Author's note: I've noticed the number of followers for this story has begun to drop, so if anyone has any suggestions or constructive criticism, I'd really appreciate it...

Previously:

"…" Sinbad crossed his arms while he stood there to watch her leave, relieved he had been able to end things before they became even more violent.

The princess suddenly spun around and pointed at him. "It's not because you said it that I'm returning now!! Got it!?" she yelled nervously, blushing bright pink.

It's definitely because he said it… Hope thought, sweat-dropping. Watched quietly as the enemies they had been fighting retreated and regrouped to fly away on their magic carpet. The opponent that she and Alibaba had faced pointed at her and made a slicing motion across his neck. He was obviously very angry about what had happened to his sword.

"… They left…" several Fog Troupe members said, staring after them with stunned relief.

"Anyway, we're saved…!!" one man said.

"Treat the casualties!" said another.

"…" Aladdin stayed where he was and stared at his flute. But Ugo-kun's… Ugo-kun's star has vanished… he thought anxiously, feeling afraid for his friend despite Sinbad's reassurances. He readjusted his grip on the flute and focused on channeling his magoi into it. I have to give Ugo… even more power…!

Chapter 49: After The Battle

THUD. "Whoa!!" Alibaba exclaimed when Hope abruptly collapsed the second the enemy was gone. Her arms and hands returned to normal the second she hit the ground.

"!" Sinbad turned his head when he heard the commotion and quickly approached them to see what was wrong.

"Are you all right!?" Alibaba asked her, concerned.

"… Yes…" Hope said with a cough, chagrined. Falling on her ribs made it even harder to breathe than it already was. She also pretty sure she had managed to make the damage to her ribs worse, too. "Sorry, I guess the pain finally caught up with me… I just couldn't take it any longer…"

"Excuse me," Sinbad said as he kneeled down to examine her. She flinched when he touched her ribs. It seemed she was mostly unscathed, apart from some bruising and one fractured rib. But he was impressed that she had been able to move with such speed, especially after summoning a partial djinn equip on her first try. That was a feat even he hadn't been able to manage so quickly, though he had been four years younger than Hope at the time.

"How's everyone…? Faith?" she asked, trying to get her point across with as few words as possible, since it hurt to speak.

"Faith? Uh… Don't worry, she's all right!! It doesn't look like she's awake yet, but I'm sure she'll be fine…" Alibaba tried to reassure her after a quick glance around. Faith was still safe and sound right where Masrur had left her.

Hope furrowed her brow with concern upon hearing that her sister was still unconscious and tried to push herself up into a sitting position.

"Hey, wait!! I don't think you should move!" Alibaba said.

"He's right, one of your ribs feels broken," Sinbad told her, reaching out to brace her before she hurt herself.

"I'll live. It hurts, but it doesn't feel like anything vital's been punctured," Hope said, not giving up. Faith had broken a rib before when they were younger, so she knew there was nothing to do except to wait for it to heal on its own. "She's my sister. I need to go to her…"

Sinbad sighed. It was true that he hadn't felt any other damage, but he had only done a quick check through thick clothing. If she tried to walk over there on her own two feet, she might exacerbate her wounds.

The next thing Hope knew, she was in the arms of the king. "!?" She said, glancing between him and Alibaba in confusion, while he carried her over to her sister bridal-style. "I-It's all right! I can walk by myself!" she told Sinbad, starting to feel embarrassed. He smelled like a warm mixture of the sun and the sea, sandalwood, citrus, and other exotic scents and spices.

Sinbad simply gave her a polite, yet dazzling smile that sparkled in the moonlight in response and kept walking, causing Hope to sweat-drop.

… That's a really dangerous weapon he has there… she thought, letting her protests die in her throat, while she fought the reflexive temptation to blush, even though she knew he was just being nice. He should be more careful where and who he fired that thing at. But… He kind of reminds me of someone…

"…" Alibaba stared after them for a moment in surprise before shaking his head and getting up to follow. The truth was that he was also concerned about Faith.

"… Thank you," Hope said quietly when Sinbad set her down next to her sister. "Faith…?" she said, reaching out to smooth her twin's hair out of her face and check her vitals. She was still breathing, but her pulse felt weaker than normal. "Faith, please wake up… Don't do this to me," she pleaded, taking her sister's hand in hers and giving it a squeeze.

