The Snake Princess (Magi Fanfiction)

Chapter sixteen

Chapter sixteen

"Give up?" Sharrkan asked with a smug smile, standing over Amirah with his sword to her throat.

"As if!" Amirah swung her legs out from under her, attempting to trip him.

He reacted quickly, jumping at the same second her legs would have hit his, "You're far too easy to read, Amirah!" Sharrkan laughed and sheathed his sword, offering her a hand.

Pouting, Amirah ignored his offer, helping herself up. "I should've taken swordsman classes in Heliohapt when I had the chance..." She walked to the sidelines of the training area where she'd left Akido in a basket to sleep. Lightly patting him to wake him up, she lifted the snake out of the basket and let him wrap around her neck as usual. She turned back to Sharrkan, who began complaining.

"You're done already?! You're not going to get better if you don't train often!"

"I'm not sure swordsmanship is my forté," Amirah admitted, smiling. "I may be better suited to another fighting style. Who knows what my weapon equip is."

"Or anything else about your metal vessel," Sharrkan sighed. Looking up at her, he asked, "Was there any signs in the dungeon as to what her magic could be?"

Amirah shook her head, "Unless goats are a magic type, no." She thought back, trying to think of anything else. "Hey...Antheia did have a staff on her...could that be my weapon?"

Sharrkan shrugged, "Yeah, possibly. You're better off asking King Sinbad about it, you know I don't have a metal vessel myself."

"Right," Amirah agreed. "I'll ask him whenever he has some free time."

~

Later that day, after dinner with everyone, Amirah tried to beat Sinbad to his office, hoping she'd have a moment or two to talk to him about her metal vessel. That small gap of time was the only point Amirah had learned Sinbad was available, unless she met with him at night- which she wanted to avoid. She wasn't sure she was comfortable being in such an 'unprofessional' atmosphere.

Amirah ran the last stretch of hallway to Sinbad's office, nearly falling as she skidded to a halt in front of his door. In her attempt to steady herself, she ended up falling anyway, letting out a yelp. She cringed, cursing her smooth-bottomed sandals. As she moved to stand, the door beside her opened.

"Princess Amirah? Are you alright?" It was Sinbad of course. He raised an eyebrow at her, amused.

Amirah quickly pulled herself to her feet, "I'm fine! I just, uh..." She brushed the dirt out of her skirt and hair. Akido hissed at her, annoyed that she awoke him from his sleep. "I wanted to talk to you about my metal vessel, if that's alright?"

"Of course, come in." Sinbad took a step back to allow her entry, closing the door once she was inside. He returned to his chair behind his desk, gesturing to the chair in front of it, "Have a seat." When Amirah was seated, he asked, "What's on your mind?"

"I can't seem to activate my metal vessel, no matter what I do," Amirah began. "I've been training with Sharrkan, but I don't think it's doing anything. I'm not even sure what type of weapon I'm supposed to be using."

Sinbad nodded, thinking the situation over. "Maybe it's not an issue with the metal vessel itself, but with your magoi. Alibaba-kun has a similar situation; he can't perform a complete djinn equip... Though in your case, we don't even know your djinn's magic type..."

"Is there a way we can fix it then?"

"Most likely, yes. I suppose I can do what I planned on doing with Alibaba-kun with you as well. Starting tomorrow, I can personally train you, if you want to of course."

"Sounds like a plan," Amirah smiled, excitement bubbling inside of her.

Sinbad returned the smile. Then it faded as he looked down at the monstrous pile of paperwork in front of him. "Say...you wouldn't be willing to help me with my work before Ja'far comes back and yells at me, would you?"

Amirah laughed, "Sure, I'll help. Though I'm not sure how well I can forge your signature."

~Trigger Warning: death~

In a dark, damp, cell complete with iron chains and a barred and locked door hung several familiar people, their arms chained to the wall above them, their legs chained to the floor. They were beaten and battered, barely even breathing. Amirah shook as her eyes fell upon them. Her hands trembled, eyes welling with tears that quickly rained down her cheeks.

They were the generals. All of them. Including Sinbad and Zaahira. Amirah couldn't believe it. She searched behind her, trying to find a way of escape or a sign that it wasn't real. That everyone she loved wasn't dead, or worse. She found nothing.

Turning back to the gruesome scene, Amirah's eyes widened. It was gone. They were gone. She was surrounded by light and tall buildings- Sindria. Looking around, Amirah's heart only sank further. Now, not only was she scarred by the sight of the generals dying, but all of Sindria as well.

Dead bodies were everywhere. Children, their parents, elders, pets, everyone. Dead. The silence was deafening.

Amirah ran, heading towards the palace. She gingerly avoided corpse after corpse, stopping dead once she reached the palace grounds. The guards were dead. The Kou royalties, Kougyoku and Hakuryuu Ren- dead. The former prince of Balbadd, the blue haired magi, the female Fanalis. All mere children Amirah had only just met. All of them, rotting away on the palace courtyard.

Tears blinding her sight, Amirah ran, searching for someone, anyone who was still alive. Instead, she stumbled upon the generals and her assistant. Blood was everywhere, as if they'd been slaughtered. In the midst of it all was Sinbad- just as bloody and broken.

Amirah couldn't bare to see more. She tried closing her eyes and reopening them, hoping the scene would change again. It wasn't working. She kept her eyes glued shut. If anything, she could try waiting it out until the nightmare ended.

It had to be a nightmare, right? It couldn't be reality. Surely the generals could defend themselves. Sinbad had so many metal vessels, obviously he could survive anything. Children even younger than Zaahira couldn't die so brutally. The innocent citizens must have been protected. But from what? What had even happened? Amirah couldn't think over the pounding in her head.

"A...mi...rah..."

The princess gasped, opening her eyes. "N-No...!" The 'dead' bodies of the generals, Zaahira, and Sinbad, began moving. Crawling towards her with their broken bodies and awkwardly-bent joints.

Amirah stumbled backwards, screaming as someone grabbed her ankle.

"Onee...san..." It was Aladdin, the young magi she'd met at Mahrajan. His body was decayed, crumbling holes in his face growing worse as he repeated himself over and over, grasping at her legs like it would somehow save him.

"N-No! G-Go away!" Amirah struggled in vain as more hands pulled at her legs and skirt. She screamed, the hands of her friends and loved ones pulling her to the ground, tearing chunks out of her flesh.

Her screams carried over into her reality, and she shot awake.

~

Author's Note-

well that's some of the darkest writing I've written recently...

hey you guys wanted the next chapter don't kill me hehe~

If you freak out enough maybe I'll post the next chapter :3 lmao

Edit: ALSO THANKS FOR 1K ALREADY HOLY SHIT