Previously:

"I can't nail 'em!" the officer cried in alarm. "Why can't any arrows hit them!?" He was further startled when his two of his men were suddenly kicked out the back of the carriage by the twins. Faith head-butted the third, while Hope tucked and rolled to pull her hands around over her feet so she could start untying them. While soldiers were distracted by the arrival of the cavalry, the Hope had started working on her sister's restraints. "You…!?" he shouted furiously, reaching for his sword, but Faith quickly kicked it out of his hands.

"…!!" Hope and Toya exclaimed, rolling out of the way just in the nick of time as it embedded itself in the floor of the carriage between them. Hope shot her sister a look for that, while a chagrined Faith looked away to avoid making eye contact with her.

"Hey… bastard…" Dorji said darkly, alerting the officer to the fact that he was now right behind him.

"…!!" the officer paled in shock as he spun around to face him.

"Don't underestimate the Kouga Clan!!!" Dorji roared angrily, glaring fiercely at the rotten scoundrel with his sword in hand.

Meanwhile, Aladdin and Baba were bringing up the rear. Aladdin was riding on Ugo's shoulders while Baba took the magic carpet. Ugo was doing his best to keep up with the troopers, but even the giant Djinn was having trouble matching their speed. Baba stared at the boy in amazement. She had no idea he could summon a Djiinn or control a magic turban like this.

"Aladdin, what on earth are you?" she asked.

Chapter 25: Legend

"Don't make light of the Kouga Clan!!" Dorji yelled, grabbing the officer in charge by the front of his shirt, while the rest of the men took care of the fallen soldiers and captured the second carriage.

"Damn it! Damn it! Don't come any closer, scoundrel!!" the officer cried as Dorji raised his sword for the kill. But then he froze mid swing when Baba's words from flashed through his mind.

If you kill the enemy soldiers, it'll turn into a war!

"That's right, calm down!" the officer exclaimed nervously, taking advantage of his moment of hesitation to get away. "Otherwise, I'm not sure what'll become of this little miss here!" he said, grabbing Toya by her hair while he held a knife to her throat. Dorji's eyes widened when he saw the state she was in. He had never seen Toya so terrified before. She was shaking violently. Tears were streaming down her face, new mingling with old. She was dirty, and the top of her dress had been partially ripped open. On her chest was a small cut that was still bleeding. His pupils constricted as something inside of him snapped.

"Die!!" Dorji snarled furiously, raising his sword to cut the hateful man down. But before he could even realize what he was doing, the knife was pulled away from Toya's throat, and the officer was skidding on the ground as he landed flat on his face a couple feet away. The culprit was Faith. Dorji froze in shock as he suddenly realized what was happening and what he had been about to do.

"I've enough of your crap, asshole!!!" Faith shouted angrily as she ran over to finish what she had started, slamming her foot into the officer's back when he tried to get up. "Shouldn't you have a license for being that ugly!?! I hope all your bacon burns—forever!!!" she ranted as she repeatedly kicked him over and over again, stomping mercilessly on his face.

"Faith… Faith!!" Hope shouted, having just finished untying the other girls.

"Wut!?" Faith snapped, giving one more stomp for good measure before turning to look at her sister. She suddenly realized the fighting had stopped, and everyone else was staring at her rather awkwardly.

"Um, I think you got him." Hope said, sweat-dropping, as she pointed out the sorry state her opponent was in. He was barely breathing and looked just about ready to assume room temperature. "Any more and you'll kill him… and we don't want that, do we?" she reminded her sister pointedly.

"… We don't?" Faith asked with a frown, furrowing her brow slightly. "Oh." She glanced back at the officer and stared down at him for a moment. "… 'Future funds' this!!" she yelled, stomping down on his crotch with all her might, grinding in her heel.

"GYAAAAAAAAaaaaaaah….!!!!!" The man's scream of anguish echoed across the plains. The pain was so intense he lost consciousness.

