Chapter Ten: Where is Tettia?!

"Good morning, Morg. Morning, Tet," yawned a just-woken-up Aladdin. Sleepy tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

Morgiana sat up in her bed. "Though, it's already noon…" she said.

"Mmm… is Tet still sle—" he asked and then stopped. "Where is she?"

"What do you mean? Tettia should be right…" Morgiana looked on the other side of Aladdin, where Tettia should have been, only to find that she was not there, "… there… beside you…"

As Aladdin got ready, Morgiana said, "By the way, about the conversation last night…?"

"About Wonder Man Alibaba?" the young Magi said. "I'm sure it's a different person!"

"ALIBABA SALUJA! You have explaining to do, mister!" exclaimed Tettia as she finally managed to find the blond. It had not taken her too terribly long, she left soon after midnight and found Alibaba by six in the morning.

The blond whipped around to face her. "T-tettia?! What are you doing here?!"

Marching over to the blond, passed several people she did not know, Tettia grabbed him by the rope necklace — which was her signature at that point — and pulled him closer to her face. The same procedure every single time Alibaba did something stupid. "And just what the hell, might I ask, have you been doing?! We split up for a few months and you go and become a goddamn thief?! Wonder Man Alibaba?!" she exclaimed, almost flipping out. Her crimson eyes bored directly into Alibaba's golden ones.

Alibaba sweat-dropped as the people around him looked at the two with raised eyebrows. "Look, calm down, Tettia…" he said, throwing his hands up in defense.

"No! I refuse to calm the fuck down! What are you doing, you idiot?! Is this what you go and do if I leave your side for, like, two fucking months?!"

"I can explain this… I really can… I promise," the blond replied, trying to convince the red-head to calm down.

That was when a young man with black dreadlocks in a half-ponytail stepped closer to the duo. "Umm… not to be rude, but who exactly are you?" the young man said semi-coldly.

Tearing her eyes away from Alibaba and pulling herself away from him slightly, Tettia gazed at the young man. "I'm Ali's really good friend, Tettia is my name. Who are you?" she asked.

"Well, I'm Cassim," Cassim introduced himself. "Also, how did you find this place?"

Tettia looked back at Alibaba and said, "I'm not done with you yet, mister," before she let go of his rope necklace. Turning to Cassim, Tettia spoke calmly, "I found this place because tracked Alibaba here… don't worry, I came alone. I masked my scent so my other friends couldn't find me. See, I'm a half-blooded Fanalis and therefore I have an enhanced sense of smell; the reason I masked my scent was because my other friend is a pureblood Fanalis, so… yeah."

Cassim looked at Alibaba. "Do you think we should keep her around? She knows where our hideout is, if she leaves, she could tell our enemies where we are. We would have to kill her," he said.

Tettia laughed and put a hand up. "Ahem, excuse me… I'm still here ya know. Plus, you won't have a need to worry about me leaving or anything like that, because I ain't leaving until Ali leaves," she said with a smile.

"Wait, excuse me?!" exclaimed Alibaba.

The half-Fanalis rolled her eyes. "You heard me, pretty boy. You, obviously, cannot last two fucking days without getting into trouble with me gone. Therefore, as much as I love Aladdin and I hate being away from him, I want to stay by your side. Also, I know without a shadow of a doubt that Laddin and take care of himself while I'm gone," she said.

Alibaba looked at her weirdly. "Are you absolutely sure? Because, you do know that once you join us, you'll be a criminal, right?" he asked, making sure she did want this.

Putting her hands on her hips, a heavy sigh escape her lips, "Yes. I am absolutely sure. I don't care if I become a criminal… you obviously need the help! Plus, I'm sure I'd have a much more fun time here with you than I will dealing with other matters around this country."

Cassim and Alibaba shared a glance before Cassim sighed, "Fine, fine, she can join us. Welcome to the Fog Troupe, Tettia. Don't mess up, or I will kill you."

"Aye aye, sir! I won't mess up! Now… what are we doing?" asked Tettia. "Also, would it be okay if I stole Alibaba for a few?"

"Well, we were just going over our attack strategy for the attack tonight," said Cassim. "Also, I suppose I don't care if you steal Alibaba… for a few minutes. We will hold off on discussing the strategy until you and he return."

