Happy New Year everyone! I'm so sorry for not updating this story for a long time, I was really stuck as to how to proceed, but I got some suggestions from people around me, so I can finally continue! Inspirations are back! Enjoy and I hope you'll leave a review!

"Heh! Seems like someone else was here not long ago but decided to turn back after seeing us!" Judal was smirking. He gazed down at the footprints who seemed to have stopped just before the opening and then went towards the rocks, then back into the valley. "Looks like they were smart enough to fear us after seeing who we are hahaha!" Nodding in acknowledgement, Kouen took a good look at the footprint. Judging from the size of the feet, there were two male and one female here who saw us and hid behind the rocks to observe us and left right after… But no one really know about this dungeon. Could it have been merely a coincident or did they plan on taking its powers for themselves…? Kouen turned to Judal. "Can you find out who they are? Is there a way?" Judal thought for a second before looking at the footprints again. "It's not completely impossible, but it won't be easy. They didn't leave behind any blood or belonging so it'll be hard to track them using the rukh… what's the sudden interest Kouen? You want to find them and kill them or something?" Kouen looked into the valley. "No…. I'm merely interested." Judal looked around the rocks to see if anything was left behind. Regrettably, there was nothing. Judal released his dark energy in attempt to single out the rukh left behind by those people. He saw it, however it disappeared soon after. Judal noticed that two of the rukh felt rather familiar. He can't pinpoint why he felt like he know of that presence, but he is certain that it's something he's felt before, when he was younger. "Now that's interesting, heh." Judal smirked. I will find these people and I will interrogate the hell out of them! Noticing the sudden change in attitude in his priest, Kouen sighed, just a little bit. As much as he also want to find out who was watching them, he has to return to Kou Empire to report on the success in capturing his third dungeon. He hopes his father will be proud of him. Kouen turned around to walk back to the main camp. "We're leaving, Judal. We will begin packing for our journey back to the Empire…. After that we can get permission to search for these people."

"Che-! Whatever that old hag is going to let me anyways I don't need permission from her, I give myself permission!" Judal smirked conceitedly. Even if the Empress stopped him he would still do it. No one can stop him once he sets his eyes on something. Just you wait, whoever you are…. I'm coming for you!

Hakuyuu opened his eyes to a ceiling he didn't quite recognize. Still half asleep, he looked around lazily. His eyes widened for a second before they close shut again from the bright light. Oh yeah… we left the cliff. Turning to his left he can see the bright light pouring into the room from the small gap left between the drapes. It is already late morning, and the noise coming from the markets can be heard. Hakuyuu was never one to sleep in, he always rise early to practise. Looking around the room, he noticed his brother is still sleeping on the bed next to him, and the room was very quiet. Seems like the long walk drained everyone. This bed in the inn was more comfortable than he expected. It seemed to be much softer that his own bed and the pillows are more comfortable for the head as well as to hug. Saying that, his arms tightened their hold on the said pillow… wait, hug? Confusedly Hakuyuu looked down at his 'pillow'. There was no pillow; but there is a sleeping Lucena. Realized he completely forgot about Lucena he panicked. But just like him, Lucena seemed to think his arms are her pillows as she is holding on to them with a tight grip, as if they'll run away if she doesn't hold on to them. Having both arms immobilized, Hakuyuu stopped the pointless struggling and decided to wait until someone, hopefully Lucena, wakes up. He stared at the sleeping beauty in front of him as a thought came to him: he's never seen her up close like this before. Her silky black hair, her long black eye lashes, her flawless tanned skin, and her slightly parted lips… slightly parted lips?! What am I even thinking? She's like a sister to me… she has such a cute nose too…. But she's so…small… Hakuyuu took a look at his calloused and rough hand then back to Lucena. He never realised how small she is. With such a small body, she's bearing such a big responsibility to save the world… how can mother dragon be so cruel as to send Lucena to do this on her own?!

