STORY EIGHT: It's a Miracula!
Disclaimer: Wouldn't do any good to sue me I'm in college. I have no money.
*Note: The Blue Rose of Forgetfulness belongs to "Thief of Baghdad" I've been obsessed with the blue rose ever since I saw that movie when I was 7 so I had to put it in here someplace...I also had to point out that it was from someplace other than Disney, thank you very much.*
Story 7 : A two parter about Celeste deciding where she belonged.
Random Ad: If you like "Spirited Away" please take a peak at "Neighbors: Epilogue", which I'm co-writing with my friend Siren (it's listed under her name). If you haven't seen Spirited Away yet, I recommend it. Also recommend an apple a day only because apples are wonderful, magical food.
THE POLL IS CLOSED THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!
Note: This story had 2 different endings planned out. This one was picked based on the majority vote. Sorry to the minority of you, but this is democracy at work. Now you can say to your family and friends that you weren't just reading fan fic, you were getting an education on American Gov't...or Ancient Greek Gov't whichever you think sounds better.
Okay, enough crap! Here's the story!
The Prince of Agrabah winced at the chaos he could still hear coming from the palace. There was shouting and explosions and even a small amount of swearing. Although, he knew he should stay to clean up the mess he had caused, he decided he'd take one last day out in the market place before his parents confined him to the palace for his misjudgment. Even so, how was he supposed to know Genie was keeping fireworks in one of the vases?
It wasn't like he could help being upset with Lady Kamilah's two-faced brother drooling all over Celeste. Why did those two have to come visit anyway? And why did Kamilah's bro think Celeste was his new conquest - the snake...Kal stopped before he went further with his anger.
It wasn't like his parents would get it. By listening to all those stories over and over again, it sounded like their teen years had been a breeze. Okay, a breeze filled with strange monsters, but emotionally wise, they had it pretty easy as far as he was concerned.
They had good friends close by. They made new friends all the time. As far as boyfriend/girlfriend stuff...well we all know how that turned out. Plus, the only parent they had to disappoint was Grandpa Bobo (Jasmine's father, the previous sultan *Remember on the series an ancestor's ghost revealed that the sultan's name was Bobo...I don't get it either*) and he was too busy playing with his toys to bring about the usual parental tortures.
"I wish my teenage years were more like theirs," Kal muttered, pausing to lean against one of the sand colored buildings.
A woman popped out from around a corner. She was short, round, and had a mouth full of crooked teeth. Her face was filled with pure joy. "Did I just hear someone make a wish?! Oooh, I did, didn't I! Well, young man! Wish granted."
Kalil eyed the woman and kept his polite manner. "Excuse me, but I don't think anyone could give me what I want."
"Oh, I can. I can do anything. One man just called me a miracle worker," she told him proudly.
The prince only nodded at her, skeptical of the old woman's power to solve his many problems, one of which had just wandered into the market dressed in a brown cloak. "Good luck with your miracles, then," he told her and left to talk with Celeste.
On his way, he bumped a man who rudely snapped, "Watch it!" Under his breath, he eccentrically muttered, " Someday I'll be powerful and then you'll be sorry!"
The boy frowned at the man and turned to Celeste, inspecting her clothes. "What's with the gunny sack? One of my sister's fashion experiments?" Kal asked his friend.
Celeste pulled the hood up around her face. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure why I'm wearing it. I just suddenly felt the need to disguise myself." She faced him sympathetically. "Everyone's looking for you."
"Yeah, I know." He glanced around and noticed Razoul and two guards running frantically through the streets of Agrabah. "Who are they chasing?"
"There you are!" Razoul shouted waving his sword in the air, "After him men."
With shock, Celeste informed her friend, "You, apparently. Have they lost their minds?"
"I'd rather not stick around to figure that out," Kal replied, grabbing Celeste by the hand. The two used every roof top and secret path the boy knew, managing to beat Razoul back to the palace.
Panting heavily, Kal finally stopped at his sister's room. He pounded on the light colored door. "Mira, something strange is going on? You in there?"
The fourteen year old princess came sulking out of her room dressed completely in white. A thick veil covered her face. Her black hair had been pulled up so tight that her face was stretched at the sides.
Celeste rose both eyebrows. "And the weirdness just keeps on coming."
Almira huffed, "Mom and Dad have completely lost their heads! Their telling me that there's a law stating I have to be married before my sixteenth birthday! I've never heard of any law like that! I don't want to get married! Kal, what's going on?"
The prince pulled the veil off his sister's head so he could look her in the face. "I'm not sure and obviously our parents aren't going to be any help."
