Mr. and Mrs. Winthrop did not approve of any nonsense that wasn't educational.
During her short life, Phoebe's experience with pop culture was severely limited and almost nonexistent. It was a sad thing that she was grounded for a month for being caught reading Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Phoebe was never caught reading anything of the sort again.
She was never caught.
Until her last day.
It was a shock to everyone when her parents discovered many borrowed manga books in her book bag on the day of her death. Oh the horror it was to find stacks of D. Gray Man, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, Magi, and many, many more manga series hidden expertly in her closet.
They didn't inform Phoebe of their discovery, though. It was her graduation day, after all. The Winthrop's had planned to talk to their daughter afterwards about her interest in the strange cartoons. They did not approve of any nonsense that wasn't educational.
But they never got the chance to.
Since she died.
Year 1, Age 7
Amani Saluja, First Imperial Princess of Balbadd.
The moment she stepped into the palace, she knew that her childhood nickname "Ghost" would never be heard or used again. Despite her denials to Kassim's accusations, she knew that following Alibaba to the palace was her fist step in creating the gap between her and her old home in the slums.
When a handful of maids dragged her to Allah knows where, Amani was tempted to bolt. She was tempted to go back to the slums. Back to the small corner where her tent-like home was. Back to Kassim and Mariam. Perhaps she could change more things there than she could here.
But Fate hated to be changed.
So, she bit her tongue and bore with it when she was tossed into cold, cold water. She kept quiet as her hair was untangled strand by strand. She didn't struggle when clothes that were too beautiful, too heavy with beautiful things, were put on her.
Amani made sure to remain silent throughout it all.
"What a polite girl." One maid whispered when she thought Amani couldn't hear her. "I had expected children from the slums to be animals but look at her! As demure and royal as any of those nobles!"
"Didn't struggle at all." Another said, impressed. "Didn't even make a peep."
Amani went on acting as a doll as her hair was made. She inspected her dress and concluded that it looked very expensive. She wondered how many loaves of bread this dress was worth. Probably thousands.
"I think she's stuck up for a bastard." A bitter one sniffed. The two maids shushed her loudly, glancing nervously at the little princess. She made no indication that she heard the snarky comment. "You shouldn't say things like that, Leah. She is going to be our mistress from now on."
"What? That child? I consider no one my master and that little brat won't be an exception." Leah snarled. She boldly rounded up to Amani, who was admiring the careful craftsmanship of the carpet under her silk slippers. It must have taken hours.
Amani's thought process was cut short when she was jolted from her chair and forced to face a scowling face of a maid. "See here. You're not my master. I am not going to spend the rest of my life serving a girl. So don't expect anything from me."
Amani blinked slowly at the woman. She knew she should be offended but the gall she showed was an attitude that wasn't uncommon to Phoebe. No, Phoebe was very much used to bullies like these. "Alright then."
Leah jerked back at the passive acceptance of the girl in front of her. Then, her face darkened and she began to shake the little girl. "Now you see here-
"Stop."
The room seemed to still at the firm command that left the seven-year-old's lips. Her originally blank face was now set in a faintly offended but mostly disapproving expression. "Just who do you think you are to handle me in this manner? I was nothing but polite to you. Stop this nonsense and release me now."
Unfortunately, Leah was too flabbergasted at Amani's sudden burst of emotion to make a move.
Amani quietly sighed. Then, she carefully loosened Leah's grip from the dress, finger by finger, until she was finally released. Amani smoothed her clothes and stood straighter.
"You may not regard me as your master right now, but I have all the intention of proving myself of my fath- his majesty's bloodline. I am very much aware that my circumstance makes me lower than my half brothers. I am a slum rat. I respect that it's the image of how you see me. I will be willing to hear any opinion you have of me. But lay a hand on me again and I will not hesitate on defending myself."
She lifted her head up firmly, mimicking how her father usually appeared. The similarity was so uncanny that the maids in the room had to restrain themselves from kneeling in front of her.
"I am Amani Saluja. Do not think that I am a mere spoilt child, Leah."
Leah paled and spluttered when she realized that her mistress knew her name. "Y-You know my…?"
Amani blinked. "Of course I do. I know all of your names."
All the maids froze at the implication of the little girl's statement. She was with them in only a few hours. To have picked up their names would mean that she was listening into all of their conversations for the whole time.
The pale, small, seven-year-old girl suddenly appeared older to every one of the maids' eyes. Uneducated? Strange? Alien? This girl was that. Weak? Naïve? Ignorant? This girl was none of that. The same thought ran through all of the maids minds.
What a pity that she was female. She would have made a wonderful king.
But still, that didn't mean that she was any less powerful. Women, despite being seen as the lesser of the two genders, still had their ways of attaining some form of power. This slum child had a great potential.
Leah, realizing this, bowed her head to the woman-like child. "Forgive me, my lady. I was out of line."
Amani frowned at Leah's sudden submissiveness but accepted her apology nonetheless. "I am fine, Leah. But please…never do that again."
"Understood, my lady."
Amani stifled a sigh and rose to leave the room. "Now, I think it's about time for me to be introduced to the rest of my family?"
"Of course, my lady. Allow me to show you the way."
As she had expected, Amani was sneered at or ignored by the nobles of the court. Her older half-brothers mostly focused their hatred toward Alibaba since he was more of a competition for the throne.
That, and Amani's worth was practically useless.
Something inside the pale girl reared up in retaliation to the whole palace's condescension. Amani quickly and effectively squashed it. Let them think of her as insignificant.
She was never supposed to be significant in this world anyway.
"Have you heard about the King's youngest child? She's his only daughter."
"Yes, I've heard. I've also heard that she is a smart little one."
"She'll do well in the palace."