"…" Alibaba looked down and clenched his fist, wishing there was something he could do for them.

But Sinbad's eyes widened slightly in surprise when he sensed something incredible happening between the two twins. He could feel Hope's magoi moving from her body to her sister's. He reached out to stop her, but froze when he realized what was happening. Normally, when foreign magoi was suddenly introduced into the body, the native magoi's flow was disrupted. It often did more harm than good, especially when done by an amateur. But that wasn't what was happening to Faith. Instead, Faith's magoi easily absorbed her sister's, and its flow actually seemed to be getting stronger! Was it because they were twins?

Faith opened her eyes, squinting against the pale moonlight. She had a splitting headache and one of her arms hurt like a mother, but she could make out some familiar faces hovering over her. "… Hope?"

"Thank God!" Hope said, exhaling a huge sigh of relief. "Are you all right? Do you need water? Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry…" Faith said, blinking at all her sister's questions. "Did we win?"

"… They left, but… I don't think we can call this a 'win'," Hope replied grimly, casting a glance around at all the wounded and the panicked and hurried attempts to help them. She looked back at her sister with a serious expression on her face. "You have a displaced fracture. We need to set your arm."

"!!" Faith said, looking startled. Her whole body tensed, and she started sweating in anticipation of the expected increase in pain. This wasn't her first or second broken bone, so she knew it was going to hurt. A lot. "Ah, no… I'm sure I'll be fine… there must be other people who need your help mo—"

"—Ah!!" Hope suddenly gasped, pointing up at the sky.

"?" Faith said, wondering what her sister could be looking at, while she and Alibaba whipped their heads up in the same direction in alarm, thinking perhaps another enemy had appeared.

CRACK. "F #$%& #%!!!!" Faith let out a shrill, strangled wail when Hope immediately snapped her bones back into place the instant she let her guard down. "The fuck was that for!!?" she demanded angrily.

"You were too tense. I would have hurt more if I did it while you expected it, so I had to distract you," Hope explained calmly.

Alibaba and Sinbad sweat-dropped. She wasn't wrong, but the ease with which she did it was kind of brutal for someone who had seemed so kind up until then.

"Well, yeah, but…" Faith said feebly, pouting because she knew her sister was right. It was hard to argue with her staring at her like that. Damn, she looks just like mom when she's in 'nurse' mode… she thought, also sweat-dropping.

"Sin!" Ja'far called, getting their attention as he hurried over to join them with Morgiana at his side.

"Morgiana! Are you all right?" Alibaba asked.

"Yes," Morgiana replied quietly with a nod. Her injuries were mild.

"We need to get the swelling down," Hope stated calmly. "Morgiana, if you aren't too hurt, could you bring us some of the left over ice from that other magi's attacks? Maybe we can distribute it amongst the people whose wounds have begun to swell."

"!" Alibaba was surprised by the request, but he thought that was a very smart idea.

"Yes, I'll be right back," Morgiana said with a nod, leaving to retrieve some without hesitation.

"That's a good idea," Sinbad said, standing up. "Ja'far, have Masrur help her. I want you to find out how many are wounded and how. We need a survey of the casualties so we can better organize our relief efforts. Alibaba, what's the situation with your medical supplies like? Can you show me where it's kept?"

"Ah! Yes!" Alibaba said, ignoring his own pain as he scrambled to get back onto his feet to take him there.

Some order was soon introduced to the chaos, and those who weren't injured worked together to distribute water, blankets, and other supplies and aid to those who were. Sinbad was among them, helping the men apply bandages.

"Hey, are you all right?" one of the men carrying water asked another.

"We need water over here, too!" another shouted.

"Sin!" Ja'far said, getting his king's attention.

"What is it, Ja'far?" Sinbad asked, looking up from his patient to show that he had it.

"There are quite a lot of wounded," Ja'far reported. "However, with such large-scale attacks… we are very lucky not to have had a single death."

"Is that so…" Sinbad said. That really was lucky, given who they had been facing. "Anyway, the most important task at hand right now is to tend to the wounded."

"Um… I brought more blankets over," Morgiana said tentatively drawing their attention to her presence. She was carrying a whole bundle of them in her arms. "Water has been distributed to everyone as well."

"Thank you. You should get some rest as well," Sinbad told her.