"What a time for Genie to go visit Eden! Maybe Iago and Abu know something," Celeste suggested. She separated from her friends to find the animals in question.
Minutes passed. The two weren't entirely sure of how long they stood waiting, but it was long enough for the pins in Mira's hair to fall out. With impatience, they hunted for Celeste. Up one hall and down another, Kal and Mira didn't part ways, afraid that whatever happened to Celeste would happen to them as well.
Entering the throne room, the two were amazed to find the normal purples and white replaced by reds and golds. Even though it was still day, the windows and balconies had all been covered with curtains and dozens of lit candles cast the room in foreboding shadows. At the center of the room was a giant hourglass.
Sand was running from the top chamber into the bottom, where a slender female hand was attempting to dig a way out. Taking one of the tall candle holders, Kal smashed open the hourglass. The sands poured out revealing an unconscious Celeste. When she was free the room returned to normal. Her skin and hair remained matted in the delicate grains as if they were a net that refused to release her.
Kalil focused on the girls face, laying her flat and hoping that her breathing would even out. He was too busy to see Mira being drawn to a chest sitting in the elephant throne. She opened it slowly and ran her hands through the contents. It was full of a fine gray-violet spice. Her hand collided with something smooth; a necklace. The princess was mesmerized by it and in a second of thoughtlessness fastened it about her throat.
When Kal turned his head, Mira's arms were being pulled by a strange creature dressed in a tattered shroud. "My new bride," he exclaimed with glee. His teeth were yellow and his bottom jaw protruded out further than his front. Behind him had appeared an imposing stone door.
"Who are you?" Kalil demanded to know, wishing he had a weapon nearby.
The creature bowed. "I. M. Aghoul. Don't worry. We'll invite you to the wedding." Aghoul had slipped into the door before Kal could react and he had taken Mira with him.
***********************
Celeste awoke quickly afterwards and Kal dragged her into the marketplace. Agrabah had been turned upside down with the wishes of the people. One man even had the Midus Touch. Every useless nick-nack in the market was made of solid gold. There were children flying and goats walking on their hind legs (Kal decided he didn't want to know who made that wish).
"Hey, Miracle Worker!" he called out when the corner he'd made his own wish at.
The woman appeared. "Actually, it's Miracula. Catchy huh!"
Kal wasn't amused. "What are you? Why are you in Agrabah?"
She continued to beam at him. "I am a magical being...I'll leave it at that. I am in Agrabah to grant wishes. You see I'm trying to make up for all the bad things I did in the past."
"You're still doing bad things," Kalil pointed out, "Do you realize that on our way here we ran into three elementals, one giant, the palace is crawling with little lizards that make you sick when they breathe on you, and our guests, Kamilah and her brother, were turned into snake creatures."
"Although, I think they had that coming," Celeste cut in.
Kal faced Miracula directly. "The point is that these wishes are all backfiring. You have stop it."
Miracula bushed him off. "I can't just stop! This is my power! I'm doing good. You are just jealous because you can't do good like me."
The prince could feel his temper slipping. "Listen! My sister is trapped in the Netherworld right now! The city is over run with talking goats. And my parents have gone completely out to lunch."
"Also your girlfriend just left," Miracula stated.
Kalil spun around. Miracula was right, Celeste was gone. As he left the woman, the man with Midus Touch came to her.
Kal chased around the corner in the hope that Celeste hadn't gone far. The good news was that she was only a street away. The bad news was that she was carrying a full bloomed bright blue rose in one hand.
"Oh, I remember that story," Kal groaned, "Celeste, you didn't smell the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness did you?"
She tilted her head to one side. "Who's Celeste?"
The prince thought he would collapse from it all. He reached for Celeste's hand, but she shied away. "Do I know you?" she inquired, "I'm not going with anyone I don't know."
"Of course you know me! I'm Kalil."
"What does Kalil mean?"
"Good friend, I think." He tried to snatch her hand once more, but she still pulled back.
"Does that make you *my* good friend?" She waited for him to nod before she smiled. "Okay, then...wait!" Celeste stepped out of reach again. "What sort of a good friend are you? Are you the usual sort or the kissing sort?"
"What?! We don't have time for this?!"
"Why are you acting so insulted? I'm not the kissing sort, am I. So what's wrong with me?"
Kal knew he was getting nowhere fast. "Fine!" He took Celeste's shoulders in both hands so she couldn't back away again. "You and I are sweethearts, but in order to get married and live happily ever after we have to rescue your bridesmaid from an undead king. So, to do that, we have to stop the woman who has been granting all these wishes. Any more questions?"
The girl scratched her head and asked, "What did you say my name is?"
