being known as the White Witch called to him to embrace his despair and become the Dark Djinn, Shadar. The spirit of Alicia talks to the dying Shadar who realizes that the girl he saved was the young Alicia herself. Shadar then uses his power to sever the link between himself and Oliver, to save Oliver from dying as well. With Shadar defeated, Oliver prepares to return home but the White Witch appears and casts a spell known as "manna", an ash-like substance that turns all living beings in the three major cities into undead-like creatures. A girl named Pea, who has been appearing to Oliver on occasion, travels with the group and uses her magic to clear the cities of manna and restore the people to normal; the group proceeds to defeat the White Witch herself. They discover that she was a young queen called Cassiopeia from thousands of years ago who had noble intentions but was manipulated by her "council of twelve", calling themselves the Zodiarchs, who desired to run the country. Feeling powerless, she found and used the manna spell, believing it would bring peace and prosperity to her people. When the horrific effects of manna were revealed she gradually witnessed the death of all of her subjects, including the council, and found herself on her own. She was gradually driven to despair and became the White Witch, believing that all life must be destroyed in an attempt to "start over". Her power created an illusory version of the council to oversee the destruction of the world. The remains of her kind intentions also created Pea, the incarnation of her as a child, to help Oliver on his journey. Pea was sent to Motorville by the spirit of the Wizard King, Cassiopeia's father, to give Oliver his starting wand and teach him gateway so he could eventually save Cassiopeia/The White Witch from herself. Having been defeated, Cassiopeia fuses together with Pea and is restored to her former, kind self. After assisting the group in destroying the Zodiarchy, the last manifestations of the council, Cassiopeia declares that she will dedicate her life to making amends for her actions and Oliver bids farewell to his friends before returning to his old life in Motorville. Development Conceived as a project for Level-5's tenth anniversary in 2008, Ni no Kuni: The Another World was announced in the September 2008 issue of