The earth seemed to quake under my feet as I stepped forwards. My whole body was coursing with an entirely new energy sprouting from both my metal vessels. My eyes met Natalia's and she shrunk back under my gaze.

"Come now, mother. Don't tell me you're frightened," I growled in bitter amusement, pacing towards her. I held up my left fist and fire jutted from it towards the high heavens. "Sharrar Saika, Aleia," I summoned her power, slamming the curved sword into Kenna's metal gauntlet. Steam exploded from the metal vessels, shrouding the entire courtyard in a grey mist.

"I can't see a damn thing," I heard Judar mutter under his breath.

I'd already pinpointed Natalia's location, however, and continued towards her through the grey haze. My insides tremored with dark excitement. With my double djinn equip in place, I was out for blood.

It only took mere seconds until I was upon her, pressing my blade to her throat and pinning her to the wall behind her. Blood seeped from the wound in her throat, dribbling down the front of her chest.

"Long live the queen," I hissed as her eyes rolled back in her head. I could almost see the Rukh leaving her body as it grew pale. I slung my sword down, casting the blood from it.

On queue with Natalia's death, I could hear something collapse behind me. There was no mistaking what I heard next, making my heart drop down to my stomach.

"Judar!?" I called out into the haze, my eyes widening as he continued to gurgle up dark liquids. I could just barely make out his figure doubled over in the mist. Gyokuen hovered over him, wielding a solid black blade coated in blood.

I gritted my teeth, throwing out my hand in her direction. "Kenna," I growled his name, summoning his familiars. Two crackling, fiery beasts expelled themselves from the gauntlet I wore. They snarled ferociously as they stalked through the mist, their bodies sizzling as the water evaporated around them. They cleared the mist from the courtyard, revealing Gryokuen in full. Once they caught sight of her, their malicious attacks began, fire spreading up her robes as they latched onto her limbs.

I stamped towards her, gripping my sword tightly. Once a few feet in front of her, the beasts dissipated and I swung my sword down towards her. She barely managed to block the strike with her dagger, falling backwards into the dirt. I continued swinging my sword down towards her, mindlessly trying to kill her in any way I could. I was unable to land a solid hit on her, although I'd inflicted several wounds to her in the process. She was battered and bloody and badly scorched from Kenna's fire beasts by the time I finally stopped attacking her. I panted heavily, as my eyes met hers. She gawked fearfully up at me as I spoke, "It's over, Gyokuen. And I'll completely eradicate the rest of Al Tharmen once I'm finished here." I kicked her dagger away from her, breaking her hand in the process.

I paced over to where Judar lay, falling to my knees next to him. He was covered in splotches of dark purple and black with dark Rukh circling the air around him. He heaved, struggling to keep a steady pace of breathing. I gathered him up in my arms, pressing my hand to the deep slice across his chest. "Oh, Kenna, please. I need your healing magic," I pleaded quietly, investing whatever magoi I had left into healing Judar.

"You'll never stop us," I heard Gyokuen screech from across the courtyard. "I'll never--!" she continued, stammering to her feet and pointing her palms towards me. Black Rukh gathered at her hands and I faltered, not knowing what to do next.

I'd just about accepted the fact that I was about to die when a huge, steely, black surface sailed across the courtyard, sweeping Gyokuen away completely. The surface almost resembled the blade of an enormous sword. I stared in awe as the surface began to dwindle down into an average sized blade. My eyes traveled quickly to the weapon's holder, and I immediately felt a wave of relief wash over me.

"Oops," Kouha smirked, twirling his giant metal vessel over his shoulder.

"Kouha!" I exclaimed as the last of my djinn equip faded off of me. "Gyokuen said that all of the siblings were gone," I said, still awestruck by his sudden appearance.

"Yeah, well, Kouen figured that the old hag was up to something so we came back early," he explained.

(Kouen?)

As if on cue, Kouen entered the courtyard as well, pacing towards us with his usual air of confidence.

(How long have they been here?? And why the hell couldn't they have stepped in sooner!?)

I felt slightly agitated but it wasn't enough to overcome my sense of relief that they were here.

Kouen approached us, unsheathing his sword and pointing it towards Judar's unconscious body where he lie in my arms.

"What are you doing??" I questioned in a panic. He offered no explanation as the hilt of his sword glowed. As it did so, I noticed Judar's wounds healing slightly. I felt another surge of relief coursing through me.

"He should be fine. He just needs to sleep it off now," Kouen said, his voice low as he put his sword away.

"Thank you, Prince Kouen," I said, bowing before him respectfully.

When I straightened up, I noticed that Kouen was actually bowing to me now with a flabbergasted Kouha in the background. He straightened up, offering me his hand as he spoke, "You've overcome one of the greatest disasters this country has faced nearly single-handedly. But even beyond that, you've mastered the usage of two Djinn at once. I can imagine that it was no easy feat. For that, you have my respect, Little Sister."

"Prince Kouen," I stammered, my insides fluttering at his kind words. I felt a sense of entitlement now, having earned the respect of the Kou Empire's first Prince. And even greater than that, I'd been accepted into his family as one of his siblings. My heart soared at the thought of having family here and I did everything in my power to stifle the tears that pooled up in my eyes. I gratefully took his hand, wanting to wrap my arms around him in a bear hug but settling for a simple handshake instead.

"Kouha, bring Judar back to his quarters for now," Kouen said, as he made his way back to the corridor.

I glanced down at Judar, brushing the hair out of his face as he slept soundly in my lap.

Ahh, You guys probably think everything is over and done with now but I still have a couple of speed bumps for ya. *Evil laugh*

And my last course ends tomorrow so I should be free to write more often! With that being said, I've also started a book of Magi One Shots in case anyone reading this is interested! I'm taking requests if anyone wants a special story written! ;D