"No. I'm fine…" she said. "I'm going to carry those that are heavily injured to the rooms…"

Sinbad and Ja'far watched as she walked away and approached a group of wounded men to do just that.

"Morgiana is a good girl," Sinbad said with a smile. "She's both strong and kind."

"Indeed," Ja'far agreed. "She's very kind to the people around her. She's also a fast and efficient worker. Hope is also helping out. She's gone to search for ingredients to make soup for everyone." That girl was up and about as soon as she had finished treating her sister and bandaging her own injuries.

"She shouldn't be moving around with those wounds," Sinbad said with a sigh. "She's too reckless."

"You're the last person who should be saying that," Ja'far remarked, recalling all the trouble he had been through over the years thanks to his king's impulsive behavior. "Still, it's amazing that she was able to perform even a partial djinn equip so quickly in such unfavorable conditions… Where are you going?" he asked when his king stood up.

"She's become a valuable asset. I can't let her continue to wander around making her injuries worse," Sinbad replied, heading off to find her.

… I'm so useless… Morgiana thought, face flushed with frustration, while she helped carry the wounded to somewhere more sheltered. I couldn't do anything at all… Before I return to my homeland… I want to help those four out…

"It hurts…" Alibaba hissed, unwrapping the bloodstained bandages another troupe member had hastily applied for him. He had retreated to his room to change them for fresh ones. "Damn it…" he cursed, pressing his hand against the wound. Fortunately it wasn't too deep, but it really hurt. Almost as much as their defeat. His brow creased and furrowed with frustration and guilt while he thought about everything that had happened during the previous battles, how all he could do was sit and watch while his friends were hurt by that other magi, and then that princess. Just what am I doing… he thought, feeling discouraged and depressed. I couldn't even do anything when Aladdin and the Fog Troupe were being attacked… Even though I have the power of a Metal Vessel… if I can't even fight at the critical moment, then there's no meaning to having it all…! Hope was wounded too, but at least she managed to activate hers in a way that made her useful… I'm so useless… so useless, it makes me angry…!! he thought, cursing his own weakness. "Even though this isn't the time to be injured… I have injuries everywhere," he said aloud, turning his attention back to his body. "There are even injuries over here… Here too," he added, pulling the waist of his pants away to look further as he continued his search. "There's one here, too… Here as well…" he pulled his pants down more to check his legs, turning on his side to get a better view.

Standing outside his door with a clean washing cloth and a metal basin of fresh water in her arms, Morgiana knocked softly before entering. "Alibaba-san… how are your injuries…?" she asked, opening the door. She immediately froze in place, staring in shock at the obscene sight that awaited her within. There, on his bed, was Alibaba, bent over and staring at her upside down from between his legs. His pants were around his ankles, leaving him completely naked from the waist down. She could see everything. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?" Morgiana screamed, flinching in shock and horror, appalled by the scarring view she had been exposed to. Whatever she had been expecting, this was not it!

"Woooah!?" Alibaba screamed as he flinched in shock, completely mortified that someone had seen him in that position.

"What are you doing!?" she demanded incredulously, dropping the water and cloth as she raised her hands to shield her poor eyes.

"What I'm doing…? I'm just checking my wounds!" he retorted defensively. She was the one who came in without waiting for him to tell her it was okay!

"!" Hope winced and flinched in pain when she stretched too far trying to reach a bunch of dried herbs that were hanging near the ceiling. She almost fell backwards off of the beat-up old stool she was standing on when it wobbled beneath her, but instead she found herself leaning back against a broad chest, while a strong arm wrapped around her to hold her steady, and another reached up to retrieve the herbs for her. Hope knew who it was without looking, because she still remembered his scent from earlier. "Ah, thank you…" she said, suppressing the blush that was threatening to color her cheeks, feeling a little embarrassed. She found it a little troublesome that this seemed to be happening to her with increasing frequency lately.

"You should be resting," Sinbad told her, leaning down so his mouth was right next to her ear. She was doing a good job keeping up appearances, but he had heard a slight wheeze in her breathing, and he hadn't forgotten the blood he saw on her lips earlier after Judar hit her. A faint hint of jasmine and lavender clung to her skin.

