Chapter Text
"The world is not fair."
The emperor had said as he gazed far into the wide, boundless sea. In a private conversation far from the usual hustle. It was a sad tone, factual, and down to earth. Yet, irrevocably sad for what was uttered.
It was possibly a warning to his young daughter, for her to be aware, to not have her hope too high only for it to be broken down. Maybe it was just a silent moment for him to mourn against injustice. The single fact that in the world where he, even with power near second to none, could not change.
She didn't know, hadn't got a chance to watch the movie. Too much work, too many things to do, and too little time for what was useless for her in the end. Even so, knowing that her biggest regret upon dying was not her unfinished thesis or the payroll that month. Not even her family. Not when her mother was years dead and her father soon after with depression. That time was tiring, physically and mentally, it was as if her father just couldn't wait to follow her mother.
Upon dying though, she hadn't thought of that. People loved to say how when one was dying, they would see their whole life and—
She was just sad that she hadn't gotten the chance to watch the movie.
It was, despite how violent it had been, not a death with much regret. There hadn’t been much she could regret, in that white, grey, and black word. Monotone.
Yunan blinked, a stream of fluttering lights, twinkling bells, and the sudden rush of knowledge.
This is…
He looked east, to the raging sandstorm and unforgiving heatwave. No, to the left, a little more… And ah, found it. In the golden kingdom of trading where rukh was of abundance.
It wasn’t quite a singularity. If it could even be called one, it would be a minor one. One so small, barely noticeable if he hadn't been on the border of Aktia. The fact was a boon, that the brat in Reim aside, the magi in Kou shouldn't notice.
But still…
The last time a singularity was born, Sinbad had appeared, and that man...
Yunan needed to investigate this further.
It was better to be safe than not.
The realization that she had died was as abrupt as it was startling to the fact that she had a male body. It was quickly settled after some days of either holing herself in their little makeshift home or screeching to the top of her voice as the mountain lord to Kassim.
But like most things, she jumped out of that depressively chaotic mood rather easily. The memories were well, a knowledge of what had happened. There was also not much to grieve over, not much to live for either.
Aliyah, her mother used to call when she got annoyed enough with the name Alibaba. Because it was his but not hers. But she was him too and he was her. She was not a him and he was not a she. It took her some time to settle it but she and he knew they needed to settle it fast. She knew that in the period she was living in, men living as women and women living as men were frowned upon.
Alibaba and Aliyah had wanted to live peacefully. So, he and she stopped becoming a problem. He and she were they and they would easily answer to both. A simple solution for a simple life. A simple life where they would go to work in the morning, have a hard time, laugh in pain and joy, go home to Miriam and help her with dinner, then prank Kassim as he entered the room. All in all, it was a simple wish and a simple life.
But things in life were not as easy as it was wished. Unlike the djinn in children's films, the djinn in this world was not that could grant the wish of a simple person.
In this world, the name Alibaba was a strong name with a fate they must follow.
Alibaba had known who they were the moment they gained enough skill in reading and counting. Hearing debates and haggling shells for the desert folks to buy. Hand in hand with Miriam and chasing after Kassim with a wide smile.
Knew, the moment Anise was cold on her mattress and they were taken away to warm nights and soft fabrics against pale skin.
Knew, the moment the name Alibaba was said along with ‘Saluja’ by the kneeling general and the King who claim to be their father.
Knew, the moment they saw flickers of light, something that could have been called a butterfly or bird tinkled at their ears.
As much as the world was not fair, this world was also cursed as much as it was blessed. Alibaba stared up at the night sky, the moon shining bright against golden orbs. Reaching a hand as if they wanted to grasp it, they intoned quietly.
"The world is not fair."
Because if so, they wouldn't be standing here and Anise would be alive and Alibaba-Aliyah-they wouldn't be standing alone, cold even with the thick cloth bundling them like a white cape. The texture was so soft like it was a waterfall in their little fingers. Little fingers were scarred but were dutifully layered with oil by the maids.
If the world was fair then—
They would be having dirt gritting against their bare feet and hands dirtied but warm with mud-stained hands clasped against them. Giggles on the left and cackles on her right, with chuckles far behind as someone, shouted be careful.
They would be much warmer in that little hut, made with what people would call trashes. Even with the cold draft passing through the cloth door and they all shivered in cold. It would still be much warmer than the palace with its fireplace and servants making sure it was warm. They hadn’t had anything but they were together and that was, a treasure the big castle couldn’t give.
It was their treasure that the castle took away.
Alibaba had enough sense to know that they were depressed.
But knowing was not as easy as getting rid of it. In retrospect, perhaps they would realize the discrepancy sooner if they managed to get out of their head sooner. The clues were all there, it was just that, Alibaba hadn’t wanted to see them. Seeing it meant they need to face the fact that they were all alone and it hurt.
They didn’t want to acknowledge that Anise was dead, Kassim and Miriam were out there, and there was a fate they must go through and that made Alibaba afraid.
Not to the extent of them cursing the world and fate. Alibaba hated hating something, it was an emotional quadruple somersault that ended wrong for them. And well—
To that end, well, they missed a lot of things.
A lot of things.
A lot of things if they noticed sooner, could have caused less grief for everyone. At least their siblings would say so, every and each of them.
Then again, it was a skill cultivated from a life worth of self-denial.
Alibaba as the youngest illegitimate child of the King was his favorite. A prince born from the love of the King and his maid. A slum-born prince, the courtiers tittered with rouge on their plump lips. Faced with such a title, assassinations were monthly, if not biweekly incidents.
It was at age eleven when the many assassinations attempts almost succeeded. After two long years, they were almost expecting it at that point.
It had been a quiet night. When the world was too quiet and their mind too loud. The crackles of flame were familiar but made them flinch and the rustles against the warm sheets were too much. They waved for a drink and well—
They remembered the taste of the araak they drank. Dose small, to increase their tolerance, the maid had smiled. That should have been the first sign. The spice of anise seeds prickled their tongue and the aroma was sweet. It warmed their body as they drank from the beverage made of her mother's name.
It was even more ironic, that a drink made of anise seeds caused the red to spill from their lips.