"Celeste Nomad."
"How come I have two names and you only have one?"
Making a low grunting noise, Kalil chose to ignore the comment. "Maybe if we could find a way to trap Miracula..." he thought aloud.
One of the peasants was shooting laser beams from her eyes. Kalil managed to duck on instinct, taking Celeste down with him each time. When that was finally done with that and the peasant learned to keep her eyes closed, Kal went back to thinking. However, the girl holding his hand interrupted his planning. "What does my name...uh, my names mean?"
She wasn't going to stop asking questions so Kal did his best to answer while drafting impossible strategies in his head. "Celeste is a word for heavenly and a nomad is someone who wanders."
"So I'm a heavenly wanderer! That makes no sense!" she cried, "I got jipped in the name department, didn't I."
"We don't have time to talk about that now. I need to think!" This was truth, however, dodging the results of other people's wishes was taking all of his energy.
Celeste tapped him on the shoulder. "Kalil, can I do that?" She was pointing to the man who was forlornly wandering around the city, turning every piece of food to gold. His stomach growled loudly and he whimpered. It was the same man that Kal had bumped earlier that day.
"You don't want to do that, Celeste. It's the Midus Touch. My grandfather told me all about it. He said he once saw the hand of Midus turn a human being to..." The proverbial light bulb flashed in Kal's brain.
He confronted the now weeping man. The man was careful not to touch is own face. "Sir, I could use your help."
"Who are you?" blubbered the man.
"Prince Kalil."
The man hiccupped and turned to Celeste, "What about you?"
Her voice was filled with inexperience as she replied, "Oh, I'm in love with Kalil...at least, I must be because he says I'm going to marry him."
The man wasn't really listening. "And what do you want me to change to gold. A pot, a blanket, your first born child..."
The prince's heart went out to the pathetic, hungry man. "Not exactly. Come with us."
**************************
Miracula entered the palace with much pomp. "You summoned me, your highness."
Kalil sat upon the edge of his father's throne. He wore a heavy cape that blended with the curtain which hung over the chair's elephant shaped back. No one could notice the person hidden behind it. Kal kept one arm concealed in his cape.
"I called you here to apologize," the prince told the being, "You have done this city a great service and I want to make sure you are recognized for everything you have done."
"He means he wants to shake your hand," Celeste squeaked from his little cushion on the step beside him. Kalil glanced down at her, trying to figure out why the blue rose had made her so simple minded. She only batted her eyes at him and added, "What? Did I say something wrong?"
He turned back to Miracula. "She's right. I would like to shake hands with you." A hand came out from under the cloak. Miracula didn't even suspect that the hand didn't belong to the prince and immediately wrapped her fingers around the ones stretched out to her. She then didn't notice when her hand was encased in shimmering gold.
"You know, your majesty, I can think of quite a few improvements to this drab little city. Did you ever think about..." She was interrupted by her lips turning gold.
The man with the Midas touch stepped out from behind the throne. "Now what?" he asked looking the statue.
Kalil rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I don't know; I was hoping that if she was immobilized everything would go back to normal."
With a look of complete sadness, the man began to rant between his tears. "That's it! You didn't have a better plan! Some Sultan you're gonna be!"
Celeste watched Kal's face fall. Turning to the man, she told him, "Pardon me, sir, but there's something on your nose. I think it might be a bug right there." She pointed to her own nose to illustrate.
The man forgot his complaints. "What?! Where?!" He tapped his nose and froze. The throne room now had two golden statues.
Kalil was stunned at what the girl had just done. She didn't appear to have any remorse. "Celeste! What did you do?"
"We can turn him back later," she innocently replied, "He wasn't very nice, you know."
"Yes, but..." Kal was about to scold her when he saw both statues move. First, the statue of the man shook off the gold like it was nothing but dust on his clothes. Then, Miracula's head turned. As they returned to normal, the two faces started to contort and change.
The memory lost Celeste at first clutched Kal's arm and allowed him to hold her frightened form.
Miracula's face had transformed into that of the man and vice versa. They still wore the other ones clothes, but the magical being was satisfied just to be back in her own shape.
"What's going on here?" the prince questioned, keeping a safe distance from the happy being and the trembling man.
Miracula grabbed the man by the ear and pulled him up as he squealed in pain. "This man asked me for the Midus Touch. Well, I was so caught up in granting wishes I didn't quite hear his second wish when he came back an hour later. It must have been to have my power or something silly like that. Next thing I knew, he was me and I was him."
She dropped the man and tapped her chin, "The most interesting part was that I took on his personality and memories. That's why I couldn't tell anyone about the mix-up; I really thought I was him. Strange huh. By the way, do mortal men always think about...never mind."