"Y-Yeah… you're probably right…" she agreed wryly, seeing how she almost fell. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her neck. "But I felt like I needed to do something, and Faith said she was hungry. I figured everyone else would be too, especially Aladdin—he always eats a lot after using his flute—so I thought I could help by fixing something…" she said, feeling a little nervous, straightening up so she could step down off the stool and put a more comfortable distance between them. "Thanks for catching me," she said again.

Sinbad stared at her for a moment. Until now, his primary focus had been elsewhere, but now that she had his full attention, he could see just how much he had been missing. He had noticed the high quality of the pearls on the twins' bracelets, but now that Hope had removed her headscarf, he could see that her earlobes had been pierced twice. In addition to the more noticeable pearl earrings, there was a smaller stud of gold in each lobe as well. But even precious metals and gems seemed dull in comparison to her striking amber eyes, which glowed with a gentle warmth and bright benevolence that was hard to ignore. Stubbornness aside, she was a very charming girl. The closer he looked, the more beautiful she became. "… Just try to be more careful from now on," he said, giving her a nice smile. "You're still a girl, after all. You should take better care of yourself."

"I'm always careful when I'm doing something dangerous," Hope said lightly with an endearing, subtly rueful smile. "But I maybe I was a little too reckless this time…" she conceded as she turned away from him to continue collecting ingredients. That fight had stirred up some bad memories, so a large part of her had acted without thinking. She was lucky it worked out in the end, but attacking an armed enemy head on from the front with your bare hands was normally a pretty stupid thing to do. "Speaking of which, earlier... my arms and hands underwent some kind of transformation…" she said, furrowing her brow slightly in confusion when she thought about it, holding onto a heavy shelf to steady herself while she squatted down to pick an onion from a basket on the floor. "So did that princess'… and her hairpin turned into a sword… Was that because it was her Metal Vessel? Did we change because of our djinns?" she asked, looking up at him.

Sinbad kneeled down in front of her and looked her in the eyes. "Yes. It's called 'Djinn Equip'. I suppose you're more used to the way Aladdin fights with his djinn… but it's different for him, because he's a magi," he replied, pausing for a moment when she furrowed her brow slightly and bowed her head a little, clearly worried about the wounds her friends had received. "Normally, the way to fight using a djinn's Metal Vessel is to wear the powers of the djinn residing in it. What you did before was only a partial Djinn Equip. The user first surrounds the Metal Vessel with magoi and compresses it around it to form the Djinn's Weapon. In your case, it appears your weapon is your hands..." he explained, taking her free hand in his. He rubbed his thumb over her fair skin. It was very soft and smooth, even with the calluses that had formed on her palms from had work and fighting. Her fingers were long and delicate, but strong. He also noticed that her hand felt cool to the touch and looked even paler than usual, almost whiter than milk. She's putting on a brave face, but it's obvious her wounds from the fight and using her Metal Vessel are taking their toll… he thought. There was still more he wanted to tell her, but it would be better to wait until after she'd had a chance to rest. "A full Djinn Equip is capable of much more, but we'll leave that for tomorrow," he said, giving her another smile as he helped her stand again, waiting to make sure she wouldn't lose her balance before letting go of her hand.

"?" Hope was curious and wanted to hear more, but decided to let it go, since she was tired. She had been feeling a little off ever since she used her Metal Vessel. It would be better to wait until she was more alert if she wanted to learn more. "Okay… Well, while you're here, would you mind getting some of those carrots for me?" she asked instead, pointing up at their spot on a shelf that was above her head but still within his reach.

"You're still planning on cooking?" he asked, reaching it for it.

"People are still gonna be hungry, aren't they?" she replied, adding the onion in her hand and a couple of bay leaves to the empty basket she was planning to use to carry out the ingredients.

"That's true…" Sinbad agreed wryly.

Even though she was hurt and tired, Hope didn't want to stop moving. She was afraid that once she did, all of the painful memories that had been stirred up would get to her. It was always easier for her to spiral into a down cycle when she was tired and already stressed out. So she had to keep busy until she was ready to sleep, so she wouldn't have time to overthink things and get depressed. She told herself it would be easier to stay positive once she'd had some rest, praying it wouldn't turn out to be a lie. She couldn't afford to break down here. She felt these people and her friends had enough to worry about already. And she didn't want to put that kind of burden on Faith while she was recovering from a broken arm and a head wound…

"Seriously… If it's bandaging, you just have to ask me…" Morgiana told Alibaba, once they had both had a chance to calm down, wrapping one of his arms for him. She had already finished treating the worst of his wounds.

