A/N: I don't own Magi!

So this chapter made me sweat blood. Almost literary. I rewrote it two times. It was not supposed to be… this. Full of feels and all that. I am not good at this kind of thing, I much prefer the fluff and cracky humour. But… It needed to be done.

Also, regarding upcoming updates: I am writing my bachelor papers and it is taking a lot of my time and energy. So, you can expect monthly updates, I can't promise I'll manage to update sooner. It shouldn't be later, though.

Warnings: Unbeta'd (There may be and very likely are grammar errors). Possible OOC-ness.
'Well, that was fun.' – Solomon talking in his head
"I guess it was." – Magi universe Solomon
"If you say so." – Hikaru
»This dungeon is my playground.« - Djinn speaking

I can't recall anything that immediately followed Ithnan's death very clearly, probably because I was in some state of shock and denial. Killing a person (friend a friend he was our FRIEND) for the first time does that to you. Everything is hazy, but I somehow know Zagan ended up with the Kou prince. Why he chose him, I have no idea (though he most likely just didn't want to be anywhere near Amon) but he didn't spoke to me again, for which I am grateful. He just glanced at me from the corner of his eye, saw my obvious distress and at that moment not so stable psyche and just proceeded to choose the 'conqueror'. If he bowed a bit more deeply than necessary, and more in my direction than his chosen king's, nobody commented on it. Nobody probably noticed, aside from Aladdin, that is. Ah, Aladdin… I had to pull myself together fast, if only for his sake…

Once we 'rescued' the villagers trapped in Zagan, we set out onto the sail home. Well, home. Sindria was no home for me, but Aladdin seemed to regard it almost as such (certainly way more than the Sacred Palace, not that I blame him), so… Yeah.

The kids also seemed to sense my horrible mood, if not quite understand it fully. They knew death but not betrayal on such a scale (though Alibaba seemed to understand the most what I was going through. After all, betrayal of your family, even if you share only a part of your blood with them, often hurts more than a friend's).

So everybody was just tiptoeing around me for the time being and I was grateful for that. It was probably very awkward but I couldn't care less. I needed the time to put back together the pieces of my heart that broke together with Ithnan's body (which disintegrated into black ash…).

Yet still, I was well aware I couldn't postpone my talk with Aladdin forever…

In the end, it was Aladdin who approached me first, not the other way around. Well, approached... More like he cornered me. He probably couldn't ignore the elephant in the room any longer.

"Is it true?" He cut straight to the point, no dancing around.

"Aladdin..? What exactly-"

"Is it true, what the man said?" I couldn't even finish the sentence, but I didn't need to. We both knew what he was talking about, I was fooling nobody, much less Aladdin.

"Aladdin-" I whispered softly.

"He said that you're my father. Was he lying?" Aladdin looked me straight in the eye and I could see tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Oh. Oh no.

"I… He.." I couldn't even put together a proper sentence, damn it, that's how bad it was.

Aladdin said nothing to that, clearly waiting for me to elaborate.

"It's complicated." I managed.

"How can it be complicated!?" Aladdin clenched his hands, visibly upset now.

I thought of you as of an older brother, was I wrong to do so!? Just tell me, please… Why…"

Aladdin was now crying, tears were running down his cheeks and painting a picture that hurt more that a thousand knifes.

"Why did you lie to me?" The last part what said so softly I almost didn't hear it. But I did, and it was a punch straight to the gut.

Even if I technically hadn't lied… I just never told Aladdin the whole truth…

Who am I kidding? The omission of truth is a lie in its own way.

I just didn't want Aladdin to know the tragedy that claimed his family. And now this secret came to bitch-slap me straight across my face.

"Aladdin, I…" I stretched my hand in attempt to caress his cheeks and wipe out his tears, but he stepped back, out of my reach.

"No. I don't want to hear more lies, not from you, Solomon." With that, he left me, not once looking back.

I let my arm fall back down.

And…

Did you hear something shattering?

Ah.

That was my heart.

Immediately after our "triumphant" return to Sindria, Sinbad threw a party. I wasn't really surprised. The man seems to be the type to seize every opportunity to celebrate. And get drunk, probably.

We also learned that Al-Thamen launched an attack on Sindria, which we supposed they would, and failed spectacularly. Sinbad may be a lot of things, be he certainly is a force to reckon with.

Anyway, back to the party.

I didn't see that much of it, because I spend most of my time avoiding… basically everybody. I needed some time to pull myself together. Again.

