Mahrajan ends with sadness, as well as hangovers, and before they know it, three days have passed.


"So, when should we start planning the wedding?"

Ja'far stops organizing papers, looking back at his fiancée. "Soon," He answers, though his tone is unsure. He swipes a small of papers off of the desk, turning on his heel to leave.

Reibun's eyebrows crease, and she grabs hold of his wrist, nearly causing him to drop the documents he had picked up. "Ja'far," Reibun's voice is soft-spoken as she offers the white-haired General a smile. "We don't have to rush the wedding, especially since we're both so busy."

"We don't?"

"No," Reibun releases his wrist, looking down at her hands. She fiddles with the ring on her finger. "I'll hold onto this, and you tell me when, and I'll come running."

Ja'far watches as Reibun wipes at her cheek. "If it's for you," Reibun's voice breaks. "I'll wait for a thousand years if it's for you, Ja'far. Ever since we were kids, I've been waiting and— and I can wait a little longer—"

Ja'far leans over and reaches with both hands for the sides of her face. Her cheeks are flushed and warm and wet with tears as he kisses her. Reibun is embarrassed and can't imagine how gross she must look in his eyes as she's crying, but she doesn't pull away.

This kiss, this moment, it's theirs.


"So, how's the wedding coming," Aafje asks awkwardly at the large dinner table. She's seated between Spartos and Winter.

Reibun and Ja'far both blush, looking down at their food. "We've decided to put it on hold until there's time to make proper arrangements," Ja'far states, reaching for Reibun's hand under the table.

Yamraiha grins at the couple before looking across the large table in Noah's direction. "How's the research going, Noah?"

"It's absolute hell," She replies bluntly, leaning back in her chair and nearly bumping Aladdin, who was seated next to her. Her short hair is styled in a messy heap upon her head, and she looks as if she hasn't slept properly since arriving. "But this island has great herbs, and the library has a ton of information on where to find the herbs— I'm considering writing a short volume on how to use them, and putting it in the library for future reference. It's strange that a book from Remano has more information about the plants on this island than—"

"Well how was Rakushou," Kadia says rather loudly, cutting off the rambling herbalist. She hadn't been able to talk to Sinbad about his journey, given how quickly things seemed to be unfolding since their return. "Anything interesting happen, Sinbad?"

"Nothing other than negotiations."

"And how did those go," Reibun inquires.

"A lot better than I thought they would."

Kadia cocks an eyebrow, opening her mouth to ask what he meant by that, but a sudden burst of movement at the end of the table catches her off-guard.

"Alibaba's training is going great," Sharrkan boasts loudly, throwing an arm around the boy's shoulders. "He's destined for greatness with my teaching!"

"We haven't even started yet," Alibaba mumbles.

Yamraiha is standing up a moment later, loudly declaring that Aladdin's training was going far better.

Kadia sighs, and she makes a mental note to mention it again later, but she forgets about it by the end of the meal.


A week passes, and the sun beats down on the trio in the orchards.

Lulu sits beneath the shade of a large papagoreya tree, wiping sweat from her brow. Mariam peers over the shoulder of the herbalist, watching as she attempts to pull a large plant out of the ground.

"This shovel is useless," Noah says to herself, harshly yanking on her scarf as it grows more bothersome in the heat. She's covered in dirt, her right cheek smudged with soil. Her hands are red and starting to hurt. "This is pointless— Hey, Lulu!"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Can you go to the palace and get a bigger shovel," Noah calls out from across the orchard, dabbing sweat away from her face. "And get some water while you're at it, you look like you're going to have a heatstroke—"

A popping noise fills the air, and Noah whips back around to find Mariam holding a root nearly half her size over her head.

"I got it," She says, letting it drop in front of Noah with a thump.

"You're strong," Noah comments, looking up at Mariam in awe. "You should take off that cloak, or you're gonna have a heatstroke."

Noah begins dusting off the large root herb. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty weak," She carries on. "I can't carry you and Lulu back to the palace if you fall out. I'd surprise myself if I could even carry one of you."