Tettia smiled and grabbed Alibaba by the rope and dragged him into the hallway. "Come on, boy… you have some explaining to do. Thanks again, Cassim. Oh, and by the way, I think you're pretty cute," she said with a smile, closing the door.

"Uhh… thanks… I guess?" said Cassim. He looked at his troops, who just shrugged, all just as confused at he was.

Once the duo were far enough away from the room where the others would not hear them, which was in a room about twenty feet away from the previous one, Tettia got serious again. "All right," she said and lightly threw the blond against a wall in the room. "One, you're a fucking idiot. Two, if I had know this is what you were gonna do, I wouldn't've left your side. Three, you're soo lucky I took a liking to you or so help me, I would have killed you by now."

Alibaba rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… I know… this kinda just… well, happened. I came back to take care of some business…"

"And what a way to go about that, Ali! Really, wonderful fucking job!" Tettia pinched the bridge of her nose as she continued, "So instead of dealing with this business in a civilized manner, you resort to becoming the leader of a damn group of thugs? Geez, why are you so… ugh! I can't deal with your idiocy right now. But… for some reason, I… uggggghh!"

He titled his head in confusion. "What?"

She laughed, "I don't know why but for some fucking reason, I can't bring myself to cause you harm. As much as you deserve it."

"So, that's a good thing, I take it," he said with a smile.

Tettia groaned, "Ugh!" She was frustrated, she wanted to hit Alibaba for being a twit, but her feelings towards him made her not. Sighing heavily, she looked at him. "…you're lucky I just might have feelings for you…" she muttered to herself, crossing her arms and pouting.

Alibaba smiled, looking at her with his arms also crossed. "What was that, Tet?" he asked.

Tettia rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. "None of business, that's what! As for that explanation I demanded earlier… forget it. I won't demand it… but if we cross Aladdin's path before your business here is done, he will demand answers… so, I hope you'll be ready for that," she said, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder.

Looking at the ground, the blond spoke, "I don't know if I'd be ready for that…"

Smiling softly, Tettia said, "Well… you're gonna have to make sure you're ready… because I held up my end of the deal."

The blond sighed, "I'll try to be prepared…"

Tettia smiled and kissed his cheek. "That's all you can do. Now, how about we go back to that meeting… I have no idea what we're planning," she said.

Blushing, Alibaba nodded. "Y-yeah… we should go back. I'm pretty sure we've been gone more than a few minutes," he said.

"Yeah… they're probably thinking we are doing something else than just talking. Hehe~ showing yourself around Alibaba Park, perhaps," the red-head said through a devious smirk.

The blond laughed nervously, "Y-yeah… d-don't need them thinking we're close like that…"

Dragging him by the necklace, Tettia lead the duo out of the room they were in and back down the hallway. "There's nothing wrong with them thinking that. I have hinted towards it more than enough, we might as well be. Not to mention, I saved your ass from that ugly-looking hostess back in Chishan," spoke Tettia, looking over her shoulder.

Alibaba remained silent, a blush still on his face. Tet's not wrong… she did save my ass back then and has hinted at us being more. Though… I'm not sure… thought the blond as he looked at the back of Tettia's head. A sudden thought hit him: Tettia's hair looked soft, but was it as soft as it appeared. Before he knew it, Tettia had opened the door and the two re-entered the room; Cassim's golden eyes looking at them. "Welcome back… I was about to send someone for you both," he said.

"Nah, no need. I apologize, our talk ran a little long… I seemed to forget about time," Tettia spoke as she let Alibaba go.

"I can understand that. Now, back the the attack plan," Cassim said, turning his attention to the layout of a merchant's mansion; the merchant who they would be stealing from later that night.

Tettia listened intently to the plan. Two of Cassim's old friends, Zaynab and her husband Hassan were to take some men and go in first. Cassim, Alibaba, Tettia and some more men would go ahead and rob another place slightly before Zaynab and her wave were to begin their attack; afterwards, Cassim's unit was to report as backup to Zaynab's unit. The goal was to take as much wealth as they could grab and give it back to the people of the slums — those people who were left to starve by Balbadd's current king, Ahbmad Saluja.

"This is a pretty well thought out battle plan. I've never really thought this much about something I am doing… but then again, I guess since we're thieves, we need a well thought out plan," said Tettia.