As he is deep in thought, the small body he's holding stirred. Small, blue eyes opened slightly, then suddenly widened as Hakuyuu felt her hands try to push him away. He chuckled. Does she not remember they're sharing a bed? It took her a little bit to calm down and remember where she is but Hakuyuu simply looked down at the girl with amusement. Just as he was about to comment on her embarrassed state, the door to the room busted open and a frantic Hakuren appeared.

"the…. Haa…haa…haa…t-the k-….." Hakuren was trying to say something, but clearly he's panting too hard to even form a sentence.

"Hakuren calm down first. Take a breath before you speak." Hakuyuu is on alert now. It's not every day he see his brother like this. Even Lucena was awake. She calmed herself before looking at Hakuren worriedly.

"T-there's Kou soldiers here!" Hakuren finally got it out. "I was just walking on the streets to scout the area when I suddenly saw three of them asking around whether there were any suspicious people wandering the area!"

"D-do you think they mean us…?" Lucena spoke softly while her grip on her shirt tightened. Hakuyuu could only guess.

"I certainly hope not, but assuming they picked up our presence outside that dungeon, we need to get going as soon as possible. If not, we need to at least hide ourselves better. If they find us now it'll be over." Hakuyuu was in deep thought. How did they locate us so easily? On top of that normal people won't be able to detect presence like this… but assuming it was Kouen who went into the dungeon, even he shouldn't be able to do that… "… it can't be…"

"What can't be? Yuu-nii." Hakuren noticed his brother's worried comment.

"Hakuren I think they brought along with them the oracle."

"W-what?! That little runt?!" Hakuren was irked. He never liked that oracle of Kou. The oracle was too young for anything and too rebellious. He caused a lot of trouble for him and Hakuyuu, even their late father.

Hakuyuu is trying to think of something to do, but at the moment… nothing comes to mind. If we run now we might not hit another town for days. Encountering them in the forests would not be good for us. If we stay here, they will definitely find us, and we would risk hurting the civilians…

"A-ano…" Lucena suddenly spoke. "I think I can help…"

The two brothers looked at her with confusion.

"How?"

"Well um… Yunan had been teaching me how to make a barrier that can hide someone's presence. I didn't tell anyone because I wanted it to be a surprise… but I don't know if I'm at the level where I can hide our entire presence yet!" Lucena blushed a little. While she's pretty excited to show off her new talent, she's a little worried that she might get frowned upon for not telling them. Just as she thought that…

"That...is….. AWESOME!" Hakuren basically launched himself on her. Hakuyuu took a second to think, but he also smiled. "That's a relief actually. Even if your skill is not perfected yet it would still be helpful if we can at least hide from them somehow." He turned serious right after that. "However, just because we have Lucena's help on this, we can't let our guard down. I know what the oracle was capable of, and I can only imagine him being stronger than before. Same can be said to Kouen. I am going to assume he conquered the dungeon from the tremors, so either way we need to get going soon.

Lucena nodded. She didn't want to tell them, but she can feel Judal's eerie presence even now. It's not too strong so she know they're not anywhere near him, but the impurities is making her feel sick. She instantly agreed with what Hakuyuu had said because she wanted to get far away from the darkness.

Hakuren noticed that the girl is looking unsettled. He walked over and patted her head. "Don't worry! We're going to leave soon, there's no way we will get caught!" Although Hakuren assumed the wrong thing, she was still happy to be reassured. She in return patted his head and smirked. "I should be saying that to you, the one who got scared of my wind after seeing Hakuyuu on the tree and ran away." She grinned from ear to ear at the memory of that day. Hakuyuu coughed slightly with a small blush at that. Hakuren was… pretty damn embarrassed.

"S-shut up! That was my first time seeing someone manipulating wind okay!" He squeezed Lucena's cheeks, and she yelped at the sudden pain.

Soon after that, they set off to get away from Judal and Kouen. On the way they were all silent. Only their footsteps could be heard. When they finally exited the town and were in the forest, chit chats could be heard from Hakuren and Lucena while Hakuyuu walked silently next to them trying to determine their travel route.

Meanwhile somewhere far away…

"It'll be fine~ I'm going to go out with the ladies who are waiting at the door."

