Chapter thirty two

"I'm not sure this is going to work, even if you gave me extra magoi..." Aladdin warned, looking at the older magi with a concerned look.

"We still have to try." Nishi insisted. Aladdin had taken her to a private place, somewhere where they couldn't get caught and other magicians wouldn't be able to feel the magic as Aladdin cast it.

"Alright...I'm still surprised you want help though," Aladdin raised his wand, a wooden staff, before casting, "Solomon's Wisdom!"

~

Everything was dark. Aladdin searched around, but he couldn't see anything. "Nishi-san?"

"You're worthless!" Aladdin gasped as he heard a man yell at someone. A scene inside of a house appeared in the distance, and he 'flew' over to it to get a better look.

"How dare you even think of speaking in my presence?!" A tall man with dark hair and eyes hollered at a young girl. "Apologize! Now!"

"I-I'm s-sor-rry." The young girl, younger than Aladdin, said between cries.

Aladdin's eyes softened in sympathy as he watched the scene play out. Whose memory is this? It doesn't look like Nishi-san...

"Say it right!"

"I-I'm s-sorry, Your Highness..." The brown haired girl sobbed.

"Yozo...Dinner is ready..." Another memory appeared. A woman with messy brown hair and matching eyes informed the same man as before.

"Shut up, I'm busy." The man- Yozo- snapped. In his hands he held the same small girl by her hair, pulling it hard.

"Yes, of course." The woman nodded. She gave the girl a sad look, and the girl began begging for her to help.

Aladdin's expression became confused as he watched the woman- who he assumed was the girl's mother- leave the room without another word.

The scene darkened and another memory opened up, much brighter this time.

"Come on, Nishi! You want to be a swordswoman, don't you?!"

"Oh! It's Mr. Sharrkan!" Aladdin smiled, glad he recognized something, although he was worried about the previous memories.

"Yeah...But you're going too hard on me!" Nishi whined.

Sharrkan rolled his eyes, "Come at me again!"

"Magic is so much easier..." Nishi muttered, preparing herself to attack again.

"What'd you say?!" Sharrkan glared at her. "Don't you dare say magic is better! I won't train you!"

"No, no wait! Ok, ok I'm sorry!" Nishi panicked.

Aladdin smiled again as the scene faded away. Who was that other girl?

"Kana!!!" A new image opened up with a blond haired boy running up to a brown haired girl of around the same age.

"Rin? What now?" Kana asked with a bored tone. "Can't you help with buying food? I want to leave here already."

"Why are you so paranoid? Look! I found a kitty!" Rin held up a orange and white kitten, smiling brightly.

"A cat? Where'd you even get that?" Kana raised an eyebrow.

"It was just wandering around! Can we keep it?"

"Of course not!" Kana snapped. "Like we need more animals around this filthy town."

"We don't have any pets though!" Rin complained.

"Is that that little girl as an adult?" Aladdin wondered. At least she got away from that man...

Another scene opened up and Aladdin moved over to it, hearing people talking.

"Kana! I thought you stopped!?" Rin exclaimed.

"R-Rin!" Kana gasped, freezing in place. Beside her was a dead man's body, torn up and mangled from her.

"Why?" Rin's expression was a mix of several emotions, but mostly disappointment. "I thought we got past this?"

Kana became angry, "Stop talking like you've gone through what I have. This isn't something we're going through together. You couldn't even begin to understand my pain, why I can't just let this go."

"Kana, this isn't right! I know your life has been hard, but you're even worse than your father now!" Rin yelled at her.

"Shut the hell up!" Kana screamed. "I know who and what I am, and if you don't like that, you can leave."

"I'm not going to leave, Kana. I love you and I'm going to help you through this." Rin assured, taking a few steps closer to her.

"Well I'm saying leave!" Kana picked up a small dagger and threw it past his head where it lodged in the doorframe.

Rin jumped in surprise, looking back at the knife and to Kana. "F-Fine. If that's how you want it." He stormed from the house, slamming the door behind him.

Kana growled in anger, "He doesn't understand anything that idiot."

"Kana! H-Help!"

Her anger faded as she heard Rin scream for her in the distance. "Rin?" She ran from the house and down a large peer. "Rin?! Where are you!? Rin!" She ran around more, searching for him wildly. Every thought had left her mind, her only concern was if Rin was safe.

She ran into the town and past the rows of shops, turning a corner into an ally and stopping dead in her tracks. "R-Rin!" The blood had already run and pooled to her feet. "R-Rin..." Kana glared up as she heard a man laughing evilly. "You..."

"Now, now, Kana. This is only fair. I'll see ya around, alright?" The man laughed.

"I'll kill you..." Kana vowed.

Aladdin was surprised at the next few memories. One was of Kana's death, and some more of Nishi with the generals and Sinbad. Suddenly, the one that surprised him came up. Nishi was telling Sinbad about Kana. Nishi-san is Kana-san? A few more scenes came up that baffled the young magi. A few of Nishi and Judar together, more tragic things with Kana's life, and a more recent one, where Nishi killed Rin and Kana's murderer.

"I think I get what's happening now..." Aladdin sighed. "Kana-san? Nishi-san? Where are you?"

