Hi! I'm back! And with a new chapter!

Sorry about the long wait. I'm currently trying to tie things up so we can get to the Time Skip/Magnostadt Arc. It's pretty hard with the lack of inspiration I'm getting from the actual manga. It's all war, war, war, though the new country is a pretty interesting development. But I want to see Judal and Alibaba's space adventures! I need the comedy back!

Ahem.

Aside from personal concerns, I'll move onto the questions.

Questions:

Just wondering, how exactly did shion earn alibaba's blessing in courting amani?: Ah, well, that's a story. For one, Alibaba freaked out like the overprotective, dorky dad he is and nearly killed Shion when Shion first came to him for his blessing for his relationship with his daughter. In older!Alibaba's defense, he thought that Shion would turn out like his dad, who literally was thewomanizer of the Seven Seas (not that Shion knew this at that time). It took a long time, many attempts in proving himself, and a long man-to-man talk to convince Alibaba that Shion was the right man for his daughter.

What is the difference between the cursed and and the blessed children? is it only a matter of sides or personalities?: As I mentioned before, the Cursed Children artificially gained their abilities while the Blessed Children gained theirs in birth. Their abilities are currently unknown, but they are suitably made to take down their respective Blessed Child target.

Wouldn't it be interesting if Judar went to Magnostadt as well?: Yes, yes it would. Sadly, the whole world knows his face and the school would recognize him instantly. Besides, he needs some good Magi training from the pro, Yunan. Their interaction in the future will be pretty interesting...

Just to be clear, were Yasmine and Jamal siblings in the original timeline? Same thing for Sai and Selene?: Actually, Yasmine and Jamal were cousins in the previous timeline. Yasmine was Spartos' daughter and was loved, unlike the present version. In the original timeline, Sai and Selene shared absolutely no blood.

Can't Sai just translate the Harry potter spells from Latin to Arabic?: Actually, yes. But it takes the fun out of everything. Us Harry Potter fans love the familiar sounds of Accio this and Stupify that so we can recognize what the spells do. Hearing it in a completely different language makes it fall a little flat.

Do the Amani Shion loved and the Amani of this world look the same or are they totally different?: They look the same. They just act differently.

And the Queen as a Cursed Child? How would she get away from the palace to, idk, "do her duties"? Wouldn't she have a procession of servants?: Very good questions. Actually, since Al Thamen are pretty good at sneaking into any country (aside from Sindria) as servants or something like that, it's easy for Eirenne to come into contact with them without being found out since she kills off her servants quickly. She also has someone else who gives her information.

...and did I see a Alibaba X Yasmine?: No. I would never betray the KouYa shippers like that. The previous attempt in pairing those two together was just a joke, nothing more, nothing less. What you saw there was merely friendship and understanding. It seems that Alibaba caught onto Kouha's little crush on Yasmine. He can relate to Yasmine since he feels the same with Morgiana, that's all.

Also! jankitty13/jangirl183 drew a wonderful Koumani comic "Angry Koumei (in djinn equip)". Check it out on my profile! (Take out the spaces please. The weblinks are currently going through a problem that I can't fix.)

Children of Solomon

Chapter 36: White Lies

Warning: There was a spy in the palace. The earlier than expected existence of the Cursed Children is confirmed. Only one out of four is identified.

Cursed Child: Camilla (ex-Maid of Sindria Palace)

Abilities: Hand-to-hand combat, master of small weapons (trained by Ja'far), some talent in chemistry (?) (used a form of a flash bomb during battle), escape artist, (possibly) the ability to fight in par with a Blessed Child

Personal Note: They can be anywhere, watching you or hunting you down. Remain with allies and don't catch yourself alone. None of you are safe. Be very cautious from this point on. I repeat. Be very cautious from this point on.

Shion quickly scrawled down four copies of the missions notes while four birds waited patiently for him to finish his messages. Each was trained by Sai to locate each of the Blessed Children so that they would be able to stay in touch, wherever they were.

Behind him, Sinbad and Judal watched the purple-haired boy curiously as he went about making his messages.

"What sort of language is that?" Sinbad asked his son curiously as Shion began tying the notes onto the birds' legs. "I've never encountered it in my travels."

"A language we made up." Shion lied smoothly, not looking up to meet his father's gaze. He continued busying himself with sending the birds on their way. Sinbad's curious smile wavered at the short way his son replied to him.

Meanwhile, Judal stiffened up as realization struck him like a lightning bolt. "It was you! You were the one who was writing all those stupid letters to Princess!"

Shion looked up in surprise at the sound of Judal's voice, unaware of the magi's existence until he spoke. "Oh, good morning, Judal. I didn't really see you there. And yes, I was keeping in touch with Kougyoku. Friends do that, you know." After a beat, Shion awkwardly asked, "Why? Did you want to write one to her?"

Judal made a strange sound at the back of his throat. "No that's not – I mean, yeah being able to send letters to her would be nice, but that's not what I was trying to say! All those weird letters that Princess was getting during her time in Balbadd were from you?!"

"Well, someone needed to give her support at her time of need. She didn't really like the idea of getting married to Ahbmad, as you saw." Shion stated dryly. "What? Did you think she was exchanging secret love letters with some random guy?"

Judal didn't answer.

"…You did? Really?"

"Shut up."

Shion raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm not judging you. I'd probably make the same assumption if it was me in your position."

Judal gave him a flat look. "You're nine."

