The sun was high in the sky the next afternoon and King Sinbad's palace was buzzing with strange rumors about the Kou Empire's Magi returning. No one had quite forgotten the comatose girl in one of Sinbad's private rooms either. The entire palace staff passed words of gossip to one another as they tried to piece together what clues they could find out about the odd preparations being made.

Judar remained rather unfazed by the strange looks he received and low whispers regarding his presence in Sindria. He made his way into the palace courtyard, placing himself under the shade of the tallest tree.

"It's pretty warm out today," a voice chirped out.

Judar's eyes rolled open, catching sight of the approaching figure. He remained quiet as Aladdin took a seat next to him.

"I wanted to ask you about the-" Aladdin started but was abruptly cut off.

"What about it?" Judar asked, seemingly uninterested in the topic.

"Can we really do this?" the boy asked, his tone becoming worried. "You know what will happen to her body if we fail, right?" Aladdin's voice had become grim and his eyes lowered to the ground.

Judar's eyes narrowed, his gaze meeting the open sky above. "We won't fail," he said, his tone undeniably shaking with nerves.

Aladdin didn't seem convinced but he cast his gaze into the sky as well. "I sure hope not," he said quietly.

---

"Everything is ready," one of the servant's informed King Sinbad.

He nodded, his expression quite serious. "I'll leave it to you then," he said to the two Magi.

In response, Judar and Aladdin gave a short nod and Sinbad left them, closing the door quietly behind him.

Aladdin then faced Judar. "You're sure about this?" he asked quietly.

Judar only nodded anxiously. His chest felt tight as they approached Mei's bedside. The sight of her sent a chill down his spine and he nearly wanted to cancel the whole ordeal. He collected himself before Aladdin could catch on to his discomposure and readied his wand.

"Solomon's Wisdom," Aladdin said confidently, casting his staff over the bed. A bright light illuminated the room and Rukh began to swarm around the boy.

Judar watched in silence, carefully studying the power unique to only Aladdin. Minutes passed and Judar noticed Aladdin's brow furrow.

"What is it?" he asked, hoping that he didn't sound overly worried.

"I found her," Aladdin said. His eyes were squeezed shut and he focused entirely on drawing the Rukh towards the comatose body. "Judar," he called out to him, signalling him to proceed quickly with the next steps.

Judar's eyes scanned Mei's body over again and he hesitated to move.

"Judar!" Aladdin cried out as he struggled to keep the Rukh present.

Judar moved at last, hoisting his wand directly over the body's chest. His hands trembled as he hesitated yet again.

"We're going to lose her!" Aladdin shouted, gripping his staff with both hands as the Rukh began to swarm wildly around it.

Judar's body reacted instantly and he plunged the metal rod into Mei's chest. With his free hand, he cast the Rukh gathered at Aladdin's staff into the girl. They flew like an angry swarm of bees directly into the gaping chest wound and Judar quickly repeated the steps he'd taken when summoning Mei's soul for the first time.

A flicker of doubt pricked at his mind as he worked, throwing off his entire flow of action. His hands jutted about as his mind began tormenting him with the thought of failure.

Despite his worries, Judar continued the process until a bright light emitted from the body on the bed. A flurry of Rukh escaped the wound, filling the room for just a brief moment. As quickly as it had appeared, the light also vanished, leaving Aladdin and Judar in dark silence.

The two of them panted heavily as their eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness.

"Did... we do it?" Aladdin asked, too afraid to look down at the body.

Judar's eyes also refused to drop down and the two simply stared at one another for what seemed like forever.

After finally working up enough courage, both Magi cast their eyes towards the girl. She was still unconscious, her body in the same state as it'd been before they started.

"The wound in her chest is gone," Aladdin noted aloud. "And look," he said, pointing at the Rukh that fluttered around her body.

Judar only watched as the Rukh circled her like moths around a flame.

Aladdin's expression became solemn as he hypothesized, "All we can do is wait now... And hopefully she'll wake up."

Judar didn't bother arguing with him, knowing that he was right. It took days for Mei to gain consciousness when she arrived the first time and Judar had expected no less this time around. An unsettling feeling prodded at the back of his mind this time, however.

---

Days had gone by and Mei's body went without change. Judar visited her room regularly and often time would stay with her for hours at a time. His mood gradually worsened with each day that passed until he converted to not speaking to anyone. Aladdin would also visit almost daily but he quickly came to the realization that Judar would not be conversing with him while he was present.

Time seemed to drag on and the only thing worthy of noting about Mei's condition was that the Rukh that once fluttered around her seemed to be dwindling down. Only a few could be spotted here and there and only on rare occasion.

Judar had shelved the thought as quickly as it had surfaced, but in the depths of his mind he began to consider the fact that Aladdin and he had failed to bring her back.