Mariam nods in understanding, watching Noah drag the root toward the small wheelbarrow she'd been provided with for her research.

"By the way, 'Mariam and Lulu' doesn't have a nice ring to it," Noah tosses the root into the wheelbarrow, running a hand through her hair. "Do you have a nickname?"

"Nickname?"

"Like, another title," Noah begins pushing the wheelbarrow. "Another name."

"Some people have called me a witch."

"No, no," Noah laughs. "A nickname is something cute, or something really dumb, that a friend gives you. Mariam… Like Mari, or Mimi, or Mar, or—"

Noah carries on listing off possible nicknames as her companions follow behind her. While Lulu's citizenship was being finalized, she and Mariam had offered to assist the herbalist in the Orchards for the day.

"I like Mimi," Lulu comments.

Mariam looks over at the girl. "What?"

"I like the nickname Mimi," She rephrases. If her face wasn't already red from being out in the sun, Lulu's blush would be painfully obvious. "I think it's cute."

"Oh," Mariam pulls the hood of her cloak down even more in embarrassment. She'd yet to remove it, and she was sure they were all impatiently waiting to see her face. "Okay. Mimi is good. Mimi is nice."

Lulu grins, and Mariam's hood grows unbearably hot due to her blush.

They both block out Noah's rambling, who is still firing off nicknames as they head back to the palace.


The sound of papagoras wake her first, loud and brassy overhead.

Winter winks her eyes open, one at a time. There's a moment of confusion as she takes in the giant mural behind her.

"Where the hell am I," Winter questions out loud.

She drags her fingers through her dark hair, attempting to tame the frizzy bedhead that's sure to have found her overnight. She pulls out a few leaves. There's a pulsing in her brain, a subtle soreness in her joints.

She was still surprised she'd gotten back to Sindria so easily.

Winter's eyes widen at the vial next to her, a few droplets of purple liquid still pooling at the bottom. "How hammered did I get," Winter laughs. "Am I even near the palace?"

She pulls herself up, her knees wobbly, and makes her way to the front of the building.

It's a church.

Winter quickly makes the decision to drop the vial in the grass; she's not sure if it's alcoholic but she's not taking any chances when it comes to a Sindrian church.

It takes a few minutes, but when she finally finds a mirror, she can't stop laughing at her reflection.

Her eyes are bloodshot and several locks of her hair have turned purple overnight, and there's still quite a few leaves tangled in her hair.

"Aah, that's right," Winter mumbles. "Pisti gave me something she took from Yamraiha."

"This is supposed to make things change colors," Pisti tells Winter, holding out a vial full of purple liquid. "Yam said it's not really finished yet, because it still has an intoxicating effect. She isn't really sure why she made it."

Winter sighs, sliding down to the floor of the church's bathroom.

Winter walks down the dark streets of Sindria, heading towards a set of houses on the west side of the island. 'This is stupid,' She thinks, stopping in the middle of the street. She turns on her heel. 'There's no way they waited for me. I'm the disappointment. I'm not good enough for them.'

She takes the vial out of her pocket, remembering Pisti's mention of it having an intoxicating effect.

"To hell with it," Winter says, popping the top off of the vial.

Winter tilts her head to the side, laughing. After days of being back home, she's finally mustered the courage to attempt returning to her estranged family. She finally falls silent, looking down at her hands.

"What if it had turned my skin purple," She questions out loud to herself, but this time she receives an answer unlike outside.

"Miss," asks the priest, looking at her with wide eyes. "Are you drunk? In this holy place?"


"So," Aafje says, turning the fruit over in her hand. "Are Kadia and the king… You know, together?"

"Of course," Pisti chirps, smiling.

"Not exclusively," Spartos explains with a light blush. "They've gotten together a few times in the past but nothing is official."

Aafje nods in understanding, turning away to hide her own blush. 'He's from Sasan, he's a knight, he's handsome,' Aafje shakes her head, looking around the market.