"And? You do know who my father is, right?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, I almost forgot that you're the son of an incurable pervert." Judal snorted, letting go of his initial annoyance so he could pick on the Sindrian King. "Your dad already teaching you his tricks at such a young age? How terrible. I feel sorry for you Chibi-er Chibi."

Shion let out an exaggerated sigh. "It's a bit difficult, but I manage."

Judal and Shion shared matching smirks and snickered.

"I'm right here." Sinbad grumbled loudly, not at all amused by the teasing he was receiving. "And stop putting weird ideas into my son's head! That's not true!"

"Yeah right, idiot king. As if anyone would believe that sort of crap."

"I'm not lying!"

Shion continued to laugh at the bickering pair, pretending that the heavy weight of worry didn't exist.

"Anyways," He interrupted the two, focusing on Judal, "why are you here, Judal? Did you need something? Other than the permission to use my messenger birds, of course." He added jokingly.

Much to Shion's surprise, Judal shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably while awkwardly turning his gaze to somewhere else. It took a bit for Shion to realize that this was his version of being sheepish. "I, uh, sort of forgot the directions."

"Oh, that?" Shion laughed. "Yeah, it's pretty complicated. Don't worry about it. I'll just write it down for you." His eyes softened as he took out another piece of paper. "You're making the right choice. You know that, right? Out of the four, Uncle knows about being a magi the best. He's a pretty good teacher too."

Sinbad snorted bitterly at Shion's statement, earning raised brows from the other two people in the room. "You put your faith in him too much, Shion. I know that he raised you since birth, but he isn't as good as you think he is. That guy is a villain!"

Surprised by the sudden animosity, Shion took a step back.

"F-Father?"

'Wait, did he always feel this way with Uncle? Why didn't I notice this before?'

Quickly noticing his son's uneasiness, Sinbad forced himself to relax and let go of his anger. "You know what? Never mind. Yunan might be a villain, but he might be the only one willing to help Judal out."

Shion nodded along with his father, still looking a bit uneasy.

"Yeah…so how much longer are you planning on staying in Sindria, Judal? A few days, I hope?"

Judal shrugged nonchalantly, pretending not to notice the hopeful look on Shion's face. "Sorry, not that long. I'm already all packed." He said simply. "I'll be gone by this afternoon. I just dropped by to get directions and say bye."

"Oh. Okay then." Though a bit disappointed, Shion smiled supportively while handing over the directions. "I wish you luck on your journey."

"…Chibi-er Chibi?"

"Yeah?" Shion blinked in confusion. "What's the problem?"

"I don't understand a word on this thing." Judal stated dryly while holding up the piece of paper.

Shion blushed when he realized that he had written the directions out in English in his haste. He snatched it away from the magi's hand, wasting no time in stuffing the whole note into his mouth and swallowing it.

Gulp!

Both Sinbad and Judal looked at him strangely.

"Shion? Are you alright?"

"Chibi-er Chibi, is there something wrong with your head?"

"Sorry," Shion somehow managed to say after successfully destroying all evidence of his careless mistake. "I'll…write you a new one. Just wait a second."

After the whole incident, Kouha had silently dragged Yasmine away to some obscure tavern where he ordered countless pints of alcohol. He downed every single one of them, not saying a word until the liquid muddled his brain enough to loosen his tongue.

Yasmine found out that Kouha was very... talkative when he was drunk. She now knew why Kouha limited himself to one or two cups when he went out drinking with his men. 'He could spill out Kou's secrets right now without any questions if I asked.' Yasmine realized after his sixth – seventh – drink.

(Just how strong did they make their alcohol here?)

Fortunately, for him, Yasmine had no interest in that sort of thing. Her first and foremost priority at the moment was to make sure that he was okay. Kouha. And he wasn't. He wasn't okay.

So, she listened.

Most of what he blabbered out to her that night was incomprehensible ramblings that held little to no importance. Yet, Yasmine found that she learned more about Kouha than she ever had in the four years she knew him.

" – and tha' was how I met big bro'er En!" Kouha chirped cheerfully while reaching for his thirteenth cup. Yasmine wisely slid it away from his reach, much to his disappointment, and distracted him by speaking up. "Interesting. So that's why you're so attached to him. You never told me these things before Kouha."

Kouha tried to reach for the cup again but quickly gave up.

"Dunno." He stated indifferently, pouting at her interference. "Didn't wanna. You always get all sad an' stuff when I talk about En or Kou. 'Sides, you ne'er tell me abou' you'self either. Tha' wouldn' be fair!"

Yasmine nodded in agreement. "True. How about this? You answer one question I have about you. In return, I'll tell you everything about me when you're sober."

Kouha looked at Yasmine suspiciously. "You'll tell me ev'rything?"

"Everything about Yasmine Leoxses." She affirmed and was determined to keep her word. Honestly, the only reason why she kept to herself so much was because she never felt like sharing her whole life story to a complete stranger. Not that Kouha was a stranger. The reason why she never told him about herself was because he never actively asked. Yasmine would have been more than happy to answer any questions he had about her if he did. 'Though, giving him information about Harley Kingston is another story.'

Kouha looked at her with a strangely piercing gaze. If she hadn't seen him down so many shots, she would've been convinced that he was still sober.

(But…that wasn't possible…right? He was drunk.)

"Promise?"

Yasmine nodded. "I promise. And I don't go back on my word."

"I know you don't." Kouha agreed immediately. He bit his lip anxiously as if this whole deal was going to blow up on him. "Okay…you promised…so wha' do you wanna ask me?"

