I do not own magi or its characters. To better understand this chapter please see Magi chapters 194 to 196
Chapter 28: A Great Battle
The wind whipped at Alya's hair as she locked her fingers in the feathers of the bird beneath her. The large creature didn't even notice, its wings stirring the wind more with every wingbeat. She was also beginning to wish she had worn something less… dressy. The long skirts and jewelry were really distracting as loose ends kept hitting her.
"Hold on, we're almost there," Sinbad told her over the roaring wind in her ears.
She simply nodded, her eyes kept close as they flew high above in the sky. If she had been afraid when Judal had taken her with him over the ocean, she was purely terrified flying a giant bird at speeds beyond her imagination now as they hurried in the direction of Magnostadt. Sinbad sat in front of her on the same bird, leading it and the army behind him. Should she call it an army?
After her pleas and Yunan's coaxing, Sinbad had made contact and organized a handful of other nations, The Seven Seas Alliance, to join him in his quest to stop the evil thing that was quickly tainting the air. How she had known of the Medium, she wasn't sure herself, though it had surprised both Yunan and her brother. Alya felt sick, and the closer they got to their destination, the worse she felt. She hadn't felt this bad since that time she had fainted in Judal's room. She had been feeling weird but at the time had assumed it to be nerves. Now she understood what she was feeling. Her body was reacting to the vast amount of black rukh which were increasing by the second in the air around them.
"Sinbad!" Yunan exclaimed. He and the red-haired girl from many months before-Morgiana- were following close behind the group and hadn't said anything until now. The bird had also seemed to slow down. Hoping they had made it, Alya opened her eyes just in time to witness something amazing.
"The Djinn of wrath and heroes, I command thee and thy Household to feed on my Magoi and empower my will with your great ability! Come forth, Baal!" Sinbad held out his sword as light gathered around him and he seemed to change form. Scales covered his arms and legs and even morphed the sword's hilt. His hair had turned a brilliant blue and his attire had completely changed. Alya watched, dazed, as he stepped off the bird, able to fly on his own. He looked down confidently at the headless black being beneath. "Bararaq Seiqu!" he exclaimed. In a flash of… lightning, the sky was lit up and the being was sent tumbling down into the waves below.
As the dust caused by the attack cleared, she could see the small group beneath that had been holding off the being. "Aladdin?" Alya said aloud as she noticed the familiar blue-haired boy.
As the boy looked over the whole army, they made eye contact for a moment and she smiled at him. The group, however, seemed more surprised by the army around her. She was quite surprised at how many friends her brother had as well. And they all looked incredibly powerful and fearsome.
But that was not the end; the being reemerged from the ocean. While everyone began to battle showing so many amazing powers, Alya couldn't help feeling useless. Why had she even come? The only thing she could do was slow them down and feel sick from the great amount of black Rukh eminating form the Medium. Something felt wrong… The weird feeling in Alya's stomach had increased tenfold and her head was pounding painfully. She tried to ignore it, but it just kept getting worse. Why wouldn't it stop? Why had everyone turned sideways? Or perhaps the bird was tilting. Alya tried to get a firmer hold on the birds feathers, but instead, her hands loosened "Bro...ther," she tried to warn him but her voice came out weak.
She lost the feeling of soft feathers under her. She looked up into the sky to see the bird she head been on just moments ago. Was she falling? She had never imagined she would die by falling from the sky.
Someone's warm hands encircled her waist and legs, catching her from mid air.
"So that's where you've been all this time." That voice, it's so familiar. Who is it? Brother?
"Alya!?" Sinbad's voice rang out over the pounding in her head. Strangely, it wasn't coming from beside her, but farther off.
Alya opened her eyes to gaze upon Prince Kouen's face. His red hair had grown greatly and strangely resembled snakes, like one of his generals that she had seen only once before.
"I see you even had the great Sinbad wrapped around your finger. What's your goal?" the prince asked with suspicion.
"Goal?" Alya asked. "I don't understand."
He sighed, turning her slightly so her feet could touch the ground. Ground? He had flown them down to solid ground? "Never mind. I'll figure it out later. This is no time for conversing with conniving witches." He left her there as he flew off to join the battle.
While Alya was speechless at the way he spoke she felt worried. He was already at his limit. How was he supposed to fight? Just as she thought this, the air began to feel light and warm, and radiated with power, empowering all the battle tired people. She watched in awe, feeling even more useless as everyone activated magic circles.
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What was she doing here?! She could have been killed! Judal glared down at the merry people below. He watched one girl in particular. She was smiling happily as she assisted the injured, her smile radiating light like the sun. That smile irritated him. Why was she so happy?
He had nearly had a heart attack when he saw her fall from the bird. If Kouen hadn't caught her, Judal would have ended up revealing himself just to save her. But at least she was safe… the white sun that contrasted to his black sun.
The sun that his mind was irrationally comparing her to was clouded at the moment by a great amount of black Rukh. It somehow irritated him even more to think that she wasn't under a more pure light. Though this was the reason he had come here anyways, he began to gather the black Rukh in his hand simply to allow the rays from the sky to brighten the girl more.
As the Rukh condensed in his hand, he noticed the girl look up in the sky, her smile so much more than it was only moments before. His breath caught.
No, this was no time to get distracted! He shook his head and turned to Hakuryuu who levitated beside him.
"Are you not going to go to your sister?" Judal asked.
Hakuryuu shook his head. "What about you? Lady Alya is down there."
Hearing her name angered Judal for no reason. "Of course not. Why would I do that? Let's go." He turned away, ready to leave. "Besides, I'll be retrieving her soon. Might as well let her enjoy her time with her brother while she can."
A friend pointed out that Judal acts a bit Tsundere around here. I don't know if thats good or bad, what are your opinions? Also, sorry the war part was so short. there wasn't really much Alya could do during it so I didn't want to just rewrite everything directly from the chapter.
Jemstone6259: The reason she knows about the medium at this point is a secret.
Lulosky: I can totally see Yunan shipping Alya X Judal.
ShinigamiKin: Hehehe