Celeste asked with hope, "Will you turn everything back now?"
The being came out of her thoughts. "Oh, of course, deary. I guess the fairy godmother bit wasn't really for me." She waved her hand and Mira appeared from thin air.
The princess ran to her brother. "Kalil! It was so gross. There were spider webs everywhere!" The prince just gratefully hugged his little sister.
Outside, the chaos of laser eyed peasants and dancing goats vanished. Kamilah and her brother could be seen in the garden scratching their heads with confusion and a sudden new appreciation for their limbs. Aladdin, Jasmine, and the animals entered the throne room, trying to figure out why they had been planning a wedding.
Miracula firmly grasped the arm of the man who sat grumbling next to her. "Your majesty, I think I shall keep him with me for a little while. Meanwhile, I'll just have to find some other way to do good deeds."
Kalil offered an exhausted smile. "If you don't mind, could you please do those good deeds away from Agrabah."
Celeste nudged Kalil and whispered, "Is that my bridesmaid?" She was pointing to Almira who only rose both eyebrows at her brother.
"Wait, why aren't you back to normal?" His face revealed his panic. "Miracula, shouldn't Celeste be cured too?"
Miracula's face became warm and for a brief moment she could have passed as a kindly fairy godmother. "Oh, young man. Wishes are a funny things. Sometimes you have to work at them." Following those words, she and the man left in a brilliant flash of light.
"Kal, what's going on?" Aladdin demanded to know.
"Ah, Dad! I made a stupid wish and now Celeste has even less memory than before," the prince confessed sitting the girl down on the steps by the throne, "Do you or Mom remember how you beat the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness?"
"If I remember right, I reminded your mother about what I had forgotten and she remembered what she had forgotten..." Aladdin paused to decide if what he had said made sense.
Jasmine clarified, "He told me he loved me."
"But she already thinks I love her," Kal pointed out.
Iago narrowed his eyes at the prince, "I wonder who gave her that idea."
"It was a slip of the tongue, okay," Kalil defended.
Mira grew excited. "Are you saying you love Celeste?!"
Kal grew red. "No!"
A small voice interrupted his embarrassment. "Excuse me, but I am still in the room and very perplexed now. So, are we engaged or not?"
The prince gulped hard, wondering what his parents and friends must have been thinking. "Um...no, we're not."
Celeste wasn't upset, just curious. "So, does that mean that you love me or no?"
Kalil knelt down to meet her face to face. "Which answer will break the spell?" The girl didn't reply, not knowing what to say. Kal once again swallowed hard. His eyes scanned the faces of his sister, his parents, Iago, and Abu. When his gaze came back to Celeste and mustered up his courage. Closing his eyes, he leaned in and kissed her. Although it was a brief brush of the lips, it was enough to bring Celeste out of the spell.
She slowly pulled back, her face twice as mystified as it had been before. "Kal, were you just doing what I think you were doing? And why are we back in the palace? What about finding that woman who grants wishes?"
Kalil blinked at her, surprised that she hadn't tried to deck him. "Would you believe that you're having a dream?"
"No."
"Fine," he noted his parents' shared 'time for a talk' faces, "Have Mira explain it. Just promise you won't believe anything she says."
"Huh?"
Kal left her to wonder, joining Aladdin and Jasmine in another part of the room. They wore mixed emotions.
The sultan started with, "I'm not entirely sure what happened today, but you and your sister aren't allowed to play with magic or make wishes ever again."
"I know," their son replied. He stared at his shoes. "You two really didn't have easy teen years, did you."
Jasmine laughed, "What? Whatever made you think that we did?"
Kalil told them, "The stories. In them, you both have everything resolved in a matter of days."
Aladdin set a hand on his son's shoulder, as he always did when he was giving advise. "Instead of making wishes, you could take Celeste for a carpet ride. It worked for me."
Jumping from his dad, Kal shook his head repeatedly. "What?! No. I already told you! I'm not in love with Celeste. I only kissed her to break the spell."
Jasmine smiled knowingly. "The way I see it, you wouldn't have even thought about kissing her unless it had crossed your mind before."
While his parents walked away, Kal just breathed a heavy sigh. "Well," he muttered, "At least I'm not in trouble for fireworks thing."
__________________
TO READERS: I swear this is all leading up to something. Warning, it's going to get slightly sad soon, so don't say I didn't caution you. Thanks everyone.
WATCH FOR STORY 9: Sleep of the Black Sand
Mamlocks place a sleeping spell over Celeste and the true story of how she came to Agrabah is slowly revealed.