Yasmine hesitated for a moment. Was this really a good idea? She had originally decided to leave the whole affair be and wait for him to approach her on his own. But she knew more than others how disastrous taking that route could be. She had experienced it firsthand. A person died because of her choice to remain passive to the problem. Phoebe – no. That was of the past. This was the present where she could make a difference. "Kouha, can you tell me about your mother?"

Kouha's inquiring gaze quickly closed off to a distant look. He leaned back on his stool and hummed. "My mother." He repeated dully, speaking clearly for once. "Why my mother? Why not secret, hush-hush information about Kou's war plans? All the other girls would ask me that."

"Sorry that I'm not like your palace girls." She apologized insincerely. "I don't give a fuck about war plans or things like that. I prefer avoiding politics as much as I can. Being a Blessed Child is a headache enough."

Kouha giggled, his emotions doing a complete one-eighty. "You're right! You aren't like my palace girls! Though, they weren't mine for very long…I didn't like them too much. They were oh so bo~ring."

"You're changing the subject, Kouha. Answer the question, please."

"That's not fair!" Kouha whined. "I don't like the question. Change it!" He demanded impishly.

"No."

"…Please?"

"No."

"Yassssmmmmine!" He whined loudly.

"No means no."

"Why?" Kouha finally asked looking defeated at the face of Yasmine's stone-faced stubbornness. "Why do you care about this so much?"

Yasmine's eyes softened from behind her blindfold when she heard the vulnerability in her friend's voice. She reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. "I care because you're hurt and for some reason, it has something to do with your mother." Yasmine told him honestly. "And…I don't like that you're hurting alone."

"You wouldn't understand." Kouha said confidently, sneaking in a gulp of alcohol before she could snatch the cup away from him again. "You never had a mother."

That comment stung more than Yasmine was willing to admit.

"You're right. I never had a mother to raise me." She agreed, forcing herself to keep calm from Kouha's verbal attack. "But that still doesn't mean that it would be impossible for me to understand you. Just explain it to me. You might be surprised."

"…"

"Please, Kouha?"

"Okay." Kouha finally relented. "But we're going to talk about this somewhere else."

"My mother is insane."

Yasmine blinked in surprise at Kouha's first words. She sat at the edge of the bed of their shared room in the inn. Fortunately, the pirate attack hadn't touched their temporary place of stay, so they didn't need to move.

"Everyone knew about it. It wasn't as if it was a secret." Kouha scoffed bitterly when Yasmine didn't comment. He was faced away from her so she wouldn't see his expression.

(Or was it that he didn't want to see her reaction?)

"The Emperor was a greedy, lustful man. Every beautiful woman who caught his eye would become his concubine the moment he ordered it. They had no choice. Mother had no choice." Kouha said, voice hitching. "I heard that Mother used to be the brightest woman in the court before the Emperor took her. They said that the moment she had me, her mind broke."

Yasmine continued to stay silent.

"Mother was convinced that I was a girl during the first four years. It should've been a good warning sign about her sanity. She would dress me up in pretty, little dresses and pin ornaments into my hair." Kouha continued. "She always referred to me as 'Hana' when she talked to the servants. One day, she finally realized that I was a boy. She wasn't happy and threw a large fit. She tried to…hurt me."

"Did she succeed?" Yasmine inquired softly, interrupting him for the first time. She looked him over in concern.

"No, I'm fine. I don't even remember what happened that day anyway. But I had to be taken away from her since they were afraid that she would hurt me again. Mother was never allowed to leave the room since. They locked her up and kept her out of sight. En-nii and Mei raised me in her place." Kouha turned to the side and gave Yasmine a weak smile. "They're great brothers…you know that, right?"

"Of course." Yasmine assured him softly. "You make sure to remind me every day that you have the best brothers in the world."

"Yeah…but I always held them back. We don't share the same mother so I was always a burden to them because of Mother's reputation."

"No you aren't!" Yasmine wanted to say, but she forced herself to swallow the words. Kouha tended to be stubborn in his beliefs and she didn't have the heart to start a fight when he was trying to open up to her. Yasmine decided that she would move that particular conversation somewhere in the future.

Instead, she settled with a neutral, "I think your brothers are proud of you, different birth mother or no."

Kouha barked out a bitter laugh. "I know! I know they are! And that's what makes them so wonderful." He looked down and trembled. "I never deserved any of that, but they cared for me anyway. I never deserved-" He stopped to take a shuddering breath. "I was a coward."

Yasmine looked surprised by Kouha's sudden confession. "Kouha?"

"Mother escaped from her rooms one day and found me. I didn't recognize her at first, so I was scared. She...she had a knife with her. I tried to run, but she managed to catch me since I was so small. I thought she was going to kill me. She didn't. Instead, she gave me the knife and told me:

"Hana darling, can you do one very important thing for Mommy that will make her very happy? Kill me."

Kouha quoted the sentence with the memory fogging up his eyes. Yasmine's heart plummeted at the quote as she began to regard Kouha's mother was newfound disgust and horror. Mentally broken or not, no mother should ever put such an atrocious onto the shoulders of a child, especially her own.

'But then, does that mean Kouha really-?'

"I didn't." Kouha said, much to Yasmine's relief. "I tried to, but I couldn't. I ended up running away from her. I was a coward." Kouha spat bitterly. "I had a chance, Yasmine. I could have lessened my brothers' burden even a little if I did what she asked. I had the chance to cut ties with the very woman who made me different from my brothers. And she wanted it too! But I didn't. I proved that my connection to my mother made me weak!"