Cassim laughed at her statement. "You've never had to steal before, have you?" he asked.

Tettia blushed in embarrassment and muttered, "Is it that obvious…?"

"Don't worry, kid, stick with us and we'll show ya the ropes! And also how to properly steal without being caught or killed," Zaynab said, smirking at the newbie.

Tettia nodded. "Okay, I would really like that! I need more skills under my belt."

"What kind of skills?!" exclaimed Alibaba.

Snickering, Tettia replied, "Naughty ones… what the fuck do you think? Nah, I'm talking about legit skills like robbery and shit like that. Sometimes, being a pickpocket can pay off, ya know."

Alibaba looked at her, "O-oh… okay then…"

"I can't believe you actually want you girl to learn naughty skills for you, Alibaba," said Cassim, who looked at his blond friend with amusement.

"I-I don't! She just likes to tease me!"

"And that's a bad thing, Ali? You seem to like it when I tease you profusely," said Tettia.

Alibaba blushed, "I do not!"

Cassim laughed, "I think you're lying to yourself."

"Shut up, Cassim!" exclaimed Alibaba.

"Right now I do not have any metal vessels!" exclaimed Sinbad, looking at the young Magi and his other Fanalis friend.

Tora was laughing hysterically, "That of which is your fucking fault, by the way!"

"We aren't going to assign blame here, Tora," retorted Sinbad.

Ja'far looked at the purple-haired king with a cold look in his eyes. "Oh yes we are. All seven were stolen from you," he said.

Sinbad waved it off and asked the Magi, "Would you be willing to lend us your power and help us capture the Fog Troupe?"

Aladdin and Morgiana looked at the king. "Capture the Fog Troupe!?" asked Aladdin.

"Yes. Join forces with us so that the Fog Troupe, which is causing a disturbance in this country can be brought to justice," said the purple-haired king.

Tora stopped laughing and placed a hand on his shoulder, her grip on his shoulder was that of a death-grip. "Whoa, wait a second! Just what the fuck did you drink last night, Sin?! He's still a damn kid," she exclaimed in an irritated tone.

Nodding in agreement and looking harshly at Sinbad, Ja'far said in an equally annoyed voice, "Exactly! What nonsense are you saying!? We can't get a child involved with this, you know!" The white-haired man stood in front of the young bluenette and continued, "How could you ask such a young child to undergo such dangers?"

"Yeah! How the hell could you expect him to agree," growled the pinkish red-eyed purplenette. She let Sinbad's shoulder out of her vice-grip, only to punch a hole in the nearby brick wall. "Now, if my fucking instant best friend Tet were still around, we could have damned well asked her; but that bitch decided to go missing!"

Sinbad smiled an open-mouthed grin as he replied, "… but ages doesn't matter, does it? The most important point is whether they have the capability of facing the thieves or not. Aladdin is a Magi. Just as you both see here, he wields power beyond imagination." The king signaled to Ugo as he continued, "Although he is still a child, his capability already far surpasses that of a fully grown adult. I was 14 when I first captured a dungeon. It was said that thousands had died in that dungeon. Since then, my experiences during those repeated voyages, adventures and life-threatening fights have become my weapon in those years where survival wasn't guaranteed. What is needed is power. To stay alive when challenging unknown worlds, you need an ability that surpasses everyone else's! He has that power. You both should be able to see it too, right?"

Ja'far and Tora shared a look before they looked back at Sinbad. "Fine…" Ja'far finally caved.

Tora sighed heavily, still pissed off at her idiot king's decision, "You're lucky you have a damn good compelling argument, King Moron."

Now they waited for the young Magi's answer. He put his hands behind his back and said, "Mister said to get rid of the thieves… Morg, what should we do?"

Morgiana thought for a few moments. "Let's join them," she answered.

"Are we going to?" asked Aladdin.

The purebred Fanalis answered, "Yes. That is because… the ship to the Dark Continent was halted due to the Fog Troupe. Once the Fog Troupe is taken down, the harbor will probably resume its activities. Furthermore, according to our previous conversation, this man is familiar with Balbadd's King. If we managed to solve this problem, we can borrow the country's resources to aid us in our search for Alibaba… and now, Tettia."

Morgiana's answer made Sinbad smile. "Oh~. Morgiana is clever. Completely different from you who resolves everything through brute force," he exclaimed, patting Masrur on the back, laughing as he did so.