"No it wouldn't! Every time you say you're going out something always happen! We're not here for fun you know!"

"But we've done nothing but work for the past couple days, and the King still wouldn't see us, what else are we supposed to do?"

"We can discuss our plan for the rest of the trip! While we're waiting we might as well get other things sorted!"

"Well let me make the plan for tonight! I plan to go out, and I say you two should stay at the hotel and relax, or do whatever you want!"

"That's not what I mean!"

"It's settled! I'll see you guys later!"

"No Wai- Si- sigh… why does this always happen to me…"

"…if it's just one night it's fine."

"Masrur you're too relaxed around him. You know what happens every time he does this!"

"… right."

"He needs to remember who he is… Sinbad from Sindria."

Jafar's head really hurts. He really agrees with some of his servants who said he resembles a worried wife who's trying to keep her troublesome husband from trouble, and of course Jafar gave them quite the beating for calling their King names. Masrur stood silently next to him.

"It's worrying that he might go ruining his reputation. He's only been King for what, a little over a year? He needs to be cautious or else it would be hard to establish new alliances."

"Would you like me to go look for him and bring him back?"

"sigh… you might… interrupt, if you go now. We'll let him off tonight. But keep an eye out for anything."

The two were about to retire to their room when suddenly Masrur stopped and stared out the window.

"…"

"What's wrong? Masrur?" Jafar is getting a panic attack as he speak because he thought Sinbad already got in trouble.

"There's a light coming from the mountains." Masrur squinted his eyes slightly. It's blue… with a tint of silver or white… I can't really tell, but it's a cold light…

"Where? Hmm… yeah you're right… can you sense anything from the light?"

"… it's crying for help." Masrur immediately turned away and walked quickly out the doors.

"W-where are you going?!" Jafar followed quickly behind.

"To the light."

"Sigh… I suppose we shouldn't ignore a cry for help. And Sin did say do whatever we want…" Jafar muttered as he ran behind Masrur.

When they got near the light, they kept out of sight behind the bushes. There, they see a bunch of wagons and campfires, and as they looked around for the light, they see that it was coming from inside one of their baggage that was covered with a piece of cloth. Someone within the group took a look at the baggage and frowned before walking towards it and giving it a violent kick.

"Che- how in the hell are we supposed to make this light stop? It's going to attract too much attention we probably won't even make it down the mountain, let alone into the market!"

Market? Are they trying to sell it? Masrur… can you detect the object?

… it's a person.

..w-what?!

Jafar looked closer at the baggage. Now that he gave it a good look, he can see that it is actually a rounded cage and he can faintly see the shadow of a person being tied inside, surrounded by an unusual blue light.

"Heheheh, who would've thought we would find such a gem near the dungeon! Maybe it is an escaped dungeon creature!"

"You idiot, if anything comes out of that dungeon the entire thing would go down with it!"

"Whatever let's get into Balbbad before sunrise. Then we can sell this girl to the slave traders for a big sum of money."

Jafar frowned. Selling a girl into slavery? No way I'm gonna let that happen… and it looks like Masrur is fired up too… since he was also a slave to the coliseum.

Masrur stood up, giving away their location.

"W-who's there?!"

"What the hell?!"

The group of people turned to hi in shock. As some readied their weapons, one of them gasped.

"W-wait, that hair… is he a f-finalis?!"

"N-no way…"

While some of them showed fear after recognition, some of them grinned evilly.

"Let's sell him too! Grab him!"

As the man charged, Masrur stood, observing the crowd of people that are about to swarm him. Jafar, still in hiding, took a look at the people.

"15 of them huh… none of them look like trained fighters, there's no need for me to go out."

Instead, he sat back and relaxed. Sure enough, within a minute, the men who went after Masrur were all beaten on the ground.
Jafar finally appeared, having gathered a bunch of vines.

"Here, tie 'em up."

While Jafar was busy tying people up and giving them a lecture on how they shouldn't have tried to enslave a person, Masrur stood in front of the glowing cage. Without waiting any longer, he tossed the cloth aside, revealing what's inside the cage. Both generals gasped at the sight before them.

