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Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter! CHAPTER 30
Giggling, snickering to herself, rolling back and forth on the mattress, tossing and turning among the sheets; Sakura was able to do everything but close her eyes. Her mind continuously drifted through today's turn of events, everything. Returning to Sindria, somehow carrying more than what she left with, meeting the princess Serendine and being confessed to by (in all honesty), the last person she was expecting.
Sakura slapped her hands on her warm cheeks, shaking her head. What was wrong with her? This giddiness wasn't something she felt since she was twelve!
"Aw, so you are a normal girl after all," Sitri commented offhandedly. "Then again considering you didn't even notice his wandering hands during your lip lock…"
Sakura choked up a laugh, shifting among the sheets. "T-That was my mistake, he caught me off guard!"
"Mmm"
"I do not approve of this!" Beleth stated.
Sakura raised an eyebrow, amused. "You don't approve?"
"My king, that man is a womanizing drunk, who has taken advantage of your kind heart one too many times. I do not believe he would suit you."
Sakura chuckled, turning on her side, "And just who would suit me Beleth? It's not like I have a list of options-
"I liked that Kouen." Gaap interjected, "He was mysterious, intelligent and he didn't bat an eyelash when I tried to drown him."
Stolas trailed. "But there was still the first prince,"
"I don't know who you are all talking about because I was stuffed in a draw-but considering the guy did steal me, I am not a big fan either," Sitri added.
"Oh, this is a good one!" Gaap exclaimed, "They were in my dungeon-
Sakura could feel the cool air on her tongue as her mouth hung open in disbelief, her djinns seemed to have made a list and taken a vote. She was now blushing for an entirely different reason. She put her djinn's metal vessels aside so she wouldn't have to listen to them anymore.
..
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..
At first, there was nothing but darkness, an all-encompassing void that swallowed Sakura whole. She tried to call out, but her voice was stifled, swallowed by the oppressive blackness. The silence was deafening, a profound stillness that seemed to stretch into eternity.
Suddenly, she was outside, but it was not the outside she remembered. There was no sensation of heat or cold, no comforting breeze or rustling leaves. Instead, the world around her was a vivid nightmare, a grotesque tableau of chaos and destruction.
The flames were the first thing she noticed, the tongues of fire dancing around her, mocking her helplessness. They crackled and hissed, leaping from building to building, consuming everything in their path with a voracious appetite. The inferno illuminated the scene in ghastly hues of orange and red, casting eerie shadows that seemed to twist and writhe.
Then there were the screams, echoing through her head, and despite how loud they were, she could still hear the cruel rattles of chains.
'What is this?'
She wanted to run, to scream, to close her eyes, but she couldn't. Her body was immobile. Forcing her to endure the horrifying sight before her.
Children and men in armor scattered the ground, drowning in a sea of their blood. Amongst all of the agony, a single silhouette figure emerged from the flames, untouched by them, closing in with a confident stride.
Sakura's eyes widened, in terror, reaching out and grasping around her neck tightly.
"Isn't this amazing?" It asked, grinning wildly, "The things we can do, it's glorious isn't it?"
The mysterious figure began to make its features known, a slim female body, short pink hair that stuck out wildly, eyes were green but the sclera was pitch black, a rhombus-shaped mark on her forehead.
Then Sakura's eyes trailed to her hand, a chain wrapped around it, traveling down to another person lying at her feet, eyes cold, body pale, blood dripping at the end of his mouth, blood continued to pour from him and touched her feet.
"Wasn't it fun?" Sakura stopped breathing as she heard the whisper so close to her ear, the figure now behind her.
She wanted to say no, that she never meant for this to happen, but her mouth refused to obey her thoughts.
"But you did!" the dark voice hissed, it sounded like it was in pain, "You wanted all of this….."
Sakura felt her hand grasping something tightly, lifting it, she caught sight of her reflection and realized she had raised a blade above her head, ready to plunge.
"COME, LET ME SHOW YOU."
Her hand fell forward.
