The Meanderer

by xeveningx

"The world is beautiful and pure, it's the weeds in it that ruin it." And to save the world she loves, Noé will do what she must: find her friends to free her master. But as she learns what saving it implies, discourse stirs in her. Is it really worth saving anymore? "It's not the world that's worth saving," a red cub told her. It's hard to understand his words.

19. What the Waves Wash Ashore

Chapter Nineteen

What the Waves Wash Ashore

---

|i.|

"Mama, what is an 'ocean'?"

"It's a faraway place, my sweet. One much different from our home."

"How is it different?"

"Instead of sand and the heat of the sun beating down, there is always a fair breeze gently touching your cheek and vast amounts of cool water."

"Like the one we drink?"

"Millions of times more."

"I want to see the ocean, Mama."

"One day, Maahes. One day we'll leave and we'll live near the ocean. You'll see."

"Maahes?"

Sunken oceanic eyes blinked perplexed at the hand being waved in front of him. The young boy yelped, recoiling away from the redhead woman as his daydreams vanished and led way to reality. The one where this same woman had just taken him from his home country like it was nothing after the djinn threw them out of his dungeon.

But now he was being thrown into something entirely new that seemed almost as daunting as dungeon diving, if not more.

All of this was very much overwhelming. His mind could barely keep up with what was going on around him—the sounds, the smells, the people—and was starting to hurt from trying. Everything he saw was so astonishing and awe-inducing in equal measures but so hard to take in all at once.

"Mm, what about that? I think they have pretty good food there. Want to try it out?"

But what perplexed him most of all was her.

He was still quite wary of the redhead woman that had so carelessly taken him from Heliohapt. Yes, she had bought him clothes and fed him until he was ready to burst but there was no denying how suspicious it was for someone to do something so life-changing for another person just because. At least to him it was odd. The woman—Noé, he reminded himself—didn't appear the least bit taken aback by her actions however. If anything she appeared to be wholeheartedly enjoying this little trip that she'd deemed a 'shopping spree' for his new lifestyle.

It was quite jarring, frankly. So much so that Maahes couldn't put his finger on what the woman wanted him to buy. If he knew that, things would run much smoother. At least that way he wouldn't risk angering her and find that she, too, would beat him like the slave masters had. Because, from what he could see around them in this new country, slavery existed here too.

As if noticing his disquietude, Noé stopped herself before sharing a small smile. "I know this might be a bit too much right out of the gate, but don't worry. I didn't bring you here to be a slave all over again. I brought you here so you could have your freedom and live your life however you wish to live it."

"W-Why?"

She shrugged while keeping a few steps ahead of him. "Having a charitable streak is all." Those piercing emerald eyes of hers glanced over her shoulder at him as she smiled. "So rest assured, I'll be taking care of you until you're old enough to fend for yourself. Whatever you want, I'll give it to you. Well, anything within reasonable means that is."

That last part she said with a chuckle while bouncing a little pouch of coins between her fingers.

This was definitely too much.

"I wouldn't know...what to get."

"I'll worry about the essentials," she said. "For now if there's anything you see that you like, I can probably get it for you. So if you see something, just say the word."

Freedom is so confusing.

It was definitely jarring to go from having no choices to having all of them and more in the span of a single day. The thought of having to get used to this made him heave a long sigh as his headache worsened by the minute. For the time being, he defaulted to what he knew: doing what he was told. Maahes eyed the stalls and shops they passed, many things seeming interesting but not enough to make him ask it of her.

At least not at first.

Maahes spotted it while they were passing one of many clothing stalls. Among the many purses and satchels there was a small, brown leather pouch. It wasn't anything special, but what caught his eye the most was the round buckle on its lapel.

The buckle had a silvery blue gleam and what had his attention rapt on the small pouch was the engraving on it: a circle with a crescent moon facing opposite to rolling waves.

"One day, Maahes."

"Ten silver coins."

Oceanic eyes looked petrified at the sight of her purchasing the silver-buckled pouch and bringing it over to him.

"Here you go."

A blubbering mess, Maahes could do nothing except take the pouch as she picked his hands for him to take it.

"B-B-B-But I didn't—"

"You were staring it at for a good minute. Didn't even hear me call you from how hard you bore your eyes into it. So it was pretty obvious." Her smile grew into a small grin as she helped him attach it to his belt all the while Maahes continued to ramble on about not having asked for it. "It's neat. Gives you a place to keep these."

Maahes eyes bulged at the gold coins she so readily placed inside without warning. "P-P-Please, don't—"

"Maahes?"

Hearing a bit of sternness in her voice, Maahes shrunk into himself. Instead of hits or slaps, however, her hand came to rest atop his head and gently patted it, ruffling his white hair. The unexpected gesture made his head snap up to meet her eyes as she now crouched before him to meet his skeptical gaze with a sincere smile.

"I know it feels...overwhelming to have so much all at once when you had nothing before. Believe me." Chuckling, she childishly scratched at her cheek. "Maybe we should've done this little by little. I thought you'd be like me after getting your freedom, eager to see all that the world had to offer."

The nervousness from before crept to the back of his mind as those words sunk into him. "Were...were you a slave too, miss?"

"Not exactly." She shook her head, the smile on her lips faltering a bit as her gaze became somewhat distant. "But...I was barred from living anything resembling a normal life when I was your age. My life and choices had all been dictated by someone else and though I had always yearned for freedom, it was almost something too far-fetched to even imagine."

Maahes understood that: the yearning for something that was too impossible to even think of. And though it was also quite the difficult idea to grasp, he could also begin to understand that this was because of her. That she had been the one to see something in him that led her to take him along with her. And that in itself was astounding.

His eyes fixated on the woman, he watched her as she stood, retracting her hand from his head with a much happier grin on her lips.

"Regardless of what lives we had, we're here now. We're free. You're free, Maahes. And if there's anything you want to do, I'll be sure to do my best for you." Suddenly, she flinched and laughed while picking at her ear. Almost as if a high-pitched noise had hurt her hearing or something. "Though I do suppose I went a bit far by pushing all this on you all at once."

Holding the pouch tightly in his grasp, Maahes gave himself a moment to think about what she said.

Anything I want to do…

"So, how about we grab some grub, go back to the cottage and call it a day, mm?"

"The ocean."

Emerald eyes widened at the words that spilled from his lips. Stuttering a bit from her sudden attention, Maahes hid the bottom part of his face with the pouch, his gaze askance and cheeks flushed as he gathered the courage to clearly say what he wanted to say.

"I...I've always…wanted to see the ocean."

A genuine smile pulled at her lips, the same glint shining in her eyes, as she offered her hand.

"That's something I can definitely do."

Heart fluttering, his dark oceanic eyes shone with the anticipation that rose in him as he tentatively reached out for her hand at first before fully grasping it in his own and holding tight to the pouch with the other.

---

|ii.|

"You want me to go dungeon diving with you?"

It sounded ridiculous. And highly unlikely.

There was just no rhyme nor reason as to why Miss Noé would be asking him—him of all the people —to go into such dangerous territory with her. Sure, he was somewhat trained in combat, mostly self-defense, and he had a good head on his shoulders that could think a mile a second but none of that justified her asking him.

"Yep!"

And yet she had.

It was hard to dismiss her enthusiasm. Though having dealt with it for the majority of his life did let Maahes handle it a bit better than most would. Sighing deeply, Maahes rubbed the back of his head, unable to come to terms with what she asked of him.

"But aren't there more, how do I say this, capable people that can accompany you?" He pursed his lips, thinking of some names quite readily. "Maybe Alibaba-san, or even one of the Fanalis. Did you ask Mister Alexius already?"

"Busy, busy, and super busy." Strange how she shot all those options out quick. Either she was lying or she had truly looked into all these options. "And c'mon, don't sell yourself short. I know you're capable of kicking ass when it comes down to it."

"Well," though a bit flustered, Maahes cleared his throat. "I certainly could protect myself out there, but I don't think I would be protecting myself against muggers in dungeons, Miss Noé."

"No, but—"

"And besides, wouldn't it be better to take someone who will be better suited to obtain such a powerful item as a Metal Vessel?"

As if he'd said the magic words, a feral smirk flashed across Noé as she leaned her chin into her hand, emerald eyes watching him with a glint of mischief.

"Who says I'm giving this one away?"

It took Maahes a solid minute to decipher what her words meant. Even more so because this was so unlike her. Still unable to believe what she said, Maahes' brow furrowed while he asked aloud.

"You're conquering the dungeon?"

Noé shrugged her shoulders but the glint in her eyes and the smirk never vanished from her face. "Surprised?"

"Well, yes," he admitted. "You've never once before wanted to conquer another dungeon. What's changed?"

Instantly, she clicked her tongue, her gaudy expression faltering.

"This pesky thing is leaving me no other choice." Her fingernails tapped against her shoulder where they both knew the miasma now was. Grotesquely beating in tandem with her own heartbeat. Bad news, he knew. "I've spoken with someone familiar with this thing and I got some information. But I need more. We deduced this dungeon has the answer but I doubt it'll answer any questions freely. If it's his master though, it might be a different story."

Curiosity piqued, Maahes hummed at his seat across from Noé, who simply sat back as their drinks arrived served by a meek waitress.

