Sinbad was slowly being reeled in by Serendine's words. The thought of marriage with her had caught him off guard but hearing he was allowed to use her to his advantage sounded more appealing to him by the moment. Even with all the freedom of womanizing, his eyes still drifted off to Sera's unconscious form being watched over by Masrur. 

He shook his head to get his attention back on the match. This wasn't the time to be swayed by a woman (although it does happen when working at the company). 

"Use me as a stepping stone to make your perfect world a reality!" Serendine persisted, laying a hand on his shoulder. The fire in her eyes burned into his own and it was hard to look away, he was being drawn in by her words. 

"I can give you everything you want!"

That was the final nail in the coffin. 

His eyes weren't even on the scale, but he knew this was the end based on all the surprised mutters from everyone. He still had some hope nonetheless. There was still time, wasn't there?

"Your heart has wavered. Sinbad loses."

There wasn't.

Sinbad clenched his teeth. He refused to believe he was passing on the opportunity for more power. This couldn't really be happening now. 

"... Wow, I'm surprised," Zepar muttered, "I never thought that Sinbad would actually lose..." 

"I..." Sinbad huffed as sweat rolled his forehead, "I can still fight!" He turned to face Zepar with a pleading gleam in his eyes, their fire having been overtaken by Serendine's just moments ago. 

There still had to be some time. "I-I'm just thinking of a counter-argument," he claimed, "my heart hasn't given up yet. I can...!" There was no space for giving up, not when his friends practically risked their own lives for him. 

Surprisingly enough, Zepar actually looked sympathetic. "Sinbad..." He said, "no matter what you say, her words have moved. You agree with her conviction. The fact that the scales have shifted is proof." He pointed at Sinbad's end of the scale, which had tipped severely. 

Zepar crossed his arms, "you have lost this fight." He then turned his gaze over to Serendine, "I will acknowledge you as my king vessel as I promised."

"... Although with you backing up Sinbad, it seems like I'll still end up being used by him one way or another," Zepar sighed, "I'm sure you all must detest me after all I've done-" his gaze flickered over to Sera and Kimi, who were both still unconscious- "... But please let me tell you one last thing." 

This time, his expression was that of sorrow. "I know what it's like to live in a world where a single great king rules over everything." Looking deep into his eyes, it was almost like one can see the memories flickering through them. 

"However, no matter how great a leader you are, the betrayal of one's allies can lead to the death of that king and destruction of the word." He flinched at this particular part of his explanation, "I never want to see that happen again..."

"A king must live a lonely existence..." He whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear, "I want all of you to become true allies that protect the one you follow and support him from behind. That's my own true wish."

Zepar allowed his gaze to drift to the ground, "I've done a lot of immature things. I'm sorry."

His expression then changed drastically, "King vessel, I give you my power." His boomed throughout the whole dungeon. 

"Go forth and make the world a better place..."

Throughout the whole ordeal, Sinbad had just stayed staring at his feet, silent. Even as the magic circle came to transport them back to Heliohapt. His whole body felt numb as he ignored the stare from Ja'far digging into the back of his head. He could faintly hear Mystras' excited chatter and Hinahoho's light snoring. 

How could he have lost? 

How was that possible?

*~*~*

Sera groaned lightly and pressed a hand to her forehead, which was pounding. The last thing she remembered was fighting a possessed Kimi and then nothing else afterward. 

My name... 

Is Bathsheba.

She shot up when she remembered what she saw in those distant memories that belonged to someone else. All that death and destruction almost hit her full force along with the emotions being spilled from Bathsheba, it almost made want to cry. She held her tears back, however, there was no point in crying now. 

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Masrur staring down at her. "Ah," spoke Sera with a smile, "you're okay." She reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders but stopped with a wince. 

In an instant, Mystras and Ja'far were next to her with their arms held out in front of them. "Are you okay?" Fretted Ja'far, "you shouldn't move. You used more power than you were used to during that fight!" 

So, that was it. Sera must've used too much power during that match. It made sense considering she never used those powers before, Amdusias was just feeding ideas into her head. Fortunately, they worked. But the wince came from something else. 