When Sakura awakened, she wasn't able to get out the scream lodged in her throat. Tossing the covers aside, her footsteps were heavy on the wood as she slammed the door open, without a care for who might wake up until she finally made it outside. Taking big gulps of the chilly night air, the sickening feeling that came just before you threw up began to fade.
She was barefoot in a nightgown yet it took a good five minutes before she could feel the cold, her body temperature returning to normal after a heated nightmare.
'That dream….' Sakura panted, craning her head back. Usually, dreams are easily forgotten, but the effects, what they made you feel, are something that would remain for much longer than the source. The details of the dream were already fading in Sakura's mind, but there were still certain things that remained. The fire and blood, the screams, and the girl's darkened version of herself. A killer.
Her hands, she looked at them, so small, so frail in appearance, and yet the things they were capable of were remarkable. She prided herself on having hands like these, they were able to comfort and heal; it was something they had always done since the beginning of her genin days. Then she started to grow and it wasn't enough, so she learned and became stronger. So that her hands could protect just as well as they could heal.
After all of that, she came here, to this world and suddenly, the hands she prided herself on began getting dirty. She didn't see it at the time, but looking back it had started from day one in this new world. She was fighting all the time, she tried to stay true to herself, but then she found herself falling, for a boy who needed her to set aside her own morals and values to achieve his goals. She did, without realizing the real consequence, what might become of her if she kept turning back for him. It wasn't his fault though, at the end of it, she was the one who chose to walk this path, to remain beside him.
Covering her face with her hands, she held back tears, she would never be able to tell him any of this. Sinbad would surely become guilt-stricken, he was far from a heartless person.
However, everything in life has a price and somewhere along the line, you need to pay.
"Sakura,"
Looking up, right on top of the roof of the company she spotted the tiny red head. Sitting at the edge of the roof.
"What are you doing up here Masrur?" Sakura asked, now sitting beside the young Fanalis boy. He had been sitting there for a while, long before Sakura came running outside. At first, Masrur didn't respond, he was just staring at her, but he didn't give away any indication as to why.
"I couldn't sleep."
Sakura sighed when he finally responded, "So you've just been sitting up here, for how long?"
Masrur gave a tiny shrug, however, Sakura could think of plenty of things that would keep this young boy awake. He was a child, being taken from a life of imprisonment and slavery, brought to a new environment, where he wouldn't know what to expect. Sakura pulled Masrur close to her, her arm over his shoulder.
"Since I can't read your mind, care to share the thoughts keeping you up?"
She wasn't sure she would be getting a response from Masrur, he wasn't like the other children Sakura had interacted with. He didn't have your typical tragic childhood background, nor did he interact in that usual manner most children had. One that lacked in experience and voice, not to mention the level of maturity. Masrur was beyond all of that.
Then Masrur pointed horizontally across the building, to the side. Sakura squinted her eyes, as she looked closer, she saw that the wall of the building there had been cracked and it was missing a piece of its structure. Standing up, Sakura moved in to closer inspect it and gasped when she saw that there appeared to be a long straight line of rubble forming a path. As if someone had been attacked and thrown across to the other side.
"How did that-
"It was that big man, Hinahoho I think was his name," Masrur replied. "He threw me across the building."
Sakura's sweat dropped at the casualness of Masrur's disturbing statement. She wondered what would induce Hinahoho to throw a child across a building roof! Before she would confront him about it, she'd get the whole story from Masrur-she did not want to get an earful from Rurumu at the end of this.
"I was sitting up there and he climbed up when I wouldn't come down." Masrur started. While the other children had a brighter take on their new chance at life, Masrur had a different reaction. He had lost everything, not just his family and home, but also his captivity. While a slave, he was able to spend his days fighting, the one legacy he could take from his lineage. But he didn't have that anymore either.
"There was nothing I wanted to do."
Sakura's eyes looked at Masrur with genuine empathy, of course, he wouldn't understand why. "Then he attacked me and said to show him just how different I was from the rest of you. After that, he threw me into the wall."