"It's a pity that she was born a girl. She would have made a wonderful king."
Year 2, Age 8
By her second year in the palace, Amani Saluja was invisible.
It was to be expected that everyone would pay more attention to her brother. She was a girl, after all. Sometimes, even her own maids would overlook her existence in brief moments before remembering her again. It usually happened when Alibaba was around.
But Amani wasn't unhappy. She actually encouraged this. The less this world acknowledged her, the less impact she would have in this storyline.
She made sure to pace herself so that her brother was always ahead of her. It was bad enough that he was looked down upon by everyone but for him to be surpassed by his own sister?
In this world, that was disgraceful.
Phoebe was annoyed that just about every male in this world was a sexist pig. Her irritation and anger demanded some sort of retribution. Amani, on the other hand, accepted this viewpoint coolly. It did her no good to struggle against tradition. It would only make Alibaba's life harder.
Amani was surprised that her father allowed her to study what her brother studied. For a world that thought of women as an equivalent to a bargaining chip, this was very unorthodox.
Still, she didn't complain at the rare act of generosity from her sire and took full advantage of it. Amani made sure to learn whatever her tutors taught her, no matter how reluctant they were to teach a girl, and secretly studied subjects more advanced during the evening in the royal library.
It was a bit of a relief to find that this world had a universal language, a bit like English was to Phoebe's world. Her young mind made it easy to suck every lesson up. Now, she was able to write and read the Toran as well as she could speak it.
Her mastery opened up a new world for her every time she visited the library. She somehow got her hands on a scroll mapping out the known lands. For the first time, Amani had a grasp on what her world looked like. In an eerie way, the geography was not that different from Phoebe's world. It wasn't surprising since the author of Magi based this world on a children's tale of their world.
Balbadd…was it based on the famous trading city Baghdad of the Persian Empire?
If that was so, then this Kou Empire must be China's parallel.
How many other empires resembled the ones back in her past life?
It was then when Amani made it her mission to know the structures of the world from inside out. She poured all of her concentration into learning different languages, cultures, politics, and magic.
Why her brothers did not take advantage of these books, she would never know.
"My lady, it's getting late."
Amani's head snapped up to see a tired and irritable Leah. Surprisingly, the bitter maid turned out to be Amani's most loyal handmaiden. Yes, she made small quips here and there, but Leah was a good secret-keeper. With Leah's bold statements and Amani's open-minded acceptance, the pair got along very well.
What could she say? Shared modern thinking makes strong bonds.
Amani stood up from her seat and sent Leah an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Leah. I've lost track of the time. Thank you for reminding me."
Leah shrugged. "It is no problem, my lady. My sleeping quarters are on the way there. Would you like me to take you to your room?"
Amani's room was at the other end of the palace. Making Leah walk with her there and then walk back to her sleeping quarters would be counter-productive.
She was too old to be afraid of the dark.
"It's fine, Leah. I'll find my own way there. Please, get some sleep. You look half-dead."
"Leah how is the young mistress?"
"She's studying. As usual."
"It's just not fair that she's being set aside just because she's a girl."
"It's not fair that our princes can't be more like her."
"Why couldn't she have been born a boy?"
Year 3, Age 9
There were times when Amani felt envious of her brother.
Watching him parry his instructor's blade halfheartedly, Amani decided that this was one of those times. She couldn't believe how reluctant he was to learn sword fighting. Everything that Amani wished to learn but couldn't because of her gender, Alibaba took for granted.
Amani sighed and made a move to walk away but stumbled when she tripped over something. Looking down, she found a pair of flour weights used to make the stance of an amateur martial artist stronger. She distantly remembered reading something like this in the library. She picked it up and inspected it.
The weights couldn't have been much for an adult but, for a nine year old like her, it was slightly heavy.
A very Phoebe-like idea flashed through the princess' head before she could stop it.
Would they notice of just one pair of weights was gone?
"Princess Amani?"
Amani discreetly hid the weights in her sleeves as she turned to greet the person who called for her. She blinked in surprise when she found that it was a well-dressed, silver-haired woman. An aristocrat? No, the woman's clothes were made of linen, not silk. A scholar's daughter perhaps? Amani recognized her face from one of the political meetings that the king made her and Alibaba attend so she must have been important. A woman's face was rarely seen in the affairs of men.
Amani groped for a name in her mind. In a few seconds, she finally found the one that matched the face. "Ah…are you Fatima?"
The woman's eyes widened with faint surprise. "You remember me, princess?"
"Yes," Amani assured Fatima, who was very beautiful for a woman around her mid-twenties. "It is rare to see a woman attending his majesty's meetings so it made it very hard to forget such a face."
Fatima hummed in agreement.
"Was there something that you needed, Miss Fatima?" Amani boldly asked. Instead of being offended by her gall, Fatima laughed. A romantic would compare her laugh to bells but Amani personally thought that Fatima's laugh was breakable, like the sound of two pieces of glass bumping into each other with the risk of both shattering on impact.
"A bold one. I like her, Fatima." A new voice rang out, catching both Amani and Fatima's attention. Fatima raised a delicate brow at the new addition. "Ranya. What is your business here in Balbadd?"
Curious, Amani took a closer look at this 'Ranya'.
Years later, Amani would vividly remember her first meeting with the enigma named Ranya as an event that was the catalyst that changed the way she viewed the world. Amani would remember the throaty way she laughed. Amani would remember her sun-kissed skin and light blonde hair. Amani would remember the brilliant smile that was aimed at both no one and everyone. Amani would remember the sly, blue-eyed wink that the woman sent her, as if both of them shared a secret that nobody else knew.
And honestly, Amani knew what Ranya's secret was. Amani was shrewd. It was hard to hide the truth from her, no matter how well it was concealed.