She glanced behind her and noticed that her leg actually did get injured during her fight with Kimi. Despite pretending to fake it, the pain must've not set in at the time because of her adrenaline rush. 

"Ah..." Sera sighed, "damn..." 

Ja'far's eye twitched, "that's all you have to say!" He exclaimed. 

Sera playfully rolled her eyes, "calm down, small fry," she joked, "tis' but a scratch."

Ja'far looked about ready to give a whole new set of injuries to worry about. That was, until Kimi then woke up, essentially saving Sera from a beating. 

All of Ja'far's attention was brought to her and her own set of injuries. Sera winced when she noticed a small trail of dried blood coming from Kimi's ears, that was her own fault. Not to mention, based on all the flinching from the lecture, her ears must still be sensitive. 

"How could you be so reckless?! You could've gotten killed too! And what was with that secret djinn?!"

Sera shakily stood up and limped towards the two. When she reached them, she laid a hand on Ja'far's shoulder and nudged for him to give her some time alone. He huffed but relented nonetheless. 

"Sorry about your ears," she said sheepishly, "I would heal them, but-" she held up a hand- "don't think the rukh can supply me with any water right now." She laughed and scratched at the back of her head. 

Kimi stayed quiet and felt a tad embarrassed, she said nothing. Sera noticed and bumped her shoulder against hers, "come on, talk to me. You were such a chatterbox when we first met," she teased lightly.

"Hey, I was not!" Kimi denied, crossing her arms with a light blush. 

"Ah, finally. You spoke!" Sera proclaimed proudly with a chuckle, "how are the rest of your injuries? Other than your ears."

Kimi looked down at her body and noticed all the scratches and bruises. "I've been better," she said cooly with a shrug, "definitely gonna need someone to heal them though." 

"Don't worry," assured Sera, "once we get out of here, I'll heal them for you. Just one question though." She held up a finger in front of Kimi. 

Kimi rose a brow and tilted her head. 

Sera's gaze trailed down to the ground, or at least the magic circle they were on. "What... What did you see? When he took control?" She asked, remembering how when she was taken control of Madaura was there. She knew Kimi screamed both the names, Arba and David. At the time, they had meant nothing to Sera, but now, a feeling came along with the names. She couldn't pinpoint the name of the feeling.

Kimi tensed at the question as she suddenly remembered what had happened during the whole fight. Those were definitely memories that she didn't want to relive. It wasn't like she could say anything without revealing too much. "All I can say is... Watch your back, okay?" She asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

Sera rose a brow but decided not to press on further. She nodded and pulled Kimi into a hug, "I will. Do the same for you as well, okay?" Said Sera, squeezing her a bit for a split second. 

Kimi nodded with a small laugh, "okay."

Sera pulled away and tried standing again, this time it was a tad easier. Kimi, however, noticed the injury on her leg. "Ah, I'm so sorry about that!" She fretted sheepishly with a blush. 

Sera chuckled and laid a hand on her head, "don't about it," she replied, "now, if you'll excuse me. Gotta go talk to him." She nudged her head towards a sulking Sinbad. Kimi followed her eyes and nodded. 

She managed to walk over to Sinbad with no complication and sat in front of him. "Hey..." She spoke softly. Sera could guess how things went, judging by no injuries being present there wasn't a physical battle and by the look on his face, he didn't claim Zepar. 

Sinbad stayed silent and didn't move or even glance up to look at her when she spoke. Sera sighed, "don't tell me I have to flash you to get you to notice me this time," she teased lightly, reaching for the top of her dress. 

At that, she noticed Sinbad's eyes flick up to the top of her dress and then back down. She giggled, "I knew at least that would catch your attention," she said, "you don't have to look at me, but hopefully you'll listen." Sera grabbed his hand and rubbed his knuckles lightly. His hand twitched at the contact for a moment but didn't move. 

"I don't want to say something cheesy like things will get better," Sera chuckled, "but I will say, I've only known you for a short time and I already know you're destined for some amazing things." She smiled softly while gazing down at her hand holding his. 