"Or," Yasmine interrupted quietly, "maybe some part of you knew that killing her would be wrong."

Kouha was silent.

Yasmine didn't allow the heavy silence between them to discourage her from saying her part because – Solomon curse whoever put these thoughts into her friend's mind – Kouha needed to know that more than half the things he was spouting right now were complete bullshit. "Kouha, what you did wasn't a weakness. It was a natural reaction, especially for a young kid. Do you honestly believe that killing her would have changed anything? Anything at all? She is your mother and she will always be your mother, just as Kaveh is my…father." She grimaced at the thought of the horrible man. "No matter how horrible they are, you can never change that you are connected to your family by blood. But your blood ties with your mother doesn't have to define you."

"…Really?"

"Who were the ones who raised you?" Yasmine reminded gently. "Who were the ones who taught you the right morals and pride that you have now?"

"En-nii and Mei." Kouha whispered.

Yasmine nodded. "That's right. And that's all that should matter. Your brothers are so proud of you. Even I could see it during my visit to Kou. They view you in the highest regard."

Kouha sniffled.

"They love you, Kouha."

That was all that Kouha could take before breaking down. He began to sob uncontrollably as he collapsed onto the floor like a puppet without strings. Yasmine abandoned her post on the bed to gather him up in her arms. "Shhh, Kouha, shhh. You're perfect. You're wonderful. Don't let anyone else let you think otherwise."

"I killed her, Yasmine! I killed her!" He wailed as she rocked him soothingly. "I gave her the knife and told her to do it herself. I'm not as good as you think I am!"

So that's what was troubling him this whole time. The whole scene at the port was like a reenactment of his childhood nightmare. And this time, he chose to let his mother do the deed herself.

It was as if he actually did kill his mother.

"Kouha, how do you feel?" Yasmine asked suddenly, peering down to see his expression.

"Horrible." Kouha confessed, face wracked in guilt. "Horrible."

"Good. Remember it." Yasmine told him firmly. "This is how you could have felt if you really did kill your mother that day. Remember how horrible it feels and never doubt that you made the right choice."

Kouha nodded miserably.

"But also remember that it wasn't your mother that you gave the knife to today. You gave it to a filthy, child-manipulating woman who was beneath your generosity. You gave it to Umm Madaura. Your mother is safe and alive."

"…Did I make the right choice?"

'For your mother or the Holy Mother?' She wondered to herself.

"You made the right choice, Kouha." Yasmine assured him, answering for both of the women. "She needed her release and you gave it to her. You did what was best both as the Third Prince of Kou and as your mother's son. You couldn't have done anything else."

Kouha seemed to relax in her arms as he accepted her words.

Yasmine stood and pulled him up. "Let's get to bed. You're drunk and I'm tired. I think it's best that we try to sleep this off." She helped him under the covers before joining him. Yasmine turned away from Kouha and closed her eyes.

"Yasmine?"

"Yes?"

"…Thanks."

"Of course. We're friends. Good night, Kouha."

Kouha stayed still until Yasmine's breaths evened out. He sat up and looked over at her sleeping face with a guilty smile.

"Sorry Yasmine." He murmured quietly while reaching over to brush aside a strand of hair from her face. "I lied. Or at least, I didn't tell you everything."

Kouha knelt in front of Umm Madaura with a sweet smile on his face. "I love you very much, Mother. I love you so much, that I couldn't even kill you for my older brothers. And I love them very much."

"Yes, yes, and mother loves you very much too! You're such a good boy, Kouha."

"I know I am, Mother. But you did very, very bad things. You took many lives, possessions, and children. You made so many people so very miserable. You even made me fight against the person I'm in love with."

The Holy Mother's eyes widened in horror at the dark tone that slipped into Kouha's voice as his eyes narrowed only slightly. "Mother is very sorry that she made you do such a thing. Mother didn't know! She really didn't know! Please forgive me. Mother loves you, Kouha."

Kouha tutted at her in disappointment. "I was pursuing her very a very long time and you dragged me down into such a state. You made me look very bad in front of her, Mother. I'm not very happy about that."

"Forgive mother!"

"Many people want you dead or imprisoned now. It would be for the best if I cut off your head right now so I can calm their fury." Kouha noted casually while glancing at the glaring crowd, making the woman pale slightly. "But I won't satisfy their bloodlust."

Umm Madaura sagged in relief. "I'm so proud of you, my son! Of course you won't kill your mother!"

"Of course not. It would make me look like a monster in front of Yasmine and her friends. That won't be good. But I can't risk you making me raise my blade at Yasmine again. I just can't. So I'll give you a choice."

Kouha grabbed her hand suddenly and slipped a knife under her sleeves.

"Give yourself a quick death or die a slow death in my hands after spending a good amount of time in your cell and believe me, I will find you and I will destroy you."

He stood up.

"I'm sorry, 'mother'." Kouha said in a louder voice. "It seems that this is the only way both you and I will be happy. I hope that you can understand."

"Solomon." Kouha rubbed his face. "I killed her for you, Yasmine. I couldn't even do that for my brothers."

He looked at her despairingly.

"I wonder what you would think of me if you ever found out?"

Amani was thrilled to find that her library was kept intact and untouched. It gave her something to do in the otherwise boring palace. Though Kou Palace had its moments of monotony, they had their gardens and pigeons to pass the time at least.

"I knew how much you loved that library, so I insisted on keeping it the same." Koumei had told her shyly when he revealed that the Balbadd Library still existed despite the drastic changes the palace went through. "I thought that you might have wanted it that way. Are you happy?"