"Injuries like these are nothing at all," Alibaba said, doing his best not to wince. "Hurry up, I need to help treat everyone else as well!"

"…" Morgiana stared quietly at him for a moment before tying the finishing knot.

"Speaking of which… How are Aladdin, Faith, and Hope?" Alibaba asked while she cleaned away the used bandages and gathered up the rest of her supplies.

"Faith-san is awake and feeling lively enough to complain now that her wounds have been treated, and the swelling in her arm has gone down…" Morgiana replied. She was fuming about Judar's attack on them and kept muttering to herself about all the ways she planned to get back at him for putting her arm in a sling.

Yeah, I bet she is… he thought, sweat-dropping. That girl always bounced back annoyingly fast. He was glad she was all right, though.

"And Hope-san is working on making soup for everyone," Morgiana continued. "I saw Aladdin-san returning to his room. He looked very tired. He's probably worried about whether Ugo-san has really disappeared or not…"

"…" Alibaba was quiet for a moment while he thought about it. "I don't think that's the only thing bothering him," he said. He was sure Ugo would be all right. Sinbad had said so. "If Aladdin uses his magic excessively, his stamina will reduce drastically as well… This happened before in the 7th dungeon…"

"Is that so… This is really worrisome," Morgiana said, concerned.

Alibaba and Morgiana looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Let's go take a look," he said.

"Okay," Morgiana said, and they stepped out of his room together into the hall.

"Whoa, watch the hardware!" Faith said when they almost bumped into her, patting her splinted arm and the impromptu sling that her sister had made for her using her scarf.

"What are you doing up?" Alibaba asked.

"I got bored, so I thought I'd check on Aladdin," Faith replied, reminding herself not shrug because it would hurt. "You?"

"The same," Morgiana replied.

"Hey! This child isn't breathing!" someone shouted, immediately drawing their attention back to the crowd up ahead.

"This is bad… Is he still alive!?" another man asked. A terribly familiar blue-haired boy was lying unconscious on the ground, clutching a metal flute.

"…!!?" Alibaba, Morgiana, and Faith gasped in horror when they saw the terrible condition he was in. "Aladdin!!?" They were at his side in an instant.

"Hey, pull yourself together, Aladdin!!" Alibaba shouted anxiously.

"Aladdin-san!!?" Morgiana cried, already on the verge of tears.

"Shit!! CPR!! He needs CPR…!" Faith exclaimed nervously, freezing in her tracks when she moved to start giving him chest compressions and remembered she only had one working arm. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Hope! Hooope!! Someone find my sister!!!" she screamed.

When Hope heard her sister's cries echoing down the hall, she immediately dropped what she was doing and ran as fast as she could to their source.

"Hope!" Sinbad called after her, quickly setting the basket in his arms down to follow.

"What!? What is it!?" Hope asked breathlessly when she reached the crowd, pushing her way through to her sister.

"It's Aladdin!! He needs CPR! They said he wasn't breathing…!" Faith explained as quickly and clearly as she could through her panic.

"!!?" Hope gasped, eyes wide with fear when she saw the state Aladdin was in. "Move!!" she said sternly, taking on such a commanding tone that everyone immediately did as she asked. She kneeled down next to Aladdin and tilted his head back while pinching his nose, holding the side of her face close to his open mouth in order to see if she could feel his breath on her cheek.

"What's she doing!?" Alibaba asked.

"Shut up!! She's saving him!" Faith snapped impatiently, feeling too frazzled to be gentle.

"!" Hope's eyes widened again when she didn't feel anything. Without hesitation, she placed her mouth over Aladdin's and started giving him rescue breaths.

"!!?" Alibaba, Morgiana, and everyone but Faith exclaimed, extremely bewildered by her actions.

Hope stopped and held her face sideways again, waiting to see if there was a change in his condition.

"What is this ruckus about?" Sinbad asked as he arrived on the scene with Ja'far. He couldn't believe the speed Hope was capable of when her sister was involved, especially in her current condition.

"Sinbad-sama!!" the troupe members cried.

