Aladdin couldn't sleep and so it had seemed like a fun adventure when Titus had dragged him from the room, insisting they follow. Sphintus too had been woken, moaning and brushing wearily at the sleep in his eyes. He followed them with clumsy steps, but still he came. Aladdin wondered if Titus was something of a nocturnal person to drag them out like this again, like he had before. Still, he liked the boy's company, despite the fact Titus rarely showed much in the way of affection in return.
He led the way anyway, blonde hair hidden under the shroud of his robe and Aladdin padded softly after on bare feet. Sphintus, despite his earlier complaints was silent now. They all knew the penalty of being caught of bed after lights out – even the best students were not exempt from such rules.
Titus looked back, a single finger pressed to his lips and nodded in the direction of the old library. No guards were there thankfully this late at night and Aladdin was relieved that they wouldn't have to resort to some kind of disguise. Once inside, Titus lit a magical candle and smiled; his face lit up by the ball of flame.
"Come, I wanted to show you something. I'll think you'll appreciate this especially, Aladdin."
"What is it?" Alladin asked, blue eyes widening. Sphintus groaned, crossing his arms.
"This better be good to drag me out of bed in the dead of night. A master magician has to sleep, you know."
"Shush, Sphintus. There's time enough to sleep when you're rich and famous, as you'll surely be one day," Titus said, his eyes bright. "Aren't we at this school to gain knowledge after all?"
Though in truth, Aladdin still wasn't sure what Titus had to gain from being at Magnoshutatt Academy. He was certainly powerful enough already to need little extra training and he didn't seem to enjoy the lessons much. Though he did seem to get all fired up at competing with Aladdin, just as he had done at the beginning. He'd been wilder and colder then; shutting off everyone, but Aladdin suspected that there was more kindness in his eyes now. He was glad of it. Those eyes when they had first met had reminded him too much of Alibaba's friend from Balbadd. And, to some extent, Hakuryuu as well... they had both shared that solitary look that came from not relying on others.
The massive tome Titus had pulled down was from a dusty section Aladdin had never been in before – of course, these were the personal records from the library's Archives and such items were restricted to teachers and the principal alone. Titus leafed through the yellow edged pages until he landed on one triumphantly.
"Yes! See, I thought so! Look... don't you see someone familiar?"
Aladdin and Sphintus both leaned in, peering intently at the page. The young magi gasped at the picture there – so strikingly realistic and detailed, it could only have been created with magic. Indeed, he could sense the power of the rukh from within this old book now. But it was what was in the picture that had made him start. A group shot of young magicians who looked to be no older than Titus and Sphintus' age, all smiling and all brandishing their staffs. And there, at the front and centre, with a beaming smile was his former magic teacher, Yamuraiha.
He looked up with a smile at Titus. "Ahh, she's so adorable! It's hard to imagine she was so small once!"
"She was your first teacher, wasn't she, Aladdin?"
The magi beamed at him. "Uh-huh!"
Sphintus groaned. "Are you telling me that you woke me up to look at pictures of old students? Really?"
Titus frowned, pushing the other boy in the side. "Can't you see this is important to Aladdin?"
Aladdin ignored their bickering, happily flickering over more pages, examining all these faces he had never seen before and yet he felt he knew them. Maybe it was his power as a magi but the rukh surrounding these people seemed so familiar to him, as if every person here was bonded together; linked by it.
"Maybe, we'll be in one of these books someday too, huh?" He thought aloud.
Titus laughed. "Just one book? I hope the three of us could manage a whole shelf in this library!"
Sphintus smiled, his eyes narrowing. "Well, I don't know about you, honorary student, but I'm sure I could manage a whole shelf to myself."
Aladdin laughed as the two continued to debate amongst themselves. He missed Alibaba and Mor but since coming here, he'd grown close to these two. In some ways he didn't want the time here to end, wished the rukh could freeze them in place in this brief moment of happiness. But he knew the wheel of time must still move forward regardless to his wishes and Aladdin along with it, in a path that would doubtless take him away from his friends. He was sad for a moment, but then he looked again at the book and felt the bond there, the same bond he felt with all his loved ones and he knew that some things time and distance did not change.
"Aladdin, are you alright?" Titus asked, noticing his pensive expression. Spintus too, looked at him with a worried eye. So, Aladdin smiled and nodded, his braid bouncing with the movement.
"Of course! I'm always alright!"