Judar and I continued through the town, powering through Kou's soldiers easily. Just as I'd hoped, my instincts had kicked in and I was a war machine. I slashed my way through at least three bands of men all on my own, with Judar offering the slightest protection when I grew careless.

"You're making quite the mess, Princess," Judar teased, approaching cautiously as I struck down the last soldier in sight.

I pulled my blade from the corpse and faced him. "This is nothing compared to battle's led by Natalia- err.. my mother. She practically lived for bloodshed, craving the very sight of it. She'd send us to war over any small matter," I said, whipping my blade down to cast off the blood that stained it. Crimson droplets speckled the ground just before another wave of troops spotted us. I grinned in excitement, warm blood coursing through my veins like lava. Judar only stared in astonishment, looking somewhat bothered by my actions. "You wanted a weapon for war, didn't you?" I asked, readying my blade for another fight.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he smirked, crossing his arms behind his head as he watched in amusement.

---

"Her fighting skills are amazing," Alibaba said, watching in complete awe.

"She's so scary," Aladdin said quietly, his brow furrowing at the sight of Mei clearing through the enemy soldiers at such a solid rate.

Aladdin and Alibaba had met up with Kougyoku and were in the process of clearing any remaining civilians from the town when they spotted Mei and Judar nearby.

Kougyoku, who had been watching quietly as well, spoke next, "She gets the same crazy look in her eye as my brother Kouha when fighting. It's as if they enjoy the fight a little too much. It's disturbing, really."

"Hey, now. It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs," a familiar voice whined out. Kouha wore a smirk on his lips as he approached the group with his brother, Kouen, in tow.

"You're both here," Kougyoku said, greeting them both formally.

"Yes. We came as soon as you sent for us," Kouen replied, his voice stern as always.

"You sent for them? They got here so quickly though," Aladdin said, his tone curious.

"I sent them messages through clairvoyance magic as soon as I heard Al Tharmen had arrived here. With King Sinbad away, I thought me might need their help," Kougyoku replied.

"I've also been watching our military actions quite closely. I noticed right away when a large portion of my troops went missing, along with a select handful of our royal priests and assistants. I was ready to pursue them at the first mention of their appearance elsewhere," Kouen informed them. "I have no doubt that they've followed that Magi and his woman here as well," He said, his tone growing bitter.

"You mean Judar and Mei? They aren't with Al Tharmen though!" Aladdin said.

At that moment, Kouen caught sight of the two in question. He scowled, heading towards them with ferocity in his eyes.

"Hey, wait!" Alibaba tried to intervene but Kouha extended his arm in front of him, cutting him off.

"I know you think of her as a friend but understand how it looks from our side," Kouha said, his tone unusually serious. "En thinks that they led a planned attack here, and honestly, it's clear why he would think that. Judar's been serving Al Tharmen for as long as he's been alive and that girl is a complete stranger to us," he said, watching Kouen clearing through debris.

"But there's much more to it than that!" Alibaba argued. Kouha turned towards him, listening intently to Aladdin and Alibaba as they explained everything Judar had once explained to them before.

---

"That's the last of them!" I said, wiping the sweat from my brow.

"Mei!" I heard Judar yell my name, his tone urgent. I turned just in time to see him throwing himself in front of me. A yellow sphere encircled us but I could tell Judar was struggling to keep it up. Finally, the sphere cracked and dissipated. A heavy blade swung down towards Judar. I pulled him away quickly but not before the blade caught his shoulder, slicing him down to the bone.

Blood oozed from his wound but he stood before me, casting his injured arm out as if to block me from our attacker. My mind raced to keep up with the situation.

(What the hell his happening?!)

I peered around Judar to find Prince Kouen standing before us, sword in hand.

"You, traitor of the Kou Empire. Do I even need to give you a chance to explain yourself or should I just kill you now?" Kouen said, his voice a low rumble.

"Don't tell me you're just as stupid as Sinbad. You can't possibly think I'd launch an attack on Sindria like this," Judar scoffed, masking the pain from his arm quiet well.

"I actually find no difficulty believing you would," Kouen growled. He lunged toward Judar.

(Judar can't take another hit like before. I have to-)

Before I could even complete the thought, my body was moving. I crouched under Judar's arm and popped up in front of him, using myself as a ready shield.

"Mei, no!" I could hear him yelling but I wasn't letting him get hurt again. I took a few running steps in Kouen's direction and met his blade with my own, deflecting his attack.

We practically bounced off of one another, our strengths matching and cancelling out. I landed on my feet a few inches in front of Judar, keeping my body in front of him as if to protect him from Kouen's line of sight.