She's got silver hair, with the bluest eyes Masrur has ever seen before, and adorning her revealed skin on her forearms and lower legs are blue scales that shined blue that is a tone lighter than her eyes. Masrur could evidently smell the fear in her, and immediately, with his bare hands, stretched open the bars to let her out. The girl was more than shocked, that her tears are no longer falling down her face, and she gaped at the finalis with eyes wide open. When he noticed the ropes around her wrists and ankles, and the piece of cloth obstructing her mouth…

"Jafar."

"I'm on it."

Jafar walked over, took out a kife, and before she even knew what happened, cut the rope and freed her of all the restrains. After helping the girl out of the cage, the saw her sigh in relief, but still looked around with fear.

"Don't worry, there's no one after you anymore, you'll be safe with us." Jafar reassured the poor girl.

"u-um…"

"Are you alone?"

"…no… I was with um, my brothers until we got separated… but I don't know where I am anymore, how am I supposed to find them?!" She was on the verge of tears again. Jafar pitied the poor girl. With such an appearance, he wasn't surprised that she doesn't know her way around. She's probably been sheltered her whole life…

Just as he was about to say something, Masrur threw a piece of cloth on the girl.

"Cover up. You attract too much attention."

The girl was confused for a moment, until she realised what Masrur was talking about. Immediately she hid her body and hair with the cloak that Masrur stole from one of the men who kidnapped her.

Jafar looked around before turning to Masrur who's helping the girl with the cloak as she seem to not know how to put it on. He was surprised at how gentle he's treating the girl. Shaking himself back to reality, he turned to the two again.

"Let's return to the city before anything else happen." Jafar looked around cautiously. There's something that still feels off around the area but he can't quite grasp it.

When the girl heard, she suddenly shook her head.

"N-no you can't leave yet… not when they still have that!" She frantically looked around for something before she gasped.

A man had escaped from his bounds and was running towards one of the wagons that had a small intricate box.

"N-no you can't!" She ran after the man, but it was too late. He opened the box and took out a black weapon. He turned to the three of them and grinned before stabbing himself with it.

"W-what the?!" Jafar was appalled. As shocked as he was, he remembered vividly what that action signifies. He suddenly rose in horror. "This is not good!"

The three of them watched in horror as the man transformed from human into an unrecognizable monster. Masrur took a protective stance in front of the girl and Jafar readied his weapon. Both generals knew it would be a difficult battle for them without their king around. On top of that they have a girl to protect. She seem to know about the dark vessels, thought Jafar. He'll have to question her later.

Just as the monster launched itself towards the trio…

"Bararak Seika!"

A big roar of thunder came from above and striked the monster right in the chest. The ground split open and cries could be heard from the monster, who slowly disintegrates into nothing. Jafar and Masrur immediately turned to the source of that thunder. Sure enough, their King had come to the rescue. The girl just stared at the spot that is now a huge crater in silence.

"S-sin!" Jafar stood in place filled with shock. "How did you know we were here?!"

"I've been tailing them for a while now, I was waiting for them to bring out the weapon! Man that was easier than I thought! It must've been a really weak vessel."

"Y-you weren't with those women from before?" Jafar still had doubts.

"I was, until I saw the blue light" Sinbad took a quick glance at the girl. When he was hiding, there was so many times where he really wanted to attack the people himself and reveal what they were hiding, but he needed Jafar and Masrur to come in case something happened. Thank goodness they also noticed the light and acted on it.

Sinbad walked towards the girl who was still standing next to the hole he created.

"Amazing, right?" He was proud of his accomplishment. He thought the girl would thank him for saving her, but instead…

"T-that was… a djinn?" She turned to him. For the first time since he saw her, he looked into her blue eyes. Sinbad had to admit, there's something that is drawing him deeper into those eyes. Her eyes… the hair… she's so beautiful. He was speechless for a moment, before Jafar awkwardly coughed, knowing what's gone on inside Sinbad's mind.

"R-right. How did you know?"

"Well…" She started fidgeting. "I uh… I've read books about them and what they could do. It's my first time seeing a djinn's power. I… I don't really know what to say."

