A/N: Last night, I tried updating the story but it failed and somehow kept replacing last chapters instead. Hopefully this work. :/ Sorry if you got multiple notifications!

Alex was sifting through newspapers in the library when he felt a hand ruffle his ginger hair, an action that he hadn't felt for a long time. For a moment, the ginger stiffened, and then he turned around to face said figure. "Is that you, Clara?" He asked, and although he tried to mask the disbelieving tone in his voice, he guessed he didn't do as well as he hoped, for her saw a flash of hurt in the girl's eyes for a moment.

She crossed her hands over her chest, scoffing, "Of course it's me, Alex. Who else would it be?"

"Nobody else would ever try doing something so out of the social norm," Yao added dryly, and Alex's eyes slid over to see his raven haired friend. His Chinese friend was hovering a few feet away from the two, almost unsure if he should ruin the moment or not. Alex rolled his eyes, grabbing Yao by the arm and pulling him into the group.

"Aren't you two supposed to be at the...funeral, right now?"

"Aren't you?" Yao returned evenly, and for a moment, there was silence. Then, all of them simultaneously burst into laughter. Alex's heart felt almost light, and it was almost as if they were back in high school all over again. And any moment now, El would've come strolling into the room and...and…

His laughter died in his throat. "Well, what are you guys doing here?"

"Helping you, obviously," Clara nudged him to the side. "We loved El just as much as you did. Well, err...maybe not as much," Alex could hear the half smirk in her voice, although there was a small tremble when she enunciated their friend's name, "but enough. We want answers too. Whatcha' looking at?"

"We're here to help you," Yao summarized. "Weren't you the one who was always spouting out cheesy lines about teamwork?"

"Guys…" The words almost caught in Alex's throat, and he let out a half-laugh, half-sob. "You're so stupid." They waited for his laughter (tears?) to stop, and once Alex regained his composure, he pointed. "Newspaper articles," he said in a low voice. "I'm looking into her Dad's death."

"He shot himself after that scandal, right?" Clara leaned over Alex's shoulder to scan the article. "The media really blew up the event, but I never really watched the news. What happened?"

Yao cleared his throat to answer. He had always been the nerd of the group, although his rather handsome appearance still made him fairly popular in their high school years. It was no surprise that he knew stuff: Alex was sure that off of the top of his head, Yao could probably list more information than Alex (despite him researching about it for the past hour). "Elliot's Dad was charged for corruption. They discovered that he spent a large portion of government funding on his own project, although that's just what the media told us. Elliot...El talked to me, once. She said that he was dealing with several shady figures, like drug dealers."

Alex raised his eyebrows for a moment. El had never talked to him about that, but he wasn't surprised. Yao had probably asked the female about the incident (he always lacked tact when it came to social stuff back in high school), while Alex had tried to avoid the subject altogether in an attempt to cheer her up. Picking up from where his friend left off, he explained, "The housekeeper discovered his body at six in the morning, on a Saturday. But they believe he died sometime in the evening on Friday. He was found with a pistol in hand and a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head."

"Gruesome. El was with us on that day, right?" Clara recalled. "But she went home later. Did she...did she see the body?"

"That was the one time I convinced her to go to karaoke with us," Alex confirmed with a small smile that quickly disappeared. "But...yeah. I think that the housekeeper fainted or something, so El had to be the one to call the police."

"That's horrible," Clara shook her head, biting her lip. The woman sat down beside him, with Yao seating himself to the girl's right. "But still, that's a start. Let's try it."

A year. Nicholas Alexander Dunbar of the Musta'sim Kingdom was not pleased. It had been a year (and a half, to be more accurate) since Yamuraiha had left, a year without her pesky rambling, a year in which he was left dealing with her annoying friends by herself. The green haired prince stalked down one of the hallways of the palace, scowling. When he saw golden hair, Nicholas immediately tried to turn around and head the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the young woman had caught notice of him before he could get out of sight.

