Jasmin opened her eyes slowly and winced. Her head was pounding from the crying that happened when she got home last night. She sniffled, trying to clear her nose while rubbing her face. There was still black sand under her nails. Looking across the room, Jasmin saw that Raven was gone. Knowing her she left to avoid the awkwardness of the house. Feeling the weight against her chest caused by the stone, Jasmin smiled softly. She was already thinking about seeing Mozenrath later. The idea made her giddy with unwelcome excitement. She didn't want to like him like this, but some crappy magical pull of rainbows and unicorns was dragging her into a world of hearts and romance. At least that what her mind was telling her. Jasmin got out of bed and cleaned up in the bathroom before seeing her parents. Her father was in the living room about to go to the gym. She quickly said goodbye and went to her parent's bedroom. Her mother was watching the news while folding clothes. After the usual morning exchange, Jasmin did her chores. She needed her parents to believe her somehow. They had to know she wasn't lying about a fictional man. All she needed was a little bit of proof. For the next hour the young woman planned on how to prove the impossible.
By the afternoon, everything was planned and ready to go. Her parents were in the living room was a movie when Jasmin walked in from the kitchen. They had acted as if nothing happened the night before, yet it was obvious that they were still upset. Her parents looked at her as she walked into the room. Jasmin wore a short black skirt, plain red tank top, black boots, and a long black jacket. Thinking back on her clothing choice, the girl wished she never listened to Roxanne by the Police and Short Skirt Long Jacket by Cake. She had made sure to pack a bag with homework, a change of clothes, and her camera.
"What are you all dressed up for?" her mother asked.
"Just gonna jump down the rabbit hole for a bit." Jasmin said sarcastically.
"I thought it was the desert." Her dad retorted, completely not understanding the Alice and Wonderland reference. Jasmin snorted as she stood in front of the television.
"Look at me." she demanded with the authority of a mouse. Taking the red stone in her hand, Jasmin looked at her parents. "This is my door. Now you see me..." Jasmin smiled and quickly finished her statement, "Now you-" She never finished her line. Within the blink of an eye, the girl had left her parents staring at the spot she formerly occupied. So many emotions rushed through them, but the most important was belief.
Instead of appearing within the walls of the citadel, Jasmin was overcome by the feeling of falling. The cold desert wind slammed into her face as she fell screaming out of the dark sky. The air was suddenly knocked out of her lungs when she landed in a heap of woven blankets. As the young woman coughed and gasped for air, she could see Mozenrath watching her. After her coughing fit, the man spoke up.
"You're here early" He stated with one of his dark eyebrows quirked. The tuft of hair was beginning to fall into his eyes again. Jasmin resisted the urge to either push it away or take off his turban. Instead she just nodded at his statement, choosing to grip at the blankets beneath her.
"Yeah, I couldn't just sit there with my parents thinking I'm a liar. So I left right in front of them." she said while taking in her surroundings.
"There isn't magic in your world, right? So how did they take that?" He asked with a small smile tugging at his lips. Jasmin shrugged her shoulders in uncertainty, returning the somewhat smile.
"Where are we?" the girl asked. The pair were in a small room without a roof. The entire floor was covered with several piles of folded and unfolded blankets. All of which were different and hand-made. They varied in size, style, color, and material. Judging by the patterns, Jasmin could see that many of them were from different parts of the world. She looked at Mozenrath and noticed something different about him. It was a subtleness that no one would notice unless they had known him for long, or in her case, have been obsessing over him. She internally admonished herself for falling for him so fast. No matter how she felt, he would not know until she was good and damn ready.
"Before this land was abandoned, people did in fact live in the city surrounding the citadel. There was always something going on. Think of Agrabah, but darker." The young sorcerer seemed to be recounting memories of the past. "This was one of the merchant stalls." He said, he voice growing softer. Before Mozenrath's mind could delve deeper into less difficult times,he snapped back to reality. His signature sneer once again appearing on his face. "Take whatever you want."
"I can't do that" the girl said with wide eyes.
