Well, apologies to anyone waiting. I finally got round to updating, however.

Huge thanks to Perpetual Dreams and Akumarayne for reviews, and everyone else favouriting, following and reading so far. Plenty of Alibaba here again :p

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

It had been this way for over a week now, Alibaba realised as he and Hakuryuu raced through the heavy rain. It was becoming very much a set routine for the two to go every morning to the training grounds outside of the Golden Scorpion Tower. There the two princes trained, albeit not for quite the long and arduous hours which Hakuryuu would have liked. And certainly much longer than what Alibaba was used to. If anything, those days were brutal. The bandages marring his fingers and hands could attest to that much.

Mainly that's why he was grateful for that influx of rain; perhaps today meant a break from all that. Even if it was nice to know he was getting stronger, he was tired of just how amused Hakuryuu looked as Alibaba collapsed in an exhausted heap at the end of each day. Or how the week passed so quickly he hadn't even seen Aladdin once. But then, curiously, he hadn't seen the Magi at all. All he had was training with Hakuryuu, whose dedication to training seemed to border on obsessive.

By the time the two had walked down the straight, pale network of pathways the skies had already opened up. Thick and dark storm clouds had formed over Sindria; the like he had never seen before. The overcast skies were painted an ominous grey before thunder splintered over them, and a showering of scorching rain had pelted down. The tremor of howling winds whipped his skin raw, and he could barely hear his own breath over it.

The two finally reached the tower, and took their refuge from the elements under its pillars. For a moment, and stunned, the two gazed over the storm as it ripped over the neat grass and harassed trees all around them. Alibaba smoothed back his soaked hair, and took to leaning heavily against the wall. He took to tipping a long stream of water from each of his shoes before flexing his bare toes against the cool stone beneath them. "Wow...have you ever seen rain like that?"

"Rarely," Hakuryuu agreed quietly. Curiously he was watching that hammering of rain, and how slowly the grass was turning an almost eerily bright shade of emerald. How its pressure was enough to reduce every flower in sight to a mashing of scent and broken, brightly toned petals. "But it doesn't rain here all that much. So when it does, you really do feel it."

"...I'd say." He knew just how disappointed his fellow prince looked. Sharrkan was late, and indeed might not even arrive at all thanks to the weather. And Hakuryuu just looked as if a single day of training missed would be devastating. In contrast, he personally had never felt so glad to see a storm in his life. "I wonder if Shar is actually going to show up. Maybe he just passed out drunk somewhere instead."

"...That's not funny," Hakuryuu sighed, looking out into the gardens. Perhaps at how large and empty they looked without the usual bustling of people. "I'm sure he'll be here. And stop sounding so hopefully. We need all the practise we can get."

Alibaba nodded. "Right...as we'll need proper help if we're going to do this. If you want to try going to a dungeon without a Magi..." he added quietly.

"...I never said I'd do that," he replied sharply. The dark-haired prince rested his spear against the opposite wall, and folded his arms as he leaned there. "I did say, however, that I'm taking this seriously. More so than you." He eyed over Alibaba accusingly with that. "You're right, though. Taking on a dungeon successfully alone will be almost impossible. And without a Magi guiding them, I read many kings and princes never ventured back out. Even if they took with them expeditions...armies, even..."

"So..." he enquired, a golden eyebrow arched curiously.

He received a cold glare. "I know you trust Aladdin. You're always off trying to kiss him after all."

"...Once. I tried to kiss him once. I knew I shouldn't have told you."

He carried on regardless. "And even if I don't like it, I admit we could use his help."

"Finally..." Alibaba sighed. Both of them had their reservations concerning dungeons anyway. After all, for him this training was a step closer to actually entering a dungeon. Something equally exciting and terrifying. But then, what came after was even more frightening – his return to Balbadd. To the chaotic state it was in, at that. He was dreading it. "...And if we get into a dungeon, you won't be able to torture me every day anymore."

