble to yourself and look over at Jin. Jin takes your hands in his, “Y/N, I understand, this isn’t about me. But I must warn you. You remember when I broke my promise to Abu. I became a Djinn….you will too.”

You look up at the overwhelming dark clouds.

“I’m sorry, I can’t fulfill your wish for you.” You apologize, unable to look at him, “If I become a Djinn, so be it.”

Jin smiles solemnly as he takes your chin and turn your head to face him, “You don’t have to apologize. I understand.”

Your father taps your shoulder for your attention and pulls you into a tight hug. He’s beginning to smell like rotten flesh. As much as you love your father, you couldn’t help but hold your breath.

“I am so sorry for this, Y/N.” your father cries in your shoulder. You offer consoling pats on your father’s back, “I’m sorry too, for taking you away from your afterlife. You’re right, you belong there.”

You pull away from your father and smile at him before turning to Jin.

“Jin, I wish that there is an impenetrable, powerful barrier between the Sijjin and our realm. That the Siijin will return with everything that belongs in there to stay there, forever.” You look at your father one last time.

Jin gladly snaps your wish into existence as the earthquake begins to subside. Outside, you see a barrier forming itself to consume the Sijjin, and pushing itself back through the rip.

You hold your father’s hand for the last time as he begins disappearing with the rest of the Sijjin.

Finally, the rip closes and everything is back to normal.

You look down on yourself to see that you’ve become a teal Djinn; your very own lamp forming as well.

“Goodbye, Jin.” You wave as you spiral into your very only lamp, Jin in his own.

Inside your own lamp is like a very small and cramped living space with no windows or doors.

Oh my. I get what Jin means now. This is going to suck.

Before you finish dreading the rest of your life, you’re being pulled out of the lamp again.

You appear back in the throne room and see Morgiana holding your lamp and Jin’s lamp.

“I believe I have three wishes?” Morgiana smiles at you.

“Why, yes, you do!” you grin at her, “Would you like me to go over the rules?”

“No need. Y/N, my first wish is that Jin will no longer be a Djinn, and he receives his freedom.” You gladly snap for the wish to come true and Jin comes out of his own lamp, this time, once again a fully-formed human with no golden bands.

“My second wish, I wish the old Sultan is healed and strong, and is able to make wise decisions from now on.” You snap and the crew looks over to the throne to see the Sultan regaining his consciousness and strength. He looks over at you, “What is happening…?”

You look at Morgiana, “Quick! Make your last one.”

“And lastly, I wish for your freedom from being a Djinn, Y/N.” You transform yourself back into a human and the lamps in Morgiana’s hands disappear, leaving her arms open for you to hug her.

You turn to the Sultan and bow, “Your royal highness, please excuse me and my crew from this throne room. We will never bother you again.”

The Sultan slowly nods, trying to put pieces together.

Your band of thieves begin to leave.

“So Jin, what’s next for you? Can you still move through space and time?” You ask as you walk side-by-side with Jin.

“Perhaps…but if you wouldn’t mind. I would like to remain here…with you.” He takes your hand in his and gives it a kiss.

“Hmm…the Forty-One Thieves…doesn’t really flow, does it?” You tease Jin before tiptoeing up to give him a real kiss.

“By the way, I should tell you. My human name is Seokjin.”

Once Upon a Time, You Were a Princess Scenario Series (more here)