"My Prince, do you know if Yamu is coming back anytime soon?" The attendant girl, Mira if he was not mistaken, asked pleadingly. Nicholas resisted the urge to groan and hide himself back in the security of his office. Turning to face the woman, he gave her a long stare. The woman immediately flushed, stammering, "I...I'm awfully sorry for being so informal with you, my Prince. My deepest apologies."

"It's fine," Nicholas sighed, shoulder slacking as he waved off her apology. "But I'm afraid that Raiha won't be returning any time soon. She still has much to do...and learn, in Magnoshutatt. But I assure you that she is still safe. We received her last correspondence a few weeks ago."

"Ah, I see…" Nicholas could see the disappointment in the woman's eyes, her dejected face mirroring that of Dunya's whenever his sister asked of Raiha's return.

Nicholas cleared his throat gruffly. "She'll return. She's worried about all of you. That pesky girl is always like that. And she'll be fine, she's resourceful enough."

"My Prince…" He could see the smallest smile tug at her lips, and before he knew it, the woman was ruffling his hair. "You're a good kid."

He blinked in surprise at her sudden action. The servant woman's jaw dropped as she realized what she had just done, and immediately the golden haired woman leapt back several feet, waving her hands frantically in the air.

"O-oh, I'm so sorry for saying that! I'm just so used to acting as the elder sister to everyone that it was somewhat instinctive! It was just so cute how you were worrying about Yamu...I mean, I...err…"

Nicholas could see why Raiha was fond of the attendant. She had a charming personality, if not a bit annoying and scatterbrained at times. She almost reminded Nicholas of Dunya, in a way. "Your name is Mira, correct?"

"Ah, yes." The woman seemed surprised that he would remember such a small detail.

"Raiha spoke of you often," he explained.

"Is that so?" Mira looked somewhat confused at this change in the conversation.

"Although she wasn't supposed to, she scribbled a little sentence in the margin of her letter last time. Something along the lines of 'have Mira and Histok hooked up yet?' along with a threat if you haven't." Nicholas watched amusedly as the attendant turned a furious shade of red and stammered nonsense. He could see why Raiha found it interesting to mess with other people: their reactions were interesting to an extent. "Anyways," he said briskly, interrupting her tirade, "I must return to my quarters. Paperwork waits for no one."

He turned around to leave, but before he could, Mira called out, "My Prince!"

Nicholas paused in his steps.

"If...If you ever need some time to relax, please feel free to come by our quarters! Regina has been missing having younger ones around. I...I respect and admire you for your conviction to help our country prosper, but please take care of yourself."

Nicholas was completely still. He started walking again, and he could hear a disappointed sigh behind him. "I'll drop by sometime," he said quietly, and judging by the sudden cry of delight from the woman, he supposed she heard him.

"Elliot, Elliot...where are you? Come out, now..."

Yamuraiha woke up with a start, hands gripping tightly on the covers of her bed as she breathed heavily. Blinking for a few moments, she took in her surroundings. It was still dark in the room, and she could hear Alyasa's heavy breathing from the bed beside her. Moonlight shone through the satin curtains that covered the window, and she could tell that it was still nighttime.

"Ah…" she mumbled, hands grasping desperately at her throat, willing herself to breathe. After a few moments, her heartbeat slowed down to a normal pace, her breathing steady once more. Yamuraiha closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Then, her eyes snapped open, narrowing.

Growling, she threw the covers off, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. She was acting like a bumbling, angsty teenager. Scratch that, Yamuraiha still wasn't even a teenager (physically) yet. Yamuraiha slipped out of bed, taking one glance at Alyasa to make sure she didn't disturb her roommate before grabbing her staff and exiting the room.

Storming down the hallway and barely even thinking as she summoned Wind Magic to lower herself down into the courtyard, she squeezed her eyes shut and kicked at the ground fiercely. Yamuraiha hardly noticed herself walking past the entrance of the dormitories, stepping on a small bridge and pausing.