"Do you like Sindria so far," Pisti cheerfully asks, grabbing Aafje's hand to pull her attention back to the two Generals. "I heard you lost your dream job and had your life ruined in one go."

Aafje's body seems to deflate and she frowns. She wanted to forget the entire ordeal, but it was difficult when she was in an entirely different, quickly-changing country.

"Where did you hear that, Pisti?"

"From him," She points at Spartos, who immediately blushes.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Well," Spartos begins awkwardly. "I—"

"You poured out all of your life's troubles to him when you were drunk at Mahrajan," Pisti cuts in with a laugh. She fails to notice the blush spreading over both Spartos and Aafje's faces. "And you called him cute!"

Spartos puts a hand over Pisti's mouth, but it only makes the small girl laugh, and the damage to Aafje's pride has already been done.


Noah's hands skim across the leather-bound books of the Sindrian library, her eyes full of awe and inspiration.

Aladdin blankly stares at her shirt as she leans over to pull a book from the bottom shelf.

"Can I ask you a question," Aladdin mumbles. Yamraiha was working on a project of her own, and Noah had offered to take Aladdin with them to the library. Lulu sat beside Mimi on the floor, listening attentively as Mimi taught her the written alphabet.

"What is it Aladdin," Noah plops down on the floor, flipping open an old book full of faded ink.

"Are you a girl or a boy?"

"I don't care."

"You sound like a girl," Aladdin says. "But you look kinda like a boy—"

"You shouldn't distinguish gender by the way someone looks or sounds. You kind of look like a little girl to me, Aladdin," Noah says pointedly, thumbing through the book. "And on another note, you need to stop groping people when you meet them. Mimi still crosses her arms over her chest when you're around. She doesn't trust you all that much."

Aladdin's face falls as he whips around, a look of sincere apology taking over his features. "I'm sorry—"

Everything stops as Aladdin's hand roughly shoves back the hood of Mimi's cloak.

Aladdin promptly forgets his half-hearted apology, Noah pauses while turning to the next page of the book, and Lulu's eyes widen in shock.

"Woah," Lulu says, leaning forward until her face was mere inches from Mimi's face.

Mimi's face is pale and young, her brown eyes wide and her expression one of bewilderment. Her hair is dark and long, and a good bit of it is still tucked inside of the cloak.

"I thought Morgiana was the only cute girl with super strength," Noah comments, raising an eyebrow. "This is a pleasant surprise."

"I— I'm not cute," Mimi stutters, the beginnings of a blush appearing on her face.

"You have little fangs," Lulu exclaims, grabbing Mimi's face with both hands. Lulu tilts her companion's head in all directions in newfound curiosity. "You're so pretty!"

Noah and Aladdin watch as the pair interacts, Mimi practically melting against the bookshelf in embarrassment and Lulu eagerly moving her hair away from her face to get a better look at it.

"You four," Reibun comes running around the bookshelf, her hair disheveled and her face flushed. "We need you outside immediately."

They all stare at her blankly, Lulu awkwardly pausing with a hand on Lulu's cheek. Her face was close enough to Mimi's that she'd place a kiss on her forehead if she leaned forward.

Reibun's eyes widen. "Oh! Mariam, you're adorable!"

Mimi's blush grows darker.


"Sin, you said the negotiations went well," Kadia gripes, stomping behind the king.

"They did," He replies.

"Then why are there ships from Kou's military in the harbor," She snaps, waving her hand at the large number of ships.

"That's a lot of ships," Winter says, eyebrows raised. She'd run into the group on the way to the harbor and joined them. Winter glanced over at Alibaba; they'd all been informed of what had happened in Balbadd. The former prince would, hopefully, not cause a ruckus.

A young man exits one of the larger ships.

"That scar looks like it hurts," Lulu whispers, poking her cheek and cringing at the thought.

"I could give him a really good salve for that," Noah whispers back, picking at her scarf.

