Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

Faith and Aladdin and Alibaba

"Wahhh!! Is that a snake!?" Alibaba heard someone cry while everyone (aside from him and Aladdin and Faith) ran around in a panic like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.

'That ain't no snake...' he thought, staring at the giant blue arms. 'But wait, could that be... the legendary Djinn container...!?'

Eventually everyone calmed down by the time the sun had started to set, when they finally realized they weren't in any immediate danger, and they all split up to return to their respective groups and continue their journey, which was much more peaceful with Budel still out cold from the shock of losing all his wine.

'To have a chance encounter like this is next to impossible...!!' thought Alibaba determinedly as he drove. 'This is perfect for my plans... but first I gotta get that kid to believe that I'm his buddy!!'

Alibaba figured the best way to do this was to win the hearts of Aladdin and Faith through their stomachs, so he volunteered to show them around once they reached the oasis city of Qishan and treated them to some snacks from the street vendors.

"Onii-san, it's great that you came with us! It's a huge help!" Aladdin said cheerfully.

"Yeah, that was awfully nice of you," Faith said, wondering why he was splurging on them, given what a tightwad he had been where money was concerned even before incurring the huge debt that was now hanging over his head.

"Of course I'd come~!" Alibaba said brightly. "I mean, you saved my life back there and even helped out against a common enemy! That makes us pals! Right, Aladdin?"

'I'd know that look anywhere. He's definitely scheming something...' Faith thought, unimpressed. She saw it all the time with people who wanted to borrow money off of her and her sister because their dad's family was rich. 'Uh-oh...' she thought, sweat-dropping, when she noticed the look of innocent joy on Aladdin's face upon finding someone new to call a 'friend'.

"Yeah!" the poor naïve little thing answered happily.

Since they were 'friends' Alibaba offered to let them stay at his place for awhile.

"Wow~!" Aladdin said excitedly as he entered his new friend's home. "You know, you're the first friend I've ever had," he told Alibaba, blushing with happiness.

"Is that so?" asked Alibaba with a smile.

'Hey, what about me and Ugo-kun?' Faith thought, raising an eyebrow. What were they? Chopped liver?

"Just have a seat, buddy!" said Alibaba. "I'll get us some tea."

"Thanks!" said Aladdin, doing just that.

"I just bought some apples, wanna cut them up and eat 'em?"

"Yay! They look real tasty...!!"

"Shall I do the honors?" offered Faith. Alibaba handed her a knife and watched as she chopped the apples up with frightening speed. "Here you go!" she said with a brilliant shit-eating grin, abruptly thrusting the knife back in his face with a piece of apple on the end.

"Ah, thanks..." Alibaba said, sweat-dropping, as he carefully took the knife back. This girl made him nervous, and not in the usual way...

"Want a bite, Ugo-kun?" Aladdin asked the Djinn in the flute, offering him a piece of apple, while Alibaba finished serving the tea.

"By the way, there's something I wanna ask you, buddy!" Alibaba said pleasantly.

"What's that?" asked Aladdin.

"What's the deal with the flute?" Alibaba asked seriously, putting on his game face.

'Ah, there it is...' Faith thought. Well, that didn't take very long for him to reveal his intentions.