"I will be seeing you later, Fatima. I need to visit the others before I go back home. Maybe I'll be seeing you again, kid."
"My name is Amani."
Ranya stared at her for a moment and then nodded. "Amani it is, then."
"That is a beautiful knife you have there, Miss Ranya. Your ring and your bracelet also complement your clothes very well." Amani complimented calmly. Ranya stared again before giggling joyfully. Fatima's lips twitched a little too.
"Smart brat. You're going to make huge changes one day with that sharp mind of yours."
Amani blinked innocently. "I do not know what you are speaking of and my name is Amani."
"Stubborn one, aren't you? And where did you learn your manners, young one?"
"Sadly I am still learning the art of etiquette. I was raised in the slums, you see. But I did learn that red raspberry or ginger tea is an effective way to get rid of nausea." Amani calmly retaliated, ripping another bout of snickering from the blonde haired woman.
"Oh, so you did know."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Miss Ranya. Being nine years of age, there is only so much a child could know." Amani said respectfully before turning away and making her way back to her room.
"Wha-nine? Is that kid seriously nine, Fatima?"
Fatima clicked her tongue. "She is also the First Imperial Princess of Balbadd."
"No kidding!"
Amani held the weights in a tighter grasp and made a mental plan of wearing them everywhere she went. It would help improve her speed at least…
"Fatima, I want you to tell him that I won't be returning for a while."
"Does he know?"
"No."
"Will you ever tell him?"
"I will, just not yet. And Fatima-"
"He won't hear it from me, Ranya. Don't worry. When you're done with what you have to do, you can tell him yourself."
"Thank you, Fatima."
Year 4, Age 10
It was strange how people could easily forget Amani was there.
Once upon a time, she had wanted her existence to fade away from this world so she wouldn't have to face the full impact of what her birth had caused. She was never meant to be.
The art of being unnoticed was an easy thing to learn. It almost came as second nature to her once she began to practice it. All she had to do was to keep quiet and walk around silently. All she had to do was to seem insignificant and useless. Amani liked to pretend that she was a ghost, just like her nick-namesake. And her efforts finally bore fruit.
Just yesterday, her twin brother had passed by her without giving his usual greetings. He just…walked past her and walked on.
It hurt more than she thought it would.
"It hurts when they forget, doesn't it?" Fatima had once asked her when they passed each other on the halls. Amani paused for a moment and looked back at the mysterious woman. She still held her place in the courts a year after their meeting, which gave Amani the hint that the woman was more than she seemed.
In a way, the woman had become an ally within the palace walls. There was neither judgment nor scorn in her eyes as she spoke to the woman-child. She never spoke with flattery. Sometimes, she never spoke at all, opting to communicate with Amani with silence. Amani knew by now that Fatima was a woman of little words and that whatever little she said was important.
Fatima gave Amani a once over before nodded solemnly. "Yes, it seems that you are the one I was waiting for. I suspected it when I met you but I still needed proof."
The one? Proof?
"Look ahead of you, princess. What do you see?"
Amani did as she was told and felt her heart sink when she saw that her maids had walked on, oblivious to their mistress' momentary pause.
They had forgotten her.
"What were you talking about when you said that I was 'the one'?" Amani asked Fatima distantly. Even Leah hadn't noticed she was gone.
Fatima blinked. "You, my princess, are a Blessed Child of Solomon."
Amani's mind immediately recalled a text she stumbled upon in one of her nightly reading:
The Great King Solomon created this world.
He was the first king to be chosen by the three magi.
He was also the first king to be supported by four children of mysterious powers so he could ascend into his throne. With them, his three magi, and his seventy-two household members, King Solomon became a powerful ruler of a peaceful world.
From generation to generation, the powers of the four children were passed on from predecessor to successor. Kings garnered support from these supernatural children and created powerful empires.
It was said that, aside from Solomon, there was no king who had the support of all four of the children. All generations had insisted that they were waiting for their 'true king'.
The four children became known in the books of old as 'The Blessed Children of Solomon'.
Well, if that fun fact wasn't something that wouldn't change the fate of this whole universe, Amani didn't know what would.
"My king."
"Fatima. What is it?"
"I found her."
Year 5, Age 11 (Part 1)
Invisibility
That was her supposedly 'kick-ass' ability that kings had fought over for generations. Personally, Amani thought that the power of the Blessed was overrated.
(What a waste of good men and blood, tsk, tsk.)
Technically, her ability wasn't 'invisibility' according to Fatima. That sort of thing required more energy and effort. What Amani had been doing was accidental misdirection. She had made her existence seem unworthy of attention to the eyes of others. If she were invisible, people would be walking all over her. Instead, she just made herself faceless and unimportant.
Fatima was a Blessed and Amani's predecessor. She explained to the only princess of Balbadd that it was one of her duties as one of the Blessed to impart knowledge to the next generation.
Amani was the last of the next generation to be found since her ability was practically built to 'hide herself from the world', which was very ironic since that was her goal all along. The other three were recognized at once during their birth.
Fatima presented Amani in front of the king as her successor. For the first time, Amani's father looked at her, truly looked at her. Amani, thanks to Phoebe, was neither inexperienced nor naïve to the thoughts of those in political power. Her father's sudden interest in her was only because of the unexpected increase of her worth. But still. The part of her that was still a young girl felt embarrassed and, dare she think it, bashful.
In her discomfort, Amani 'disappeared', confirming Fatima's claims.
That was the beginning of Amani's life as a Blessed Child.
Amani was no longer simply the 'Imperial Princess'. She was now a princess who could give whichever king she chose her powerful support. Her presence alone would change the outcomes of wars. Not only that, she had a personal connection with the King of Balbadd: she was his bastard daughter. Blood was blood. Bonds like that were thicker than water. It didn't come as a surprise to her when the king subtly flaunted her when foreign ambassadors came to visit. Wherever her father-the King-went, Fatima and Amani had to follow.
