And so we continue.

I still don't own Magi.

Chapter 8 Edited: A Game of Cat and Mouse. And Snakes.

Once again, Eleanor found herself in pitch darkness. I was positive I was in bed… Perhaps Yunan has something to tell me? "Yunan? Are you there?"

A snicker answered her call, echoing around her. "So you're the girl that has changed the balance in the Rukh. Are you acquainted with that Wanderer somehow? No wonder you knew that I was going to trick Sinbad." Judal stepped before her out of the darkness that sank away from his form. He drew closer. Each step he took, Eleanor took two steps back. Seeing this, Judal frowned. "Don't be afraid, little mouse." The next step he took was too fast for her eyes to follow. Judal now stood only inches from her. He took her chin in his hand and inspected her. "Actually, you don't look half bad." He grinned. "Why not leave that Yunan guy and become my pet?"

Eleanor's eyes widened in horror and she tried to escape. She pulled her chin out of his grip and turned around, about to run.

Judal only laughed at her attempt as he grabbed her wrist hard enough to make Eleanor wince. "Don't worry. I take good care of my pets."

"I-I…" Eleanor tried to think of the right words that wouldn't get her killed. "I'm not anyone's pet!" At the sight of Judal's glare, she gulped. That may not have been the best choice of words…

With great force, Judal threw her on the ground. "Then you can die like a rodent." Leaning over her, he took her by the throat. "Last time, Sinbad got in the way, but this time no one's coming to save you."

Eleanor tried to gasp for air as she felt the same painful sensation as the last time he had almost choked her. Her throat constricted as she tried desperately to take in air. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she reached up in hopes of prying his hands off, but it was useless. I'm pitiful, She thought in despair. Weak. Why am I so weak? I'm here to help but I can't do a damn thing. Everything was becoming hazy; the only things she could make out were Judal's red eyes and his grin. She squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the thoughts of her death, but they kept circling in her mind. Weak… Weak… Weak… I always need help. I… I need help.

Suddenly everything seemed to brighten, shining through her eyelids. Judal's hold slackened as well, allowing Eleanor a moment to take in sweet oxygen. In confusion, Eleanor opened one eye, then another. The familiar hissing sound made Eleanor breathe out in relief.

"Releasssse my Missstrisss at onssse," Serpentes commanded, holding himself up to his fullest form to tower over them both.

Judal took a step back in surprise, then another as the snake made his way closer to them until he was between Eleanor and Judal.

Serpentes glanced at her with his green eyes flashing. "Are you harmed?"

Eleanor slowly stood, coughing as her lungs tried to balance out the sudden influx of air. She shook her head. "I'm-" She coughed, wincing at the raw feeling of her throat. "I'm fine. Thanks Serpentes," she wheezed

The snake nodded. "If you had called me, I would have been able to come sssssooner. It issss.. hard to hold this form on my own."

"C-call?" Eleanor asked in surprise. She could call him? She had known that she could ask him to return to his other form but she had never thought she could call him whenever she wanted.

The snake bobbed his head. "There issss sssstill much you must learn. But now issss not the time." They returned their attention to Judal who was watching their conversation closely.

"So you made a friend, huh?" Judal asked cockily. "I wonder if it can hold up to the cold." He grinned as the darkness began to light up with Rukh as they transformed into ice shards. How is this even possible?! Eleanor thought in horror. Isn't this supposed to be my mind! Why are there Rukh?! Without wasting any time, the ice was sent flying in their direction.

Eleanor gasped, getting close to Serpentes, her only protection, and closing her eyes. She felt Serpentes shift as the surrounding temperature dropped below zero. There was the dull sound similar to that of thousands of object hitting a wall, followed by shattering and tearing.

Eleanor slowly opened her eyes, to find golden scales obscuring her vision. I… I'm not dead?

The scales shifted and Serpentes slowly moved away from her. Eleanor cried out in alarm at the sight of so much blood covering him. "Serpentes!" He had protected her from the ice, but his scales were not invincible.

She knelt down beside him as he tried desperately to hold himself up. "Forgive me, Missstrissss. I can not hold my form and reinforsssse my scalessss," he groaned in pain, slowly disappearing.

"Serpentes!" Eleanor called out again. No! No! NO! Trying to hold onto him as he faded. "Hold on!" But it was too late and he was gone, leaving her alone with Judal again, who grinned at her in triumph.

"He wasn't that tough," he laughed.

Serpentes had protected her with his life… She could still feel him. He was alive. But he was in pain. Pain. Why am I so weak? I always run. I'm such a nuisance. Why can't I fight back? Why can't I be stronger? Eleanor's eyes flashed the same green as the snakes as they fell on Judal. Judal was the cause of her friends pain. I won't run. Something in Eleanor snapped.

She stood slowly, eyes shadowed as she looked at the ground still stained by Serpentes' blood.

Judal's laughter ceased as he felt some sort of shift in the air. The Rukh fluttered in a panic.

He almost didn't have time to react as Eleanor grabbed his scarf, having traveled the long distance between them with such speed that it was almost inhuman.

"You hurt him," she growled, eyes glowing in the darkness.

Judal pulled away just in time as his scarf began to smoke under her touch. In retaliation he kicked her back, satisfied when she stumbled and the unnatural brightness in her eyes disappeared.

She blinked a few times in confusion. Before she could recover, Judal's foot slammed into her stomach, sending her to the ground again. He eyed her from his position with curiosity. "What are you?"

Eleanor rolled over to face the floor as she was hit with a fit of coughs. What was that? He has a good point... What am I? How did I do that? "I-" she was cut off as a bright light filled the darkness, blinding her. She squeezed her eyes shut and when they opened again she found herself in her bed. Aladdin sat beside her, a worried expression on his face. Sharrkan and Yamraiha stood a few steps away.

"Are you ok, Miss?" Aladdin asked her.

Eleanor sat up and wiped a clammy palm over her sweaty forehead. "I think…" She glanced back at them. "Why are you two in my room?"

"Aladdin and I felt a strange magic hanging around your room," Yamraiha explained. "What happened?"

Some of you may recognize this scenario from before I rewrote the story. I actually changed a lot of it but the story-line is still the same.

Yuka Tsukino: The only thing about getting effort from Sharrkan is that he doesn't normally try anything with people he actually likes. Check out: tvtropes . (c) (o) (m) / pmwiki/ pmwiki . p h p / Characters/ MagiSindriaKingdom (Remove the spaces and parentheses)...Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: He's a womanizer who frequents brothels but can't do anything around Yamaraiha, except get into arguments with her. BUT, I will see what I can do. Being the all mighty god of this story, I will push Sharrkan in the right direction :)

Evalyd Yamazaki: I actually had this chapter planned out before you made the comment of Eleanor always running away and needing to learn to use Serpentes more, but because of the comment I did add a little more to the chapter about Eleanor realizing she needs to stop running. I hope you liked it. Up until now, I realized that I haven't really been working on Eleanor's growth, so I'll start doing that.