Magi: The Tale of Faith and Hope

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"Where is this...?" Alibaba wondered, standing in the dark.

"This is the place inside the black Djinn, Alibaba," he heard Aladdin's voice explain.

"... Aladdin!?"

"Your friend should be here, too."

Alibaba turned his head to look and saw that he was right. Cassim was standing only a few feet away from him. He looked just as he did before he became the Dark Djinn.

"... Cassim?" Alibaba said.

"That's the form... his rukh has taken on..."

Aladdin stood before Judar with his eyes closed, concentrating on guiding Alibaba.

"Damn!!" Judar cursed as he picked himself up off the ground, holding his head with one hand and his wand in the other. "Bastard... What did you do to me!?" Hope and Faith stepped between them, glaring at Judar.

"Alibaba, we'll make some time for you!!" Aladdin told him. "So hurry, save him from the darkness!!"

"...!!" Alibaba said, furrowing his brow. "Cassim...!!" He stared at his old friend. For a moment, he was lost about what he should say or do. But then he set his face with determination. "Cassim... one more time... I want to talk things out with you..."

"Alibaba, don't come over. I have nothing to say to you," Cassim replied.

"Cassim!!" Alibaba said urgently, grabbing his arm.

"Don't come over. You should've realized already!" Cassim said, pulling his arm free from Alibaba's grip.

"...!?" Alibaba gasped.

"I hate you most of all!!" Cassim told him, glaring angrily.

"!?" Alibaba exclaimed, beyond shocked.

"It's not like it started just now..." Cassim's rukh said, transforming itself. "I've always... ever since we were young!!" It took his appearance as a child.

"Wha... What...!?"

"That time," little Cassim said, showing him scene of when they used to play together in the slum. "That time," Cassim was older, the same age he was when he robbed the palace treasury, showing scenes of that incident. "And that time!" He was his true age again, showing scenes of him convincing Alibaba to join the Fog troupe. "I've always...! Wanted to push you into the abyss of despair!! But no matter what I did, your radiance did not disappear!!"

"..." Alibaba stared at him, shocked.

"Damn it! Are we that different!? I'm the only one shrouded in darkness," Cassim said with despair as his skin became veiny and black like coal, just like the first stage of the Dark Djinn transformation.

"Cassi..."

"Am I the only one... fated to be born as human scum!?" Cassim asked angrily.

"...... Cassim......" Alibaba said, too shocked, hurt, and pained to see him like that to react.

Aladdin blocked another ice spear attack from Judar with his borg, while Hope sliced them into harmless ice cubes with her claws, and Faith stood behind both of them, firing more rounds of her piercing attack at Judar's new borg.

"Damn strength magic!!" he cursed as he dodged and quickly mended the cracks from one that scraped him. The eight-pointed seal on Aladdin's forehead was as bright as ever.