It was a busy time for Amani.
(By then, Alibaba and she stopped meeting each other altogether.)
There was at least one thing that Amani got out of this whole 'Blessed Child' business and it was having Fatima as her teacher. Unlike her past tutors, Fatima didn't underestimate Amani's intelligence and didn't second-guess her abilities because of her gender.
She dumped piles and piles of scrolls onto Amani's lap, demanding every single one of them to be read and memorized by the following morning. Fatima knew Amani had a good memory so there were no excuses.
Amani learned the ropes to politics and war. She learned how to know when a person lies. She learned every weak point in the human body. She learned about the history of the past kings of Balbadd. She learned about her predecessors and how they used their invisibility skills.
By the time Amani drained the palace library dry, she felt as if her head would burst with everything she learned. It was a strangely satisfying feeling.
But Fatima's lessons weren't only through scrolls. She took the effort in physically showing how Amani should walk and hold herself in certain way with certain company. Fatima spoke with Amani in various different languages every day to ensure that her student wouldn't forget the languages she had picked up from the different countries they visited.
Fatima also taught her how to fight.
Amani was shocked to find out that her mentor used to be an assassin. It was just that Fatima was so reserved and…harmless.
Amani soon learned that she was so very, very wrong. Within her first month of training, the Blessed-to-be encountered the true meaning of hell-on-earth. She woke up early and went to bed late. She held countless weapons and memorized more than a thousand ways too kill a person with seemingly harmless objects.
Amani could no longer look at a quill the same way again.
But the woman-child learned more than she ever had the chance to learn in her past life and she took every lesson to heart. Unlike her brother, who was most likely slacking off in his lessons, Amani strove to be great. Why? Because of the before mentioned brother.
Support.
That was all she could do now with her remaining family. Her half-brothers and her father could go rot in a hole somewhere but Alibaba was important to her.
Becoming his Blessed when he was crowned king was the best she could provide for her beloved brother.
Even if he had forgotten her.
"Have you heard? The princess is a Blessed Child."
"What luck! Maybe now the young princess will have a chance to take over after her father leaves!"
"Blessed Children cannot be kings, remember? And no sane ruler would make a daughter his successor."
Year 5, Age 11 (Part 2)
Amani killed for the second time in a summer evening.
Her first was Kassim's poor excuse of a father.
This time, she successfully disarmed an assassin and slit his throat. It was faster and more merciful than snapping his neck, since she was still too weak to make a death like that painless.
The masked man had been creeping outside her brothers' chambers. The man had expected three dead kids and a bag full of gold for his efforts. He had expected easy killings since the guards in Balbadd were lax. His plans had been flawless and every step had been performed without any trips.
One mistake was made that night:
He had overlooked Amani.
Even though she wouldn't have minded if the killer killed her half-brothers, she still couldn't take the chance of the man killing Alibaba too.
But unlike the last time she killed, Amani didn't feel any shock.
"This wasn't your first time."
It wasn't a question. Fatima rarely asked questions. She knew and Amani knew she knew. Not that Amani cared much. Fatima was raised in a family of assassins. The idea of young children killing was not a new thing for her. But, to appease her teacher, Amani answered Fatima's not-question.
"Slum rats have to do what they can to live."
Which was the truth. Amani had to do what she could to protect her loved ones.
Even if she had to stain her hands red.
"Little sister Amani?"
"Sahbmad. Is there something you need from me?"
"I would like to thank you for what you did last night. I am in your debt."
"You know?"
"Yes, and Big brother Ahbmad may not say it but he's thankful too. Is there anything from us that you need?"
"Just don't let Alibaba know."
Year 6, Age 12
A dungeon had recently appeared a handful of miles from Balbadd. Despite the warnings that told her to stay the hell away from the death trap, Amani went.
Besides, Fatima didn't stop her so she had full confidence that she could face whatever challenges the dungeon threw at her. Was there a moment of doubt? How could there be when she knew that this dungeon wasn't in canon? How could she doubt, when this simply stood as an opportunity for her to become strong enough to protect? Without any hesitation, Amani jumped through the dungeon portal.
Amani was well armed with weapons and supplied with a good amount of food and water, since she wasn't so naïve as to think that the dungeon would provide her with non-lethal sustenance. It was built to kill her, not nurture her.
The dungeon was more than what Amani imagined. It was like a whole desert was transported in there. Ruins of many different empires were scattered all over the landscape. Amani suspected that she was supposed to enter one of the entrances to the underground tombs. The entrances to the tombs gave her an Egyptian feeling since they had an uncanny resemblance to the ones Phoebe saw when her family visited Egypt. The sand glittered under the light.
Which seemed to come from nowhere.
Which also raises the question: how were dungeons so well lit without lanterns, torches, light bulbs (were there any in this world?), etc.?
Amani decided to save that sort of question for the djinn at the end of her quest.
Of course, that reminded her of the other inhabitants of the dungeon. Amani wondered what sort of monstrosity she would have to face.
The ground shook in cue to Amani's mental question. As she prepared herself to face the dungeon monster, she took steps back in case the creature was a long-distanced fighter. Fatima's lessons flickered through her mind as she raised her throwing knives in preparation.
The monster was a sick combination of a bat, crab and a scorpion. Its black armor glinted when the artificial light hit it as if the light was the sun itself and its pincers snapped threateningly at her. The leather wings on its back stretched open to show off the sheer size of its wingspan. The movement disturbed the sand around Amani, causing some grains to get into her eyes. She blinked them away, not daring to let go of her weapons. Not only was it double the size of the royal palace, but it also had hand-sized minions too.
