Chapter sixteen
After roughly two and a half months in Kou, Neah stumbled upon someone she didn't expect to see at all in her time in empire. She had been wandering outside in the palace courtyards, when she noticed someone sitting in a peach tree. Dressed similar to her, the only difference being his gold jewelry and much longer hair (and height), Judar sat eating a peach. He didn't notice Neah until she used her magic to float up and sit beside him, "Hey, aren't you Sindria's magi? Where'd your robes go? And what the hell are you doing here?"
Neah chuckled, "I ditched those ugly ass things the second I left. I'm so not Sindria's magi. Why the hell would I want to work under that idiot?"
Judar narrowed his eyes, "Who are you, then?"
"Neah," The female magi smiled, "I'm not sure you've heard, but we're related."
"Eh? That's impossible. I don't have any family."
"Yeah? Well somewhere down the line you got it on with someone, cause, here I am!" Neah raised her arms slightly, as if showing herself off. "The resemblance is really obvious, dude."
"What do you mean 'somewhere down the line'? You look the same age as me! If I had a kid, which I don't, wouldn't you be a lot younger than me?" Judar asked in disbelief.
"Actually, I'm older than you right now... I'm from the future," Neah explained. "Long story I'll probably tell you later, but I really am related. And I'm not your kid, I'm like your great great great granddaughter."
"That's impossible," Judar repeated. "Who the hell would I even do that with?! I don't want kids, nevermind grandkids!"
Neah shrugged, "I dunno." Then she laughed, "Hey, maybe it's that Prince Hakuryuu! You do seem to like him a lot!"
"The fuck?! No!" Judar tried to shove her from the tree.
Neah laughed harder, "I bet I'm right."
"You're not!" Judar yelled. "Now would you explain what the hell you mean? How are you from the future?"
The female magi sighed, "I'm getting real sick of telling this over and over again. I'm like a god damn broken record. But whatever, I'll tell you."
~(A/N Neah ships JuHaku too muahaha)
Judar sat dumbfounded, despite everything Neah had said he was still stuck on the fact that he had a relative. "How come only people related to the magi now can be magi?"
"How the hell should I know?" Neah shook her head, "I don't know why, but it's true."
"So you got that Old Hag and Kouen to agree to help?" Judar changed the subject, "I doubt they'll work together."
Neah chuckled, then grew serious, "Yeah, I know. I'll probably be getting Sinbad's help too. None of them are going to like working together but I don't care. I need to stop MWS."
"Hm. Maybe I'll show up too," Judar decided.
"Really?" Neah turned to him, "I'm surprised."
"Eh, why not? It should be interesting," Judar shrugged. "Do you plan on asking anyone else for help?"
"Well, I tried Magnostadt but no one liked me there...I'm kind of hoping Aladdin will get a few magicians to help," Neah admitted. "Come to think of it, there's another magi isn't there? I forget his name, but he lived like a ton of lifetimes or something, right?"
"Yeah, his name's Yunan," Judar informed. "His kinda weird, he wanders around a lot."
"So I hear," Neah nodded. "Isn't his nickname 'The Wandering Magi'?" She thought for a while, "Maybe I should ask him too. He could be useful."
"I don't care who you ask, go ahead." Judar grabbed another peach from the tree they were still sitting in.
"I didn't expect you to care. My standards for you are very low, I'm surprised you even wanted to talk to me," Neah jumped from the tree. "I'll be leaving Kou soon. Here," She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Eye of the Rukh, tossing it at the other magi, "I'll call you when I'm ready."
"Ok," Judar caught the magic tool and inspected it, turning it in his palm.
"Just ignore it if King Idiot starts calling," Neah waved as she began walking away.
~
Neah's detour to the Great Rift was long and tedious, and she didn't enjoy it at all. By the time she'd arrived at Yunan's home in the bottom of the large ravine, she was practically out of magoi. Panting, and bracing herself on her knees, Neah looked up at the sound of her name, "Neah? What are you doing here?"
"H-How do you know who I am?" The younger magi breathed.
"I heard all about you when you traveled to Reim... Come inside, I'll put on some tea while you rest," Yunan offered, holding the door for her.
Once they were settled, cups of tea in hand, Neah said, "You heard me when I was in Reim? How?"
"I can hear everything around here, I heard you in Sindria too," Yunan smiled. "Are you here to ask of my help?"
"Uh, yeah," Neah nodded. "Would you be willing to?"
"I'm not a fan of war, really, but yes, I will help you. Are you sure this will work though?" Yunan's expression became worried. "You seem to be in a rush to do this."
"Of course it'll work," Neah insisted. "I've got a huge chuck of the world together now! It's impossible to lose."
"It seems this MWS is very strong, are you sure everyone will be enough?"
"Yeah, we should fine," Neah began to grow skeptical. Damn, why the hell am I listening to him? What does he know?
Yunan could tell she was growing uncomfortable with the conversation, "Would you like to stay and rest for the night? I can help you back to Sindria in the morning."
Neah sighed, "Sure." She downed the entire cup of now cold tea in one gulp, surprising the older magi and making him chuckle. Neah wasn't sure how she felt about him yet.
~