Being in the middle of Balbadd in a small tavern near the plaza had garnered them plenty of questioning glances when Noé suddenly burst after his demonstration in her own fashion. Plenty of people were still suspicious of them within this place, a couple of foreigners were sure to capture much interest, but at least they were conscious enough to keep their distance. If because they didn't want to interact with foreigners outside of necessity or because they sense that innate ferocity he could in Miss Noé was beyond him.

His gold was on the latter.

"What dungeon is this?" he asked.

"The 68th dungeon harboring the djinn Belial. Yunan couldn't give me any more details aside from those, but I know enough about it to know not to dive there by myself."

Noé mindlessly tapped her cup of water on the table a couple of times before downing its contents and serving herself some more. When she offered, Maahes politely declined. He hadn't even touched his cup since it came.

"I know its powers. I know that despite them I could conquer it myself, but not without missing a large chunk of time. And seeing as the Summit will be in two months, I can't afford to lose any of it."

"Why would having another person speed the process along?"

"Belial plays with people's minds," she explained. "And knowing myself, I know exactly what he'll do to me. Getting out of that would be hard but not impossible. Certainly not quick though. Not unless there's someone there to help me."

Noé leaned forward and placed her elbows upon the table to maintain the conversation between them. Maahes could only lean forward, wanting to listen.

"I won't lie to you, Maahes. This won't be easy. It might even be painful to see the things Belial might show you—your worst fears, your biggest regrets. All of it is on the table for him to use. And if you don't feel comfortable doing this, then that is fine. Believe me, I don't want to force you."

Her honesty belied her true concerns. This wasn't just any other dive that she intended to go into. Could she be omitting certain details? Of course. But seldom did she lie to him. And as far as he knew, there was no reason for him to believe this was any different.

"Are you certain that conquering this dungeon will help with the miasma?"

The scoff she released quickly turned her expression into a scowl. Not at him, but certainly at what had her at her wit's end.

"It's a gamble," she responded at last. Her hand carded through a few strands of auburn locks, letting them fall over her face. "But it's all I've got right now."

The grasp on his cup tightened as he thought about what could result in this dive. The more he did, however, the more he couldn't believe that she was placing so much faith in him. Especially with how important it was for her to succeed this time.

That alone gave him his answer.

"I don't think I could be of any help, Miss Noé," he confessed, dejected. "No matter what you may think of me, I don't believe I'm strong enough to help you."

A flash of disappointment that pained him to see crossed her face, but it was gone long before he could call it to attention. Instead, all Maahes caught was the sincere smile that pulled at her lips.

"I understand. And don't worry, I'm not taking it personally." Rising from her seat, Noé placed her share to pay for what they had ordered before walking up to place her hand on his shoulder on her way out. "But don't think so lowly of yourself, Maahes. Maybe you're not as strong as others, but you beat them in wits ten times over. And ingenuity has beaten brawn plenty of times to be taken lightly. You're capable, Maa. If you don't believe that yourself, then believe that I do."

Maahes couldn't bear to look Miss Noé in the eye as she said those words and simply remained silent as she exited the tavern. With her gone, it was easier to release the sigh he'd been holding in but it brought him anything but relief.

For all of her honesty, Maahes could only lie. A part of him couldn't help himself. It wasn't pathological; it was simply that he knew better than to be a part of something he was bound to fail in. Despite how enthused and elated he'd been about Miss Noé asking him to go dungeon diving with her, Maahes couldn't deny the dread that instantly arose when the thought of entering another encroached into his mind.

Zepar's had been the only one he dared to enter. All in the attempts to escape the fate he knew would be his if he remained home. Heliohapt never gave him anything to yearn for. His family, much less. Conceived and forgotten, it was his role to be a slave despite the blood that ran through his veins. It wasn't the desire for power that drove Maahes to enter Zepar's dungeon all those years ago. It'd been the prospect of freedom.

In whichever form it may have come as.

And he found that way out. Or more like it found him in the form of a very rambunctious and charming woman.

Reaching down, Maahes mindlessly toyed with the metal buckle around his traveling pouch. It had been the first thing that caught his eye after his newly found freedom. The first thing she had bought him after they came to Reim. All because the silver buckle shaped like a crescent moon engraved with an ocean's wave inside reminded him of his mother.

The memory brought upon his lips a faint smile.

He was happy with his life, and he owed a lot of it to her. Noé had never demanded anything of him other than menial tasks. Never anything this huge. A part of him wanted to believe that it was because she actually believed what she told him. And although his more cynical side thought otherwise, Maahes chose to believe the former. It was his choice, after all, and he had her to thank for the opportunity of even having it.

"Miss Noé!"

Chasing after her outside of the tavern, Maahes was thankful that she hadn't disappeared like she always tended to do and found her not that far away in the middle of a crowd. Crimson feathers behind her ear twitched before those emerald eyes glanced over her shoulder. Maahes, finding in him more and more determination by the second, knew this was the right choice.

It was right because it was the one he chose.

"When do we leave?"

---

|i.|

Despite there being no more tears for her to cry, the redness around emerald eyes told of how she'd spent the last of them as desolation clung strongly to her heart.

Gone. All of it—all of them—they were all gone.

All because of her selfish decision.

"I'm sorry." Her words echoed in the empty. Echoed on and on but reached no one. There was no one there to hear. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Small footsteps echoed in the distance, close yet far, lapping against the surface of the nothingness they now inhabited and picking at the water thinly spread across the floor with every step as they approached her. In the midst of her despondency, she could not distinguish the sound nor the small presence that now stood before her.

It's a faint disturbance in what was meant to be their prison suddenly caught her attention.

It spoke.

Noé couldn't hear it, but a part of her sensed it. Whatever was in there with her wasn't visible but it was familiar. Something incredible since all Noé could sense here was the most intense aridness that tainted her every breath. Aridness that took all the water from her surroundings, from her own body, leaving her parched beyond words. It wouldn't kill her though, no matter how much she craved for it now.

Weakly, her hand reached out as if to touch it but grasped nothing in her trembling fingers. Her heart sank further.

How cruel. It wasn't enough to have her pay for the choice she made. It had to torture her. It had to make her believe that there would be some sort of company in this hell she'd chosen.

Of course there wouldn't be. There couldn't be. Each hell was of their own making. Their own choice.

One they took based on my lies.

Crying hurt too much now from how dehydrated her body was. It never stopped her from weeping when the thought of them crossed her mind though.

I'm sorry.

The only comfort she found was that their choice and her lies had helped at least one of them. One of them was still free. One of them would still be able to set things right and save everybody.

The ghost of a smile crossed her cracked lips.

This hadn't been in vain—all her lying, all their suffering. So long as she was still out there, none of this would be.

---

|ii.|

Whoa.

Shika was so...tiny.

And here Noé thought she'd seen every corner of this world.

Despite being in Kou's territory, the small fishing town appeared to be on the poorer end of the scale. It certainly had the semblance of being part of the eastern country, but it was a mockery compared to others she'd seen around. Quite interesting since from what she knew they took care of all their conquests equally.

Or maybe not.

"How tragic."

Maahes muttered under his breath as they crossed the premises of the town unable to keep his disheartedness to himself. Noé had to agree. As they walked through the beaten-dirt roads, a few vagrants sat idly by between the even fewer vending stalls scattered about, too weak to move or even beg. Tentatively, Noé felt the pouch carrying her gold coins as they walked.

"Noé. Don't."

You don't even know what I'm going to do.

"I've seen it too many times not to have an educated guess."

Good point. It didn't stop her even with all the chastising all the way to the nearest stall though. Predictably, even those with some kind of job were still only scraping by. Their goods weren't anything to brag about either. The seafood was expected as a seaside town; their other wares however left much to be desired. Spending half of what she had on food, Noé tossed the bag of gold remaining to Maahes, asking him to split it evenly by the homeless he saw around.

He was perplexed at first, to say the least, but once she explained it, Maahes only chuckled before doing what he was told. It took them less than ten minutes to give them all some food and a bit of gold that although wouldn't have them up on their feet for long, it would certainly help them for the next couple of days at least.

"This isn't fixing their problem, Noé."

Pretty obvious. But it was better than doing nothing. Now that she mentioned that, however, it had Noé wondering just what exactly was the problem with this little part of Kou for it to be so disproportionately disadvantaged when compared to other parts of the same country.

Wasn't their whole motto to unite or something?

"Unity often means shouldering more than one can handle when ill-prepared," Chief said. "Although I will admit it is quite strange from a country like Kou that prides itself in their ideology."

"Miss Noé." Maahes leaned closer as they walked past the shady streets, the sun already beginning to set over the horizon and washing the disheartening town in twilight. "Was it wise to give away all your gold?"

"They need it more than we do," she simply said. Digging into the small bag of resources they brought along, Noé plucked out an apple to bite down onto. "Besides, we've got all we'll need." Quickly, she changed the subject to a much more relevant one as they made their way through the small town. "Speaking of wise, do you know anything about this town?"

"Not much." Maahes placed his finger upon his chin as his expression turned pensive. "I only managed to ask around a little back at Balbadd before we came. It's a small fishing town that has been on the decline now from what I heard."

"No kidding," she whistled, impressed. "Did a bad fishing season really do this much damage?"

"More like a whole decade's worth of bad seasons."

This time it was her turn to appear perplexed. "And the empire's done nothing to help?"

"They did at first when the first emperor was on the throne. Apparently, one of his close generals lived here. But after power passed down to the emperor's brother, all ties were cut with the military family and Shika was left to die out naturally."

"Is it me or does that make no sense?"