Sinbad was impressed. Jafar was suspicious. Masrur just stared at the markings on her forehead.

"First let's go back to our hotel. You don't have anywhere to go, I presume?"

"… yeah." She had no idea where she is. She knew she can't just trust strangers immediately, as her 'brothers' tell her every single day, but for now, she had no choice to go with them if she didn't want to camp out in the wild alone. I can trust them… I just know it. They saved me, and on top of that, this man with the purple hair is a dungeon conqueror!

She trotted after the three men.

That girl sounded familiar, right? Yup, that was poor little Lucena, who transformed into her half-state.

How did that happen? Well that goes back to two mornings ago…

.

.

Using Hakuren as lead, the three of them successfully got lost in the desert. Lucena was terrified at every desert creature they had come across, and Hakuren had been twisting and turning the map, trying to get back to the right course with no luck. Hakuyuu can only sigh at their current situation.

"Hakuyuu… why did you let that airhead take charge?! It's so scary out here!" Lucena whined while hiding behind Hakuyuu as another scorpion crawled across the path in front of them. Hakuyuu did not seemed worried at all however.

"Don't worry, as much as we are lost right now, we are headed in the right direction to the next closest city. Once we cross the desert, we'll reach the outskirts of another city. If all goes well, we might be able to stay there for a while before making out way to Balbaad."

"Bal..baad?" Lucena looked confused.

"Yup, it's a city by the ocean. It's a nice port city and if everything goes well we might be able to stay there for a while and maybe stock up and earn some money." Hakuyuu smiled at Lucena and Hakuren who looked at him with excitement.

"Oh guys! It's almost my 19th birthday! Can we do something? Can we? Can we?" Lucena started jumping around. At the reminder, the two princes it's already almost 6 years since they've known her, and yet every single birthday she's had since meeting them, they've never done anything for her on her birthday. It's always been a giant feast prepared by Yunan, even for their birthdays. Nothing more, nothing less.

Hakuyuu suggested, "Let's try to get to Balbaad by your birthday then, there's lots we can do there."

Hakuren seconded that idea almost immediately, and Lucena liked it as well. She jumped on to Hakuyuu and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. He closed his eyes and tried hard to not think anything of it, but a slight blush still appeared.

"Lucena… since you're turning 19, you should really watch your actions when we're round other people."

"Why?"

Hakuyuu and Hakuren looked at her. Lucena is not one to bother about looks, but it is a fact that she's a really attractive woman on top of her jet black hair and blue eyes. "In our country, or in most places, you're around the age where people would want to get married, or could be already married or looking for a potential partner. Whether you like it or not, people everywhere would look at you. If you don't watch your actions and words, it could affect your future. Same goes for you, Hakuren."

"But I don't want to marry…" Lucena looked really down all of a sudden. She really enjoyed her time together with Yunan and the princes, where she didn't have to worry about how other people see her.

Hakuren patted her on the head. "If no one wants you, you can just marry one of us!" Hakuyuu would've spat out his drink if he had one. W-what? Lucena just looked at them in confusion.

"I don't even know what love it though?" She never had to think about it. She loved yunan and the princes like family, but when it comes to love love, she's clueless.

The three of them remained silent. Honestly speaking, neither of them have had experience with love. Hakuren was too young and playful to even consider marriage when they were still in the Kou Empire, and Hakuyuu have been busy studying and learning how to be a good king to have a love life, and he's been getting marriage proposals since a long time ago, so he never got to go out and experience falling in love. Lucena? Well, she came out of nowhere in a fire, rescued the princes, and had been secluded with Yunan ever since.

"We really picked the worst topic to talk about, huh." Hakuren was the first to break the silence.

And the conversation about love was dropped.

There's still at least a day before they reach Balbaad, so they decided to camp out on the way. They've set up camp just next to the road that had a fork splitting to go to either Balbaad or a different city in the opposite direction. Hakuyuu decided it was a good place to stop for the night, and they've started a fire to make food. The three of them sat in front of the fire once it was ready, enjoying the warmth of the flames.

