Chapter thirty four- A Forgotten Friend Intervenes

Ja'far leaned against Sinbad's wooden desk, watching as his last Command Seal faded away. He sighed and lowered his hand, looking over his shoulder at the purple haired man behind him. He asked, "Now what? This wasn't a part of the plan."

Sinbad leaned back in his chair, folding his hands as he thought. "Is it early enough to summon another servant?"

Ja'far shook his head, "We can't manipulate the war like that. What's done is done, but what are we doing from now on? All we have left is Archer, who is-"

"More than sufficient." Gilgamesh finished, appearing in the small office with his golden armor still on. "It's no surprise Assassin was killed as quickly as she was. She was weak."

"And you did nothing to help her, did you, Gilgamesh?" Sinbad watched the servant with narrowed golden eyes.

"Sin..." Ja'far warned, his expression completely serious, "this is no time for starting an argument." Gilgamesh smirked and remained silent.

"Fine, fine," Sinbad complied, leaning forward. "I suppose I'll focus on getting information from Kougyoku, and hopefully something on Al-Thamen. Our main objective is still to eliminate Al-Thamen, whether you're a master or not, Ja'far."

"I will continue to help you even without a servant, Sin." Ja'far promised, then changed the subject, "What about Alibaba and Saber?"

"Alibaba-kun seems to be getting better. He can stay here for now; he'll surely be useful in place of Assassin."

~

Alibaba Saluja stared out the window in his small room of the Holy Church. He'd heard of Assassin's death, and was silently glad that Hakuryuu survived. He hoped the black haired teen would survive until Alibaba could see him again. Things were beginning to grow serious with the Holy Grail War, and Alibaba was terrified.

Sinbad had plans to attack Al-Thamen soon- while they were still weak from his last attack. Alibaba agreed somewhat, but was more worried about his new friend Kougyoku. Something was definitely wrong with her, and he wanted to help her as much as he could. He remembered reading in Sinbad's papers that he'd done something to her. But getting close would be difficult, as Kouen was surely to be more on guard now.

Alibaba stood from his bed and exited his room, making his way down the hall past Sinbad's office and several other rooms. As he passed the violet-haired man's office he caught a bit of his conversation with Ja'far:

"...I'll focus on getting information from Kougyoku, and hopefully something on Al-Thamen."

That confirmed it. Sinbad had done something to Kougyoku. Alibaba quickened his pace, wanting to get out of the church as fast as possible.

"Hey! Alibaba! Where are you going?" The blond was stopped as one of Sinbad's retainers stopped him; a white haired man named Sharrkan. "I thought we were going to train together more?"

"S-Sorry, Sharrkan," Alibaba stammered. "I'm a bit busy with something right now, but I'll be back later!"

Sharrkan frowned in confusion but was unable to say more, as Alibaba had already pushed past him and out the church's front exit. He looked back to where the teen had come from, wondering if something had startled him. The hall was empty, as were the answers to the swordmaster's questions.

~

Alibaba briskly made his way down the sidewalk, barely paying attention as he ran into countless other pedestrians. Saber tried to keep up, but was slowly losing his master in the crowd.

"Alibaba-san?"

Saber turned to the owner of the voice, finding a pink haired girl amongst the flock of people. She pushed through the crowd, apologizing to everyone she bumped into. Theseus followed her, hoping to be led back to his master.

"Alibaba-san? What are you doing here?" The girl asked again, finding the blond male and placing a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him.

Alibaba whirled around, "M-Morgiana! I didn't expect to see you here!"

Her grip tightened, "Where have you been the past weeks? I haven't seen you since that party, and you haven't been going to school."

"L-Look, Morgiana, I'll explain more later but-"

Morgiana narrowed her eyes, a death grip on the blond's shoulder. He wasn't going anywhere. "Please explain now. You haven't explained anything about this 'war' that's going on."

Alibaba sighed briefly and glanced around, "We can't talk here."

"Where can we?"

"Uhm..." Alibaba tried to think of a location. He hadn't returned home in a while, and he didn't want to now. The Holy Church was a no. "How about Aladdin's parent's place?"

Morgiana nodded, "Alright. Let's go now then."

Alibaba glanced over her shoulder at Saber, who was quietly observing. He nodded his head in the direction they were going, telling the servant to follow silently.

~

"Alibaba-kun! It's been awhile, hasn't it?" Alibaba smiled as a young woman with long, bright pink, hair opened the wooden door to her home. She looked back into her house, shouting to someone, "Solomon, we've got company~!"

Moments later, a tall man with dark blue hair tied back strolled into the doorway, an open book in-hand. "Oh, hello Alibaba, Morgiana." He nodded to them. "Did something happen with the war?"

"No, not really," Alibaba shook his head. "I just needed a safe place to explain everything to Morgiana. Is it alright if we come in?"

"Of course!" Sheba smiled brightly, moving to allow the teens entrance.

"I'd like to hear what's been going on as well," Solomon spoke, leading everyone into the livingroom. "So, start from the beginning, if you will."

"Yeah, sure." Alibaba agreed. He already felt a thousand times better just being in Aladdin's house. It was so calming and peaceful, like the war outside wasn't even a thing. Although Alibaba could protect himself, he was also glad that there were two very powerful mages around- just in case.

Once everyone was settled, Alibaba began his explanation of the Holy Grail War thus far, including most details besides his more personal feelings towards the events. He also showed off Saber, introducing him to everyone. Solomon was very interested in the servant, the pink haired girls just as amazed.

"So you're that kids father, huh?" Saber was inspecting Solomon just as much as Solomon was inspecting him.

"I am."

"Hm... You're far stronger than any other master. Why aren't you in the war?" Saber asked, ignoring Alibaba's angry 'Hey!' in the background.

Solomon shrugged, "It's not my fight anymore. I participated in the last Holy Grail War, there's no need for me to again."

"You did?!" Alibaba's eyes widened.

"That means you won, right, Solomon-san?" Morgiana asked, also surprised.

"There wasn't really a winner per se..." Sheba spoke, trailing off.

Saber plopped down on the couch in between his master and Morgiana, "Well you've caught my attention. What happened?"

~