Morgin and I crowd onto the magic circle with Alibaba and Aladdin. Most of the space on it was taken up by the boys' treasure though, each clutching onto a bag as they stare nervously into the abyss above us. It seems to be the same as the one we went through to get here. We keep drawing nearer and nearer to it before everything goes black.
When I wake up I have no idea where I am, and it's too dark to see. I glance behind me to see a beautiful view. Was that where we were? 'That's right. Now I remember. We're on our way back. Where is everyone? Now that I'm free.. will I be alone again?' That thought scares me.
"(y/n)!" Morgin calls out to me, suddenly appearing by my side. I wrap my arms around him in a tight embrace before noticing the others sitting now farther behind us. All of us are still here together; it's oddly reassuring.
The two boys approach us as we all sit together, watching the time go by. It's quite nice, freedom and seeing this beautiful view together. Here we're leaving behind the dungeon that had taken all of us to a new place, to new lives. Time travels so slowly though, not seeming to be in a hurry to get us back. Aladdin leans back against one of the bags, "I don't feel like sleeping, so let's talk!"
The other boy nods. They go into chatting about the adventure so far and getting all excited about everything that had happened. It seemed like nothing but a game to them. All I could think about though was all the lives that Jamil sacrificed trying to get to the treasure room. I don't see any fun in any of this. It's all just one big nightmare that just happened to have a happy ending. And an ending I felt guilty about. "We could have sold some!" The blonde whined about some moss or whatever, not seeming to even care about anything other than getting rich.
"It's fine, you got plenty of treasure already," the small boy replies. I agreed with him but stayed silent. "Why do you need so much money anyway?"
"Why?!" He seems more than shocked, "For all sorts of reasons! I'll start my own business and work my way up. I'll be living the Sinbad dream!" I glance over at Morgin who's scrunching his nose at the boy in distaste, pulling me closer to him. So that's what this guy was all about. "Before that though, I have some business in Balbadd I need to take care of. What about you, Aladdin? Are you gonna go home?"
"Not really.." the boy mutters, staring down at his flute.
Alibaba glances over at us, "What about you two? What are you gonna do once you get back?"
Morgin doesn't say anything. He seems persistent in not talking to these boys, but I wanted to. They seemed nice, even if they didn't understand us. But I wasn't sure what to say. Freedom had never been an option to me. And I never would have imagined I'd come out of this alive. "I.. I guess I.. never thu-thought about it.." The words struggld to come out my throat. It wasn't often I spoke that wasn't just an automatic, monotone response to the master. But no one said anything about my stutter.
Things stay silent for a really long time after I finish speaking though. "I guess our adventure really is over," Aladdin breaks the uncomfortable silence. But the sorrow in his voice is even more uncomfortable.
Alibaba gulps, he looks like he's about to cry. "Aladdin?" He asks nervously, "Thank you.. for pushing me to try to capture this dungeon. I couldn't have done it without you, and I don't know if I would have even tried if it weren't for you. I tend to freeze up and be unable to do anything. And.. I have a lot of regrets because of that. But I guess I'm just a coward." The boy lets off a nervous chuckle.
"That's not true. You're a brave person. I'm sure of it." I quit listening as they get into this sappy dialogue mostly because I was feeling tired. I rest my head on Morgin's shoulder as he runs a gentle hand through my (h/l), (h/c) locks. I don't know how much longer I could keep relying on him like this.
The two boys are too loud though, giving me a slight headache. "Well I could give you money!" Alibaba shouts, "Or all the food and women you want!" Morgin cups his hands around my ears, sending them an irritated glare. The boys change the topic, a bit intimidated by the fanaris male. "The adventure isn't over! There's so much to see and do! So let's go see it all! Together!"
"Yeah!" The magi squeals. "It's a promise then!"
I had given up on trying to sleep at this point, staring up at them as I listen to them talk. When the blonde catches my eyes he stops and turns to both of us. "If you two don't know what to do, why don't you join us?"
I hadn't even considered it, but Morgin speaks up without hesitation. "No. We won't be going anywhere with you. Once we're back and this is over, we won't have anything to do with you two anymore."
He had barely finished his sentence though before his voice was cut off from me. Then I was back to floating back alone. For a moment I feared that it would be a long time before I ever saw him again. But this would be over soon right?