Maahes' lips parted ready to answer her but refrained from doing so when a couple of thugs were idly passing by them. He stepped up to be closer to her, both ignoring the glares from the men as they passed by. Once gone, Maahes shook his head, watching as an old lady from a nearby store came out crying about having been robbed.

"None whatsoever."

Thought so.

Fishing was a good resource to have. Even she who knew very little about handling a country of people knew that holding all available resources at the ready was a good idea in the long run. It was the whole teach-a-man-how-to-fish-and-he'll-feed-himself thing quite literally in this case. Perhaps Shika wasn't their biggest or only fishing town but every one counted, she supposed. To just let it fizzle out into nonexistence like that was questionable at best.

And rather nefarious at worst.

"Setting in ordering their troubles isn't what we're here for, kid. Focus."

Right.

Cruel as it was, this wasn't their problem.

They had bigger fish to catch.

"Is this it?"

"This is it."

It stood amidst the nearest plateau not far from the shores of Shika. The land indented there, creating a lagoon that surrounded the dungeon but never inundated it. A small beach for a huge ass dungeon. Elaborate as could be, a white palace stood over them. Creatures that appeared to be some kind of dragons were displayed facing each other, their bodies colossal as they stood on either side of the dungeon's entrance.

The same one they now stood in front of.

Beside her, Maahes took a deep shaky breath, his trembling fist held against his chest to calm himself. Emerald eyes went askance at the sight of him and concern etched itself on her features.

Had this truly been the right choice? Noé didn't doubt his abilities, most of all his mind, but was it right to bring him here? He wasn't a fighter. Not to mention that for as much as they came to know each other when she took him in after the fiasco at Zepar's dungeon, Noé was ashamed to admit that she knew nothing of Maahes' past.

To throw him into Belial's dungeon not having an inkling of what fears and horrors he could encounter there…

Did I make the wrong choice, Chief?

Chief didn't respond right away, taking her time instead to formulate her answer. The fact that she took so long, however, was answer enough.

"You know what, Maa, I think it'll be better if I go in alone—"

Blinding light obscured her vision for a split second, her words cut short by the sudden shock of Maahes so easily crossing the door into the dungeon. Stunned speechless, it took her a moment before a half-smile crept onto her lips.

"Cheeky runt." Her chuckle barely audible under her breath, Noé stepped forward and clutched the pillar that served as the frame of the entrance. "You ready, Chief?"

"I should be asking that," she scoffed. "But yes. Let's go."

Her smile faltered a bit, for once pitying Chief's naivete as to what awaited them on the other side of the entrance. But after a deep breath, Noé jumped through.

White light enveloped her as the portal took her into the dungeon. White blinding light shone again briefly before nothing did. Unlike countless other dungeons, this one didn't greet her with the warmth of torchlight or the faint glow of bioluminescence.

Instead what greeted her was darkness.

Just darkness...and an all-encompassing emptiness.

Almost instantly, Chief panicked, the penumbra creeping into her as well. "What...What is this?"

Her reaction was raw. Expected.

"Belial's illusion."

At least he can't replicate the feeling of really being in here.

Emerald eyes searched and found only more darkness surrounding her. Absolute emptiness everywhere.

"There's nothing here."

Exactly.

As poor of a silver lining as that was, Noé took it and with a deep breath crossed her ankles before plopping down to sit crossed-legged on the invisible floor. Droplets of water stuck to her skin and clothes. Water that was there only to entice her. It wasn't real and it never satiated her thirst.

No matter how much she had grovelled and begged.

Chief rushed to question what she was doing, urging her to search for an exit and for Maahes herself. Noé, however, scoffed as her lips pursed into a thin, displeased line.

"I can't."

"What?"

"I can't exit this place," Noé repeated. Unable to understand her reasoning or lack thereof, Chief began to pester her incessantly. Something she really didn't need now.

"When I told you and Maahes that it would be difficult for me to conquer Belial by myself, it was because of this exact scenario."

"But why?"

"Because Andromalius…this is her penance."

Incredible didn't begin to describe how hearing her meistras' voice after so long felt.

It was nostalgic. Melancholic. And most of all, painful.

It amazed her how uncanny the resemblance was. Noé knew that it was an illusion that stepped out of the darkness, but it was still shocking to see Teosa like she remembered her.

Long tresses of dark cerulean danced around her as a white ribbon upheld a bun on the right side of her nape where it met a long braid laid across the crown of her head. Strands of it framed her pale face beautifully as those silver eyes gave a glow of their own in this vast darkness. The ends of her crimson shawl languidly hanging from between her arms brushed against the floor, touching the shallow waters as she dragged them a few steps toward Noé.

The sight of her almost broke her. Almost.

"That's…"

Hearing recognition in Chief's astounded tone, Noé could do nothing more than smile wearily as she closed her eyes to keep from staring at the phantom of a woman long gone.

"Welcome to my hell."

—{ii}—

Maahes' head swam with panic and terror at the sight before him.

There was no mistaking it. The baring sun, the hot sands, and the smell of medicinal herbs in the air made it all the more poignant. Without a shadow of a doubt, this was his homeland.

This was Heliohapt.

This was the royal palace.

To think it an illusion seemed almost preposterous. Despite how long it had been since he last saw it, the resemblance was so eerily uncanny to the real thing that it made him sick. It was just as suffocating and dark as he remembered. This damp and solitary room, these hallways—they were all so overwhelming.

"Maahes! Maahes, where are you?"

"Mother?"

Undoubtedly it was. Even in the somberness that filled the palace walls to the brim, the faint torchlight that emanated from the walls gave him a clear view of his mother. The light shone off of her light blonde hair as it swiveled back and forth in her frantic run. Dark blue eyes the color of an ocean he had never seen then were wide and shook with the panic that swelled in her chest as she searched in quiet whispers so as to not bring attention to herself.

To everybody in that palace and in that city, she had been nothing more than a foreigner and a slave.

To Maahes, she had been the only person who ever cared about him.

"Wow, she's so pretty! Is that your mother?"

Maahes, stunned out of his mind yet again, jumped away when he heard the comment out of the blue so close to his ear. He calmed down once he realized it was only Miss Noé, that dashing smirk and brilliant look in her eye too familiar to dismiss.

"M-Miss Noé," he stuttered, holding onto his chest tightly as a meek smile pulled at his lips.

"You alright?"

"You spooked me is all."

"Oh, sorry. Look, she's getting away!" Her hand wrapped around his wrist without a second warning and dragged him after his mother as she dashed through the palace halls.

It was hard to keep up with her, but thankfully her mother found his nine-year-old self quick enough, forcing them to stop and witness the scene. Though he didn't remember much about his youth, Maahes could recite the events of this day to the letter. It had all started because he was tired of being locked away in the room he shared with her mother and the rest of the slaves.

It had been but a whim of his to see what laid outside of the four walls he knew as his world. Sometimes when sleepless nights claimed him, Maahes wondered what his life would be if he had just listened to his mother and stayed inside. But he had been too young to understand then the reason why she kept him hidden.

One he understood all too well now after so many years.

His mother carefully checked his face and body for injuries only sighing in relief when there wasn't any trace on either. A warm smile claimed her lips but it was shaky. Almost as if she were forcing herself to do so. But the way they trembled gave her fear away. Maahes almost didn't recognize himself as a little boy, so full of hope. So naive to the world around him.

"Maahes, you can't leave. Please, my sweet, you can't be seen out here."

"But it's so bright out here, mama!"

Maahes winced at the volume of his high-pitched voice. His mother winced too, just much less noticeably.

"I know, but you can't be here. They can't see you—"

"What are you doing here?"

The Queen Dowager's question was the be-all and end-all of what would become the nightmare of his life. Her discovery of his mother and more importantly of him was what set everything else in motion.

His being separated from his mother. His mother's execution. And his subsequent enslavement.

"Why kill her?" The question was benign, but the tone Miss Noé used to ask it pained him. It sounded as condescending as the Queen Dowager's. "She did nothing wrong."

"She was my mother. She was the only one that knew who my father was."

"And?"

Dark oceanic eyes took in the scene that unfolded. The Queen Dowager's fury as she ripped him away from his mother, and ordered the guards to execute her. His mother's fear and concern as her wide eyes stared at him only, pleading for him to not be harmed. Spitting back at his mother, the Queen Dowager could only assure her he would live if only to not anger her late husband's spirit.

"When the Queen Dowager saw me, she knew too."

Emerald eyes gave him a sidelong glance, that gaze boring a hole in him as they scrutinized him until a wicked smirk spread across her face.

"You were the king's bastard son."

It hurt to hear those words coming from Miss Noé. Not because they were false but because they had been a moniker he had long ago forgotten and thought couldn't hurt him in Reim.

Apparently not.

"Let me guess," Noé taunted, savoring the moment a bit too much with the wicked smirk framing her lips. "The king fucked your mother and got turned into a slave when the queen found out. Only what she didn't expect was that she was already carrying the tiny bun that was you in that kiln of hers. Close enough?"

Out of innate rage that he could no longer contain, Maahes let his hand swat back at Noé who simply dodged out of the way as she hackled. "Guess so!"

"You have no idea what she had to go through! What my mistake and naivety cost her!"

"Her life for one!" Noé shouted back in delight. "That and leaving you in slavery to serve the sons of the wives of a man that screwed her over!"