Disclaimer: Wouldn't do any good to sue me I'm in college. I have no money.
*Note: The Blue Rose of Forgetfulness belongs to "Thief of Baghdad" I've been obsessed with the blue rose ever since I saw that movie when I was 7 so I had to put it in here someplace...I also had to point out that it was from someplace other than Disney, thank you very much.*
Story 7 : A two parter about Celeste deciding where she belonged.
Random Ad: If you like "Spirited Away" please take a peak at "Neighbors: Epilogue", which I'm co-writing with my friend Siren (it's listed under her name). If you haven't seen Spirited Away yet, I recommend it. Also recommend an apple a day only because apples are wonderful, magical food.
THE POLL IS CLOSED THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!
Note: This story had 2 different endings planned out. This one was picked based on the majority vote. Sorry to the minority of you, but this is democracy at work. Now you can say to your family and friends that you weren't just reading fan fic, you were getting an education on American Gov't...or Ancient Greek Gov't whichever you think sounds better.
Okay, enough crap! Here's the story!
The Prince of Agrabah winced at the chaos he could still hear coming from the palace. There was shouting and explosions and even a small amount of swearing. Although, he knew he should stay to clean up the mess he had caused, he decided he'd take one last day out in the market place before his parents confined him to the palace for his misjudgment. Even so, how was he supposed to know Genie was keeping fireworks in one of the vases?
It wasn't like he could help being upset with Lady Kamilah's two-faced brother drooling all over Celeste. Why did those two have to come visit anyway? And why did Kamilah's bro think Celeste was his new conquest - the snake...Kal stopped before he went further with his anger.
It wasn't like his parents would get it. By listening to all those stories over and over again, it sounded like their teen years had been a breeze. Okay, a breeze filled with strange monsters, but emotionally wise, they had it pretty easy as far as he was concerned.
They had good friends close by. They made new friends all the time. As far as boyfriend/girlfriend stuff...well we all know how that turned out. Plus, the only parent they had to disappoint was Grandpa Bobo (Jasmine's father, the previous sultan *Remember on the series an ancestor's ghost revealed that the sultan's name was Bobo...I don't get it either*) and he was too busy playing with his toys to bring about the usual parental tortures.
"I wish my teenage years were more like theirs," Kal muttered, pausing to lean against one of the sand colored buildings.
A woman popped out from around a corner. She was short, round, and had a mouth full of crooked teeth. Her face was filled with pure joy. "Did I just hear someone make a wish?! Oooh, I did, didn't I! Well, young man! Wish granted."
Kalil eyed the woman and kept his polite manner. "Excuse me, but I don't think anyone could give me what I want."
"Oh, I can. I can do anything. One man just called me a miracle worker," she told him proudly.
The prince only nodded at her, skeptical of the old woman's power to solve his many problems, one of which had just wandered into the market dressed in a brown cloak. "Good luck with your miracles, then," he told her and left to talk with Celeste.
On his way, he bumped a man who rudely snapped, "Watch it!" Under his breath, he eccentrically muttered, " Someday I'll be powerful and then you'll be sorry!"
The boy frowned at the man and turned to Celeste, inspecting her clothes. "What's with the gunny sack? One of my sister's fashion experiments?" Kal asked his friend.
Celeste pulled the hood up around her face. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure why I'm wearing it. I just suddenly felt the need to disguise myself." She faced him sympathetically. "Everyone's looking for you."
"Yeah, I know." He glanced around and noticed Razoul and two guards running frantically through the streets of Agrabah. "Who are they chasing?"
"There you are!" Razoul shouted waving his sword in the air, "After him men."
With shock, Celeste informed her friend, "You, apparently. Have they lost their minds?"
"I'd rather not stick around to figure that out," Kal replied, grabbing Celeste by the hand. The two used every roof top and secret path the boy knew, managing to beat Razoul back to the palace.
Panting heavily, Kal finally stopped at his sister's room. He pounded on the light colored door. "Mira, something strange is going on? You in there?"
The fourteen year old princess came sulking out of her room dressed completely in white. A thick veil covered her face. Her black hair had been pulled up so tight that her face was stretched at the sides.
Celeste rose both eyebrows. "And the weirdness just keeps on coming."
Almira huffed, "Mom and Dad have completely lost their heads! Their telling me that there's a law stating I have to be married before my sixteenth birthday! I've never heard of any law like that! I don't want to get married! Kal, what's going on?"
The prince pulled the veil off his sister's head so he could look her in the face. "I'm not sure and obviously our parents aren't going to be any help."