"Mom never helped us!" Kana yelled.

"I know! But that's all over with now. Dad can't get us anymore." Nishi placed her hands on Kana's shoulders.

Aladdin 'flew' over to them, slightly confused. It was a weird sight, Kana and Nishi were the same person, yet here, they were two separate people. I guess anything can happen inside the rukh... "Nishi-san, Kana-san."

"B-But...Rin! How can you just let these things go?!" Kana burst out, her voice angry and sad.

"I'm not letting them go! I'm moving on! Nothing is going to change what happened." Nishi tried.

"That's your excuse for being with that other magi? Judar? And pretending like I wasn't real? Bullshit." Kana shoved Nishi against a wall, pinning the magi in place with her hand on her throat.

"Kana-san!" Aladdin landed beside the brunette, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Kana snapped, turning her head to glare at him.

"A-Aladdin." Nishi choked out as Kana continued to cut off her air supply.

"How'd you get in here?!" Kana demanded, dropping Nishi roughly to the ground.

"Nishi-san wanted me to help. I didn't understand what was going on at first, but now I do." Aladdin spoke. "Kana-san, I want you to talk to some people. They really want to talk to you." He raised his wand and called, "Come on, you two!"

"Hey, Kana!" A translucent and glowing Rin appeared beside Aladdin, smiling. "Hello, Nishi."

"Rin..." Both girls looked at him in astonishment.

"Why are you here? How?" Kana questioned.

"It's Aladdin's power." Nishi told her from where she sat on the ground still.

"Are you...really here?" Kana took a step towards him.

"Yeah, this kid's amazing. It's sad there were no nice magicians back when we were around, huh?" Rin smiled sadly. "But I wanted to tell you, it's okay. I never did understand you, and I'm sorry, but you can't hold on forever."

"Rin..."

"Nishi's right. It's okay to move on. You were given the gift of a second life, you should cherish it. You're even an amazing magician!"

"No...That's not me..." Kana shook her head.

"It is. You and Nishi are each other. One in the same." Rin smiled again at both girls. "You two can do great things together. You have tons of people who love and care about you now." The gold glow around him began to dim.

"W-Wait, Rin, where are you going?!" Kana tried to reach out and grab him, but her hand touched nothing. "Rin!" She fell to her knees and whispered, "Don't leave me alone..."

"You're not alone, Kana."

Kana looked up as another glowing figure appeared, "Mom?"

"Amelia..." Nishi's eyes widened in surprise. Aladdin watched them, keeping a respectful distance away.

"Who do you think you are? Get out of here." Kana hissed at her, still kneeling on the ground with Nishi beside her. Nishi looked at Kana and felt the same anger bubbling inside her, but she kept quiet.

"I'm sorry I never helped you. I'm a failure as a mother." Amelia began crying. "I'd give anything to go back and redo things, but I can't." She wiped her tears. "I'm so sorry. You deserved to have a real childhood, not that horrible life. I'm so sorry your life had to be filled with so much hate and despair."

"Mom..." Kana began crying as her thoughts changed. "I'm sorry. I never hated you, I just didn't know what to do." She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed. "I'm sorry."

"Kana, don't cry. It's okay. I forgive you." Amelia assured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You have this new, wonderful life. Full of people who love you. Please live it to the fullest, for me, and for yourself." She smiled and took a step back, fading away like Rin.

"No! Don't you leave too!" Kana begged, still crying.

Nishi was crying herself as she moved closer to Kana and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're not alone."

Kana cracked and turned to Nishi, hugging her. "I'm not letting them go...-"

"-...But we're moving on." Nishi finished for her. "That's alright with me."

"This anger will never go away." Kana cried.

"I know, it's ok with me if it's ok with you too."

Kana nodded into Nishi's shoulder, "Mm... I just wanna go home. To Sindria. And...Judar."

Aladdin was a bit surprised, but smiled, walking closer to the pair. "Nishi-san, are you alright now?"

"Mhm..." Nishi smiled as she intertwined hands with Kana. "I'm okay." Kana then faded away until she disappeared, leaving the two magi alone. "We can go."

"Wait...Nishi-san. There's still darkness here..." Aladdin looked around. Both white and black rukh fluttered around them.

"It's okay." Nishi smiled again to reassure him.

"Oh...Ok, I guess." Aladdin took her word for it. He offered her his hand and he helped her up, "Let's go, then."

~

"Thank you, Aladdin." Nishi thanked him once they were back.

"Thank you, too. I've never seen anything just like that happen. I was really confused when you wanted my help." Aladdin smiled.

"Well, I'm glad you did. You're an amazing magi. You'll accomplish far more than I ever can, I'm sure of it." Nishi messed his hair up playfully. "But you have class early tomorrow morning, don't you? You should get back."

"Oh! Right! Thank you again, Nishi-san! I'll see you soon!" Aladdin jumped up, remembering his training. He waved goodbye to her as he ran back to his room.

Nishi laughed a bit at the younger magi before she wondered what to do next. I feel so...content right now...I feel like I could do anything. But I should probably get back to Judar. And I have to explain everything to Sinbad. Maybe I'll do that first. He's so gonna kill me...

~