She was. And Amani showed her appreciation through showering joyous kisses onto him and giving him a well-deserved cuddling before duty temporarily took her husband away from her for the day.

Hakuryuu, who had decided to appoint himself as her unofficial bodyguard, decided to spend the day with her.

"I told you that I could take care of myself." Amani reminded Hakuryuu once again as he paddled after her heels determinedly.

"No. We can't risk you or the child getting hurt." He said stubbornly. "I promised Alibaba-dono that I would keep you safe. I will not betray the trust that he placed in me."

Eventually, after much arguing and attempts to make Hakuryuu see the lack of sense in his endeavor, Amani sighed and gave up.

"It's going to be boring." She warned him since she knew that he was more of an active boy. "There will be lots of reading and indoor activities involved since I can't stress my body."

"Don't worry, Amani-dono. I think I'll be fine." Hakuryuu assured her with an amused smile. "How bad can it be?"

Very bad, apparently.

Hakuryuu never knew that it was possible to fit so many scrolls within one room. He was amazed at the sheer size of the place at first. Then, with growing horror, he realized that until Amani finished reading every scroll in the room (or, until the day ended, either worked), he would be required to stay there with her.

"I told you so." Amani reminded him with unrestrained amusement as the fourth hour ticked by.

Hakuryuu could only stare back at her miserably.

Taking pity on him, Amani decided to cut the library visit short and bring the rest of the scrolls that she didn't finish back to her room so Hakuryuu would be freed of his self-burdened 'duties'. It wasn't much of a difference where she read them anyways.

As she began gathering her things, Amani picked up a particular scroll and smiled at it fondly.

Hakuryuu noticed her look and wandered over to her side curiously. "Amani-dono? What is that?"

"A gift from an old teacher that I forgot to bring to Kou." She told him as she opened up the rolled up paper. "It was her wedding gift to me before…" She trailed off for a beat before she continued strongly, "well, before she died."

Hakuryuu looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry for your loss. Your predecessor must have been a good teacher."

"The best." Amani agreed. "But don't apologize. It was bound to happen. Blessed Children do not live a very long life." Amani stated sadly. Hakuryuu sent her a stricken look at her statement, surprising her. "You didn't know?"

"I suspected…but…"

"When my successor is born, that will be when I begin to die. My power and energy will transfer to them as they grow. It's a natural circle that the Blessed Children have been going through for generations." Amani made sure to make that fact clear to him. "It was like that with Fatima and me. It will be like that for me and my successor."

Hakuryuu shook his head. "How long?"

"Not for a while." Amani assured him. "I would know. We can sense when our successors are born. And even then, the transfer of abilities would be a slow process."

"I…see…"

Amani could tell that this was a difficult subject for Hakuryuu. She beckoned him over and embraced him comfortingly like a mother would her child. "Don't let this worry you, Hakuryuu. Kougyoku, Sai, Yasmine and I still have some time to go before it is our time to leave this world. There's simply so much for us to do here. There is still that organization to be rid of. I'm sure that fate wouldn't be so cruel as to take us away before that mission is accomplished."

"Fate can be cruel." Hakuryuu brooded with a dark look on his face. "But if that's fate, then –

"Then you will do nothing. Don't even think about it." Amani cut in sharply and drew back with an angry look. The scroll she had placed on her lap rolled off at the sudden movement. "Thoughts like 'I will reject fate' will only bring you down to Al Thamen's level. Don't go down that path, Hakuryuu. It would only hurt everyone who cares for you. Including me. Don't ever think like that again." She commanded firmly.

Guilty, Hakuryuu nodded.

Amani's eyes softened. "Good. Now, let's – " She cut herself off abruptly, eyes glued to the unraveled scroll on the ground.

"Amani-dono?" Hakuryuu asked, concerned. He peered down at the scroll and scrunched up his face in confusion. It was simply a picture. He wasn't sure of what, but it didn't seem like it was something distressing. "Is there something wrong?"

Amani broke out of her trance and quickly picked up Fatima's gift from the ground.

"It was a private joke between us." She explained to Hakuryuu weakly.

He nodded in understanding. He too became overcome with emotion when he encountered objects and reminders of his deceased older brothers. 'Well, not in the same way.' He corrected himself. Instead of shock or sadness, Hakuryuu reacted in anger and hatred.

"I'll be going back into my room." Amani said hastily. Before Hakuryuu could make his offer to escort her, she pinned him with a hard glare. "On my own."

"Understood." Hakuryuu sighed reluctantly while stepping back to let he pass. "But if you need me –

"- I will call for you." Amani finished hurriedly as she left.

Hakuryuu sent one last worried glance in her direction before turning and making his way towards the training area.

On the day Amani's engagement was announced to her by her father, Fatima caught her student in the middle of the hallway. Both of them paid no mind to the other people passing through as they spoke to each other on the subject. They were always overlooked, so conversations between them were seldom overheard.

"Amani, when you leave to Kou, I will not be able to come with you. I need to stay here in Balbadd since I am this country's Blessed Child. You, on the other hand, will have Kou Empire as your new home." Fatima made sure to explain. She had always been blunt and to the point with her. This wasn't an exception.

Amani nodded. "I understand, Fatima." And she did. She knew what being a Princess entailed and never once deluded herself into thinking otherwise.

"This also means that tomorrow may be the last day that we will ever speak with each other."

Here, Amani paused.