"They'll all just go to waste out here in the desert. Takes as many as you want." With that Mozenrath sat down on an old yet sturdy wooden chair against the wall. Jasmin shrugged and began to pick her way through the sea of blankets. About fifteen minutes later, she called out from behind a stack of blankets.
"I'm ready!" she exclaimed as she waddled over to the man. In her arms were a haphazardly stacked mountain of blankets. It swayed with each step she took, threatening to tip over at any second. Mozenrath would have waited to see how long it would take before the tower crashed down, unfortunately the next step the girl took would send them cascading onto him. With a snap of his long nimble fingers, the pair flashed out of the merchant's stall and into the girl's sleeping chamber within the citadel. The moment they were inside, Mozenrath used his gauntlet to separate the blankets into four stacks and placed them at the edge of the bed. Jasmin thanked him and sat onto the edge of the bed.
"MASTER!" Xerxes shrieked, flying into the room through the open door. The frazzled eel ran right into Mozenrath's chest still screaming. "HERO COMING! HERO COMING!" the flying creature wailed. Mozenrath's eyes widened when realization hit him.
"How close is the street rat!" The sorcerer demanded, his features were quickly darkening in anger. Xerxes didn't stand a chance when Mozenrath's gloved hand wrapped tightly around the familiar. Before the eel could answered, a loud male voiced echoed through the halls.
"Honey, I'm home!" Genie bellowed.
"How does the Genie know things from your- nevermind!" Mozenrath cut himself off and pointed at Jasmin. "Get under the bed and do not come out until I come get you." He commanded before teleporting out of the room.
Jasmin scurried under the bed, making sure to keep quiet. She didn't know how she should feel. Afraid? No, Aladdin wasn't her enemy, but who knew what would happen if they found her here. The girl closed her eyes and strained to hear what was going on. For all she knew Mozenrath and Xerxes could be in another hot air balloon going only God knows where. She waited and told herself that He could handle it. She would only be in the way if she went out there. Jasmin could her the muffled voices of Aladdin and Genie, along with Mozenrath. Most likely Genie was wisecracking and making jokes while Mozenrath threatened them. Aladdin, being the hero, was most likely talking about truth, justice, and punching Mozenrath's lights out. The banter between the lasted for about three more minutes before Jasmin saw Mozenrath appear in the room.
"Come on out, their gone." the young ruler said.
"What happened?" Jasmin asked, crawling out from her hiding place.
"They were digging for trouble." Mozenrath spat. "I'll give them something to worry about!" he said while clenching his fists. The man was absolutely livid. Not wanting to fuel the fire that was threatening to blaze, Jasmin opened her bag.
"I charged it for you" the girl said with a small smile as she pulled the ipod out of one of the many pockets. She hoped to distract him; even the slightest diversion would be good.
Mozenrath looked at her, his lip was still curled in anger. He walked over to her and plucked the music player from her hand. He glared at the mechanism in his hand with disgust. Jasmin was ready to pounce on him if he were to throw it. Instead, Mozenrath fiddled with it until he found what he was looking for. He then popped the buds into his ears and sighed. Jasmin looked at the ipod. She bit her cheek to keep from smiling. He was listening to Broken Promise by Placebo to calm his mood. It just so happened to be one of Jasmin's favorite songs to listen to when she was upset. When the song ended, Mozenrath gave it back to her, watching as she turned off the ipod.
"Better?" she asked, the hidden smile playing on her lips. Mozenrath glared halfheartedly at her but shook his head in defeat. He couldn't be mad at her for some reason. He smirked down at her.
"I guess" he admitted. Jasmin could see that he was visibly less angry. "I need some time alone in my lab." The sorcerer added. His anger was quickly giving way to tiredness.
"I understand. I'm going to explore your home. Make sure to get some sleep." Jasmin said in a rush as she ran out of the room with her camera in hand. Mozenrath stared in confusion at her retreating form. He then walked out of the room and to his laboratory, feeling too emotionally drained.