"What a time for Genie to go visit Eden! Maybe Iago and Abu know something," Celeste suggested. She separated from her friends to find the animals in question.
Minutes passed. The two weren't entirely sure of how long they stood waiting, but it was long enough for the pins in Mira's hair to fall out. With impatience, they hunted for Celeste. Up one hall and down another, Kal and Mira didn't part ways, afraid that whatever happened to Celeste would happen to them as well.
Entering the throne room, the two were amazed to find the normal purples and white replaced by reds and golds. Even though it was still day, the windows and balconies had all been covered with curtains and dozens of lit candles cast the room in foreboding shadows. At the center of the room was a giant hourglass.
Sand was running from the top chamber into the bottom, where a slender female hand was attempting to dig a way out. Taking one of the tall candle holders, Kal smashed open the hourglass. The sands poured out revealing an unconscious Celeste. When she was free the room returned to normal. Her skin and hair remained matted in the delicate grains as if they were a net that refused to release her.
Kalil focused on the girls face, laying her flat and hoping that her breathing would even out. He was too busy to see Mira being drawn to a chest sitting in the elephant throne. She opened it slowly and ran her hands through the contents. It was full of a fine gray-violet spice. Her hand collided with something smooth; a necklace. The princess was mesmerized by it and in a second of thoughtlessness fastened it about her throat.
When Kal turned his head, Mira's arms were being pulled by a strange creature dressed in a tattered shroud. "My new bride," he exclaimed with glee. His teeth were yellow and his bottom jaw protruded out further than his front. Behind him had appeared an imposing stone door.
"Who are you?" Kalil demanded to know, wishing he had a weapon nearby.
The creature bowed. "I. M. Aghoul. Don't worry. We'll invite you to the wedding." Aghoul had slipped into the door before Kal could react and he had taken Mira with him.
***********************
Celeste awoke quickly afterwards and Kal dragged her into the marketplace. Agrabah had been turned upside down with the wishes of the people. One man even had the Midus Touch. Every useless nick-nack in the market was made of solid gold. There were children flying and goats walking on their hind legs (Kal decided he didn't want to know who made that wish).
"Hey, Miracle Worker!" he called out when the corner he'd made his own wish at.
The woman appeared. "Actually, it's Miracula. Catchy huh!"
Kal wasn't amused. "What are you? Why are you in Agrabah?"
She continued to beam at him. "I am a magical being...I'll leave it at that. I am in Agrabah to grant wishes. You see I'm trying to make up for all the bad things I did in the past."
"You're still doing bad things," Kalil pointed out, "Do you realize that on our way here we ran into three elementals, one giant, the palace is crawling with little lizards that make you sick when they breathe on you, and our guests, Kamilah and her brother, were turned into snake creatures."
"Although, I think they had that coming," Celeste cut in.
Kal faced Miracula directly. "The point is that these wishes are all backfiring. You have stop it."
Miracula bushed him off. "I can't just stop! This is my power! I'm doing good. You are just jealous because you can't do good like me."
The prince could feel his temper slipping. "Listen! My sister is trapped in the Netherworld right now! The city is over run with talking goats. And my parents have gone completely out to lunch."
"Also your girlfriend just left," Miracula stated.
Kalil spun around. Miracula was right, Celeste was gone. As he left the woman, the man with Midus Touch came to her.
Kal chased around the corner in the hope that Celeste hadn't gone far. The good news was that she was only a street away. The bad news was that she was carrying a full bloomed bright blue rose in one hand.
"Oh, I remember that story," Kal groaned, "Celeste, you didn't smell the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness did you?"
She tilted her head to one side. "Who's Celeste?"
The prince thought he would collapse from it all. He reached for Celeste's hand, but she shied away. "Do I know you?" she inquired, "I'm not going with anyone I don't know."
"Of course you know me! I'm Kalil."
"What does Kalil mean?"
"Good friend, I think." He tried to snatch her hand once more, but she still pulled back.
"Does that make you *my* good friend?" She waited for him to nod before she smiled. "Okay, then...wait!" Celeste stepped out of reach again. "What sort of a good friend are you? Are you the usual sort or the kissing sort?"
"What?! We don't have time for this?!"
"Why are you acting so insulted? I'm not the kissing sort, am I. So what's wrong with me?"
Kal knew he was getting nowhere fast. "Fine!" He took Celeste's shoulders in both hands so she couldn't back away again. "You and I are sweethearts, but in order to get married and live happily ever after we have to rescue your bridesmaid from an undead king. So, to do that, we have to stop the woman who has been granting all these wishes. Any more questions?"
The girl scratched her head and asked, "What did you say my name is?"
"Celeste Nomad."