"They loved each other!" Time seemed to stop and suddenly fast forward. A mere glance told him exactly what it was this time: him finding the letter that the late king had left his mother. One of many. "She could've been with him even if only in secret. If she hadn't had me, she could've gone on with her life!"

"Oh, I'll tell you what she could've done!" Flashing before the little boy that found her parents' letters, Noé snatched the papers from his feeble grasp before ripping them to shreds with cynic glee in her eye. "Your mother could've gotten a better life! She could've lived freely and happily had she never had you!"

"I know!" His scream shook the walls around him. The tears stung his eyes but Maahes closed his eyes shut to keep them from flowing. "That's why I ran away! I couldn't live with the guilt anymore!"

"You didn't go into the dungeon to capture the djinn and escape slavery." Emerald eyes narrowed as pieces to a decade's old unfinished puzzle finally fell into place. "You went in there to die."

His shameful gaze falling gave her all the confirmation she could need.

The manic chuckle that she gave off carried through as she said, "Good! Cowards like you are just the kind I need to weed out! You'd be making my job easier if you just killed yourself already."

Having to hear that from her was too much. Maahes fell to his knees as the tears finally poured and he sobbed openly. The moment he fell, however, his pouch somehow unlatched from his hips and fell precariously to one side. Surprisingly, the silver buckle fell from the pouch as well, skidding to a stop when it bumped against his hand splayed across the floor.

Dark oceanic eyes opened at sensing the cold metal against his skin before picking the buckle in his hand. Years of using the pouch had run it a little bit. Edges were scratched and a part or two indented, but it was mostly intact aside from that. Maahes always had been careful to take great care of it.

It was a gift from Miss Noé, after all.

Miss Noé?

Maahes paused. Before long his gaze lifted to find that same woman before him, but something seemed off. This vitriol, this hatred—he had never once seen Miss Noé like this. At least not towards him. Maahes knew she could be ruthless and offensive towards others, but not once during the time she raised him and when she would visit him did she ever act that way towards him.

"Y'know, I'm glad we met at that dungeon, Maa. You make being alone a little more bearable any day."

"You're not Miss Noé." Resolve replaced the melancholy from his eyes as it filled his stern gaze to the brim when he glared back at the Noé standing before him. "Are you, Belial?"

Emerald eyes widened for a second before closing. Maahes waited with bated breath only to gasp in horror when two more slits opened underneath the original ones.

"Sharp boy." He could still hear Miss Noé's voice, but underneath it was the deep timbre of another.

"You pushed it too far," Maahes spat back with rancor. "Miss Noé would never say such terrible things to me."

"The recorder is nothing but a manipulative harpy," Belial countered with a feral smirk. "The fact that she's using you now as her failsafe against me is proof enough of it. Can you not comprehend that?" The djinn paused as understanding washed over his face. "Or maybe you do...and don't care."

"I understand what you're telling me." Maahes forced himself to his feet, taking in one hand his pouch while the other held steadfast to the buckle. "And I also understand that your logic is flawed."

"How so? Because surely you have bore witness to how she works. Of how she operates and the deeds she's committed—many so foul and distasteful. Would it really be so farfetched for her to be lying to you only to gain your favor and use you as she saw fit?"

"Yeah, the probability of that is certainly high when you look at it from such a perspective." Maahes didn't bother to rush as he fixed the buckle on his pouch and placed it back where it belonged on the side of his hip. Its heaviness felt assuring as he confronted the djinn. "But that's just it. What you're telling me is your perspective of who she is. I've seen enough of her to have my own and frankly, she's nothing like what you make her out to be."

Maahes dared to step forward. When he did, the floor beneath him gave way and ruptured away from the illusion. With each step he took, more and more of the fake Heliohapt that Belial had created began to crack. Finally, he stopped right before Belial who only stood there while still wearing Noé as a second skin.

"The Miss Noé I know is a kind woman who just wants to make the world a better place. No matter what it costs her." Grasping the buckle in his hand, Maahes could feel an easiness that spread through him like a calming wave. So easy and so soothing. "And I couldn't be prouder to have this chance to fight by her side."

Suddenly, a burst of bright light exposed the illusion and shattered it completely as it rose from the darkness that the cracks from his steps had formed. The white bird of light soared through the inner workings of Belial's treasure room, dashing around them before hovering before Maahes. The light bird shrunk until it was a much smaller version of itself, one that Maahes recognized as a mockingbird.

Belial scoffed as an easy smile curved his lips.

"Pity. Just when I thought I had found a good vessel."

Shedding Noé's image, Maahes watched as the djinn of the dungeon finally showed himself before him. Though towering over him, Maahes didn't falter in his step, instead holding his place steadfast. "Your admiration for the recorder has borne fruit, young one."

Straying his gaze away from the tiny bird, Maahes glanced upward at the djinn. "What do you mean?"

Belial gave a nod at the bird's direction. "That is a Household Vessel. One of Andromalius' to be precise. You have proven yourself worthy of it and it has come to you despite both of you being deep in my domain. It is now yours if what you wish for is to become a Household Member to the one you call Noé."

"I can become...Miss Noé's Household Member?"

"If you so wish to be, yes." The djinn nodded in assent, "All you have to do is accept it."

Maahes smiled as he reached his hands to cup them underneath the light mockingbird. Its wings beating in tandem with his heartbeat, it hovered carefully over his hands awaiting his answer.

All he did was nod his head.

The small bird circled Maahes a couple of times before perching itself on the silver buckle on his pouch and disappearing into it, leaving behind an eight-pointed star that shone before disappearing.

A bellowing chuckle rumbled through Belial's chest bringing Maahes' attention back to him.

"What a true pity," he lamented before heaving a sigh. "Alas, I cannot go against your free will and what you have chosen. Though this also means you cannot conquer this dungeon anymore."

"That wasn't the plan—" Remembering his missing companion, Maahes grew anxious before addressing Belial again. "Miss Noé! Where is she?"

Another long exhale came from the djinn and he resigned himself to what he had to do. Stepping aside, he waved one of his sharp-nailed hands and shattered one of the walls in his treasure room. From there, nothing but deep darkness came through. Just as Maahes was about to sweep through to find Noé, footsteps echoed within the dark void until her familiar figure emerged from it with a meek smile and pride shining in her eyes.

"Miss Noé!" Rushing immediately to her, Maahes couldn't help but inspect every inch he could to assure himself that she was fine. "Are you hurt anywhere? I'm sorry I took so long, I didn't think—"

Noé didn't let him finish. Without warning, her arms wrapped around him, bringing him close and embracing him tightly. Taken aback, Maahes' hands slowly reached to her back to grasp her drape in his hands gently. His scattered words barely managed to ask her if she was okay. All Noé could give as an answer was a chuckle.

"I'm great, Maahes. Thank you," she muttered, quite audible from how close she was to his ear. Holding him tighter, Noé buried her face against his shoulder. "I'm so proud of you."

Maahes felt his chest swell with joy at her words, tears stinging a little at the corners of his eyes. Quickly separating from her while wiping the tears away with the heel of his hand, Maahes cleared his throat before turning to Belial.

"He's here, Miss Noé." He gestured out to the djinn that now stood before them. "All yours."

With all that behind them, she turned to face the djinn as well with a determined smile on her face.

"Chief Beli."

"Recorder."

"Lucky you," Noé cajoled, taking a step forward. "Centuries of dungeon diving and meeting all the others, and you're the one I decide to conquer. Hope you like Chief Romali. You're going to be spending a whole lot of time with her."

"I'm afraid I will not."

Noé and Maahes both recoiled, taken aback by his statement. Maahes was the first to question him.

"Why not? Isn't she the only one here that's capable to conquer you?"

"As a matter of fact, she isn't." Belial raised two sharp-nailed fingers to emphasize his point. "First, others have already entered after you have and are currently traversing my dungeon. And though they're not the best candidates, they deserve to be judged for their worthiness just as much as you."

Emerald eyes narrowed at the sight of his two raised fingers. "And secondly."

"I will not accept a dark king vessel."

"But Miss Noé isn't—" Suddenly his brow furrowed as one single thought came to him that could possibly fit the description of what Belial spoke of. "You mean that parasite that's attached to her? That's fine though. Even if her rukh is black now, it's only because of that parasite turning it black. It's not really her."

Those five eyes however didn't pay him any attention. Instead, they were focused on Noé as she stared at the floor and held the arm where the miasma now laid. Resignation washed over her as she lifted her head to face him.

"I didn't begin to fall because it attached itself to me...did I?"

Belial shook his head after a moment.

"The only way the parasites can enter a body and eat away at any creature's magoi is when they have been consumed by fear and fallen. You are no different."

Quiet acceptance came over her, her shoulders slumping knowing she couldn't win this. Noé had feared the question when Yunan had asked it. Mostly because, despite not knowing the answer, she had an inkling about it.

How she hated to be right.

"But then…how are we going to get rid of it?" Maahes voice was quiet as he took a hold of her drape like a lost child. "Are you saying we came here for nothing?"

"Not for nothing, Maahes." Noé smiled meekly at him and ruffled his head. "Even if we didn't find a way to get rid of this, you became my first Household Member. I wouldn't call that nothing by a long shot."

"You seek to be rid of the parasite?" Both turned at Belial's interruption to which Noé simply nodded as an answer. "If that is what you seek, then I might have an answer."

"What?"

Noé eyed him skeptically. "I didn't think you'd be so forthcoming with answers for me."