Unconsciously, her hands clutched the railing of the bridge tightly as she stared down below, where she could see the flickering lights of shops and bazaars. It was somewhat surprising that some of them were still open, but then again, adult magicians or those of high caliber didn't have a curfew like the Academy students did. She was sure there were some bars down there that would still be crowded.

Melancholically, she glanced down at her hands, idly noting that they were still trembling. A scowl forming on her face, she slammed her fist against the bridge railing.

Why was she so weak?

She thought she was past this. She thought she was done with the nightmares, the regret, the shame, the hopelessness...

"Hey, El…"

"Mm?"

"Are you..."

"...alright?" A familiar voice asked from behind her.

She jerked upwards, her eyes widening as she whipped around. "What did you say?"

Lynn had been returning to the dorms after practicing some of the new spells they had learned during the day when he saw a certain tealette literally lower herself into the courtyard with Wind Magic. He opened his mouth to call out to her, but before he could say anything, the tealette rushed past him. It was almost as if she hadn't noticed his presence at all. Lynn lingered in front of the entrance of the dormitories, staring at them longingly for a moment, before turning to see the girl on a bridge.

Sighing, he inwardly grumbled to himself. The things I do.

Taking quick strides, he called out in a somewhat somber voice, "Hey, Raiha...are you alright?" His hand reached out to grab her shoulder when it seemed as if she wasn't listening to him, but something about his question seemed to trigger the girl to look up.

"...what did you say?" The tealette whispered, and for a moment, Lynn wasn't sure how to respond.

"I asked if you were alright," Lynn repeated, eyes scanning her expression for some kind of emotion. As if Raiha had noticed his probing eyes, the girl quickly looked down at her feet, her hair shielding her face from sight. He explained, noting that the girl was looking at her again with a rather empty expression, "I saw you sneaking out of the dormitories looking rather...frightened."

Lynn was going to use the word 'haunted', but abruptly stopped himself when he saw that look on her face. It was a look that he had seen too many times in the mirror after fitful nights of sleep. Before he knew it, the question slipped out of his mouth again. "Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Raiha raised her eyebrows challengingly, but Lynn wasn't going to let her deflection detract from his task at hand.

"You're the kind to bottle up everything without telling anyone," Lynn explained, shoving his hands into his robe pockets awkwardly. "I'm usually the same way. At least, that's what everyone else tells me. You know...If you ever need to talk...Sera and I are here."

"Why are you sounding like such a sap?" She rolled her eyes, but there was something about her posture that relaxed just a bit more. "I swear, at nighttime, it feels as if you're not as shitty of a person. Do you make it a habit to act like an asshole during the day, and concerned friend by night?"

Lynn scowled, any concern for the tealette evaporating immediately at her words. "Well, sorry, but in case you haven't noticed, you provoke me a lot. It's not like you're a particularly mature individual, either."

"I'm ten years old," Raiha shrugged, but there was something about his statement that must have ticked off the girl. "Besides, that's sort of how we get along...right? Most friends argue in their spare time."

"You have a weird definition of 'friends'," Lynn scoffed, but he could feel himself relaxing as well. "Weren't you the one to declare us 'rivals' on the second day of class?"

"You scored better than me on the world history test," Raiha hissed, sounding highly offended and miffed. Crossing her arms, she huffed irritatedly. "Do you understand how shameful that is for me?"

"You're ten," Lynn deadpanned, throwing her words back at her.

"And you're a kid, too," Raiha pointed out, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "I missed a question about the Reim Empire, of all things to get wrong."

"You lived in Musta'sim, a place where most information about the outside world was either biased or simply not released to the general public," Lynn said in a flat voice. "I'm surprised you actually knew anything about the Reim Empire, considering the rumors I've heard about Musta'sim."

"Besides the point." She rolled her eyes, waving aside his statement. "I have to be better than this...I need to…"

"Any particular reason for you 'needing to be better'?" Lynn quoted, watching her back stiffen for a second before she relaxed again.