"It's Aladdin…!!" Faith exclaimed.

Sinbad's eyes widened in alarm when he took in the situation before him and saw that Aladdin's flute was glowing. "This is bad!! Hurry, take that flute away from him!!" he yelled urgently.

"!?" Alibaba and Morgiana gasped in surprise, while Faith, though confused by an order she normally wouldn't have followed so easily, immediately yanked the flute from his hand. It stopped glowing almost instantly.

"W-What's happening!?" Alibaba asked, while the rest of the crowd began clamoring around anxiously, asking questions all at once.

"Quiet!!!" Hope shouted suddenly, so loud that she instantly drowned out the others, startling them. "Everyone freeze!! I can't tell whether what I'm feeling is him breathing or just air currents from ya'll moving around, so hold still for one freakin' second, okay!?"

Everyone stood stock-still, staring at her, stunned to hear such a harsh outburst from such a normally kind and quiet girl. They all watched and waited silently while she leaned down to check Aladdin's breathing again.

After a moment, Hope closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief as she sat up again. "He's breathing," she announced. She could hear everyone relax as they let out the breaths they had been holding, feeling reassured now that they knew Aladdin was still alive. She continued to check his other vitals. "But… his pulse is weak, and he feels cold. We should move him somewhere warmer for treatment…"

"She's right," Ja'far said after they had finished relocating Aladdin somewhere safer for him to rest. They had placed Ugo's flute beside him on the bed, far enough away that it wasn't touching him. "He's very weak… He's still alive, but he is in a very dangerous condition…"

"How can this… Just what happened to Aladdin!?" Alibaba asked anxiously.

"Yeah, this is way worse than that time in the dungeon…!" Faith said, extremely worried.

"The flute was glowing while he held it… He must have been trying to give Ugo more energy…" Hope said with no small amount of concern, holding her sister's hand.

"He overused his magoi," Sinbad said. "It's true that magi have unlimited use of the magoi around them. However, that is only for as long as the magi has sufficient strength. When Aladdin's strength was exhausted, the rukh were unable to gather any more magoi, and Aladdin could no longer take in the magoi from his surroundings… So he must have used his own magoi within his body—transferring them indefinitely to that flute…" he explained. "Using your magoi is the same as extinguishing your own life. Magoi is the same as human life. Both are phenomena created by the magoi of rukh. If your magoi is depleted… even if you are a magi, you will still die…"

"…!" Alibaba and Faith gasped while Hope bit her lip.

"I see…" Hope said sadly, reaching out to brush Aladdin's bangs out of his face. "That's how much Ugo means to him."

Faith squeezed her sister's hand. They were both holding back the tears that kept threatening to form in their eyes.

"So you're saying… Ugo means that much to Aladdin…" Alibaba said, trembling with tears in his. He gritted his teeth. "To him, Ugo isn't just an ordinary flute, but a very important friend!"

"…" Sinbad picked up the flute to examine it. But the seal on the flute… the eight-pointed star hasn't returned… he thought, staring at its unmarked surface. The djinn's condition must be direr than he had realized. "In any case, Aladdin needs some rest," he said, putting it back. "It doesn't look like he'll be regaining consciousness anytime soon…"

"…" Alibaba, Morgiana, and the twins stared down at their friend with regret. If only they had found him sooner.

GROOOOWL~ The heavy silence was broken when Faith's stomach decided to sing them the song its people.

"… What?" Faith said when they all stared at her, completely shameless.

"I'll get the soup started," Hope said wryly, almost wondering if she had done that on purpose to break the tension. She wouldn't put it past her sister. Faith was a master at lightening the mood. "We can set aside some broth for Aladdin, for when he wakes up."

Hope and Morgiana worked together to make the soup in the designated cooking area, while Faith stayed in Aladdin's room with him. Sinbad, his subordinates, and Alibaba gathered the least injured troupe members together for another assembly. But even the delicious smell wafting from the giant pot that Morgiana was helping Hope stir couldn't take their minds off their worries. "What are we going to do from now on…?" the troupe members murmured anxiously.

"Ja'far, have you contacted our country?" Sinbad asked.

Ja'far nodded. "I have contacted them. If they work quickly, support will arrive in a week."