"…What?"

"Amani. You know how short our lives can be." Fatima reminded her student, eyes softening in a rare show of affection. "I'm not going to lie to you. I feel that my time is coming soon."

Amani felt dread pool in her stomach at her teacher's words. She wanted to ask Fatima if she was sure, but held herself back. Fatima hated stupid questions.

"I see." Was all Amani said - could say really. She felt too numb to argue against the inevitable. It was completely out of her hands.

"I'm sorry." Fatima apologized genuinely, causing Amani's head to snap up quickly in surprise. The older woman laughed, throwing her student out of balance once again. It was only later on that Amani would recall that Fatima's laugh had not been a happy one. "Oh, Amani. I love you and I am proud of you. I'm sorry that I will have to leave you alone."

The finality of her mentor's words scared Amani.

Fatima pressed a scroll into Amani's hands, breaking her from her fearful thoughts. At her student's questioning look, she explained, "It's a gift. It's an…inheritance that was passed down from our line of Blessed Children. Don't open it until you reach Kou."

"I won't. You'll be there to see me off, won't you Fatima?"

"Of course I will. Now go off and see to that twin brother of yours. He doesn't know about the engagement, does he?"

"No." Amani confirmed as she made her way to leave. "I'll have to go and see him. Thank you for the gift, Fatima. Until tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow."

(That was the last time she saw Fatima.)

Amani slipped into her room and made sure that her doors were shut tightly. Keeping one eye on her surroundings, she opened the scroll again. She checked and double-checked it to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but the image did not change or disappear.

The picture brought on waves of unwanted nostalgia and homesickness that Amani hadn't felt in a very long time. Every shading and intricate detail was like a distant memory rushing back. She used to know this art style by heart, but that had been a long, long time ago. Though it could have been a coincidence, Amani knew that the facts stated otherwise.

The unique signature scrawled at the side of the picture was what confirmed it.

It was barely recognizable because of the age of the scroll, but in the front of the word there was the undeniable shape of an 'S'.

English.

'How is this possible?' Amani wondered as the paper crinkled in her hands, ruining the image. But she paid no mind. 'How could Fatima have Sammi's drawing?' She wondered with mounting panic and fear and…hope. 'Does this mean that Sammi was here too? Does this mean we aren't the only ones who were reborn into this world?'

"I have to write to the others." Amani decided.

Kougyoku had been able to fight off the bandits that attacked the caravan swiftly and efficiently. Opal's craftworks were absolutely wonderful to wield. They made slicing through bone so much easier, much to the glee of Kougyoku's well-hidden bloodlust.

Well, mostly hidden. Kougyoku had a feeling that Tao was able to see through her act, not that she was ashamed of this side of her. Personally, she thought that her bloodlust was milder compared to her brothers'. At least she didn't cackle wildly or tremble almost religiously at the sight of blood like a certain brother. Kougyoku loved shedding blood on the battlefield, but she didn't love it that much.

(Really, it was a Kou child thing. Koumei was the odd one out in that respect.)

Thankfully, Tao was understanding or, at least, open-minded about Kougyoku's guilty pleasure. He had only reacted with a raised brow and an amused quirk of his lips behind his mask. Kougyoku had a feeling that he was not surprised by her violence.

Behind him, Kougyoku caught sight of an image of a woman nodding approvingly and a man bent over in laughter. Tao's and Judal's parents, her mind supplied at the sight. Tao had explained to her before that she was able to see them because the two ghosts were so intertwined with Tao's identity.

"I'm sorry, m'lady, sir, but I don't think I can travel any further!"

Unfortunately, the caravan driver was not as understanding.

Vicious thoughts like 'no woman should be so good at killing! She's a monster, a witch!' and 'I can't deal with this madness anymore!' pummeled into Kougyoku's mind, despite her fruitless attempts at blocking them. The caravan driver was too close and his belief in his thoughts was too strong.

Usually, Kougyoku would take offence at his thoughts, but the sharp smell of fear and incomprehension made her understand that this man was simply spooked by both the bandit attack and her ability with the swords.

Ah, the tragedy of discovering that your caravan driver is a complete coward.

Seeing that keeping him was useless, Kougyoku let him go after giving him a small fraction of the pay that she promised, which was far more generous than what he would have gotten if she was an average noble.

After the caravan was out of sight, Tao had the sense to ask, "What now?"

What now, indeed. They were stranded in the middle of the desert with a limited amount of food and water. The caravan driver had not even had the sense to drop them off at a nearby village or town in his haste to leave.

After much thought and consideration, Kougyoku made her decision.

"I'll have to use my djinn equip."

By the next afternoon, Kouha and Yasmine were packed and ready to leave Akita Kingdom behind them. Neither spoke about what had happened the night before. Kouha acted as if he hadn't revealed very sensitive information about himself and, to Yasmine's relief, looked as if he'd completely recovered from Umm Madaura's mind tricks.

"Finally!" Kouha rejoiced giddily. "We're leaving! I thought that we'd be stuck here forever."

"Not forever." Yasmine corrected while paying the innkeeper. She made sure to tighten the blindfold around her eyes. "We only stayed here for two days at most. Besides, this was only supposed to be a detour from your business in Magnostadt."

But Kouha wasn't listening. He was already making his way through the door.

'Does he even remember?' Yasmine wondered as they left the inn before ruefully shaking her head. 'Probably not. He was completely drunk. Best not to bring it up for now since he's in such a good mood.'

