Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

The Home of Souls

"Aladdin, give me back my staff," Baba said calmly.

"Eh?" Aladdin said, immediately whipping his head around to look behind him. "!!" he gasped in surprise when he saw that she was really there, along with Hope and Faith, who were panting from having to basket-carry the old woman all the way over to him.

"Calm down, we just came to negotiate!" Seisyun said urgently, standing back to back with the princess while the Kouga men kept them surrounded. Both of them had drawn their swords to defend themselves.

"Do not deceive us!!" one of the men yelled furiously. "Yesterday, you pretended you had come to negotiate, and then you hunted us as slaves and even attacked Baba-sama!! We won't be fooled again!!"

'What are they talking about!?' Seisyun wondered anxiously. 'They're too blinded by their rage to listen to us! What are you going to do, Princess!?' He gasped, flinching in shock, as one of the men rushed forward to attack her. Hakuei didn't even flinch when his blade slashed her shoulder and leg.

"!?" the man gasped, shocked, as she stood there resolutely. "She didn't divert it!?"

"We do not want war," Hakuei said with calm determination. "To know the truth about what happened yesterday... please allow time for negotiation!"

"Ugh..." the man said uneasily, taking a step back. Could it be... they had made a mistake?

"Don't be fooled!" another man shouted. "It's the same trick from yesterday, kill her!"

"Stop, you fools!!!" Baba yelled, causing them all to flinch in shock.

"Ba—Baba-sama..." they gasped as they looked up in the direction they had heard her voice coming from, and saw her standing on the ridge with Aladdin and the twins. She fixed all of the men with a stern glare as she stared back down at them. Beads of nervous sweat slid down the sides of their faces. Everyone fell silent. "Don't pretend to be stupid!!!" Baba continued fiercely, trembling from the effort of standing as she leaned on her staff, while she scolded her family. "Do you really call yourselves Kouga!!?"

"..." Aladdin and the twins watched worriedly as blood flowed from the reopened wound in her back.

"... Don't forget what it is that you really need to protect... or what kind of battle you need to wage for it..." Baba said as she slowly and carefully made her way down the steps carved into the ridge, ignoring the pain and trail of dripping blood that she was leaving behind. The men moved out of her way as she marched straight over to the princess. Baba stared at her for moment before placing a hand over her heart and dropping to her knees in a respectful bow as a sign of allegiance. "Our clan will become part of the Kou Empire," Baba pledged solemnly, causing the others to gasp in shock.

"We'll join it...!?"

"But... Baba-sama! If we join this empire, our clan will be annihilated!"

"As you can see for yourself, Your Highness..." Baba continued. "Our clan is heavily damaged, both physically and mentally, from long years of invasions and slave hunting. I will not allow my family to get hurt anymore... I even thought about the possibility of going to battle with your country... However, a certain child told me that you, who represents the empire, does not intend to destroy our clan and is a trustworthy person..." Hakuei's eyes widened slightly as she looked up at the ridge and saw Aladdin. "So I thought we would submit ourselves to you."

"Baba-sama..." Boyan said worriedly as he and Dorji watched the puddle of blood at her feet grow increasingly larger with horrified expressions on their faces, and her trembling worsened. "Your wound..."

"But... that is not an ordinary wound..." Hakuei said, clenching her fist as she observed the serious condition the elder was in. "It must have been caused by one of my subordinates after all..."