Previously:
"That's strange…" Seishun said as they dismounted their horses, furrowing his brow in confusion. "I don't see any of the villagers." While looking around, they failed to notice the archers hiding on the roofs of the yurts surrounding them.
"!?" Hakuei and Seishun gasped, alarmed when several arrows shot into the ground near their feet. Their eyes widened when they realized that they had been surrounded by the rest of the warriors in an instant.
"How dare you hurt the people from our village yesterday!" one of the Kouga men shouted angrily. "We won't be fooled by your pacifist acts any longer!"
"!?" said Hakuei, taken aback. "Just what are you talking about?" she asked, confused.
"…" Aladdin furrowed his brow and frowned as he watched everything from a rocky ridge overlooking the village. He grit his teeth as he tightened his grip on Baba's staff and began gathering more rukh. "I can't let the people of the village fight." He said determinedly. "You, lend me your strength…"
Chapter 27: The Home of Souls
"Aladdin, give me back my staff." Baba said calmly.
"Eh?" Aladdin said, immediately whipping his head around to look behind him. "!!" he gasped in surprise when he saw that she was really there, along with Hope and Faith, who were panting from having to basket-carry the old woman all the way over to him.
"Calm down, we just came to negotiate!" Seishun said urgently, standing back to back with the princess while the Kouga men kept them surrounded. Both of them had drawn their swords to defend themselves.
"Do not deceive us!!" one of the men yelled furiously. "Yesterday, you pretended you had come to negotiate, and then you hunted us as slaves and even attacked Baba-sama!! We won't be fooled again!!"
'What are they talking about!?' Seishun wondered anxiously. 'They're too blinded by their rage to listen to us! What are you going to do, princess!?' He gasped, flinching in shock, as one of the men rushed forward to attack her. Hakuei didn't even flinch when his blade slashed her shoulder and leg.
"!?" the man gasped, shocked, as she stood there resolutely. "She didn't divert it!?"
"We do not want war." Hakuei said with calm determination. "To know the truth about what happened yesterday… please allow time for negotiation!"
"Ugh…" The man said uneasily, taking a step back. Could it be… they had made a mistake?
"Don't be fooled!" another man shouted. "It's the same trick from yesterday, kill her!"
"Stop, you fools!!!" Baba yelled, causing them all to flinch in shock.
"Ba—Baba-sama…" They gasped as they looked up in the direction they had heard her voice coming from, and saw her standing on the ridge with Aladdin and the twins. She fixed all of the men with a stern glare as she stared back down at them. Beads of nervous sweat slid down the sides of their faces. Everyone fell silent. "Don't pretend to be stupid!!!" Baba continued fiercely, trembling from the effort of standing as she leaned on her staff, while she scolded her family. "Do you really call yourselves Kouga!!?"
"…" Aladdin and the twins watched worriedly as blood flowed from the reopened wound in her back.
"… Don't forget what it is that you really need to protect… or what kind of battle you need to wage for it…" Baba said as she slowly and carefully made her way down the steps carved into the ridge, ignoring the pain and trail of dripping blood that she was leaving behind. The men moved out of her way as she marched straight over to the princess. Baba stared at her for moment before placing a hand over her heart and dropping to her knees in a respectful bow as a sign of allegiance. "Our clan will become part of the Kou Empire." Baba pledged solemnly, causing the others to gasp in shock.
"We'll join it…!?"
"But… Baba-sama! If we join this empire, our clan will be annihilated!"
"As you can see for yourself, Your Highness…" Baba continued. "Our clan is heavily damaged, both physically and mentally, from long years of invasions and slave hunting. I will not allow my family to get hurt anymore… I even thought about the possibility of going to battle with your country… However, a certain child told me that you, who represents the empire, does not intend to destroy our clan and is a trustworthy person…" Hakuei's eyes widened slightly as she looked up at the ridge and saw Aladdin. "So I thought we would submit ourselves to you."