Masrur remained stoic and quiet, while Tora growled at their king. "Are you saying I'm not clever, either, Sin?" she questioned in a dangerous voice, fire in her eyes. Everyone from Sindria knew that the one thing to avoid was calling Tora an idiot. Sure, she did have those moments, but everyone has those moments.

Sinbad was quick to defend himself, "No! Not at all! Plus, why would I say that you aren't clever, Tora?"

Cracking her knuckles, Tora replied, "I dunno, Sin… but you know I like to resolve things through brute force too!"

"Tora, don't even think about punching Lord Sin. Please," sighed Ja'far.

"You always ruin my fun, Ja'far!" yelled Tora as she instead punched yet another hole in the nearby wall. After she did that, she hung off Masrur's arm, "Massy~~~! Love me~~!"

Masrur looked at her and ruffled her purple hair. "You know I do, Tora," he stoically said.

Leaving Tora and Masrur to their own thing, Morgiana looked up at Sinbad and said, "Before we lost Tet, we were looking for someone, and now we're looking for two people; surely you can request the king to help us."

With his golden eyes casted down at the purebred Fanalis and a smile, Sinbad assured, "Of course. I will ask the king of Balbadd to send people to search the entire nation. Furthermore, I will arrange a boat to the Dark Continent. How does that sound?"

Aladdin was quick to shake the king's hand, exclaiming, "Yeah! We'll help with taking care of those thieves!"

Sinbad was happy as he said, "Then we have an agreement! Let's draw up a strategy, Aladdin!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Aladdin, who was following behind Sinbad. Morgiana was following after them as well.

Sinbad stopped and said, "As for Morgiana! Why don't you just stay at the hotel and wait for us?"

That stopped the Fanalis in her tracks. Why would she do that? She was perfectly capable of fighting as well. "Um… I can fight, too…" she answered.

King Sinbad waved her statement off. "No, even if you are a Fanalis, I can't let a girl fiii– as young as yourself fight. Just leave this matter to us and Aladdin; you just wait that the hotel! All right!" he caught himself before he said I can't let a girl fight, but he knew better than to say that. The purple-haired king knew that Tora would have punched him as hard as she could and would have also proclaimed that she was going to be going anyways; therefore, to avoid all that, he just adjusted what he was going to say. In addition to saying that, he began to push Morgiana away.

Morgiana, of course, had no intention of not fighting with them. Stomping her foot, she broke the brick road beneath her and that caused them to stop. With cheeks puffed out angrily and her eyes narrowed, Morgiana said, "I want to fight, too! I'm already prepared, so no matter how big that band of thieves is, I can get rid of them just the same."

Tora whooped, "Atta girl! To hell with you sending her home, Sin; she will not be hearing any of the bullshit!"

"Morg is very strong! Just the other day, she took care of the band of thieves that was occurring the rock quarry. When I was captured, it was her who rescued me, too," stated Aladdin.

That surprised Sinbad. "Wha-!? She singlehandedly defeated the band of thieves that even captured a Magi? Fanalis sure are strong…" he said weakly.

"You really fucking doubted the power of the Fanalis, Sin?" questioned Tora, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Everyone was sitting in a room so that they could devise a strategy. Tora was sitting in Masrur's lap, who was sitting to the left of Sinbad; Morgiana sat to the left of Masrur and Tora; Aladdin sat to the right of Sinbad. "Since everyone is assembled, let's start the meeting… I'll leave it to you, Ja'far!" exclaimed Sinbad, getting his meeting on the road.

Ja'far stood on the opposite side of the table, furthest away from the group. "Thank you… then, I'll now explain what the information I have gathered from the residents and military tells us about when and where those robbers tend to attack. Firstly, they only act on foggy nights. Balbadd often suffers from fog. When the sea wind blows across the hills, fog usually forms. The thieves take advantage of this fog to hide their actions. Secondly, their aim is the country's treasury and the rich. They act in groups of at least ten, but no more than a hundred people. Having stolen the food, weapons, and goods, they then disperse. Thirdly, a point which many people have noticed is that they always manage to hit areas that are weakly guarded. As you can understand from this, the chances of an inside information leak are very high," he explained, pointing to a certain area of the map of Balbadd.