"Okay…."
Now she wanted to go and give Hinahoho a piece of her mind, however, Masrur's next words changed her decision as quickly as she made it.
"It was amazing." He said, looking at his hands, recollecting, "It was the first time I had met someone like that. Then I was told, that there were other's-stronger than him. He mentioned you and then all the other different people here. He told me, that this was a place that would accept me no matter who you are and that I should start looking for something I wanted to do. My choices are up to me, that's what it means to be free."
The rukh was fluttering strongly around the usually stoic boy, now he had a hint of happiness shining in his eyes. A sight she was sure would be rare. Somehow seeing him like this, made Sakura's heart feel lighter. All she wanted was to rescue Sinbad, but she had ended up doing so much more than that. She was only seeing the negative effects of her actions and chances were she would for a long time. That did not mean she should overlook the good that has come from this.
Pulling Masrur closer, Sakura rested her chin on his head. "You know, you're right. You're allowed to make your own choices now."
Masrur then asked a question that surprised her, "Sakura, are you going to stay?"
She pulled back to look Masrur in the eye, "What? Why would you ask me something like that?"
Masrur looked down, his hand curled in his lap, "I heard that you might be leaving,"
She wanted to reassure him, however it wasn't something she or Sinbad had the time to mention as of yet. That was going to wait for the next day, while it may put Masrur's mind at ease, there was something she wanted to know first.
"Well I was with Sindria when it just started, but I had something I wanted to do so I ended up leaving."
Masrur muttered, in a voice so soft Sakura nearly didn't hear him, but he spoke at just the right volume for only her ears. "Are you going to leave again?"
"Why do you ask?" Sakura already knew that Masrur wasn't very talkative, the fact that he was talking this long was surprising.
"Because I decided what I want to do." Masrur said, "But I need to be where you are."
Smiling, Sakura gave him a reassuring squeeze, Masrur's head resting on her chest. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. So if that's what you want right now, just stay with Sindria and you'll find me."
Masrur didn't reply, he didn't need to.
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Sinbad developed the healthy habit of rising early due to his occupation, and good thing as there were many piles of responsibilities he had to unpack as the president. Yet that day, work was not a priority in his mind as he made his way from the kitchen, grinning widely.
'She isn't going to think this is overkill right?'
Sakura had made it clear yesterday that he did not want him overdoing it just because of their recent development. However, he was sure she wouldn't mind breakfast in bed; it was a bit of role reversal since she used to be the one to do this for him. He didn't know how that started, since she would just throw him out of bed-something about not wanting to catch him naked again. It was a bit of a compromise, he would be ready early for work if she brought him breakfast in bed.
He sighed, thinking back to that time he had taken advantage of her in more ways than one she didn't even consider herself a real employee, just a friend.
'Some friend I was.' Sinbad thought, catching his reflection in the contents of the cup, 'I'll have to make up for it now.'
The recent turn of events had taken much from him, but he had also gained something. Something he had been chasing for almost two years. When Sakura said she was leaving, he knew that she had no intention of ever returning. He wasn't sure if it was a natural response to a human's greed that knew no bounds, or perhaps his fear of the paths she would cross if she left for good, but he did not want her to go and would not let her.
It didn't matter now though, because she had agreed to stay. He was also the kind of person to gain the favor of other people and create bonds that made him stand out. While many would call this one of his best qualities, that wasn't how Sakura viewed him when they met. She was far more guarded and on top of that, she would never allow herself to see what he wanted her to see. She would work her way to the truth and she usually did, that's why he found it better to always be honest with her. To make sure she never doubted him, because he wanted her trust, and in time, her trust was not enough. He wanted her friendship and then finally, the greed grew. And he wanted everything of her.
That was evident in Artemyra.
Sinbad's thoughts slipped away as he came to the front of her door, he was about to knock when he heard voices, several voices. From behind the door, it sounded simultaneous, all muffled, however, there were brief pauses in between. He pushed the door open.