"We'll have to rejoin the others. We left them without any warning, after all. Jamal is probably worried sick about me." Yasmine decided. "I'm actually surprised that he didn't turn the whole kingdom upside-down, seeing that you were the one who dragged me off."

Kouha stopped in mid-stride and gave Yasmine a look. "What do you mean by that?" He demanded.

Yasmine sent him a dry look. "You know what I mean, Kouha. Your reputation with other women isn't exactly clean. My brother has a legitimate concern about my well-being and chastity."

Kouha scoffed. "I would never."

"I know." She assured him. "But Jamal has trust issues."

"NEE-CHAN!"

As if summoned, Jamal jumped out of nowhere and pounced onto Yasmine, much to Kouha's displeasure.

Expecting his appearance, she readily caught him and continued walking as if the extra weight didn't affect her. "Good afternoon, Jamal. We were talking about you."

"I know." Jamal said cheerfully while nuzzling her adoringly. "I sensed it."

"He sensed it." Kouha repeated slowly.

Yasmine took Jamal's explanation in stride. "Good for you, then. How did things play out after we left? Was there any trouble?"

"Nah. Alibaba was able to take over and knock some sense into the pirate children, so there's nothing to worry about. He's pretty good." Jamal confessed, much to Yasmine's surprise. "He sent them over to Sindria, which probably was the best call since they're…well…kids. Prison would only traumatize them and do more damage than good." He made a face.

Yasmine shared his distaste with a frown. "I see. That's good. My stupid apprentice has some sense, at least. He won't be a completely hopeless ruler."

Kouha choked.

"Completely useless ruler?" Jamal parroted, ignoring the pink-haired boy's struggle for air. "Nee-chan…you're not really considering Alibaba as your King, are you?"

'You're not planning on leaving Shion for that guy, are you?'

Yasmine scoffed. "Of course not, Jamal. I thought that you were smarter than that. I'm only interested in Alibaba's success because he's Amani's brother."

Kouha sighed in relief.

This did not go unnoticed by Jamal.

"What? Are you thinking that Nee-chan would choose you? Dream on."

Kouha's irritation flared. "Shut up, brat!"

"Who're you calling brat, you bastard?!" Jamal screeched and pounced on Kouha.

They punched, bit, and scratched at each other like children fighting in the playground. Yasmine was quick to jump into the fray to separate the two. After she managed to kick them away from each other, Yasmine made sure to pin them both with a mostly non-lethal glare. "Stop it. Both of you. You are acting like children."

Both tried to defend themselves.

"But he-!"

"Stop. It."

Much to her satisfaction, the pair obeyed reluctantly. "Yes…"

"Good. Now, Jamal, where are the others? I heard that Aladdin and Selene are planning on going to Magnostadt. Kouha and I are planning on going there too."

Jamal brightened at her words. "Really? That's great! Aladdin was planning on spending some money for a ride, but I guess this works! I'll take you to them!"

JinJin, JunJun, and ReiRei almost cried out in relief at the sight of Akita Kingdom. It was only a handful of days since they had last seen their master, but it was like an eternity for them. 'Finally! They were going to be reunited with Kouha-sama again!'

ReiRei was the first to recover from her happiness. She tilted her head toward the silk screen across from her and cleared her throat.

"Princess, we are almost there. Would you like to see?" She inquired respectfully.

The small figure behind the screen bounced excitedly. "Can I? Can I really, ReiRei? I know Papa told me to hide so I can surprise Uncle Ha, but I can take a little peek, right?"

ReiRei nodded with an amused quirk of her lips at the child's obvious excitement. Beside her JinJin and JunJun cooed. "Of course, Princess. I doubt that Kouha-sama can see us from here."

After a moment of hesitance, Kohaku's head peeked out from the screen. Her body followed after. She crawled over to the window and raised herself just enough that her mismatched eyes would peer out to the sight. She gasped excitedly upon seeing Akita Kingdom. "Is that where Uncle Ha is?"

"Yes, Princess Kohaku."

"That means that Yasmine will be with him too." ReiRei heard her princess murmur to herself. Ah, so she knew about her Uncle's interest in the Sasan warrior, then? "But then, he should be there too. There's no way that he wouldn't come running if Yasmine is alone with a male. Poor Uncle Ha."

ReiRei thought that she misheard. "Pardon, Princess?"

"Ah, nothing! I was just thinking to myself. You'll understand when we get there! But for now, I'm not here!" And with an excited bounce, Kohaku scuttled back into her hiding place, making ReiRei forget about her strange statement before.

Thanks to Kougyoku's snap decision to simply fly to the Tenzan Plateau instead of waiting for a different caravan to cross their path, Tao and she made it there within mere hours.

Upon their landing, Tao blinked many times incredulously at the ground before turning to his traveling companion.

"Why don't we travel like this all the time?"

Kougyoku shrugged. "Well, we don't want to waste our magoi for something so trivial. Not only that, the sight of our djinn equip would throw people into panic if I ever flew over a country like Reim, for example. It's easy to misunderstand and think that I was planning on attacking them instead of simply flying over. I just made this exception since we were dumped in the middle of a desert with no other means of transportation." She shrugged again. "That's all."

Tao opened his mouth to ask another question but was interrupted by the sound of horses. He tilted his head to the side. "I think we have company."

Kougyoku stiffened when she heard the same noise and readied her swords.

That is, until she saw the all-too-familiar-banner of her homeland.