Everyone looked on intently and Ja'far continued, "But, the most troublesome part of the problem, however, is that a large majority of the residents support them. So, once they disperse into town, it becomes impossible to track them down."

That peaked Aladdin's interest. "Even though they are thieves, the residences support them?" he asked.

"Yeah, the hell is up with that?" asked Tora, who was also kind of thrown off by that tidbit of information.

Sighing, Ja'far answered, "Yes. This is because they distribute the stolen items among the poor, so they are known as virtuous thieves. This has won them the hearts of the people. And the one who is the most popular of them all… is the leader known as Wonder Man Alibaba."

Aladdin gasped as he thought. Could it truly be the Alibaba he knew? No way. No, Alibaba could never be the leader of these thieves, thought the boy.

Everyone had stood up and moved to stand beside Ja'far. "Question: if the citizens support these dumbasses, is it really alright to capture the hellhounds?" questioned Tora.

"… I understand where you're coming from, Tora. The Fog Troupe is well-known as virtuous thieves. This means that they are thieves who act against perceived injustices. Furthermore, the fact that they distribute the stolen items from the country's treasury to the poor has earned them the support from the people. But, this is got me thinking… what if they performed those righteous actions just to gain popular support… or others ulterior motives. … Well, because of who and what I am, I'll think about all sides before arriving at a conclusion I feel is correct. Think about it before deciding for yourself," began Sinbad, getting up from his seat. "I hope you can give it the needed consideration, so you can differentiate between what is right and wrong… and that you can believe in whatever you have attained for yourself. This is how I've paved my way… how about you?" he finished, the butt end of his speech directed towards Aladdin and Morgiana.

Ja'far was smiling at Sinbad; Masrur remained stoic as ever; Tora was actually impressed at the winded speech; Morgiana stared at him with her usual stoic look; and Aladdin gulped, impressed at the king's words. "I'll think about it," he said.

"… me, too," said Morgiana.

Sinbad nodded, he had not expected them to have an answer or even an opinion at that very moment. "Alright."

The sun at set and nightfall was upon the capital city of Balbadd. Sinbad and his band of fighters were all stationed at a wealthy merchant's mansion. Members of the Balbadd Army were also there, to keep an eye out for trouble. "What about the main entrance?" one soldier asked his comrades.

"There is nothing unusual," answered another soldier.

One of the soldiers pointed at Aladdin as he said, "Hey, take a look… why is there a child here?"

Aladdin looked at the soldiers with his mouth slightly agape. Meanwhile, Ja'far gazed at the soldiers with coldness in his black eyes. "As the army is weak, there are only two areas that are easy targets for the Fog Troupe, like this area," he said.

"Then what about the other area?" asked Aladdin.

Ja'far smiled as he answered, "Sin, the Fanalis Masrur and Tora are already acting as guards to watch the area there."

"I see… will Mister Sinbad be okay? He has no power right now… but the Fog Troupe can use mysterious powers, right?"

"He'll be fine. After all, he is The King of the Seven Seas. He is already used to seeing mysterious powers," retorted Ja'far with a chuckle.

Meanwhile, at a noble's mansion in Balbadd, Tora, Masrur and Sinbad were guarding. Well, mostly. "Achoo!" sneezed Sinbad, who was shivering. "So cold… Southeastern countries are so cold on foggy nights…" he complained.

Masrur, who was holding a lantern, replied, "That's true."

"Yeah! Fuck this! This is nothing like home! When can we go back~~?" exclaimed Tora, who was latched onto Masrur's back like a koala.

Sinbad got behind Masrur. "Idiot, stop moving around!" he demanded.

Tora swatted at Sinbad, hissing almost, "Hey! Stop using my man as your fucking shield against the wind, asshole!"

"Hypocrite! How come you can use him as a wind-shield, but I can't?" whined Sinbad.

"Because Massy is MY fucking husband, not yours! I get to do this, comes with the joy of having me as a wife," retorted the purplenette.

That made Sinbad scoff, "Joy, huh?"

"Yes! Joy! Something you'll never have from a fucking amazing wife like myself!"

"Well, I'm not looking, thank you very much!"

That caused Tora to roll her eyes. "Yeah… you have the best damn time with those fucking one-night stands you have all the time back home," she said.

