I don't own Aladdin or anything else in this story. This story is set after the episode "While the City Snoozes."

Chapter One- The Seed is Sown

Mirage sulked on her throne, even as a scene of utter destruction played out in her crystal. Although her eyes were in the crystal's direction, she wasn't seeing it. She was planning how to get revenge on Aladdin. That meddlesome fool has ruined her plans too often for her taste. Every single plan was ruined by him.

Wait, she thought. There was one that had been abandoned, not ruined: The one where I had created the El Katib. Although she could only use them once every seven years, she enjoyed finding humans that had the "seed of evil", as she called it, in them.

I could start over. I'll search every corner of the world and create a large group of them. But first, I need to get revenge on Aladdin.

Mirage stroked her chin. She needed to plan very carefully. Planning when and how to do her revenge had to be done that way. A pity she couldn't make him an El Katib. It would be a perfect way to get revenge and re-start her shadow walker minions.

Or could she? She learned from that young kid, Wahid, that Aladdin was a thief before becoming a hero. Never mind that he only stole food. Thievery can go two ways, but a seed is inside the heart of every thief. If she could manipulate that "seed", so that Aladdin would be compelled to do evil, she would be able to invoke his transformation.

Aladdin leaned against the stall, bored, while Jasmine gazed at its wares. Earlier, the couple had separated, browsing on his or her own. Aladdin had finished before Jasmine and was following her around, giving his opinion whenever asked.

Jasmine rummaged through her pouch, a frown of concentration on her face. "I thought I had enough," she muttered.

"What's wrong?" he asked, coming up to her.

"I'm a couple of coins short." She gestured to a beautiful bracelet in front of her.

Aladdin rummaged through his pockets, even though he knew he didn't have any… A jingle in a pocket reached his ears. Curious, he reached in and pulled out a small handful of coins.

How did those get there? he wondered.

"Oh, Aladdin, thank you," Jasmine said, plucking two coins from the pile. As the merchant counted the money, she turned to her boyfriend. "You must have helped someone earlier and got paid for your help."

"Yeah, I guess so." Aladdin didn't remember helping anyone, but he decided to go with the idea.

Mirage smirked as she watched the couple in her crystal. It was a brilliant idea to put some money in his pocket. She had also put a spell on the coins. As soon as Aladdin touched them, his dormant seed would be revived and slowly begin to grow and thrive. All she could do for now was sit and watch.