Chapter thirty one

Neah, along with most of the other magi besides Judar and Yunan, ran up several flights of stairs, all but Scheherazade taking them two at a time. They were very far underground, and there were still several more floors before they would reach the exit of MWS' main building.

"Hey, Ne, can we take a break?" Adna panted, stopping at a landing.

Neah and the others stopped beside her, "Don't call me that."

"Yuki did!" Adna pouted.

"I don't let him call me that either," Neah glared at the blue haired magi.

"Ne, we should take a break for a bit," Yuki said, a smug look on his face.

Neah rolled her eyes. Adna frowned, "You let him get away with it but not me?!"

Neah sighed and sat down on a nearby stair, "Is it really hard to just say my full name? It's seriously just another two letters. What if I just called you Ad?" Yuki opened his mouth to speak and Neah cut him off, "I know we shorten your name, but shut up."

"Neah," Scheherazade spoke, stepping forward a bit, "I don't believe you've properly introduced Aladdin and I to your fellow magi." She had a small smile on her face.

"Oh, yeah," Neah stood. "Aladdin, this is Adna. She's your relative, a great grandchild if you add a few greats."

Adna and Aladdin looked at each other. Adna was taller, and older, than the young boy. "It's funny, I'm older than you, yet you're my elder, Aladdin!" Adna smiled.

Aladdin still looked at her, a bit surprised, "We're related?"

"Yep!" Adna nodded. "I never thought I'd get to meet you! You're a super famous magi, and related to Solomon!" The female magi gasped, "That means I am too, right?!"

Neah chuckled and turned to Scheherazade, "Scheherazade, you and Yuki are related, like I mentioned when we talked in Reim."

Yuki smiled politely at Scheherazade, who brightened at the site of him. "I thought he was who you spoke of, but I wasn't sure. It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuki," She nodded her head to him.

"You too, Lady Scheherazade. It's crazy that we're actually able to meet the magi and everyone from the Old Days," He looked to Aladdin then back to Scheherazade.

"Did Yunan not have any kids?" Aladdin asked, "Shouldn't there be a fourth magi?"

"It doesn't seem like it," Neah shrugged. "He's probably alive out there somewhere, on his zillionth life or something."

"I doubt that," Yuki frowned.

Neah shrugged again, "Ah, I don't know. We should get going, though. The Elites aren't going to sit around forever."

As they continued their trek up the stairs, Yuki said, "If the Elites were using their magic, Adna and I would be able to tell. It's not exactly pleasant."

"Don't we have to be careful too, Yuki?" Adna asked, running beside him. "Cause the Elite's leader-lady uses Ugo for power because Neah wasn't caught until now."

"Ugo-kun?" Aladdin echoed. "They caught him too...?"

"Yeah, I have no idea how they got him out of the Sacred Palace, but they did," Neah confirmed.

"Ugo's in rough shape already from the last time she used him," Yuki spoke.

"That's cause she did some freaky superpower that destroyed an entire building," Neah explained over her shoulder.

"We can't let her do that again, then," Yuki decided.

"What are these Elites like? How do you plan on defeating them, Neah?" Scheherazade asked from the back of the group.

"No idea," The black haired magi admitted. "Last time there was nothing we could do. We have no way to counter their attacks. We'll have to just rush them and kill them as quick as we can." The others seemed unsure about that.

"Also," Scheherazade continued, "do you three not use staffs for magic?"

"I had one," Neah spoke, "I lost it when we fought the Elites."

"Adna and I have learned to use magic without wands or staffs," Yuki explained. "Neah can use magic without a staff as well, though."

"Yeah, we'll be fine."

"I see," Scheherazade nodded.

~

"Judar! Kouha!"

"En-nii! Mei-nii!" Kouha exclaimed as his older brothers approached. He quickly pushed aside the MWS soldier he was fighting and met his siblings half way, "That was quick!"

"Yes, where is Judar?" Kouen asked.

"He's over there with King Sinbad and that other magi," Kouha pointed behind him. "Me and Muu came here to meet you guys."

"Koumei, go tell Judar and Yunan where to meet Neah and the other magi," Kouen ordered.

"Of course," Koumei nodded, and headed off in the direction Kouha pointed.

"Where's everyone else?" Kouha asked.

"Everyone split up to make sure all the MWS soldiers are defeated," Kouen explained. "Neah and the other magi are heading after the Elites."

"Yeah, she was talking about that earlier," Kouha nodded. "They should be fine."

Kouen nodded in agreement, "Come on, let's go."

~

Neah and the other magi joined Yunan and Judar before quickly trying to find the Elites, taking out any MWS soldiers they ran into. "Hey, Neah, do you have any idea where you're going?" Judar asked as their pace slowed.

"Nope," Neah replied, "but they've got to be around here somewhere."

"We've been running around forever!" Adna complained, her walk becoming sluggish. "We're never gonna find them!"

"We'll-"

"Looking for us?" Yuki was interrupted as a smiling Alok appeared behind the group. Before any of the magi had time to react, the blond Elite spoke again, "Light Aura!"

"This again?!" Judar hissed, him and the other magi falling to their knees.

"Ah, damn," Neah covered her ears and struggled to stay upright. The golden glow surrounding them began to dim, leaving the magis panting and their ears ringing. Neah looked over at Yuki, who was still wriggling in pain on the cement. "Yuki! Are you alright?" She rushed over to him.

"He's the one who uses me for magic-" Yuki choked out. Neah glared at the Elite, guarding Yuki's body protectively.

"Oh wow~!" Alok marveled from a few feet away. "You even got the other magi from this time! Actually... You're all magi, aren't you?" He looked everyone over. The others had only just gotten to their feet again. Alok's gaze stopped on Aladdin, "Solomon's Proxy too! Nadiya will like you..."

"Did I hear a mention of Solomon?" Melor appeared beside Alok, having jumped from the building behind them.

"Yeah, look! It's Solomon's kid!" Alok pointed at Aladdin. The young magi was now wary and adjusting his grip on his wand.

"Hey! We're not here to ogle at stupid chibi Aladdin!" Judar called out, taking out his wand and pointing it at the Elites. "We're here to fight you assholes!"

"Ogle?" Melor echoed. "We're not ogling... It's Nadiya that would be doing the ogling," He laughed, Alok joining in.

"Do you think that we're playing around?" Neah stood, fists clenched.

"Hey, you can walk!" Alok observed.

"What a surprise!" Melor added.

"Of course I can walk," Neah walked to stand just a few feet away from them. "I'm also going to kick your asses."

"You can try," Melor shrugged. "It didn't seem to work very well last time, though."

~