"One failure shouldn't get you down. There are over dozens of dungeons out there, some I'm sure are stronger than Zepar," she said with a wink, "don't tell him I said that though." She brought a finger up to her lips. 

She let go of his hand and got on her knees. Sera slowly brought her hands up to his cheeks, giving him time to push her hands away. He didn't. "So, look at me and let me see that fire back in your eyes because your journey is only beginning," she whispered and leaned down to press a kiss to the corner of his lips. 

With that final statement said, she stood again and left him alone with his thoughts for the rest of the journey. 

Fortunately, no one saw and as soon as she felt her face begin to heat up, Sera wrapped the fabric she had tried around her hips around her ears to keep them covered again. It was a good way to keep everyone's eyes off the blush on her face as well. 

Unbeknownst to her, one person managed to notice the entire interaction. 

And that person was Kimi. 

*~*~*

"Did everyone make it?"

"Ugh... There's sand in my mouth!"

"Ouch! Who's stepping on me?!"

Needless to say, the landing wasn't very on point. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting, your majesty."

"We've conquered the dungeon and returned the royal tomb to its former state just as we promised," Sinbad proclaimed proudly with a hand on his chest, "now the rest is up to all of you... The Heliohapt royal family."

Both Armakan and Narmes stared at Sinbad in shock, looked at each other and then back at Sinbad to express their thanks. Ja'far looked between the two with a quizzical expression and mostly kept his eyes on Sin. 

Sera didn't say anything. She knew Ja'far had been a tad concerned with Sin's demeanor, but she'd rather not tell him about the slightly intimate conversation she had with him before. Kimi had her eyes on Sera with a mischevious glint in them but decided to say nothing. Yet. 

Ja'far then thought back on what had happened when they were being transported in the magic circle. 

"It seems like we'll be arriving soon. Prepare yourselves," he had said causing Hina to finally wake up and stand. 

 Mystras had spoken up, "Ja'far..." 

Ja'far glanced at Mystras, his eyes leaving Sinbad. "What is it, Mystras?" He asked. 

"Well... It might be better not to ask this, but... What will we do after this?" Mystras asked, catching everyone off guard.

"We've taken care of the dungeon but once we return we'll be back in Heliohapt," he began to explain, "the whole reason we came here at the beginning was to head to the dark continent, right?" 

"But as Miss Serendine said, that undeveloped are isn't a suitable place to build a country..." He pointed out, referencing their word battle between Sinbad and Serendine. "So, what's going to happen to our search for land to establish a country on...?" 

Ja'far didn't know what to say and scratched at his cheek, "W... Well, that's..."

"What are you saying? We're still going to the continent," a voice cut in.

"Sin?!" Exclaimed Ja'far.

"... It's true there's only a slim chance of us finding what we're searching for. King Rashid said so himself, didn't he?" Said Sin.

"I can't guarantee that it's the type of place you're looking for," he quoted.

"So it doesn't matter if we discover land for a country or not. What's more important is that the dark continent is Masrur's homeland." Sin laid a hand on Masrur's shoulder and smiled, "the land of the fanalis. That alone is reason enough for us to go there."

"Besides, if I were really the type to give up before seeing for myself. We never would have come here in the first place." He gestured to where they were and referenced Heliohapt, "I'm not giving up. The same goes for my dreams." With that said, he had glanced at Sera again, who looked away with a light blush and a beaming smile on her lips.

*~*~*

The royal tomb much bigger than Sera had initially thought, it was quite impressive, to say the least. She glanced away from the structure to look at Narmes, who was busy spilling a bit of trivia about the tomb. 

"It's all so amazing," Sera whispered under her breath, admiring the construction.

"The people of this country built this..." Ja'far said in awe, "it reminds me of a dungeon. Amazing construction techniques."

Sera tuned out the rest of what they were saying but caught a few words. Such as a tad detail about the country's declining wealth and the need for trade, perfect for a company like Sinbad's. 

