Innocence and Evil: An Aladdin Adventure
Chapter 1
It was the middle of the night in the citadel in the Land of the Black Sand. Mozenrath was reclining in an armchair reading a scroll from his impressive library. He had taken his gauntlet off and it was lying on the table beside him. It was nice to take a break, however short, from the pain it caused him. It was within grabbing distance, though, in case he needed it.
Xerxes was snuggled into his little bed that sat on the very same table. He was drifting off to sleep when the doorknocker hitting the front door echoed down the corridor and into their room. Mozenrath was not fazed by nighttime visitors since most of the interaction he had with people – and others – happened after dark.
"Go answer the door, Xerxes." He commanded flatly.
Xerxes gave him an unbelieving look. "But, Xerxes sleeping—"
"Now, or your slumber will be permanent," he said darkly.
Xerxes complied, crawled out from under the covers and flew down the hall to answer the door.
"Xerxes do this, Xerxes do that," the eel turned the final corner. "Xerxes do everything!"
He bit the woven cord that hung by the door and pulled downward. The door opened a crack and Xerxes stuck his head outside.
"Who there?" His question was met with silence. Xerxes flew fully outside. This was ridiculous. "Who there?" Xerxes let out a shriek as a sack swooped out of nowhere and closed him inside.
--
"Where is that eel?" Mozenrath asked himself pensively.
He unrolled the scroll further and continued reading. Xerxes was taking a long and quiet time answering the door. It was like nothing had even happened. He listened longer and heard nothing. Xerxes must have gotten distracted.
He set the scroll on the table and stood. "If you want something done right…" he sighed, slipping his gauntlet on with the shadow of a cringe.
Walking down the hall, he noticed that the outer door had been left ajar. Was Xerxes outside talking with whoever had arrived?
"Yes?" he called as he approached. There was no answer. He pulled the door further open. "Show yourself!"
The night remained quiet. Mozenrath warily stepped outside. Something wasn't right here. Something rustled in the darkness to the left. Mozenrath turned and shot it. There was movement to the left and he zapped it with the gauntlet. Despite himself, his heart began to beat faster and cold sweat beaded on his brow. A deep and haunting laughter materialized from somewhere but no matter where he looked, it always seemed to come from somewhere else.
From someplace in the shadows, he heard a scuffle and a voice he knew. "Master run!" it cried.
Mozenrath whirled around and ran back inside, but a splay of ropes hit him from behind and wrapped around him. He fell to the floor but still managed to wriggle his way inside and kick the door closed. He managed to roll to his feet and face the door just as it burst open. He quickly aimed the gauntlet at the shadowy figure emerging from the darkness.
"Stay back or I'll destroy you!"
"Will you now?" the figure asked in a deep, slightly humorous voice. "You?" It was Jafar.
Mozenrath's eyes enlarged when he saw who it was, not because he was frightened – he had expected a force much worse than the amateur sorcerer – but because he had believed him to be dead.
"Coward!" Mozenrath barked at him. "You feared Destane and I defeated him! Why should I fear you?"
Jafar frowned, obviously not taking too kindly to Mozenrath's banter. "Much has changed since then. And besides, you were the one fleeing."
Mozenrath glared and charged his gauntlet. Jafar didn't seem the least bit worried. Insolent man, he thought. I'll teach him to trespass like this! He released the power towards Jafar but, to his horror, it backfired on him and electrocuted him from head to toe. He let out a cry of pain before it stopped.
"Who is selling these?" he asked drowsily before falling to the floor unconscious.
---
Jafar grinned, happy his plan had gone over so well.
"Actually, that makes things easier for me, you little brat." He held up the brown sack he had caught the boy's pet inside, still struggling. He held it up to his face. "Now if only I could do the same to you."
His master, Abis-mal, cautiously approached from behind clutching the lamp closely. He peered at the unconscious sorcerer.
"Here," Jafar tossed the well sealed bag to Abis-mal. "Hold this."
Abis-mal nearly dropped it but then managed to hold on tight enough not to. A smile reached across his face as he realized what they had just done.
"This...is the Land of the Black Sand! Ha! I conquered the Land of the Black Sand!" He hopped over to Mozenrath and crouched down close to him. "Ha! In your face! Yes!"
Jafar sighed and pulled Abis-mal along. "Let's not be too hasty, Abis-mal."
He surrounded Mozenrath with a stream of magic from his finger and lifted him off the ground. He walked off down a hall to the far left that led to the dungeon. Abis-mal followed quickly, carrying the bag containing Xerxes. They walked down a stone staircase. Once they reached the dungeon, Jafar unlocked the door with the keys that hung on a nail in the wall outside the door and stepped inside. He set the boy down by a wall with shackles hanging from it and went to work untying the rope.
What was that on the young sorcerer's hand? A glove of power?
"Hm…interesting piece of work," he muttered pulling it off. Abis-mal spotted the skeleton hand underneath and promptly made a sound of disgust.
"Ew! Oh, that is so gross!"
"On the contrary," Jafar replied as he snapped the shackles closed around Mozenrath's wrists. "I think it suits him rather well." He fit the gauntlet in his breast pocket.
After some trouble, Abis-mal managed to bind Xerxes with a shackle as well; though he got bit in the process.
"I got the flying fish-thing chained up," he reported proudly.
The eel scrunched his face up in a snarl. "Stupid fat man! Mozenrath conquer you still! You too, stupid thin man!"
Abis-mal was much offended by the opinion of the creature. "Hey!" he argued. "I'll have you know, I'm an excellent swordsman and I could kill you with one swipe of my blade!"
Jafar didn't much care what the fish thought of him and ignored the argument entirely, focusing on his own diabolical plan. "Then you've fulfilled your purpose." He said quietly. He aimed his hand at Abis-mal and, using magic, yanked the lamp from his grip. Before his unfortunate master knew what was happening, Jafar had magically chained him to the wall as well.
"What are you doing?" Abis-mal demanded in a panic. "I'm your master!"
"In the sense that I can't kill you and you still have one wish left, yes. But if I have the lamp and I cannot hear you, well, I guess I can't fulfill it." He laughed and turned his back to the three prisoners. "I do so love cheating the cosmos!" He walked out of the dungeon and the door slammed behind him.
Xerxes smiled at the irony. "Fat man in trouble…"