"How come I have two names and you only have one?"
Making a low grunting noise, Kalil chose to ignore the comment. "Maybe if we could find a way to trap Miracula..." he thought aloud.
One of the peasants was shooting laser beams from her eyes. Kalil managed to duck on instinct, taking Celeste down with him each time. When that was finally done with that and the peasant learned to keep her eyes closed, Kal went back to thinking. However, the girl holding his hand interrupted his planning. "What does my name...uh, my names mean?"
She wasn't going to stop asking questions so Kal did his best to answer while drafting impossible strategies in his head. "Celeste is a word for heavenly and a nomad is someone who wanders."
"So I'm a heavenly wanderer! That makes no sense!" she cried, "I got jipped in the name department, didn't I."
"We don't have time to talk about that now. I need to think!" This was truth, however, dodging the results of other people's wishes was taking all of his energy.
Celeste tapped him on the shoulder. "Kalil, can I do that?" She was pointing to the man who was forlornly wandering around the city, turning every piece of food to gold. His stomach growled loudly and he whimpered. It was the same man that Kal had bumped earlier that day.
"You don't want to do that, Celeste. It's the Midus Touch. My grandfather told me all about it. He said he once saw the hand of Midus turn a human being to..." The proverbial light bulb flashed in Kal's brain.
He confronted the now weeping man. The man was careful not to touch is own face. "Sir, I could use your help."
"Who are you?" blubbered the man.
"Prince Kalil."
The man hiccupped and turned to Celeste, "What about you?"
Her voice was filled with inexperience as she replied, "Oh, I'm in love with Kalil...at least, I must be because he says I'm going to marry him."
The man wasn't really listening. "And what do you want me to change to gold. A pot, a blanket, your first born child..."
The prince's heart went out to the pathetic, hungry man. "Not exactly. Come with us."
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Miracula entered the palace with much pomp. "You summoned me, your highness."
Kalil sat upon the edge of his father's throne. He wore a heavy cape that blended with the curtain which hung over the chair's elephant shaped back. No one could notice the person hidden behind it. Kal kept one arm concealed in his cape.
"I called you here to apologize," the prince told the being, "You have done this city a great service and I want to make sure you are recognized for everything you have done."
"He means he wants to shake your hand," Celeste squeaked from his little cushion on the step beside him. Kalil glanced down at her, trying to figure out why the blue rose had made her so simple minded. She only batted her eyes at him and added, "What? Did I say something wrong?"
He turned back to Miracula. "She's right. I would like to shake hands with you." A hand came out from under the cloak. Miracula didn't even suspect that the hand didn't belong to the prince and immediately wrapped her fingers around the ones stretched out to her. She then didn't notice when her hand was encased in shimmering gold.
"You know, your majesty, I can think of quite a few improvements to this drab little city. Did you ever think about..." She was interrupted by her lips turning gold.
The man with the Midas touch stepped out from behind the throne. "Now what?" he asked looking the statue.
Kalil rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I don't know; I was hoping that if she was immobilized everything would go back to normal."
With a look of complete sadness, the man began to rant between his tears. "That's it! You didn't have a better plan! Some Sultan you're gonna be!"
Celeste watched Kal's face fall. Turning to the man, she told him, "Pardon me, sir, but there's something on your nose. I think it might be a bug right there." She pointed to her own nose to illustrate.
The man forgot his complaints. "What?! Where?!" He tapped his nose and froze. The throne room now had two golden statues.
Kalil was stunned at what the girl had just done. She didn't appear to have any remorse. "Celeste! What did you do?"
"We can turn him back later," she innocently replied, "He wasn't very nice, you know."
"Yes, but..." Kal was about to scold her when he saw both statues move. First, the statue of the man shook off the gold like it was nothing but dust on his clothes. Then, Miracula's head turned. As they returned to normal, the two faces started to contort and change.
The memory lost Celeste at first clutched Kal's arm and allowed him to hold her frightened form.
Miracula's face had transformed into that of the man and vice versa. They still wore the other ones clothes, but the magical being was satisfied just to be back in her own shape.
"What's going on here?" the prince questioned, keeping a safe distance from the happy being and the trembling man.
Miracula grabbed the man by the ear and pulled him up as he squealed in pain. "This man asked me for the Midus Touch. Well, I was so caught up in granting wishes I didn't quite hear his second wish when he came back an hour later. It must have been to have my power or something silly like that. Next thing I knew, he was me and I was him."
She dropped the man and tapped her chin, "The most interesting part was that I took on his personality and memories. That's why I couldn't tell anyone about the mix-up; I really thought I was him. Strange huh. By the way, do mortal men always think about...never mind."