Their little argument was cut short when the fat nobleman yelled at them, with a chicken leg in his hand and women on his arms, "Hey, you down there! Guard the area properly! For goodness' sake… just because the army doesn't have enough manpower, they sent three guards and one's a woman, making me so worried that I lost my appetite!" After that, he walked away, munching on his food.

"He's still eating non-stop, though," Masrur said.

Tora groaned, "I fucking know, right?! 'Making me so worried that I lost my appetite', yeah… o-fucking-kay then, jack-off!"

"Eating warm food in a warm room… what a social status he has," said Sinbad.

The three heard the pitter-pattering of feet on brick and look back. "Hm?" hummed both Sinbad and Tora. As the figure neared, they noticed it was a woman who was swaying side-to-side as if she were drunk. Either drunk or delirious from starvation. Also, a heavy and thick fog came with the woman.

Sinbad, Tora and Masrur approached the woman. Sinbad reached out to her as he asked, "Hey, are you alright?" The woman did my respond in the form of words just yet, instead she replied by lunging a dagger at the king. "What?" questioned the purple-haired man.

That was when more people came running towards the trio. Surrounding the trio, the group of people closed off any means of escape. "Well, well, well…" started Tora, "the fucking Fog Troupe finally revealed itself, did it?"

"The fog is blocking our vision is making it hard to understand the situation!" Sinbad said.

Masrur stepped towards a nearby tree. "Understood… Tora, mind getting off for a bit?"

"Nope! You do your damn thing, honey," she said, hoping off her husband's back.

Looking at the tree, Masrur picked it up, tearing it from its roots. He used the tree to defog the area. The trio were faced with weapon-wielding citizens who all stood raggedly before them. It was at that moment that Sinbad realized that these people were not the Fog Troupe like he had initially thought. The woman who first tried to attack Sinbad spoke, "Y-you are… are you with this mansion? If you try to stop us… we'll kill you…! We are just here to steal food! My daughter will die of hunger is she doesn't eat today! This child is the third. I don't want to lose any other children because of the high taxes of this country!"

"Do we honestly look like we'd willingly be helping the fat cunt who lives here? Also, really sorry for your losses… that had to rip you apart on the inside," said Tora, who noticed the skin-and-bone arm of the infant in the woman's arms. "My fucking word… Sin, this country is a damn waste of time! We'd have to kill the fat-ass king to remedy this heaping mass of shit he selfishly got his country into," she whispered to Sinbad.

That was when the nobleman came back by the window and noticed the poverty-stricken, corpse-like residents of the other part of the city. "Hmph… aren't these residents of the slums!? Shoo! You all stink! I'll give you this, so just go somewhere else," he exclaimed, throwing his half-eaten drumstick out the window.

All of their dead and gleam-less eyes looked at the piece of food, of which looked like none of them had seen food in years, and the woman holding her infant dropped to the ground and reached for it. Sinbad whipped back to try and stop her, but Tora had beaten him too it. Gently, which was uncharacteristic for her, Tora grabbed the woman's wrist. "There ain't a need for this shit. Go into that fucking mansion and take as much as you like. I don't care if you kill them or not, they deserve death," she said.

"Don't listen to her, she doesn't like people with as much contempt as the noble's of this country. Please promise to spare the lives of the people there," quickly added Sinbad. He did not want a war to break out.

With that being said, the people looked angrily at the nobleman as they stormed his house, taking all the food they wanted. Who was panicking, "Hey! Stop iiiit! Damn it — that guard! Guard properlyyy!"

"Is that all right?" questioned Masrur as they just let the starving residents take what they pleased.

Tora sighed, crossing her arms, "I don't care. Those poor people deserve that food."

"We've only promised to capture the Fog Troupe. … This country may be beyond hope already…" said Sinbad.

At the merchant's mansion, a thick fog rolled in as well. "Reports say that the noble's house was attacked," said a soldier.

"Thank goodness… then we should he safe here tonight," said another.

"It may be the Fog Troupe, let's give chase," said another.

Morgiana was running towards Aladdin. "Aladdin. I heard that the area Sinbad was guarding got attacked, what should we do…" she asked. Quickly noticing the utter lack of sounds or even people, she asked, "Where has… everyone gone…?"