"Phew~!" Faith said with a satisfied smile as she wiped the sweat from her brow, looking extremely refreshed. "Okay, I feel a lot better! Ah, but I seriously need to pee now…" she said, sweat-dropping as it suddenly hit her how long she had been holding it in, since they had grabbed her before she could do her business. "I guess I'll just go in the carriage!" she said, hopping up into the empty vehicle for some privacy. Nothing like adding insult to injury! Hope also sweat-dropped, smiling wryly, as she shook her head at her sister's antics. Faith was such a honey badger…

'S-Scary…!!' all the men present thought as they watched and beads of sweat slid down the sides of their faces.

"Huh…? What should we do?" Aladdin asked worriedly. "We lost sight of onii-san and the others. And I think I heard a scream just now…"

"That's no good. Stop, Aladdin." Baba said calmly. "My eyes can't see, and yours can't read the stars. The plain is vast, so we'll end up getting lost. We will wait for Dorji and the others from a position where we can see the fire of the village."

"But…" Aladdin said hesitantly, worried about Faith and Hope.

"It'll be all right. They're all soldiers with the gallant heart of the Kouga. I'm certain of it, they'll rescue the girls safely." She reassured him with a gentle smile. "Believe in them."

"… Okay." Aladdin said, deciding to trust her. Ugo went back into his flute, and Aladdin put his turban back on while he and Baba sat down and waited for the others to return.

"However, you really are a strange child, Aladdin." Baba said after a moment.

"Am I?"

"That's right. Using giants, controlling the rukh… It's almost as if… You're the 'magi' from the legend." Baba said with a smile. Aladdin immediately perked up upon hearing that.

"Obaa-chan, you know about the 'magi'?" he asked, taken aback.

"I know all about it." she replied calmly.

"I may be that 'magi'." Aladdin said, sitting up. "That's what I was told by the other Djinn in the dungeon. He said I was supposed to select a king…" Baba stared at him in surprise. "Tell me, what is the 'magi'? I'm searching for who I really am!!" he said urgently.

"… All right." Baba agreed with a nod. "I'll will tell you one story from folklore.

"Folklore?" Aladdin asked.

"Yep. It's a legend that's remained in the village of the Kouga Clan." Baba explained. "The story goes like this… A very, very long time ago… there were no 'countries' in this world. Natural disasters, starvation, plague… the people suffered with no way of standing up to the threats of the world. However, a mysterious young man appeared there. He erased the natural disasters with his magic staff. And then, to the astonished and grateful people he declared thus: 'Humans build a country. Each of you are weak, and must unite and support each other if you wish to live on. If you do, you will be blessed with days of tranquility.' The people nodded and agreed, and the young man waved his staff once more. As he did… a great tower appeared from within the earth. The young man said this: 'The one who wishes to be king shall enter here. If you overcome the trials within, you will gain the power to become king.' Many people entered the tower. Finally, one boy came back. He held many treasures… and a strange power… The boy became king, and built a great, great country. The people were blessed with tranquil days. The people, led to peace by the 'mysterious young man', gave him respect and called him… the 'magi'."

"Magi…" Aladdin said.

"Yes, that is the 'magi'… Then, the great country that was created, was our native country, called the Great Kouga Empire… Did that help?" Baba asked.

"… Yeah…" Aladdin said quietly, looking down. "I see… so that's what a 'magi' is…" Baba watched him thoughtfully for a moment.

"Incidentally, Aladdin, you said you wanted to know who you are… why not ask your parents?" she asked.

"No, I don't have any parents..." Aladdin said, hugging his knees.

"… Fine," said Baba, "then you are now… Aladdin, 'child of Baba'." Aladdin looked up at her in surprise.

"Do you have no friends either?" she asked.

"No, I've got some! There's Faith and Hope, and Ugo and Alibaba!" he answered brightly.

"Then you are Aladdin, 'friend of Faith, Hope, Ugo, and Alibaba'. Ho ho ho, how strange~" Baba said with a smile. "This old woman knew who you were that well?" Aladdin smiled happily, suddenly feeling as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He wasn't alone.