Celeste asked with hope, "Will you turn everything back now?"
The being came out of her thoughts. "Oh, of course, deary. I guess the fairy godmother bit wasn't really for me." She waved her hand and Mira appeared from thin air.
The princess ran to her brother. "Kalil! It was so gross. There were spider webs everywhere!" The prince just gratefully hugged his little sister.
Outside, the chaos of laser eyed peasants and dancing goats vanished. Kamilah and her brother could be seen in the garden scratching their heads with confusion and a sudden new appreciation for their limbs. Aladdin, Jasmine, and the animals entered the throne room, trying to figure out why they had been planning a wedding.
Miracula firmly grasped the arm of the man who sat grumbling next to her. "Your majesty, I think I shall keep him with me for a little while. Meanwhile, I'll just have to find some other way to do good deeds."
Kalil offered an exhausted smile. "If you don't mind, could you please do those good deeds away from Agrabah."
Celeste nudged Kalil and whispered, "Is that my bridesmaid?" She was pointing to Almira who only rose both eyebrows at her brother.
"Wait, why aren't you back to normal?" His face revealed his panic. "Miracula, shouldn't Celeste be cured too?"
Miracula's face became warm and for a brief moment she could have passed as a kindly fairy godmother. "Oh, young man. Wishes are a funny things. Sometimes you have to work at them." Following those words, she and the man left in a brilliant flash of light.
"Kal, what's going on?" Aladdin demanded to know.
"Ah, Dad! I made a stupid wish and now Celeste has even less memory than before," the prince confessed sitting the girl down on the steps by the throne, "Do you or Mom remember how you beat the Blue Rose of Forgetfulness?"
"If I remember right, I reminded your mother about what I had forgotten and she remembered what she had forgotten..." Aladdin paused to decide if what he had said made sense.
Jasmine clarified, "He told me he loved me."
"But she already thinks I love her," Kal pointed out.
Iago narrowed his eyes at the prince, "I wonder who gave her that idea."
"It was a slip of the tongue, okay," Kalil defended.
Mira grew excited. "Are you saying you love Celeste?!"
Kal grew red. "No!"
A small voice interrupted his embarrassment. "Excuse me, but I am still in the room and very perplexed now. So, are we engaged or not?"
The prince gulped hard, wondering what his parents and friends must have been thinking. "Um...no, we're not."
Celeste wasn't upset, just curious. "So, does that mean that you love me or no?"
Kalil knelt down to meet her face to face. "Which answer will break the spell?" The girl didn't reply, not knowing what to say. Kal once again swallowed hard. His eyes scanned the faces of his sister, his parents, Iago, and Abu. When his gaze came back to Celeste and mustered up his courage. Closing his eyes, he leaned in and kissed her. Although it was a brief brush of the lips, it was enough to bring Celeste out of the spell.
She slowly pulled back, her face twice as mystified as it had been before. "Kal, were you just doing what I think you were doing? And why are we back in the palace? What about finding that woman who grants wishes?"
Kalil blinked at her, surprised that she hadn't tried to deck him. "Would you believe that you're having a dream?"
"No."
"Fine," he noted his parents' shared 'time for a talk' faces, "Have Mira explain it. Just promise you won't believe anything she says."
"Huh?"
Kal left her to wonder, joining Aladdin and Jasmine in another part of the room. They wore mixed emotions.
The sultan started with, "I'm not entirely sure what happened today, but you and your sister aren't allowed to play with magic or make wishes ever again."
"I know," their son replied. He stared at his shoes. "You two really didn't have easy teen years, did you."
Jasmine laughed, "What? Whatever made you think that we did?"
Kalil told them, "The stories. In them, you both have everything resolved in a matter of days."
Aladdin set a hand on his son's shoulder, as he always did when he was giving advise. "Instead of making wishes, you could take Celeste for a carpet ride. It worked for me."
Jumping from his dad, Kal shook his head repeatedly. "What?! No. I already told you! I'm not in love with Celeste. I only kissed her to break the spell."
Jasmine smiled knowingly. "The way I see it, you wouldn't have even thought about kissing her unless it had crossed your mind before."
While his parents walked away, Kal just breathed a heavy sigh. "Well," he muttered, "At least I'm not in trouble for fireworks thing."
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TO READERS: I swear this is all leading up to something. Warning, it's going to get slightly sad soon, so don't say I didn't caution you. Thanks everyone.
WATCH FOR STORY 9: Sleep of the Black Sand
Mamlocks place a sleeping spell over Celeste and the true story of how she came to Agrabah is slowly revealed.