As almost on cue, they materialized from the fog, Aladdin standing in the middle, smiling. "What are you smiling about…" one soldier asked in a very relaxed manner.

"I feel so relaxed, we should take it easy… Hihihi…" another laughed.

Aladdin smiled happily and thought to himself, My entire body feels so light… being in the fog feels like being the clouds. Hu hu hu, I feel so happy. If only Ugo, Alibaba and Tet were here.

From within the fog came voices. "Aladdin… Aladdin…" came two familiar voices.

"Who's there?" asked Aladdin. The blue-haired Magi looked over in the direction of the voices and he saw shadows and asked, "Alibaba? Tet?" As the shadows came closer to the young Magi, he became five times happier. There he saw his two friends: the blond and red-head, walking towards him, for some reason holding hands. "Alibaba, Tet, it's you! Yay~ yay~! I am so happy I could finally see you again, Alibaba! It's been such a long time! I missed you and wanted to see you again for such a long time! Also, Tet, why did you leave?" he asked.

Alibaba and Tettia smiled at Aladdin, not saying a word. Morgiana covered her mouth as she looked at Aladdin from a distance. Aladdin…? Who is he talking to? thought the Fanalis. As the fog cleared up more, she saw that nobody was there. That was when Morgiana noticed that something was weird with the mist and then jumped out of the mist. Landing on a roof, her eyes scanned the scene. Everyone was acting strange.

"They seem to be hallucinating," said Ja'far from behind her. The Fanalis quickly looked behind her. "Are you all right, Morgiana? Fanalis are sensitive to smell, so you were able to notice it earlier. This mist is slightly scarlet in color… its smell is also similar to that of poisonous plants which can cause paralysis. This is not humanly possible. It was likely done by using one of those Mysterious powers they possess." Pointing to the source of the fog. "As you can see, our target, the Fog Troupe, is at the source of this mist."

Zaynab spoke, "Don't breath in this mist. Put on your veil if you are afraid of breathing it in." The sword on her arm produced the scarlet mist.

Her husband, Hassan said in response, "He he, your scarlet mist is as terrifying as always, Zaynab."

"My magical weapon is called the Sword of the Scarlet Delusional Fog. It gives off a red mist that, when people breath it in, magnifies a person's uneasiness and hopes, causing hallucinations… Hmph… however, my mist will not work on people with a firm will. The military soldiers are just a bunch of wimps who always fall for it," Zaynab explained.

Tettia gasped, "Wow, that's amazing, Miss Zaynab!" The plans changed and Cassim had decided that Tettia should go with Zaynab and Hassan instead of with him and Alibaba. The half-blood Fanalis also decided it was best to hide her hair and the lower half of her face, just incase she came across the friends she left in order to find Alibaba.

Zaynab looked at Tettia and smiled. "I told you that you don't have to call me Miss, just Zaynab. Also, we have reached the wealthy merchant's house. Hassan, it's your turn. Do your job!" she exclaimed.

"Ok, here I go," her husband said. He walked up to a wall and sliced it. Nothing happened at first, until sizzling noises came from the slash-mark, then it began to disintegrate. He smiled as he explained to Tettia, "My magical weapon is called the Sword of the Yellow Corrosive Fog. Its yellow acidic mist will eat through any area that I scratch with it in the blink of an eye! No matter how strong the wall is, making a hole is easy! Brothers, plunder away! Take back what they took from us!"

As men flooded into the hole in the wall, some kind of weapon was thrown at the men. "What?! It's the military?!" exclaimed Tettia.

"No, I'm not from this country… but I have reasons to capture all of you," said Ja'far.

Tettia looked back at the man and noticed his serious expression. I have a weakness for serious men~ he's kinda cute even if he is threatening us, she thought.

Ja'far wrapped the men up in his wires. "Uwa! Let go of me!" yelled one man.

"Hindrance, I will kill you without mercy!" exclaimed Hassan.

Tettia held him back, as did Zaynab. "Wait… this guy is no ordinary human. Let's wait for Cassim's reinforcements," the two women said.

It was then that a black fog crept up on Ja'far. It became so heavy that the white-haired man fell to the ground. "You don't look like your from the military… Let go of my comrades!" said Cassim as he walked up with a serious look on his face.

Tettia and Zaynab were excited. "It's Cassim! Cassim's reinforcements have arrived!" exclaimed Zaynab.