"Lots of reasons," the tealette answered vaguely, shrugging. Lynn's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Raiha continued, "I want to grow strong enough that I don't have to rely on other people. I want to be able to go down to the other levels of Magnoshutatt. I want to be the best. You're the same, aren't you?"

"So ambitious," Lynn snickered, but her words hit too close for comfort, and he quickly fell silent. Thoughtfully, he added, "You know, if you want to try visiting the other levels of Magnoshutatt, you could try requesting a meeting with Lord Mogamett."

"And how," Raiha cut in sourly, "am I supposed to do that?"

Lynn raised his eyebrows in faint surprise. "I thought you would've known by now. We're almost halfway through our second year, and when we reach midterms, Lord Mogamett himself meets with every single magician in the second year to determine what path they'll be aiming for in the future, and whether or not they might have particularly specialized skillsets that could be put of use elsewhere."

"Ah, Shinya mentioned it once," Raiha muttered, evoking the name of the brown haired healer who the tealette visited often (no thanks to her recklessness). "She said that she was put into specialized healing classes because of that."

"Well, there's your chance." Lynn shrugged, looking nonplussed. "But if you're going to try asking him, you might as well throw in a word for me, too. Visiting the other floors sounds interesting. On the other hand, if he doesn't want to let you go, I told you nothing."

"Riiiiight," Raiha drawled. "Well, I'm heading back up to sleep. You should return to your room too, Princess. You need your beauty sleep." The teal haired girl snickered at Lynn's scandalized expression.

"Why do I even bother?" Lynn grumbled under his breath, whipping around and marching back into the dormitories. He heard her chuckling behind him.

Well, his mind whispered traitorously, at least she's feeling better.

Yamuraiha sat on a rather uncomfortable wooden chair, her legs crossed. Her eyes observed the room of Academy students, the numbers slowly dwindling as each person was called into a single office. She assumed that whenever the meeting was finished, they probably exited through a different door, for nobody had returned.

There was a scarce number of people in the room by now: the instructors had been calling in people by last name, and since Yamuraiha simply listed herself as "Raiha" when entering the Academy. Everybody she knew had already left the room, and the only people that were left were a timid looking boy and a silent old man.

The door of the office swung open, and a head popped out. She recognized the figure as Feiste, her interrogator when she had first entered the Academy. "Raiha, come in."

Calmly and calculatively, she rose almost lethargically. Taking confident strides forward, she entered the office, hearing Feiste shut the door behind her. Yamuraiha's eyes scanned the room for a moment. Her eyebrows raised in slight surprise. Contrary to her prior hypothesis, the room wasn't an office. In fact, she recognized the scene from the original Magi series: it was where Aladdin and Mogamett had conversed before (about canon Yamuraiha, if she recalled correctly).

In typical Arabian fashion, the walls of the room were large, domineering arches, with pillars spaced out every two feet or so. She could see the sun setting from her position at the entrance of the room, and Yamuraiha spotted the back of an old man facing her. Eyes sliding to the right, she realized there was an empty chair sitting across a glass table from the man.

Ensuring that she still kept her steady, collected pace, Yamuraiha strolled forward. "Lord Mogamett, it is an honor," she murmured demurely, bowing her head as she faced his back.

"Take a seat."

Almost cautiously, Yamuraiha sat down. She happened to glance at Mogamett, but the old man was focused on the chessboard in front of him. She stayed silent as the man moved a white pawn forward and murmured something to himself. Yamuraiha tried not to fidget, summoning her patience and maturity from her past life. (Although it was debatable if she ever possessed such in the first place.)

The man stroked his beard before moving one of the black pawns forward.

"Do you play chess?" His voice suddenly sounded out. Almost casually, Mogamett moved a white knight to the right. Yamuraiha almost jumped at the sudden voice, but stopped herself just in time.

"I do," she confirmed, eyes making a cursory scan of the board before nudging a black bishop several spots to the left. "Check."

Mogamett's voice sounded almost pleased. "Smart move."