This was her moment to prove herself.
Amani raised her knives in challenge and the creature reared back, preparing itself to attack. The young princess swallowed and braced herself. The monster shrieked and barreled towards her and-
"Wah! Get away! Get away!"
"Run, it's after us!"
"I knew going into this dungeon wasn't a good idea!"
-went after some random men she hadn't noticed were there in the dungeon with her and passed right by her as if she wasn't there.
"…."
Amani didn't know whether to feel relieved or offended.
Behind her, screams bounced off the walls of the ruins and fizzled out when it reached the sand before they abruptly stopped at the sounds of sickening crunches. Amani didn't dare look back at the carnage that was most likely there and moved forward.
It was sad to say, but Amani's experience in her first, and probably last, dungeon was quite literally a walk in the park.
Yes, there were some riddles and mini-cyclones from here to there but all of them were logic-based so she had no problem getting the right answers. The monsters ignored her and she did her best to avoid them. All and all, the whole experience lacked the excitement and suspense that her brother's dungeon capturing would be when he met Aladdin.
For Amani, the hardest part in this whole 'adventure' was finding the metal vessel. It took Amani about thirty minutes to find it. Turned out, her vessel was a gold, jewel-decorated gourd about two times the size of an adult's hand. Or, in common man terms: a fancy-looking water bottle.
Yeah. It was just as disappointing as the whole experience.
Amani waited patiently as the symbol glowed and her djinn appeared in front of her. Thankfully, her djinn wasn't as pathetic as a spider or a crab, but in the form a petite, humanoid female.
At least she was pretty. Amani comforted herself with that thought before stepping forwards close enough that the djinn would notice her. She even made the effort in dropping her misdirection abilities so that the supernatural being wouldn't overlook her as the monsters in the dungeons had done.
"I am Foras, the Djinn of Logic and Ethics." The djinn boomed, surprising Amani with the strength and depth of her voice. "Who will be king?" The djinn's eyes wandered around the chamber before settling on Amani's muchsmaller form. "Oh? Will you be the one to take the throne, young one?"
"Ah…me?" Was Amani's clever reply.
"Yes, young one. I am speaking to you." The djinn said patiently. It was then when Amani realized that the djinn was speaking to her like any adult would to a child, in a comforting yet slightly patronizing tone.
Amani's spine straightened as she took on the regal stance that Fatima had drilled her into memorizing and perfecting. The djinn's expression took on a more interested look at the sudden change in the young blonde.
"I will ask again: do you wish to be king?"
"No."
The djinn's brows rose comically at Amani's blunt proclamation.
"I mean," Amani amended quickly when she saw the look that was aimed at her, "I do not wish for power. For a person like myself, I only want to have the ability to support and protect the one I wish to make king."
"So you wish to serve another."
"It's fine if you don't choose me as your 'king vessel'. If my wishes don't meet your standards, it can't be helped." The princess shrugged nonchalantly. "That just means that you'd be completely useless to me even if I somehow force you into becoming my djinn. So I won't make the effort."
The djinn clicked her tongue. "Cheeky brat."
"You're not the first to say so." Amani admitted with a smile while remembering her encounter with Ranya. "But aren't the cheeky ones the most entertaining?"
"Indeed." Foras mused before leaning closer to Amani. "You will be an amusing master, Blessed One. King or no king, you are still destined to aid fate. For that reason and your wit, I will accept you as my king vessel."
Oh. So the djinn appreciated her blunt honesty. That was unexpected. But it was also completely fine with Amani in the long run since she gained a powerful companion. With those thoughts in mind, Amani nodded in acceptance. "Thank you."
And then it was done.
The djinn disappeared back into her gourd thing. Amani was transported back to the world of the living with a butt-load of money. Word was sent out about the child, not to mention the thought-to-be-dead princess, who had conquered the dungeon at the mere age of twelve.
That feat had not been achieved since Sinbad's first dungeon conquering and he had been fourteen, making Amani the youngest dungeon captor in all of history.
There went her invisibility.
But the young blonde child didn't mind. The world may know her name, but they would never recognize her if she ever walked up to them, so her invisibility was secure.
Of course, the King of Balbadd heard and he immediately sent soldiers over to Amani so she would be 'safely brought back to him'.
Bah, she knew he only pretended to care because of her position as a Blessed Child and her latest success. Though, she was secretly proud that she was finally deemed important enough by her proud sire to be shown some sort of affection.
As Amani was led back into the palace with her boon, she distantly wondered how Fatima would react to her success and if the King would finally allow her the chance to meet with her twin brother after two years of complete separation.
Foras thrummed comfortingly at her new master's side.
"The princess' metal vessel is amazing! The small gourd seems to have an endless amount of sand in it! And the sand is alive! Have you ever seen sand act like that?"
"It's as if the sand has a mind of its own, shielding the little princess when she needs it. And it happens like that even without the princess consciously ordering it to!"
"What a clever thing!"
"Did you know that the little princess could do other impressive things without that vessel?"
"Yes, she was trained by Fatima, after all."
"Didn't I tell you she'd be alright in the end? Even if she's a girl."
Year 7, Age 13
"C'mon, Amani! It'll be just for a few hours." Alibaba begged with big, watery eyes. "You have no idea how boring it is within the palace walls. You're always out with father doing exciting things."
Amani cringed at her brother's obvious attempt at guilt-tripping her since it was, to her utmost shame, working. "Don't be stupid." She snapped at her other half. "I am very well aware of the tedium of the palace but until you finish your studies as I have, you can't go outside."
When Amani returned to the palace with her metal vessel, she was met with heaps of praise, a sickening amount of attention, and a very amused Fatima. The King allowed his daughter one favor for her magnificent success. Anything she asked of him would be granted if it were within his ability. When Amani requested her room to be moved closer to her brother's, the King had been surprised, since it was a simple request.