Hakuryuu gave a slightly prideful grin at that. "Dare I ask what is so bad about training with me?"

"You're dangerous!" Alibaba responded without a second thought. It was true, and he knew it. Hakuryuu was all too accurate with that spear of his, for one thing. There was also his nasty habit of fuelling all of his tension into those hours training. And, by default, towards Alibaba. His knife wasn't really that effective against his weapon, and less so given how Hakuryuu had trained for so long and so diligently.

"I'd not say dangerous," he disagreed. "I'll admit though I have been here a long time, longer than I thought. And most of that was training alone, waiting for someone's help. So I'm grateful that it's you helping me."

Alibaba rubbed at the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Well, that's all the more reason not to go and kill me then."

Those miss-toned eyes looked slightly horrified at that. Before they narrowed in a way suggesting, obviously, it was his fault instead. "W-well...perhaps if you fought me using something other than a pocket knife you'd not get beaten up so much!"

"Well," he turned his jewelled knife carefully between his fingers. "Maybe you should learn to fight with something that isn't oversized, that you can actually hit things with..."

Hakuryuu looked pointedly over those many bandages he had accumulated. "I don't know. I seem to be able to hit you just fine."

"Now now, boys..." a lazy voice and its yawn announced itself behind them. Sharrkan approached, looking somewhat dishevelled in a crumbled white tunic and darkened eyes which clearly hadn't seen rest that night. He carried a curious-looking jewelled scabbard at his hip and was looking over the two with a surprised expression. "Eh...what are you doing here when it's raining like that?"

"We're here to train of course," Hakuryuu replied, as if as much was obvious. Then his face fell. "You aren't...have you been drinking?!"

He wafted at the stale and spent aroma of alcohol clinging to his instructor's breath. Sharrkan's emerald eyes looked over him curiously. "Hey, don't give me that. Yama-chan told me she felt so much moisture and static in the air there was going to be a storm. So we spent all night working."

Hakuryuu looked over him curiously. "...So you really weren't going to watch is train today then?"

"...Are you crazy?" the general responded. "I hate rain. I just figured you both would go do something else. I was on my way to Sin, to give this to him."

He indicated the scabbard at his side, which Hakuryuu eyed over curiously. "So what if the rain stops?"

Alibaba reminded silent, watching the two lock gazes with each other. After a while, Sharrkan gave a resigned noise. "Ah, fine; it's your training I guess." He waved a dismissive hand. "Just let me watch from here and you two can go crazy."

"Meaning you will go pass out drunk, and tell Sinbad-sama you were helping," Hakuryuu muttered. And their instructor nodded. "...So what it is you have there?"

"Ah, this?" Sharrkan unbuckled that scabbard the prince from Kou was gazing over. "I was just going to show Sin this and..." he paused, before looking over at Alibaba a little more seriously. "It's actually related to what we were talking about when you were back in the hospital wing. About how I had my men recover some magical weapons your men used back in Balbadd."

"Ah..." he felt himself shudder involuntarily. He didn't really remember that conversation, just it occurred when he'd still been badly injured and barely conscious. The general had managed to recover a number of those weapons, the idea being for them to be experimented on. Alibaba just guessed they were looking for a way to understand the strange magic used on them.

"Is this bringing back bad memories?" Sharrkan asked him softly. Animatedly he shook his head, and looked vacantly over the blade pulled out of the scabbard. Elegant, and both thin and of a black metal, the sword laid over general's palms. It definitely reminded him of that day. And of those swords so many of his friends had mysteriously had in their possession for their failed coup d'état.

"I'm fine," Alibaba replied, and tried to ignore the chill running through him. Both Hakuryuu and his instructor seemed to be admiring that foul thing, after all. "So...King Sinbad asked you and Yamaraiha to experiment with those weapons?"

"Yeah. He wanted to know more about them," he asked. Hakuryuu's fingers were stroking over the sword's hilt, and a strange and dark fire was playing across his eyes. "But...really, it's so beautiful. Isn't it?"