There gathered around the bed, were none other than Hinahoho, Rurumu, Mystras, Pipirika, Vittel, Mahad, Ja'far-even Serendine, and Drakon! Surrounding the pink-haired girl, in bed with a tray in her lap filled to the brim with breakfast foods. And Masrur chewed quietly next to others.
While he understood that others wanted some of Sakura's time now that she had returned, he was still disheartened he couldn't surprise her with a romantic gesture.
"You seem so different from that time in Valefor's dungeon!"
Sakura was smiling, chatting to everyone, more specifically-Drakon. Given the ex-Parthevia general's new appearance, it was a surprise to see how casually Sakura was behaving. Drakon had lost his appearance as a human. It was Sinbad's djinn metal vessel, Baal that had caused it. Drakon had become Sinbad's household vessel without realizing it, and when he returned to Parthevia; certain circumstances brought him to surrender to the power of the djinn completely-and he meant completely. As a result, his body was transformed until he no longer appeared human. His size trumped Hinahoho's, his skin had been replaced by green scales, his hands had claws and his feet-talons, and his face was that of a reptile. In short, he looked just like a dragon. He had come with Serendine, seeking refuge along with two of the princess's handmaids.
Knowing what it was like to be a refugee of your own country, Sinbad welcomed them and in return, they proved to be a great help to the company, especially after his recent predicament.
'Though I don't know what the heck they would have to talk about.' Sinbad thought, frowning. Sakura had only just met Serendine yesterday and the two had somehow talked for hours, one alone on poison!
"Of course, I know that I may look-
Sakura held up her hand, stopping Drakon "I don't mean your appearance, I meant the atmosphere around you; how you're acting now. If this is what your current look does to you then I like you way better like this."
Drakon appeared lost for words, he had received a lot of grief for his current appearance and here this girl was saying she thought he was better than this. He knew there was no vice behind it, but a pure genuine compliment and he couldn't take it any other way.
"Thank you."
Sakura smiled and turned to Serendine, "You were right about him,"
"I told you." Serendine nodded surely.
"Eh?" Drakon looked back and forth between the two pinkettes.
Hinahoho was the first to realize that another had joined them and waved at Sinbad, "Oh look who's finally awake!"
Sinbad frowned walking into the room, "Finally? How long have you all been awake?"
"They showed up about an hour ago," Sakura replied, still smiling to which Sinbad returned it with his own.
"Yeah, and hijacked my breakfast idea," Sinbad said looking down at the tray. "Now how am I supposed to keep you interested in me?"
"Take me out to dinner."
"You got it," Sinbad winked.
And that's when their comrades realized the change in the air between the two.
Sinbad gave a crooked grin, he and Sakura just established a relationship and it came with conditions.
Sinbad was grinning ear to ear as he pulled back, keeping his hands on Sakura's waist. He knew his mind wasn't playing tricks on him when he heard her say she'll stay. That would've just been too cruel, but when he looked at her expression he knew that it was no lie. Her eyes were shining, her lips curved into a tiny smile, this was real was real.
"Sakura…."
Sinbad leaned his head towards hers, to that tiny curved smile. However, just as their noses touched Sinbad felt a pressure on his lips and he was pushed away. When he opened his eyes, he saw Sakura holding her finger on his lips, only removing it once he was an arm's length away.
"Not so fast there."
"Eh, Sakura….you don't want to…
Had he misread her? It wasn't something that usually happened, he was sure that it was the right time to no, was it possible that he had taken things the wrong way? He thought it was obvious with what he had-
"Hang on." Sakura said, holding up her hand, "I'm not saying that, however you can consider this payback."
Taken aback, Sinbad tilted his head to the side "Payback for what exactly?"
Crossing her arms, Sinbad swallowed hard when he saw Sakura's eyebrow twitch with clear annoyance; they say there was no such thing as stupid questions but he just asked the wrong one.