"What should we eat tonight?"

"Whatever we can hunt, I guess…"

"It'd be great if we can get a deer or a boar…"

"Yuu-nii… that's gonna be hard."

"I'll do the cooking!"

"Lucena that's a given. You don't know how to hunt."

"Hakuren stop being so rude to me!"

As they were bickering about their dinner, they noticed that someone was passing by. They've been seeing and greeting people only a while ago, but now that the sky is completely dark, they haven't seen any travellers until this man. There was something weird about the man, however. He looked almost too cautious about the surroundings. Lucena could feel something unpleasant coming from the box his horse was carrying. The man noticed them and gave them a dirty look before hurrying past. He disappeared into the forest on the other side of the road, towards a light source a little deeper into the woods. Hakuren squinted his eyes. "There's probably someone else camped around here for the night. But that man was so weird!"

"Yeah… he had a weird box with him…" Lucena continued to look at the direction he went. Hakuyuu felt uneasy.

"Lucena, I'm going to go hunt with Hakuren now. I can tell you're interested in whatever that man had in the box, but please stay here until we return. I don't trust him, especially after the way he looked at us."

"fine. Can we go later though? I'll hide us with my barrier." Lucena pleaded.

"… Fine, only if you stay put." Hakuyuu warned.

"You two sound like a married couple fighting over something stupid." Hakuren smirked.

"…"

"…"

"Wa- hey! Don't ignore me!"

The two princes headed deeper into the forest, leaving Lucena to tend to the flames. It'll be quick like always. Lucena thought, but 30 minutes hater, they're still not back. Lucena glanced at the other campfire in the distance every once in a while.

"I can still feel the box near me… Wait, it's moving away! No…" She looked around.

"Maybe I'll go quickly to take a look…. I-I'll come right back!" She shouted out to no one in particular.

"I'll be back soon!" She screamed at the direction Hakuyuu went off to and stood up.

She quietly made her way towards the other fire, with detecting the box as her guide. She was close enough to make out the shadows of around 7 people and some horses and wagons, but she couldn't see the box.

"They're definitely talking about it though!... magic? And… wha… priest? I thought magicians do magic, not priests… and…black rukh… Black rukh?! NO!"

Crunch!

She had stepped on a twig. Immediately she hid behind the big bush. "Doesn't seem like they noticed me…"

She returned her attention to the people. Giving their wagons a good look, she realised that they're some sort of traders. After hearing about the black rukh, however, she wasn't so sure if they're good traders.

"T-there it is… the box! That ominous presence I sense from within… that must be the black magic weapon they're talking about… It is black magic, right?"

But as she tried to get close to the group of people, something hard suddenly hit the back of her head, and the next thing she knew, everything was fading into the darkness.

"…ouch…"

"Heh, she finally awake!"

W-where am I…?

She opened her eyes and looked around. She recognized some of the people surrounding her as the people she was eavesdropping on earlier…

W-wait, am I captured?!

She tried to stand, but was immediately held down by tight ropes that bounded her legs and hands.

"Ow!"

At her fall, couple people around her laughed and mocked her.

"That's what you get for peeking! Who do you even think you are?"

"Just because you look pretty doesn't mean we're going to let you off so easily!"

"Pretty? You call that pretty? I've seen better!"

Lucena has never been made fun of like this before. Yeah she gets teased by Yunan and the princes every once in a while, but she knows they're just joking around. There people definitely do not sound like they're kidding. She bit back tears as she tried to calm down.

Okay… calm down, Lucena… there has to be a way of letting the princes know you've been taken!

She quickly and subtly scanned her surroundings. The entire group of people are surrounded by a couple big wagons, with the exception of the space directly in front of her.

There should be enough space there for me to run out and get away from here… But first I need to do something about the ropes!

She wiggled her hands that are tied behind her back, but these men did a great job in tying her up tight. She can't loosen them with her strength.

I could use my magic… but I have to make sure it's subtle enough that they won't notice.