Hakuryuu made an affirming noise without a second thought. Alibaba however couldn't bring himself to think of such a thing as beautiful. Not after seeing his friends, people he cared for, spill blood with such vile things. To think of how they changed, how Kassim had changed...and how those mists of gold, green and red had poured out of them at the moment of their violence. But instead, that weapon lay prone. He watched as light splintered down and spilled over its surface. Light that was absorbed; trapped there. As if it was forever stolen from the world.

Alibaba tore his eyes away. "...What did you do, exactly? These weapons were so loud before. This is...so calm."

"It is?" the general sounded surprised. As if he had no idea what had been done to placate such a dangerous thing. "Well, it was a fun night, really. Yama-chan said she worked out a way to stop that black magoi running through it, or something like that. She spent all night on that. Whilst I watched her."

"And got increasingly drunk, I guess," Hakuryuu accused him. "Did you actually help her?"

"Eh, of course. I helped a lot," Sharrkan insisted. "See – I don't understand all that stuff magicians like her go crazy over. And likewise she doesn't have a clue about interesting things like swords."

Alibaba stepped back a little. "So...what did she alter, exactly?"

"Erm..." those emerald eyes just looked blankly at that question. It seemed he had no clue about that. "She...reversed whatever was bad about it, I guess? You'd have to ask her, not me. She said something like it wouldn't have a negative effect on people like us anymore, come to think of it."

"And that's all you were going to tell Sinbad-sama?" Hakuryuu asked, and sighed. "You sound so unhelpful to poor Yamaraiha-san."

Alibaba thought over that. "Hang on...what you just said; it won't affect people like us. So that means it would affect other people then? Say...people like my friends? When they changed?"

"...I guess so," Sharrkan agreed. He allowed Hakuryuu to reach out, and take a gentle hold of the sword's hilt. Alibaba just watched, stunned, as their instructor stood back to watch them. His fellow prince held up the sword, as if entranced by how it absorbed all light. He also noticed that strange gleam that still lingered in Hakuryuu's left eye. "See? Harmless."

"It's...Hakuryuu trailed off. "I'm sorry to ask such a rude thing, sensei, but would it be very troublesome if I kept this a while? I feel it could be useful."

"Erm...Sharrkan thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, I don't see why not. Yama-chan knows what she's doing now, so we can replicate that and get another one for Sin. But it is safe...erm...I guess however safe your average sword is, anyway."

Alibaba just watched, and nodded quietly, and told himself it was nothing to worry about. That by all rights the king of their kingdom was wise to find out about such a dangerous thing. To defend Sindria, and perhaps even Balbadd, and make sure nothing of the sort happened again. As he watched Hakuryuu gave a bow of gratitude, and re-sheath the sword at his waist, he told himself this was just a precaution.

"Do you think you'll be alright using this?" Sharrkan was asking. "It's a pretty different weapon than you're used to."

Hakuryuu nodded. "I think so, yes. We were just talking about how training was getting troublesome."

"Ah, yeah," he agreed, looking over at Alibaba. "But it was sort of funny watching you two train. This way he might not get beat up to much." And the prince from Balbadd sighed heavily. "I don't think you'll have much trouble, though, Hakuryuu. You're so talented at picking things up quickly."

Alibaba noticed that swelling of pride in Hakuryuu's eyes over that. And a reminder of just how much more talented and better at this manner of thing his fellow prince was. He had to wonder what might happen if the two did actually enter a dungeon. As they were, he just knew the djinn would favour Hakuryuu over him. And he'd just be there, despite a Magi actually naming him as a future king. He felt his stomach think. And he could just imagine how disappointed Aladdin would be in him...

"Well, I should get back. Meet me here, you two, when the rain stops," Sharrkan told them. And threw the aforementioned rain a look of dread at the thought of going out in it once again. "Tell you what, can one of you go check on Aladdin in that time? It saves me the trouble; and Yama-chan's just getting all riled up that the poor kid's bored. Being stuck in his room and all."