"Don't misunderstand," he said. "I am not fond of your kind but that doesn't mean I would wish for a brethren's king vessel to fall into depravity if I can help it."

The two looked at one another hopefully before turning back to Belial.

"What ya got for me, Chief Beli?"

"Euphemia came to me once claiming to have seen something extraordinary," he began. The name was foreign to Maahes, but to Noé it meant the world. It meant a friend. "A place hidden away in the deep valleys beneath ravenous mountains."

Deep valleys beneath ravenous mountains?

Curiously enough, Chief remained silent.

"What kind of place?" Maahes asked.

"She said it was a spring surrounded by blue flowers. A place rumored to be able to cure any sort of ailment." Belial gestured towards Noé then, "Your master frequented the site according to her."

Meistras did?

But that was ridiculous. Noé had never heard of any place like the one Belial described. And she knew everything. There was nothing that her meistras ever hid from her. She was her confidant. If such a place existed and what's more was a place Teosa frequented, Noé would've already known about it.

Wouldn't she?

"How did she know?" Noé instantly asked.

"Stumbled upon the place by accident from what she described and began going there from time to time out of curiosity. One of those times she happened to see your master with one of the other recorders accompanying her."

"Which one?"

"That I cannot say. She didn't elaborate."

"Do you know where this valley is? Or more specific directions maybe?"

Dismissing Maahes' question, Belial turned to Noé instead snapping her out of her stupor with a mere glance.

"You should know this place, recorder. It is, after all, your—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Belial let out a mighty bellow that shook the ground beneath them. Noé immediately came to Maahes' side, holding onto his shoulders to keep both of them steady through the sudden shaking.

When it wouldn't stop even after Belial did, however, Noé knew it wasn't a good sign.

"What's going on, Beli?"

"It's those other two." Other two? Belial suddenly clicked his tongue in disdain, fangs baring as he reached behind him and with his sharp nail ruptured through the walls. Instead of destroying them, though, the slash opened a portal much like the one that appeared when the dungeon was conquered. "Both of you must leave."

Maahes' confusion was instant. Noé on the other hand was more worried about how desperate and furious the djinn was at the moment.

"Belial, what's happening?"

"Those other two traversing my dungeon are trying to force their way through." A grand earthquake shook the treasure room once more. Artifacts and books fell from the tall shelves in the room, crashing, some even shattering, the moment they hit the ground. "It's a lord magi and his candidate. But their rukh—it's all black."

"Fallen?"

They had to be. And the only magi she didn't know aside from the other three was Kou's. Before she could ask though, another earthquake hit, this one bringing them to their knees from how strong it was.

"You must leave! Now!"

Though the option to fight the magi and its candidate was open, Noé knew better than to do so in a dungeon where both her magoi and seal were limited. It wasn't impossible, but the margin of error was too big to ignore. And she wasn't willing to put Maahes in that risk.

Flashing them into the portal Belial made from one instant to the other allowed Belial to conjure it and send them on their way. Its speed allowed their exit but not before Noé caught sight of the dark chasm slashed above the djinn as two figures descended from it.

Who? Who are you?

Just when she raised her hand to flash her magic and illuminate their hidden silhouettes, the spell took them out of the dungeon and back into their world.

Noé and Maahes both fell with grunts against the shores of Shika as early morning began to hit the sands lapped by the waves. Instantly, she rose to a seat searching for any signs of danger. But there was none. Belial got them out of there before she could see who the ones attacking him were. Because despite having a good hunch about who the magi was, what Noé was more concerned with was the King Candidate that he had chosen and who had already fallen into depravity.

"Miss Noé…" Dark oceanic eyes met hers when she turned back to Maahes, concerned etched on his face. "What now? Belial was just about to say it. He was going to say where that spring was. How are we going to find it now?"

Noé pondered for a moment thinking back to what Belial had said to them moments ago.

"You should know this place, recorder."

I should know about this place. I should…

Realization hit her slowly because despite not knowing yet where the place Belial spoke of was, she at least had a hint as to what to do to find out. But it was risky.

Very risky.

"What are you planning, Noé?"

Chief's voice sounded menacing for once. Just like it had all those years ago when she was but a child. But even her implicit threats wouldn't deter her from what she needed to do.

"It's alright, Maa. I think I know how to find out." Careful while she did it, Noé helped Maahes to his feet before looking towards the plateau they had just been at. Just the other day when they arrived, the dungeon had been visible from Shika. Now it was gone.

Whoever had gone in to conquer Belial succeeded. A terrifying prospect to say the least. But certainly a little low in her list of priorities at the moment.

"You plan on hunting them down?"

Yes. But not yet.

If they were powerful enough to scare Belial into forcing them out of the dungeon then they were certainly a menace. But right now, her priority was finding this spring deep in the valley beneath ravenous mountains. And the only one who could help her find that place right now was a little princas currently in Sindria.

Noé tapped Maahes' shoulder to get his attention and smiled his way apologetically.

"Sorry to spring this upon you so suddenly, but I'm sending you back." She watched Maahes' mouth open ready to protest but before he could, Noé flashed him out of Shika and back to Balbadd's shores where he would surely meet with the Reimian ship.

"Sorry, Maa. But I've gotta go talk with him alone."

This time when she tried to flash with Sindria's palace clear in her mind, the light around her flickered only to fail her again and leave her exhausted and with pain that rushed through her shoulder and back. Through bated breaths, Chief's name spilled from her lips more than frustrated.

"You're exceeding the limits, Noé," she warned. "You could trigger it to spread further if you go beyond this."

"Just to Sindria, Chief." It was rare for her to plead, but right now time was truly of the essence. And despite her ire, this wasn't the time to argue with her. "Let me get to the little princas now. I promise I'll find another way to return to Reim."

At first, there was no answer. Tough choice, she knew but one that needed an answer now. Thankfully, before Noé had to force her to, she felt the restraints Chief had on her lift with a featherlight touch. Sensing it and sighing in relief, Noé smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Romali."

"Thank me after if you manage to remain conscious when you get there."

Hoping herself she wouldn't just collapse in the middle of it, Noé concentrated the best she could on the Sindrian palace she recalled from her visits long ago. She managed to take one deep, shaky inhale before flashing out of the shores and leaving Shika behind.

---

|i.|

"Me-Mem-Memoi—"

"Memoirs." Teosa leaned forward over Noé's shoulder to point at the word with her slender finger. "Me-mo-oirs."

Emeralds eyes squinted and brought the book closer, rotating it this way and that as if that would make it easier to comprehend this foreign language Teosa was attempting to teach her. Noé hadn't ever bothered to learn such insignificant things, but ever since she discovered Teosa's love for literature, the young girl grew the itch to learn. A minimal way to become closer to the strange woman that she'd become mildly comfortable with.

But after a couple of hours of studying and only learning a handful of words, Noé was starting to think this was all but futile. Discouraged, she dropped the book in her lap and groaned.

"This is hopeless."

"Not quite," Teosa reassured her. "You're beginning to understand more. You're learning."

"Not fast enough," Noé mumbled while mindlessly turning a delicate, hair's breadth thin page over with no care. "Isn't there an easier way?"

"Shortcuts aren't the answer, Noé."

She rolled her eyes at that; of course a magician would say that. All they went about was learning a new formula and how this fit with that. All of it rubbish. Learning how to slit the throats of multiple people within a fraction of a second without dropping a feather—now that was magical.

"I'm a terrible student, Teosa." Noé glanced over her shoulder to meet her patient silver gaze. "You can't stand there and tell me I'm not. I barely know how to spell my own name."

Her peachy lips parted to retort but pursed into a thin smile that gave Noé all the answers she needed. "You learn at your own pace, Noé. Forcing yourself won't get you anywhere. Neither will getting frustrated."

"I'm a burning pile of frustrations, Teosa," Noé contradicted her. "I cannot not be. And that I can't remember shit a second after I read it ain't helping either."

"Have you always had a hard time recalling things?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Noé stared idly at a random sentence in particular and could only groan when everything looked like a bunch of gibberish to her after a second.

Out of nowhere, Teosa leaned forward catching her off guard as she placed her forehead against hers. Noé stammered in confusion and shock but couldn't do much else while Teosa remained there and whispered words under her breath. As she did so, a sudden rush of electricity rushed from the top of her head to her feet and rushed back to where their foreheads met.

Emerald eyes wide in awe remained focused on nothing in particular as Teosa retreated with a smile on her lips. With a gesture of her hand, she snapped Noé out of her stupor as she motioned to the book again.

"Try now."

Unsure but not knowing how else to react, she looked back down at the pages and focused. Though they were still a bit confusing the ones she knew were easier to recognize now and the more she focused, the more she noticed how things seemed to settle better in her brain. Slender fingers came down to turn the page back to where they left off before pointing to the sentence Noé had failed at before. Squinting hard at it, Noé gasped at noticing how easily the ones she knew came to mind and how she could deduce from context what the others were now because of it.

Her head shook, taken aback before turning to Teosa with disbelief. "What the hell did you do?"

"A tiny little spell." Reaching up, she tapped her own forehead. "It'll make it easier to remember what you read, and once you've read it enough times it'll be in the recesses of your mind for you to recall whenever you want."

"That's...amazing." For a moment she stared down at the pages before scowling back at Teosa. "Didn't you just say no shortcuts?!"

The bubbly chuckle that escaped her calmed her sudden exasperation a bit, her cheeks dusting over. "Think of it more as a tool to help you rather than a shortcut."