Koen simply smirked, readying his blade yet again. "I expected a fight from you. I won't hold back this time," Kouen said. "Astaroth!"

With his exclamation booming through the air, his entire body seemed to fuse with his sword. His red hair burned bright orange and a bright white flame snaked around him.

(He's not playing around this time. A full body Djinn equip... There's no way I'll be able to compete with him. I might survive for a minute at the most... Unless I...)

I glanced back at Judar. He was watching anxiously, hand over his wound as blood continued to drip through his fingers.

My grip on my sword tightened as I swallowed my nerves. I met Kouen's gaze head on. "Aleia!"

At the sound of her name, I could feel her power moving through my blade. Warmth rushed through me as I allowed her power to envelope my entire body. I hadn't fully Djinn equipped with her; at least not in this life. I wondered briefly if my power would be the same as it had been previously. At that moment, I felt the ring on my hand begin to burn as well. I could hear Kenna chanting inaudibly.

(What's happening with my Djinn?? I- oh!)

I glanced down at my hands and recognized them as my own. My hair was no longer white, but a brilliant red hue that fell in long waves down to my waist. I turned my blade so that I could see my face reflected in it. A pair of mismatch-colored eyes stared back at me, one red as blood with the other a bright blue.

(I... I look like myself again- I..!)

I stared at myself for a moment longer, unable to believe the sight of my own reflection. I looked just as I had when I lived during my own time period. The only thing out of place were my eyes. My eyes were normally a shade of fuchsia, much like Kougyoku or Kouha.

I also took note of the power coursing through me.

(Kenna and Aleia? How is it that I'm able to feel them both? Have I managed to equip both Djinn's at once?)

Kouen only smirked before tipping his sword towards me. I smiled back at him, my blood boiling in my veins. My heart was pounding with excitement as I made the first move. I ran towards him as fast as I could. He readied to dodge me but I dropped to my knees and tumbled rapidly under him. I bounced up just behind him and brought my sword down towards the back of his head.

He turned just in time to save himself, leaning just out of reach. He swung his sword towards me but I threw my hand out, creating a barrier of fire as a shield. The fire engulfed Kouen, doing no real damage to him. He shook off the last of my flames but wasn't quick enough to escape my next attack. I brought the hilt of my sword quickly up, landing a solid blunt hit to the face. Kouen fell to the ground and I poked the tip of my blade to his temple, placing a foot on his wrist. His startled eyes met mine as his fingers slowly released his sword.

"Time to give in, Kouen. We aren't the enemy here," I told him. I waited for a moment until I could see the urge to fight dissolving from his eyes. I pulled my blade away from him just as I heard several familiar voices approaching.

"Mei!" Alibaba yelled. I glanced up to see Alibaba, Aladdin, Kougyoku, and Kouha all approaching quickly.

"Kouen!" Kougyoku yelled, appearing the most worried out of all of them.

(Great. She's definitely going to try killing me next.)

I recalled the last match I had with Kouen and how Kougyoku reacted afterwards. I could almost feel the stinging in my cheek from where she slapped me.

To my surprise, she ran directly towards me and threw her arms around me. "I'm so sorry!" She said. I was completely taken aback. "If only I'd known who you really were and what you were brought here to do, I just- I'm sorry!" she cried.

I glanced around at everyone else. "I- uh. It's.. Okay?" I said, patting her lightly.

She grinned at me, holding my hands in hers, "The way I acted towards you was unacceptable. I formally apologize as the eighth princess of Kou." She gave a quick bow.

Somehow, I felt tension leaving me as I smiled back at her and bowed back, "I graciously accept your apology."

"Geez, I never thought I'd see those two making up as friends," Kouha teased. "I will say that she's gotten at least twice as pretty since the last time I saw her," he continued, a devious smirk gracing his lips.

"Back off, Kouha," Judar intervened, cutting through the group. "So this is you," he said, stopping before me.

I faced him, unable to hide my smile. "This is me," I said, laughing softly as he looked me over.

His lip curved into a smile and my heart was suddenly racing.

(He sees me. He really sees... me.)

The moment was abruptly ended at the spotting of a huge dark figure looming over us.

"A dark djinn," Aladdin said. I glanced up at it, taking in the sight of the shadowy monster.

"Princess Mei," Kouen's low voice rumbled out from next to me.

My eyes met his before seeing his outstretched hand. I placed my and in his and felt his grip tighten. Without a single word, he released it and faced the dark djinn.

(I guess that's his way of forming an alliance?)

I chuckled to myself as I stood next to Kouen. As if our minds were linked, we lunged forward at the same time, attacking the shadow beast with our blades.