Then, he moved his rook. "But too obvious. Checkmate."

Yamuraiha blinked for a moment in surprise before throwing her head up and laughing. It felt good to laugh like that: something in her chest seemed to buoy at the sound. "That was a good move," she admitted. "I didn't even see it."

"Sometimes, the most obvious moves are the hardest to find," Mogamett replied, his eyes finally looking up from the chess board. There was something that flickered in his eyes before he asked, "Child, what is your name?"

"My name?" Yamuraiha repeated, taken aback slightly. Immediately, she was back on her guard. "It's Raiha."

"Names hold power," Mogamett commented vaguely, the statement resounding in the room. Yamuraiha nodded her head in acknowledgment: that had been a sentiment echoed by far too many individuals in the past. At the same time, she couldn't help but see the subject from a different view at the same time.

"But at the same time, although names can identify who you are, they can't identify what you are. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," Yamuraiha quoted, although she knew that the man wouldn't get the reference. Shakespeare, luckily enough for the youths of the world, and his literary works were not present in this Magi world. On the other hand, the Magi world (in particular, Magnoshutatt) seemed to be quite advanced in magic in an innovative way that faintly reminded Yamuraiha of the flourishing of European science in the Islamic world. Back in the eighth century, if she recalled correctly.

(Yamuraiha had always secretly been a dork when it came to history.)

"Names are only powerful if we give them power," she summarized, feeling almost as if she was infringing on some kind of copyright of a sorts. Maybe Harry Potter? "But as fascinating as this tangent is, sir, I doubt that I'm here just to discuss the importance of nomenclature with you."

"True enough." Mogamett hummed absentmindedly, and Yamuraiha had to mentally stop herself from twitching. Resetting the board, he motioned for her to pick a side. Immediately, Yamuraiha flipped the board around so that she would play the white chess pieces. It was always more advantageous to have the first move. As they began another game, he murmured, "Your playing style reminds me of someone from my past."

Yamuraiha stayed silent as the two continued to play. After another few minutes of silence and deep, rational thoughts, the silence was broken.

"Brash, somewhat hasty in making decisions, and stubbornly determined to not sacrifice any pieces if possible," Mogamett declared of her playing style. "You have to learn how to let go of your pieces sometimes, for the better good."

Yamuraiha shrugged, moving her bishop. "I don't want to."

"Is that so?" A smile curled up on Mogamett's lips at that answer. "That's what my friend said, back in the day as well…"

"Your friend sounds like an admirable person, Lord Mogamett," Yamuraiha responded automatically. Although her tone was diplomatically placid, there was a ring of sincerity in the statement that the man must've caught, for the smile on his face seemed to grow.

"Ah, one more tip…" Mogamett said thoughtfully, before pushing his pawn forward. "Your greatest flaws is that you tend to focus more on the more powerful pieces. Even a pawn can become extremely powerful, given the circumstances."

Yamuraiha stared at the board in disbelief for a moment before she glanced up.

"Checkmate," Mogamett proclaimed smoothly. "I believe I have made quite a lengthy evaluation of you, now, Miss Raiha. You're quite an interesting little girl: so young, yet you act extremely old and mature for your age."

"You're too kind, my Lord Mogamett," Yamuraiha bowed her head.

"You wish for something." It was not a question, and his spot-on perception was almost frightening. This man was not somebody to trifle with.

A smirk curled up on her lips. "You are very perceptive, Lord Mogamett. If I may be blunt, I do wish something of you. If I may humbly proceed to ask you a favor…?" At the man's nod, Yamuraiha cleared her throat. Now or never. "I wish to explore some of the other levels of Magnoshutatt. Obviously, I'm not asking for you to allow me access into your personal chambers 24/7, but I think that it'd be a good experience for me to interact with other people. The Academy, as lovely as it is, can be a bit stifling for a mind...a child like me."

"Usually, when students ask me for favors, they are hardly as direct as you. Nor do they ask anything too out of the norm, but you're quite different," Mogamett observed. "Most ask for a streamlined course towards whichever specialization that such individuals are interested in."