"So..."

Sera turned to see Kimi staring at her with a glint in her eyes. She was a tad unsettled by it. "Yes...?" She asked hesitantly. 

"When were you going to tell me about your's and Sinbad's secret love affair~?" She teased while cackling behind her hand. 

Sera's face erupted into a full blush at her words. "W-What are you talking about? And keep your voice down!" She sputtered, reaching down to clamp Kimi's mouth shut. 

Kimi dodged her and giggled, "kiss, kiss fall in love~!" She sang causing Sera to grow angry and chase her around to get her to stop. Everyone was too wrapped up staring at the tomb to even notice the two goofing off.

By the time Sera managed to get close enough to catch her. Sinbad called out the two of them, everyone else was already walking ahead and had ignored the two's small fight until now. "Hey, you two. Hurry up or you'll get left behind," he said, waving them over. 

"Oh~! Your lover's calling~!" Kimi sang while giggling again. 

Sera fumed, "quit it!" She exclaimed, summoning her trident to bonk Kimi on the head. 

Kimi winced while rubbing the small injury, "owie~! That hurt!" She whined. 

"That's what you get," Sera muttered while walking past Kimi. She huffed and ignored the pleased look at Sinbad's face after hearing Kimi's last tease.

Then, everyone was off to where the former king was placed. The walk didn't take very long because after a couple of minutes Narmes declared, "we've arrived. Our former king rests here."

The group followed Narmes in and surrounded the tomb in the middle of the room. "Now..." he said, "to confirm what's carved on the sarcophagus." He instructed everyone to begin scanning every inch of it. But even with all the frantic searching, no one found anything. They all shot each other confused glances. 

"What?!" Exclaimed Narmes when he finally stopped searching.

Ja'far stared at the tomb with scrunched brows, "I'm sure we were told that the final words of the former king naming his successor were to be carved in the sarcophagus, but..." He trailed off, crossing his arms in thought. 

"Yeah... But..." Muttered Sinbad. 

Queen dowager Patra stared in shock like everyone else and managed to say something amidst all the shock. "What... In the world..." She muttered, "there's nothing written here?" She blurted out.

Sinbad ignored her outburst and glanced up at Narmes, "Narmes, what's going on...?" He asked. 

Narmes felt a nervous sweat begin to come on his forehead. "I don't know... This has never happened before..." He said confused and frantic. 

The vizier wasn't convinced that they were all looking hard enough. "The last words of the former king must be here somewhere! Start looking!" He instructed. After searching for more time everyone still didn't manage to find anything.

From the corner of Sera's eye, she noticed Mystras examing something with intent. She turned to him and watched him try to lift the lid of the tomb. "Did you find something Mystras?" She asked, getting everyone's attention. 

Mystras looked up and nodded, "there's something strange in here..." He said. 

Sinbad and Narmes walked over to Mystras to help him shove the lid of the tomb to the side. When they had finally opened it enough a scroll was revealed to be on top of the king's resting place. "... A scroll?" Questioned Sinbad. 

Narmes pulled it out and unrolled it. Patra, him, and Armakan began to read from it. 

I am Atenkumen. 

This is my final will and testament. This is a deviation from the custom of carving one's name into the sarcophagus; a custom established by generations of kings. 

Listen carefully to all those of royal family. I am personally putting an end to this royal custom. I will not choose the next King. The ones to choose the next King will be you. 

Armakan. 

Sharrkan. 

As the two Princes of Heliohapt, you must work together to decide who will be the next King. 

That was the end of the letter.

There was a loss of words between everyone. Narmes still stayed staring the unrolled scroll in front of him. "...What does this mean...?" He asked. 

Sinbad was still as confused as him as well. "The former King didn't choose a successor... That means..." He trailed off. 

"The next King hasn't been decided yet," finished Sera. 

Narmes looked as if he was going to collapse. "Unbelievable... Nothing like this has happened before. The King has always chosen his own successor. That is the royal family's tradition. That's..." He mumbled the last few words. 

