Aladdin and the Quest for the Destiny Stone

(A/N: Now for the third installment of my Aladdin series. Hopefully this one lives up to the others, or even better surpasses it. I know the first seriously needs to be revamped. Nonetheless, enjoy.

Backfire!

Cassim rode towards the Temple of Destiny guardedly. It looked quiet enough. He smiled victoriously. He dismounted his horse and walked towards the steps and up. He reached the door and peered cautiously inside. According to that strange figure he'd met in the alley, who he hadn't been able to see and so had been uneasy about, this was where the Destiny Stone was kept. He would have to be on the lookout for traps now. If this stone of destiny truly had the power to reward you handsomely as well as show you your destiny, he wanted a part of it. He told himself he wouldn't take it, for a seer named Phasir had met him along the way and warned him against such action, saying he would pay dearly if he did. He just wanted to touch it. To see what was in store for him and those he loved.

"Who goes there?" a voice boomed suddenly the moment he set foot inside. He gasped and looked ahead quickly. There stood a dark guardian with an axe!

"My name is Cassim," Cassim replied. "I have heard of the Destiny Stone and wanted to view it."

"Thief!" the guard yelled.

"I don't want to take it, friend, just to touch it," Cassim replied calmly, but his hand went to his sheathed scimitar.

"Guardian, who goes there?" a woman's voice curiously asked. The guardian turned, Cassim gasped, looking ahead. There stood a beautiful blonde woman next to a large dark skinned man.

"Who are you, might I ask?" Cassim questioned.

"We are Minos and Fatima," Minos replied. "We were once a band of thieves who longed for the Destiny Stone. Unfortunately, it captured us inside of it for years, and when we finally emerged we were monsters. There were five of us once, two of us escaped, one refused to change his ways and remained a monster to his death."

"Five?" Cassim asked.

"Minos and I, Aziz, a monkey named Abu, and a street rat named Aladdin," Fatima replied.

1001 Arabian Nights

"Aladdin? You know my son?!" Cassim exclaimed, eyes lighting up brightly.

"Your son?" the two exclaimed at once as the Guardian silently listened.

"Yes, my son!" Cassim exclaimed. "How is he? Has he come here recently? What about the others?" Cassim quickly fired off.

"Slow down, old man," Minos stated. "We have not seen him for some time, but last we heard of him he had married the Princess Jasmine and had only just recently returned from their honeymoon."

"What do you want here?" Fatima questioned.

"I was once the King of Thieves. The Forty Thieves, to be exact. But things changed. I changed. I heard of the Destiny Stone. My desire, I admit, was at first to steal it, but a seer warned me against it. Now all I want is to see it with my own eyes and to feel it. And perhaps see my destiny as well," he answered.

"It is dangerous, very much so," the guardian warned.

"I live dangerously," Cassim answered haughtily.

"Most definitely Aladdin's father," Fatima remarked with a smirk as the man went by them boldly. The three followed him uncertainly.

"The Destiny Stone has powers we do not even now comprehend! There are no rules, it acts as it will. Once it was safe to lay hands upon, but it has become unstable since its shattering and reforming. This is madness, and if you go through with it you may regret it," the guardian warned, trying to stop him.

"Leave me be old man. I have this under control," Cassim boastfully declared. He went up to the stone and looked at it in awe. "It's beautiful," he murmured.

"Isn't it though?" Fatima said admiringly.

1001 Arabian Nights

Cassim slowly reached up to it. "Just one touch," he said in a daze. His hand touched the cold red gem and he shivered violently. The power in this object, he could just feel it! What fool would have dared take this stone from its pedestal? Just then it lit up. He gasped and pulled away. "What?" he asked. He looked back at the other three and was alarmed to see their fearful expressions. Instantly he knew this shouldn't have been happening. He looked quickly back with a gasp. He backed away in terror along with Fatima, Minos, and the guardian. "What's happening?" he demanded.

"It has reacted to your touch," the guardian declared.

"Meaning?" Minos demanded for Cassim.

"He has had contact with someone or something of intense power in his past. Power it does not like," the guardian replied.

"Impossible, I've never been in contact with intense power in my life except…" he trailed off and gasped. "No…" he finished.

"What?" Fatima demanded.

"Her," Cassim tightly replied, fear, hope, hurt, and another emotion they didn't dare recognize appearing in his eyes.

1001 Arabian Nights

Just then a familiar laugh echoed. The three spun around quickly with gasps. "Aziz!" Minos exclaimed in shock.

"You did it, you touched the stone! Finally!" Aziz exclaimed. "She said it would work, she was right!"

"You!" Cassim exclaimed. This was the figure who had told him to come here!

"Who said it would work? What's happened? How dare you come here!? You were supposed to be dead, turned into a star!" Fatima screamed at him.

"None of your business who. What's happened is that Aladdin is about to suffer the consequences of his father's error. As for my demise and survival, that's for me to know and you never to find out," Aziz answered. He laughed wickedly then added, turning to the stone, "She knew when he touched it that things would backfire. She knew that, given his contact with power in the past, the stone was going to react. Its aura may not be able to catch the man himself, like it did to us, but it will settle for the one that got away so long ago, the only child of the thief who dared lay hands on it. This will be so much fun to watch!" Aziz crooned. Just then light shot out, going through Fatima, Minos, Cassim, and the guardian! They all screamed in anguish and fell to the ground.

Cassim shook his head and looked sharply up with a gasp. What had happened? "What have you done? What will happen to Aladdin?" Cassim shouted furiously.

"Aladdin?" Fatima suddenly hissed. He looked sharply over.

"That street rat deserves to die!" Minos exclaimed loudly.

"But for now, we can settle with his father," the guardian growled, rising up. Cassim gasped, leaping to his feet. They had just been talking affectionately of Aladdin, though. The four were friends! Why were they after his son now? Wait… No… He looked sharply at Aziz. Aziz laughed. Cassim ran at him, rage consuming him, but Aziz was gone. The king of thieves looked around desperately for the goblin thing. Just then he heard the swishing of an axe and ducked just in time. He fled for his horse desperately. He had to get out. He had to warn his son!

1001 Arabian Nights

They galloped over the desert. Finally out of danger, Cassim reined it in to let it rest, as well as himself. It was then that Aziz's voice came to his mind, whispering to him just what had happened and why. Cassim had never been more terrified of anything in his life. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be! "No, Aladdin!" he cried in anguish as the horse reared up whinnying. He had to get to Agrabah as fast as possible. His child needed him now more than ever!