"… Yeah." Aladdin said, bowing his head and nodding. "Thanks, obaa-chan." He told her with renewed determination in his eyes as he raised his head again, standing up. "Say, obaa-chan! Earlier, I met with the princess from the Kou Empire, and we promised that there'd be no killing. That's why, a war like the kind you're worrying about won't happen, obaa-chan. It's all right." He promised confidently.

"…!?" Baba gasped in astonishment. "You… Did you really…?"

"Oh, look! Onii-san's come back…" Aladdin said, pointing to the approaching riders. They had Toya, Faith, Hope, and many other girls with them.

"Baba-sama—! Everyone is safe!" Dorji called out excitedly as they galloped over to meet them. "We saved them without killing a single enemy!" Baba's eyes widened in amazement, while Aladdin smiled. The twins and the others were all right. Everything had happened just as she said it would. Dorji stopped his horse and helped Toya down so she could run to embrace her grandmother, and both women cried in relief. Faith and Hope smiled as they hopped down and ruffled Aladdin's hair.

"Sorry if we scared you, but everything's all right now!" they reassured him. Aladdin grabbed their hands and smiled.

"That time… I remembered your words, Baba-sama." Said Dorji. "If we killed any of them, there would be a war. If that happened, we couldn't keep living together as we've always done… Since that's no good…"

"…" Baba stared up at them and the brave expressions on their young faces. They had all been through so much… They were all so grown up now…

PAF!!

"That's right, Dorji!!" Baba said, giving him a good, affectionate smack on the back. "Everything went well!!"

"That hurts, Baba-sama!" Dorji said, wincing with a wry smile. The twins and a few of the other chuckled.

"We will submit to the empire." Baba announced, surprising them. "In the war to defend our clan's pride… an uncountable number of our brethren have perished. No matter what the reason, people die when war occurs… What is it that we must protect? The country? Our pride? No! What we must protect is our lives!!" she stated with a burning resolve and determination. "No matter what happens, we cannot wage war!! All of you, wage a war in your hearts to survive, so that we may all live together as a clan!"

"…!!" Dorhi and the others gasped. "Yes!!" they responded determinedly. Aladdin and Hope smiled.

"Hey… is it really okay for them to give up like this?" Faith whispered, frowning slightly.

"They aren't giving up, Faith. They're just starting over, and you and I both know that takes a lot of courage." Hope said, taking her sister by the hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Well, then, let's go home!" one of the men said.

"Please, wait!" said Toya. "The other women are late! We don't have enough horses…"

"I'll return to the village and get supplies!" Dorji said. "Everyone, please wait here for a short while!"

"All right!" they all agreed.

"Wow~! Amazing, it's so warm!" Aladdin said happily, warming his hands with the twins by the bonfire everyone made.

"Dorji, thank you for saving me… You were so cool…" Toya said, blushing as she rested her head on his shoulder. Dorji blushed all the way to his ears, and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Baba and the twins grinned when they saw this.

"Become a man, Dorji." Baba told him with a sly look in her eyes and a big Cheshire cat grin plastered on her face.

"Your face looks weird, Baba-sama!" Dorji yelled, taking a swipe at the old woman, while he and Toya blushed shyly in embarrassment.

"Hohoho, hurry up and make me some great grandchildren, Dorji." Baba laughed as she dodged. Aladdin, the twins, and the rest of the clan laughed good-naturedly as the young couple blushed even harder.

"Where are you going?" Dorji asked as Baba moved to leave the circle around the fire. Was she trying to run away?

"Oh, to pee! To pee! I'll leave you alone for a bit!!" Baba said with a cheeky grin as she kept walking. She smiled at the sound of her family's laughter echoing through the night. 'What… was I hesitating for?' she wondered, stopping to stare up at the crescent moon. 'Making the country, fighting for hegemony, that was the duty of the past king. Now, my only duty is to keep the family alive… Yes, until I see the faces of my beloved children's great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren… I have to survive, along with everyone else…' She thought with a smile.

SHWIP!

Baba's eyes widened in shock and pain when an arrow suddenly pierced her back, and she collapsed to the ground, bleeding.

"I wonder… when obaa-chan's coming back…" Aladdin said with a smile, waiting patiently for her to return.