"Hakuei!" Kougyoku shouted gleefully, abandoning her defensive stance in favor of her family member. With a more refined yet equally joyful reply, Hakuei dismounted from her horse to accept her younger sister-cousin's over-exuberant hug. Both went down laughing, much to the shock of the other horsemen who were flanking Hakuei.

Tao didn't seem to react at all.

"I missed you so much! I haven't seen you since you left the palace!" Kougyoku said excitedly after drawing back from their enthusiastic hug fest. "I thought that I would never see you again!"

"Now, you're being dramatic, Kougyoku." Hakuei chided. "Your fiancé couldn't have been that bad. I'm sure that he would have allowed you to visit Kou if you ever felt homesick."

Kougyoku sighed and shook her head at Hakuei's optimism. If only she knew…

But Hakuei always thought the best of others. That was why she was Sydney's second favorite female character in the series in her past life, only topped by Morgiana, who was honestly everyone's favorite with her awesome ability to kick ass with her bare hands.

"Ex-fiancé." Kougyoku decided to correct instead. Explaining the whole situation would have taken way too long and the last thing she wanted was to waste time on Ahbmad of all people.

"Ah," Hakuei's eyes widened in understanding at her short explanation, "I see. Was the Emperor too upset?" She asked, very aware that Kougyoku probably had a hand in the breaking of the engagement.

Kougyoku shrugged. "Nah. I mean, he wasn't happy about it, but taking over Balbadd was the important part – which Kouen managed to do, by the way – so he let it slide…mostly. Actually, he didn't want to 'see my face for a long time'. That's why I left Kou palace and came here to visit you!"

"Kougyoku…you should have brought Koubun over with you…" Hakuei sighed.

Kougyoku grimaced at the mention of her ex-vassal's name. "He won't be coming with me on any expedition soon, or even ever for that matter." She muttered sourly before gesturing over to Tao, who had been strangely quiet during the whole exchange. "I have a new bodyguard now. His name is –

"Tao?"

Kougyoku paused in mid-sentence and regarded her sister-cousin and friend with confusion. How did she know his name? Did they already know each other? Her sharp eyes caught at how Tao stubbornly kept his gaze on the ground and how Hakuei's stare was mainly on the red scarf wrapped loyally around his neck despite the previous heat of the desert.

Then, everything made sense.

'Of course!' Kougyoku laughed at herself mentally as she watched Tao slowly raise his head to meet Hakuei's eyes when she called his name once again. 'I knew that scarf looked familiar!' Then, Kougyoku chuckled to herself and shook her head, both actions that were unnoticed by the pair. 'Only Hakuei would botch up knitting something as simple as a scarf.'

Though talented in many things, she had never been one to be good at housework.

YAY! Finally! Tao's beloved is revealed!

Unfortunately, I have no omakes to offer since I'm a little low on inspiration. Maybe in the next chapter. It depends on my mood.

Some things to clear up:

Sinbad's Bad Relationship with Yunan?: Hell yeah I'm including this. Just imagine how the reunion is going to turn out. And it's going to be even worse between them since Sinbad now knows that Yunan kept his son and Ranya from him for eight years. Yunan's distaste for Sinbad would be more justified now since Sinbad slept with his sister. Ah, the family reunion is going to be pretty awkward.

Kouha's Mother: I hope that all of you appreciate my take on Kouha's mother. She was mentioned briefly on Chapter 180, page 15. "It must be from the fact that his mother lost her sanity for a long time." Was the only mention of her, which I found regrettable since it would have been interesting to learn a bit more about her. I did a little more research and learned that Kouha was insecure about himself since he didn't share the same mother as Kouen and Koumei and saw of it as a weakness. Yet, it also states that Kouha is concerned about his mother's health, which gives me the idea about his conflicting feelings toward his mother. The whole twisted backstory was all mine.

Kouha's reason: You can all scream and coo now, KouYa shippers. Yes, even though Kouha was still somewhat under the influence of Umm Madaura's spell, he still killed her off for one main reason. His 'mother' made him attack Yasmine, which both scared him and pissed him off (thus, his depressed and confused state afterward). He killed off his 'mother' for the sake of keeping Yasmine safe from himself and never giving Umm Madaura the chance to use him to hurt Yasmine again.

Sammi and the Blessed Children: Again, Sammi is brought up. Shion hasn't told any of the Blessed Children about his vision of Alma Torran yet, out of respect of Aladdin's privacy, but there is a very close connection between this woman and the current Blessed Children's past lives. All will be revealed in a later time.

Jamal WILL be traveling with Kouha and Yasmine to Magnostadt: As will Selene, Aladdin, and Kohaku as you can see. So...no more alone time between the two, sorry.

Meanwhile, Alibaba will be accompanied by Hel and Opal: Poor Alibaba.

Sai: He's currently sitting in a caravan, waiting to reach Magnostadt Academy. Nothing interesting here.

Djinn Equip Travel: I've always wondered about why they didn't use it as often, but then I realized that a shitload of political problems could surface if they ever used it carelessly. It's sort of like the Eagles from the Hobbit/Lord of the Rings universe. Very useful, but not used for important reasons (brownie points to those who recognize the reference.)

And finally...

Hakuei/Tao: Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This is the woman I have decided for our beloved Tao. Even though she doesn't look like it, she could be very violent when she needs to be, especially when Tao accidentally walked into her bathing. (A misunderstanding that was cleared up before Tao's head was chopped off by an embarrassed/upset Hakuei). Great job to those who guessed it right!

Thanks for reading this chapter and hopefully, I'll be updating faster from here on out!

Be a friend and drop a review!