I couldn't really help it, dealing with the aftermath of Ithnan's death and the confrontation with Aladdin, I was slowly reaching my breaking point.

And if I broke apart as I was… well, it wouldn't have been pretty.

From what I know, Aladdin spent the time with Alibaba, Morgiana, and the Kou prince. Which was… good, I suppose? The kids became close friends after the adventure in Zagan, and I was happy for them.

Especially for Aladdin. He'd always been very lonely; that's hardly a surprise, seeing as he grew up in the Sacred Palace alone. It got a little better when I came along but now that there was this… void between me and Aladdin, full of secrets and -lies-, friends were exactly what he needed. And in moments like that, when Sinbad shouldered seemingly all the responsibilities in the world and joy in the air was almost palpable, Aladdin got to be the child he deserved to be.

It made my heart ache with so many emotions; I almost felt like crying.

Oh. Oh my.

I WAS crying…

When Ja'far found me, sitting in the shade away from the festivities, it was unexpected.

"The celebration is not to your liking?" He inquired, arms hidden inside the long sleeves of his robe.

I paused a looked up at him.

"I've said, back then, that I'm not much of a party goer. But I felt it'd be rude to flat-out refuse, so… this is a compromise, of sorts."

"Hm, I see," he inclined his head, "So you're contemplating your life choices instead?"

I smiled so very slightly.

"Heh. You can say that."

He surprised me by sitting down and offering me a drink. The surprise must have been visible on my face, because he chuckled and said: "You look like you could use a drink."

The fact that I accepted with a soft 'thank you' speaks volumes about my mental state.

"I must admit," I said after a sip of the wine he brought me, "that this is unexpected. I didn't pend you as the type to talk to strangers. Especially strangers your king doesn't like."

"You can read people quite well, Solomon," chuckled Ja'far. Then he continued, face serious: "And you'd be correct to assume this is not solely an attempt to make friends. I do have ulterior motives."

"Well, well…" I tilted my head a little to the side, "Usually, when people have ulterior motives, they don't just admit it aloud like that."

"True. But as you said, my king doesn't trust you," Ja'far's voice was dead serious, "and neither do I. But you're my safest bet. You are an outsider, thus not affected by any binding oaths. And I can at least be sure you won't do anything to Sinbad, unless he does something first, because of Aladdin. Aladdin sees him as an uncle, heavens know why, and you wouldn't just hurt anybody Aladdin likes."

That… logic was sound, I give Ja'far that.

"Speaking of Aladdin," Ja'far paused and glanced at the table, where Aladdin was trying to imitate the performers, "your relationship seems to be a bit… strained, at the moment."

"Yeah, we had a… misunderstanding." My voice was soft as stared at the bottom of my cup, the red liquor inside reminding me of blood. But before my mind could wander deeper into the gutter, I mentally slapped myself and focused back on Ja'far. Because whatever he came to discuss, it was of grave importance.

"All right, Ja'far. You have my full attention now. What is it, that you need the help of a stranger?"

"As you may know," said Ja'far, eyes glistering in the starlight, "I am sworn to protect my king. From all the possible danger. Including himself."

For the next few days, I haven't seen much of Aladdin, or Ja'far for that matter. Sinbad's right hand was probably trying to make the King do his work. Which, as I already knew, was the standard routine for the two of them. Aladdin, I learned, trained with Yamraiha. Which… wasn't all that surprising, honestly, after the fighting the kids had to do in the dungeon. Striving to improve was a logical consequence.

This also meant that I was left alone with my thoughts and that… was not such a good thing.

"Would you stop brooding already?" Hikaru sounded annoyed, but I ignored him. The other Solomon was quiet. He'd been like that since our fight with Ithnan. If I hadn't felt his emotions, I'd think he was gone.

"Oi. I mean it." Hikaru was mentally poking me now, which felt really odd.

'And what,' I bit out, harder than I wanted, but then again it's hard to control emotions inside your own head, 'should I be doing then, genius?'

"I dunno, but not this. This is definitely not good for you," Hikaru answered, ignoring my bitter tone.

'You don't say.'

"You can drop the sarcasm. I've known you for almost all your life, it's not going to impress me," stated Hikaru flatly.

'So then, mister not-impressed do you suggest I do? Because I'm a hot mess right now, in case you failed to notice.'

"Oh I noticed all right, idiot. I live in your head, remember? But you need to calm down and pull yourself together, this isn't helping anybody, least of all you." Hikaru sounded genuinely worried, it caught me off guard.

'…How…?'