"I can't believe that our longstanding custom... One that has continued for centuries, would be broken like this..." Narmes wondered.

Patra, however, refused to believe any of it, "there's no way the former King would do that... Right?" She asked, "Sharrkan's name was supposed to be carved into the sarcophagus, wasn't it?" She looked delirious as she spoke.

Her eyes began to grow red, "Sharrkan... You said so, didn't you? You said you would become the next King... Didn't you tell us that?!" She hissed. 

Patra caught eyes with Sharrkan and began to stare him down, "Answer me Sharrkan!" She demanded. 

Sharrkan didn't answer, his only response was a terrified tremble as his fear filled eyes were on the ground. The quiet response only made Patra grow angrier by the second, "... Oh, is that it...?" She asked, a dark undertone in her voice.

She growled and lunged at him and before anyone could intervene she grabbed his wrist in a tight hold, "you deceived me even though you're just a puppet...?!" Patra growled.

Narmes gasped and quickly went to grab Patra to pull her away, "Please stop, Lady Patra!!" He pleaded. 

"Silence, Narmes!" She bossed, shoving his hand away.

"We're only here because Sharrkan was supposed to be King! If that... If that has...!!" Her own anger almost stopped her from forming coherent sentences.

"If everything has turned out like this, we should have just kept using the dungeon and the curse to drag Armakan from the throne!!" She bellowed causing everyone, except for the Vizier and Anubis, to stare in disbelief at the confession. 

It was then that Narmes used the opportunity to grab Patra's hand off Sharrkan's arm. 

Everything was deathly quiet and Armakan slowly walked towards Patra. "Even though you're the dowager queen," he began to speak, "you've agitated our citizens and thrown our country into chaos. That is unforgivable." He frowned at her. Had his eyes been open Sera would've guessed there would've been heavy disdain swirling in them.

"Isn't that all your fault, Armakan?" Patra spat, "We wouldn't have had to use such methods if you hadn't advocated international diplomacy." 

"That last thing our nation needs is for to encourage negative attention from the Reim empire, that would be unforgivable. What we did this was necessary to protect this country!" She exclaimed, her hands were beginning to tremble.

Armakan stayed calm through her whole spiel. "You say we shouldn't attract Reim's attention and yet, you belong to the new Reim faction, don't you?" He accused.  Both the Vizier and Patra flinched at the accusation.

"New Reim faction?" Ja'far questioned, glancing at Narmes for an answer. 

Narmes then went on to explain, as always, that the new Reim faction had to do with people forming a close relationship with Reim in order to avoid confrontation. There were a small number of people in their country that had joined for the sake of protecting Heliohapt.

"What's wrong with that?!" Patra glowered.

"Without doing so, surviving all these years would have been impossible! Our small nation! There's no way we're a match for such a huge Empire!" She claimed, "Only through carefully monitoring Reim's mood and playing by their rules we have been able to protect this country!"

Sera crossed her arms throughout the whole explanation and leaned down towards Kimi. "Seems a tad hypocritical, don't you think?" She whispered as Narmes began to argue with the vizier. 

Kimi nodded and mimicked Sera's movements. "Yes, it does. Why go through all the trouble of avoiding your supposed enemy if you're just going to join them anyway?" She inquired, a hand on her chin in thought. 

Sera leaned back up and her thoughts were then swirling around what Kimi had said. Her eyes trailed over to Serendine and she quickly shook her head. There was no way that would happen.

Meanwhile, both Narmes and the Vizier were fighting on what direction to take Heliohapt in. All of the pointless arguing was then abruptly stopped after a voice cut in.

"Hold on a minute!" 

Sinbad strode up between the two of them. "I can... solve your problem!" He proclaimed proudly ignoring the expressions of shock and confusion.

"... No, the seven seas alliance can!"

~~~

A/N: Based on the last two author's notes, just about anyone can tell how indecisive I am and I apologize for that. I mostly apologize to ghostgirlluminisa cause she had to put up with it the most, I'm sorry that I'm not the best collab partner!

To any readers that are left (if there are any), I hope you enjoyed this!