"One week, huh…" Sinbad said. He would have preferred sooner, but given the circumstances, he supposed it couldn't be helped. "All right, let's immediately plan our battle strategy. I'm also worried about the movements of the Kou Empire…"

"Onii-san… The situation doesn't look quite right, it seems…" M Nando whispered to his shorter older brother.

"Ah… It's about time we pack up and leave this place…" S Nando agreed.

"Boss!! Boss Alibaba!!" the rest of the troupe members began calling anxiously while they swarmed around him. "What should we do from now on!? What… What is going to happen to us, the Fog Troupe!?"

"…!!" Alibaba furrowed his brow and took a step back, sweating bullets. He gritted his teeth. He didn't know what to tell them. He hated that he couldn't give them any answers.

"…" Sinbad watched and waited to give Alibaba a moment to pull himself together. When the young prince didn't seem able to take control of the situation, he stepped in. "It will be all right! Calm down!" he said strongly, getting their attention.

"!?" Everyone, from Alibaba to the last troupe member present, turned to look at the king.

"I have said it before! No matter what happens, I will think of a way to help you all!" Sinbad reminded them. "Support is currently rushing over here from Sindria! So, you guys have to keep your spirits up so that you can act at that critical moment!"

"…" The troupe members stared at him in awe while his words sank in. Then they turned and looked at each other and nodded. "Continue tending to the wounded!" several men shouted as they dispersed to carry on their work. "Start handing out that soup!" a few more yelled.

"…" Alibaba watched them run off with renewed determination. He bowed his head and clenched his fists at his sides. He was glad… but he was also frustrated.

Damn it… I really am useless… Alibaba thought bitterly while he helped tend the wounded in one of the larger rooms that they had decided to house the injured in. Not only am I of no use… I can't even calm everyone down… If it's Cassim, he could have done better in leading everyone… Cassim… where in the world did you go? he wondered anxiously.

"Hope-san, we're almost out of soup," Morgiana said, scraping the bottom of the pot with the ladle for another serving. They had been passing out bowls nonstop ever since the meeting ended.

"All right, I'll go get ingredients for more soup. Can you refill the pot with water?" Hope said, brushing her hands off on her skirt, as she stepped out from behind the table. "Hmm… I wonder what I can use for protein this time…" she mused aloud. "There's no meat, and we're out of beans, so…"

"Ah! Boss lady!" one of the men she passed called out. "Hey, boss lady! I know where you can find more beans."

Hope stopped walking when she realized he was talking to her. "Eh?" she said, turning back to look at him. "Boss lady…? You mean me?"

"Yeah!" he answered brightly, while the man next to him nodded enthusiastically. "After all, the way you beat back that freak attacking Boss Alibaba was amazing! It's really encouraging to know we've got someone like you on our side!"

"Uh… thanks?" Hope said, sweat-dropping. To be honest, she didn't even know how she did it, but they were so pumped up that it was hard to disappoint them. "You said you know where I can get more beans?" she asked, getting back to the reason why she had stopped in the first place.

"Sure! Follow me," the man said, leaving his friend's side to show her the way. He led her deeper into the hideout until they came to a doorway that only had a ragged curtain hanging over it to hide its contents from view.

Hope waited while he pulled the curtain aside to show her, but she wasn't at all prepared for what she saw. Her eyes immediately zeroed in on it the moment it was in view. The way the canvas tarp draped over its top. The reddish stains running down its side. The tarnished claws digging into the floor. She started trembling. Tears were streaming down her face before she could even begin to finish processing what she was seeing. "… Mommy…?"

The man with her turned his head in surprise when he heard a small, mournful voice that reminded him of a lost child. His eyes widened in shock as she fell. "Hey!! What's wrong!?" he asked anxiously, startled when she started wheezing hard and fast while she stayed on her knees, barely holding herself up with her hands.

Hope didn't answer. She couldn't. She knew what was happening, but her clumsy attempts to will herself back to reality were powerless to stop it. She just continued to stare straight ahead with wide, unseeing eyes as the highlight reel for the worst memories of her life played over and over again on a loop inside her head, while her emotions spiraled out of control. Water splashing. The closet. The blood. Her mother floating in the red water. The grief. The guilt. The blanket. The smell—Hope completely lost it, then. She didn't even feel it when she threw up, but she knew she must have, because she could smell it. She coughed, choking on some of it as she heaved again. Her breathing was worse. She was hyperventilating. Her vision was closing in.

