The Just Rewards by Aldea Donder
Disclaimer: I do not own or take credit for any of the characters or places expressed hereafter in this writing with the exception of Jazel and Leon. The city of D'jel belongs to Dragonessa and is used with her permission. Everything else is the property of the Walt Disney Company.
Summary: This story takes place approximately eight years after Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Jafar has returned and won control of Agrabah. Iago has been taken prisoner, and he survives only at the whim of his greatest enemy. This story borrows some of its ideas from Catie Graham's The Truth About Iago. Read it as soon as you can; it's fantastic.
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Chapter One: The Just Rewards
"How about another round, Iago?"
Iago drew back to the farthest corner of his cage. He shook uncontrollably, the agony of the last bout of torture still simmering throughout him. Every part of him ached, from the tips of his wings to the ends of his tail feathers. He had endured hours of this torment. Hours upon hours that ticked by with such slowness that he wondered whether the pain had perverted his perception of time. And still, the torment persisted, getting worse and worse after each and every pause. Jafar would not let it stop. Jafar was not that merciful.
"Well, Iago? Shall we have another go at it?"
"No, Jafar. Not again. Just let me die," Iago coughed.
"Trust me, my dear Iago! Your death will come eventually. Of course, when it does come, it will be slow... and excruciatingly painful!"
On that word, another wave of anguish washed over Iago, and like a pebble in a raging river, he felt himself dissolving before it. His mind, his body, his very soul - all melted away in the blaze of Jafar's punishment.
Long forgotten memories awakened within him. He saw his parents. He saw the disgust in their eyes as they looked at him. They realized he was different than his brothers from the moment he was born, and they detested him for it. He saw himself trying to please them, trying to live up to their expectations, even though it was a frivolous effort. He saw them trying to disguise him, to hide him from the inquisitive eyes of the others.
"No! Stop it, Jafar! Stop it!"
He sat all alone in the middle of the desert. His mother had brought him here to this empty wasteland and left soon afterward, promising to return soon with food. He waited hours for her return, until night drifted into day and the heavens above turned from black to blue to black again. And he suffered: unbearably cold temperatures during the evening, piercing hunger and unquenchable thirst throughout the day, and once the truth set in, the terrifying realization that he had been abandoned.
He strayed aimlessly through the streets of Agrabah. For days, ever since he had found his way here, he had lived in poverty, feeding off the crumbs and table scraps that people threw away and sleeping in the meager shelter of alleyways and attics. Now, he watched a family as they walked hand-in-hand down the lane. Watched as they stepped into the warmth and comfort of a home. Watched as they sat down together at the dinner table and feasted on a grand meal. Watched as the mother rested with her son next to the hearth and, purely out of her love for the boy, read him a bedtime story. He felt a tear on his cheek and forced himself to look away.
He was in the company of a man. Jafar. He was drawn in by the sorcerer's promise of a better life if only he would embrace a "more ambitious" way of thinking. A more poisonous way of thinking. But Iago showed no concern over which way his life was heading. Why should he care if other people were harmed by his actions? They had never given him any of the things Jafar promised him. They had abandoned him, left him homeless with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Even though Jafar scared him to death, at least he had someone to look out for him when he was with him - a partner, so to speak. He saw himself hanging on Jafar's every word. He saw himself being corrupted by Jafar's malevolence.
Wait a minute! Jafar, what if YOU were the chump husband? Okay, you marry the princess, right? And then, YOU become Sultan! And then, we drop papa-in-law and the little woman off a cliff, kersplat!
Iago had long forgotten ever speaking those words. He had let much of his past go when he had befriended Aladdin. But now, the past came rushing back to him like a viper in the night, ushered on by Jafar's magic - and it brought a stinging truth with it.
Murder? Murder Jasmine and the Sultan? The very idea that he could ever suggest something so - so repulsive, so atrocious, so shamefully despicable, led him to wonder just what demons lurked within his wretched soul. Jasmine and the Sultan had taken him in! They had given him all that he had been denied in his youth: a home, a family, and a reason to live. They had shown him nothing but kindness! And he had suggested that they be murdered?
He was a fiend! An abomination devoid of goodness and compassion! He was base! He was foul! How could he ever have believed himself to be worthy of their friendship? How could he ever have thought himself to be anything more than the lowly disgrace he truly was?
The memories surged on. He watched with unbridled satisfaction as the Royal Guard kidnapped Aladdin and threw him into the sea, presumably to his death. He lured Aladdin away from his chamber by imitating Jasmine's voice, then stole the magic lamp from him to further serve Jafar's cruel intentions. He tormented the Sultan, harassing and humiliating the monarch until he gasped for breath.
And oh, how he had betrayed Cassim!
"Stop it, Jafar! Please! Please, Jafar! Make it stop!"
Fiend! Abomination! Base! Foul! The words played over and over again inside his head. He had never been a help to those around him; he had only been an obstacle, an enemy, a threat. He didn't care about any of his friends. He was only concerned with what would profit him the most in the long run. For all that they had given him, he gave nothing in return. For all the love they had shown him, he showed no gratitude. He lied, thieved, and betrayed for his own advancement. He put his own lofty goals in front of their vital needs. But they refused to condemn him. They trusted him, supported him, and offered him something he had never possessed before: friendship. Why? He was worthless! He didn't deserve to be shown the affection he had not shown others. He didn't deserve a home, a family, or the right to live. He deserved to be exactly where he was: imprisoned in Jafar's cage.
He was crying. No, not crying - wailing in utter despair. Iago writhed on the floor of his prison, overwhelmed by the cold reality of his own life. The melancholy, the wretchedness, the trials and tribulations - they dashed all his hopes like water upon the rocks and sent him reeling in horror. His organs were snakes coiling inside him. His heart ached not from the aftermath of Jafar's torture, but from his own sickening iniquity.
Jafar's cruel laughter surrounded him, and he was chilled to the core. "It always hurts more when the pain comes from within, doesn't it, Iago?" the jailor sneered.
Iago was too weak to respond. He remained spread out upon the floor of the cage, sobbing and convulsing, unable to look Jafar in the eye.
Jafar observed this and chuckled. "This is but one way to torture you, my dear Iago," he said. "There are many other ways. Many of them are just as agonizing as this. And I intend to try each and every one of them out on you.
"Well, I think that's just about enough fun for one day. It's getting late, and though I'll never tire of being able to cause you pain, I want to be up bright and early tomorrow to get a head start on the day's torture session. I bid thee goodnight, Iago, and pleasant dreams!"
With that, Jafar took his leave. His maniacal laughter reverberated throughout the hall for minutes after he'd gone. When it stopped, the room was silent, save for the ceaseless weeping of one distraught parrot.