"Baba-sama…" Boyan said worriedly as he and Dorji watched the puddle of blood at her feet grow increasingly larger with horrified expressions on their faces, and her trembling worsened. "Your wound…"
"But… that is not an ordinary wound…" Hakuei said, clenching her fist as she observed the serious condition the elder was in. "It must have been caused by one of my subordinates after all…"
"Princess!!" Baba said firmly. "I do not care about that. Between the life of one village chief and an entire population, you know what is most important, don't you?" she asked gravely. Hakuei furrowed her brow.
"I understand…" she said, bowing her head. 'Of course I understand your intentions…" The princess raised her head again with renewed determination. "From now on!! The Kouga Clan will be under the protection of the Kou Empire, on behalf of Ren Hakuei!!" she declared boldly. She would not let the elder's selfless sacrifice be in vain.
"But… now we'll throw away our pride and enter another empire…" one of the men said miserably, echoing the thoughts of many of the older members of the clan.
"That doesn't matter!!" said Dorji. "It doesn't matter where we'll be, all we have to do is continue to hold onto the pride in our hearts! Just like Baba-sama… Don't you get it yet!?" he said urgently.
"…" Boyan and Bator furrowed their brows and stiffened their jaws with determination upon hearing that.
"So, Kouga!!" said Baba. "Show me your intentions!!!"
Aladdin and the twins watched as one after another, all of the men dropped their weapons and kneeled before the princess to show their surrender. Many shed tears over the end of their current life, and they all held some portion of fear towards the unknown future that awaited them. But not one of them wavered.
"Isn't it amazing, Ugo-kun…?" Aladdin asked the Djinn in his flute quietly. "They all have the courage to choose the way forward. We didn't need do anything…"
With everything brought to a peaceful conclusion, their next priority was of course treating the wounded.
"Baba-sama!!?" Everyone cried in alarm when the old woman finally allowed herself to collapse after overexerting herself.
"Y'all go ahead and be with Baba-sama!" Hope told Aladdin and the Kouga Clan. "Leave patching the princess up to us."
"Damn it…!!" Faith cursed in frustration as they watched them quickly carry her back to her tent with help from Aladdin's magic turban, clenching her fist.
"I know…" Hope said, placing hand on her shoulder. "But there's nothing more we can do for her… At least they'll all get the chance to say goodbye. And I don't think Baba-sama will have any regrets…" She hoped Aladdin would be all right. He had gotten really attached…
"Baba-sama!" Dorji said urgently as he and the youngsters crowded around her bed with the healer.
"Baba-sama, hold on!!" said one of the girls.
"Obaa-chan!" Toya cried, clutching her hand.
"I… shall leave the village the way I said before…" Baba said weakly through labored breath. "… I have nothing to leave behind… no regrets…"
"Baba-sama guided us with the last of her strength…" the healer said. His voice was thick, and his lower lip trembled.
"Obaa-chan…" Toya said, shaking, as tears streamed down her face. "Obaa-chan!?" she cried, alarmed when Baba didn't answer, and she realized her hand was beginning to feel cold.
"Baba-sama…!" They all sobbed mournfully while Aladdin watched quietly from the back of the tent with a solemn expression on his young face. He had never seen someone die before…
"…?" he said, surprised when Baba's body began to glow, and the energy from within began to rise up and leave, breaking up into little chittering particles of rukh.
"Rukh is the home of souls." He heard Baba's voice echo through his mind. Aladdin immediately spun around when he sensed something behind him.
"!?" he gasped when he saw that it was none other than Baba, though she was now only a spirit made up of rukh. He physical body was still lying on the bed, surrounded by her grandchildren and the rest of her family.
"What happened, Aladdin?" Baba asked with a smile. "Why are you standing way back here all by yourself?"
"…" Aladdin continued to stare at her, stunned. "Obaa-chan… you died…" he told her solemnly. "They are all crying… Everyone loved you..."
"You say that so indifferently!" Baba laughed. "What about you, Aladdin?"
"…" Aladdin squeezed his arm. "I also loved you very much." He said, managing a small smile for her. "But I don't have as many memories with you as they do… So I'm going…" he trailed off as his few but precious memories of being with her flashed through his mind, especially the night when she had called him her child.