After bearing with their teasing for a little longer, most of the people went to the wagons to call it a night. There's only a few people standing guard, and lucky for her, none of them stood near her or the little exit she planned on using. Quietly, she used her wind magic and quickly sliced the ropes off her wrists, but injuring her arms slightly as she still don't have complete control over her wind blades. She winced, but quickly reverted to her calm expression.

Now I just gotta cut the ropes on my feet…

She remained still even after she's no longer bounded by anything. She prayed hard that no one would walk close enough to her to notice the ropes have been cut… and sure enough, the remaining men paid no attention to the girl at all.

She took a deep breath and bolted for the little exit.

"Wha- Yo the girl is trying to escape!"

"How the hell did she get out of the ropes?!"

"Quick, get her!"

She was slightly ahead before the men could react.

That's it… just keep going, you can't be that far away from your own camp!

Just as she turned the corner around some trees, an arm reached out to grab her by the waist. Not prepared for that at all, she freaked out.

"Gaaaah! Let go of me! Let go of me!"

Without knowing, the inner her felt the need to protect herself as her hair slowly turned silver and scales appeared to cover her skin.

"W-what the hell?!" The man who held her loosened his grip slightly, and Lucena took that chance to slip out of his grasp and sending a blade of wind at him.

"Gyaaaah!" The man let out one final scream before he was sliced to pieces.

"W-what the hell?!"

"Who the hell is that?!"

"Dude the girl we caught just… transformed!"

Lucena didn't let her guard down for a second, but maybe she was too caught up on her first kill, she didn't notice someone approaching her from her rear and knocked her out with a giant peg. With a grunt, she falls unconscious, without reverting back to her original state.

And then she was put in a cage…. And then they covered the cage with a cloth because she would attract too much attention… and then she sent out the cry for help…. And then she was saved by Sinbad… and then she warned them of the Black Metal Vessel… and then they offered her a place to stay… and then she followed them into Balbaad…. There, all caught up.

Sinbad's two retainers, Jafar and Masrur, never left her side as soon as they returned to their hotel rooms. On Jafar's end, he is being overly cautious because of her appearance and her knowledge of the Dark Metal Vessels, and he's not in the best of mood either; regards to Masrur… well, he just didn't have anything else to do. The girl certainly perked his interest, however. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, trailing up and down her legs as he took a better look at the scales. His gaze finally landed on her hair. Silver… just like a dragon… He wondered why he compared her to a dragon. He hasn't even seen a dragon before, what made him think a dragon could be silver? He didn't know, and he didn't care. For the sake of not angering Jafar, he remained silent, even though he have his own questions about the girl he'd want to ask. He knew he would probably get his answer the next day when Sinbad returns… from his drinking and night time activities with the women in the red light district.

Well, that's what he thought.

*the next day…*

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY WERE STOLEN?!" Jafar was screaming. Sinbad was naked, the girl hid behind Masrur's big body, and the people Sinbad brought back stared blankly at everyone.

Jafar lost almost 10 years of his life after getting Sinbad back to their room and clothed while greeting the kids he brought back, AND keeping the girl in check. He's no longer worried about the girl as she didn't pull any crazy stunts all night and she won't leave Masrur. He sighed. At least one of them is in good hands… how did these innocent looking kids meet Sin anyways!?

When Sinbad came back, he offered to have lunch with the kids. Of course, Jafar and Masrur had to go as well. And since Masrur is also going, the girl came along. Sinbad almost forgot about the girl as she didn't say anything and just stuck near Masrur the whole time. Eventually Masrur was able to convince the girl to go sit with Sinbad and Jafar while he went to entertain the kids.

Lucena felt nervous. It's the first time in years that she's interacted with people other than Yunan, Hakuyuu and Hakuren. She's beyond terrified of Jafar because all he's done is yell and glare, and Sinbad… she didn't know what to think of him. She did see him almost completely naked after all… but she could feel quite the presence from the purple haired man.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Sinbad didn't try to hide his curious gaze at all. His eyes roamed every inch of her body, from bottom to the top, until they landed once again on her eyes.

"Blue eyes…"

"h-huh?"