But he granted it nonetheless and Amani got to spend more time with her brother as she had always wished. They had caught up with each other for years they had lost. Alibaba chattered about his lessons and trading successes while Amani listened to every word without a complaint.
When he had asked her about herself, she knew that he wanted to hear about her ability and her experience in the dungeon.
Amani told him everything. She told him about the day she discovered her identity as the Blessed Child. She told him about Fatima. She told him about the piles and piles of books she had to read. She told him about the hellish training and the weapons she had to master. She told him about the various different ambassadors she had to meet. She told him about the wonders and horrors of the dungeon, making sure to remind her brother that every dungeon was different so he wouldn't arrogantly assume that it was simple to conquer. She exaggerated some of the parts of her story to entertain her brother and left out the parts where she was forced in situations to kill.
(Of course, she didn't fool herself into thinking that she would hide something like this from her brother forever. The truth would have to come out eventually. Just not now.)
Amani loved her brother. She always would.
(It's just that he would never understand her. Not without knowing the truth.)
That was why she wanted to postpone Alibaba's outing from the palace as long as she could. Fate could wait a little longer, couldn't it? She wanted to see Alibaba's smiling face a little longer before she had to leave him in fate's hands. Besides, she had to speak with her brother about something.
"Alibaba. There's another reason why I'm not letting you out of the palace." Amani confessed while playing with her sleeves. In reality, she was making sure that the senbon needles and the kunai knives hidden within her royal garbs were secure to her person. (No need for those to fall out and scare her brother.)
Alibaba looked at his sister questioningly. "Yes?"
"In about two weeks, I'll be leaving with Fatima to go to meet with a Kou Prince. It's selfish. But I wanted to spend a little bit more time with my brother before I leave for Kou since we don't have too long."
"Huh? But won't you have time to spend time with me after you finish your ambassador mission to Kou? Why do you want to spend time together now?" He asked innocently, causing his twin to flinch.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Alibaba's oblivious expression told her that no, he did not understand. Amani sighed in exasperation and looked out of one of the palace windows to calm down before looking back at her brother's face.
"I'm engaged, you dolt."
Alibaba's jaw dropped and he made the shrillest sound a boy his age could make.
"That poor little princess. She worked so hard to be acknowledged by her Father only to be sent away to be the perfect wife of a barbaric Kou Prince."
Year 7, Age 13 (Part 2)
Amani considered just leaving for Kou a week early when she discovered Alibaba's empty room the next evening. Apparently, her brother didn't take the news of her engagement well and didn't talk to her for the whole day, which to her opinion was overly childish. Did Alibaba honestly think that she would remain unmarried? She was the only royal daughter, the only bargaining chip that the country had. It was inevitable that she would be married off one day.
How could Alibaba be so naïve?
(How could he not even consider how she felt about this?)
Amani left the palace, donning simple clothing and leaving behind jewelry. She didn't need to wander aimlessly around the city since she knew exactly where her brother was.
No one even glanced her way when she entered the tavern. Amani breathed in pungent air of unwashed bodies and booze. She supposed that it was her training with Fatima and her travels that made her less sensitive to the smell and sight of this place.
She found Alibaba happy, drunk, and laughing with Kassim.
Kassim had grown. He grew a few feet and he wasn't as awkwardly shaped, as any other teenage boy would be. His braids had grown out past his shoulders and didn't look as unkempt as they did when they were children. Amani was thankful that he wasn't as skinny as she had expected him to be. No, rather he was beginning to look like the handsome, enigmatic man who would lead the infamous 'Fog Troupe'.
Fog Troupe.
Amani swallowed thickly and pretended that she was catching her brother in an innocent outing with an old friend. She pretended that Kassim had no hurtful intentions and was genuinely having a good time with her brother. It was better to think of things that way.
Amani put on a smile and made her way towards the table.
"-And I managed to sneak past the guards and Amani to get there through those tunnels! Isn't it amazing?" Alibaba was babbling. Amani knew that he had already explained to Kassim in full detail about the secret pathways into the palace.
"Yeah! Impressive!" Kassim praised him.
"Amazing! I almost didn't notice!" Amani chimed in from the seat she took between Alibaba and Kassim, dropping her misdirection ability. Just as she had expected, both males jerked back in shock. The hazy drunk look on her brother's face disappeared to be replaced by an expression filled with shock and guilt. "Amani? How did you know I'd be here?"
"Never underestimate my abilities in finding you, brother." Amani warned him darkly. "Remember, Fatima was the one who taught me. You do remember Fatima, don't you Alibaba?"
In the past, Alibaba made the terrible mistake of getting his lunch on Fatima. It was her best robes so the glare that she sent him could have sent him to hell seven times over. Since then, Alibaba was afraid of even the mention of Fatima. The horror stories that Amani told him didn't exactly help either.
Alibaba shivered in fear and nodded.
The pale blonde turned to the other person in the table, taking note that the shock was still present on his face. "It's nice to see that you're well, Kassim. You've grown handsomely." She complimented gently.
Kassim still seemed to not accept what was sitting in front of him. "Ghost?"
"Boo."
Amani's sarcastic quip jerked the tanned youth from his trance. A wide smile spread like wildfire across his face. (How long did it take for him to perfect such a genuine-looking smile?) "Ghost! It's been a while!"
Amani drew Kassim into a warm embrace and, to the surprise of both Alibaba and Kassim, kissed his cheek affectionately out of habit since it was a ritualistic greeting between her and Alibaba. Kassim jerked back in embarrassment, losing the cool, mature façade he originally wore. He looked so much like the child Kassim Amani used to know that she had to laugh. "Kassim, you're all red!"