"I don't really know what I want to specialize in," Yamuraiha admitted. "Although finding other ways to improve living conditions with magic sound interesting. I think that our agricultural production can be improved if we incorporated Water Magic into our irrigation systems. But at the same time, I think that magic's future rests in magical items."

Mogamett made a small noise of acknowledgment. "Well," he said carefully, after a few moments of pause, "I believe that it would be beneficial for talented students like you to familiarize yourself with Magnoshutatt more. However, you're still on our watch list, young Raiha."

Yamuraiha inwardly cursed.

"...but, if you're able to find one of our higher level magicians to accompany you, I suppose you can visit some of the floors after classes are over," Mogamett finished, his eyes softening just a fraction. Yamuraiha was honestly unsure why the old man was being so lenient with her, but she shrugged it off as Mogamett being the same magician-loving person he was in canon. "Is that a deal?"

"Y-yes, Lord Mogamett, thank you very much!" Yamuraiha stood up and bowed, but she still felt his pressing gaze on her. "Is there something the matter, my Lord?"

"You want something else."

"Ah, um…" Yamuraiha laughed nervously, scratching her cheek. Before she could lose her bravado, she blurted out, "May I bring along a few friends? They're also in the Academy, and they'll probably hold a grudge against me forever if I don't bring them along."

"I assume you are speaking of the young Sera and Lynn?" Mogamett observed her critically. "And maybe your roommate as well."

"I...uh...yes." Her confusion must have shown on her face, for a wry smile spread on Mogamett's face as he gave her a somewhat amused expression. His eyes were twinkling with the slightest glint of mirth.

"Teachers talk amongst each other, Raiha. It's not too hard to know about your acquaintances when Edith is always complaining about two belligerent students, not to mention Shinya loves to complain about how you all keep coming to her for healing after spars. Your friends are all quite talented, yet so young as well. I met with them earlier," Mogamett explained. "Both Lynn and Sera requested for permission to attend multiple Zemis, and although I told them that it was too much for them, I did recommend them to a few instructors. Young Alyasa, on the other hand, asked for permission to learn especially from Shinya."

Yamuraiha's eyebrows raised in surprise as she mentally filed that information away for later. "I see, Lord Mogamett."

"They may come along, but only if you all stay as a group with an instructor," Mogamett instructed. "Now, I'm afraid that we've run out of time. There's still a few other students waiting for my counsel."

"Thank you, Lord Mogamett," Yamuraiha repeated for what must have been the umpteenth time. She lowered her head in respect as he dismissed her. Exiting the room through another door, Yamuraiha waited for the door to close before letting out a cheer of victory and pumping her fist in the air.

Score! This would be a piece of cake: Yamuraiha knew she could definitely convince Erik to accompany them, so the instructor requirement wasn't a real worry for her. She'd have to hurry back to the dorms to inform everyone else. Humming a tune under her breath, the tealette turned to the direction of the doors and began to walk off.

.

In her reverie, the tealette didn't notice somebody else watching from the shadows.

After all, even if they didn't know the whole truth, Al-Tharmen was watching. Al-Tharmen was always watching.

A/N: Sorry I'm trash, this chapter is trash, I don't know what I'm doing.

AP testing this and next week, yet somehow (and for some reason) I publishing this. Fwah. Suffering from sleep deprivation LMAO (thank you, school). It feels strange to use exclamation points in my writing now lmao (realizes how deadpan Raiha is).

My Aoko!OC (Detective Conan/Magic Kaito) story was published lol and I ican't believe how many of you already jumped on board thaaaat one. (Expect an update very soon.)

Thank you so much, as always, for reviewing/favorite-ing/following/reading! I say this every chapter, but all of you guys' thoughtfulness really does brighten my day. :)

I've probably left out some important details in this Author's Note that I'll remember later lmao but whatever~

THANKS FOR READING :D LOVE YOU ALL!