"Damn magic..." At least it was helpful. As she turned to the next pages being able to read it much more easily, Noé's frown remained. "You should've just given me this from the beginning, sheesh. I bet with this thing I could read a whole shelf's worth of anything and just burn all the damn books if I can recall them all word by word after just a few read-throughs."

Teosa hummed in agreement, her mind wandering at Noé's passing thought.

"Yes. I suppose you could."

---

|ii.|

Years of using Grace of Sunlight to flash around endlessly had been a gift Noé regrettably took for granted. Now with so little control over it that much was clear. But she hadn't thought it turned bad enough to where she would be miscalculating locations.

When Noé flashed out of Shika and to Sindria to meet Aladdin, she meant to reappear in a random alley in the city before skulking her way into the palace to find the little princas. Alas, like a horrible damn sneeze, the miasma threw her flashing amiss, and instead of reappearing outside, Noé scrambled to find even a bit of footing in this library she'd suddenly reappeared in.

Eyes wide with panic, her fingers clawed outwards just in time to catch a marble parapet and stop her fall, leaving her to dangle from there instead for a hot minute.

"N-Noé, are you—?"

"Dandy." Her grip slipping, Noé grabbed onto the perch with her other hand before hoisting herself up with a grunt.

At climbing over the perch, however, a pair of bright blue and dark olive green eyes ogled her from within the small alcove. Noé recognized the woman; she'd been at Magnostadt during the last stretch of their fight and had been the one that went with Aladdin to end the Medium. The other, a man, she could at least recognize as a Heliphaptian who, oddly enough, had an air of familiarity around him.

Why does the brat look familiar?

"He certainly does look like—"

Before Chief could finish, the crimson feathers on her wing bristled and steeled at sensing a distinctive rush of electricity behind her. Noé didn't wait to glance back. Instead, she used her perch to push off and drop the several feet down just as lightning struck straight down. Her breath hitched at the prowess of it; had she pushed herself off a second later, it would've gotten her point-blank.

And Noé was not about the fried bird life.

Thinking two steps ahead every time, Noé went about solidifying light into footholds downward as thunder cracked and roared not far behind. Chief blaring her ear off warned her of every attack that came until she reached the steady floor beneath. Fingers at the ready, she spun on her heels as her hands snapped into the all familiar position to hold aloft her light bow with its arrow already knocked and ready to fly.

The handsomely tanned and chiseled face of the Sailor Boy King met her as her target. Pools of molten gold glinted with mild annoyance, the half-smirk on his face telling much of the same as he stood fully djinn-equipped before her with Baal's Metal Vessel pressing close to her neck.

"We are getting so many visitors today." Though it was obvious he was trying to appear nonchalant, Noé recognized the exasperation that his tone belied. Hearing it one too many times from Chief made aggravation hard to miss.

Shooting him a genuinely mischievous smirk of her own, Noé held taut the invisible string of her bow, fingers held steady at the edge of her lips. "Boy do you sound pissed off. And here I thought Sindria was such a welcoming country."

"We are to those who come through normal means. Perhaps it's not so difficult to understand why someone popping in without a warning would be so misleading." The way his exasperation retreated from his face didn't bode well for Noé. "Surely Reim wouldn't entertain the idea of visiting Sindria without priorly notifying us."

This fucking brat.

Truly a wonder how she hadn't shot his head through yet. The modicum of common sense she had left and Chief's incessant nagging helped keep her in check thankfully. That they were, however, didn't take away the fact that the little cheeky bastard was laying veiled threats on her.

Two can play that game.

And unlike him, Noé hated subtly.

"Get off your damn high horse already." Smacking his blade away and undoing her bow and arrow, Noé scowled back at the little king. "Baal's only borrowed power. It's not even truly yours. This on the other hand—" Light flickered all around them, essentially sending the room into total darkness for a fraction of a second despite it being the middle of the day the moment Noé conjured Grace of Sunlight. "This one's all mine. So I'd back off if I were you, sailor boy."

The impassive look that came over him was priceless as he begrudgingly lowered his Metal Vessel at last.

Scoffing under her breath, the image of the seal on the right side of her face disappeared. Though using it to show off like that had certainly drained her even more after that last flash, Noé put her all into feigning being in tiptop shape. There was no doubt in her mind that she could take on this guy, seven djinn or not. But such a feat wasn't all that possible in her current state, something Chief readily reminded her.

Killjoy.

She wasn't wrong but still.

"Noé?"

What the—

Spinning on her heels and forgetting completely about Sinbad, Noé blinked perplexed at finding Yunan peeking out from a house's ajar door.

What the hell is a damn house doing in the middle of a library?

"Maybe not quite the question you should be asking yourself right now."

All that flew out of her mind the moment a familiar blue head poked itself out through the same door just below Yunan's seconds before spotting her and incurring a brilliant smile from the boy.

"Noé onee-san!"

Aladdin sprinted through the door, jumping the few steps down and out of the borg surrounding the strange house before pouncing at her with arms wide open. It was amazing that Noé still had the energy to even catch the little princas, much less twirl him around and embrace him back. Then again, it was always uplifting to see the little magi.

The ray of sunshine that he was made it hard to discern when he was being serious or playful though, which made his next question sound quite innocent despite the connotations it held.

"Did you make the sun blink again, onee-san?"

"In my defense, I was getting shot at with lightning by sailor boy over there."

The mention of said king had both Aladdin and Yunan giving Sinbad disapproving looks. Having more than enough of their guilt-tripping, Sindria's king reacted rather childishly, throwing a bit of a tantrum.

"Don't give me that! What was I supposed to do when she just appeared out of nowhere!"

"Not attack her, Sinbad," Yunan wept. Oh geez, Noé knew that look. It made her want to both comfort and slap Yunan at the same time. "She would never do anything to harm anybody unprovoked."

Chief chortled almost instantly. "What lies."

Hush you.

Noé wouldn't complain about Yunan's superfluousness now when he was defending her off all time. Even better, Aladdin joined in on teaming against the Sailor Boy King with the innocence that punched harder than Yunan's faked one.

"You shouldn't be so mean to everybody, Uncle," he called after stepping down from Noé's embrace, his brow knitted down together. "And it's even meaner against onee-san because she isn't feeling that well."

Playing along, Noé feigned being faint, crying about how Sinbad had just started attacking her out of the blue and how she could barely stand from the fright he gave her.

"So dramatic."

I wear the shoes proud and loud.

Besides, it was hilarious watching the brat king trip over his own words as he struggled to find some kind of footing on a ground where everybody was against him.

"I-I didn't know—but-but, that's not the point! She's the one trespassing!"

Dismissing him, Yunan gestured to the house that stood in the middle of the room with a smile. "Come join us, Noé. I'm sure you're hungry after your journey here."

"Yeah, come inside!" Aladdin enthusiastically latched onto her arm, gently urging her towards the cabin. "Yunan has amazing food that tastes like clouds!"

Noé followed them and ignored Sinbad's cries as they crossed the borg that surrounded the house. The sudden crackling of energy got her to look over her shoulder at said king as he attempted to get through the borg, failing magnificently.

Being the last to enter, Noé peeked through the open door to wave and shoot Sinbad a devilish grin and a quick, "See ya."

A snicker escaped her as she closed the door shut behind her.

Not so special now, huh?

Chief chuckled under her breath and added insult to injury. "Karma works in mysterious ways."

"Come, Noé." Yunan's invitation took her mind out of mischief and brought it to the table that now stood full with dishes filled to the brim with the most delicious food she'd ever seen. "Have it while it's still hot."

A grin split her face as she took the nearest chair. "Don't mind if I do."

After the day she had, food and drink were a most welcomed distraction. Apparently, the two had already been talking for a while seeing as they didn't want any of the dishes Yunan had prepared. Instead, they returned to an already started game of chess. It was Aladdin's turn apparently, though he seemed to be taking his sweet time as he munched down on a cookie. Not willing to fall behind, Noé went about replenishing her own body, eating away like only she knew how to.

God, this is delicious. Aladdin was right. Everything was so fluffy and tasted great; eating a cloud was definitely a way to put it. But as she quickly ended with only a cup of water half-full in hand, Noé wondered what had brought them together now and what Yunan deemed so important to come visit Aladdin for.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

That would have to wait, she supposed.

Yunan seemed to want to get straight to the point. Unusual but she couldn't say she disagreed. Aladdin peeked from under his cookie after making his move. It was obvious he was interested in what they were referring to but also didn't want to interpose by asking. All that was left was to listen. And since Yunan didn't mind, Noé didn't. Not much she minded talking about in front of the little princas anyway.

"I found a lead."

"And the djinn?"

At the reminder, Noé grimaced and leaned her elbow against the table so she could lay her chin on the palm of her hand. "Didn't quite get the chance to conquer it."

"You tried conquering a dungeon, onee-san?"

"Recently...I think." A mere glance over to Yunan let her know that yes, she hadn't been there for long. A couple of days, he told her. Good. At least she didn't have to worry about missing out on the Summit anymore. "But it didn't work out. It got conquered shortly after the djinn rejected me."

Baby blue eyes narrowed in confusion before turning away from the game to Noé. "He rejected you?"

"Said he didn't want a dark king vessel."

Though it wasn't quite what he wanted to hear, it was the least of two evils in her case. Noé knew that if she told Yunan that she had indeed started to fall into depravity out of her own volition—even if unconsciously—it wouldn't turn out well. Besides, it wasn't a straight-up lie. She was just...omitting some facts.