"That's a prince," Reibun snaps, trying to keep her voice a whisper.

"I am Hakuryuu Ren, fourth prince of the Kou Empire," The prince says, politely greeting Sinbad. He looks well-mannered and stiff, despite being so young.

"His majesty told me about you," Sinbad says. "Welcome!"

"I wanted to meet you regardless of my his majesty's orders."

"I'm honored. You can tell me about it later," Sinbad says, offering the prince a smile. "And who is this with you?"

Everyone's attention is draw to the red-headed girl several feet behind Hakuryuu.

Ja'far flinches and Reibun steps back a little in surprise. "Who's—"

"That's the princess I told you about," Ja'far hastily explains. "That's princess Kougyoku Ren!"

"Huh," Pisti looks the girl over from afar. "That's the girl that likes Sinbad?"

"She's cute," Noah squeals, shifting nervously.

"What is with you and red-headed girls," Aafje asks, watching as Noah fumbles with her scarf, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

"I'll have you know that it's not limited to red-heads," Noah says in a whisper before looking pointedly in the direction of Spartos. "And I could ask you the same thing about red-headed men."

Aafje visibly tenses, hitting the shorter girl's upper arm and bringing her free hand to her face in an attempt to hide her darkening blush.

"She came here for Sinbad," Pisti gasps in awe, clutching her heart. "Oh, but that won't work out with Kadia—"

"He must have done something when he was there," Ja'far gasps, a look of horror crossing over his face. Reibun attempts to calm him down, but he's already on the verge of hyperventilating.

Kougyoku smiles as she greets Sinbad. "It's a pleasure to meet you again!"

Winter holds onto Noah's shoulders as the herbalist grows weak at the knees.

"For me as well," Sinbad cheerfully replies.

"This is weird," Kadia says with a raised eyebrow. "They're acting normal."

"This is good," Ja'far sighs in relief. "This means he didn't do anything wrong."

"I haven't seen you since Balbadd. We didn't meet even once while I was in the Kou Empire," Sinbad continues with a large smile. Kougyoku tenses and her eyes narrow. "It's good to see you!"

"We didn't meet," Kougyoku shouts, pulling out a hidden sword and promptly slashing at the king. "Even once?!"

The gathered 'crowd' of people gasps.

"Damn you, Sinbad! If you had apologized, I would have swallowed my tears for my country's sake," The princess yells. "But now I'll never forgive you!"

Sinbad has backed up to stand in front of the stunned crowd.

"Duel me, Sinbad," She yells. "Shaming a maiden cries out for death!"

"You shamed her," The crowd shouts.

"What—," Ja'far shrieks, grabbing hold of Sinbad's clothing and violently shaking him. "Did you do?!"

"I don't know," The king responds, staring down at the angry advisor.

"Princess Kougyoku, what did he do?!"

The girl begins to blush, tears welling up in her eyes before a pair of guards block her from the view of the crowd.

A man, presumably a servant of the princess, steps forward and begins to explain.


"Oh, so the negotiations went really well," Kadia laughs, clutching her sides. "Huh, Sin? They must have gone really well!"

"When I was in the Kou Empire," Sinbad begins, glaring at Kadia's laughing figure. "I never saw her during my time there… And I drank a little at the farewell banquet, but I wasn't drunk—" He looks over at Spartos and Sharrkan for validation.

"Yeah, he wasn't drunk at all," Sharrkan confirms, nodding along with Spartos. "He wasn't even tipsy when we took him to his room."

"And then I fell asleep. Nothing happened with the princess," finishes Sinbad.

"Then why was I in your room the next morning," Kougyoku yelps.

"I don't remember that…"

"And why were you naked?! Do you undress in your sleep or—"

"Yes," Sinbad answers. "All the time!"

Ja'far waves his arms in exasperation and Kadia bursts into another fit of laughter.

"Be serious! And quit playing innocent," Kougyoku shouts, her metal vessel having turned into a large sword due to her Djinn weapon equip. "Now you're gonna hear my story!"