Alibaba began howling in laughter and he patted Kassim in the back. He assured his red-faced friend that his sister greeted him like that all the time. By then, Kassim's face had cooled and his calm façade was back on.
"So Ghost…want a drink?"
"So, Alibaba. Why did you look so down when I found you? You didn't get into another fight with Ghost, did you? The two of you always seemed to get into fights."
"She's getting married."
"…."
"She tried so hard, Kassim. Out of all of us, Amani tried the hardest. Everyone could see that. She studied, trained, and even became really, really strong, but they're still going to marry her off like cattle. It's just not fair. It's not fair that she was born a girl. She deserves better."
"How is she?"
"Healthy. Strong. Confident. Beautiful. I wish she came out with me. She would've been happy to see you."
"Have another drink, Alibaba."
Year 7, Age 13 (Part 3)
Amani should've known better.
She should've known better than to keep her bedroom doors unlocked. She should've known better than to trust the abilities of the guards. She should've known better than to leave her weapons next to her and not on her. She should've been more protected since she knew. She knew what Kassim would do. She knew he would betray her brother and storm the palace.
But she also assumed that he wouldn't lay a hand on her since they were family.
(Foolish, so foolish.)
Fatima had taught her better than this. But then again, she was gone. Fatima, her beloved teacher and most trusted confidant, was dead. At least she had died quickly. She had taken a lucky hit to the head by a spiked club when she was distracted by Amani's screams.
Amani had screamed. She wished she hadn't. If she hadn't, Fatima would have been alive.
Kassim had come into her room. She thought he was Alibaba so she allowed her guard to go down, giving him the chance to pin her down. He pinned her down. No matter how much she had struggled and begged, begged him to let her go and to stop, he didn't. He wouldn't. No, he has gripped at her, ripped at her, and he had hurt her. He had taken her so harshly that she had screamed and bled. She had screamed her teacher to her death but she didn't know it then.
And Kassim.
Gone was the friend who shared secrets with her. Gone was the older brother who she could depend on. Gone was the kind Kassim who had understood her the most. As Kassim's rough, chapped lips had forcefully covered her own, Amani tasted the booze, tobacco, and blood that defined Kassim through her painful haze. She had long since given up in her struggling and instead waited for it to all end. It was too late.
Too late.
Her weapons had been on the ground, Foras had been too far to aid her, and it was hopeless.
Had Kassim blamed her for Mariam's death too? Did he hate her that much for being more fortunate (more aware? More cursed?) than him and having a better (worse, far worse) fate?
Amani didn't blame him if he hated her. She hated herself too.
(It's your fault, you know it's your fault. Mariam is dead and it's your fault because you knew.)
But she still felt betrayed for what he did to her. She still felt hurt since he was the one to hurt her. She trusted him and he broke all that by doing the last thing she expected Kassim to do.
When he had finally finished, Amani couldn't move. She couldn't think. She couldn't struggle. She had been just…empty.
"I'm sorry." Was what he told her, as if he had actually meant it.
(Liar, you liar you don't mean it you never did.)
She remembered wanting to scream at him. She had wanted to claw at his face and demand him to take back the only thing that made her worthy to be at the palace, at Alibaba's side. She remembered wanting to turn back the sands of time and fix the mistakes she made. She wanted…
But she had only asked him "why?"
Kassim never answered and he left.
Amani used to be very good at reading her brother-friend (or was he really that now after all he did?) but now she couldn't read him at all.
She couldn't recognize the back of the man walking away from her. She still didn't.
The next day, after the fire was put out and Alibaba was safely placed in his bed. The servants found their king dead and the princess in tattered clothes, traumatized and sitting in her own pool of blood.
They didn't need to be told what happened. They knew.
The maids cried over their quiet but kind princess and the palace guards paid their respects to their princess, knowing that it was due to their incompetence that this happened and that she was lucky to even be alive. The townspeople wailed at the knowledge that their beloved dungeon capturer, Blessed Child, and princess was sullied in such a way. Even the people of the slums kept silent, not once jeering the princess for her situation.
Both Ahbmad and Sahbmad checked on their half-sister. Ahbmad, because he was the new king and Amani was now his responsibility, and Sahbmad, because he was genuinely concerned for the strong sister he had grown to love. Sahbmad regretfully told her of her twin's flight from the palace. Amani had already known that this would happen so she wasn't as upset as everyone had expected her to be.
No one told her about Fatima.
Amani was too shocked to even ask.
Surprisingly, just when Balbadd thought that Kou would break their alliance and marriage agreement, Kou sent a message through a personal messenger expressing their condolences for the Balbadd Princess and assured her that she could take her time to recover before sailing over to Kou to meet her betrothed.
They had sent a young child to deliver this message.
The shrewd Amani would have been suspicious but she was too shaken to think or suspect anything at the moment. To a broken Amani, Kou had sent a child to show that they had no ill will towards Balbadd.
Thankfully, Amani's broken self's judgment was not wrong and Kou did not attack Balbadd the next day.
Unfortunately, the next day was the day of Fatima's funeral and the day when Amani realized how much she had lost.
Her friend.
Her teacher.
Her brother.
All gone.
"Excuse me, can you tell me where the princess' room is? I have a message for her that will surely cheer her up."
"Her room is at the far right. But be warned, if this is a trick, King Ahbmad will flay you alive for damaging the princess even more than which is already done if I don't get to you first, brat."
"Don't worry, Miss Maid! Thank you!"
"Miss? I'm too old to be a 'Miss' anymore." Leah grumbled. "And what were those Kou Royals thinking, sending a five-year-old boy as a messenger?"
Finale: And The Door of the Cage Breaks
Amani was no weak human.