"Lie of omittance is still a lie."

Whose side are you on?

"That's regrettable." His gaze veered back to the game and Noé found herself breathing a small sigh of relief at having avoided that crisis. "Though at least you found a hint as to what to do next."

"And a Household Member, but that's beside the point."

Contrasting Yunan's pleased smile at the news, Aladdin jumped onto his seat while holding the edge of the table to lean towards her with a broad smile. "You have a Household Member! Who is it? What're they like?"

"I'll introduce him to you whenever you visit Reim, little princas." Returning to the other matter at hand, Noé's joyful expression became much more solemn towards Aladdin whose enthusiasm gradually fell to a matching seriousness. "That hint I found is actually why I came to find you, Aladdin."

"It is?" Noé nodded and was about to explain to him what was going on with her and that miasma when Aladdin beat her to it. "This is about that miasma thing that Yunan said you have and you half-falling into depravity, right?"

Raising a questioning brow at Yunan, the magi shrugged nonchalantly as he toyed with one of the pieces between his fingers. "Aladdin asked me about you because he was worried. I didn't think him knowing would bother you."

"It doesn't," he assured him with a bit of an acerbic tone added with the words that followed. "But I would've liked to have been the one who told him."

"D-Don't be mad at Yunan, onee-san. I forced him into telling me." Those deep blue eyes went askance as his expression fell, those lips of him pouting. "After what happened at Magnostadt and what I saw happen to you, I was concerned and didn't know when I would see you again to ask. So I'm glad Yunan told me."

Oh, I can't be mad at that face.

"You can't be mad at him, period."

True enough. Noé exhaled through her nose to calm herself before the ghost of a quaint smile formed on her face. "I suppose it saves me the time it would've taken to tell you everything. That being the case, I'll go straight to the point." Those deep blue eyes rose to meet hers expectantly. "I need your help scouring through my memory."

Both Yunan and Aladdin's brows furrowed, baffled by what she said.

"What?"

"What do you mean?"

She thumbed the rim of her cup carefully as she thought about how to describe it correctly. In the end, the simplest way seemed the easiest.

"Everything I've ever seen, read or heard is engraved in my brain. It's something I was endowed with—a magic spell that was meant to help me learn but that I later figured I could use in my duties."

"As a recorder, you mean?" Yunan asked.

"Yeah. It was supposed to help me remember by making me capable of recalling whatever I read after a few times." Leaning back, Noé laid her head back to stare up at the wooden ceiling. "But over the years, I think I've occluded some memories. Unconsciously, anyway."

Aladdin shook his head trying to understand what she was laying down on the table. "You mean you never noticed?"

"Not until recently when I tried to recall them," she explained. "I could do it with ease before, almost like watching a replay of whatever it was that I wanted to remember, but now it's like someone cut the line that connected each memory. I see bits and pieces but not quite the full picture and because it's not complete, I can't recall it. And there's something in there that I need to see—that I need to remember to find what I'm looking for."

Aladdin hummed pensively as he sat back down on his chair, lips pursed together and eyebrows knitting in full concentration. Suddenly it clicked, his expression changing at the drop of a hat.

"You want me to use Solomon's Wisdom on you."

Smart one.

"I never knew what that was until I saw you use it at Magnostadt. It wasn't until later that I figured out what it was—what it could be used for." Sitting straight again, Noé downed the water left in her cup before facing Aladdin. "If you are able to enter the rukh's memory then you should be able to reach those recesses in my mind where the memories are and link them back together." She shrugged when they could only stare after the conclusion she'd given. "In theory, anyway."

Aladdin's head tilted to one side as he pursed his lips again. "I mean, I understand the logic behind what you're saying. It technically should be doable but…"

"I don't like where this is going."

That makes two.

"But?" she repeated.

"What you're asking of me would require much more control than I'm capable of right now. Even if you don't remember it consciously, there are literally worlds of information inside your head. Getting lost in there would be just as easy as it is getting lost in the Great Flow that I follow to reach people's rukh."

"So you mean...you can't?"

"Not as I am now, no." His expression fell, dejection spreading across it all together. "I'm sorry, Noé onee-san."

Almost instantly, Noé reached over the table and ruffled the blue head of his with a vigor that had him squealing from delight almost instantly. She poked his nose to get his attention back as she smirked at him.

"Chin up, little princas. You're just one of many ways. I'll figure something out."

"Maybe you won't have to."

The way Yunan said that and from how Noé and Aladdin couldn't look away from his absorbed expression told her that whatever idea was swimming in that pretty little blonde head of his had to be good.

Come on, Yu-chan. Surprise me.

Baby blue eyes turned to Aladdin solely as he gestured towards the chessboard. "Titus and I will be aiding you at the Summit in order for you to tell the tale you wish to show us, correct?"

"Yeah," Aladdin affirmed.

"Then three magi should suffice to search the archives in her mind regardless of their magnitude, wouldn't you say?"

Before Noé could catch up with what they were saying, Aladdin jumped once more in her seat with bright blue eyes as he seemed to realize what Yunan had. "Yes! If all three of us work together while I summon Solomon's Wisdom, then I could piece together the links onee-san says are broken!" But the joy washed off from his face the moment another thought came. How fast that left was something Noé wasn't liking in the least. "But...if I do that…"

Realization hit the little magi about something that Yunan could see but that Noé definitely couldn't.

"What? If you do that what will happen?"

"If he uses our help to summon Solomon's Wisdom to scour through the Great Flow and your rukh at the same time, the two will intermingle seamlessly together without a way to tell each other apart."

"And? Who cares if it mingles together with the rest of what he digs up from Solomon's Wisdom." Noé stated, unable to grasp why this was such a big deal. "So long as he can tell me what he sees, then that doesn't seem like that big of a problem."

"I don't think you get it, onee-san. If the two merge together and I can't separate one from the other, then...it won't be just you who sees your memories and past."

—{ii}—

The morning air was always freshest before dawn.

Noé, being the early bird she was, took advantage of it and arrived at the appointed island before the sun even had a chance to rise over the horizon. Though it was already decked from within, courtesy of Sindria's previous arrangements, there were little to no guards taking care of the place. Understandable since this was supposed to be neutral ground between the two countries taking part. All this made it all that much easier for her to find her way inside and settle on the long table set in the middle of the room.

Laying back on it with her arms behind her back, Noé watched through the open ceiling as the dark skies began to change hues from dark purples and blues to soft oranges and reds as the morning began approaching.

But her attempts at finding some peace before it all started were shattered the moment Chief opened her mouth yet again. "You're handling this better than I thought."

"Shouldn't that be my line?" she countered with a smug half-grin. "Knowing you, I half expected you to be throwing a tantrum right about now."

"There's no stopping Aladdin from what he intends to do." Despite sounding so understanding, there was no mistaking how the idea of what they intended to do today rubbed her the wrong way. "I may not agree with it but if that is what he believes is best, then I will not protest."

"Mighty of you to take the high ground for once."

"I'm surprised you have."

Noé was too if she was honest. Having to contemplate what this Summit meant for all the people currently living in this world was already complicated in and of itself. Now adding to that her own memories to the batch—some far more gruesome than others—had her mind racing and guts twisting into coils with so much dreadful anticipation.

This was by far the worst outcome. One so far-fetched that she never thought about any contingencies against it. Noé had never thought she'd ever conceded to letting everything about her past be laid out in the open for everybody to see. Especially not the 'her' from a year ago. It put into perspective so much of what happened in the past year and just how astounding and devastating it had been to have changed her so much.

The iron-clad will a millennia's worth of deaths and happenstances had tempered had been brought down by the mere occurrences of 365 days.

Yunan was right to say that time affected them differently. What she wished she could do now was feign ignorance and ignore the cause of such radical changes in her. Regrettably, she couldn't. Too many things had changed around her which changed her in turn, and they had done far too much to her to ignore any longer.

The only real question Noé had now was whether it was a change for better or worse.

Not wanting to think too much about anything that didn't affect the here and now, Noé reached down and unclasped the water pouch that had been hanging around her waist and uncorked it to down a few swigs of what was inside. Which, funnily enough, was the opposite of water.

"Out of the many idiotic things you have done throughout our time together, this is by far the stupidest one," Chief bemoaned.

"Beg to differ," she cajoled while licking the sweetness of wine from her lips. "I want to be as dazed as possible without losing the capacity to think. A fine line that one pouch will help me toe just fine."

"What in Solomon's name made you think that intoxicating yourself would be a wise idea now of all days?"

The idea that maybe numbing the pain would be easy and pleasant with sweet liquor for one. And though the single pouch wouldn't black her out entirely, it would certainly dull her senses enough to get her through this endeavor.

And unlike her, the rest of the crowd that eventually came to meet in that same room was far too eager for her liking. Noé didn't bother to rise from her place on the table when the first representative arrived and instead cloaked herself in light to disappear from their sight.

I got here first, so I ain't moving.

Besides, her vantage point from there made it easy to contemplate them all as they arrived.

The sailor boy came first. Not unsurprising seeing as his generals were the ones that would take care of the Metal Vessels. What a bunch of idiots they were leaving themselves bare like that. It certainly had Noé snickering. That was another, and the much more important, luxury of arriving earlier than anybody. Not that it would've been any harder to bypass their silly rules by just hiding like this. Alas, it didn't appear like she went all that undetected. Not only did the sailor boy seem to notice something amiss, one of his companions, a Fanalis of all things, had most likely already sniffed her out by the look on his face.