"That is not true." Baba said softly with an affectionate smile. "We have many memories too."
"… Yes…" Aladdin said quietly, looking down. He had to bite his lip to keep it from trembling.
"Hey, Aladdin, you actually think that you are alone, don't you?" she asked, causing him to look up again. "This is not true. Now that I am in this form, I finally understand you… as well as those sisters…"
"… What?"
"I thought they were a little strange, and now I know why… those two come from another world, don't they? One that is governed by a different set of 'laws', and you're worried they'll eventually end up leaving you, right? But I think the three of you were meant to meet." Baba said with a smile. She could tell that their bodies were already beginning to adapt to the rules of this world. "But even if they were to leave, well… look there." She said, pointing at everyone gathered around her bed.
"!?" Aladdin gasped when he realized he could see the same energy glowing around each and every person.
"Each living thing is a single entity by itself, but the source of all things is gathered into one. It is what brings together and connects all souls, the blood of the world… This is rukh. An you, who are loved by the rukh that connects all people and able to borrow their power… you are a magi… Someone who, living together with these millions of other lives, guides them and creates worlds!" Baba explained as her form gradually became less solid. "… So you are not alone." She said with a grin, giving him one last pat on the head. Aladdin gasped and reached for her as she started to float away. "Beloved child of Solomon… I shall always be with you." She promised, flying off to join the rest of the rukh.
"… And that's what happened…" Hope said as she tied a knot in the Hakuei's bandages, having just finished telling her everything that had transpired the previous evening. "Baba said she didn't care about it, because she was more worried about protecting her family than getting revenge… But I thought you should know, for your own safety. Because if anything happens to you, then you can't protect them."
"Yeah, I really wouldn't put it past those jerks to try to make it look like you had some kind of 'tragic accident' in order to avoid being found out and/or punished." Faith added with a scowl. Just thinking about it pissed her off. Personally, she'd like to see the guy responsible drawn and quartered.
"Yes, so please, be careful." Hope advised the princess and Seishun as they saw them off. "There's no telling how many other people Ryosai has in his pocket."
"… I understand." Hakuei said grimly as they mounted their horses and rode off, in a hurry to regain control of the army. "Thank you for telling me!"
"I hope she kicks his ass." Faith said seriously as they watched them ride away.
"Yeah, me too…" Hope agreed. "Come on, let's go check on the others." When they entered Baba's tent, they found it flooded with crying clansmen. The twins didn't have to ask why. It was obvious from the grief-stricken looks on their faces that Baba was no longer with them. The twins closed their eyes and moved away from the bed, heading straight for Aladdin, who had fallen to his knees at the back of the tent, and was staring up at the last wisps of Baba's rukh with tears in his eyes. The Twins didn't understand their significance, but they kneeled down quietly beside him and wrapped their arms around him, pulling the boy into a comforting embrace.
"…" Aladdin's lower lip trembled as he held onto them with shaking hands. They were giving him permission to cry. They understood… They understood what it felt like to lose someone important. He could feel it. Aladdin tightened his grip on the older girls as he let out a sob, clinging to them for support, while Faith held his head against her chest, and Hope gently stroked his hair and rubbed his back in a soothing, circular motion. Even though Aladdin knew Baba would be watching over him as part of the rukh from now on, it still hurt… It was lonely to think she would never be able to hug or pat him or any of her family members on the head again… As he cried, so did the twins, and the three of them mourned Baba's passing together.
At this time, on the plains between the village and the army base, Hakuei and Seishun encountered something rather disturbing. Ryosai had apparently decided to mobilize some of the troops in her absence.
"… What are you doing, Ryosai?" Hakuei asked, deciding to give him a chance to explain himself.
"What… War, of course, princess." Ryosai answered smugly with a devious smirk.
"…" Hakuei and Seishun stared at him in disappointment with unimpressed looks on their faces. They had thought as much. Tucked inside of the princess's clothing, the eight-pointed seal on her metal vessel began to glow.