"...What are you talking about?" Alibaba asked curiously. That concern returned to him; was there a reason why he hadn't seen the Magi in the past week, then?"

"Eh? You didn't hear?"

He exchanged a glance with Hakuryuu. "Hear...what, exactly? What's happened?"

"Ah, well it's nothing that serious," Sharrkan told him. "Sin just tends to freak out over someone like Aladdin as he's important. But he off and fainted in the library. And since then, Sin's kept an eye on him."

"I see. I'll go check on him then, if you like," Alibaba reached out a palm, and watched those warm droplets of rain gather upon it. He gave himself a moment before he began sprinting up in that storm, back to the palace across the soaked courtyard. Well, it seemed the weather wasn't letting up anytime soon. Luckily for him.

Aladdin sighed loudly, and once again allowed his quill to become lax in his hand. He sat up from where he had been curled up in his bed, and rubbed a palm over his tired eyes. As much as he didn't wish to admit it to himself, he had no idea what to write. And for the entirety of the morning, before those clouds outside of his window had thickened and rain had fallen, that was what he had intended to do. To write back home to his brother. As that worry weighting on his mind from the past days made him almost panicked for Judal's well being.

Really the problem was imagining the response he'd get back. As rain thudded against his window, he thought of the likely rant-filled reply his twin would return to him. Of demanding that Aladdin simply enjoy his time there, which he was. But then due to Sinbad's request he had agreed to rest, and not to leave his room for now. And he held himself obedient to that, even when the aforementioned king continued to occasionally spy on him.

Attempting to resolve himself, he watched a flick of ink fall upon a fresh page; Brother...

And that was it. That was all his mind would allow him to write. And then images clouded his mind. Thoughts of those black rukh caught inside of Alibaba. And that same darkness and chilling sensation such awful things held over that lock of ebony hair in his grasp. Just looking over that neat, long plait of Judal's hair made him panic, from the quantity of dark magoi swimming in it. He...really wanted to believe it was nothing. That his twin brother wasn't suffering the same way Alibaba was. But how could he ask such a thing in a mere letter? If he wrote, he feared not even receiving a reply at all.

He sighed. And told himself not to think the worst. He stashed that lock of his brother's hair back beneath his pillow, and tried to not think about it. His fingers were already smoothing over the soon to be neglected page, before scrunching it up into a ball. As the door creaked, and assuming it was Sinbad returning to check on him, he let it go. He grinned as he watched that flash of white travel through the air, arriving at the door to collide with the approaching figure's forehead.

"Ah...huh?!" the trail of rukh surrounding the approaching, and surprised, figure wasn't Sinbad's. Azure eyes widened as the Magi sat up further in his bed.

"Oh! Alibaba-kun I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else," he insisted, as the approaching prince ceased in his steps.

"...Then just who is it you thought you were attacking?" his company laughed. Alibaba was carrying what appeared to be a particularly vivid plant crowned with colourful violet flowers. A plant he carefully balanced on one hand as he crouched down. He retrieved Aladdin's discarded attempt at a letter, un-crumpling it to scan its contents. "You were writing to your brother – Judal, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "But it's not going all that well."

"I guessed."

Aladdin smiled brightly. "It feels like I haven't seen you in a while, though."

"Right...I didn't know you were here. Shar just told me, so..." Alibaba cut off as he drew close. Right as he looked over the pale figure and his tired eyes gazing at him expectantly. "...You look really terrible."

"...Maybe. But that doesn't seem like such a nice thing to say," Aladdin continued to smile, regardless of how his body felt. The prince took a seat by his bed. He reached forward, plucking that flowering plant from the prince's grasp to hold it in his lap curiously. Excited, he knew he had seen such a thing before. Even if its petals of purple and scarlet were a lot brighter than he recalled. Even so...how welcoming it's sweet aroma was at that moment. "But you look good. It seems you're training really hard."