Yes, it took her many days to get over the shock of being betrayed, sullied, and the deaths of many of her dear ones.
(She came to love her father at the end.)
But she was not weak. So now she planned. She planned on how to move on from this point of her life. Planned how she would return to her homeland by the time the 'Fog Troupe' incident started. Planned to be reunited with her brother. Planned to be very, very strong by then. Amani checked herself in the mirror again, making sure that she looked as strong as she thought she felt. She wore makeup willingly for the first time and actually wore her jewelry to symbolize her position. Now was not the time to look like the street rat everyone had thought she was in the beginning. Now, she was the imperial princess of Balbadd. By the next day, she would be sent to Kou to be wed to a faceless prince.
(Who cared? It was just marriage. As long as it helped Alibaba in the end, it didn't matter.)
A hollow knock thumped through the door. With her metal vessel at her side, Amani answered the door. To her pleasant surprise, it was the young messenger boy. It was not always obvious, but Amani had a very soft spot for younger children and the flowers in his hands gave her a good idea why he came knocking at her door.
The boy smiled brightly and handed the banquet to the princess, of which she accepted graciously. "Thank you."
"May I enter into Her Highness' quarters?" He inquired sweetly.
It was a strange thing that Kou sent over a boy who was too young to be entangled in the game of politics or understand anything for the matter. And he wore clothes of a common merchant or fisherman's child of Balbadd, tanned skin, turban, and all.
But neither Amani nor Foras felt that the boy's presence was threatening so they allowed him into their room but not without wariness.
As the door shut, the boy was led to a seat, which he enthusiastically took while thanking her profusely. He expressed his dislike for standing too long by babbling in long sentences and showing her the bruises and blisters under his feet. To any other royal, this would have offended them. But Amani was simply amused and charmed by the innocence of the child.
But, then again, those blue eyes blinking at her from time to time seemed so familiar and old. Had she met this child before?
"Princess?"
"Yes?" Amani answered with a kind smile. "What is it? Are you hungry? Or is it that you have a personal message sent for me from Kou?" Just because he was a child, Amani would never stop being suspicious. Underestimation was the most common downfall.
A flicker of something like admiration flitted across the blue eyes before it glassed over with a look of nostalgia. "You always were the smartest of them all, Amani. It's a pity that you were forced to be here a bit earlier than your supposed time though I admit it was mostly my fault." The young child's whimsical air was gone abruptly and Amani suddenly had the feeling that she was speaking with someone very much like her. "Or do you prefer the name 'Phoebe Winthrop'?"
Amani's body jerked forward at the name.
How long was it since someone last spoke of her name?
"H-How-?"
"Again, it was my carelessness. I made a very foolish but necessary wish that sent my eighteen-year-old consciousness into my newborn infant self. Very much like your situation though I wasn't reincarnated." The boy hummed to himself while leaning back into his chair. "If there are any questions, please ask. I am here to clarify your situation, since it's my fault."
Amani (Phoebe) fell back into her seat but forced herself to remain focused. This was her one chance to find out why she was here. "What do you mean by I'm 'here earlier than I'm supposed to be'?"
"Straight to the point as always." The boy said with a wide smile. "Well, first off, I'm a time traveler of this world. In fourteen years in the future, you and three of the other Blessed Children will choose me as your king. No lie." He added at the end at Amani's dubious expression. "And to prove it to you, I can bet that the three other Blessed Children remember exactly who they were in their past life: eighteen year old students of the United States of America."
America.
(Home.)
Three others.
(Others like me.)
Not alone.
(Not alone.)
"See? Do you believe me now? I know it's a lot to take in." The boy said comfortingly. "But I needed to find you four before one of you changes the timeline to the point where I can't fulfill my mission."
"Your mission?" Amani asked distantly, still absorbing the fact that she was not alone. "Is that what you came back in time for?"
"Wait! I didn't answer your first question yet! The thing is: you four were supposed to be reborn into this world. You, Phoebe Winthrop, are supposed to be Alibaba's firstborn child, Amani Saluja. The other three were born around the time of your birth too, connected to powerful people."
"So I was supposed to be my brother's daughter?"
"Pretty much."
"But why am I his sister this time around?"
The boy coughed sheepishly. "Well, all four of you were born around the time I was chosen to be the crown prince of the country I founded. Otherwise known as my first ascension in becoming king. Since my soul was already confirmed to be mature enough to bear the weight of being king, the reincarnation of your souls were cut short and your old souls failed to be wiped clean. Thus, you have memories of a eighteen-year-old high school genius and you forced yourself to exist as Alibaba's twin sister who was supposed to be stillborn."
Amani sat back while clutching her head. This was all too fast. But she also understood that it was necessary. "I understand. I think that both of us are about the same page now. My God, this just sounds like a complex sci-fi novel."
She mentally filed the whole conversation in her head for a later date before leaning towards the not-child. "What is this mission you are speaking of?"
"Saving the world." The boy stated simply.
"…Really?" The princess asked skeptically.
The boy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, really. There is going to be a huge series of events in about three to four years from now that will tear this whole world apart. I'm here to prevent doomsday from happening."
Hopping out of his seat, the boy stretched and made his way to the door. "I told you what you need to know. Whether or not you want to help is all up to you. I'm still going to accompany you to Kou so take your time in your choice. See you tomorrow…"
"Amani." She told him firmly. "Phoebe died. I am and I will always be Amani."
"Amani." The boy repeated before a boyish grin broke out across his face. Unlike his innocent smile, this one was more mature and less pure. It was aimed at both no one and everyone. It was the smile that finally made it click in Amani's mind why the boy looked so familiar. "You're Ranya's child."
The boy dipped his head in mock greeting, confirming her suspicions. "Shion, at your service. Please treat me well in the future."