Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

The Promise

"We're going through that portal thing again!!!" Alibaba exclaimed as they drew closer.

"What else were you expecting!?" Faith asked dubiously.

"I don't know!" Alibaba said defensively. "Aw, dammit! I don't wanna feel like I'm being ripped apart again!"

"Yeah, that sucks!" Faith agreed with a grimace. "Well, at least it's only your second time and not your third! Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times boys and girls, 'cause here we goooo!!!" she exclaimed as they were sucked into the portal.

FSHUUUU...

'... Where am I?' Faith wondered as she opened her eyes. Instead of the usual forceful pulling sensation, it felt more like she was floating. 'So dark, I can't see...' Faith rubbed her eyes and soon realized that she was in space again once her eyes adjusted. Way down below, she could see the surface of a dark, reddish planet. She was still sitting on the magic eight-pointed star seal thingy the Djinn had made and being transported through a spiraling tunnel of light... but unlike her previous experiences with teleportation or whatever this was, it felt like she was moving at a slow, almost leisurely/dream-like pace. It was a complete cake-walk by comparison.

"Faith... You're here too," Aladdin said, alerting her to his presence. Faith looked around and saw him gliding up to her from behind. Apparently, you could float short distances inside of this thing if you tried...

"Oh, there you are... Is it just us?" she asked.

"I dunno... Let's check," he said. So the two of them scooted around until they saw another familiar face.

"Alibaba-kun..." Aladdin called, getting the other boy's attention.

"Yo!" Faith said as they both paused to give him a little wave.

"Ah, Aladdin!! Faith!!!" Alibaba said, looking surprised to see them for some reason. He must have thought he was alone, too.

"So, looks like we'll be home soon," Aladdin remarked as he and Faith floated over, pretending to swim through the air.

"Yeah, it does," Alibaba agreed.

"Meanwhile, this is pretty sweet," Faith said, doing the backstroke in midair. There was something really relaxing about the atmosphere. "It feels  good~!"

"Yeah... I just feel like kicking back," said Alibaba.

"Me too..." Aladdin agreed.

"..." The three of them sat in a comfortable silence for a moment as they watched the lights swirling around the outside of the vortex they were in. every now and then it would be spread thin enough in some areas for them to be able to tell that the source of the light appeared to be swarms of those little glowing bird things from earlier.

"But I'm still too hyped up to sleep," said Faith.

"Yeah, let's talk some," said Alibaba.

"Okay!" said Aladdin.

"That sure was one hell of a quest!" said Faith.

"I know!" Alibaba agreed. "I thought I'd die—um, wait, let's see... more than seven times over!"

"Yeah, there was that time... Oh, and that other one..." said Faith, ticking each incident off on her fingers. "For a moment, I really thought we'd be eaten by those giant ants back then..." The thought made her shudder.

"Yup, those ants sure were evil!" Aladdin agreed with a smile.

"But those eggs were pretty, right?" said Alibaba brightly.