Lucena flinched at his voice. As soon as she looked up, she made eye contact with Sinbad. For strange reasons, she didn't look way. She almost couldn't. There's something about him…

And Sinbad, even Jafar, who's been observing from the sideline, could tell she's fascinated by Sinbad. Jafar could only sigh as the other two stared into each other's eyes, trying to figure out the other person without looking away.

"You two… just stop it…" Jafar's had enough. Right away, Lucena snapped out of the trance, and looked down at her lap with a faint blush on her face. Sinbad gave his signature smile and propped an arm up.

"So, how did you get captured?"

"W-well…" H-he just flat out asked! I suppose I could at least tell him that since he did save me…

"I-I was travelling with my… brothers, and they told me to wait at the camp while they went to hunt for dinner, then I saw those people and something didn't feel right so I followed them… but I was too c-careless… T-Thank you for saving me!" She stood up and bowed to the two. Sinbad and Jafar looked at each other before turning their eyes once again to the girl.

"I suppose you're going to be looking for your brothers now? Do you know where they might be?"

"N-no…I don't even know where I am… They knocked me out and covered the cage they put me in… I'm not sure how far we've travelled since I saw them…" Lucena began to panic as everything dawned: she's lost all her companions!

Seeing the panic and fear in her eyes, Jafar looked deep in thought.

"By chance… is this your first time travelling?"

"Y-yes…"

"That's not good… and you said you have no idea where we are right now?"

"Y-yes…"

Jafar looked at Sinbad, and almost immediately Sinbad understood what he's trying to say.

"How about we help you look for your brothers? You could stay with us in the meantime, and we can tell you lots about this place! Balbaad is a wonderful country. I'm sure you'll enjoy it while you're here."

"R-really…?" Lucena had a glimpse of hope when these people said they'll help her. Wait, did they say…

"B-Balbaad? I'm in Balbaad?" It's like she remembered something.

"Yeah…?" Sinbad now looked confused. "Jafar… we are in Balbaad right?"

"… where else could we be right now…" Jafar facepalmed.

Lucena's eyes brightened. "M-my brothers told me we were on our way to Balbaad just before we were separated!"

"Oh really? Then that means they will be here any minute!" Sinbad was getting excited with her, and Jafar had no idea why. "Sin…"

"In the meantime, I could take you out around town and we can do shopping-"

"Sin!" Jafar can't take it anymore. "She has scales on her body and you want to take her out shopping?"

"O-oh… right…" Sinbad looked at the girl, who looked just as confused at first before realising her appearance.

"W-wha… oh no! When did I transform…!" It was already too late when she put her hands in front of her mouth.

"T-transform…? Are you some sort of… magician?" Jafar asked suspiciously.

"I-I…" Oh my gosh what am I gonna do! Not only am I already transformed, I told them I transformed! What should I say, what should I do!?

As she panicked, a small hand reached out to hold hers.

"Onee-chan, your Rukh feels different."

What…?

Her eyes turned to the child standing next to her, with long blue braid that reached all the way down to his feet.

"…Aladdin?" Sinbad questioned.

Aladdin? Is that his name? But his rukh feels weird too… I-I can't comment or else they'll suspect me!

Lucena just looked at the boy curiously.

"W-who are you…?"

"I'm Aladdin!"

"I-I'm Lucena…"

"Your hair is so pretty!"

"Um… thank you…" *blush*

"Onee-san…"

"Y-yes…?"

"Can I touch your boobs?"

"!"

"''''WHAT THE HELL ALADDIN!?"'''' Everyone on the scene except for Lucena yelled at the small boy who still had on the most innocent look while saying that. Lucena just blushed madly before taking a step away from him. W-Whaaaaat?!

"Aladdin you can't just do that to people!" Jafar exclaimed while the other girl, who looked just like Masrur, pouted. She's so adorable…

Sinbad and Jafar took a moment to speak to each other.

Lucena became very cautious around the little boy…

Aladdin started talking about his flute…

Sinbad and Jafar were still chatting…

Aladdin blew on the flute…

Giant arms came out from behind Sinbad…

And Jafar spat out his drink.