"Huh? Ah..." his company fiddled awkwardly with the bandages wound tightly over his fingers. "Yes, I have. How are you feeling, though?"

"Hm...alright I think," the Magi replied a little uncertainly. It was strange. After all, he had trained and studied for many hours back in Kou. And he had never fainted there, nor felt so fatigued for such a long period of time. He had gone as far as to even ask Sinbad if anything had happened. Who just flatly told him nothing had. "I'll be fine, anyway."

"...Just don't go pushing yourself too hard," Alibaba breathed a sigh of relief as he indicated the plant in his lap. "This is called a shade hyacinth." He told him as the Magi drew a nail softly over one of its verdant, waxen leaves. He nodded, even if he knew very well what it was called. And pretended he didn't. "It's meant to be medicinal. Oh and I'm told the nectar's sweet enough to use in tea."

He had to smile at that brief, un-detailed description. "Ah, really? I wonder; do you think it's at all related to a desert hyacinth, Alibaba-kun?"

The prince shuddered, as if remembering something unpleasant. "...You mean those huge flowers growing in the desert? The ones eating whoever's unfortunate enough to fall into their pits?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! So you've seen one?"

"...Of course," he replied, taken aback by the Magi's enthusiasm over such a grim subject. "You do remember that Balbadd was right in the middle of those deserts, don't you? When they let me, I'd ride caravans to Qishan and back."

"Wow! You're so lucky!" he exclaimed loudly. And those light gold eyes just continued to seem stunned at his reaction. "I've always wanted to see one."

Alibaba nodded slowly. "Alright. I just forgot how you'd say the strangest things."

He just grinned in response, and turned his attention back to the flower perched in his lap. It was a plant Sinbad had told him of in passing, and warned him about. And so Aladdin always wanted to see it up close. He just hadn't expected that sweet, sugary scent. It reminded him so much of those vanilla pods Judal had liked so much when they had been younger. Excited, he took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. And leaned in.

He giggled as it happened; he couldn't stop himself. The sensation of so many needle-like teeth reached him, nipping over the end of his nose as the large flower leaned in. So, it really was how Sinbad described it. "Ah! He got me!"

"...Why's it a he?" Alibaba muttered, and a little stunned he leaned in. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he announced, still laughing as he rubbed a hand over his face. Cool fingers, and their stretchy, rain chilled fingers reached in and surprised him. As the prince smoothed back his fringe in concern, and leaned in close. "But I guess they are related if it just tried to eat me. Maybe it would be able to when it grows bigger."

"...Well you don't need to sound so happy about that."

He nodded, as rested his forehead against Alibaba's. The prince looked down, before placing his fingertips within reach of the flower a little nervously. He wasn't attacked, and the plant remained prone and deceptively harmless looking. "...Strange," he commented. "How come it's not attacking me? Come to think of it – this thing didn't even try biting me as I brought it."

"Why would it? You got it for me, so why would it bite you?"

"...How does that make any sense?" he demanded. "And...I actually brought flowers for a guy..."

"Hm?"

"N-nothing!" he flushed furiously. Then, realising their foreheads were pressed together, he quickly backed away. He sat back, taking the shade hyacinth to place it back on the table by Aladdin's bed. And just out of his reach. "You know though...I brought this off a kind looking woman settling them near the palace. She didn't tell me it would attack someone."

Aladdin just nodded as if such a thing was obvious. "Of course she didn't warn you. Everyone here just figured out everyone knows already."

"...So you knew?" he scowled as the Magi nodded. "You could have said something!"

"Mm, maybe. But you did something nice, and I missed you..."

Alibaba looked away at that. "Well...I guess it really is like back at home," he pondered out loud. "I mean, caravans leave the cities every day. And no one warns travellers about the dangers of the desert. How cold the nights can get; even in summer..."