Neither bothered to seek out the source of their unease. Wise choice; Noé really wasn't up to toying with them today.

Once that tension lost its edge, the other of his companions took most of her attention. Heliohaptian. They were pretty easy to spot for her much like Fanalis were. Though she had to admit that this one looked a little too familiar.

Why do I get the sense that I've seen him somewhere before?

"A Heliohaptian and one of King Sinbad's generals—he must be Sharrkan Amun-Ra."

Ah, that's why. Maahes hadn't been kidding about the resemblance in his familial tree.

The sole reason she'd returned to Reim after her little impromptu visit to Sindria hadn't just been to come to terms with the decision she had made but also to meet with Maahes. Now that he was her one and only Household Member, there was a far larger need for her at Reim. The little guy needed to learn not just how to control his Household Vessel but also how to fight properly. Something she was more than happy to do to keep her mind from today.

As for Maahes, something in him had changed after their attempted conquer of Belial. The boy had become somewhat more determined. Eager even. He wanted to become stronger and be worthy of the vessel bestowed upon him by Andromalius according to him. Noé already thought of him as worthy but didn't deny him the opportunity to grow. And after they managed to invoke his Household Vessel, Maahes sought her out to have a long, long chat.

One that he very much needed to get off his chest.

For the first time since they tried conquering it, Maahes talked about what he'd seen in Belial's dungeon. He talked about his past in Heliohapt before meeting her, about the family he had never met, and about what he truly meant to do the day he entered Zepar's dungeon all those years ago.

The day she saved him from killing himself.

So that's Maa's brother, huh.

"Half-brother," Chief corrected. "But yes."

Noé scoffed and settled her head back against her arms to face skyward before closing her eyes.

Maahes is so much better looking.

Sweet silence returned for a brief moment before the other invitee arrived. Unlike Sinbad, Kouen's entourage was quite the number to boast about. Two Metal Vessel users, their five Household Members, and Alibaba's happy-go-lucky crew that wasn't so happy-go-lucky when one of the princes denied them the option to return to Sindria's side.

Interested by the unexpected switch, Noé rose from the table to better sit at the edge as she listened in.

So Kou had bribed Ali into switching sides. Regrettable, but predictable. After she heard about Muu's little 'diplomatic envoy' to Kou, it wasn't hard to decipher what they were actually orchestrating. Even for someone as politically dense as her. But sensing the kind of people she was dealing with on both sides, the Kou Princes hadn't been the only ones thinking several steps ahead of the game.

That was blatantly apparent when a horde of the Yambala Tribe warriors made themselves known behind King Sinbad. And like clockwork, the Fanalis Corps responded by standing behind the Kou Princes as a counter. Among them, Maahes' familiar face stuck out like a sore thumb despite how much he tried hiding in the crowd. A part of her felt bad for having him tag along with Muu after she wrung out of him the reason he went to meet with Kouen. Then again, she hadn't wanted to come into this battle of wits unarmed. And where wits stood, nobody beat him.

The fact that neither faction was stunned in the slightest by the other's move and that they all were just playing dumb about it had Noé's eyes rolling so far back into her head that she swore she'd go blind from it.

And she had enough of their grandstanding for one.

"God, would you all quit it? Your squabbling is fucking obnoxious." All eyes turned to the center of the table from where she shouted at the top of her lungs. Once she had their attention, she rose to her feet as the light around her returned to normal and revealed her. "I swear, it's like watching snotty brats bicker amongst each other. Grow the hell up already."

"Noé's right, Sinbad."

Before any of them could retort, Yunan descended upon them, enticing even more ire and shock from those present than she already had. The flashy entrance from Titus and Aladdin didn't do much to dissuade that either. All three of them standing there made them appear almost like the great magicians of creation that they were meant to be.

Almost.

"Gathered kings, there is something I want to tell you all. Something that no one knows about another world—about 'Alma Toran'. Alma Toran is...the place where the 'djinn', where 'Al-Thamen'..." His voice trailed off for a moment before his kind gaze fell upon her. Noé groaned into her pouch and took the biggest swig of wine yet in response. "And where Noé onee-san and I were born."

The cries of disbelief and astonishment pained her brain. Questions upon questions were lodged their way, some even specifically towards her. Being less sober than a minute ago, however, made it far easier to ignore them as Aladdin ended his quaint introduction.

Readying for the one and only part she would play in this, Noé downed the wine in her pouch just as Aladdin ended his explanation of what King Solomon's wish had been and approached the chalice that stood before the young magi.

Her fingers deftly plucked one of the many feathers behind her ear before steeling it into a sharp blade. Somewhat numb to the pain, Noé held the blade in her hand over the chalice and gripped it tightly. It's sharpness instantly cut through her skin, her blood pooling at the edges of the blade before dripping down the tip into the chalice.

"As a recorder, you will henceforth bear witness to history. It shall live within your rukh. Your archives will be the memories of the world that dwell not only in your mind but in every cell of your body and within your very blood."

Recorders needed no ink or parchment. No stone or chisel. Only blood. For blood was where every archive resided. The very same ones that since times untold she had kept secret and that would now be shown for all those present to see.

Yunan stepped forward as Aladdin retreated to stand by the chalice. A reassuring smile was all he offered her, and though it wasn't much, it reminded Noé why she was willing to break her oath to do this.

Forgive me, meistras. But I can't die now if it's our wish to cleanse this world.

"That's why today, I will disobey the 'god' of this world!"

Light from the chalice exploded skyward to show them the stories held in the blood within.

It began like any other, she supposed, slowly and all once.

The world came to be as Aladdin told it, a story that Noé knew like the back of her hand. All kinds of intelligent species existed in this world peacefully until they crossed paths with one another. Battles ensued, and the ones most devastated by this fated meeting had been humanity, weak and feeble as they were.

It was in the midst of their suffering that Illah descended upon them.

It was expected that many of those present recognized that entity. Even Noé who had only heard tellings of it hadn't been aware that the god who bestowed magic upon humanity was identical in every aspect except color to the one they fought against.

"I thought you were a recorder with that woman."

I recorded our history, Romali. The one before our time was one none of us knew of except from tales told to us by Teosa.

Which was why this all sounded familiar yet so new to her as well.

Aladdin briefly told of the goals of the newly made magicians, of their resolve to build their utopia, and how after amassing knowledge, ending wars, and preventing the species from fighting one another, they achieved the peace they had sought after.

What a pretty little tale.

If only it had stayed so pretty through and through.

The scenery that Aladdin's Clairvoyance Magic showed suddenly changed. Instead of the chaotic world it had been, the scene changed into that of a blossoming kingdom. Gorgeous marble buildings towered over one another in vast arrays across the city. A myriad of beings, all from different species, united to hail the one that had joined them all under the same ideal.

King Solomon himself stood above them all with those who made the unification possible joining in on the celebrations behind him. Among them were the familiar faces of the djinn, King Solomon's loyal household members. Others of beings who those present would come to know as the first magi who forged Alma Toran into what it became. And standing proudly behind the scenes, a rowdy cluster of individuals who, more than their king, stood behind one other single person.

And to all those present, there was only one familiar face that stood out among the crowd.

Though easily mistaken for a young girl at the cusp of puberty, there was no mistaking the resemblance. Auburn locks fell gracefully down her winged back and over her ears where crimson feathers tipped gold bristled from excitement, both wings and white skirt flaunting about as she twirled joyfully with those around her in celebration. Emerald eyes shone with life and joy—a bleak contrast to the ghost of a light they left behind now. The young girl rejoiced with the eight others around her and tenderly smiled up at the older woman that stood alongside them.

All of them from different species. All of them united like the family they were.

"Is that…?" Alibaba's voice traveled quietly.

"But that girl's barely our age," Morgiana said rather incredulously.

Aladdin smiled at both to reassure them. "You're not wrong."

With his staff he pointed at the cheerful girl as she grinned from ear to ear and who now clung to the older woman's arm with one hand and held onto a smaller child's hand, bouncing them around, with the other.

"That girl is Noé onee-san."

---

A/N:

Here's the promised chapter! Told ya guys I had it all written. This one's a bit on the longer side. I thought about cutting it after Belial's dungeon but I want to start the next chapter up with the whole Alma Toran arc, so I refrained. So next time we'll hit the road running bois.

For this one, I played around a bit with the canon. It was a little unclear to me when Hakuryuu and Judar conquered Belial; I know they showed the arc after Alma Toran but by the looks of it, those events happened simultaneously. If that's not the case and I just missed a huge damn part where it outlines the timeline, oh well. It was just a tiny tweak; not much that changes the canon.

For now let me say thank you to all the lovely people who favorited and followed this work up to now: Nina3KPop, Fir3gamer, LadyShinkukaze, Starkiller2468, dianille, Pokechan123 and Greywolf78! You guys are awesome!

Also a huge thank you to Aviantei for the amazing review! It's always great to hear from you, friend! 'Cause I know this is one of your faves, this one goes out to you!

So to end this, I'll say a huge thank you, next chapter will be the big twenty and whether the Alma Toran arc ends up being one or 2 chapters, it'll be a doozy, I promise ya. There's a lot of ground to cover that I hope I've built up to adequately enough so look forward to that!

For now, I hope ya'll enjoyed this long ass chapter and that you stay tuned for the next update!

*Evie signing out*