"Meditation? Self-reflection? Some breathing techniques? You know the drill better than I do, Solomon," Hikaru, in his attempts to help me, unknowingly rubbed salt into my still fresh wounds.

'Self-reflection? I know damn well what I messed up, I don't need to reflect on that!" I growled.

"By the stars, would you calm down?" I could almost hear Hikaru's eyes roll. Which, mind I remind you, is no small feat for a dragon, "Yes, you made a mistake. And yes, it blew into your face spectacularly. But that's not the first time you made a mess. You'll learn from your mistakes and fix this, as you always do."

'That's not the main issue here!' I was getting way too frustrated and emotional, which was bad primarily for my closest vicinity.

"Than what is?"

'I broke the other Solomon's trust! I promised him to look after Aladdin in his stead and I messed up! He's a child, Hikaru," I clenched my hand into fists, "and now he thinks I deliberately lied to him. In his eyes, that's the worst betrayal possible…'

"…"

"No…" The other Solomon's voice was so soft I almost failed to hear it, "You meant well. It is not your fault Ithnan bore so much hatred for me."

'That's… I still did you a wrong. I though I was protecting Aladdin by not telling him the whole truth; and now our relationship may be well beyond saving.'

"You did what you thought was best to protect an innocent child. I cannot blame you for that."

'Perhaps you should.'

"No. I should and shall not."

'But you-"

"Um… Solomon?" My mental quarrel was interrupted by Alibaba. He, unfortunately, has the habit of arriving at the least convenient time. But for once, I was glad. I had no idea where the conversation could have headed.

"Yes, Alibaba, what is it you need?" I forced a smile as I turned to face him. Though both of us knew the smile was fake.

"Did something happen, between you and Aladdin? He wants to go to Magnostad all alone…"

Ah yes. That. Another reason behind my foul mood.

You see, Aladdin wanted to go study magic to the magicians' country, which was understandable. After all, Yamraiha could only teach him so much; on top of that, her water specialisation clearly didn't fit Aladdin, who was leaning more towards the fire and heat mage at the moment.

My problem with this was that he wanted to go all alone and incognito. Which… Call it paranoia, or overprotectiveness, I just didn't want him to go on his own. I had a very bad feeling about it.

And last time I had a feeling this bad, I died. So yeah. I was not happy.

"There was a… misunderstanding, of sorts." No way I was explaining the mess to Alibaba, at least not at the moment.

"Aladdin seemed really upset though…" Alibaba nervously shifted his balance.

My shoulders dropped.

"Yeh… The man, in the dungeon we fought, he… said something that he shouldn't, not the way the did. Without context it just… Ugh. Sorry, Alibaba, this is a fine mess I don't want to drag you into," I finished a bit lamely.

Alibaba seemed to understand how awkward I felt so he changed topic of the conversation: "Um. Okay. That's not why I came anyway."

"Oh? And why did you come then?"

"Ever since you helped me get rid of the… dark stuff… I've felt a bit off. Sinbad says that my flow of magoi is partially blocked and he recommended me to find those people… that know how to manipulate magoi, so I can learn it too and… unblock my magoi, I guess."

I swallowed the 'And why didn't Sinbad taught you that since he apparently knows a lot about this, instead of sending you to who-knows where' that was just on the tip of my tongue and waited for the boy to continue.

"And you probably know a thing or two about this, since you were able to help me back then… So I though maybe you could come with me? Also, there's Amon…"

This was quite surprising turn of events, I was not anticipating that. It made perfect sense though, for Alibaba to think I was versed in magoi manipulation. Which, in a way, I was. Magoi was not different from prana, after all. Life energy is life energy, regardless of the name.

And it also made perfect sense that Amon would want to talk to me. Our last meeting was kind of rushed…

"Ah, I see," I smiled again, genuinely this time, and Alibaba visibly relaxed, "Yes. I'd very much like to come with you. Where are we going, and how are we going to get there?" Also when, but probably ASAP. This is not the kind of problem you should postpone.

"Um… Somewhere in Reim, if I'm not mistaken? Sinbad said he'll have a ship ready," Alibaba still seemed a bit tense, I wonder why…

"But er… It's the same ship that's Aladdin using to get to Magnostad… so…"

Oh, that's why.

I sighed.

"Okay, you don't need to worry, Alibaba. It might be a bit awkward, but I'll manage."

"All right then. I'll see you in two days?"

"I'll be there," I waved at the boy as he was leaving. This is going to be an interesting sail, for sure.

I had no idea how right I was.