"Hey!? Boss lady!!? Heeeelp!!! Somebody, help!!" the man with her yelled, disturbed by the way her sudden illness made her collapse and lose consciousness.

"What happened!?" Ja'far asked as he and Sinbad ran over with the man's friend when they heard his cries.

"!?" Sinbad gasped when he saw the way Hope had crumpled in on herself, lying next to a pool of vomit.

"She… I don't know…!!" the man said, panicking. "She just suddenly starting breathing weird and collapsed… Then she threw up and passed out!"

Sinbad immediately kneeled down to examine her. She was drenched in sweat. Her pale skin had taken on an almost ashen color, and she was cold and clammy to the touch. Hope looked like death warmed over, but she was still alive and still breathing.

"!" Faith flinched in surprise when Masrur suddenly shoved the door open and entered Aladdin's room with another bed tucked under his arm. She was about to crack a naughty joke, when Sinbad and Ja'far rushed in behind him, and she saw the condition her sister was in. "What happened…!?" she demanded, immediately jumping up from her seat to rush over to them, while Sinbad lay Hope down on the bed.

"She collapsed when she went to get ingredients for another pot of soup," Sinbad replied. "The man who was with her said she started having difficulty breathing when they reach the second storeroom, and she threw up after she collapsed…"

"Fortunately, there was no blood in her vomit…" Ja'far added. "But we aren't sure whether her injuries were the cause, or…"

"Whoa, wait!! Why would there be blood!?" Faith asked, startled.

"We saw her cough up blood when Judar attacked her," Ja'far reminded her. They thought that was what had made her try to attack the magi so viciously.

"Oh, that," Faith said, sounding slightly calmer. "Hope explained that to me. She said she bit her lip when she fell. See, you can see the cut there," she explained, pointing to the puncture mark on her sister's lip where her canine tooth had broken the skin. "It was just a coincidence."

"I see…" Sinbad said. He had been very worried about that. At least she really didn't have any internal bleeding. But, either way, these kids were dropping like flies!

"Was there a tub?" Faith asked abruptly with an uncharacteristically grim expression on her face. "A claw-foot tub with reddish stains and some kind of covering draped over the top?"

Sinbad and Ja'far exchanged a surprised, puzzled look with each other.

"Yes… There was…" Sinbad replied. He had caught a glimpse of it from the open doorway when they first approached, sitting inside the storeroom. The grimy rust bucket had probably once been something to brag about before it was abandoned as trash. "How did you know?"

"I recognized the symptoms. She'll be okay, once she's had some rest. The problem is psychological, not physical," Faith replied, letting out a sigh as she leaned against her sister's bed. "Damn!" she cursed, biting her thumb. "What the hell was one of those things doing here!?"

"What do you mean by 'psychological'…?" Ja'far asked.

"Sinbad, Masrur… Do you remember when I freaked out the other night, and Hope had to calm me down?" Faith asked.

"Yes," Sinbad answered, while Masrur nodded. "Are you saying this is the same thing? But your sister's symptoms…"

"Trouble!!!" A shout rang out through the hideout.

Damn! What now…!? Sinbad thought, cursing their bad luck. It was just one thing after another tonight! "What is it?" he asked, instantly on alert, when a man came running into the room.

"We've got trouble, Sinbad-san!" the man said. "Right now, outside… The Imperial Army has started their attack!!"

Meanwhile, Alibaba, who had received a similar report, immediately rushed to the nearest window to have a look for himself.

"So they have finally begun their attack," one of the men near him wailed, panicking at the sight of the soldiers below. "We're doomed!!"

"No…? Look, everyone…" another said. "It doesn't seem like they are attacking…"

Alibaba saw what he meant. A very imposing man was marching at the front, flanked by several subordinates. But it was a very small group, and he recognized the leader. "That person is… Barkak! He's Balbadd's general…" Alibaba exclaimed. "What is he doing in this type of place…?"

Barkak gave a signal, and waited on guard as a carriage pulled forward. Alibaba's surprise at seeing the general was nothing compared to what he felt when its door opened and the occupant stepped out for everyone to see.

"…!?" Alibaba gasped. "That is…!?"

It was Balbadd's Deputy King, Sahbmad Saluja.