"That mean's that Ali's here!" exclaimed Tettia, she hated being separated from the blond almost as much as she hated being away from her blue-haired friend.

"Serves you right! Cassim's black mist is heavier than lead. No one can move a single step in it," exclaimed Hassan.

Morgiana kicked a member of the Fog Troupe in the face and then bolted towards Cassim. "Cassim, danger!" yelled Zaynab.

Before Cassim could react, Tettia had kicked Morgiana in the side, sending her down. After the purebred Fanalis was down, Cassim used his black mist on her. Tettia's kick did not truly hurt her, because the half-Fanalis did not want to hurt her. "A girl…?" questioned Cassim.

"She's stronger than she looks, Cassim," said Tettia, crossing her arms.

Zaynab tended to the man Morgiana had kicked, "It doesn't matter who it is. Anybody who harms our comrades is an enemy!"

The black mist was not one-hundred percent effective on Morgiana. She was still able to move. "…this fog… although I can move… it feels too heavy… I can't lift my feet!" she exclaimed.

"That girl… can still move?!" questioned Hassan, panicking.

Cassim looked at Morgiana, forcing more black mist onto her. "Hmmph… you're the first one who can withstand a wave of my fog to this degree!" He sent another wave of black mist at her and that sent Morgiana into the ground. "Leave this two to me. Escape once you get what we want!"

"Okay!" exclaimed Tettia, who was walking over to Alibaba, who was frozen in his place. "Come one, Ali… I told you to prepare yourself for this…" she whispered to him.

Cassim looked back at the duo. "What's wrong, mate?"

"No… it's nothing," the blond said from behind his mask.

Aladdin slept, until Ugo woke him up. The young Magi woke up with a jolt. "Aladdin! Aladdin! You can't let them get away. Capture them!" exclaimed Ja'far.

The young boy looked confused, until he saw people running at him. He blew into his flute and Ugo appeared.

Both Hassan and Zaynab started to panic. "A monster…!"

"I won't let you pass!" exclaimed Aladdin from on top of Ugo.

"What is that blue giant…?!" exclaimed Hassan.

Zaynab added, "It's a monster created by the military to wipe us out!"

Tettia laughed as Alibaba remained silent. "This weak military can't create something like that thing. They're too fucking stupid, guys," she said.

After his friend said that, Alibaba stepped up, Tettia following him. "What's wrong, mates?" asked Cassim.

"Leave this to us," the masked duo said. Aladdin looked down at the group of thieves as the duo began to undo their masks. He gasped once they fully removed their masks to reveal his friends. Tettia and Alibaba.

"Alibaba…? Tet…?" questioned the young Magi. He was unable to believe that his two best friends had become criminals.

Cassim put a hand on one of Alibaba's and Tettia's shoulders. "Alibaba, Tettia, do you know him!?" he asked.

"Yeah," said the duo. They looked up at Aladdin. "Aladdin, it's been a long time. Can you put Ugo back? You are scaring our comrades," said Alibaba.

Tettia waved at him. "Yeah! Please!"

Aladdin did as Tettia and Alibaba had asked. "No! Don't listen to what the thief says!" exclaimed Ja'far.

Aladdin looked up at his two friends. "Erm, actually, I came here looking for you, Alibaba! I have so many things I want to tell you! Do you still remember that time? We, me, you and Tet, made a promise," he said with a smile.

The blond looked down at the bluenette with a serious look in his eyes. Tettia gushed, the blond knew how much she loved when he was serious. He stepped towards the young Magi, saying, "Aladdin… sorry," and held out his hand towards the young boy.

Tettia smiled as she walked beside the blond. "We… can't keep that promise," she said.

The bluenette's eyes widened at that. They can't keep that promise…? he thought.

That was when reinforcements came. "It's the thieves! Take them down!" yelled a soldier.

"Reinforcements from the military have arrived," exclaimed Ja'far.

Cassim jumped into defensive position. "Hey, Alibaba, Tettia, time to escape!" he yelled.

"Got it," said Tettia.

"Leave it to me," spoke Alibaba. That was when he pulled out his knife. "Stern and dignified spirits of etiquette, in the name of my magic, and my will to grant me a greater power, I order you and your members. Come forth, Amon!" he exclaimed. A huge fireball came as an answer.