"Well let's recap; you mentioned Artemyra correct?" Sakura's voice had taken a clear seething tone, with a sarcastic smile on her face and furrowed eyebrows.
Sinbad backed away, of course, she was still going to be mad about that! What girl wouldn't be angry at the person who stole her first kiss?!
Then thinking back to the fact that it was her first kiss, Sinbad accidentally grinned, succeeding in only irking Sakura even more.
"Oh, yes I think I know what event you're referring to, but so much happened over there." Sinbad nodded, crossing his arms as well.
Sakura raised her eyebrow at Sinbad, if he thought that she was going to go along with this game of his, he had another thing coming. "How about what happened right before I left, our little….conversation."
In mock thought, Sinbad tapped his chin, before moving his hand to tap Sakura's lips, tracing the cracks on them. "Mmm, let's see; I don't think I recall. Maybe you could remind me."
Starring at him blankly, Sakura opened her mouth, swiftly catching Sinbad's finger before clamping down hard on it. Sinbad yelped, drawing his hand back to access his throbbing finger to see a small indentation in it.
"Ouch!" Sinbad hissed, shaking his hand.
"Still want me to remind you?" Sakura asked, her voice strong with warning.
"No; I'm good." Sinbad waved.
Sighing, Sakura walked around Sinbad, "Look we've just established a relationship."
Sinbad nodded, "Yes, so why can't we-
"I want to make something clear before that," Sakura said, holding up her hand. "Firstly, I don't want you overdoing it; hands above the waist and below the chest at all times!"
"Eh...do you honestly believe that I would-
"Yes." Sakura deadpanned, effectively silencing him. "Secondly, if it's going to it can only be me."
Sinbad cringed, he knew that condition was an unspoken rule but he didn't think that she would so blatantly bring it up. Then again given his reputation, it was understandable and he did say he would be committed to her.
"Got it." Sinbad nodded.
"And thirdly," Sakura turned and took slow, taunting steps towards Sinbad, who was anxiously waiting for her to finish her list. He looked down at Sakura who was now standing close to him, they were both eye to eye. Smiling, Sakura pushed on the soles of her feet, kissing Sinbad on his cheek. Then, she sidestepped and began walking out of the office.
"Don't try too hard."
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..
Though they haven't talked about whether or not to publicize their relationship or how to do it, Sinbad didn't want this to be a risk factor and chose to leave that to Sakura. However, with everyone looking between the two, while Sakura and Sinbad stared at each other, they probably didn't need to say anything. Their friends were sharp.
"Well, it's about time!" Hinahoho exclaimed, his broad arms spread out. "I was beginning to think the two of you were never going to get together!"
Sinbad let out a nervous laugh, "Were we really that obvious?"
Well if they didn't know before, they certainly did now.
"Wait a second…" Mystras raised a shaking finger between the two. "Don't tell me…."
"The two of you…." Serendine trailed
"Are an item." Drakon finished.
Sakura gave a timid nod, she could feel the heat in her face but didn't say anything. She didn't mind if people knew, but it was another thing when it came to close friends who tended to poke, prod, and tease when in situations like this.
Then there was an eruption of noise coming from everyone in the room, all directed at the new couple. Sinbad and Sakura were the only ones speechless as they started chatting about the two. There were the usual, 'no surprise', 'about time', 'I told you so,' and 'Sinbad's days are numbered.'
Sakura and Sinbad looked at each other, with crooked smiles, doing their best to endure the verbal abuse (or what felt like it to them).
Then Ja'far gave an offhanded comment, "So I guess we'll have a queen after all."
"JA'FAR." Sakura and Sinbad cried out, both faces red causing everyone to laugh.
THAT'S ALL MY LOVELIES! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and Remember to stay strong! I'll see you soon!
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-Kunoichi amongst Heroes WHAT IF SPIN OFF: Dorms and Exams
-Kunoichi amongst Pirates chapter (34, 35, 36)
-Crossroads of Fate chapter 25, 26, 27, 28
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-(SEQUEL) Through the Spyglass chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6
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