He trailed off, and Aladdin nodded. "I guess oji-san just read a lot of things to me I remember from years ago. He really was like an uncle to me. So thanks to him I know a lot about the world. Even if I haven't seen much of it.

He trailed off, and the prince looked over him. But at Aladdin's disappointment, and knowing as a Magi he had been caged in the palace of Kou for so many years. "Well...we could..." Alibaba began. And trailed off as he was looked over curiously. He coughed, and refused to look at him. "B-but enough of that. I wanted to know...is this my fault?"

"Hm? Is what your fault?"

Alibaba seemed to think such a thing to be obvious. And clearly it wasn't. "Is it my fault you fainted in the library? I mean, you were studying so hard because of me. Since you saw those black rukh, you said you'd help me. You even made me feel better, saying I'd make a good king. I just should have worked out something was wrong; like I'd see you training with Yamaraiha every day and suddenly you weren't there. I just didn't think about it. I should have found out sooner."

Aladdin smiled brightly. "...So you were watching me?"

"...Don't go and focus on that!" Alibaba mumbled, and buried his face in his hands. "You really are strange."

Aladdin smiled. Abruptly, he saw the shape of a bird descend to perch just outside of his window. Colourful in its various tones of peach and ruby feathers, the animal cocked its head curiously as it peered through a gap in the thin and pale curtains as they caught in the strong breeze. Somewhat fascinated, he leaned in for a better look. Its sharp claws rested on the storm-harassed beds of yellow roses planted outside of his room, and shook the fain from its feathers. Curiously, Aladdin reached out to it.

The creature uttered a soft chirp before it hopped over to settle heavily on his index finger. For a moment he just started in awe at how beautifully exotic and colourful it looked. But as he looked closer, Aladdin couldn't notice how strange its eyes were. How those beads of yellowish amber looked a little too intelligent, a little too human. Even its pattern of magoi seemed all too familiar. He sighed. "...Oji-san, can you please stop spying on me? I sent you out of my room alright. And don't ask Yamaraiha-sensei to make you magical animals to watch me, either."

That colourful bird, apparently magically serving as the eyes of the king of Sindria, gave Aladdin a haughty look. In a flurry it took off in a fire of scarlet and golden tail features, flying out of the window and back into the gushing rain. Somewhere before reaching the thick and racing clouds, he lost sight of it. And heard something of a soft stumble and crash from the room next to his.

Soon after, another set of footsteps reached outside his door. And the person he had been expecting all along entered his room. Thumbing over the glass in his hand, Sinbad drew into his bedroom and scanned over him. "Aladdin; you did ask me to leave you to rest. And I did."

"Of course," he replied smoothly. "And you did for a while. But then you asked Yamaraiha to make that bird to watch me, I guess. And then hid next door, holding that glass to the wall so you could eavesdrop on me too," Sinbad's eyes widened, and quickly stashed that glass back inside his robes. "It's a pretty rude thing to do."

"Only if I got caught," he replied. Which he had been.

"But that's not really such a good thing to admit to, is it?"

Sinbad shook his head. "Ah, it's not. But actually, I just got back here. And I was looking to speak to Alibaba. I just didn't want to interrupt you two."

"I see. Then you should have said," Aladdin replied brightly, as if that changed everything. He yawned, snatching that lock of Judal's hair from under his pillow, as well as his flute. Mainly as they were two things he didn't wish to be without. He uncurled himself from his bed before sliding off it, and approached Sinbad at the door to pass him. "You can talk to him here if you like. I think I want to go wash up a bit, anyway."

"I bet you couldn't want to leave here," the king asked fondly as the Magi passed him. Sinbad sat down, on the chair beside the door. And his rukh felt so much more formal as he did, as his attention turned to the prince instead. As he left, Aladdin couldn't help but feel amused in that slight fluctuation of the other young man's rukh. "...Ah, Alibaba? Really, there's no reason to be so nervous of me..."